Paragraph 3:17–26

3:17a

And now, brothers: The phrase And now, brothers introduces the next part of Peter’s speech. The word now is not used as a time word here. Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

Well now, brethren
-or-
Relatives!
-or-

⌊Peter continued, saying,⌋ “Now, brothers

brothers: Here this word means “fellow Jews.” By using this word, Peter showed that he has not rejected them. It does not refer to actual brothers of the same parents. Here are some other ways to translate this word:

my fellow countrymen
-or-
my friends (Good News Translation)

you acted in ignorance: The words you acted in ignorance refer to their killing Jesus because they did not know that he truly was the Christ. They acted out of wrong expectations for the Christ. Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

you had no idea what you were really doing
-or-
you did not understand what you were doing

In some languages the verb acted is too general. People would not think that it refers to killing Jesus. If that is true in your language, refer to killing Jesus. For example:

what you…did to Jesus was due to your ignorance (Good News Translation)
-or-
in ignorance you did ⌊that to Jesus⌋
-or-
you acted in ignorance ⌊when you killed Jesus⌋

3:17b

as did your leaders: This clause indicates that the leaders also acted in ignorance that Jesus was truly the Christ. But it indicates that this information is extra information. It is not the main point. Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

as did also your rulers (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
Even your leaders, they also did not know.

your leaders: Peter was a Jew and spoke to Jews.

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