2 Peter 1:1. ΣΙΜΏΝ. This is the reading of the Vatican MS. B, of many cursive MSS. and of the Versions: but an important group including the uncials אAKLP reads Συμεών. This latter form occurs in but one other passage in N.T., Acts 15:14, where James the brother of the Lord says “Symeon hath declare... [ Continue Reading ]
ΧΆΡΙΣ ὙΜΙ͂Ν ΚΑῚ ΕἸΡΉΝΗ ΠΛΗΘΥΝΘΕΊΗ. Identical with the salutation in 1 Peter 1:2. χάρις and εἰρήνη without the verb are the rule in the Pauline salutations. See on Jude 1:1. Jude has the verb but differs in the substantives. ἘΝ ἘΠΙΓΝΏΣΕΙ. For a very full treatment of this word see Dean Robinson’s ex... [ Continue Reading ]
ὩΣ. It is a question whether we ought to place a comma or a full stop immediately before this word. If a comma, then we must take this sentence with the preceding one and translate, “May grace and peace be multiplied, etc.… (_as it surely will_) seeing that His divine power has given, etc.” and come... [ Continue Reading ]
ΔΙʼ ὯΝ has been taken in three ways: (1) of “us” the Apostles, (2) of τὰ πρὸς ζωὴν καὶ εὐσέβειαν, (3) of δόξα καὶ�. This last seems by far the best: Christ calls us by His excellence and gives us (δεδώρηται is _active_) the promises, which help us to attain likeness to Him. ΓΈΝΗΣΘΕ ΘΕΊΑΣ ΚΟΙΝΩΝΟῚ ΦΎ... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑῚ ΑΥ̓ΤῸ ΤΟΥ͂ΤΟ ΔΈ. The two passages usually quoted to exemplify the use of αὐτὸ τοῦτο are (1) Xenophon, _Anab._ I. 9. 21 καὶ γὰρ αὐτὸ τοῦτο οὗπερ αὐτὸς ἕνεκα φίλων ᾤετο δεῖσθαι, ὡς συνεργοὺς ἔχοι, καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπειρᾶτο συνεργὸς τοῖς φίλοις κράτιστος εἶναι, (2) Plato, _Protag._ 310 Ε αὐτὰ ταῦτα καὶ νῦ... [ Continue Reading ]
ΓΝΩ͂ΣΙΣ. Mayor well compares John 7:17 ἐάν τις θέλῃ τὸ θέλημα αὐτοῦ ποιεῖν, γνώσεται περὶ τῆς διδαχῆς. Only, here, the knowledge that will come of ἀρετή is not only knowledge _about_ God, but knowledge _of_ Him and of His will. ἘΓΚΡΆΤΕΙΑ. Control over self in all matters. ὙΠΟΜΟΝΉ. On this St James... [ Continue Reading ]
ΦΙΛΑΔΕΛΦΊΑ. It is interesting to see how this word has been transformed in meaning under Christian (and Jewish) influences. To the Greek proper it meant only the affection of a brother for his own actual brother. In a Jewish book (2Ma 15:14) we find the prophet Jeremiah called φιλάδελφος, because he... [ Continue Reading ]
If these qualities be in you and increase (the idea of _growth_ is in πλεονάζοντα) they will indeed prevent you from being either inactive or unfruitful in what relates to (or in gaining) the knowledge of our Lord. The words οὐκ� are quoted in the Letter of the Churches of Vienne and Lyons (see p. x... [ Continue Reading ]
On the other hand their absence makes a man spiritually blind, or at least short-sighted. ΜΥΩΠΆΖΩΝ (the more natural form of the word would have been μυωπιάζων, cf. μυωπία) means screwing up the eyes in order to see, as a short-sighted man does. It _limits_ the word τυφλός, and does not emphasize i... [ Continue Reading ]
ΔΙῸ ΜΑ͂ΛΛΟΝ. With this blessing and this curse in view, you should be the more eager to do _your_ part—the part which God allows, and indeed requires from you—in making effective the call which has come to you from Him. As Christians you are called and chosen: but that fact does not render exertion... [ Continue Reading ]
ΕἼΣΟΔΟΣ would most naturally mean the place of entrance, but here, as in Hebrews 10:19 and elsewhere in N.T., it clearly means the action of entering.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΔΙΌ. Seeing the great issues which hang upon all this. ΜΕΛΛΉΣΩ�. “I shall be about to remind you always” is undoubtedly a very awkward phrase. The R.V. gives “I shall be ready always to put you in remembrance,” but from the context one would judge that the writer is speaking of something which he me... [ Continue Reading ]
13, 14. It is the more necessary for me to remind you, since I shall not be long with you. ἘΝ is here used of the instrument. ΤΑΧΙΝΉ, speedy: we may take it to mean that the change is to come soon, and also that it will be sudden and violent when it comes: certainly the former. ὁ καιρὸς τῆς� says... [ Continue Reading ]
ΣΠΟΥΔΆΣΩ ΔῈ ΚΑῚ ἙΚΆΣΤΟΤΕ … “I will take measures (besides reminding you while I am alive) that you shall have the means of reminding yourselves of these truths whenever you please, after my death.” In other words, “I will leave my teaching with you in a permanently accessible form”—in some written w... [ Continue Reading ]
Remember that we Apostles had ocular evidence for the truth of what we preach to you, for instance at the Transfiguration, when we saw the glory and heard the voice. ΜΎΘΟΙΣ ἘΞΑΚΟΛΟΥΘΉΣΑΝΤΕΣ is one of the phrases common to this Epistle and to Josephus’ Preface to the _Antiquities of the Jews_, § 3,... [ Continue Reading ]
ΛΑΒῺΝ ΓᾺΡ … There is an anacoluthon here: λαβών has no verb. It is probable that the writer had intended to complete the sentence by writing ἐβεβαίωσεν τὸν προφητικὸν λόγον (in 2 Peter 1:19)—for 2 Peter 1:18 is a parenthesis. ὙΠΌ. Mayor would read ἀπό, for which the only authorities are the Syriac v... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΝ ΤΩ͂Ι ἉΓΊΩΙ ὌΡΕΙ. It was the Transfiguration that made the mountain holy (Bigg), just as the vision of the Burning Bush made that site “holy ground” (Exodus 3:5). The “holy hill” _par excellence_ of the O.T. is Mount Sion. It is interesting to note that the Acts of Peter (see Introd.) make St Pet... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑῚ ἜΧΟΜΕΝ. It is best to connect this sentence with the preceding. “The vision and the voice confirmed, and still confirm to us the authority of the prophets.” Other commentators make these words the starting-point of a new topic. “_We_ Apostles had the evidence of the vision: _you_ have what is be... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤΟΥ͂ΤΟ ΠΡΩ͂ΤΟΝ ΓΙΝΏΣΚΟΝΤΕΣ. The same words recur in 2 Peter 3:3. ΠΑ͂ΣΑ—ΟΥ̓. Hebraistic for οὐδεμία. ΠΡΟΦΗΤΕΊΑ ΓΡΑΦΗ͂Σ prophecy of Scripture—included, contained in Scripture. ἸΔΊΑΣ ἘΠΙΛΎΣΕΩΣ ΟΥ̓ ΓΊΝΕΤΑΙ. Words productive of much dispute. The principal meanings assigned to them have been: (_a_) P... [ Continue Reading ]