Theophylact of Ohrid

In his own words on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 1:1

  Simon is an abbreviated form of Simeon, just as Mitr is of Mitrodora, Mina of Minodora, and Fevda of Feodosia. From the very beginning the apostle awakens the thoughts and souls of the believers, urging them to strive in the work of preaching to equal the apostles. For since all received an equally precious grace, it would be unjust to be lacking in anything in which all proved equal. The apostle constantly wishes the believers peace, which Christ gave them after His resurrection from the dead and at His departure to the Father, crying out: "Peace be unto you" (Jn. 20:19, 21, 26; Lk. 24:36). And in the church we beseech the Lord to grant us "an angel of peace," and the priest from the holy altar bestows "peace" upon the people; because peace is the mother of all good things. Therefore the Lord also commanded His disciples that upon entering houses they should first of all bestow "peace" (Matt. 10:12; Lk. 10:5).

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 1:2

  The connection is as follows: grace and peace be multiplied to you, who, in the knowledge of God and of Christ Jesus our Lord, have received a faith equally precious with ours, according to the righteousness of our God.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 1:3-4

  The connection is as follows: may grace and peace be multiplied to you, since all things pertaining to life and godliness, through the knowledge of God and our Lord Jesus, have been granted to you by His divine power—that grace—for the knowledge of glory and virtue, for which the greatest promises have been granted, so that you, having escaped from the worldly corruption that comes through lust, might become partakers of the divine nature. Otherwise stated: the exposition is drawn out, but the thought is this: having received countless blessings by the power of Christ, we can both become partakers of the divine nature and attain to life and godliness; therefore we must live in such a way as to add virtue to faith and through virtue to advance in godliness, until we reach the most perfect good, which is love. And we became partakers of the divine nature through the appearing of the Lord and God, Who united the firstfruits of our nature in Himself and through His assumption sanctified them; and if the firstfruits are holy, then the whole is holy.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 1:4

  The connection is as follows: so that you, having escaped from the worldly corruption that is brought about through fleshly lust, might become partakers of the divine nature, for "having escaped" means the same as "having been freed." He calls the consequence of worldly lust "corruption" because it is composed of and revolves around corrupt things.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 1:5

  He shows the degrees of progress. In the first place is faith, since it is the foundation and support of good. In the second place is virtue, that is, works, for without them, as the Apostle James says, "faith is dead" (Jas. 2:26). Next is discernment. What kind of discernment? The knowledge of the hidden mysteries of God, which is accessible not to everyone, but only to the one who constantly exercises himself in good works.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 1:6

  Then comes self-control. For it too is needed by the one who has attained the aforementioned measure, lest he become proud of the greatness of the gift. And since with short-lived self-control one cannot secure the gift for oneself (for the passions, despite the freedom restraining them, always tend to strive toward what is worse), one must surpass it with patience. It will produce everything, and will bring godliness to peace, and will perfect hope in God.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 1:7

  To godliness will be joined brotherly love, and to all of this, love, which the Apostle Paul calls "the bond of perfection" (Col. 3:14). For love showed its power both over the Son of God and over His Father: it disposed the Father to give up His Beloved (Jn. 3:16), and the Son to shed His Blood for us (1 Jn. 3:16).

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 1:8

  What are "these"? Faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, love, which must not only exist but also increase. For if acquiring them is profitable, then increasing them is far more profitable. What then is the benefit of them? That the one who has them is safe at the second coming of the Lord. For whoever does not have them, blindness will follow when the Judge comes in glory and shines like the sun; and even if sight somehow survives, it will not be able to look without harm upon the immeasurable radiance, for the excessive brilliance of light usually darkens the weak eye that gazes upon it.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 1:9

  Blind (μυωπάζων). This expression refers to mice (μυων), which constantly remain in blindness underground. The saying of the Apostle Peter is similar to what was said by the Apostle James, namely: "whoever hears the word and does not do it, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a mirror" (Jas. 1:23). For having learned that through the cleansing of holy baptism he was washed from a multitude of sins, he should know that together with the cleansing he also received holiness, and should be vigilant so as to preserve that sanctification without which no one will see the Lord; but he forgot.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 1:10

