†  The three letters in this volume are brought together because 1 Peter and 2 Peter are reputed to be by the same author, while 2 Peter and Jude have a good deal of material in common. A list of the abbreviations used in the commentary is found on pp. xiii–xv. See also “For Further Reading” (pp. 271–76); full bibliographical references for works referred to in short-form notes within the commentary are supplied there.

1.  The traditionally accepted date of 1 Clement. But some argue cogently for a date prior to the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in A.D. 70. See Robinson, Redating, pp. 327–35.

2.  See Selwyn, pp. 28–36.

3.  Bethsaida in Galilee was the home of Peter (John 1:44). It was a cosmopolitan port where Greek would have been spoken. Peter himself bore both Hebrew and Hellenistic names: Symeon (in the Greek of Acts 15:14; 2 Pet. 1:1) and Simon (Matt. 4:18), the latter being not a transliteration of Symeon but a genuine Greek name. Andrew and Philip, from the same district (John 1:44; 12:21), both had Greek names.

4.  The historian Josephus (A.D. 37–after 100) is a good example of a Jewish writer, given the mind and the motive, who had a facility in Greek.

5.  See Additional Note on 4:16.

6.  Tacitus, Annals 15.44.

7.  According to Eusebius (Eccl. Hist. 2.25.2–5), Linus succeeded Peter as Bishop of Rome in A.D. 66; this supports the suggested date for Peter’s death in the previous summer. See Robinson, Redating, p. 149.

8.  Despite the usual assumption among scholars, there is scant evidence of letters in ancient religious literature being written under assumed well-known names (pseudepigraphy) in order to gain acceptance. See “Epistolary Pseudepigraphy,” in Guthrie, New Testament Introduction, pp. 1011–28.

9.  C. J. Hemer, “The Address of 1 Peter,” ExpT 89 (1977–78), pp. 239–43, who went to Turkey to see for himself what was a likely route for the messenger to take.

10.  An account of these hypotheses can be seen in Guthrie’s volume (note above), pp. 788–93.

11.  Originating with R. Perdelwitz, Die Mysterienreligionen und das Problem des ersten Petrusbriefes (Giessen: A. Töpelmann, 1911), and carried forward by, among others, F. L. Cross, 1 Peter: A Paschal Liturgy (London: Mowbray, 1954).

12.  C. F. D. Moule, “The Nature and Purpose of 1 Peter,” NTS 3 (1956–57), p. 4.

13.  Daube, Exodus Pattern, pp. 42–46.

14.  See Hillyer, “First Peter and the Feast of Tabernacles,” pp. 39–70.

15.  There are convenient lists, for example, in Bigg, pp. 16–21; Kelly, p. 11; and Plumptre, pp. 68–70.

16.  Among commentaries in English, those by Bigg, Clowney, Cranfield, Grudem, Marshall, Michaels (on balance), Selwyn, Stibbs/Walls, and Wand decide in favor of apostolic authorship; against are Beare and Best, while Kelly remains on the fence.

17.  A persuasive rebuttal of modern objections is in Stibbs/Wall, pp. 15–68.

18.  Both Simon and Symeon are used about equally in the Greek MSS of 2 Pet. 1:1. The name Symeon is applied to Peter elsewhere in the NT only in Acts 15:14. A later writer seeking to carry off his letter as Petrine is unlikely to have chosen such a rare name for the apostle.

19.  See Guthrie, New Testament Introduction, pp. 820–24, 1011–28.

20.  The writer of The Acts of Paul and Thecla, noted by Tertullian (On Baptism 17).

21.  It seems more probable that 2 Pet. 3:1 refers to a previous letter which has not survived (cf. 1 Cor. 5:9).

22.  Robinson, Redating, pp. 327–35.

23.  Green, 2 Peter Reconsidered, pp. 18–23.

24.  Bigg, p. 221.

25.  Acts 20:30; Rom. 6:1; 1 Cor. 5:11; 6:12; Gal. 5:13; 1 Pet. 2:16; 2 Pet. 2:14.

26.  Robinson, Redating, p. 197.

27.  1 Enoch (Jude 6, 12–16); Assumption of Moses (Jude 9, 16).

28.  Didache 2.7 (Jude 22); Polycarp, To the Philippians 3.2 (Jude 3, 20); Shepherd of Hermas, Similitudes 5.7.2 (Jude 8); Martyrdom of Polycarp, inscription (Jude 2); 20.2 (Jude 25).

29.  The term Nicolaitan is probably a Graecized form of the Hebrew name Balaam, the policy of the Nicolaitans being likened to the OT figure who corrupted Israel (Num. 31:16). See ISBE, vol. 3, pp. 533–34.

30.  Guthrie, New Testament Introduction, p. 925.

31.  See commentary and Additional Notes on Jude 6, 9, 14, 15.

32.  Even Paul is prepared to make use of the work of a heathen poet (Acts 17:28; 1 Cor. 15:32, 33; Titus 1:12).