2 Peter 1:18

1:18 When this voice was conveyed from heaven, we ourselves ¹  heard it, for we were with him on the holy mountain. ² 

2 Peter 2:17

2:17 These men ³  are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm, for whom the utter depths of darkness ⁴  have been reserved.

2 Peter 3:1

The False Teachers’ Denial of the Lord’s Return

3:1 Dear friends, this is already the second letter I have written ⁵  you, in which ⁶  I am trying to stir up ⁷  your pure mind by way of reminder:

2 Peter 2:12

2:12 But ⁸  these men, ⁹  like irrational animals – creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed ¹⁰  – do not understand whom ¹¹  they are insulting, and consequently ¹²  in their destruction they will be destroyed, ¹³ 

2 Peter 1:17

1:17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father, when that ¹⁴  voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory: “This is my dear Son, in whom I am delighted.” ¹⁵ 

[1:18]  ¹ tn The “we” in v. 18 is evidently exclusive, that is, it refers to Peter and the other apostles.

[1:18]  ² tn 2 Pet 1:17-18 comprise one sentence in Greek, with the main verb “heard” in v. 18. All else is temporally subordinate to that statement. Hence, more literally these verses read as follows: “For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory: ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am delighted,’ we ourselves heard this voice when it was conveyed from heaven, when we were with him on the holy mountain.”

[2:17]  ³ tn Although some translations have simply “these” or “these people,” since in v. 14 they are described as having eyes “full of an adulteress,” men are in view.

[2:17]  ⁴ tn Grk “utter darkness of darkness.” Verse 4 speaks of wicked angels presently in “chains of utter darkness,” while the final fate of the false teachers is a darker place still.

[3:1]  ⁵ tn Grk “I am already writing this [as] a second letter.” The object-complement construction is more smoothly rendered in English a bit differently. Further, although the present tense γράφω (grafw) is used here, English convention employs an epistolary past tense. (The Greek epistolary aorist might have been expected here, but it also occurs in situations unlike its English counterparts.)

[3:1]  ⁶ tn The relative pronoun is plural, indicating that the following statement is true about both letters.

[3:1]  ⁷ tn Or “I have stirred up, aroused.” The translation treats the present tense verb as a conative present.

[2:12]  ⁷ tn 2 Pet 2:12 through 16 constitute one cumbersome sentence in Greek. It is difficult to tell whether a hard break belongs in the middle of v. 13, as the translation has it, or whether the compounding of participles is meant in a loosely descriptive sort of way, without strong grammatical connection. Either way, the sentence rambles in a way that often betrays a great “vehemence of spirit” (A. T. Robertson, Grammar, 435). The author is obviously agitated at these false teachers who are to come.

[2:12]  ⁸ tn The false teachers could conceivably be men or women, but in v. 14 they are said to have eyes “full of an adulteress.” This can only refer to men. Hence, both here and in v. 17 the false teachers are described as “men.”

[2:12]  ⁹ tn Grk “born for capture and destruction.”

[2:12]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “with [reference to] whom.”

[2:12]  ¹¹ tn There is no conjunction joining this last clause of v. 12 to the preceding (i.e., no “and consequently”). The argument builds asyndetically (a powerful rhetorical device in Greek), but cannot be naturally expressed in English as such.

[2:12]  ¹² tn This cryptic expression has been variously interpreted. (1) It could involve a simple cognate dative in which case the idea is “they will be utterly destroyed.” But the presence of αὐτῶν (autwn; their, of them) is problematic for this view. Other, more plausible views are: (2) the false teachers will be destroyed at the same time as the irrational beasts, or (3) in the same manner as these creatures (i.e., by being caught); or (4) the false teachers will be destroyed together with the evil angels whom they insult. Because of the difficulties of the text, it was thought best to leave it ambiguous, as the Greek has it.

[1:17]  ⁹ tn Grk “such a.” The pronoun τοιᾶσδε (toiasde) most likely refers to what follows, connoting something of the uniqueness of the proclamation.

[1:17]  ¹⁰ 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.”