1 PET 2:16 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

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 as free people and not having freedom as a covering of evil, but as servants of God.

UST Obey those who govern people as people who are free to do so voluntarily, but do not try to use your status as free people to hide evil deeds. Instead, obey as those who serve God should.

BLB as free, and not having the freedom as a cover-up for evil, but as servants of God.

AICNT Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.

OEB Act as free people, yet not using your freedom as those do who make it a cloak for wickedness, but as Servants of God.

WEBBE Live as free people, yet not using your freedom for a cloak of wickedness, but as bondservants of God.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET Live as free people, not using your freedom as a pretext for evil, but as God’s slaves.

LSV as free, and not having freedom as the cloak of evil, but as servants of God;

FBV Yes, you are free people! So don't use your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but live as God's servants.

TCNT Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as an excuse to do evil; live as servants of God.

T4T Conduct your lives as though you were free from having to obey authorities, but do not think “Because I am free from having to obey authorities, I can do evil things.” Instead, act as servants of God should.

LEB Live as free persons, and not using your[fn] freedom as a covering for evil, but as slaves of God.

2:16 *Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun

BBE As those who are free, not using your free position as a cover for wrongdoing, but living as the servants of God;

Moff Live like free men, only do not make your freedom a pretext for misconduct; live like servants of God.

Wymth Be free men, and yet do not make your freedom an excuse for base conduct, but be God's bondservants.

ASV as free, and not using your freedom for a cloak of wickedness, but as bondservants of God.

DRA As free, and not as making liberty a cloak for malice, but as the servants of God.

YLT as free, and not having the freedom as the cloak of the evil, but as servants of God;

Drby as free, and not as having liberty as a cloak of malice, but as [fn]God's bondmen.

2.16 Elohim

RV as free, and not using your freedom for a cloke of wickedness, but as bondservants of God.
(as free, and not using your freedom for a cloak of wickedness, but as bondservants of God. )

SLT As free, and as not having liberty for a covering of wickedness, but as the servants of God.

Wbstr As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.

KJB-1769 As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.
(As free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. )

KJB-1611 As free, and not [fn]vsing your libertie for a cloake of maliciousnesse, but as the seruants of God.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above apart from footnotes)

2:16 Gr. hauing

Bshps As free, and not as hauyng the libertie for a cloke of maliciousnes, but euen as the seruauntes of God.
(As free, and not as having the liberty for a cloak of maliciousnes, but even as the servants of God.)

Gnva As free, and not as hauing the libertie for a cloke of maliciousnesse, but as the seruauntes of God.
(As free, and not as having the liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. )

Cvdl as fre, and not as hauynge the libertye for a cloke of wickednes, but eue as the seruauntes of God.
(as fre, and not as having the libertye for a cloak of wickedness, but eve/even as the servants of God.)

TNT as fre and not as havinge the libertie for a cloke of maliciousnes but even as the servautes of god.
(as free and not as having the liberty for a cloak of maliciousnes but even as the servantes of god. )

Wycl As fre men, and not as hauynge fredom the keuering of malice, but as the seruauntis of God.
(As free men, and not as having freedom the keuering of malice, but as the servants of God.)

Luth als die Freien, und nicht als hättet ihr die Freiheit zum Deckel der Bosheit, sondern als die Knechte Gottes.
(as the Freien, and not as would_have you(pl)/their/her the Freiheit for_the lid the/of_the wickedness/malice, rather as the servant(s) God’s.)

ClVg quasi liberi, et non quasi velamen habentes malitiæ libertatem, sed sicut servi Dei.[fn]
(as_if children, and not/no as_if veil having of_malice freedom, but like slaves of_God. )

2.16 Non quasi velamen. BEDA. Non habentes libertatem vestram in velamen malitiæ, etc., usque ad unde addit: Sed sicut servi Dei.

2.16 Not/No as_if veil. BEDA. Not/No having freedom your in/into/on veil of_malice, etc., until to from_where/who adds: But like slaves of_God.

UGNT ὡς ἐλεύθεροι, καὶ μὴ ὡς ἐπικάλυμμα ἔχοντες τῆς κακίας τὴν ἐλευθερίαν, ἀλλ’ ὡς Θεοῦ δοῦλοι.
(hōs eleutheroi, kai maʸ hōs epikalumma eⱪontes taʸs kakias taʸn eleutherian, all’ hōs Theou douloi.)

SBL-GNT ὡς ἐλεύθεροι, καὶ μὴ ὡς ἐπικάλυμμα ἔχοντες τῆς κακίας τὴν ἐλευθερίαν, ἀλλʼ ὡς ⸂θεοῦ δοῦλοι⸃.
(hōs eleutheroi, kai maʸ hōs epikalumma eⱪontes taʸs kakias taʸn eleutherian, allʼ hōs ⸂theou douloi⸃.)

