1:12a
God caused the prophets to understand that their prophecies about Christ suffering and then receiving glory would not be fulfilled in their lifetime. Instead, future generations, after Jesus Christ’s ministry on earth, would benefit from knowing how God had fulfilled these prophecies through Jesus Christ. Peter wrote this letter at a time when many of these prophecies had been fulfilled and his readers had been taught to what events these prophecies referred.
It was revealed to them: This is a passive verb that does not specify who did the action. Your language may require you to say who revealed this to the prophets. In this paragraph, Peter mentioned the Holy Spirit twice as the agent sent from heaven. Here is a way you could translate this phrase:
⌊The Holy Spirit⌋ revealed to them
Here is another way to translate it:
⌊God⌋ revealed to them
revealed: In this context the Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as revealed means “told” or “made known.” The prophets did not actually see their prophecies about Christ fulfilled. You may be able to translate this as:
enabled the prophets to understand
In 1:11b, Peter wrote about the Holy Spirit communicating with the prophets. If you use a verb here in 1:12 that is similar to the verb you used in 1:11, then you may want to add “also” in 1:12. For example:
⌊The Holy Spirit also⌋ told them
1:12b
they were not serving themselves, but you: The phrase they were not serving themselves, but you means “the prophets were not helping/benefitting themselves but they were helping/benefitting you, my readers.” God did not give these prophecies to the prophets in order for the prophets to know exactly when they would be fulfilled. Instead, by telling the prophecies, the prophets benefitted people who lived much later, including Peter’s readers. At the time when Peter wrote this letter, his readers could know when and how God had made the prophecies concerning Jesus Christ happen. Another way to say this is:
not for their own benefit, but for yours (Good News Translation)
they: The pronoun they refers to the Old Testament prophets who prophesied about Jesus Christ.
when they foretold: The Berean Standard Bible has supplied the words when they foretold in order to make the translation clearer and more natural English. The Greek text does not contain these words. Several other English translations contain similar phrases. For example:
delivering the message (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
when they told (New Century Version)
the things: The phrase the things refers to the sufferings and glory of Christ mentioned in 1:11c.
1:12c
now announced by those who preached the gospel to you: By the time Peter wrote this letter, these prophecies concerning Christ had been fulfilled. Christian teachers had announced these prophecies to people, including Peter’s readers, telling them how Jesus Christ had fulfilled the prophecies.
The verb announced is in the passive. In some languages it may be necessary to use an active verb:
that those who preached the gospel to you told you…
-or-
that the evangelists announced/declared to you….
now: In this verse, now refers to the time when Peter lived. Peter’s readers had heard the prophecies about Jesus Christ as Savior, and they had heard that these prophecies had been fulfilled.
announced: The Greek says literally “announced to you.” The Berean Standard Bible omits the phrase “to you” for brevity, but it may be necessary in your language to specify to whom something was announced. If so, you can say “to you” (plural). The verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as announced is very general in meaning. Its basic meaning is to provide information. Other ways that you may be able to translate this Greek verb include:
reported (King James Version)
-or-
informed
-or-
proclaimed
by those who preached the gospel to you: Peter identified the means by which his readers heard about the prophecies and how Jesus Christ had fulfilled them. They heard it from those, which refers to the people who had preached the gospel to them.
preached the gospel: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as preached the gospel can also be translated as:
announced the Good News (Good News Translation)
-or-
spread the Good News (God’s Word)
-or-
brought…good news (New Revised Standard Version)
the gospel: The examples above show that the gospel means the good news. If your language requires you to state the content of the good news, what the good news is about, then you may be able to say:
the good news ⌊about Jesus Christ⌋
-or-
the good news ⌊about God saving people/you⌋
1:12d
by the Holy Spirit: The phrase by the Holy Spirit means “under the Holy Spirit’s direction/leading” or “with the Holy Spirit’s power.” Various ways of translating this include:
by the power of the Holy Spirit (Good News Translation)
-or-
in the power of the Holy Spirit (Revised English Bible)
-or-
with the help of the Holy Spirit (New Century Version)
the Holy Spirit sent from heaven: The Holy Spirit is the same as the Spirit of Christ mentioned in 1:2b.
sent from heaven: The phrase sent from heaven is passive. Peter does not say who sent the Holy Spirit, God or Christ. If your language requires you to specify who sent the Holy Spirit, you may supply either subject. If you have mentioned Christ as the one who sent the Spirit in 1:11b, then you may wish to repeat this. Otherwise, you may say:
by the Holy Spirit whom ⌊God⌋ sent from heaven
heaven: The word heaven is the name of the dwelling place of God. Saying sent from heaven is another way of saying “sent from God.” In some languages it may not be necessary to mention God and heaven separately and explicitly. See how you translated heaven in 1:4c.
1:12e
Even angels long to look into these things: The angels do not need to be saved from sin and death. Even so, they want to understand God’s plan to save human beings. They are very interested in what God has done to deliver his people.
Even: The Berean Standard Bible has supplied the word Even. It is not explicit in the Greek text. However, it does express the emphasis here, and many other translations also supply this word, as you may wish to do as well.
angels: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as angels here refers to the good spirit beings who serve God. It does not refer to the demons, the fallen angels who follow Satan. If just saying angels in your translation could be misunderstood to include demons, then you may need to make it clear which angels Peter was referring to. For example:
the ⌊holy/good⌋ angels.
-or-
⌊God’s holy⌋ angels.
long: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as long means “are strongly desiring.” Some other ways to translates this are:
eagerly (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
greatly desire
to look into: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as look here means to try to “understand” or “comprehend” something. Here is another way to translate this phrase:
know more about (Contemporary English Version)
these things: The phrase these things refers to the sufferings of Jesus the Messiah in his crucifixion and the glory of his resurrection. If a literal translation of things would refer to material objects, you may be able to say instead:
these events
-or-
these facts
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