12:12a

Be joyful in hope: There are several ways to interpret the Greek grammar that the Berean Standard Bible translates as in :

(1) It indicates what we are to feel joy about, as in the Berean Standard Bible.

(Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, English Standard Version, New American Bible, Revised Edition, New American Standard Bible, King James Version, New Living Translation (2004), God’s Word, NET Bible)

(2) It indicates what makes our rejoicing possible. Hope helps us to rejoice. For example:

Let your hope keep you joyful (Good News Translation)

(Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, Revised English Bible)

(3) It indicates what the source of our rejoicing is. For example:

Be joyful because you have hope (New Century Version)

(New Century Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because many English versions and the BDAG support it.

Be joyful: The Greek word here refers to being happy and feeling well.

hope: The word hope means “the looking forward to something happening with some reason for confidence that it will indeed happen.” Here this hope is probably the general hope of a believer, that God will fulfill his promises in Scriptures to him. See how you translated this word in 5:4 or 8:24.

In some languages hope must include the thing hoped in. For interpretations (2) and (3) above, something must be added for these languages. For example:

hope ⌊in God⌋
-or-
hope ⌊in the fulfillment of God’s promises⌋

12:12b

patient: The Greek word here refers to continuing to believe (or hope) or to do as planned in the midst of opposition or difficulty. Here are other ways to translate this Greek word:

persevere (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
endure (New American Bible, Revised Edition)

in: Here this word means “during” or “while experiencing.”

affliction: The Greek word here refers to any kind of trouble, oppression, suffering, or persecution.

trouble
-or-
hardship (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
difficulty

See how you translated this word in 2:9 or 8:35 (Berean Standard Bible: “distress”).

12:12c

persistent: The Greek word refers to making the effort to continue doing something. Here are other ways to translate this Greek word:

persevere (New American Bible, Revised Edition)
-or-
keep praying regularly (New Jerusalem Bible)

in prayer: Here the word in indicates that praying is what the believer is supposed to constantly do.

prayer: This word refers to talking to God, praising him, thanking him, and asking him to do something. See how you translated this word in 1:10.

© 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.