  Therefore, he says, my brethren, "be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure" (2 Pet. 1:10); that is, the catechetical teaching which you heard at your election, and to be blameless in your calling, so that you may not be condemned for forgetting the gift of God, but remain firm in your calling.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 1:12

  About what — "about these things"? About the aforementioned, namely: virtue, knowledge, and the rest. Note how previously the apostle sought to motivate by fear — the coming of the Judge, and now he persuades by the promise of good things — entrance into the eternal Kingdom of God.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 1:13

  So that with the constant reminder of the same things they would not think they were being condemned for idleness, and not be grieved, the apostle added: "though you know and are established in the present truth." And in explanation of the reason for the constant reminder, he added that he knows that the dissolution of his body will soon follow.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 1:14

  And in explanation of the reason for the constant reminder, he added that he knows that the dissolution of his body will soon follow.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 1:15

  Some understand this with a rearrangement of the words as follows: "I will endeavor even after my departure to bring you always to remembrance," that is, to remember daily and continuously, and from this they derive the idea that the saints even after death remember those who remain here and pray for the living. The truth of this is daily perceived by those who invoke the divine grace of the saints. Thus some understand it; but others understand it differently. The latter read and understand this verse simply: I will endeavor that even after my departure you always remember this, that is, we continually repeat the same things to you in order to make it a habit for you, so that through constant and unchanging assimilation of this you may be freed from the charge of disobedience and ignorance, and that even after my death you may keep this testament firmly and unchangeably.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 1:16

  Demanding strict attention from the believers to his proclamation and insisting on this at length, even though they already know and have heard it more than once, the apostle now says: it is not in vain that I dwell on this, but because I recognize the full importance of it. Why so? Because when we proclaimed to you the power and coming of the Lord, we did not employ human wisdom toward you, nor did we beguile your hearing with eloquence, as the pagans and heretics do. For the pagans beguile with beauty and poems, and the heretics with fabrications (probably they were already beginning to appear even then). Nothing of the sort can be suspected of us. For we delivered the teaching to you in plain, unadorned speech, as Paul also says to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 2:4, 13), and we delivered what we saw with our own eyes when we ascended the holy mountain together with Him. The apostle speaks of the glory of the Only-Begotten, which was revealed to the apostles at the Transfiguration, and of the voice of the Father, which they heard descending upon the Lord from heaven from the Father. And since we learned from the very events themselves what was foretold by the prophets, we also regard their prophecy as most certain. For the words were confirmed by the events. Therefore you also do well to heed the prophecy, that is, the predictions of the prophets, although the prophets in their time spoke not entirely clearly.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 1:17

  Not because there is any prophecy about a voice of the Father that came down from heaven, but because from this voice of the Father from heaven, which testified to the sonship of Jesus Christ, we became convinced that everything revealed through the prophets indisputably pertains to Him of whom the Father testifies.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 1:18

  And we know the Father's testimony concerning the sonship of our Lord Jesus Christ to be threefold: one at the Baptism (Matt. 3:17), another before the sufferings, when it was said: "and I have glorified it, and will glorify it again" (Jn. 12:28). And the third on Mount Tabor (Matt. 17:5).

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 1:19

  Attending, he says, to the predictions of the prophets, you will not be deceived in your hope. For in due time they will be justified by the very events, which the apostle called "day," continuing the figurative speech, for right there he spoke of the lamp, of the dark place, which is the night. So when, he says, the "day" comes, that is, the manifestation of events, then "the morning star will rise in your hearts," that is, the coming of Christ, foretold by the prophets, and as the true light will illuminate your hearts.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 1:20

  The prophets understood what and about what the prophetic Spirit was suggesting to them, yet not so clearly and precisely as everything was fulfilled in its particulars. Therefore they also "desired to see" the fulfillment, as the Lord said (Lk. 10:24). The Apostle explains why the prophets did not interpret their own utterances, and at the same time shows the difference between true prophecy and demonic and fabricated prophecy, such as is accepted among heretics.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 1:21

