2 Petrus 2:15

2:15 By forsaking the right path they have gone astray, because they followed the way of Balaam son of Bosor, ¹  who loved the wages of unrighteousness, ² 

2 Petrus 2:2

2:2 And many will follow their debauched lifestyles. ³  Because of these false teachers, ⁴  the way of truth will be slandered. ⁵ 

2 Petrus 2:21

2:21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than, having known it, to turn back from the holy commandment that had been delivered to them.

2 Petrus 2:18

2:18 For by speaking high-sounding but empty words ⁶  they are able to entice, ⁷  with fleshly desires and with debauchery, ⁸  people ⁹  who have just escaped ¹⁰  from those who reside in error. ¹¹ 

2 Petrus 1:11

1:11 For thus an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be richly provided for you.

2 Petrus 1:9

1:9 But ¹²  concerning the one who lacks such things ¹³  – he is blind. That is to say, he is ¹⁴  nearsighted, since he has forgotten about the cleansing of his past sins.

2 Petrus 3:3

3:3 Above all, understand this: ¹⁵  In the last days blatant scoffers ¹⁶  will come, being propelled by their own evil urges ¹⁷ 

2 Petrus 2:7

2:7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man in anguish over the debauched lifestyle of lawless ¹⁸  men, ¹⁹ 

2 Petrus 3:11

3:11 Since all these things are to melt away ²⁰  in this manner, ²¹  what sort of people must we ²²  be, conducting our lives in holiness and godliness, ²³ 

2 Petrus 2:10

2:10 especially those who indulge their fleshly desires ²⁴  and who despise authority.

Brazen and insolent, ²⁵  they are not afraid to insult ²⁶  the glorious ones, ²⁷ 

2 Petrus 3:6

3:6 Through these things ²⁸  the world existing at that time was destroyed when it was deluged with water.

2 Petrus 1:6

1:6 to knowledge, self-control; to self-control, perseverance; ²⁹  to perseverance, godliness;

2 Petrus 1:4

1:4 Through these things ³⁰  he has bestowed on us his precious and most magnificent promises, so that by means of what was promised ³¹  you may become partakers of the divine nature, ³²  after escaping ³³  the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire. ³⁴ 

2 Petrus 1:16

1:16 For we did not follow cleverly concocted fables when we made known to you the power and return ³⁵  of our Lord Jesus Christ; ³⁶  no, ³⁷  we were ³⁸  eyewitnesses of his ³⁹  grandeur. ⁴⁰ 

2 Petrus 3:1-2

The False Teachers’ Denial of the Lord’s Return

3:1 Dear friends, this is already the second letter I have written ⁴¹  you, in which ⁴²  I am trying to stir up ⁴³  your pure mind by way of reminder: 3:2 I want you to recall ⁴⁴  both ⁴⁵  the predictions ⁴⁶  foretold by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles. ⁴⁷ 

2 Petrus 3:4

3:4 and saying, ⁴⁸  “Where is his promised return? ⁴⁹  For ever since ⁵⁰  our ancestors ⁵¹  died, ⁵²  all things have continued as they were ⁵³  from the beginning of creation.”

2 Petrus 2:5

2:5 and if he did not spare the ancient world, but did protect Noah, a herald of righteousness, along with seven others, ⁵⁴  when God ⁵⁵  brought a flood on an ungodly world, ⁵⁶ 

2 Petrus 2:1

The False Teachers’ Ungodly Lifestyle

2:1 But false prophets arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. ⁵⁷  These false teachers ⁵⁸  will ⁵⁹  infiltrate your midst ⁶⁰  with destructive heresies, ⁶¹  even to the point of ⁶²  denying the Master who bought them. As a result, they will bring ⁶³  swift destruction on themselves.

[2:15]  ¹ tn Although many modern translations (e.g., NASB, TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT) read “Beor” here, this is due to harmonization with the OT rather than following a variant textual reading. The Greek text of NA²⁷ reads “Bosor,” an otherwise unattested form of the name of Balaam’s father.

[2:15]  ² tn “Wages of unrighteousness” in Greek is the same expression found in v. 13, “wages for harmful ways.” The repetition makes the link between the false teachers and Balaam more concrete.

[2:2]  ³ tn “Debauched lifestyles” is literally “licentiousnesses,” “sensualities,” “debaucheries.”

[2:2]  ⁴ tn Grk “because of whom,” introducing a subordinate clause to the first part of the verse.

[2:2]  ⁵ tn Or “blasphemed,” “reviled,” “treated with contempt.”

[2:18]  ⁶ tn Grk “high-sounding words of futility.”

