complete verse (1 Peter 2:13)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Peter 2:13:

  • Uma: “We must submit to all the rulers/governing-ones that are appointed [lit., made certain] by mankind, because that is the desire of the Lord. Submit to the big king, since he is the one who is at the very top.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “In order that our (incl.) Lord Isa Almasi be honored/made great you ought to follow/obey the law of those who have authority in your place. Follow/obey the leading king because he is the greatest here in our (incl.) place/country.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “You must obey the established law in your town for this is what the Lord wants. We must submit ourselves to the high King for He is the one who controls everything.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “On account of our Lord, submit yourselves to (lit. cause-yourselves -to-be-ruled by) all people who have authority over us. Submit-yourselves to the Emperor who is the highest-one who rules” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Also for the sake of bringing praise to the Lord, make it your habit to obey officials, especially the one who is the highest official in the land.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “If you want to do the will of God, do what is commanded by a man who has been appointed to have authority then. Obey the ruler who is above all in the land where you live.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Lord

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The Hebrew adonai in the Old Testament typically refers to God. The shorter adon (and in two cases in the book of Daniel the Aramaic mare [מָרֵא]) is also used to refer to God but more often for concepts like “master,” “owner,” etc. In English Bible translations all of those are translated with “Lord” if they refer to God.

In English Old Testament translations, as in Old Testament translations in many other languages, the use of Lord (or an equivalent term in other languages) is not to be confused with Lord (or the equivalent term with a different typographical display for other languages). While the former translates adonai, adon and mare, the latter is a translation for the tetragrammaton (YHWH) or the Name of God. See tetragrammaton (YHWH) and the article by Andy Warren-Rothlin in Noss / Houser, p. 618ff. for more information.

In the New Testament, the Greek term kurios has at least four different kinds of use:

  • referring to “God,” especially in Old Testament quotations,
  • meaning “master” or “owner,” especially in parables, etc.,
  • as a form of address (see for instance John 4:11: “Sir, you have no bucket”),
  • or, most often, referring to Jesus

In the first and fourth case, it is also translated as “Lord” in English.

Most languages naturally don’t have one word that covers all these meanings. According to Bratcher / Nida, “the alternatives are usually (1) a term which is an honorific title of respect for a high-ranking person and (2) a word meaning ‘boss’, ‘master’, or ‘chief.’ (…) and on the whole it has generally seemed better to employ a word of the second category, in order to emphasize the immediate personal relationship, and then by context to build into the word the prestigeful character, since its very association with Jesus Christ will tend to accomplish this purpose.”

When looking at the following list of back-translations of the terms that translators in the different languages have used for both kurios and adonai to refer to God and Jesus respectively, it might be helpful for English readers to recall the etymology of the English “Lord.” While this term might have gained an exalted meaning in the understanding of many, it actually comes from hlaford or “loaf-ward,” referring to the lord of the castle who was the keeper of the bread (source: Rosin 1956, p. 121).

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Following are some of the solutions that don’t rely on a different typographical display (see above):

  • Navajo (Dinė): “the one who has charge”
  • Mossi: “the one who has the head” (the leader)
  • Uduk: “chief”
  • Guerrero Amuzgo: “the one who commands”
  • Kpelle: “person-owner” (a term which may be applied to a chief)
  • Central Pame: “the one who owns us” (or “commands us”)
  • Piro: “the big one” (used commonly of one in authority)
  • San Blas Kuna: “the great one over all” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Guhu-Samane: Soopara (“our Supervisor”) (source: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation July, 1967, p. 5ff.)
  • Balinese: “Venerated-one” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Yanesha’: “the one who carries us” (source: Nida 1952, p. 159)
  • Northern Emberá: Dadjirã Boro (“our Head”)
  • Rarotongan: Atu (“master or owner of a property”)
  • Gilbertese: Uea (“a person of high status invested with authority to rule the people”)
  • Rotuman: Gagaja (“village chief”)
  • Samoan: Ali’i (“an important word in the native culture, it derives from the Samoan understanding of lordship based on the local traditions”)
  • Tahitian: Fatu (“owner,” “master”)
  • Tuvalu: Te Aliki (“chief”)
  • Fijian: Liuliu (“leader”) (source for this and six above: Joseph Hong in The Bible Translator 1994, p. 329ff. )
  • Bacama: Həmə miye: “owner of people” (source: David Frank in this blog post )
  • Hopi: “Controller” (source: Walls 2000, p. 139)
  • Iyansi: Mwol. Mwol is traditionally used for the “chief of a group of communities and villages” with legal, temporal, and spiritual authority (versus the “mfum [the term used in other Bantu languages] which is used for the chief of one community of people in one village”). Mwol is also used for twins who are “treated as special children, highly honored, and taken care of like kings and queens.” (Source: Kividi Kikama in Greed / Kruger, p. 396ff.)
  • Ghomala’: Cyəpɔ (“he who is above everyone,” consisting of the verb cyə — to surpass or go beyond — and pɔ — referring to people. No human can claim this attribute, no matter what his or her social status or prestige.” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn )
  • Binumarien: Karaambaia: “fight-leader” (Source: Oates 1995, p. 255)
  • Warlpiri: Warlaljamarri (owner or possessor of something — for more information tap or click here)

