2 Peter 3:16

ὡς καὶ ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ἐπιστολαῖς. This statement implies neither the inclusion of all the epistles that have come down to us, nor the formation of a canon. It is much more natural to take it as referring to a collection of letters made not long after Paul's death, and read in the churches. The term ὁ ἀγαπητὸς ἡμῶν ἀδελφὸς in 2 Peter 3:15 would seem to refer to one whose memory is still quite fresh in the hearts of the readers. λαλῶν ἐν αὐταῖς περὶ τούτων : “where he touches on these subjects” (Mayor), περὶ τούτων indicates a widening of the reference to include Paul's treatment of the whole question of the Second Coming. The mention of Paul's name here implies a desire on the part of the writer to show that on this point the Pauline and Petrine teaching are at one. The false teachers founded their Antinomian doctrine on Paul's teaching about the Grace of God. ἐν αἷς, κ. τ. λ. This clearly involves that a collection of letters is meant. δυσνόητά τινα. “What are the δυσνόητά referred to? “Probably St. Paul's doctrine of God's free grace (Romans 3:5-8), with his apparent disparagement of the law in Romans 3:20-28; Romans 4:15; Romans 5:20; Romans 6:4; Romans 7:4-11; his teaching with regard to the πνευματικοὶ, 1 Corinthians 1:15; with regard to the strong, whom he seems to justify in their neglect of the rule made at the Apostolic Council, as to εἰδωλόθυτα (Acts 15:29; Romans 14; 1 Corinthians 8; 1 Corinthians 10:25); as regards the Resurrection in baptism (Romans 6:3-11; Colossians 3:1; 1 Corinthians 15:12); perhaps as regards predestination (Romans 9:11-21), and the Parousia (2 Thessalonians 2.)” (Mayor). οἱ ἀμαθεῖς καὶ ἀστήρικτοι. ἀμαθής is not used elsewhere in the N.T. It signifies not so much “unlearned” as “uneducated”; a mind untrained and undisciplined in habits of thought, lacking in the moral qualities of a balanced judgment. ἀστήρικτοι refers more to conduct, those whose habits are not fully trained and established. The reference of ἀμ. καὶ ἀστηρ. is of course not to the Libertines, but to a class among the readers. In 2 Peter 3:17 στηριγμός is used of the readers, in distinction to the False Teachers, who are called ἀθέσμων. στρεβλοῦσιν : of persons, “to torture,” of things, “to wrest” or “twist”.

ὡς καὶ τὰς λοιπὰς γραφάς. (1) There has been much discussion among commentators as to the meaning of γραφάς. Spitta takes γραφάς in sense of “writings,” and concludes that these were by companions of the Apostle Paul; but this is a very unusual sense of γραφή unless the name of an author is given. Mayor and others interpret as the O.T. Scriptures; while some who are prepared to assign a late date in the second century to the epistle, think that both Old and New Testament Scriptures are meant. On every ground the hypothesis of γραφάς = O.T. Scriptures is to be preferred. (2) The difficulty in connexion with the meaning of γραφάς is largely occasioned by the phrase τὰς λοιπὰς γρ. Does this mean that the Epistles of St. Paul are regarded as Scripture? Attempts have been made (e.g., by Dr. Bigg) to cite classical and other parallels that would justify the sense for τὰς λοιπὰς, “the Scriptures as well”. In these, certain idiomatic uses of ἄλλος and other words are referred to, but no real parallel to this sense of λοιπός can be found, and the connexion implied in λοιπός is closer than ἄλλος. The result of the whole discussion is practically to compel us to take τὰς λοιπὰς γραφάς in the obvious sense “the rest of the Scriptures,” and we cannot escape the conclusion that the Epistles of Paul are classed with these. The intention of the author of 2 Peter seems to be to regard the Pauline Epistles, or those of them that he knew, as γραφαὶ because they were read in the churches along with the lessons from the O.T.