SEV Biblia, Chapter 3:5
Cierto, ellos ignoran voluntariamente, que los cielos fueron creados en el tiempo antiguo y la tierra salido del agua y en el agua, por la palabra de Dios;
Clarke's Bible Commentary - 2 Peter 3:5
Verse 5. For this they willingly are ignorant of] They shut their eyes against the light, and refuse all evidence; what does not answer their purpose they will not know. And the apostle refers to a fact that militates against their hypothesis, with which they refused to acquaint themselves; and their ignorance he attributes to their unwillingness to learn the true state of the case. By the word of God the heavens were of old] I shall set down the Greek text of this extremely difficult clause: oupanoi hsan ekpalai, kai gh ex udatov kai di udatov sunestwsa, tw tou qeou logw? translated thus by Mr. Wakefield: "A heaven and an earth formed out of water, and by means of water, by the appointment of God, had continued from old time." By Dr. Macknight thus; "The heavens were anciently, and the earth of water: and through water the earth consists by the word of God." By Kypke thus: "The heavens were of old, and the earth, which is framed, by the word of God, from the waters, and between the waters." However we take the words, they seem to refer to the origin of the earth. It was the opinion of the remotest antiquity that the earth was formed out of water, or a primitive moisture which they termed ulh, hule, a first matter or nutriment for all things; but Thales pointedly taught archn de twn panqwv udwr einai, that all things derive their existence from water, and this very nearly expresses the sentiment of Peter, and nearly in his own terms too. But is this doctrine true? It must be owned that it appears to be the doctrine of Moses: In the beginning, says he, God made the heavens and the earth; and the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. Now, these heavens and earth which God made in the beginning, and which he says were at first formless and empty, and which he calls the deep, are in the very next verse called waters; from which it is evident that Moses teaches that the earth was made out of some fluid substance, to which the name of water is properly given. And that the earth was at first in a fluid mass is most evident from its form; it is not round, as has been demonstrated by measuring some degrees near the north pole, and under the equator; the result of which proved that the figure of the earth was that of an oblate spheroid, a figure nearly resembling that of an orange. And this is the form that any soft or elastic body would assume if whirled rapidly round a center, as the earth is around its axis. The measurement to which I have referred shows the earth to be flatted at the poles, and raised at the equator. And by this measurement it was demonstrated that the diameter of the earth at the equator was greater by about twenty-five miles than at the poles.
Now, considering the earth to be thus formed ex udatov, of water, we have next to consider what the apostle means by di udatov, variously translated by out of, by means of, and between, the water.
Standing out of the water gives no sense, and should be abandoned. If we translate between the waters, it will bear some resemblance to Gen. i. 6, 7: And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of, wtb bethoch, between, the waters; and let it divide the waters from the waters: and God divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; then it may refer to the whole of the atmosphere, with which the earth is everywhere surrounded, and which contains all the vapours which belong to our globe, and without which we could neither have animal nor vegetative life. Thus then the earth, or terraqueous globe, which was originally formed out of water, subsists by water; and by means of that very water, the water compacted with the earth-the fountains of the great deep, and the waters in the atmosphere-the windows of heaven, Gen. vii. 11, the antediluvian earth was destroyed, as St. Peter states in the next verse: the terraqueous globe, which was formed originally of water or a fluid substance, the chaos or first matter, and which was suspended in the heavens - the atmosphere, enveloped with water, by means of which water it was preserved; yet, because of the wickedness of its inhabitants, was destroyed by those very same waters out of which it was originally made, and by which it subsisted.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 5. For this they willingly are ignorant of , etc.] Namely, what follows; for as these men were such as had professed Christianity, and had the advantage of revelation, and had the opportunity of reading the Scriptures, they might have known that the heavens and the earth were from the beginning; and that they were made by the word of God; and that the earth was originally in such a position and situation as to be overflowed with a flood, and that it did perish by a general inundation; and that the present heavens and earth are kept and reserved for a general burning; and it might be discerned in nature, that there are preparations making for an universal conflagration; but all this they chose not to know, and affected ignorance of: particularly that by the word of God the heavens were of old : not only in the times of Noah, but from the beginning; as the Ethiopic version reads, and which agrees with the account in ( Genesis 1:1); by the heavens may be meant both the third heaven, and the starry heavens, and the airy heavens, with all their created inhabitants; and