2 Peter 3:1

Contextual Overview

¹ My friends, this is the second letter I have written to you. I wrote both letters to you to help your honest minds remember something. ¹ This is now the second letter that I have written to you, beloved, and in both of them I have aroused your sincere mind by way of reminder; ¹ This is the seconde pistle that I now wryte vnto you beloved wherwith I stere vp and warne youre pure myndes to call to remembrauce ¹ This is now, beloved, the second letter that I have written to you; and in both of them I stir up your sincere mind by reminding you; ¹ Beloved, this is now the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of a reminder,¹ My friends, this is the second letter I have written you to help your honest minds remember. ¹ This is now, beloved, the second epistle that I write to you; and in both of them I stir up your sincere mind by putting you in remembrance; ¹ This second epistle, beloved, I now write to you; in [both] which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: ¹ This is now, beloved, the second letter that I have written to you; and in both of them I stir up your sincere mind by reminding you; ¹ This second epistle, beloved, I now write to you, in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance,

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

second epistle: 2 Corinthians 13:2, 1 Peter 1:1, 1 Peter 1:2

I stir: 2 Peter 1:13-15, 2 Timothy 1:6

pure: Psalms 24:4, Psalms 73:1, Matthew 5:8, 1 Timothy 5:22, 1 Peter 1:22

way: 2 Peter 1:12

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 8:2 - remember Deuteronomy 11:18 - ye lay up John 20:30 - General John 21:17 - Feed Acts 2:42 - they Acts 11:16 - remembered Romans 15:15 - as Philippians 3:1 - To write Philippians 4:8 - are pure 1 Timothy 4:6 - thou put Titus 3:1 - Put Hebrews 2:1 - we should Revelation 3:3 - Remember

Cross-References

Genesis 3:13
Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

Genesis 3:13
And Yahweh God said to the woman, What is this you have done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I ate.

Genesis 3:13
Then the Lord God said to the woman, "How could you have done such a thing?" She answered, "The snake tricked me, so I ate the fruit."

Genesis 3:13
So the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman replied, "The serpent tricked me, and I ate."

Genesis 3:13
And the LORD God said to the woman, What [is] this [that] thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I ate.

Genesis 3:13
Yahweh God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

Genesis 3:13
Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" And the woman said, "The serpent beguiled and deceived me, and I ate [from the forbidden tree]."

Genesis 3:13
And the Lord seide to the womman, Whi didist thou this thing? Which answerde, The serpent disseyued me, and Y eet.

Genesis 3:13
And Jehovah God saith to the woman, `What [is] this thou hast done?' and the woman saith, `The serpent hath caused me to forget -- and I do eat.'

Genesis 3:13
Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" "The serpent deceived me," she replied, "and I ate."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you,.... This is a transition to another part of the epistle; for the apostle having largely described false teachers, the secret enemies of the Christian religion under a profession of it, passes on to take notice of the more open adversaries and profane scoffers of it; and from their ridicule of the doctrine of Christ's second coming, he proceeds to treat of that, and of the destruction of the world, and the future happiness of the saints: he calls this epistle his "second epistle", because he had written another before to the same persons; and that the author of this epistle was an apostle, is evident from 2 Peter 3:2; and which, compared with 2 Peter 1:18 shows him to be the Apostle Peter, whose name it bears, and who was an eyewitness to the transfiguration of Christ on the mount, Matthew 17:1: he addresses these saints here, as also in 2 Peter 3:8, under the character of "beloved"; because they were the beloved of God, being chosen by him according to his foreknowledge, and regenerated by him, according to his abundant mercy; and were openly his people, and had obtained mercy from him, and like precious faith with the apostles; and were also the beloved of Christ, being redeemed by him, not with gold and silver, but with his precious blood; for whom he suffered, and who were partakers of his sufferings, and the benefits arising from them, and who had all things given them by him, pertaining to life and godliness, and exceeding great and precious promises; and were likewise beloved by the apostle, though strangers, and not merely as Jews, or because they were his countrymen, but because they were the elect of God, the redeemed of Christ, and who were sanctified by the Spirit, and had the same kind of faith he himself had. The Syriac and Arabic versions read, "my beloved"; and the Ethiopic version, "my brethren": his end in writing both this and the former epistle follows;

in [both] which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance; that this was his view both in this and the former epistle, appears from 1 Peter 1:13; he calls their minds pure; not that they were so naturally, for the minds and consciences of men are universally defiled with sin; nor are the minds of all men pure who seem to be so in their own eyes, or appear so to others; nor can any man, by his own power or works, make himself pure from sin; only the blood of Christ purges and cleanses from it; and a pure mind is a mind sprinkled with that blood, and which receives the truth as it is in Jesus, in the power and purity of it, and that holds the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. Some versions, as the Vulgate Latin and Arabic, render the word "sincere", as it is in Philippians 1:10; and may design the sincerity of their hearts in the worship of God, in the doctrines of Christ, and to one another, and of the grace of the Spirit of God in them; as that their faith was unfeigned, their hope without hypocrisy, and their love without dissimulation, and their repentance real and genuine; but yet they needed to be stirred up by way of remembrance, both of the truth of the Gospel, and the duties of religion; for saints are apt to be forgetful of the word, both of its doctrines and its exhortations; and it is the business of the ministers of the word to put them in mind of them, either by preaching or by writing; and which shows the necessity and usefulness of the standing ministry of the Gospel: the particulars he put them in mind of next follow.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you - This expression proves that he had written a former epistle, and that it was addressed to the same persons as this. Compare Introduction, Section 3.

In both which I stir up your pure minds ... - That is, the main object of both epistles is the same - to call to your remembrance important truths which you have before heard, but which you are in danger of forgetting, or from which you are in danger of being turned away by prevailing errors. Compare the notes at 2 Peter 1:12-15. The word rendered “pure” (εἰλικρινής eilikrinēs) occurs only here and in Philippians 1:10, where it is rendered “sincere.” The word properly refers to “that which may be judged of in sunshine;” then it means “clear, manifest;” and then “sincere, pure” - as that in which there is no obscurity. The idea here perhaps is, that their minds were open, frank, candid, sincere, rather than that they were “pure.” The apostle regarded them as “disposed” to see the truth, and yet as liable to be led astray by the plausible errors of others. Such minds need to have truths often brought fresh to their remembrance, though they are truths with which they had before been familiar.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER III.

The apostle shows his design in writing this and the preceding

epistle, 1, 2.

Describes the nature of the heresies which should take place in

the last times, 3-8.

A thousand years with the Lord are but as a day, 9.

He will come and judge the world as he has promised, and the

heavens and the earth shall be burnt up, 10.

How those should live who expect these things, 11, 12.

Of the new heavens and the new earth, and the necessity of being

prepared for this great change, 13, 14.

Concerning some difficult things in St. Paul 's epistles,

15, 16.

We must watch against the error of the wicked, grow in grace,

and give all glory to God, 17, 18.

NOTES ON CHAP. III.

Verse 2 Peter 3:1. This second epistle — In order to guard them against the seductions of false teachers, he calls to their remembrance the doctrine of the ancient prophets, and the commands or instructions of the apostles, all founded on the same basis.

He possibly refers to the prophecies of Enoch, as mentioned by Jude, Jude 1:14-15; of David, Psalms 100:0; Psalms 1:1, c. and of Daniel, Daniel 12:2, relative to the coming of our Lord to judgment: and he brings in the instructions of the apostles of Christ, by which they were directed how to prepare to meet their God.