1 Peter 2:20 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

For what glory is it, &c.— It may be said, "Is it no glory for a man who has done a fault to take his punishment patiently?—Would not resistance or clamour, nay, even murmuring or impatience, in such a case, be wrong? And consequently must not patience and submission be a virtue? When God punishes us for our sins, is not our patience unto Him a sacrifice of a sweet-smelling savour through Christ! And in proportion, the patience of a slave, when justly punished by his master, must have been preferable to the contrary behaviour, and in some degree praise-worthy." The true solution is, that St. Peter is not here speaking absolutely, but comparatively; that is, "There is very little praise in a guilty man's suffering patiently the duereward of his deed; in comparison of an innocent person's suffering patiently, and out of a conscientious regard tothe will of God, such injurious treatment as he may meet with among men." The Syriac version renders the last clause of this verse, Then shall your reward or praise with God excel or abound: intimating that it is in some degree praiseworthy, to suffer with patience such punishment as men have deserved; but not to be compared with the much greater virtue, of suffering patiently such injuries as they have not deserved. The emperor Antonius quotes it as an excellent saying of Antisthenes, "That it is truly royal to do good, and to be reproached."