2 Peter · Chapter 3

Verse 1. This second epistle] In order to guard them against the seductions of false teachers, he calls to their remembrance the doctrine of the ancient prophets, and the commands or instructions of the apostles, all founded on the same basis.

He possibly refers to the prophecies of Enoch, as mentioned by Jude, Jude 1:14, 15; of David, Psalm 1:1, &c.; and of Daniel, Daniel 12:2, relative to the coming of our Lord to judgment: and he brings in the instructions of the apostles of Christ, by which they were directed how to prepare to meet their God.

Verses 1, 2. The doctrines and precepts delivered by the prophets and apostles, being the most effectual means of preserving the Christian converts from being seduced by the false teachers spoken of in the preceding chapter, the apostle begins this with informing the brethren that his design in writing both his epistles was to bring these doctrines and precepts to their remembrance. And as one of the greatest of these men’s errors was their denying the coming of Christ to judge the world, and destroy this mundane system, he first exhorts the brethren to recollect what the holy prophets had anciently spoken on this subject, together with the commandments of the apostles of Christ to their disciples, to expect and prepare for these events. His saying, This second epistle I now write, &c., implies that he had written a former one to the same people, and he here affirms that in them both he had one great end in view, which was to stir up their minds (which he terms pure, or rather sincere, as eilikrinh more properly signifies) to keep in remembrance and lay to heart what had been already taught them on these important subjects, so as to be properly influenced by it. The holy prophets intended, who had spoken of these things, were chiefly Enoch, mentioned Jude 1:14, 15; David, Psalm 50:1-6; 75:8; and Daniel 12:2.

Verse 1, 2. This second epistle is, with one undeviating design, to stir up your pure minds to watchfulness and prayer, and that ye may be mindful of the words of the holy prophets, and also of the cautions repeated by Christ, and by us his apostles, against all false teachers and scoffers at what we say concerning the visitations of God on the jewish nation, and of the fall of the sacred temple. Lactantius says, lib. 4. cap. 21, Petrus et Paulus predicaverunt, &c. “Peter and Paul preached at Rome, and what they preached, being written, remained as a record. In which they predicted many astonishing events, and this among others, that after a short time God would send a king who should vanquish the jews, should level their cities with the ground, and besiege them so closely, that they should be so far reduced by famine, as to feed on the bodies of one another.” — This record is in perfect unison with the holy scriptures.

III. ERROR OF EXPECTING A NEAR ADVENT CORRECTED, 1-18.

1. The fatal error of expecting Christ’s immediate coming, from the immediateness of the terms in which it is predicted, 1-13.

1. This—Literally, This epistle, already beloved a second, unto you I write. The first chapter is a general, yet direct, introductory address; the second chapter steps aside to portray the corruptionists to come; this resumes and finishes the direct epistle. Now—Literally, already; it is already a being-completed second epistle. Pure minds—In contrast with those corrupt minds whose portraiture occupies the last chapter. Those are the ungodly men of verse 7, bound to perdition; while you, warned of that day of judgment, will (verse 17) beware. Remembrance—The apostle delivers not so much a new prophecy as he recalls, explains, and applies a whole body of old prophecies.

V. 2, 3. Be the more mindful thereof, because ye know scoffers will come first-Before the Lord comes.

Walking after their own evil desires-Here is the origin of the error, the root of libertinism. Do we not see this eminently fulfilled?

Verses 1, 2. The doctrines and precepts delivered by the prophets and apostles, being the most effectual means of preserving the Christian converts from being seduced by the false teachers spoken of in the preceding chapter, the apostle begins this with informing the brethren that his design in writing both his epistles was to bring these doctrines and precepts to their remembrance. And as one of the greatest of these men’s errors was their denying the coming of Christ to judge the world, and destroy this mundane system, he first exhorts the brethren to recollect what the holy prophets had anciently spoken on this subject, together with the commandments of the apostles of Christ to their disciples, to expect and prepare for these events. His saying, This second epistle I now write, &c., implies that he had written a former one to the same people, and he here affirms that in them both he had one great end in view, which was to stir up their minds (which he terms pure, or rather sincere, as eilikrinh more properly signifies) to keep in remembrance and lay to heart what had been already taught them on these important subjects, so as to be properly influenced by it. The holy prophets intended, who had spoken of these things, were chiefly Enoch, mentioned Jude 1:14, 15; David, Psalm 50:1-6; 75:8; and Daniel 12:2.

Verse 1, 2. This second epistle is, with one undeviating design, to stir up your pure minds to watchfulness and prayer, and that ye may be mindful of the words of the holy prophets, and also of the cautions repeated by Christ, and by us his apostles, against all false teachers and scoffers at what we say concerning the visitations of God on the jewish nation, and of the fall of the sacred temple. Lactantius says, lib. 4. cap. 21, Petrus et Paulus predicaverunt, &c. “Peter and Paul preached at Rome, and what they preached, being written, remained as a record. In which they predicted many astonishing events, and this among others, that after a short time God would send a king who should vanquish the jews, should level their cities with the ground, and besiege them so closely, that they should be so far reduced by famine, as to feed on the bodies of one another.” — This record is in perfect unison with the holy scriptures.

2. The holy prophets—Of the Old Testament, whose predictions of a day of judgment all culminate in the one final day. The apostles—Literal Greek, your apostles of the Lord and Saviour. These are your apostles as sent to you, and Christ’s, as sent by him. The model comprehensive prediction is that of Matthew 24 and 25, on which see our notes.

V. 2, 3. Be the more mindful thereof, because ye know scoffers will come first-Before the Lord comes.

Walking after their own evil desires-Here is the origin of the error, the root of libertinism. Do we not see this eminently fulfilled?

Verse 3. Knowing this first] Considering this in an especial manner, that those prophets predicted the coming of false teachers: and their being now in the Church proved how clearly they were known to God, and showed the Christians at Pontus the necessity of having no intercourse or connection with them.

There shall come-scoffers] Persons who shall endeavour to turn all religion into ridicule, as this is the most likely way to depreciate truth in the sight of the giddy multitude. The scoffers, having no solid argument to produce against revelation, endeavour to make a scaramouch of some parts; and then affect to laugh at it, and get superficial thinkers to laugh with them.

Walking after their own lusts] Here is the true source of all infidelity. The Gospel of Jesus is pure and holy, and requires a holy heart and holy life. They wish to follow their own lusts, and consequently cannot brook the restraints of the Gospel: therefore they labour to prove that it is not true, that they may get rid of its injunctions, and at last succeed in persuading themselves that it is a forgery; and then throw the reins on the neck of their evil propensities. Thus their opposition to revealed truth began and ended in their own lusts.

There is a remarkable addition here in almost every MS. and version of note: There shall come in the last days, IN MOCKERY, en empaigmonh, scoffers walking after their own lusts. This is the reading of ABC, eleven others, both the Syriac, all the Arabic, Coptic, Æthiopic, Vulgate, and several of the fathers. They come in mockery; this is their spirit and temper; they have no desire to find out truth; they take up the Bible merely with the design of turning it into ridicule. This reading Griesbach has received into the text.

The last days] Probably refer to the conclusion of the Jewish polity, which was then at hand.

Verse 3. Knowing this first — That your faith in the prophetic word may not be shaken, but that you may be armed and prepared for the trial; that there shall come in the last days — The expression here used, ep’ escatou twn hmerwn, is different from usteroiv cronoiv, future, or latter times, (1 Timothy 4:1,) and from escataiv hmeraiv, the last days, 2 Timothy 3:1. It is also different from ep’ escatwn twn cronwn, these last times, 1 Peter 1:20. And it probably means the last part of the days of the world’s duration. Scoffers — Or mockers, who shall ridicule the expectation of such awful events, and deride the truths, promises, and threatenings of the divine word; walking after their own lusts — Influenced by their appetites and passions, and their earthly and sensual inclinations. Here the apostle has laid open the true source of infidelity, and of men’s scoffing at religion. “They may pretend to religion,” as Dr. Benson says, “but they are governed by sense and appetite, and they take refuge in infidelity, and scoff at religion, to make themselves easy in their vices.” “When the apostle wrote this passage, there were Epicureans and others among the Gentiles, and Sadducees among the Jews, who ridiculed the promises of the gospel concerning the resurrection of the dead, the general judgment, the destruction of the earth, and a future state of rewards and punishments. Wherefore, seeing the scoffers, of whom St. Peter here speaks, had not yet appeared, but were to come in the last period of the duration of the world, it is probable that they were to arise in the church itself. Accordingly they are reproved, (verse 5,) for being wilfully ignorant of the Mosaic history of the creation and of the deluge; and Jude says, (verses 18, 19,) the scoffers separated themselves from other Christians, and had not the Spirit, though they pretended to be inspired. The evil of scoffing at the doctrines and promises of the gospel may be learned from Psalm 1:1, where scoffing at religion is represented as the highest stage of impiety.” — Macknight.

Ver. 3. Scoffers. The heretics described in the preseding chapter, who scoffed at prophecy respecting the fall of Jerusalem, like the filthy sinners which the deluge washed away. See the reflections on Genesis 8.

3. Knowing this first—The great precaution is here now premised in regard to the judgment-day prophecies. The readers must not suppose that the terms of immediacy of time in the prophetic announcements of the second advent really mean that they are now, humanly, at hand. The same caution given in St. Paul’s first epistle, (2 Thessalonians 2:1,) is repeated in this, Peter’s last. The last days—The very caution defines the phrase. They are the last days before the second advent, however far or near that day may be. That they may be a very distant last days it is the very purpose of the present passage to show, and to explain that the distance of time is not contradictory to the immediacy of the terms. See supplemental note to Matthew 25. Also notes on 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8; Revelation 1:1, 3; 22:20. Scoffers—These words, and the entire passage 3-5, we identify with Revelation 20:7-9, when Satan, released from his millennial imprisonment, “the nations” are once more “deceived,” and an apostasy takes place. Compare notes on Mark 13:24-27; Luke 18:8. After their own lusts—A sceptical spirit and a licentious life.

V. 4. Saying, Where is the promise of his coming-To judgment (They do not even deign to name him.) We see no sign of any such thing. For ever since the fathers-Our first ancestors.

Fell asleep, all things-Heaven. water, earth.

Continue as they were from the beginning of the creation-Without any such material change as might make us believe they will ever end.

Verse 4. Where is the promise of his coming?] Perhaps the false teachers here referred to were such as believed in the eternity of the world: the prophets and the apostles had foretold its destruction, and they took it for granted, if this were true, that the terrestrial machine would have begun long ago to have shown some symptoms of decay; but they found that since the patriarchs died all things remained as they were from the foundation of the world; that is, men were propagated by natural generation, one was born and another died, and the course of nature continued regular in the seasons, succession of day and night, generation and corruption of animals and vegetables, &c.; for they did not consider the power of the Almighty, by which the whole can be annihilated in a moment, as well as created. As, therefore, they saw none of these changes, they presumed that there would be none, and they intimated that there never had been any. The apostle combats this notion in the following verse.

