Does this mean that women should not wear makeup and jewelry?

Peter writes, “Your adornment must not be merely external—braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses” (1 Pet. 3:3). Some of the early church fathers (e.g. Tertullian and Cyprian) and modern day Seventh-Day Adventists have used this passage to argue that women should never wear jewelry or makeup (c.f. 1 Tim. 2:9-10; Isa. 3:16-24). Is this the case?

The NASB adds the word “merely” in this translation—even though it doesn’t occur in the original Greek. However, they add this word for good reason: If Peter was unilaterally banning women from braiding their hair and wearing jewelry, then this would also mean that he was banning clothing of any kind! The term “dresses” (himation) literally means “clothing” (BDAG, p.475). Thus, the text literally states, “Let not your adorning be the outward adorning of braiding of hair and wearing of gold or putting on of clothing.” Thus, to be consistent in this reasoning, we would need to think that Peter is teaching women to walk around naked. Not only is that an absurd interpretation, but it also speaks directly against the spirit of the passage: Peter is stating that women should not derive their source of beauty from their outward appearance, but from their beautiful character. In a world that so often objectifies women as mere objects, this message is incredibly liberating for women—not just for the first century culture, but also for our own.