Text -- 2 Peter 2:1-9 (NET)

The False Teachers’ Ungodly Lifestyle

2:1 But false prophets arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. These false teachers will infiltrate your midst with destructive heresies, even to the point of denying the Master who bought them. As a result, they will bring swift destruction on themselves. 2:2 And many will follow their debauched lifestyles. Because of these false teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. 2:3 And in their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. Their condemnation pronounced long ago is not sitting idly by; their destruction is not asleep. 2:4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but threw them into hell and locked them up in chains in utter darkness, to be kept until the judgment, 2:5 and if he did not spare the ancient world, but did protect Noah, a herald of righteousness, along with seven others, when God brought a flood on an ungodly world, 2:6 and if he turned to ashes the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah when he condemned them to destruction, having appointed them to serve as an example to future generations of the ungodly, 2:7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man in anguish over the debauched lifestyle of lawless men, 2:8 (for while he lived among them day after day, that righteous man was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard) 2:9 –if so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from their trials, and to reserve the unrighteous for punishment at the day of judgment,

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Robertson: 2Pe 2:1

But there arose ( egenonto de ).

Second aorist middle indicative of ginomai (cf. ginetai in 2Pe 1:20).

Robertson: 2Pe 2:1

False prophets also ( kai pseudoprophētai ).

In contrast with the true prophets just pictured in 2Pe 1:20. Late compound in lxx and Philo, common in N.T. (Mat 7:15). Allusion to the O.T. times like Balaam and others (Jer 6:13; Jer 28:9; Eze 13:9).

Robertson: 2Pe 2:1

False teachers ( pseudodidaskaloi ).

Late and rare compound (pseudēs , didaskalos ) here alone in N.T. Peter pictures them as in the future here (esontai , shall be) and again as already present (eisin , are, 2Pe 2:17), or in the past (eplanēthēsan , they went astray, 2Pe 2:15).

Robertson: 2Pe 2:1

Shall privily bring in ( pareisaxousin ).

Future active of pareisagō , late double compound pareisagō , to bring in (eisagō ), by the side (para ), as if secretly, here alone in N.T., but see pareisaktous in Gal 2:4 (verbal adjective of this same verb).

Robertson: 2Pe 2:1

Destructive heresies ( haireseis apōleias ).

Descriptive genitive, "heresies of destruction"(marked by destruction) as in Luk 16:8. Hairesis (from haireō ) is simply a choosing, a school, a sect like that of the Sadducees (Act 5:17), of the Pharisees (Act 15:5), and of Christians as Paul admitted (Act 24:5). These "tenets"(Gal 5:20) led to destruction.

Robertson: 2Pe 2:1

Denying ( arnoumenoi ).

Present middle participle of arneomai . This the Gnostics did, the very thing that Peter did, alas (Mat 26:70) even after Christ’ s words (Mat 10:33).

Robertson: 2Pe 2:1

Even the Master ( kai ton despotēn ).

Old word for absolute master, here of Christ as in Jud 1:4, and also of God (Act 4:24). Without the evil sense in our "despot."

Robertson: 2Pe 2:1

That bought them ( ton agorasanta autous ).

First aorist active articular participle of agorazō , same idea with lutroō in 1Pe 1:18. These were professing Christians, at any rate, these heretics.

Robertson: 2Pe 2:1

Swift destruction ( tachinēn apōleian ).

See 2Pe 1:14 for tachinēn and note repetition of apōleian . This is always the tragedy of such false prophets, the fate that they bring on (epagontes ) themselves.

Robertson: 2Pe 2:2

Lascivious doings ( aselgeiais ).

Associative instrumental ease after exakolouthēsousin (future active, for which verb see 2Pe 1:16). See 1Pe 4:3 for this word.

Robertson: 2Pe 2:2

By reason of whom ( di' hous ).

"Because of whom"(accusative case of relative, referring to polloi , many). Autōn (their) refers to pseudodidaskaloi (false teachers) while polloi to their deluded followers. See Rom 2:23. for a picture of such conduct by Jews (quotation from Isa 52:5, with blasphēmeō used as here with di' humas , because of you).

Robertson: 2Pe 2:2

The way of truth ( hē hodos tēs alētheias ).

Hodos (way) occurs often in N.T. for Christianity (Act 9:2; Act 16:17; Act 18:25; Act 22:4; Act 24:14). This phrase is in Gen 24:48 as "the right road,"and that is what Peter means here. So Psa 119:30. See again 2Pe 2:15, 2Pe 2:21.

Robertson: 2Pe 2:3

In covetousness ( en pleonexiāi ).

As did Balaam (2Pe 2:15). These licentious Gnostics made money out of their dupes. A merely intellectual Gnosticism had its fruit in immorality and fraud.

Robertson: 2Pe 2:3

With feigned words ( plastois logois ).

Instrumental case. Plastos is verbal adjective (from plassō , to mould as from clay, for which see Rom 9:20), here only in N.T. "With forged words."See sample in 2Pe 3:4.

Robertson: 2Pe 2:3

Shall make merchandise of you ( humas emporeusontai ).

Future middle of emporeuomai (from emporos , a travelling merchant), old word, to go in for trade, in N.T. only here and Jam 4:13, which see. Cf. our emporium (Joh 2:16, market house).

