The Jewish Annotated New Testament (297 page)

2.22
–25
: The text weaves in images from Isa 53.3–9, where Israel is like the sacrificial lamb, suffering on behalf of others who are straying
like sheep
. Probably emerging from the period after Israel’s exile, the passage gives meaning to Israel’s suffering as redemptive or instructive.

3.1
–6
:
Wives, … accept the authority of your husbands
is an ideal of the deferential woman, modest in dress and behavior; the type occurs throughout Greco-Roman literature. Christian women married to non-Christian men are urged to promote the faith through pious example.
Called him lord
, Sarah never calls Abraham “Lord” in the Hebrew Bible but she does in the Septuagint (Gen 18.12); see also the Jewish noncanonical
Testament of Abraham
, where Sarah is a model of wifely obedience.

10
–12
: A citation of Ps 34.12–16. The Jewish prayer “Elohai Netzor,” recited after the “Amidah,” a central prayer in Jewish liturgy, draws from the same verse as 10b, as well as promoting the idea of non-retaliation for injury.

19
–20
:
Proclamation to the spirits in prison
, perhaps those who died in the flood (Gen –9); perhaps rebellious angels (see Gen 6.4;
1 En
. 6–36;
2 En
. 7.1–5). The author argues that just as Noah saved people from the water, Jesus saves through the water of baptism.

4.6
:
Proclaimed even to the dead
, the idea that Jesus descended into hell after his death (Rom 10.7; Eph 4.9), where he redeemed the saints (Eph 4.8) or defeated the evil angels (Phil 2.10; Col 2.15; cf. the second-century
Ascen. Isa
. 9–11, where he defeats the angel of death and Satan and the angels worship him, and
Odes Sol
. 17.9; 42.15 where he frees the dead).

8
:
Maintain constant love for one another
, the stress on Christian love (“agapē”) as the love that builds up community flows from Prov 10.12b.

4.12
–5.11:
Suffering as a Christian.

12
:
Test
, the same word is used in Mt 6.13, “do not bring us to the time of trial.”

16
:
Suffers as a Christian
, the Maccabean martyrs (2, 4 Macc) are models of piety and their suffering and noble deaths present turning points in the restoration of the Jewish nation, the defeat of her oppressors, and a return to obedience to Torah. Similarly, the suffering of Christians will be rewarded.

17
:
Household of God
, imagery evokes the idea of the “house of Israel,” while responding to the institution of the Roman household.

18
: Prov 11.31.

5.1
:
Elder … elders
, title of a church official (Acts 14.23; Jas 5.14).

4
:
Chief shepherd
, image for the king (Ps 78.71) and for God (Ps 23.1); applied to Jesus (e.g., Jn 10.11).

5
: Prov 3.34.

9
:
Your brothers and sisters
, lit., “your brotherhood,” one of the earliest self-designations the believers had for one another.

5.12
–14:
Farewell blessings.

13
:
In Babylon
, “Babylon” refers to Rome in Jewish literature (
4 Ezra
;
2 Bar.; Sib. Or
. 5) and Revelation; Babylon destroyed the first Jerusalem Temple in 586 BCE, as Rome destroyed the second in 70 CE.

13
:
My son Mark
, most likely John Mark, a Jewish believer and former companion of Paul, who knew Peter in Jerusalem and became helpful to Peter, perhaps his student and scribe (Acts 12.12,25; 13.13; 15.37–39; Col 4.10; 2 Tim 4.11; Philem 24).

1.1
–2:
Greeting and invocation.

1
:
Simeon
, Gk rendition of Heb “Shim‘on” or “Sim‘on.” This spelling, as opposed to the more common “Simon,” appears in the NT only here and in Acts 15.14.
Peter
(Gk “Petros,” from “petra,” “rock”) translates Aram “Cephas,” “rock” (see Mt 16.18; Gal 1.18–2.14).
Faith
, here not “trust” but rather teaching or doctrine and right action, associated with “knowledge” (vv. 3,6,8), “goodness” (v. 5), and “self-control” (v. 6).
Our God and Savior
may be an early, and if so, unusual, instance of the equation of God with Jesus.

2
:
Grace and peace
, as in Paul’s epistles, the traditional Hellenistic salutation “greetings” (“chairein,” “rejoicing, joy”) is modified to the Christian “grace” (Gk “charis,” “favor”) and combined with the Jewish “shalom,” Gk “eirēnē,” “peace.”

