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Thursday, July 10th, 2025
the Week of Proper 9 / Ordinary 14
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Bible in Basic English

2 Peter 3:6

And that the world which then was came to an end through the overflowing of the waters.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Geology;   The Topic Concordance - Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ;   Creation;   Day of the Lord;   Earth;   Heaven/the Heavens;   Perishing;   World;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Deluge, the;   Earth, the;   Water;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Creation;   Deluge;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Flood;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Flood, the;   Promise;   Word;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Conflagration;   Faithfulness of God;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Noah;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Peter, the Epistles of;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Second Coming, the;   2 Peter;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Parousia;   Peter, Second Epistle of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Eschatology;   Flood ;   Fulfilment;   Peter Epistles of;   Stoics ;   World;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Flood, the;   Noah ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Flood;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Heavens, New (and Earth, New);   Jude, the Epistle of;   Peter, the Second Epistle of;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Through these the world of that time perished when it was flooded.
King James Version (1611)
Whereby the world that then was, being ouerflowed with water, perished.
King James Version
Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
English Standard Version
and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.
New American Standard Bible
through which the world at that time was destroyed by being flooded with water.
New Century Version
Then the world was flooded and destroyed with water.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.
Berean Standard Bible
through which the world of that time perished in the flood.
Contemporary English Version
Later it was destroyed by the waters of a mighty flood.
Complete Jewish Bible
and that by means of these things the world of that time was flooded with water and destroyed.
Darby Translation
through which [waters] the then world, deluged with water, perished.
Easy-to-Read Version
Then the world was flooded and destroyed with water.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Wherefore the worlde that then was, perished, ouerflowed with the water.
George Lamsa Translation
And those men, because of whose deeds the world of that time was overflowed with water, perished:
Good News Translation
and it was also by water, the water of the flood, that the old world was destroyed.
Lexham English Bible
by means of which things the world that existed at that time was destroyed by being inundated with water.
Literal Translation
through which the world which then was, being flooded by water, perished.
Amplified Bible
through which the world at that time was destroyed by being flooded with water.
American Standard Version
by which means the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
Hebrew Names Version
by which means the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.
International Standard Version
by which the world at that time was deluged with water and destroyed.Genesis 7:11,21-23; 2 Peter 2:5;">[xr]
Etheridge Translation
those (waters) by which the world that then was, again (was covered) with waters, and perished.
Murdock Translation
6 [And], by means of these [waters], the world which then was, [being submerged] again perished in the waters [fn] {And}
Bishop's Bible (1568)
By the which thinges the world that then was, perisshed, beyng then ouerrunne with water.
English Revised Version
by which means the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
World English Bible
by which means the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Thro' which the world that then was, being overflowed with water perished.
Weymouth's New Testament
and that, by means of these, the then existing race of men was overwhelmed with water and perished.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
bi which that ilke world clensid, thanne bi watir perischide.
Update Bible Version
by which means the world that then was, being overflowed in water, perished:
Webster's Bible Translation
By which the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
New English Translation
Through these things the world existing at that time was destroyed when it was deluged with water.
New King James Version
by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.
New Living Translation
Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood.
New Life Bible
Long ago the earth was covered with water and it was destroyed.
New Revised Standard
through which the world of that time was deluged with water and perished.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
By which means, the world that then was, with water being flooded, perished;
Douay-Rheims Bible
Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.
Revised Standard Version
through which the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
by the which thinges the worlde yt then was perisshed over flowen wt the water.
Young's Literal Translation
through which the then world, by water having been deluged, was destroyed;
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
yet was the worlde at that tyme destroyed by the same with the floude.
Mace New Testament (1729)
whence the former world was destroyed by an inundation.
Simplified Cowboy Version
and it was this same water that God used to destroy the land in the great flood.

Contextual Overview

3 Having first of all the knowledge that in the last days there will be men who, ruled by their evil desires, will make sport of holy things, 4 Saying, Where is the hope of his coming? From the death of the fathers till now everything has gone on as it was from the making of the world. 5 But in taking this view they put out of their minds the memory that in the old days there was a heaven, and an earth lifted out of the water and circled by water, by the word of God; 6 And that the world which then was came to an end through the overflowing of the waters. 7 But the present heaven and the present earth have been kept for destruction by fire, which is waiting for them on the day of the judging and destruction of evil men.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

2 Peter 2:5, Genesis 7:10-23, Genesis 9:15, Job 12:15, Matthew 24:38, Matthew 24:39, Luke 17:27

Reciprocal: Genesis 6:13 - the earth Genesis 7:19 - and all the high hills Genesis 7:23 - and Noah Genesis 8:21 - as I Proverbs 21:12 - overthroweth Isaiah 28:17 - and the waters Nahum 1:8 - with Matthew 24:37 - General Luke 17:26 - as Hebrews 11:7 - warned

