prediction (scriptural or other) · noun — nominative singular feminine
scripture
γραφῆςgraphēs
G1124
a document · noun — genitive singular feminine
is
γίνεται.ginetai
G1096
to cause to be ("gen"-erate) · verb — present middle or passive deponent indicative, 3rd person singular
of
ἐπιλύσεωςepiluseōs
G1955
explanation · noun — genitive singular feminine
any
πᾶσαpasa
G3956
all · adjective — nominative singular feminine
private
ἰδίαςidias
G2398
pertaining to self · adjective — genitive singular feminine
interpretation
ἐπίλυσιςepílysis
G1955
explanation
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
2 Peter 3:3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
Romans 12:6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of fai…
Romans 13:11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
James 1:3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
Romans 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
1 Timothy 1:9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 2 Peter 1:19–end
In these words the apostle lays down another argument to prove the truth and reality of the gospel, and intimates that this second proof is more strong and convincing than the former, and more unanswerably makes out that the doctrine of the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ is not a mere fable or cunning contrivance of men, but the wise and wonderful counsel of the holy and gracious God. For this is foretold by the prophets and penmen of the Old Testament, who spoke and wrote under the influence and according to the direction of the Spirit of God. Here note,
I. The description that is given of the scriptures of the Old Testament: they are called a more sure word of prophecy. 1. It is…
"Forasmuch as ye know this" (Pe1 1:18).
first--the foremost consideration in studying the word of prophecy. Laying it down as a first principle never to be lost sight of.
is--Greek, not the simple verb, to be, but to begin to be, "proves to be," "becometh." No prophecy is found to be the result of "private (the mere individual writer's uninspired) interpretation" (solution), and so origination. The Greek noun epilusis, does not mean in itself origination; but that which the sacred writer could not always fully interpret, though being the speaker or writer (as Pe1 1:10-12 implies), was plainly not of his own, but of God's disclosure, origination, and inspiration, as Peter proceeds to add,…
Knowing this first - Considering this as a first principle, that no prophecy of the Scripture, whether that referred to above, or any other, is of any private interpretation - proceeds from the prophet's own knowledge or invention, or was the offspring of calculation or conjecture. The word επιλυσις signifies also impetus, impulse; and probably this is the best sense here; not by the mere private impulse of his own mind.
John Gill on 2 Peter 1:20
The Church Fathers
No enunciation of the Holy Spirit ought to be (confined) to the subject immediately in hand merely, and not applied and carried out with a view to every occasion to which its application is useful.
You must take care when interpreting the Scriptures not to be too greatly fixated upon the places, times and people who wrote them down, as if they were merely human compositions. Rather you ought to rely on the clarity and sufficiency of the Spirit.
Understanding this first, that every prophecy of Scripture, etc. This verse depends on what was said above: You do well to pay attention; for those who pay attention to the words of the prophets do well indeed, that they may have the light of knowledge through these. They must first understand that none of the holy prophets proclaimed to the people their own doctrines of life by their own interpretation, but recommended to their listeners to act upon what they had learned from the Lord. They simply delivered to God's people, whether by speaking or writing, the heavenly secrets they had perceived in private, unlike the soothsayers of the Gentiles, who proclaimed to the crowds of the deceived the inventions of their own hearts as the resolutions of a divine oracle. Therefore, just as the prophets wrote not their own words but the words of God, so also their reader cannot use his own interpretation but must very carefully consider how the writer himself wanted his words to be understood.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Peter, Second Epistle of — The question of the authenticity of this epistle has been much discussed, but the weight of evidence is wholly in favour of its claim to be the production of the apostle whose name it bears. It…
Prophecy · Is not of private interpretation — Is not of private interpretation
Scriptures, The · Record divine prophecies — Record divine prophecies
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Knowing this first,.... Especially, and in the first place, this is to be known, observed, and considered;
that no prophecy of the Scripture, that is contained in Scripture, be it what it will,
is of any private interpretation: not that this is levelled against the right of private judgment of Scripture; or to be understood as if a private believer had not a right of reading, searching, examining, and judging, and interpreting the Scriptures himself, by virtue of the unction which teacheth all things; and who, as a spiritual man, judgeth all things; otherwise, why are such commended as doing well, by taking heed to prophecy, in the preceding verse, and this given as a reason to encourage t…
2 Peter 1:19-21
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:
19. Et habemus firmiorem propheticum sermonem, cui bene facitis attendentes, tanquam lucernae apparenti in caliginoso loco, donee illuceat dies, et lucifer oriatur in cordibus vestris;
20. Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
20. Hoc prim?m cognito, qu?d omnis prophetia scripturae privatae (vel, proprii motus) interpretationis non est:
21. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they we…
came from the prophet’s own understanding (or is a matter of one’s own interpretation): The point is probably that the prophets were not left on their own to interpret the visions that God gave them. God made the meaning clear to the prophets, so that they could prophesy clearly and reliably.
