Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 2 Peter 1:20

"knowing this first, that no prophecy of scripture is of private interpretation." — 2 Peter 1:20 (ASV)

Peter continues his exhortation with the expression “above all.” The primary thing to be known is that the prophetic Scriptures did not come into being through the prophet’s “own interpretation [GK 2146]” (lit., “of one’s own unloosing”).

What exactly does Peter mean by this expression? There are three major views.

(1) No prophecy is to be interpreted by any individual in an arbitrary way—so either the church must interpret prophecy, the interpretation must be that intended by the Holy Spirit, or the individual’s interpretation is not to be “private” but according to the analogy of faith.

(2) “No prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation”—i.e., no prophecy originated through the interpretation of the prophet himself.

(3) The word translated “interpretation” does not mean interpretation but refers to the origination of Scripture.

The sense of the verse is probably that of the first view. This fits well with the problem of the false teachers’ distorting Paul’s writings and other Scripture mentioned at 3:16, and the next verse clarifies that the prophecy originated with the Holy Spirit.