and saying, ¹  “Where is his promised return? ²  For ever since ³  our ancestors ⁴  died, ⁵  all things have continued as they were ⁶  from the beginning of creation.”

biblegateway 2Pe 3:4

and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation."

saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they have been since the beginning of creation."

and saying, "Where is the promise of his coming? For _ever since_ the fathers fell asleep, all [things] have continued just as they have been from the beginning of creation.

biblegateway 2Pe 3:4

They will say, "Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation."

They will say, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation."

bibleoremus 2Pe 3:4

and saying, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since our ancestors died, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation!"

“What has happened to his promised coming? Our fathers have been laid to rest, but still everything goes on exactly as it always has done since the world began.”

biblegateway 2Pe 3:4

and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation."

And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as [they were] from the beginning of the creation.

biblegateway 2Pe 3:4

and saying, ¹  “Where is his promised return? ²  For ever since ³  our ancestors ⁴  died, ⁵  all things have continued as they were ⁶  from the beginning of creation.”

¹ tn The present participle λέγοντες (legontes, “saying”) most likely indicates result. Thus, their denial of the Lord’s return is the result of their lifestyle. The connection to the false teachers of chapter 2 is thus made clear.

² tn Grk “Where is the promise of his coming?” The genitive παρουσίας (parousia", “coming, advent, return”) is best taken as an attributed genitive (in which the head noun, promise, functions semantically as an adjective; see ExSyn 89-91).

³ tn The prepositional phrase with the relative pronoun, ἀφ᾿ ἧς (af’ |h"), is used adverbially or conjunctively without antecedent (see BDAG 727 s.v. ὅς 1.k.).

⁴ tn Grk “fathers.” The reference could be either to the OT patriarchs or first generation Christians. This latter meaning, however, is unattested in any other early Christian literature.

⁵ tn The verb κοιμάω (koimaw) literally means “sleep,” but it is often used in the Bible as a euphemism for the death of a believer.

⁶ tn Grk “thus,” “in the same manner.”