1:10a

Peter told the people to whom he wrote this letter that they should demonstrate by behaving well that God had called them to be his people. When other people saw the Christians behaving well, it would help the other people to understand that God had called the Christians to be his people.

brothers: Peter called the people to whom he wrote this letter his “brothers” because they were also members of God’s family. This was a common way for New Testament writers to address those to whom they were writing (see Galatians 1:11; Hebrews 3:12; James 1:2; 1 John 3:13). It may be advisable to translate this as “fellow believers” so that people who read your translation will not think that Peter was writing to his physical brothers.

strive: The Greek contains a word here that the Berean Standard Bible has left implicit. However, this word is in most translations and can have one of two meanings:

(1) “more.” Most English versions interpret it in this way. They say that here it modifies the meaning of the word strive to mean “strive even more.” For example:

be all the more eager (New International Version (2011 Revision))
-or-
try even harder (Good News Translation)

(2) “rather.” In verse 5, Peter had already urged the Christians to whom he was writing to do all that they could do to live in a good way. So some scholars believe that Peter used the word “rather” in order to contrast what he would write next with the preceding verse. He was saying, therefore, that Christians should not forget that God has cleansed us from the spiritual uncleanness that sinning against him caused. Instead, they should eagerly desire to show others that they were God’s people by the way they behave.

It is recommended that you follow the first interpretation (1) like most English versions. See the Meaning Line in the Display for an example.

make your calling and election sure: Here, election means “choice.” The Bible clearly states that it is God who chooses and calls a person to become a Christian (see paragraph 1:3–4). But Peter wrote that Christians must cause their calling by God to be sure and certain. There are two possible ways of understanding this:

(1) From the preceding verses, it seems that Peter meant that, by behaving in a way that is full of character traits that are spiritually and morally excellent, we will prove to ourselves and to others that God has called us to be his people.

(2) However, some people think that Peter meant that his readers needed to do all these things in order to ensure that their calling and election would not lapse, but would be permanent.

It is recommended that you follow the first interpretation (1) as it fits the context best.

1:10b

stumble: The Greek word that Peter used here literally means “to stumble” or “to trip.” Here it is used as a figure of speech and can mean one of two things:

(1) “to fall away from your faith,” that is, “to turn away from God.” Many versions follow this by saying “fall away” (Good News Translation, The Jerusalem Bible).

(2) “to commit serious sin.” Obviously all Christians sin, but here some scholars believe that Peter was saying that if a believer did all the things he had just been talking about, he would not sin in a really serious way.

The first interpretation (1) is recommended. If you are following this interpretation, try to find an idiomatic expression in your language that means this same thing. Here is an example: “you will at no time leave God’s road.” If you decide to use the word “stumble,” it may be necessary to add something that will tell the people who read your translation that this word refers to turning away from God.

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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.