---
title: 1 Peter 2:13
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/1-peter-2-13/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/1-peter-2-13.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: 1 Peter 2:13
testament: NT
section: Letters
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# 1 Peter 2:13

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to the king as the supreme authority,

## JW Usage

1 Peter 2:13 ("subject yourselves to every human creation") is affirmed in Watchtower teaching as a command to respect civil authority within the limits of God's law. The verse sits uneasily with the 1940s-1996 policy of refusing alternative civilian service — hospital work, forestry, community service — even when the state offered it as an alternative to military conscription. Peter's subjection command, Paul's Romans 13:1-7 command, and Jesus's Matthew 5:41 command ("if someone forces you to go one mile, go two") were difficult to square with the refusal, and branch committees from Belgium, Canada, Spain, and elsewhere wrote to headquarters to say so. The policy was quietly reversed in the 1 May 1996 Watchtower without apology.

## Protestant Usage

Peter's verb here is a strong middle-voice imperative: subject yourselves (hypotagēte) to every human institution. The scope includes kings, governors, and the magistracy of civic life generally. The only limit Peter names is Acts 5:29's overriding principle ("we must obey God rather than men"), which triggers when a civil command would require direct disobedience to Christ. Hospital work is not such a command; forestry is not such a command; jury service is not such a command. The 1978 Governing Body vote was 11-5 in favour of changing the alternative-service policy — and because a two-thirds threshold was not met, thousands of young men continued to go to prison for eighteen more years. That is not Peter's "subjection to every human creation"; it is a procedural delay imposed on courageous brothers whose scriptural footing was not where Peter stood. Use 2:13 gently; the sacrifices of imprisoned brothers were real and honourable, but the policy that demanded them was a human decision, not a Petrine command.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [Alternative Service — 50 Years of Needless Imprisonment](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/alternative-service-refusal.md) — Romans 13:1-7 / Matthew 5:41 — 'If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two' [Authority]