more quickly grow old. — vvpl, unto or for , fire) The Dative. Let those fiery meteors be thought of, which in our time often gleam fiom the lofty sky. — ruv aazfiuv, of the ungodly) these very persons, and the others.
8. “Ev d'e rouro) hut this one thing ; namely, that which pertains to this subject. This one thing only pertains to teaching in this epistle ; which (epistle) in other respects admonishes, but does not teach. — tH, XuvOuvsrw) do not suffer it to escape your notice. — v/xug, you) Anti- thetical to them , ver. 5. He does not so fully reply to the mockers, as he instructs the faithful. — /x/a j^/xgpa nupu Kup/ai ug y}7.ux> gV»j, xal yj7.ia srvj dig ijfftpa /x/a, one day is with the Lord as a thousand years , and a thousand years as one day , Ps. xc. 4, Septuagint, 6V/ yiXia erri sv b(p6ct\[jjo7g ffou, Ku/>/g, djg ijfMspcc rj syd eg ring %a i <pv\ccjtri ev vvxri.
for a thousand years , 0 Lord , are inThy sight as yesterday , which is gone , and as a watch in the night. The preceding words convey this meaning : Thou art our refuge, Eternal God ; and not we our- selves, frail weak men. The reason is added : for a thousand years , etc. Moses describes the eternity of God much more absolutely : Peter describes it in the relation which it bears to the last day, and to men looking for that day ; so that His eternity may itself be per- ceived, by which in essence and in operation, He wonderfully ex- ceeds all measure of time ; and that His divine knowledge may also be included in the idea, that knowledge to which all future things are present : and His Power (may be recognised), which does not require long delays for the performance of its work ; and His Long- suffering, from which all impatient expectation is absent and all eager haste. With the Lord one day is as a thousand years (Peter adds this to the saying of Moses) : that is, He is equally blessed in one day, or in one moment, and in a thousand years and a whole age : He is able to perform the work of a thousand years in one day. Wherefore in the following verse it is added : He is not slow : It is always in His power to fulfil His promise. And a thousand years are as one day (thus Peter, while in this clause he re-echoes the for- mer one, and accommodates both to the subject in hand, appro- priately varies the words of Moses) : that is, no delay happens which is long to God. As to a man of excessive wealth, a thousand guineas are as a single penny; so to the Eternal God a thousand vears are as one day : wherefore in the next verse it is added : hut is long-suffering : He gives us space for repentance without any annoyance to Himself. Comp. Ecclesiasticus xviii. 10, 11. The sum of Peter’s words is, the age-measurer (so to speak) of God