Grăbirea Parusiei în 2 Petru 3:12

Hastening the Parousia in 2 Peter 3:12

Abstract

This is a paper about the Greek expression προσδοκῶντας καὶ σπεύδοντας τὴν παρουσίαν τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμέρας in 2 Pet 3:12. There are basically three renditions of the participle σπεύδοντας: “hastening towards,” “desiring,” and “hastening.” The last one came to prominence in virtually all the modern translations. NT Greek lexicons wave between the three options, but the more famous (e.g., BDAG, Louw-Nida) favor the transitive translation (“hastening”). This brings out the questions of the present research: (1) is σπεύδοντας to be translated transitively, (2) to what extent can the church determine (hasten or delay) the coming of the day of God, (3) is the day of God a fixed or a flexible event, and (4) is the day of God conditional? Modern translations seem correct in rendering σπεύδοντας as “hastening” with the day of God as object. However, this does not lead to the conclusion that this translation means what it infers. The article argues for an interplay between the transitive and intransitive meanings at the level of pragmatic discourse.