Verse (Click for Chapter) New International Version For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. New Living Translation For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We saw his majestic splendor with our own eyes English Standard Version For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. Berean Standard Bible For we did not follow cleverly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. Berean Literal Bible For we have not made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ having followed out cleverly devised fables, but having been eyewitnesses of His majesty. King James Bible For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. New King James Version For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. New American Standard Bible For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. NASB 1995 For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. NASB 1977 For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. Legacy Standard Bible For we did not make known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, following cleverly devised myths, but being eyewitnesses of His majesty. Amplified Bible For we did not follow cleverly devised stories or myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty [His grandeur, His authority, His sovereignty]. Christian Standard Bible For we did not follow cleverly contrived myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; instead, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. Holman Christian Standard Bible For we did not follow cleverly contrived myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; instead, we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. American Standard Version For we did not follow cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. Aramaic Bible in Plain English For we have not gone after craftily made fables to inform you of the power and the coming of our Lord Yeshua The Messiah, but we were eyewitnesses of his Majesty. Contemporary English Version When we told you about the power and the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, we were not telling clever stories someone had made up. But with our own eyes we saw his true greatness. Douay-Rheims Bible For we have not by following artificial fables, made known to you the power, and presence of our Lord Jesus Christ; but we were eyewitnesses of his greatness. English Revised Version For we did not follow cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. GOD'S WORD® Translation When we apostles told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, we didn't base our message on clever myths that we made up. Rather, we witnessed his majesty with our own eyes. Good News Translation We have not depended on made-up stories in making known to you the mighty coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. With our own eyes we saw his greatness. International Standard Version When we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, we did not follow any clever myths. Rather, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. Literal Standard Version For having not followed out skillfully devised fables, we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but having become eyewitnesses of His majesty— Majority Standard Bible For we did not follow cleverly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. New American Bible We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. NET Bible For we did not follow cleverly concocted fables when we made known to you the power and return of our Lord Jesus Christ; no, we were eyewitnesses of his grandeur. New Revised Standard Version For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. New Heart English Bible For we did not follow cunningly devised tales, when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. Webster's Bible Translation For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of his majesty. Weymouth New Testament For when we made known to you the power and Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, we were not eagerly following cleverly devised legends, but we had been eye-witnesses of His majesty. World English Bible For we didn’t follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. Young's Literal Translation For, skilfully devised fables not having followed out, we did make known to you the power and presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, but eye-witnesses having become of his majesty -- Additional Translations ... Audio Bible Context Eyewitnesses of His Majesty15And I will make every effort to ensure that after my departure, you will be able to recall these things at all times. 16For we did not follow cleverly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17For He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”… Cross References Matthew 16:27 For the Son of Man will come in His Father's glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done. Matthew 16:28 Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom." Matthew 17:1 After six days Jesus took with Him Peter, James, and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. Mark 9:2 After six days Jesus took with Him Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There He was transfigured before them. Mark 13:26 At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. Mark 14:62 "I am," said Jesus, "and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven." Luke 1:2 just as they were handed down to us by the initial eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Treasury of Scripture For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. we have. 2 Peter 3:3,4 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, … 1 Corinthians 1:17,23 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect… 1 Corinthians 2:1,4 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God… the power. Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Mark 9:1 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power. John 17:2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. coming. Malachi 3:2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: Malachi 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: Matthew 16:28 Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. were. Matthew 17:1-5 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, … Mark 9:2 And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them. Luke 9:28-32 And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray… Jump to Previous Based Christ Cunningly Devised Eagerly Eyewitnesses Eye-Witnesses Fables Follow Followed Following Glory Invented Jesus Legends Majesty Myths News Power Stories Tales Teaching TogetherJump to Next Based Christ Cunningly Devised Eagerly Eyewitnesses Eye-Witnesses Fables Follow Followed Following Glory Invented Jesus Legends Majesty Myths News Power Stories Tales Teaching Together2 Peter 1 1. Peter confirms the hope of the increase of God's grace,5. exhorts them, by faith, and good works, to make their calling sure; 12. whereof he is careful to remind them, knowing that his death is at hand; 16. and assures them of the authenticity of the Gospel, by the eyewitness of the apostles and the prophets. (16-21) The certainty of Christ's coming again is the basis of these exhortations; and that certainty is proved (1) by the Transfiguration, which was an anticipation of His coming again in glory; (2) by the utterances of the prophets who predicted it. (16) For we have not followed.--More literally, For we did not follow, or, It was not by following out, &c., that. "For" introduces the reason for "I will endeavour" above. The word for "follow," or "follow out," occurs again in 2Peter 2:2; 2Peter 2:15, and nowhere else in the New Testament. Cunningly devised fables.--We cannot be sure that any in particular are meant, whether heathen, Jewish, or Christian; the negative makes the statement quite general. Various things, however, have been suggested as possibly indicated--heathen mythology, Jewish theosophy, Gnostic systems (as yet quite in their infancy in Simon Magus, St. Peter's adversary), and Apocryphal Gospels. Probably some elements in the doctrine of the false teachers are alluded to; something analogous to the "feigned words" of 2Peter 2:3. There is reason for believing that the particular elements in their teaching thus incidentally condemned were of Jewish origin. If this conjecture be correct, then St. Peter is here dealing with errors similar to those condemned by St. Paul (1Timothy 1:4; 2Timothy 4:4; Titus 1:14--the only other passages in which the word "fables" occurs). And in this case much light is thrown on some of the marked peculiarities of this Epistle and that of St. Jude, viz., the fondness of both writers for the oldest, and sometimes the most obscureWhen we made known unto you.--It is difficult to determine to what this refers. It is erroneous to suppose that the phrase necessarily implies personal communication by word of mouth. In the First Epistle the Apostle wrote to congregations not personally acquainted with him; and we have no reason for assuming that he had visited them since. "When we made known" may possibly refer to the First Epistle, against which supposition the plural "we" is not conclusive. Or a written Gospel--and, if so, the one with which St. Peter is commonly connected, viz., that of St. Mark--may be in the Apostle's mind. But the simplest explanation is that he refers to the Apostolic teaching generally. . . . Verse 16. - For we have not followed cunningly devised fables; rather, did not follow. The participle (ἐξακολουθήσαντες) is aorist. This compound verb is used only by St. Peter in the New Testament; we find it again in 2 Peter 2:2 and 15. Bengel and others have thought that the preposition ἐξ, from or out of, implies wandering from the truth after false guides; but probably the word merely means "to follow closely," though in this case the guides were going astray. Perhaps the use of the plural number is accounted for by the fact that St. Peter was not the only witness of the glory of the Transfiguration; he associates in thought his two brother-apostles with himself. The word μῦθοι, fables, with this exception, occurs in the New Testament only in St. Paul's pastoral Epistles. There is a remarkable parallel in the procemium of the 'Antiquities' of Josephus, sect. 4, Οἱ μεν ἄλλοι νομοθέται τοῖς μύθοις ἐξακολουθήσαντες. St. Peter may be referring to the "Jewish fables" mentioned by St. Paul (Titus 1:14), or to the stories about the heathen gods such as those in Hesiod and Ovid, or possibly to some early inventions, such as those ascribed to Simon the Sorcerer, which were afterwards to be developed into the strange fictions of Gnosticism (comp. 1 Timothy 1:4; 1 Timothy 4:7; 2 Timothy 4:4). The word rendered "cunningly devised" occurs elsewhere in the New Testament only in 2 Timothy 3:15; but there a different