The Second Letter of Peter Purpose To denounce false teachers and to encourage continued growth in the faith Author Peter Date Early 60s AD Setting Written to the same groups of believers addressed in 1 Peter, whose communities were being infiltrated by false teachers

1:1 Simon was one of the most common Jewish names in the first century. Jesus gave him the name Peter (Matt 16:17-18). Many people in the Greco-Roman world would use both their given name in their native language and also a Greek name, since Greek was the lingua franca (see study note on Acts 7:58). • a slave . . . of Jesus Christ: In the Old Testament, important leaders of God’s people are called servants of the Lord (Josh 14:7; 24:29; 2 Kgs 10:10). The title underscores Peter’s submission to Christ and suggests that he had an important role in God’s plan. • We probably refers to Jewish Christians; the recipients were mostly Gentile Christians. In the new covenant, Gentile and Jewish Christians share the same precious faith and are on an equal footing as God’s people (see Gal 3:26-29). • This is one of the few places in the New Testament where Jesus Christ is called God (see also John 1:1; 20:28; Rom 9:5; Titus 2:13; Heb 1:8; 1 Jn 5:20).

1:10 dear brothers and sisters: This Greek term (adelphoi) refers to people, both male and female, who are members of the same family. • Work hard to prove (literally Be zealous to make certain): Peter did not mean that our being chosen by God for salvation depends on what we do, but that our zeal to grow in Christian virtue confirms that we have, indeed, been chosen by God.

1:12-15 Peter was writing at the end of his life, and 2 Peter is similar to works that belong to a popular Jewish genre called the testament, in which an old and respected leader gives final instructions to his children or others on his deathbed (cp. Deut 31–33; Josh 24). This genre is especially well known from a Jewish work called The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs.