Texts in Conversation
2 Peter echoes the Wisdom of Solomon, highlighting divine restraint and patience in judgment, describing the delay of punishment as an opportunity for genuine repentance. In Wisdom, even those deserving death are granted time to turn from their ways.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Wisdom of Solomon 12:20
Deuterocanon
18 But you, being sovereign in strength, judge in gentleness, and with great forbearance you govern us; for the power is yours whenever you desire it. 19 But you taught your people by such works as these, how the righteous must be kind. You made your sons have good hope, because you give repentance when men have sinned. 20 For if on those who were enemies of your servants and deserving of death, you took vengeance with so great deliberation and indulgence, giving them times and opportunities when they might escape from their wickedness, 21 with how great care you judged your sons, to whose fathers you gave oaths and covenants of good promises! 22 Therefore while you chasten us, you scourge our enemies ten thousand times more, so that we may ponder your goodness when we judge, and when we are judged may look for mercy.
Date: 50 BCE – 50 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
2 Peter 3:9
New Testament
7 But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, by being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. 8 Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your notice, that a single day is like a thousand years with the Lord and a thousand years are like a single day. 9 The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you because he does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; when it comes, the heavens will disappear with a horrific noise, and the celestial bodies will melt away in a blaze, and the earth and every deed done on it will be laid bare. 11 Since all these things are to melt away in this manner, what sort of people must you be, conducting your lives in holiness and godliness,
Date: 120–130 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Although it is certainly not overt, Wisdom of Solomon 12:20-22 may hint at the notion that the sage considers the Israelites to be the beneficiaries of collective reward ... Israel’s enemies receive God’s justice, although he spreads out his punishment so as to provide them with the possibility of saving themselves through repentance and reform. This delay in punishment to Israel’s enemies is a form of mercy, although the sinful nature of these people cannot prevent the inevitable fate of an unrepentant sinner. Likewise, the sage views the punishment experienced by Israel as a form of mercy even greater than the mercy shown to her enemies. God judges his people strictly (verse 21), yet the sage asserts that Israel can expect mercy (verse 22). The only intervening observation between the claim that God judges Israel strictly, which would normally seem to preclude mercy, and the claim that Israel can expect mercy is the recollection of promises made to Israel’s ancestors (verse 21). The divine remembrance of these promises as an act of intergenerational reward is not explicit, but it is reminiscent of the discussion of David and Solomon in Ben Sira’s Praise of the Ancestors ..."
Hilary Claire Kapfer, “Collective Accountability among the Sages of Ancient Israel” (diss., Harvard University, 2013), 179–180.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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