Question of its genuineness

1. TJRANS- MISSION OF TEXT. For the authorities—MSS and Versions—see art, JUDE (EPISTLE OF) in vol. ii. p- 799. Some further points must benoted. (1) 2 P 1s not contained in the Peshitta. The text given in the printed editions of that version is, it ap- pears, part of the Philoxenian version of the Nr made in the early years of the 6th cent. (see below, p. 805). (2) Portions of pre-Hieronymic texts are found in the Fleury palimpsest=h (edited by Berger, 1889), in the Munich fragments edited by Ziegler=q (only 1'“), and in the Speculum commonly known by the symbol m (ed. Woihrich). The text preset in ἢ 4, according to Berger, is one based on a late ‘Italian’ text, kindred to that revised by Jerome, transplanted to Africa and there greatly altered—‘an African text of a late period.’ Some remarkable fragments of an old Latin text are contained in Priscillian (ed. Schepss)—1” (omnis profetia uel scribtura inter- pretationem indiget, p. 87), 2% 1° (p. 29), 25 (p. 46). Ambrose (de Fide iii. 12) quotes 1°. (3) Patristic evidence for the text is found chiefly in (a) Greek writers—Didymus, Ephraem (not Syriac works), ril Alex., John of Damascus, the commentators cumenius and Theophylact, the fragments in Cramer’s Catena (some being ascribed to Athan- asius, Eusebius of Emesa, an Chrysostom ; on the last see below, p. 805n.); (δ) Latin writers—Am- brose, Priscillian, Jerome, Augustine, Fulgentius, Vigilius, Bede. Difficulties of interpretation give & sense of insecurity in regard to the text (e.g. 20-14), Hort supposes that there are primitive errors in 3) 12, n 3%, see below p. 811; and on 3° see Vansittart in the Journal of Philology iii. p. 357 ff., where he mggesta that the ‘existence’ of this Epistle, as of that to the Hebrews, ‘de- pended for many years on a single copy.’ 2, SUMMARY OF THE EPistie-'The Epistle (after the salutation) seems to fall into three PETER, SECOND EPISTLE sections —(1) 1%"; (2) 12-2; (3) 318. Each of the two latter sections begins with a reference to the writer’s personal relation to those whcm he addresses, and in both cases he goes on to speak of the dangers which will soon overtake them from false teachers. (1) @.) Ue Salutation; (ii.) 18% Divine gifts —The Divine power has given us all needful endowments, endowments through which He has given us His promises, that through these promises you, having escaped from the world’s corru tion, may become sharers in the Divine nature, (iii.) 15-7 7] duty of diligence. Such gifts imply duties. Use diligence on your part that one excellence in you may grow out of another. iv) 15:11 The hope of diligence. Such excellences, where the exist, cause fruitfulness. For he who has them not is blind, and forgets that he was cleansed from the sins of his old life. Therefore with the greater diligence see that you make God's calling and choice of you an abiding blessing. For so acting, ou will not stumble; and the gift of entrance into the eternal kin om will without stint be yours. (2) (L) 1215 The writer's care for his friends.—Hence, though ye know these truths, I will ever keep them fresh in your memory, 80 long as I am in this tabernacle, for I know from the Lord’s disclosure of the future to me that my putting it off will come suddenly. Further, I will take diligent care that, as during my life so also after my. ips you shall be reminded of these truths, (ii.) 116-21 J'he teachers’ warrant. For we did not follow fables skilfully elaborated when we told you of the power of the Lord and His coming (i.e. in the flesh). Our warrant was that we had been initiated into the mystery of His majesty. We beheld the glory which He received from the Father, when the voice of God addressed Him as My Son, when we were His companions in the Holy Mount. And what is more abiding than a fleeting voice we possess in the prophetic word. Give heed to it as a lamp shining in a foul place till the perfect dawn comes. But remember that the interpretation of a prophecy in Scripture does not lie within Β man’s unaided power ἡ ; for prophecy came not by the will of man, but men Uae from God as they were controlled by the Spirit. (iii.) 2111 False teachers; their sure punishment. As there were false prophets in Israel, so there will be false teachers among you, denying even the Master who purchased them. Many will follow them, their life and their teaching being marked by lasciviousness, greed, insincerity. But their judgment has long been actively working. For God ever punishes the evil. He punished angels when they sinned, committing them to dens of darkness to be kept for judgment ; the ancient world, while He delivered Noah; the Cities of the Plain, their overthrow being an example of what shall happen to ungodly men, while He delivered Lot, ever wearied out by the lascivious life of the lawless. Yes, the Lord can deliver the godly from temptation, and keep the unrighteous i. pun- ishment for the day of judgment. And this is chiefly so with those whose sins are uncleanness, proud insubordination, and slandering ; whereas angels, greater in power than they, bring no slanderous accusation pene them (ἐ.6. these sinners) before the Lord. (iv.) 21222 Marks of such false teachers. Such men may be easily discerned. In their sins, and therefore in theiz punishment, they are like irrational animals. They blazon their profligacy in broad daylight. They are spots and flaws in your company. Their glances are ceaselessly unchaste. They entice restless souls. They sin from motives of covetous- ness like Balaam, who was miraculously rebuked for his mad- ness. They are as purposeless as waterless springs or tempest- driven mists: their end will be thick darkness. With empty vauntings they entice into lusts those who are just escaping from evil companionship. Themselves the slaves of corruption, they promise a spurious liberty. They are indeed slaves. For if they were rescued from the defilements of the world and are now again ensnared therein, their last state has become worse than their first. For ignorance of riphteoustias is better than deliberate rebellion against the holy commandment. Their di ation is set forth in common proverbs. 3) (i.) 815. The writer's Epistles.—In this, as in my former letter, I remind you of the words spoken long ago by the prophets, and of the Lord’s commandment brought to you by those of the apostles who were your teachers. (ii.) 38:17 Mockers at the promise of the Return, Remember before aJ else that in the last days mockers will come, men of lustful hfe, scorn- fully asking what has become of the promise of His return. For the Fathers passed away, and the world’s course is un- changed. Such mockers are self-condemned. For they wilfully forget that by the word of God the heavens were made and the earth compacted of water and by means of water, waters which became the instrument of judgment. And by the same word the heavens and the earth are being kept for the fire of the final judgment. (iii.) 3813 The Lord’s delay and His coming. Forget not that God reckons not time as men reckcn. His seeming slowness in fulfilling His promise is in truth His long-suffering towards you, that all may come to repentance. Howbeit the day of the Lord will come suddenly, the day when the vault of heaven shall pass away, and the stars shall melt , “Spitta (Der zweite Brief des Petrus p. 41ff.) would read ὑμῖν in v.4 with A 36, 38 syr-bod syr-hl-mg, and would take the ἡμᾶς of v.8 and the 3,’ ὧν of v.4 to refer to the apostles. + Spitta (p. 115) takes the words to mean, ‘ Keine Prophezei ung der Schrift ist der Art dass sie vernichtet werden konnte.’ PETER, SECOND EPISTLE with and the earth and men’s works therein shall be The certainty of this dissolution of material thin is a call to holiness of life and to an earnest expectation of His . Then—because the day of God has come—the whole fabric of the universe shall be burned up. But we expect, according to His }-romise, new heavens and a new earth—the home of righteousness. (iv.) 31418 The steadfastness of believers tn the strength of this . Wherefore having these hopes, be diligent that you may found of the Lord at His coming blameless. And regard the Lord’s long-suffering as salvation, as Paul said to you, and as he says in all his letters, dealing in them with these matters—letters in which are many dificult sayings which those who lack learning and stability twist and eee ee ees tas eat cam iedne 3. DOCTRINE OF THE EPISTLE.—(1) The doctrine of God. (a) The Father. The term πατήρ is used oa tion to the Incarnate Son (117. God is word (command) was the Creator and is the Sustainer of the universe (35-7). He is above the limitations of time (3%). He inflicts punish- ment on and men (2.5), and thus the ἡμέρα κρίσεως (37) is described as ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμέρα (3%). αὖ He is long-suffering, and delays jud ent (3°, cf. 35). He gave His witness to the Incarnate Son (117. Men can know God (1°) and can partake of the Divine nature (15). The phrase θεία φύσις (12) refers rather to what God essentially is; the paar ἡ μεγαλοπρεπὴς δόξα (117) to God as revealing imself by outward signs. (ὁ) The Son. Nothing is said of the pre-existence of the Lord. The term θεός is, however, applied to Him in 11 τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν x. σωτῆρος ᾿Ιησοῦ Xp.; contrast the order in 1? τοῦ θεοῦ x. ᾿Ιησοῦ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν, and compare 11} 318 τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Kx. σωτῆρος ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ. Compare the phrase ἡ θεία δύναμις αὐτοῦ (15), and note how He is closely joined with the Father as the object of man’s knowledge (1). In 115 it seems the preferable, if not the necessary, interpretation to take παρουσία of the First rather than of the Second Coming, for (a) the context speaks of history and not prophecy ; (8) the word itself, though as a fact elsewhere in the NT and in this pitts (3 22) it is used of the Second Coming, naturally bears this meaning (cf. ἔλευσις, Ac 7). If this interpretation of 1" be the true one, then the gens of the Incarnation is described as dealing with τὴν τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν ᾿Τησοῦ Χριστοῦ δύναμιν καὶ rapovclay—the Lord’s essential power and His coming to the world. His μεγαλειότης was revealed on the Mount of Transfiguration. He purchased men (i.e. by His blood, ef. Rev 5°), and so became their absolute Master (δεσπότης, 2'; cf. δοῦλος. . . "I. Xp., 1). The term σωτήρ, as applied to Him, is characteristic of this Epistle (1 Δ 9% 3238), His kingdom is described in the words of Daniel (3" ᾧ 77, cf. 1 Mac 2%) as an αἰώνιος βασιλεία (cf. k 1%, Rev 11"). He will fulfil His promise to return (3). (c) The Holy Spirit. The only mention of the Holy Spirit is in reference to His controlling inspiration of the ancient prophets (1). (2) Redemption.—In regard to our Lord, it was wrought out by Him in His act whereby He pur- aimee men (2'); in regard to Christians, it is brought into contact with each one in the xa@a- cubs which parts the new from the old life (1°). The Divine ‘calling’ and ‘choice’ of men are re- garded as closely related (τὴν κλῆσιν x. ἐκλογήν, 1°; note the vinculum of the common article). Human effort is needed to give them an abiding validity (βεβαίαν). In 1 (τοῦ καλέσαντος ἡμᾶς) it is uncertain (a) whether the ἡμᾶς refers to Christians generally or to the apostles in particular; (8) whether the ὁ καλέσας reters to the Father or to Christ. Much stress is laid on conduct and on the cultivation of Christian virtues (1°), Knowledge (ἐπίγνωσις, 1 2; γνῶσις, 1° 318) has a pre-eminent position assigned PETER, SECOND EPISTLE 797 to it. The object of knowledge is the Father (124) and Christ (18 2” 3%); in 16 γνῶσις a without further definition. The knowledge of God and of Christ is the means whereby men escape the evil of the world (2) and receive grace and peace (1) and spiritual endowments (15. The cultivation of Christian excellences leads to fruit- fulness in regard to this knowledge (15), which is not a final but a progressive knowledge (3), Since it is closely allied to χάρις (3), it is clearly a spiritual and not an intellectual attainment. On the other hand, the γνῶσις of 15 (without a definition of its object) is apparently ‘knowledge’ generally ; it is described as Aye link between ἀρετή and ἐγκράτεια. The end of the Divine promises is that men should become θείας κοινωνοὶ φύσεως (1), The goal of Christian diligence is the entrance into the Lord’s ‘ eternal kingdom’ (1"). (3) Creation.—The cause of creation was ‘the word (command) of God’ (3°). But at least in regard to the earth further (physical) details are given—yj ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ δι᾽ ὕδατος συνεστῶσα. Prob- ably the interpretation given by (£cumenius (quoted by Field, Notes on Translation of the NT p. 242) is the true one—7 γῇ ἐξ ὕδατος μέν, ὡς ἐξ ὑλικοῦ αἰτίου" δι᾿ ὕδατος δέ, ὡς διὰ τελικοῦ (sic lege pro διατελικοῦ)" ὕδωρ yap τὸ συνέχον τὴν γῆν, οἷον κόλλα τις ὑπάρχον αὐτῇ. Inv. the universe is described as consisting of ‘the heavens’ (the vault of heaven), the stars (στοιχεῖα), the earth. (4) Angelology. —It is clearly laid down that there once was ‘a fall’ of certain angels (ἀγγέλων ἁμαρτησάντων, 24), and that their sin was followed by Divine vengeance. God committed them to ‘pits of darkness,’ there to be kept for (final) judgment. In a later passage of the Epistle (2") there is an obscure reference to the ministry of angels. The false teachers (it is there said) δόξας οὐ τρέμουσιν, βλασφημοῦντες, ὅπου ἄγγελοι ἰσχύϊ x. δυνάμει μείζονες ὄντες οὐ φέρουσιν κατ᾽ αὐτῶν παρὰ Κυρίῳ βλάσφημον κρίσιν. It must remain doubtful if car’ αὐτῶν refers to the false teachers or (as the parallel in Jude- suggests) to the δόξαι just mentioned. In either case, angels appear to be represented as bringing before the Lord tidings as to the conduct of created beings, whether angels or men. (5) Eschatology.