2 Peter 3

General context

The writer says this is his second letter to them, and that in both he stirs up their pure minds by way of remembrance, so they will be mindful of words spoken before by the holy prophets and of the commandment of the apostles. Scoffers will come in the last days, walking after their own lusts and asking where the promise of his coming is, since the fathers have fallen asleep and all things continue as from the beginning. The answer given is that they are willingly ignorant: by the word of God the heavens were of old and the earth stood out of the water and in the water, and the world that then was perished when it was overflowed, while the present heavens and earth are kept by the same word, reserved to fire for the day of judgment. Two more answers follow. One day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day, and the Lord is not slack as some count slackness but longsuffering, unwilling that any should perish. Still the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, when the heavens pass away with a great noise, the elements melt, and the earth and its works are burned up. Since all this is to be dissolved, the readers are asked what manner of persons they ought to be, looking for that day and for new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells. They are to be found in peace, without spot and blameless, counting the Lord's longsuffering as salvation. The writer cites the letters of Paul, notes that some things in them are hard to understand and get wrested, and closes by telling them to beware, and to grow in grace and knowledge.

Cited passages: 2 Peter 3:1, 2 Peter 3:2, 2 Peter 3:3, 2 Peter 3:4, 2 Peter 3:5, 2 Peter 3:6, 2 Peter 3:7, 2 Peter 3:8, 2 Peter 3:9, 2 Peter 3:10, 2 Peter 3:11, 2 Peter 3:12, 2 Peter 3:13, 2 Peter 3:14, 2 Peter 3:15, 2 Peter 3:16, 2 Peter 3:17, 2 Peter 3:18

2 Peter 3 (KJV)

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

Verse 1 states that this is a second letter to the same readers, and it does not say which letter was the first. The chapter names Paul: "our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you", says he wrote to these readers and in all his epistles about these things, and adds that some of it is "hard to be understood" and gets wrested "as they do also the other scriptures". No epistle of his is named and no place is given. The scoffers are described by what they say rather than by name, and their objection is quoted directly: "Where is the promise of his coming?". The letter says "the fathers fell asleep" without saying who they were. The statement at verse 8 about a day and a thousand years is not introduced as a quotation here; Psalm 90:4 reads "For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night". The chapter ends with no greeting, no name and no travel note.

Cited passages: 2 Peter 3:1, 2 Peter 3:15, 2 Peter 3:16, 2 Peter 3:4, 2 Peter 3:8, Psalms 90:4

Literary context

The chapter answers an objection and lets it speak first: "all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation". Three answers follow in order, and they are of different kinds. The first is historical, that a world already ended once by water. The second is about measurement, setting a day against a thousand years. The third is about motive, that the delay is longsuffering rather than slackness. Water and fire hold the passage together, the same word of God doing both, and the word dissolved is repeated at verses 11 and 12 until the question in the middle of it lands: "what manner of persons ought ye to be". The letter does not end on destruction, since verse 13 turns to new heavens and a new earth, and the last instruction is growth rather than vigilance alone. The reference to Paul's letters at the close puts the writer's own words beside another set that people already argue about.

Cited passages: 2 Peter 3:4, 2 Peter 3:6, 2 Peter 3:7, 2 Peter 3:8, 2 Peter 3:9, 2 Peter 3:11, 2 Peter 3:12, 2 Peter 3:13, 2 Peter 3:18

Key moments

1. A second letter (2 Peter 3:1). The writer says this is his second letter to these readers.
2. Where is the promise? (2 Peter 3:4). The objection is quoted in the scoffers' own words.
3. A world that perished (2 Peter 3:6). An earlier flood is used to answer the claim that nothing changes.
4. A day and a thousand years (2 Peter 3:8). The measure of delay is put on a different scale.
5. Not willing that any perish (2 Peter 3:9). The delay is explained as patience aimed at repentance.
6. New heavens and a new earth (2 Peter 3:13). After the burning the letter names what is looked for.
7. Paul's letters mentioned (2 Peter 3:15). Another writer's letters are cited and called hard in places.

For reflection

The scoffers' argument is that nothing has changed since the beginning, and the letter answers that delay is patience rather than absence. How would a reader tell those two apart from inside the waiting?

People in this chapter

• Jesus Christ
• Paul