translation_id: net-engnet

label: NET translator note

text: B C Ψ 0285 323 1739) and is strongly preferred.


text: This verse may give the purpose or result of their “arming” themselves as called for in v. 1 b and then the translation would be: “so that you may spend the rest of your time…” But it is better to take it as explanatory of the last phrase in v. 1 : what it means to be finished with sin.


text: Grk “the Gentiles,” used here of those who are not God’s people.


text: Grk “to accomplish the desire of the Gentiles.”


text: Grk “having gone along,” referring to the readers’ behavior in time past.


text: According to BDAG 857 s.v. πότος the term refers to a social gathering at which wine is served, hence “drinking parties” (cf. TEV, NASB). However, the collocation with the other terms in v. 4 suggests something less sophisticated and more along the lines of wild and frenzied drinking bouts.


text: The Greek words here all occur in the plural to describe their common practice in the past.


text: Grk “in/by which,” referring to the change of behavior described in v. 3 . The unbelievers are astonished by the readers’ moral transformation. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.


text: Or “are surprised, are taken aback.” The same verb occurs in 4:12 .


text: Grk “blaspheming,” giving the result of their astonishment. Here the target of their “blasphemy/vilification” is not God but the Christian.


text: Grk “give an account to.”


text: Grk “the one”; the referent (Jesus Christ) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Grk “since for this purpose the gospel was preached even to the dead,” referring to the purpose described in the clause to follow in v. 6 b.


text: Grk “so that they may be judged…but may live.” Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two clauses more than can be easily expressed in English.


text: Or “in their earthly lives,” since “flesh” here denotes the physical, earthly life. The phrase “in the flesh” is retained to preserve the links with 3:18 and 4:1 which use the same wording.


text: Grk “according to men.”


text: Grk “in spirit,” referring to the heavenly, eternal realm of existence (cf. 3:18 ).


text: Grk “according to God.”


text: Grk “for prayers.”


text: The primary verb of v. 8 is a participle (“having”) but it continues the sense of command from v. 7 .


text: Or “constant.”


text: There is no main verb in this verse (“showing hospitality” translates the adjective φιλόξενοι [ filoxenoi ]), but it continues the sense of command from v. 7 .


text: Grk “serving it to one another.” The primary verb is a participle but it continues the sense of command from v. 7 .


text: Grk “if anyone speaks – as God’s words.”


text: Or “oracles.”


text: Grk “if anyone serves – with strength…”


text: Grk “is/are.”


text: Or “do not be surprised, taken aback.” The same verb occurs in 4:4 .


text: Grk “at the burning among you, occurring to you for testing.”


text: Grk “in the revelation of his glory.”


text: The verb “be glad” is used also in 1:6 and 1:8 . The verbs of v. 13 b are used together in Matt 5:12 and Rev 19:7 .


text: B K L Ψ 049 pm ). Although the evidence is evenly divided, the longer reading looks to be an explanatory or liturgical expansion on the text and for this reason should be considered secondary.


text: Grk “the Spirit of glory and of God.”


text: The meaning of the Greek word used here is uncertain. It may mean “spy, informer,” “revolutionary,” or “defrauder, embezzler.” But the most likely meaning is “busybody, one who meddles in the affairs of others, troublesome meddler.” The translation given in the text is intended to suggest this general idea.


text: The verb is implied by the context but not expressed; Grk “but if as a Christian.”


text: These are third-person imperatives in Greek (“if [one of you suffers] as a Christian, let him not be ashamed…let him glorify”), but have been translated as second-person verbs since this is smoother English idiom.


text: Grk “in this name.”


text: Grk “to begin from the house.”


text: Or “the end.”


text: Grk “where will he appear.”


text: The personal references in v. 18 are generic singulars, but they have been changed to the plural in English to maintain consistency with the plurals of v. 17 . sn A quotation from Prov 11:31 (LXX).


text: Grk “in doing good.”