SIL Translator’s Notes on 2 Peter 2000

SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 1:12

Paragraph 1:12–15

Peter wanted to remind the people who would read this letter of some important truths. He wrote these truths in a letter because he thought that he would soon die. He wanted people to be able to re-read his letters after he had died and to remember what he had taught them.

1:12

the truth you now have: This refers to the Christian message which Christian leaders had taught the believers to whom Peter was writing this letter.

In some languages, a clause that starts with “even though” has to come at the beginning of the sentence. The Display of 1:12 shows one way to do this. Here is another possible way to translate this verse:

I know that you already know these things, and that you are firmly believing the true words that you have learned. But even so, I want to remind you about them again.

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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.

SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 3:3

Paragraph 3:3–7

In this paragraph and the next one (3:8–10), Peter wrote about the people who would mock Christians for believing that Christ would return and would say that he would not return. Peter said that although Christ had not yet returned, he most certainly would return one day and that at that time God would destroy the earth.

3:3

Most importantly: The literal meaning of the Greek is “first of all.” Peter wanted to emphasize that what he would say next would be very important.

last days: This refers to the time between Jesus ascending to heaven and his return.

scoffers: This means “people who mock, laugh at, or ridicule something.” In this context, Peter was saying that they would mock what the Christians believed, especially that Christians expected that Christ would come back again. These people very possibly included the false teachers of chapter 2.

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SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 2:3

2:3

Peter wrote that the false teachers would be greedy people who would lie in order to deceive other people. He wrote that this is how they would try to convince people to give them money, but that God would judge and destroy these false teachers.

2:3a

exploit: This means “profit dishonestly from someone, cheat someone.”

deceptive words: The literal meaning of the Greek is “forged/fabricated words.” This refers to the teaching of the false teachers. It is similar to the words which Peter used in 1:16a. There he said that what he and the other apostles taught were not fabricated stories. Now here in 2:3, Peter was saying that the false teachers would be the ones who would use stories that someone had fabricated.

2:3b

For a long time, even before Peter wrote these words, God had been ready to judge, condemn and destroy the false teachers.

The longstanding verdict against them remains in force: The literal meaning of the Greek is “for whom condemnation is not idle.” The Greek word that Berean Standard Bible translates as verdict means “judgement, decision.” It can refer to the decision a judge takes in court when he says that a person has done something wrong and deserves to be punished. Sometimes the word refers to the punishment itself. That is what it refers to here.

2:3c

their destruction does not sleep: This use of the negative not is really a vivid way of saying the opposite: “destruction is on the way” (New Living Translation (2004 Revision)). This is similar in form and meaning to 2:3b. Peter spoke about destruction as if it were a person doing something. If you are unable to do this in your language, you will need to state the meaning in a different form as you did in 2:3b. God is the one who will destroy the false teachers, just as he was the one who would condemn and punish them in 2:3b.

destruction: See note on 2:1e.

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SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 3:14

Paragraph 3:14–16

In this paragraph and the following one, Peter told the people to whom he wrote this letter that while they waited for the day when Christ would return, they should try very hard in every way to behave in a manner which pleases God and to carefully guard themselves against those people who would cause them to doubt what they believed.

3:14a

beloved: See note on 3:1a.

these things: The Berean Standard Bible translates the Greek pronoun as these things because the form in Greek is plural. Most scholars think it refers to the new heavens and the new earth, but it could also refer to all the events that Peter, in the verses immediately preceding this one, had said would happen on the Day of the Lord. These events will include God’s creation of new heavens and a new earth after he has destroyed the old ones.

3:14b

to be found at peace—spotless and blameless: The verb to be found applies to at peace and spotless and blameless. Peter was telling his readers that they were to do their best so that when Christ returned, God would find them pure, blameless, and at “peace” with him.

to be found…spotless: This means “that God may see that you are pure,” or “that you may be pure in God’s sight.” Most scholars think that this refers to being in this pure condition when Christ returns. But some people think it means being pure now and always. Whatever it means, in order to be sure that God will consider a person pure when Christ returns, that person needs to try hard to remain spotless at all times.

spotless and blameless: These two words are very similar in meaning. People often used them to describe a perfect animal which was fit to sacrifice to God. When people used these words about an animal they were going to sacrifice, they were referring to the physical condition of the animal, but here Peter was referring to the spiritual condition of the people to whom he was writing. He wanted them to guard themselves so that they would not do wrong in any way.

If it is difficult in your language to find two words with this meaning, you could use only one and strengthen it by using “very” or “completely.” For example:

completely pure

in His sight: The Greek word that Berean Standard Bible translates as in His sight could also mean “to him” or “by him.” Because the order of the words in Greek is ambiguous, it is not certain which other part of the sentence this phrase belongs to. Some scholars think that it goes with “at peace,” while others think that it goes with “to be found” or with “spotless and blameless.” So there are the following interpretations:

(1) “at peace with him,” or, in other words, at peace with God.

(New International Version (2011 Revision) and New Living Translation (2004 Revision) translate it in this way.)

(2) “to be found by him,” or, in other words, he sees them in this condition.

(New Revised Standard Version and The Jerusalem Bible translate it in this way.)

(3) “spotless and blameless to him,” or, in other words, in his sight.

(Berean Standard Bible translates it in this way.)

