2 Peter 1:5-9 “Seven Divine Resources For Your Faith”

Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church Manhattan KS, 14 Jan 2024

Introduction

1. Virtue/Moral excellence/aresthn [Symbolized by broken mug]

2. Knowledge/γνῶσιν [Symbolized by Bible]

3. Self-control/temperance/ἐγκράτειαν [Symbolized by Cross]

4. Perseverance/patience/steadfastness/ὑπομονήν [Symbolized by Crown]

5. Godliness/εὐσέβειαν [Symbolized by Jim Elliot Biography]

6. Fraternity/Brotherly kindness/φιλαδελφίαν [Symbolized by Jewish star]

7. Love/charity/ἀγάπην [Symbolized by Valentine card]

Conclusion

Comparison of Bible Translations of 2 Peter 1:1-9

GNTA

NAWB

KJVC

MurdockD (Peshitta)

DouayE (Vulgate)

1 ΣυμεὼνF Πέτρος, δοῦλος καὶ ἀπόστολος ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ, τοῖς ἰσότιμον ἡμῖνG λαχοῦσιH πίστινI ἐνJ δικαιοσύνῃ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν καὶ σωτῆροςK ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ·

1 Simon Peter, servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to the free-recipients of a faith of equal value with us in the right­eousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:

1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of X God and [our] Saviour Jesus Christ:

1 Simon Peter, a servant and legate of Jesus the Messiah, to those who have obtained equal­ly precious faith with us, through the righteousness of Our Lord and Redeemer, Jesus the Messiah;

1 Simon Peter, servant and apostle of Jesus Christ: to them that have obtained equal X faith with us in the justice of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.

2 χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνηL πληθυν­θείηM ἐνN ἐπι­γνώσειO τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ ᾿Ιησοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν.

2 May grace and peace be multiplied in y’all through the certain know­ledge of God and of Jesus our Master,

2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,

2 May grace and peace abound to you through the recognition of X X our Lord Jesus [the Messiah],

2 Grace to you and peace be accomplished in the know­ledge of God and of [Christ] Jesus our Lord.

3 ΩςP πάντα ἡμῖν τῆς θείας δυνάμεως αὐτοῦQ τὰ πρὸς ζωὴνR καὶ εὐσέβειαν δεδωρημένηςS διὰT τῆς ἐπιγνώ­σεως τοῦ καλέ­σαντοςU ἡμᾶς διὰV δόξης καὶ ἀρετῃ῀ςW,

3 [even] as His divine power has given to us all the things for life and godliness, through our certain know­ledge of the One who called us to glory and virtue,

3 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:

3 as the giver to us of all things that be of the power of GodX, unto life and the fear of God, through the recognition of him who hath called us unto his own glory and moral excellence:

3 As all things of his divine power [which appertain] to life and godli­ness areY given us through the knowledge of him who hath called us by his own [proper] glory and virtue.

4 δι᾿ ὧνZ τὰ τίμιαAA ἡμῖν καὶ μέγισταAB ἐπαγγέλματα δεδώρηταιAC, ἵναAD διὰ τού­τωνAE γένησθε θείας κοινωνοὶ φύσεωςAF ἀποφυγόντες τῆς ἐν κόσμῳ ἐνAG ἐπιθυμίᾳ φθορᾶς.

4 through which things He has given His valu­able and great­est promises to us in order that through them y’all might become partakers of the divine nature, having fled from the cor­ruption in the world caused by lust.

4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and pre­cious promis­es: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine na­ture, having escaped the corruption [that is] in the world through lust.

4 wherein he hath given you very great and precious promises; that by them ye might become partakers of the nature of God, while ye flee from the corruption[s] of the lust[s that are] in the world.

4 By whom he hath given us most great and precious promises: that by these you may be made partakers of the divine nature: flying the corruption of that concu­piscence [which is] in the world.

