Vv. τη 28. Final exhortation. ‘“‘Having then, brethren, been fore- warned, be on your guard lest you fall from your own foundation, carried away by the error of lawless men. Grow in the grace and knowledge of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him, be glory both now and in the day of eternity.”
Ver. 17. This verse gathers up various thoughts that appear elsewhere in the epistle. Προγινώσκοντες repeats ταῦτα πρῶτον γινώσκοντες Of i. 20, iii. I; ἀθέσμων occurs ii. 7; πλάνη ii. 18. συναπαχθέντες (cf. Galat. ii. 13), ‘car- tied away". ἀθέσμων, see note ii. 7.
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Ili, 18.
k Gal. ii. 13. τῶν ἀθέσμων πλάνῃ * συναπαχθέντες ἐκπέσητε τοῦ ἰδίου στηριγμοῦ,
19. αὐξάνετε δὲ ἐν χάριτι καὶ γνώσει τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν καὶ σωτῆρος μ
᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ.
στηριγμοῦ, “steadfastness”; perhaps “foundation”’ is better, although in this sense we would expect otyjprypa. There is, however, a tendency in N.T. to con- fuse words in -μα -μος. Cf. κύλισμα (2 Pet. ii. 22). ἁρπαγμός (Phil. ii. 6). The foundation is the χάρις and γνῶσις of v. 18. ἰδίου is in emphatic contrast to the untrustworthy basis of the Libertine teaching.
Ver. 18. ἐν χάριτι καὶ γνώσει τοῦ Κυρίον, κ.τ.λ. The genitive is to be taken with both words. yvéou.s here means ‘spiritual instruction,’? a know- ledge that has its source in Christ Him- self, as distinct from ἐπίγνωσις, which is personal communion with Christ (see note i. 5). Ὑγνῶσις is the privilege of the
Staten te δόξ Nha es ac] εν 2A αυτῷ η οςα και νυν και εις ημεραν σίιωγος.
“friend” of Christ. Cf. John vii. 17, xv. 15. αὐτῷ. Note that the doxology is addressed to Christ, and, therefore, κυρίου ἡμῶν. also refers to Him. eis ἡμέραν αἰῶνος: “in the day of eter- nity’. The meanings of eis and ἐν in later Greek are somewhat interchang- able (cf. Moulton, Proleg. 234 f.). ἡμ. ai@vos is a very rare phrase not found elsewhere in N.T. It is found in Sir. xviil. Io, where the phrase is ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ai@vos. The more usual expression is eis τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. “' εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας becomes so immediately the rul- ing phrase that this Petrine doxology cannot have been written after liturgical expressions had become in any degree stereotyped’ (Bigg).