In the Greek, this verse is still part of the previous 2 verses, but for clarity of meaning, and conformity to natural English style, the Good News Translation has made this into a separate sentence, and They are for you is simply a device in accomplishing this.

It may be important to indicate clearly what is implied by the pronoun They, for example, “these rich blessings are for you.” In some instances the nominal phrase rich blessings must be transformed into a verb expression, the rich way in which God blesses you “or the way in which God greatly blesses you” or “… is so good to you.”

The verse is literally “Who by the power of God are guarded through faith into a salvation prepared to be revealed in the end of time.”

In much the same way that God “keeps” the rich blessings in heaven, so he guards the believer here on earth until the time that he receives those rich blessings stored up for him. The word “guarded” (Good News Translation kept safe; Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “keep and protect”) is a military term, used to describe the act of protecting a city from its enemies, and here it is used of God securely protecting the believer from all dangers (compare Moffatt “protects”; Knox “affords you safe conduct”). What keeps the Christian safe is God’s power. It is, of course, God himself who guards, and he does so because he is powerful, and therefore is able to protect the Christian. For Peter’s readers, this has tremendous significance, for they were at that time facing trials and difficulties, which according to Jewish traditional belief, would necessarily come before the world finally comes to an end.

The passive expression are kept safe by God’s power may be made active in some languages simply by translating “God’s power keeps you safe,” but the means expressed by the phrase God’s power must be expressed as a cause in some languages, for example, “because God is powerful, you are kept safe” or “because God is powerful, he keeps you safe.” In some languages the only equivalent of power is a word which literally suggests physical strength, but in contexts such as this it must refer to broader aspects of God’s capacity to guard his people.

But another element in the Christian being kept safe is his faith. Some commentaries take faith here to be equivalent to that found in Hebrews 11, especially verse 1: To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see (Good News Translation). Taken in this way, faith then is the firm conviction and assurance that God is and continues to be faithful to his promises, and despite all the present problems, he will triumph in the end. Most commentaries, however, understand “faith” here not simply as belief in some theological or religious truth, but a vital and close relationship with either God or Jesus Christ, characterized by commitment to and trust in him. It is this vital relationship which makes it possible for God to protect the Christian. One can speak of God’s power as the objective aspect of being kept safe, and of faith as the subjective. Here as elsewhere in the New Testament, the relationship between what God does and what the believer does is not always made clear; it is nevertheless made clear that whenever God acts, there is always an element of human response for God’s action to be effective in the life of the believer. So here, God’s power can be understood as the instrument whereby the Christian is protected, and faith as the cause of, or reason for, the effectiveness of this protection.

The phrase through faith suggests a secondary element in the process of being kept safe. The primary agency is God’s power, but through faith may be expressed as a contributing cause, for example, “because you trust” or “because you trust in Christ.”

What the Christian is being kept safe for is the salvation which is ready to be revealed at the end of time. Some commentators take “salvation” here to be synonymous with the rich blessings in verse 4; others, however, take it to mean much more than that, referring not only to the individual’s present experience of already being in union with Christ, together with all its results (right relationship with God and with others, deliverance from demonic and ungodly powers, the possession of eternal life, etc.), but also to the final consummation of all of God’s plans for people and for the whole world, including the final triumph of truth and goodness, and the final enthronement of God as king and ruler over the whole universe. The salvation is ready to be revealed, indicating that for Peter, as well as for his readers, the time of making this salvation known, and of the Christian coming into full possession of it, is indeed very near. The time of “revelation” is described as the end of time. The Greek word for time here is kairos, the appointed time (as contrasted with chronos, or chronological time). Most commentators agree that what is being referred to here is the second coming of Christ, during which time all the promises of God will be fulfilled and he himself will reign as king. This first letter of Peter affirms that this very significant event is about to happen.

One of the complications involved in rendering verse 5 is the proper relationship of salvation to the preceding statements about faith, being kept safe, and God’s power. There is obviously a purpose involved, and therefore one may say in some instances “kept safe in order that you may experience the salvation.” A further and more serious difficulty in rendering the second part of verse 5 is the manner in which one may speak of salvation as a noun referring to an event which is to be revealed. In a number of languages salvation must be expressed as a verb or as a type of participial phrase, for example, “in order that you may experience being saved” or “… being rescued.” It is this event which must then be related to the act of revealing, but since God is obviously the agent of any such revealing, it may be necessary to translate the final clause of verse 5, namely, which is ready to be revealed at the end of time, as “God is ready to reveal this at the end of time” or “God is ready to reveal how he will save at the end of time.” Since the salvation spoken of in verse 5 is a kind of cosmic salvation, it may be appropriate in some instances to speak of “how God will rescue all things” or even “how God will save everything.”

In a number of languages one cannot really speak of at the end of time, for time is not regarded as having an end. Furthermore, as indicated above, the Greek term specifies a particular event or the time of a particular event and not simply extended time. Some persons want to translate at the end of time as “at the end of the age,” but a more satisfactory and idiomatic expression in some languages is “at the last day” or “on the final day.” One should not, however, suggest by such a translation that this is the end of the world, for in reality it is a reference simply to the end of one epoch and the beginning of a new order of things.

