SEV Biblia, Chapter 3:10
Pero el día del Seor vendr como ladrn en la noche; en el cual los cielos pasarn con grande estruendo, y los elementos ardiendo, sern deshechos, y la tierra y las obras que en ella estn, sern quemadas.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - 2 Peter 3:10
Verse 10. The day of the Lord will come] See Matt. xxiv. 43, to which the apostle seems to allude. The heavens shall pass away with a great noise] As the heavens mean here, and in the passages above, the whole atmosphere, in which all the terrestrial vapours are lodged; and as water itself is composed of two gases, eighty-five parts in weight of oxygen, and fifteen of hydrogen, or two parts in volume of the latter, and one of the former; (for if these quantities be put together, and several electric sparks passed through them, a chemical union takes place, and water is the product; and, vice versa, if the galvanic spark be made to pass through water, a portion of the fluid is immediately decomposed into its two constituent gases, oxygen and hydrogen;) and as the electric or ethereal fire is that which, in all likelihood, God will use in the general conflagration; the noise occasioned by the application of this fire to such an immense congeries of aqueous particles as float in the atmosphere, must be terrible in the extreme. Put a drop of water on an anvil, place over it a piece of iron red hot, strike the iron with a hammer on the part above the drop of water, and the report will be as loud as a musket; when, then, the whole strength of those opposite agents is brought together into a state of conflict, the noise, the thunderings, the innumerable explosions, (till every particle of water on the earth and in the atmosphere is, by the action of the fire, reduced into its component gaseous parts,) will be frequent, loud, confounding, and terrific, beyond every comprehension but that of God himself.
The elements shalt melt with fervent heat] When the fire has conquered and decomposed the water, the elements, stoiceia, the hydrogen and oxygen airs or gases, (the former of which is most highly inflammable, and the latter an eminent supporter of all combustion,) will occupy distinct regions of the atmosphere, the hydrogen by its very great levity ascending to the top, while the oxygen from its superior specific gravity will keep upon or near the surface of the earth; and thus, if different substances be once ignited, the fire, which is supported in this case, not only by the oxygen which is one of the constituents of atmospheric air, but also by a great additional quantity of oxygen obtained from the decomposition of all aqueous vapours, will rapidly seize on all other substances, on all terrestrial particles, and the whole frame of nature will be necessarily torn in pieces, and thus the earth and its works be burned up.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 10. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night , etc.] That is, the Lord will come in that day, which he has fixed, according to his promise, than which nothing is more certain; and he will come as a thief in the night: he will come in the night, which may be literally understood; for as his first coming was in the night; (see Luke 2:8,10,11); so perhaps his second coming may be in the night season; or figuratively, when it will be a time of great darkness; when there will be little faith in the earth, and both the wise and foolish virgins will be slumbering and sleeping; when it will be a season of great security, as it was in the days of Noah, and at the time of the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions, leave out the phrase, in the night: and the Alexandrian copy uses the emphatic article, in the night: and he will come, as a thief, in the dark, indiscernibly; it will not be known what hour he will come; he will come suddenly, at an unawares, when he is not expected, to the great surprise of men, and especially of the scoffers; when the following awful things will be done: in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise ; not the third heaven, the seat of angels and glorified saints, and even of God himself; but the starry and airy heavens, which shall pass away, not as to their matter and substance, but as to some of their accidents and qualities, and the present use of them; and that with a great noise, like that of a violent storm, or tempest; though the Ethiopic version renders it, without a noise; and which is more agreeable to his coming as a thief, which is not with noise, but in as still a manner as possible; and some learned men observe, that the word signifies swiftly, as well as with a noise; and, accordingly, the Syriac version renders it suddenly; and the Arabic version presently, immediately; that is, as soon as Christ shall come, immediately, at once, from his face shall the earth and heavens flee away, as John in a vision saw, ( Revelation 20:11); and the elements shall melt with fervent heat : not what are commonly called the four elements, earth, air, tire, and water, the first principles of all things: the ancient philosophers distinguished between principles and elements; principles, they say f55 , are neither generated, nor corrupted; ta te stoiceia kata thn ekpurwsin fyeiresyai , but the elements will be corrupted, or destroyed by the conflagration; which exactly agrees with what the apostle here says: by the elements seem to be meant the host of heaven, being distinguished from the heavens, as the works of the earth are distinguished from the earth in the next clause; and design the firmament, or expanse, with the sun, moon, and stars in it, which will be purged and purified by this liquefaction by fire; the earth also will be purged and purified from everything that is noxious, hurtful, unnecessary, and disagreeable; though the matter and substance of it will continue: and the works that are therein shall be burnt up ; all the works of nature, wicked men, cattle, trees, etc. and all the works of men, cities, towns, houses, furniture, utensils, instruments of arts of all sorts, will be burnt by a material fire, breaking out of the