Waiting can also be “looking for,” “expecting”; it is used of expectation of the coming end time (see, for instance, Matt 11.3; Luke 7.19-20). For further discussion see comments on Jude 21, where the same word is used. Hastening can also be “earnestly desiring” (Revised Standard Version footnote), “striving for,” “looking for,” “waiting for.” This is so because the Greek participle here can be derived from a verb that means “to be eager” or “to be zealous” (hence, “desire earnestly”), or from another verb that means “to hasten,” “to speed up.” The main question here is whether Christians can cause the day of the Lord to come more quickly by their actions (in this case, by living godly and holy lives), or whether this is solely in the hands of God, and the only thing that Christians can do is to longingly expect it. The verb allows for either possibility; background literature, however, favors the interpretation hastening. In Rabbinic literature there are references attesting to the belief that repentance does bring in the end. A passage from 2 Clement (12.6) cites a statement from Jesus to the effect that when Christians live godly lives and refrain from sexual impurities, then the kingdom of God will come. Connected with this, of course, is the delay of the Parousia, which is motivated by God’s desire for people to repent; in the light of this, repentance may be said to ultimately affect the eventual return of the Lord. Most translations prefer this second possibility; for example Good News Translation “do your best to make it come soon,” New International Version “speed its coming,” New English Bible “work to hasten it on.” For the first alternative, see Jerusalem Bible “long for the Day of God to come.”
The expression the coming of the day of God is unusual in two ways:
1. The word for coming is usually used in connection with a person, such as Christ or the Son of Man, but not with a day or a time. It does seem that this usage was a later development.
2. The day of God is used nowhere else with the same Greek terms in the New Testament. Here it seems to be used as a parallel for “the day of the Lord” in verse 10. If this is the case, it is possible to translate the two expressions in the same way; and this is especially important for languages where the same word is used for both “Lord” and “God.” However, the distinction can be maintained, in which case the focus of the day of God would be the function of God as judge, hence “the day when God will judge the world.”
It is possible therefore to restructure the expression the coming of the day of God as “the day when God will come as judge” or “the day when God will come to judge the world.” The sentence waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God may be rendered as “as you wait for the day when God will come to judge the world, and do your best to make that day come soon.” For ways to express “judge” see comments on “condemnation” and “judgment” in 2.3, 4 and Jude 15.
Because of which (or “on account of which”) expresses result or effect, which will follow on the coming of the day of God (see, for example, Translator’s New Testament “That Day will cause,” New English Bible “that day will set…”). In many cases this is simply stated as something that happens at that time: Good News Translation “the Day when,” Phillips “This day will mean.” What the expression seems to stress is that the calamities at that time will not be due to natural causes but to divine action. So in a real sense it is not the day that causes these things to happen, but God. This is important in view of contemporary Greek philosophy, which believed that nature acts by itself, and that events happen according to a natural pattern.
Kindled recalls “stored up for fire” in verse 7, although here it is the heavens that will be burned up. For dissolved, elements, and fire, see comments on verse 10. The word for melt appears only here in the New Testament; in the Old Testament Greek Septuagint it is used to describe the melting of the mountains on the day of the Lord (for example, Isa 63.19 [Septuagint 64.1]; Micah 1.4). See also comments on verse 10.
An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• … as you wait for the day when God will come to judge the world, and do your best to make that day come soon. That day is the one when fire will burn up and destroy the heavens, and heat will melt the heavenly bodies.
Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Second Letter from Peter. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .