2:6a
In this verse part Paul described the way in which Christ acted as a mediator.
gave Himself: This means that Jesus willingly died.
ransom: The Greek word antilutron that the Berean Standard Bible translates as ransom refers to a price that was paid to set someone free from captivity or slavery. In this verse Paul said that Jesus himself was the ransom. When he died, he paid the price to set people free (see Romans 3:23–24 and 1 Peter 1:18–19).
Paul did not say who received the payment of Jesus’ death. (Since the New Testament never actually states to whom the payment was made, different theories have developed. The theory that God paid himself is referred to by Millard Erickson in Christian Theology, page 796, as the commercial or satisfaction theory of the atonement. He says, “It emphasizes that Christ died to satisfy a principle in the very nature of God the Father. Not only was the atonement not primarily directed at man, but it also did not involve any sort of payment to Satan.”) So you should avoid making this explicit in your translation. (R. W. Lyon, in the article entitled “Ransom” in Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, page 908, says, “In the NT the terms of ransom and purchase, which in other contexts suggest an economic or financial exchange, speak of the consequences or results (cf. 1 Cor. 7:23). The release is from judgment (Rom. 3:25–26), sin (Eph. 1:7), death (Rom. 8:2). There is no need, then, to ask the question posed so often in the past: to whom was the ransom paid?”) For example, the New Century Version says:
He gave himself as a payment to free all people.
and the New Living Translation (2004 Revision) says:
He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone.
In some languages it will not be possible to keep the figure of speech about paying a ransom. If this is true in your language, you could follow the Revised English Bible which says:
who sacrificed himself to win freedom for all mankind
However if you translate that way, the verse will not explain the way that Jesus’ death sets people free from sin. So try to keep the figure of speech if you can.
A similar Greek word lutron occurs in Matthew 20:28 and Mark 10:45. In those verses, Jesus said that he came “to give his life as a ransom for many.” Try to translate ransom in the same way here as you did in these other passages.
for: The Greek word huper that the Berean Standard Bible translates as for means “on behalf of, in the place of” in this context.
all: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as all here refers to all people. It includes all human beings: men, women, and children. (There is debate as to whether Christ actually died for all people, meaning every single person (this is called universal atonement), or only for the elect (this is called limited atonement). John Stott’s statement at this point is worth mentioning: “As with the statement that God desires all people to be saved, so with the statement that Christ gave himself for all people, it is possible to argue that ‘all’ means ‘all kinds and classes’ and not ‘absolutely everybody’. Yet it is probably wiser to concede that Scripture appears to affirm both positions in an antinomy [a logical contradiction which cannot be resolved] which we are at present unable to resolve. Whatever we may decide about the scope of the atonement, we are absolutely forbidden to limit the scope of world mission. The gospel must be preached to all, and salvation must be offered to all” (page 71).)
2:6b
the testimony that was given at just the right time: The Greek text here literally says “the testimony in its own times.” In most languages it is necessary to supply a verb here. The Berean Standard Bible does so by using the verb given. Paul had mentioned Christ’s sacrifice in 2:5b–6a. Here he said it was the message that has been told to people (by God).
the testimony: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as testimony refers to something that proves something else. In this verse Paul said that Jesus’ death was a testimony, or proof, that God wanted all people to be saved (2:4a) and to come to know the truth (2:4b). The Good News Translation makes this clear by translating this verse part as:
That was the proof at the right time that God wants everyone to be saved
at just the right time: The Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates as at just the right time means that God announced his message to people at the exact time he had chosen. For example, the New Living Translation (2004 Revision) says:
This is the message that God gave to the world at the proper time.
(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version (2011 Revision), Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Standard Bible, Revised English Bible, NET Bible, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version, New Living Translation (2004 Revision))
General Comment on 2:5–6
As stated above, these verses possibly contain a saying that believers used to recite. Some English versions try to show this by using a poetry format. For example, the Contemporary English Version says:
5aThere is only one God,
5band Christ Jesus
is the only one
who can bring us
to God.
5cJesus was truly human, 6aand he gave himself to rescue all of us. 6bGod showed us this at the right time.
Another way to indicate this is to use quotations marks for the saying. However, scholars do not agree about where the saying ends. It may end with 2:6b, or 2:6b may have been a comment made by Paul. If it was a comment, it was not part of the saying (See the New Revised Standard Version). Therefore, it is recommended that you do not use any special formatting here.
© 2003 by SIL International®
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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.