The long sentence that began in verse 4 now reaches its conclusion in verses 9-10a. The three examples that are cited from the Old Testament are meant to lead to the conclusion that the Lord rescues the godly but punishes the ungodly. Revised Standard Version‘s pattern of dependent clauses, all prefaced by the English word “if” from verse 4 on, was noted in the introductory comments to verses 4-10a. Translators who have been following this pattern should introduce the main clause in verse 9 with a connecting word such as “therefore”; for example, “Therefore the Lord knows how….” However, it is also possible to show the connection between the dependent clauses and the main clause in verse 9 even more clearly by saying “Since the Lord has done all these things, he knows…” or “Because of these things, the Lord knows….”
The Lord here is not identified, but it seems more likely that God is meant, and not Jesus Christ as in verse 1.
The expression knows how includes the meaning of “understands how,” “can,” “is well able” (New English Bible), “does not find it difficult.”
For rescue see comments on 2 Peter 2.7, where the same word is used to describe Lot’s deliverance from the difficulties he experienced in Sodom. Trial here is taken by some to mean “temptation to sin.” But in fact it seems to be connected with the experiences of Noah and Lot, who were not primarily being tempted to commit sin but who were in fact fighting against sin. There are also some who take the trials here as eschatological, that is, referring to the final testing of Christians as the day of Judgment approaches. This is possible, considering the overall tone of the letter. However, it is more likely that trials here refer to the day-to-day experiences (sufferings, afflictions, persecutions, and so on) of the Christians in the midst of a non-Christian or even anti-Christian environment.
The word for godly is related to the word “godliness” that is used in 1.3. The godly person is the opposite of the “ungodly” in verse 6 and the unrighteous in the next part of this verse.
The clause the Lord knows how … trial may also be rendered as “the Lord understands the way to rescue good people from suffering.”
But if the Lord knows how to protect the godly, he also knows how to punish the unrighteous. There is some disagreement on the expression translated in Revised Standard Version to keep the unrighteous under punishment. The problem can be summarized as a question: “Does this mean that the unrighteous will only be judged and punished in the final day of Judgment, or that the unrighteous are now being punished and will continue to undergo punishment until the final Day of Judgment?” Some translations favor the first of these alternatives, as for example, Phillips “to reserve his punishment for the wicked until his day comes,” or Jerusalem Bible “hold the wicked for their punishment until the day of Judgment.” This is justified on the following grounds:
1. The Greek present participle for “being punished” can be interpreted as having the future sense; there are other examples of this usage in the New Testament (for example, Luke 1.35; John 17.20).
2. In verse 4 the angels are being held awaiting judgment at the last day, and this is perhaps the sense here with regard to the ungodly.
3. The words for “judge” or “punish” in this verse are used elsewhere with reference to the last judgment.
Most translations, however, take the interpretation of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, and this is the preferred view. The grammatical form is regarded as decisive here: the expression “to keep under punishment” translates a present participle and a present infinitive, with the sense of a punishment that goes on until the day of judgment. That means that the false teachers are already suffering punishment because of their sins, although the full measure of their punishment will be inflicted later at the final day. Therefore we may translate this phrase as “punish wicked people continually until….”
The day of judgment is of course the final day, referred to in the Old Testament as the day of the Lord, during which time God will judge all nations and bring punishment on the wicked. It is likely that to the readers of 2 Peter this is equivalent to the second coming of Jesus Christ, which in Christian circles was understood to bring joy to the godly and suffering to the ungodly. See the discussion on “the judgment” in 2 Peter 2.4.
An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• Since the Lord has done all these things, this shows that he knows how to rescue good people from their sufferings, and to continually punish evil people until the Day of Judgment.
Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Second Letter from Peter. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .