My Notes
What Does 1 Peter 3:11 Mean?
Peter quotes Psalm 34:14 with three active commands: turn away from evil. Do good. Seek peace and pursue it. Each verb requires initiative. Evil isn't avoided passively. Good isn't done accidentally. Peace isn't found by accident. All three are active, deliberate choices.
"Eschew" (ekklinō) means to turn away, to swerve, to deviate from. You see evil in the road ahead and you actively steer around it. "Do" (poieō) good is the positive complement — don't just avoid evil. Produce good. The vacuum left by evil must be filled with something.
"Seek peace, and ensue it" — the word "ensue" (diōkō) is the same word used for persecution and for pursuing love (1 Corinthians 14:1). Chase peace the way a hunter chases prey. Peace isn't passive. It's pursued. You hunt it down with the same intensity others use to hunt enemies.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Which of the three (turn from evil, do good, pursue peace) requires the most active effort from you right now?
- 2.Are you filling the space left by avoided evil with positive good — or leaving it empty for weeds?
- 3.What does 'hunting peace' look like in your relationships — actively chasing reconciliation, not just hoping it happens?
- 4.How does the progression (turn → do → pursue) build from personal choices to outward impact?
Devotional
Turn from evil. Do good. Hunt peace down.
Peter's instructions are all active verbs. None of them are about waiting, hoping, or letting things happen naturally. Each one requires you to move.
Eschew evil — steer away. When you see it coming, turn the wheel. Don't drift toward it. Don't let momentum carry you into it. Actively deviate. The evil you tolerate is the evil you didn't turn from when you saw it.
Do good — produce. Don't just avoid the bad. Create the good. An empty field doesn't stay empty. If you don't plant good, weeds grow. The absence of evil isn't the presence of good. Both need deliberate cultivation.
Seek peace and ensue it — hunt. Chase. Pursue. The word for "ensue" is the same word used for persecution — diōkō. Chase peace the way a persecutor chases a fugitive. With that single-mindedness. With that refusal to give up. Peace isn't a byproduct. It's a quarry.
The order matters: turn from evil first (clear the space), do good second (fill the space), pursue peace third (extend the space to others). The progression moves outward: from your own choices (turning) to your own actions (doing) to your impact on others (pursuing peace).
The good life isn't passive. It's three verbs, all in the imperative, all requiring effort. Turn. Do. Hunt.
Which verb needs the most attention from you today?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Let him eschew evil,.... Avoid all kinds of evil, hate it, abstain from the appearance of it, and have no fellowship…
Let him eschew evil - Let him avoid all evil. Compare Job 1:1. And do good - In any and every way; by endeavoring to…
The apostle here passes from special to more general exhortations.
I. He teaches us how Christians and friends should…
let him seek peace, and ensue it Better, perhaps, pursue or follow after, as in 1Ti 6:11. The verb "ensue" has ceased…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture