The purpose of all these trials is to prove that their faith is genuine. Literally, this is “the testing of your faith” or “the genuineness of your faith” (Revised Standard Version), since the Greek word involves not only testing but determining the genuineness or value of an event or object. The testing has the primary purpose of proving whether the faith is genuine or not, and this is made very clear in the Good News Translation (compare New English Bible “faith which has stood the test”; Barclay “a tried and tested faith”). Faith can be understood as in verse 5, namely, “trust” in God or in Jesus Christ (for example, German Common Language [Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch]), or perhaps more appropriately as “faithfulness” to God or to Jesus Christ (Best, page 78). As is often the case, however, most modern translations, including the Good News Translation, translate faith literally.
Their purpose must be often expressed as “the reason why you suffer” or “the reason why you experience troubles.”
That your faith is genuine may be expressed as “that your trust in Christ is real” or “that you really trust Christ” or “… trust God.”
The testing of faith is compared to the process of refining gold. As one can see from the Revised Standard Version, the metaphor about gold is a dependent clause. The Good News Translation has restructured the embedded clause into a separate sentence, in order to make the verb less complex and so that the meaning can easily be understood. (See also New English Bible and Barclay, where the metaphor is put at the beginning of the verse.) In the process of refining gold, it is burned in order to remove its impurities. It is this refining process which has made gold a favorite metaphor in talking about faith (for example, Prov 17.3; 27.21; Psa 66.10). Peter adds the observation that gold is material and can be destroyed, and is therefore less valuable than faith, which is spiritual.
Even gold, which can be destroyed, is tested by fire may be somewhat restructured as “gold can be destroyed, but it is tested by fire.” The two passives in this sentence must, however, be made active in some instances, for example, “people can destroy gold, but they test it by fire” or “even gold, which people can destroy, they test by fire.” It may, however, be important to translate “they test by fire” as “they test by heating it very hot” or “they test by putting it in a hot furnace.”
As gold, then, is refined by the use of fire, so faith must also be tested, that it may endure. This last clause is literally “may be found.” One way of interpreting this is to connect it directly to what follows, as the Revised Standard Version has done (so also Moffatt, New English Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “So that your faith … will merit approval, glory and honor…”). Another way is to connect “found” with the result of the testing, namely, that faith is proved genuine (compare Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “your trust must be tested … to see if it is really genuine”). A person who possesses such a faith will receive praise and glory and honor on the Day when Jesus Christ is revealed. The source of all this is most probably God himself, and it may be advisable to make this explicit, since leaving it implicit would make it possible to understand that the source of praise, etc., is people. Glory may be understood as “greatness,” “splendor” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), or simply as parallel to “praise” and “honor.” This trilogy is often found in other biblical writings (for example, Rom 8.17; 2 Cor 3.18; Col 3.4; for “glory and honor,” see Job 40.5; 1 Tim 1.17; Rom 2.7, 10).
The transitional expression and so may be expressed as “and in the same way” or “and in a similar manner.”
The expression your faith must be rendered in the same way as it is expressed in the first part of this same verse.
Which is much more precious than gold may be rendered as “your trust in God is much more valuable than is gold.”
Must also be tested may be expressed as “must also experience trouble,” though it is important to try to employ the same expression of faith as one uses in describing the testing of gold, but in a number of languages this simply is not possible. Something of the parallelism may be expressed by speaking of the testing of gold as “gold … is heated very hot in order to show whether it is genuine” and “your trust in God … must experience trouble in order to show whether your trust is genuine.”
The clause that it may endure is not explicit in the Greek text but it is implied in a sense by the expression for “testing.” This type of expression may be rendered by a negative equivalent, for example, “that it may not fail” or “that it may not disappear.”
The so-called substitute passive in the expression you will receive praise and glory and honor must be rendered in some languages in an active form, and this means introducing God as the agent, for example, “God will give you praise and glory and honor.” In many instances, however, one cannot employ nouns for praise, glory, and honor. As a result, these three aspects of God’s reward for tested faith may be expressed as verbs: “then God will praise you and cause you to be glorious and honor you.”
The Day when Jesus Christ is revealed is literally “in the revelation of Jesus Christ.” What is referred to here is the day of his return to earth, but the use of “revelation” clearly puts emphasis not on his coming, but on his being known in all that he is. A further problem is whether the Greek text (which is ambiguous) should be understood with a passive or a reflexive meaning: will Jesus Christ be revealed by someone else or will he reveal himself? The Good News Translation uses the passive construction here (also New English Bible, Knox), but the reflexive is clearly preferable, since at the second coming, it is Jesus Christ himself who will make himself known (for example, Barclay “when Jesus Christ dawns upon the world again”; Phillips “when Jesus Christ reveals Himself”; New American Bible “When Jesus Christ appears”; Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “when Christ will show himself to all peoples”).
If one understands the phrase “in the revelation of Jesus Christ” as being passive, then the active form would be “when God reveals Jesus Christ” or “… causes Jesus Christ to appear.” With the reflexive interpretation, however, one may translate “when Christ reveals himself” or “… reveals himself to all people.”
Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The First Letter from Peter. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .