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. ¹  These false teachers ²  will ³  infiltrate your midst ⁴  with destructive heresies, ⁵  even to the point of ⁶  denying the Master who bought them. As a result, they will bring ⁷  swift destruction on themselves.

2 Petrus 3:12

3:12 while waiting for and hastening ⁸  the coming of the day of God? ⁹  Because of this day, ¹⁰  the heavens will be burned up and ¹¹  dissolve, and the celestial bodies ¹²  will melt away in a blaze! ¹³ 

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

[2:1]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Grk “will bring in,” often with the connotation of secretiveness; “your midst” is implied.

[2:1]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Grk “even.” The καί (kai) is ascensive, suggesting that the worst heresy is mentioned in the words that follow.

[2:1]  ⁷ tn Grk “bringing.” The present participle ἐπάγοντες (epagonte") indicates the result of the preceding clause.

[3:12]  ⁸ tn Or possibly, “striving for,” but the meaning “hasten” for σπουδάζω (spoudazw) is normative in Jewish apocalyptic literature (in which the coming of the Messiah/the end is anticipated). Such a hastening is not an arm-twisting of the divine volition, but a response by believers that has been decreed by God.

[3:12]  ⁹ sn The coming of the day of God. Peter elsewhere describes the coming or parousia as the coming of Christ (cf. 2 Pet 1:16; 3:4). The almost casual exchange between “God” and “Christ” in this little book, and elsewhere in the NT, argues strongly for the deity of Christ (see esp. 1:1).

[3:12]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “on account of which” (a subordinate relative clause in Greek).

[3:12]  ¹¹ tn Grk “being burned up, will dissolve.”

[3:12]  ¹² tn See note in v. 10 on “celestial bodies.”

[3:12]  ¹³ tn Grk “being burned up” (see v. 10).