    We have come to rely on another term which emphasizes God’s essential nature as YHWH, namely jukurrarnu (see tetragrammaton (YHWH)). This word is built on the same root jukurr– as is jukurrpa, ‘dreaming.’ Its basic meaning is ‘timelessness’ and it is used to describe physical features of the land which are viewed as always being there. Some speakers view jukurrarnu in terms of ‘history.’ In all Genesis references to YHWH we have used Kaatu Jukurrarnu. In all Mark passages where kurios refers to God and not specifically to Christ we have also used Kaatu Jukurrarnu.

    New Testament references to Christ as kurios are handled differently. At one stage we experimented with the term Watirirririrri which refers to a ceremonial boss of highest rank who has the authority to instigate ceremonies. While adequately conveying the sense of Christ’s authority, there remained potential negative connotations relating to Warlpiri ceremonial life of which we might be unaware.

    Here it is that the Holy Spirit led us to make a chance discovery. Transcribing the personal testimony of the local Warlpiri pastor, I noticed that he described how ‘my Warlaljamarri called and embraced me (to the faith)’. Warlaljamarri is based on the root warlalja which means variously ‘family, possessions, belongingness’. A warlaljamarri is the ‘owner’ or ‘possessor’ of something. While previously being aware of the ‘ownership’ aspect of warlaljamarri, this was the first time I had heard it applied spontaneously and naturally in a fashion which did justice to the entire concept of ‘Lordship’. Thus references to Christ as kurios are now being handled by Warlaljamarri.” (Source: Stephen Swartz, The Bible Translator 1985, p. 415ff. )

  • Mairasi: Onggoao Nem (“Throated One” — “Leader,” “Elder”) or Enggavot Nan (“Above-One”) (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Obolo: Okaan̄-ene (“Owner of person(s)”) (source: Enene Enene)
  • Angami Naga: Niepu (“master,” “owner”)
  • Lotha Naga: Opvui (“owner of house / field / cattle”) — since both “Lord” and YHWH are translated as Opvui there is an understanding that “Opvui Jesus is the same as the Opvui of the Old Testament”
  • Ao Naga: Kibuba (“human master,” “teacher,” “owner of property,” etc.) (source for this and two above: Nitoy Achumi in The Bible Translator 1992 p. 438ff. )
  • Seediq: Tholang, loan word from Min Nan Chinese (the majority language in Taiwan) thâu-lâng (頭儂): “Master” (source: Covell 1998, p. 248)
  • Thai: phra’ phu pen cao (พระผู้เป็นเจ้า) (divine person who is lord) or ong(kh) cao nay (องค์เจ้านาย) (<divine classifier>-lord-boss) (source: Stephen Pattemore)
  • Arabic often uses different terms for adonai or kurios referring to God (al-rabb الرب) and kurios referring to Jesus (al-sayyid الـسـيـد). Al-rabb is also the term traditionally used in Arabic Christian-idiom translations for YHWH, and al-sayyid is an honorary term, similar to English “lord” or “sir” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin).
  • Tamil also uses different terms for adonai/kurios when referring to God and kurios when referring to Jesus. The former is Karttar கர்த்தர், a Sanskrit-derived term with the original meaning of “creator,” and the latter in Āṇṭavar ஆண்டவர், a Tamil term originally meaning “govern” or “reign” (source: Natarajan Subramani).
  • Burunge: Looimoo: “owner who owns everything” (in the Burunge Bible translation, this term is only used as a reference to Jesus and was originally used to refer to the traditional highest deity — source: Michael Endl in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 48)
  • Yagaria: Souve, originally “war lord” (source: Renck, p. 94)
  • Aguacateco: Ajcaw ske’j: “the one to whom we belong and who is above us” (source: Rita Peterson in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 49)
  • Konkomba: Tidindaan: “He who is the owner of the land and reigns over the people” (source: Lidorio 2007, p. 66)
  • Chichewa: Ambuye Ambuye comes from the singular form Mbuye which is used to refer to: (1) someone who is a guardian or protector of someone or group of people — a grandparent who has founded a community or village; (2) someone who is a boss or master over a group of people or servants and has absolute control over them; (3) owner of something, be it a property, animals and people who are bound under his/her rule — for people this was mostly commonly used in the context of slaves and their owner. In short, Mbuye is someone who has some authorities over those who call him/her their “Mbuye.” Now, when the form Ambuye is used it will either be for honorific when used for singular or plural when referring to more than one person. When this term is used in reference to God, it is for respect to God as he is acknowledged as a guardian, protector, and ruler of everything. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation).
  • Hdi uses rveri (“lion”) as a title of respect and as such it regularly translates adon in the Old Testament. As an address, it’s most often with a possessive pronoun as in rvera ɗa (“my lion” = “my lord” or “sir”). So, for example, Genesis 15:2 (“O Lord God”) is Rvera ɗa Yawe (“My lion Yahweh”) or Ruth to Boaz in Ruth 2:13: “May I find your grace [lit. good-stomach] my lion.” This ties in nicely with the imagery of the Lord roaring like a lion (Hosea 11:10; Amos 3:8; Joel 3:16). Better still, this makes passages like Revelation 5:5 even richer when we read about rveri ma taba məndəra la Yuda, “the Lion of the tribe of Judah”. In Revelation 19:16, Jesus is rveri ta ghəŋa rveriha “the lion above lions” (“lord of lords”). (Source: Drew Maust)