Robertson: 2Pe 2:3

Whose sentence ( hois to krima ).

"For whom (dative case) the sentence"(verdict, not process krisis ).

Robertson: 2Pe 2:3

Now from of old ( ekpalai ).

Late and common compound adverb, in N.T. only here and 2Pe 3:5.

Robertson: 2Pe 2:3

Lingereth not ( ouk argei ).

"Is not idle,"old verb, argeō (from argos not working, alpha privative and ergon ), here only in N.T.

Robertson: 2Pe 2:3

Slumbereth not ( ou nustazei ).

Old and common verb (from nuō to nod), in N.T. only here and Mat 25:5. Note apōleia (destruction) three times in 2Pe 2:1-3.

Robertson: 2Pe 2:4

For if God spared not ( ei gar ho theos ouk epheisato ).

First instance (gar ) of certain doom, that of the fallen angels. Condition of the first class precisely like that in Rom 11:21 save that here the normal apodosis (humōn ou pheisetai ) is not expressed as there, but is simply implied in 2Pe 2:9 by oiden kurios ruesthai (the Lord knows how to deliver) after the parenthesis in 2Pe 2:8.

Robertson: 2Pe 2:4

Angels when they sinned ( aggelōn hamartēsantōn ).

Genitive case after epheisato (first aorist middle indicative of pheidomai ) and anarthrous (so more emphatic, even angels), first aorist active participle of hamartanō , "having sinned."

Robertson: 2Pe 2:4

Cast them down to hell ( tartarōsas ).

First aorist active participle of tartaroō , late word (from tartaros , old word in Homer, Pindar, lxx Job 40:15; 41:23, Philo, inscriptions, the dark and doleful abode of the wicked dead like the Gehenna of the Jews), found here alone save in a scholion on Homer. Tartaros occurs in Enoch 20:2 as the place of punishment of the fallen angels, while Gehenna is for apostate Jews.

Robertson: 2Pe 2:4

Committed ( paredōken ).

First aorist active indicative of paradidōmi , the very form solemnly used by Paul in Rom 1:21, Rom 1:26, Rom 1:28.

Robertson: 2Pe 2:4

To pits of darkness ( seirois zophou ).

Zophos (kin to gnophos , nephos ) is an old word, blackness, gloom of the nether world in Homer, in N.T. only here, 2Pe 2:17; Jud 1:13; Heb 12:18. The MSS. vary between seirais (seira , chain or rope) and seirois (seiros , old word for pit, underground granary). Seirois is right (Aleph A B C), dative case of destination.

Robertson: 2Pe 2:4

To be reserved unto judgment ( eis krisin tēroumenous ).

Present (linear action) passive participle of tēreō . "Kept for judgment."Cf. 1Pe 1:4. Aleph A have kolazomenous tērein as in 2Pe 2:9. Note krisis (act of judgment).

Robertson: 2Pe 2:5

The ancient world ( archaiou kosmou ).

Genitive case after epheisato (with ei understood) repeated (the second example, the deluge). This example not in Jude. Absence of the article is common in the prophetic style like 2 Peter. For archaios see Luk 9:8.

Robertson: 2Pe 2:5

Preserved ( ephulaxen ).

Still part of the long protasis with ei , first aorist active indicative of phulassō .

Robertson: 2Pe 2:5

With seven others ( ogdoon ).

"Eighth,"predicate accusative adjective (ordinal), classic idiom usually with auton . See 1Pe 3:20 for this same item. Some take ogdoon with kēruka (eighth preacher), hardly correct.

Robertson: 2Pe 2:5

A preacher of righteousness ( dikaiosunēs kēruka ).

"Herald"as in 1Ti 2:7; 2Ti 1:11 alone in N.T., but kērussō is common. It is implied in 1Pe 3:20 that Noah preached to the men of his time during the long years.

Robertson: 2Pe 2:5

When he brought ( epaxas ).

First aorist active participle (instead of the common second aorist active epagagōn ) of eisagō , old compound verb to bring upon, in N.T. only here and Act 5:28 (by Peter here also).

Robertson: 2Pe 2:5

A flood ( kataklusmon ).

Old word (from katakluzō , to inundate), only of Noah’ s flood in N.T. (Mat 24:38.; Luk 17:27; 2Pe 2:5).

Robertson: 2Pe 2:5

Upon the world of the ungodly ( kosmoi asebōn ).

Anarthrous and dative case kosmōi . The whole world were "ungodly"(asebeis as in 1Pe 4:18) save Noah’ s family of eight.

Robertson: 2Pe 2:6

Turning into ashes ( tephrōsas ).

First aorist participle of tephroō , late word from tephra , ashes (in Dio Cassius of an eruption of Vesuvius, Philo), here alone in N.T.

Robertson: 2Pe 2:6

The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah ( poleis Sodomōn kai Gomorrās ).

Genitive of apposition after poleis (cities), though it makes sense as possessive genitive, for Jud 1:7 speaks of the cities around these two. The third example, the cities of the plain. See Gen 19:24.

Robertson: 2Pe 2:6

Condemned them ( katekrinen ).

First aorist active indicative of katakrinō , still part of the protasis with ei .

Robertson: 2Pe 2:6

With an overthrow ( katastrophēi ).

