1 PET 2:15 Parallel Verse View

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Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT For this is the will of God: doing good to silence the ignorance of the foolish people;

UST Obey those who govern people, because this is what God wants: He wants you to do good things in order to stop fools who do not know God from being able to ignorantly say that you have done evil things.

BLB because the will of God is this: doing good, to put to silence the ignorance of foolish men,

AICNT For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.

OEB For God’s will is this – that you should silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing what is right.

WEBBE For this is the will of God, that by well-doing you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET For God wants you to silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good.

LSV because, so is the will of God, doing good, to put to silence the ignorance of the foolish men—

FBV By doing what is good and right God wants you to silence the ignorant accusations of foolish people.

TCNT For it is God's will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good.

T4T What God wants is that by your doing only what is good you will cause foolish people who do not know God to be unable to say things ◄to condemn you/to show you why you should be punished►.

LEB For the will of God is as follows: by[fn] doing good to silence the ignorance of foolish people.

2:15 *Here “by” is supplied as a component of the participle (“doing good”) which is understood as means

BBE Because it is God's pleasure that foolish and narrow-minded men may be put to shame by your good behaviour:

Moff for it is the will of God that by your honest lives you should silence the ignorant charges of foolish persons.

Wymth For it is God's will that by doing what is right you should thus silence the ignorant talk of foolish persons.

ASV For so is the will of God, that by well-doing ye should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:

DRA For so is the will of God, that by doing well you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:

YLT because, so is the will of God, doing good, to put to silence the ignorance of the foolish men;

Drby Because so is the will of [fn]God, that by well-doing ye put to silence the ignorance of senseless men;

2.15 Elohim

RV For so is the will of God, that by well-doing ye should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
(For so is the will of God, that by well-doing ye/you_all should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: )

SLT (For so is the will of God, those doing good to silence the want of knowledge of the foolish men:)

Wbstr For so is the will of God, that with well-doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:

KJB-1769 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
(For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye/you_all may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: )

KJB-1611 For so is the will of God, that with well doing yee may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps For so is the wyll of God, that with well doyng, ye may stoppe the mouthes of foolishe and ignoraunt men:
(For so is the will of God, that with well doing, ye/you_all may stop the mouths of foolish and ignorant men:)

Gnva For so is the will of God, that by well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of the foolish men,
(For so is the will of God, that by well doing ye/you_all may put to silence the ignorance of the foolish men, )

Cvdl For so is the will of God, that ye with well doynge shulde put to sylence the ignoraunce of folishmen:
(For so is the will of God, that ye/you_all with well doing should put to silence the ignorance of foolishmen:)

TNT For so is the will of god that ye put to sylence the ygnorancie of the folyshe men:
(For so is the will of god that ye/you_all put to silence the ygnorancie of the folyshe men: )

Wycl For so is the wille of God, that ye do wel, and make the vnkunnyngnesse of vnprudent men to be doumb.
(For so is the will of God, that ye/you_all do well, and make the uncunning/uneducatedness of unprudent men to be dumb.)

Luth Denn das ist der Wille Gottes, daß ihr mit Wohltun verstopfet die Unwissenheit der törichten Menschen,
(Because the is the/of_the Wille God’s, that you(pl)/their/her with Probablytun verstopfet the Unwissenheit the/of_the foolishn people,)

ClVg quia sic est voluntas Dei, ut benefacientes obmutescere faciatis imprudentium hominum ignorantiam:[fn]
(because so it_is will/desire(n) of_God, as benefacientes be_silentre do_it imof_the_wise of_men ignorance: )

2.15 Laudem vero bonorum. Quia sic est. Vere pii, quidquid duces agant, laudem consequuntur: quia hoc vult Deus, qui etiam malis utitur in bonum, unde et vos utamini etiam illis in bonum, sive boni sive mali sint, facientes obmutescere imprudentium hominum ignorantium. Ut quoquo modo eis in bonum utamini, et per eos laudem mereamini, nec ipsi inveniant quid in vobis vituperent, dum etiam ipsos honoratis et patimini, quamvis sint immundi.

2.15 Laudem indeed/however of_goods. Because so it_is. Vere pii, whatever leaders agant, praise consequuntur: because this wants God, who/which also bad_things uses in/into/on good, from_where/who and you(pl) utamini also to_them in/into/on good, if/or good if/or evil let_them_be, they_will_does be_silentre imof_the_wise of_men ignorantium. As quoquo just/only to_them in/into/on good utamini, and through them praise mereamini, but_not themselves I_foundant what in/into/on to_you(pl) vituperent, while also themselves honour/respect(n)atis and patimini, although/however let_them_be unclean/impure.

