THIS second Epistle of Peter is addressed, as the introductory salutation specifies, not to any particular church or churches, but to the followers of Jesus Christ in general. The allusions contained in 3:15, 16, imply that it was written after some, at least, of the Epistles of Paul had been extensively circulated. Beyond this there is no evidence in regard to any of the circumstances under which it was written. It consists of a brief but solemn warning against the dangers of unbelief, error and sin, enforced by a strong representation of the certainty and the nearness of the final judgment. This second Epistle is characterized by a certain solemn grandeur of imagery and diction, very different from the style in which the miscellaneous practical instructions of the first are expressed in fact, in respect to these qualities of composition, there are some passages, in the two concluding chapters, scarcely equalled by any other portion of the sacred writings.

      4. That--ye might be partakers of the divine nature; that is, that ye might share in the purity and holiness of God.

      7. Charity; good-will to all mankind.

      9. Forgotten that he was purged; forgotten that by his baptism he professed to be purged.

      13. In this tabernacle; in the body.

      14. Paul, as well as Peter, received warning, by revelation, of the sufferings which were before him. (Acts 20:22, 23.)

      16-18. The apostle here refers to the transfiguration, which he witnessed in company with James and John. (Luke 9:28-36.)

      19. Prophecy; referring to the predictions respecting the Messiah contained in the Old Testament, then in process of fulfilment, and so strongly confirming the truth of Christianity.

      20. No prophecy--is of any private interpretation; that is, probably, the means of its interpretation are not found within itself. It can only be understood by being compared with the event. It is on this principle that the light of prophecy is represented in the preceding verse as a light beginning to shine, and which would increase as its fulfilment was gradually developed.

      21. Spake as they were moved, &c. They delivered the message which [529] was committed to them, though its full import, being known only to God, the event must reveal.

      1. False prophets also; that is, in ancient times, when the true prophets, referred to in the last chapter, made their predictions. For various allusions to these false prophets, see 1 Kings 22:6. Jer. 28:15-17. Ezek. 13: 22:22, 25, 28.--Privily; privately, by stealth.--Damnable heresies; that is, heresies fatal to the welfare of the soul.--Denying the Lord; denying him as their Lord and Master.

      2. Many shall follow, &c. Men never have so great a power and influence for evil, as when they introduce immoralities and sin under the cloak and defence of some perverted form of religious doctrine. This is fanatical vice, the worst, most corrupting, and most dangerous form in which vice ever appears,--as the history of Christianity in all ages will testify. It is on, this account that heresy is denounced in the New Testament in such strong terms of reprobation. For heresy is not honest error. It is the hypocritical perversion of religious truth to the purposes of licentiousness and sin.--The way of truth; true religion.

      3. Feigned words; artful and hypocritical pretences.--Make merchandise of you. Judas made merchandise of his Master, betraying and sacrificing him to promote his own ends. So it is said these men should sacrifice the cause of Christ to their own selfish purposes.--Whose judgment now, &c.; that is, whose judgment and condemnation shall come upon them soon and suddenly.

      4. The angels that sinned. Another allusion to angels, as having rebelled against God, and incurred his terrible retribution, is found in Jude 6.

      5. The old world; the world before the flood.--Noah the eighth person; that is, Noah with seven others. Noah was a preacher of righteousness, inasmuch as he set an example of obedience, and made efforts, in various ways, to warn and to save his generation. (Heb. 11:7.)

      7. Filthy conversation; corrupt and wicked conduct.

      8. Vexed his righteous soul; felt perpetually displeased and troubled.

      9. The Lord knoweth, &c. This is the inference from what precedes. That is, if the Lord spared not the [530] rebel angels, nor the old world, nor the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, but brought terrible judgments upon them for their sins, while he saved Noah and his family, and Lot,--then the Christian might be assured that he would still continue to protect the good and condemn the wicked.

      10. To speak evil of dignities; of authority and power above them, which they ought to regard with respect and submission. The meaning is, that they are restive and rebellious against all authority.

