2 Peter 3:6

My Notes

What Does 2 Peter 3:6 Mean?

"Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished." Peter describes the Noahic flood as a PAST DESTRUCTION that establishes a PRECEDENT for future judgment: the world that THEN existed (the pre-flood world) was OVERFLOWED with water and PERISHED. The destruction was TOTAL (the world perished), the INSTRUMENT was water (the same element that now is stored up for fire, verse 7), and the PRECEDENT is ESTABLISHED (God has destroyed the world before and can do it again).

The phrase "the world that then was" (ho tote kosmos — the then-world, the world of that time) identifies a PREVIOUS VERSION of the world: the pre-flood world was a DIFFERENT world — different conditions, different population, different state. The 'then' distinguishes it from the CURRENT world. The world that existed before the flood is NOT the same world that exists now. The destruction created a DIVISION in world-history: the world-that-was and the world-that-is.

The "being overflowed with water, perished" (hydati kataklustheis apōleto — having been deluged/flooded with water, it was destroyed/perished) describes TOTAL DESTRUCTION through WATER: the kataklusmos (cataclysm, deluge, flood) was comprehensive. The 'perished' (apōleto — was destroyed, was ruined, was lost) means the pre-flood world CEASED TO EXIST in its previous form. The destruction was as complete as the flood was comprehensive. The world didn't just get WET. It PERISHED.

Reflection Questions

• 1.What does a previous world's total destruction teach about this world's vulnerability?
• 2.How does the instrument changing (water THEN, fire NEXT) describe God's varied methods of judgment?
• 3.What does 'perished' (ceased to exist in its previous form) teach about the completeness of divine destruction?
• 4.What does the current world being stored up for fire (verse 7) change about how you treat the present?

Devotional

The world that THEN was — overflowed with water — PERISHED. The pre-flood world was DESTROYED. Completely. The water didn't just damage it. The water ENDED it. The world that existed before the flood ceased to exist. The precedent is set: God has destroyed the world before. The CURRENT world exists on notice.

The 'world that then was' establishes a PREVIOUS VERSION: there was a world BEFORE this one. It existed. It operated. It had inhabitants. And it PERISHED. The 'then' separates it from NOW — the pre-flood world and the post-flood world are DIFFERENT worlds. The destruction created a DIVIDING LINE in history. Before the flood: one world. After the flood: another.

The 'overflowed with water' makes the INSTRUMENT specific: WATER was the means. The deluge was the mechanism. The flood was the method God chose for the FIRST destruction. Peter's point (verses 5-7) is that the CURRENT world is stored up for a DIFFERENT element — FIRE. The first destruction was water. The next will be fire. The instrument changes. The capacity for destruction doesn't.

The 'perished' makes the destruction TOTAL: the pre-flood world didn't just get damaged. It PERISHED — ceased to exist in its previous form. The destruction was as COMPLETE as the flood was COMPREHENSIVE. Everything the pre-flood world contained — its civilization, its population, its systems — was ENDED by the water. The perishing was total.

The PRECEDENT is the verse's theological function: God HAS destroyed the world. God CAN destroy the world. The current world exists by the SAME WORD that sustains it (verse 7) — and that word has scheduled the current world for fire, not water. The destruction has happened before. It will happen again. The only change is the element.

What does the precedent of a previous world's destruction teach about the current world's vulnerability?

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture