“You are waiting for
And hastening
The coming
Of the day of God.
The heavens
Will be set ablaze
And dissolved.
The elements
Will melt
With a burning great heat.”
προσδοκῶντας καὶ σπεύδοντας τὴν παρουσίαν τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμέρας, δι’ ἣν οὐρανοὶ πυρούμενοι λυθήσονται καὶ στοιχεῖα καυσούμενα τήκεται·
This author said, “You are waiting for (προσδοκῶντας) and hastening (καὶ σπεύδοντας) the coming (τὴν παρουσίαν) of the day of God (τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμέρας). The heavens (δι’ ἣν οὐρανοὶ) will be set ablaze (πυρούμενοι) and dissolved (λυθήσονται). The elements (στοιχεῖα) will melt (τήκεται) with a burning great heat (καυσούμενα).” Among the canonical Greek New Testament writings, this is the only time that these words appeared in 2 Peter, the word καυσούμενα, that means to burn with great heat, and the word τήκεται, that means to melt down, to melt away, or become liquid. This author repeated what he had said two verses earlier. However, he used slightly different words to say pretty much the same thing. First of all, he said that they were waiting and hastening the Parousia (παρουσίαν) of God, not the Lord. In fact, it was not like a thief, but they were actually hastening and waiting for Day of the Lord or God to come to them. They would not be surprised. The other difference is that the heavens would pass away with fire and not with a loud noise as mentioned two verses earlier. There was no mention of the earth on fire. This author did indicate that the elements would melt away rather than be dissolved, but with a burning great heat. The end times were coming with God bringing a burning consuming fire. The nuances of what exactly was going to happen were not clear. What do you know about the final judgment day?
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 