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COMMENTARY
ON
THE NEW TESTAMENT
HANDBOOK
TO
THE GENERAL EPISTLES
OF
PETER AND JUDE
BY
JOH. ED. HUTHER, TH.D.,
PASTOR AT WITTENFÖRDEN, SCHWERIN
EDINBURGH:
T. & T. CLARK, 38 GEORGE STREET
1893
THE TRANSLATION OF
THE EPISTLES OF PETER
HAS BEEN EXECUTED BY
D. B. CROOM, M.A.
THE EPISTLE OF JUDE
BY
PATON J. GLOAG, D.D.
PREFACE
Von Hofmann often seeks to surmount the exegetical difficulties presented in the epistles by a new exposition, and, of course, no exception can be taken to this; but it is to be regretted that the interpretations are not unfrequently of so artificial a nature, that they cannot stand the test of an unprejudiced examination, and are consequently little calculated to promote the true understanding of the text.
As regards the origin of the Second Epistle, my renewed investigations have produced no result other than that which I had formerly obtained. I can only repeat what I said in the preface to the third edition of this Commentary: “If I should be blamed for giving, in this edition also, no decisive and final answer to the question as to the origin of Second Peter, I will say at the outset, that it seems to me more correct to pronounce a non liquet, than to cut the knot by arbitrary assertions and acute appearances of argument.”
Although this Commentary on the whole has preserved its former character, yet it has been subjected to many changes in particulars, which I hope may be regarded as improvements.
I would only add, that in the critical remarks it is principally Tischendorf’s Recension that has been kept in view. Tisch. 7 refers to the editio septima critica minor, 1859; Tisch. 8, to his editio octava major, 1869. Where the two editions agree in a reading, Tisch. simply is put.
J. ED. HUTHER.
WITTENFÖRDEN, May 1877.INTRODUCTION
SEC. 1.—OCCASION, CONTENTS, AND CHARACTER OF THE EPISTLE
De Wette’s opinion, that the author had in his eye “vicious persons” simply, and not “false teachers,” is erroneous, it being abundantly evident from 2Pe_1:18-19 that the persons described in chap. 2 based their actions on a definite principle; moreover, they are expressly termed ψευδοδιδάσκαλοι , 2Pe_2:1. It is also equally erroneous to take them to be Gnostics, properly so called, or more particularly, with Grotius, followers of Carpocrates. Bertholdt calls them Sadducee Christians; but this term is wanting in the necessary precision. Cf. my Introduction to Jude’s Epistle.
The epistle falls into two principal divisions, each consisting of two parts. In the first part of the first division (chap. 2Pe_1:1-11), the author reminds the Christians of the blessings, more especially the ἐπαγγέλματα , of which by the power of God they had been made partakers, linking on to this the exhortation to give abundant proof of the virtues which are the fruits of faith,—those especially in which he that is wanting is like unto one blind, and he only who possesses can enter into the eternal kingdom of Christ.
In the second part (chap. 2Pe_1:12-21), the author, as the Apostle Peter, mentions first, what had induced him to give the exhortation at this particular time, and then refers his readers to the certainty of Christ’s advent, confirmed as it was both by the divine words which himself had heard at the Saviour’s transfiguration and by the prophecies of the Old Covenant.
In the first part of the second division (chap. 2), the author portrays the immoral character of the Libertines. He begins by announcing their coming, future as yet; calls them deniers of the Lord who would seduce many, but would not escape punishment (2Pe_2:1-3); then he proves the certainty of their punishment by the examples of the fallen angels, those who perished in the flood, and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, not forgetting, however, in the last two cases to call to remembrance Noah and Lot, just men both, and therefrom to draw the conclusion as to the righteousness of God (2Pe_2:4-9). In 2Pe_2:10-22 follows the more minute description of the sensual character of the false teachers.
The author commences the last part of this division by stating the design of this second epistle, and then goes on to mention the scoffers who would walk after their own lusts, and would deny the advent of the Lord (chap. 2Pe_3:1-4); this he follows up by a refutation of the arguments on which the denial is based, foretelling the coming destruction of the world by fire, and representing the apparent delay of the judgment as an act of divine patience (2Pe_3:5-10); and to this he subjoins the exhortation to an holy walk, in expectation of the new heaven and the new earth (2Pe_3:11-13).
