2 Peter 1:18 - Printer Friendly

ESV: we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.

NIV: We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.

NASB: and we ourselves heard this declaration made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.

CSB: We ourselves heard this voice when it came from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain.

NLT: We ourselves heard that voice from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.

KJV: And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.

NKJV: And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.

This verse concludes the sentence begun in the previous verse. Peter, James, and John were given the privilege of seeing Jesus transformed from his earthly appearance as a man. While they watched, He was "transfigured" into his eternal, glorious appearance as the Son of God (Luke 9:28–36). As Peter writes in this verse, they also heard the very voice of God speaking from heaven, affirming Jesus as His Son.

For Peter, this is the most powerful confirmation of Jesus' message. Peter heard Jesus' teachings. He was there for most of Jesus' earthly miracles. So, when Peter speaks of being an "eyewitness," who is not making up stories (2 Peter 1:16), there are more things on his mind than this one event. However, the transfiguration was such a powerful experience that Peter sees it as the primary proof of all Jesus claimed to be.

Why were those three disciples allowed to see and hear such an amazing confirmation of Jesus' deity? Why were they there with Him on the holy mountain? Because Jesus wanted them to tell everyone about it after He was resurrected from the dead (Matthew 17:9). Peter continued to fulfill that mission right up until his final days on earth.

2 Peter 1:16–21 focuses on fulfilled prophecies about Christ. Peter points to his eyewitness experience of the transfiguration as confirmation those prophecies are true. As a result, Peter knows that those prophecies yet to be fulfilled will happen one day. This includes predictions of the return of Christ as judge and king, a point Peter will support in the coming two chapters.

Peter begins this brief letter to Christians by reminding them they are not missing anything they need to lead the good and godly lives they are called to. They must work, then, to add to their faith the goodness and qualities of Jesus. This requires effort, unlike eternal salvation which is not based on our work. Those who lack these positive attributes will live as unproductive and ineffective servants of God, nearly as blind as unbelievers and forgetting that their sins are forgiven. Peter, near death, insists that his eyewitness testimony about the transfiguration confirms that the prophecies about the Messiah are true. Jesus is coming back.

Peter begins his letter by urging his Christian readers not to be unproductive in their knowledge of Jesus. Rather, they should work to add all of Christ’s qualities to their lives. Then Peter begins to lay a foundation to support his attack on the false teachers in the church. He also introduces ideas supporting his declaration that the Day of the Lord is coming. Later chapters will use the background of this first chapter to support those arguments.

Apparently written shortly before his death in the AD 60s, 2 Peter may have been written to the same audience as 1 Peter, which was Christians scattered by persecution. Peter writes this letter to encourage Christians to live out the purpose of their lives in Christ. He warns readers to beware of teachers who claim to be believers, but present a false version of Christianity. And, Peter calls on all Christians to eagerly watch and wait for the return of the Lord.