Cross-References

Genesis 3:1
Now the snake was wiser than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God truly said that you may not take of the fruit of any tree in the garden?
Genesis 3:2
And the woman said, We may take of the fruit of the trees in the garden:
Genesis 3:12
And the man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me the fruit of the tree and I took it.
Genesis 3:14
And the Lord God said to the snake, Because you have done this you are cursed more than all cattle and every beast of the field; you will go flat on the earth, and dust will be your food all the days of your life:
Genesis 3:15
And there will be war between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed: by him will your head be crushed and by you his foot will be wounded.
Genesis 3:17
And to Adam he said, Because you gave ear to the voice of your wife and took of the fruit of the tree which I said you were not to take, the earth is cursed on your account; in pain you will get your food from it all your life.
Genesis 3:19
With the hard work of your hands you will get your bread till you go back to the earth from which you were taken: for dust you are and to the dust you will go back.
Genesis 6:2
The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair; and they took wives for themselves from those who were pleasing to them.
Genesis 39:7
And after a time, his master's wife, looking on Joseph with desire, said to him, Be my lover.
Joshua 7:21
When I saw among their goods a fair robe of Babylon and two hundred shekels of silver, and a mass of gold, fifty shekels in weight, I was overcome by desire and took them; and they are put away in the earth in my tent, and the silver is under it.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Whereby the world that then was,.... The old world, as it is called in 2 Peter 2:5; and as the Ethiopic version here renders it; the world before the flood, that had stood from the creation 1656 years:

being overflowed with water; by the windows of heaven being opened, and the waters over the earth poured down upon it; and by the fountains of the great deep being broken up in it; thus by these waters from above and below, a general inundation was brought upon it; for that the deluge was universal is clear from hence, and from the account by Moses; for as the earth was filled with violence, and all flesh had corrupted its way, God threatened a general destruction, and which was brought by a flood, which overflowed the whole earth; for all the hills that were under the whole heaven were covered with it, and everything that had life in the dry land died, and every living substance was destroyed that was upon the face of the ground; see Genesis 6:11; and hence it follows, that hereby the then world

perished; not as to the substance of it, whatever alteration there might be in its form and position; but as to the inhabitants of it; for all creatures, men and cattle, and the creeping things, and fowls of the heaven, were destroyed, excepting Noah and his wife, and his three sons and their wives, and the creatures that were with him in the ark; see Genesis 7:23; and by this instance the apostle shows the falsehood of the above assertion, that all things continued as they were from the beginning of the creation; for the earth was covered with water first, and which, by the command of God, was removed, and, after a long series of time, was brought on it again, and by it drowned; and from whence it also appears, that this sort of reasoning used by those scoffers is very fallacious; for though the heavens and the earth may continue for a long time, as they did before the flood, in the same form and situation, it does not follow from thence that they always will, for the contrary is evident from what follows.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Whereby - Δι ̓ ὧν Di' hōn. Through which, or by means of which. The pronoun here is in the plural number, and there has been much difference of opinion as to what it refers. Some suppose that it refers to the heavens mentioned in the preceding verse, and to the fact that the windows of heaven were opened in the deluge (Doddridge), others that the Greek phrase is taken in the sense of (διὸ dio) “whence.” Wetstein supposes that it refers to the “heavens and the earth.” But the most obvious reference, though the plural number is used, and the word “water” in the antecedent is in the singular, is to “water.” The fact seems to be that the apostle had the “waters” mentioned in Genesis prominently in his eye, and meant to describe the effect produced “by” those waters. He has also twice, in the same sentence, referred to “water” - “out of the water and in the water.” It is evidently to these “waters” mentioned in Genesis, out of which the world was originally made, that he refers here. The world was formed from that fluid mass; by these waters which existed when the earth was made, and out of which it arose, it was destroyed. The antecedent to the word in the plural number is rather that which was in the mind of the writer, or that of which he was thinking, than the word which he had used.

The world that then was ... - Including all its inhabitants. Rosenmuller supposes that the reference here is to some universal catastrophe which occurred before the deluge in the time of Noah, and indeed before the earth was fitted up in its present form, as described by Moses in Genesis 1:0. It is rendered more than probable, by the researches of geologists in modern times, that such changes have occurred; but there is no evidence that Pater was acquainted with them, and his purpose did not require that he should refer to them. All that his argument demanded was the fact that the world had been once destroyed, and that therefore there was no improbability in believing that it would be again. They who maintained that the prediction that the earth would be destroyed was improbable, affirmed that there were no signs of such an event; that the laws of nature were stable and uniform; and that as those laws had been so long and so uniformly unbroken, it was absurd to believe that such an event could occur. To meet this, all that was necessary was to show that, in a case where the same objections substantially might be urged, it had actually occurred that the world had been destroyed. There was, in itself considered, as much improbability in believing that the world could be destroyed by water as that it would be destroyed by fire, and consequently the objection had no real force. Notwithstanding the apparent stability of the laws of nature, the world had been once destroyed; and there is, therefore, no improbability that it may be again. On the objections which might have been plausibly urged against the flood, see the notes at Hebrews 11:7.


 
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