Instrumental case or even dative like thanatōi with katakrinō in Mat 20:18. But Westcott and Hort reject the word here because not in B C Coptic.

Robertson: 2Pe 2:6

Having made them ( tetheikōs ).

Perfect active participle of tithēmi .

Robertson: 2Pe 2:6

An example ( hupodeigma ).

For which see Jam 5:10; Joh 13:15. Cf. 1Pe 2:21.

Robertson: 2Pe 2:6

Unto those that should live ungodly ( mellontōn asebesin ).

Rather, "unto ungodly men of things about to be"(see Heb 11:20 for this use of mellontōn ). But Aleph A C K L read asebein (present active infinitive) with mellontōn = asebēsontōn (future active participle of asebeō ), from which we have our translation.

Robertson: 2Pe 2:7

And delivered ( kai erusato ).

First aorist middle of ruomai as in Mat 6:13, still part of the protasis with ei .

Robertson: 2Pe 2:7

Righteous Lot ( dikaion Lot ).

This adjective dikaios occurs three times in 2Pe 2:7, 2Pe 2:8. See Wisdom 10:6.

Robertson: 2Pe 2:7

Sore distressed ( kataponoumenon ).

Present passive participle of kataponeō , late and common verb, to work down, to exhaust with labor, to distress, in N.T. only here and Act 7:24.

Robertson: 2Pe 2:7

By the lascivious life of the wicked ( hupo tēs tōn athesmōn en aselgeiāi anastrophēs ).

"By the life in lasciviousness of the lawless."Athesmos (alpha privative and thesmos ), late and common adjective (cf. athemitos 1Pe 4:3) for rebels against law (of nature and conscience here). Anastrophē is frequent in 1 Peter.

Robertson: 2Pe 2:8

For ( gar ).

Parenthetical explanation in 2Pe 2:8 of the remark about Lot.

Robertson: 2Pe 2:8

Dwelling ( enkatoikōn ).

Present active participle of enkatoikeō , old but rare double compound, here only in N.T.

Robertson: 2Pe 2:8

In seeing and hearing ( blemmati kai akoēi ).

"By sight (instrumental case of blemma , old word, from blepō to see, here only in N.T.) and hearing"(instrumental case of akoē from akouō , to hear, common as Mat 13:14).

Robertson: 2Pe 2:8

From day to day ( hēmeran ex hēmerās ).

"Day in day out."Accusative of time and ablative with ex . Same idiom in Psa 96:2 for the more common ex hēmeras eis hēmeran .

Robertson: 2Pe 2:8

Vexed ( ebasanizen ).

Imperfect active (kept on vexing) of basanizō , old word, to test metals, to torment (Mat 8:29).

Robertson: 2Pe 2:8

With their lawless deeds ( anomois ergois ).

Instrumental case of cause, "because of their lawless (contrary to law) deeds."For anomos see 2Th 2:8.

Robertson: 2Pe 2:9

The Lord knoweth how ( oiden kurios ).

The actual apodosis of the long protasis begun in 2Pe 2:4. God can deliver his servants as shown by Noah and Lot and he will deliver you. The idiomatic use of oida and the infinitive (ruesthai present middle and see 2Pe 2:7) for knowing how as in Mat 7:11; Jam 4:17.

Robertson: 2Pe 2:9

The godly ( eusebeis ).

Old anarthrous adjective (from eu and sebomai , to worship), in N.T. only here and Act 10:2, Act 10:7 (by Peter). For temptation (peirasmou ) see Jam 1:2, Jam 1:12; 1Pe 1:6.

Robertson: 2Pe 2:9

To keep ( tērein ).

Present active infinitive of tēreō after oiden .

Robertson: 2Pe 2:9

Unrighteous ( adikous ).

As in 1Pe 3:18.

Robertson: 2Pe 2:9

Under punishment ( kolazomenous ).

Present passive participle of kolazō , old verb (from kolos , lopped off), in N.T. only here and Act 4:21. Present tense emphasises continuity of the punishment. See kolasin aiōnion in Mat 25:46.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:1

But

Introducing a contrast with those who spake by the Holy Ghost (2Pe 1:21).

Vincent: 2Pe 2:1

There were ( ἐγένοντο )

Rev., better, there arose.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:1

There shall be

Note that Peter speaks of them as future, and Jude (Jud 1:4) as present.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:1

False teachers ( ψευδοδιδάσκαλοι )

Only here in New Testament.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:1

Who ( πὅτινες )

Of that kind or class which, etc.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:1

Privily shall bring in ( παρεισάξουσιν )

Only here in New Testament. The kindred adjective occurs Gal 2:4, " false brethren privily brought in " (παρεισάκτους ) . The metaphor is of spies or traitors introducing themselves into an enemy's camp. Compare Jud 1:4, crept in unawares. The verb means, literally, to bring (ἄγειν ) into (εἰς ) by the side of (παρά ) .

Vincent: 2Pe 2:1

Damnable heresies ( αἱρέσεις ἀπωλείας )

Lit., heresies of destruction. Rev., destructive heresies. Heresy is a transcript of αἵρεσις , the primary meaning of which is choice; so that a heresy is, strictly, the choice of an opinion contrary to that usually received; thence transferred to the body of those who profess such opinions, and therefore a sect. So Rev., in margin, sects of perdition. Commonly in this sense in the New Testament (Act 5:17; Act 15:5; Act 28:22), though the Rev. has an odd variety in its marginal renderings. See Act 24:14; 1Co 11:19; Gal 5:20. The rendering heretical doctrines seems to agree better with the context; false teachers bringing in sects is awkward.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:1

Denying

A significant word from Peter.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:1

The Lord ( δεσπότην )

In most cases in the New Testament the word is rendered master, the Rev. changing lord to master in every case but two - Luk 2:29; Act 4:24; and in both instances putting master in margin, and reserving lord for the rendering of κύριος . In three of these instances the word is used in direct address to God; and it may be asked why the Rev. changes Lord to Master in the text of Rev 6:10, and retains Lord in Luk 2:29; Act 4:24. In five out of the ten occurrences of the word in the New Testament it means master of the household. Originally, it indicates absolute, unrestricted authority, so that the Greeks refused the title to any but the gods. In the New Testament δεσπότης and κύριος are used interchangeably of God, and of masters of servants.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:1

Swift ( ταχινὴν )

Used by Peter only. See on 2Pe 1:14.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:2

Shall follow

See on 2Pe 1:16.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:2

Pernicious ways ( ἀπωλείαις )

The true reading is ἀσελγείαις , lascivious doings. So Rev. See on 1Pe 4:3. The use of the plural is rare. Compare Jud 1:4.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:3

Through covetousness ( ἐν πλεοεξίᾳ )

Lit., in covetousness; denoting the element or sphere in which the evil is wrought.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:3

Feigned ( πλαστοῖς )

Only here in New Testament. From πλάσσω , to mould , as in clay or wax. The idea is, therefore, of words moulded at will to suit their vain imaginations.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:3

Make merchandise ( ἐμπορεύσονται )

Only here and Jam 4:13. Compare Jud 1:16, for the sake of advantage; their glory being in having a multitude of followers.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:3

Judgment ( κρίμα )

Rev., sentence. So, commonly, in New Testament; the process or act of judging being expressed by κρίσις.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:3

Of a long time ( ἔκπαλαι )

Rev., better, from of old, bringing out thus more sharply the force of ἐκ . Only here and 2Pe 3:5. Construe with lingereth.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:3

Lingereth ( ἀργεῖ )

Only here in New Testament. Compare on the kindred adjective idle , 2Pe 1:8. There is a graphic picture in the sentence. The judgment is not idle. It is " represented as a living thing, awake and expectant. Long ago that judgment started on its destroying path, and the fate of sinning angels, and the deluge, and the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah were but incidental illustrations of its power; nor has it ever since lingered....It advances still, strong and vigilant as when first it sprang from the bosom of God, and will not fail to reach the mark to which it was pointed from of old" (Salmond and Lillie).

Vincent: 2Pe 2:3

Damnation ( ἀπώλεια )

More literally, Rev., destruction. The word occurs three times in 2Pe 2:1.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:3

Slumbereth ( νυστάζει ).

See on Mat 25:5, the only other passage where it occurs.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:4

The angels

No article. Angels. So Rev. Compare Jud 1:6.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:4

Cast them down to hell ( ταρταρώσας )

Only here in New Testament. From Τάρταρος , Tartarus . It is strange to find Peter using this Pagan term, which represents the Greek hell, though treated here not as equivalent to Gehenna , but as the place of detention until the judgment.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:4

Chains of darkness ( σειραῖς ζόφου )

Σειρά is a cord or band, sometimes of metal. Compare Septuagint, Proverbs 5:22; Wisd. of Sol. 17:2, 18. The best texts, however, substitute σιροῖς or σειροῖς , pits or caverns . Σιρός originally is a place for storing corn. Rev., pits of darkness.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:4

Of darkness ( ζόφου )

Peculiar to Peter and Jude. Originally of the gloom of the nether world, So Homer:

" These halls are full

Of shadows hastening down to Erebus

Amid the gloom (ὑπὸ ζόφον ) . "

Odyssey , xx., 355.

When Ulysses meets his mother in the shades, she says to him:

" How didst thou come, my child, a living man,

Into this place of darkness? (ὑπὸ ζόφον )."

Odyssey , xi., 155.

Compare Jud 1:13. So Milton:

" Here their prison ordained

In utter darkness, and their portion set

As far removed from God and light of heaven

As from the centre thrice to the utmost pole."

Paradise Lost , i., 71-74.

And Dante:

" That air forever black."

Inferno , iii., 829.

" Upon the verge I found me

Of the abysmal valley dolorous

That gathers thunder of infinite ululations.

Obscure, profound it was, and nebulous,

So that by fixing on its depths my sight

Nothing whatever I discerned therein."

Inferno , iv., 7, 12.

" I came unto a place mute of all light."

Inferno , v., 28.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:4

To be reserved ( τηρουμένους )

Lit., being reserved. See on 1Pe 1:4, " reserved in heaven."

Vincent: 2Pe 2:5

Saved ( ἐφύλαξεν )

Rev., preserved. See on 1Pe 1:4, and compare " the Lord shut him in " (Gen 7:16).