5 καὶ αὐτὸ τοῦτοAH δὲ σπουδὴν πᾶσανAI παρεισ­ενέγκαντεςAJ ἐπιχορηγήσατεAK ἐν τῃ῀ πίστειAL ὑμῶν τὴν ἀρετήνAM, ἐνAN δὲ τῃ῀ ἀρετῃ῀ τὴν γνῶσιν,

5 Now, for this very reason, y’all having been equipped with all diligence, y’all must start supplying with your faith virtue, and with your virtue, knowledge,

5 And beside this, giving all diligence, addX to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;

5 And, while ye apply all dili­gence [in the matter], addX to your faith mor­al excel­lence; and to moral excel­lence, know­ledge;

5 And X you, employing all care, minister in your faith, virtue: And in virtue, know­ledge:

6 ἐν δὲ τῃ῀ γνώσει τὴν ἐγκράτειανAO, ἐν δὲ τῃ῀ ἐγκρατείᾳ τὴν ὑπομονήνAP, ἐν δὲ τῃ῀ ὑπομονῃ῀ τὴν εὐσέβειαν,

6 and with your know­ledge, self-control, and with your self-control per­severance, and with your per­severance, godliness,

6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temper­ance patience; and to patience godliness;

6 and to know­ledge, perse­verance; and to persever­ance, patience; and to patience, the fear of God;

6 And in knowledge, abstinence: and in abstin­ence, patience: and in patience, godliness:

7 ἐν δὲ τῃ῀ εὐσεβείᾳ τὴν φιλαδελφίαν, ἐν δὲ τῃ῀ φιλαδελφίᾳ τὴν ἀγάπηνAQ.

7 and with your godliness, fraternity, and with your fraternity, love,

7 And to god­liness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

7 and to the fear of God, sympathy with the brother­hood; and to sympathy with the brother­hood, love.

7 And in god­liness, love of brotherhood: and in love of brotherhood, charity.

8 ταῦτα γὰρ ὑμῖν ὑπάρχονταAR καὶ πλεονάζοντα οὐκ ἀργοὺς οὐδὲ ἀκάρπους καθίστησινAS εἰςAT τὴν τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐπίγνωσιν·

8 for while these things are existing and abounding in y’all, they install neither useless things nor unfruitful things into the certain know­ledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

8 For, while these are found in you, and abound­ing, they ren­der [you] not slothful, and not unfruitful, in the recog­nition of our Lord Jesus the Messiah.

8 For if these things be with you and abound, they will make [you] to be neither empty nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9 ὧͺAU γὰρ μὴ πάρεστι ταῦτα, τυφλός ἐστι μυωπάζωνAV, λήθην λαβὼνAW τοῦ καθαρισμοῦ AXτῶν πάλαι αὐτοῦAY ἁμαρτιῶν.

9 Then again, to whomever these things do not adhere, he is myopically blind, having taken to forgetfulness of the cleansing of his old sins.

9 But he that X lacketh these things is blind, [and] cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

9 For he, in whom these things are not found, is blind and seeth not, and hath for­gotten the pur­gation of his former sins.

9 For he that hath not these things with him is blind and groping, having forgot­ten that he was purged from his old sins.



1It could, however be middle voice, something they do for themselves, but that doesn’t fit with the previous verses.

2This is the sense in which this Greek word is used in the Apocrypha (2 Ma. 6:31; 10:28; 15:12, 17; 3 Ma. 6:1; 4 Ma. 1:2, 8, 10, 30; 2:10; 7:22; 9:8, 18, 31; 10:10; 11:2; 12:14; 13:24, 27; 17:12, 23; Odes 4:3; Wis. 4:1; 5:13; 8:7)

3“Therefore, concerning the eating of food sacrificed to idols: we know that an idol is no one in the world and that no one is God except one. For even if there are gods spoken of, whether in heaven or upon the earth (just as there are many gods and many lords), nevertheless there is one God to us, the Father, out of whom everything [came to be], and we are in Him, and there is one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom everything [came to be], and we [came to be in God] through Him. But such knowledge is not in all men, and some through an intimate knowledge of idols until now are eating as though it were a thing sacrificed to idols, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. But food does not give us standing by God: if we don't happen to eat, it doesn't make us come up short; if we do happen to eat, we would not abound. But keep watching how this authority of yours might not become a stumbling block to the weak ones, for if someone happens to see you (the one who has knowledge) in an idol's temple sitting down [to eat], would not his conscience, being weak, be fortified so as to eat things sacrificed to idols? So he is being undone by your knowledge, the weak one – the brother on account of whom Christ died!” (NAW)

4There is also a closely-related form of the word in the list of qualifications for eldership in Titus 1:8 “...an overseer must be... self-controlled [ἐγκρατῆ]”

5Romans 15:5 “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus.” (ESV)

62 Thessalonians 3:5 May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.” (ESV)

7KJV cf. NAW Hebrews 11:1 Now, faith is the understanding of things being hoped for; it is the making of a case concerning matters which are not being seen”

8James 5:11 “See, those who were steadfast we consider blessed: You've heard of the steadfastness of Job and have seen the Lord's goal, that the Lord is often-compassionate and merciful.” (NAW)

9And that’s why in 2 Timothy 3:5 Paul teaches that someone can have the appearance of Godliness, but not really be godly. It’s because godliness is the disposition of your heart either toward God or toward something else, and that’s not something we can physically see. There are non-Christians out there who can imitate some of the things godly people do, and since they do some of the things Christians do, it can look like they are Christians, but for them, it’s just about getting people to do what they want, not about pleasing God. They are “...lovers of themselves... rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power...” (NKJV)

101 Thessalonians 4:3-9 “...abstain from sexual immorality... no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter... But concerning brotherly love you ... are taught by God to love one another” (NKJV)

11Muslims have done a similar thing in the Middle East in recent times, painting an Arabic letter “n” on the outer wall of every Christian home.

121 Peter 1:22 “Since it was your souls which you have purified by your obedience which came out of the truth through the Spirit into un-hypocritical brotherly fondness, start fervently loving each other from a clean heart” (NAW)

13Galatians 5:22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love...” (NKJV)

A1904 "Patriarchal" edition of the Greek Orthodox Church, as published by E-Sword in June 2016. Annotated by NAW where the 27th edition of the Nestle-Aland GNT differs.

BNathan A Wilson’s translation

CKing James Version of the Holy Bible (a.k.a. Authorized Version), 1769 edition, as published by E-Sword in July 2019.

DTranslation of the Peshito Syriac New Testament into English by James Murdock. Published in 1851. Republished by E-sword in June 2016.

ERheims New Testament first published by the English College at Rheims, A.D. 1582, Revised by Bishop Richard Challoner, A.D. 1749-1752, as published by E-sword in June 2016.


FTechnically this is the name Simeon, but the two oldest-known manuscripts spell Peter’s name Σιμων here, and that is also the tradition of the Coptic, Ethiopic, and English Bibles (although the ESV and NET Bibles have recently pushed back against the tradition).
“The two forms occur indifferently in 1 Macc. 2:3, 65 for the same man.”
~ATR
If a later writer wished to imitate Peter, he would have been more likely to use the form of signature in the first epistle than to adopt one that Peter himself had not used. Only Peter himself would be completely free to sign as he wished.” ~Gordon Clark

G“The faith which they have obtained is like in honor and privilege with that of Peter or any of the apostles.” ~ATR
“The word here … was used to indicate that a non-native of a city had the equal rights of a citizen born in that city. In this context it is [probably] referring to Gentile readers having the same standing before God as Jewish Christians. If this is the case, then ημιν is referring to Peter and all other Jews who believed.” ~DFZ

HReineker & Rodgers: “The word implies a gift or a favor”
“Peter describes a king conferring privilege on one of his choice. Accordingly Peter is addressing his fellow nobles. The contrast between nobility and slavery is striking and can hardly have been unintentional…. Classical Greek uses it for the result of a deity apportioning goods (or evils) to a man and protecting him. The verb also refers to a military post being assigned… [T]he notion that God, prior to human choice, assigns faith to certain individuals cannot be deleted from the verb...” ~Gordon Clark

I“subjective… power God gives to a sinner so that he can believe.” ~DFZ

JCalvin: “[T]he efficient cause of faith is called God's righteousness for this reason, because no one is capable of conferring it on himself. So the righteousness that is to be understood, is not that which remains in God, but that which he imparts to men, as in Romans 3:22. Besides, he ascribes this righteousness in common to God and to Christ, because it flows from God, and through Christ it flows down to us.” Calvin’s editor, John Owen of Thrussington, noted that the preposition should be “in” rather than “through.”
“Even if the word faith is objective rather than subjective – the doctrines believed rather than the psychological act of believing… objective faith has equal honor, no matter to whom given… The righteousness mentioned is God’s [Christ’s] not ours… Thus those to whom faith was given received a faith in God’s righteousness. That is, righteousness is the object of belief. The Christian believes in God’s justice.” ~Gordon Clark
“Lenski and MacArthur opt for the forensic use… ‘a righteousness from God as Ro. 1:17..., whereas The New Geneva Study Bible, … ATR, and Alford think it is ethical righteousness… ‘God is righteous…’ Both are true, but the ethical use is more in keeping with Peter’s letter... most likely referring to God’s righteousness – his justice, his equity – of giving faith to Jews and Gentiles alike” ~DFZ
The SIL team under Jim Lander that published Louw & Nida semantic domain numbers for every word in the GNT of 2 Peter in Dec. 2017 (hereafter “Lander”) chose 89.26 “because of, on account of, by reason of.”
ATR noted that “righteousness” can be given the definite article in English because of the definite object, “The God.”

KMoule’s Idiom Book of New Testament Greek p.109, noted that “God” is intended to apply to Jesus “our God even Jesus.” Easton, in his commentary on this verse asserted that this phrase ‘God and Savior’ always means one deity and not two in Greek literature written between 95-105 AD. Cf. v.11 and Titus 2:13. ATR also weighed in “one person, not two” citing Schmeidel in support.

L“By grace is designated God’s paternal favor towards us… Peace is added; for as the beginning of our happiness is when God receives us into favor; so the more he confirms his love in our hearts, the richer blessing he confers on us, so that we become happy and prosperous in all things,” ~Calvin

M“optative… a wish for the future (volitive use)” ~ATR

N“[B]oth senses [“through” or “in”] may suit the context. I am, however, more disposed to adopt the former.” ~Calvin
Lander: L&N#89.76 “by means of”

O“The compound expressing full knowledge” ~Vincent
“Full (additional, epi) knowledge... is urged against the claims of the Gnostic heretics to special gnōsis.” ~ATR
“The Christian or perfect knowledge of God… implies a more intimate and personal relationship than gnosisgnosis was associated with Gnosticism… but both in Classical Greek and in Koine, it is a common word for ordinary knowledge. Note that in this very chapter, the epignosis of 1:2 is designated as gnosis in 1:5,6.” ~Gordon Clark
“‘
fuller knowledge, precise knowledge, or correct knowledge’ … not used in the NT without reference to knowledge of some kind connected with God. The Christ[ian] faith is NOT based on mysticism, but upon objective and historical truth which God wants His children to have.” ~DFZ

P“Hence the Apostle justly animates the faithful to entertain good hope by the consideration of the former benefits of God.” ~Calvin
“Others, perhaps more correctly, view this verse as connected with the 5th, and render ὡς, “Since,” and the beginning of the 5th verse, “Do ye also for this reason, giving all diligence, add,” etc.; that is, “Since God has done so great things for you, ye also for this reason ought to be diligent in adding to your faith virtue, etc.” ~Owen
Lander: L&N#89.37 “on the grounds that, because”
“Gingrich cites this as a case where ‘ωςintroduces the characteristic quality of a person, thing, action, etc.’ This is true, but in this instance, one needs to look at more than the ‘Ως, one needs to go on to the participle of the clause… BDAG comments on ‘ως with a participle as giving the reason for action… I have tried to bring in both the participial causal sense as well as the ‘Ως connection, with ‘Because, even as.’ The points of Gingrich and BDAG need to be brought together.” ~DFZ

QAutou refers to Christ, who has ‘divine power’… the dunamis of Christ ‘is the sword which St. Peter holds over the head of the False Teachers’ (Bigg)” ~ATR

R“Peter does not speak here of the natural gifts of God, but only mentions those things which he confers peculiarly on his own elect above the common order of nature.” ~Calvin

S“This is the only word which Peter and Mark alone have in common in the New Testament; a somewhat singular fact in view of their intimate relations, and of the impress of Peter upon Mark's gospel: yet it tells very strongly against the theory of a forgery of this epistle. The word is stronger than the simple δίδωμι, to give, meaning to grant or bestow as a gift.” ~Vincent
The verb form, by the way, is either middle or passive, but none of the standard English versions rendered it passively.

TLander: L&N#89.76 “by means of, through”

U“When God is the subject, it has the sense of effectual calling… it describes the knowledge as… a personal relationship knowledge of Jesus Christ.” ~DFZ

VThis is the reading of both the majority of manuscripts and lectionaries as well as the reading of the two oldest-known manuscripts. With the accusative objects it could mean either “by means of” or “because of” or “with a view to,” and the latter makes most sense. However, the critical GNTs follow the Latin, Syriac, and Coptic Bibles, which followed about 20 Greek manuscripts that add a iota to the beginning of this word, changing the meaning to “in the same/by his own” which also changes the case from genitive to dative, which, in turn, changes the case of the two objects “glory” and “excellence” from genitive to dative, forcing an instrumental meaning “by means of.” “Beza and also Schleusner, regard διὰ as expressing the final cause, to; it is also used in the sense of “for the sake of,” or, “on account of.” ~Owen “[E]ither instrumental case ‘by’ or dative ‘to’” ~ATR
Clark: “… does not mean to… God calls us by means of glory and might… Power and might are indispensable for a call that effectively raises a dead sinner to newness of life.”
“The dative form can be taken instrumentally or as a dative of advantage. It can be: ‘called us
by His own glory…; or ‘called us to His own glory…’ Although the grammar allows either, the very next verse favors the instrumental use.” ~DFZ
The only other instances of dia doxes in the NT (2 Cor. 3:11, 6:8) describe the circumstance of being glorious. There is no other instance of idia doxai in the GNT.

