2 Peter 3:1

Context

The False Teachers’ Denial of the Lord’s Return

3:1 Dear friends, this is already the second letter I have written¹ you, in which² I am trying to stir up³ your pure mind by way of reminder:

2 Peter 3:4

Context
3:4 and saying,⁴ “Where is his promised return?⁵ For ever since⁶ our ancestors⁷ died,⁸ all things have continued as they were⁹ from the beginning of creation.”

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

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

[3:4] ⁴tn 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.

[3:4] ⁵tn 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).

[3:4] ⁶tn 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.).

[3:4] ⁷tn 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.

[3:4] ⁸tn The verb κοιμάω (koimaw) literally means “sleep,” but it is often used in the Bible as a euphemism for the death of a believer.

[3:4] ⁹tn Grk “thus,” “in the same manner.”