earth and descending from heaven, for which the present heavens and earth are reserved: this general conflagration was not only known to the Jews, but to the Heathens, to the poets, and Platonist and Stoic philosophers, who frequently speak of it in plain terms. Some are of opinion that these words refer to the destruction of Jerusalem; and so the passing away of the heavens may design the removal of their church state and ordinances, ( Hebrews 12:26,27), and the melting of the elements the ceasing of the ceremonial law, called the elements of the world, ( Galatians 4:3,9), and the burning of the earth the destruction of the land of Judea, expressed in such a manner in ( Deuteronomy 29:23 32:22), and particularly of the temple, and the curious works in that, which were all burnt up and destroyed by fire, though Titus endeavoured to prevent it, but could not f57 : which sense may be included, inasmuch as there was a promise of Christ's coming to destroy the Jewish nation, and was expected; and which destruction was a prelude of the destruction of the world, and is sometimes expressed in such like language as that is; but then this must not take place, to the exclusion of the other sense: and whereas this sense makes the words to he taken partly in a figurative, and partly in a literal way; and seeing the heavens and the earth are in the context only literally taken, the former sense is to be preferred; and to which best agrees the following use to be made of these things.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 5-10 - Had these scoffers considered the dreadful vengeance with which God swept away a whole world of ungodly men at once, surely they would no have scoffed at his threatening an equally terrible judgment. The heavens and the earth which now are, by the same word, it is declared will be destroyed by fire. This is as sure to come, as the truth an the power of God can make it. Christians are here taught an established in the truth of the coming of the Lord. Though, in the account of men, there is a vast difference between one day and thousand years, yet, in the account of God, there is no difference. All things past, present, and future, are ever before him: the delay of thousand years cannot be so much to him, as putting off any thing for day or for an hour is to us. If men have no knowledge or belief of the eternal God, they will be very apt to think him such as themselves. Ho hard is it to form any thoughts of eternity! What men count slackness is long-suffering, and that to us-ward; it is giving more time to hisown people, to advance in knowledge and holiness, and in the exercise of faith and patience, to abound in good works, doing an suffering what they are called to, that they may bring glory to God Settle therefore in your hearts that you shall certainly be called to give an account of all things done in the body, whether good or evil And let a humble and diligent walking before God, and a frequen judging of yourselves, show a firm belief of the future judgment though many live as if they were never to give any account at all. Thi day will come, when men are secure, and have no expectation of the da of the Lord. The stately palaces, and all the desirable things wherei wordly-minded men seek and place their happiness, shall be burned up all sorts of creatures God has made, and all the works of men, mus pass through the fire, which shall be a consuming fire to all that sin has brought into the world, though a refining fire to the works of God's hand. What will become of us, if we set our affections on thi earth, and make it our portion, seeing all these things shall be burne up? Therefore make sure of happiness beyond this visible world.
Greek Textus Receptus
ηξει 2240 5692 δε 1161 η 3588 ημερα 2250 κυριου 2962 ως 5613 κλεπτης 2812 εν 1722 νυκτι 3571 εν 1722 η 3739 οι 3588 ουρανοι 3772 ροιζηδον 4500 παρελευσονται 3928 5695 στοιχεια 4747 δε 1161 καυσουμενα 2741 5746 λυθησονται 3089 5701 και 2532 γη 1093 και 2532 τα 3588 εν 1722 αυτη 846 εργα 2041 κατακαησεται 2618 5691
Vincent's NT Word Studies
10. The day of the Lord. Compare the same phrase in Peter's sermon, Acts ii. 20. It occurs only in these two passages and 1 Thess. v. 2. See 1 Cor. i. 8; 2 Cor. i. 14.
As a thief. Omit in the night. Compare Matt. xxiv. 43; 1 Thessalonians iv. 2, 4; Apoc. iii. 3; xvi. 15.
With a great noise (roizhdon). An adverb peculiar to Peter, and occurring only here. It is a word in which the sound suggest the sense (rhoizedon); and the kindred noun, rJoizov, is used in classical Greek of the whistling of an arrow; the sound of a shepherd's pipe; the rush of wings; the plash of water; the hissing of a serpent; and the sound of filing. The elements (stoiceia). Derived from stoicov, a row, and meaning originally one of a row or series; hence a component or element. The name for the letters of the alphabet, as being set in rows. Applied to the four elements - fire, air, earth, water; and in later times to the planets and signs of the zodiac. It is used in an ethical sense in other passages; as in Gal. iv. 3, "elements or rudiments of the world." Also of elementary teaching, such as the law, which was fitted for an earlier stage in the world's history; and of the first principles of religious knowledge among men. In Col. ii. 8, of formal ordinances. Compare Heb. v. 12. The kindred verb stoicew, to walk, carries the idea of keeping in line, according to the radical sense. Thus, walk according to rule (Galatians vi. 16); walkest orderly (Acts xxi. 24). So, too, the compound sustoicew, only in Gal. iv. 25, answereth to, lit., belongs to the same row or column with. The Greek grammarians called the categories of letters arranged according to the organs of speech sustoiciai. Here the word is of course used in a physical sense, meaning the parts of which this system of things is composed. Some take it as meaning the heavenly bodies, but the term is too late and technical in that sense. Compare Matt. xxiv. 29, the powers of the heaven.
Shall melt (luqhsontai). More literally, as Rev., shall be dissolved. With fervent heat (kausoumena). Lit., being scorched up.
