Tyndale Open Study Notes

Verse 1

1:1 Simon was one of the most common Jewish names in the first century. Jesus gave him the name Peter (Matt 16:17-18). Many people in the Greco-Roman world would use both their given name in their native language and also a Greek name, since Greek was the lingua franca (see study note on Acts 7:58). • a slave . . . of Jesus Christ: In the Old Testament, important leaders of God’s people are called servants of the Lord (Josh 14:7; 24:29; 2 Kgs 10:10). The title underscores Peter’s submission to Christ and suggests that he had an important role in God’s plan. • We probably refers to Jewish Christians; the recipients were mostly Gentile Christians. In the new covenant, Gentile and Jewish Christians share the same precious faith and are on an equal footing as God’s people (see Gal 3:26-29). • This is one of the few places in the New Testament where Jesus Christ is called God (see also John 1:1; 20:28; Rom 9:5; Titus 2:13; Heb 1:8; 1 Jn 5:20).

Verse 3

1:3-11 An explanation of all that God has given us in Christ (1:3-4) forms the basis for an urgent exhortation to grow in the knowledge of Christ (1:5-11).

1:3 By his divine power, God has (literally His divine power has): The name of God does not occur in the Greek text; Peter could be referring to the divine power of “Jesus our Lord” (1:2).

Verse 4

1:4 enable you to share his divine nature: Peter probably did not mean that our souls are merged with God but that believers share God’s qualities (cp. Lev 11:44; Matt 5:43-48; Eph 4:24; 5:1).

Verse 5

1:5-7 The stair-step structure of these verses, with each virtue leading to another, is a common literary device called a sorites. The sequence in such passages is not stressed—e.g., Peter does not imply that moral excellence must come before knowledge. Yet love is the pinnacle of the virtues (1:7).

Verse 10

1:10 dear brothers and sisters: This Greek term (adelphoi) refers to people, both male and female, who are members of the same family. • Work hard to prove (literally Be zealous to make certain): Peter did not mean that our being chosen by God for salvation depends on what we do, but that our zeal to grow in Christian virtue confirms that we have, indeed, been chosen by God.

Verse 12

1:12-15 Peter was writing at the end of his life, and 2 Peter is similar to works that belong to a popular Jewish genre called the testament, in which an old and respected leader gives final instructions to his children or others on his deathbed (cp. Deut 31–33; Josh 24). This genre is especially well known from a Jewish work called The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs.

Verse 14

1:14 This prophecy might have come in a vision, but it is more likely that Peter was recalling Jesus’ prophecy about his death (John 21:18-19).

Verse 16

1:16-21 Peter’s denunciation of the false teachers (ch 2) is framed by this teaching about the certainty of Jesus’ return (see also 3:1-13). The false teachers were probably denying the reality of Christ’s return and judgment. Peter’s eyewitness experience (1:16-18) and the intrinsic reliability of scriptural prophecy (1:19-21) make Christ’s return a certainty.

1:16-18 clever stories (literally cleverly invented myths): The false teachers were probably charging that the message of Christ’s return was just an edifying fable with no factual truth. • We saw his majestic splendor with our own eyes: At Jesus’ transfiguration (Matt 17:1-9; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36), which prefigured Christ’s return by revealing Jesus as the glorious King. Peter’s confidence was not based on human speculation but on eyewitness experience.

Verse 19

1:19 The word Day is capitalized because it is shorthand for the day of the Lord, the time when God intervenes in history to save his people and judge his enemies (see Isa 13:4-12; Joel 2:1-32; Zeph 2:1-3). The first coming of Christ inaugurated the day of the Lord’s salvation for his people. A future day of the Lord’s judgment on his enemies is yet to come. • Christ the Morning Star: The planet Venus, known as the “morning star,” often appears above the eastern horizon just before dawn. Peter reverses the order of natural events: The dawning of the day of the Lord leads to the Morning Star’s shining in the hearts of believers.

Verse 20

1:20-21 came from the prophet’s own understanding (or is a matter of one’s own interpretation): The point is probably that the prophets were not left on their own to interpret the visions that God gave them. God made the meaning clear to the prophets, so that they could prophesy clearly and reliably.