2 Peter 1:20

20 knowing this first, that [the scope of] no prophecy of scripture is had from its own particular interpretation, ^[a]

2 Peter 1:20 Meaning and Commentary

2 Peter 1:20

Knowing this first
Especially, and in the first place, this is to be known, observed, and considered;

that no prophecy of the Scripture,
that is contained in Scripture, be it what it will,

is of any private interpretation:
not that this is levelled against the right of private judgment of Scripture; or to be understood as if a private believer had not a right of reading, searching, examining, and judging, and interpreting the Scriptures himself, by virtue of the unction which teacheth all things; and who, as a spiritual man, judgeth all things; otherwise, why are such commended as doing well, by taking heed to prophecy, in the preceding verse, and this given as a reason to encourage them to it? the words may be rendered, "of one's own interpretation"; that is, such as a natural man forms of himself, by the mere force of natural parts and wisdom, without the assistance of the Spirit of God; and which is done without comparing spiritual things with spiritual; and which is not agreeably to the Scripture, to the analogy of faith, and mind of Christ; though rather this phrase should be rendered, "no prophecy of the Scripture is of a man's own impulse", invention, or composition; is not human, but purely divine: and this sense carries in it a reason why the sure word of prophecy, concerning the second coming of Christ, should be taken heed to, and made use of as a light, till he does come; because as no Scripture prophecy, so not that, is a contrivance of man's, his own project and device, and what his own spirit prompts and impels him to, but what is made by the dictates and impulse of the Spirit of God; for whatever may be said of human predictions, or the false prophecies of lying men, who deliver them out how and when they please, nothing of this kind can be said of any Scripture prophecy, nor of this concerning the second coming of Christ; and this sense the following words require.

2 Peter 1:20 In-Context

18 and this voice *we* heard uttered from heaven, being with him on the holy mountain.

19 And we have the prophetic word [made] surer, to which ye do well taking heed (as to a lamp shining in an obscure place) until [the] day dawn and [the] morning star arise in your hearts;

20 knowing this first, that [the scope of] no prophecy of scripture is had from its own particular interpretation,

21 for prophecy was not ever uttered by [the] will of man, but holy men of God spake under the power of [the] Holy Spirit.

Footnotes

• [a]. That is, 'it is not explained by its own meaning,' as a human statement. It must be understood by and according to the Spirit that uttered it. The 'prophecy' is, I take it, the sense of the prophecy, the thing meant by it. Now this is not gathered by a human interpretation of an isolated passage which has its own meaning and its own solution, as if a man uttered it; for it is a part of God's mind, uttered as holy men were moved by the Holy Spirit to utter it. In the 'prophecy of scripture' the apostle has in mind the thing prophesied, without losing the idea of the passage. Hence I have ventured to say '[the scope of] no prophecy.' One might almost say 'no prophecy explains itself.'