Peter draws a conclusion from the psalm he has just quoted. If the Lord's eyes are over the righteous, who can really harm those who follow what is good? He is encouraging believers who might be afraid. Barnes reads it as a general rule: those who lead an upright and kind life "need apprehend no evil" as a general thing. Matthew Henry agrees that ordinarily there will be "but few so diabolical and impious" as to harm people who live so innocently. Gill goes deeper, explaining that no one can do the righteous any real harm, since wicked men can hurt the body but never the soul.

Peter immediately qualifies his own question: "But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled" (1 Peter 3:14). Instead of fear, he says, "sanctify the Lord God in your hearts," and be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks "a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear" (1 Peter 3:15). He adds that "it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing" (1 Peter 3:17), and points to Christ, who "suffered for sins, the just for the unjust" (1 Peter 3:18).

The words just before this question (1 Peter 3:10-12) are taken, Barnes says, "with some slight variations" from Psalm 34:12-16. Gill also traces them to Psalm 34. So the question rests on an Old Testament promise: "The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry" (Psalm 34:15).

"Followers" in the Textus Receptus (the Greek text behind the KJV) is mimetai, imitators. Many other Greek manuscripts read zelotai, zealous ones, which is why the ESV says "zealous for what is good." Gill mentions this reading: "Some copies, as the Alexandrian, and others, read, 'zealots'." Either way, the picture is of people eagerly devoted to what is good.

This question rests on God's watchful care. The Lord's eyes are over the righteous and His ears are open to their prayers (1 Peter 3:12). Peter holds two truths together. As a rule, doing good is the safer road. Barnes says a life of integrity tends toward safety, while also admitting that "the Saviour was persecuted by wicked people, though his life was wholly spent in doing good." So Peter does not promise that believers will never suffer.

What he does promise is that suffering for righteousness cannot rob them of blessing: "happy are ye" (1 Peter 3:14). Gill explains the question this way: the worst that wicked men can do touches the body, not the soul. The deepest harm is out of their reach. So instead of fearing, Peter tells them, "sanctify the Lord God in your hearts" (1 Peter 3:15).