Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Peter 1:7
And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
7. and to godliness brotherly kindness ] Better, perhaps, love of the brethren. See note on 1Pe 1:22. The recurrence of the words may be noted as evidence in favour of identity of authorship.
and to brotherly kindness charity ] Better, love. See note on 1Pe 4:8. It is to be regretted, as has been said before, that the varying usage of our translators hinders us from recognising at once the unity of the writers of the New Testament as to the greatness and majesty of “love.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And to godliness brotherly kindness – Love to Christians as such. See the Joh 13:34 note; Heb 13:1 note.
And to brotherly kindness charity – Love to all mankind. There is to be a special affection for Christians as of the same family; there is to be a true and warm love, however, for all the race. See the notes at 1 Cor. 13.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 7. Brotherly kindness] . Love of the brotherhood-the strongest attachment to Christ’s flock; feeling each as a member of your own body.
Charity] . Love to the whole human race, even to your persecutors: love to God and the brethren they had; love to all mankind they must also have. True religion is neither selfish nor insulated; where the love of God is, bigotry cannot exist. Narrow, selfish people, and people of a party, who scarcely have any hope of the salvation of those who do not believe as they believe, and who do not follow with them, have scarcely any religion, though in their own apprehension none is so truly orthodox or religious as themselves.
After , love, one MS. adds these words, , and to this love consolation; but this is an idle and useless addition.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Brotherly kindness; a love to those that are of the household of faith. This is joined to godliness, to show that it is in vain to pretend to true religion and yet be destitute of brotherly love.
Charity; this is more general than the former, and relates to all men, even our enemies themselves.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. “And in your godlinessbrotherly kindness”; not suffering your godliness to bemoroseness, nor a sullen solitary habit of life, but kind, generous,and courteous [ALFORD].Your natural affection and brotherly kindness are to besanctified by godliness. “And in your brotherly kindnesslove,” namely, to all men, even to enemies, in thought,word, and deed. From brotherly kindness we are to go forwardto love. Compare 1Th 3:12,”Love one toward another (brotherly kindness), and toward allmen (charity).” So charity completes the choir of gracesin Col 3:14. In a retrogradeorder, he who has love will exercise brotherly kindness;he who has brotherly kindness will feel godlinessneedful; the godly will mix nothing stoical with his patience;to the patient, temperance is easy; the temperate weighsthings well, and so has knowledge; knowledge guards againstsudden impulse carrying away its virtue [BENGEL].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Ver. 7 And to godliness, brotherly kindness,…. Without which, godliness, or external worship, or a profession of religion, is a vain show; for this is both the evidence of regeneration, and of the truth and power of real godliness; and also the beauty, comfort, and security of Christian society and worship, and without which they cannot be maintained with peace, profit, and honour:
and to brotherly kindness, charity: or “love”; that is, to all men, enemies, as well as to the household of faith; and to God and Christ, to his house, worship, ordinances, people and truths. Charity is more extensive in its objects and acts than brotherly kindness or love. As faith leads the van, charity brings up the rear, and is the greatest of all.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Love of the brethren ( ). See 1Pe 1:22.
Love ( ). By deliberate choice (Mt 5:44). Love for Christ as the crown of all (1Pe 1:8) and so for all men. Love is the climax as Paul has it (1Co 13:13).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “And to godliness brotherly kindness.” In the faith, standard of moral excellence, addition to the Christian life one is admonished to add godly piety (Greek philadelphian) “brotherly friendship,” or kindness, Col 3:12; Luk 6:35; 1Co 13:4; Eph 4:32.
2) “And to brotherly kindness charity. ‘ The seventh of the moral excellencies, or standards of right one is admonished to add to, bring into, or supplement in his “like precious” faith is (Greek agapen) charity, third, but not least of the three spiritual gifts operative in this age, 1 Corinthians 13 th chapter. It means good will and benevolence in thought and deed toward ones fellowman. Col 3:14; 1Ti 2:15; 1Ti 4:12, 2Ti 2:22; 3Jn 1:6.
Love this world through me, Lord, This world of broken men, Thou didst love through death, Lord, Oh, love in me again! Souls are in despair, Lord, Oh, make me know and care; When my life they see May they behold Thee, Oh, love the world through me.
– Dr. Will Houghton
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(7) And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.And in your godliness [supply] love of the brethren, and in your love of the brethren, charity. In other words, your godliness must not be selfish and solitary, but social and Christian; for he who loveth God must love his brother also (1Jn. 4:20-21). And though charity begins at home with them who are of the household of faith, it must not end there, but reach out to all men, whether Christians or not. (Comp. 1Th. 3:12; Gal. 6:10.) The translation brotherly kindness is a little to be regretted; it obscures the exact meaning of the Word, and also the fact that the very same word is used in 1Pe. 1:22. Love of the brethren means love of Christians as such, as members of the same great family, as Gods adopted children. Charity means love of men as such, as creatures made in the likeness of God, as souls for which Christ died. The word for charity is emphatically Christian love; not mere natural benevolence.
Each in this noble chain of virtues prepares the way for the next, and is supplemented and perfected by it. It begins with faith, and it ends (like St. Pauls list of virtues, Col. 3:12-14) with charity. But we must not insist too strongly upon the order in the series, as being either logically or chronologically necessary. It is a natural order that is here given, but not the only one. These three verses are the First Epistle condensed. Each one of the virtues mentioned here is represented quite distinctly in 1 Peter: virtue, 1Pe. 1:13; knowledge, 1Pe. 3:15; self-control, 1Pe. 1:14; 1Pe. 2:11; patience, 1Pe. 1:6; 1Pe. 2:21; godliness, 1Pe. 1:15-16; 1Pe. 3:4; love of the brethren, 1Pe. 1:22; 1Pe. 3:8; charity, 1Pe. 4:8. The list of virtues given in the Epistle of Barnabas 2 runs thus:Faith, fear, patience, long – suffering, temperance, wisdom, prudence, science, knowledge. The very slight amount of similarity affords no ground for supposing that the writer was acquainted with 2 Peter.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. Godliness, unguarded, becomes morose and estranged from brethren, and loves its own solitude; therefore, in your godliness furnish brotherly kindness, or rather, brotherly love. And lest this become narrow and bigoted, in your love of the Christian brotherhood, furnish charity, a love that looks out beyond and embraces all mankind. Of these graces, love, then, is the crown. The order is not that of succession, for they all grow together, and are all essential to a full symmetrical Christian character.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2Pe 1:7. And to godliness brotherly-kindness Or the love of the Christian brotherhood, which is often and earnestly recommended. See 1Pe 1:22. The connection between these two virtues is inseparable, (comp. 1Jn 3:17; 1Jn 4:20-21.) and indeed what can be more properly connected with the love of God, than the love of real Christians, who are formed after the image of that God who made them? He adds, And to the love of Christians,the love of all mankind. Our first or superlative love is due to God, as the most holy, most amiable, and most beneficent Being. In the next place, we are to love real Christians, as being the most like to God. But there is also a degree of love due to all mankind, as descending all of them from one common Father: having the same human nature, being liable to the same wants and infirmities, and born for the common good. How well may these two virtues go hand in hand, or what more proper to add to the love of the Christian brethren, than the love of all mankind! The apostle begun with faith, as the foundation of all these virtues; and he ends with love, or benevolence, which is the crown or perfection of all. Brekel has attempted to shew, that here is one continued allusion to military affairs: if that be so, we may then consider the apostle as exhorting them, to their faith, or oath of fidelity, to add courage, to courage prudence, and to prudence temperance; that, being continent, sober, and vigilant, they might be always upon their guard against the enemy. To temperance they were to add patience, so as to endure hardship, like good soldiers of Jesus Christ, cheerfully sustaining all the difficulties and fatigues even of a long campaign in this glorious spiritual warfare. Sustine and abstine, “endure and abstain,” were the two words under which the ancient philosophers used to comprize all moral virtue. The faithful soldier of Jesus Christ will endure every evil, and every ignominy, rather than betray the truth, act contrary to his conscience, or give up his hope in God his Saviour.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
2Pe 1:7 adds and to the virtues already named. These are to be distinguished thus, that the former applies specially to the Christian brethren, the latter to all without distinction; 1Th 3:12 : (Gal 6:10 ); with , cf. 1Pe 1:22 . While the apostle calls the love which is extended to all , he gives it to be understood that what he means is not the purely natural well-wishing, but Christian love springing from the Christian spirit. Dietlein, without sufficient reason, thinks that is only the opposite of that which is forbidden in the eighth and ninth commandments, whilst the is the complete antithesis to what is forbidden in the tenth commandment. In this way the conception is unjustifiably disregarded, a proceeding to which the language of Scripture gives the less sanction, that where love in all its depth and truth is spoken of, the word is not unfrequently used; cf. Joh 5:20 ; Joh 16:27 , etc.
