mythology. The word, however, is found in Jewish writings, which 2 Peter may have read (see note on ii. 4).
(2) Are 2 Peter and the Apocalypse by the same author ? (Sanday, Inspiration, p. 347). This view is opposed by Chase (op. cit., 815) on the ground of the difference in style. ‘The Apo- calypse,” he says, “is simple and natural in its style. There is nothing remarkable in its vocabulary.’ The argument would seem to be conclusive, as the style of 2 Peter is unmistakable, and would be easily recognised. At the same time, the undoubted similarity between the two writings ‘not only in words or indefinitely marked ideas, but also in general conceptions—e.g., in both there is the picture drawn of Christ on the mountain with His Apostles, the latter being admitted to a secret revelation which they should afterwards use for the confirmation of their disciples—seems to be an argument of some strength in favour of the view that the two documents are the product of the same school” (Chase).
(3) Does the Apocalypse borrow from 2 Peter? Some of the arguments already adduced against the contrary hypothesis (i.) are really in favour of this supposition. The “naturalness of the words and phrases as they stand in their several contexts in the Apocalypse,” which is brought forward by Chase as an argument against this third hypothesis (op. cit., p. 815 ϐ) is really only a compliment to the style of the writing, and an indication that the writer has no intention of slavishly imitating 2 Peter, or of forming a kind of mosaic of his own and another’s diction. As regards the absence in the Apocalypse of the strange and remarkable phrases of 2 Peter that they were strange and remarkable might be precisely the reason why they were avoided or modified. ἐβασάνιζεν in 2 Peter ii. 8 is rendered by δοκιµάζω in Apocalypse, § 1; the reference to the Trans- figuration in the Apocalypse is fuller than in 2 Peter, and would seem to indicate reflection on the Petrine narrative (e.g., cf. addition of οἱ δώδεκα µαθηταί to simple ἡμεῖς in 2 Peter i. 18; and expression τὸ ὄρος for τῷ ἁγίῳ dpe). Such a phrase as ἐν τόπῳ σκοτεινῶ, might well be a paraphrase of ἐν αὐχμηρῷ τόπω, a much rarer word, and it is extremely unlikely that αὐχμ. would be substituted for σκοτεινός. It is therefore most probable that the Apocalypse is indebted to 2 Peter, which would suggest a date for the Epistle earlier than 120-140 (cf. p. 181).
In the so-called ΞΕΟΟΝΡ ΕΡΙΘΤΙΕΒ oF CLEMENT (130-170) there is a passage deserving of notice. γινώσκετε δὲ ὅτι ἔρχεται ἤδη ἡ ἡμέρα τῆς κρίσεως ὡς κλίβανος καιόµενος καὶ τακήσονται at δυνάµεις τῶν οὐρανῶν καὶ πᾶσα ἡ yi ὡς µόλυβδος ἐπὶ πυρὶ τηκόµενος καὶ τότε Φανήσεται τὰ κρύφια