Vincent: 2Pe 2:5

Noah the eighth person

So the A. V., literally. Rev. is more perspicuous however: Noah with seven others. Compare 1Pe 3:20.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:5

A preacher ( κήρυκα )

Lit., a herald. Compare the kindred verb κηρύσσω , to preach, everywhere in New Testament. The word herald is beautifully suggestive, at many points, of the office of a gospel minister. In the Homeric age the herald partook of the character of an ambassador. He summoned the assembly and kept order in it, and had charge of arrangements at sacrifices and festivals. The office of the heralds was sacred, and their persons inviolable; hence they were employed to bear messages between enemies. The symbol of their office was the herald's staff, or caduceus, borne by Mercury, the herald-god. This was originally an olive-branch with fillets, which were afterward formed into snakes, according to the legend that Mercury found two snakes fighting and separated them with his wand, from which circumstance they were used as an emblem of peace. Plato (" Laws," xii., 941) thus speaks of the fidelity entailed by the office: " If any herald or ambassador carry a false message to any other city, or bring back a false message from the city to which he is sent, or be proved to have brought back, whether from friends or enemies, in his capacity of herald or ambassador, what they have never said - let him be indicted for having offended, contrary to the law, in the sacred office and appointment of Hermes and Zeus, and let there be a penalty fixed which he shall suffer or pay if he be convicted." In later times, their position as messengers between nations at war was emphasized. In Herodotus (i., 21), the word herald is used as synonymous with apostle. " Alyattes sent a herald (κήρυκα ) to Miletus in hopes of concluding a truce, etc. The herald (ἀπόστολος ) went on his way to Miletus." A priestly house at Athens bore the name of κήρυκες , heralds.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:5

Bringing in ( ἐπάξας )

The verb may be said to be used by Peter only. Besides this passage and 2Pe 2:1, it occurs only at Act 5:28, where Luke probably received the account from Peter as the principal actor: " ye intend to bring upon us (ἐπαγαγεῖν ) this man's blood."

Vincent: 2Pe 2:6

Turning into ashes ( τεφρώσας )

Only here in New Testament.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:6

Having made them an example ( ὑπόδειγμα τεθεικώς )

Compare 1Pe 2:21. The word for example is condemned as unclassical by the Attic grammarians, and παράδειγμα is substituted, which means, properly, a sculptor's or a painter's model, or an architect's plan.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:7

Just ( δίκαιον )

Occurring three times in 2Pe 2:7, 2Pe 2:8.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:7

Vexed ( καταπονούμενον )

Only here and Act 7:24. Κατά gives the force of worn down . So Rev., sore distressed.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:7

With the filthy conversation of the wicked ( ὑπὸ τῆς τῶν ἀθέσμων ἐν ἀσελγείᾳ ἀναστροφῆς ).

Lit., by the behavior of the lawless in wantonness. Rev., the lascivious life of the wicked. Life or behavior (ἀναστροφῆς ) . See on 1Pe 1:15. Wicked (ἀθέσμων ) , lit., lawless. Only here and 2Pe 3:17. Wantonness (ἀσελγείᾀ ) , see on Mar 7:22.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:8

Dwelling ( ἐγκατοικῶν )

Only here in New Testament. Dwelling, and therefore suffering continually, from day to day.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:8

In seeing ( βλέμματι )

Only here in New Testament. Usually of the look of a man from without, through which the vexation comes to the soul. " Vexed his righteous soul. "

Vincent: 2Pe 2:8

Vexed ( ἐβασανίζεν )

See on Mat 4:24, torments. The original sense is to test by touchstone or by torture. See on toiling, Mar 6:48. Rev. gives tormented, in margin.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:8

Unlawful ( ἀνόμοις )

Rev., lawless. Only here in New Testament with things. In all other cases it is applied to persons.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:9

Godly ( εὐσεβεῖς )

Used by Peter only. Compare Act 10:2, Act 10:7. The reading at Act 22:12, is εὐλαβής , devout. See on 2Pe 1:3.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:9

Temptation ( πειρασμοῦ )

See on 1Pe 1:6.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:9

To reserve ( τηρεῖν )

See on 1Pe 1:4. Rev., keep , is not an improvement.

Vincent: 2Pe 2:9

To be punished ( κολαζομένους )

Only here and Act 4:21, where the narrative probably came from Peter. The participle here is, lit., being punished, and therefore the A. V. is wrong. Rev., rightly, under punishment. Compare Mat 25:46.

Wesley: 2Pe 2:1

As well as true.

Wesley: 2Pe 2:1

Of Israel. Those that spake even the truth, when God had not sent them; and also those that were truly sent of him, and yet corrupted or softened their message, were false prophets.

Wesley: 2Pe 2:1

As well as true. Teachers among you, who will privately briny in - Into the church.

Wesley: 2Pe 2:1

They first, by denying the Lord, introduced destructive heresies, that is, divisions; or they occasioned first these divisions, and then were given up to a reprobate mind, even to deny the Lord that bought them. Either the heresies are the effect of denying the Lord, or the denying the Lord was the consequence of the heresies.

Wesley: 2Pe 2:1

Both by their doctrine and their works.

Wesley: 2Pe 2:1

With his own blood. Yet these very men perish everlastingly. Therefore Christ bought even them that perish.

Wesley: 2Pe 2:2

By those who blend all false and true Christians together.

Wesley: 2Pe 2:3

Only use you to gain by you, as merchants do their wares.