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 .

For God wants you is literally “For thus is the will of God.” The Greek construction is ambiguous, with “thus” referring either back to verse 13 or forward to the rest of verse 15. Taking the former sense, the writer is saying that it is God’s will for them to submit to government authorities. “By doing right” (Revised Standard Version) in verse 15 would then be a further description of their submission. Some scholars take this position and at least one translation makes this explicit (for example, New American Bible “Such obedience is the will of God. You must silence the ignorant talk of foolish men by your good behavior”).

Taking the latter sense, “the will of God” may refer either to the act of silencing the ignorant talk of foolish men (Good News Translation, Knox, Moffatt, Phillips, New English Bible, Revised Standard Version, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch) or to their “doing right” (Jerusalem Bible “God wants you to be good citizens, so as to silence what fools are saying in their ignorance”; Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “God wants you to do good to quiet the ignorant and stupid”).

To silence is literally “to muzzle,” but it is used figuratively here to describe the act of making people quiet (compare Mark 4.39; Matt 22.34). Ignorant talk is literally “ignorance,” but since it is used here with to silence, it clearly refers not to the state of ignorance, but to uninformed or ill-informed talk (compare Phillips “ill-informed criticisms”; Barclay “ignorant accusations”; Moffatt “ignorant charges”; Knox “ignorant chatter”; Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “stupid gossip”). The Greek word for “ignorance” suggests not simply lack of information, but a lack of desire to get correct information, and an unwillingness to accept the truth.

Foolish people translates a Greek term which is often used in the Old Testament, particularly Psalms and Proverbs, to describe those who oppose God and are enemies of whatever is right and true. These foolish people are the heathen referred to in verse 12, and not the government officials in verses 13-14.

The expression God wants you to silence the ignorant talk of foolish people seems to be relatively simple in its semantic structure, but in reality it is rather complex. In many languages it is impossible to “silence talk.” Furthermore, it may be impossible to speak of ignorant talk, for it is only people who are ignorant and not talk. If “to silence” is to be translated as a causative, for example, “to cause to be silent,” then this must be related to foolish people, but in reality what is desired is not that people will be caused to stop talking, but that the good things which the believers do will provide no basis whatsoever for such ignorant talk. Verse 15 may be recast as “for God wants you to cause those foolish people to stop talking against you in their ignorant way, and you are to do this by the good deeds which you perform.”

For the good things you do, see comments on verse 12. Although two different Greek words are used, the same meaning is clearly intended.

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 .

The pronouns in this verse are in the third person singular (compare New English Bible “his days”; Jerusalem Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Barclay “a man”). But since it is quite certain that the writer is referring here to Christians, or more specifically his own readers, then rendering the third person singular pronoun as second person plural makes this clear (for example, Good News Translation, New American Bible, Phillips).

This verse in the Greek is not an independent sentence, but a dependent clause, connected with the previous verse by a Greek expression of purpose or result (literally “so that” or “in order that”). This verse may therefore be taken either as expressing the result of “ceasing from sin,” an interpretation which seems to be primary in Good News Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Revised Standard Version, New English Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, or as the purpose of “arm yourselves.” Taking this latter sense, what the verse is saying is that Christians should be ready to suffer in order that they may live according to God’s will, not according to human desires (compare Barclay “The object of such suffering is to enable a man to live the rest of his earthly life in obedience, not to human passions, but to God’s will”; King James Version, Revised Version “Arm yourselves with the same mind, that ye no longer should live…”).

From now on may be expressed as “from this day” or “beginning now.”

The conjunction then is best interpreted as result and may be equivalent to “therefore” or “as a result of this.”

Controlled by God’s will (literally “in the will of God”) and human desires (literally “desires of men”) once again express an antithesis which is quite prominent in the letter, that is, the contrast between the condition of people before they become Christian and afterwards (compare 1.14, 18; 2.1, 9, 10, 24, 25). Before they became Christian, they are controlled by human desires, an expression which may be neutral, but is here used negatively (compare 1.14 and 2.11); after conversion, they are controlled by God’s will. Some interpreters see a significance in the singular form of God’s will and the plural form of human desires, in that Christians experience an integration and unity in their lives, which is not true for non-Christians, who are attracted by different loyalties.

You must live … controlled by God’s will may be restructured as “you must let yourselves by controlled by God’s will” or “you must let God control your lives” or “you must live your lives in accordance with what God wants for you.”

And not by human desires may be expressed as “and not by what you yourselves want” or “and not by what your hearts desire.”

The rest of your earthly lives is literally “remaining time in the flesh.” “In the flesh” has a different usage here from that in verse 1, referring primarily to human life on earth. Implied in the statement is the idea that life on earth may not be all that long, since the end of the world is expected any moment, a thought which prevails throughout the whole letter (compare 1.5, 7; 4.7).

You must live the rest of your earthly lives may be expressed as “you must live the remaining days of your life on earth” or “as long as you live here on earth, you must….”

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 .