an uptodate greek commentary on the prophetic verses
what commentary do you recommend? I cant find much on 2 pet 3.10, it seems like peter says the earth will burn up twice, only one commentary says that it might not be what peter is saying, but I need more referances
Thanks
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Ole Madsen said:
what commentary do you recommend? I cant find much on 2 pet 3.10, it seems like peter says the earth will burn up twice, only one commentary says that it might not be what peter is saying, but I need more referances
Thanks
The crucial step is to compare how language like this was used and understood. There's a very good discussion of the options in Bauckham's commentary on 2 Peter, Jude in the Word Biblical Commentary series (1983).
Sometimes it's our frame of reference that stops us seeing different way of reading (like a cultural blindness). If you want to consider a different way of thinking, consider:
Middleton, J. Richard. A New Heaven and a New Earth: Reclaiming Biblical Eschatology. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2014).
The Scripture index at the end of the book indicates Middleton deals with 2 Peter 3:10 several times: on pages 161–62, 163, 180, 190, 192, 193, 194, 198, 205, 295, 301.
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Ole Madsen said:
... I cant find much on 2 pet 3.10 ...
Ole, by way of a follow-up, Scot McKnight has a guest post on this today:
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2019/07/25/cosmic-catastrophe-rjs/
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Ole Madsen said:
I cant find much on 2 pet 3.10, it seems like peter says the earth will burn up twice, ...
Milestone search idea is:
(earth NEAR twice) WITHIN {Milestone <2P3.10>}
Keep Smiling [:)]
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I have placed extensive notes on 2 Peter 3:10 and especially 2 Peter 3:13 in my book, The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, a resource available in Logos.
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To give you a sample of commentaries you might want to purchase.... Here is the Baker Exegetical Commentary
3:10 “But the day of the Lord will come” (Ἥξει δὲ ἡμέρα κυρίου, Hēxei de hēmera kyriou), says Peter, despite its apparent delay (v. 9). “The day of the Lord” is the eschatological moment when God will appear, judge the inhabitants of the earth, and pour out his wrath against the unrepentant because of their sin (Isa. 13:6, 9; Ezek. 13:5; 30:3; Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11; 3:14; Amos 5:18, 20; Zeph. 1:7, 14; Zech. 14:1; Mal. 4:5; Acts 2:20; 1 Cor. 5:5; 1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Thess. 2:2). Although this will also be a day of salvation for God’s people (Joel 2:21–32; 3:18; Obad. 15–21; Zech. 14:1–21), Peter’s focus is on the terror of that event. In the epistles, this time is sometimes known as “the day of the Lord Jesus” (1 Cor. 1:8; 2 Cor. 1:14; and see Phil. 1:6, 10; 2:16), when he comes to execute the divine judgment (2 Thess. 1:6–10). This day will come at an unexpected moment, ὡς κλέπτης (hōs kleptēs, as a thief). Jesus taught that it is impossible to know when that day will come (Matt. 24:36; Mark 13:32–37; Acts 1:7); for that reason, believers should be ready for it at all times (2 Pet. 3:10–11; 1 Thess. 5:4–6).
The assertion that the coming will be “as a thief in the night” finds its roots in the teaching of Jesus (Matt. 24:43–44; Luke 12:39–40), which was then incorporated into the instruction given to the church about the end (1 Thess. 5:2; Rev. 3:3; 16:15). Peter, however, omits the note about the thief coming “in the night” (see the first additional note on 3:10). We need not assume that Peter draws directly from Paul (3:15–16; cf. Neyrey 1993: 242) given the common knowledge of this dominical teaching. The unexpected end calls for vigilance (1 Thess. 5:1–11).
Peter describes cataclysmic judgment on that day: ἐν ᾗ οἱ οὐρανοὶ ῥοιζηδὸν παρελεύσονται στοιχεῖα δὲ καυσούμενα λυθήσεται καὶ γῆ καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ ἔργα εὑρεθήσεται (en hē hoi ouranoi rhoizēdon pareleusontai stoicheia de kausoumena lythēsetai kai gē kai ta en autē erga eurethēsetai, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed by burning, even the earth and the works that are discovered in it). Peter describes the event again in verse 12, and the horror of this cosmic conflagration defies comprehension. The heavens and the earth, created and sustained by God (3:5–7), will be destroyed by him before the new heavens and earth are ushered in (3:13). At the time of the “day of the Lord” (ἐν ᾗ, en hē, in which), οἱ οὐρανοὶ ῥοιζηδὸν παρελεύσονται (hoi ouranoi rhoizēdon pareleusontai, the heavens will pass away with a roar). This was a basic element in the church’s expectation regarding the end of the present world (Matt. 5:18; 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 16:17; 21:33; Rev. 20:11; 21:1) and has its roots in OT and Jewish teaching (Isa. 34:4; 51:6; 1 En. 91.16; cf. T. Job 33.4: “The whole world will pass away and its splendor shall fade. And those who heed it shall share in its overthrow”; and Did. 10.6). In verse 12 Peter notes that the heavens will be set ablaze, but in verse 10 he focuses attention on the sound of the fury, the type of “roar” generated by something “passing with great force and rapidity” (BDAG 907). Although the term Peter uses is rare (ῥοιζηδόν, rhoizēdon), found only here in biblical literature, he may have in mind the “thunder” that accompanies the judgment of God (1 Sam. 2:10; 7:10; Job 40:9; Isa. 29:6; 33:3; Jer. 25:30; Joel 3:16). On the other hand, he may be thinking of nothing other than the sound generated by intense fire (3:7, 12).
