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NASB | 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord does not delay [as though He were unable to act] and is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is [extraordinarily] patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. |
Bible Question:
I believe that the preceeding clause "but is patient toward you" ("you meaning the saints) indicates that the pronoun "any" points back to his audience which are the saints (also called "beloved"). I have persued this with Hank and Tim Moran and they feel "any" and "all" refer to any particular person universally. What say ye? |
Bible Answer: Hello, I must also throw my hat in with Hank an Tim on this one. Because, look at the context. Beginning in verse 8 and going on through to verse 13, Peter is referring to the coming of the Lord. He begins his thought in verse 8 about how God views time. He explains that God views time differently than we do. Then he begins verse 9 by saying that God is not slow, but is patient instead. He implies here that God is waiting on us. In the phrase you quoted, "not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance", I think Peter is expanding the focus. He began with God alone, then brought in the Saints, then he expands to include all of mankind, and he then expands to involve the whole earth and the heavens in verse 10. In verse 10, he describes all being destroyed. In verse 11, he begins to narrow down the focus, from the world to the saints. In verse 12, he narrows it again to God, and concludes in verse 13 with God and the new creation. If you go back to the beginning of the Chapter, you find a similar pattern of starting with a focus of a single person or group, only to expand to include the world, then narrowing the focus down to the single person or group. So, In all, I agree that Peter is referring to any person universally. Jesusman |