PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Peter
B.C. Caffin [1826-1894] · 90,814 words · 97 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Peter — Section 1
THE PULPIT COMMENTARY, EDITED BY THE VERY REV. H. D. M. SPENCE, D.D., DEAN OJ' GLOUCEIIT&B; AND BY THB REV. JOSEPH S. EXELL, M.A. I I. PETER. @xposftion anlJ ~omtletict BY REV. B. C. C.A.FFIN, M.A., VICAR OF NORTHALLl!:RTON, AND RUBAL DEAN; LATE FELLOW AND TUTOB Oi' WOBOESTEB OOLLEGB, OUORQ, ~omfHes bp Watf…
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punishment £or their sins" (' Adv. Hrer.,' x. 30). Origen, who died A.O. 253, was certainly acquainted with both the Epistles of St. Peter. He is quoted by Eusebius (' Hist. Eccl.,' vi. 26) as saying, "Peter has left ona acknowledged Epistle: let it be granted that he left; also a second, for this is disputed." In the'…
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John xxi. 15-22 is sometimes compared with the reminiscence of the same interview in 1 Pet. v. 2. The last, it is ea.id, is a.nconscioa.s-it comes from the fa.lness of the heart; while the direct assertion of eh. i. 14 is in the manner of a falsaria.s. But this, surely, is hypercriticism. St. Peter, when stand- ing…
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hUITied strokes. The apostle, it seems, bad heard of the errors of the fals0 teachers; they had already done mnch harm; they were beginning their evil work in Asia Minor. Perhaps St. J o.de's Epistle was put into St. Pater's hands; he flashed into something of his old passionate impetuosity. St. Jude's burning words fi…
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tho verb Aayxa11Ei11 in eh. i. 1 reminds ns of St. Peter's use of the word in the same sense in Acts i. 17 (the only two New Testament passages in which the word occnrs in this meaning). The somewhat uncommon word EllfJ'l/3£ia in eh. i. 3, 6, 7, and iii. 11, recalls the same word in St. Peter's speech in Acts iii. 12. …
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eecond tho simple name is never used. This is not quite true (see eh. i. 1): but, if it were, it would seem 11, point of very little importance in a short Epistle like this, separated from the first by an interval probably of two or three years. (5) We come now to the relation between eh. ii. of this Epistle and the E…
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not to be lightly set aside; he asserts himself to be the .Apostle St. Peter 80 plainly and repeatedly that it is hard, on the hypothesis of imitation, to acquit him of deliberate falsehood, and to regard the Epistle as an innocent attempt to strengthen the influence of a good and holy writing by investing it with apos…
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IV. ANALYSIS OF THE EPISTLE. St. Peter addresses his letter to those who have obtained the like precious faith with himself. He strikes at once the key-note of the Epistle, the foll knowledge of God. He dwells, as in the First Epistle, on the blessings and the high privileges of the Christian life, and urges his reade…
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SECOND EPISTLE GENERAL OF PETER. EXPOSITION. apostle sent into the world to win souls for CHAPTER I, Christ (comp. Rom. i. I; Phil. i. 1; 'Iitus i. Ver. 1.-Si.mon Peter. "Symeon" seems 1; Jas. i. I; Jude 1). To them thathe.ve ob- to be the best-supported spelling in this ta.ined like precious faith with us. The wor…
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c>nnbled f.o bclieYe in Go:l.'s righteousness Comp. 1 Cor. xiii., where, nfler saying in nnd t.o trust in it. 'l'his seems a forced '\'er. 8 that "knowledge (-yvwu,s) shall be int.erprt>tn1 ion. It is better to take the done away," St. Paul continues, in ver. 12, preposition 11s meaning "in the working of "Now I kno…
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i11rouah the full knowledge Urr,-yvrI-cr,.,,) of earnest of our inberiLa.nce "). The word Mm that called U8 (comp. John xvii. 3, "precious" reminds us of I Pet. i. 7, 19; "Tliis is life eternal, tlrnt they might know tho re~em hlance with 1 Pet. ii. 7 is apparent thee the only true God, nncl Jesus Christ, only, m the A…
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(for tLc word q,Oopcl. bns both those meanings) et mali fugam docct" (Bengel). This from "hicb we must escape bas its seat and practical knowledge is gained iu the manly power in lust; working secretly in the lusts self-denying nctivities of the Christinu life, of men's wieked hearts, it manifests its evil e.nd lead…
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used here ( 6'rd.pxov-ra) implies a.ctun.l pos- cannot reach nnto the knowledge of our session ; these graces must be made our Lord Jesus Christ (comp. I Cor. vi. 11; own; they must be wrought into our Eph. v. 26; 1 Pet. iii. 21). characters ; then they will increase and Ver. 10,-Wherefore the rather, brethren, multip…
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the apostle tells us to mnke our calling and of these things; rather, as in the Revised election tture, he means that we must try to Version, wherefo1·e I 8haU be ready. 'l'his realize thnt calling aml election, to bring reading (µ.e>.."Af,a-w) is better supported than its solemn responsibilities nnd its blessed tha…
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Alford quotes Josephus, • Ant.,' iv. 8. 2, things;" but the usual rendering seems where Moses says, " Since I must depart more suitable here. St. Peter was anxinus from life, I have thought it right not even rather that his renders should have the now to le.y aside my zee.l for your lrn.ppi- truths of the gospel living…
