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.

© 2000 by SIL International®

Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

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.

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.

© 2000 by SIL International®

Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

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.

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)

© 2000 by SIL International®

Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

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.