Verse 2 begins with the traditional Christian greeting grace and peace. Grace (charis) resembles a greeting (chaire) commonly used among Greek speakers, and it refers to God’s undeserved love and favor. Peace, on the other hand, reflects an expression used among Jewish people, and it denotes total health, total well-being, or in other words, everything that God bestows on people for them to enjoy life in all its abundance. Both of these words are now combined in a Christian greeting which, judging by its presence in other letters as well, seems to have been the traditional and popular greeting among Christians. It is very tempting to take these words in their full theological meaning and impact. We should remember, however, that these are part of a greeting formula and therefore must be translated according to their function within that formula.
The type of impersonal request for blessing in the clause May grace and peace be multiplied to you must be expressed in a number of languages by naming the person who gives, and also by proposing an expression of prayer or request; for example, “I pray that God may give you grace and peace in abundance” or “I pray that God may give you a great deal of grace and peace.” Since in a number of languages grace is most closely related to a term for “love,” we may translate May grace … to you as “May God show his love to you.” Peace may be expressed in certain languages as “well-being.” In other languages peace will be translated idiomatically; for example, “live in coolness and have happiness.” Therefore in such a language May grace and peace be multiplied to you (Good News Translation “May grace and peace be yours”) can be expressed as “May God show his love and cause you to live in coolness and have happiness.”
“Be yours in full measure” (Good News Translation) is literally be multiplied to you and is a distinctive feature of Jewish prayers (compare Dan 4.1; 6.25). It conveys the hope that the readers will receive grace and peace continually, and that their lives will therefore be blessed and made more pleasant as a result (compare New American Bible “be yours in abundance”; Jerusalem Bible “may you have more and more”). In certain languages May grace and peace be multiplied to you will be rendered as “May God show his love to you greatly and cause you to have much peace.”
Knowledge is one of the major themes of this letter. The word translated knowledge here is used four times, while another form of the word is found in three other places. Interpreters suggest that this emphasis on knowledge may be due to the fact that some teachers from the Gnostic groups were proclaiming that, in order to attain a life that is pleasing to God, people should have a special kind of knowledge about the universe and about the very nature of God (the name “Gnostic” comes from gnōsis, the Greek word for knowledge). In contrast to this, Peter puts emphasis on knowing God and Jesus Christ. Knowledge here is more than just having information; it includes being in a very close relationship with someone, perhaps experiencing that person’s power in our lives.
The phrase in the knowledge may be rendered as “because you know” (simple reason), “because you have come to know” (causative), “by means of your knowing” (instrumental), “as a result of your knowing” (result), or even “as a result of your experiencing the presence (or, power) of….”
As noted in the comments on verse 1, the Greek of verse 2 clearly distinguishes between of God and of Jesus … as two distinct personalities. Lord means “the one who controls,” “the one who commands,” or “the one who rules us,” so in certain languages a possessive pronoun should not be used, since that would give the impression that we own the one who controls us. It then is better to say “the one who commands (or, rules) us.” Thus the phrase Jesus our Lord may be expressed as “Jesus who controls us,” “Jesus who rules us,” or “Jesus who commands us.”
An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• May God show his love to you greatly and cause you to have peace, because you have come to experience the presence (or, power) of God and Jesus our Lord (or, the one who controls us).
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 .