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mcnt of the risen Saviour, "All power is on Mount SiMi, and in the tabernncle and gi,cn unto me in heaven and in earth;" temple above the mercy-soot. God wna he had, like the rest of the apostles, been there; it was ho who spoke. For the word "endued with power from on high." Dy rendered "excellent" (µ,-ya.~o,rpnnls…
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lasting impression which the Transfiguration Lord himself insisted again and ago.in upon mnde on those who were privileged to tl,e testimony of the prophets ; so did his witness it (comp. John i. 14). apostles after him. Still, it seems difficult Ver. 19.-We have also a more sure word to understand that,even to Jewish…
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lamp, till the faller light of day dnwns upon ceeded. Therefore the prophetio book■ or the ~oul, ns !be. believer, led by the pro- Holy Scripture 11re snored au<.! precious, e.nd phelio word, realizes the personal knowledge we do well in giving heed to them; though c,f the Lord, and he manifests himself ac- the day-…
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HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-4.-Theaddress. I. ST. PETER's DESCRIPTION OF HIMSELF. 1. His name. Ho wrote "Peter" simply in the First Epistle; he writes "Symeon Peter" now. Apparently he is writing to the same Churches as before; bt1t it is a Second Epistle he seems to know more of tbem-he gives his full name. That name contain…
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;1rays again, ns he had prayed before, that that grace and peace may be multiplied; "men ought always to pray, and not to faint." 2. Where those blessings are to be fou-nd. "In tbe knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord." "This is life eternal " the Loru ,Jesus said," that they might know thee the only true God and…
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Vere. 5-11,-Exhortation to earnest effort. I. Ou& DUTY. 1. To use all diligence. God's Divine power is with us; he has granted us all necessary helps. But this, says the apostle, is the very reason why we should work all the more strenuously. It would be heartless work, if we had not the great power of God to help us; …
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the Lord, to sP,ck bis gl0ry only. This holy reverence for the felt presence of God can only be maintai1:'ed in_ the life of faith and self-control; in the worldly life of mere pleasur? and busmess 1t cannot flourish. G<>d is the centre of the devout life, the life of godlmess; and to fix the eye of the soul on him …
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If we listen to him and cease to trust in our Father's care, labo □ rin"' more for the meat that perisheth than for that which endureth to everlasting life°; or if we indulge visions of spiritual pride, and tempt God by putting ourselves into perilous positions to which he has not called us,-then the doubts increase an…
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St. Peter is an exan!ple to_ all Christian ministers. '!'hey m\ ,t watch for eouls; they must never weary m their work ; at all times and in all i:laces they should strive sometimes by word, always by example, to arouse men to a sense of the momentou~ imporlan_ce of the things _which belong to their peace. '!'hey ar…
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with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me." That great sight was to prepare them for the awful agony that was to follow. God gives from time to time glimpses of the blessedness of heaven to bis saints• the Saviour manifests himself to his chosen as he doth not unto the world. And so…
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Et.hiopian eunuch, to the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. That chapter, like so much more of Old Testament prophecy, appeals to the deepest yearnings of the awakening heart, to the sense of sin, the feeling of need, the longing for atonement, the reachina forth of the soul for a personal Saviour. Prophecy is a "burn…
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Vere. 3, 4.-The bounty of God. The lot of the primitive Christians whom the apostles addressed in their spoken and written utterances must, for the most pa.rt, have appeared to ordinary observers far from desirnble. Not only were they drawn from the lowly and unconsidered classes of society, but they often had much to …
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Ver. 4.-Partakers of a Divine nature. Readers of classic literature are aware that the cultivated pagans of antiquity broke down the distinction between the humau and the Divine, by representing their emperors and other great men as taken after death into the rank of the gods. Dut this apotheosis was rather an exaltati…
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tcllrnrds Jesus. In his humiliation our Lord was acknowledged as the cc beloved Son." a. Witness was also borne to the complacency with which the Father recrardcd the Son, 0 as fulfilling his will in the ministry and mediation he had undertaken. 4. 'l'he Trans- figuration was justly regarded by the apostles as a. best…
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In the Lord. 2. Where the day shines is a.lso matter of great interest. To St. Peter the glory of noontide splendour was still in the future. Certain it is that the kin"dom of Christ, like th~ path of the just," shineth more and more unto the perfect day." What we have hitherto seen has been the beauty and the promise …
