05_Biblica_1_H_Collins_Layout 1 05/11/12 12:19 Pagina 422 422 C. JOHN COLLINS In 2 Peter 3,5-6 we find similar indications that more factors than the LXX lie behind the New Testament author’s presentation. In v. 5 he reminds us, “the earth was formed [or, put together, ] out of water and through water”. It is mysterious exactly what he means by water as a material, but the term “formed” / “put together” ( ) is not used in the LXX for the notion of divine creation and preservation, though it does appear in Hellenistic philosophers with this idea, as early as Plato (e.g., Timaeus, 31b, 32c; Republic, 530a). Apparently Second Temple Jewish and early Christian writers adopted this term from the philosophers as a way of expressing bib- lical ideas 40. The use of in 2 Peter 3,5 raises the question of whether the non-LXX in v. 6 (“the world that then existed … per- ished ) alludes to a non-biblical source. The verb itself is common enough in the New Testament, occurring about 90 times; and in Genesis 18,28 the LXX uses it to render Hebrew “to de- stroy or corrupt”, which appears in the Hebrew of Genesis 6,11 etc., generally rendered in the LXX with cognates of “to corrupt”. However, the philosophical term is not the only evidence of non-bib- lical allusions: in v. 9 the Lord is “not wishing that any should perish , but that all should reach repentance ”. The mention of repentance, in a context that is certainly showing a parallel between the judgment in the great flood and the judgment when the Lord comes, evokes Sibylline Oracles 1:129 (see above, on 2 Peter 2,5 and Theophilus, 3.19). The verb for the perishing of culture and persons in the great flood occurs in Plato’s account (Laws, 677c), and also in Wisdom 14,6 (see above). The collocation with , a term also found in Plato, suggests that an account like that in Plato is the ultimate source of the allusion in 2 Peter 3,5-6, whatever the medi- ate source might be. There are other possible allusions to Plato’s account, though these are more faint. For example, 2 Peter 3,4 pictures the scoffers as say- ing, “For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of cre- ation”. This is slightly reminiscent of Plato’s denial that “things had For a fuller discussion, see C.J. COLLINS, “Colossians 1:17, ‘Hold to- 40 gether ’: A co-opted term with a punch”, forthcoming.