Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Peter 1:18
And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.
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.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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 Redeemers 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.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 18. And this voice – we heard] That is, himself, James, and John heard it, and saw this glory; for these only were the , 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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
We; I, and James, and John.
Heard: the apostle avoucheth himself to have been an ear-witness, as well as eye-witness, of Christs 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 Gods 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.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
18. which camerather asGreek, “we heard borne from heaven.”
holy mountas theTransfiguration mount came to be regarded, on account of themanifestation of Christ’s divine glory there.
weemphatical: we,James and John, as well as myself.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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, Ex 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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
This voice ( ). The one referred to in verse 17.
We heard (). First aorist active indicative of , a definite experience of Peter.
Brought (). “Borne” as in verse 17.
When we were with him ( ). Present active participle of , “being with him.”
In the holy mount ( ). Made holy by the majestic glory. See Eze 28:14 for “holy mount of God,” there Sinai, this one probably one of the lower slopes of Hermon. Peter’s account is independent of the Synoptic narrative, but agrees with it in all essentials.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Voice [] . 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 [] . Lit., having been born. See on ver. 17. Rev., This voice we ourselves [, , ] 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).
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And this voice which came from heaven we heard.” Peter gives re-emphasis to the testimony of the Lord’s Divinity by asserting that the heavenly voice came (Greek eks) “out of heaven,” not out of the mountains or a cave.
2) “When we were with him.” The three apostles -Peter, James, and John – were (Greek sun) with “in close association with” Jesus when God, the Father spoke.
3) “In the holy mount.” Thus three apostles, earthly witnesses, saw Jesus transfigured and, the same three heard His Father identify Him as “my beloved Son.” We thus have “visual and auditory” testimony of four witnesses, who give honor and glory to Him, in the unnamed “holy or sanctified mount.” Mat 25:31.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
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.” (Lev 11:44.)
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(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 Evangeliststhat 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.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
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.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And this voice we ourselves heard borne out of heaven, when we were with him in the holy mount.’
And what was more the voice had been heard by them all. They had heard it borne to them out of heaven, when they were with Him in the holy mount. And it had been a real voice heard and decipherable by each of them.
The description of the mount as a ‘holy mount’ is also an evidence of genuineness. There is no hint anywhere that any mount was especially honoured by the early church. But to the three the mount could never again be thought of except with awe. It would have reminded them of the glory of God revealed on Mount Sinai. In their minds this mountain had replaced the holy mountain of Jerusalem, for here the glory of the Lord had been revealed, the One Who was God’s new Temple (Joh 2:19; Joh 2:21). To them it was the holiest place on earth.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
2Pe 1:18 . ; 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 of Christ.
. is added by way of emphasis, in order to lay stress on the fact that Christ received that testimony directly from heaven.
] From the epithet 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: ) 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, Brckner and the modern commentators generally.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
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.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
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 ” ( . .): 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 ).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
2Pe 1:18 . . 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”. signifies a place where Jehovah manifested Himself, cf. Exo 3:5 , Isa 52:1 .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
heaven. Singular. See Mat 6:9, Mat 6:10.
holy. Because, and while, the Lord was there.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
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 ( . .): 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 Grotiuss idea, that Mount Sion is meant, and that the voice referred to is that related in Joh 12:28).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
2Pe 1:18. , we) John also was still alive.- , from heaven) from God.- , the holy) The mountain was holy from that very circumstance; at any rate, at that very time.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
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.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
this: Mat 17:6
the holy: Gen 28:16, Gen 28:17, Exo 3:1, Exo 3:5, Jos 5:15, Isa 11:9, Isa 56:7, Zec 8:3, Mat 17:6
Reciprocal: Deu 4:12 – only ye heard a voice 1Ki 19:11 – stand upon the mount 2Ch 8:11 – holy Psa 87:1 – the holy Mat 17:1 – an high Mar 1:11 – there Luk 3:22 – Thou art Luk 9:35 – This Act 7:33 – Put
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Pe 1:18. This is called the holy mount because of the sacred things that transpired there, not that any physical change was made in the spot. The first definition of the word for holy is, “worthy of veneration” or great respect. Certainly a place where such an awe-inspiring scene took place as the transfiguration is worthy of the most profound respect and in that sense it was holy.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
2Pe 1:18. And this voice we heard borne out of heaven, when we were with him in the holy mount. The character of the Divine testimony to Christ is thus yet more carefully described, in respect both of its own directness and of the credibility of the report which was given of it. It came immediately from heaven. It was reported, too, by those who were present with Christ Himself on the occasion, and were both eyewitnesses and ear-witnesses of what took place, not only seeing with their own eyes the scene, but hearing with their own ears the voice. By the holy mount is to be understood not the temple-mount (as if the voice referred to were, as Grotius imagined, that recorded in Joh 12:28), but the Mount of Transfiguration. Peter does not identify it with either Hermon or Tabor. He gives it, however, the same honourable title that Zion enjoyed in the Old Testament. The sacred associations now connected with it, and the fact that it had been the scene of a manifestation of Divinity, had made it holy ground. So, as Calvin notices, the spot where Jehovah appeared to Moses became holy ground. – It is interesting to observe how in his old age Peters mind is filled with the wonders of the Transfiguration, and how he finds in the glory which he witnessed there a presage of the glory in which Christ was to return. It may be asked why he singles out this particular event, and only this one, when he feels called to assert the historical basis of his teaching, and to repudiate all suspicion of legendary mixture. The answer is obvious. The truths which at present he is pressing on the attention of his readers, are those relating to the Second Coming of Christ, that Coming in power and judgment which was doubted, denied, and scoffed at. It was natural, therefore, that he should instance the sudden glory which he had witnessed breaking forth from and encircling Christs person on the Mount. In that he recognised an earnest of the power in which Christ was to return. It is rightly observed, too, that this entire statement, given as it is independently, with variations of its own, and not professing to be quoted from any written narrative, is an important confirmation of the truth of the Gospel narrative of the Transfiguration (so Plumptre, etc.).