Paragraph 1:17–21
Some English versions do not begin a new paragraph here. Instead, 1:13–21 forms a paragraph (God’s Word, NET Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Revised Standard Version).
1:17a
Since you call on a Father: There are two ways of interpreting the meaning of the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Since :
(1) It means since and implies that the statement that follows is an accepted fact. For example:
You say that God is your Father (Contemporary English Version)
(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, New Century Version, New Living Translation (2004), Good News Translation)
(2) It means if and introduces a statement that may or may not be true. For example:
If you address as Father (New American Standard Bible)
(God’s Word, King James Version, NET Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible, Revised Standard Version, New American Standard Bible)
Peter definitely thought of his readers as being God’s children who prayed to him as their Father (see 1:14a). Therefore, it is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).
you call on a Father: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as you call on a Father refers to calling God “Father” when speaking to him.
For example:
You call him Father, when you pray to God (Good News Translation)
Notice also that the Good News Translation has included the phrase “when you pray to God” to make it clear that Peter was talking about praying to God.
a Father: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as a Father refers to God. In some languages it may be necessary to make this explicit. For example:
You pray to God and call him Father (New Century Version)
1:17b
who judges each one’s work impartially: This phrase describes God the Father. In some languages it may be natural to translate it as a separate sentence:
He judges each one’s work impartially.
If you have not yet made it explicit that Peter is talking about God, it may be natural to do so here:
⌊the God⌋ who judges each one’s work impartially
judges: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as judges here means to decide or declare whether something is right or wrong. In this context it does not specifically mean “condemn.” Some work God declares to be right and good, and some work he judges to be wrong and evil.
The Greek verb judges refers to God’s judging activity in general. It does not specifically refer to any particular act of judging, past or future. The New Living Translation (2004) translates judges here as:
judge or reward (New Living Translation (2004))
each one’s: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as each one’s includes all human beings. Other ways to translate each one’s include:
each person’s (New Century Version)
-or-
everybody’s
-or-
each individual’s (New Jerusalem Bible)
work: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as work refers to someone’s conduct or lifestyle as a whole. There are several ways to translate it:
• Use a singular noun:
work (New International Version (2011))
• Use a verb phrase:
what they have done
• Use a plural noun:
their actions
Use the word or phrase that is natural in your language.
impartially: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as impartially literally means “without receiving faces” or “without receiving persons.” In other words, it means that God judges all people the same way, regardless of who they are. God is fair; he judges people justly, without bias or prejudice. Other ways to say that God judges “impartially” include:
who judges everyone fairly
-or-
who judges all people according to their actions without favoritism (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
who judges all people by the same standard (Good News Translation)
Your language may have a suitable idiom that means “without favoring one person over another.” This idiom may use the idea of “face,” as the Greek expression does.
General Comment on 1:17a–b
In some languages it may be natural to translate 1:17a–b as a separate sentence:
You call on ⌊God as⌋ your Father, and he judges each person without partiality.
1:17c
1:17c gives the conclusion Peter drew from his statement in 1:17a–b. If you have translated 1:17a–b as a separate sentence, it may be natural to make it clear that 1:17c is a conclusion by using a word meaning “so” or “therefore.” For example:
⌊So⌋ you should live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.
conduct yourselves in reverent fear during your stay as foreigners: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as conduct yourselves in reverent fear during your stay as foreigners may be translated literally as “conduct the time of your exile in fear.” The Greek text refers explicitly to the time when Peter’s readers were living in this world, away from heaven, their true home. Other ways to translate this include:
live out the time of your temporary residence here (NET Bible)
-or-
while you are living in exile here on earth, behave
reverent fear: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as reverent fear is literally “fear.” In this context it refers to awe and wonder at the greatness and holiness of God. Other ways to translate it include:
reverence (Good News Translation)
-or-
awe (Revised English Bible)
-or-
respect (New Century Version)
stay as foreigners: The phrase stay as foreigners means that Peter’s readers were only temporary residents of this world. His words imply that a Christian’s eternal home is with God in heaven (see 1:1c).
Many English versions make the location of this temporary residence explicit. For example:
during the time of your stay on earth (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
during your time on earth (Revised English Bible)
General Comment on 1:17a–c
Verse parts 17a–b give the reason for what Peter told his readers to do in 1:17c. In some languages it may be more natural to translate the command first, before the reason for it. For example:
17c During your stay here as temporary residents ⌊of this earth⌋, behave with a respectful fear ⌊of God⌋, 17b because he judges everyone’s conduct fairly, 17a and you call him “Father.”
-or-
17c Live in reverence for God during your stay here on earth. 17a For you call him “Father,” 17b and he is the impartial Judge of what everyone does.
© 2018 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
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.