Peter also warns that in the execution of divine judgment on the day of the Lord, στοιχεῖα δὲ καυσούμενα λυθήσεται (stoicheia de kausoumena lythēsetai, the elements will be destroyed by burning). Ancient literature used the term στοιχεῖα (stoicheia, elements; see also v. 12) in various ways, referring to celestial bodies such as the sun and stars (Diogenes Laertius, Lives 6.102), the elements from which the world is made (earth, air, fire, and water; Wis. 7:17; 19:18; 4 Macc. 12:13; Aristotle, Metaphysics 998A.20–30; Plutarch, Mor. 875C; Philo, Cherubim 2.35 §127), or supernatural powers that control the world (Gal. 4:3; Col. 2:8, 20). In 3:12 these “elements” are placed in contrast with “the heavens,” and they should therefore be understood as the totality of the material of the world. Moreover, 3:7 refers to the construction of the cosmos as simply “the heavens and the earth,” corresponding to the “the heavens and the elements” in the present verse. In the final clause of verse 10 Peter identifies the elements with “the earth.” The repeated affirmations in the biblical literature regarding the final destruction of the earth by fire (here καυσούμενα, kausomena, by burning) favors this interpretation (Isa. 66:16; Mic. 1:4; Nah. 1:6; Zeph. 1:18; Mal. 3:2, 19 LXX [4:1 Eng.]; Acts 2:19; 2 Thess. 1:7–8; 2 Pet. 3:7 and comments; 3:12; Rev. 9:18; 18:8; cf. Sib. Or. 3.75–92, which speaks of the destruction of the world by fire when a woman, Cleopatra, rules the world; BDAG 946; G. Delling, TDNT 7:670–87). Once again, though Peter’s readers are likely familiar with Stoic doctrine concerning a coming conflagration, Peter’s thought is more likely indebted to the biblical, Jewish, and Christian traditions regarding the end (see 3:7 and comments).
The final clause of the verse expands on the anterior affirmations. What shall be destroyed by burning is καὶ γῆ καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ ἔργα εὑρεθήσεται (kai gē kai ta en autē erga eurethēsetai, even the earth and the works that are discovered in it). The verb εὑρεθήσεται in this context, as in verse 14, suggests a judicial inquiry through which God will discover the deeds of humanity and will execute his judgment on the basis of what he finds (see Exod. 22:8 [22:7 LXX]; Deut. 22:22, 28; Ezra 10:18; Jer. 50:24 [27:24 LXX]; Luke 23:4; John 18:38; 19:4; Acts 13:28; 23:9; Rev. 14:5). The passive voice of the verb here suggests the divine agency in this inquiry. The verse becomes part of the fabric of early Christian teaching that God will judge τὰ ἔργα (ta erga, the works) of each, which will become manifest in the final judgment (Mark 4:22; John 3:21; 1 Cor. 3:13; 14:25; Eph. 5:13). The false teachers have sown doubt about the reality of final judgment. Peter faces off against them, declaring that nothing and no one will escape God’s wrath save for those who embrace the salvation of God (2 Pet. 3:15). “The works” of those who do evil will be discovered.
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This is just a sample from the NIV Application Commentary
Commentators have offered a series of suggestions explaining this language. (1) The elements are the four basic elements, earth, air, fire, and water. This was a normal meaning for stoicheia.43 (2) The elements are the heavenly bodies, the sun, moon, and stars. This meaning for stoicheia is clearly found in the second century.44 (3) The elements are angelic powers, a meaning that many scholars believe is found in Paul (Gal 4:3 [“the basic principles of the world” (kosmos, which can mean “universe”)]; Col 2:8, 20). All three of these suggestions have a prima facie validity and fit the culture in which 2 Peter was written.
