Terrance Callan, «The Style of the Second Letter of Peter», Vol. 84 (2003) 202-224

Readers of the Second Letter of Peter have often commented on its style, usually in negative terms. This essay examines the style of 2 Pet more thoroughly than has been done heretofore, using Cicero’s discussion of style, and that of other ancient writers, as a framework. This examination shows that 2 Pet largely conforms to ancient canons of style and should be seen as an example of the grand Asian style. Recognition of this may help readers avoid unthinking assessment of 2 Pet’s style by standards not accepted by its author, and develop greater appreciation of its style in terms of its author’s own aims and standards.

I. Stylistic Ornament in 2 Peter

1. Vocabulary

        One indication that the author of 2 Pet has tried to embellish its vocabulary is that it contains 57 words not found elsewhere in the NT. According to Bauckham, 25 of these words are found in the Septuagint; another 17 are found in other contemporary Jewish literature; and one more is found in the Apostolic Fathers. Thus, these words are not unique in the context of Hellenistic Jewish and early Christian literature. However, most of the remaining fourteen words are very rare ¹⁷. These words are: a)kata/pastoj (2,14), a)sth/riktoj (2,14; 3,16), au)xmhro/j (1,19), e(ka/stote (1,15), e)mpaigmonh/ (3,3), e)ce/rama (2,22), kauso/w (3,10, 12), muwpa/zw (1,9), parafroni/a (2,16), pareisfe/rw (1,5), r(oizhdo/n (3,10), sthrigmo/j (3,17), tartaro/w (2,4), and yeudodida/skaloj (2,1).

        Three of these words (a)kata/pastoj, e)mpaigmonh/ and parafroni/a) are found nowhere else in Greek literature. However, a)kata/pastoj is probably a mistake for a)kata/paustoj which is found elsewhere ¹⁸. In addition to the other two words, found nowhere else, two more are found for the first time in 2 Pet — muwpa/zw and yeudodida/skaloj. These four words are likely to be new coinages, i.e., examples of Cicero’s second kind of embellishment of vocabulary. The remaining ten words (including a)kata/paustoj) are rare words, i.e., examples of Cicero’s first kind of ornamentation of vocabulary. For the most part they do not seem to be archaic. However, e(ka/stote, found only in Plato and earlier writers, may be an archaism.

        Kauso/w may be used metaphorically in 3,10.12. According to Bauckham, this verb is "elsewhere used only of fever by medical writers"¹⁹. In 2 Pet it is used for the heat that dissolves the universe. This is metaphorical if the author thinks of this heat as a kind of fever that brings about the dissolution of the universe. Watson has identified 25 additional metaphors²⁰. Watson has also identified the following tropes in 2 Pet: metonymy, antonomasia, synecdoche, hyperbole,