The epistle concludes with the mention of the Apostle Paul’s epistles, coupled with the warning against wresting the difficult passages contained in them. Finally, the author gives forth exhortations by way of caution, in which he makes apparent the design of the epistle; on this follows the doxology.
The fundamental idea which runs through the whole epistle is that of the ἐπίγνωσις Χριστοῦ , which consists essentially in the acknowledgment of the δύναμις καὶ παρουσία of Christ. Advancement in this ἐπίγνωσις , as the ground and aim of the exercise of all Christian virtue, is the prominent feature of every exhortation. Hence the τίμια ἐπαγγέλματα are designated as that by which κοινωνία with the divine nature is effected, and which must move the Christian to show all zeal in supplying the Christian virtues. The author is therefore at pains to prove the certain fulfilment of those promises, and to refute the sceptical doubts of the false teachers.
As regards its structure, the epistle has encountered much adverse criticism from the opponents of its authenticity. Mayerhoff reproaches it, more especially, with a clumsy and illogical development; but it cannot fail to be observed that there is a clear and firm line of thought, by which all particulars are joined together and form a well-arranged whole (cf. Brückner, Einl. § 1 a; Hofmann, p. 121 ff.). The thoughts which form the commencement of the epistle prepare the way for the warnings against the false teachers, and have as their aim the concluding exhortations which point back to the heresy. The prominence given to the thought that τὰ πρὸς ζωὴν καὶ εὐσέβειαν are bestowed upon us (2Pe_1:3), and the exhortation to furnish the Christian virtues (2Pe_1:5-11), are all aimed at the false teachers, who would indulge in ἀσελγείαις , and by whom the ὁδὸς τῆς ἀληθείας would be brought into disrepute (2Pe_2:2); whilst the emphasis laid on the ἐπαγγέλματα (2Pe_1:4), as also the reference to the incidents of the transfiguration as a proof of the δύναμις καὶ παρουσία of Christ (2Pe_1:16-18), point to the prophetic announcement of the coming of the ἐμπαῖκται who would deny the advent of the Saviour (2Pe_3:3 ff.). Still it is surprising that the whole of the second chapter may be omitted without the connection of thought being in any way injured thereby. For, inasmuch as the scoffers are characterized as men who walk κατὰ τὰς ἰδίας αὐτῶν ἐπιθυμίας , the moral exhortations introduced in 2Pe_1:3-4, and to which 2Pe_3:12 has retrospect, may be applicable to them also; and although 2Pe_2:1 is closely connected with 2Pe_1:19-21 by the words: ἐλένοντο δὲ καὶ ψευδοπροφῆται ἐν τῷ λαῷ , yet μνησθῆναι τῶν προειρημένων ῥημάτων ὑπὸ τῶν ἁγίων προφητῶν (2Pe_3:2) can equally be joined with them. It may accordingly be conjectured that chap. 2 was afterwards added, either by the writer himself, or by some later hand; but again, opposed to such a supposition is the circumstance that chap. 2 in no way disturbs the unity of the whole.
