A special problem is raised by verses 3 and 4 with regard to determining whether God or Jesus is the person referred to by the third person pronouns. Decisions reached on this matter will affect the interpretation of these two verses. It is because of this that a more detailed analysis of this problem is presented below.

1. Who does His refer to in the expression His divine power? The choice is of course between God and Christ. Many translations simply have His here, thus retaining the ambiguity of the text. However, Good News Translation has resolved the ambiguity by translating “God.”

It should be noted first of all that verse 3 begins with a Greek particle sometimes translated “as” or “seeing that”; this has led many interpreters to connect verse 3 with verse 2, and then to regard verses 3 and 4 as an expansion of verse 2. This opinion is by no means universal, since there are some other interpreters who favor connecting verse 3 with what follows. One primary reason for this preference is that verse 3 doesn’t have a finite verb but has a Greek form called “the genitive absolute,” which is usually used at the beginning of a paragraph. In view of this, many translations leave the particle untranslated and treat verse 3 as a new sentence.

Whether verse 3 is treated as a new sentence or as a part of verse 2, the fact remains that, in the latter part of verse 2, both God and Jesus are mentioned, with Jesus being mentioned last. It would be logical then to take Jesus as the subject of the very next clause. In fact, were it not for the paragraph break, the Greek text would easily favor Jesus Christ as the person referred to by the pronoun “his.” It should be noted, however, that connecting verse 3 with verse 4 would favor “God” (as in Good News Translation).

A further consideration is the expression divine power, which was a popular term in Greek literature. In the New Testament, however, it is used only here, which is one indication of how this letter has been influenced by Greek literature. It should be mentioned, however, that the Greek adjective for divine is used also in Paul’s speech at the Areopagus (Acts 17.29, “the Deity” or “divine likeness”), and that the equivalent expression “the power of God” is frequently used in the New Testament. “Divine power” is of course a natural way of describing God’s power; and this seems to favor “God” as the one referred to by “his.” It should be noted, however, that in verse 1 the letter has just used the expression “the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.” There is of course a possibility of rendering this as “our God and the Savior Jesus Christ,” as indicated in the discussion of 2 Peter 1.1. But considering all the arguments, it is probably best to understand the expression as referring to one person, namely, Jesus Christ, rather than to both God and Christ. If this is the case, then it will not be strange to talk of Jesus as having “divine power,” and this expression does not necessarily exclude Jesus as the person indicated by His.

2. Who is referred to by him in the knowledge of him who called us, and who is referred to by his in to his own glory and excellence?

It would be logical to identify the person referred to here with the person referred to in the first part of this verse. This in fact is what most translations do; that is, if God is the subject of the first part of the sentence, then God is kept as the subject of all of verses 3 and 4.

It should be noted that, in the New Testament, the function of calling people to become God’s people is usually assigned to God and not to Jesus Christ (see Rom 8.30; 2 Tim 1.9; 1 Cor 7.15; 1 Peter 5.10; and other passages). This favors God as the one referred to here. However, we cannot be dogmatic at this point, since there are just too many passages where “called” is in the passive form, with the implicit agent either God or Jesus Christ.

3. Who does he refer to in the clause at the beginning of verse 4, by which he has granted us? Again he can refer to either God or Christ. If we take the position that him in of him who called us is God, then it is logical to conclude that God is also the one referred to in by which he has granted us. The same holds true of course if we come to the conclusion that these clauses refer to Jesus Christ.

In summary, then, the following alternatives are possible:
A. “his divine power”—God
“through the knowledge of him who called us”—God
“by which he has granted us”—God

B. “his divine power”—Christ
“through the knowledge of him who called us”—Christ
“by which he has granted us”—Christ

C. “his divine power”—Christ
“through the knowledge of him who called us”—God
“by which he has granted us”—God

D. “his divine power”—God
“through the knowledge of him who has called us”—Christ
“by which he has granted us”—Christ

Most translations follow one of the above alternatives. Our preference for this Handbook is alternative C.

