Because so is the will of God, that by well-doing ye put to silence the ignorance of senseless men;

because, so is the will of God, doing good, to put to silence the ignorance of the foolish men;

For it is God's will that by doing what is right you should thus silence the ignorant talk of foolish persons.

Because it is God's pleasure that foolish and narrow-minded men may be put to shame by your good behaviour:

For such is the will of God, that by doing good you may bring about the silence of imprudent and ignorant men,

For so is the will of God He returns to his former doctrine, lest an occasion should be given to the unbelieving to speak evil, though he expresses less than what he had said before; for he says only that the mouths of the foolish ought to be stopped. The phrase which he adopts, "to stop up ignorance," though it may seem harsh on account of its novelty, does not yet obscure the sense. [1] For he not only calls the unbelieving foolish, but also points out the reason why they slandered, even because they were ignorant of God. But inasmuch as he makes the unbelieving to be without understanding and reason, we hence conclude, that a right understanding cannot exist without the knowledge of God. How much soever, then, the unbelieving may boast of their own acuteness, and may seem to themselves to be wise and prudent, yet the Spirit of God charges them with folly, in order that we may know that, apart from God, we cannot be really wise, as without him there is nothing perfect. But he prescribes the way in which the evil-speaking of the unbelieving is to be restrained, even by well-doing, or, by doing good. In this expression he includes all the duties of humanity and kindness which we ought to perform towards our neighbors. And in these is included obedience to magistrates, without which concord among men cannot be cultivated. Were any one to object and say, that the faithful can never be so careful to do good, but that they will be evil-spoken of by the unbelieving: to this the obvious answer is, that the Apostle here does not in any degree exempt them from calumnies and reproaches; but he means that no occasion of slandering ought to be given to the unbelieving, however much they may desire it. And lest any one should further object and say, that the unbelieving are by no means worthy of so much regard that God's children should form their life to please them, Peter expressly reminds us that we are bound by God's command to shut up their mouths.

Footnotes

1 - The word properly means to muzzle; "that ye, by doing good, should muzzle the ignorance of foolish men;" according to what is done to savage animals, in order to prevent them to do harm. -- Ed.

For so is the will of God - That is, it is in accordance with the divine will that in this way you should put them to silence.
That with well doing - By a life of uprightness and benevolence.
Ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men - See the notes at Titus 2:8. The reference here is to men who brought charges against Christians, by accusing them of being inimical to the government, or insubordinate, or guilty of crimes. Such charges, it is well known, were often brought against them by their enemies in the early ages of Christianity. Peter says they were brought by foolish men, perhaps using the word foolish in the sense of evil-disposed, or wicked, as it is often used in the Bible. Yet, though there might be malice at the bottom, the charges were really based on ignorance. They were not thoroughly acquainted with the principles of the Christian religion; and the way to meet those charges was to act in every way as became good citizens, and so as "to live them down." One of the best ways of meeting the accusations of our enemies is to lead a life of strict integrity. It is not easy for the wicked to reply to this argument.

For so is the will of God - God, as their supreme governor, shows them that it is his will that they should act uprightly and obediently at all times, and thus confound the ignorance of foolish men, who were ready enough to assert that their religion made them bad subjects. The word φιμουν, which we translate put to silence, signifies to muzzle, i.e., stop their mouths, leave them nothing to say; let them assert, but ever be unable to bring proof to support it.

(19) For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
(19) He declares the first argument more amply, showing that Christian liberty does among all things least or not at all consist in this, that is, to cast off the bridle of laws (as at that time some altogether unskilful in the kingdom of God reported) but rather in this, that living holy lives according to the will of God, we should reveal to all men, that the gospel is not a cloak for sin and wickedness, seeing we are free of this sort, that yet we are still the servants of God, and not of sin.

For so is the will of God,.... Which refers not so much to what goes before; though it is a truth, that it is the will of God that men should be subject to magistrates, and that magistrates should encourage virtue, and discourage vice, reward the obedient, and punish delinquents; but to what follows:
that with well doing; by doing good works, and those well; by living soberly, righteously, and godly; by having the conversation honest among the Gentiles, agreeably to the law of God, and as becomes the Gospel of Christ; particularly, by living according to the laws of civil society, so far as is consistent with, and not contrary to the commands of God; and by being subject to every civil magistrate, and ordinance of man:
ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: or, as the Syriac version renders it, "that ye may stop the mouths of those foolish men who know not God"; or, as the Ethiopic version has it, "who know not these things"; who are ignorant of God, of his righteousness, of his law, his Gospel, and ordinances. The Gentiles were very ignorant of these things, and very foolish in their imaginations about religious affairs; and from this their ignorance and folly arose calumnies, reflections, and censures upon the people of God; they neither knew God, nor them, nor true religion, and reproached what they understood not, and for want of knowing it: now the apostle signified, that it was the declared will of God that his people should so behave in civil life, that their enemies should be entirely confounded, and silenced, and have nothing to say against them; the word signifies to be muzzled, to have the mouth shut up, as with a bit or bridle; it is used in Matthew 22:12.

Ground of his directing them to submit themselves (1-Peter 2:13).
put to silence--literally, "to muzzle," "to stop the mouth."
ignorance--spiritual not having "the knowledge of God," and therefore ignorant of the children of God, and misconstruing their acts; influenced by mere appearances, and ever ready to open their mouths, rather than their eyes and ears. Their ignorance should move the believer's pity, not his anger. They judge of things which they are incapable of judging through unbelief (compare 1-Peter 2:12). Maintain such a walk that they shall have no charge against you, except touching your faith; and so their minds shall be favorably disposed towards Christianity.

The ignorance - Of them who blame you, because they do not know you: a strong motive to pity them.