Besides several echoes of the Pauline Epistles and the First Epistle of Peter, this letter, as is well known, presents in the second chapter, and in one or two passages of the first and third, a striking resemblance to the Epistle of Jude, which cannot possibly be considered accidental. Rather must one of these epistles be regarded as the original, of which the author of the other made use. In former times the prevalent view was that the Second Epistle of Peter was the original, thus Luther, Wolf, Semler, Storr, Pott, etc.; but afterwards the opposite opinion obtained most favour, thus already Herder, Hug, Eichhorn, Credner, Neander, Mayerhoff, de Wette, Guericke; and in more recent times it has been supported by Reuss, Bleek, Arnaud, Wiesinger, Brückner, Weiss, and F. Philippi;—that is to say, not only by opponents of the authenticity of the Second Epistle of Peter, but by defenders of it also (Wiesinger, Brückner, Weiss). A different judgment, however, is passed by Thiersch, Dietlein, Stier, Luthardt, Schott, Steinfass, Fronmüller, Hofmann. Appeal is made chiefly to this circumstance, that at the time when the Epistle of Jude was composed the false teachers were already present, while in Second Peter their appearance is looked upon as future, and is the subject of prophecy. But this, as Weiss has shown, is an argument only in appearance, and is in no way capable of proof. That the passages Jud_1:17-18 have no reference to 2Pe_2:1-3; 2Pe_3:2-3, is plain from this, that had Jude seen in the appearance of the Libertines the fulfilment of the prediction contained in Second Peter, he would have styled them, not ἐμπαῖκται κ . τ . λ ., but rather ψευδοδιδάσκαλοι . For in Second Peter it is not the Libertines described in chap. 2 that are called ἐμπαῖκται , but the deniers of the Parousia spoken of in chap. 3, whom Jude does not even mention. Nor is it easy to see why Jude, if in 2Pe_3:17-18 he really had in his mind the prophecy given by Peter, should not have directly said so, but should rather have spoken of the actual word of the actual Peter as τὰ ῥήματα τὰ προειρημένα ὑπὸ τῶν ἀποστόλων τοῦ κυρίου . In favour of the view that the Second Epistle of Peter is dependent on the Epistle of Jude, is the latter’s entirely individual manner of thought and diction, which bears the distinct impress of originality;[1] whilst in Second Peter, on the other hand, there is apparent the endeavour to tone down the expression by simplification, addition, or omission. Further, the circumstance that the more the expression in Peter’s second epistle coincides with that of Jude, the more does what is otherwise peculiar to the epistle tend to disappear.[2] And finally, the absence of any tenable reason which might have induced Jude to collect together separate passages from a larger apostolic writing, in order to compose therefrom a new epistle, which, seeing that the former was already in existence, must have had the less significance that it omits from the delineation important particulars which are contained in Second Peter.[3]
[1] Herder: “See what a thoroughly powerful epistle, like a fire-wheel running back into itself; take now that of Peter, what introduction he makes, how he tones down, omits, confirms,” etc.—“Jude has always the most precise and the strongest expression.” Even Schott grants, in opposition to Dietlein, “that the Epistle of Jude bears the impress of much greater literary originality on the part of the writer than that of Second Peter;” and that “it must be allowed to possess a by far greater intellectual originality and pithiness.”
[2] This Weiss brings very decidedly forward: “It plainly appears that wherever in the parallel passages it strikingly coincides with that of Jude, the expression is to be found nowhere else in Second Peter; but wherever it deviates from that of Jude, or becomes entirely independent, it is at once in surprising conformity with the form of expression in this or the First Epistle of Peter.”
[3] When Luthardt thinks to explain this by observing “that Jude could certainly assume that his readers were acquainted with Second Peter, in which enough had already been said as to the παρουσία ,” he entirely overlooks the fact that the latter epistle treats equally at length of the false teachers, and that consequently Jude might have left his entire letter unwritten.
In discussing the question as to which is the original epistle, two points must be remembered,—(1) “That in neither have we a slavish dependence or a mere copy, but that the correspondence of the one with the other is carried out with literary freedom and licence” (Weiss); and (2) The circumstance that this question is not identical with that as to the authenticity of the Second Epistle of Peter; Wiesinger, Weiss, Brückner, defend its authenticity, although they question its priority.
The reasons which Schott adduces for the priority of the Epistle of Jude are simple assertions, which a closer examination by no means justifies, inasmuch as they are either plainly arbitrary, or presuppose artificial interpretations and pure inventions. Steinfass thinks, strangely enough, that to accept the originality of Jude’s Epistle is somewhat hazardous for that composition itself, and not only for Second Peter, inasmuch as, on the assumption, he takes the repeated reference to the Pseudo-Enoch to be an offence, many examples a redundancy, much conciseness constraint, and the whole arrangement pretty much confusion. Fronmüller bases his argument for the priority of Second Peter specially on this, that it is inconceivable that Peter, the prince of the apostles, should have borrowed expressions, figures, and examples from one who was plainly less gifted than himself. Hofmann would completely settle the whole question by asserting that Peter composed his second epistle soon after his first, that is to say, before the destruction of Jerusalem, while Jude wrote after (2Pe_3:5!) that event. But when, nevertheless, quite superfluously, he by way of proof goes into particulars, he on the one hand bases his arguments on many unjustifiable assertions, as, for example, that Peter exhorts to an holy walk, but Jude to the aggressive maintenance of the Christian faith, or that Jude was dealing only with some unworthy members of the church in the present, whilst Peter had in view teachers who were to arise in the future; and, on the other hand, the proofs he adduces have also to be supported by erroneous interpretations and judgments purely subjective.
