1:2a

To Timothy: Timothy was the name of the person to whom Paul wrote this letter. In some languages it is necessary to say: “I am writing to you, Timothy….”

1:2b

my beloved child: Timothy was not Paul’s child in the physical sense of that word. But Paul referred to Timothy several times as his “child.” This is perhaps because Paul had been responsible for Timothy’s spiritual conversion. If the people reading your translation only understand this phrase literally, you may want to say something like:

you are like a beloved child to me
-or-
it is as if you are my dear son

1:2c

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord: This phrase was a common way for Christians to greet each other during the time when Paul lived. It is a sort of prayer or blessing. Paul was asking God to bless Timothy. You may need to begin this blessing with a verb clause such as “I pray that God will give you…” or “I ask God to give you….”

Grace: The authors of the New Testament letters often used the word Grace in their greetings at the beginning of their letters. It is used to express their desire that God would bless the people who received the letter or to wish them well. Grace means that God favors people or that he is kind to people even though they do not deserve it.

mercy: The Greek word that English versions translate as mercy means that God treats us kindly or with compassion, or that he pities us.

peace: The Greek word that is translated peace here refers to the satisfaction we have in our innermost beings because we are in a harmonious relationship with God. This peaceful relationship is possible because he has forgiven our sins, and he causes us to live without having anxiety and fear. In this verse, peace is not referring to a person being at peace with other people.

God the Father: You may need to translate this phrase as “God our^(incl) Father” if that is the natural way to say this phrase in your language.

General Comment on 1:2c

Your language may usually require that you translate each of these nouns with a clause, rather than a single word. However, when translating greetings, you may want to use something shorter. In 1:2c, Paul was giving Timothy greetings, not teaching him about grace, mercy, and peace. Therefore it may not be necessary to include all the elements that are normally associated with these key terms.

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.