1:9

now that you are receiving…salvation: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as now that you are receiving…salvation is literally “receiving…salvation.” There are two ways to interpret the connection between this phrase and 1:8c:

(1) The believers were rejoicing because they were receiving salvation. For example:

because you are receiving…salvation (Good News Translation)

(Berean Standard Bible, Contemporary English Version, NET Bible, New International Version, New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation)

(2) The believers were rejoicing and at the same time they were receiving salvation. For example:

And you are receiving…salvation (New Century Version)

(New Jerusalem Bible, New Living Translation (2004), Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New Century Version)

The King James Version reads simply “receiving,” and the New American Standard Bible “obtaining,” which can be understood either way. It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).

are receiving: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as are receiving often refers to obtaining something as a reward or prize. Other ways to say this are:

obtain(ing) (God’s Word, New American Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version)
-or-
attaining (NET Bible)

If you have a natural way in your language to speak of people receiving what is due to them, then you may be able to use it here.

the goal of your faith: There are two ways to interpret the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as goal in this context:

(1) It refers to the goal or purpose of the believers’ faith. They believed in Jesus in order to be saved. For example:

the goal of your faith (God’s Word)

(Berean Standard Bible, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version, NET Bible, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, Good News Translation, God’s Word)

(2) It refers to the result of the believers’ faith. They believed in Jesus and as a result, they were saved. For example:

the outcome of your faith (Revised Standard Version)

(New American Standard Bible, New Living Translation (2004), Revised English Bible, Revised Standard Version, King James Version, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) and the majority of English versions.

your faith: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as faith refers to believing and trusting Jesus Christ. If it is necessary for you to translate it as a verb, it may be possible to say something like:

you are trusting ⌊Jesus Christ⌋ ⌊so that you may receive⌋ your salvation

the salvation of your souls: The phrase the salvation of your souls refers to being saved by Jesus Christ from sin and eternal death. Peter’s readers trusted in Jesus Christ as their Savior, and he was saving them at that very time. They would be finally saved from all sin at the last day.

salvation: Peter used this same word in 1:5b. There he spoke of the time when God will save his people in the future. Here he writes that God is already saving his people at the present time.

souls: In this context the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as souls refers to the believers themselves. It does not refer only to their spirits. In some languages it may be best to use a word like “you” or “your.” For example:

your salvation
-or-
is saving you

© 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.