If, now, following the course of thought in the Epistle of Jude, we consider the individual passages in their relation to what is similar to them in Second Peter, these results are obtained:
In the opening of his epistle, Jude introduces his opponents without any bias as τινὲς ἄνθρωποι , without even hinting that they are those whose appearance Peter had before predicted. The first description of them by τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶι χάριτα μετατιθέντες εἰς ἀσέλγειαν is peculiar to Jude. It is in no way probable that the expression ἀσέλγεια is taken from the passage 2Pe_2:2. The following δεσπότην ἀρνούμενοι is found in Peter also, but to whom it originally belongs cannot be concluded from the nearer definitions connected therewith. The fact that the particular features by Which Jude characterizes his opponents are to be found in 2Pe_2:1-3, others being here added, however, and with a less original turn of expression, tends to show rather that the Epistle of Jude had exercised an influence on that of Peter than vice versa (Wiesinger). In the one epistle as in the other, the examples of divine judgment follow the first and special description of the adversaries. Yet these are not in both the same, and in Peter’s epistle, in the second and third cases, there is added to the mention of the punishment of the ungodly a reference to the deliverance of the just, more especially of Noah and Lot. The order in which the examples of judgment are brought forward is in Peter’s composition chronological, and in so far eminently natural; still the selection of the first is striking, since in Gen_6:2 ff. there is no mention made of a punishment of the angels. Now, as there is nothing in the connection of thought here which could have determined Peter to bring forward this example, he must have been moved to do so by something external to it, that is, by the influence which the Epistle of Jude had upon him. The order of examples of judgment in Jude is of so singular a nature, that so far from showing even the faintest trace of a dependence on Peter, it is rather on the assumption of any such quite incomprehensible. How could it ever have occurred to Jude, supposing he drew from Second Peter, to place the case of the unbelieving Israelites first, and to omit that of the flood? Jude’s manner of presentation is based on a conception so entirely original, that it cannot possibly have been suggested to him by that in Second Peter. It is difficult to see what could have moved Jude to avoid the two-sided character of Peter’s examples, if it really lay before him—it was equally well suited to his purpose. Noticeable, also, is the latter’s prevailing tendency to generalization. The last two examples adduced by Jude have reference to a quite definite sin, the ἐκπορνεύειν καὶ ἀπέρχεσθαι ὀπίσω σαρκὸς ἑτέρας ; Peter, on the other hand, deals only with the general distinction between godly and ungodly; and whilst Jude characterizes the conduct of the angels as it lay to his hand in the tradition, or in the Book of Enoch itself, Peter contents himself with the more general ἁμαρτησάντων , and avoids all distinct reference to that tradition. But whence had he, then, the σειραῖς ζόφου κ . τ . λ ., if he did not write under the influence of Jude’s epistle? After the examples of judgment there follows, in both epistles, the description of the libertines, according to their sensual walk and their despising and defamation of the supernatural powers. Amidst much that is similar there are nevertheless many points of disagreement, so that, in general, it may be open to dispute in which epistle the more original expression prevails. This is, however, not the case as regards the difference between Jud_1:9 and 2Pe_2:11, for instead of Jude’s concrete description according to apocryphal tradition, we have again in Peter, as in the mention of the angels formerly, an entirely general expression, which, however, must refer to something special. It has indeed been asserted (Schott, Hofmann) that Peter’s expression finds its explanation in Zec_3:1; but if the apostle had this verse in view, he would have made more distinct reference to it; nor, again, could any reason be assigned why Jude should have alluded, not to the fact recorded in that passage, but to one entirely apocryphal. This also speaks decidedly in favour of the priority of Jude’s epistle. Dietlein asserts with regard to Jud_1:10, as compared with 2Pe_2:12, “that the higher degree of pure elaboration proves Jude to have been the reviser;” but this is unjustifiable, as even Steinfass admits. Wiesinger and Brückner rightly say, that here also, in the whole mode of expression, the priority of Jude’s epistle is recognisable.
