Artists for Israel International · Online Exhibit

The Book of 2 Kefa (Peter) & Yiddishkait Iggeret Kefa HaSheniyah — אִגֶּרֶת כֵּיפָא הַשְּׁנִיָּה

Kefa's second letter, written as his petirah drew near — a call to grow from emunah to ahavah through the sulam of the middot, the eyewitness testimony of the Har HaKodesh and the sure word of nevu'ah, a sober warning against nevi'ei sheker who follow the derech of Bilaam, and a watchful hope for the Yom Adonoi that comes as a ganev balailah, ushering in Shomayim Chadashim v'Aretz Chadashah — read through its Yiddishkait vocabulary across three chapters, then set beside the Greek NT interlinear itself.

Soaked in Tanakh: Four Threads

2 Kefa is Kefa's farewell letter, written knowing his petirah (departure) was near, and it moves from the ladder of the middot to a sharp warning against nevi'ei sheker (false prophets) drawn straight from the mishpatim of the olam hakadmon, and finally to a watchful tikvah for the Yom Adonoi. Kefa grounds his authority not in cleverly devised myths but in what his own eynayim saw on the Har HaKodesh, and he insists that the same koach that made the churban of the mabul and of Sodom v'Amorah certain will make the Yom Adonoi certain also — even as it tarries for the sake of teshuvah.

Chelek b'Teva Elohit: The Ladder of the Middot

  • Through the great and precious promises of God, believers are made chelek b'Teva HaElohit ([regenerate] deveykus participants with the life of the teva haelohi (divine nature, cf Yn 1:13]), having escaped the corruption of the olam through ta'avah (1:3-4).
  • A sulam (ladder) of middot is laid out: from emunah to virtue, to da'as, to self-control, to savlanut, to chassidut, to ahavat achim, to ahavah itself (1:5-7).
  • Be diligent to make your kri'ah v'bechirah (calling and election) sure, that entrance be richly supplied into the everlasting Malchut of Moshi'einu Yeshua HaMoshiach (1:10-11).

Ed Ra'yah al Har HaKodesh: Eyewitness & the Sure Word

  • Kefa did not follow cleverly devised myths but was an ed ra'yah (eyewitness) of Moshiach's majesty, hearing the Voice from Shomayim on the Har HaKodesh (1:16-18).
  • The prophetic word is made more sure still, a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in the lev (1:19).
  • No nevu'ah of Scripture came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Ruach HaKodesh (1:20-21).

Nevi'ei Sheker: Mishpat HaKadmonim

  • False teachers will rise as false nevi'im once rose, denying the Adon who bought them, exploiting the kehillah with deceptive words for betza (2:1-3).
  • God did not spare the malachim who sinned, nor the olam hakadmon in the mabul, nor Sodom v'Amorah — yet He rescued Noach and Lot, and knows how to deliver the godly out of nisayon (2:4-9).
  • The false teachers are likened to the navi Bilaam ben Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness until a dumb donkey rebuked his madness (2:15-16).

Yom Adonoi KeGanav: Scoffers & Shomayim Chadashim

  • Letzim (scoffers) will come in the acharit hayamim, asking, "Where is the promise of His coming?" forgetting that the olam once perished by mayim (3:3-6).
  • With Adonoi one day is as a thousand years; He is not slow but savlan (patient), not willing that any perish but that all come to teshuvah (3:8-9).
  • The Yom Adonoi will come like a ganev balailah (thief in the night); believers wait instead for Shomayim Chadashim v'Aretz Chadashah in which tzedek dwells (3:10-13).

Reading Key — The Ladder of Virtue, the False Prophet's Path & the Thief in the Night

This exhibit reads 2 Kefa as Kefa's tzava'ah (farewell testimony): a sulam of middot climbed by every believer, an eyewitness ed of the Har HaKodesh anchoring the sure dvar nevu'ah, a sober mishpat pronounced on nevi'ei sheker who walk the derech of Bilaam, and a watchful savlanut for the Yom Adonoi that ends not in churban but in Shomayim Chadashim.

➤ Chelek b'Teva Elohit (ch. 1) — Divine nature, the sulam of the middot, the sure kri'ah u'vechirah, the Har HaKodesh, and the prophetic word made more sure.

➤ Nevi'ei Sheker (ch. 2) — False teachers rising like the nevi'ei sheker of old, the malachim, the mabul, Sodom v'Amorah, and the derech of Bilaam.

➤ Yom Adonoi KeGanav (ch. 3) — Letzim in the acharit hayamim, one day as a thousand years, the ganav balailah, and Shomayim Chadashim v'Aretz Chadashah.