A translator’s decision as to whether the subject of this verse is Christ or God will determine how divine power is translated. If the subject is Christ, then we may say “Christ, through his power as God,” but if God is the subject, then a possible translation is “God, through his own power.” In the light of the discussion above, we recommend the former as the more reasonable interpretation, namely “Christ, through his power.”

Has granted translates a Greek verb that means “to give, bestow, present something to someone,” but is used especially when the giver is either a king, a high official, or God himself (see Mark 15.45).

A literal translation would give the understanding that it is divine power that is the source of these gifts. It is clear, however, from the analysis of the verse that it is Christ (or God) who bestows these gifts, and he bestows them through (or because of) his divine power. In other words, Christ (or God) has made use of his divine power in order to grant his people what they need.

Who are the people who receive the gift? Who does us refer to? There are three possibilities:

1. It can refer to Peter and the other apostles. This position has some validity, since there seems to be a contrast between “us” in verses 3 and 4a and “you” in verse 4b. Understood this way, “us” then will be translated in the exclusive form in languages that make a distinction between the exclusive and inclusive (“we not including you” as contrasted with “we including you”). It is, however, unlikely that it is only the apostles that are meant here, considering the purpose of the gifts of God, which is to enable someone to live a godly life.

2. It can refer to Peter and his readers, in which case “us” is inclusive.

3. It can refer to Christians in general. This would explain why Peter switched from “us” to “you” in the second part of verse 4. He has been talking about all Christians in verses 3 and 4a, but in verse 4b he addresses his readers directly.

Therefore it is best to translate us as inclusive in those languages that make a distinction.

The expression all things accents the completeness of God’s gift. He has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness, that is, everything that we need in order to live a life of piety and godliness.

The expression life and godliness is best understood, not as two separate elements, but as two related words, with one word describing the other. Such a construction is known as “hendiadys,” meaning one thing is expressed by saying two things. An example of this construction is “grace and apostleship” in Rom 1.5, which means “the grace (or, the privilege) of being an apostle.” So here life and godliness means “godly life” or “the way God wants us to live.” The word for godliness is used elsewhere in this letter (1.6, 7; 3.11; and see also 2.9). It is a Greek term and is used many times in the Pastoral letters (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus). Outside of Jewish-Christian usage it meant piety toward the gods. In this letter it covers both worship of God and proper conduct arising out of such worship; see Good News Translation “a truly religious life,” and New English Bible “true religion.” We may also say “to live as a Christian really should live,” or idiomatically, “to walk one’s life as a Christian should really walk (or, live).”

The phrase through the knowledge of is similar to “in the knowledge of” in verse 2 above, except that the Greek preposition for through used in this verse puts emphasis on the instrumental relationship, hence “by means of our knowing” (or “… knowledge of”), although it is also possible to render it as “because we have come to know.” The expression of him (Good News Translation “the one”) may be too vague in many languages. It may be necessary to identify who of him refers to; for example, “God, the one…” or “Christ, the one…” (see the discussion under “C”).

Who called us: as we have noted above, us refers to Christians in general. To his own (Good News Translation “share in his own…”) can also be translated as “to have a part in his own….” Glory is one of those New Testament words that are hard to translate because they can be interpreted and understood in so many ways. For instance, glory can refer to God’s greatness or majesty, to a bright light from God, to God’s power, to honor and praise, or to a blessed state in the presence of God. Central to the meaning of glory is the praise and honor people express toward God, but here it seems best to understand glory as referring to the very nature or the very person of God, whom people praise, and to the privilege God gives his people of sharing the praise God receives, simply because they are God’s people and have been welcomed into his presence. Excellence refers to God’s moral excellence or goodness (see 2 Peter 1.5 for a more detailed discussion on “goodness”).

In many languages it will be necessary to break the complex sentence in this verse into two sentences; for example:
• Jesus, through his own power, has given us everything we need to live as Christians really should. This is possible because we have come to know God. He is the one who has called us to have a part in his greatness and moral goodness.

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 .