In Jude the woe follows, breaking in upon the text, and as the basis of it the comparison of the Libertines with Cain, Balaam, and Korah. To this is added a more minute description of them in a series of figurative expressions, coupled with Enoch’s prophecy of judgment. In the Epistle of Peter, subjoined to φθαρήσονται , 2Pe_3:12, is the reference to the reward of the ἀδικία of the Libertines, and on this a description of the ἀδικία itself,—the false teachers being then at the end classed along with Balaam. It is only after this that several figurative designations follow, which are based on their propagandist doings. The grouping is accordingly different in each of the epistles; and otherwise, with much that is coincident in detail, there are many divergencies. The train of thought is in both epistles equally suited to the subject-matter, only it is somewhat strange that Jude, if he had the Epistle of Peter before him, should ever have thought of interrupting the connection of ideas here existing between 2Pe_3:12-13 by a woe. This paragraph clearly shows that the dependence of the one author on the other is not to be looked upon as of such a nature that the later changed, and arranged with designed elaboration, the writings of the earlier, but only, that in the description of the same object the manner of presentation of the latter had wrought with manifold determination upon that of the former. The divergencies which here occur are more easily explained on the assumption that the Epistle of Jude, and not that of Peter, was the earlier. Were it otherwise, it would certainly be difficult to understand how Jude left unnoticed not only the characteristic ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχοντες μεστοὺς μοιχαλίδος , but also the repeatedly recurring δελεάζοντες , and the references generally to the propagandist designs. With regard to this difference, that Jude speaks of Cain, Balaam, and Korah, whilst Peter mentions Balaam only, it is more natural to suppose that Peter, leaving the other two unnoticed, refers simply to Balaam because the latter appeared to him a particularly fitting type of the Libertines (on account of their πλεονεξία , to which special prominence is given, and to which the μισθοῦ of Jude alludes; whilst, in the case of the others, there is no such distinctive trait), than to assume that Jude added the two other illustrations to that of Balaam which he had before him in the Epistle of Peter. The priority of Jude’s epistle may be recognised in this also, that the somewhat striking expression μισθοῦ is, in the composition of Peter, supplemented by the explanatory: ὃς μισθὸν ἀδικίας ἠγάπησεν . Highly characteristic, too, is the relation of the two clauses Jud_1:12 a and Peter 2Pe_2:13 b, especially in their corresponding expressions: σπιλάδες in Jude, and σπῖλοι καὶ μῶμοι in Peter, and ἐν ταῖς ἀγάπαις ὑμῶν there, and ἐν ταῖς ἀπάταις αὐτῶν here. In spite of the different expressions, the influence of the one on the other is unmistakeable; and it is equally plain that it was not Jude who wrote under the influence of Peter, but Peter under that of Jude. For what could have induced Jude to substitute for the clear expression of Peter the uncommon σπιλάδες ,—which, besides, has a different meaning,—and to change the much more general idea ἀπάταις into the special conception ἀγάπαις ? Whatever may be thought of Weiss’ opinion, that Peter allowed himself to be guided simply by the sound of the words, we must certainly agree with him when he says that “Schott’s attempt to save the originality of Peter’s epistle rests on the entirely untenable assumption that the Petrine passage has reference to the love-feasts.”
His omission of the passage from Enoch, quoted by Jude, can be easily enough explained, inasmuch as it was Peter’s predominating desire to allow what was apocryphal to recede, especially when by doing so no essential thought was omitted, and in chap. 2Pe_2:1-2, distinct enough reference had been already made to the future judgment. But it is difficult to see what possible reason Jude could have had for inserting the passage from the Apocrypha in addition to what he found in Peter.
In what follows, each epistle goes its own way, and there are to be found but few traces of any influence of either on the other. Those few are as follows:—(1) The κατὰ τὰς ἐπιθυμίας αὐτῶν πορευόμενοι in Jud_1:16-17, and Pet. 2Pe_3:3, and the ἐμπαῖκται closely connected herewith. With regard to this last expression, it is more than improbable that Jude borrowed it from Peter’s epistle, it being there applied to the deniers of the Parousia, whom Jude does not even mention. Peter, on the other hand, might easily have adopted this designation from the Epistle of Jude, as very applicable to those who called the advent in question, the more so that he had already spoken of the Libertines as ψευδοδιδάσκαλοι . Thus, too, is explained the addition from Jude’s epistle of κατὰ τὰς … πορευόμενοι , which otherwise, as applied by Peter to a special heresy, is somewhat surprising. (2) The term ὑπέρογκα , Jud_1:16 and Pet. 2Pe_2:18; Jude employs it without any nearer definition, but Peter in relation to ἐλευθερίαν ἐπαγγέλλεσθαι . This, too, speaks for the priority of Jude’s composition; for it is not conceivable that Jude, in adopting the expression, would have left unnoticed its nearer definition presented by Peter; whilst, on the other hand, the latter might easily have borrowed it from Jude’s epistle, as well suited to the end he had in view.
The result, then, of an unbiassed comparison can be no other than this, that the Second Epistle of Peter was composed under the influence of what Jude had written, and not vice versa. This has been proved by Brückner, Wiesinger, and Weiss in their investigations, which have, in part, been conducted with more attention to particular detail.
If in his Comment. in Ev. Johannis he speak only of the First Epistle of Peter as catholic, saying, with reference to 1Pe_3:18-20 : περὶ τῆς ἐν φυλακῇ πορείας μετὰ πνεύματος παρὰ τῷ Πέτρῳ ἐν τῇ καθολικῇ ἐπιστολῇ , it can at most be concluded from this, only that he refused to apply that name to the second epistle, perhaps because it had not found general acceptation, but not that he himself had any doubts as to its genuineness.
Origen’s contemporary, too, Firmilianus of Caesarea, seems to have known the epistle, and to have regarded it as genuine; for when, in his Epistle to Cyprian (Epp. Cypr. ep. 75), he says that Peter and Paul have condemned the heretics in suis epistolis, this seems, as far as Peter is concerned, to be applicable to his second epistle only, as in the first there is no mention of any such persons.
It cannot be definitely asserted that Clemens Alexandrinus commented on this epistle in his Hypotyposes. According to Eusebius (H. E. vi. 14): ἐν δὲ ταῖς ὑποτυπώσεσι ξυνέλοντα εἰπεῖν , πάσης τῆς ἐνδιαθήκου γραφῆς ἐπιτετμημένας πεποίηται διηγήσεις · μὴ δὲ τὰς ἀντιλεγομένας παρελθών · τὴν Ἰούδα λέγω καὶ τὰς λοιπὰς ἐπιστολάς · τήν τε Βαρνάβα καὶ τὴν Πέτρου λεγομένην ἀποκάλυψιν · καὶ τὴν πρὸς Ἑβραίους δὲ ἐπιστολὴν κ . τ . λ ., Clement commented on the whole of the N. T. writings, the antilegomena included, and therefore Second Peter, which Eusebius designates as an ἐπιστολὴ ἀντιλεγ . To this, however, the remark of Cassiodorus is opposed (de instit. div. script. c. 8): in epistolis canonicis Clemens Al. i. e. in ep. Petri prima, Joannis prima et secunda et Jacobi (or rather Judae) quaedam attico sermone declaravit, etc.
Cum de reliquis epistolis canonicis magna nos cogitatio fatigaret, subito nobis codex Didymi … concessus est, etc. But as Cassiodorus expressly says in the Praefatio: ferunt itaque scripturas divinas V. et N. Testamenti ab ipso principio usque ad finem graeco sermone declarasse Clementem Alex., it may be concluded from this that he did not possess a complete copy of the Hypotyposes, but one only in which several epistles of the N. T., and among these Second Peter, were awanting. Whilst Brückner says that the remark of Cassiodorus is no certain refutation of the statement made by Eusebius, Weiss declares himself convinced that the epistle was not commented on by Clement.
Neither in the writings of Tertullian nor of Cyprian is there to be found any trace of an acquaintance with the epistle, though both of them know and quote First Peter.