Verses 4-6. Where is the promise of his coming — To raise the dead, judge mankind, and destroy the earth? We see no sign of any such thing. The promise of Christ’s coming we have Matthew 15:27, The Son of man shall come in his glory, &c.; John 14:3, I will come and receive you to myself, &c., and in many other passages of the gospel; a promise which was renewed by the angels at our Lord’s ascension, and is spoken of in many passages of the epistles, especially in those of St. Paul. By representing Christ’s promised coming as a delusion, the scoffers set themselves and others free from all fear of a future judgment, and bereft the righteous of their hope of reward. For since the fathers fell asleep — Since our ancestors died; all things — Heaven, earth, air, water; continue as they were from the beginning of the creation — Without any such material change as might make us believe they will ever have an end. So say these scoffers. For this they willingly are ignorant of — As if he had said, It is from their ignorance, their gross, affected ignorance, that they argue after this manner. He says willingly ignorant, to signify that they had sufficient means of knowing better, but that they did not care to know or consider any thing respecting it. That by the word of God — His almighty word, which bounds the duration of all things, so that it cannot be either longer or shorter; the heavens — As by the heavens here the apostle means the atmosphere which surrounds this earth, the plural is put for the singular by a change of the number very common in the Scriptures; were of old — Anciently before the flood; and the earth standing — Or subsisting, (as sunestwsa more properly signifies,) out of the water — Which had before covered it, namely, emerging from it by the divine command, (the earth being formed out of the chaos, which had been previously brought into existence for that purpose,) and the liquid element retiring to the channels prepared for it; and in the water — By which God appointed that it should be surrounded, nourished, and supported, water being the life of the vegetable creation; whereby — Di’ wn, by which things, thus constituted; the world that then was — The whole antediluvian race, with all the brute animals, except such as were with Noah in the ark; being overflowed with water, perished — Perhaps di’ wn, by which things, refers to the heavens mentioned above, and may relate to the windows of heaven being opened, as the expression is Genesis 7:11, and pouring forth upon the earth a destructive deluge of water. The apostle means that these scoffers did not consider God’s power manifested in making the world, which must enable him also to destroy it if he pleased, and that they had little reason for saying that all things continued as they were from the creation.

4. Where is—What has become of? These scoffers truly come from out the millennial Church. They long believed that old promise embraced in the Apostles’ Creed, that Christ would “come to judge the quick and the dead.” But ages have passed, and this coming is proved to be a ridiculous superstition. His coming—The word here is parousia, and when predicated of Christ, always denotes his literal bodily presence. The verb come, and noun coming, are often used of spiritual interpositions, but this parousia never. Note on 1 Corinthians 15:23. The word parousia occurs in the following passages: Matthew 24:3, 37, 39; 1 Corinthians 15:23; 1 Thessalonians 2:19; 3:13; 4:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:1, 8, 9; James 5:7, 8; 2 Peter 1:16; 3:4, 12; 1 John 2:28. The fathers—The old fathers of the Church, who predicted and believed in the second advent. Through all the ages, from their time to the day of these scoffers, no Christ has come. But Satan has come in his spiritual power; and he has deceived these sceptics into the belief that there is no judgment-day, no divine Christ, no true God. Let loose from all religious restraints, they “walk after their own lusts.” Continue as they were—Literal Greek, remain just so. Dr. Chalmers was the first, we believe, to note that Peter here gives the argument of Hume against all miracle. It is the argument of the visible permanence of the order of nature. This continuous fact of the actual visible and reliable uniformity of nature’s order, is formulated by some presumptuous scientists into such a law as to exclude the Creator from interposing in the very succession of events which his divine will carries on. But every sensible theist can understand that things would stop of themselves if not energized by the constant influx of divine energy, and it is nonsense to doubt whether He who continues the series cannot interpose his power and act between the events that compose the series. God interposed when he originated terrene life; he interposed when he first created man; he interposed by Christ’s first advent; he will again interpose at his second advent. God’s clock is a clock of ages; after a long period it strikes; and sceptics fix their eyes on the length of that period, and forget that the stroke will ever again come. When God’s hour is complete it is his own hand that strikes. From the beginning of the creation—Extending their affirmation a great way beyond their knowledge. That no interposition has ever taken place is more than any philosopher ever knew.

V. 5. For this they are willingly ignorant of-They do not care to know or consider.

That by the almighty word of God-Which bounds the duration of all things, so that it cannot be either longer or shorter.

Of old-Before the flood.

The aerial heavens were, and the earth-Not as it is now, but standing out of the water and in the water-Perhaps the interior globe of earth was fixed in the midst of the great deep, the abyss of water; the shell or exterior globe standing out of the water, covering the great deep. This, or some other great and manifest difference between the original and present constitution of the terraqueous globe, seems then to have been so generally known, that St. Peter charges their ignorance of it totally upon their wilfulness.

Verse 5. For this they willingly are ignorant of] They shut their eyes against the light, and refuse all evidence; what does not answer their purpose they will not know. And the apostle refers to a fact that militates against their hypothesis, with which they refused to acquaint themselves; and their ignorance he attributes to their unwillingness to learn the true state of the case.

By the word of God the heavens were of old] I shall set down the Greek text of this extremely difficult clause: oupanoi hsan ekpalai, kai gh ex udatov kai diuJdatov sunestwsa, tw tou qeou logw. translated thus by Mr. Wakefield: “A heaven and an earth formed out of water, and by means of water, by the appointment of God, had continued from old time.” By Dr. Macknight thus; “The heavens were anciently, and the earth of water: and through water the earth consists by the word of God.” By Kypke thus: “The heavens were of old, and the earth, which is framed, by the word of God, from the waters, and between the waters.” However we take the words, they seem to refer to the origin of the earth. It was the opinion of the remotest antiquity that the earth was formed out of water, or a primitive moisture which they termed ulh, hule, a first matter or nutriment for all things; but Thales pointedly taught archn de twn panqwv udwr einai, that all things derive their existence from water, and this very nearly expresses the sentiment of Peter, and nearly in his own terms too. But is this doctrine true? It must be owned that it appears to be the doctrine of Moses: In the beginning, says he, God made the heavens and the earth; and the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. Now, these heavens and earth which God made in the beginning, and which he says were at first formless and empty, and which he calls the deep, are in the very next verse called waters; from which it is evident that Moses teaches that the earth was made out of some fluid substance, to which the name of water is properly given. And that the earth was at first in a fluid mass is most evident from its form; it is not round, as has been demonstrated by measuring some degrees near the north pole, and under the equator; the result of which proved that the figure of the earth was that of an oblate spheroid, a figure nearly resembling that of an orange. And this is the form that any soft or elastic body would assume if whirled rapidly round a centre, as the earth is around its axis. The measurement to which I have referred shows the earth to be flatted at the poles, and raised at the equator. And by this measurement it was demonstrated that the diameter of the earth at the equator was greater by about twenty-five miles than at the poles.

Now, considering the earth to be thus formed ex udatov, of water, we have next to consider what the apostle means by diJ udatov, variously translated by out of, by means of, and between, the water. Standing out of the water gives no sense, and should be abandoned. If we translate between the waters, it will bear some resemblance to Genesis 1:6, 7: And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of, Ëwtb bethoch, between, the waters; and let it divide the waters from the waters: and God divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; then it may refer to the whole of the atmosphere, with which the earth is everywhere surrounded, and which contains all the vapours which belong to our globe, and without which we could neither have animal nor vegetative life. Thus then the earth, or terraqueous globe, which was originally formed out of water, subsists by water; and by means of that very water, the water compacted with the earth-the fountains of the great deep, and the waters in the atmosphere-the windows of heaven, Genesis 7:11, the antediluvian earth was destroyed, as St. Peter states in the next verse: the terraqueous globe, which was formed originally of water or a fluid substance, the chaos or first matter, and which was suspended in the heavens-the atmosphere, enveloped with water, by means of which water it was preserved; yet, because of the wickedness of its inhabitants, was destroyed by those very same waters out of which it was originally made, and by which it subsisted.

Verses 4-6. Where is the promise of his coming — To raise the dead, judge mankind, and destroy the earth? We see no sign of any such thing. The promise of Christ’s coming we have Matthew 15:27, The Son of man shall come in his glory, &c.; John 14:3, I will come and receive you to myself, &c., and in many other passages of the gospel; a promise which was renewed by the angels at our Lord’s ascension, and is spoken of in many passages of the epistles, especially in those of St. Paul. By representing Christ’s promised coming as a delusion, the scoffers set themselves and others free from all fear of a future judgment, and bereft the righteous of their hope of reward. For since the fathers fell asleep — Since our ancestors died; all things — Heaven, earth, air, water; continue as they were from the beginning of the creation — Without any such material change as might make us believe they will ever have an end. So say these scoffers. For this they willingly are ignorant of — As if he had said, It is from their ignorance, their gross, affected ignorance, that they argue after this manner. He says willingly ignorant, to signify that they had sufficient means of knowing better, but that they did not care to know or consider any thing respecting it. That by the word of God — His almighty word, which bounds the duration of all things, so that it cannot be either longer or shorter; the heavens — As by the heavens here the apostle means the atmosphere which surrounds this earth, the plural is put for the singular by a change of the number very common in the Scriptures; were of old — Anciently before the flood; and the earth standing — Or subsisting, (as sunestwsa more properly signifies,) out of the water — Which had before covered it, namely, emerging from it by the divine command, (the earth being formed out of the chaos, which had been previously brought into existence for that purpose,) and the liquid element retiring to the channels prepared for it; and in the water — By which God appointed that it should be surrounded, nourished, and supported, water being the life of the vegetable creation; whereby — Di’ wn, by which things, thus constituted; the world that then was — The whole antediluvian race, with all the brute animals, except such as were with Noah in the ark; being overflowed with water, perished — Perhaps di’ wn, by which things, refers to the heavens mentioned above, and may relate to the windows of heaven being opened, as the expression is Genesis 7:11, and pouring forth upon the earth a destructive deluge of water. The apostle means that these scoffers did not consider God’s power manifested in making the world, which must enable him also to destroy it if he pleased, and that they had little reason for saying that all things continued as they were from the creation.

Ver, 5, 6. The earth standing out of the water and in the water — perished. The apostle clearly understood, as stated at large on Genesis 8., that the earth was destroyed by the daily flux and reflux of the sea, attended with incessant rain and clouds of darkness for forty days. The quantity of water, as all modern geologists allow, was not more at the deluge than now, but was concentrated and poured out upon a guilty world, to execute the divine vengeance.

5. It is to the Flood that our apostle appeals as an instance of a great interposition. A suitable instance; for its mundane reality is attested by a world-wide spread of traditions among mankind. Whether the deluge was literally world-wide or not, it was a true instance of a mundane catastrophe, justifying the possibility of a still greater catastrophe from the hand of Him to whom this globe is a speck. Willingly… ignorant—Men do not know the truth because they wish not to know it. Heavens… earth—The same antithesis as in Genesis 1:1, where the heavens precede the earth. Were of old—The celestial long preceded the terrestrial. Out of… in—Rather, through. The water—The isles and continents project up out of the water, and stretch their long extensions through the water. The one phrase describes the upward rise of the lands from water, the other, the horizontal projection of lands through it.

V. 6. Through which-Heaven and earth, the windows of heaven being opened, and the fountains of the great deep broken up. The world that then was-The whole antediluvian race. Being overflowed with water, perished-And the heavens and earth themselves, though they did not perish, yet underwent a great change. So little ground have these scoffers for saying that all things continue as they were from the creation.