1.3
–11:
Exhortation to virtuous behavior.

3
:
Knowledge
(Gk “epignōsis,” lit “full knowledge”) is a major theme (see 1.2,8; 2.20; use of related term “gnōsis,” see 1.5,6; 3.18).
Goodness
(Gk “aretē”), virtue, courage; in LXX for Heb “hod,” “majesty” (e.g., Hab 3.3).

4
:
Participants of the divine nature
, language of popular Greek mystery religions.

5
–7
: The virtues progress from
faith
to
love
.

9
:
Short-sighted and blind
, probable reference to the author’s opponents.
Cleansing of past sins
, by forgetting, the believers forsake their knowledge of Jesus Christ, which has rescued them from a life enslaved to sin (see 2.20).

10
:
Call and election
, similar to terms used to describe God’s choice of Israel; see, e.g., Isa 41.9.

11
:
Eternal kingdom
, the life that begins with the new age.
Lord and Savior
, note that it is
Jesus Christ
who is so characterized.

1.12
–15: Peter’s testament.
The author follows the “testament” form, cf. Gen 49; Deut 32–33; Josh 23–24; and the noncanonical
Testament of the 12 Patriarchs
.

1.16
–19a:
Peter’s authority.

16
:
Myths
, the beliefs that the author is combating by invoking the authority of
eyewitnesses
. The content of these false beliefs is not specified.
Coming
(Gk “parousia”), the technical term for the “second coming” (the return of Jesus).
Eyewitnesses
(Gk “epoptai”), the only place in either the Septuagint or the NT where this word refers to a human being. The term was commonly used in Hellenistic literature for “initiates” into the mystery religions (cf. Plutarch,
Alc. 22
).

17
–18
:
This is my Son … holy mountain
, an allusion to the Transfiguration (Mt 17.1–8; Mk 9.2–8; Lk 9.28–36), according to the Synoptic Gospels, witnessed by Peter, James, and John; the quotation is closest to Mt 17.5, itself an allusion to Ps 2.7b.

1.19b
–21:
Exhortation to hope.

19
:
Prophetic message
, this could mean either the message of the Hebrew Bible prophets that was fulfilled in Jesus (as in v. 20) or a message from God by the Holy Spirit given (usually during worship) by a believer (as perhaps in v. 21); on the latter, see 1 Cor 12.27–30; 14.37–40.
Lamp
, see Mt 5.14–16; 6.22–23; see also Ps 119.105.
Morning star
refers to Christ in Rev 2.28; the star motif from Num 24.17 was also used by Shimon “Bar Kochba” (Aram “son of the star”), a messianic claimant and leader of the second Jewish rebellion against Rome, 132–35 CE.

20
:
One’s own interpretation
implies a developing orthodox reading of scripture.

21
:
Moved by the Holy Spirit
suggests a developing concept of divine inspiration. See also
m. Sot
. 9.15: “saintliness leads to the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit leads to the resurrection of the dead.”

2.1
–22:
False prophets.

1
:
False prophets
, the term is never used in the Tanakh but is in LXX at Jer 6.13; Zech 13.2. The author, in the guise of Peter, “predicts” what has occurred.
Deny the Master
, cf. Jude 4.
Master
, Gk “despotēs,” “lord” (often in correlation to “slave, servant”); here refers to Jesus.

2
:
Licentious ways
, a standard invective; the opponents perhaps misunderstand Paul’s position on the Law (cf. Rom. 3:8; 1 Cor. 6:12).
Way of truth
, see Ps 25.5; 86.11.

4
:
Angels
, see Gen 6.1–4;
1 En
. 6–16, detailing the fall of the angels, their union with human women, their offspring the Nephilim, and the ultimate judgment that will befall them.
Hell
, Gk “Tartaros,” which evokes the images of Zeus casting the Titans to Tartaros in Hesiod’s
Theogony
(ll. 687–819).

5
:
Noah
, Gen. 6.5–9.28.
Seven others
, Noah’s wife, three sons, and their wives. The author substitutes the more universal “Noah” for Jude’s “Israelites.” See Jude 5–7; 1 Pet. 3.20.

6
:
Sodom and Gomorrah
, see Gen 19; pertains to the sin of violation of hospitality, not homosexuality as often supposed; cf. Judg 19.

9
–10a
: See Jude 8–13.
Day of judgment
, the eschatological or final assessment.
Depraved lust
, in the context of human sexual relations with angels (see v. 4n.), this probably refers to such relationships.