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2 Peter 3

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Reminder and Warning Against Scoffers 1–7

1
This is now, beloved, the second epistle that I write unto you; and in both of them I stir up your sincere mind by putting you in remembrance; ​
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that ye should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and the commandment of the Lord and Saviour through your apostles: ​
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knowing this first, that in the last days mockers shall come with mockery, walking after their own lusts, ​
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and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. ​
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For this they wilfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth compacted out of water and amidst water, by the word of God; ​
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by which means the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: ​
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but the heavens that now are, and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. ​

The Certainty of the Lord's Return 8–10

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But forget not this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. ​
9
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. ​
10
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up. ​

The Call to Holy Living 11–14

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Seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness, ​
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looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? ​
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But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. ​
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Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for these things, give diligence that ye may be found in peace, without spot and blameless in his sight. ​

Paul's Testimony and Final Warning 15–18

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And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote unto you; ​
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as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; wherein are some things hard to be understood, which the ignorant and unstedfast wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. ​
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Ye therefore, beloved, knowing these things beforehand, beware lest, being carried away with the error of the wicked, ye fall from your own stedfastness. ​
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But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and for ever. Amen. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for 2 Peter 3

Verse 1

stir up your pure minds — 'Stir up' (diegeiro) is the verb of 1:13, 'to stir you up by putting you in remembrance', and 'remembrance' (hypomnesis) is the same noun. 'Pure' (eilikrines), sincere, is found only here and in Phil 1:10. The 'both' letters are this one and the first.

Verse 2

the holy prophets — The prophets' words 'spoken before' (proereo) stand beside the apostles' commandment, as in Jude 17, 'the words which were spoken before of the apostles'. Luke 1:70 speaks of 'his holy prophets, which have been since the world began'. 'Lord and Saviour' is a phrase of this letter (1:11; 2:20; 3:2, 18).

Verse 3

scoffers — Empaiktes, mocker, occurs only here and in Jude 18, which says the apostles 'told you' of them. 'The last days' agrees with 2 Tim 3:1, 'in the last days perilous times shall come'. They walk 'after their own lusts', as the false teachers of 2:10 walk 'after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness'.

Verse 4

Where is the promise of his coming? — The question echoes Jer 17:15, 'Where is the word of the LORD? let it come now.' 'Coming' is parousia, the word of the disciples' question in Matt 24:3, 'the sign of thy coming'. 'Fell asleep' (koimao) is the word used of believers who have died (1 Thess 4:14).

Verse 5

willingly are ignorant — The verb lanthano, to escape notice, is used again in v.8, 'be not ignorant'. The word of God by which the heavens were made is the 'And God said' of Gen 1:6, 9. 'Standing' (synistemi) is 'consist' in Col 1:17, and the earth out of the water recalls Gen 1:9, 'let the dry land appear'.

Verse 6

being overflowed with water — Katakluzo, to flood over, occurs only here; the noun is the 'flood' of Matt 24:38–39 and of 2:5, where the world is 'the old world'. 'Perished' (apollymi) is the verb of v.9, 'not willing that any should perish'. 'Whereby' joins the judgment to the word and water of v.5.

Verse 7

reserved unto fire — 'Kept in store' (thesaurizo) is 'treasurest up' in Rom 2:5, laying up for a later day, and 'reserved' (tereo) is the verb of 2:4, 'reserved unto judgment'. 'The same word' is the word of v.5. 'Perdition' (apoleia) is the noun of the verb 'perished' in v.6.

Verse 8

one day… as a thousand years — The verse draws on Ps 90:4, 'a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past'. 'Be not ignorant' is the verb of v.5, 'willingly are ignorant'. The saying is given as the answer to the scoffers' question in v.4 about the delay of the promise.

Verse 9

not slack — Bradyno, to be slow, gives 'slack' and bradytes gives 'slackness', which occurs only here. 'Longsuffering' (makrothymeo) is the verb of James 5:7, the husbandman who 'hath long patience'. 'Not willing that any should perish' agrees with Ezek 33:11, 'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked'.

Verse 10

as a thief in the night — The figure is Christ's own, 'Behold, I come as a thief' (Rev 16:15), and Paul's, 'the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night' (1 Thess 5:2). 'Great noise' (rhoizedon) occurs only here, and 'fervent heat' (kausoo) only here and in v.12. 'Elements' (stoicheia) is the word of Gal 4:3.

Verse 11

what manner of persons — 'Dissolved' (luo), loosed, is repeated in vv.10 and 12. 'Conversation' is anastrophe, conduct of life, the word of 1 Pet 1:15, 'be ye holy in all manner of conversation'. 'Godliness' (eusebeia) is the quality 'added' in 1:6–7, and it follows the 'knowledge' that opened the letter (1:3).

Verse 12

hasting unto the coming — 'Looking for' (prosdokao) is repeated in vv.13 and 14. 'Hasting' (speudo), to hasten or earnestly desire, is the verb of 'came with haste' in Luke 2:16. 'Melt' (teko) occurs only here. Isa 34:4 has 'all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll'.

Verse 13

new heavens and a new earth — The promise is Isa 65:17, 'I create new heavens and a new earth', repeated in Isa 66:22, and John saw it (Rev 21:1). 'Promise' (epangelma) occurs only here and in 1:4. 'Dwelleth' (katoikeo) is to be settled at home, as in Col 2:9, 'in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily'.

Verse 14

without spot, and blameless — 'Diligent' (spoudazo) is the verb of 1:10 and 1:15. 'Without spot' (aspilos) and 'blameless' (amometos) are the negatives of the false teachers' 'Spots… and blemishes' in 2:13 (spilos, momos). The readers are to be 'found of him' the opposite, and 'in peace'.

Verse 15

the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation — 'Account' (hegeomai) is the verb of v.9, 'as some men count slackness'; some count the delay slackness, and the readers are told to count it salvation. Paul teaches the same of God's patience in Rom 2:4 and 1 Tim 1:16; 1 Pet 3:20 speaks of it 'in the days of Noah'.

Verse 16

hard to be understood — Dysnoetos occurs only here, as do 'unlearned' (amathes) and 'wrest' (streblo), to twist. 'Unstable' (asteriktos) is found elsewhere only in 2:14, 'unstable souls'. 'The other scriptures' counts Paul's letters among the Scriptures. 'Destruction' is apoleia, as in 'perdition' (v.7).

Verse 17

fall from your own stedfastness — 'Stedfastness' (sterigmos) occurs only here and shares its root with 'unstable' (asteriktos) in v.16. 'Led away' (synapago) is 'carried away' in Gal 2:13, and 'error' (plane) is the word of 2:18. 'The wicked' (athesmos, lawless) are those among whom Lot was vexed (2:7).

Verse 18

grow in grace — 'Grow' (auxano) is the verb of 1 Pet 2:2, 'that ye may grow thereby'. Grace and knowledge are the pair of the opening, 'Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God' (1:2). 'For ever' is literally 'to the day of eternity', a phrase found nowhere else in the New Testament.