1:3 Blessed be 1 the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are 6 upon the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer.
But the Lord’s face is against those who do evil. 7
1 tn There is no verb in the Greek text; either the optative (“be”) or the indicative (“is”) can be supplied. The meaning of the term εὐλογητός (euloghtos) and the author’s intention at this point in the epistle must both come into play to determine which is the preferred nuance. εὐλογητός as an adjective can mean either that one is praised or that one is blessed, that is, in a place of favor and benefit. Two factors of the author’s style come into play. At this point the author is describing the reality of believers’ salvation and will soon explain believers’ necessary response; this is in emulation of Pauline style which generally follows the same logical order (although the author here discusses the reality in a much more compressed fashion). On the other hand, when imitating the Pauline greeting, which is normally verbless, the author inserts the optative (see v. 2 above). When considered as a whole, although a decision is difficult, the fact that the author in the immediate context has used the optative when imitating a Pauline stylized statement would argue for the optative here. The translation uses the term “blessed” in the sense “worthy of praise” as this is in keeping with the traditional translation of berakah psalms. Cf. also 2 Cor 1:3; Eph 1:3.
2 tn Grk “probing.” The participle continues the sentence from v. 10 but has been translated as an indicative for English style.
3 tn Or “time or circumstances,” focusing not on the person but on the timing and circumstances of the fulfillment.
sn The OT prophets wondered about the person and the surrounding circumstances (time) through which God would fulfill his promised salvation.
4 tn Grk “the sufferings unto Christ,” i.e., sufferings directed toward him, what he was destined to suffer.
5 tn Grk “the glories after these things.”
6 tn The verbs are implied but not expressed in this verse: “the Lord’s eyes [ ] on the righteous and his ears [ ] to their prayer, but his face [ ] against those who do evil.”
7 sn Verses 10-12 are a quotation from Ps 34:12-16.
8 tc ‡ A few important
9 tn The pronoun “you” is not used explicitly but is clearly implied by the Greek.