2 Peter 1:20 - Exposition

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. By "knowing this first" ( γινώσκοντες ) is meant that we must recognize this truth as of primary importance, or, before we commence the study of prophecy; the phrase occurs again in 2 Peter 3:3 . The literal translation of the following clause is, "that all prophecy of Scripture [there is no article] is not; all … not" ( πᾶσα … ου) ) being a common Hebraism for none, οὑδεμία ; but the verb is not ἔστι , "is," but γίνεται , "becomes, arises, comes into being." The word for "private" is ἰδίας , "special," or commonly, "one's own" (see 1 Peter 3:1 , 1 Peter 3:5 ; 1 Peter 2:16 , 1 Peter 2:22 ; 1 Peter 3:3 , 1 Peter 3:16 , 1 Peter 3:17 ). The word rendered "interpretation" is ἐπιλύσεως , which is found nowhere else in the New Testament; the corresponding verb occurs in Mark 4:34 , "He expounded all things;" and Acts 19:39 , "It shall be determined or settled." These considerations, strengthened by the context, seem to guide us to the following explanation: No prophecy of Scripture arises from the prophet's own interpretation of the vision presented to his mind; for it was from God that the prophecy was brought, and men spoke as they were borne on by the Holy Spirit. This view of the passage is also supported by the remarkable parallel in the First Epistle ( 1 Peter 1:10-12 ). The prophets searched diligently into the meaning of the revelation vouchsafed to them; they did not always comprehend it in all its details; they could not interpret it to themselves; the written prophecy arose out of the interpretation of the revelation supplied by the same Spirit from whom the revelation itself proceeded. Therefore the prophetic books of Holy Scripture are sacred and precious, and we do well in giving heed to them; though the day-star of the Lord's own presence, shining in the illuminated heart, is holier still. Other views of this difficult passage are: Prophecy is not its own interpreter; the guidance of the Spirit is necessary. Or, prophecy is not a matter for the private interpretation of the readers; only the Holy Spirit can explain it. But the explanation adopted seems most accordant with the Greek words and with the general sense of the context (compare St. Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians 12:10 ). The gifts of the Spirit are divided as he will; to one man are given "divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues." Not every one, it seems, who had the first gift, had also the latter. Tongues and the interpretation of tongues were two distinct gifts. It may be so with prophecy and the interpretation of prophecy.