2 Peter 3:14

Exhortation to the Faithful

3:14 Therefore, dear friends, since you are waiting for ¹  these things, strive to be found ²  at peace, without spot or blemish, when you come into his presence. ³ 

2 Peter 1:8-10

1:8 For if ⁴  these things are really yours ⁵  and are continually increasing, ⁶  they will keep you from becoming ⁷  ineffective and unproductive in your pursuit of ⁸  knowing our Lord Jesus Christ more intimately. ⁹  1:9 But ¹⁰  concerning the one who lacks such things ¹¹  – he is blind. That is to say, he is ¹²  nearsighted, since he has forgotten about the cleansing of his past sins. 1:10 Therefore, brothers and sisters, ¹³  make every effort to be sure of your calling and election. ¹⁴  For by doing this ¹⁵  you will never ¹⁶  stumble into sin. ¹⁷ 

[3:14]  ¹ tn Grk “dear friends, waiting for.” See note in v. 13 on “waiting for.”

[3:14]  ² sn The Greek verb used in the phrase strive to be found is the same as is found in v. 10, translated “laid bare.” In typical Petrine fashion, a conceptual link is made by the same linkage of terms. The point of these two verses thus becomes clear: When the heavens disappear and the earth and its inhabitants are stripped bare before the throne of God, they should strive to make sure that their lives are pure and that they have nothing to hide.

[3:14]  ³ tn “When you come into” is not in Greek. However, the dative pronoun αὐτῷ (autw) does not indicate agency (“by him”), but presence or sphere. The idea is “strive to found {before him/in his presence}.”

[1:8]  ⁴ tn The participles are evidently conditional, as most translations render them.

[1:8]  ⁵ tn The participle ὑπάρχοντα (Juparconta) is stronger than the verb εἰμί (eimi), usually implying a permanent state. Hence, the addition of “really” is implied.

[1:8]  ⁶ sn Continually increasing. There are evidently degrees of ownership of these qualities, implying degrees of productivity in one’s intimacy with Christ. An idiomatic rendering of the first part of v. 8 would be “For if you can claim ownership of these virtues in progressively increasing amounts…”

[1:8]  ⁷ tn Grk “cause [you] not to become.”

[1:8]  ⁸ tn Grk “unto,” “toward”; although it is possible to translate the preposition εἰς (eis) as simply “in.”

[1:8]  ⁹ tn Grk “the [rich] knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Verse 8 in Greek does not make a full stop (period), for v. 9 begins with a subordinate relative pronoun. Contemporary English convention requires a full stop in translation, however.

[1:9]  ⁷ tn Grk “for.” The connection, though causal, is also adversative.

[1:9]  ⁸ tn Grk “to the one for whom these things are not present.”

[1:9]  ⁹ tn The words “that is to say, he is” are not in Greek. The word order is unusual. One might expect the author to have said “he is nearsighted and blind” (as the NIV has so construed it), but this is not the word order in Greek. Perhaps the author begins with a strong statement followed by a clarification, i.e., that being nearsighted in regard to these virtues is as good as being blind.

[1:10]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1., where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

[1:10]  ¹¹ tn Grk “make your calling and election sure.”

[1:10]  ¹² tn Grk “these things.”

[1:10]  ¹³ tn In Greek οὐ μή (ou mh) followed by the subjunctive is normally the strongest way to negate an action. Coupled with πότε (pote, “ever”), the statement is even more emphatic. The author is offering sage advice on how to grow in grace.

[1:10]  ¹⁴ tn The words “into sin” are not in the Greek text, but the Greek word πταίω (ptaiw) is used in soteriological contexts for more than a mere hesitation or stumbling. BDAG 894 s.v. 2 suggests that here it means “be ruined, be lost,” referring to loss of salvation, while also acknowledging that the meaning “to make a mistake, go astray, sin” is plausible in this context. Alternatively, the idea of πταίω here could be that of “suffer misfortune” (so K. L. Schmidt, TDNT 6:884), as a result of sinning.