1:10a
in my prayers at all times: In some languages it is better to use a verb for the meaning of prayers here. For example:
every time I pray (God’s Word)
prayers: This word refers to talking to God, praising him, thanking him, and asking him to do something.
1:10b
that: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as that is often translated “if.” Here, it occurs before a Greek word that is often translated as “somehow.” The Berean Standard Bible does not directly translate this word. Here the word “if” indicates that Paul was uncertain whether or not he would go to Rome. For example:
if somehow
These words also indicate that Paul was not sure how he would get to Rome. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:
if by any means (King James Version)
-or-
if, in some way,
now at last: This phrase indicates that Paul had wanted to visit the believers in Rome for some time, and at this time might finally go. It is not clear how long he had wanted to go to Rome. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:
finally (Good News Translation)
-or-
for a long time but now
by God’s will: This indicates that God would decide if Paul would go or not. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:
that God will decide/choose that
-or-
that God will allow
-or-
if God wants it (New Century Version)
I may succeed: The Greek word here is more literally “I may be led on a good road.” Paul hoped that God would guide him so that he would have a good way to travel to Rome. Many languages can translate the more literal Greek for the correct meaning. For example:
He might make a way that
-or-
he will open give a/any way to me
-or-
I may be granted good passage
Note that the first two examples above change the Greek passive to an active clause.
Some English versions follow the more figurative meaning of this Greek word: “to succeed,” as the Berean Standard Bible does. But the more literal sense seems a better way to translate here.
© 2020 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.