2 Petrus 1:5

1:5 For this very reason, ¹  make every effort ²  to add to your faith excellence, ³  to excellence, knowledge;

2 Petrus 1:8

1:8 For if ⁴  these things are really yours ⁵  and are continually increasing, ⁶  they will keep you from becoming ⁷  ineffective and unproductive in your pursuit of ⁸  knowing our Lord Jesus Christ more intimately. ⁹ 

2 Petrus 1:10

1:10 Therefore, brothers and sisters, ¹⁰  make every effort to be sure of your calling and election. ¹¹  For by doing this ¹²  you will never ¹³  stumble into sin. ¹⁴ 

2 Petrus 1:14

1:14 since I know that my tabernacle will soon be removed, ¹⁵  because ¹⁶  our Lord Jesus Christ revealed this to me. ¹⁷ 

2 Petrus 1:16

1:16 For we did not follow cleverly concocted fables when we made known to you the power and return ¹⁸  of our Lord Jesus Christ; ¹⁹  no, ²⁰  we were ²¹  eyewitnesses of his ²²  grandeur. 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 2:13-14

2:13 suffering harm as the wages for their harmful ways. ²⁸  By considering it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight, ²⁹  they are stains and blemishes, indulging ³⁰  in their deceitful pleasures when they feast together with you. 2:14 Their eyes, ³¹  full of adultery, ³²  never stop sinning; ³³  they entice ³⁴  unstable people. ³⁵  They have trained their hearts for greed, these cursed children! ³⁶ 

2 Petrus 2:22

2:22 They are illustrations of this true proverb: ³⁷  “A dog returns to its own vomit,” ³⁸  and “A sow, after washing herself, ³⁹  wallows in the mire.” ⁴⁰ 

2 Petrus 3:4

3:4 and saying, ⁴¹  “Where is his promised return? ⁴²  For ever since ⁴³  our ancestors ⁴⁴  died, ⁴⁵  all things have continued as they were ⁴⁶  from the beginning of creation.”

2 Petrus 3:8

3:8 Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your notice, ⁴⁷  that a single day is like a thousand years with the Lord and a thousand years are like a single day.

[1:5]  ¹ tn The Greek text begins with “and,” a typical Semitism.

[1:5]  sn The reason given is all the provisions God has made for the believer, mentioned in vv. 3-4.

[1:5]  ² tn The participle is either means (“by making every effort”) or attendant circumstance (“make every effort”). Although it fits the normal contours of attendant circumstance participles, the semantics are different. Normally, attendant circumstance is used of an action that is a necessary prelude to the action of the main verb. But “making every effort” is what energizes the main verb here. Hence it is best taken as means. However, for the sake of smoothness the translation has rendered it as a command with the main verb translated as an infinitive. This is in accord with English idiom.

[1:5]  ³ tn Or “moral excellence,” “virtue”; this is the same word used in v. 3 (“the one who has called us by his own glory and excellence”).

[1:8]  ⁴ tn The participles are evidently conditional, as most translations render them.

[1:8]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Grk “cause [you] not to become.”

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

[1:8]  ⁹ 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.

[1:10]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1., where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

[1:10]  ¹¹ tn Grk “make your calling and election sure.”

[1:10]  sn Make sure of your calling and election. The author is not saying that virtue and holiness produce salvation, but that virtue and holiness are the evidence of salvation.

[1:10]  ¹² tn Grk “these things.”

[1:10]  ¹³ tn In Greek οὐ μή (ou mh) followed by the subjunctive is normally the strongest way to negate an action. Coupled with πότε (pote, “ever”), the statement is even more emphatic. The author is offering sage advice on how to grow in grace.

[1:10]  ¹⁴ tn The words “into sin” are not in the Greek text, but the Greek word πταίω (ptaiw) is used in soteriological contexts for more than a mere hesitation or stumbling. BDAG 894 s.v. 2 suggests that here it means “be ruined, be lost,” referring to loss of salvation, while also acknowledging that the meaning “to make a mistake, go astray, sin” is plausible in this context. Alternatively, the idea of πταίω here could be that of “suffer misfortune” (so K. L. Schmidt, TDNT 6:884), as a result of sinning.

[1:14]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “since I know that the removal of my tabernacle is [coming] soon.”

[1:14]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “just as.”

[1:14]  ¹⁷ sn When the author says our Lord Jesus Christ revealed this to me, he is no doubt referring to the prophecy that is partially recorded in John 21:18-19.

[1:16]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “coming.”

[1:16]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Grk “but, instead.”

[1:16]  ²¹ tn Grk “became.”

[1:16]  ²² 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]  ²³ 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).

[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.

[2:13]  ²⁸ tn There is a play on words in Greek, but this is difficult to express adequately in English. The verb ἀδικέω (adikew) as a passive means “to suffer harm,” or “to suffer an injustice.” The noun ἀδικία (adikia) means “unrighteousness.” Since the Greek verb has a wider field of meaning than the English, to translate it as suffer an injustice is unwarranted, for it implicitly attributes evil to God. As R. Bauckham notes, “in English it is impossible to translate ἀδικούμενοι as a morally neutral term and ἀδικίας with a morally pejorative term, while retaining the play on words” (Jude, 2 Peter [WBC], 265).

[2:13]  ²⁹ tn Grk “considering carousing in the daytime a pleasure.”

[2:13]  ³⁰ tn Or “carousing,” “reveling.” The participle ἐντρυφῶντες (entrufwnte") is a cognate to the noun τρυφή (trufh, “carousing”) used earlier in the verse.

[2:14]  ³¹ tn Grk “having eyes.” See note on “men” at the beginning of v. 12.

[2:14]  ³² tn Grk “full of an adulteress.”

[2:14]  ³³ 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]  ³⁴ tn Grk “enticing.” See note on “men” at the beginning of v. 12.

[2:14]  ³⁵ tn “People” is literally “souls.” The term ψυχή (yuch) can refer to one’s soul, one’s life, or oneself.

[2:14]  ³⁶ 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.

[2:22]  ³⁷ tn Grk “the [statement] of the true proverb has happened to them.” The idiom in Greek cannot be translated easily in English.

[2:22]  ³⁸ tn The quotation is a loose rendering of Prov 26:11. This proverb involves a participle that is translated like a finite verb (“returns”). In the LXX this line constitutes a subordinate and dependent clause. But since the line has been lifted from its original context, it has been translated as an independent statement.

[2:22]  ³⁹ tn Or “after being washed.” The middle verb may be direct (“wash oneself”) or permissive (“allow oneself to be washed”).

[2:22]  ⁴⁰ tn The source of this quotation is uncertain. Heraclitus has often been mentioned as a possible source, but this is doubtful. Other options on the translation of the second line include a sow, having (once) bathed herself (in mud), (returns) to wallowing in the mire, or a sow that washes herself by wallowing in the mire (BDAG 181 s.v. βόρβορος). The advantage of this last translation is that no verbs need to be supplied for it to make sense. The disadvantage is that in this context it does not make any contribution to the argument. Since the source of the quotation is not known, there is some guesswork involved in the reconstruction. Most commentators prefer a translation similar to the one in the text above.

[3:4]  ⁴¹ 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]  ⁴² 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]  ⁴³ 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]  ⁴⁴ 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]  ⁴⁵ 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]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “thus,” “in the same manner.”

[3:8]  ⁴⁷ tn The same verb, λανθάνω (lanqanw, “escape”) used in v. 5 is found here (there, translated “suppress”).