2:7a
in order that: The conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as in order that introduces the purpose for which God saved people (2:4–6). God saved people in order to show how great his grace is.
Here are some other ways to translate this conjunction:
so (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
for the purpose that
-or-
God did that so
You should translate it in a way that is natural in your language.
in the coming ages: The phrase in the coming ages refers to the future. It may refer to the present church age, or it may refer to the time after Christ’s second coming, or both. The exact time period should not be made explicit.
Here are some other ways this phrase has been translated:
for all time to come (Good News Translation)
-or-
for all future time (New Century Version)
-or-
in all future ages (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
in future years
2:7b
He might display: The Greek text does not indicate to whom God would show his great grace. Some commentators say he will show it to people. Other commentators say God will show his grace to both people and angels. If you must make it explicit, you can translate in a general way such as:
to the world
-or-
to people
might display: The phrase might display expresses potential and means “would be able to show.” It does not express doubt.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
could show (New Century Version)
-or-
would exhibit/manifest
-or-
will make clear
-or-
will make known
the surpassing riches of His grace: As in 1:7c and 2:4, Paul here used the word riches in a figurative sense to mean “abundant” or “great.” This means that God’s grace/kindness to us is so great that nothing can be compared with it. His grace/kindness is greater than anything else.
grace: Here, grace means that God shows his generous kindness to people. See how you translated grace in 2:5b. Also, see grace, Meaning 2 in the Glossary for more information.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
extraordinary greatness of his grace (Good News Translation)
-or-
incredible wealth of his grace (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
He is very generous to us
2:7c
demonstrated by His kindness to us in Christ Jesus: The clause demonstrated by His kindness to us means that God shows his great grace through his kindness to us.
kindness: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as kindness also means “goodness.” It is used only here and in Romans 11:22 and 2 Corinthians 6:6. It is a different Greek word than the word for “love” or “grace.”
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
kindly acts toward us
-or-
kind way of helping us
-or-
being good to us
in Christ Jesus: The phrase in Christ Jesus represents the means by which God would show his love for us.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
because of what Christ Jesus has done (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
By what Christ Jesus has done for us.
General Comment on 2:7a–c
In some languages, it may be helpful to reorder verse parts 7a, 7b, and 7c. The example below has the verse parts in the following order: 7c, 7a, 7b. For example:
7c He showed us his kindness through Christ Jesus, 7a so that for all time to come 7b people will be able to see the greatness of his grace.
The second meaning line in the display shows another example of reordering 2:7a–c.
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