2 Peter 3:5

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Peter 3:3-7

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. This indeed may seem very strange, that the New-Testament dispensation of the covenant of grace, which is spiritual and therefore more agreeable to the... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 2 Peter 3:5-6

3:5-6 What they wilfully fail to see is that long ago the heavens were created and the earth was composed out of water and through water; and through these waters the ancient world perished, when it was overwhelmed in a deluge of water. Peter's first argument is that the world is not eternally stable. The point he is making is that the ancient world was destroyed by water, just as the present world is going to be destroyed by fire. The detail of this passage is, however, difficult. He... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Peter 3:5

For this they willingly are ignorant of ,.... Namely, what follows; for as these men were such as had professed Christianity, and had the advantage of revelation, and had the opportunity of reading the Scriptures, they might have known that the heavens and the earth were from the beginning; and that they were made by the word of God; and that the earth was originally in such a position and situation as to be overflowed with a flood, and that it did perish by a general inundation; and that... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Peter 3:5

For this they willingly are ignorant of - They shut their eyes against the light, and refuse all evidence; what does not answer their purpose they will not know. And the apostle refers to a fact that militates against their hypothesis, with which they refused to acquaint themselves; and their ignorance he attributes to their unwillingness to learn the true state of the case. By the word of God the heavens were of old - I shall set down the Greek text of this extremely difficult clause: ... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Peter 3:5

Verse 5 5.For this they willingly are ignorant of. By one argument only he confutes the scoff of the ungodly, even by this, that the world once perished by a deluge of waters, when yet it consisted of waters. (Genesis 1:2.) And as the history of this was well known, he says that they willingly, or of their own accord, erred. For they who infer the perpetuity of the world from its present state, designedly close their eyes, so as not to see so clear a judgment of God. The world no doubt had its... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Peter 3:1-9

The Divine commandment. A careful study of this passage is necessary to a clear understanding of the apostle's meaning, and of the place of this urgent exhortation in his argument. For such a study it may be welt to gather up his teaching here round three points. I. THE " WORD " OR " COMMANDMENT " HERE INTENDED . Concerning such we ask: 1 . By whom is it proclaimed? 2 . How is it to be received? 3 . What is it? The theme of both Epistles—Christ's coming. II. ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Peter 3:1-10

The certainty of the Lord's coming. I. CONFUTATION OF SCOFFERS . 1 . St. Peter's purpose in writing, He took a deep interest in the spiritual welfare of the Christians of Asia Minor; he felt a great affection for them; he calls them "beloved" four times in this chapter. We do not know whether he had ever seen them face to face. It may be that Silvanus had made known to him their circumstances, their dangers, their temptations. So he writes to them. In the First Epistle he... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Peter 3:1-10

Fact of second coming, especially in its accompaniments. I. AIM OF THE EPISTLE . 1 . To stir them up by reminding them. "This is now, beloved, the second Epistle that I write unto you; and in both of them I stir up your sincere mind by putting you in remembrance." There is here the first of four designations of them as beloved in this chapter. It was already a second Epistle that he was writing to the same circle; not much time had elapsed since the writing of the First... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Peter 3:5

For this they willingly are ignorant of; literally, for this escapes them of their own will. All things have not always been as they are; there have been great changes; there was once a great catastrophe; but this they willfully forget, Huther translates differently, "For, whilst they assert this, it is hidden from them that," etc. But this rendering seems forced and unsatisfactory, and gives a meaning to θέλω which it has nowhere in the New Testament. That by the Word of God the... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Peter 3:5

For this they willingly are ignorant of - Λαιθάνει γὰρ αὐτοὺς τοῦτο θέλοντας Laithanei gar autous touto thelontas. There is some considerable variety in the translation of this passage. In our common version the Greek word (θέλοντας thelontas) is rendered as if it were an adverb, or as if it referred to their “ignorance” in regard to the event; meaning, that while they might have known this fact, they took no pains to do it, or that they preferred to have its recollection far from their... read more

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