Greek: Ταύτην ἤδη, ἀγαπητοί, δευτέραν ὑμῖν γράφω ἐπιστολήν, ἐν αἷς διεγείρω ὑμῶν ἐν ὑπομνήσει τὴν εἰλικρινῆ διάνοιαν (Westcott-Hort)
Stepbible Manuscript Variant Apparatus: ὑμῶν] p72 א A B C Byz WH
ἡμῶν] al ς
omit] pc
Latin Vulgate: hanc ecce vobis carissimi secundam scribo epistulam in quibus excito vestram in commonitione sinceram mentem
Gene Green Remarks (BECNT): Peter addresses the readers/hearers with the vocative “beloved,” saying, Ταύτην ἤδη, ἀγαπητοί, δευτέραν ὑμῖν γράφω ἐπιστολήν (Tautēn ēdē, agapētoi, deuteran hymin graphō epistolēn, This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you). Throughout this section he returns to address them in the same way (3:8, 14, 17) as he makes his appeal to them to heed his teaching and not to succumb to the heretics’ appeal to engage in an immoral way of life. The ones normally called “beloved” were children, especially only children (Homer, Od. 2.365; 4.817; Il. 6.401; Demosthenes, Speeches 21.165; Tob. 10:13 LXX; Mark 9:7; 12:6), and indeed, when used outside the context of the family, the family comparison is near at hand (as Aristotle, Pol. 2.1262B.23). The use of “beloved” within the early church was a marker of the familial relationship between the disciples of Christ, who call on one Father (Acts 15:25; Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 4:17; Eph. 5:1). Since one of the principal contexts of moral exhortation was the family, we are not surprised to find that our author repeatedly appeals to the recipients of the letter as “beloved” (cf. 1 Cor. 4:14; 10:14; 1 Pet. 2:11; 4:12). The address lends force to Peter’s appeal and at the same time marks the solidarity of the readers with the author. They are those who are inside, within the circle of the family, and not those separated off, as were the heretics. The force of Peter’s appeal is highlighted by the recollection that this is now the second missive the author is writing to these churches. In the literature on 2 Peter, the weight of discussion about this declaration centers on which letter the author refers to (1 Peter, a lost letter, or even Jude?) and the evidences for any relationship between this letter and 1 Peter. As important as these questions are, especially in relationship to debates about authorship, Peter’s point is sometimes lost in these interpretive conundrums. The opening words of the sentence, Ταύτην ἤδη (Tautēn ēdē, This is now), sometimes appear at the head of numbered sequences (as Gen. 27:36 LXX: “And he said, Rightly was his name called Jacob, for lo! this second time [ἤδη δεύτερον τοῦτο, ēdē deuteron touto] has he supplanted me”; John 21:14 NRSV: “This was now the third time [τοῦτο ἤδη τρίτον, touto ēdē triton] that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead”). The emphasis is on the way the second or third in the sequence serves as a confirmation of the previous. The “second” occurrence of some event also appears to hold some particular importance as a confirmation of a previous event (Matt. 26:42; John 4:54; 9:24; Acts 7:13; 10:15; 2 Cor. 13:2; Titus 3:10; Heb. 8:7; 9:28; 10:9; Jude 5 and comments). Euripides remarked about “second thoughts”: “Among mortals second thoughts are, I suppose, wiser” (Hipp. 436). Peter’s comment that this is his second letter confirms the content of the first epistle but, at the same time, highlights the importance of the present teaching. In fact, it elevates the importance of this letter above the first. The expression underscores the weight and authority of the present teaching and thus becomes the basis of the appeal the author makes through the final section of the letter.
My Comments: Compare Jude 17 with 2 Peter 3:1-2. Jude reads: Ὑμεῖς δέ, ἀγαπητοί, μνήσθητε τῶν ῥημάτων τῶν προειρημένων ὑπὸ τῶν ἀποστόλων τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ·
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