1:14a
pledge: A pledge is a down payment. It is the first part of a payment for something that shows that the full price will be paid later. Paul used this as a metaphor for the Holy Spirit. Just as a person gives a deposit as a promise/pledge that he will pay the full price later, so God gave us the Holy Spirit as a pledge that he will one day give us our full inheritance.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
deposit (New International Version)
-or-
down payment (NET Bible)
inheritance: Here Paul used the word inheritance in a figurative sense. Inheritance literally refers to the money or property that someone receives when a relative dies. In its figurative sense, inheritance in this context refers to all the good things that God will give his people. It includes salvation and a future life in heaven with God.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
what God has stored up for his people (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
everything he promised (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
promised blessing
1:14b
until the redemption: Here the word redemption refers to God completely freeing us from evil and giving us new bodies. This will happen when Christ comes back to earth.
In one sense, God has already redeemed us, as Paul said in 1:7. But God has not yet given us everything that he has promised. Now he has given us the Holy Spirit as a seal/sign that we belong to him (1:13) and as a guarantee/pledge that in the future he will completely redeem us from this sinful world.
In some languages it may be necessary to translate the noun redemption with a verb. For example:
redeemed (Revised English Bible)
-or-
purchased us (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
set free (Contemporary English Version, God’s Word)
-or-
gives full freedom (New Century Version)
See redeem in the Glossary for more information.
of those who are God’s possession: We who are God’s children are called God’s possession. We belong to him, that is, he possesses us.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
his own people (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
those who are his (Good News Translation, New Century Version)
-or-
to belong to him (God’s Word)
1:14c
to the praise of His glory: God will redeem his people so that they will praise him for his greatness and glory.
Here are some other ways to translate these phrases:
Let ⌊us⌋ praise him for his greatness.
-or-
Praise him for his greatness.
-or-
So that ⌊we and others⌋ may praise him for his greatness
See how you translated similar phrases in 1:6a and 1:12a–b.
glory: Here glory means “God’s magnificence or greatness.” See glory, Meaning 1 in the Glossary for more information.
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