  "For prophecy never came by the will of man" (2 Pet. 1:21), this means: the prophets received prophecy from God, but not as they willed, but as the Spirit of God acted; they were conscious of and comprehended the prophetic word sent down to them, but they did not provide an explanation of it. That the prophets during the action of the Spirit of God upon them were conscious that a word was being sent down to them from the Spirit of God is evident from the fact that they submitted voluntarily, and what they wished they spoke, and what they did not wish they kept silent about. With false prophets it is not so. They during the action did not possess consciousness, but driven into a frenzy, like drunkards, they did not know what was happening to them. The holy prophets, although they understood, had no need to explain their predictions, both because they were serving others, namely us, and so that the coming of the Lord might be hidden and not be subjected to plots by the ungodly. These plots could have been avoided by the Lord's power; but probably the accomplished incarnation would have appeared illusory if such avoidance had occurred several times by extraordinary means. That this is true is evident from the example of the New Testament prophets, who prophesied and explained themselves, though not all of them. For nothing of the sort need be feared in the New Testament. And that the prophets did not prophesy in a state of frenzy is also evident from the following. The prophets of the Old and New Testaments prophesied by one Spirit. And the Apostle Paul says: "If anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent" (1 Cor. 14:30). From this it is clear that the prophets prophesied voluntarily, remaining in their natural state. Therefore, when another inspired person arose, the one who had been speaking before was commanded to be silent, which no one will find among those who are possessed. For how will one keep silent who does not himself know what he is doing? That the Holy Spirit acts in the prophets is spoken of by the same Apostle Paul: "To one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom... to another prophecy" (1 Cor. 12:8, 10).

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 2:1-2

  By false teachers the apostle means the like-minded followers of Nicolaus and Cerinthus, and by the name of prophecy, commonly attributed to both prophets and false teachers, he warns the faithful not to heed false prophets. What the difference is between the one and the other, Paul taught when he said that no one calls Jesus Lord "except by the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor. 12:3). Then he begins to expose the heresy of the Nicolaitans, saying that they are doubly wicked. For in doctrine they are extremely impious, since they blaspheme the Master Christ; in life they are utterly depraved, which he now expresses by mentioning their "debauchery," and a little further on he will explain even more.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 2:3

  By the word "covetousness" he shows that they acquire gain in a shameful manner. For covetousness sometimes means injustice, and sometimes the baseness of acquisition in general. That is why the word "exploit" is fittingly used. To show that they are completely foreign to divine teaching, he says that they use flattering words. But, he says, they will receive what is due for their impiety, namely death. The phrase "long ago prepared" signifies God's foreknowledge. For God by foreknowledge prepared good things for the good, and likewise for the wicked the place proper to them. For judgment has long been prepared.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 2:4-9

  Not without reason does the apostle begin with believers, who are more honorable, but he wishes to show that they are liable to greater condemnation for their sins. They have the advantage of being the first called to apostleship. Therefore, for going astray from the right path they will also be subject to greater condemnation. Having intentionally presented proof through examples, he did not draw a conclusion of one kind only, but joined together both the example and the rewards of the righteous. And he would have needed to draw a conclusion about what was proposed above, that is, about the sinners on whose account the example was presented, and to say: if He did not spare those, will He then spare the present impious ones? Or affirmatively: all the more will He not spare these. But the apostle does not do this. Why? Because the conclusion reveals itself when two examples have been presented, of good and of evil. What pertains to evil alone does not yet pertain to good. For good is not repaid with evil. Therefore, since it was not sufficient to end the proposition with one conclusion alone, he employed a different expression and finished what was needed with an exclamation. But why does he append examples of good people to examples of wicked ones? We shall speak of this in the appropriate place. As we said above, by the form of clear speech, the thought does not follow from the propositions, for no conclusion has been added such as usually follows after such a construction, but it is simply proved by example that for sins there is punishment, and for righteousness there is reward. The apostle speaks as if to say: God knows how to inevitably punish without mercy those living in sins, as He punished the angels who sinned, the antediluvian people, and the cities of Sodom. He knows how to reward also those who practice righteousness, as He rewarded Noah and Lot. The course of the discourse is as follows: it is said that the false teachers will be punished for their blasphemies and for their dissolute life; examples are presented: God did not spare the angels who sinned, nor did He spare the first world. Then those who struggled in righteousness are mentioned, and it is said that God preserved both Noah and Lot, on account of their chastity, from the destruction of the people of their time. For Noah was not carried away by the impiety of the antediluvian people, and Lot in no way imitated the debauchery of the inhabitants of Sodom, and when they demanded the Angels received by him in the form of men as strangers for impure purposes, he did not hand them over, although he endured very many insults from the crowd pressing upon him. This is what is indicated by the word "distressed" (2 Pet. 2:7). And concerning Lot this is also said: "the Lord knows how to deliver the godly from temptation" (2 Pet. 2:9), and so forth. Above, the apostle said nothing about the righteous; he spoke only about the impious and their punishment, and mentioned the righteous only in the examples. This was, first, in order to recount the history of the destruction of the impious and the salvation of the righteous; second, in order that through their juxtaposition he might set forth the terrible malice of sinners and the bright perfections of the virtuous; and finally, in order to persuade his listeners to hate the impiety of the former on account of the punishments for it, and to love the virtue of the latter on account of its saving power.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 2:10