Wesley: 2Pe 2:3

Was long ago determined, and will be executed speedily. All sinners are adjudged to destruction; and God's punishing some proves he will punish the rest.

Wesley: 2Pe 2:4

The bottomless pit, a place of unknown misery.

Wesley: 2Pe 2:4

Like condemned criminals to safe custody, as if bound with the strongest chains in a dungeon of darkness, to be reserved unto the judgment of the great day. Though still those chains do not hinder their often walking up and down seeking whom they may devour.

Wesley: 2Pe 2:5

that is, Noah and seven others, a preacher as well as practiser, of righteousness.

Wesley: 2Pe 2:5

Whose numbers stood them in no stead.

Wesley: 2Pe 2:9

It plainly appears, from these instances, that the Lord knoweth, hath both wisdom and power and will, to deliver the godly out of all temptations, and to punish the ungodly.

JFB: 2Pe 2:1

In contrast to the prophets "moved by the Holy Ghost" (2Pe 1:21).

JFB: 2Pe 2:1

As well as the true prophets (2Pe 1:19-21). Paul had already testified the entrance of false prophets into the same churches.

JFB: 2Pe 2:1

Israel: he is writing to believing Israelites primarily (see on 1Pe 1:1). Such a "false prophet" was Balaam (2Pe 2:15).

JFB: 2Pe 2:1

Already symptoms of the evil were appearing (2Pe 2:9-22; Jud 1:4-13).

JFB: 2Pe 2:1

Teachers of falsehood. In contrast to the true teachers, whom he exhorts his readers to give heed to (2Pe 3:2).

JFB: 2Pe 2:1

Such as (literally, "the which") shall.

JFB: 2Pe 2:1

Not at first openly and directly, but by the way, bringing in error by the side of the true doctrine (so the Greek): Rome objects, Protestants cannot point out the exact date of the beginnings of the false doctrines superadded to the original truth; we answer, Peter foretells us it would be so, that the first introduction of them would be stealthy and unobserved (Jud 1:4).

JFB: 2Pe 2:1

Literally, "of destruction"; entailing destruction (Phi 3:19) on all who follow them.

JFB: 2Pe 2:1

Self-chosen doctrines, not emanating from God (compare "will-worship," Col 2:23).

JFB: 2Pe 2:1

Going even to such a length as to deny both in teaching and practice. Peter knew, by bitter repentance, what a fearful thing it is to deny the Lord (Luk 22:61-62).

JFB: 2Pe 2:1

Him whom, above all others, they ought to confess.

JFB: 2Pe 2:1

"Master and Owner" (Greek), compare Jud 1:4, Greek. Whom the true doctrine teaches to be their OWNER by right of purchase. Literally, "denying Him who bought them (that He should be thereby), their Master."

JFB: 2Pe 2:1

Even the ungodly were bought by His "precious blood." It shall be their bitterest self-reproach in hell, that, as far as Christ's redemption was concerned, they might have been saved. The denial of His propitiatory sacrifice is included in the meaning (compare 1Jo 4:3).

JFB: 2Pe 2:1

Compare "God bringing in the flood upon the world," 2Pe 2:5. Man brings upon himself the vengeance which God brings upon him.

JFB: 2Pe 2:1

Swiftly descending: as the Lord's coming shall be swift and sudden. As the ground swallowed up Korah and Dathan, and "they went down quick into the pit." Compare Jud 1:11, which is akin to this passage.

JFB: 2Pe 2:2

Out: so the Greek.

JFB: 2Pe 2:2

The oldest manuscripts and Vulgate read, "licentiousness" (Jud 1:4). False doctrine and immoral practice generally go together (2Pe 2:18-19).

JFB: 2Pe 2:2

"on account of whom," namely, the followers of the false teachers.

JFB: 2Pe 2:2

"blasphemed" by those without, who shall lay on Christianity itself the blame of its professors' evil practice. Contrast 1Pe 2:12.

JFB: 2Pe 2:3

Greek, "IN covetousness" as their element (2Pe 2:14, end). Contrast 2Co 11:20; 2Co 12:17.

JFB: 2Pe 2:3

In God's eternal purpose. "Before of old ordained to condemnation" (Jud 1:4).

JFB: 2Pe 2:3

Though sinners think it lingers; "is not idle."

JFB: 2Pe 2:3

Greek, "destruction" (see on 2Pe 2:1). Personified.

JFB: 2Pe 2:3

Though sinners slumber.

JFB: 2Pe 2:4

The apodosis or consequent member of the sentence is not expressed, but is virtually contained in 2Pe 2:9. If God in past time has punished the ungodly and saved His people, He will be sure to do so also in our days (compare end of 2Pe 2:3).

JFB: 2Pe 2:4

The highest of intelligent creatures (compare with this verse, Jud 1:6), yet not spared when they sinned.

JFB: 2Pe 2:4

Greek, "Tartarus": nowhere else in New Testament or the Septuagint: equivalent to the usual Greek, "Gehenna." Not inconsistent with 1Pe 5:8; for though their final doom is hell, yet for a time they are permitted to roam beyond it in "the darkness of this world." Slaves of Tartarus (called "the abyss," or "deep," Luk 8:31; "the bottomless pit," Rev 9:11) may also come upon earth. Step by step they are given to Tartarus, until at last they shall be wholly bound to it.

