2 Peter 3:13

3:13 But, according to his promise, we are waiting for ¹  new heavens and a new earth, in which ²  righteousness truly resides. ³ 

2 Peter 1:4

1:4 Through these things ⁴  he has bestowed on us his precious and most magnificent promises, so that by means of what was promised ⁵  you may become partakers of the divine nature, ⁶  after escaping ⁷  the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire. ⁸ 

[3:13]  ¹ tn Or possibly, “let us wait for.” The form in Greek (προσδόκωμεν, prosdokwmen) could be either indicative or subjunctive. The present participle in v. 14, however, is best taken causally (“since you are waiting for”), suggesting that the indicative is to be read here.

[3:13]  ² tn The relative pronoun is plural, indicating that the sphere in which righteousness dwells is both the new heavens and the new earth.

[3:13]  ³ tn Grk “dwells.” The verb κατοικέω (katoikew) is an intensive cognate of οἰκέω (oikew), often with the connotation of “taking up residence,” “settling down,” being at home,” etc. Cf., e.g., Matt 2:23; Acts 17:26; 22:12; Eph 3:17; Col 1:19; 2:9. Hence, the addition of the adverb “truly” is implicit in the connotation of the verb in a context such as this.

[1:4]  ⁴ tn Verse 4 is in Greek a continuation of v. 3, “through which things.”

[1:4]  ⁵ tn Grk “through them.” The implication is that through inheriting and acting on these promises the believers will increasingly become partakers of the divine nature.

[1:4]  ⁶ sn Although the author has borrowed the expression partakers of the divine nature from paganism, his meaning is clearly Christian. He does not mean apotheosis (man becoming a god) in the pagan sense, but rather that believers have an organic connection with God. Because of such a connection, God can truly be called our Father. Conceptually, this bears the same meaning as Paul’s “in Christ” formula. The author’s statement, though startling at first, is hardly different from Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians that they “may be filled up to all the fullness of God” (3:19).

[1:4]  ⁷ tn The aorist participle ἀποφυγόντες (apofugonte") is often taken as attendant circumstance to the preceding verb γένησθε (genhsqe). As such, the sense is “that you might become partakers…and might escape…” However, it does not follow the contours of the vast majority of attendant circumstance participles (in which the participle precedes the main verb, among other things). Further, attendant circumstance participles are frequently confused with result participles (which do follow the verb). Many who take this as attendant circumstance are probably viewing it semantically as result (“that you might become partakers…and [thereby] escape…”). But this is next to impossible since the participle is aorist: Result participles are categorically present tense.

[1:4]  ⁸ tn Grk “the corruption in the world (in/because of) lust.”