I. Chelek b'Teva Elohit [regenerate] deveykus participants with the life of the teva haelohi (divine nature, cf Yn 1:13], the Ladder of Virtue & the Sure Word (ch. 1)

  1. 1Greeting — Shimon Kefa, eved and sholi'ach of Yeshua HaMoshiach, to those who have obtained like precious emunah through the tzedek of Eloheinu v'Moshi'einu Yeshua HaMoshiach; chen and shalom multiplied through da'as of God 2Pe 1:1-2A emunah yekarah (precious faith) held in common with the sholichim themselves, greeted with chen and shalom.
  2. 2His Divine power has given us all things pertaining to chayim and chassidut, that through His great and precious promises we might become chelek b'Teva HaElohit, having escaped the corruption in the olam through ta'avah 2Pe 1:3-4Teva Elohit TypologyMade chelek b'Teva HaElohit (sharers, that is, [regenerate] deveykus participants with the life of the teva haelohi (divine nature, cf Yn 1:13]) through havtachot yekarot, escaping the olam's corruption at its root.
  3. 3Giving all diligence, add to your emunah virtue, to virtue da'as, to da'as self-control, to self-control savlanut, to savlanut chassidut, to chassidut ahavat achim, to ahavat achim ahavah 2Pe 1:5-7A sulam (ladder) of seven middot climbed rung by rung, ending not in da'as alone but in ahavah.
  4. 4If these things are yours and abound, they keep you from being idle or unfruitful in the da'as of Moshiach; whoever lacks them is blind, shortsighted, forgetting the cleansing from his former chata'im 2Pe 1:8-9A neshamah without the middot described as ivver (blind), having forgotten its own taharah (cleansing).
  5. 5Be diligent to make your kri'ah and bechirah sure; if you do these things you will never stumble, and entrance will be richly supplied into the everlasting Malchut of Adoneinu v'Moshi'einu Yeshua HaMoshiach 2Pe 1:10-11A kri'ah u'vechirah (calling and election) made certain not by decree alone but by a lived-out sulam of middot.
  6. 6I will always remind you of these things, though you know them and are established in the emes; I think it right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up, knowing my petirah is at hand, as Adoneinu Yeshua HaMoshiach showed me 2Pe 1:12-15Kefa's own petirah (departure) foreseen, spurring one last effort at chizuk before it comes.
  7. 7We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known the koach and coming of Moshiach, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty; He received honor and kavod from Elohim HaAv when the Voice came, "This is My Beloved Son" — we heard this Voice from Shomayim on the Har HaKodesh 2Pe 1:16-18Har HaKodesh TypologyAn ed ra'yah (eyewitness) testimony from the Har HaKodesh itself, the Bat Kol heard, not a fable invented.
  8. 8We have the dvar nevu'ah made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your levavot 2Pe 1:19The dvar nevu'ah (prophetic word) held as a ner (lamp) in choshech until the kochav hashachar itself rises.
  9. 9No nevu'ah of Scripture is of private interpretation, for nevu'ah never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Ruach HaKodesh 2Pe 1:20-21Nevi'im who spoke nis'im al yedei Ruach HaKodesh (borne along by the Holy Spirit), never by their own ratzon.

