2 Peter 1:18

2Pe 1:18. Ἡμεῖς, we) John also was still alive.—ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, from heaven) from God.—τῷ ἁγίῳ, the holy) The mountain was holy from that very circumstance; at any rate, at that very time.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Pe_1:18. καὶ ταύτην … ἐνεχθεῖσαν; the author is anxious to show prominently that he has been an ear-witness of that divine voice, as well as an eye-witness of the μεγαλειότης of Christ.

ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ἐνεχθ. is added by way of emphasis, in order to lay stress on the fact that Christ received that testimony directly from heaven.

ἐν τῷ ὄρει τῷ ἁγίῳ] From the epithet τῷ ἁγίῳ it must not, with Grotius, be concluded that the reference here is to the hill on which the temple stood, and that what is alluded to is not the transfiguration, but the incident recorded in Joh_12:28. Without any reason, de Wette asserts that that epithet (instead of which Mat_17:1 has: ὑψηλόν) betrays a view of the case more highly coloured with the belief in miracles than that of the apostles, and belonging to a later period; Calvin already gives the correct interpretation: montem sanctum appellat, qua ratione terra sancta dicitur, in qua Mosi Deus apparuit; quocunque enim accedit Dominus, ut est fons omnis sanctitatis, praesentiae suae odore omnia sanctificat; Dietlein: the in the holy is added, not to designate the mountain, but in order to distinguish it on account of this event; so, too, Brückner and the modern commentators generally.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Pe 1:18 . ἐν τῷ ὄρει τῷ ἁγίῳ . The phrase indicates a view of the place and incident which has been taken up into and sanctified in the religious consciousness of the Church. The Gnostic Acts of Peter use the phrase “in monte sacro”. ἅγιος signifies a place where Jehovah manifested Himself, cf. Exo 3:5 , Isa 52:1 .

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

which came--rather as Greek, "we heard borne from heaven."

holy mount--as the Transfiguration mount came to be regarded, on account of the manifestation of Christ's divine glory there.

we--emphatical: we, James and John, as well as myself.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 18. And this voice - we heard] That is, himself, James, and John heard it, and saw this glory; for these only were the εποπται, beholders, on the holy mount. It is worthy of remark that our blessed Lord, who came to give a new law to mankind, appeared on this holy mount with splendour and great glory, as God did when he came on the holy mount, Sinai, to give the old law to Moses. And when the voice came from the excellent glory, This is my Son, the beloved One, in whom I have delighted; hear him: the authority of the old law was taken away. Neither Moses nor Elijah, the law nor the prophets, must tabernacle among men, as teaching the whole way of salvation, and affording the means of eternal life; these things they had pointed out, but these things they did not contain; yet the fulfilment of their types and predictions rendered their declarations more firm and incontestable. See below.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

18. In the holy mount. He calls it the holy mount, for the same reason that the ground was called holy where God appeared to Moses. For wherever the Lord comes, as he is the fountain of all holiness, he makes holy all things by the odor of his presence. And by this mode of speaking we are taught, not only to receive God reverently wherever he shews himself, but also to prepare ourselves for holiness, as soon as he comes nigh us, as it was commanded the people when the law was proclaimed on Mount Sinai. And it is a general truth,

“Be ye holy, for I am holy, who dwell in the midst of you.” (Leviticus 11:44; 19:2.)

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(18) And this voice which came from heaven we heard.—Rather, And this voice we heard borne from heaven: We were ear-witnesses of the voice coming from heaven, as we were eye-witnesses of His majesty. It was no vision, it was no hallucination. We all heard, and we all saw; so that I have the highest authority for what I would now impress upon you. A voice which I myself heard borne from heaven to earth, in the midst of glory which I myself saw, foretelling the glory that is yet to come.

In the holy mount.—It is, perhaps, not even “partly right” to say that the epithet “holy” indicates a view of the event later than that of the Evangelists, and points to a miracle-loving age. Rather, it indicates a view many centuries older than the Evangelists—that wherever God had specially manifested Himself was “holy ground” (Exo_3:5; Josh. V. 15. Comp. Gen_28:16-17; Exo_19:12; Act_7:33.) The expression would be natural to any Jew speaking of the Transfiguration. (See Introduction, I. c.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18. And this voice which came from heaven we heard …] More accurately, as better expressing the force of the special word used here as in the previous verse, And this voice borne from heaven we heard.… The “we” is emphatic, as giving prominence to the fact of the personal testimony of the Apostle and his two brother-disciples.

when we were with him in the holy mount] It has been urged by some critics that the description of the Mount of the Transfiguration by the term which in Old Testament language was commonly applied to Zion (Psa_2:6) indicates the phraseology of a later age than that of the Apostles. It is obvious, however, in answer, that the scene of the manifestation of the Divineglory of which he speaks could not appear as other than “holy ground”—holy as Horeb had been of old (Exo_3:5; Act_7:33)—to the Apostle who had been there. Comp. Jos_5:15. Whether, as the Gospel narrative indicates, it was on the heights of Hermon (Mat_16:13), or, as later tradition reported, on Mount Tabor, it would remain for ever as a consecrated spot in the Apostle’s memory. It may, perhaps, be inferred from the tone in which he thus speaks of it, that he assumes that his readers had already some knowledge of the fact referred to.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And this voice, which came from heaven, we heard,.... Peter, who wrote this epistle, and James and John, the favourite disciples of Christ; and who were a sufficient number to bear witness of what they then saw and heard:

when we were with him; and saw his glory, and the glory of Moses and Elias, and were so delighted with his company, and theirs, and with communion with him, that Peter, in the name of the rest, desired to stay there:

in the holy mount; the Ethiopic version reads, "in the mountain of his sanctuary"; and so Grotius understands it of Mount Moriah, on which the temple was built, called the holy hill, and the holy hill of Zion; and supposes that this voice was heard in the temple, and that it refers to Joh 12:28, but without any foundation; for the mount on which Christ was transfigured is here meant; and which was either, as is generally said, Tabor, a mountain in Galilee; or it may be Lebanon, which was near Caesarea Philippi, in the parts of which Christ then was: and it is called "holy", from his presence or transfiguration on it, who is the Holy One; just as the land on which Moses was, and the city and temple of Jerusalem, and Mount Sion, and Sinai, are called "holy", from the presence of the holy God there, Exo 3:5. Now such a declaration of the honour and glory of Christ, as the Son of God, being made by God the Father, in a voice from heaven, which the apostles heard with their ears, at the same time that they saw with their eyes his human body glorified in an amazing manner, was to them a confirming evidence that he would come again in power and glory; and upon this evidence they declared, and made known to the saints, the power and coming of Christ; though not on this evidence only, but also upon the more sure word of prophecy, which entirely agrees with it.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.

Ver. 18. When we were with him] Witnesses of his glory, and the same were shortly after witnesses of his agony. Envy not the gifts or honours of others, since they have them upon no other terms than to undergo the sorer trials.

In the holy mount] Holy for the while, as are our churches, during the public assemblies, viz. with a relative, not an inherent holiness.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And this voice which came from heaven we heard - To wit, Peter, and James, and John.

When we were with him in the holy mount - Called “holy” on account of the extraordinary manifestation of the Redeemer’s glory there. It is not certainly known what mountain this was, but it has commonly been supposed to be Mount Tabor. See the notes at Mat 17:1.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

We; I, and James, and John.

Heard: the apostle avoucheth himself to have been an ear-witness, as well as eye-witness, of Christ’s glory, hereby intimating that there was as much certainty of the gospel, even in a human way, as could possibly be obtained of any thing that is done in the world, seeing men can be humanly certain of nothing more than of what they perceive by their senses: compare 1Jo 1:1,3.

The holy mount; so called, not because of any inherent holiness in it, but because of the extraordinary manifestation of God’s presence there; in the same sense as the ground is called holy where God appeared to Moses and to Joshua, Exo 3:5; Jos 5:15.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

18. This voice… we heard—And hearing, the three fell to the ground.

Holy mount—Now generally admitted to be Mount Hermon, called holy because of this manifestation there, just as Moses at the burning bush in Horeb stood on “holy ground.” See Exo_3:5. The apostle’s personal presence, his personal seeing, and his personal hearing, as described by himself, show his competency for this solemn authentication. The facts thus testified to exhibit Christ as the proclaimed Son of God, and as possessing the full dignity and glory of that sonship.

