# 2 Peter 1.17-18 **Book:** [2 Peter](/codex/2-peter/) · NASB95 ## Immediate context (±2 verses) **ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/)) > 15. Yea, I will give diligence that at every time ye may be able after my decease to call these things to remembrance. 16. 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. > > **17. For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there was borne such a voice to him by the Majestic Glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: 18. and this voice we ourselves heard borne out of heaven, when we were with him in the holy mount.** > > 19. And we have the word of prophecy made more sure; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts: 20. knowing this first, that no prophecy of scripture is of private interpretation. (2 Peter 1:15-20, ASV) **WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/)) > 15. Yes, I will make every effort that you may always be able to remember these things even after my departure. 16. For we did not 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. > > **17. For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 18. We heard this voice come out of heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.** > > 19. We have the more sure word of prophecy; and you do well that you heed it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns, and the morning star arises in your hearts: 20. knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of private interpretation. (2 Peter 1:15-20, WEB) **KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/)) > 15. Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance. 16. 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. > > **17. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 18. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.** > > 19. We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: 20. Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. (2 Peter 1:15-20, KJV) **YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/)) > 15. and I will be diligent that also at every time ye have, after my outgoing, power to make to yourselves the remembrance of these things. 16. 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 > > **17. for having received from God the Father honour and glory, such a voice being borne to him by the excellent glory: 'This is My Son, the beloved, in whom I was well pleased;' 18. and this voice we, we did hear, out of heaven borne, being with him in the holy mount.** > > 19. And we have more firm the prophetic word, to which we do well giving heed, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, till day may dawn, and a morning star may arise, in your hearts; 20. this first knowing, that no prophecy of the Writing doth come of private exposition, (2 Peter 1:15-20, YLT) ## Setting - **Speaker:** the author of 2 Peter, in Peter's name and voice - **Audience:** believers facing teachers who denied the promised return - **Location:** unknown; traditionally Rome - **Time period:** traditionally the mid-60s AD; authorship and date are disputed ## Theological reading **The eyewitness claim of the previous verse, cashed out with specifics.** Honor and glory received from God the Father, an utterance from the Majestic Glory, "This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased," and then: "we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain." **Both modalities are claimed, and hearing is the one stressed.** The verb is *ēkousamen*, from [akouō](/codex/g0191-akouo/). The passage does not say "we saw a vision"; it says we heard a voice, and it locates the hearing on a specific mountain in specific company. That is the form a claim takes when it is meant to be a report rather than an impression. The emphasis on hearing fits the wider biblical pattern in which divine self-disclosure comes by voice rather than by form ([Deuteronomy 4:12](/codex/deuteronomy-4-12/)), which makes the transfiguration a scene where the older mode of revelation and the newer one occur together: a voice, and a transfigured face. **"The Majestic Glory" is a circumlocution**, *tēs megaloprepous doxēs*, a reverential substitution for the divine name of the kind common in Second Temple Jewish usage. Its presence is a small argument for the passage's Jewish provenance, whoever wrote it. **The purpose the passage is put to.** Verse 19 draws the conclusion: "so we have the prophetic word made more sure." The eyewitness claim is offered as *confirming prophecy*, not as replacing it. That ordering matters, because the letter's argument is aimed at teachers denying the promised return, and it answers them by tying the future promise to an event the writer says was witnessed. **Apologetic use, with the authorship caveat carried over.** The disputed authorship of 2 Peter (see [2 Peter 1:16](/codex/2-peter-1-16/)) limits what can be built here, and the limit should be stated rather than left for an opponent to find. What the passage independently shows is the shape of first-century Christian argument: appeals to specific, located, multi-modal perception offered in support of a doctrinal claim under dispute. ## Key words - ***akouō*** (G0191), to hear; the aorist *ēkousamen*, "we heard." See [G0191 - akouo](/codex/g0191-akouo/). - ***phōnē*** (G5456), voice, sound; the medium of the disclosure. - ***megaloprepēs*** (G3169), majestic, befitting greatness; part of the reverential circumlocution. - ***doxa*** (G1391), glory; see [G1391 - doxa](/codex/g1391-doxa/). _Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word._ ## Quoted in **Arguments and defeaters:** - [Failed Second Coming Prophecy Objection Defeater](/codex/failed-second-coming-prophecy-objection-defeater/), via [2 Peter 1.16-18](/codex/2-peter-1-16-18/) **Lexicon:** - [G1391 - doxa](/codex/g1391-doxa/), via [2 Peter 1.17](/codex/2-peter-1-17/) - [G2030 - epoptes](/codex/g2030-epoptes/) - [H3173 - yachid](/codex/h3173-yachid/), via [2 Peter 1.17](/codex/2-peter-1-17/) **Passages:** - [2 Peter 1.16](/codex/2-peter-1-16/) ## Notes _Your annotations._ ## Cross-references - **[2 Peter 1:16](/codex/2-peter-1-16/)**, the eyewitness claim this substantiates - **[Deuteronomy 4:12](/codex/deuteronomy-4-12/)**, revelation by voice rather than form - **[1 John 1:1](/codex/1-john-1-1/)**, the stacked sense verbs including hearing - **[G0191 - akouo](/codex/g0191-akouo/)**, the hearing verb - **[G2030 - epoptes](/codex/g2030-epoptes/)**, the eyewitness noun of the preceding verse --- ## Why these four translations ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance. The four: - **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition. - **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English. - **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base. - **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff. See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.