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supernatural revelation, acknowledge the debt of humanity to the representation of monotheism given by the Hebrew prophets and apostles. 2. The righteous government and the holy character of the Eternal are set forth in the Bible, not only by means of st:i.tements, but by means of lessons conveyed in the form of histo…
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not give us mature spiritual blessings, but rather supplies us with the means of acquir- ing them. When we can do anything to secure the answer to onr prayers, God gives the answer by blessing our own efforts, and, apart from the effort, the answer does not come. He will not give spiritual enrichment to spiritual inact…
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Scripture does not so much contain promises; it is rather one great promise, God's Word of promise, Christ being the Gift promised, We shall never understand the promises by t.~king a text here and a text there, but only by pondering the whole volume as the revel!\• c1on of Jesus; only thus can we have a true idea o…
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grnoe nnd peace are to be multiplied; these verses say, to that must be added by you "all diligence." J. WE HAVE HERE AN ENUMERATION OF CERTAIN GRACES Oll' THE CHRlSTIAN I,IFE. It begins with "faith" and ends with "love," and between these are two or tbrec words which need attention. Next to "faith," "virtue" iH ment…
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Vers. 12-15.-The·saint's earnest endeavour to enforce spiritual truth. At the close of Peter's life the corrupt heresies of the second and third centuries were threatened, and against these be would fortify the Church by making them "mindful" of the Word of God. 'l'he Church would be strong-strong to resist the encr…
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teaching may abide when the teacher has gone. For the Word is "incorruptible; " the seed we sow has life in itself; ~n~, so '.ar f~om being_ dismayed when it springs not up e.t once, we should remember 1t 1s said, ' That which thou sowest fa not quickened except it die;" that "the harvest is the end of the world;" and …
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<Jhrist. That is what Peter in effect says here, the sum of the truth he urges-'' the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ," that is, his Deity and Incarnation, the God-M~n. In makin~ Christ known Scripture necessarily touches on other subjects, for he 1s connected with every part of the Father's will, and he cann…
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Vera. 19-21.-Gertainty about Ohrist the result of giving heed to the IJivine Word. Some to whom the apostle writes migM- object, that, if personal intercourse be the ground of certainty concerning Christ, Peter may well be certain; but what of them who have had no such persona.I intercourse? The apmtle deals with that …
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Vers. 1, 2.-Divine blessing by human channels. L THE TYPE OF MAN BY WHOM BLESSING COMES TO MAN. No one can take any thoughtful view of the book we call the Bible without learning how largely man is the channel of the Divine thought, the Divine emotion, the Divine grace. "Men spake from God, being moved by the Holy …
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Vers. 15-7.-True Christian character. This notable passage, growing very evi- dently out of what precedes and into what follows, has a wealth of instruction. I. True Christian character OONSIBTB OF MANIFOLD ELEMENTS. Here is a chain no link of which may be omitted, a structure no stone in which may be lacking, a body …
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"more sure" than the oral testimony of witnesses? (1) Because it is a more comP're- hensive record. (2) Morn manifold authority. (3) More able to be tested. "Thy W c,rd is tried." Concerniog this "sure word of prophecy," this paosage teaches: (1) It is of wide application. "Not of private," that is, single "interpretat…
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Vers. 3-11.-The Christian virtues in their completeness. I. Fou~"DATION OF EXHon- TATION. 1. Grant. "Seeing that his Divine power bath granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness." The grant has reference to life and godliness. The first of these words is to be understood of healthful condition; …
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teaching here is not with regard to our God-like constitution (" For we are also his off- spring"), but with regard to what with our God-like constitution we may become. The langunge employed is strong and peculiarly attractive to some minds. We are not to think of deification, or absorption into God. But let us form n…
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expression of which is," Let us be on fire: let us only be forcible." Ilut in forcibleness there must be supplied, as its necessary complement, knowledge. Thero is a different word here from what was formerly used. 'l'he idea is that there must be enlightened ,:judgment-an apprehension in every moment of what is the…
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,Jesus Olirist. This iR not the knowledge that is mentioned as one c,f the seven virtues, but the mature knowledge that has been twice mentioned. It has been regarded as the meo.ns; now it is regarded as the end, Showing diligence in the practice of the seven virtues, we are to come to a rich appreciative knowledge of …
