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

2so that you recall the words previously spoken by the holy prophets and the command of our Lord and Savior given through your apostles. 3Above all, be aware of this: Scoffers will come in the last days scoffing and following their own evil desires, saying, “Where is his ‘coming’ that he promised? Ever since our ancestors fell asleep, all things continue as they have been since the beginning of creation.” 5They deliberately overlook this: By the word of God the heavens came into being long ago and the earth was brought about from water and through water. 6Through these the world of that time perished when it was flooded.

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

Words taken from the KJV.

• Andκαίkai · andG2532
• sayingλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• Whereποῦpou · where?G4226
• isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• the promiseὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• the promiseἐπαγγελίαepaggelia · promiseG1860
• ofπαρουσίαparousia · comingG3952
• hisαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• forγάρgar · forG1063
• sinceἀπόapo · away fromG575
• ·ὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• the fathersπατήρpatēr · fatherG3962
• fell asleepκοιμάωkoimaō · to sleepG2837
• all thingsπᾶςpas · allG3956
• continueδιαμένωdiamenō · to remainG1265
• asοὕτωςhoutō · thus(-ly)G3779
• the beginningἀρχήarchē · beginningG746
• of the creationκτίσιςktisis · creationG2937

Cross-references for 2 Peter 3:4

• Genesis 19:14So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were going to marry 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 is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun.
• Ecclesiastes 8:11Because the sentence against an evil act is not carried out quickly, the heart of people is filled with the desire to commit evil.
• Isaiah 5:18Woe to those who drag iniquity with cords of deceit and pull sin along with cart ropes,
• Jeremiah 5:12They have contradicted the Lord and insisted, “It won’t happen. Harm won’t come to us; we won’t see sword or famine.”
• Jeremiah 17:15Hear how they keep challenging me, “Where is the word of the Lord? Let it come!”
• Ezekiel 12:22“Son of man, what is this proverb you people have about the land of Israel, which goes, ‘The days keep passing by, and every vision fails’?
• Malachi 2:17You have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you ask, “How have we wearied him?” When you say, “Everyone who does what is evil is good in the Lord’s sight, and he is delighted with them, or else where is the God of justice?”
• Matthew 24:28Wherever the carcass is, there the vultures will gather.
• Luke 12:45But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and starts to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk,
• Mark 13:19For those will be days of tribulation, the kind that hasn’t been from the beginning of creation until now and never will be again.
• Revelation 3:14“Write to the angel of the church in Laodicea: Thus says 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