Verses 4-6. Where is the promise of his coming — To raise the dead, judge mankind, and destroy the earth? We see no sign of any such thing. The promise of Christ’s coming we have Matthew 15:27, The Son of man shall come in his glory, &c.; John 14:3, I will come and receive you to myself, &c., and in many other passages of the gospel; a promise which was renewed by the angels at our Lord’s ascension, and is spoken of in many passages of the epistles, especially in those of St. Paul. By representing Christ’s promised coming as a delusion, the scoffers set themselves and others free from all fear of a future judgment, and bereft the righteous of their hope of reward. For since the fathers fell asleep — Since our ancestors died; all things — Heaven, earth, air, water; continue as they were from the beginning of the creation — Without any such material change as might make us believe they will ever have an end. So say these scoffers. For this they willingly are ignorant of — As if he had said, It is from their ignorance, their gross, affected ignorance, that they argue after this manner. He says willingly ignorant, to signify that they had sufficient means of knowing better, but that they did not care to know or consider any thing respecting it. That by the word of God — His almighty word, which bounds the duration of all things, so that it cannot be either longer or shorter; the heavens — As by the heavens here the apostle means the atmosphere which surrounds this earth, the plural is put for the singular by a change of the number very common in the Scriptures; were of old — Anciently before the flood; and the earth standing — Or subsisting, (as sunestwsa more properly signifies,) out of the water — Which had before covered it, namely, emerging from it by the divine command, (the earth being formed out of the chaos, which had been previously brought into existence for that purpose,) and the liquid element retiring to the channels prepared for it; and in the water — By which God appointed that it should be surrounded, nourished, and supported, water being the life of the vegetable creation; whereby — Di’ wn, by which things, thus constituted; the world that then was — The whole antediluvian race, with all the brute animals, except such as were with Noah in the ark; being overflowed with water, perished — Perhaps di’ wn, by which things, refers to the heavens mentioned above, and may relate to the windows of heaven being opened, as the expression is Genesis 7:11, and pouring forth upon the earth a destructive deluge of water. The apostle means that these scoffers did not consider God’s power manifested in making the world, which must enable him also to destroy it if he pleased, and that they had little reason for saying that all things continued as they were from the creation.

Ver, 5, 6. The earth standing out of the water and in the water — perished. The apostle clearly understood, as stated at large on Genesis 8., that the earth was destroyed by the daily flux and reflux of the sea, attended with incessant rain and clouds of darkness for forty days. The quantity of water, as all modern geologists allow, was not more at the deluge than now, but was concentrated and poured out upon a guilty world, to execute the divine vengeance.

6. Whereby—Literally, through which; that is, through, or by means of, the doubly-mentioned waters. By means of the waters the earth was overflowed with water. Perished—Not was annihilated, but wrecked and ruined; so as to require a renewal for any purpose of a moral kingdom of God on earth. A type, though perhaps a feeble one, of the final dissolution. As Adam Clarke notes, the divine fiat separating the oxygen of the atmosphere from the other elements could reduce the world to molten fluid. The same divine fiat could renew the earth in a new and divine perfection. All these changes may, under divine authority, take place in the natural order of cause and effect, or by the special interposition of the divine cause.

V. 7. But the heavens and the earth, that are now-Since the flood. Are reserved unto fire at the day wherein God will judge the world, and punish the ungodly with everlasting destruction.

Verse 7. But the heavens and the earth, which are now] The present earth and its atmosphere, which are liable to the same destruction, because the same means still exist, (for there is still water enough to drown the earth, and there is iniquity enough to induce God to destroy it and its inhabitants,) are nevertheless kept in store, teqhsaurismenoi, treasured up, kept in God’s storehouse, to be destroyed, not by water, but by fire at the day of judgment.

From all this it appears that those mockers affected to be ignorant of the Mosaic account of the formation of the earth, and of its destruction by the waters of the deluge; and indeed this is implied in their stating that all things continued as they were from the creation. But St. Peter calls them back to the Mosaic account, to prove that this was false; for the earth, &c., which were then formed, had perished by the flood; and that the present earth, &c., which were formed out of the preceding, should, at the day of judgment, perish by the fire of God’s wrath.

Verse 7. But — Though the destruction of the old world by water shows that the present world may be destroyed, I do not say it will be destroyed by water. No: the heavens and the earth, which are now — This whole sublunary world; by the same word — Which at first created them, and afterward destroyed them, and then again restored them; are kept in store — Teqhsaurismenoi eisi puri throumenoi, are treasured up and preserved for fire; that is, preserved from a deluge for the purpose of being burned. Therefore the earth is not always to remain, but is to suffer a destruction even more terrible than the former; at the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men — The day when God will judge the world, and punish the ungodly with everlasting destruction. “In regard that Hammond and some other celebrated commentators understand this prophecy as a prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem, it will be proper here to inform the reader, that in support of their interpretation they appeal to the ancient Jewish prophecies, where, as they contend, the revolutions in the political state of empires and nations are foretold in the same forms of expression with those introduced in St. Peter’s prediction. The following are the prophecies to which they appeal: Isaiah 34:4; Ezekiel 32:7; Joel 2:10, 30, 31; Amos 8:9; Haggai 2:6; Matthew 24:29. Now it is remarkable, in these prophecies none of the prophets have spoken, as Peter has done, of the entire destruction of this mundane system, nor of the destruction of any part thereof. They mention only the rolling of the heavens together as a scroll, the obscuring of the light of the sun and of the moon, the shaking of the heavens and the earth, and the falling down of the stars. Whereas Peter speaks of the utter destruction of all the parts of this mundane system by fire. This difference affords room for believing that the events foretold by the prophets are different in their nature from those foretold by the apostle; and that they are to be figuratively understood, while those predicted by the apostle are to be understood literally. To this conclusion likewise the phraseology of the prophets, compared with that of the apostle, evidently leads. For the prophetic phraseology, literally interpreted, exhibits impossibilities; such as the rolling of the heavens together as a scroll, the turning of the moon into blood, and the falling down of the stars from heaven as the leaf of a tree. Not so the apostolic phraseology. For the burning of the heavens, or atmosphere, and its passing away with a great noise, and the burning of the earth and the works thereon, together with the burning and melting of the elements, that is, of the constituent parts of which this terraqueous globe is composed, are all things possible, and therefore may be literally understood; while the things mentioned by the prophets can only be taken figuratively. This, however, is not all. There are things in the apostle’s prophecy which show that he intended it to be taken literally. As, 1st, He begins with an account of the perishing of the old world, to demonstrate, against the scoffers, the possibility of the perishing of the present heavens and earth. But that example would not have suited his purpose unless, by the burning of the present heavens and earth, he had meant the destruction of the material fabric. Wherefore the opposition stated in this prophecy between the perishing of the old world by water, and the perishing of the present world by fire, shows that the latter is to be as real a destruction of the material fabric as the former was. 2d, The circumstances of the present heavens and earth being treasured up and kept, ever since the first deluge, from all after deluges, in order to their being destroyed by fire at the day of judgment, shows that the apostle is speaking of a real, and not of a metaphorical destruction of the heavens and the earth. 3d, This appears likewise from the apostle’s foretelling, that after the present heavens and earth are burned, a new heaven and a new earth are to appear, in which the righteous are to dwell for ever. 4th, The time fixed by the apostle for the burning of the heavens and the earth, namely, the day of judgment and punishment of ungodly men, shows that the apostle is speaking, not of the destruction of a single city or nation during the subsistence of the world, but of the earth itself, with all the wicked who have dwelt thereon. These circumstances show that this prophecy, as well as the one recorded 2 Thessalonians 1:9, is not to be interpreted metaphorically of the destruction of Jerusalem, but should be understood literally of the destruction of our mundane system, and of the general judgment.”

Ver. 7. The heavens and the earth — are reserved unto fire. See on Psalm 50:3.

7. Which are now—In antithesis to then was, in verse 6. By the same word—Same as the word of verse 6. By that word the cosmos was created; by this, it is retained in existence. Kept in store—Literal Greek, are treasured. Perdition—Same Greek word as perished, in verse 6.

V. 8. But be not ye ignorant-Whatever they are.

Of this one thing-Which casts much light on the point in hand. That one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day-Moses had said, Psalm 90:4, "A thousand years in thy sight are as one day;" which St. Peter applies with regard to the last day, so as to denote both his eternity, whereby he exceeds all measure of time in his essence and in his operation; his knowledge, to which all things past or to come are present every moment; his power, which needs no long delay, in order to bring its work to perfection; and his longsuffering, which excludes all impatience of expectation, and desire of making haste. One day is with the Lord as a thousand years-That is, in one day, in one moment he can do the work of a thousand years. Therefore he "is not slow:" he is always equally ready to fulfil his promise.

And a thousand years are as one day-That is, no delay is long to God. A thousand years are as one day to the eternal God. Therefore "he is longsuffering:" he gives us space for repentance, without any inconvenience to himself. In a word, with God time passes neither slower nor swifter than is suitable to him and his economy; nor can there be any reason why it should be necessary for him either to delay or hasten the end of all things. How can we comprehend this? If we could comprehend it, St. Peter needed not to have added, with the Lord.

Verse 8. Be not ignorant] Though they are wilfully ignorant, neglect not ye the means of instruction.

One day is with the Lord as a thousand years] That is: All time is as nothing before him, because in the presence as in the nature of God all is eternity; therefore nothing is long, nothing short, before him; no lapse of ages impairs his purposes, nor need he wait to find convenience to execute those purposes. And when the longest period of time has passed by, it is but as a moment or indivisible point in comparison of eternity. This thought is well expressed by PLUTARCH, Consol. ad Apoll.: “If we compare the time of life with eternity, we shall find no difference between long and short. ta gar cilia, kai ta muria eth, stigmh tiv estin aoristov, mallon de morion ti bracutaton stigmhv. for a thousand or ten thousand years are but a certain indefinite point, or rather the smallest part of a point.” The words of the apostle seem to be a quotation from Psalm 90:4.

Verse 8. Be not ye ignorant — Whatever they are; of this one thing — Which casts much light on the point in hand; that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day — This is an allusion to Psalm 90:4, where Moses had said, A thousand years in thy sight are as one day, which words St. Peter applies with regard to the period intervening between the time when he wrote, and the last day; denoting thereby, 1st, God’s eternity, whereby he exceeds all measure of time in his essence and in his operation: 2d, His knowledge, to which all things past, or to come, are present every moment: 3d, His power, which needs no long delay in order to bring his work to perfection: and, 4th, His long-suffering, which excludes all impatience of expectation and desire of making haste. But it must be observed, that neither the apostle nor the psalmist meant that God does not perceive any difference between the duration of a day and that of a thousand years; but that these differences do not affect either his designs, or actions, or felicity, as they do those of finite creatures. So that what he brings to pass on the day he declares his purpose, is not more certain than what he will bring to pass a thousand years after such declaration. In like manner, what is to be brought to pass a long time after his declaration, is not less certain than if it had been done when declared. See Abernethy’s Sermon’s, vol. 1. p. 218. The apostle’s meaning is in substance, that in one day, yea, in one moment, he could do the work of a thousand years; therefore he is not slow, he is always equally able, equally ready to fulfil his promise; and a thousand years, yea, the longest time, is no more delay to the eternal God than one day is to us: therefore he is longsuffering; he gives us space for repentance without any inconvenience to himself. In a word, with God time passes neither slower nor swifter than is suitable to him and his economy. Nor can there be any reason why it should be necessary for him either to delay or hasten the end of all things. How can we comprehend this? If we could have comprehended it, St. Peter needed not to have added, with the Lord.

Ver. 8. One day is with the Lord as a thousand years. The time of his second advent may seem long to a suffering church, yet it is not long with him, to whom a day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. Perhaps Peter alludes to the words of Moses, Psalm 90:4: A thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday; which may refer to the deluge, then nearly a thousand years before. The words are cited also by St. Barnabas in his epistle, and referred to, it would seem, by the Erythræan Sibyl: “all time is short with God, who always is, and ever shall exist.” — Zosim. Hist. 11:445.

