2 Peter
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” — 2 Peter 3:9 (KJV)
Overview
- Testament: New
- Author: Peter (Simon Peter, the Apostle)
- Date Written: ~AD 64–68, from Rome — Peter’s final letter, written shortly before his martyrdom
- Key Themes: Growing in virtue, the inspiration and reliability of Scripture, false teachers, the certainty of the Second Coming, the Day of the Lord
- Chapters: 3
Summary
2 Peter is Peter’s farewell letter — written with the explicit awareness that his death was near (“shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me,” 1:14). Like 2 Timothy, it is shaped by the approaching end and carries the urgency of a man settling accounts with what matters most.
The letter has three distinct movements corresponding to its three chapters.
Chapter 1 is constructive and positive: Peter calls believers to supplement their faith with virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love (the famous “ladder of grace” in 1:5–7). He grounds this call in two things: the eyewitness testimony of the apostles (especially the Transfiguration — 1:16–18) and the “more sure word of prophecy” — Scripture itself, which came not by human will but by men moved by the Holy Spirit (1:20–21). This is the NT’s second great statement of biblical inspiration.
Chapter 2 is a sustained and devastating polemic against false teachers — the longest such passage in the NT epistles (rivaling Jude, which it closely parallels). The false teachers are greedy, licentious, arrogant, and deceptive. Peter marshals three OT judgments to establish certainty of divine punishment: the fallen angels, the generation of Noah, and Sodom and Gomorrah — while noting that God preserved Lot and Noah, demonstrating that judgment and rescue coexist. The false teachers are described as springs without water, mists driven by storms, promising freedom while enslaved to corruption.
Chapter 3 addresses mockers who scoff at the Second Coming: “Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were” (3:4). Peter’s response: God’s perspective on time is different (a thousand years as a day); the delay is mercy — God is waiting for all to repent; the Day of the Lord will come suddenly and unexpectedly, and the present world will be destroyed by fire. Therefore: holy conduct, godliness, looking for and hastening the day. He closes with an acknowledgment of Paul’s letters as scripture — one of the most significant statements in the NT about the emerging canon.
Key Characters
| Character | Role | Key Passages |
|---|---|---|
| Peter | Author; apostle; eyewitness of the Transfiguration; facing death | 1:1; 1:13–18 |
| Paul | Letters acknowledged as Scripture; some hard to understand | 3:15–16 |
| Balaam | OT example of greedy false prophecy | 2:15–16 |
| Lot | Preserved amid Sodom’s judgment; example of God rescuing the righteous | 2:7–8 |
| Noah | Preacher of righteousness; preserved through the flood | 2:5 |
| The False Teachers | Introduced secretly; licentious; greedy; “wells without water” | 2:1–22 |
| The Mockers | Scoff at the Second Coming; willfully ignorant of creation and flood | 3:3–7 |
Key Events
| Event | Reference | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Call to grow in grace | 1:3–11 | Divine power given; add virtue, knowledge, self-control… love |
| Peter’s farewell announcement | 1:12–15 | Knows his death is near; wants to leave a reminder |
| Eyewitness of the Transfiguration | 1:16–18 | ”We were eyewitnesses of his majesty”; God’s voice heard |
| Scripture’s divine origin | 1:19–21 | ”Prophecy came not by will of man; holy men moved by the Spirit” |
| False Teachers and Their Destruction | 2:1–22 | Three OT examples; character profile; “wells without water”; dog returns to vomit |
| The Day of the Lord | 3:3–13 | Mockers answered; God’s relationship to time; longsuffering; thief in the night; new heavens and earth |
| Paul’s letters called Scripture | 3:15–16 | Paul’s wisdom; “as also in all his epistles… as other scriptures” |
Chapter Outline
| Chapter | Section | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Growing in Grace | Virtue ladder; divine power; eyewitness testimony; Scripture’s inspiration |
| 2 | False Teachers Exposed | Three judgment examples; devastating portrait of apostates; no escape |
| 3 | The Day of the Lord | Mockers answered; God’s time; mercy delays; fiery destruction; new creation |
The Virtue Ladder (1:5–7)
| Addition | Greek | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Faith | pistis | Foundation |
| Virtue | aretē | Moral excellence |
| Knowledge | gnōsis | Discernment |
| Self-control | enkrateia | Mastery of desires |
| Steadfastness | hypomonē | Patient endurance |
| Godliness | eusebeia | Reverence toward God |
| Brotherly affection | philadelphia | Love of brothers |
| Love | agapē | Selfless, Christlike love |
Cross-References
Old Testament:
- Genesis 6–8 — Noah and the flood (2:5; 3:6)
- Genesis 19 — Sodom and Gomorrah; Lot rescued (2:6–8)
- Numbers 22–24 — Balaam’s error; the donkey speaks (2:15–16)
- Genesis 1 — Creation; “heavens and earth of old” formed by God’s word (3:5)
- Isaiah 65:17; 66:22 — New heavens and new earth (3:13)
New Testament:
- Jude — Extensive parallel in ch. 2; nearly identical content on false teachers
- 1 Peter — Companion letter; same author
- Revelation 21 — New heaven and new earth (cf. 3:13)
- Matthew 24:3–51 — Signs of coming; thief in the night (cf. 3:10)
- 2 Timothy 3:1–9 — Perilous last days; character decay
Key Verses
“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” — 2 Peter 1:4
“For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” — 2 Peter 1:21
“But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them.” — 2 Peter 2:1
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” — 2 Peter 3:9
“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.” — 2 Peter 3:10
Notes & Reflections
- 2 Peter 3:15–16 is the NT’s clearest statement that Paul’s letters were considered Scripture by the apostolic generation — Peter refers to “all his epistles” and to “other scriptures” in the same breath
- The “virtue ladder” (1:5–7) is one of the most carefully structured ethical sequences in the NT — each quality builds on the previous; love crowns the whole
- “Partakers of the divine nature” (1:4) — theias koinōnoi physeōs — an extraordinary phrase; the Eastern Orthodox tradition has built much of its theology of theosis (deification) on this verse
- 2 Peter and Jude share so much material that most scholars posit a literary relationship; the direction is debated but most favor Jude being used by Peter (or a common source)
- The delay of the Second Coming is answered not with a timetable but with a theology of God’s character — the delay is mercy, not indifference or inability (3:9)
Sequential Connections
- Preceded by: 1 Peter — Companion letter; same author
- Close parallel: Jude — Treat as companion text on false teachers
- Followed by: 1 John in canonical order
- Part of General Epistles: James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude
Tags
NewTestament GeneralEpistle Peter FalseTeachers SecondComing DayOfTheLord Scripture Inspiration VirtureLadder NewCreation