The first suggestion fits the cosmology of that day in that many philosophers argued that the whole universe was made up of earth, air, fire, and water, and, as we saw above, in Stoic thought fire was viewed as the chief element into which the others dissolved in periodic cycles. This would fit with the ending of the first age of creation by water in 2 Pet 3:6 (perhaps alluding to an alternative Greek conception of the universe in which the periodic cycles ended with all dissolving in water). More importantly, it seems to parallel Jesus’ statement in which heaven and earth pass away, not heaven and the elements. It would also explain why a new heavens and new earth were needed in 2 Pet 3:12. If this is the proper understanding, we are talking about a total dissolution of the creation as we know it.45
The second suggestion not only has second-century examples to call upon46 but also argues that 2 Peter is dependent on Isa 34:4. The Hebrew text differentiates between the “hosts of heaven,” which will “decay” or “rot away” (NIV, “dissolve”), and the heavens themselves (NIV, “sky”), which will be rolled up like a scroll. Thus the text clearly differentiates between the heavens (the “expanse” of Gen 1:6–8 that God calls “sky” [NIV], the same word as for “heavens,” and created on the second day) and the heavenly bodies (the “lights” of Gen 1:14–19, which are “in the expanse of the heavens” and are assigned to the fourth creative day). The Septuagint (LXX) condenses the Hebrew of Isa 34:4 (which mentions the heavenly bodies in two parts of the verse), dropping the first reference to the heavenly bodies, but still keeps the same distinction. In at least one manuscript of the LXX the first line of Isa 34:4 is translated, “all the powers of the heavens will melt.” The author of 2 Clem. 16:3 appears to know this version, for he writes, “The day of judgment is already coming like a blazing furnace, and some [or, with J. B. Lightfoot and Bauckham, emend to “the powers”]47 of the heavens and all of the earth will be melted as lead melts upon the fire, and then the hidden things will be manifest and the hidden works of people.” Interestingly enough, the verb for melting that appears in the LXX manuscript of Isa 34:4 and in 2 Clement also appears in 2 Pet 3:12. Thus, it is argued, what 2 Peter is describing is the disappearance of the sky and the destruction of the heavenly bodies.
The third suggestion in a sense builds on the second. It points out that (a) Paul believed in angelic/demonic powers that controlled human beings before conversion and that he called stoicheia, (b) many Jewish writings believed that the heavenly bodies either were or were controlled by spiritual beings and that is how at least some of them interpreted Isa 34:4,48 and (c) the author of 2 Peter also believes in fallen angels, who were, or, perhaps in some cases, are, connected to the stars (2 Pet 2:4, especially if he connected it to other OT passages referring to “gods” or “the sons of God”). Thus what our author is talking about is the destruction of these angelic powers.49
How shall we evaluate these suggested interpretations? In our view, in the light of the role that “elements” plays as the only thing other than “the heavens” that is to be burned up or melted, and in the light of the fact that the earth is mentioned separately, the second position appears to be the best argument, although we would not want to say that too dogmatically. Is there, then, the possibility of combining it with the third?50 Given that this is an eschatological judgment and that it is not material things per se that God judges, but people and powers that use or abuse these material things, that is possible. Yet the reference to “the elements” refers primarily to the heavenly bodies, and any beings connected to those bodies remain an unspoken assumption of our author. The point is that to bring about judgment the Lord must peel back all that stands in the way, and this means removing the heavens (or the sky) and burning up the bodies that are in those heavens (or that sky).
