A conditionalist translates 2 Peter.

Jefferson Vann

A conditionalist translates 2 Peter.

Today I want to share some of my translation notes on 2 Peter, which I recently “finished” translating. My conditionalist bias comes through in my translation, just as traditionalists and universalists will reflect their biases in their translations. My point in sharing these notes is to show how Peter’s arguments better reflect the conditionalist mindset.

2 Peter 1:10-11 Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election, because if you do these things, you will never stumble because, in this way, entry into the permanent kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.

Peter does not deny that, in some sense, believers enter the kingdom during this life – at our conversion. But he wants his readers to focus on the future. The verb ἐπιχορηγηθήσεται is future passive, implying that the entry Peter wants his readers to aim for is not yet, instead of already.

Since that is the case, “permanent kingdom” is a better translation for  τὴν αἰώνιον βασιλείαν. It is contrasted with the temporary kingdoms we all are living in today.

2 Peter 1:13-15 I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to wake you up with a reminder, since I know that the removal of my tent is soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ has indeed made clear to me. I will also make every effort so that you can recall these things at any time after my exodus.

Like Paul in 1 Corinthians 15, Peter uses the metaphor of a tent to describe his temporary life. He describes his impending death as the removal of his tent and as an exodus (ἔξοδος). He does not describe it as an entrance. He does not suggest that when his tent is removed, he will remain alive. The exodus of Israel was not an immediate entrance into the promised land. We should not assume that our deaths will be an immediate entrance into heaven.

2 Peter 1:20-21 Above all, you know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from the prophet's own interpretation because no prophecy ever came by human will; instead, people spoke from God as they were transported by the Sacred Wind. 

The NET (New English Translation) has a footnote for verse 21 that reads thus: “If, as seems probable, the "prophecy" mentioned here is to be identified with the "prophecy of scripture" mentioned in the previous verse, then the Greek term ἄνθρωποι (anthrōpoi, "men") would refer specifically to the human authors of scripture, who (as far as we know) were all men. Thus "men" has been used here in the translation. If, on the other hand, the "prophecy" mentioned in the present verse is not limited to scripture but refers to oral prophecy as well, then women would be included, since Joel 2:20 specifically mentions "sons and daughters" as having the ability to prophesy, and the NT clearly mentions prophetesses (Luke 2:36; Acts 21:9).”

I beg to differ. Even if the writers of Scripture were all males, Peter still uses the generic ἄνθρωπος to describe them, rather than a more gender-specific term like ἄρσην or ἀνήρ. I chose the generic “people” for that reason. This choice shows my bias toward egalitarianism.

My conditionalism shows in my translation of πνεύματος ἁγίου as the Sacred Wind. I am not denying the personality of the Holy Spirit here. I would never do that. I am merely pointing out that Peter is using the title of the Third Person of the Trinity in a special way here. He says that the authors of Scripture were transported (φέρω) by Him. Peter draws the word picture of a ship being driven by the wind. Since wind is within the semantic range of πνεῦμα, I translated the name to reflect that implication.

I don’t object to using the word Spirit as a title for God. But in my translation of Scripture, I often use some other word for πνεῦμα, because I feel the context suggests something other than a disembodied being. Usually, a person’s πνεῦμα is his breath. “Holy Spirit” is appropriate for the third person of the Trinity, but it might suggest to some readers that human spirits can live without a body. For that reason, I usually translate πνεύματος ἁγίου as “Sacred Breath.” But in this context, “Sacred Wind” is more appropriate.

2 Peter 2:4-9 Because if God didn't spare the angels who sinned but threw them into Tartarus and delivered them in chains of utter darkness to be kept for judgment; and if he didn't spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others when he brought the flood on the world of the ungodly; and if he reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes and condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is coming to the ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, distressed by the depraved behavior of the immoral ones (for as that righteous man lived among them day by day, his righteous soul was tormented by the lawless deeds he saw and heard) -- then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment…

Peter is writing to an audience of Christians who are suffering trials. He encourages them to be patient because God will eventually rescue them. He is trying to get these Christians to see the long-range view. For that reason, he mentions Tartarus. Tartarus is a prison for demonic beings. Peter describes it as chains of utter darkness. Whatever Tartarus implies, it is clear from what Peter says that it is not the ultimate judgment of these rebellious angels. Its purpose is to keep them for a later judgment. That judgment would entail the final punishment of these demons. Peter does not say what that judgment will be here. He does imply that it will be like the destruction of humans by Noah’s flood and like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah – who were reduced to ashes and condemned to extinction. The text suggests that the fate of these rebellious angels is ultimately annihilation.

2 Peter 2:17 These people are springs without water, mists driven by a storm. The utter darkness has been reserved for them.

False teachers will also experience an utter darkness. This is not their only fate, but all those people who are causing such problems with their heresies will die, and they, too, will face the day of judgment. Like the angels in Tartarus, these false teachers will be judged at Christ’s return. Their life and influence are limited by their mortality.

2 Peter 3:5-7 It will escape their notice that by the word of God, the sky came into being long ago and the land came into existence from water and through water, by means of which the world of that time was destroyed when it was flooded with water. By the same word, the present sky and land are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

The mockers insist that everything always has been and always will be. God’s word says that everything (the sky and the land) has a beginning and will have an end. Peter’s good news about hell is that it is coming and it will destroy the ungodly, not preserve them.