2 Peter 3:5-7

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

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 2 Peter 3:7

3:7 But by the same word the present heavens and earth are treasured up for fire, reserved for the day of judgment and the destruction of impious men. It is Peter's conviction that, as the ancient world was destroyed by water, the present world will be destroyed by fire. He says that that is stated "by the same word." What he means is that the Old Testament tells of the flood in the past and warns of the destruction by fire in the future. There are many passages in the prophets which 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

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Peter 3:6

Whereby the world that then was ,.... The old world, as it is called in 2 Peter 2:5 ; and as the Ethiopic version here renders it; the world before the flood, that had stood from the creation 1656 years: being overflowed with water ; by the windows of heaven being opened, and the waters over the earth poured down upon it; and by the fountains of the great deep being broken up in it; thus by these waters from above and below, a general inundation was brought upon it; for that the deluge... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Peter 3:7

But the heavens and the earth which are now ,.... In being, in distinction from, and opposition to the heavens that were of old, and the earth standing in and out of the water, and the world that then was when the waters of the flood overflowed it: by the same word are kept in store ; that is, by the word of God, as in 2 Peter 3:5 ; and the Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions read, "by his word"; by the same word that the heavens and the earth were made of old, or in the beginning,... 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

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Peter 3:7

But the heavens and the earth, which are now - The present earth and its atmosphere, which are liable to the same destruction, because the same means still exist, (for there is still water enough to drown the earth, and there is iniquity enough to induce God to destroy it and its inhabitants), are nevertheless kept in store, τεθησαυρισμενοι , treasured up, kept in God's storehouse, to be destroyed, not by water, but by fire at the day of judgment. From all this it appears that those... 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

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Peter 3:6

Verse 6 It seems, however, strange that he says that the world perished through the deluge, when he had before mentioned the heaven and the earth. To this I answer, that the heaven was then also submerged, that is, the region of the air, which stood open between the two waters. For the division or separation, mentioned by Moses, was then confounded. (Genesis 1:6;) and the word heaven is often taken in this sense. if any wishes for more on this subject, let him read Augustine on the City of God.... read more

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