Albert Barnes Commentary 2 Peter 3:2

"that ye should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and the commandments of the Lord and Saviour through your apostles:" — 2 Peter 3:2 (ASV)

That ye may be mindful of the words. He means the doctrines, the truths, the prophetic statements. Jude 1:18 states that it had been foretold by the apostles that in the last days there would be scoffers. Peter refers to the instructions of the apostles and prophets in general, though he evidently intended his remarks to focus particularly on the fact that there would be scoffers.

Which were spoken before by the holy prophets. These are the predictions of the prophets before the coming of the Savior, concerning His character and work. Peter had previously appealed to them (2 Peter 1:19–21) as furnishing important evidence regarding the truth of the Christian religion and valuable instruction concerning its nature.

See Notes on that passage.

Many of the most important doctrines concerning the kingdom of the Messiah are stated as clearly in the Old Testament as in the New (compare Isaiah 53), and the prophecies therefore deserve to be studied as an important part of Divine revelation.

It should be added here, however, that when Peter wrote, there was a special reason why he referred to the prophets: the canon of the New Testament was not then completed, and he could not appeal to it.

He could and did appeal to some parts of the writings of Paul (2 Peter 3:15–16), but probably only a very small part of what is now the New Testament was known to those to whom this epistle was addressed.

And of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior. By this, they are shown to be equally entitled with the prophets to state and enforce the doctrines and duties of religion. It may be observed that no one would have used this language unless he regarded himself and his fellow apostles as inspired and on a level with the prophets.