How the transfiguration proves the second coming, is a difficult question with expositors. Some take it, as Wordsworth, as a type and pledge of the coming; but this is nowhere affirmed in Scripture; nor do we agree that Mat_16:28, to which they refer, points to either the transfiguration or the coming. The transfiguration did present our Lord in his glorious personality and divine Lordship irrespective of any advent.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And this voice which came from heaven we heard; rather, and this voice borne from heaven we heard. The pronoun is emphatic; we, the apostles who had that high privilege. They heard the voice when it was borne (ejnecqeisan; he repeats for emphasis the remarkable word of verse 17) from heaven, they heard it come from heaven. When we were with him in the holy mount. This description of the Mount of the Transfiguration supposes a knowledge of the history in St. Peter"s readers; but it gives no support to the theory of a post-apostolic date. Mount Horeb was "holy ground," because God appeared there to Moses, because it was the scene of the giving of the Law. Mount Zion was a holy hill, because God had chosen it to be a habitation for himself; the Mount of the Transfiguration was holy, because there God the Son manifested forth his glory. God hallows every place which he pleases to make the scene of his revealed presence. This whole passage shows the deep and lasting impression which the Transfiguration made on those who were privileged to witness it. (comp. Joh_1:14)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And we - Peter, James, and John. St. John was still alive. Being with him in the holy mount - Made so by that glorious manifestation, as Mount Horeb was of old, Exod. iii, 4, 5.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

holy mount

Where the reference is to things, the meaning of "holy" or "sanctified" is, simply, set apart for the use of God, or rendered sacred by the divine presence.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18. And this voice we ourselves heard. Peter, and James and John, his companions on the holy mount. James was now dead, but John was still alive.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

18. ἐν τῷ ἁγίῳ ὄρει. It was the Transfiguration that made the mountain holy (Bigg), just as the vision of the Burning Bush made that site “holy ground” (Exo 3:5). The “holy hill” par excellence of the O.T. is Mount Sion.

It is interesting to note that the Acts of Peter (see Introd.) make St Peter select the story of the Transfiguration as the subject of a special discourse, perhaps from a recollection of the passage before us; there, too, the phrase holy mountain is used.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18.] Substantiation of the personal testimony above adduced by reference to the fact. And this voice we (Apostles: Peter, James, and John) heard borne from heaven (not, as E. V. ungrammatically, “this voice which came from heaven” (τὴν ἐξ οὐρ. ἐν.): we heard it borne, witnessed its coming, from heaven), being with Him in the holy mount (De Wette is partly right, when he says that this epithet “holy” shews a later view of the fact than that given us in the evangelistic narrative: but not right when he designates that later view wunderglaubigere. The epithet would naturally arise when the gospel history was known, as marking a place where a manifestation of this divine presence and glory had taken place. The place whereon Moses stood is said, ref. Exod., to be holy ground. So that really all we can infer from it is, that the history was assumed to be already well known: which is one entirely consistent with the probable date of the Epistle: see Prolegg. It is hardly necessary to refute Grotius’s idea, that Mount Sion is meant, and that the voice referred to is that related in Joh 12:28).

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Voice [φωνην] . Note the same word in the account of Pentecost (Act 2:6), where the A. V. obscures the meaning by rendering, when this was noised abroad; whereas it should be when this voice was heard.

Which came [ενεχθεισαν] . Lit., having been born. See on ver. 17. Rev., This voice we ourselves [ημεις, ωε, εμπηατιχ] heard come (better, born) out of heaven.

Holy mount. It is scarcely necessary to notice Davidson's remark that this expression points to a time when superstitious reverence for places had sprung up in Palestine. "Of all places to which special sanctity would be ascribed by Christ 's followers, surely that would be the first to be so marked where the most solemn testimony was given to the divinity of Jesus. To the Jewish Christian this would rank with Sinai, and no name would be more fitly applied to it than that which had so constantly been given to a place on which God first revealed himself in his glory. The 'holy mount of God ' (Eze 28:14) would now receive another application, and he would see little of the true continuity of God 's revelation who did not connect readily the old and the new covenants, and give to the place where the glory of Christ was most eminently shown forth the same name which was applied so oft to Sinai" (Lumby).

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.