2 Peter 3:1-2

The False Teachers’ Denial of the Lord’s Return

3:1 Dear friends, this is already the second letter I have written ¹  you, in which ²  I am trying to stir up ³  your pure mind by way of reminder: 3:2 I want you to recall ⁴  both ⁵  the predictions ⁶  foretold by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles. ⁷ 

2 Peter 1:6

1:6 to knowledge, self-control; to self-control, perseverance; ⁸  to perseverance, godliness;

2 Peter 1:15

1:15 Indeed, I will also make every effort that, after my departure, you have a testimony of these things. ⁹ 

2 Peter 1:13

1:13 Indeed, as long as I am in this tabernacle, ¹⁰  I consider it right to stir you up by way of a reminder,

2 Peter 3:8

3:8 Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your notice, ¹¹  that a single day is like a thousand years with the Lord and a thousand years are like a single day.

2 Peter 3:15

3:15 And regard the patience of our Lord as salvation, ¹²  just as also our dear brother Paul ¹³  wrote to you, ¹⁴  according to the wisdom given to him,

2 Peter 3:5

3:5 For they deliberately suppress this fact, ¹⁵  that by the word of God ¹⁶  heavens existed long ago and an earth ¹⁷  was formed out of water and by means of water.

2 Peter 3:17

3:17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, ¹⁸  be on your guard that you do not get led astray by the error of these unprincipled men ¹⁹  and fall from your firm grasp on the truth. ²⁰ 

[3:1]  ¹ 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]  ² tn The relative pronoun is plural, indicating that the following statement is true about both letters.

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

[3:2]  ⁴ tn Grk “to remember.” “I want you” is supplied to smooth out the English. The Greek infinitive is subordinate to the previous clause.

[3:2]  ⁵ tn “Both” is not in Greek; it is supplied to show more clearly that there are two objects of the infinitive “to remember” – predictions and commandment.

[3:2]  ⁶ tn Grk “words.” In conjunction with πρόειπον (proeipon), however, the meaning of the construction is that the prophets uttered prophecies.

[3:2]  ⁷ sn Holy prophets…apostles. The first chapter demonstrated that the OT prophets were trustworthy guides (1:19-21) and that the NT apostles were also authoritative (1:16-18). Now, using the same catch phrase found in the Greek text of 1:20 (τοῦτο πρῶτον γινώσκοντες, touto prwton ginwskontes), Peter points to specific prophecies of the prophets as an argument against the false teachers.

[1:6]  ⁷ tn Perhaps “steadfastness,” though that is somewhat archaic. A contemporary colloquial rendering would be “stick-to-it-iveness.”

[1:15]  ¹⁰ sn There are various interpretations of v. 15. For example, the author could be saying simply, “I will make every effort that you remember these things.” But the collocation of σπουδάζω (spoudazw) with μνήνη (mnhnh) suggests a more specific image. R. Bauckham (Jude, 2 Peter [WBC], 201-2) is right when he notes that these two words together suggest a desire to write some sort of letter or testament. Most commentators recognize the difficulty in seeing the future verb σπουδάσω (spoudasw) as referring to 2 Peter itself (the present or aorist would have been expected, i.e., “I have made every effort,” or “I am making every effort”). Some have suggested that Mark’s Gospel is in view. The difficulty with this is threefold: (1) Mark is probably to be dated before 2 Peter, (2) early patristic testimony seems to imply that Peter was the unwitting source behind Mark’s Gospel; and (3) “these things” would seem to refer, in the least, to the prophecy about Peter’s death (absent in Mark). A more plausible suggestion might be that the author was thinking of the ending of John’s Gospel. This is possible because (1) John 21:18-19 is the only other place in the NT that refers to Peter’s death; indeed, it fleshes out the cryptic statement in v. 14 a bit more; (2) both 2 Peter and John were apparently written to Gentiles in and around Asia Minor; (3) both books were probably written after Paul’s death and perhaps even to Paul’s churches (cf. 2 Pet 3:1-2, 15-16); and (4) John 21 gives the appearance of being added to the end of a finished work. There is thus some possibility that this final chapter was added at the author’s request, in part to encourage Gentile Christians to face impending persecution, knowing that the martyrdom of even (Paul and) Peter was within the purview of God’s sovereignty. That 2 Pet 1:15 alludes to John 21 is of course by no means certain, but remains at least the most plausible of the suggestions put forth thus far.

[1:13]  ¹³ tn Or “tent.” The author uses this as a metaphor for his physical body.

[3:8]  ¹⁶ tn The same verb, λανθάνω (lanqanw, “escape”) used in v. 5 is found here (there, translated “suppress”).

[3:15]  ¹⁹ tn The language here is cryptic. It probably means “regard the patience of our Lord as an opportunity for salvation.” In the least, Peter is urging his audience to take a different view of the delay of the parousia than that of the false teachers.

[3:15]  ²⁰ sn Critics generally assume that 2 Peter is not authentic, partially because in vv. 15-16 Paul is said to have written scripture. It is assumed that a recognition of Paul’s writings as scripture could not have happened until early in the 2nd century. However, in the same breath that Paul is canonized, Peter also calls him “brother.” This is unparalleled in the 2nd century apocryphal works, as well as early patristic writings, in which the apostles are universally elevated above the author and readers; here, Peter simply says “he’s one of us.”

[3:15]  ²¹ sn Paul wrote to you. That Paul had written to these people indicates that they are most likely Gentiles. Further, that Peter is now writing to them suggests that Paul had already died, for Peter was the apostle to the circumcised. Peter apparently decided to write his two letters to Paul’s churches shortly after Paul’s death, both to connect with them personally and theologically (Paul’s gospel is Peter’s gospel) and to warn them of the wolves in sheep’s clothing that would come in to destroy the flock. Thus, part of Peter’s purpose seems to be to anchor his readership on the written documents of the Christian community (both the Old Testament and Paul’s letters) as a safeguard against heretics.

[3:5]  ²² tn The Greek is difficult at this point. An alternative is “Even though they maintain this, it escapes them that…” Literally the idea seems to be: “For this escapes these [men] who wish [it to be so].”

[3:5]  ²³ tn The word order in Greek places “the word of God” at the end of the sentence. See discussion in the note on “these things” in v. 6.

[3:5]  ²⁴ tn Or “land,” “the earth.”

[3:17]  ²⁵ tn Grk “knowing beforehand.”

[3:17]  ²⁶ tn Or “lawless ones.”

[3:17]  ²⁷ tn Grk “fall from your firmness.”