8. Our apostle now returns to the all-important caution in regard to time. It is on this point that the sceptical scoffers will fix. Remember that God’s hours are ages. Note on Acts 1:7. One day… a thousand years—In the prophetic predictions of the second advent the Spirit speaks by the arithmetic of God, in which the terms soon, quickly, humanly indicating a few days, divinely allow a few ages. Psalm 90.

And now the question may well arise, Why has inspiration thus used phrases of such nearness to designate an event which was to be, as near two thousand years’ experience has proved, so distant? Or, to express the thought in higher terms, Why has a divine arithmetic been thus used to express such a distance to human minds? Our reply would be this: The Spirit’s purpose is, to preserve in our minds an impressive conception of its nearness in spite of its distance. The divine intention is, to prevent our banishing it from our thoughts on account of its far futurity. In its momentousness to us it is nigh at hand, and time is no rightful factor in our calculations. Nay, the very greatness of its distance, far millenniums, perhaps, hence, demands that thought and language should bring it near. Sensible time is very relative. To us in the intervening spirit-world millenniums may pass with inconceivable rapidity. There ever is to us but a step, as it were, to the judgment-day. Note on Matthew 25:6. Hence, Scripture uniformly points us, with warning, not to the day of death, but to the resurrection and the judgment-seat of Christ.

V. 9. The Lord is not slow-As if the time fixed for it were past. Concerning his promise-Which shall surely be fulfilled in its season. But is longsuffering towards us-Children of men.

Not willing that any soul, which he hath made should perish.

Verse 9. The Lord is not slack] They probably in their mocking said, “Either God had made no such promise to judge the world, destroy the earth, and send ungodly men to perdition; or if he had, he had forgotten to fulfil it, or had not convenient time or leisure.” To some such mocking the apostle seems to refer: and he immediately shows the reason why deserved punishment is not inflicted on a guilty world.

But is long-suffering] It is not slackness, remissness, nor want of due displacence at sin, that induced God to prolong the respite of ungodly men; but his long-suffering, his unwillingness that any should perish: and therefore he spared them, that they might have additional offers of grace, and be led to repentance-to deplore their sins, implore God’s mercy, and find redemption through the blood of the Lamb.

As God is not willing that any should perish, and as he is willing that all should come to repentance, consequently he has never devised nor decreed the damnation of any man, nor has he rendered it impossible for any soul to be saved, either by necessitating him to do evil, that he might die for it, or refusing him the means of recovery, without which he could not be saved.

Verse 9. The Lord is not slack — Ou bradunei, does not delay, or is not slow; concerning his promise — To fulfil it, as if the time fixed for the fulfilment of it were past; for it shall surely be fulfilled in its season; but is long-suffering, to us-ward — Children of men; not willing that any should perish — Any human being, any soul that he hath made. That is, he is not primarily willing; his first will, with regard to the whole posterity of Adam, hath been and is, that they should be eternally saved; and as a proof of it he hath given his Son a ransom for all; (1 Timothy 2:6; Hebrews 2:9;) hath commanded his gospel, that is, the glad tidings of salvation, to be preached to all, to every human creature, (Mark 16:15,) and, to help man’s weakness, causes his grace, even his saving grace, (as h cariv h swthriov literally signifies,) to appear to, or to visit and strive with, all men, in order to their repentance, faith, and new obedience. But if they reject his counsel against themselves, which they are under no necessity of doing, by continuing impenitent, unbelieving, and disobedient, then, secondly, he wills, and that justly, that they should perish, for they are accountable to him, their rightful Lawgiver, Governor, and Judge, and he will judge them, and all the world, in righteousness.

Ver. 9. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise; he has not retarded its accomplishment, as some might imagine. It is because he awaits with much longsuffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should return to him by repentance. — Mons version.

9. Slack—Behind time; like a rail-train that does not “come to time.” The divine programme is not unfulfilled because the nearness of the advent does not fulfil the human words. Is longsuffering—He suffers long. The apostle here illustrates God’s long delay with the world by his long delay with the impenitent. He spares a world as he spares a guilty man, in hopes of a result dear to the divine heart.

V. 10. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief-Suddenly, unexpectedly.

In which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise-Surprisingly expressed by the very sound of the original word.

The elements shall melt with fervent heat-The elements seem to mean, the sun, moon, and stars; not the four, commonly so called; for air and water cannot melt, and the earth is mentioned immediately after. The earth and all the works-Whether of nature or art.

That are therein shall be burned up-And has not God already abundantly provided for this? 1. By the stores of subterranean fire which are so frequently bursting out at Aetna, Vesuvius, Hecla, and many other burning mountains. 2. By the ethereal (vulgarly called electrical) fire, diffused through the whole globe; which, if the secret chain that now binds it up were loosed, would immediately dissolve the whole frame of nature.

3. By comets, one of which, if it touch the earth in its course toward the sun, must needs strike it into that abyss of fire; if in its return from the sun, when it is heated, as a great man computes, two thousand times hotter than a red-hot cannonball, it must destroy all vegetables and animals long before their contact, and soon after burn it up.

Verse 10. The day of the Lord will come] See Matthew 24:43, to which the apostle seems to allude.

The heavens shall pass away with a great noise] As the heavens mean here, and in the passages above, the whole atmosphere, in which all the terrestrial vapours are lodged; and as water itself is composed of two gases, eighty-five parts in weight of oxygen, and fifteen of hydrogen, or two parts in volume of the latter, and one of the former; (for if these quantities be put together, and several electric sparks passed through them, a chemical union takes place, and water is the product; and, vice versa, if the galvanic spark be made to pass through water, a portion of the fluid is immediately decomposed into its two constituent gases, oxygen and hydrogen;) and as the electric or ethereal fire is that which, in all likelihood, God will use in the general conflagration; the noise occasioned by the application of this fire to such an immense congeries of aqueous particles as float in the atmosphere, must be terrible in the extreme. Put a drop of water on an anvil, place over it a piece of iron red hot, strike the iron with a hammer on the part above the drop of water, and the report will be as loud as a musket; when, then, the whole strength of those opposite agents is brought together into a state of conflict, the noise, the thunderings, the innumerable explosions, (till every particle of water on the earth and in the atmosphere is, by the action of the fire, reduced into its component gaseous parts,) will be frequent, loud, confounding, and terrific, beyond every comprehension but that of God himself. The elements shalt melt with fervent heat] When the fire has conquered and decomposed the water, the elements, stoiceia, the hydrogen and oxygen airs or gases, (the former of which is most highly inflammable, and the latter an eminent supporter of all combustion,) will occupy distinct regions of the atmosphere, the hydrogen by its very great levity ascending to the top, while the oxygen from its superior specific gravity will keep upon or near the surface of the earth; and thus, if different substances be once ignited, the fire, which is supported in this case, not only by the oxygen which is one of the constituents of atmospheric air, but also by a great additional quantity of oxygen obtained from the decomposition of all aqueous vapours, will rapidly seize on all other substances, on all terrestrial particles, and the whole frame of nature will be necessarily torn in pieces, and thus the earth and its works be burned up.

Verse 10. But — Notwithstanding the long-suffering of God; the day of the Lord — The day of the consummation of all things, and of final judgment; will come, and that as a thief in the night — Because thieves commonly break into houses in the nighttime, and occasion great fear to those who are within, any sudden, unexpected event, especially such as occasioned terror, was compared, by the Hebrews, to the coming of a thief in the night. The suddenness, therefore, and unexpectedness of the coming of the day of the Lord, and the terror which it will occasion to the wicked, are the circumstances in which it will resemble the coming of a thief, and not that it will happen in the night-time. In the which the heavens — That is, the aerial heavens, the atmosphere which surrounds this earth, and which the apostle calls the heavens, because Moses had called it so; shall pass away — The passing away of the heavens and the earth does not mean, it seems, that they will be removed to another part of space, or that they will be annihilated; but that, being burned, their form and constitution will be changed much more, probably, than the constitution or form of the old world was by the flood; destruction by fire being more complete and dreadful than destruction by water; with a great noise — Surprisingly expressed by the very sound of the original word, roizhdon. “That the thundering noise occasioned by the burning of the whole heavens, or atmosphere, will be terrible beyond description, may be conjectured by considering what a noise is made by those small portions of the air which are burned when it thunders, or which are set in commotion in a storm.” But how much greater will be the noise arising from the general conflagration of the whole earth, with all that it contains. And the elements shall melt with fervent heat — Kausoumena luqhsontai, burning shall be dissolved. The word stoiceia, rendered elements, signifies the first principles, or constituent parts of any thing. Hence it denotes the principles of science, (Hebrews 5:12,) as well as the principles of bodies. Estius understands by the word the elements of which this terraqueous globe is composed; but as the melting of these is mentioned verse 12, Macknight is of opinion “that, in this verse, the apostle is speaking of the electrical matter, the sulphureous vapours, the clouds, and whatever else floats in the air, all which, burning furiously, will be disunited and separated.” The earth also, and the works that are therein — Whether of nature or of art; shall be burned up — And has not God already abundantly provided for this? 1st, By the stores of subterranean fire, which are so frequently bursting out at Ætna, Vesuvius, Hecla, and many other burning mountains; 2d, by the ethereal (vulgarly called electrical) fire, diffused through the whole globe; which, if the secret chain that now binds it up were loosed, would immediately dissolve the whole frame of nature; 3d, By comets, one of which, if it touch the earth in its course toward the sun, must needs strike it into that abyss of fire. If in its return from the sun, when it is heated (as a great man computes) two thousand times hotter than a red-hot cannon ball, it must destroy all vegetables and animals long before their contact, and soon after burn it up.

Ver. 10. The earth — shall be burnt up. This is foretold in several other passages. Psalm 11:6. 50:3. Isaiah 33:12-14. 2 Thessalonians 1:8. Well then has the prophet observed, that when Christ shall come to destroy the wicked scoffers at his word, “It shall not be as the battle of the warrior, with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but with burning, and fuel of fire.” Isaiah 9:5.

Mr. Mede here in a very learned manner observes, that the heavens and the earth which perished with water in the flood, could mean no more than the deluge exciting confusion of the elements which destroyed the world. Therefore it is not likely that more than this earth will be destroyed at the great conflagration. The Greek word, soikeia, though it agree with the Chaldaic, menalitta, and often signify the planets, the zodiac, or the hosts of heaven; yet he thinks it should here be restricted to the elements, because the three heavens have each their separate hosts. The third or empyreal heavens have angels for their hosts; the second or ethereal heavens have the stars for their hosts; and these lower heavens are inhabited by the fowls, and unclean spirits, which shall be expelled when the earth is refined by fire. Now, as the starry heavens were not affected by our sin, he sees no reason why they should be destroyed, when God shall purge the earth of the guilt and blood of men. To this burning of the world he applies Haggai 2:6, 7, 21, 22, which most critics apply to the political heavens. But those awful passages, Jeremiah 4:23, 49:7-22, Ezekiel 25. and 35:12, may perhaps be applied with more propriety. Sacred prophecy is however often mixed in its bearings; hence our Saviour, by an awful climax, proceeds from describing the destruction of Jerusalem to the destruction of the world.

On this subject, Sixtus, of Sienna in Italy, has collected the opinions of several gentiles, and of Ambrose, Hilary, and Augustine, which very much coincide with Mr. Mede.

