2 Peter 3:4

2 Peter 3:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
• New International Version (NIV)They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)They will say, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation."
• New King James Version (NKJV)and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”

Context of 2 Peter 3:4

2by recalling what was foretold by the holy prophets and commanded by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. 3Most importantly, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. “Where is the promise of His coming?” they will ask. “Ever since our fathers fell asleep, everything continues as it has from the beginning of creation.” 5But they deliberately overlook the fact that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water, 6through which the world of that time perished in the flood.

2 Peter 3:4 word by word

καὶ λέγοντες· ποῦ ἐστιν ἡ ἐπαγγελία τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ; ἀφ᾽ ἧς γὰρ οἱ πατέρες ἐκοιμήθησαν, πάντα οὕτως διαμένει ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς κτίσεως.Read the interlinear

• Whereποῦpou · where?G4226
• isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• theὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• promiseἐπαγγελίαepaggelia · promiseG1860
• Hisαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• comingπαρουσίαparousia · comingG3952
• ·καίkai · andG2532
• they will askλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• Everγάρgar · forG1063
• Everἀπόapo · away fromG575
• sinceὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• fathersπατήρpatēr · fatherG3962
• fell asleepκοιμάωkoimaō · to sleepG2837
• everythingπᾶςpas · allG3956
• continuesδιαμένωdiamenō · to remainG1265
• as it hasοὕτωςhoutō · thus(-ly)G3779
• beginningἀρχήarchē · beginningG746
• of creationκτίσιςktisis · creationG2937

Cross-references for 2 Peter 3:4

• Genesis 19:14So Lot went out and spoke to the sons-in-law who were pledged in marriage to his daughters. “Get up,” he said. “Get out of this place, for the LORD is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
• Ecclesiastes 1:9What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
• Ecclesiastes 8:11When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.
• Isaiah 5:18Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of deceit and pull sin along with cart ropes,
• Jeremiah 5:12They have lied about the LORD and said: “He will not do anything; harm will not come to us; we will not see sword or famine.
• Jeremiah 17:15Behold, they keep saying to me, “Where is the word of the LORD? Let it come now!”
• Ezekiel 12:22“Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel: ‘The days go by, and every vision fails’?
• Malachi 2:17You have wearied the LORD with your words; yet you ask, “How have we wearied Him?” By saying, “All who do evil are good in the sight of the LORD, and in them He delights,” or, “Where is the God of justice?”
• Matthew 24:28Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.
• Luke 12:45But suppose that servant says in his heart, ‘My master will be a long time in coming,’ and he begins to beat the menservants and maidservants, and to eat and drink and get drunk.
• Mark 13:19For those will be days of tribulation unseen from the beginning of God’s creation until now, and never to be seen again.
• Revelation 3:14To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Originator of God’s creation.

Commentaries on 2 Peter 3:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Where is the promise of his coming? - Perhaps the false teachers here referred to were such as believed in the eternity of the world: the prophets and the apostles had foretold its destruction, and they took it for granted, if this were true, that the terrestrial machine would have begun long ago to have shown some symptoms of decay; but they found that since the patriarchs died all things remained as they were from the foundation of the world; that is…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? - That is, either, Where is the “fulfillment” of that promise; or, Where are the “indications” or “signs” that he will come? They evidently meant to imply that the promise had utterly failed; that there was not the slightest evidence that it would be accomplished; that they who had believed this were entirely deluded. It is possible that some of the early Christians, even in the time of the apostles, had…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4since our fathers fell asleep: The false teachers were probably claiming that nothing had really changed in history. They argued that, even though God promised to act, God had never intervened and never would.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. (Compare Psa 10:11; 73:11.) Presumptuous skepticism and lawless lust, setting nature and its so-called laws above the God of nature and revelation, and arguing from the past continuity of nature's phenomena that there can be no future interruption to them, was the sin of the antediluvians, and shall be that of the scoffers in the last days. Where--implying that it ought to have taken place before this, if ever it was to take place, but that it never…Read the comment

Topics related to 2 Peter 3:4

• Blasphemy
• Infidelity
• Jesus Continued
• Scoffing
• Self-Delusion
• Unbelief

In the dictionaries

• Asleep
• Dissolve
• Ezekiel, Book of
• Hard
• Promise
• Wrest
• Eschatology of the New Testament
• Father
• Heavens, New (and Earth, New)
• Jesus Christ

Commentaries on 2 Peter 3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings