and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue just as they were from the beginning of creation.”
Parallel translations
- WEB and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”
- KJV And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
- BSB “Where is the promise of His coming?” they will ask. “Ever since our fathers fell asleep, everything continues as it has from the beginning of creation.”
- NKJV and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”
- NLT They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The mockers ask where the promise of Christ's coming is, since everything continues unchanged since creation. It matters because it voices the skeptical denial of Christ's return that believers must answer.
Overview
The scoffers argue from apparent uniformity: nothing has changed since the fathers died, so why expect Christ's return? Their reasoning assumes the world simply carries on by natural processes without divine intervention. Peter will refute this by pointing to creation and the flood as evidence of God's decisive acts in history.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Jer 17:15Behold, they tell me, “Where is Yahweh’s word? Let it be fulfilled now.”
- Mal 2:17You have wearied Yahweh with your words. Yet you say, ‘How have we wearied him?’ In that you say, ‘Everyone who does evil is good in Yahweh’s sight, and he delights in them;’ or ‘Where is the God of justice?’
- Jer 5:12–13They have denied Yahweh, and said, “It is not he; neither shall evil come on us; neither shall we see sword nor famine.
- Luke 12:45But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My lord delays his coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken,
- Isa 5:18–19Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, and wickedness as with cart rope;
- Eccl 8:11Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
- Matt 24:48But if that evil servant should say in his heart, ‘My lord is delaying his coming,’
- Gen 19:14Lot went out, and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters, and said, “Get up! Get out of this place, for Yahweh will destroy the city.” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be joking.
- Ezek 12:22–27“Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel, saying, ‘The days are prolonged, and every vision fails?’
- 1 Th 2:19For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Isn’t it even you, before our Lord Jesus at his coming?
- Mark 13:19For in those days there will be oppression, such as there has not been the like from the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will be.
- Eccl 1:9That which has been is that which shall be; and that which has been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
- Rev 3:14“To the angel of the assembly in Laodicea write: “The Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Head of God’s creation, says these things:
- Ezek 11:3who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses. This is the cauldron, and we are the meat.’
- Mark 10:6But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female.
- Matt 24:28For wherever the carcass is, there is where the vultures gather together.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The sure word of the prophets and the promise of the coming day of the Lord anchor the believer in the knowledge of 'our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.'
How 2 Peter 3:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.