Although the different virtues here are not arranged according to definite logical order, yet the way in which they here belong to each other is not to be mistaken. Each of the virtues to be shown forth forms the complement of that which precedes, and thus gives rise to a firmly-linked chain of thought. supplies the complement of , for faith without virtue is wanting in moral character, and is in itself dead; that of is , for the realizing of the moral volition is conditioned by comprehension of that which is needful in each separate case; that of is , for self-control must not be wanting to volition and comprehension; that of is , for there are outward as well as inward temptations to be withstood; that of is , for only in trustful love to God has the firm support; that of the , for “he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” (1Jn 4:20 ); that of the , for without the latter the former would degenerate into poor narrow-heartedness. Thus, in that the one virtue is the complement of the other, the latter produces the former of itself as its natural outcome; Bengel: praesens quisque gradus subsequentem parit et facilem reddit, subsequens priorem temperat ac perficit. [34]
[34] According to Dietlein, the three first graces, including , correspond to the first table of the law, the three first petitions of the Lord’s Prayer, the first article of the Creed, and to faith in the Pauline triad; the three following graces to the first half of the second table of the law, the fourth petition in the Lord’s Prayer, the second article of the Creed, and the second grace in the Pauline triad; the two last graces to the second half of the second table of the law, the three last petitions of the Lord’s Prayer, the third article of the Creed, and the third grace of that triad. Certainly there is here a good deal that coincides, but this by no means warrants a consistent parallelism of all the individual points, which can only gain an appearance of correctness by an arbitrary narrowing or extending of the ideas and their applications. It is worthy of remark that the series begins with and ends with ; in that, then, ver. 11 points to the future, is added, so that the well-known triad is here alluded to (Schott).
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
Ver. 7. And to godliness, brotherly kindness ] Zeal for God should eat us up, but not eat up our love to God’s people. Fire purgeth gold, but burneth it not; the fire of zeal may be warming, comforting, not scalding or scorching. Moses was angry with the people, but prayed for them. Christ was angry with the Pharisees, but grieved also for the hardness of their hearts, Mar 3:5 .
And to brotherly kindness, &c. ] Love we must all men, but especially the family of faith; as our Saviour loved the young man, but not so as he did Lazarus, Mar 10:21 ; Joh 11:3 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
7 .] and in your godliness, brotherly kindness (not suffering your godliness to be moroseness, nor a sullen solitary habit of life, but kind and generous and courteous), and in your brotherly kindness, love (universal kindness of thought, word, and act towards all: a catholic large-heartedness, not confining the spirit of to only, Mat 5:46-47 . So that these two last correspond to the of 1Th 3:12 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
2Pe 1:7 . : “affection towards the brethren,” i.e. , of the same Christian community. : probably love towards all, even enemies; not directed by sense and emotion, but by deliberate choice ( cf. Mat 5:44 ). Mayor interprets: “Love to God manifesting itself in love to man and to the whole creation, animate and inanimate”.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
brotherly kindness. See Rom 12:10.
charity = love. App-135.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
7.] and in your godliness, brotherly kindness (not suffering your godliness to be moroseness, nor a sullen solitary habit of life, but kind and generous and courteous), and in your brotherly kindness, love (universal kindness of thought, word, and act towards all: a catholic large-heartedness, not confining the spirit of to only, Mat 5:46-47. So that these two last correspond to the of 1Th 3:12.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
2Pe 1:7. , brotherly affection) towards the saints who are united with you in God.- , love) From brotherly affection is deduced love: 1Pe 1:22.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
brotherly: Joh 13:34, Joh 13:35, Rom 12:10, 1Th 3:12, 1Th 4:9, 1Th 4:10, Heb 13:1, 1Pe 1:22, 1Pe 2:17, 1Jo 3:14, 1Jo 3:16
charity: 1Co 13:1-8, Gal 6:10, Col 3:14, 1Th 5:15, 1Pe 3:8, 1Jo 4:21
Reciprocal: Gen 13:8 – brethren 1Co 13:4 – is kind 1Co 14:1 – charity 1Co 16:14 – General Eph 4:32 – kind 1Ti 1:5 – charity 1Pe 4:8 – fervent 2Jo 1:5 – that we Rev 2:19 – charity
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Pe 1:7. The two words brotherly kindness come from the one Greek word PHILADELPHIA. Thayer’s definition of the word is, “The love of brothers (or sisters), brotherly love: in the New Testament the love which Christians cherish for each other as brethren.” The disciples of Christ should feel a nearness for each other that is stronger even than their love for flesh-and-blood relatives. Charity is from AGAPE which is one of the Greek words translated “love” in the New Testament. The principal meaning of the word in the present passage is to have a sincere interest in the welfare of others. The subject of love is often misunderstood by students of the Bible, due partly to the circumstance that the word comes from different Greek originals which have different meanings. There is a complete page devoted to the subject made up from the authoritative quotations from the lexicons of Thayer and Strong. The comments are at Mat 5:43 which I urge the readers to see and study carefully; they are in the first volume of the New Testament Commentary.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
2Pe 1:7. And in the godliness brotherly-love. See note on 1Pe 1:22. In the former Epistle the grace of brotherly-love has a still more prominent place assigned to it (1Pe 1:22-23; 1Pe 2:17; 1Pe 3:18; 1Pe 4:8). Here it is the complement to godliness, keeping it in living connection with what is due to our brethren, and saving our regard for God and His claims from becoming an apology for neglecting His children and their interests.
