Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 2 Peter 1:18

"and this voice we [ourselves] heard borne out of heaven, when we were with him in the holy mount." — 2 Peter 1:18 (ASV)

These verses explain how and when Peter was an eyewitness of the majesty of Jesus Christ. God the Father gave honor and glory to Jesus. The “honor” is the public acknowledgment of his sonship (cf. Psalms 2:6–7; Matthew 3:17), and the “glory” is the transfiguration of the humiliated Son into his glorious splendor. On the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus’ face “shone like the sun,” his clothes “became as white as the light” (Matthew 17:1–9; Mark 9:2–10), and a unique voice sounded from a bright cloud that covered them and said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” The scene showed Jesus as Messiah and was a preview of his glory as King. Peter emphatically says, “We [i.e., Peter, James, and John] heard this voice that came from heaven,” while they were with Jesus “on the sacred mountain.” It was the Transfiguration that transformed the mountain from a common one into a “sacred” (GK 41) one. As for the place of the Transfiguration, Mount Hermon (over nine thousand feet high and near Caesarea Philippi, where the event that preceded the Transfiguration took place) is the most likely choice (see comment on Mk 9:2).