2 Peter 1:16
“For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Peter insists the message about Christ's power and coming rests not on clever myths but on what the apostles saw with their own eyes.
What Does 2 Peter 1:16 Mean?
Peter now defends the foundation of everything he has taught. The apostolic message about the "power and coming" of Christ is not built on "cunningly devised fables" — cleverly invented myths of the kind that filled the ancient world. Instead, Peter and the others were "eyewitnesses of his majesty," people who personally saw the glory of Jesus.
Christian faith rests on witnessed events, not invented stories. Peter stakes the credibility of his whole message on firsthand testimony. The word translated "eyewitnesses" was used of those initiated into sacred mysteries who had seen with their own eyes. Peter was there; he is not passing along a legend. This matters deeply: the believer's hope is anchored in something that actually happened in history, attested by people who beheld the glory of Christ and gave their lives for it. The "coming" of Christ — His return in power — is as certain as the glory Peter once saw.
In the Original Language
epoptes (ἐπόπτης), 'eyewitnesses' — those who have seen with their own eyes; used of firsthand observers of sacred events.