1:16 For we did not follow cleverly concocted fables when we made known to you the power and return 1 of our Lord Jesus Christ; 2 no, 3 we were 4 eyewitnesses of his 5 grandeur. 6 1:17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father, when that 7 voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory: “This is my dear Son, in whom I am delighted.” 8
2:1 But false prophets arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. 9 These false teachers 10 will 11 infiltrate your midst 12 with destructive heresies, 13 even to the point of 14 denying the Master who bought them. As a result, they will bring 15 swift destruction on themselves.
1 tn Grk “coming.”
2 tn Grk “for we did not make known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ by following cleverly concocted fables.”
3 tn Grk “but, instead.”
4 tn Grk “became.”
5 tn Grk “that one’s.” That is, “eyewitnesses of the grandeur of that one.” The remote demonstrative pronoun is used perhaps to indicate esteem for Jesus. Along these lines it is interesting to note that “the Pythagoreans called their master after his death simply ἐκεῖνος” as a term of reverence and endearment (BDAG 302 s.v. ἐκεῖνος a.γ).
6 sn The term grandeur was used most frequently of God’s majesty. In the 1st century, it was occasionally used of the divine majesty of the emperor. 2 Pet 1:1 and 1:11 already include hints of a polemic against emperor-worship (in that “God and Savior” and “Lord and Savior” were used of the emperor).
7 tn Grk “such a.” The pronoun τοιᾶσδε (toiasde) most likely refers to what follows, connoting something of the uniqueness of the proclamation.
8 tn The verb εὐδόκησα (eudokhsa) in collocation with εἰς ὅν (ei" Jon) could either mean “in whom I am well-pleased, delighted” (in which case the preposition functions like ἐν [en]), or “on whom I have set my favor.”
13 sn There will be false teachers among you. Peter uses the same verb, γίνομαι (ginomai), in 2 Pet 2:1 as he had used in 1:20 to describe the process of inspiration. He may well be contrasting, by way of a catchword, the two kinds of prophets.
14 tn Grk “who”; verse 1 is one sentence in Greek, the second half constituting a relative clause.
15 sn By the use of the future tense (will infiltrate), Peter is boldly prophesying the role that false teachers will have before these Gentile believers. It was necessary for him to establish both his own credentials and to anchor his audience’s faith in the written Word before he could get to this point, for these false teachers will question both.
16 tn Grk “will bring in,” often with the connotation of secretiveness; “your midst” is implied.
17 tn Or “destructive opinions,” “destructive viewpoints.” The genitive ἀπωλείας (apwleia") could be taken either attributively (“destructive”) or as a genitive of destination (“leading to destruction”). Although the preferable interpretation is a genitive of destination, especially because of the elaboration given at the end of the verse (“bringing swift destruction on themselves”), translating it attributively is less cumbersome in English. Either way, the net result is the same.
18 tn Grk “even.” The καί (kai) is ascensive, suggesting that the worst heresy is mentioned in the words that follow.
19 tn Grk “bringing.” The present participle ἐπάγοντες (epagonte") indicates the result of the preceding clause.