The Background of 2 Peter

The original style of this letter is notably different from 1 Peter. It’s possible that Silas helped with the polished writing of the first letter (1 Peter 5:12), while this letter used a different scribe or was written by Peter himself. This significant difference, along with the later spread of Gnostic heresies through numerous letters falsely attributed to Peter, made the process of including this letter in the canon very convoluted. The letter was likely written around 64 AD, the year of Peter’s martyrdom. The writing location was probably Rome, and the original readers were likely the churches of Asia Minor (2 Peter 3:1), which was a major source of early Gnosticism. Fragment 7Q10, discovered in Qumran Cave 7 and dated to before 68 AD, may be from 2 Peter 1:15.

The Apostle Peter knew he was soon to be martyred (2 Peter 1:14) and that false teachers would emerge in the church to corrupt the faith of believers (2 Peter 2:1). He was particularly concerned that the doctrines of Christ’s return and the final judgment (2 Peter 3:3-7) would be disturbed and slandered by heretics. Therefore, he earnestly exhorted believers to pursue spiritual growth (2 Peter 1:5-8) so that even after his death, they would always remember his teachings (2 Peter 1:15).

There is a close relationship between this letter and the Book of Jude. Both letters address the threat of early Gnosticism, but this letter was written to Gentile believers, while the Book of Jude was written to Jewish believers. Of the twenty-five verses in Jude, at least fifteen verses appear verbatim or in fragments in 2 Peter. Many similar concepts, phrases, and terms are echoed in both letters. It’s likely that Jude drew from this letter, as the heresy was even more rampant at that time. This letter discusses the appearance of false teachers and their destructive doctrines in the future tense (2 Peter 2:3-14), indicating they would appear later. However, the Book of Jude, in exhorting believers to remember the teachings of the apostles, quotes from 2 Peter 3:3, which suggests that this letter predates Jude, and that Jude acknowledged this book as an apostolic work.