—Fallen angels and unrighteous men alike undergo fomporary punishment until the time of their final doom (2*). The day, when ‘the promise of his coming’ is fulfilled, variously descri as ἡμέρα κρίσεως (2° 37), ἡμέρα κυρίου (3%), ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμέρα (313), has three aspects—(a) In regard to the sinful: Τὸ the ungodly it will be a ἡμέρα... ἀπωλείας (37, cf. 2' 3156); and of this ‘destruction’ the overthrow of the Cities of the Plain is the type (2°). The disclosure as to the angels who sinned does not go beyond the simple idea of κρίσις (2); (8) In regard to the universe: Dissolution’ (τούτων... πάντων λυομένων, 3") is the destiny of all parts of the material universe. The means of this dissolution will be fire (πυρὶ τηρούμενοι 37, καυσούμενα 3, πυρούμενοι, καυσούμενα 313, (y) In regard to the righteous: The dis- solution of ‘the heavens and earth that now are’ will usher in the fulfilment of the Divine promise of ‘new heavens and a new earth.’ The spiritual character of the new universe is insisted on—ér ols δικαιοσύνη κατοικεῖ (3). In an earlier passage of the Epistle (1'), where the meaning and the construction are doubtful, it seems to be implied that that day will be the dawn of such full daylight ‘in the hearts’ of the faithful that the ‘lamp’ of prophecy will be no more needed. 4. tar WRITER OF THE EPISTLE, ITS READERS, THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF ITS COMPOSITION, AS (1) The ad ᾿ .| REPRESENTED IN THE EPISTLE ITSELF. Compare, ¢.g., Ign. Philad. 0, τὴν wapevriay τοῦ σωτῆρος... νὴ Writer. The writer speaks as ‘Simon (Symeon’ nye naa Tighitout on Veo. Apo. A ae ον Peter, bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ.’ | ’ ie Oe Oe = 798 PETER, SECOND EPISTLE PETER, SECOND EPISTLE He refers to two, possibly to three, occasions in his discipleship—(a) his presence on the Mount of Transfiguration (18) ; (5) the Lord’s revela- tion to him in regard to his death (1); (c) the Lord’s call of himself and of other disciples (1. The last reference is doubtful (see above, . 809). The Epistle does not assert that he Pad visited those to whom he writes; though it is not unnatural to suppose that this is im- plied in 1% 833. But he had written to them one earlier letter (3'), the object of which had been, what the object of the present letter was, viz. to kindle their minds to remember the teach- ings of the ancient prophets and of the apostles who had instructed them. He calls St. Paul ‘our beloved brother,’ and he was acquainted with several of his Epistles, and especially with one which that sponte had written to those whom he is now addressing. He himself now writes under a sense that his death is imminent (1); and he promises that, so long as he lives, he will still remind them of his teaching, and that he will make rovision that after his decease they should always Tis able to call it to mind. Nothing in the letter, it should be added, reveals the place where he writes, his companions, or his plans. (2) The re- cipients of the etter. Unless we assume that the former Epistle referred to in 81 is 1 P, nothing is said in the Epistle to show where its intended recipients dwelt. The two phrases, τοῖς ἰσότιμον ἡμῖν λαχοῦσιν πίστιν (11, cf. Jude 4), and ἀποφυγόντες τῆς ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἐν ἐπιθυμίᾳ φθορᾶς (14), make it prob- able that they were Gentile rather than Jewish converts. But the language is too general to warrant a certain inference. Some at least of the apostles had been among their teachers (32), and it appears from 1” that they were not recent con- verts. From their past we turn to their future. The Epistle warns them of the advent among them of certain false teachers. It is an assumption— though it is a proepie assumption—that the three passages of the Epistle which speak of false teachers—2'-™, 351 3'°_refer to the same persons. Taking this identification for granted, we note the following points in the description of these enemies of the truth: (1) Their life and teaching are such that in effect they deny the rule of Christ and His law (2!) ; (2) they are themselves immoral, and Ὁ life and teaching they infect others (2% 10-12%. 