2 Peter 3:5 (also cp. 2 Peter 3:8)

Forum rules
Please quote the Greek text you are discussing directly in your post if it is reasonably short - do not ask people to look it up. This is not a beginner's forum, competence in Greek is assumed.
Post Reply
Mike Baber
Posts: 97
Joined: May 30th, 2011, 11:25 pm
Location: Texas

2 Peter 3:5 (also cp. 2 Peter 3:8)

Post by Mike Baber »

λανθάνει γὰρ αὐτοὺς τοῦτο θέλοντας ὅτι οὐρανοὶ ἦσαν ἔκπαλαι καὶ γῆ ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ δι’ ὕδατος συνεστῶσα τῷ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγῳ

It seems to me that τοῦτο ("this") is the subject (neut. nom.) and αὐτοὺς ("they [themselves]") is the direct object (masc. acc.).

Here's the A.V.:
For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:


1.
λανθάνει is conjugated in the 3rd person, present tense, active voice, indicative mood, singular number. In the A.V.'s translation, it appears that the subject of the verb is "they," which would be the plural αὐτοὺς. This doesn't seem right to me. How about anyone else?

2.
θέλοντας is masc. acc. plural, so it appears to modify αὐτοὺς which is fine.

The same phenomenon (#1) appears to happen in 2 Peter 3:8:

Ἓν δὲ τοῦτο μὴ λανθανέτω ὑμᾶς ἀγαπητοί

which the A.V. translates as,
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing
λανθανέτω is 3rd person sing. imperative. But, the A.V. translates it as though the imperative is 2nd person plur.

Any thoughts?
Ken M. Penner
Posts: 881
Joined: May 12th, 2011, 7:50 am
Location: Antigonish, NS, Canada
Contact:

Re: 2 Peter 3:5 (also cp. 2 Peter 3:8)

Post by Ken M. Penner »

Read the lexica on λανθάνω. BDAG has "λανθάνει τί τινα someth. is hidden from someone, escapes someone’s notice"
Ken M. Penner
Professor and Chair of Religious Studies, St. Francis Xavier University
Co-Editor, Digital Biblical Studies
General Editor, Lexham English Septuagint
Co-Editor, Online Critical Pseudepigrapha pseudepigrapha.org
Mike Baber
Posts: 97
Joined: May 30th, 2011, 11:25 pm
Location: Texas

Re: 2 Peter 3:5 (also cp. 2 Peter 3:8)

Post by Mike Baber »

I agree. To me, the KJV translation seems wrong, but I guess they just found a different way to express the idea. "They are ignorant of this" to express the idea "This is hidden from them."
Post Reply

Return to “New Testament”