Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

“Christ is to all believers "made of God wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption." through--Greek, "in." Translate, as the one article to both nouns requires, "the righteousness of Him who is (at once) our God and (our) Saviour." Peter, confirmin…”

“Grace . . . peace-- (1Pe 1:2). through--Greek, "in": the sphere IN which alone grace and peace can be multiplied. knowledge--Greek, "full knowledge." of God, and of Jesus our Lord--The Father is here meant by "God," but the Son in 2Pe 1:1: marking how en…”

“The oil and flame are given wholly of grace by God, and "taken" by believers: their part henceforth is to "trim their lamps" (compare 2Pe 1:3, 4 with 2Pe 1:5, &c.). life and godliness--Spiritual life must exist first before there can be true godliness. Know…”

“Whereby, &c.--By His glory and virtue: His glory making the "promises" to be exceeding great; His virtue making them "precious" [BENGEL]. Precious promises are the object of precious faith. given--The promises themselves are a gift: for God's promises are as …”

“Greek, "And in your knowledge self-control." In the exercise of Christian knowledge or discernment of God's will, let there be the practical fruit of self-control as to one's lusts and passions.”

“Your natural affection and brotherly kindness are to be sanctified by godliness. "And in your brotherly kindness love," namely, to all men, even to enemies, in thought, word, and deed. From brotherly kindness we are to go forward to love.”

“As their subsisting in us constitutes us not barren or idle, so their abounding in us constitutes us not unfruitful in respect to it. It is through doing His will, and so becoming like Him, that we grow in knowing Him (Joh 7:17).”

“Nowhere else does he so address them, which makes his calling them so here the more emphatical. give diligence--The Greek aorist implies one lifelong effect [ALFORD]. to make--Greek middle voice; to make so far as it depends on you; to do your part towards m…”

“Minister in your faith virtue and the other graces, so shall there be ministered to you the entrance into that heaven where these graces shine most brightly. The reward of grace hereafter shall correspond to the work of grace here. abundantly--Greek, "richly.…”

“Wherefore--as these graces are so necessary to your abundant entrance into Christ's kingdom (2Pe 1:10, 11). I will not be negligent--The oldest manuscripts read, "I will be about always to put you in remembrance" (an accumulated future: I will regard you as a…”

“Yea--Greek, "But"; though "you know" the truth (2Pe 1:12). this tabernacle--soon to be taken down (2Co 5:1): I therefore need to make the most of my short time for the good of Christ's Church. The zeal of Satan against it, the more intense as his time is s…”

“Peter thus fulfils Christ's charge, "Feed My sheep" (Joh 21:16, 17). decease--"departure." The very word ("exodus") used in the Transfiguration, Moses and Elias conversing about Christ's decease (found nowhere else in the New Testament, but Heb 11:22, "the…”

“A refutation of the scoffers (2Pe 3:4): I, James and John, saw with our own eyes a mysterious sample of His coming glory. were--Greek, "were made." eye-witnesses--As initiated spectators of mysteries (so the Greek), we were admitted into His innermost secr…”

“The fulfilment of prophecy so far in Christ's history makes us the surer of what is yet to be fulfilled, His consummated glory. The word was the "lamp (Greek for 'light') heeded" by Old Testament believers, until a gleam of the "day dawn" was given at Christ's…”

“Laying it down as a first principle never to be lost sight of. is--Greek, not the simple verb, to be, but to begin to be, "proves to be," "becometh." No prophecy is found to be the result of "private (the mere individual writer's uninspired) interpretation" (…”

“"Spake" implies that, both in its original oral announcement, and now even when in writing, it has been always, and is, the living voice of God speaking to us through His inspired servants. Greek, "borne (along)" forms a beautiful antithesis to "was borne." Th…”

“Whom the true doctrine teaches to be their OWNER by right of purchase. Literally, "denying Him who bought them (that He should be thereby), their Master." bought them--Even the ungodly were bought by His "precious blood." It shall be their bitterest self-repr…”

“False doctrine and immoral practice generally go together (2Pe 2:18, 19). by reason of whom--"on account of whom," namely, the followers of the false teachers. the way of truth shall be evil spoken of--"blasphemed" by those without, who shall lay on Christi…”

“The oldest manuscripts read, "dens," as ALFORD translates: the Greek, however, may, in Hellenistic Greek, mean "chains," as Jude expresses it. They are "reserved" unto hell's "mist of darkness" as their final "judgment" or doom, and meanwhile their exclusion f…”

“Contrasted with the densely peopled "world of the ungodly." preacher--not only "righteous" himself (compare 2Pe 2:8), but also "a preacher of righteousness": adduced by Peter against the licentiousness of the false teachers (2Pe 2:2) who have no prospect …”

“Judgment belongs to God, not the angels. How great is the dignity of the saints who, as Christ's assessors, shall hereafter judge angels! Meanwhile, railing judgments, though spoken with truth, against dignities, as being uttered irreverently, are of the natur…”

“Spots--in themselves. blemishes--disgraces: bringing blame (so the Greek) on the Church and on Christianity itself. sporting themselves--Greek, "luxuriating." with--Greek, "in." deceivings--or else passively, "deceits": luxuries gotten by deceit.”

“Job 31:7, "Mine heart walked after mine eyes." covetous practices--The oldest manuscripts read singular, "covetousness." cursed children--rather as Greek, "children of curse," that is, devoted to the curse.”

“"Clouds" is a transcriber's correction from Jude 12, where it is appropriate, "clouds . . . without water" (promising what they do not perform); but not here, "mists driven along by a tempest." mist--blackness; "the chilling horror accompanying darkness" [B…”

“But--You need not wonder at the event; for dogs and swine they were before, and dogs and swine they will continue. They "scarcely" (2Pe 2:18) have escaped from their filthy folly, when they again are entangled in it.”