RP-GNT ὡς ἐλεύθεροι, καὶ μὴ ὡς ἐπικάλυμμα ἔχοντες τῆς κακίας τὴν ἐλευθερίαν, ἀλλ' ὡς δοῦλοι θεοῦ.
(hōs eleutheroi, kai maʸ hōs epikalumma eⱪontes taʸs kakias taʸn eleutherian, all' hōs douloi theou.)

TC-GNT ὡς ἐλεύθεροι, καὶ μὴ ὡς ἐπικάλυμμα ἔχοντες τῆς κακίας τὴν ἐλευθερίαν, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς [fn]δοῦλοι Θεοῦ.
(hōs eleutheroi, kai maʸ hōs epikalumma eⱪontes taʸs kakias taʸn eleutherian, all hōs douloi Theou. )

2:16 δουλοι θεου ¦ θεου δουλοι CT

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)

2:16a

Live in freedom,

Rather live as people whom Christ has made free,
Behave in the way which is fitting for free people who are no longer enslaved to others.

Live in freedom: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as Live in freedom is literally “as free people.” The BSB has supplied the word Live. It is also possible to supply a word meaning “Act” (as in the NASB). Peter meant that his readers should consider themselves to be free and conduct themselves in a way that is appropriate for free people.

freedom: The Greek word that the BSB translates as freedom is the opposite of “slavery” and describes the state of “not being under the control of others.” In one sense, this is a metaphor. Many of the believers were, in fact, slaves. But the believers were free inwardly and spiritually. They were free to judge what was right and good. They were free from having to sin and from the pagan customs of their ancestors (see 1:18). Christ had set them free from those things.

Some other ways to translate this clause include:

Live as free people (NCV)

Live as those who are free (REB)

2:16b

but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil;

but being free is not an excuse for doing evil.
This means that you should not think that as a result of this you can do evil.
Do not try to hide sin under the cloak/guise of freedom.

but: The Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as but and the RSV as “yet” here introduces a limitation to the previous idea. Some English versions do not translate this conjunction. Introduce this limitation in a way that is natural for your language.

do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil: Peter was concerned that his readers might misunderstand what he had said about being free, He emphasized that being free did not mean that they were free to do wrong.

In some languages freedom may not be something that a person can use. So you may need to translate it in one of these ways:

the fact that you are free is not an excuse for doing evil

do not try to cover/veil your sin by saying that you are free

cover-up: The Greek word that the BSB translates as cover-up is literally “cloak.” Here it refers to something that is used to hide something else. Think whether there is an idiomatic expression in your language for a cover-up, that is, something good that is used to hide an evil deed. Other translations include:

pretext (NET)

excuse (NCV)

2:16c

live as servants of God.

Live as people who want to serve God.
Behave in the way that is fitting for servants of God.

live as servants of God: Peter was calling on the believers to realize that they must obey God above anyone else. They must try to please him. As in 2:16a, the BSB has supplied the word live.

servants: The Greek word that the BSB translates as servants referred to people who were not free to leave their employment. The idea is the opposite of being “in freedom,” as 2:16a says. In some languages it may be most accurate to translate this as:

slaves

General Comment on 2:16a–c

In some languages it may be natural to reverse the order of 2:16b and 16c:

^16aYou are free, ^16bbut still you are God’s servants, ^16cand you must not use your freedom as an excuse for doing wrong (CEV)

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis

ὡς ἐλεύθεροι

as as as (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὡς ἐλευθεροῖ καί μή ὡς ἐπικάλυμμα ἔχοντες τῆς κακίας τήν ἐλευθερίαν ἀλλʼ ὡς Θεοῦ δοῦλοι)

Peter is leaving out some of the words that a sentence would need in many languages to be complete. If it would be helpful in your language, you could supply these words from the context. These words could be: (1) the command to submit to authorities stated in [2:13](../02/13.md). Alternate translation: [submit as free people] (2) an implied imperative verb. Alternate translation: [act as free people] or [live as free people]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

ὡς ἐπικάλυμμα & τῆς κακίας

as as ˓a˒_cover-up & ˱of˲_the evil

Here, covering could refer to: (1) something to prevent people from knowing about one’s evil deeds. Alternate translation: [as a way to prevent others from seeing your evil] (2) an excuse or pretext to do evil deeds. Alternate translation: [as an excuse to do evil]

Parallel 1 PET 2:16

Section 2:13–25: God’s people should respect the rulers/chiefs of this world

2:16a

2:16b

2:16c

General Comment on 2:16a–c

Parallel 1 PET 2:16