2nd Peter Chapter 1 verse 7 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 7. - And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. The word for "brotherly kindness" (φιλαδελφία) is another link between the two Epistles (see 1 Peter 1:22; 1 Peter 3:8). "In your godliness," St. Peter says, "ye must develop brotherly kindness, the unfeigned love of the brethren;" for "every one that loveth him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him" (1 John 5:1). And as God is loving unto every man, and "maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good," so Christians, who are taught to be followers (imitators) of God (Ephesians 5:1), must learn in the exercise of love toward the brethren that larger love which embraces all men in an ever-widening circle (comp. 1 Thessalonians 3:12). Thus love, the greatest of all Christian graces (1 Corinthians 13:13), is the climax in St. Peter's list. Out of faith, the root, spring the seven fair fruits of holiness, of which holy love is the fairest and the sweetest (comp. Ignatius, 'Ad Ephes.,' 14. Ἀρχὴ μὲν πίστις, τέλος δὲ ἀγάπη). No grace can remain alone; each grace, as it is gradually formed in the soul, tends to develop and strengthen others; all graces meet in that highest grace of charity, without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before God. Bengel says well, "Praeseus quisque gradus subsequentem parit et facilem reddit, subsequens priorem temperat ac perficit."

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(7) And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.--And in your godliness [supply] love of the brethren, and in your love of the brethren, charity. In other words, your godliness must not be selfish and solitary, but social and Christian; for he who loveth God must love his brother also (1John 4:20-21). And though "charity begins at home" with "them who are of the household of faith," it must not end there, but reach out to all men, whether Christians or not. (Comp. 1Thessalonians 3:12; Galatians 6:10.) The translation "brotherly kindness" is a little to be regretted; it obscures the exact meaning of the Word, and also the fact that the very same word is used in 1Peter 1:22. "Love of the brethren" means love of Christians as such, as members of the same great family, as God's adopted children. "Charity" means love of men as such, as creatures made in the likeness of God, as souls for which Christ died. The word for "charity" is emphatically Christian love; not mere natural benevolence.Each in this noble chain of virtues prepares the way for the next, and is supplemented and perfected by it. It begins with faith, and it ends (like St. Paul's list of virtues, Colossians 3:12-14) with charity. But we must not insist too strongly upon the order in the series, as being either logically or chronologically necessary. It is a natural order that is here given, but not the only one. These three verses are the First Epistle condensed. Each one of the virtues mentioned here is represented quite distinctly in 1 Peter: virtue, 1Peter 1:13; knowledge, 1Peter 3:15; self-control, 1Peter 1:14; 1Peter 2:11; patience, 1Peter 1:6; 1Peter 2:21; godliness, 1Peter 1:15-16; 1Peter 3:4; love of the brethren, 1Peter 1:22; 1Peter 3:8; charity, 1Peter 4:8. The list of virtues given in the Epistle of Barnabas 2 runs thus:--Faith, fear, patience, long - suffering, temperance, wisdom, prudence, science, knowledge. The very slight amount of similarity affords no ground for supposing that the writer was acquainted with 2 Peter. . . .