The reason for the Christian’s great joy is now given. The Good News Translation makes this clear by translating this verse as a dependent clause introduced by because (See also New American Bible; Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has restructured verses 8-9 to make the relationship of the parts clearer: “The goal of your trust is your salvation. When you will have gained it, you will rejoice….”) A literal translation (compare Revised Standard Version) would of course not make this clear. The clause introduced by because should be directly related to the rejoicing and not to the fact that words cannot be employed to describe the joy. It may therefore be important to begin verse 9 with a new sentence such as “you rejoice because you are receiving the salvation of your souls.”

You are receiving is a present participle in the Greek, which makes “salvation” a present reality. However, in view of verse 5, “salvation” here should also be understood as the full outcome of one’s relationship with God, which will be experienced by the believer at the end of the age. Perhaps here the tension between present and future is vividly shown; Christians are now receiving this salvation, but their experience of it will only be complete in the end of time.

You are receiving the salvation of your souls is a type of substitute passive, since the subject You is actually the goal of the event of salvation. This means that in some languages it is necessary to use an active form by making God the agent of the activity, for example, “because God is saving your souls” or “because God is saving you.”

The word souls (in the plural) is used in this letter five times (namely, here, and in 1.22; 2.25; 3.20; 4.19). Some take souls here and in 1.22 and 2.25 to mean the spiritual side of people’s lives; others, however, take it to refer to the person as a whole. This latter view is reflected in some translations, notably New American Bible “your salvation.” (See also Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch.)

This salvation is spoken of as the purpose of faith. The word for purpose is telos, which can mean “end” (Jerusalem Bible); “goal” (New American Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch); “result” (Phillips, Barclay); “outcome” (Revised Standard Version, Moffatt); “fruit” (Knox). Faith here may be taken as “faithfulness” (as in 1.7), or more preferably, as trust and commitment to Christ (as in 1.8). Taken in this latter sense, the implicit object of faith is Christ, and the Good News Translation has made this object explicit.

The clause which is the purpose of your faith in him may be restructured as “this is the reason way you trusted in Christ.” If one interprets the Greek term telos as expressing result, one may translate the final clause of verse 9 as “this is what has happened as a result of your trusting in Christ” or “your trusting in Christ is what has caused all this to happen.”

Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The First Letter from Peter. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .