2 Peter 1:13

Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(13) Yea, I think it meet.—Better, But I think it right. So Rheims; Tyndale and Cranmer have “notwithstanding.” The meaning is, “but (so far from my writing being unnecessary) I think it right,” &c.

In this tabernacle.—The comparison of the human body to a dwelling is common in all literatures, and the temporary nature of a tent makes it specially appropriate. (Comp. 2Corinthians 5:1.)

By putting you in remembrance.—Better, in putting you. The stirring up consists in the reminding. (See 2Peter 1:1-2; 2Peter 1:4; also 2Peter 3:1, where the same phrase occurs.)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

1:12-15 We must be established in the belief of the truth, that we may not be shaken by every wind of doctrine; and especially in the truth necessary for us to know in our day, what belongs to our peace, and what is opposed in our time. The body is but a tabernacle, or tent, of the soul. It is a mean and movable dwelling. The nearness of death makes the apostle diligent in the business of life. Nothing can so give composure in the prospect, or in the hour, of death, as to know that we have faithfully and simply followed the Lord Jesus, and sought his glory. Those who fear the Lord, talk of his loving-kindness. This is the way to spread the knowledge of the Lord; and by the written word, they are enabled to do this.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Yea, I think it meet - I think it becomes me as an apostle. It is my appropriate duty; a duty which is felt the more as the close of life draws near.

As long as I am in this tabernacle - As long as I live; as long as I am in the body. The body is called a tabernacle, or tent, as that in which the soul resides for a little time. See the notes at 2 Corinthians 5:1.

To stir you up, by putting you in remembrance - To excite or arouse you to a diligent performance of your duties; to keep up in your minds a lively sense of Divine things. Religion becomes more important to a man's mind always as he draws near the close of life, and feels that he is soon to enter the eternal world.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

13. Yea—Greek, "But"; though "you know" the truth (2Pe 1:12).

this tabernacle—soon to be taken down (2Co 5:1): I therefore need to make the most of my short time for the good of Christ's Church. The zeal of Satan against it, the more intense as his time is short, ought to stimulate Christians on the same ground.

by—Greek, "in" (compare 2Pe 3:1).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

In this tabernacle; in the body; q.d. Having not long to live, I would live to the best purpose, and so as I may do the most good. He calls his body a tabernacle both in respect of its short continuance, its mean structure, and his laborious life in it.

To stir you up; to awaken and rouse you up, as ye have need, the flesh being slothful; and lest ye should by security and slightness lose the benefit of what ye have learned: where knowledge is not wanting, yet admonitions may be useful.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Yea, I think it meet,.... Or "just". This is the apostle's other reason for his conduct, taken from the duty of his place and office; judging it to be what became him as an apostle and elder, and the minister of the circumcision, and was what was due to God and Christ, whom he served, and the souls of men under his care:

as long as I am in this tabernacle: or "body", as the Syriac and Ethiopic versions render it, and so some copies; for the body is as a tabernacle for the soul to dwell in, pitched for a time, and, ere long, to be taken down; See Gill on 2 Corinthians 5:1,

to stir you up; to the lively exercise of grace, and constant performance of duty: by putting you in remembrance: of the said things; for saints are apt to be forgetful of their duty, and backward to it, and sluggish and slothful in it.

Geneva Study Bible

Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this {k} tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;

(k) In this body.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

2 Peter 1:13-14. δίκαιον δὲ ἡγοῦμαι] “I consider it right and reasonable” (Dietlein: “as a duty”); cf. Php 1:7; 2 Peter 1:14 states the reason.

ἐφʼ ὅσον εἰμὶ ἐν τούτῳ τῷ σκηνώματι] σκήνωμα, like σκῆνος, 2 Corinthians 5:1, “the tabernacle,” a figurative designation of the human body; cf. Wis 9:15 : τὸ γεῶδες σκῆνος. There can hardly be here any direct reference to the nomadic life in tents (Hornejus).

διεγείρειν ὑμᾶς ἐν ὑπομνήσει] “to stir you up by reminding you, i.e. to encourage you.” The same combination takes place in chap. 2 Peter 3:1; διεγείρειν is to be found elsewhere only in the Gospels, and there in its strict signification.

ἐν ὑπομνήσει points back to ὑπομιμνήσκειν in 2 Peter 1:12, which, in the aim of it, διεγείρειν serves to define more nearly. In de Wette’s opinion, these words are written with special reference to the advent of Christ; but there is nothing to indicate any such limitation of them. It cannot, with Dietlein, be concluded that this letter is linked on to the First Epistle of Peter, from the circumstance that in 1 Peter 5:8-9, γρηγορήσατε is to be found followed by στερεοί.—2 Peter 1:14. εἰδώς] “since I know,” gives the reason for the δίκαιον ἡγοῦμαι, 2 Peter 1:13.

ὅτι ταχινή ἐστιν ἡ ἀπόθεσις τοῦ σκηνώματός μου] The expression ἀπόθεσις is to be explained by “a mingling of the figure of a garment and that of a tent” (de Wette).

