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Therefore I will not be negligent to remind you of these things, though you know them and are established in the present truth.
Verse 12. I will begin. [3] That is, by the Greek, I will take care. Witham.
I think it right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you,
Verse 13. As long as I am in this tabernacle: to wit, of the body, in this mortal life. Witham.
knowing that the putting off of my tent comes swiftly, even as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me.
Verse 14. The laying aside, [4] or dissolution; that is my death is at hand. Witham.
Yes, I will make every effort that you may always be able to remember these things even after my departure.
Verse 15. That you frequently have after my decease, [5] and so forth Some expounded these words to signify: I will have you frequently in my thoughts, and remember you, praying for you after my death. But this does not seem the true and literal sense, nor do we need such arguments to prove that the saints pray for us. Witham.
For we didn’t follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
Verse 16. We have not by following artificial fables. Lit. learned fables, [6] invented to promote our doctrine. We, I with others, were eye-witnesses of his glory on Mount Thabor. Witham.
For he received from God the Father honor and glory when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
We heard this voice come out of heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.
We have the more sure word of prophecy; and you do well that you heed it as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts,
Verse 19. And we have the surer word of prophecy, or to make our testimonies and preaching of Christ more firm. The revelations of God made to the prophets, and contained in the holy Scriptures, give us of all others the greatest assurance. Though the mysteries in themselves remain obscure and incomprehensible, the motive of our belief is divine authority. Witham.—If our testimony be suspicious, we have what you will certainly allow, the testimony of the prophets: attend then to the prophets as to a lamp that illumines a dark place, till the bright day of a more lively faith begins to illumine you, and the day-star arises in your heart: till this faith, which is like the day-star, give you a perfect knowledge of Jesus Christ. It is by the divine oracles you will acquire this knowledge, provided you peruse them with proper dispositions.
knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of private interpretation.
Verse 20. No prophecy of the scripture is made by private interpretation; or, as the Protestants translate it from the Greek, is of any private interpretation, that is is not to be expounded by any one’s private judgment or private spirit. Witham.—The Scriptures cannot be properly expounded by private spirit or fancy, but by the same spirit wherewith they were written, which is resident in the Church.
For no prophecy ever came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit.
Verse 21. For prophecy came not by the will of man at any time. This is to shew that they are not to be expounded by any one’s private judgment, because every part of the holy Scriptures is delivered to us by the divine spirit of God, wherewith the men were inspired who wrote them; therefore they are not to be interpreted but by the spirit of God, which he left, and promised to his Church to guide her in all truth to the end of the world. Our adversaries may perhaps tell us, that we also interpret prophecies and Scriptures; we do so; but we do it always with a submission to the judgment of the Church, they without it. Witham.