independentparticipialrelativepurposecausecomparativecontentphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended
Flush-left = a main (independent) clause. Each dependent line begins directly beneath the word it attaches to in the line above — the anchor word is dotted-underlined, and lights up when you hover its dependent clause; each tag also names the attachment. A dashed border marks verbless, elliptical, or suspended lines. Where a long sentence's staircase runs wider than the page, the diagram scrolls sideways. (In print, or without JavaScript, lines fall back to stepped indent columns.)
The salutation 1:1–2
1
Simeon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ,independent — the sender — the Semitic Συμεών beside the Greek Πέτρος; slave first, apostle second
to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with oursphrase modifier — dative of address — ἰσότιμον: equal in honor with the apostles’ own; λαχοῦσιν, allotted, not achieved
through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:phrase modifier — the faith’s ground — one article over θεοῦ and σωτῆρος (Granville Sharp): Jesus is ‘our God and Savior’
2
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.independent — the greeting — optative πληθυνθείη; ἐπίγνωσις sounds the letter’s keynote
Divine power, precious promises, and the ladder of virtues 1:3–11
vv. 3–4 — everything already given: the frame the imperative rests on
3
Inasmuch as his divine power has granted to us all things pertaining to life and godliness,participial — Ὡς + genitive absolute — leans forward across vv. 3–4 on ἐπιχορηγήσατε (v. 5): the gift precedes the demand
through the knowledgephrase modifier — the channel of the gift — ἐπίγνωσις again (v. 2)
of him who called us by his own glory and excellence,participial — articular participle — the caller; ἰδίᾳ δόξῃ καὶ ἀρετῇ read (‘his own glory’), not διὰ δόξης
4
through which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises,relative — δι’ ὧν on ἰδίᾳ δόξῃ καὶ ἀρετῇ — through what he is, the promises are given
so that through these you might become partakers of the divine nature,purpose — the promises’ goal — θείας κοινωνοὶ φύσεως: the chapter’s boldest phrase
having escaped the corruption that is in the world through desire.participial — the flight that accompanies the sharing — φθορά born of ἐπιθυμία
vv. 5–7 — the sorites: seven rungs from faith to love
5
Now for this very reason also, bringing to bear all diligence,participial — fronted participle — leans on the imperative below; αὐτὸ τοῦτο: precisely because all is given (vv. 3–4)
supply in your faith virtue,independent — the chapter’s one imperative — ἐπιχορηγήσατε, the chorus-furnisher’s lavish verb; rung 1: faith → virtue
and in virtue knowledge,independent — rung 2 — the verb carried over; each grace grown in the soil of the last
6
and in knowledge self-control,independent — rung 3 — γνῶσις kept from pride by ἐγκράτεια
and in self-control endurance,independent — rung 4 — self-mastery lengthened into ὑπομονή
and in endurance godliness,independent — rung 5 — endurance turned Godward: εὐσέβεια, the gift of v. 3 now the task
7
and in godliness brotherly affection,independent — rung 6 — piety made fraternal: φιλαδελφία
and in brotherly affection love.independent — rung 7 — the ladder crests, as Paul’s triads do, in ἀγάπη
vv. 8–9 — the two portraits: fruitful with them, blind without them
8
For if these things are yours and abound,participial — fronted conditional participles — lean on καθίστησιν below; γάρ grounds the imperative
they make you neither idle nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.independent — the double litotes — οὐκ ἀργοὺς οὐδὲ ἀκάρπους; ἐπίγνωσις once more the sphere
9
For whoever lacks these thingsrelative — indefinite relative — leans forward like a protasis: the negative portrait
is blind, shortsighted,independent — τυφλὸς μυωπάζων — blind, squinting; unable to see as far as the eternal kingdom
having forgotten the cleansing of his former sins.participial — causal — λήθην λαβών: the blindness is a forgetting of baptismal cleansing
vv. 10–11 — therefore: the call made sure, the entrance richly supplied
10
Therefore, brothers, be all the more eagerindependent — διὸ μᾶλλον — the ladder’s inference, warmed by ἀδελφοί
to make your calling and election sure;content — complement infinitive — βεβαίαν: God’s call and election confirmed from the human side
for doing these thingsparticipial — fronted conditional participle — leans on the promise below
you will never stumble.independent — οὐ μὴ πταίσητέ ποτε — the emphatic double negative: no fall, ever
11
For in this way there will be richly supplied to you the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.cause — γάρ — ἐπιχορηγηθήσεται returns v. 5’s verb in the passive: supply the virtues, and the entrance is supplied; the single-article pair again (Lord and Savior)
The reminder before the tent comes down 1:12–15
12
Therefore I will always be ready to remind you of these things,independent — Διό — testament language: the whole letter a standing reminder
even though you know them and are established in the truth that is present with you.participial — καίπερ concessive — knowledge and stability conceded, the reminder still owed
13
And I think it right,independent — δίκαιον ἡγοῦμαι — the apostle’s duty stated as justice
as long as I am in this tent,relative — ἐφ’ ὅσον temporal — τὸ σκήνωμα: the body a tent, soon to be struck
to stir you up by way of reminder,content — epexegetic infinitive — what the ‘right thing’ is: διεγείρειν, to keep them awake
14
knowingparticipial — causal — the ground of the urgency
that the laying aside of my tent is imminent,content — ταχινή — swift and soon; ἀπόθεσις: the tent laid aside like a garment
just as our Lord Jesus Christ also made clear to me.comparative — the dominical disclosure — Jn 21:18–19: the death foretold by the risen Lord
15
And I will also be diligentindependent — σπουδάσω — the σπουδή he asks of them (vv. 5, 10) he pledges himself
that at every time after my departure you may be able to call these things to mind.purpose — purpose infinitive chain — ἔξοδος: his death a departure, the Transfiguration’s own word (Lk 9:31)
Eyewitnesses of the majesty, and the prophetic word 1:16–21
vv. 16–18 — not myths but the mountain: the transfiguration remembered
16
For it was not by following cleverly devised mythsparticipial — the denial — fronted participle leaning on ἐγνωρίσαμεν; σεσοφισμένοι μῦθοι: the scoffers’ charge returned
that we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,independent — the apostolic proclamation — δύναμις καὶ παρουσία: the very doctrine the mockers will deny (3:4)
but by having become eyewitnesses of his majesty.participial — the counter-participle — ἐπόπται: initiated eyewitnesses of the μεγαλειότης
17
For he — having received honor and glory from God the Father —participial — ANACOLUTHON — λαβών never reaches its own finite verb; the sentence is caught up by v. 18’s ἠκούσαμεν
when such a voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory:participial — genitive absolute — ἡ μεγαλοπρεπὴς δόξα: a reverent periphrasis for God himself
“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,”content — the voice quoted — cf. Mt 17:5; the fronted Ὁ υἱός μου word order is 2 Peter’s own
18
and this voice we ourselves heard borne from heaven,independent — the finite verb at last — ἡμεῖς emphatic: we heard it
when we were with him on the holy mountain.participial — temporal — the mountain now ‘holy’ because of what happened there
vv. 19–21 — the prophetic word: a lamp until dawn, men carried by the Spirit
19
And we have the prophetic word made more sure,independent — βεβαιότερον read as predicate — the word confirmed by the mountain, not merely ‘surer than’ the vision
to which you do well to pay attentionrelative — the readers’ part — προσέχοντες: sustained attention
as to a lamp shining in a dark place,comparative — simile — αὐχμηρὸς τόπος: a murky, parched place; the present age
until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;relative — ἕως οὗ temporal — φωσφόρος: the morning star of the parousia, rising ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις
20
knowing this first,participial — attendant on ποιεῖτε προσέχοντες — the first rule for reading the lamp
that no prophecy of Scripture comes from one’s own interpretation;content — ἰδίας ἐπιλύσεως read of origin — the prophet’s own unravelling — not of the reader’s exegesis; v. 21 grounds it
21
for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man,cause — the negative ground — ἠνέχθη: ‘borne,’ the very verb of the mountain voice (vv. 17–18)
but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.cause — the positive counterpart — φερόμενοι: carried like a ship before the wind; ἀπὸ θεοῦ read, not ‘holy men of God’
Analysis. The chapter falls into four panels, and the margin tells the story of each. In the salutation the sender stands flush left and the address hangs beneath him; the layout follows the single article of τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν καὶ σωτῆρος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ (the Granville Sharp construction) and reads one referent: Jesus is ‘our God and Savior.’ The second panel is the letter’s engine: the Ὡς…δεδωρημένης genitive absolute of vv. 3–4 is taken as a forward-leaning frame over the chapter’s one imperative ἐπιχορηγήσατε (v. 5) — teal leaning on purple, gift before demand — and its own chain descends through the caller’s glory to the promises and the astonishing purpose θείας κοινωνοὶ φύσεως. Then the sorites of vv. 5–7 — the New Testament’s most explicit virtue-ladder — steps down seven rungs from faith to love, each dashed elliptical rung set directly beneath the virtue it grows in, so the staircase is drawn on the page as Peter builds it; ἐπιχορηγηθήσεται (v. 11) then answers ἐπιχορηγήσατε in the passive: supply, and you will be supplied an entrance. Fronted participles and the indefinite relative ᾧ γάρ (vv. 8–10) lean forward on their main clauses like protases, exactly as the conditional shading suggests they should be read. The testament panel (vv. 12–15) alternates short flush-left resolves (μελλήσω, ἡγοῦμαι, σπουδάσω) with the clauses of mortality hanging beneath — the tent, its swift laying aside, the Lord’s own disclosure. In the transfiguration panel the layout keeps the famous anacoluthon: λαβὼν γάρ (v. 17) hangs suspended and dashed, never reaching a finite verb of its own, until v. 18’s ἠκούσαμεν returns to the margin and catches the sentence; the Father’s voice hangs in blue beneath φωνῆς. The final panel takes βεβαιότερον as predicative — the prophetic word made more sure by the mountain, not merely surer than it — reads ἰδίας ἐπιλύσεως (v. 20) of the prophecy’s origin rather than the reader’s exegesis (v. 21’s γάρ pair grounds exactly that), and follows the critical text’s ἀπὸ θεοῦ ἄνθρωποι — men who spoke from God, φερόμενοι, carried along by the Spirit as the mountain voice itself was ‘borne.’