1 Peter 5:5-7

⁵ Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

⁶ Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,

⁷ casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

Verse five — “Be clothed with” is the translation of a word which speaks of the act of tying or tucking up the long outer garments of the oriental around the waist as a roll or band or firth. It refers to the same action as Peter mentions in 1:13 where he says, “Gird up the loins of your mind.” The word in its noun form referred to a slave’s apron under which the loose outer garments were gathered. The exhortation is to put on humility as a working virtue. … The word “resist” in the Greek is a military term, used of an army drawn up for battle. … The word “proud” is the translation of a Greek word which means literally “to show above,” and thus describes the proud person as one who shows himself above others. The word “humble” is the translation of the Greek word rendered “lowly” in Matthew 11:29 where it describes our Lord’s character. The word is found in an early secular document where it speaks of the Nile River in its low stage. … The word means “not rising far from the ground.” — Wuest, pages 127-128.

The quotation in verse 5 is from the LXX of Proverbs 3:34, quoted also in James 4:6.

Verse six — The verb translated “humble yourselves” is not in the aorist middle but the passive voice, which means that the subject of the verb is passive in the hands of God and is acted upon by Him. the exhortation is “Be humbled,” or “Suffer yourselves to be humbled.” … The presence of humility in the life of a Christian is the prerequisite that god demands before He will exalt that Christian to a high place of privilege and honor in His service. — Wuest, page 128.

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The mighty hand of God [v.6] is a familiar phrase in the LXX, and is usually connected in thought with God’s deliverance of His people from Egypt. — Guthrie, page 1248.

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Verse seven — The word “care” is the translation of a Greek word which means “anxiety” or “worry.” The word “all” in the Greek text has the idea, not of every worry that comes along, but the whole of their worries. They are to cast upon God the whole of their worries, that is, come to the placed where they resolve to cast the whole of their future worries upon Him, and the result will be that when those things that wold otherwise worry them come up, they will not worry. The word “cast” is the translation of a word that means “having deposited with.” It refers here to a direct and once-for-all committal to God of all that would give us concern. … The words “for He careth for you” can be translated literally … “for you are His concern.” — Wuest, pages 128-129