1:13a, c
And …you: The word And here indicates that the same thing that happened to the Jews also happened to the Gentiles. Just as the Jews became Christ’s people, the Gentiles also became Christ’s people.
Here are other ways to translate this phrase:
You as well
-or-
And you also (New International Version)
1:13a
And in Him: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as And in Him is literally “in whom.” This is the first phrase in the verse and is repeated later in it. Scholars have different views about how these two occurrences of “in whom” are related to the other words in the context. See how you have translated the phrase “in him” or “in Christ” in other verses in this chapter (1:4a, 1:7a, 1:9b, 1:11a, 1:12a). Scholars have different views about how this phrase is connected to the rest of the sentence. The main views are:
(1) The phrase in Him is connected to the main verb (literally “sealed”) in 1:13c. It is repeated twice in Greek because other clauses come between the subject “you” and the main verb. (Notice that the God’s Word does not repeat “in him.”.) For example:
you were sealed in Him (New American Standard Bible)
(Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, Revised English Bible, English Standard Version, God’s Word, New Century Version)
(2) The phrase in Him is connected to an implied form of the verb “to be,” that is, “you also (are) in him.” English versions that follow this interpretation express it in different ways. For example:
were included in Christ (New International Version)
-or-
became God’s people (Good News Translation)
(3) The phrase in Him is connected to the verb “believed/trusted” in 1:13a. For example:
In whom ye also [trusted] (King James Version)
(King James Version, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, NET Bible, New Living Translation (2004))
(4) The phrase in Him is connected to the verb “heard.” For example:
Now you too, in him, have heard the message (New Jerusalem Bible)
(New Jerusalem Bible, probably Contemporary English Version)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). This fits the structure of the Greek text and does not require a translator to supply another verb. However, it may be more natural in many languages to translate the phrase “in him” only once.
If this is true in your language, you may be able to follow an example like the God’s Word as you translate this verse:
13a–e You heard and believed the message of truth, the Good News that he has saved you. In him you were sealed with the Holy Spirit whom he promised. (God’s Word)
having heard and believed: In some languages it may be necessary to specify what the Gentiles had hear and believed. In this context there are two possibilities:
(a) They heard and believed in the true message, the gospel of their salvation.
(b) They heard and believed in Christ.
The meaning of (a) and (b) are almost the same, because the gospel is about Christ. Both options have good support. If you must make one of these options explicit, you may use whichever is more natural in your language in this context.
the word of truth: The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the word of truth is literally “message of truth.” It is the first part of a parallelism with “the gospel of your salvation in 1:13b. It means “the word that is true” or “the true message ⌊from God ⌋ , ” and refers to the gospel or Good News. See the note below in 1:13b on “the gospel of your salvation” for examples of how the word of truth has been translated.
1:13b
the gospel of your salvation: The phrase the gospel of your salvation means “the good news that saved you.”
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase along with “word of truth” in 1:13a:
the true message, the Good News that brought you salvation (Good News Translation)
-or-
the truth, the Good News that God saves you (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
the truth, which is the good news about how you can be saved (Contemporary English Version)
For more information, see gospel and save, Word 2, in the Glossary.
1:13c
you were sealed: The phrase you were sealed is the translation of one Greek verb. This verb is passive. In some languages it may be necessary to make it active and supply the agent “God.” For example:
⌊God⌋ marked you with a seal
In NT times a person used a special symbol to mark something that belonged to him. That was called his “seal.” Here Paul uses “seal” as a metaphor to describe the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit that God gives his people is the seal to show they belong to him.
Here are some ways to translate this word:
• Use a verb or noun in your language that means seal. For example:
tribal mark
-or-
mark (put on animals) to show ownership
• Use a simile. If a metaphor is not clear (“God sealed you with the Holy Spirit”), you can say:
When in Christ God gave you the Holy Spirit, it was like he put his seal/mark on you.
• If this figure of speech is confusing, you may have to translate the meaning without the figure of speech. For example you could say:
In Christ God gave you the Holy Spirit to show that you belong to him.
you: Here, the pronoun you refers to the Gentiles. To make clear the contrast with the Jews in 1:12, you could say:
you non-Jews
-or-
you foreigners
1:13d
the promised Holy Spirit: The phrase the promised Holy Spirit means “the Holy Spirit that God had promised to give to his people.” See Holy, Meaning 3 in the Glossary for more information.
General Comment on 1:13e
There is implied information here. The purpose of the believers being marked with the seal (the promised Holy Spirit) was to show themselves and/or other people that they belonged to God. If this purpose is not clear, you may want to make it explicit. For example:
were given the promised Holy Spirit to show that you belong to God (Contemporary English Version)
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