  Now from the above-cited examples the apostle skillfully transitioned to the main subject. He speaks of the accursed Nicolaitans, Naassenes, and Cerdonians; for their wickedness has many names and is considered together, as similar in foul deeds and designations. They represented the first principles of the world's existence as the Abyss and Silence, and some of these principles they strangely called mothers and ages (αἰώνας); from these same sources Marcion also took his evil seeds. Then, having rejected the Lord's participation in the creation of the world and in providence, they fearlessly gave themselves over to every fleshly impurity. Whoever wishes to learn about this more fully, let him take in hand the book of Irenaeus of the Celts, composed about them and inscribed "Against the Falsely-Named Knowledge"; in it are described their sins, especially those of the most debauched Marcus and the women corrupted by him, and the remaining abominations committed by the rest, which, because of their harmfulness, no one could set forth in writing or even recall. It is not surprising that those who despise and do not fear dominion will fearlessly conduct themselves before every glory as well. The holy apostle Jude Thaddaeus will speak more clearly about this when he mentions the body of Moses as well. But Peter only hinted at this, touched upon it, and ended his discourse. Yet having received the occasion from him, we speak also about what lies before us.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 2:11

  Wishing to restrain them from such audacity, he says: whereas even angels, who surpass them in might and power, do not pronounce against them a reviling judgment before the Lord. The Apostle, as we have noted, says one and the same thing as the Apostle Jude; for he too, restraining those who are bold of tongue, persuades them by this very same example. However, he speaks more extensively: "Michael the Archangel did not dare to pronounce a reviling judgment" (Jude 1:9). Peter now wishes to say something similar, that these wretched ones have no restraint in blaspheming glories, whereas even angels, who surpass these vile ones in power and might, do not pronounce against them, that is, against principalities, a reviling judgment before the Lord. And since the devil partakes of a certain glory, because he is "the beginning of the creation of the Lord" (Job 40:14), the Archangel did not pronounce a reviling word against him. But if the one more deserving of reproach, that is, the devil, as a partaker of glory, did not receive reproach from Michael before the Lord, then exceedingly foolish are those who hastily revile principalities, when they themselves are far below the dignity of angels. By "principalities" he means the divine powers, or also the ecclesiastical authorities, against whom they rise up and whom they ceaselessly slander.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 2:12

  Some explained this thus: they will perish in their own corruption, like irrational animals born naturally, that is, differing in no way from cattle that are born for destruction alone. "Like irrational animals, led by nature," that is, living by sensuality alone, and not by mind and rational life. Therefore they are also easily caught to be led along a corrupt life, being led and carried away by anger and lust, blaspheming what they do not know, that is, with their characteristic ignorance, which is why they will perish in the corruption they have earned, receiving the recompense for the lawlessness which they themselves prepared for themselves voluntarily. However, one must know that Sacred Scripture, when it censures what is found in people by nature, that is, what is characteristic of animals, likens them to irrational beasts. It says, for example: "Man who is in honor and lacks understanding is like the animals that perish" (Ps. 48:13); and also: "Do not be like the horse and the mule" (Ps. 31:9); again: "They are well-fed stallions" (Jer. 5:8); and also: "Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves" (Matt. 10:16). Scripture says this not by changing nature, but only by persuading people to restrain themselves from natural inclinations. When it proclaims something salvific, it borrows the likeness from what is higher, for example: "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful" (Luke 6:36). And here too it does not transform nature, but only commands to do this, as far as one's strength allows.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 2:13

