2 Peter 1:16-21 · Featured Study
The Prophetic Word Made Sure
Peter is near the end of his life, and he stakes everything on one claim: he was there. He saw the Transfiguration with his own eyes, and from that testimony he grounds a second claim, that the whole prophetic word is not a man’s invention but the speech of God through men carried along by the Holy Spirit. This page walks both claims in the text’s own order: the eyewitness testimony, the more sure word it confirms, and the doctrine of inspiration Peter grounds in it.
Summary
Near the end of his life, Peter grounds the gospel he preached in what he actually saw: the Transfiguration on the holy mountain. From that eyewitness testimony he argues that the whole prophetic word is not a human invention but the speech of God carried through men by the Holy Spirit.
- Peter contrasts his testimony with "cunningly devised fables," the kind of invented myth the ancient world told about gods appearing on earth (1:16)
- He names the Transfiguration directly, and includes himself among the witnesses who heard the voice from heaven (1:17-18)
- The prophetic word is called "more sure" than even that vision, a lamp shining until Christ himself, the day-star, rises in the heart (1:19)
- No prophecy comes from a prophet's own private interpretation of things; God supplied the meaning, not the man (1:20)
- Scripture's own origin is holy men moved, carried along, by the Holy Spirit, not by the will of man (1:21)
Not Cunningly Devised Fables
1:16: what Peter is ruling out before he says what he saw
For we did not follow cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.The word for eyewitnesses is a formal Greek term for an initiated spectator, not a casual bystander.
A “fable” in Peter’s world was a known genre: stories the Greek and Roman world told of gods appearing on earth in human form. Peter names the category by name and rules his own testimony out of it. He is not offering a story crafted to sound convincing. He is reporting something he stood and watched.
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 secrets, namely, at the Transfiguration. his--emphatical (compare Greek): "THAT great ONE'S majesty."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871Reformed
2 Peter 1:16
The constructions of the heretics are myths and human fantasies, which Paul wants us to avoid, as he writes: "Warn a heretic once or twice, and after that have nothing to do with him." Peter is here already starting to do battle against the heretics. To the extent that they do not possess the truth, heretics are obliged to concoct a lie by using flowery words. But we are not like that, he says, because we saw the truth with our eyes when we were with him on the mountain.
Cyril of Alexandria· Catena, 444Patristic
2 Peter 1:16
With Him on the Holy Mount
1:17-18: the Transfiguration, in the first person
For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there was borne such a voice to him by the Majestic Glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased:The voice comes from the Majestic Glory, the same bright cloud Matthew 17:5 records.
and this voice we ourselves heard borne out of heaven, when we were with him in the holy mount.Peter includes himself: "this voice we ourselves heard."
Peter, James, and John stood on the mountain when the voice came. Peter does not report this secondhand. He was one of the three, and he says so in the plainest possible words: this voice we ourselves heard. The full account of that day, and what happened on the mountain before the voice spoke, is its own page.
For he received from God the Father honour and glory - He was honored by God in being thus addressed. When there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory - The magnificent splendor; the bright cloud which overshadowed them, Mat 17:5. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased - See the notes at Mat 17:5; Mat 3:17. This demonstrated that he was the Messiah. Those who heard that voice could not doubt this; they never did afterwards doubt.
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, 1870Evangelical
2 Peter 1:17
And this voice - we heard - That is, himself, James, and John heard it, and saw this glory; for these only were the εποπται, beholders, on the holy mount. It is worthy of remark that our blessed Lord, who came to give a new law to mankind, appeared on this holy mount with splendor and great glory, as God did when he came on the holy mount, Sinai, to give the old law to Moses.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible, 1832Methodist
2 Peter 1:18
The More Sure Word
1:19: what the vision confirms, and the lamp that outlasts it
And we have the word of prophecy made more sure; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts:A lamp in a dark place, until the day-star itself rises in the heart.
Peter just described the single most dramatic vision of his life, and then says the written prophetic word is more sure than that. The reading this page follows, held by Barnes, Wesley, and JFB together, takes the comparison plainly: the Transfiguration confirmed the prophetic word Israel already carried, and the written word stands on even surer footing, because it does not depend on one moment on one mountain. It reaches every reader, in every generation, as a lamp already lit.
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 first coming, and especially in His Transfiguration.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871Reformed
2 Peter 1:19
Till the day should dawn - Till the full light of the gospel should break through the darkness. As is the difference between the light of a lamp and that of the day, such is that between the light of the Old Testament and of the New. And the morning star - Jesus Christ, Rev. xxii, 16.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, 1755Wesleyan
2 Peter 1:19
Barnes on the comparison itselfAlbert Barnes, 1832-1869
Barnes names the interpretive question honestly rather than assuming it: some readers take “a more sure word” as no comparison at all, simply a strong statement that prophecy is reliable. The reading this page follows treats the comparison as real: the vision confirmed the word, and the word now stands surer still, because it belongs to every reader rather than to three men on one mountain.