The epistle does not stand in the older Peshito, nor is it mentioned in the Muratorian Canon. Previous to Clemens Al. it is sought for in vain in the apostolic and in the older church Fathers. As to whether in these writers certain echoes of the epistle are to be found which point to an acquaintance with it, Guericke, even, expresses himself very doubtfully: “The allusions, in the case of some of the apostolic Fathers, are not quite certain; but, on the other hand, Justin M., Irenaeus, and Theophilus, do really appear to have made unmistakeable reference to it.” Thiersch (p. 362, d. a. Schr.) denies still more decidedly a reference in the earlier church Fathers to this epistle. “The two thoughts only,” says Thiersch, “ ‘that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years,’ and that ‘the end of the world will come as a conflagration,’ had at a very early period obtained general diffusion throughout the church;” but he himself shows that these two ideas did not necessarily originate in this epistle. Most of the recent critics agree with Thiersch. Entirely opposed to this, however, is the judgment of Dietlein; he fancies he finds, not only in the three Fathers already mentioned, but in Polycarp, Ignatius, Clemens Romanus, Barnabas, and Hermes, not in some few passages merely, but “scattered in large numbers throughout the writings of each of them,” indisputable references to our epistle. In his endeavour to discover these, however, Dietlein has failed to observe that the writers of ecclesiastical antiquity all drew[4] from the same store of conceptions, expressions, and phrases, and that a correspondence must necessarily take place, without the dependence of any one upon another following therefrom. By far the most of the passages in those apostolic Fathers to which Dietlein appeals attest only a community of conception and expression, but not a dependence on Second Peter, the less so that the harmony consists almost only in accidental phrases and the like, and not in such ideas as are peculiarly characteristic of our epistle; nor has Dietlein been able to show a single sentence in which there is an exact verbal agreement.
[4] Even with regard to Philo, Dietlein says: “The coincidence between Philo and the N. T. and primitive ecclesiastical writers is by no means always fortuitous.—Both draw abundantly from the same storehouse of views and expressions, only the use they make of these is very different.”—This remark is very just; but why does not Dietlein apply what he says as to Philo to the relation between the primitive Christian writers and those of the N. T.? Is it because the application is in no way different? But, according to his own account, the material which the former drew directly from the latter was often applied in a very diverse manner; and though the difference here be not so great as in the above case, it is only natural it should be so, if the different circumstances be considered.
In the Epistle of Barnabas, the words, chap. 15: ἡ ἡμέρα παρʼ αὐτῷ (that is, κυρίῳ ) χίλια ἔτη , doubtless call up 2Pe_3:8; but the thought to which they give expression is there entirely different from that here. Besides, it must be particularly observed—to this Thiersch calls attention—that the conception of the days of the Messiah as a Sabbath of a thousand years is found in the Mischnah, Tractat. Sanhedrin 97b, in connection with Psa_90:4; as also that the authenticity of the Epistle of Barnabas is by no means so certain as Dietlein presupposes.
All the other passages in this epistle to which Dietlein appeals (especially in chap. 1 and 2, in the salutation and the conclusion of the epistle) show points of similarity only, which by no means prove the existence of definite references.[5]
So, too, with the passages from the Epistle of Clemens Romanus (chap. 7 init. comp. with 2Pe_1:12; 2Pe_3:9; chap. 8 comp. with 2Pe_3:9; 2Pe_3:16-17; chap. 9 comp. with 2Pe_1:17, etc.; chap. 11 with 2Pe_2:6-7, etc.), and from that of Polycarp (chap. 3 comp. with 2Pe_3:15-16; chap. 6 fin. and 7 init. with 2Pe_3:2, etc.).[6] Had Polycarp really been acquainted with Second Peter, and had he wished to refer to it, it is impossible to understand why he does not quote even one sentence from it literally, as he certainly does from First Peter.
Still less than that of the above-mentioned Fathers is the dependence of Ignatius on Second Peter capable of proof, even in a single passage.