ταχινή is taken by most commentators (as also by Wiesinger and Brückner) to mean “soon.” Accordingly some (de Wette, Fronmüller, and others) think that in the subsequent words the writer does not refer to the prediction of Christ contained in John 21:18 ff., but to a later revelation vouchsafed to Peter (such as is mentioned by Hegesippus, De Excid. Jerosolym. iii. 2, and by Ambrose, Ep. 33); but Bengel already translated ταχινή ἐστιν correctly by repentina est; observing: Praesens; qui diu aegrotant, possunt alios adhuc pascere. Crux id Petro non erat permissura. Ideo prius agit, quod agendum erat.[45] In chap. 2 Peter 2:1 also, ΤΑΧΙΝΌς means “sudden, swift” (Vulg. velox), not “soon.” Peter says here that he will end his life by a sudden (i.e. violent) death; so too Steinfass, Schott, Hofmann; the adjective ταχινή states, not the time, but the manner of the ἈΠΌΘΕΣΙς. Accordingly the assumption of a later revelation has no foundation in this passage.[46]

The particle ΚΑΊ after ΚΑΘΏς, for the most part left unnoticed, shows that the words ΚΑΘῺς Κ.Τ.Λ. are added in confirmation of Peter’s certainty as to his sudden death, equivalent to “even as indeed.” With ἐδήλωσεν, cf. 1 Peter 1:11.

[45] Besser: “The Lord had communicated to him that a quick and sudden putting off of the tabernacle of the body awaited him.”

[46] Even if ταχινή meant “soon,” it would not be necessary to understand this here; for as John 21:18 expressly says: ὅταν δὲ γεράσῃς, Peter could, if writing this epistle in his old age, appeal to those words of Christ as corroborating his expectation of a speedy death.

Expositor's Greek Testament

2 Peter 1:13. δίκαιον δὲ ἡγοῦμαι. “I consider it a duty.” The language in 2 Peter 1:13-14, is studiously solemn and impressive. σκηνώματι, used in literal sense of “tent” in Deuteronomy 33:18. In Acts 7:46, it is used of the Tabernacle of God. Elsewhere in N.T. σκῆνος is used in the metaphorical sense of human existence. Cf. 2 Corinthians 5:4. A similar use of σκήνωμα is found in Ep. ad Diogn. 6. ἀθάνατος ἡ ψυχὴ ἐν θνητῷ σκηνώματι κατοικεῖ. σκηνή is the word used by Peter in the transfiguration story (Matthew 17:4; Mark 9:5; Luke 9:33). διεγείρειν ὑμᾶς ἐν ὑπομνήσει· διεγ· is always used in N.T. = “awaken” or “rouse from sleep” (except in John 6:18 of the sea); significant in view of the reference to the Transfiguration in 2 Peter 1:16 ff. Cf. διαγρηγορήσαντες (“fully awake”) in St. Luke’s account; Introd. p. 95.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

13. Yea, I think it meet] More accurately, But I think it right. Though he knows them to be established in the truth, he yet looks on it as his duty to remind them of what they know.

as long as I am in this tabernacle] The term chosen is interesting (1) as a parallel to St Paul’s use of the same imagery in 2 Corinthians 5:1, and (2) as connected with the reference to the Transfiguration which follows. In that vision on the mount, it will be remembered, St Peter had uttered the prayer “Let us make three tabernacles …” (Matthew 17:4). He had now learnt that the true tabernacle of Christ was His human body, and to think of his own body also as the tabernacle of His Spirit.

to stir you up by putting you in remembrance] The phrase, which occurs again in chap. 2 Peter 3:1, may be noticed as characteristic of St Peter. He assumes a knowledge not only of the broad outlines of Gospel truth, but of the facts of the Gospel history, including, it is obvious, the history of the Transfiguration, and corresponding therefore to the record found in the first three Gospels.

Bengel's Gnomen

2 Peter 1:13. Δὲ, but) A particle of explaining or declaring.—σκηνὠματι, tabernacle) There is a reference to the immortality of the soul, and its brief abode in the mortal body, together with the easy departure of believers.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 13. - Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle; rather, as in the Revised Version, and I think it right. The natural body is but a tabernacle for the soul, a tent to dwell in during our earthly pilgrimage, not a permanent habitation. The word reminds us of 2 Corinthians 5:1-4, where St. Paul uses the same metaphor; and also of St. Peter's words at the Transfiguration, "Let us make three tabernacles." To stir you up by putting you in remembrance; literally, to arouse you in reminding. The phrase occurs again in 2 Peter 3:1. St. Peter's readers knew the facts of the gospel history; they needed, as we all need, to be aroused to a sense of the solemn responsibilities which that knowledge involves. 2 Peter 1:13

Vincent's Word Studies

Tabernacle (σκηνώματι)

A figurative expression for the body, used also by Paul, 2 Corinthians 5:1, 2 Corinthians 5:4, though he employs the shorter kindred word σκῆνος. Peter also has the same mixture of metaphors which Paul employs in that passage, viz., building and clothing. See next verse. Peter's use of tabernacle is significant in connection with his words at the transfiguration, "Let us make three tabernacle (Matthew 17:4). The word, as well as the entire phrase, carries the idea of brief duration - a frail tent, erected for a night. Compare 2 Peter 1:14.

To stir you up by putting you in remembrance (διεγείρειν ὑμᾶς ἐν ὑπομνήσει)

Lit., to stir you up in reminding. See the same phrase in 2 Peter 3:1.