Beauty

The first-century world was a world of arranged marriages. Parents wanted their sons to marry the right woman because she would bring a large dowry and social and political connections. Parents wanted their daughters to marry the right man so she would be taken care of and also for the same social and political concerns with marrying off a son.

The dowry, a gift from the parents to the family their daughter was marrying into, functioned like an inheritance. Sons would receive their inheritance directly from their fathers. The understanding was that a dowry did not need to be as large as an inheritance because the daughters would take part in the inheritances of their husbands.

What becomes clear real quick is that if you’re a woman a good marriage is essential. You cannot simply go find a job. You are dependent on your husband. That means you were likely to do whatever it took to get the best marriage possible. At that time that meant wearing all sorts of gaudy jewelry and make-up and joining in the rat race. It was like The Bachelor on TV where each wealthy bachelor had many women to chose from and the only way a woman could increase her odds of landing the right man was to go gaudy in the style department.

But what did the apostle Peter have to say about this: “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self…”

Peter wasn’t telling women they couldn’t wear make-up or dress up or wear earrings. This is not an anti-woman passage. Far from it. What Peter is saying is that women no longer have to run the dehumanizing rat race to secure the right marriage. This is women’s lib, first-century style, but we miss that when we don’t understand the context in which it was written.