and in the brotherly-love love. This is not a repetition of the exhortation to an intense degree and unfettered exercise of love to the brethren, which is given in 1Pe 1:22. Our love, it is meant, strongly as it should beat within the Christian household, ought not to be confined to that, but should enlarge itself into a catholic interest in all men. So Paul charges the Thessalonians to abound in love toward the brethren, and toward all men (1Th 3:12).This rosary and conjugation of the Christian virtues, as it is called by Jeremy Taylor, differs both in its constituents and in its arrangement from Pauls delineation of the spiritual character in Gal 5:22-23. The one begins where the other ends. With Paul, love stands at the head, and naturally so. For Paul is drawing a picture of what the spiritual character is in contrast with the works of the flesh and in our relations to our fellow-men. Hence he begins with love as the spring of all other graces in our intercourse with our fellows, and introduces faith in the centre of the list, and in the aspect of faithfulness in our dealings with others. Here Peter is engaged with the growth of the spiritual character, and there-fore begins with faith in Christ as the foundation of all Elsewhere Paul varies the order, giving love, e.g., the first place in Rom 12:9-21, Php 1:9; and the last place in 1Co 13:13, Col 3:12-14. It is hazardous, however, to make more than this of the particular arrangement adopted here. There is no doubt a logical order in the list, and it is possible that it is laid out, as is supposed, e.g., by Canon Cook, so that we get first those graces (virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience) which form the Christian character viewed in itself, and then those which mark the follower of Christ (1) as a servant of God, and (2) as a member of the brotherhood of the Church of Christ, and (3) as belonging to the larger brotherhood of all mankind. But it is enough to notice how these graces are made to blend into each other, each being in the other like adjoining colours of the rainbow,mingled with it, and exhibited along with it (Lillie). It is also worth observing that all the graces which are presented together in living union and interdependence here, are separately expounded with more or less fulness in the First Epistle; cf. 1Pe 1:6; 1Pe 1:13-16; 1Pe 1:22, 1Pe 2:11; 1Pe 2:21, 1Pe 3:4; 1Pe 3:8; 1Pe 3:15, 1Pe 4:8.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Brotherly Kindness and Love Immediately following one’s respect toward God will be a love for his fellow man. Jesus said that was the second commandment. Particularly, here we have love for the brethren, which is a necessary outgrowth of love for God ( 1Jn 4:19-21 ; 1Jn 5:1 ; Rom 12:10 ; 1Th 4:9 ; Heb 13:1 ). This describes the love which brothers in a family have for one another. Out of respect for God and love for the brethren grows the highest note on the Christian scale, love. This is the word agape, which describes a setting of the mind to do that which is best for another. The object of such love does not have to be desirable or lovely ( 2Pe 1:7 ; Rom 5:8-10 ; 1Co 13:1-7 ; 1Co 13:13 ; Col 3:12-14 ).
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Verse 7
Charity; good-will to all mankind.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
"Brotherly kindness" (Gr. philadelphia) is thoughtful consideration of fellow believers (cf. 1Pe 1:22; 1Pe 3:8; Rom 12:10; 1Co 12:25-26; 1Th 4:9; Heb 13:1). Overt acts of kindness manifest this characteristic (Gal 6:10).
"Love" (Gr. agape) is the highest form of love, God’s kind, that seeks the welfare of the person loved above its own welfare (Joh 3:16; Joh 13:35; Gal 5:22; 1Pe 4:8; et al.). It reaches out to all people, not just fellow believers.
This list of qualities begins with those inside the believer and progresses to those he or she demonstrates outwardly. It moves from private to public qualities. This list begins with faith (2Pe 1:5) and ends with love. Another shorter virtue list that begins with faith and ends with love is in 2Co 8:7.
"Christian faith is the root from which all these virtues must grow, and Christian love is the crowning virtue to which all the others must contribute. In a list of this kind, the last item has a unique significance. It is not just the most important virtue, but also the virtue which encompasses all the others. Love is the overriding ethical principle from which the other virtues gain their meaning and validity." [Note: Bauckham, p. 193.]
This is a good checklist that helps us evaluate whether we are all that God wants us to be. These are the traits of a maturing Christian whose faith is vital, not dead. [Note: See Frederic R. Howe, "The Christian Life in Peter’s Theology," Bibliotheca Sacra 157:627 (July-September 2000):309-13.]
"Their presentation here seems to observe an order from the more elemental to the more advanced, but they are all of them facets of the Spirit’s work in the life of a believer, aspects of the glory of the indwelling Christ, his character shown in the Christian’s character." [Note: Stephen W. Paine, "The Second Epistle of Peter," in The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p. 1458.]
Each child in a family bears some resemblance to his or her parents while at the same time remaining distinctive. So each growing Christian normally manifests similarities to Christ and yet remains different from every other Christians.