110 Travis B. Williams One of the reasons why partition theories became so popular and why the reality of suffering in the first half of the epistle was often questioned is the presence of the unusual grammatical construction found in 1 Pet 3,14 and 17: the fourth-class condition. For the most part, it is assumed that in the Koine period the fourth-class condition indicated a future contingency with a possible or, in many cases, only a remote chance of fulfillment (e.g., “if this could happen”)2. If this meaning is applied to the condition in 1 Pet 3,14a, the following sense appears to be demanded: “Even if you happen to suffer for righteousness [and it is not likely that you will], you would be blessed”. As such, it seems to imply not the reality of suffering, but merely the remote possibility. Such an interpretation, of course, would be contrary to the commonly agreed upon situational background of the Anatolian readers. Within Petrine studies, commentators have come to conclude that the recipients found themselves in the midst of social conflict with outsiders who were reacting hostilely against their newly-adopted Christian faith3. This apparent contradiction has not gone unnoticed by those who hold to the unity of 1 Peter, however. Various proposals have been set forth to explain this unusual grammatical form (see below); nevertheless, in spite of the numerous suggestions that have been offered, the condition has yet to be adequately accounted for. The purpose of the present study is not to call the modern consensus into question. Rather, it is to solidify the foundation upon which it is built. The study will be an attempt to examine the meaning of the fourth-class condition in 1 Pet 3,14a and its function within the overall argument of the letter. This, in turn, will not only shed light on the interpretation of 1 Pet 3,13-17, it will also provide the unity of the epistle with the one final piece of substantiation. 2. Methodological Clarification Our entry into the discussion will begin with a few words of methodological clarification. There are three problems, in particular, 2 There are actually no complete fourth-class conditions (i.e., εἰ + optative in the protasis along with ἄν + optative in the apodosis) in the NT due to the decreasing use of the optative in the Hellenistic period. Instead, only incomplete conditions (either protasis or apodosis) appear. Yet this language will be employed in order to maintain continuity with the terminology found in modern grammatical works. 3 On the nature of conflict represented in 1 Peter, see T.B. Williams, Persecution in 1 Peter: Differentiating and Contextualizing Early Christian Suffering (NovTSup 145; Leiden 2012).