"The Second Letter of Peter applied Jesus's message to the conditions of the Hellenistic spiritual world, and explained that Jesus's appeal was based on his gift to us of everything positive we need for ourselves and for our life".[1 p.5]
This book has an unusual relationship with Jude which is almost entirely composed of material from 2 Peter, presented in the same style. It seems certain that one person was the author of both books, and that we are seeing different versions of one document. It follows that when studying 2 Peter one could usefully look at a commentary on Jude at the same time.
Swete[1 p.203] thinks that 2 Peter was the last epistle to be written, dating from the 2nd Century C.E., but John[4] disagrees, attributing it to St Peter while agreeing that it was written much later than 1 Peter.
© David Billin 2002–2023
Commentary
1:5cf. Jesus speaking about fruit in John 15:2, and the Fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22.
1:6–7A comparable sequence of graces can be found in Romans 5:3–5.
1:15This verse apparently predicts Peter's death; it is not clear whether he mentioned it because of his age, or because he was aware what fate awaited him. Jesus had warned him of an undesirable event in John 21:18.
1:16This verse suggests that the faith of some, the author or his flock, was wobbling.
1:17–18Like John 1:14, this is an eye-witness account of the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:2, Mark 9:2, Luke 9:28). See Mark 9:10 regarding telling others about it.
1:19St Peter has come to see the Transfiguration as a symbol of God's light shining in the darkness to illuminate our ignorance and disbelief. The fact that it is mentioned in this context shows that the memory of the event was a key source of Christian hope as Peter approached the end of his life.
1:21Prophecy in the Bible is the words of God not of the prophets.
2:1These false teachers were saved but will go to destruction; thus though nobody can pluck a saved person from Christ's hand, we can remove ourselves from his care. The Christian, once saved, can fall from salvation—see Appendix 2 Judgement.
2:4–7These verses indicate how seriously God takes sin.
2:8If we are at peace with God we will not be at peace with the world, and vice versa.
2:21See verse 1. Teachers will be judged more strictly than others, as we are told in James 3:1.
3:1At last Peter states his purpose in writing the letter! Drane[3] suggests that the reference to another letter means the book of Jude, not 1 Peter as has been supposed, because of the strong connections between Jude and 2 Peter and the dissimilarities between 1 Peter and 2 Peter.
3:4fIt is not for us to know when the end will come; cf. Matthew 24:3f.
3:8The idea that for the Lord a day is much the same as a thousand years comes from Psalm 90:4—see commentary there.
3:10"The Greek does not make sense" so translations differ[5]. See comment on Matthew 24:43, and cf. Luke 12:39, 1 Thessalonians 5:2.
3:13cf. Revelation 21:1.
3:16The early church was troubled by heretics (e.g. Gnostics) taking the writings of Paul out of context. This verse indicates their policy of treating Paul's teaching with respect but great caution, for that reason.
3:17See 2 Peter 2:1.
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