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2 Peter 3:9
New English Translation

9 The Lord is not slow concerning his promise,[a] as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he does not wish[b] for any[c] to perish but for all to come to repentance.[d]

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Peter 3:9 tn Or perhaps, “the Lord is not delaying [the fulfillment of] his promise,” or perhaps “the Lord of the promise is not delaying.” The verb can mean “to delay,” “to be slow,” or “to be hesitant.”
  2. 2 Peter 3:9 tn Grk “not wishing.” The participle most likely has a causal force, explaining why the Lord is patient.
  3. 2 Peter 3:9 sn He does not wish for any to perish. This verse has been a battleground between Arminians and Calvinists. The former argue that God wants all people to be saved, but either through inability or restriction of his own sovereignty does not interfere with peoples’ wills. Some of the latter argue that the “any” here means “any of you” and that all the elect will repent before the return of Christ, because this is God’s will. Both of these positions have problems. The “any” in this context means “any of you.” (This can be seen by the dependent participle which gives the reason why the Lord is patient “toward you.”) There are hints throughout this letter that the readership may be mixed, including both true believers and others who are “sitting on the fence” as it were. But to make the equation of this readership with the elect is unlikely. This would seem to require, in its historical context, that all of these readers would be saved. But not all who attend church know the Lord or will know the Lord. Simon the Magician, whom Peter had confronted in Acts 8, is a case in point. This is evident in contemporary churches when a pastor addresses the congregation as “brothers, sisters, saints, etc.,” yet concludes the message with an evangelistic appeal. When an apostle or pastor addresses a group as “Christian” he does not necessarily think that every individual in the congregation is truly a Christian. Thus, the literary context seems to be against the Arminian view, while the historical context seems to be against (one representation of) the Calvinist view. The answer to this conundrum is found in the term “wish” (a participle in Greek from the verb boulomai). It often represents a mere wish, or one’s desiderative will, rather than one’s resolve. Unless God’s will is viewed on the two planes of his desiderative and decretive will (what he desires and what he decrees), hopeless confusion will result. The scriptures amply illustrate both that God sometimes decrees things that he does not desire and desires things that he does not decree. It is not that his will can be thwarted, nor that he has limited his sovereignty. But the mystery of God’s dealings with humanity is best seen if this tension is preserved. Otherwise, either God will be perceived as good but impotent or as a sovereign taskmaster. Here the idea that God does not wish for any to perish speaks only of God’s desiderative will, without comment on his decretive will.
  4. 2 Peter 3:9 tn Grk “reach to repentance.” Repentance thus seems to be a quantifiable state, or turning point. The verb χωρέω (chōreō, “reach”) typically involves the connotation of “obtain the full measure of” something. It is thus most appropriate as referring to the repentance that accompanies conversion.
2 Peter 3:9 in all English translations
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1 John 1
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2 Corinthians 7:8-11
New English Translation

8 For even if I made you sad[a] by my letter,[b] I do not regret having written it[c] (even though I did regret it,[d] for[e] I see that my letter made you sad,[f] though only for a short time). 9 Now I rejoice, not because you were made sad,[g] but because you were made sad to the point of repentance. For you were made sad as God intended,[h] so that you were not harmed[i] in any way by us. 10 For sadness as intended by God produces a repentance that leads to salvation, leaving no regret, but worldly sadness brings about death. 11 For see what this very thing, this sadness[j] as God intended, has produced in you: what eagerness, what defense of yourselves,[k] what indignation,[l] what alarm, what longing, what deep concern,[m] what punishment![n] In everything you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Corinthians 7:8 tn Grk “if I grieved you.”
  2. 2 Corinthians 7:8 sn My letter. Paul is referring to the “severe” letter mentioned in 2 Cor 2:4.
  3. 2 Corinthians 7:8 tn Grk “I do not regret”; direct objects in Greek must often be supplied from the context. Here one could simply supply “it,” but since Paul is referring to the effects of his previous letter, clarity is improved if “having written it” is supplied.
  4. 2 Corinthians 7:8 tn Grk “I did regret”; the direct object “it” must be supplied from the context.
  5. 2 Corinthians 7:8 tc A few significant mss (P46c B D* it sa) lack γάρ (gar, “for”), while the majority of witnesses have it (א C D1 F G Ψ 0243 33 1739 1881 M sy bo). Even though P46* omits γάρ, it has the same sense (viz., a subordinate clause) because it reads the participle βλέπων (blepōn, “seeing”; the Vulgate does the same). A decision is difficult because although the overwhelming external evidence is on the side of the conjunction, the lack of γάρ is a significantly harder reading, for the whole clause is something of an anacoluthon. Without the conjunction, the sentence reads more harshly. This would fit with Paul’s “vehemence of spirit” (A. T. Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament, 435) that is found especially in 2 Corinthians and Galatians. However, the mss that omit the conjunction are prone to such tendencies at times. In this instance, the conjunction should probably stand.
  6. 2 Corinthians 7:8 tn Grk “my letter grieved you.”
  7. 2 Corinthians 7:9 tn Grk “were grieved” (so also twice later in the verse).
  8. 2 Corinthians 7:9 tn Grk “corresponding to God,” that is, corresponding to God’s will (κατὰ θεόν, kata theon). The same phrase occurs in vv. 10 and 11.
  9. 2 Corinthians 7:9 tn Grk “so that you did not suffer loss.”
  10. 2 Corinthians 7:11 tn Grk “this very thing, to be grieved.”
  11. 2 Corinthians 7:11 tn The words “of yourselves” are not in the Greek text but are implied.
  12. 2 Corinthians 7:11 sn What indignation refers to the Corinthians’ indignation at the offender.
  13. 2 Corinthians 7:11 tn Or “what zeal.”
  14. 2 Corinthians 7:11 sn That is, punishment for the offender.
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2 Corinthians 6
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