especially the latter, since these were concerned in, and affected with the general deluge; and these were in the beginning of time, out of nothing brought into being, and so were not eternal, and might be destroyed again, or at least undergo a change, even though they were of old, and of long duration: for it was by the word of God that they at first existed, and were so long preserved in being; either by the commanding word of God, by his powerful voice, his almighty fiat, who said, Let it be done, and it was done, and who commanded beings to rise up out of nothing, and they did, and stood fast; and so the Arabic version renders it, by the command of God; or by his eternal Logos, the essential Word of God, the second Person in the Trinity, who is often in Scripture called the Word, and the Word of God, and, as some think, by the Apostle Peter, ( 1 Peter 1:23), and certain it is that the creation of all things is frequently ascribed to him; (see John 1:16 Hebrews 1:2,10 11:3); wherefore by the same Word they might be dissolved, and made to pass away, as they will: and the earth standing out of the water and in the water ; that is, by the Word of God; for this phrase, in the original text, is placed after this clause, and last of all; and refers not only to the being of the heavens of old, but to the rise, standing, and subsistence of the earth, which is here particularly described for the sake of the deluge, the apostle afterwards mentions: and it is said to be standing out of the water, or consisting out of it; it consists of it as a part; the globe of the earth is terraqueous, partly land and partly water; and even the dry land itself has its rise and spring out of water; the first matter that was created is called the deep, and waters in which darkness was, and upon which the Spirit of God moved, ( Genesis 1:2); agreeably to which Thales the Milesian asserted f42 , that water was the principle of all things; and the Ethiopic version here renders the words thus, and the Word of God created also the earth out of water, and confirmed it: the account the Jews give of the first formation of the world is this f43 ; at first the world was ymb ym , water in water; what is the sense (of that passage ( Genesis 1:2);) and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters? he returned, and made it snow; he casteth forth his ice like morsels, ( <19E717> Psalm 147:17); he returned and made it earth; for to the snow he saith, Be thou earth, ( Job 37:6), and the earth stood upon the waters; to him that stretched out the earth above the waters, ( <19D606> Psalm 136:6); however, certain it is, that the earth was first covered with water, when at the word, and by the command of God, the waters fled and hasted away, and were gathered into one place, and the dry land rose up and appeared; and then it was that it stood out of the water; (see Genesis 1:9,10 <19A406> Psalm 104:6,7); moreover, the earth consists, or is kept and held together by water; there is a general humidity or moisture that runs through it, by which it is compacted together, or otherwise it would resolve into dust, and by which it is fit for the production, increase, and preservation of vegetables and other things, which it otherwise would not be: and it is also said to stand in the water, or by the water; upon it, according to ( Psalm 24:2); or rather in the midst of it, there being waters above the firmament or expanse; in the airy heavens, in the clouds all around the earth, called the windows of heaven; and water below the firmament or expanse, in the earth itself; besides the great sea, a large body of waters is in the midst of the earth, in the very bowels of it, which feed rivers, and form springs, fountains and wells, called the fountains of the great deep, ( Genesis 7:11); and in this position and situation was the earth of old, and so was prepared in nature for a general deluge, and yet was preserved firm and stable by the word of God, for a long series of time; so the Arabic version renders it, and the earth out of the water, and in the water, stood stable, by the command of God; but when it was his pleasure, he brought the flood on the world of the ungodly, of which an account follows.
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
λανθανει 2990 5719 γαρ 1063 αυτους 846 τουτο 5124 θελοντας 2309 5723 οτι 3754 ουρανοι 3772 ησαν 2258 5713 εκπαλαι 1597 και 2532 γη 1093 εξ 1537 υδατος 5204 και 2532 δι 1223 υδατος 5204 συνεστωσα 4921 5761 τω 3588 του 3588 θεου 2316 λογω 3056
Vincent's NT Word Studies
5. This they willingly are ignorant of (lanqanei autouv touto qelontav). Lit., this escapes them of their own will. Rev., this they wilfully forget.
The heavens were. But the Greek has not article. Render, there were heavens. So, too, not the earth, but an earth, as Rev.
Standing (sunestwsa). Incorrect; for the word is, literally, standing together; i.e., compacted or formed. Compare Col. i. 17, consist. Rev., compacted.
Out of the water. Again no article. Render out of water; denoting not the position of the earth, but the material or mediating element in the creation; the waters being gathered together in one place, and the dry land appearing. Or, possibly, with reference to the original liquid condition of the earth - without form and void.
In the water (di udatov). Omit the article. Dia has its usual sense here, not as Rev., amidst, but by means of. Bengel: "The water served that the earth should consist." Expositors are much divided as to the meaning. This is the view of Huther, Salmond, and, substantially, Alford.
