The Institute for Creation Research

1:20 first. This should read, “first of all” or “as of primary importance.”

1:20 prophecy. “Prophecy” refers not just to predictions of the future, but to any divinely inspired utterance—therefore to all the Holy Scriptures.

1:20 private interpretation. The meaning here is that no true prophecy springs forth from the private reasoning of the man speaking or writing. He may or may not understand the meaning and intent of his writing in terms of his own current situation, but its ultimate meaning involves far more than that. This would especially be true for Messianic predictions (note I Peter 1:10-12), but also applies to “all Scripture…given by inspiration of God” (II Timothy 3:16-17).