2 Peter and Jude: A Pastoral and Contextual Commentary

By Samson L. Uytanlet

2 Peter and Jude, though brief, are rich resources for understanding the call to live godly and holy lives. Importantly they provide essential discussion on false teachers, individuals whom many of us today narrowly define based on their unorthodox views or teachings. While there is truth in this definition, Dr. Uytanlet expands on this by skillfully expounding 2 Peter and Jude to show that our understanding of false teachers should be broadened to include lifestyle and character. In acknowledging these important areas, 2 Peter and Jude demonstrate that false teachers may hold to correct doctrines, but their loose morals and abuse of power make them false teachers. This key commentary highlights the importance of mining these Catholic Epistles further and expertly brings their messages to an Asian context.

The Asia Bible Commentary Series empowers Christian believers in Asia to read the Bible from within their respective contexts. Holistic in its approach to the text, each exposition of the biblical books combines exegesis and application. The goal is to strengthen the Body of Christ in Asia by providing a pastoral and contextual exposition of every book of the Bible.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Langham Global Library
• Release date: Aug 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9781839738494

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Versed in ancient Jewish literature, Dr. Uytanlet creatively proposes that 2 Peter and Jude be viewed as ancient Jewish documents. From the Asian context, his range of material selection is extraordinarily wide – extracting from classical China, traditional Filipino values, Buddhist folklore, Asian cults, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, India, and others. This broad Asian flavor makes the book a must-have for research libraries. Since the author writes with competency in academia and pastorate, this volume is invaluable for scholars, pastors, Bible teachers, and seminarians.

David Cheung, PhD

President Emeritus,

Asian Theological Seminary, Philippines

Uytanlet’s commentary is undeniably a first-rate work that is readable and engaging, even to non-scholars, and has an extremely profound understanding of the intricacies these two epistles present for contemporary Asian churches. This is a splendid ornament to the Asia Bible Commentary Series, offering a refreshing challenge to all who take the Greek text of these epistles seriously and how they can be relevantly appreciated in the diverse contexts of Asia. The presence of this commentary in any library collection is a must – preachers, students, laypeople, and scholars alike will be particularly grateful for this excellent work.

Edgar Battad Ebojo, PhD

Global Translation Adviser,

United Bible Societies

This commentary on 2 Peter and Jude is a beautiful tapestry of textual exposition and contextual explications. This commentary is based on solid research and situates the Scripture in its historical setting. It also elucidates the text in its social, cultural, philosophical, and religious contexts. Relevant Graeco-Roman and Jewish literature are also used to explicate the Scripture. Dr. Uytanlet masterfully uses pertinent contextual information from Asia to explain the passage to the Asian audience. His skillful use of context brings God’s word alive to the Asian world. As he anchors the commentary on a good exposition of the Scripture, he also brings it to the audience through the excellent use of ideas and concepts from Asia. This book will be significant reading for anyone who intends to read 2 Peter and Jude afresh.

Arren Bennet Lawrence, PhD

Regional Secretary,

ATA India

Samson Uytanlet’s commentary on 2 Peter and Jude is incisive and intellectual. Adept at bringing biblical scholarship into conversation with major Asian cultural ideas, his exposition opens up new vistas of understanding and application. Readers will be enriched by Uytanlet’s skillful and thorough treatment of words and theological themes in a canonical context. His commentary demonstrates how 2 Peter and Jude describe God’s calling and saving initiative to evoke faithful human response and agency within the dual contexts of one’s family and community and of sinful, dishonorable, and disruptive persons. This is very timely for us all. I am happy to sit at the feet of Uytanlet and I highly commend this praiseworthy commentary.

Fredrick J. Long, PhD

New Testament Professor,

Asbury Theological Seminary, Kentucky, USA

Asia Bible Commentary Series

2 PETER and JUDE

2 PETER and JUDE

Asia Bible Commentary Series

Samson L. Uytanlet

General Editor

Andrew B. Spurgeon

Old Testament Consulting Editors

Yohanna Katanacho, Joseph Shao, Havilah Dharamraj, Koowon Kim

New Testament Consulting Editors

Steve Chang, Andrew B. Spurgeon

© 2023 by Samson L. Uytanlet

Published 2023 by Langham Global Library

An imprint of Langham Publishing

www.langhampublishing.org

Langham Publishing and its imprints are a ministry of Langham Partnership

Langham Partnership

PO Box 296, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA3 9WZ, UK

www.langham.org

Published in partnership with Asia Theological Association

ATA

QCC PO Box 1454–1154, Manila, Philippines

www.ataasia.com

ISBNs:

978-1-83973-848-7 Print

978-1-83973-849-4 Epub

978-1-83973-851-7 PDF

Samson L. Uytanlet has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the Author of this work.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher or the Copyright Licensing Agency.

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Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations are from the New International Version, copyright © 2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 978-1-83973-848-7

Cover & Book Design: projectluz.com

Langham Partnership actively supports theological dialogue and an author’s right to publish but does not necessarily endorse the views and opinions set forth and works referenced within this publication or guarantee its technical and grammatical correctness. Langham Partnership does not accept any responsibility or liability to persons or property as a consequence of the reading, use, or interpretation of its published content.

