2 Peter 3:4

3:4 and saying, ¹  “Where is his promised return? ²  For ever since ³  our ancestors ⁴  died, ⁵  all things have continued as they were ⁶  from the beginning of creation.”

2 Peter 3:7

3:7 But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, by being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. ⁷ 

2 Peter 3:10

3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; when it comes, ⁸  the heavens will disappear ⁹  with a horrific noise, ¹⁰  and the celestial bodies ¹¹  will melt away ¹²  in a blaze, ¹³  and the earth and every deed done on it ¹⁴  will be laid bare. ¹⁵ 

2 Peter 3:16

3:16 speaking of these things in all his letters. ¹⁶  Some things in these letters ¹⁷  are hard to understand, things ¹⁸  the ignorant and unstable twist ¹⁹  to their own destruction, as they also do to the rest of the scriptures. ²⁰ 

¹ tn The present participle λέγοντες (legontes, “saying”) most likely indicates result. Thus, their denial of the Lord’s return is the result of their lifestyle. The connection to the false teachers of chapter 2 is thus made clear.

² tn Grk “Where is the promise of his coming?” The genitive παρουσίας (parousia", “coming, advent, return”) is best taken as an attributed genitive (in which the head noun, promise, functions semantically as an adjective; see ExSyn 89-91).

³ tn The prepositional phrase with the relative pronoun, ἀφ᾿ ἧς (af’ |h"), is used adverbially or conjunctively without antecedent (see BDAG 727 s.v. ὅς 1.k.).

⁴ tn Grk “fathers.” The reference could be either to the OT patriarchs or first generation Christians. This latter meaning, however, is unattested in any other early Christian literature.

⁵ tn The verb κοιμάω (koimaw) literally means “sleep,” but it is often used in the Bible as a euphemism for the death of a believer.

⁶ tn Grk “thus,” “in the same manner.”

⁷ tn Grk “the ungodly people.”

¹³ tn Grk “in which.”

¹⁴ tn Or “pass away.”

¹⁵ tn Or “hissing sound,” “whirring sound,” “rushing sound,” or “loud noise.” The word occurs only here in the NT. It was often used of the crackle of a fire, as would appear appropriate in this context.

¹⁶ tn Grk “elements.” Most commentators are agreed that “celestial bodies” is meant, in light of this well-worn usage of στοιχεῖα (stoiceia) in the 2nd century and the probable allusion to Isa 34:4 (text of Vaticanus). See R. Bauckham, Jude, 2 Peter [WBC], 315-16 for discussion.

¹⁷ tn Grk “be dissolved.”

¹⁸ tn Grk “being burned up.”

¹⁹ tn Grk “the works in it.”

²⁰ tc One of the most difficult textual problems in the NT is found in v. 10. The reading εὑρεθήσεται (Jeureqhsetai), which enjoys by far the best support (א B K P 0156^vid 323 1241 1739^txt pc) is nevertheless so difficult a reading that many scholars regard it as nonsensical. (NA²⁷ lists five conjectures by scholars, from Hort to Mayor, in this text.) As R. Bauckham has pointed out, solutions to the problem are of three sorts: (1) conjectural emendation (which normally speaks more of the ingenuity of the scholar who makes the proposal than of the truth of the conjecture, e.g., changing one letter in the previous word, ἔργα [erga] becomes ἄργα [arga] with the meaning, “the earth and the things in it will be found useless”); (2) adoption of one of several variant readings (all of which, however, are easier than this one and simply cannot explain how this reading arose, e.g., the reading of Ì⁷² which adds λυόμενα [luomena] to the verb – a reading suggested no doubt by the threefold occurrence of this verb in the surrounding verses: “the earth and its works will be found dissolved”; or the simplest variant, the reading of the Sahidic mss, οὐχ [ouc] preceding ἑυρεθήσεται – “will not be found”); or (3) interpretive gymnastics which regards the text as settled but has to do some manipulation to its normal meaning. Bauckham puts forth an excellent case that the third option is to be preferred and that the meaning of the term is virtually the equivalent of “will be disclosed,” “will be manifested.” (That this meaning is not readily apparent may in fact have been the reason for so many variants and conjectures.) Thus, the force of the clause is that “the earth and the works [done by men] in it will be stripped bare [before God].” In addition, the unusualness of the expression is certainly in keeping with the author’s style throughout this little book. Hence, what looks to be suspect because of its abnormalities, upon closer inspection is actually in keeping with the author’s stylistic idiosyncrasies. The meaning of the text then is that all but the earth and men’s works will be destroyed. Everything will be removed so that humanity will stand naked before God. Textually, then, on both external and internal grounds, εὑρεθήσεται commends itself as the preferred reading.

¹⁹ tn Grk “as also in all his letters speaking in them of these things.”

²⁰ tn Grk “in which are some things hard to understand.”

²¹ tn Grk “which.” The antecedent is the “things hard to understand,” not the entirety of Paul’s letters. A significant principle is seen here: The primary proof texts used for faith and practice ought to be the clear passages that are undisputed in their meaning. Heresy today is still largely built on obscure texts.

²² tn Or “distort,” “wrench,” “torture” (all are apt descriptions of what heretics do to scripture).

²³ sn This one incidental line, the rest of the scriptures, links Paul’s writings with scripture. This is thus one of the earliest affirmations of any part of the NT as scripture. Peter’s words were prophetic and were intended as a preemptive strike against the heretics to come.