According to the second and third interpretations, Peter did not say with whom the readers should be at peace. He was probably talking about peace with God, but he may have been talking about peace with their neighbors and fellow Christians, too.

Some versions seem to combine (1) and (3). For example:

to be pure and blameless in God’s sight and to be at peace with him. (Good News Translation)

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SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 1:2

1:2

Grace and peace: This was a common greeting among Christians at that time (see also 1 Peter 1:2). It may be necessary for you to translate peace differently according to the context. Here peace means “peace in the heart.”

be multiplied to you: Peter was asking God to continue to give them grace and peace in increasing quantities.

knowledge: This is one of the major themes of the letter. Peter may have been thinking of false teachers who insisted that in order for God to save people, those people needed special secret knowledge. However Peter said that what people really need is to know God and Jesus Christ. See also 1:3, 1:5, 1:6, 1:8, 2:20, and 3:18.

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SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 2:14

2:14a

Their eyes are full of adultery: The literal meaning of the Greek is “eyes full of an adulteress.” This may mean:

(1) They are always looking for a woman who is willing to have sex with them, or

(2) They cannot look at any woman without wanting to have sex with her.

It is recommended that you follow the first interpretation (1).

2:14b

their desire for sin is never satisfied: They never get tired of sinning. Here is another way to translate this:

they never stop sinning (New International Version (2011 Revision))

2:14c

they seduce the unstable: Because of the wrong things they were teaching and the way they were behaving, these false teachers persuaded people who were not strong Christians to give up the true way Christ taught them to live and to follow them in the wrong way. Some other ways to translate “unstable people” are “people who are not sure about what they believe about Jesus,” or “people who quickly change their thinking,” or “people whose loyalty to Christ is weak.”

2:14d

accursed children: Literally the Greek says “children of a curse.” This is a way of saying they are people whom God has cursed. What Peter implied by these words is that these false teachers were extremely wicked, so wicked that God had cursed them. People usually think it is wrong to curse anyone. But this verse does not mean that God has done something wrong. It means that God has declared that these people will go to hell and he will punish them there because they have sinned against him. You must translate these words carefully. If in your language the word for cursing always means doing something evil, it would be better to say “God will punish them.”

2:14e

hearts trained in greed: The literal meaning of the Greek is “having been trained in greed.” The verb “to train” usually refers to a person training himself for a race. Here these false teachers trained themselves to become more and more greedy.

greed: This means “desiring too strongly to have more and more of something.”

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SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 1:13

1:13

I live in the tent of my body: The Greeks often referred to the body as a “tent,” which is the same as saying that the body is a temporary house for the soul. Here Peter meant simply “while I am still alive.” Unless your language has a similar way of talking about being alive, it will be better if you translate the meaning directly. For example:

as long as I am still alive (Good News Translation)

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SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 3:4

3:4

Peter said that the people who were scoffing would say that Christ still had not returned, even though he had promised to. They would say that, although he had said that there would be various signs and wonders immediately before he returned (see Mark 13:24–26), these had not happened. There had been no change, and the world was the same as it had always been since God created it. The scoffers would claim that this proved that Christ would not return at all.

3:4a

Where is the promise of His coming?: This is a rhetorical question which means: “He promised to come back, but he has not come.” Many languages use rhetorical questions like this to emphasize something negative that someone is saying, but even if you can use a rhetorical question in this way, you may need to change the form of the question. Good News Translation may be a helpful model: “He promised to come, didn’t he? Where is he?” If you translate it as a statement, and not as a question, you must use a vivid expression. Some suggestions are:

“He promised to return, but those were merely empty words!”
-or-
“When he promised to return, he was lying!”

The source of this promise is both in Old Testament prophecies (see 1:19) and in the words of Christ himself (see Matthew 24).

3:4b–c

This part of the verse tells the reason that the people who are scoffing will give when they say that Christ will not return. The Greek text shows the relationship by using the word gar, “for.” Berean Standard Bible and other versions leave the link implicit. In the Display line for 3:4b, there is an example of how to show the relationship between 3:4b and the previous sentence.

our fathers: Literally “the fathers.” In Greek, as in many other languages, the word “father” means not only a biological father, but can mean “an ancestor,” “respected leader who lived in the past,” “the originator of something,” and “a person older than the speaker.” Because Peter spoke here of “the fathers,” he was probably referring to a specific and respected group of people who lived before the scoffers and to whom they were referring. There are different opinions about which group Peter meant:

(1) the first generation of Christians,

(2) the generation that preceded the generation of which the scoffers were a part,

(3) the patriarchs and prophets,

(4) the ancestors of the human race.

Although elsewhere in the NT the word usually refers to the important leaders in the OT, in the present context Peter probably meant interpretation (1), the first generation of Christians.

Jesus himself seemed to have said that he would return in the lifetime of the first disciples (see Matthew 10:23; Mark 9:1; John 21:21–22); angels from God promised Jesus’ disciples that he would return (see Acts 1:11); and his disciples expected him to return while they were still alive. So when the first Christians began to die and Christ had still not returned, some people, like the people in this verse, started to doubt that he would come back at all.

fell asleep: This is a euphemism for “dying.” If you have a euphemism for “dying” in your language, you could use it here.

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Source: SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 2000

SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 1:12

SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 3:3

SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 2:3

SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 3:14

SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 1:2

SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 2:14

SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 1:13

SIL Translator's Notes on 2 Peter 3:4

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