This verse has been much discussed. It may be well to mention three gram- matical points that emerge. (1) The reference of 6. It is simplest to under- stand it as referring to the content of the preceding clause, and not to τὸν προφ" λόγον alone, viz. the fact that the προφ. λογ. is now Bef. on account of the Trans- figuration. (2) ἕως οὗ κ.τ.λ. is to be taken with Φαίνοντι, not with προσέχ- οντες. (3) ἐντ. κ. ὑμῶν is connected
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__Peter
111, Ss z ᾳ 2 , > /
Tim. ii. 1.7 ἐπιλύσεως οὐ γίνεται ' q Heb. xii.
20. τοῦτο " πρῶτον γινώσκοντες ὅτι πᾶσα προφητεία γραφῆς ἰδίας 21. οὐ γὰρ θελήµατι ἀνθρώπου ἠνέχθη
11 X39. προφητεία ποτέ, ἀλλὰ ὑπὸ πνεύματος ἁγίου φερόμενοι ἐλάλησαν rt.
absent ἀπὸ Θεοῦ 1 ἄνθρωποι. owing to
growth of
a special Christian terminology. Cf. Jude 8, 2 Peter ii. ro, ii. 18, i. 20. (Mayor, Ed. xxvii. ff.).
lato Θεου BP, syrh, boh., WH, Ti.; sah.; αγιοι του Θ. A; αγιοι απο ϐ. Ο.
with ἀνατείλῃ alone, and not with διανγ- doy. With these presuppositions we may briefly consider the two leading in- terpretations.
1. Mayor may be taken as representa- tive of the view that the verse is wholly an exhortation to “search the Scrip- tures’’, There are three stages: the prophetic lamp (τὸν προφ. . . . τόπῳ); the Gospel dawn (ἡμέρα Siavy.); the nner light of the spirit (φωσφόρος ... ὑμῶν.). “ The lower degree of faith in the written word will be followed by divine insight”. He compares Euth. Zig. 6 προφητικὸς λόγος τοὺς ἐν ἀγνοίᾳ φΦωταγωγεῖ ἕως καθαρὸν ὑμῖν τὸ φῶς τοῦ εὐαγγελίου διαφανῇῃ καὶ 6 νοητὸς ἕωσφ- όρος, τουτέστι Χριστός, ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν ἀνατείλῃ. (cf Huther, Alford). The objection to this view is that it seems to ignore the place given to the Transfiguration as a religious fact for writer and readers alike (ἔχομεν).
2. Another and more probable view naturally takes ἕως οὗ . . . ὑμῶν as τε- ferring to the Second Advent. This pre- serves the usual meaning of ἡμέρα in the Epistle, and it also gives point to the striking sequence of metaphors. The λύχνῳ Φφαίνοντι is the confirmation of the prophetic word by the Transfigura- tion which the writer has given them (cf. v. 16); and this is made all the more probable if we take the reference sug- gested for @ in (1) above. The αὐχμ. τόπῳ would be the world in which they live (cf. Ps. cxix. 105). This lamp is meant to serve until the glorious appearing. One objection to the eschatological in- terpretation of ἕως οὗ κ.τ.λ. is the phrase ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν which implies an inward Coming. This is largely repelled if we accept its grammatical connection with ἀνατείλῃ alone ((3) above). ‘The Morning-Star arises in their hearts, when the σημεῖα of the approaching Day are manifest to Christians. The fulfilment of their hope is at the door: the Lord is at hand” (von Soden). See note on σεν ο)
pwn generation.
jernment’’ (Mayor, p. 196).
αγιοι Θεου SYKL, syrp + Treg. ; αγιοι
Ver. 20. τοῦτο πρῶτον γινώσκοντες. “ Recognising this truth above all else”’ (in your reading of Scripture). The False Teachers appealed to the O.T. scriptures in support of their doctrine. ὅτι Taga... ov yiveTar. Waoa... ov need not be regarded as a Hebraism. It is as normal as in I Jn. ii. 21, Jn. iii. 16. iSfas ἐπιλύσεως. This passage is a noted crux. (1) Hardt, followed by Lange, Spitta and others interpret ἐπι- Avo. = dissolutio. ‘No prophecy of 5. is of such a kind that it can be annulled”. But no satisfactory instance of ἐπιλνσ. in this sense can be adduced. (2) Ac- cepting the sense of 18. ἐπιλ. = “ pri- vate,” or “human interpretation,” Von Soden sees a reference to the methods of the false teachers in their attitude to Scripture (cf.v. 16, ii. 1). ἰδίας “is opposed to the φωνὴ ἐνεχθεῖσα of i. 17’’. (3) It seems most satisfactory to understand i8. ἐπιλ. as the meaning of the prophet himself, or what was in the prophet’s mind when he wrote; the ful- filment in any particular generation or poch. ‘‘ The special work of the prophet s to interpret the working of God to his But in doing this, he is aying down the principles of God’s action generally. Hence there may be many fulfilments of one prophecy, or to speak more exactly, many historical illustrations of some one principle of Providential Gov- The geni- tive ἐπιλύσεως is gen. of definition and not of origin. “Νο prophecy is of such a nature as to be capable of a particu- lar interpretation.”