10. Will come—With an emphatic will. For what we may call the Apocalypse of St. Paul, we look to 1 Corinthians 15:22-57; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; and 2:3-8. And so we find the Apocalypse of St. Peter in this chapter, 5-13. But it was reserved for St. John to furnish the great Apocalypse of the New Testament. All three supply special points, but all three agree in the great sublime whole. As a thief—With a sudden surprise to the sceptic scoffers. It will catch them in the midst of their scoffs, and rob them of their argument. The heavens shall pass away— Note that the passing away is not of the earth, but of the atmospheric heavens of our earth. The visible heavens, as seen to the terrene spectator, are seen to be swept away. They vanish as a scroll. Compare descriptions of the same scene in Revelation 6:12-17; 20:11-15; Matthew 25:31-46. With a great noise—The Greek word roizhdon expresses the whiz or friction of the air or other substance, as by a bird’s wing or other sudden motion. It seems intended to describe the sound effected by a most violent collision of the atmospheric forces, or perhaps of the rushing earth and the air. The elements—Of which the material earth is composed. We have no reason to suppose that the solar system will be involved in the dissolution of our earth. Melt with fervent heat—Greek, the elements about-being-burned will be fused. The particles composing the material earth will be separated by the heat, and be ready for reconstruction into new and more perfect forms. Earth… and… works… therein—As an effect of the divided elements the surface-earth, and all its contents, are consumed and forever disappear. The theatre of human history goes down into non-existence. In the matter of consumption of the earth by physical fire, St. Paul and St. Peter agree; but John is silent. The “lake of fire” of St. John does not seem to belong to the same category, but is analogous to Gehenna, the figurative image of divine wrath exerted in penalty. The expectation of the destruction of the world by a diluvium ignis— deluge of fire—analogous to the diluvium aquae—deluge of water—was a traditional idea among the ancients, both poets and philosophers, especially the Stoics. We give passages from Wetstein. The philosopher Seneca says: “At that time the foam of the sea, released from laws, was borne on without restraint. By what cause, do you inquire? By the same cause by which the conflagration will take place when to God it seems good to establish a better order of things, and to close the old. Water and fire rule terrene things: from the former comes origination; from the latter, destruction.”

Cicero says: “Our philosophers suppose that at last the whole world will take fire, when, the moisture being consumed, neither the earth can be nourished nor the air circulate, so that nothing will be left but fire; from which, again, under the animating power of God, a renovation of the earth will take place, and the same fair order will be reproduced.” Eusebius says: “It is the opinion of the Stoic philosophers, that all substance should go into fire, as a seed, and from it again should spring the same organization as before.”

Lenormant, the eminent French archaeologist and historian, (Contemporary Review, Nov. 1879,) says: “The result, then, of this long review authorizes us to affirm the story of the deluge to be a universal tradition among all the branches of the human race, with one exception, however, of the black. Now a recollection thus precise and concordant cannot be a myth voluntarily invented. No religious or cosmogonic myth presents this character of universality. It must arise from the reminiscence of a real and terrible event, so powerfully impressing the imagination of the first ancestors of our race as never to have been forgotten by their descendants. This cataclysm must have occurred near the first cradle of mankind, and before the dispersion of the families from which the principal races were to spring.”

V. 11. Seeing then that all these things are dissolved-To the eye of faith it appears as done already.

All these things-Mentioned before; all that are included in that scriptural expression, "the heavens and the earth;" that is, the universe. On the fourth day God made the stars, Genesis 1:16, which will be dissolved together with the earth. They are deceived, therefore, who restrain either the history of the creation, or this description of the destruction, of the world to the earth and lower heavens; imagining the stars to be more ancient than the earth, and to survive it. Both the dissolution and renovation are ascribed, not to the one heaven which surrounds the earth, but to the heavens in general, 2 Peter 3:10, 13, without any restriction or limitation.

What persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation-With men. And godliness-Toward your Creator.

Verse 11. All these things shall be dissolved] They will all be separated, all decomposed; but none of them destroyed. And as they are the original matter out of which God formed the terraqueous globe, consequently they may enter again into the composition of a new system; and therefore the apostle says, 2 Peter 3:13: we look for new heavens and a new earth-the others being decomposed, a new system is to be formed out of their materials. There is a wonderful philosophic propriety in the words of the apostle in describing this most awful event.

What manner of persons ought ye to be] Some put the note of interrogation at the end of this clause, and join the remaining part with the 12th verse, {2 Peter 3:12} thus: Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be? By holy conversation and godliness, expecting and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, &c. Only those who walk in holiness, who live a godly and useful life, can contemplate this most awful time with joy. The word speudontav, which we translate hasting unto, should be tendered earnestly desiring, or wishing for; which is a frequent meaning of the word in the best Greek writers.

Verses 11, 12. Seeing then that all these things — Which our eyes behold; shall be dissolved — And we shall be spectators of their dissolution, being raised from the dead before, or at the time of, its taking place; what manner of persons ought ye to be — How serious, how watchful, how free from levity and folly, how disengaged from, and dead to, this lower world, with all it contains; how unmoved by the trifling changes which are now continually occurring, the comparatively insignificant losses and gains, honour and reproach, pleasure and pain! How heavenly-minded, having our thoughts and affections set upon that world, with its riches, glories, and joys, which is durable and eternal; in all holy conversation — With men; and godliness — Toward God. Looking for — Earnestly desiring; and hasting unto — Or hasting on, (as speudontav may signify,) namely, by your earnest desires and fervent prayers; the coming of the day of God — Fitly so called, because God will then make such a display of his glorious perfections as was never made before; of his power, in raising all the dead, and transforming all the living in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and in destroying the present world, and preparing for his people a new heaven and a new earth; of his wisdom, in showing that he knew, and will now bring into judgment, all the thoughts, desires, and designs, the dispositions, words, and actions of all the thousands of millions of human beings that had lived on earth in the different ages of the world; of his justice, in rendering unto every man, with infinite exactness, according to his works, and recompensing tribulation to those that troubled his saints and servants; of his mercy and love in justifying, at his judgment-seat, his believing and obedient people, and in conferring upon them an incorruptible and eternal inheritance; and of his truth, in punctually fulfilling all his promises and threatenings, and making good all his declarations. Wherein the heavens being on fire, &c. — The apostle repeats his former testimony, because of its great importance. Macknight, however, thinks that, by the elements, in this verse, we are not to understand, as in verse 10, the heavens or atmosphere, but the elements of which this terraqueous globe is composed; namely, earth and water, and every thing which enters into the composition of these substances, and on which their constitution and form depend. Hence, 1st, In speaking of them, he uses an expression which he did not use in verse 10. There his words were, The elements, burning, luqhsontai, shall be dissolved; here he says, The elements, burning, thketai, (for takhsetai,) shall melt; a “word which is applied to the melting of metals by fire. Wherefore, as the elements signify the constituent parts of any thing, the expression, shall melt, applied to the constituent parts of the terraqueous globe, intimates that the whole, by the intense heat of the conflagration, is to be reduced into one homogeneous fluid mass of burning matter. Consequently, that it is not the surface of the earth, with all the things thereon, which is to be burned, as some have imagined, but the whole globe of the earth.” And that he is here speaking of these elements, and consequently of the destruction of this earth, appears still further by the promise made in the next verse.

11. Two verses our apostle now interposes to warn his readers of the personal holiness they ought to maintain in view of so great a destruction. Conversation—Conduct.

V. 12. Hastening on-As it were by your earnest desires and fervent prayers.

The coming of the day of God-Many myriads of days he grants to men: one, the last, is the day of God himself.

Verse 12. The heavens being on fire] See Clarke on “2Pe 3:10”. It was an ancient opinion among the heathens that the earth should be burnt up with fire; so OVID, Met., lib. i. v. 256.

Esse quoque in fatis reminiscitur, adfore tempus,

Quo mare, quo tellus, correptaque regia cœli

Ardeat; et mundi moles operosa laboret.

“Remembering in the fates a time when fire

Should to the battlements of heaven aspire,

And all his blazing world above should burn,

And all the inferior globe to cinders turn.”

DRYDEN.

Minucius Felix tells us, xxxiv. 2, that it was a common opinion of the Stoics that, the moisture of the earth being consumed, the whole world would catch fire. The Epicureans held the same sentiment; and indeed it appears in various authors, which proves that a tradition of this kind has pretty generally prevailed in the world. But it is remarkable that none have fancied that it will be destroyed by water. The tradition, founded on the declaration of God, was against this; therefore it was not received.

Verses 11, 12. Seeing then that all these things — Which our eyes behold; shall be dissolved — And we shall be spectators of their dissolution, being raised from the dead before, or at the time of, its taking place; what manner of persons ought ye to be — How serious, how watchful, how free from levity and folly, how disengaged from, and dead to, this lower world, with all it contains; how unmoved by the trifling changes which are now continually occurring, the comparatively insignificant losses and gains, honour and reproach, pleasure and pain! How heavenly-minded, having our thoughts and affections set upon that world, with its riches, glories, and joys, which is durable and eternal; in all holy conversation — With men; and godliness — Toward God. Looking for — Earnestly desiring; and hasting unto — Or hasting on, (as speudontav may signify,) namely, by your earnest desires and fervent prayers; the coming of the day of God — Fitly so called, because God will then make such a display of his glorious perfections as was never made before; of his power, in raising all the dead, and transforming all the living in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and in destroying the present world, and preparing for his people a new heaven and a new earth; of his wisdom, in showing that he knew, and will now bring into judgment, all the thoughts, desires, and designs, the dispositions, words, and actions of all the thousands of millions of human beings that had lived on earth in the different ages of the world; of his justice, in rendering unto every man, with infinite exactness, according to his works, and recompensing tribulation to those that troubled his saints and servants; of his mercy and love in justifying, at his judgment-seat, his believing and obedient people, and in conferring upon them an incorruptible and eternal inheritance; and of his truth, in punctually fulfilling all his promises and threatenings, and making good all his declarations. Wherein the heavens being on fire, &c. — The apostle repeats his former testimony, because of its great importance. Macknight, however, thinks that, by the elements, in this verse, we are not to understand, as in verse 10, the heavens or atmosphere, but the elements of which this terraqueous globe is composed; namely, earth and water, and every thing which enters into the composition of these substances, and on which their constitution and form depend. Hence, 1st, In speaking of them, he uses an expression which he did not use in verse 10. There his words were, The elements, burning, luqhsontai, shall be dissolved; here he says, The elements, burning, thketai, (for takhsetai,) shall melt; a “word which is applied to the melting of metals by fire. Wherefore, as the elements signify the constituent parts of any thing, the expression, shall melt, applied to the constituent parts of the terraqueous globe, intimates that the whole, by the intense heat of the conflagration, is to be reduced into one homogeneous fluid mass of burning matter. Consequently, that it is not the surface of the earth, with all the things thereon, which is to be burned, as some have imagined, but the whole globe of the earth.” And that he is here speaking of these elements, and consequently of the destruction of this earth, appears still further by the promise made in the next verse.

12. Looking for—Maintaining expectation of; unlike the scoffers, who denied and forgot. Hasting unto—Intensely earnest in regard to. Heavens—The atmospheric elements. Dissolved—Decomposed. Elements—Material constituents. Melt—By calorical separation of particles.

V. 13. We look for new heavens and a new earth-Raised as it were out of the ashes of the old; we look for an entire new state of things. Wherein dwelleth righteousness-Only righteous spirits. How great a mystery!

Verse 13. We, according to his promise, look for new heavens] The promise to which it is supposed the apostle alludes, is found Isaiah 65:17: Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind; and Isaiah 66:22: For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed, &c. Now, although these may be interpreted of the glory of the Gospel dispensation, yet, if St. Peter refer to them, they must have a more extended meaning.