Law (2013, p. 97) writes about how the Ancient Greek Septuagint‘s translation of the Hebrew adonai was used by the New Testament writers as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments: “Another case is the use of kurios referring to Jesus. For Yahweh (in English Bibles: ‘the Lord‘), the Septuagint uses kurios. Although the term kurios usually has to do with one’s authority over others, when the New Testament authors use this word from the Septuagint to refer to Jesus, they are making an extraordinary claim: Jesus of Nazareth is to be identified with Yahweh.”

See also Father / Lord.

Translation commentary on 1 Peter 2:13 – 2:14

This verse starts off with an aorist imperative submit yourselves, a formula used also in 2.18; 3.1, except that in these latter cases the participle is used, but clearly with an imperative function. Submit includes the elements of recognition, subordination, and obedience (compare New American Bible “be obedient”; Phillips “Obey”; Jerusalem Bible “accept the authority”; Knox “bow down”).

Human authority translates a Greek expression which can be literally translated “human creature” or “human creation.” The Greek word translated authority is ktisis, used only here in the whole letter, but it occurs in other places in the New Testament, sometimes in the sense of “creation” (for example, Rom 1.20; 8.22; 2 Peter 3.4), at other times in the sense of “creature” (Rom 1.25; 8.19, 20, 21, 39). Some take it here in the latter sense (for example, Cranfield, who suggests the translation “man,” also Kelly), but most take it with the former meaning. Interpreted in this former sense, there are two possible ways of translating it: First, it could be taken generally as referring to every human institution including the ones mentioned in the letter, that is, government, the household, and the family (compare Revised Standard Version, New English Bible, New American Bible, Barclay “the institutions of human society”). Secondly, it could be taken specifically as referring to government, hence authority (compare Phillips, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “human order”; Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “all authority man has imposed”). A third possibility is combining the first and the second, for example, Jerusalem Bible “the authority of every human institution.” The immediate context seems to favor the second of these interpretations.

It may be difficult to translate literally to every human authority, since in many languages one does not speak of “obeying an authority” or “submitting to an authority,” but rather “to obeying a person who has authority.” Accordingly, submit yourselves to every human authority may be best rendered in many languages as “obey all those who are in authority.” The expression “those who are in authority” is expressed in some languages as “those who have the right to rule” or “those who have the power of governing.” Even the term “governing” may be expressed as “able to command others” or “have the power to command others.”

The reason for this submission is given as for the sake of the Lord, with the Lord probably referring to Christ. This may be an appeal to follow Christ’s example: as he was obedient to established authority, so the Christian must do likewise (compare Matt 22.22). The expression may then be rendered “Because of what the Lord had done” or “in order to follow the Lord’s example.” On the other hand, the expression may be an appeal to bring honor to the Lord, especially in the Christian’s dealings with non-Christians. The expression may then be rendered positively as “in order to honor the Lord,” or negatively as “in order not to bring dishonor to the Lord.” A literal translation would of course be ambiguous and allow for either possibility or both.