JFB: 2Pe 2:4

As the judge delivers the condemned prisoner to the officers (Rev 20:2).

JFB: 2Pe 2:4

(Jud 1:6). The oldest manuscripts read, "dens," as ALFORD translates: the Greek, however, may, in Hellenistic Greek, mean "chains," as Jude expresses it. They are "reserved" unto hell's "mist of darkness" as their final "judgment" or doom, and meanwhile their exclusion from the light of heaven is begun. So the ungodly were considered as virtually "in prison," though at large on the earth, from the moment that God's sentence went forth, though not executed till one hundred twenty years after.

JFB: 2Pe 2:5

That is, Noah, and seven others. Contrasted with the densely peopled "world of the ungodly."

JFB: 2Pe 2:5

Not only "righteous" himself (compare 2Pe 2:8), but also "a preacher of righteousness": adduced by Peter against the licentiousness of the false teachers (2Pe 2:2) who have no prospect before them but destruction, even as it overtook the ungodly world in Noah's days.

JFB: 2Pe 2:6

"TO overthrow" [ALFORD].

JFB: 2Pe 2:6

"of (the fate that should befall) those who in after-time should live ungodly." Compare Jud 1:7, "set forth for an example."

JFB: 2Pe 2:7

Righteous.

JFB: 2Pe 2:7

Literally, "behavior in licentiousness" (Gen 19:5).

JFB: 2Pe 2:7

Greek, "lawless": who set at defiance the laws of nature, as well as man and God. The Lord reminds us of Lot's faithfulness, but not of his sin in the cave: so in Rahab's case.

JFB: 2Pe 2:8

Greek, "tormented."

JFB: 2Pe 2:9

He is at no loss for means, even when men see no escape.

JFB: 2Pe 2:9

Not actually from.

JFB: 2Pe 2:9

Trials.

JFB: 2Pe 2:9

Greek, "being punished": as the fallen angels (2Pe 2:4), actually under sentence, and awaiting its final execution. Sin is already its own penalty; hell will be its full development.

Clarke: 2Pe 2:1

But there were false prophets - There were not only holy men of God among the Jews, who prophesied by Divine inspiration, but there were also false prophets, whose prophecies were from their own imagination, and perverted many

Clarke: 2Pe 2:1

As there shall be false teachers among you - At a very early period of the Christian Church many heresies sprung up; but the chief were those of the Ebionites, Cerinthians, Nicolaitans, Menandrians, and Gnostics, of whom many strange things have been spoken by the primitive fathers, and of whose opinions it is difficult to form any satisfactory view. They were, no doubt, bad enough, and their opponents in general have doubtless made them worse. By what name those were called of whom the apostle here speaks, we cannot tell. They were probably some sort of apostate Jews, or those called the Nicolaitans. See the preface

Clarke: 2Pe 2:1

Damnable heresies - Αἱρεσεις απωλειας· Heresies of destruction; such as, if followed, would lead a man to perdition. And these παρεισαξουσιν, they will bring in privately - cunningly, without making much noise, and as covertly as possible. It would be better to translate destructive heresies than damnable

Clarke: 2Pe 2:1

Denying the Lord that bought them - It is not certain whether God the Father be intended here, or our Lord Jesus Christ; for God is said to have purchased the Israelites, Exo 15:16, and to be the Father that had bought them, Deu 32:6, and the words may refer to these or such like passages; or they may point out Jesus Christ, who had bought them with his blood; and the heresies, or dangerous opinions, may mean such as opposed the Divinity of our Lord, or his meritorious and sacrificial death, or such opinions as bring upon those who hold them swift destruction. It seems, however, more natural to understand the Lord that bought them as applying to Christ, than otherwise; and if so, this is another proof, among many

1.    That none can be saved but by Jesus Christ

2.    That through their own wickedness some may perish for whom Christ died.

Clarke: 2Pe 2:2

Many shall follow - Will follow, because determined to gratify their sinful propensities

Clarke: 2Pe 2:2

Pernicious ways - Ταις απωλειαις· Their destructions; i.e. the heresies of destruction, or destructive opinions, mentioned above. But instead of απωλειαις, destructions, ασελγειαις, lasciviousnesses or uncleannesses, is the reading of ABC, and upwards of sixty others, most of which are among the most ancient, correct, and authentic. This is the reading also of both the Syriac, all the Arabic, the Coptic, Ethiopic, Armenian, Slavonic, Vulgate, Chrysostom, Theophylact, Ecumenius, and Jerome. A very few, and those of little repute, have the word in the text

The word lasciviousnesses is undoubtedly the true reading, and this points out what the nature of the heresies was: it was a sort of Antinomianism; they pampered and indulged the lusts of the flesh; and, if the Nicolaitans are meant, it is very applicable to them, for they taught the community of wives, etc. Griesbach has received this reading into the text

Clarke: 2Pe 2:2

By reason of whom - These were persons who professed Christianity; and because they were called Christians, and followed such abominable practices, the way of truth - the Christian religion, βλασφημηθησεται, was blasphemed. Had they called themselves by any name but that of Christ, his religion would not have suffered.

