2 Peter 3:6

3:6 Through these things ¹  the world existing at that time was destroyed when it was deluged with water.

2 Peter 2:11

2:11 yet even ²  angels, who are much more powerful, ³  do not bring a slanderous ⁴  judgment against them before the Lord. ⁵ 

2 Peter 1:8

1:8 For if ⁶  these things are really yours ⁷  and are continually increasing, ⁸  they will keep you from becoming ⁹  ineffective and unproductive in your pursuit of ¹⁰  knowing our Lord Jesus Christ more intimately. ¹¹ 

2 Peter 2:14

2:14 Their eyes, ¹²  full of adultery, ¹³  never stop sinning; ¹⁴  they entice ¹⁵  unstable people. ¹⁶  They have trained their hearts for greed, these cursed children! ¹⁷ 

2 Peter 2:18

2:18 For by speaking high-sounding but empty words ¹⁸  they are able to entice, ¹⁹  with fleshly desires and with debauchery, ²⁰  people ²¹  who have just escaped ²²  from those who reside in error. ²³ 

2 Peter 2:12

2:12 But ²⁴  these men, ²⁵  like irrational animals – creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed ²⁶  – do not understand whom ²⁷  they are insulting, and consequently ²⁸  in their destruction they will be destroyed, ²⁹ 

[3:6]  ¹ tn The antecedent is ambiguous. It could refer to the heavens, the heavens and earth, or the water and the word. If the reference is to the heavens, the author is reflecting on the Genesis account about “the floodgates of the heavens” being opened (Gen 7:11). If the reference is to the heavens and earth, he is also thinking about the cosmic upheaval that helped to produce the flood (Gen 6:11). If the reference is to the water and the word, he is indicating both the means (water) and the cause (word of God). This last interpretation is the most likely since the final nouns of v. 5 are “water” and “word of God,” making them the nearest antecedents.

[2:11]  ² tn Grk “whereas.”

[2:11]  ³ tn Grk “who are greater in strength and power.” What is being compared, however, could either be the false teachers or “the glorious ones,” in which case “angels” would refer to good angels and “the glorious ones” to evil angels.

[2:11]  ⁴ tn Or “insulting.” The word comes from the same root as the term found in v. 10 (“insult”), v. 12 (“insulting”), and v. 2 (“will be slandered”). The author is fond of building his case by the repetition of a word in a slightly different context so that the readers make the necessary connection. English usage cannot always convey this connection because a given word in one language cannot always be translated the same way in another.

[2:11]  ⁵ tc ‡ Some witnesses lack παρὰ κυρίῳ (para kuriw; so A Ψ 33 81 1505 1881 2464 al vg co), while others have the genitive παρὰ κυρίου (para kuriou; so Ì⁷² 1241 al sy^ph,h**). The majority of witnesses (including א B C P 1739 Ï) read the dative παρὰ κυρίῳ. The genitive expression suggests that angels would not pronounce a judgment on “the glorious ones” from the Lord, while the dative indicates that angels would not pronounce a judgment on “the glorious ones” in the presence of the Lord. The parallel in Jude 9 speaks of a reviling judgment against the devil in which the prepositional phrase is entirely absent. At the same time, in that parallel Michael does say, “The Lord rebuke you.” (Hence, he is offering something of a judgment from the Lord.) The best options externally are the dative or the omission of the phrase, but a decision is difficult. Internally, the omission may possibly be a motivated reading in that it finds a parallel in Jude 9 (where no prepositional phrase is used). All things considered, the dative is to be preferred, though with much reservation.

[1:8]  ³ tn The participles are evidently conditional, as most translations render them.

[1:8]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Grk “cause [you] not to become.”

[1:8]  ⁷ tn Grk “unto,” “toward”; although it is possible to translate the preposition εἰς (eis) as simply “in.”

[1:8]  ⁸ 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.

[2:14]  ⁴ tn Grk “having eyes.” See note on “men” at the beginning of v. 12.

[2:14]  ⁵ tn Grk “full of an adulteress.”

[2:14]  ⁶ tn Grk “and unceasing from sin.” Some translate this “insatiable for sin,” but such a translation is based on a textual variant with inadequate support.

[2:14]  ⁷ tn Grk “enticing.” See note on “men” at the beginning of v. 12.

[2:14]  ⁸ tn “People” is literally “souls.” The term ψυχή (yuch) can refer to one’s soul, one’s life, or oneself.

[2:14]  ⁹ tn Grk “having hearts trained in greediness, children of cursing.” The participles continue the general description of the false teachers, without strong grammatical connection. The genitive κατάρας (kataras, “of cursing”) is taken attributively here.

[2:18]  ⁵ tn Grk “high-sounding words of futility.”

[2:18]  ⁶ tn Grk “they entice.”

[2:18]  ⁷ tn Grk “with the lusts of the flesh, with debauchery.”

[2:18]  ⁸ tn Grk “those.”

[2:18]  ⁹ tn Or “those who are barely escaping.”

[2:18]  ¹⁰ tn Or “deceit.”

[2:12]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Grk “born for capture and destruction.”

[2:12]  ⁹ tn Grk “with [reference to] whom.”

[2:12]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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.