2:15

and free those who…were held in slavery by their fear of death: This clause tells the second purpose that Jesus had in becoming a human being (2:14b) and dying (2:14c). Jesus became human and died in order to set people free from the fear of death.

The verb free and the phrase held in slavery by are metaphors. The author used them to compare what Jesus did to the way someone rescues people from slavery. People were living like slaves because they were always afraid to die. After Jesus died for them (and came alive again), the people became free from fearing death. They did not have to be afraid to die anymore.

Some ways to translate this meaning are:

• Keep the metaphors. For example:

Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. (New Living Translation (2004))

• Use a simile and make the comparison more explicit. For example:

and free those who were like slaves all their lives because of their fear of death (New Century Version)
-or-
to release/help those who were living like slaves because they were afraid to die

• Use a different figure of speech that has the same meaning in your language. For example:

he helped those who were afraid to die and took away their fear. For as long as they lived, they were gripped/held tightly by their fear of dying.

• Translate the meaning without the figure of speech. For example:

But he also died to rescue all of us who live each day in fear of dying (Contemporary English Version)

Translate the figure of speech in a natural way in your language.

those who: The phrase those who is a general way to refer to everyone who feared death, that is, to human beings in general. In some languages it may be more natural to use a different way to refer to them. For example:

all of us who… (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
everyone who
-or-
we…our

who all their lives: The phrase who all their lives refers to the time that the people were alive on earth. Some other ways to translate it are:

who live each day (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
beginning from the time of their birth
-or-
since our becoming people here in this world

Refer to the people’s lifetimes in a natural way in your language.

all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death: Notice that the phrase by their fear of death is the cause or reason for the fact that all their lives people were held in slavery. In some languages it may be more natural to change the order of these phrases so that the reason comes before the result. For example:

all their lives they were afraid to die and/so they lived like slaves

General Comment on 2:14–15

In Greek 2:14–15 is one long sentence. In many languages it is more natural to translate it with two or three sentences. For example:

So because ⌊God’s⌋ children have human bodies, he also received a human body like they had. ⌊He did this⌋ so that when he died, he would make powerless the one who controls death, that is, the devil. Then he would release those people who were like slaves as long as they lived, because they were afraid to die.

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