3:18a–b
in this way God has fulfilled what He foretold through all the prophets, saying that His Christ would suffer: God told the prophets about what would happen to the Christ hundreds of years before Jesus was born. That is what the word foretold refers to here. The word fulfilled indicates that the Jews causing Jesus to suffer and die was what years earlier God had told the prophets about. Here are some other ways to translate these words:
that was how God made happen what he had announced beforehand by all the prophets, ⌊namely,⌋ that his Christ would suffer
-or-
the things God foretold a long ago through all the prophets—that his Christ would suffer—he has fulfilled in this way (NET Bible)
-or-
God announced long ago through all the prophets that his Messiah had to suffer; and he made it come true in this way. (Good News Translation)
3:18a
But: There is some contrast between the Jews acting in ignorance but God using their deeds to fulfill his prophecies about the Christ. Many English versions have the word But here. However in some languages it is more natural not to use this word here. For example:
God… (Good News Translation)
this: The word this refers back to the Jews acting in ignorance. It includes causing Jesus to suffer and killing him. Here are some other ways to translate this word:
that
-or-
what you did
prophets: A “prophet” is a person who speaks on behalf of God. God speaks to the prophet through words and visions. Then the prophet tells God’s message (the prophecy) to the people or writes it down for their use. Here are some ways to translate the word prophets:
spokesmen for God
-or-
men who speaks God’s words
-or-
God’s message-speakers
See how you translated “prophet” in 2:16.
3:18b
saying that His Christ would suffer: These words describe what God had foretold (3:18a). For example:
⌊that is,⌋ he had said that his Christ would suffer
His Christ: The word His indicates that the Christ was someone whom God had chosen and sent him to do his will.
Christ: The word Christ is used here as a title. It is not just one of Jesus’ names. The Jews used this title to refer to the special person whom God had appointed and promised to send as king and savior. See how you translated Christ in 3:6.
suffer: This word refers to feeling pain and distress. Here it refers to the terrible things that people did to Jesus before he died. It probably also refers to his death.
In some languages a literal translation would not refer to those terrible deeds. If that is true in your language, explain the correct meaning in your translation. For example:
saying that ⌊people would cause⌋ his Christ to suffer
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