3:5a

which: The Greek word which the Berean Standard Bible translates as which refers back to the “mystery” or “hidden plan” mentioned in the previous verse.

If you need to make this word more clear, here are some ways to translate this word:

that secret (New Century Version)
-or-
this mystery (God’s Word)
-or-
this plan

was not made known: This is a passive clause. If it would be more natural in your language to use an active phrase in this case, here are some ways you can translate this phrase:

God did not reveal it (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
God did not announce it

to men: The word men refers here to people in general, not just males.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

people (God’s Word)
-or-
human beings (Good News Translation)

in other generations: The phrase in other generations is a way of referring to the past in a general way.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

previous generations (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
in past times (Good News Translation)
-or-
in the time before Jesus came

3:5b

now: The word now refers to the time when Paul lived.

been revealed by the Spirit: This is a passive clause. If it would be more natural in your language to make this an active clause, you can translate like this:

God revealed it through/by the Holy Spirit… (similar to Good News Translation)
-or-
God caused the Holy Spirit to reveal…
-or-
The Spirit revealed… (similar to God’s Word)

revealed: The verb revealed means the same thing as the verb “made known” in 3:5a. They are synonyms.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

told (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
shown (New Century Version)

the Spirit: The word Spirit here refers to the Holy Spirit. God revealed his plan to the apostles and prophets by causing the Holy Spirit to reveal it to them. He did it “by the work/power/hand of the Holy Spirit.”

3:5c

God’s holy apostles and prophets: The word holy modifies both apostles and prophets, not just apostles. It means they were consecrated, set apart and specially chosen for a task. It does not mean that they were pure or sinless. See Holy, Meaning 3 in the Glossary for more information.

God chose certain people to be apostles and prophets, and in this way he set them apart. You could translate this:

the people God ⌊especially⌋ chose/appointed to be apostles and prophets

In some languages, a translation of this phrase may exclude Paul from the group of apostles and prophets. However, since Paul was an apostle, you should translate this phrase in a way that makes it clear that Paul was part of that group. For example:

us (excl.) who are God’s holy apostles and prophets

apostles: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as apostles is literally “sent ones.” See how you translated apostles in 2:20a. For more information see apostle in the Glossary.

prophets: In this context, prophets refer to people in the church who had the ability to speak messages directly from God. See how you translated prophets in 2:20a. See prophet in the Glossary for more information.

© 1999, 2019 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.