SIL Translator’s Notes on 2 Peter 2000 – Page 3

SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 3:5

3:5–7

In verse 4, Peter said that the scoffers would claim that the usual pattern of events in the world had not changed in any way since the time when God created the world. In these verses, Peter said that this was not true. For example, God had interrupted that pattern when he caused a flood to punish people for sinning against him. And he would interrupt the pattern again in the future, but this time he would destroy the world by fire. The general sense of this passage is clear, but there are many differences of opinion about the meaning of some of the details in verses 5 and 6. The Display follows an opinion that many people accept.

3:5a

Here, Peter began to say why what the scoffers would say would be wrong. The Greek text shows the link with the previous verse by using the word gar, “for.” Most English translations leave this relationship implicit. In the Display line for 3:5a, there is an example of how to translate this part of the verse in a way that clearly shows this relationship.

deliberately overlook: The literal meaning of the Greek is “it escapes notice.” It may not make sense in your language to say “deliberately overlook.” Peter was saying that these people were choosing to ignore things they knew.

3:5b

by God’s word: Beginning in the book of Genesis, the Bible says that when God created the world, he did so by speaking, giving an order (see Genesis 1:3, 1:6, 1:9, 1:11, 1:14, 1:20, 1:24, 1:26.) This phrase probably goes with both 5c and 5d—God created both the sky and the earth by his word, and you need to make sure your translation makes that clear.

Good News Translation makes this clear by treating “heaven and earth” as a single unit:

God gave a command and the heavens and the earth were created. (Good News Translation)

In The Jerusalem Bible, the phrase “by the Word of God” applies only to the earth:

There were heavens at the beginning and the earth was formed by the Word of God. (The Jerusalem Bible)

This is a possible meaning of the Greek but less likely.

3:5c

the heavens existed: Notice that here, the word heavens refers to the sky, to what is above the earth. Peter was not talking here about the place where God is. Peter used the plural noun heavens, even though its meaning is singular. Many NT writers use this form of the word, but it does not mean that Peter was referring to more than one “heaven.” This is also acceptable in English, but you should only use a plural in your translation if it is natural to do so.

3:5d

earth was formed out of water: There are two ways that we can understand this:

(1) Peter was referring to Genesis chapter 1 which tells how God gathered the waters together into seas and made the earth (or land) appear out of the water.

(2) Some commentators believe, however, that these words mean that God used water as the material from which he formed the earth.

It is recommended that you follow the first interpretation (1).

earth was formed…by water: The Greek word dia can mean “by” or “through.” There are again different opinions about what this means. The two main views are:

(1) Many think this means that God used water as the instrument or tool by which he made the earth. Most English versions follow this interpretation.

(2) Other scholars think the meaning is similar to that of the previous phrase “formed out of water.” In Genesis it says that God put a “dome,” that is, the sky, in the midst of the water and then caused the water that was underneath the sky to come together into one place so that dry land appeared. So these scholars think that, when Peter said “the earth was formed by means of water,” he meant that God formed the earth by doing something to the water, that is, by dividing it and gathering it into one place, so that the land could appear.

It is recommended that you follow the first interpretation (1) as most English versions have done.

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 3:6

3:6

through which: The literal meaning of the Greek is “by which.” In Greek the word “which” is plural, and there are different opinions concerning what it refers to:

(1) Some people think it refers to the water in verse 5, and this is how most English versions translate it; see also Good News Translation: “and it was by water also.” There is a problem because the word “which” is plural. This may be because Peter was thinking of the water from above and the water from the seas (see Genesis 7:11). Or he may be thinking of “water” as plural, because the word for “water” in the Hebrew language in which the OT was written is always plural.

(2) Others believe it refers to the water and the word (of God) in verse 5. It was by his word and by water that God created the world, and he used them both to destroy the world. According to this interpretation, the same idea—the word of God—occurs in each of the three verses 5–7. These people think it is unlikely that Peter would use a plural pronoun to refer to a single substance (water), and that he would then also repeat the word “water” later in the same sentence. So for these reasons they prefer this second interpretation.

It is recommended that you follow the first interpretation (1).

the world of that time: Peter has already talked about the flood in 2:5. There he spoke about “the ancient world” and probably he meant the same thing here. This expression then refers to all living creatures on the earth, especially people.

But some scholars think it refers to the whole universe including the heavens and the earth. If it did mean the whole universe here, it would match Peter’s reference to the present heavens and earth in verse 7. This is one reason why some people accept this interpretation.

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SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 3:7

3:7

Just as God commanded the earth to be created, he has commanded that the present universe should continue until the day when he will judge the world and destroy wicked men. Then he will destroy the universe by fire.

3:7a

And by that same word: This refers to the word of God, which Peter first mentioned in verse 5. It means that in the same way as God used a word of command to create the universe, he is now commanding the future destruction of that universe.

3:7b

being kept for the day of judgment: The verb, which Berean Standard Bible translates as being kept, is the same verb as it translates with the verb “held” in 2:4c and “hold” in 2:9b. See the notes on these verses.

destruction: See note on 2:1e.

ungodly men: See note on 2:5a.

Paragraph 3:8–10

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SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 3:8

3:8–9

These verses contrast with verse 5. Peter said that there would be some things that the people who would scoff would deliberately ignore, but he appealed to the people to whom he sent his letter not to ignore or forget one important fact: God does not count time in the same way that we do. To him one thousand years is not a long time, and one day is not a short time; they are both the same.

Some people thought that Christ was late in fulfilling his promise to return. But Peter said that was not true but that the reason why he had not yet returned was that he was giving people time to repent, because he did not want to condemn and destroy anyone.