W“The original classical sense of the word had no special moral import, but denoted excellence of any kind – bravery, rank, nobility... Bengel says, ‘the former indicates his natural, the latter his moral, attributes.’”~Vincent

XThe Peshitta translator missed the genitive absolute which makes the genitive “divine power” the subject of “having given” rather than its object, as well as the possessive “his.”

YThe Greek verb is spelled in the middle or passive voice here; all the other versions (except for DFZ’s) interpret it as middle voice.

Z“‘for the sake of which,’ that is, for the purpose of leading us to ‘glory and virtue,’ ‘many and precious promises have been given’ … ‘Escaping the corruption of the world’ is ‘godliness/virtue;’ and partaking of the divine nature is ‘life/glory.’” ~Owen
Vincent, ATR, Clark, and DFZ all posited that this refers to “his glory and virtue”

AATextus Receptus, diverges from the majority of Greek manuscripts, following 2 of the 4 oldest-known Greek manuscripts (plus 10 more overall), and reverses the order of the words “great” and “precious,” which is why the KJV order (followed by the NIV and NLT) is “great and precious,” whereas the NASB, NET, and ESV follow the majority of manuscripts with “precious and great.”

ABESV and NIV interpret as comparative degree, but this is actually superlative.

AC“Middle voice, not passive” ~Vincent

ADAlthough all the standard English versions interpret this as purposive “that” (so also ATR and R&R), “Lenski and Wallace see this as a substantive, or in apposition to … ‘promises.’ The ‘promises’ are the partaking of the divine nature…” DFZ followed the latter, translating this hina as “that is.”

AEATR refers “these” to “the promises” Clark to “either the promises or even the glory and might”

AF“Peter is referring to the new birth as 1 Pet. 1:23” ~ATR
“Salvation is not deification – that would be Gnosticism indeed… Salvation is a moral rejuvenation… [W]e become partakers of the divine nature through grace, through the promises, through a sovereign grant to those called. In Stoicism, every man by nature has a spark of divinity. It is not a matter of special calling, but of natural law. In fact, an author of AD 150 who wanted to appear apostolic and orthodox would probably have avoided such a phrase… ” ~Gordon Clark

AG“Caused by, consisting in, lust. ‘Man becomes either regenerate or degenerate’ (Strachan).”~ATR

AHBlass & Debrunner’s Grammar notes that this phrase is adverbial with the meaning “for this very reason.” The same phrase is also found in Rom. 9:17, 13:6, 2 Cor. 5:5, 7:11, Gal. 2:10, Eph. 6:22, Phil. 1:6, and Col. 4:8 with a similar meaning.

AIThe only other places we find “all” modifying “diligence” are in 2 Cor. 8:7 & Jude 1:3, where their order is reversed from Peter’s. The 2 Cor. passage is very similar to this one.

AJHapex Legomenon. Based on φερω (“carry”) + παρα (“alongside”) + επι (“in”); the picture is that you are traveling on a journey, and so you are carrying food and other necessities with you for that journey that you are using along the way. The participle is plural, referring to the readers (“y’all”), Aorist (indicating that it happened before the main verb “supply”), and passive (indicating that they were loaded up with the supplies by God, as per the previous verses, although most English versions interpret this as middle voice, loading themselves up), and the object is “all diligence” (that which is to be carried along and used).
Fausset: “‘introducing,’ side by side with God’s gift, on your part ‘diligence.’”
Vincent: “bring in by the side of”
G. Clark: “smuggle”

AKVincent: “The verb originally means to bear the expense of a chorus, which was done by a person selected by the state, who was obliged to defray all the expenses of training and maintenance. In the New Testament the word has lost this technical sense, and is used in the general sense of supplying or providing.” DFZ: “[T]he prefix επι does imply this is to provide completely or lavishly.”

ALDFZ: “I am strongly inclined to think that the faith here is objective… believing in Jesus Christ… and comes at one’s calling (vv. 3, 10).”

