New International Version
2 Peter 3:4
4They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”
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.
- 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.”
- New Living Translation (NLT)They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.”
Context of 2 Peter 3:4
2I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. 3Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 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.” 5But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.
Read all of 2 Peter 32 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 pledged to marry his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because 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, 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 quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong.
- Isaiah 5:18Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes,
- Jeremiah 5:12They have lied about the Lord; they said, “He will do nothing! No harm will come to us; we will never see sword or famine.
- Jeremiah 17:15They keep saying to me, “Where is the word of the Lord? Let it now be fulfilled!”
- Ezekiel 12:22“Son of man, what is this proverb you have in the land of Israel: ‘The days go by and every vision comes to nothing’?
- Malachi 2:17You have wearied the Lord with your words. “How have we wearied him?” you ask. By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?”
- Matthew 24:28Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.
- Luke 12:45But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk.
- Mark 13:19because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now—and never to be equaled again.
- Revelation 3:14“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler 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
In the dictionaries
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
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