“Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;”
My Notes
What Does 2 Peter 1:13 Mean?
Peter describes his body as a "tabernacle" — a temporary dwelling, a tent. He knows his death is approaching (verse 14 says Jesus told him so), and he frames his remaining time as a ministry of remembrance: while he's still in this tent, he'll keep stirring them up.
The word "stir up" (diegeirō) means to fully awaken, to rouse from sleep. Peter sees his role not as teaching new information but as reminding them of what they already know. The church's problem wasn't ignorance — it was forgetfulness. They had the truth; they needed someone to keep making it fresh.
"Meet" means fitting, appropriate, right. Peter considers it his duty — while he's alive — to keep the church alert. There's a beautiful urgency here: he's in a temporary tent, it's being taken down soon, and he wants to make every remaining day count by keeping people awake to what matters.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What truth do you already know but keep needing to be reminded of?
- 2.How does thinking of your body as a 'tabernacle' — a temporary dwelling — change your priorities?
- 3.Do you value novelty over repetition in your spiritual life? How does Peter's approach challenge that?
- 4.If you knew your time was short, what would you spend it reminding people of?
Devotional
Peter calls his body a tent. Temporary. Something you pack up and move on from. And with that awareness — that his time is short — he decides how to spend it: reminding you of things you already know.
Not dazzling new revelations. Not hot takes or fresh angles. Reminders. Stirring up. Keeping you awake to truth you've already received but are in constant danger of forgetting.
There's a humility in that. Peter, the apostle who walked on water and preached at Pentecost, spends his final letter saying: let me remind you. Again. The same truths. The same gospel. The same call. Because you need to hear it again. And again. And again.
We underestimate the ministry of repetition. We want novelty — new insights, new experiences, new spiritual highs. But Peter knew that the most important thing he could do with his remaining days was not to be original. It was to be faithful. To keep saying the same true things until the tent came down.
Who's stirring you up? And what truth do you already know that you need someone to remind you of — again?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Yea, I think it meet,.... Or "just". This is the apostle's other reason for his conduct, taken from the duty of his…
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…
As long as I am in this tabernacle - By tabernacle we are to understand his body; and hence several of the versions have…
I. The importance and advantage of progress and perseverance in grace and holiness made the apostle to be very diligent…
Yea, I think it meet More accurately, But I think it right. Though he knows them to be established in the truth, he yet…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture