2 Peter 3:12
in 2 Peter 3as you anticipate and hasten the coming of the day of God, when the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will melt in the heat.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
KJV
Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
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This verse in 2 Peter 3
Commentary
11 notes on this verseFor the river of fire shall come forth in fury like an angry sea, and shall burn up mountains and hills, and shall make the sea vanish, and shall dissolve the atmosphere with its heat like wax.
This site's exposition
what kind of people ought you to be
on 2 Peter 3:11-12
Since everything will be destroyed in this way, Peter asks what kind of people ought you to be, potapous, and answers with holiness and godliness. Believers anticipate and hasten the coming of the day of God.
This site's exposition
hasten the coming
Believers wait for the day and also hasten it. John Wesley reads the hastening as earnest desire and fervent prayer, and he calls the last day the day of God Himself. Adam Clarke notes that pagan writers such as Ovid also expected the world to burn.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
In which the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt in fervent heat but [we look for] new heavens and the new earth, has this as its purport, that with a great noise, as in the twinkling of an eye, …
You are waiting for the end as the virgins waited for the bridegroom.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Hastening on - As it were by your earnest desires and fervent prayers. The coming of the day of God - Many myriads of days he grants to men: one, the last, is the day of God himself.
Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God,....
To quicken and excite us to a serious minding and firm adhering to what God has revealed to us by the prophets and apostles, we are told that there will be scoffers, men who will make a mock of sin, and of salvation from it. God's way of saving sinners by Jesus Christ is what men will scoff at, and that in the last days, under the gospel.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
The heavens being on fire - See on 2Pe 3:10. (note). It was an ancient opinion among the heathens that the earth should be burnt up with fire; so Ovid, Met., lib. i. v. 256. Esse quoque in fatis reminiscitur, adfore tempus, Quo mare, quo tellus, correptaque regia coeli Ardeat; et mundi moles operosa laboret. “Remembering in the fates a time when fire Should to the battlements of heaven aspire, And all his blazing world above should burn, And all the inferior globe to cinders turn.” Dryden. Minucius Felix tells us, xxxiv.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
By praying for His coming, furthering the preaching of the Gospel for a witness to all nations, and bringing in those whom "the long-suffering of God" waits to save, we hasten the coming of the day of God. The Greek verb is always in New Testament used as neuter (as English Version here), not active; but the Septuagint uses it actively. Christ says, "Surely I come quickly.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Looking for - Not knowing when this may occur, the mind should be in that state which constitutes “expectation;” that is, a belief that it will occur, and a condition of mind in which we would not be taken by surprise should it happen at any moment. See the notes at Tit 2:13. And hasting unto the coming - Margin, as in Greek: ““hasting the coming.”” The Greek word rendered “hasting,” (σπεύδω speudō,) means to urge on, to hasten; and then to hasten after anything, to await with eager desire. This is evidently the sense here - Wetstein and Robinson. The state of mind which is indicated by the word is that when we are anxiously desirous that anything should occur, and when we would hasten or accelerate it if we could. The true Christian does not dread the coming of that day. He looks forward to it as the period of his redemption, and would welcome, at any time, the return of his Lord and Saviour. While he is willing to wait as long as it shall please God for the advent of His Redeemer, yet to Him the brightest prospect in the future is that hour when he shall come to take him to Himself. The coming of the day of God - Called “the day of God,” because God will then be manifested in his power and glory.
The words behind it
18 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| προσδοκῶντας | prosdokontas | expecting | G4328 → | 16 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| σπεύδοντας | speudontas | hastening | G4692 → | |
| τὴν | ten | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| παρουσίαν | parousian | coming | G3952 → | 24 times |
| τῆς | tes | of the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| τοῦ | tou | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| θεοῦ | theou | of God | G2316 → | 1312 times |
| ἡμέρας, | hemeras | day, | G2250 → | 389 times |
| δι᾽ | di᾽ | through | G1223 → | 664 times |
| ἣν | hen | which | G3739 → | 1405 times |
| οὐρανοὶ | ouranoi | [the] heavens | G3772 → | 272 times |
| πυρούμενοι | puroumenoi | being set on fire | G4448 → | |
| λυθήσονται | luthesontai | will be dissolved | G3089 → | 42 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| στοιχεῖα | stoicheia | [the] elements | G4747 → | |
| καυσούμενα | kausoumena | burning with heat | G2741 → | |
| τήκεται; | teketai | are melting? | G5080 → |
προσδοκῶνταςexpecting
prosdokontasG4328 →16 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
σπεύδονταςhastening
speudontasG4692 →
τὴνthe
tenG3588 →19766 times
παρουσίανcoming
parousianG3952 →24 times
τῆςof the
tesG3588 →19766 times
τοῦ<the>
touG3588 →19766 times
θεοῦof God
theouG2316 →1312 times
ἡμέρας,day,
hemerasG2250 →389 times
δι᾽through
di᾽G1223 →664 times
ἣνwhich
henG3739 →1405 times
οὐρανοὶ[the] heavens
ouranoiG3772 →272 times
πυρούμενοιbeing set on fire
puroumenoiG4448 →
λυθήσονταιwill be dissolved
luthesontaiG3089 →42 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
στοιχεῖα[the] elements
stoicheiaG4747 →
καυσούμεναburning with heat
kausoumenaG2741 →
τήκεται;are melting?
teketaiG5080 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Peter 3:10But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid…
it leads to
- Revelation 21:1
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
- Matthew 24:35
Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
- 2 Peter 3:7
And by that same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
- Revelation 16:15
“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who remains awake and clothed, so that he will not go naked and let his shame be exposed.”
- Isaiah 51:6
Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth below; for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and its people will die like…
- Revelation 21:1
Through
Titus 2:13as we await the blessed hope and glorious appearance of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.
it leads to
- 2 Timothy 4:8
From now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but to all who…
- 1 Corinthians 1:7
Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly await the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Matthew 16:27
For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.
- 2 Timothy 4:8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies5
About 2 Peter
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Cosmas Indicopleustes, The Christian Topography, Book 7; Hilary of Arles, INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 2 PETER; Hippolytus of Rome, Dubious Hippolytus Fragments; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.