The writer now mentions the government officials to whom the Christians should submit. The Emperor is literally “the king,” but here refers to the Roman Emperor (compare John 19.15; Acts 17.8; Rev 17.9, 12). The Emperor is the supreme authority, not in relation to the Lord, but in relation to other government officials; furthermore, the title is given to him not because of his person, but because of his function as head of the empire.

For those languages which have no special term for Emperor, one may sometimes speak of “the greatest ruler” or “the most important chief” or “the one who commands all the other rulers.” In certain instances, of course, such a phrase describing an Emperor overlaps with the following descriptive clause who is the supreme authority. One can, however, render this clause in some instances as “who has authority over all other rulers” or “who commissions all other rulers.”

The governors translates a Greek word which generally refers to government officials below the emperor, including the pro-consuls and legates who governed the provinces of the Roman Empire, and municipal authorities. But since these officials are said to have been appointed by the Emperor (him refers to the Emperor, and not to the Lord), then the specific meaning of governors is preferred to that of the general sense. Appointed by him is literally “sent through him” which clearly means that their power to act is through the Emperor’s mandate, hence appointed (Good News Translation, Phillips); “commissioned” (Jerusalem Bible, Knox, New American Bible); “installed” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).

Before introducing the phrase and to the governors, it may be important to repeat the principal verb expression, for example, “and submit yourselves to the governors” or “and also obey the governors.” Who have been appointed by him may be rendered as “whom the principal ruler has appointed” or “… specially designated” or “… given power to” or “… given authority to.”

The purpose of the governors’ appointment is expressed both positively and negatively: to punish the evildoers and to praise those who do good (compare Rom 13.3-4). For evildoers, see 2.12 above. Here the legal meaning of the word is in focus, hence “criminal” (Knox, Barclay, New English Bible, New American Bible).

To punish the evildoers must often be expressed as a causative, for example, “to cause the evildoers to suffer.” In some instances this is expressed by a specific term which may, however, have rather broader implications, for example, “to cause the evildoers to be whipped.”

To praise those who do good probably refers to the recognition of good people by the state, in terms of actual rewards, such as inscriptions, victory crowns, and even of citizenship. Many translations try to capture this meaning, for example, New English Bible “the commendation of those who do right”; New American Bible “recognition of the upright”; Phillips “reward those who do good service”; Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “to honor those who do good.”

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on 1 Peter 2:13

Section 2:13–25

God’s people should respect the rulers/chiefs of this world

In this section Peter explained in what way his readers should live good lives among their pagan neighbors. They should respect and obey their rulers, including those who ruled locally in the village or town and those who ruled the country. They should also respect and obey the chief ruler of all, the emperor of Rome. God had given these people authority to punish people who do evil and praise those who do good.

Some other headings for this section are:

Respect the Authority of Others (God’s Word)
-or-
Submission to Rulers and Masters (New International Version)

Paragraph 2:13–17

2:13a

Submit yourselves…to: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Submit yourselves…to means to recognize someone else’s authority. It is to accept their legal position and to act respectfully, as a subordinate. This would normally imply obeying their orders. Other translation suggestions include:

accept the authority of (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
place yourself under the authority of (God’s Word)

for the Lord’s sake: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as for the Lord’s sake means “because of the Lord (Jesus Christ).” Peter wanted his readers to act in a way that would both please and honor the Lord. In your translation, you may need to focus on one of these aspects. For example:

the Lord wants you to… (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
to please the Lord (God’s Word)
-or-
to honor the Lord

every human institution: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as every human institution probably means “human authority.” This is the only time this Greek word that literally means “creation” is used in this way in the New Testament. The phrase has also been translated as:

human institution (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
human authority (Good News Translation)

Peter was referring to all people who have authority over others, whether in a single household, locally in a village or town, or in the whole country.

2:13b

the king: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as king here refers to the emperor, the head of the Roman Empire, who had power over all other government officials. Here is another way to translate this noun:

emperor (Revised English Bible)

as the supreme authority: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as as the supreme authority indicates both that the king was the supreme authority and that this was the reason why people should be subject to him.

the supreme authority: The word supreme means “highest in authority or rank.” The emperor had power over all other rulers in the Roman Empire. There was no one with the legal right to oppose him. Some other ways to translate this include:

who rules over everyone (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
who is the highest authority (New Century Version)

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