We have also a more sure word of prophecy - That is, a prophecy pertaining to the coming of the Lord Jesus; for that is the point under discussion. There has been considerable diversity of opinion in regard to the meaning of this passage. Some have supposed that the apostle, when he says, “a more sure word,” did not intend to make any comparison between the miracle of the transfiguration and prophecy, but that he meant to say merely that the word of prophecy was very sure, and could certainly be relied on.
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, 1870
2 Peter 1:19
- 1:16-18the eyewitness claim
- 1:19the more sure word
- 1:20-21the doctrine of inspiration
- 3witnesses on the mount: Peter, James, John
No Private Interpretation
1:20: whose interpretation the verse is actually about
knowing this first, that no prophecy of scripture is of private interpretation.Every source gathered for this page reads this as a statement about the prophet's own source, not the reader's.
This verse is sometimes read as a rule about how a believer may read the Bible. The commentary gathered for this page reads it differently, and reads it the same way across every source: the verse is about where prophecy came from, not about who is allowed to understand it once it is written. No prophet supplied his own meaning. God did.
Ye do well, as knowing this, that no scripture prophecy is of private interpretation - It is not any man's own word. It is God, not the prophet himself, who thereby interprets things till then unknown.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, 1755Wesleyan
2 Peter 1:20
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" (solution), and so origination.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871Reformed
2 Peter 1:20
Knowing this first - Considering this as a first principle, that no prophecy of the Scripture, whether that referred to above, or any other, is of any private interpretation - proceeds from the prophet’s own knowledge or invention, or was the offspring of calculation or conjecture. The word επιλυσις signifies also impetus, impulse; and probably this is the best sense here; not by the mere private impulse of his own mind.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible, 1832Methodist
2 Peter 1:20
Moved by the Holy Ghost
1:21: the doctrine of inspiration, and the verb that carries it
For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit."Moved" translates the same Greek verb used twice already in this passage, of the voice "borne" from heaven.
Peter closes the paragraph he opened with his own eyes on the mountain. Prophecy did not come by the will of man. Holy men spoke, but God carried them along as they spoke, the same verb used twice already in this passage for the voice “borne” out of the Majestic Glory. The men who wrote were not silenced, and they were not the source either. This is the same doctrine Paul states in 2 Timothy 3:16, that all Scripture is God-breathed, and the two passages are read together as companion texts on this site.
"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." They were passive, rather than active instruments.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871Reformed
2 Peter 1:21
For the prophecy came not in old time - Margin, or, “at any.” The Greek word (ποτὲ pote) will bear either construction. It would be true in either sense, but the reference is particularly to the recorded prophecies in the Old Testament. What was true of them, however, is true of all prophecy, that it is not by the will of man.
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, 1870Evangelical
2 Peter 1:21
The words underneath
propheteia: prophecy
Greek · G4394Strong's entry: prediction (scriptural or other)
19-21's own word: propheteia, prophecy. The prophetic word as a body, the thing the Transfiguration confirmed rather than replaced.
19 times in the New Testament · propheteia, in full →
epilysis: explanation
Greek · G1955Strong's entry: explanation, i.e. application
20's rare word: epilysis, rendered "interpretation." Clarke notes it can carry the sense of impulse as well, the private source a prophet did not supply on his own.
1 times in the New Testament · epilysis, in full →
phero: to bear/lead
Greek · G5342Strong's entry: to "bear" or carry (in a very wide application, literally and figuratively, as follows)
The verb used three times in six verses (17, 18, 21): phero, to bear or carry. The voice was borne from the Majestic Glory, Peter heard it borne out of heaven, and holy men spoke as they were borne along by the Holy Spirit.
66 times in the New Testament · phero, in full →
Read this passage's companion text: All Scripture Is God-Breathed
The Voices
with the work named
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869) · public domain
Reads the voice from the Majestic Glory as proof no hearer could afterward doubt, and states plainly the interpretive question behind "more sure."
Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755) · public domain
Reads verse 20 as a statement about the prophet's own source, not the reader's: "it is not any man's own word."
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) · public domain
Names the Transfiguration outright on verse 16, ties "more sure" to prophecy's own fulfillment in Christ, and carries the "borne along" reading of verse 21.
Commentary on the Bible (1832) · public domain
Draws the Sinai parallel on verse 18, and on verse 20 opens the rare Greek word epilysis to a second sense worth naming.
Catena (444) · public domain
An ancient voice on verse 16, stating the same eyewitness claim in his own words a few centuries before the Reformation's own commentators.
Marcus Brown's own commentary leads above all; within a tier, all voices are equal. No modern in-copyright voice from the approved roster carries a verified quote on this exact passage in the site's quote pool, so none is named here; this is a gate-honoring omission, not an oversight.
Word studies
The Hebrew and Greek under this study, each word in its own room.
Where it leads
Featured studies7
- The Transfiguration: the mountain Peter is remembering
- All Scripture Is God-Breathed: this passage's own companion text, 2 Timothy 3:16-17
- Archaeology and the Bible (the Evidence Ledger), MannaFest
- How Greek Works, MannaFest
- How Prophecy Works, MannaFest
- The Hebrew Calendar, MannaFest
- The Jewish Day and the Watches of the Night, MannaFest
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