[2:18]  ⁷ tn Grk “they entice.”

[2:18]  ⁸ tn Grk “with the lusts of the flesh, with debauchery.”

[2:18]  ⁹ tn Grk “those.”

[2:18]  ¹⁰ tn Or “those who are barely escaping.”

[2:18]  ¹¹ tn Or “deceit.”

[1:9]  ¹² tn Grk “for.” The connection, though causal, is also adversative.

[1:9]  ¹³ tn Grk “to the one for whom these things are not present.”

[1:9]  ¹⁴ 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.

[3:3]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “knowing this [to be] foremost.” Τοῦτο πρῶτον (touto prwton) constitute the object and complement of γινώσκοντες (ginwskonte"). The participle is loosely dependent on the infinitive in v. 2 (“[I want you] to recall”), perhaps in a telic sense (thus, “[I want you] to recall…[and especially] to understand this as foremost”). The following statement then would constitute the main predictions with which the author was presently concerned. An alternative is to take it imperativally: “Above all, know this.” In this instance, however, there is little semantic difference (since a telic participle and imperatival participle end up urging an action). Cf. also 2 Pet 1:20.

[3:3]  ¹⁶ tn The Greek reads “scoffers in their scoffing” for “blatant scoffers.” The use of the cognate dative is a Semitism designed to intensify the word it is related to. The idiom is foreign to English. As a Semitism, it is further incidental evidence of the authenticity of the letter (see the note on “Simeon” in 1:1 for other evidence).

[3:3]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “going according to their own evil urges.”

[2:7]  ¹⁸ tn Or “unprincipled.”

[2:7]  ¹⁹ tn This verse more literally reads “And [if] he rescued righteous Lot, who was deeply distressed by the lifestyle of the lawless in [their] debauchery.”

[3:11]  ²⁰ tn Grk “all these things thus being dissolved.”

[3:11]  ²¹ tn Or “thus.”

[3:11]  ²² tc ‡ Most mss have a pronoun with the infinitive – either ὑμᾶς (Jumas, “you”; found in A C^[*^] P Ψ 048^vid 33 1739 Ï, as well as the corrector of Ì⁷² and second corrector of א), ἡμᾶς (Jhmas, “we”; read by א* 630 2464 al), or ἑαυτούς (Jeautous, “[you your]selves/[we our]selves,” read by 1243). But the shorter reading (with no pronoun) has the support of Ì^72*,74vid B pc. Though slim, the evidence for the omission is nevertheless the earliest. Further, the addition of some pronoun, especially the second person pronoun, seems to be a clarifying variant. It would be difficult to explain the pronoun’s absence in some witnesses if the pronoun were original. That three different pronouns have shown up in the mss is testimony for the omission. Thus, on external and internal grounds, the omission is preferred. For English style requirements, however, some pronoun has to be added. NA ²⁷ has ὑμᾶς in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

[3:11]  tn Or “you.”

[3:11]  ²³ tn Grk “in holy conduct and godliness.”

[2:10]  ²⁴ tn Grk “those who go after the flesh in [its] lust.”

[2:10]  ²⁵ tn There is no “and” in Greek; it is supplied for the sake of English convention.

[2:10]  ²⁶ tn The translation takes βλασφημοῦντες (blasfhmounte") as an adverbial participle of purpose, as most translations do. However, it is also possible to see this temporally (thus, “they do not tremble when they blaspheme”).

[2:10]  ²⁷ tn Δόξας (doxas) almost certainly refers to angelic beings rather than mere human authorities, though it is difficult to tell whether good or bad angels are in view. Verse 11 seems to suggest that wicked angels is what the author intends.

[3:6]  ²⁸ 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.

[1:6]  ²⁹ tn Perhaps “steadfastness,” though that is somewhat archaic. A contemporary colloquial rendering would be “stick-to-it-iveness.”

[1:4]  ³⁰ tn Verse 4 is in Greek a continuation of v. 3, “through which things.”

[1:4]  sn The phrase these things refers to God’s glory and excellence.

[1:4]  ³¹ tn Grk “through them.” The implication is that through inheriting and acting on these promises the believers will increasingly become partakers of the divine nature.

[1:4]  ³² sn Although the author has borrowed the expression partakers of the divine nature from paganism, his meaning is clearly Christian. He does not mean apotheosis (man becoming a god) in the pagan sense, but rather that believers have an organic connection with God. Because of such a connection, God can truly be called our Father. Conceptually, this bears the same meaning as Paul’s “in Christ” formula. The author’s statement, though startling at first, is hardly different from Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians that they “may be filled up to all the fullness of God” (3:19).

