Ver. 15. εἰρήνη σοι, pax tibi, the
Jewish ‘greeting, πο Di w (Jud. vi.
23, xix. 20), ot φίλοι, those at Ephesus; τοὺς φίλους, those with Gaius. St. John knew all “by name,” and would have named them had space permitted. He had the true shepherd’s heart (cf. John x. 3, the only other place where κατ᾽ ὄνομα occurs in N.T.). Ignat., ad Smyrn., xiii. 2: ἀσπαάζομαι λκην, τὸ παθητόν por ὄνομα, καὶ Δάφνον, τὸν ασύγκριτον καὶ εὔτεκνον, καὶ πάντας Kat ὄνομα.
THE GENERAL EPISTLE OF
INTRODUCTION. CHAPTER I. Relation of the Second Epistle of Peter to the Epistle of Fude.
THE general resemblance between the two Epistles will be apparent from the marginal references to my text. I propose here to com- pare them throughout, stating the reasons which have led me to believe that the epistle of Jude was known to the author of 2 Peter, not vice versa.”
To begin with, both style themselves servants of Jesus Christ and address themselves to those who in some way belong to God and to Jesus Christ, desiring that peace might be multiplied upon them. We notice here certain differences occasioned by the differ- ence of the writers. J. marks his identity by naming his brother James; P. claims apostleship. J. adds the prayer for mercy and and love to that for peace ; P. who is about to speak more fully of love immediately, omits it here, and changes ἔλεος into the wider Χάρις. J. defines his readers as ‘‘the called who have been beloved by God the Father and kept safe in Jesus Christ’’; P. defers the notion of ‘‘ calling’ to the third and tenth verses, and dwells here on God's free gift of faith (τοῖς λαχοῦσιν πίστιν) as characteristic of his readers. He adds two remarkable phrases (1) that, through the justice of our God and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, this faith is (2) equally privileged with that of the writer (whether we are to regard him as representing the Apostles, or the Jews, as seems to me more probable), and he emphasises this equality of Jew and Gentile by the unique use of his own double name, the Hebrew ««Symeon”’ added to the Greek “ Peter,’ suggesting that his sym- pathies embrace both. We may compare with this the friendly re- ference to St. Paul in iii. 15, and the association of Silvanus with the writer in 1 Peter.
1 For the justification of the readings and interpretations adopted in the follow- ing chapters, see critical and explanatory notes. 2In what follows P. stands for 2 Peter, J. for Jude.
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