In explaining the Scripture's true origin and nature, Peter writes, "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:20-21).

This important passage is just as rich as our main text from 2 Timothy, and it would take just as much attention to do it justice. But as this is something of a digression, all the fascinating details will have to await another time. Right now we will take time to extract not much more than what is needed to address the issue mentioned above – that is, the role of the human writers in the Scripture's formation, or the relationship between the human writers and divine inspiration.

To begin, Peter refers to the "prophecy of Scripture." He could be talking about specific portions of the Old Testament that are narrowly considered prophecies. Even if this is the case, it would still include much more of the Bible than what many people realize, since prophecies do not refer to only predictions, but the term refers to inspired utterances and writings by which God communicates through his agents, whether or not these utterances and writings are predictive in content.

However, it is likely that Peter has in mind something broader, so that by the expression he intends to place emphasis upon the prophetic nature of Scripture (as in "the prophetic word" in v. 19, NASB), that it is a revelation from God. This would not be surprising given the context, since he is combating false teachers and prophets that claim to speak the truth, when they could offer only their own opinions and speculations.

Even if the narrow view is true – although the opposite appears to be the case – the application cannot be limited to only certain portions of Scripture. We have established from Paul that all Scripture is inspired, and Peter is here telling us something about how inspiration occurred; therefore, the principle must apply to all of Scripture. Indeed, although Peter is writing against "false teachers" and "false prophets" (2:1), he does not say, "no true prophecy came about by the prophet's own interpretation," but "no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation." His focus is on the written product.

(to be continued)

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