[1:4]  ³³ tn The aorist participle ἀποφυγόντες (apofugonte") is often taken as attendant circumstance to the preceding verb γένησθε (genhsqe). As such, the sense is “that you might become partakers…and might escape…” However, it does not follow the contours of the vast majority of attendant circumstance participles (in which the participle precedes the main verb, among other things). Further, attendant circumstance participles are frequently confused with result participles (which do follow the verb). Many who take this as attendant circumstance are probably viewing it semantically as result (“that you might become partakers…and [thereby] escape…”). But this is next to impossible since the participle is aorist: Result participles are categorically present tense.

[1:4]  ³⁴ tn Grk “the corruption in the world (in/because of) lust.”

[1:16]  ³⁵ tn Grk “coming.”

[1:16]  ³⁶ tn Grk “for we did not make known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ by following cleverly concocted fables.”

[1:16]  ³⁷ tn Grk “but, instead.”

[1:16]  ³⁸ tn Grk “became.”

[1:16]  ³⁹ tn Grk “that one’s.” That is, “eyewitnesses of the grandeur of that one.” The remote demonstrative pronoun is used perhaps to indicate esteem for Jesus. Along these lines it is interesting to note that “the Pythagoreans called their master after his death simply ἐκεῖνος” as a term of reverence and endearment (BDAG 302 s.v. ἐκεῖνος a.γ).

[1:16]  ⁴⁰ sn The term grandeur was used most frequently of God’s majesty. In the 1st century, it was occasionally used of the divine majesty of the emperor. 2 Pet 1:1 and 1:11 already include hints of a polemic against emperor-worship (in that “God and Savior” and “Lord and Savior” were used of the emperor).

[3:1]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “I am already writing this [as] a second letter.” The object-complement construction is more smoothly rendered in English a bit differently. Further, although the present tense γράφω (grafw) is used here, English convention employs an epistolary past tense. (The Greek epistolary aorist might have been expected here, but it also occurs in situations unlike its English counterparts.)

[3:1]  ⁴² tn The relative pronoun is plural, indicating that the following statement is true about both letters.

[3:1]  ⁴³ tn Or “I have stirred up, aroused.” The translation treats the present tense verb as a conative present.

[3:2]  ⁴⁴ 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]  ⁴⁵ 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]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “words.” In conjunction with πρόειπον (proeipon), however, the meaning of the construction is that the prophets uttered prophecies.

[3:2]  ⁴⁷ 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.

[3:4]  ⁴⁸ 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.

[3:4]  ⁴⁹ 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).

[3:4]  ⁵⁰ 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.).

[3:4]  ⁵¹ 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.

[3:4]  ⁵² 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.

[3:4]  ⁵³ tn Grk “thus,” “in the same manner.”

[2:5]  ⁵⁴ tn “Along with seven others” is implied in the cryptic, “the eighth, Noah.” A more literal translation thus would be, “he did protect Noah [as] the eighth…”

[2:5]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been repeated here for clarity, although this is somewhat redundant with the beginning of v. 4.

[2:5]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk “a world of the ungodly.”

[2:1]  ⁵⁷ sn There will be false teachers among you. Peter uses the same verb, γίνομαι (ginomai), in 2 Pet 2:1 as he had used in 1:20 to describe the process of inspiration. He may well be contrasting, by way of a catchword, the two kinds of prophets.

[2:1]  ⁵⁸ tn Grk “who”; verse 1 is one sentence in Greek, the second half constituting a relative clause.

[2:1]  ⁵⁹ sn By the use of the future tense (will infiltrate), Peter is boldly prophesying the role that false teachers will have before these Gentile believers. It was necessary for him to establish both his own credentials and to anchor his audience’s faith in the written Word before he could get to this point, for these false teachers will question both.

[2:1]  ⁶⁰ tn Grk “will bring in,” often with the connotation of secretiveness; “your midst” is implied.

[2:1]  ⁶¹ tn Or “destructive opinions,” “destructive viewpoints.” The genitive ἀπωλείας (apwleia") could be taken either attributively (“destructive”) or as a genitive of destination (“leading to destruction”). Although the preferable interpretation is a genitive of destination, especially because of the elaboration given at the end of the verse (“bringing swift destruction on themselves”), translating it attributively is less cumbersome in English. Either way, the net result is the same.

[2:1]  ⁶² tn Grk “even.” The καί (kai) is ascensive, suggesting that the worst heresy is mentioned in the words that follow.

[2:1]  ⁶³ tn Grk “bringing.” The present participle ἐπάγοντες (epagonte") indicates the result of the preceding clause.