2 Peter 1:21
WH NU ὑπὸ πνεύματος ἁγίου φερόμενοι ἐλάλησαν ἀπὸ θεοῦ ἄνθρωποι
“men, being carried along by the Holy Spirit, spoke from God”
𝔓72 B P 1739 syr
nkjvmg rsv nrsv esv nasb niv tniv neb reb njb nab nlt hcsb net
variant 1/TR υπο πνευματος αγιου φερομενοι ελαλησαν αγιοι
θεου ανθρωποι
“holy men of God spoke as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit”
א
A Ψ 33 Maj syrh
kjv nkjv rsvmg nrsvmg
variant 2 υπο
πνευματος αγιου φερομενοι ελαλησαν απο θεου αγιοι ανθρωποι
“holy men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy
Spirit”
C (81)
None
The WH NU reading has the earliest evidence (𝔓72 B) and diverse testimony. Furthermore, it is the most challenging yet
most enlightening of the readings. The point it makes is that the prophetic
Scripture did not originate with any person’s will but originated from God.
These are the keywords: απο
θεου (“from God”). Men
spoke under the guiding influence of the Holy Spirit; as they did so, their
words came from God. This is the point of the previous verse, when it says that
no prophetic writing ever originated with any man, nor was it interpreted by the
prophets themselves as they delivered the message. This verse substantiates
this notion of divine origin. As such, the first variant misses the mark. It is
not important to note that the men were “holy” (though they were); it is
important to emphasize that the Scriptures, though spoken and written by man,
came from God. The second variant, though a conflation of the other two
readings, preserves the idea that the prophetic Scripture originates from God.
(Philip W. Comfort, New Testament Text and Translation Commentary:
Commentary on the Variant Readings of the Ancient New Testament Manuscripts and
How They Relate to the Major English Translations [Carol Stream, Ill.:
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2008], 760)