      11. A similar passage occurs in Jude 9. The idea is, that even angels, exalted as they are, do not speak, even of the wicked, in railing and opprobrious terms; but these, (v. 12,) like senseless brutes, rail against what it is entirely above their capacity to comprehend. The presumptuous and intractable state of mind here condemned we may easily understand; though we are not informed in what ways, precisely, it displayed itself, in the class of persons here condemned.

      13. In the daytime; every day, continually.--Sporting themselves; amusing themselves.--Deceivings, deceitful arts.

      15. Balaam the son of Bosor. He is called the son of Beor in the Old Testament. (Num. 22:5.) For the course pursued by Balaam, and his influence in leading Israel into sin, see Num. 22:-25.

      16. The dumb ass--forbade, &c. A strong antithesis is intended here. A senseless ass had to rebuke the senselessness of a prophet.

      17. Wells without water; the form and the promise without the reality.--Clouds that are carried with a tempest; that is, which, having promised rain, bring nothing but wind. [531]

      22. According to the true proverb. Prov. 26:11. The whole passage comprised in this chapter, both in its import and in its language, bears a very striking resemblance to the Epistle of Jude.

      2. The commandment of us; the commandment delivered by us.

      3. Walking after their own lusts, living in open sin, and deriding the warnings of the gospel.

      4. The promise of his coming, that is, the coming of Christ.--Since the fathers, &c. Their argument was, that the course of nature had gone on steadily the same from the days of the fathers, and that it still continued without any indication of an approaching change. To this the apostle replies in the following verses, that the course of nature had not always gone on unchanged,--that the earth has once been destroyed by water, and he asserts that it will be again destroyed by fire.

      5. They willingly are ignorant of; they will not consider it.--By the word of God; by the power of God.--The heavens were; that is, they existed.

      8. One day is with the Lord, &c., an expression suggested, perhaps, to the apostle's mind by Ps. 90:4.

      9. Not slack concerning his promise; not negligent in fulfilling it.--As some men count slackness; infer slackness,--that is, from the long delay. The idea is, that the lapse of time which intervenes before the threatenings of God are executed does not arise from neglect or forgetfulness, as some men suppose, but from [532] forbearance and long-suffering, in hope that the sinner may repent.

      10. As a thief in the might; unexpectedly and suddenly.

      12. Hasting unto the coming, &c.; anticipating it with interest, and making active preparation for it.

      13. New heavens and a new earth; an entire new constitution of things. The phrase heavens and earth, comprising, as it does, the whole visible creation, is often used as a general expression to denote all things. A "new heavens and a new earth" means therefore, simply, all things new. Some have understood this and other similar passages to imply that this earth, after undergoing a great change in its constitution, so as to be purified of its corruption, and divested of its elements of frailty and decay, and also of its means and sources of danger and suffering will be made the abode of the redeemed, after they have risen from the dead, and have been clothed in bodies which shall have undergone a similar transformation. There has been much other reasoning and speculation in regard to the future world, but the word of God has not revealed to us any details respecting its conditions and circumstances, and of course, on such a subject, what divine revelation has withheld, it is vain for human speculations to attempt to supply.

      16. In which; in which things, that is, in the truths revealed in respect to the end of the world and the general judgment. The difficulties which the apostle here refers to are not difficulties in Paul's writings, but in the subject which he has himself been discussing. This the original conclusively shows.--Which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest; in the manner already explained in v. 3-5.

      17. The error of the wicked; that is, the error referred to above,--their becoming careless and unconcerned about the displeasure of God, because his sentence is not speedily executed. [533]

      18. A similar doxology occurs before in 1 Pet. 4:11, and 5:11, in both which cases it apparently, though not so unquestionably as in this case, stands as an ascription to the Savior. The certainty of the application of it, in this case, goes very far towards removing any doubt which we might feel in those. [534]

[AINT 528-534]