As regards Justin Martyr, the earlier critics have traced back the expression in the Dialog. cum Tryph. c. 89 (p. 308, Morelli’s edition): συνήκαμεν γὰρ τὸ εἰρημένον , ὅτι ἡμέρα κυρίου ὡς χίλια ἔτη , εἰς τοῦτο συνάγειν , to 2Pe_3:8 as their original source; but the words here have the same meaning as in the Epistle of Barnabas, and, besides, differ still more markedly from those of Second Peter.
Indeed, Justin himself seems to hint that the words are not taken from an apostolic writing; for he cites them as a saying not unknown to Trypho, whilst he expressly mentions the book of the N. T. from which a quotation immediately following is taken; ΚΑῚ ἜΠΕΙΤΑ (i.e. “and then,” i.e. “and further”) Ἰωάννης … ἐν ἀποκαλύψει … προεφήτευσε .
Subsequently, indeed, Justin designates the false teachers as ΨΕΥΔΟΔΙΔΆΣΚΑΛΟΙ (a word which occurs, no doubt, in the N. T. only in Second Peter), and that, similarly as in 2Pe_2:1, in connection with the false prophets among the Jews; but this need occasion no surprise, since in after times the name was not uncommon, and the application of it must have suggested itself at once to him in conversation with a Jew.
Nor in Hermas either is there any quotation properly so called from Second Peter. Still appeal has been made to various expressions (in Vis. iii. 7, iv. 3) which no doubt may be traced back to that Epistle; and yet more is this the case in Vis. vii. Whilst, however, Wiesinger admits the dependence on Second Peter, and Brückner is inclined to agree with him, Weiss remarks, that in the Greek text, now brought to light, the supposed references in Hermas lose every semblance of similarity. On the other hand, Hofmann maintains that in Sim. vi. c. 2 ff., the peculiar connection of τρυφή with ἈΠΆΤΗ , etc., as also the singular calculation, for how long a time pain would follow one day of luxurious living, can only be explained by a reference to Second Peter; and further, that the vision of the seven virtues (Sim. iii. c. 8) could have had 2Pe_1:5-7 as a pattern. Both of these assertions are very questionable.
In Theophilus (ad Autol.) it is two passages principally that recall our epistle; in the one it is said of the prophets (l. II. c. 11, ed. Wolfii, Hamb. 1724): οἱ δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἄνθρωποι πνευματοφόροι πνεύματος ἀγίου καὶ προφῆται γενόμενοι ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐμπνευσθέντες καὶ σοφισθέντες ἐγένοντο θεοδίδακτοι καὶ ὅσιοι καὶ δίκαιοι ; in the other (l. II. c. 1), with reference to the Logos: Ἡ ΔΙΆΤΑΞΙς ΤΟῦ ΘΕΟῦ ΤΟῦΤΌ ἘΣΤΙΝ Ὁ ΛΌΓΟς ΑὐΤΟῦ ΦΑΊΝΩΝ ὭΣΠΕΡ ΛΎΧΝΟς ἘΝ ΟἸΚΉΜΑΤΙ ΣΥΝΕΧΟΜΈΝῼ . The similarity of the former passage with 2Pe_1:21, and of the latter with 2Pe_1:18, is indisputable; but that the one had its origin in the other remains certainly doubtful, the points of difference being not less marked than those of agreement. The conception formed of the prophets is in both cases the same no doubt, but it was also the view generally prevalent, and is found even in Philo; cf. the exposition of 2Pe_1:21; the manner of expression, too, is not a little different. As regards the other passages, it must be observed that there is agreement, neither in the figure employed ( ἘΝ ΟἸΚΉΜΑΤΙ ΣΥΝΕΧΟΜΈΝῼ instead of ἘΝ ΑὐΧΜΉΡῼ ΤΌΠῼ ), nor with respect to the object spoken of.
In Irenaeus the thought, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, is again found, and that in two passages (Adv. Haeres. v. 23 and 28), but in neither of them is it hinted that the words are taken from an apostolic writing. If it had not its origin in some collection of proverbs then in circulation, it is very probable that Irenaeus borrowed it from Justin, since he too uses the expression: ἡμέρα κυρίου (not ΠΑΡᾺ ΚΥΡΊῼ ).
Dietlein, indeed, thinks that instances of reference on Irenaeus’s part to Second Peter may be richly accumulated, the more the finding of them is made an object of study(!). But Irenaeus nowh