2 Petrus 3:11-12

3:11 Since all these things are to melt away ¹  in this manner, ²  what sort of people must we ³  be, conducting our lives in holiness and godliness, ⁴  3:12 while waiting for and hastening ⁵  the coming of the day of God? ⁶  Because of this day, ⁷  the heavens will be burned up and ⁸  dissolve, and the celestial bodies ⁹  will melt away in a blaze! ¹⁰ 

2 Petrus 3:18

3:18 But grow in the grace and knowledge ¹¹  of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the honor both now and on ¹²  that eternal day. ¹³ 

[3:11]  ¹ tn Grk “all these things thus being dissolved.”

[3:11]  ² tn Or “thus.”

[3:11]  ³ tc ‡ Most mss have a pronoun with the infinitive – either ὑμᾶς (Jumas, “you”; found in A C^[*^] P Ψ 048^vid 33 1739 Ï, as well as the corrector of Ì⁷² and second corrector of א), ἡμᾶς (Jhmas, “we”; read by א* 630 2464 al), or ἑαυτούς (Jeautous, “[you your]selves/[we our]selves,” read by 1243). But the shorter reading (with no pronoun) has the support of Ì^72*,74vid B pc. Though slim, the evidence for the omission is nevertheless the earliest. Further, the addition of some pronoun, especially the second person pronoun, seems to be a clarifying variant. It would be difficult to explain the pronoun’s absence in some witnesses if the pronoun were original. That three different pronouns have shown up in the mss is testimony for the omission. Thus, on external and internal grounds, the omission is preferred. For English style requirements, however, some pronoun has to be added. NA ²⁷ has ὑμᾶς in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

[3:11]  tn Or “you.”

[3:11]  ⁴ tn Grk “in holy conduct and godliness.”

[3:12]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Grk “on account of which” (a subordinate relative clause in Greek).

[3:12]  ⁸ tn Grk “being burned up, will dissolve.”

[3:12]  ⁹ tn See note in v. 10 on “celestial bodies.”

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

[3:18]  ¹¹ tn The term “knowledge” (γνῶσις, gnwsis) used here is not the same as is found in 2 Pet 1:2, 3, 8; 2:20. This term is found in 1:5 and 1:6.

[3:18]  ¹² tn Or “until.”

[3:18]  ¹³ tc ‡ The vast bulk of mss add ἀμήν (amhn, “amen”) at the end of this letter, as they do almost all the rest of the NT books (only Acts, James, and 3 John lack a majority of witnesses supporting a concluding ἀμήν). The omission in B 1241 1243 1739* 1881 2298 appears to be original, although the fact that some of the best and earliest Alexandrian witnesses (Ì⁷² א A C P Ψ 33 co), along with the Byzantine text and early versions (vg sy), add the particle renders such a judgment less than iron-clad. NA²⁷ places the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[3:18]  tn Grk “day of eternity.”