The third event of “the day of the Lord” is that “the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.” There is a textual problem in this verse that has to do with the term “will be laid bare” or “will be discovered.” If, however, our reading makes sense, it is the preferable one, since none of the others has as strong support, nor can they explain how our reading arose.51 And “will be laid bare” does make sense. The picture is indeed that of stripping off everything that stands between the eye of God and the earth. When the sky and the heavenly bodies are gone, “the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.” And that is the goal: to expose all that has gone on and is going on on the earth so that all those things that human beings thought that they were getting away with or thought that that God did not see are suddenly exposed to his unblinking eye. Probably our author believes that this process will do damage to the earth and its structures, but the point is the uncovering and exposing and thus the purifying of the earth. This uncovering is similar to the point of the flood, namely, to destroy human evil; in the process of doing that many animals and plants were also destroyed. In this case what is destroyed is the heavens, and perhaps with them spiritual forces that are influencing evil on earth. Yet 2 Peter does not dwell on the spiritual forces, assuming that he believes in them, but rather on the stripping away of the protective covering from earth.52
11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
11 The apocalyptic scenario that our author has painted is not designed so that the addressees say, “Oh, yes. Now I understand what will happen.” And they turn back to whatever they were doing before hearing the teaching. Like many apocalyptic writings and all NT letters, this one (which is both) is designed with a parenetic (i.e., ethical) purpose. Our author has reminded his addressees of the truths (1:12–15; 3:1–2) because the “scoffers” are not theoretical thinkers but teachers who are “following their own desires” (3:3). Their false conception of God’s future has led them to make charges against the honor of God and to live in ways that deny “the sovereign Lord who bought them” (2:1). Likewise a proper understanding of God’s future should bring about an appropriate lifestyle. It is those implications that 2 Peter addresses here at the end of the letter, just as many NT writers do at the end of their letters.53
“Since everything [or “all these things”] will be destroyed in this way” is the assumption. Our author is clearly referring to the destruction of the heavens and the elements in the previous verse. This interpretation is preferable to that of authors who refer back to 2 Pet 3:7 and see this as the destruction of the heavens and the earth, for the verb for “destroyed” does not appear in 3:7, but rather appears in the reference to the elements being destroyed (same verb) by fire. Naturally, if one sees the elements as earth, air, fire, and water, as Neyrey does, then in 3:10 one is talking about the destruction of the earth, which would be part of “all these things.” Or if, with Bauckham, one feels that 3:10 abbreviates an original Jewish apocalypse and simply fails to mention the destruction of the earth that we find in 2 Clem. 16:3, then the earth also has been destroyed.54 But if we understand 3:10 as we explained above and take it at face value as expressing the vision of the future that our author wishes to communicate, then “all these things” are the heavens and the elements (heavenly bodies), the destruction of which was to expose human evil and lead to “the judgment and destruction of ungodly people” (3:7) or, to give the exact expression in 3:10, to expose “the earth and everything done in it.”55 Naturally, such cosmic destruction would have an effect on the earth, as would the destruction of the ungodly, but that is not Peter’s focus. Instead, his focus is the positive vision of the future and what it means for the present. While that positive vision will not appear until 3:13, the practical implication appears immediately.
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From the New American Commentary
Three things will occur when the day arrives, and all of them together indicate that the physical world as we know it will be destroyed. It is much more difficult, however, to understand the details. We will look at each in turn. First, we are told that the heavens “will disappear with a roar.” The “heavens” reverts back to vv. 5 and 7, where in tandem with the earth it refers to all that God has created in the universe. The word “roar” (rhoizēdon) refers to a rushing sound, whether the whizzing of an arrow, the rush of wings, or the hissing of snakes.61 In this context we should think of the crackling sound of fire, destroying the heavens. Bauckham thinks it could possibly refer to “the thunder of the divine voice,”62 but the term seems to be associated with physical phenomena. Jesus himself, using the same verb, parerchomai (“pass away”), said that heaven and earth would “disappear” (Matt 5:18; 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 16:17; 21:33). Isaiah 34:4 pictures the sky being rolled up like a scroll, and John in Revelation picks up this picture (Rev 6:14; cf. also Heb 1:10–12).
The second part of the picture is that “the elements will be destroyed by fire.” The word “elements” (stoicheia) refers to the building blocks or basic stuff of which things are made. It can refer to the ABC’s or the notes of a musical scale or often to the (presumed) basic elements of the world—earth, air, fire, and water. In post New Testament times the term also began to refer to spiritual beings, and scholars debate whether Paul used the term with such a meaning in Gal 4:3, 9 and Col 2:8, 20. In Heb 5:12 it refers to the basic elements or teachings of the Christian faith. Three different interpretations have been proposed for the meaning here. First, the “elements” may be angels or spirits that rule over the natural world.63 This view has not been accepted by many commentators, for it does not fit well in the context. Peter referred to the dissolution of the physical universe and betrayed no interest in whether spiritual powers inhabit stars or planets. Second, he may have referred to the heavenly bodies, that is, the sun, moon and stars.64 This meaning for the term is attested in the second century.65 Bauckham thinks Peter may have been depending on a text from the Septuagint, which says that “all the powers of the heavens will melt.”66 This is certainly a possible reading of the text, and it fits the context well. Third, “elements” refers to the stuff of which the physical things in the world are made. I think this view is the most likely, for it represents the common meaning of the term “elements.”67 Such a meaning also seems to be attested in the Sibylline Oracles (3:80–81; cf. 2:206–7; 8:337–39). Some wonder if this fits since Peter proceeded to speak of the earth and the works done in the earth as “found.” We will discuss the meaning of this controversial and difficult phrase below. Here the focus is on the consequences of the destruction of the heavens and the elements of the world. When they are burned up, the result is that the earth and all the works performed on the earth will be, as the NIV says, “laid bare.” Verse 12 supports the notion that the heavens and elements together comprehend all that exists.68 Together they will be destroyed by fire. It is difficult to know if Peter thought of the purification and renovation of this world by fire or if he had in mind the complete destruction of this present world and the creation of a new one.
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