UGNT ὅτι οὕτως ἐστὶν τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἀγαθοποιοῦντας φιμοῦν τὴν τῶν ἀφρόνων ἀνθρώπων ἀγνωσίαν;
(hoti houtōs estin to thelaʸma tou Theou, agathopoiountas fimoun taʸn tōn afronōn anthrōpōn agnōsian;)

SBL-GNT (ὅτι οὕτως ἐστὶν τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ, ἀγαθοποιοῦντας φιμοῦν τὴν τῶν ἀφρόνων ἀνθρώπων ἀγνωσίαν)·
((hoti houtōs estin to thelaʸma tou theou, agathopoiountas fimoun taʸn tōn afronōn anthrōpōn agnōsian);)

RP-GNT Ὅτι οὕτως ἐστὶν τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ, ἀγαθοποιοῦντας φιμοῦν τὴν τῶν ἀφρόνων ἀνθρώπων ἀγνωσίαν·
(Hoti houtōs estin to thelaʸma tou theou, agathopoiountas fimoun taʸn tōn afronōn anthrōpōn agnōsian;)

TC-GNT Ὅτι οὕτως ἐστὶ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἀγαθοποιοῦντας [fn]φιμοῦν τὴν τῶν ἀφρόνων ἀνθρώπων ἀγνωσίαν·
(Hoti houtōs esti to thelaʸma tou Theou, agathopoiountas fimoun taʸn tōn afronōn anthrōpōn agnōsian; )

2:15 φιμουν ¦ φιμοιν WH

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

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 (GW)

Submission to Rulers and Masters (NIV)

2:15

Peter wanted the Christians to behave so well that their unbelieving neighbors would not be able to criticize them.

In some languages it may be natural to break this verse up into two sentences. For example:

For it is God’s will that you should do good. In this way you will silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.

2:15a

For it is God’s will that

For God wants you
Because God’s desires that

For: The Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as For here means “because.” It introduces the reason why the believers should submit to their civil rulers.

it is God’s will that: The phrase God’s will here refers to the thing that God wants to happen. In some languages it may be necessary to translate God’s will with a verb phrase. Here is another way to translate this:

for God wants you to… (NET)

2:15b

by doing good

to do good, so that
your good lives/deeds

by doing good: This is the means by which God’s will could be carried out. In some languages it may be natural to say something like:

you should do good and so…

doing good: The Greek word that the BSB translates as doing good is from the same word that is translated as “those who do right” in 2:14b. The BSB has changed from “right” to good for the sake of variety, in accordance with good English style. In your translation, use the same or a different word according to what is most natural in your language.

2:15c

you should silence the ignorance of foolish men.

foolish and ignorant people will stop talking against you.
should silence those senseless people who criticise you without knowing the truth.

you should silence the ignorance of foolish men: The BSB translates the Greek phrase literally here by saying silence the ignorance. The RSV says similarly “you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.” But in many languages, neither “ignorance” nor “ignorant talk” (NIV, GNT) may be things that can be silenced. It may be more natural to speak of silencing people. For example:

make foolish people stop saying such ignorant things

silence foolish and ignorant people

you should silence: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as you should silence in this context refers to making it morally impossible rather than physically impossible for people to say bad things. The truth should be so obvious that people would be ashamed to keep talking badly about the believers. Other ways to translate this include:

you should cause those foolish people to fall silent

you should make it impossible for foolish people to say…

the ignorance: By ignorance, the BSB is actually referring to speech that is not based on knowledge of the facts. The person who is speaking does not know the truth. So in some languages it may be necessary to translate this as:

the talk/words of ignorant people

It is implied that what these people were saying was false and that they were saying bad things about the believers. In some languages it may be necessary to make this explicit:

the false things that ignorant people are saying about you

foolish men: The word foolish means lacking good sense.

men: Here the Greek word that the BSB translates as men means people in general and refers to anyone who was speaking evil about believers.

General Comment on 2:15a–c

In some languages it may be natural to reverse the order of verse parts b and c. For example:

^15aFor it is God’s will that ^15cyou should cause foolish people to stop saying wrong things about you. ^15bYou can do this by doing good/right.

For God wants you to silence the ignorant talk of foolish people by the good things you do. (GNT)

God wants you to silence stupid and ignorant people by doing right. (CEV)