part of the verb is used, and in a different sense. When we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. St. Peter can scarcely be referring to St. Paul or other missionaries, as the following words identify the preachers with the witnesses of the Transfiguration; he must be alluding either to his First Epistle (comp. 1 Peter 1:7, 13; 1 Peter 4:13), or to personal teaching of his which has not been recorded, or, just possibly, to the Gospel of St. Mark. St. Peter had seen the power of the Lord Jesus manifested in his miracles; he had heard the announcement of the risen Saviour, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth;" he had, like the rest of the apostles, been "endued with power from on high." By the coming (παρουσία) he must mean the second advent, the invariable meaning of the word in Holy Scripture (see chapter 2 Peter 3:4, Matthew 24:3, 27; 1 Corinthians 15:23; 1 Thessalonians 2:19, etc.). But were eye-witnesses of his majesty. The word for "eye-witnesses" is not the common one (αὐτόπται, used by St. Luke 1:2), but a technical word (ἐπόπται), which in classical Greek designates the highest class of those who had been initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries. The choice of such a word may possibly imply that St. Peter regarded himself and his brother-apostles as having received the highest initiation into the mysteries of religion. The noun is found only here in the New Testament; but the corresponding verb occurs in 1 Peter 2:12 and 1 Pet 3:2, and in no other of the New Testament writers. Here again we have an undesigned coincidence which points to identity of authorship. The word for "majesty" (μεγαλειότης) occurs in St. Luke's description of the healing of the demoniac boy immediately after the Transfiguration (Luke 9:43), and elsewhere only in Acts 19:27.Parallel Commentaries ... Greek Forγὰρ (gar) Conjunction Strong's 1063: For. A primary particle; properly, assigning a reason. we did not follow ἐξακολουθήσαντες (exakolouthēsantes) Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Plural Strong's 1811: To follow after, imitate. From ek and akoloutheo; to follow out, i.e. to imitate, obey, yield to. cleverly devised σεσοφισμένοις (sesophismenois) Verb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Dative Masculine Plural Strong's 4679: From sophos; to render wise; in a sinister acceptation, to form 'sophisms', i.e. Continue plausible error. fables μύθοις (mythois) Noun - Dative Masculine Plural Strong's 3454: An idle tale, fable, fanciful story. Perhaps from the same as mueo; a tale, i.e. Fiction. when we made known ἐγνωρίσαμεν (egnōrisamen) Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 1st Person Plural Strong's 1107: To make known, declare, know, discover. From a derivative of ginosko; to make known; subjectively, to know. to you ὑμῖν (hymin) Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative 2nd Person Plural Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou. the τὴν (tēn) Article - Accusative Feminine Singular Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the. power δύναμιν (dynamin) Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular Strong's 1411: From dunamai; force; specially, miraculous power. and καὶ (kai) Conjunction Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely. coming παρουσίαν (parousian) Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular Strong's 3952: From the present participle of pareimi; a being near, i.e. Advent; physically, aspect. of our ἡμῶν (hēmōn) Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 1st Person Plural Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I. Lord Κυρίου (Kyriou) Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular Strong's 2962: Lord, master, sir; the Lord. From kuros; supreme in authority, i.e. controller; by implication, Master. Jesus Ἰησοῦ (Iēsou) Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular Strong's 2424: Of Hebrew origin; Jesus, the name of our Lord and two other Israelites. Christ, Χριστοῦ (Christou) Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular Strong's 5547: Anointed One; the Messiah, the Christ. From chrio; Anointed One, i.e. The Messiah, an epithet of Jesus. but ἀλλ’ (all’) Conjunction Strong's 235: But, except, however. Neuter plural of allos; properly, other things, i.e. contrariwise. we were γενηθέντες (genēthentes) Verb - Aorist Participle Passive - Nominative Masculine Plural Strong's 1096: A prolongation and middle voice form of a primary verb; to cause to be, i.e. to become, used with great latitude. eyewitnesses ἐπόπται (epoptai) Noun - Nominative Masculine Plural Strong's 2030: An eyewitness, spectator, looker-on. From epi and a presumed derivative of optanomai; a looker-on. of His ἐκείνου (ekeinou) Demonstrative Pronoun - Genitive Masculine Singular Strong's 1565: That, that one there, yonder. From ekei; that one (neuter) thing); often intensified by the article prefixed. majesty. μεγαλειότητος (megaleiotētos) Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular Strong's 3168: (divine) majesty or magnificence, glory. From megaleios; superbness, i.e. Glory or splendor. Links 2 Peter 1:16 NIV2 Peter 1:16 NLT 2 Peter 1:16 ESV 2 Peter 1:16 NASB 2 Peter 1:16 KJV 2 Peter 1:16 BibleApps.com 2 Peter 1:16 Biblia Paralela 2 Peter 1:16 Chinese Bible 2 Peter 1:16 French Bible 2 Peter 1:16 Catholic Bible NT Letters: 2 Peter 1:16 For we did not follow cunningly devised (2 Pet. 2P iiP ii Pet) |