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our ambition. Let us not be content with 11. bare entrance; let us, by increased diligence, enrich the entrance that we are to have.-R. F. Vera. 12-21.-Putting in mind. I. TrrE TIME OF PUTTING IN MIND, 1. Putting in mind as long as he was in this tabernacle. "Wherefore I shall be ready always to put you in remeru b…
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we made known unto yo!i the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." There are two important points to be noticed here, In the first place, Peter, writing in the name of the other apostles, declares that they were careful in what they admitted into the historical basis of their religion, They saw the putting forw…
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that the Lord descends, the archangel marshals his innumerable host, giving the shout of command with the living voice. Havino- marshalled his hosts to move in harmony with the descending Lord, he at a subsequ~nt stage gives nnother shout of command, this time not with the living voice, but with the trump of God. At …
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sile.11 bring in damne.ble heresies. The verb truth or his humanity. But St. Peter may (,r11prnrd(ou111v) is found only here in the New mean tbe practical denial of Christ evinced Testo.ment; the o.djcctive derived from it in an ungodly and licentious life. The is used by St. Paul in Ge.I. ii. 4, " false !atter _form…
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worns of these men were not the expression chains of darkness. The Revised Version of their real thoughts nnd feelings ; they " pits" represents the reading of the four were invented, craftily contrived to deceive oldest manuscripts ; but the variations in men, and tl111t for the sake of money. The two of them (the …
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Ver. 6.-And turning the cities of Sodom to be punished. We have here the apodosis and Gomorrah into aehee condemned them correspondini with the conditional sontenco with an overthrow. The striking word beginning at ver. 4. 'l'he three examples ,,.,rppC:,cra.s, turning into ashes, occurs no- cited by St. Peter show that…
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Lord. The conjnnction is 6,rou, literallv, uoVTa<," shall also be destroyed in their own " where" -they speak evil of glories, corruption." It soems better to take 4>6opd. in '' wlwre," i.e. "in which case.'' The literal the sense of" corruption" here, as in eh. i. -l, rendering of the following words, "angels and t…
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eupporletl here, o.nd the le.tter in the po.mllel the son of l!osor. The word rendered passage of St. Jude (ver. 12). It is possible "following" (i~cu,ol\ov9/io-a11Te<) is found also tlmt the pe.ronomasie. me.y be intentional in eh. i. 1G o.nd ii. 2 of this Epistle, but no- ( compo.re t.he 0'1rll\01 of St. Peter e.n…
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in llfntt. xxi. 5). ••Dumb'' is literally entice (as in ver. 14) in the lusts of the flesh, "without Yoice;" naturally without Yoice1 by lascivio11sness. The preposition "in" it spnke with the voice of man, The word dcnot3s the sphere in which these men live, iNwll.vcru•, rendered " forbade," is rather their conditi…
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WOl'd rondered "corruption'' (,peop&) in- "entan~led" (lµ1r?..a1dvns) suggests the cludes the sense of" destruction," as in ver. figure of fishes entanc,led in the meshes of a 12 and eh. i. 4 (comp. Rom. viii. 21). For net, and seems to point bnck to the li,?..«l- of whom a ma.n is overcome, of the same is (ouuw ("e…
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HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-9.- Warning against false teachers. I. THE NERD OF WATCHFULNESS. 1. There must befalse teachers. There had been false prophets in Israel, like Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah, who flattered Ahab and lured him to his death. There was a traitor among the chosen twelve. "In the visible Church the evi…
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Thrse folso lcnchers wern per~isting in their wilfolnc.~q, an<l brin;,;incr uprin themse1vr 3 swift destruction. 3. 1'l,e sad resultd ef it. They will not be witho~t followers· many will be drawn away from the truth, and will follow these false teachers tbis w~y and that, to strange heresies or to licentiousness of lif…
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3. Thej11d_qment of Sodom. and Gomorrah. '"l'he Lord rained upon Sodom o.nd upon Gomorrah b1im,tone and fire from the Lord out of hrtwcn." 'l'hat tremendous over- throw is a solemn warning to the ungodly of all time. G-od will by no mel\ns spare the guilty; if men "'ill pollute God's earth and their own bodies by si…
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meah{ng j and beyond thl\t flre lies the awful d"y or juclgm1mt, for which the aou\s of the ungodly are now kept in that mysterious" prison" of which Ro little is rovealed. LEBBONB, 1. The Lord bought us; we are his. It is awful guilt to deny him who ransomed us wHh his most precious blood. 2. It is a foarrul sacrileg…
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fishers of men, but not with the gospel net; they hide their deadly hook with an alluring bait. But the end of these things is death; for impurity is deadly sin in the sight of God. The body of the Christian is a temple of God the Holy Ghost; and "if any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy." III. TH…
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Public domain historical Pulpit Commentary. Source page identifies the volume as Public Domain; text extracted from its historical PDF.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.