  "They count it pleasure to revel in daily luxury," that is, in daily gratification of the throat they place their true goal, their true and beloved prudence and pleasure. The order of the following discourse is as follows: shameless and defilers; "their heart is trained in covetousness," that is, skilled in covetousness; sons of cursing; feasting together with you; having eyes full of lust and unceasing sin; they entice unstable souls, whom Paul also called "women laden with sins" (2 Tim. 3:6); they, having forsaken the right way, went the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, and so forth; their voices are waterless springs, clouds driven by a storm, and so forth. And for what reason does the darkness of the age to come await them? For their excessive vanity, by which they entice with defilements and fleshly lusts those who had formerly been in error and had sincerely left it to return, like a dog, to their own vomit. What is inserted explains and confirms their vanity. The meaning is as follows: they, he says, have nothing belonging to purity, but cling to the pure society like stains on a clean garment. When they seduce someone and succeed in making the men and women who have fallen into their nets impure, they consider this a delight, completing their own corruption. Even when feasting with you, they do this not out of love and fellowship with others, but because they find this time convenient for seducing women.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 2:14

  For having eyes, they look at nothing other than lust, and unceasingly having this in mind and sinning, as sons of cursing, they entice unstable souls.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 2:15

  For their heart is trained in nothing other than covetousness, that is, in debauchery or in greed, and through both the one and the other, having forsaken the way that could have led them to salvation, they strayed from it and became subject to the same fate as Balaam, the son of Bosor, because he too, out of love for gifts, loved the wages of unrighteousness.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 2:16

  But he was rebuked for his transgression. "A dumb donkey, speaking with a human voice, restrained the madness of the prophet" (2 Pet. 2:16). From this we learn that Balaam, having once received a prohibition from God against going to Balak, was again driven to it by his arrogant passion, which he nourished with his frenzied sorcery, but, bridled by the fear of God and the terrible signs that occurred during the journey, he did not change the word of blessing, which was a matter not of sorcery. For the prophets utter their oracles with awareness. For this reason the apostle also called him a "prophet," as one who was aware of what he was saying. For if he had not been aware of his words, he could not have chosen what was better. Thus, his blessing was a matter not of divination, but of the power of God.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 2:17

  Having inserted much into the middle of his discourse, including among other things the example of Balaam, the apostle again begins to speak about the impure Gnostics. He likens them to waterless springs, because they have lost the purity of preaching and the sweet water of life. He compares them to clouds driven by the wind, meaning an adverse wind, which is why he also called it a tempest, since a tempest brings whatever it drives into complete disorder. They are, he says, clouds that are not bright, as the saints are, but dark, full of gloom.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 2:18

  He also gives the reason for this, namely that out of vanity they utter swelling words, enticing through fleshly lust into debauchery those who had completely escaped it, or who, if they were once in error, had afterwards submitted themselves to the Lord.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 2:19

  They themselves, he says, being slaves of the aforementioned impurity, which he rightly also called corruption, promise freedom to those they deceive. And as to why they promise freedom to others while themselves being slaves of sin, he brings forth a fine proof of this: whoever is overcome by any passion is also a slave to it. But this will be explained more fully further on.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 2:20

  By these words he confirms two points: first, that the one who is defeated necessarily serves his conqueror, and second, that those who have known the truth but again cling to their former impiety fall into an evil worse than before. If those who through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ have escaped the defilements of the world become entangled in them again and are overcome by them, then they are undoubtedly enslaved by them, and their condition becomes worse than it was before their knowledge of this slavery, for Satan strives to make them fall into greater evil.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 2:21

  For this reason the apostle says that, given such a future for those who willingly return to evil, it would have been better for them not to have known the truth than, having known it, to fall into greater evil.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 2:22

  He also adds a proverb confirming the same thing (Prov. 26:11). For even a dog returning to its own vomit becomes still more disgusting, just as a pig seeking to wash itself of filth, if it does so in filth itself, turns out even filthier than before.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 3:1

  From this we learn that the epistles of the Apostle Peter are only two. "I stir up by way of reminder in them" means: in these epistles or by these epistles I stir up your pure mind. For it is characteristic of a pure mind to remember what has been heard or commanded for salvation, and to be stirred up to fulfill this in deed with all strength and zeal.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 3:2

