# 'To' or 'By' in 2 Peter 1:3?



## KMK (Mar 19, 2015)

2 Peter 1:3 KJV:



> According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us *to* glory and virtue:



Some commentators, like Calvin, say that it can be translated as either 'by glory and virtue' or 'to glory and virtue.' Others say, as Bauckham for example, "The dative can hardly give the sense "called to"...but should be taken as instrumental."

Does anyone (on PB) have any insight into why the KJV translators chose 'to' instead of 'by'?


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## Ask Mr. Religion (Mar 19, 2015)

I will have to dig into some old docs I have, but I seem to recall the matter rests on the construction of the following verse. Again, relying upon memory, I think some translators even start a new sentence with verse 4. Verse 4 explicates the causes of these great benefits. The Geneva Bible translates the 2 Peter 1:3 (KJV) "to" as "unto" as in the Greek _dia _"through" or "owing to", or "_through recognition of_" (BDAG).


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## KMK (Mar 19, 2015)

Ask Mr. Religion said:


> I will have to dig into some old docs I have, but I seem to recall the matter rests on the construction of the following verse.



The grammar is complicated and people are all over the map with their punctuation. That might have something to do with it. Barnes hints that it might have to do with the word 'virtue'.



> The objection which any one feels to this rendering [by] arises solely from the word virtue, from the fact that we are not accustomed to apply that word to God.


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