AMJ. Calvin: “I take virtue to mean a life honest and rightly formed; for it is not here ἐνέργεια, energy or courage, but ἀρετὴ, virtue, moral goodness.”
M. Henry: “by virtue here we may understand strength and courage, without which the believer cannot stand up for good works, by abounding and excelling in them.”
A.R. Fausset: “moral excellency; manly, strenuous energy, answering to the virtue (energetic excellency) of God.”
M. Vincent: “Not in the sense of moral excellence, but of the energy which Christians are to exhibit, as God exerts his energy upon them. As God calls us by his own virtue (2 Pet. 1:3), so Christians are to exhibit virtue or energy in the exercise of their faith, translating it into vigorous action.”
A.T. Robertson: “Moral power, moral energy, vigor of soul”
Rodgers & Rodgers: “In classical Greek, god-given power/ability to perform heroic deeds...”

ANLander tagged this as Louw & Nida semantic domain #89.80, “attendant circumstances… with.”
Fausset: “in the possession of your faith, minister virtue.”
Vincent: “develop one virtue in the exercise of another”
G. Clark seems off-base in claiming it means “by means of.” He later wrote, “faith is the foundation of, or issues in, seven virtues.”
DFZ: “One is accomplished, then the next can be accomplished ‘in’ the preceding virtue...”

AOAlford and DFZ: “self-government”

APVincent: “Not merely endurance of the inevitable, for Christ could have relieved himself of his sufferings (Heb. 12:2-3; compare Matt. 26:53); but the heroic, brave patience with which a Christian not only bears but contends.”
ATR: “The opposite of the pleonexia of the heretics.”

AQVincent and Fausset saw in the progression from brotherly-love to charity a widening of love from brothers to all mankind, but I’m not sure that captures all the field of meaning between them. DFZ and Alford saw philadelphian to be just as “universal/catholic” as Vincent and Fausset saw agapen to be.

ARDFZ admits these participles could be temporal (“while”), but preferred conditional (“if”), along with the standard English versions.

ASAll the parsing experts agree that this is 3rd person singular present active indicative, so the subject can’t be “you” (which is plural) as per the NKJV, and it’s not future as per the NIV. The subject could be the neuter plural “things,” in keeping with the exceptional characteristic of neuter plural subjects taking singular verbs.
Fausset: “constitute”

ATDFZ: “...this should be understood as directional … ‘unto’”

AURobertson’s Grammar notes that this may be a possessive dative with parestin, meaning “to whom these are not,” and the subjective negative is used with an indicative verb to indicate that this is an indefinite relative which is not speaking of any one in particular.

AVHoward’s Grammar explains the components of this word in terms of one who squints (μυει) his eye (ωφ). The English word “myopia/c” is a transliteration of this Greek root.
Anderson (Calvin’s editor) noted, “‘He is blind, (manu palpans) stroking with the hand,’ is Calvin's; the Vulgate is manu tentans, ‘feeling with the hand:’ but the original word means, ‘closing the eyes,’ according to the Greek grammarians, Hesychius and Suidas: ‘He is blind, closing his eyes.’”
ATR: “a rare verb from muōps (in Aristotle for a near-sighted man) and that from mueō tous ōpas (to close the eyes in order to see, not to keep from seeing)... the word here limits tuphlos as a short-sighted man screwing up his eyes because of the light.”
Fausset: “Perhaps a degree of willfulness in the blindness is implied in the Greek, ‘closing the eyes,’ which constitutes its culpability; hating and rebelling against the light shining around him.”
G. Clark picked up the same idea ATR and I did, that the use of this participle is adjectival, modifying “blind.” “‘[T]he man… is blind, myopic’ … a climax was not intended, but a more accurate description…” and it appears Rodgers & Rodgers saw it similarly either correcting or modifying “blind.”

AWFausset: “‘contracted forgetfulness,’ willful and culpable obliviousness.”
MacArthur: “The failure to diligently pursue spiritual virtues produces spiritual amnesia.”

AXAlthough some commentators refer this to Christian baptism, ATR wrote, “See Heb. 1:3 for this word for the expiatory sacrifice of Christ for our sins as in 1Pet. 1:18, 2:24, 3:18. In 1Pet. 3:21 Peter denied actual cleansing of sin by baptism (only symbolic). If there is a reference to baptism here, which is doubtful, it can only be in a symbolic sense.” (Lange and G. Clark agreed.)

AYTurner’s Grammar notes that there is no emphatic meaning to the emphatic positioning of this word in the sentence.

9