Converted to eBook by EasyEPUB

In memory of

Florida Uytanlet DeGuia (1964–2020)

Contents

Cover

Series Preface

Author’s Preface

List of Abbreviations

2 Peter

Introduction

Commentary

Jude

Introduction

Commentary

Postscript

Selected Bibliography

About Asia Theological Association

About Langham Partnership

Endnotes

Series Preface

What’s unique about the Asia Bible Commentary series? It is a commentary series written especially for Asian Christians, which incorporates and addresses Asian concerns, cultures, and practices. As Asian scholars – either by nationality, passion, or calling – the authors identify with the biblical text, understand it culturally, and apply its principles in Asian contexts to strengthen the churches in Asia. Missiologists tell us that Christianity has shifted from being a Western majority religion to a South, Southeastern, and Eastern majority religion and that the church is growing at an unprecedented rate in these regions. This series meets the need for evangelical commentaries written specifically for an Asian audience.

This is not to say that Asian churches and Asian Christians do not want to partner with Western Christians and churches or that they spurn Western influences. A house divided cannot stand. The books in this series complement the existing Western commentaries by taking into consideration the cultural nuances familiar to the Eastern world so that the Eastern readership is not inundated with Western clichés and illustrations that they are unable to relate to and which may not be applicable to them.

The mission of this series is to produce resources that are biblical, pastoral, contextual, missional, and prophetic for pastors, Christian leaders, cross-cultural workers, and students in Asia. While using approved exegetical principles, the writers strive to be culturally relevant, offer practical applications, and provide clear explanations of the texts so that readers can grow in understanding and maturity in Christ, and so that Christian leaders can guide their congregations into maturity. May we be found faithful to this endeavor, and may God be glorified!

Andrew B. Spurgeon

General Editor

Author’s Preface

The canonical order placing both 2 Peter and Jude toward the end of the New Testament collection may give the wrong impression about the importance of these two writings. Throughout the history of NT studies, not only are there relatively fewer studies done for the Catholic Epistles compared to the Gospels and Pauline writings, but the Catholic Epistles are often considered less important theologically. The recent Tyndale House Greek New Testament has rearranged these writings and, following the order of some ancient manuscripts that contain the 27 NT books, placed the Catholic Epistles after the book of Acts and before the Pauline letters and Revelation. The United Bible Societies plan to do the same for the upcoming Nestle-Aland 29th edition and UBS 6th edition.[1] This may spur greater interest in studying the Catholic Epistles but, hopefully, not to the detriment of future studies on the Pauline corpus. Genuine advancement in our understanding of 2 Peter and Jude, however, can be achieved when we pick up our Bibles and begin reading these two works, ruminating on what they say and jotting down what we have learned from them.

While the issues discussed in each of the NT writings vary, they share some common threads that bind them together. First, they look back to a shared tradition, which is based on the teachings of Jesus and his interpretations of the Old Testament. Second, they include exhortations to live lives in accordance with the ethical teachings of our Lord. Third, they were all written as a pastoral response to the concerns believers of the time were facing; in many cases, these concerns include the threat of false teachers.

Second Peter and Jude are two NT books that address this issue of false teachers. While both works hint at the teachings being propagated by false teachers, much of the description in these letters does not deal with the teachings themselves but with the way of life of the teachers. This raises the question about the way we define false teachers today. While focus is frequently given to orthodoxy – which is a good thing – the character and lifestyle of such teachers are often overlooked. The letters of 2 Peter and Jude invite us to look at this issue from another vantage point. False teachers may sometimes teach the right doctrines but, as Jesus said, they are known by their fruit (Matt 12:33). Here is an implicit call for teachers to constantly examine not only whether their teachings are true and accurate but whether their lives are pleasing to the Lord and consistent with his requirements.

Aside from their discussion on the character of false teachers and the certainty of God’s judgment against such people, both 2 Peter and Jude call all believers to live godly lives. Second Peter, in particular, calls believers to live holy lives as they wait for the future judgment. God’s call to the original recipients of these two letters is also his call to believers throughout the world today. Both letters underscore three kinds of sins committed by the false teachers: illicit sexual practices, rejection and abuse of authority, and verbal abuses. These sins may be manifested in various forms, and the primary pastoral concern expressed in both 2 Peter and Jude is that believers should avoid following the example of the false teachers. The exhortations of these early Christian leaders continue to reverberate in the present times.

List of Abbreviations

2 Peter

Introduction

For more than half a century after its supposed discovery and publication by Jose E. Marco in 1914, the Code of Kalantiaw was accepted as a genuine pre-Hispanic document written by Rajah Kalantiaw in the fifteenth century. However, William Henry Scott, in his doctoral dissertation in 1965, showed that this document was forged.[1] Although it took some time before Scott’s proposal was accepted by historians, today Filipino historians generally agree that the document in question is not an authentic document from six centuries ago. Similarly, when Serapion, while he was the bishop of Antioch, learned that the Christians at Rhossus were disputing the authenticity of a certain Gospel of Peter, he allowed it to be read and examined; and it then transpired that this so-called Gospel had been falsely attributed to Peter and had in fact originated from a docetist named Marcianus (Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 6.12.2–6).

Like the Code of Kalantiaw and the Gospel of Peter, questions about the authorship of 2 Peter have been raised in earlier centuries as well as in recent scholarship. But 2