3:2a

holy prophets: The basic meaning of the word holy is “having been set aside, separate from other things,” usually “having been set aside for God.” Things that people set aside from other things so that God can use them must be fit for him to use. That is why the word also means “not spoiled by sin,” and “pure/righteous.” In this verse the word holy has its basic meaning and means that God had set the prophets aside for himself so that he could use them. When Peter used the word holy here, he was not referring to whether the Old Testament prophets were righteous or not. So when you translate holy here, you should choose an expression which means “set apart for God” or “belonging to God,” rather than a word to mean “good” or “righteous.”

3:2b

commanded: Here commanded probably refers to everything that Christ taught, not just one thing which he taught.

your apostles: The NT uses the word “apostles” for different groups of people and so there are several different opinions among Bible scholars as to whom Peter meant here. Some think he meant the twelve apostles. Some include Paul. Some think he meant those of the twelve who brought the gospel to the people who were reading Peter’s letter. Others think “apostles” has the more general meaning of “missionaries.”

If in your language you translate the word “apostles” by a term which uses the verb “send,” you may need to be careful that the phrase you use here for “your apostles” does not give the wrong meaning of “the apostles you sent,” but rather “the apostles Christ sent to you.”

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.