As in so many other instances of third person imperative, it may be necessary to introduce verse 13 by an expression of prayer—for example, “I pray that God.”
God, the source of hope (so also New American Bible, Moffatt “the God of your hope”) is literally “the God of hope.” “Of hope” is ambiguous in this context, and so the Good News Translation makes the meaning of the genitive expression clear. The source of hope may be expressed as a causative: “the one who causes us to hope.” In this context it may be more appropriate to employ only the plural “you” instead of “us”: “the one who causes you to hope.”
Fill you with all joy may be rendered as “cause you to be completely happy,” “cause you to feel happy completely in your hearts,” or even “cause your hearts to burst because of happiness.” Peace also must be understood as the goal of what God has caused: “that God may cause you to have complete happiness and to enjoy peace” or “… experience complete peace.” Peace may be expressed idiomatically in some languages—for example, “to sit down in your hearts” or “to hear quietness in your hearts.”
“In believing” (Revised Standard Version) is taken by the Good News Translation to mean “by means of believing,” and the object of this belief is supplied: by means of your faith in him. As in so many instances, means may be expressed in some languages by a clause of cause—for example, “because you believe in him.” It is perfectly proper to express this faith as “faith in Christ,” but within this particular context it seems more fitting to express it as “faith in God.”
So that your hope will continue to grow is more literally “so that you may abound in hope” (see King James Version, Revised Standard Version). The verb “to abound” is no longer in current English usage, and so some of the modern English translations restructure by making hope the object of a verb phrase (for example, the New American Bible “so that you may have hope in abundance”; An American Translation* “so that you may have overflowing hope”). The New English Bible renders “overflow with hope.” The Good News Translation restructures by making hope the subject of the intransitive verb grow, while taking the expression “you … in hope” as the equivalent of your hope. Moreover, since the tense of the Greek verb “to abound” indicates continuing action, the Good News Translation translates by continue to grow.
In a number of languages one cannot speak of “hope growing.” One can, however, “hope more and more,” “hope more firmly,” or “be more steadfast in hoping.” By the power of the Holy Spirit may be interpreted as the means and therefore become the subject of an expression of cause: “so that the Holy Spirit will cause you to have more and more hope.”
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1973. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .