2 PETER 1:12–21
WE WERE EYEWITNESSES OF HIS MAJESTY
Peter has just told Christians to grow in faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love.
Now his tone changes.
He tells them why he is so determined to keep reminding them of these things.
Peter knows he is going to die.
“Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them…”
—2 Peter 1:12
Notice that.
They already know these things.
Peter isn't claiming to reveal some secret teaching that Christians have never heard before.
His concern is that they remember what they already received.
That becomes one of the major themes of the letter.
“AS LONG AS I AM IN THIS TABERNACLE”
Peter continues:
“Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance.”
—2 Peter 1:13
His “tabernacle” is his body—his temporary earthly dwelling.
Then he says:
“Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.”
—2 Peter 1:14
Peter apparently knows his life is approaching its end.
His words naturally remind us of Jesus' prediction:
“When thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands…”
—John 21:18
John tells us Jesus was indicating the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God.
Now Peter is old.
Jesus' words are approaching fulfillment.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER PETER DIES?
That's the problem Peter is thinking about.
“Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.”
—2 Peter 1:15
Peter doesn't say:
After I'm gone, Christianity will disappear.
He doesn't say:
The truth will be lost until God restores it centuries later.
His concern is that Christians continue remembering the apostolic message after the apostles are gone.
How?
Peter begins by reminding them why the apostolic testimony can be trusted.
“WE HAVE NOT FOLLOWED CUNNINGLY DEVISED FABLES”
“For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ…”
—2 Peter 1:16
Christianity wasn't built upon a story Peter and the other apostles invented.
Peter says:
“…but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”
Peter was there.
He saw something.
He heard something.
Christian faith rests upon events the apostles claimed happened in history.
PETER TAKES US BACK TO THE MOUNTAIN
Peter is talking about the Transfiguration.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell the story.
Jesus took Peter, James, and John onto a mountain.
There Jesus was transfigured before them.
His appearance changed.
Moses and Elijah appeared.
And a voice came from heaven.
Years later Peter still remembers it.
“For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory…”
—2 Peter 1:17
Then Peter quotes what he heard:
“This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
And Peter emphasizes:
“And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.”
—2 Peter 1:18
Peter's argument is simple:
I was there.
I saw His glory.
I heard the voice.
This isn't secondhand information.
WHY DOES PETER MENTION THE TRANSFIGURATION?
Look back at verse 16.
Peter says they made known:
“…the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ…”
The Greek word translated “coming” is parousia.
That word becomes extremely important in chapter 3.
The scoffers will ask:
“Where is the promise of his coming?”
—2 Peter 3:4
Peter is already preparing his answer.
He had seen Christ's majesty.
The Transfiguration was a preview of royal glory.
The Christ who appeared in glory on that mountain will come in glory.
Peter isn't asking them to believe a cleverly constructed end-times story.
He points them back to what he witnessed.
BUT PETER DOESN'T STOP WITH HIS EXPERIENCE
This is important.
Peter could have said:
Believe me because I had an amazing spiritual experience.
Instead, he immediately turns to something his readers also possess.
“We have also a more sure word of prophecy…”
—2 Peter 1:19
The exact relationship between Peter's eyewitness experience and the “more sure word” has been translated and understood somewhat differently.
But Peter's practical point is clear.
His readers should pay attention to the prophetic word:
“…whereunto ye do well that ye take heed…”
Peter's experience doesn't replace Scripture.
It points his readers back toward God's word.
“AS UNTO A LIGHT THAT SHINETH IN A DARK PLACE”
Peter describes the prophetic word as:
“…a light that shineth in a dark place…”
—2 Peter 1:19
That's a beautiful picture.
The world can be dark.
False teachers will come.
Scoffers will mock Christ's return.
Peter himself will die.
But Christians have not been left without light.
God has spoken.
Peter says:
Pay attention to it.
And keep doing so:
“…until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.”
Peter is looking forward.
The darkness will not last forever.
“NO PROPHECY…IS OF ANY PRIVATE INTERPRETATION”
Then comes a verse that has produced considerable debate:
“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.”
—2 Peter 1:20
That sentence is sometimes used to say:
An individual Christian must not interpret Scripture for himself.
But is that actually Peter's point?
Keep reading.
“For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man…”
—2 Peter 1:21
Peter is explaining the origin of prophecy.
Prophecy did not originate in the prophet's own imagination or human will.
Why?
“…but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
The prophets spoke.
But behind their speaking was God.
That is why the prophetic word can be trusted.
“MOVED BY THE HOLY GHOST”
The word translated “moved” has the idea of being carried along.
Interestingly, the same verb appears in Acts 27 when Luke describes a ship being driven or carried along by the wind.
The sailors were really there.
The ship was really moving.
But the wind was carrying it along.
Peter says something similar about prophecy.
Human beings spoke.
Their personalities weren't erased.
Their vocabulary wasn't erased.
Their historical circumstances weren't erased.
Yet they spoke as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
That gives us an important glimpse into what Scripture means by inspiration.
PETER GIVES THEM TWO WITNESSES
Look at Peter's argument.
THE APOSTOLIC WITNESS
“We were eyewitnesses…”
We saw.
We heard.
We were there.
THE PROPHETIC WORD
“…holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
Peter doesn't ask Christians to choose between historical testimony and Scripture.
He gives them both.
The eyewitness testimony points to Christ.
The prophetic word points to Christ.
And both tell Christians:
Pay attention.
PETER IS PREPARING THEM FOR LIFE WITHOUT PETER
That may be the most important thing happening in this passage.
Peter knows he will die.
So what does he leave behind?
Not secret knowledge.
Not a new organization dependent upon Peter's physical presence.
Not instructions to wait for some future restoration of lost truth.
He points them to what God has already provided:
the apostolic testimony
and
the prophetic word.
Peter will disappear.
God's truth will not.
THE BIG PICTURE
Peter began this section talking about remembering.
Then he tells them why they can trust what they have been taught.
Christianity wasn't built upon:
“cunningly devised fables.”
Peter says:
We saw His majesty.
We heard the voice.
And beyond the eyewitness testimony:
God has spoken through His prophets.
False teachers are coming.
Peter is dying.
Scoffers will question Christ's return.
So what should Christians do?
Remember what you received.
Pay attention to God's word.
Don't trade eyewitness testimony and Scripture for somebody's impressive new story.
Because:
“holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
TEXT B4 TRADITION
Read First. Conclude Later.
Return to HOME page
Return to PETER page
GOING DEEPER
WHAT DOES “NO PROPHECY IS OF ANY PRIVATE INTERPRETATION” MEAN?
2 Peter 1:19–21
Peter has just made an extraordinary claim.
He says he was there when Jesus was transfigured.
He saw Christ's majesty.
He heard the voice from heaven.
Then Peter turns from what he personally experienced to something available to his readers:
“We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed…”
—2 Peter 1:19
Then come two verses that have generated a great deal of discussion:
“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
—2 Peter 1:20–21
What exactly is Peter saying?
FIRST: WHAT IS THE “MORE SURE WORD”?
The KJV reads:
“We have also a more sure word of prophecy…”
That can sound as though Peter is saying:
Scripture is more reliable than what I personally saw and heard.
That is possible.
But the Greek can also be understood:
“We have the prophetic word confirmed.”
In other words, what Peter witnessed in Christ confirmed what the prophets had already said.
That makes good sense in the context.
The prophets pointed toward God's Messiah and His glory.
Peter says:
We saw that glory beginning to be revealed with our own eyes.
Either way, Peter's conclusion is the same:
“…whereunto ye do well that ye take heed…”
Pay attention to the prophetic word.
SCRIPTURE IS A LIGHT
Peter compares prophecy to:
“…a light that shineth in a dark place…”
—2 Peter 1:19
That tells us something about Peter's view of Scripture.
God did not leave His people wandering through darkness trying to discover truth for themselves.
He gave them light.
And Peter says they should continue paying attention to that light:
“…until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.”
The darkness is temporary.
Christ's glory will eventually be fully revealed.
Until then:
Pay attention to what God has spoken.
THEN COMES “PRIVATE INTERPRETATION”
The KJV says:
“no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.”
That verse has sometimes been used to argue:
Individual Christians are not permitted to interpret Scripture for themselves.
Therefore, an authorized church or religious authority must interpret it for them.
But before accepting that conclusion, look at Peter's next word:
“For…”
Verse 21 explains verse 20.
Peter isn't suddenly discussing who has permission to read the Bible.
He is explaining where prophecy came from.
READ THE TWO VERSES TOGETHER
Peter says:
“No prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.”
FOR
“the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man…”
That's Peter's contrast.
Prophecy didn't originate in the prophet's own will.
It wasn't merely his personal explanation of events.
It wasn't something he invented.
Peter continues:
“…but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
The contrast is:
Human origin
versus
divine origin.
That is the subject Peter is discussing.
WHAT DOES “INTERPRETATION” MEAN?
The Greek word is epilysis.
It occurs only here in the New Testament, so we should be cautious about building too much upon the English word “interpretation.”
The idea can include an explanation, disclosure, or unloosing.
In this context, Peter appears to be concerned with how prophecy comes about, because his very next sentence says:
“prophecy came not…by the will of man.”
That is why simply quoting:
“No private interpretation!”
doesn't settle the question of who is allowed to interpret Scripture.
We need Peter's whole sentence—and the sentence following it.
PETER IS TALKING ABOUT ORIGIN
Notice the verbs.
