Parallel 1 PET 1:16

1:16a

Here in 1:16 Peter quoted from Leviticus 19:2. You might want to include this information as a cross-reference or footnote.

for: The Greek word that the BSB translates as for can also be translated as “because.” This conjunction introduces the reason/basis for the command in 1:15b. Peter used this conjunction to join 1:15 with a quotation from the Old Testament in 1:16.

This conjunction can be translated in different ways:

• Explicitly, using a conjunction such as for, “because,” or “since.” For example:

  because it is written (NASB)

• Implicitly. For example:

  The Scripture says (GNT)

Translate the conjunction in whichever of these ways is the most clear and natural in your language.

it is written: When Jesus taught people, he frequently used the phrase it is written to introduce a quotation from the Old Testament (for example, see Matthew 11:10). Some writers of the New Testament also used it is written to introduce quotations from the Old Testament. See, for example, Romans 12:19, 14:11; 1 Corinthians 3:19; Galatians 3:10, 3:13.Peter quoted the OT for the first time in this letter here at 1:16. Though he included many other quotations from the Old Testament later in this letter, here is the only place where he used it is written to introduce a quotation. By saying it is written, Peter claims that his instruction to his readers in 1:15, to be holy, has the authority of God’s words that Moses recorded in the OT Scriptures.

Your language may require you to refer to the Old Testament in your translation. If you do not already know what you are going to call the writings in the Old Testament, you may be able to refer to the whole Old Testament as:

the Book of God

the Holy Writing(s)

the Scriptures

You may want or need a more specific key term for the first five books of the Old Testament, which includes Leviticus. For example:

the Law

The phrase it is written uses a passive verb. If your language requires you to say who did the writing, since Moses wrote Leviticus, you may be able to say:

Moses wrote in the Holy Writing(s)

1:16b

Be holy: This is a command that is a quotation of Leviticus 19:2. God was commanding his people to Be holy. Try to use the same word for holy that you used to describe God in 1:15.The Septuagint translated Leviticus 19:2 with the word for “holy” that Peter used. Jesus also quoted Leviticus 19:2 during the Sermon on the Mount, but Matthew’s account used a different Greek word, sometimes translated as “perfect,” than did Peter and the Septuagint. In Matthew 5:48, Jesus was speaking to Jews, people who grew up thinking of themselves as being God’s chosen people. Many had a deficient understanding of the righteousness necessary to have eternal life. In the context of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was telling the people that God’s standard of performance, in this case of loving, is no less than God’s own perfection. Peter, on the other hand, was writing largely to Gentiles who were not raised with this understanding. They had embraced Christ and His righteousness. The problem was not that the standard was set too low by tradition. Peter cautions them against the type of sin that their desires led them to commit before they were born again. Their call is to sanctification, to holiness. Peter may also have been playing on the fact that Christians were referred to as the saints, from the same root word that he used here for “holy.”

The phrase that the BSB translates as Be holy is literally “You shall be holy.” God used a future statement to give a command. Many translations (for example, ESV, NASB, NET) translate this as a future statement. Translate it in the way that would be most natural in your language.

I am holy: God was the original speaker of these words. At Leviticus 19:2, God identifies himself as the speaker. If in this context it would be natural in your language for God to identify himself, then you may be able to translate this in a similar way to the CEV, which says:

I am the holy God (CEV)