18.); (3) they are insubordinate to authority (2°); (4) they are influenced as teachers by greed of gain (2% 32-14); (5) as teachers they are plausible and crafty (2% 1 1%); (6) their teaching is empty rhetoric (218); (7) they ridicule the idea of Christ’s return (3°) ; (8) they support their false teaching by an unscrupulous appeal to Scripture (316). Such are the notes of the false teaching which will arise ἐπ᾿ ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν (3°). To this statement of the details as to the writer and recipients of the Epistle, which seem to be implied in the document itself, it will be well to sppend the views as to the occasion of the Epistle and the circumstances of its composition, which have been put forward of late years by two critics who have defended its authenticity. (i.) The chief points which Spitta emphasizes in his elaborate work, Der zweite Brief des Petrus und der Brief des Judas, 1885, areas follows :—St. Peter wrote the Epistle late in his life to Jewish Chris- tians, to whom both he (31) and St. Paul (316) had addressed letters which have not been preserved. He promises to make provision that after his death his friends shall be reminded of his teaching. The Epistle of Jude was accordingly written at a later time for the express purpose of carrying out St. Peter’s intention; and in that Epistle there are several direct references (vv. 5-12) to 2 P, while in Jn 171. we find words from 2 P 3° quoted as apos- tolic words. The destination of the Epistle explains its subsequent history. The ‘ paulinische Ein- seitigkeit’ of our NT’ Canon is one of many proofs that the early Church was not wont to welcome documents which had Jewish associations. (ii.) Zahn, Hinleitung ii. 42-110, 1899, takes the same general line as Spitta, but is somewhat more precise and circumstantial in his reconstruction of the history. St. Peter addressed the Epistle to Churches, mainly Jewish, in Palestine and in the adjacent districts, but not N. or N. W. of the Syrian Antioch. The apostle had long before taken a leading part in their evangelization, and had sub- sequently written to them a letter now lost. St. Paul also, not sap cng during his imprisonment at Cesarea, had sent them a letter; but this letter, like the letter of St. Peter just mentioned, has not been preserved. One of the chief reasons why St. Peter wrote them this second letter was to warn them against false teachers, whose evil influence he had himself seen at work in Gentile Churches. He feared lest the plague should spread to Jewish converts. The apostle then, over and above the exhortations and warnings of the Epistle itself, promises that he will, as long as he lives, remind them of the truths on which he insists, and further, that he will write for them an instruec- tion in doctrine (Lehrschrift), that after his death they may have these things ever brought to mind. The time of the Epistle must be placed late in St. Peter’s life ; for (2) he writes as one now growing old; (8) many letters of St. Paul are in existence; (y) there is a feeling of disappointment abroad that the promise of the Return is unfulfilled; (5) the first generation of Christians is now dying off. As to the place where the Epistle was written, it contains no indication that St. Peter had as yet been in Rome. On the other hand, it is natural to suppose that, when he wrote to them, he was not living in the immediate neighbourhood of his correspondents. Thus it is an obvious conjecture (a) that the place where the Epistle was written was Antioch ; (δ) that the time of its composition was shortly before St. Peter left the East fo Rome, where he probably arrived in the autumy of 63; t.e. the date falls within the years 60-63. About a dozen years later (circ. 75) St. Jude wrote to the same Churches, and (vv.* 17) formally quoted 2 P as an apostolic document. As to the later history of 2 P, it is important to emphasize the fact that 1P and 2P were written to wholl different groups of Churches. It is quite natural, therefore, that their fate should be different. For a long time Gentile Christians would trouble themselves but little as to an Epistle addressed to Jewish Christians. Hence the comparative obscurity into which 2 P fell. There is little room for difference of opinion as to the date of 2 P among critics who maintain the genuineness of the Epistle, and hold the almost universal opinion that it was written as a sequel to 1 P, the latter Epistle being placed near the end of St. Peter’s life. The case, however, is somewhat altered for any who follow B. Weiss and Kihl (see above, Pp. 7821.) in their view that 1 P was written about the year54. Yet these critics do not diverge from the conclusion as to the date of 2 P mentioned just above. On the one hand, Kiihl urges that the silence of the Epistle as to the destruction of Jerusalem is a proof that it was written before the year 70. n the other, the fact that St. Peter holds himself henceforth alone responsible for the instruction of those to whom he writes, though he is aware that St. Paul had written to them, points to a time after the death of the latter apostle. The most probable date, there- fore, is (according to Kiihl) about the middle of the 6th decade. PETER, SECOND EPISTLE II. THE QUESTION OF THE GENUINENESS OF