It does appear, from these promises, that the apostle says here, and what is said Revelation 21:27; 22:14, 15, that the present earth, though destined to be burned up, will not be destroyed, but be renewed and refined, purged from all moral and natural imperfection, and made the endless abode of blessed spirits. But this state is certainly to be expected after the day of judgment; for on this the apostle is very express, who says the conflagration and renovation are to take place at the judgment of the great day; see 2 Peter 3:7, 8, 10, 12. That such an event may take place is very possible; and, from the terms used by St. Peter, is very probable. And, indeed, it is more reasonable and philosophical to conclude that the earth shall be refined and restored, than finally destroyed. But this has nothing to do with what some call the millennium state; as this shall take place when time, with the present state and order of things, shall be no more.

Verse 13. Nevertheless we, according to his promise, &c. — That is, “Though the present frame of things shall be dissolved by fire, yet we look for another, a more durable and perfect state; new heavens and a new earth — New and everlasting abodes, which the divine mercy will then open to our enraptured view, into which it will conduct us, and in which perfect righteousness, holiness, and felicity, shall dwell for ever;” Revelation 21:1-7; 22:1-5. Some expositors suppose that these lower heavens and this earth, having been melted down by a general conflagration, shall thereby be refined, and that God will form them into new heavens and a new earth for the habitation of the righteous; a supposition which seems to be favoured by St. Peter, Acts 3:21, where he speaks of the restitution of all things, which God hath promised by the mouth of all his holy prophets; by St. Paul, Romans 8:21, where he says, The creation itself shall be delivered from the bondage of destruction; and also by the Lord Jesus himself, whose words (Revelation 21:5) are, Behold, I make all things new. As St. Peter had a revelation from Christ that he would create new heavens and a new earth, he might justly call that his promise; but the patriarchs and believing ancients were not without the expectation of such an inheritance. See Genesis 17:7; Daniel 12:2; Hebrews 11:10- 16.

Ver. 13. We, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth. The margin refers us to Isaiah 65:17, which must be erroneous, for the new earth there is connected with agriculture, with the procreation of children, with some sin, and some death. He that dies a hundred years of age, shall die a child, but the sinner, though allowed to attain that age, shall be accounted an execration on the earth. Certainly the prophecies of Isaiah regard the glory of the church in the latter day. But under all those exhilirating figures, it is likely that the piercing eye of prophecy went farther, and glanced on the new heavens and the new earth, described in Revelation 21. and 22. Be that as it may, we have the plain promise of Christ. I go to prepare a place for you, a heaven where righteousness shall for ever dwell. John 14:3.

13. Nevertheless—Our hopes do not, like the scoffers’, go down with the old earth; our faith looks for the new. According to his promise—God’s one great promise of eternal life and glory for the elect in Christ. All the prophecies of the Old Testament presuppose it; and the New Testament is one great expression of it. The phraseology, only, of Isaiah 65:17, is used here to describe a greater renewal than Isaiah was enabled explicitly to express. New heavens and a new earth—Compare notes on

Revelation 21:1. The language of St. John would seem to imply that the new is not to be made out of the substance of the old, but that it is to be wholly a new sphere. And the phraseology of Peter might naturally be construed in the same way. We might then suppose (according to our note on 1 Thessalonians 4:17) that the new heavens and earth were the sphere formed of a portion of the departed energies of the old universe crystallized into a new and glorious world. And the second advent may take place when the renewed sphere corresponding to our earth is, by such final crystallization, completed. Yet, on the other hand, the old traditions generally held that the new would be simply a transformation of the old, and such might seem the natural, but not necessary, impression derived from Paul’s language, Romans 8:18-23, where see note. A renovation of the same substance may be indicated by Peter’s analogy of the flood, (verse 6,) but that seems rather adduced only as instance of a supernatural break of the ordinary course of events, and is applicable to either view. On these points astronomy neither aids nor impedes us much. If we suppose a new sphere made from the old energies, such an event need not be supposed ever yet, in the physical history of the universe, to have been completed, at least within reach of the astronomer’s glass. New stars have been supposed to be observed to come into existence, but that supposition was probably the result of inaccurate observation. Stars have been seen apparently in conflagration; so that a burning world is no unsupposable thing. Stars have been seen for a while in apparent conflagration, and then resuming a natural appearance; so that a burned and renewed world is not, astronomically, unthinkable. To the eye of the astronomer the conflagration of a star may look accidental, like the burning of a house. But to the Omniscient eye there is no accident. Every particle of the most confused masses is not only ruled by law, but taken into the divine plan. Pope has well said,

“All nature is but art unknown to thee,

All chance, direction which thou canst not see.”

If human art can by divine provision overlay the potter’s clay with a most beautiful enamel, surely divine art can enamel the earth, which has passed through the divine furnace, with a sublime perfection, fitting it for the dwelling-place of righteousness.

2. By the true interpretation of time in the prophecies of the second advent believers may be preserved from apostasy, and attain salvation, 14-18.

Whilst others wrest the apparent non-fulfilment of the immediateness of the second advent to their own apostasy, (especially as predicted in Paul’s epistles,) you, being aware of the true interpretation, will rightly understand God’s long-suffering, and may persevere unto salvation. Commentators seem not generally to have observed that Peter’s intimation of difficulties of interpretation is really limited to this one point, namely, his using terms of immediacy in regard to the possibly very distant second advent.

V. 14. Labour that whenever he cometh ye may be found in peace-May meet him without terror, being sprinkled with his blood, and sanctified by his Spirit, so as to be without spot and blameless. Isaiah 65:17; 66:22.

Verse 14. Seeing that ye look for such things] As ye profess that such a state of things shall take place, and have the expectation of enjoying the blessedness of it, be diligent in the use of every means and influence of grace, that ye may be found of him-the Lord Jesus, the Judge of quick and dead, without spot-any contagion of sin in your souls, and blameless-being not only holy and innocent, but useful in your lives.

Verses 14, 15. Wherefore, beloved — Bearing these great truths in your minds, give up your whole souls to their influence; and, seeing that ye look for such things — Since you expect the coming of Christ to destroy the present mundane system, and to create a new heaven and earth, and since death, which will confirm your title to this inheritance, or your exclusion from it, for ever, is fast approaching, and may come both very soon and very unexpectedly; be diligent — Spoudasate, the same word that is used chap. 1:10, which implies not only the diligent use of all the means of grace, and the practice of universal holiness and righteousness, in consequence of repentance toward God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, with the active exertion of every gift of nature and of grace, but the doing all this earnestly and without delay; relying not on any power of your own, but on the influence of the Divine Spirit, for all the help you stand in need of; that ye may be found of him — Christ, when he cometh; in peace — With God, being justified by grace through faith, Romans 5:1; without spot — Cleansed from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, and renewed after the divine image; and, as an evidence thereof, blameless — In behaviour toward God, your fellow-creatures, and yourselves; having, in consequence of your regeneration, lived soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, and adorned the doctrine of God your Saviour in all things. And — Instead of considering his delaying to come as a proof that he will never come, account that delay, and his long-suffering — Thereby manifested; salvation — Designed to promote your salvation, and the salvation of many others; giving sinners space for repentance, and an opportunity to prepare for these solemn and awful scenes, and so becoming a precious means of saving many more souls. As our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him — That admirable insight into, and understanding of, the mysteries of the gospel, which appears in all his epistles, and was given to him by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit; hath written to you — This refers not only to the single sentence preceding, but to all that went before. This epistle of Peter being written to those to whom the first epistle was sent, the persons to whom St. Paul wrote concerning the long-suffering of God, and the other subjects here referred to, were the Jewish and Gentile Christians in the Lesser Asia. Accordingly, we know he wrote to the Galatians, the Ephesians, the Colossians, and to Timothy, things which imply that God’s mercy in sparing and bearing with sinners, is intended for their salvation; and that an awful judgment, and an eternal state of happiness or misery, await all mankind.

14. Wherefore—In view of this presentation of the time and nature of the day of judgment. Found of him—Namely, at his glorious appearing.

V. 15. And account the longsuffering of the Lord salvation-Not only designed to lead men to repentance, but actually conducing thereto: a precious means of saving many more souls.

As our beloved brother Paul also hath written to you-This refers not only to the single sentence preceding, but to all that went before. St. Paul had written to the same effect concerning the end of the world, in several parts of his epistles, and particularly in his Epistle to the Hebrews. Romans 2:4.

Verse 15. And account that the long-suffering of our Lord] Conclude that God’s long-suffering with the world is a proof that he designs men to be saved; even as our beloved brother Paul. “This epistle being written to those to whom the first epistle was sent, the persons to whom the Apostle Paul wrote concerning the long-suffering of God were the Jewish and Gentile Christians in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. Accordingly, we know he wrote to the Ephesians, (Ephesians 2:3-5,) to the Colossians, (Colossians 1:21,) and to Timothy, (1 Timothy 2:3, 4,) things which imply that God’s bearing with sinners is intended for their salvation. The persons to whom Peter’s epistles were sent were, for the most part, Paul’s converts.”-Macknight.

According to the wisdom given unto him] That is, according to the measure of the Divine inspiration, by which he was qualified for the Divine work, and by which he was so capable of entering into the deep things of God. It is worthy of remark that Paul’s epistles are ranked among the Scriptures; a term applied to those writings which are divinely inspired, and to those only.

Verses 14, 15. Wherefore, beloved — Bearing these great truths in your minds, give up your whole souls to their influence; and, seeing that ye look for such things — Since you expect the coming of Christ to destroy the present mundane system, and to create a new heaven and earth, and since death, which will confirm your title to this inheritance, or your exclusion from it, for ever, is fast approaching, and may come both very soon and very unexpectedly; be diligent — Spoudasate, the same word that is used chap. 1:10, which implies not only the diligent use of all the means of grace, and the practice of universal holiness and righteousness, in consequence of repentance toward God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, with the active exertion of every gift of nature and of grace, but the doing all this earnestly and without delay; relying not on any power of your own, but on the influence of the Divine Spirit, for all the help you stand in need of; that ye may be found of him — Christ, when he cometh; in peace — With God, being justified by grace through faith, Romans 5:1; without spot — Cleansed from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, and renewed after the divine image; and, as an evidence thereof, blameless — In behaviour toward God, your fellow-creatures, and yourselves; having, in consequence of your regeneration, lived soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, and adorned the doctrine of God your Saviour in all things. And — Instead of considering his delaying to come as a proof that he will never come, account that delay, and his long-suffering — Thereby manifested; salvation — Designed to promote your salvation, and the salvation of many others; giving sinners space for repentance, and an opportunity to prepare for these solemn and awful scenes, and so becoming a precious means of saving many more souls. As our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him — That admirable insight into, and understanding of, the mysteries of the gospel, which appears in all his epistles, and was given to him by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit; hath written to you — This refers not only to the single sentence preceding, but to all that went before. This epistle of Peter being written to those to whom the first epistle was sent, the persons to whom St. Paul wrote concerning the long-suffering of God, and the other subjects here referred to, were the Jewish and Gentile Christians in the Lesser Asia. Accordingly, we know he wrote to the Galatians, the Ephesians, the Colossians, and to Timothy, things which imply that God’s mercy in sparing and bearing with sinners, is intended for their salvation; and that an awful judgment, and an eternal state of happiness or misery, await all mankind.

