2 Peter 3:12

σπεύδοντας. Either (1) “earnestly desiring,” cf. Isaiah 16:5, σπεύδων δικαιοσύνην, or (2) preferably, “hastening the coming”. “The Church may be said to bring the day nearer when it prays, ‘Thy kingdom come' ” (Bigg). The writer is here referring to the Jewish idea that the sins of men prevented Messiah from appearing. “Si Judaei poenitentiam facerent una die, statim veniret Messias, films David.”

The words are capable of a still more spiritual meaning, which, however, is rather beyond the consciousness of this writer. The kingdom of God is “within” us, and Christians may be said to hasten this coming by holiness of life. Christian conduct is itself both a rebuke to vice and a realisation of the presence of Christ in the hearts of His disciples.

τήκεται. Again present for future. The phrases in this verse are repeated from 2 Peter 3:10 in order to introduce the more impressively the idea in 2 Peter 3:13.