2:15

Peter wanted the Christians to behave so well that their unbelieving neighbors would not be able to criticize them.

In some languages it may be natural to break this verse up into two sentences. For example:

For it is God’s will that you should do good. In this way you will silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.

2:15a

For: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as For here means “because.” It introduces the reason why the believers should submit to their civil rulers.

it is God’s will that: The phrase God’s will here refers to the thing that God wants to happen. In some languages it may be necessary to translate God’s will with a verb phrase. Here is another way to translate this:

for God wants you to… (NET Bible)

2:15b

by doing good: This is the means by which God’s will could be carried out. In some languages it may be natural to say something like:

you should do good and so…

doing good: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as doing good is from the same word that is translated as “those who do right” in 2:14b. The Berean Standard Bible has changed from “right” to good for the sake of variety, in accordance with good English style. In your translation, use the same or a different word according to what is most natural in your language.

2:15c

you should silence the ignorance of foolish men: The Berean Standard Bible translates the Greek phrase literally here by saying silence the ignorance. The Revised Standard Version says similarly “you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.” But in many languages, neither “ignorance” nor “ignorant talk” (New International Version, Good News Translation) may be things that can be silenced. It may be more natural to speak of silencing people. For example:

make foolish people stop saying such ignorant things
-or-
silence foolish and ignorant people

you should silence: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as you should silence in this context refers to making it morally impossible rather than physically impossible for people to say bad things. The truth should be so obvious that people would be ashamed to keep talking badly about the believers. Other ways to translate this include:

you should cause those foolish people to fall silent
-or-
you should make it impossible for foolish people to say…

the ignorance: By ignorance, the Berean Standard Bible is actually referring to speech that is not based on knowledge of the facts. The person who is speaking does not know the truth. So in some languages it may be necessary to translate this as:

the talk/words of ignorant people

It is implied that what these people were saying was false and that they were saying bad things about the believers. In some languages it may be necessary to make this explicit:

the ⌊false⌋ things that ignorant people are saying ⌊about you⌋

foolish men: The word foolish means lacking good sense.

men: Here the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as men means people in general and refers to anyone who was speaking evil about believers.

General Comment on 2:15a–c

In some languages it may be natural to reverse the order of verse parts b and c. For example:

15a For it is God’s will that 15c you should cause foolish people to stop saying wrong things about you. 15b You can do this by doing good/right.
-or-
For God wants you to silence the ignorant talk of foolish people by the good things you do. (Good News Translation)
-or-
God wants you to silence stupid and ignorant people by doing right. (Contemporary English Version)

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