2 Petrus 1:21

1:21 for no prophecy was ever borne of human impulse; rather, men ¹  carried along by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

2 Petrus 3:2

3:2 I want you to recall ²  both ³  the predictions ⁴  foretold by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles. ⁵ 

2 Petrus 3:16

3:16 speaking of these things in all his letters. ⁶  Some things in these letters ⁷  are hard to understand, things ⁸  the ignorant and unstable twist ⁹  to their own destruction, as they also do to the rest of the scriptures. ¹⁰ 

2 Petrus 2:11

2:11 yet even ¹¹  angels, who are much more powerful, ¹²  do not bring a slanderous ¹³  judgment against them before the Lord. ¹⁴ 

2 Petrus 2:18

2:18 For by speaking high-sounding but empty words ¹⁵  they are able to entice, ¹⁶  with fleshly desires and with debauchery, ¹⁷  people ¹⁸  who have just escaped ¹⁹  from those who reside in error. ²⁰ 

2 Petrus 2:12

2:12 But ²¹  these men, ²²  like irrational animals – creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed ²³  – do not understand whom ²⁴  they are insulting, and consequently ²⁵  in their destruction they will be destroyed, ²⁶ 

[1:21]  ¹ tn If, as seems probable, the “prophecy” mentioned here is to be identified with the “prophecy of scripture” mentioned in the previous verse, then the Greek term ἄνθρωποι (anqrwpoi, “men”) would refer specifically to the human authors of scripture, who (as far as we know) were all men. Thus “men” has been used here in the translation. If, on the other hand, the “prophecy” mentioned in the present verse is not limited to scripture but refers to oral prophecy as well, then women would be included, since Joel 2:20 specifically mentions “sons and daughters” as having the ability to prophesy, and the NT clearly mentions prophetesses (Luke 2:36; Acts 21:9).

[3:2]  ² tn Grk “to remember.” “I want you” is supplied to smooth out the English. The Greek infinitive is subordinate to the previous clause.

[3:2]  ³ tn “Both” is not in Greek; it is supplied to show more clearly that there are two objects of the infinitive “to remember” – predictions and commandment.

[3:2]  ⁴ tn Grk “words.” In conjunction with πρόειπον (proeipon), however, the meaning of the construction is that the prophets uttered prophecies.

[3:2]  ⁵ sn Holy prophets…apostles. The first chapter demonstrated that the OT prophets were trustworthy guides (1:19-21) and that the NT apostles were also authoritative (1:16-18). Now, using the same catch phrase found in the Greek text of 1:20 (τοῦτο πρῶτον γινώσκοντες, touto prwton ginwskontes), Peter points to specific prophecies of the prophets as an argument against the false teachers.

[3:16]  ⁶ tn Grk “as also in all his letters speaking in them of these things.”

[3:16]  ⁷ tn Grk “in which are some things hard to understand.”

[3:16]  ⁸ tn Grk “which.” The antecedent is the “things hard to understand,” not the entirety of Paul’s letters. A significant principle is seen here: The primary proof texts used for faith and practice ought to be the clear passages that are undisputed in their meaning. Heresy today is still largely built on obscure texts.

[3:16]  ⁹ tn Or “distort,” “wrench,” “torture” (all are apt descriptions of what heretics do to scripture).

[3:16]  ¹⁰ sn This one incidental line, the rest of the scriptures, links Paul’s writings with scripture. This is thus one of the earliest affirmations of any part of the NT as scripture. Peter’s words were prophetic and were intended as a preemptive strike against the heretics to come.

[2:11]  ¹¹ tn Grk “whereas.”

[2:11]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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.

[2:18]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “high-sounding words of futility.”

[2:18]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “they entice.”

[2:18]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “with the lusts of the flesh, with debauchery.”

[2:18]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “those.”

[2:18]  ¹⁹ tn Or “those who are barely escaping.”

[2:18]  ²⁰ tn Or “deceit.”

[2:12]  ²¹ 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]  ²² 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]  ²³ tn Grk “born for capture and destruction.”

[2:12]  ²⁴ tn Grk “with [reference to] whom.”

[2:12]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ 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.