In this verse, it is made clear that God’s way of securing the freedom of people is part of God’s eternal plan and purpose.

He has been chosen by God is literally “foreordained,” with God as the implicit agent. As in 1.2, “foreordination” includes the idea of not only knowing beforehand, but doing something in order to insure that such an event will really take place. The Good News Translation rendering chosen is therefore justified (so also New American Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch; some other translations have “destined” or “predestined”). The creation of the world is literally “the foundation of the world,” a New Testament way of speaking of creation (Matt 13.35; 25.34; Heb 4.3; Rev 13.18; etc.). It is of course God who is the agent of creation, and this information can be made explicit in the translation (as in Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “So he [God] offered him before he created the world”).

In rendering He had been chosen by God before the creation of the world it may be relevant to place the temporal expression first, for example, “before God created the world, he had chosen Christ.” In some languages it may be useful to translate the Greek term often rendered “foreordained” as “arranged ahead of time with respect to Christ” or even “arranged ahead of time with respect to what would happen to Christ.”

Although Christ was chosen ahead of time, it was only in these last days that he was revealed. In these last days is literally “at the end of times” and refers to the period beginning with the incarnation and extending to his second coming. A similar expression appears in Hebrews 1.2. It was the conviction of early Christians that the coming of Jesus Christ on earth signalled the beginning of a new stage in history, marked by a new way of God dealing with his people. This new stage in history will come to a conclusion at the second coming of Christ, during which time all the plans of God for the whole world will be realized. The first letter of Peter itself contains many allusions to the idea that the second coming of Christ was imminent and that the end of the world was near at hand (1.7; 4.7; etc.). In these last days gives the unmistakable impression that for Peter, as well as for his readers, this much-awaited end is about to happen. This impact is captured by many modern translations, for example, New English Bible “in this last period of time”; Barclay “as time comes to an end”; Jerusalem Bible “in our time, the end of the ages.”

In these last days includes two related temporal concepts: (1) the end of a particular period and (2) the imminent character of that end. Therefore, one is justified in translating “now in these final days” or “now at the end of this age” or “now when this age is coming to an end,” or even “now when this age will not last much longer.”

He was revealed in the Greek is a passive participle, with God as the implicit agent, hence “God made Jesus known,” or “he was made known by God.” Many translators, however, take this as reflexive; for example, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “he appeared”; Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “he has then come,” Barclay “he came.”

The purpose of Christ’s coming is made very personal: for your sake, that is, for the benefit of the readers. In this way the readers are made a part of the divine plan and of the whole drama of human history. A common equivalent for the phrase for your sake is “in order to help you” or “in order to cause good for you.”

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 .

Among these devout women, Peter chooses one, namely Sarah, the wife of Abraham. Obeyed is in the aorist tense, which suggests that Peter had a specific incident in mind. Since the only time Sarah referred to Abraham as “lord” (in the Hebrew) is in Genesis 18.12, some scholars suggest that Genesis 18.1-15 may have been in Peter’s mind, but this is not at all certain.

Sarah was like that may be rendered as “Sarah was one of those devout women” or “Sarah was a women like that” or “Sarah herself did that.”

She obeyed Abraham may be rendered explicitly as “she did what Abraham told her to do.”

The expression and called him her master must be expressed in many languages as direct discourse, for example, “and spoke to him, My master” or “when she addressed him she said, My master.”

You are now her daughters suggests the idea that in much the same way that Abraham is the father of those who trust in God (Rom 4.11; Gal 3.6-29; etc.), so also Sarah could be regarded as their mother; particularly, Christian women would be her daughters. Their becoming her daughters, however, is conditioned by two factors: if you do good and are not afraid of anything. For do good, see 2.14; 2.15; and 2.20. Are not afraid of anything is literally “you are not afraid of any fear,” a quotation from Proverbs 3.25. The word for “fear” (ptoēsis) is used only here in the whole New Testament, although the verbal form is used in Luke 21.9 and 24.37 with the meaning “to terrify.” It may mean fear of any kind or anything that causes fear or terror. Most translations take afraid and “fear” as cognates, and render the expression in much the same way that the Good News Translation does (for example, New English Bible “show no fear”; Phillips “do not give way to hysterical fears”; Barclay “you refuse to allow anything to reduce you to frightened panic”; Moffatt “yield to no panic”; Knox “let no anxious thoughts disturb you”).

You are now her daughters is a highly specialized Semitic idiom which frequently cannot be translated literally, since it would be seriously misunderstood. An equivalent expression may be “you are now like Sarah” or “you can be like Sarah” (the use of “can be” may be required because of the condition which follows).

If you do good may require some expansion in certain languages, for example, “if you do good to others” or “if you are helpful to others.”

In rendering are not afraid of anything it is important to avoid the suggestion that this means “bravado” or “reckless courage.” The implication seems clearly to be something related to “anxious fears” or “fearful concerns.”

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 .

It may be important to make the adversative conjunction However quite emphatic by some such phrase as “on the contrary” or “in contrast with that” or “that should not be but….”

In the Greek, the verb is found only in verse 15, and a literal translation of verse 16 would be “but if as a Christian….” It is clear, however, that the implicit verb is “suffer,” and most translations repeat the verb here in order to express the meaning more clearly. The term Christian is a technical term for Christ’s followers; in the book of Acts, it is recorded that the believers in Antioch were the first ones to be called by that name (Acts 11.26). It is very possible that this name was used initially by heathens as a way of ridiculing believers, but that it soon came to be used as a general designation without the negative connotation.

It should also be noted that the third person singular pronoun is used in both verses 15 and 16, but since it is clear that it is the readers who are being addressed, the Good News Translation and many other translations have substituted the second person plural pronoun.

Because you are a Christian may be rendered as “because you are a believer in Christ” or “because you follow Christ” or “because people know you as one who trusts in Christ.”

If one is persecuted because he is a Christian, he should not be ashamed; or in other words, he should not consider this as a disgrace or a cause for shame. On the contrary, he should thank God that he bears Christ’s name. This last part is literally “glorify God by this name.” “Name” most probably goes back to Christian; the meaning then is that the believer should thank God because he is called by the very name of Christ, that is, a Christian (compare Jerusalem Bible “he should thank God that he has been called one”; Barclay “He must make the name Christian a name which brings honour to God”).

Don’t be ashamed is frequently expressed in an idiomatic manner, for example, “do not hang your head” or “do not look to the side” or “do not feel like hiding.”

The pronoun it in the expression don’t be ashamed of it refers to the fact of one’s being a Christian. It may be necessary to make this explicit, for example, “don’t be ashamed of being a follower of Christ.”

A literal translation of thank God that you bear Christ’s name may be misleading, since it might suggest that Christians were pretending that they themselves were Christ. A more appropriate translation may be “thank God that people call you Christians” or “… followers of Christ.”

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 .