II. Nevi'ei Sheker False Teachers & the Judgment of the Ancient World (ch. 2)

  1. 10There were nevi'ei sheker among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, secretly bringing in destructive heresies, denying even the Adon who bought them, bringing swift churban on themselves 2Pe 2:1-3Nevi'ei sheker rising within the kehillah itself, exploiting talmidim through devarim of betza and mirmah.
  2. 11God did not spare the malachim who sinned but cast them into Gehinnom; He did not spare the olam hakadmon, but preserved Noach, a preacher of tzedek, bringing the mabul on an olam of resha'im 2Pe 2:4-5Mabul v'Noach TypologyEven malachim unspared, and the mabul loosed on the olam hakadmon — Noach alone kept as makriz tzedek (a preacher of righteousness).
  3. 12He turned the cities of Sodom and Amorah to ashes, condemning them to churban, making them a mofet to those who afterward would live in resha; He delivered righteous Lot, oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked 2Pe 2:6-9Sodom v'Amorah TypologySodom v'Amorah left as a mofet of churban, while Lot's tormented, righteous neshamah was still delivered by Adonoi.
  4. 13Adonoi knows how to deliver the godly out of nisayon and to reserve the unjust under onesh for the yom hamishpat, especially those who walk in the ta'avah of the flesh and despise authority 2Pe 2:9-10A rachaman Elohim who delivers the chassidim out of nisayon while reserving the resha'im for yom hamishpat.
  5. 14Presumptuous and self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, whereas malachim, greater in koach, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before Adonoi 2Pe 2:10-11A ga'avah so brazen it exceeds even the restraint shown by the malachim themselves.
  6. 15Like brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, they speak evil of what they do not understand and will perish in their own corruption, reveling even while feasting among you, hearts trained in covetous practices — cursed children 2Pe 2:12-14Beheimot without da'as, their own kilayon (destruction) built into the very ta'avah they chase.
  7. 16They have forsaken the yashar derech and gone astray, following the derech of Bilaam ben Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness, but was rebuked — a dumb donkey speaking with a man's voice restrained the madness of the navi 2Pe 2:15-16Bilaam TypologyThe derech Bilaam (way of Balaam) — sechar avlah (wages of wrongdoing) loved until even a chamor (donkey) had to rebuke the navi's madness.
  8. 17These are wells without mayim, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom the blackness of choshech is reserved forever; they speak great swelling words of emptiness, alluring through the ta'avot of the flesh those newly escaped from error 2Pe 2:17-19Be'erot without mayim, promising cheirut while themselves remaining avdei kilayon (slaves of corruption).
  9. 18If after escaping the tum'ah of the olam through da'as of Adoneinu and Moshi'einu, they are again entangled and overcome, the latter end is worse than the beginning — better not to have known the derech of tzedek than to turn from the mitzvah kedoshah delivered to them 2Pe 2:20-22The old mashal proven true again: "a dog returns to its vomit," and a washed sow to her wallowing in the mire.

III. Yom Adonoi KeGanav Scoffers, the Day of the Lord & New Heavens (ch. 3)

  1. 19Beloved, I write this second letter, stirring up your pure minds by way of reminder, that you may remember the words spoken before by the holy nevi'im and the mitzvah of the sholichim of Adoneinu and Moshi'a 2Pe 3:1-2A second iggeret written as zikaron (remembrance), binding the nevi'im and the sholichim's mitzvah into one testimony.
  2. 20Know first that letzim will come in the acharit hayamim, walking after their own ta'avot, saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the avot fell asleep, all things continue as from the beginning of Bereshit" 2Pe 3:3-4Letzim (scoffers) arising in the acharit hayamim, mocking the very idea that the olam could still change.
  3. 21They deliberately forget that by the dvar Elohim the heavens existed of old, and the earth standing out of mayim and in mayim, by which the olam that then existed perished, flooded with mayim; the heavens and earth now are reserved for eish unto the yom hamishpat 2Pe 3:5-7Olam shel Mayim TypologyThe forgotten mabul held up again — proof that the dvar Elohim which drowned an olam can just as surely reserve this one for eish.
  4. 22Beloved, do not forget this: with Adonoi one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day; Adonoi is not slack concerning His promise, but is savlan toward us, not willing that any perish but that all come to teshuvah 2Pe 3:8-9The tarrying itself revealed as savlanut (patience) — every extra day, room made for teshuvah.
  5. 23The Yom Adonoi will come like a ganav balailah, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, the elements will melt with fervent heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up 2Pe 3:10Ganav BaLailah TypologyThe Yom Adonoi pictured as a ganav balailah (thief in the night) — sudden, unannounced, total.
  6. 24Since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and chassidut, looking for and hastening the coming of the Yom Elohim 2Pe 3:11-12A dissolving olam turned into a summons to kedushah now, not a reason for despair.
  7. 25Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for Shomayim Chadashim v'Aretz Chadashah in which tzedek dwells 2Pe 3:13Beyond the churban, Shomayim Chadashim v'Aretz Chadashah — a home where tzedek itself resides, not merely visits.
  8. 26Beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in shalom, without spot and blameless; count the savlanut of Adoneinu as yeshuah, as our beloved brother Sha'ul also wrote, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught twist to their own destruction, as they do the rest of the Kitvei HaKodesh 2Pe 3:14-16Sha'ul's own iggerot placed alongside the Kitvei HaKodesh (Holy Scriptures) — precious, but not safe from twisting by the untaught.
  9. 27You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you fall from your own steadfastness, led away by the error of the wicked; but grow in chen and in the da'as of Adoneinu and Moshi'einu Yeshua HaMoshiach. To Him be kavod both now and l'olam va'ed. Amen 2Pe 3:17-18A closing charge to gedelu b'chen (grow in grace) — the sulam of chapter one taken up once more, all the way to l'olam va'ed.

Read the Greek Text Itself

All three chapters of 2 Kefa, word for word, at the AFII Greek NT interlinear.

2Pe chp 1 chp 2 chp 3