complete verse (1 Peter 3:9)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Peter 3:9:

  • Uma: “If there is a person who does evil to us, don’t get back at him with evil. If they rebuke/yell at us, don’t do it back to them. It’s better that we repay those evil deeds by asking God for good blessings for them. Because God called us to be(come) his followers in order to receive good blessings from him.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “If someone does bad to you, don’t repay him with bad. If someone talks-evil-about/insults you, don’t also talk-about/insult them. But this is your repayment for them, invoke/request good/blessing for them from God. That is the reason why you should ask blessing for them because you are chosen by God so that you will receive good/blessing from God.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “If anyone treats you harmfully, you must not repay with evil. If someone curses you, you must not also curse him, rather you must repay him with good. For the reason God makes you to be believers is so that He might bless you with good.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “If someone does evil to you, don’t take-revenge. If someone also speaks evil, don’t reply with evil, but rather request God to bless them. Because God called you so that he would also bless you.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Don’t reciprocate with evil the one who does evil to you. Don’t answer back the one who insults you, but rather what you are to do is pray that he will be shown-grace/mercy. Your doing like this is the determined-plan of God so that he would be gracious/merciful to you also.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “When a person does evil to you, don’t return it. When you are spoken against, don’t speak bad back to that person. Rather ask God to bless those who speak against you. You know that this is what God has called you to do, in order that God will bless you.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on 1 Peter 3:9

(6) They are not to pay back evil with evil or cursing with cursing. The whole verse is very similar to the recorded sayings of Jesus in Matthew 5.43, 44 (compare Luke 6.27, 28) and to some of Paul’s statements in his letters (compare Rom 12.17; 1 Thes 5.15; 1 Cor 4.12); this has led many scholars to conclude that here we are dealing with traditional teaching material used in the early church, and Peter uses it here because it is very appropriate for his readers.

Pay back means doing something to someone as a result of what he has done; here it includes the idea of revenge or retaliation, which Christians are admonished not to do. Cursing with cursing harks back to 2.23. The word for cursing is used only three times in the whole New Testament (here and in 1 Tim 5.14), and generally means “abuse” (New English Bible; compare Barclay “injury”), but specifically refers to abusive language, hence “insult” (New American Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Jerusalem Bible, Phillips “angry word”). The source of this insulting language may be either believers themselves (compare Jerusalem Bible “angry word with another one”), or more probably non-believers (compare 2.12).

The reciprocal relationship expressed in Do not pay back evil with evil or cursing with cursing may require considerable restructuring and expansion, for example, “When people do evil to you, you must not do evil to them, or when they curse you, you must not curse them.” The temporal relationship expressed by “when” may also be rendered as conditional in some languages, for example, “If people do evil to you, you should not do evil to them, or if people curse you, you should not curse them.” The same relationships may be expressed by “do not retaliate against people who do evil by doing evil to them, and do not retaliate against those who curse you by cursing them.”

“To do evil to” may be expressed in some languages as “to harm” or “to cause to suffer.” “To curse” is sometimes literally “to call upon the Devil to harm.” Cursing in this sense involves the invoking of certain supernatural powers to cause harm and suffering to another individual.

Instead of paying evil with evil and cursing with cursing, they are to pay back with a blessing (literally “bless”). The opposites of doing evil and of cursing may be meant here, which are doing good (compare Phillips “pay back with good”) and speaking well of those who curse. It is possible, however, that what is meant here is God’s blessing, in which case the Christians are being exhorted to intercede for those who persecute them, and to ask God’s blessings upon them (compare Barclay “You must ask God to bless people who treat you badly”). This last sense would be parallel to the recorded teachings of Jesus in Matthew 5.38-48, especially verse 44 “Love your enemies, and pray for those who mistreat you.”

In order to make clear the meaning of instead, it may be necessary to say “rather than do that, you must do as follows” or “you must not do that; you should do…”

Pay back with a blessing may be rendered as “when people harm you or curse you, you should in turn ask God to bless them” or “… ask God to be good to them.”

