2Pe 1:20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation,
21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
Verse 20 is not saying that no individual can personally interpret the Bible on his or her own. Right interpretation is the result of the Holy Spirit's illumination. Anyone who truly seeks to know the meaning of God's Word will surely be illumined by the Holy Spirit and know its true meaning as a result.
Peter here is explaining the origin of the prophecies in Scripture. When Peter says: "no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation," he means to say this:
When the prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and many others spoke and wrote their revelations from God, they did not sit in a corner, listen to God's revelations and then give their own personal understanding of what God had just revealed.
Isaiah, for example, did not say after receiving a revelation from God "I personally think that God meant this. And so here, I am writing my own personal interpretation of it here in my book."
No. Prophecy never came by private interpretation from the prophets' own minds. Prophecy came, as stated in verse 21: "prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit."
Prophecy did not originate from men's fallible minds trying to give out their own personal interpretations of what God had revealed. But prophecy came as men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. They were moved and used by God as His mouthpiece to reveal His mind.
Verse 20 does not forbid Christians from interpreting and understanding the Bible. There is nothing wrong with interpretation so long as it is the result of the Holy Spirit's illumination.
