Discovery Box1 Peter 2:19 
Context2:19 For this finds God’s favor, 1 if because of conscience toward God 2 someone endures hardships in suffering unjustly.
1 Peter 3:17
Context3:17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if God wills it, 3 than for doing evil.
1 Peter 4:16
Context4:16 But if you suffer as a Christian, 4 do not be ashamed, but glorify 5 God that you bear such a name. 6
1 tn Grk “For this [is] favor/grace,” used as a metonymy of that which pleases him, which he looks on with favor (cf. BDAG 1079 s.v. χάρις 2). Cf. 1 Pet 2:20.
2 tc The expression “consciousness/conscience of God” (συνείδησιν θεοῦ; suneidhsin qeou) is unusual, occurring only here in the NT. Because θεοῦ was liable to misinterpretation, several witnesses altered the text, either replacing it with ἀγαθήν (agaqhn; C Ψ 323 614 630 945 1241 1505 1739 al sy) or expanding the expression by adding ἀγαθήν before θεοῦ (Ì72 [A* 33] 81). Replacing θεοῦ with ἀγαθήν conforms to other NT phrases, notably in this same letter (Acts 23:1; 1 Tim 1:5, 19; 1 Pet 3:16, 21), suggesting that such a reading is motivated. The reading θεοῦ, however, has superior support (א Ac B P 049 Ï lat co), and best explains the rise of the other readings.
tn Grk “conscious(ness) of God,” an awareness of God and allegiance to him.
3 tn Grk “if the will of God should will it.” As in 3:14 the Greek construction here implies that suffering for doing good was not what God normally willed, even though it could happen, and in fact may have happened to some of the readers (cf. 4:4, 12-19).
4 tn The verb is implied by the context but not expressed; Grk “but if as a Christian.”
5 tn These are third-person imperatives in Greek (“if [one of you suffers] as a Christian, let him not be ashamed…let him glorify”), but have been translated as second-person verbs since this is smoother English idiom.
6 tn Grk “in this name.”
