Paragraph 2:11–12

2:11a

Beloved: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Beloved was a common way for a letter writer to address his readers. It expressed his affection for them. It does not imply that Peter actually knew them personally as individuals. Some other ways Beloved can be translated include:

Dear ones
-or-
you whom I love
-or-
my friends (Good News Translation)

I urge you: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as urge means to ask very strongly or to earnestly recommend someone to do something. Other ways to translate this include:

I beg you
-or-
I beseech you
-or-
I appeal to you (Revised English Bible)

as foreigners and exiles: Peter reminds his readers again (see 1:1, 1:17) that this world is not their real home, so they are living here as foreigners and exiles.

Commentators agree that in this context foreigners means much the same things as exiles. The two words are used together as a stylistic device to emphasize what Peter is saying. Some English translations therefore combine them. For example:

as aliens in a foreign land (Revised English Bible)

foreigners: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as foreigners is related to the word that it translates as “foreigners” in 1:17c. It refers to someone who is living temporarily in a country of which he is not a citizen.

exiles: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as exiles is the same as that in 1:1c. It again refers to someone living in a land that is not his own. See how you translated this word in 1:1c.

Some other ways foreigners and exiles can be translated include:

temporary residents and foreigners (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
strangers and refugees (Good News Translation)
-or-
aliens and exiles (Revised Standard Version)

General Comment on 2:11a

The fact that the believers were foreigners and exiles is the ground for the appeal. So in some languages it may be helpful to say:

…you are foreigners and strangers on this earth. So I beg you… (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
…you are foreigners and aliens here. So I warn you… (New Living Translation (2004))

2:11b

to abstain from the desires of the flesh: The word abstain means to hold oneself back from doing something.

So the phrase to abstain from the desires of the flesh means “not to do things you want to do that are wrong” or “to avoid doing the things that your sinful human nature wants to do.”

from the desires of the flesh: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the desires of the flesh is literally “fleshly desires.” The adjective “fleshly,” that is, “of the flesh,” refers in this context to the human nature that tends towards sin. “Flesh” is here contrasted with the “soul,” which is the immortal and spiritual part of man that desires to do God’s will.

If possible, do not translate “flesh” as “body.” It is true that sinful actions are done with our bodies, but our minds and hearts are involved as well (Mark 7:21).

Other ways to say this phrase include:

to keep away from fleshly desires (NET Bible)
-or-
not to surrender to sinful desires
-or-
avoid doing the bad things you want to do

2:11c

which war against your soul: This is a figure of speech. Peter was saying that all sinful desires are like enemies that are fighting against the believer’s soul.

your soul: The soul is the real person/individual, as in 1:9. It is the person who has been rescued for eternal life. This life is threatened by the desires of the unredeemed human nature.

Other ways of saying this include:

that attack the soul (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
that battle your soul
-or-
those desires that fight against you (Contemporary English Version)

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