Ver. 15, 16. Our beloved brother Paul — hath written unto you. See the introduction to the epistle to the Hebrews. Peter here, without hesitation, calls himself a brother of Paul; and by the phrase, according to the wisdom given unto him, utters the common sentiment of the churches, that Paul was divinely inspired. — Which they that are unstable wrest; meaning the jewish sects, and others affecting great regard to the person of Christ. Like the false prophets in Jeremiah’s time, they wrested and perverted all the threatenings that Paul and others had denounced against the infidel nation of the jews. This also they did to their own destruction, for not escaping from Jerusalem, as the christians did, they perished in the siege.

15. Longsuffering—God’s endurance of the world’s wickedness and weakness. Is salvation—As of a single sinner God forbears for the sinner’s good, so of the world. Salvation—The gathering of saved millions into glory is the very essence of God’s patience through ages. As… also—In addition to my thus writing. Paul—A memorable mention of a brother apostle. According… wisdom—Whether Paul wrote clearly or obscurely, it was according to the measure of inspiration by God vouchsafed unto him. See notes on Matthew 28:1, (introductory;) Acts 27:22. Written unto you—Who is meant by this you? Plainly, not all Christians, but the particular body to whom Peter is writing. For this epistle written by Paul unto you is antithetical to all his epistles in next verse. Of all his epistles there was a single one written unto you. Now, Peter’s first epistle was written (1 Peter 1:1) to the Hebrew dispersion, and this second is written to the same readers, as appears by 2 Peter 3:1, of this epistle. So 1:1, though addressing Christians, means the Hebrew Christians. This you, therefore, must mean the Hebrew part of the Christian Church. Paul’s one epistle unto you, therefore, must have been the Epistle to the Hebrews. And, as we have shown in our Introduction to Hebrews, Peter’s word, in verse 16, dusnohta, hard-to-be-understood, so corresponds to Hebrews 5:11, dusermhneutov, hard-to-be-interpreted, as to leave little doubt of the real reference. In Hebrews such a passage as Hebrews 10:37 might easily be wrested without Peter’s rule of prophetic-time interpretation. In all his epistles we find such passages as 1 Corinthians 15:51, and 1 Thessalonians 4:15, which last is explained by Paul himself. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5.

V. 16. As also in all his epistles-St. Peter wrote this a little before his own and St. Paul's martyrdom. St. Paul therefore had now written all his epistles; and even from this expression we may learn that St. Peter had read them all, perhaps sent to him by St. Paul himself. Nor was he at all disgusted by what St. Paul had written concerning him in the Epistle to the Galatians.

Speaking of these things-Namely, of the coming of our Lord, delayed through his longsuffering, and of the circumstances preceding and accompanying it.

Which things the unlearned-They who are not taught of God. And the unstable-Wavering, double-minded, unsettled men. Wrest-As though Christ would not come.

As they do also the other scriptures-Therefore St Paul's writings were now part of the scriptures.

To their own destruction-But that some use the scriptures ill, is no reason why others should not use them at all.

Verse 16. As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things] Paul, in all his epistles, says Dr. Macknight, has spoken of the things written by Peter in this letter. For example, he has spoken of Christ’s coming to judgment; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; 4:14-18; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; Titus 2:13. And of the resurrection of the dead, 1 Corinthians 15:22; Philippians 3:20, 21. And of the burning of the earth; 2 Thessalonians 1:8. And of the heavenly country; 2 Corinthians 5:1-10. And of the introduction of the righteous into that country; 1 Thessalonians 4:17; Hebrews 4:9; 12:14, 18, 24. And of the judgment of all mankind by Christ; Romans 14:10.

In which are some things hard to be understood] dusnohta tina. That is, if we retain the common reading en oiv, in or among which things, viz., what he says of the day of judgment, the resurrection of the body &c., &c., there are some things difficult to be comprehended, and from which a wrong or false meaning may be taken. But if we take the reading of AB, twelve others, with both the Syriac, all the Arabic, and Theophylact, en aiv, the meaning is more general, as en aiv must refer to epistolaiv, epistles, for this would intimate that there were difficulties in all the epistles of St. Paul; and indeed in what ancient writings are there not difficulties? But the papists say that the decision of all matters relative to the faith is not to be expected from the Scriptures on this very account, but must be received from the Church; i.e. the Popish or Romish Church. But what evidence have we that that Church can infallibly solve any of those difficulties? We have none! And till we have an express, unequivocal revelation from heaven that an unerring spirit is given to that Church, I say, for example, to the present Church of Rome, with the pope called Pius VII. at its head, we are not to receive its pretensions. Any Church may pretend the same, or any number of equally learned men as there are of cardinals and pope in the conclave; and, after all, it would be but the opinion of so many men, to which no absolute certainty or infallibility could be attached. This verse is also made a pretext to deprive the common people of reading the word of God; because the unlearned and unstable have sometimes wrested this word to their own destruction: but if it be human learning, and stability in any system of doctrine, that qualifies men to judge of these difficult things, then we can find many thousands, even in Europe, that have as much learning and stability as the whole college of cardinals, and perhaps ten thousand times more; for that conclave was never very reputable for the learning of its members: and to other learned bodies we may, with as much propriety, look up as infallible guides, as to this conclave.

Besides, as it is only the unlearned and the unestablished (that is, young Christian converts) that are in danger of wresting such portions; the learned, that is, the experienced and the established in the knowledge and life of God, are in no such danger; and to such we may safely go for information: and these abound everywhere, especially in Protestant countries; and by the labours of learned and pious men on the sacred writings there is not one difficulty relative to the things which concern our salvation left unexplained. If the members of the Romish Church have not these advantages, let them go to those who have them; and if their teachers are afraid to trust them to the instruction of the Protestants, then let them who pretend to have infallibly written their exposition of these difficult places, also put them, with a wholesome text in the vulgar language, into the hands of their people, and then the appeal will not lie to Rome, but to the Bible, and those interpretations will be considered according to their worth, being weighed with other scriptures, and the expositions of equally learned and equally infallible men.

We find, lastly, that those who wrest such portions, are those who wrest the other scriptures to their destruction; therefore they are no patterns, nor can such form any precedent for withholding the Scriptures from the common people, most of whom, instead of wresting them to their destruction, would become wise unto salvation by reading them. We may defy the Romish Church to adduce a single instance of any soul that was perverted, destroyed, or damned, by reading of the Bible; and the insinuation that they may is blasphemous. I may just add that the verb streblow, which the apostle uses here, signifies to distort, to put to the rack, to torture, to overstretch and dislocate the limbs; and hence the persons here intended are those who proceed according to no fair plan of interpretation, but force unnatural and sophistical meanings on the word of God: a practice which the common simple Christian is in no danger of following. I could illustrate this by a multitude of interpretations from popish writers.

Verse 16. As also in all his epistles — From this it appears that Peter had read Paul’s epistles; and, as he speaks not of some but of all of them, it is probable that Paul was dead when St. Peter wrote this, namely, a little before his martyrdom, as appears from 2 Peter 1:14. And seeing that Paul, in his epistle to the Romans 2:4, and to the Hebrews 10:36, 38, wrote that the long-suffering of God was intended for salvation, by mentioning that circumstance, Peter intimated that he knew Paul to be the author of the epistles to the Romans, and to the Hebrews. Speaking in them of these things — Paul, in all his epistles, hath spoken of the things written by Peter in this letter. For example: he hath spoken of Christ’s coming to judgment, 1 Thessalonians 3:13; 4:14-18; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; Titus 2:13; and of the resurrection from the dead, 1 Corinthians 15:22; Philippians 3:20, 21; and of the burning of the earth, 2 Thessalonians 1:8; and of the heavenly country, 2 Corinthians 5:1-10; and of the introduction of the righteous into that country, 1 Thessalonians 4:17; Hebrews 4:9; 12:14-24; and of the judgment of all mankind by Christ. In which are some things hard to be understood — According to the greatest number of MSS. the apostle does not say, en aiv, in which epistles, but en oiv, in or among which things; namely, the things which Paul had written concerning Christ’s coming to judgment, the burning of the earth, the heavenly country, and the introduction of the righteous into that country. The Alexandrian, however, and six other MSS. read here, en aiv, in which epistles. This, Beza says, is the true reading, because he thinks it would have been improper in Peter to say that Paul had written obscure ly concerning subjects of which Peter himself had written more things hard to be understood than any Paul had written in any part of his epistles, Nevertheless “the common reading may be retained, because the antecedent to the neuter relative, oiv, may be a word not expressed, but understood, namely, grammasi, which signifies letters or epistles, Acts 28:21. On this supposition Peter’s meaning will be, In which epistles there are some things hard to be understood.” Barclay, in his Apology, explains this of the 9th chapter of Paul’s epistle to the Romans, in which there are some things that seem to be contrary to God’s long-suffering to all, and which are very liable to be perniciously wrested; which they that are unlearned — Who are not taught of God, or are unteachable, as Estius translates the word amaqeiv, here used; namely, persons whose passions blind their understanding, and make them averse to the truth, or whose prejudices, indispose them to admit it: and the unstable — The wavering, unsettled, double-minded, or men of two minds, as St. James’s word, diyucoi, signifies; who have no real, steady love of piety, but sometimes follow it, sometimes desert it, as good or bad inclinations happen to predominate in them. Whereas the stable are those who have a firm, unshaken, and warm attachment to the religion of Jesus: wrest — “The original word, streblousin, signifies to put a person to the torture, to make him confess some crime laid to his charge, or reveal some secret which he knows. Applied to writings it signifies, by far-fetched criticisms and unsupported senses of words, to make a passage speak a meaning different from what the author intended. Hence in our language we have the expression, to torture words. Of this vice they are most commonly guilty who, from pride of understanding, will receive nothing but what they can explain. Whereas, the humble and teachable receive the declarations of revelation according to their plain, grammatical, unconstrained meaning, which it is their only care to attain, by reading the Scriptures frequently and with attention.” — Macknight. As they do also the other scriptures — In this clause Peter expressly acknowledges Paul’s epistles to be a part of the Scriptures, and therefore to have been written by divine inspiration. The affection with which Peter on this occasion speaks of Paul, and the honourable testimony which he bears to his writings, deserves great praise. He had been formerly rebuked by Paul before the brethren at Antioch for refusing to keep company with the Gentile converts; but if at that time he felt any displeasure at Paul for that rebuke, which we nowhere learn that he did, he had long ago laid it aside, and probably, instead of thinking ill of Paul on that account, had for many years admired him for his bold and steady testimony to the truth.

Ver. 15, 16. Our beloved brother Paul — hath written unto you. See the introduction to the epistle to the Hebrews. Peter here, without hesitation, calls himself a brother of Paul; and by the phrase, according to the wisdom given unto him, utters the common sentiment of the churches, that Paul was divinely inspired. — Which they that are unstable wrest; meaning the jewish sects, and others affecting great regard to the person of Christ. Like the false prophets in Jeremiah’s time, they wrested and perverted all the threatenings that Paul and others had denounced against the infidel nation of the jews. This also they did to their own destruction, for not escaping from Jerusalem, as the christians did, they perished in the siege.

16. These things—The second advent and its apparently near approach. Hard to be understood—Without due explanation as to the law of prophetic time. Unlearned—Ignorant of the true law. Unstable—Fickle in moral character, and ready at any difficulty to waver. Wrest—Twist, as with a windlass or hand-screw. They so put their forcible screws onto the time-words in the predictions of the judgment day as to declare them unfulfilled, and to maintain that no judgment day will ever come, and that Christianity itself is a fiction. Other scriptures—The same unlearned and fickle perversity will find plenty of other difficulties in scripture to wrest to their own destruction. He who wants a cavil will never fail to find one. And here it is to be noted that Paul’s epistles are ranked by Peter as scriptures, and are held by him to be authoritative scriptures for the Christian Church. Even so early as the writing of this epistle a canon of New Testament scriptures was recognised in the Church of these Hebrews, and St. Paul’s writings were included in it with the express endorsement of St. Peter. Destruction—The same as the perdition of verse 7, and these apostates are of the same class as the ungodly men of that verse.

