27.10

2 Peter as a Testament (Box 27.3)

The New Testament letter known as 2 Peter contains the four key elements of a Jewish testament:

• A heroic person offers a précis of his teaching or ideas (1:3–11).
• The hero announces that his death is near (1:14).
• The hero urges readers of the testament to remember his message after he is gone (1:12–13, 15).
• The hero predicts what will happen after his death, describing circumstances that have become reality for readers of the testament, and offers advice for how his ideas will apply in those circumstances (2:1–3; 3:1–4).