2 Petrus 1:5-7

1:5 For this very reason, ¹  make every effort ²  to add to your faith excellence, ³  to excellence, knowledge; 1:6 to knowledge, self-control; to self-control, perseverance; ⁴  to perseverance, godliness; 1:7 to godliness, brotherly affection; to brotherly affection, unselfish ⁵  love. ⁶ 

2 Petrus 1:12

Salvation Based on the Word of God

1:12 Therefore, I intend to remind you constantly ⁷  of these things even though you know them and are well established in the truth that you now have.

2 Petrus 2:12

2:12 But ⁸  these men, ⁹  like irrational animals – creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed ¹⁰  – do not understand whom ¹¹  they are insulting, and consequently ¹²  in their destruction they will be destroyed, ¹³ 

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, ¹⁴  who loved the wages of unrighteousness, ¹⁵ 

2 Petrus 3:17

3:17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, ¹⁶  be on your guard that you do not get led astray by the error of these unprincipled men ¹⁷  and fall from your firm grasp on the truth. ¹⁸ 

[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”).

[1:6]  ⁴ tn Perhaps “steadfastness,” though that is somewhat archaic. A contemporary colloquial rendering would be “stick-to-it-iveness.”

[1:7]  ⁵ sn The final virtue or character quality in this list is “love” (ἀγάπη, agaph). The word was not used exclusively of Christian or unselfish love in the NT (e.g., the cognate, ἀγαπάω [agapaw], is used in John 3:19 of the love of darkness), but in a list such as this in which ἀγάπη is obviously the crescendo, unselfish love is evidently in view. R. Bauckham (Jude, 2 Peter [WBC], 187) notes that as the crowning virtue, ἀγάπη encompasses all the previous virtues.

[1:7]  ⁶ tn Each item in Greek begins with “and.” The conjunction is omitted for the sake of good English style, with no change in meaning.

[1:7]  sn Add to your faith excellence…love. The list of virtues found in vv. 5-7 stands in tension to the promises given in vv. 2-4. What appears to be a synergism of effort or even a contradiction (God supplies the basis, the promises, the grace, the power, etc., while believers must also provide the faith, excellence, etc.) in reality encapsulates the mystery of sanctification. Each believer is responsible before God for his conduct and spiritual growth, yet that growth could not take place without God’s prior work and constant enabling. We must not neglect our responsibility, yet the enabling and the credit is God’s. Paul says the same thing: “Continue working out your salvation with humility and dependence, for the one bringing forth in you both the desire and the effort…is God” (Phil 2:12-13).

[1:12]  ⁷ tn Grk “always.”

[2:12]  ⁸ tn 2 Pet 2:12 through 16 constitute one cumbersome sentence in Greek. It is difficult to tell whether a hard break belongs in the middle of v. 13, as the translation has it, or whether the compounding of participles is meant in a loosely descriptive sort of way, without strong grammatical connection. Either way, the sentence rambles in a way that often betrays a great “vehemence of spirit” (A. T. Robertson, Grammar, 435). The author is obviously agitated at these false teachers who are to come.

[2:12]  ⁹ tn The false teachers could conceivably be men or women, but in v. 14 they are said to have eyes “full of an adulteress.” This can only refer to men. Hence, both here and in v. 17 the false teachers are described as “men.”

[2:12]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “born for capture and destruction.”

[2:12]  ¹¹ tn Grk “with [reference to] whom.”

[2:12]  ¹² tn There is no conjunction joining this last clause of v. 12 to the preceding (i.e., no “and consequently”). The argument builds asyndetically (a powerful rhetorical device in Greek), but cannot be naturally expressed in English as such.

[2:12]  ¹³ tn This cryptic expression has been variously interpreted. (1) It could involve a simple cognate dative in which case the idea is “they will be utterly destroyed.” But the presence of αὐτῶν (autwn; their, of them) is problematic for this view. Other, more plausible views are: (2) the false teachers will be destroyed at the same time as the irrational beasts, or (3) in the same manner as these creatures (i.e., by being caught); or (4) the false teachers will be destroyed together with the evil angels whom they insult. Because of the difficulties of the text, it was thought best to leave it ambiguous, as the Greek has it.

[2:15]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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.

[3:17]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “knowing beforehand.”

[3:17]  ¹⁷ tn Or “lawless ones.”

[3:17]  sn These unprincipled men. The same word is used in 2:7, suggesting further that the heretics in view in chapter 3 are the false teachers of chapter 2.

[3:17]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “fall from your firmness.”