Verse 17. Seeing ye know-before] Seeing that by prophets and apostles you have been thus forewarned, beware, fulassesqe, keep watch, be on your guard; cleave to God and the word of his grace, lest ye be led away from the truth delivered by the prophets and apostles, by the error of the wicked, aqesmwn, of the lawless-those who wrest the Scriptures to make them countenance their lusts, exorbitant exactions, and lawless practices. Fall from your own steadfastness.] From that faith in Christ which has put you in possession of that grace which establishes the heart.

Verses 17, 18. Therefore, seeing ye know these things before — Respecting the coming of the Lord to judgment, in what an awful manner the scene will close, and what dreadful vengeance will be executed on all the wicked, and especially on those that pollute the Church of Christ, into which they have professed to enter; and that scoffers will arise and ridicule the promise of Christ’s coming, as also the danger there is of misunderstanding and misinterpreting the Scriptures, and so of being seduced and perverted thereby. Here St. Peter teaches that one great purpose for which the prophets were inspired to foretel the corruptions which were to arise in the church, and the evils which were to befall the sincere disciples of Christ, was to put them on their guard against these corruptions, and to arm them with fortitude to bear persecutions. Beware — Be on your guard; lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, (aqesmwn, the lawless,) fall from your own steadfastness — In the faith and practice of the gospel; that steadfastness which, by God’s assistance, you have hitherto retained. But — To prevent this falling away; grow in grace — In every Christian temper; and in order thereto, conscientiously and diligently use the means appointed. And in the knowledge of Christ — That is, in faith, the root of all piety and virtue; faith implying that knowledge of him which is communicated by the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, mentioned Ephesians 1:17, and promised John 16:14. To him be glory, eiv hmeran aiwnov, to the day of eternity — An expression naturally flowing from that sense which the apostle had felt in his soul throughout this whole chapter. Eternity is a day without night, without interruption, without end. Amen — Dr. Benson remarks, that when this word is placed at the beginning of a sentence, it is an earnest asseveration. In the conclusion of a sentence, it imports an earnest wish that it may be so. The doxology, with which this epistle concludes, is evidently directed to Christ, as are some of the other doxologies in Scripture.

Ver. 17. Beware lest ye also be led away with the error of the wicked. The caution is in unison with the words of Christ in Luke 21:8, 34, and of Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:1, 2.

17. Know… before—The same as knowing this first, of verse 3; namely, the law by which the judgment-day time is to be interpreted. Ye also—Like the scoffers of verse 3.

V. 18. But grow in grace-That is, in every Christian temper. There may be, for a time, grace without growth; as there may be natural life without growth. But such sickly life, of soul or body, will end in death, and every day draw nigher to it. Health is the means of both natural and spiritual growth. If the remaining evil of our fallen nature be not daily mortified, it will, like an evil humour in the body, destroy the whole man. But "if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body," (only so far as we do this,) "ye shall live" the life of faith, holiness, happiness. The end and design of grace being purchased and bestowed on us, is to destroy the image of the earthy, and restore us to that of the heavenly. And so far as it does this, it truly profits us; and also makes way for more of the heavenly gift, that we may at last be filled with all the fulness of God. The strength and well-being of a Christian depend on what his soul feeds on, as the health of the body depends on whatever we make our daily food. If we feed on what is according to our nature, we grow; if not, we pine away and die. The soul is of the nature of God, and nothing but what is according to his holiness can agree with it. Sin, of every kind, starves the soul, and makes it consume away. Let us not try to invert the order of God in his new creation: we shall only deceive ourselves. It is easy to forsake the will of God, and follow our own; but this will bring leanness into the soul. It is easy to satisfy ourselves without being possessed of the holiness and happiness of the gospel. It is easy to call these frames and feelings, and then to oppose faith to one and Christ to the other. Frames (allowing the expression) are no other than heavenly tempers, "the mind that was in Christ." Feelings are the divine consolations of the Holy Ghost shed abroad in the heart of him that truly believes. And wherever faith is, and wherever Christ is, there are these blessed frames and feelings. If they are not in us, it is a sure sign that though the wilderness became a pool, the pool is become a wilderness again.

And in the knowledge of Christ-That is, in faith, the root of all. To him be the glory to the day of eternity-An expression naturally flowing from that sense which the apostle had felt in his soul throughout this whole chapter. Eternity is a day without night, without interruption, without end.

Verse 18. But grow in grace] Increase in the image and favour of God; every grace and Divine influence which ye have received is a seed, a heavenly seed, which, if it be watered with the dew of heaven from above, will endlessly increase and multiply itself. He who continues to believe, love, and obey, will grow in grace, and continually increase in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, as his sacrifice, sanctifier, counsellor, preserver, and final Saviour. The life of a Christian is a growth; he is at first born of God, and is a little child; becomes a young man, and a father in Christ. Every father was once an infant; and had he not grown, he would have never been a man. Those who content themselves with the grace they received when converted to God, are, at best, in a continual state of infancy: but we find, in the order of nature, that the infant that does not grow, and grow daily, too, is sickly and soon dies; so, in the order of grace, those who do not grow up into Jesus Christ are sickly, and will soon die, die to all sense and influence of heavenly things. There are many who boast of the grace of their conversion; persons who were never more than babes, and have long since lost even that grace, because they did not grow in it. Let him that readeth understand. To him.] The Lord Jesus, be glory-all honour and excellency attributed, both now-in this present state, and for ever, eiv hmeran aiwnov, to the day of eternity-that in which death, and misery, and trial, and darkness, and change, and time itself, are to the righteous for ever at an end: it is eternity; and this eternity is one unalterable, interminable, unclouded, and unchangeable DAY!

Amen.] So let it be! and so it shall be! Though this word is wanting in some reputable MSS., get it should be retained, as it has here more than usual authority in its support.

Subscriptions to this epistle in the VERSIONS:

The end of the Second Epistle of Peter the apostle.-SYRIAC. The Second Epistle of Peter the apostle is ended.-SYRIAC PHILOXENIAN. Nothing in the printed Vulgate.

The end of the epistles of blessed Peter the apostle, the rock of the faith.-ARABIC.

The Second Epistle of Peter is ended; and glory be to God for ever and ever!-ÆTHIOPIC.

Nothing in the COPTIC.

The end of the Second catholic Epistle of St. Peter.- COMPLUTENSIAN POLYGLOT.

The end of the Second Epistle of St. Peter.-BIB. LAT., edit. antiq. Subscriptions in the MANUSCRIPTS;

Of the second of Peter.-CODEX ALEXANDRIUS, and CODEX VATICANUS. Of the catholic epistle of Peter.-CODEX EPHREM.

The Second Epistle of the holy Apostle Peter.-Other MSS. WE have now passed over all the canonical writings of Peter that are extant; and it is worthy of remark that, in no place of the two epistles already examined, nor in any of this apostle’s sayings in any other parts of the sacred writings do we find any of the peculiar tenets of the Romish Church: not one word of his or the pope’s supremacy; not one word of those who affect to be his successors; nothing of the infallibility claimed by those pretended successors; nothing of purgatory, penances, pilgrimages, auricular confession, power of the keys, indulgences, extreme unction, masses, and prayers for the dead; and not one word on the most essential doctrine of the Romish Church, transubstantiation. Now, as all these things have been considered by themselves most essential to the being of that Church; is it not strange that he, from whom they profess to derive all their power, authority, and influence, in spiritual and secular matters, should have said nothing of these most necessary things? Is it not a proof that they are all false and forged; that the holy apostle knew nothing of them; that they are no part of the doctrine of God; and, although they distinguish the Church of Rome, do not belong to the Church of Christ? It is no wonder that the rulers of this Church endeavour to keep the Scriptures from the common people; for, were they permitted to consult these, the imposture would be detected, and the solemn, destructive cheat at once exposed.

Verses 17, 18. Therefore, seeing ye know these things before — Respecting the coming of the Lord to judgment, in what an awful manner the scene will close, and what dreadful vengeance will be executed on all the wicked, and especially on those that pollute the Church of Christ, into which they have professed to enter; and that scoffers will arise and ridicule the promise of Christ’s coming, as also the danger there is of misunderstanding and misinterpreting the Scriptures, and so of being seduced and perverted thereby. Here St. Peter teaches that one great purpose for which the prophets were inspired to foretel the corruptions which were to arise in the church, and the evils which were to befall the sincere disciples of Christ, was to put them on their guard against these corruptions, and to arm them with fortitude to bear persecutions. Beware — Be on your guard; lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, (aqesmwn, the lawless,) fall from your own steadfastness — In the faith and practice of the gospel; that steadfastness which, by God’s assistance, you have hitherto retained. But — To prevent this falling away; grow in grace — In every Christian temper; and in order thereto, conscientiously and diligently use the means appointed. And in the knowledge of Christ — That is, in faith, the root of all piety and virtue; faith implying that knowledge of him which is communicated by the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, mentioned Ephesians 1:17, and promised John 16:14. To him be glory, eiv hmeran aiwnov, to the day of eternity — An expression naturally flowing from that sense which the apostle had felt in his soul throughout this whole chapter. Eternity is a day without night, without interruption, without end. Amen — Dr. Benson remarks, that when this word is placed at the beginning of a sentence, it is an earnest asseveration. In the conclusion of a sentence, it imports an earnest wish that it may be so. The doxology, with which this epistle concludes, is evidently directed to Christ, as are some of the other doxologies in Scripture.

Ver. 18. Grow in grace, by building up yourselves in your most holy faith, which produces all the fruits of the Spirit, and all the excellence of the christian temper.

To him be glory, both now and for ever. Amen. This doxology comprises the full worship of the church in every form of prayer, adoration, and praise, presented to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The like glory is often ascribed to Christ, as in John 13:32. If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him, in himself. Also in John 17:5. Now, oh Father, glorify thou me with thy own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. To him every knee must bow, and every tongue confess, in the full worship of the gentile world, that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:11. Paul also repeats his ascriptions of praise, when writing to Timothy, saying, To whom be honour and power everlasting. Thus Christ is over all, God blessed for ever. Romans 9:5.

Dr. Macknight on the epistles, like Dr. Campbell on the gospels, may wish to keep his Arianism out of sight, when speaking of Christ and of his glory. But I must protest against many passages as fully coincident with Arianism, passages sported throughout the epistles. Take 1 Corinthians 2:8, for an instance. “They would not have crucified the Lord of glory; the glorious head of his church, and of the world, and the final judge of men.” Now, no Arian would scruple to use those words. But Christ is crowned with glory and honour. Psalm 8:6. Christ is the King of glory. Psalm 24:6. He is the glory of Jehovah, revealed from heaven. Isaiah 40:5. This is the age in which we are peculiarly called to hold fast the form of sound words, and make no concessions to the infidel philosophy given as a substitute for genuine christianity.

18. Grow—Instead of apostatizing. In grace—The opposite of the fickleness, or unstable, of verse 16. The knowledge—The opposite of unlearned of verse 16. To him be glory—That is, to Christ; an attribute never ascribed in doxology to any creature in scripture. Forever—Greek, hmeran aiwnov, day of perpetuity, perpetual day; a day without end; eternity.