SEV Biblia, Chapter 3:8
¶ Mas, oh amados, no ignoris una cosa: y es que un día delante del Seor es como mil aos y mil aos son como un día.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - 2 Peter 3:8
Verse 8. Be not ignorant] Though they are wilfully ignorant, neglect not ye the means of instruction. One day is with the Lord as a thousand years] That is: All time is as nothing before him, because in the presence as in the nature of God all is eternity; therefore nothing is long, nothing short, before him; no lapse of ages impairs his purposes, nor need he wait to find convenience to execute those purposes. And when the longest period of time has passed by, it is but as a moment or indivisible point in comparison of eternity. This thought is well expressed by PLUTARCH, Consol. ad Apoll.: "If we compare the time of life with eternity, we shall find no difference between long and short. ta gar cilia, kai ta muria eth, stigmh tiv estin aoristov, mallon de morion ti bracutaton stigmhv? for a thousand or ten thousand years are but a certain indefinite point, or rather the smallest part of a point." The words of the apostle seem to be a quotation from Psa. xc. 4.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 8. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing , etc.] Here the apostle addresses the saints he writes unto, and for whom he had a tender affection and regard, and for whose welfare he was concerned, lest they should be stumbled at the length of time since the promise of the coming of Christ was given, and which these scoffers object; and therefore he would have them know, observe, and consider this one thing, which might be of great use to them to make their minds easy, and keep up their faith and expectation of the coming of Christ: that one day [is], with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day ; referring either to ( Psalm 90:4); or to a common saying among the Jews, founded on the same passage, yn Pla hb qh l wmwy , the day of the holy blessed God is a thousand years f47 ; suggesting, that though between thirty and forty years had elapsed since the promise was given out that Christ would come again, and should even a thousand, or two thousand years more, run off, before the coming of Christ, yet this should be no objection to the accomplishment of the promise; for though such a number of years is very considerable among men, ye not with God, as the Arabic and Ethiopic versions read, with whom a thousand years, and even eternity itself, is but as a day, ( Isaiah 43:13). Unless this phrase should be thought to refer, as it is by some, to the day of judgment, and be expressive of the duration of that: it is certain that the Jews interpreted days of millenniums, and reckoned millenniums by days, and used this phrase in confirmation of it. Thus they say f48 , in the time to come, which is in the last days, on the sixth day, which is the sixth millennium, when the Messiah comes, for the day of the holy blessed God is a thousand years.
And a little after, the Lord hath created a new thing in the earth, a woman shall compass a man. This is in the time of the Messiah which is in the sixth day.
And elsewhere f49 , the sixth degree is called the sixth day, the day of the holy blessed God is a thousand years. And in that day the King Messiah shall come, and it shall be called the feast of gathering, for the holy blessed God will gather in it the captivity of his people.
So they call the sabbath, or seventh day, the seventh millennium, and interpret f50 the song for the sabbath day, ( Psalm 92:1) title, for the seventh millennium, for one day of the holy blessed God is a thousand years.
To which agrees the tradition of Elias, which runs thus f51 ; it is the tradition of the house of Elias, that the world shall be six thousand years, two thousand years void (of the law), two thousand years the law, and two thousand years the days of the Messiah; for they suppose that the six days of the creation were expressive of the six thousand years in which the world will stand; and that the seventh day prefigures the last millennium, in which will be the day of judgment, and the world to come; for the six days of the creation (they say f52 ) is a sign or intimation of these things: on the sixth day man was created; and on the seventh his work was finished; so the kings of the nations of the world (continue) five millenniums, answering to the five days, in which were created the fowls, and the creeping things of the waters, and other things; and the enjoyment of their kingdom is a little in the sixth, answerable to the creation of the beasts, and living creatures created at this time in the beginning of it; and the kingdom of the house of David is in the sixth millennium, answerable to the creation of man, who knew his Creator, and ruled over them all; and in the end of that millennium will be the day of judgment, answerable to man, who was judged in the end of it; and the seventh is the sabbath, and it is the beginning of the world to come.
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
ου 3756 PRT-N βραδυνει 1019 5719 V-PAI-3S ο 3588 T-NSM κυριος 2962 N-NSM της 3588 T-GSF επαγγελιας 1860 N-GSF ως 5613 ADV τινες 5100 X-NPM βραδυτητα 1022 N-ASF ηγουνται 2233 5736 V-PNI-3P αλλα 235 CONJ μακροθυμει 3114 5719 V-PAI-3S εις 1519 PREP ημας 2248 P-1AP μη 3361 PRT-N βουλομενος 1014 5740 V-PNP-NSM τινας 5100 X-APM απολεσθαι 622 5641 V-2AMN αλλα 235 CONJ παντας 3956 A-APM εις 1519 PREP μετανοιαν 3341 N-ASF χωρησαι 5562 5658 V-AAN
