5:5a
For: The Greek conjunction gar, which the Berean Standard Bible translates as For, indicates that the words that follow are the grounds or evidence for Paul’s words in 5:4a. Here is one way to translate this:
It will not come unexpectedly for you because (SSA)
Many English versions leave this conjunction implicit in this verse. Introduce this verse in a natural way in your language.
you are all sons of the light and sons of the day: To refer to someone as the “son” of some object is a Hebrew metaphor. It means that the person has the same characteristics as the object or belongs to the object.
sons of the light: This means those who live in the light (as opposed to the darkness in 5:4a, 5:5b), those who belong to the light. You should try to translate this in a way that contrasts with 5:4a.
sons of the day: This means those who belong to the day (as opposed to the night in 5:5b). It may mean the same thing as “sons of the light.”
These are difficult phrases to translate. Here are two suggested ways to deal with this part of the verse:
• You could keep the metaphor of light and day, as most modern English versions have done. For example:
people who belong to the light, who belong to the day (Good News Translation)
• You could combine the two metaphors. For example,
people who do everything as though it were done in the light, that is, in the daytime (UBS Handbook Handbook, page 109)
-or-
people who do what is right as people usually do when it is light/daytime” (SSA).
5:5b
we do not belong to the night or to the darkness: This part of the verse repeats 5:5a, but it uses negative statements instead of the positive ones of 5:5a. The word darkness here means the same as it does in 5:4a.
we: This refers to all believers.
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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.