1:24–25

In 1:24–25a, Peter quoted from the Old Testament (probably the LXX) to confirm what he had said in 1:23, that God’s word is permanent and cannot be destroyed. The quotation is from Isaiah 40:6–8. Isaiah illustrated how short the lives of people are by comparing them to grass and wild flowers that live for only a short time. In contrast, the word of the Lord endures for ever.

1:24a

For: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as For signals that what follows supports or illustrates what Peter wrote in 1:23. What follows is a quotation from the Old Testament. Peter quoted the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 40:6–8). It is recommended that you make it clear to your readers that this is a quotation. You could do this in a footnote or make it explicit in the text. For example:

As the scripture says (Good News Translation)
-or-
That’s why ⌊Scripture says⌋ (God’s Word)
-or-
The prophet Isaiah said/wrote

If you follow the first or second example, you may translate “Scripture” with the term you use for the Old Testament. If you have a more specific term for the writings of the Old Testament prophets, you may use it here.

1:24b

All flesh is like grass: This is a simile. Peter is quoting the prophet Isaiah, who was comparing people to grass in order to illustrate and emphasize that they only live for a short time. In some languages it may be necessary to make the point of comparison explicit. For example:

Humans wither like grass (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
People are like grass that dies away (New Living Translation (2004))

In other languages it may be more natural to make the comparison by using a metaphor. For example:

all humanity is grass (New Jerusalem Bible)

All flesh: This is the beginning of what Peter quoted from the Old Testament. The Greek words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as All flesh refer to people. Some English versions have chosen to translate it literally (King James Version, New American Standard Bible, NET Bible, Revised Standard Version). In this context it refers to all human beings, both male and female. Here is another way to translate this phrase:

All people (God’s Word)

grass: Peter was referring to the wild grass that grows in an open area or field. The term grass here seems to include the various plants that grow in among the grass and have flowers. It is recommended that you use a general word for grass in your language.

1:24c

and all its glory like the flowers of the field: This is another simile. Peter quoted Isaiah, comparing human good looks to wild flowers. They are similar in that both last for only a short time. In some languages it may be natural or necessary to make this point of comparison explicit. For example:

their glory fades like wild flowers (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
their beauty fades as quickly as the beauty of wildflowers (New Living Translation (2004))

its glory: In this context, the word that the Berean Standard Bible and most English versions translate as glory refers to human attractiveness or good looks. Several English versions have translated this as:

beauty (New Living Translation (2004))

the flowers of the field: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the flowers of the field is literally “flower of grass.” The Greek word for “grass” here is the same as in 1:24b. Apparently, this Greek word included the flowering plants that grow in fields with grass. (See the note on “grass” at 1:24b.) Some English versions have translated this as:

wild flowers (Good News Translation)

1:24d

the grass withers and the flowers fall: In this verse part, Peter quoted Isaiah, explaining in what way grass and wild flowers are like people and different from the word of God.

the grass withers: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as withers here means that the grass dries up and dies. Other ways this has been translated include:

dies (New Century Version)
-or-
dries up (Contemporary English Version)

the flowers fall: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as fall means “to fall off/from.” In this context, the flowers, having served their brief purpose, fell off the stems that supported them. Other ways you may be able to translate this include:

the flower drops off (God’s Word)
-or-
the flower falls away (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
the flowers fall ⌊down⌋ ⌊from their stems⌋
-or-
the flowers fall ⌊to the ground⌋

You may use flower (sing.) or flowers (plur.), whichever sounds most natural in your language.

© 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.