The Jewish Annotated New Testament (122 page)

“If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,
        what will become of the ungodly and
                 the sinners?”

¹⁹
Therefore, let those suffering in accordance with God’s will entrust themselves to a faithful Creator, while continuing to do good.

5
Now as an elder myself and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as one who shares in the glory to be revealed, I exhort the elders among you
²
to tend the flock of God that is in your charge, exercising the oversight,
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not under compulsion but willingly, as God would have you do it
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—not for sordid gain but eagerly.
³
Do not lord it over those in your charge, but be examples to the flock.
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And when the chief shepherd appears, you will win the crown of glory that never fades away.
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In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders.
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And all of you must clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for

“God opposes the proud,
        but gives grace to the humble.”

⁶
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time.
⁷
Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.
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Discipline yourselves, keep alert.
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Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour.
⁹
Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters
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in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.
¹⁰
And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you.
¹¹
To him be the power forever and ever. Amen.

¹²
Through Silvanus, whom I consider a faithful brother, I have written this short letter to encourage you and to testify that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.
¹³
Your sister church
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in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings; and so does my son Mark.
¹⁴
Greet one another with a kiss of love.

Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
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THE SECOND LETTER OF PETER

NAME, AUTHORSHIP, AND DATE

Second Peter purports to be the second letter written by the apostle Peter (3.1), whom Jesus names as the foundation of his church (Mt 16.18), whom Paul names as one of the three “pillars” of the church (Gal 2.9), and who, in church tradition (Irenaeus,
Adv. Haer
. 3.3.2), founded the Christian community in Rome. Most scholars today, however, argue that the letter was written not by Peter but by a second-century Christian writing in Peter’s name. The epistle maintains the guise of Petrine authorship by presenting a purported “testament” or final address of Peter (1.12–15), a claim to have been an eyewitness to Jesus’ transfiguration (1.16–18; see Mt 17.1–8; Mk 9.2–8; Lk 9.28–36), and an allusion to having authored 1 Peter, which it regards as a genuine letter of the apostle (3.1).

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Evidence for a late date of composition, possibly as late as the second quarter of the second century, includes the letter’s heavy borrowing from the epistle of Jude (compare 2 Pet 2.1–2,4,6,10b–17 to Jude 4,6–13) while at the same time identifying Jude’s “ungodly” persons (Jude 4) as “false teachers among you” (2 Pet 2.1); its implication of a developing Christian orthodoxy (1.20–21); the assumption that the earliest generation of Christian teachers is dead (3.2); and the reference to a collection of Pauline epistles as “scriptures” (3.15–16), that is, equal in authority with the Jewish Scriptures. Finally, the sophisticated Greek of the letter is unlikely to have been written by a presumably uneducated Galilean fisherman whose primary language was Aramaic. The letter’s skillful blending of allusions to the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) with allusions to Greco-Roman literature and the religious language of the Hellenistic world suggest an author at home in both Jewish and Greek traditions. Origen (ca. 185–ca. 254), the first church father to mention the letter, indicates that its Petrine authorship was already disputed (Eusebius,
Hist. eccl
. 6.25.8). The earliest existing manuscript of the epistle is Bodmer papyrus P.72, which dates to ca. third or fourth century. Peter himself is most closely associated with Rome, and the letter could have originated there. The introduction, however, names no specific recipients, and 3.1 implies that the recipients are the same as those of 1 Peter, which is addressed to several regions in Asia Minor (modern Turkey). If the “to you” in 3.15 refers to a specific church rather than the more general “those who have received a faith” (1.1b), then one of the churches associated with Paul’s letters may be meant.

GUIDE TO READING

The author’s opponents are members or former members of the author’s Christian community (2.1,20–22). The letter charges that they are “forgetful of the cleansing of past sins” (1.9), “follow cleverly devised myths” (1.16), and are “false teachers” who behave licentiously (2.1–2,10,14,18). They deny both that Jesus will return and that there will be a last judgment (3.3–7). In a final charge, the author claims that his opponents twist the meaning of Paul’s letters and “the other scriptures” (3.15–16). Comforting and assuring the readers that these false teachers will be punished (2.9,12b–13a,17b,21–22) and that Jesus will return, the author reminds them that God’s time is not like human time (3.8–10) and that they will indeed enjoy the rewards of “new heavens and a new earth” (3.13).

Although denial of a final judgment (3.3–6) has prompted some commentators to identify the opponents of 2 Peter as Epicureans, references to “cleverly devised myths” (1.16) and the twisting of scriptures (3.16) have led many more to suggest opponents sympathetic to what are broadly described as Gnostic views. The Epicureans were followers of Epicurus, the third-century BCE philosopher who denied the concept of divine providence; by the early second century CE, this philosophy had apparently begun to affect both church and synagogue, since the Mishnah (
m. Sanh
. 10.1) speaks of an
apikoros
, the rabbinic term for “apostate,” which derives from “Epicurean,” as one who does not have a share in the world to come. Gnostics included those who claimed, for example, that the God revealed in the Jewish Scriptures, the Christian “Old Testament,” was flawed and that the Christ was sent by the true God to bring humanity knowledge (Gk
gnōsis
) of its true origins.

Michael R. Greenwald

1
Simeon
^*
Peter, a servant
^*
and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who have received a faith as precious as ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
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²
May grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

³
His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by
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his own glory and goodness.
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Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants of the divine nature.
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For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge,
⁶
and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness,
⁷
and godliness with mutual
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affection, and mutual
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affection with love.
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For if these things are yours and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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For anyone who lacks these things is short-sighted and blind, and is forgetful of the cleansing of past sins.
¹⁰
Therefore, brothers and sisters,
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be all the more eager to confirm your call and election, for if you do this, you will never stumble.
¹¹
For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.

¹²
Therefore I intend to keep on reminding you of these things, though you know them already and are established in the truth that has come to you.
¹³
I think it right, as long as I am in this body,
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to refresh your memory,
¹⁴
since I know that my death
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will come soon, as indeed our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.
¹⁵
And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

¹⁶
For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty.
¹⁷
For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, my Beloved,
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with whom I am well pleased.”
¹⁸
We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.

¹⁹
So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
²⁰
First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation,
²¹
because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
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2
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive opinions. They will even deny the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.
²
Even so, many will follow their licentious ways, and because of these teachers
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the way of truth will be maligned.
³
And in their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. Their condemnation, pronounced against them long ago, has not been idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

⁴
For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell
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and committed them to chains
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of deepest darkness to be kept until the judgment;
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and if he did not spare the ancient world, even though he saved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood on a world of the ungodly;
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and if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction
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and made them an example of what is coming to the ungodly;
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7
and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man greatly distressed by the licentiousness of the lawless
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(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by their lawless deeds that he saw and heard),
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then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment
¹⁰
—especially those who indulge their flesh in depraved lust, and who despise authority.