“prophecy came not…”
Then:
“holy men of God spake…”
Then:
“…as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
Peter is describing the production of prophecy.
Where did it come from?
Not merely from man.
Ultimately, from God.
That fits perfectly with what Peter has just said about “cunningly devised fables.”
Christian teaching wasn't invented by the apostles.
Prophecy wasn't invented by the prophets.
God was acting behind both.
DOES THAT MEAN EVERYONE CAN MAKE SCRIPTURE MEAN WHATEVER HE WANTS?
Certainly not.
Rejecting one misuse of the verse doesn't mean embracing the opposite mistake.
Scripture isn't ours to reshape.
Peter has just told us to “take heed” to the prophetic word.
That means listening to what it says—not making it say whatever we prefer.
A reader can misunderstand Scripture.
Peter himself will soon say something very interesting about Paul's letters.
Some people:
“…wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.”
—2 Peter 3:16
So Peter certainly believes Scripture can be twisted.
But that is different from saying ordinary Christians must not read and understand Scripture for themselves.
HOW SHOULD SCRIPTURE BE INTERPRETED?
The safest answer is surprisingly simple:
Let Scripture speak in its context.
Ask:
Who wrote it?
To whom?
Why?
What did the words mean in that setting?
What comes before?
What comes after?
How does the passage fit the author's argument?
How does it fit the rest of Scripture?
Those questions are the heart of what we've been trying to do throughout TEXT B4 TRADITION.
Interpretation isn't:
What does this verse mean to me?
The first question is:
What was the inspired writer saying?
Only then should we ask how it applies to us.
“MOVED BY THE HOLY GHOST”
Now we reach Peter's remarkable description of inspiration.
“…holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
—2 Peter 1:21
The word translated “moved” is pherō.
It can mean carried or borne along.
Luke uses the same verb when describing Paul's voyage to Rome.
During the storm:
“…we let her drive.”
—Acts 27:15
The ship was being carried along.
Peter uses that picture for the prophets.
They spoke.
They wrote in human languages.
They had their own personalities.
Isaiah doesn't sound exactly like Amos.
John doesn't sound exactly like Paul.
Luke doesn't sound exactly like Mark.
God did not erase the human writers.
Yet Peter says they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
DID GOD DICTATE EVERY WORD?
Peter doesn't describe inspiration as mechanical dictation.
There are occasions when God directly gives someone particular words.
But the Bible as a whole clearly bears the personalities, vocabulary, research, memories, circumstances, and styles of its human writers.
Luke even tells us that he investigated his material carefully before writing his Gospel.
Yet Scripture can still be God's word.
Peter holds the two together:
“holy men of God spake…”
Real human beings spoke.
And:
“…as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
God was working through them.
Human authorship and divine inspiration are not competitors.
NOTICE SOMETHING ELSE
Peter is approaching death.
If there were ever a time to tell Christians:
After the apostles die, you will need another source of revelation to recover what is lost, this would have been a natural place to say it.
Instead Peter tells them:
Remember the apostolic testimony.
And:
Pay attention to the prophetic word.
Why?
Because it didn't originate merely in human beings.
God spoke.
THIS ALSO GIVES US A WAY TO TEST NEW CLAIMS
Suppose someone appears centuries later and says:
God has revealed something new to me.
What should we do?
Peter has already given us something against which such claims can be examined.
The prophetic word.
The apostolic eyewitness testimony.
A later claim doesn't become true merely because someone says:
“God told me.”
The new claim must survive what God has already revealed.
That principle will become particularly important when Peter turns to the false teachers in chapter 2.
DON'T MAKE VERSE 20 SAY LESS
Peter is making an enormous claim.
Biblical prophecy isn't merely religious reflection.
The prophets didn't simply sit down and offer their best thoughts about God.
Peter says:
“…holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
God stands behind the message.
That is why we take Scripture seriously.
AND DON'T MAKE VERSE 20 SAY MORE
Peter does not say:
“No individual Christian may interpret Scripture.”
Nor does he identify some later institution as the only authorized interpreter.
Those conclusions would have to be established somewhere else.
They shouldn't simply be inserted into this verse.
Peter's explanation is about the source of prophecy:
“For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man…”
Let Peter finish his own sentence.
THE BIG PICTURE
Peter gives Christians something remarkably solid.
He is dying.
False teachers are coming.
Scoffers will come.
People will invent convincing stories.
So where should Christians stand?
Peter points backward:
We were eyewitnesses.
And then:
God spoke through the prophets.
The apostles didn't invent Christ.
The prophets didn't invent God's message.
And Christians don't have to build their faith upon somebody's latest claim to secret knowledge.
Peter says:
“…ye do well that ye take heed…”
Pay attention to the light God has already given.
That is very close to the heart of everything we're trying to say with:
TEXT B4 TRADITION
Read First. Conclude Later.