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

2I want you to remember the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and what the Lord and Savior commanded you through your apostles. 3First, you must understand this: In the last days people who follow their own desires will appear. These disrespectful people will ridicule ⌞God’s promise⌟ by saying, “What’s happened to his promise to return? Ever since our ancestors died, everything continues as it did from the beginning of the world.” 5They are deliberately ignoring one fact: Because of God’s word, heaven and earth existed a long time ago. The earth ⌞appeared⌟ out of water and was kept alive by water. 6Water also flooded and destroyed that world.

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 the men engaged to his daughters. He said, “Hurry! Get out of this place, because the Lord is going to destroy the city.” But they thought he was joking.
• Ecclesiastes 1:9Whatever has happened before will happen ⌞again⌟. Whatever has been done before will be done ⌞again⌟. There is nothing new under the sun.
• Ecclesiastes 8:11When a sentence against a crime isn’t carried out quickly, people are encouraged to commit crimes.
• Isaiah 5:18How horrible it will be for those who string people along with lies and empty promises, whose lives are sinful.
• Jeremiah 5:12They lie about the Lord and say, “He doesn’t exist! Nothing bad will happen to us. We won’t experience war or famine.
• Jeremiah 17:15People keep asking me, “Where is the Lord’s word? Let it come.”
• Ezekiel 12:22“Son of man, what is this proverb you have in Israel: ‘Days go by, and every vision comes to nothing’?
• Malachi 2:17You have tried the patience of the Lord with your words. But you ask, “How have we tried his patience?” When you say, “Everyone who does evil is considered good by the Lord. He is pleased with them,” or “Where is the God of justice?”
• Matthew 24:28Vultures will gather wherever there is a dead body.
• Luke 12:45On the other hand, that servant may think that his master is taking a long time to come home. The servant may begin to beat the other servants and to eat, drink, and get drunk.
• Mark 13:19It will be a time of misery that has not happened from the beginning of God’s creation until now, and will certainly never happen again.
• Revelation 3:14“To the messenger of the church in Laodicea, write: The amen, the witness who is faithful and true, the source of God’s creation, says:

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