. H. (BASE. PETER, SECOND EPISTLE OF.—
1. The Epistle considered apart from the question of ite genuineness. 1. Transmission of the Text. 2. Summary of the Epistle. 8. Doctrine of the Epistle. 4. The writer of the Epistle, its readers, the circum- stances of its com; tion. Il. The question of the genuineness of the Epistle. vn e integrity of the Epistle. 2 a in the Church. lary and style.
4. Internal evidence—(a) references to the gospel history ; b) absence of personal messages and greetings; alleged nisms ; (4) doctrine.
δ. Relation to 1 P.
6. Literary affinities—(a) Jude ; (ὃ) Josephus; (c) Apoca- lypse of Peter.
7. Conclusion.
I. THE EPISTLE CONSIDERED APART FROM THE QUESTION OF ITS GENUINENESS. —1. TJRANS- MISSION OF TEXT. For the authorities—MSS and Versions—see art, JUDE (EPISTLE OF) in vol. ii. p- 799. Some further points must benoted. (1) 2 P 1s not contained in the Peshitta. The text given in the printed editions of that version is, it ap- pears, part of the Philoxenian version of the Nr made in the early years of the 6th cent. (see below, p. 805). (2) Portions of pre-Hieronymic texts are found in the Fleury palimpsest=h (edited by Berger, 1889), in the Munich fragments edited by Ziegler=q (only 1'“), and in the Speculum commonly known by the symbol m (ed. Woihrich). The text preset in ἢ 4, according to Berger, is one based on a late ‘Italian’ text, kindred to that revised by Jerome, transplanted to Africa and there greatly altered—‘an African text of a late period.’ Some remarkable fragments of an old Latin text are contained in Priscillian (ed. Schepss)—1” (omnis profetia uel scribtura inter- pretationem indiget, p. 87), 2% 1° (p. 29), 25 (p. 46). Ambrose (de Fide iii. 12) quotes 1°. (3) Patristic evidence for the text is found chiefly in (a) Greek writers—Didymus, Ephraem (not Syriac works),
ril Alex., John of Damascus, the commentators
cumenius and Theophylact, the fragments in Cramer’s Catena (some being ascribed to Athan- asius, Eusebius of Emesa, an Chrysostom ; on the last see below, p. 805n.); (δ) Latin writers—Am- brose, Priscillian, Jerome, Augustine, Fulgentius, Vigilius, Bede. Difficulties of interpretation give & sense of insecurity in regard to the text (e.g. 20-14), Hort supposes that there are primitive errors in 3) 12, n 3%, see below p. 811; and on 3° see Vansittart in the Journal of Philology iii. p. 357 ff., where he mggesta that the ‘existence’ of this Epistle, as of that to the Hebrews, ‘de- pended for many years on a single copy.’
2, SUMMARY OF THE EPistie-'The Epistle (after the salutation) seems to fall into three
PETER, SECOND EPISTLE
sections —(1) 1%"; (2) 12-2; (3) 318. Each of the two latter sections begins with a reference to the writer’s personal relation to those whcm he addresses, and in both cases he goes on to speak of the dangers which will soon overtake them from false teachers.
(1) @.) Ue Salutation; (ii.) 18% Divine gifts —The Divine power has given us all needful endowments, endowments through which He has given us* His promises, that through these promises you, having escaped from the world’s corru tion, may become sharers in the Divine nature, (iii.) 15-7 7] duty of diligence. Such gifts imply duties. Use diligence on your part that one excellence in you may grow out of another. iv) 15:11 The hope of diligence. Such excellences, where the exist, cause fruitfulness. For he who has them not is blind, and forgets that he was cleansed from the sins of his old life. Therefore with the greater diligence see that you make God's calling and choice of you an abiding blessing. For so acting,
ou will not stumble; and the gift of entrance into the eternal kin om will without stint be yours.
(2) (L) 1215 The writer's care for his friends.—Hence, though ye know these truths, I will ever keep them fresh in your memory, 80 long as I am in this tabernacle, for I know from the Lord’s disclosure of the future to me that my putting it off will come suddenly. Further, I will take diligent care that, as during my life so also after my. ips you shall be reminded of these truths, (ii.) 116-21 J'he teachers’ warrant. For we did not follow fables skilfully elaborated when we told you of the power of the Lord and His coming (i.e. in the flesh). Our warrant was that we had been initiated into the mystery of His majesty. We beheld the glory which He received from the Father, when the voice of God addressed Him as My Son, when we were His companions in the Holy Mount. And what is more abiding than a fleeting voice we possess in the prophetic word. Give heed to it as a lamp shining in a foul place till the perfect dawn comes. But remember that the interpretation of a prophecy in Scripture does not lie within Β man’s unaided power ἡ ; for prophecy came not by the will of man, but men Uae from God as they were controlled by the Spirit. (iii.) 2111 False teachers; their sure punishment. As there were false prophets in Israel, so there will be false teachers among you, denying even the Master who purchased them. Many will follow them, their life and their teaching being marked by lasciviousness, greed, insincerity. But their judgment has long been actively working. For God ever punishes the evil. He punished angels when they sinned, committing them to dens of darkness to be kept for judgment ; the ancient world, while He delivered Noah; the Cities of the Plain, their overthrow being an example of what shall happen to ungodly men, while He delivered Lot, ever wearied out by the lascivious life of the lawless. Yes, the Lord can deliver the godly from temptation, and keep the unrighteous i. pun- ishment for the day of judgment. And this is chiefly so with those whose sins are uncleanness, proud insubordination, and slandering ; whereas angels, greater in power than they, bring no slanderous accusation pene them (ἐ.6. these sinners) before the Lord. (iv.) 21222 Marks of such false teachers. Such men may be easily discerned. In their sins, and therefore in theiz punishment, they are like irrational animals. They blazon their profligacy in broad daylight. They are spots and flaws in your company. Their glances are ceaselessly unchaste. They entice restless souls. They sin from motives of covetous- ness like Balaam, who was miraculously rebuked for his mad- ness. They are as purposeless as waterless springs or tempest- driven mists: their end will be thick darkness. With empty vauntings they entice into lusts those who are just escaping from evil companionship. Themselves the slaves of corruption, they promise a spurious liberty. They are indeed slaves. For if they were rescued from the defilements of the world and are now again ensnared therein, their last state has become worse than their first. For ignorance of riphteoustias is better than deliberate rebellion against the holy commandment. Their di ation is set forth in common proverbs.