What Does 2 Peter 3:18 Mean?
But grow in favor, and in the knowing of our Lord and deliverer, Jesus the Anointed One. To him be the weight both now and unto the day of the age. Amen.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.THE KEY
Maturity does not outgrow favor; it grows within favor as knowing Jesus, the Deliverer, deepens.
THE MEANING
You keep growing within favor, and your knowing of Jesus deepens alongside that growth. His name carries deliverance, and Christ names the Anointed One: the one you know is deliverance in the nature of the Anointed One. His weight is present now and extends through the ages.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that maturity means becoming self-sufficient and no longer needing favor dissolves here: growth continues within favor.
THE ROOT
χάριτι
chariti
GROWS FROM
χαρι-
chari-
Favor freely given; gracious goodwill.
The verse places growth inside favor, as though maturity deepens your capacity to receive and live within what is given. The same word family can describe both freely granting favor and the gift that comes from it.
ALSO GROWS
charizomai: Grant freely; show favor; forgive.
χαρίζομαι
Favor can take the form of releasing what is owed, joining growth with the letting go of accusation.
charisma: A gift freely given.
χάρισμα
The branch shows that favor is not a wage for growth; it is a gift within which growth unfolds.
γνώσει
gnōsei
GROWS FROM
γνω-
gnō-
Know, perceive.
This is knowing the Lord, not merely collecting facts about him. Its word family keeps the emphasis on recognizing and knowing through encounter.
ALSO GROWS
ginōskō: Know, perceive.
γινώσκω
The related verb makes the verse’s knowledge active and relational: the Lord is known, not just described.
epignōsis: Knowledge, recognition.
ἐπίγνωσις
This related form appears where favor and peace are multiplied through knowing God and Jesus, connecting knowledge with a life that keeps expanding.
σωτῆρος
sōtēros
GROWS FROM
σω-/σωτ- (sō-/sōt-)
Deliver, preserve, bring safely through.
“deliverer” in this verse is sōtēros. The title stands beside Jesus’ name, which carries the nature of deliverance, while Christ names the Anointed One. Knowing him is knowing the one whose nature is to bring out.
ALSO GROWS
sōtēria: Deliverance.
σωτηρία
This related noun names the movement toward freedom that the title Saviour holds.
sōzō: Deliver; bring out.
σῴζω
The verb shows deliverance as an action: the Saviour brings a person through and out.
THE PATTERN
Scripture presents growth as ongoing increase that remains relational: before God, with people, and into Christ.
And the child Samuel walked and grew, and was good both with the LORD and also with men.And Jesus cut his way forward in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and humankind.but doing the truth in love, we may grow into him in all things, who is the head, the Anointed One.THE THREAD
Favor and wholeness be multiplied to you through the full knowing of God and of Jesus our Lord.The same pairing appears here: favor and knowing God and Jesus belong together. The earlier verse describes favor multiplying through that knowing; this verse describes growth continuing within favor and knowledge of the Lord.
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