3:8a

Beloved: See the note on 3:1a.

do not let this one thing escape your notice: The Greek pronoun that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as your is not translated in most English versions. However, since it shows the contrast with “they” in verse 5, you should make this contrast clear in your translation.

3:8b

With the Lord: “Lord” in this verse and in the next verse may refer to Christ or God, but Bible scholars do not agree on which. These Notes will take “Lord” as referring to Christ in these verses. You may choose either, but be careful to be consistent.

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SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 3:9

3:9b

patient with you: Peter once again addressed his readers directly with the pronoun “you.” Perhaps the false teachers were influencing some of the people to whom Peter wrote this letter, and so he appealed directly to the people who would read his letter, rather than saying “patient with people.”

3:9c

perish: The Greek verb here belongs to the same group of words as the word translated “destruction” in 2:1e. See the note in that verse.

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SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 3:10

3:10

Christ will return when no one is expecting him. At that time the universe will burn up and in that way God will completely destroy it.

3:10a

the Day of the Lord: In the OT this expression meant the day when God would defeat his enemies and punish them. But the people who wrote the NT used the expression to refer to the day when Christ would return to judge all people.

come like a thief: Christ will come suddenly, at a time when people do not expect him to come. It may be necessary to clearly state this in your translation, otherwise the people who read it might think that Peter was saying that Christ is like a thief. If many people who read your translation think that it is not good to compare Christ to a thief, even when someone explains the similarity to them, then you should omit the reference to a thief and just say what the verse means. You could say something like “he will come unexpectedly.” Peter put the verb “will come” at the beginning of the sentence in the Greek in order to emphasize that Christ will certainly come.

3:10b

with a roar: The Greek word that Berean Standard Bible translates roar means “a rushing or hissing sound,” for example, the sound that a bird makes when it flaps its wings, or the sound that water makes when it flows in a river. Here it describes the crackling and roaring sound of a big fire burning.

3:10c

the elements: Most commentators think this means the heavenly bodies, such as the sun, the moon, and the stars. But people in Peter’s time who spoke Greek also used this word to refer to the basic ingredients of the physical world such as earth, air, and water.

3:10d

the earth and its works: The majority of scholars understand this to refer to the contents of the earth, whether made by man or by God. Most English versions follow this interpretation. It is recommended that you do so too.

will be laid bare: There is a problem with the Greek text here. The English versions treat the problem in different ways:

(1) heurethōsetai “will be found.” Some Greek manuscripts say this. The difficulty with this word is to decide what it means in this context. Some scholars say it means that people’s deeds will be laid bare. At the time that God will judge people, he will expose the things that they have done. Others think that this is a rhetorical question: “Will the earth and everything in it be found?” With the implied answer: “No, certainly not.” Then it means “the earth and everything in it will not be found,” that is, they will have vanished.

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version (2011 Revision), New Revised Standard Version, New English Bible)

(2) kataka?setai “will be burned up.” Some Greek manuscripts say this.

(Revised Standard Version, The Jerusalem Bible)

(3) Some translations have “will disappear,” “vanish” which is equivalent to translating the first interpretation above as a rhetorical question.

(Good News Translation, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

Scholars are not certain what Peter wrote. It could be any of the three possibilities above. So it may be best to follow the choice of the major translation used in your area. If you are using footnotes, you should add a note mentioning what the other manuscripts say.

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SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 3:11

Paragraph 3:11–13

Peter told the people to whom he wrote this letter that they should live in a manner that would please God because God would destroy the present earth and everything that is in it and there would be a new earth where only good people would live.

3:11–12

In the Greek, verses 11 and 12 are one sentence, but you may need to use shorter sentences in your translation as the Display has done.

3:11b

Berean Standard Bible, New International Version (2011 Revision), and Good News Translation interpret this part of the verse as a question: “what kind of people ought you to be?” This is a rhetorical question. Peter was not asking for information. He was telling the people to whom he wrote to consider how they should behave now that they knew that God would judge the world in the way that Peter had described. Peter was advising them that it was necessary to live in a holy and godly manner if they did not want God to judge them and to condemn them.

Other translations do not have a question. For example:

think what sort of people you ought to be (New English Bible)
-or-
you should be living holy and saintly lives (The Jerusalem Bible)

3:11c

holiness: Here this means “pure, upright, dedicated to God.”

godliness: See note on “godliness” in 1:3a; also the note in 2:9a.

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SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 3:12

3:12a

anticipate: The literal meaning of the Greek is “waiting, expecting.”

hasten: The Greek word that Berean Standard Bible translates as hasten could mean:

(1) “hastening.” Most versions follow this interpretation. For example:

Do your best to make it come soon (Good News Translation)
-or-
Work to hasten it on (New English Bible)

(Berean Standard Bible, Good News Translation, New English Bible)

Christians can hasten the day when Christ will return by prayer and repentance. This is the most usual meaning of the verb.

(2) Or it could mean “be eager, desire earnestly.” In this case it emphasizes the verb “look forward to,” and both verbs together mean “eagerly looking forward to.” There is only one grammatical object in the sentence (“the coming of the day of God”). This supports the interpretation that the second verb is emphasizing the first. For example:

while you wait and long for the Day of God (The Jerusalem Bible)

It is recommended that you follow the first interpretation (1).

the coming of the day of God: This refers to the same day as “the Day of the Lord” in verse 10. It is the day on which God has decided that Christ will return. You could translate it in this way:

as you look forward to Christ returning on the day that God has decided.

3:12b–c

The description of the end of the world in verse 12 is very similar to verse 10, so see notes on 3:10.

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Source: SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 2000

SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 3:5

SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 3:6

SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 3:7

SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 3:8

SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 3:9

SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 3:10

SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 3:11

SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 3:12

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