  And this was commanded through the preaching of the prophets and apostles. Therefore Paul also says: "having been built on the foundation of the Apostles and prophets" (Eph. 2:20). For they all proclaimed the coming of the Lord. And one cannot disbelieve so many witnesses. But why do I speak of prophets and apostles? Because they proclaimed both the first and the second coming of our Lord and Savior Himself. The order of the speech is as follows: "that you may remember the words formerly spoken (ὑπό) by the holy prophets," "the commandment (ὑπό) of your apostles," "according to (ὑπό) the commandment of the Lord and Savior." For the preposition ὑπό (from/by) applies to all. But why does he command to revive the memory of this? Because, he adds, those who live passionately according to their own lusts shamelessly attack believers and mock them, seeing that some fear the coming of the Lord, which together with the prophets the Lord Himself also foretold, and therefore they abhor their impure life, and especially because the event does not immediately follow the prediction, but for the salvation of those inscribed in the book of the saved, an interval has been permitted.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 3:3-4

  Because the coming of the Lord does not immediately follow upon His words, for the salvation of many who are written in the book of the living, insolent people attack the faithful with mockery and say: "Where is the promise of His coming?" But because one promise has not yet been fulfilled, for the aforementioned reason, it is unjust to disbelieve the other saving commandments of the Lord as well, as malicious people wish and strive to do. Thus babbled the Gnostics of that time, namely: the Naassenes, the Lampetians, and the Euchites. All of them, he says, are ignorant; for they willingly shut their eyes before the truth. Of what then are they ignorant? Of the fact that the heavens, according to the book of Genesis of Moses, were made from water — for, in his words, God Himself commanded "let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters" (Gen. 1:6) — and likewise the earth by His command appeared from the waters in which it had previously been submerged; that since heaven and earth consist of waters, the flood came unexpectedly; and that just as during the flood destruction followed through water, so now all things are destined to be destroyed through fire, and together with this the ungodly shall also perish. The two principal elements of the universe are water and fire, from which two further elements receive their existence: air from the evaporation of waters, and earth from the condensation of waters; and this evaporation and condensation are produced by fire, which anyone possessing reason will believe, for such power the nature of fire received from the Creator God Himself. Therefore, if there are only two elements, and the first destruction of the ungodly was through water, then it is absolutely necessary, he says, that the second destruction of the ungodly be accomplished through fire.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 3:5

  "Out of water," as the material cause, and "by water," as the perfecting cause, for water holds the earth together, binding its dust and giving it solidity, and were it not for this, the earth would turn into dust and air. Some idle talker might perhaps object to us: why did God, who created the visible world, not create it solid from the beginning, so that it would be necessary to bring it to perfection under Noah through the flood, and at the end of the world, as Peter now says, through fire? To such a person we shall say, first of all, that the world cannot be unchangeable. For how can that which received its being through change possess unchangeability (for it was brought into being from non-being, which no sensible person would call non-change)? And since the change toward the worse reached the very worst, the Creator of the world, in order to bring it toward the better, of necessity accomplished its purification under Noah by means of water, and at the end will accomplish it by means of fire. We too are accustomed to subjecting certain things to the action of fire, not in order to destroy them, but in order to give them purity and luster. Of this, probably, no one will doubt. Something similar God also promises to do at the end of the age by means of fire: what is superfluous and useless for the future state of mankind He will destroy—for example, plants, cattle, forests. Thus creatures not needed for incorruptible life will be destroyed. But if this is so, then those who assert that this visible world was incorruptible from the beginning are talking idle nonsense. And if someone were to reason the same way about intellectual beings, since they too were brought into being from non-being, let such a person understand that their very simplicity (non-compositeness) guarantees their indestructibility and their closeness, by their very being, to the blessed and divine nature.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 3:6

  The world perished through heaven and earth. The earth released water from its depths, and the floodgates of heaven poured water down upon the earth. "Perished" should be understood not of the entire world, but only of the living creatures, which constitute, as it were, the whole world: for the world created without them would not even be a world.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 3:7