Because a blessing is what God promised to give you when he called you is literally “into this you were called in order that you may inherit a blessing.” If “into this” refers back to their blessing others (compare 2.21), then the sense will be “God called you in order for you to bestow a blessing upon others. If you do this, God will also give you a blessing.” If, however, “into this” is interpreted as referring forward, the sense would be “For God called you to receive a blessing from him.” In other words, they are to bless others because God himself has blessed them, and many translations favor this (for example, Barclay “It is to act like that that you were called and that is the way in which you will receive for yourselves the blessing God has promised you”; Jerusalem Bible “That is what you are called to do so that you inherit a blessing yourself”). Both are possible, although the following quotation from Psalm 34 seems to suggest that here the former alternative is intended, and many translations favor it. For “inherit,” see verse 7 (“heir”).

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 3:9

3:9

This is similar to Jesus’ teaching in Luke 6:27–28. If a Christian is treated badly by someone, he must do good to that person. God expects his people to behave like that, and he will bless them if they do.

3:9a

Do not repay evil with evil: The phrase Do not repay evil with evil means “Do not do evil to someone in return for the evil they have done to you.” In some languages it may be natural to translate it as a conditional statement:

If someone does evil to you, do not do evil back to them
-or-
When someone harms you, do not take revenge

3:9b

or: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as or here introduces another thing that believers were not to do. In some languages it may be natural to translate it as:

and

insult with insult: There is some implied information here. The words “Do not repay” from 9a are implied at the beginning of this verse part. The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as ⌊Do not repay⌋ insult with insult in this context means “Do not speak evil to someone in return for the evil they have spoken to you.” Some other ways this phrase has been translated are:

Do not pay back…cursing with cursing (Good News Translation)
-or-
Do not repay…abuse with abuse (Revised English Bible)

General Comment on 3:9a–b

In some languages it may be natural to combine verse parts 9a–b after the model of the Contemporary English Version:

Don’t be hateful and insult people just because they are hateful and insult you.

3:9c

but: The Greek conjunction de that the Berean Standard Bible translates as but introduces what believers were to do instead of returning evil for evil. Here is another way to translate this transition:

Instead (Contemporary English Version)

with blessing: In some languages it may be natural to supply a verb here, probably the same verb that you used in 3:9a and 3:9b. The New Century Version has:

repay with a blessing

In other languages it may be natural to translate the noun blessing as a verb:

bless them (God’s Word)
-or-
bless others (NET Bible)

blessing: There are two ways of interpreting the word blessing here:

(1) It means that Christians should ask God to bless their enemies. See Matthew 5:44.

(2) It means that Christians should do good to their enemies. For example, the Contemporary English Version says:

treat everyone with kindness

(Berean Standard Bible, Contemporary English Version, New American Standard Bible, NET Bible, New International Version, New Revised Standard Version)

Most English versions are ambiguous. If you must choose between these two interpretations, it is recommended that you choose interpretation (1), which has the support of most commentaries.

3:9d

to this you were called: There are two ways to interpret the Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as to this you were called :

(1) It refers backward to 3:9c and means “God called you to bless others.” For example:

That is what you were called to do (New Jerusalem Bible)

(Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, King James Version, New Living Translation (2004), New Century Version, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible)

(2) It refers forward to 3:9e and means “God called you in order to bless you.” For example:

for a blessing is what God intends you to receive (Revised English Bible)

(New American Standard Bible, Revised English Bible, Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, NET Bible, God’s Word)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). This agrees with 2:21, where the context is similar.

The phrase to this you were called is passive. God is the one who is doing the calling. In some languages it may be more natural to express this in an active form. For example:

to this God has called you

called: The word called in this context means “invited” or “summoned.” The Contemporary English Version translates this phrase as:

You are God’s chosen ones (Contemporary English Version)

3:9e

so that: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as so that here introduces the reason/purpose why God called his people to bless others. See how you translated similar expressions in 2:21 (“that”) and 2:24b (“so that”).

you may inherit a blessing: The phrase you may inherit a blessing means “you will receive a blessing.” It is implied that it is God who will give the blessing. In some languages it may be necessary to make this explicit:

⌊God⌋ will give you a blessing
-or-

⌊God⌋ will bless you

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