  That the destruction of the present world will be by means of fire is a thought not of Christians alone, but also of pagan sages. But someone will say: why create the world if it must again turn to corruption? To such a person we will say that the world will not be utterly annihilated, but will be destroyed in order to be renewed, which is why the prophet also says: "and Thou shalt renew the face of the earth" (Ps. 104:30). The sensible creation, when made by God, was "very good" (Gen. 1:31), but because of man's transgression, this very creation "was made subject to vanity" (Rom. 8:20), that is, it lost the firmness of its existence. Then, when at the time of the flood there were few God-fearing people on earth, the world was, as it were, restored a second time and received a new beginning through Noah and the other living creatures preserved in the ark, so that they might serve as the seed of a new state of the world. Meanwhile, the human race did not improve even then, but went on to worse things than before, from which neither the law given through Moses nor the coming of the Lord turned it back. Therefore, since the calling to salvation was manifold, and the perdition from disobedience was of many kinds, a flood of fire will be necessary, that is, a destruction, though not a total one — a destruction not of souls, but also not of bodies. "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ" (2 Cor. 5:10), not without bodies, with souls alone, but together with incorruptible bodies. For how can the soul alone be punished without the body, when it bears upon itself what it did through the body? For it is not fitting for a righteous Judge, when two have sinned in one and the same thing, to forgive one and lay the entire weight of guilt upon the other. Let us say, secondly, also this: that we too customarily purify unclean things from admixture by means of fire and restore their brightness. "Are reserved unto the day of judgment and perdition" (2 Pet. 3:7). "Judgment" means the same as condemnation.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 3:8-9

  Having concluded the discourse on the end of the age — that it will certainly come and will come through fire (which we also explained at length) — the apostle turned to the extension of the time of the world's end and says that "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering" (2 Pet. 3:9), awaiting our salvation and the fullness of those who are to be saved, and that before Him, the infinite One, no amount of time is lengthy, but that for Him "a thousand years are as one day" (2 Pet. 3:8); indeed, according to the words of David, there is not even a multitude of days, for he speaks thus: "a thousand years in Thy sight are as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night" (Ps. 90:4). When he likens a thousand years to a watch of the night, he has in mind the very shortest span of time. And the night is divided into four intervals. Thus the Lord, according to the words of the Gospel (Matt. 14:25), came to His apostles "in the fourth watch of the night."

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 3:10

  To explain the obscurity and unexpectedness of the Lord's coming, the apostle compares it to the coming of a thief and of the night. The night indicates obscurity, and the thief indicates unexpectedness; for no one who expects a thief is ever robbed. Therefore the Lord also says that "as in the days of Noah people were devoted to feasting and to marriages, until the flood overtook them, so too the coming of the Lord will overtake the ungodly unexpectedly" (Matt. 24:37–39). "With a great noise" means with a crackling, and such crackling usually occurs when something is burning. Note: The apostle said, "the earth and the works on it will be burned up," and not "people"; consequently, he speaks only of the destruction of the ungodly or of their ungodly works; for "the way of the ungodly shall perish" (Ps. 1:6), and not the ungodly person himself.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 3:13

  The Lord will establish a new heaven and a new earth, "new" not in essence and substance; for if someone builds a new house, this does not already mean that he builds it from material that did not exist before. No, God once created matter and formed it into every possible kind and composition, and what was necessary only for this present life, but useless and superfluous for the incorruptible life to come, He will abolish, while to what is useful He will give a new form with incorruptible and unfading beauty, and will allow it to fill another and incorruptible world.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 3:15

  Paul wrote about this when he said: "the goodness of God leads you to repentance" (Rom. 2:4). If the longsuffering of God leads to repentance, and repentance is salvific for us, then it is evident that the longsuffering of God serves for our own benefit and salvation.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 3:16

  He says "hard to understand," which the ungodly preach in a distorted sense, for this means "they twist." Let us present one example from all their false interpretations. The Apostle Paul said: "where sin abounded, grace abounded much more" (Rom. 5:20). The distorters gave the words of the Apostle Paul this meaning: let us sin more so that we may receive greater forgiveness. They do this to their own destruction. For just as those who killed the prophets and apostles, so also those who perversely interpret their words are subject to one and the same condemnation. As those who did not desire the benefit and salvation of their disciples killed them, so also those who do not desire that anyone should receive salvation through them twist their words.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 3:17

  By "your own steadfastness" he means faith in the Lord.

  Commentary on 2 Peter

• 2 Peter 3:18

  Finally, just as he ends the first epistle with a prayer, so also in the second he asks for their growth in the faith of the Lord.

  Commentary on 2 Peter