Clarke: 2Pe 2:3

And through covetousness - That they might get money to spend upon their lusts, with feigned words, πλαστοις λογοις, with counterfeit tales, false narrations, of pretended facts, lying miracles, fabulous legends. "In this single sentence,"says Dr. Macknight, "there is a clear prediction of the iniquitous practices of those great merchants of souls, the Romish clergy, who have rated all crimes, even the most atrocious, at a fixed price; so that if their doctrine be true, whoever pays the price may commit the crime without hazarding his salvation."How the popish Church has made merchandise of souls, needs no particular explanation here. It was this abominable doctrine that showed to some, then in that Church, the absolute necessity of a reformation

Clarke: 2Pe 2:3

Whose judgment now of a long time - From the beginning God has condemned sin, and inflicted suitable punishments on transgressors; and has promised in his word, from the earliest ages, to pour out his indignation on the wicked. The punishment, therefore, so long ago predicted, shall fall on these impure and incorrigible sinners; and the condemnation which is denounced against them slumbers not - it is alert, it is on its way, it is hurrying on, and must soon overtake them.

Clarke: 2Pe 2:4

For if God spared not the angels - The angels were originally placed in a state of probation; some having fallen and some having stood proves this. How long that probation was to last to them, and what was the particular test of their fidelity, we know not; nor indeed do we know what was their sin; nor when nor how they fell. St. Jude says they kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation; which seems to indicate that they got discontented with their lot, and aspired to higher honors, or perhaps to celestial domination. The tradition of their fall is in all countries and in all religions, but the accounts given are various and contradictory; and no wonder, for we have no direct revelation on the subject. They kept not their first estate, and they sinned, is the sum of what we know on the subject; and here curiosity and conjecture are useless

Clarke: 2Pe 2:4

But cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness - Αλλα σειραις ζοφου ταρταρωσας παρεδωκεν εις κρισιν τετηρημενους· But with chains of darkness confining them in Tartarus, delivered them over to be kept to judgment; or, sinking them into Tartarus, delivered them over into custody for punishment, to chains of darkness. Chains of darkness is a highly poetic expression. Darkness binds them on all hands; and so dense and strong is this darkness that it cannot be broken through; they cannot deliver themselves, nor be delivered by others

As the word Tartarus is found nowhere else in the New Testament, nor does it appear in the Septuagint, we must have recourse to the Greek writers for its meaning. Mr. Parkhurst, under the word ταρταροω, has made some good collections from those writers, which I here subjoin

"The Scholiast on Aeschylus, Eumen., says: Pindar relates that Apollo overcame the Python by force; wherefore the earth endeavored ταρταρωσαι, to cast him into Tartarus. Tzetzes uses the same word, ταρταροω, for casting or sending into Tartarus; and the compound verb καταταρταρουν, is found in Apollodorus; in Didymus’ Scholia on Homer; in Phurnutus, De Nat, Deor., p. 11, edit. Gale; and in the book Περι Ποταμων, which is extant among the works of Plutarch. And those whom Apollodorus styles καταταρταρωθεντας, he in the same breath calls ῥιφθεντας εις Ταρταρον, cast into Tartarus. Thus the learned Windet, in Pole’ s Synopsis. We may then, I think, safely assert that ταρταρωσας, in St. Peter, means not, as Mede (Works, fol., p. 23) interprets it, to adjudge to, but to cast into, Tartarus; ῥιπτειν εις Ταρταρον, as in Homer, cited below. And in order to know what was the precise intention of the apostle by this expression, we must inquire what is the accurate import of the term Ταρταρος . Now, it appears from a passage of Lucian, that by Ταρταρος was meant, in a physical sense, the bounds or verge of this material system; for, addressing himself to ΕΡΩΣ, Cupid or Love, he says: Συ γαρ εξ αφανους και κεχυμενης αμορφιας ΤΟ ΠΑΝ εμορφωσας, κ. τ. λ. ‘ Thou formedst the universe from its confused and chaotic state; and, after separating and dispersing the circumfused chaos, in which, as in one common sepulchre, the whole world lay buried, thou drovest it to the confines or recesses of outer Tartarus -

‘ Where iron gates and bars of solid bras

Keep it in durance irrefrangible

And its return prohibit.’

"The ancient Greeks appear to have received, by tradition, an account of the punishment of the ‘ fallen angels,’ and of bad men after death; and their poets did, in conformity I presume with that account, make Tartarus the place where the giants who rebelled against Jupiter, and the souls of the wicked, were confined. ‘ Here,’ saith Hesiod, Theogon., lin. 720, 1, ‘ the rebellious Titans were bound in penal chains.’

Τοσσον ενερθ ’ ὑπο γης, ὁσον ουρανος εστ ’ απο γαιης.

Ισον γαρ τ ’ απο γης ες ΤΑΡΤΑΡΟΝ ηεροεντα.

‘ As far beneath the earth as earth from heaven

For such the distance thence to Tartarus.’

Which description will very well agree with the proper sense of Tartarus, if we take the earth for the center of the material system, and reckon from our zenith, or the extremity of the heavens that is over our heads. But as the Greeks imagined the earth to be of a boundless depth, so it must not be dissembled that their poets speak of Tartarus as a vast pit or gulf in the bowels of it. Thus Hesiod in the same poem, lin. 119, calls it -

ΤΑΡΤΑΡΑ τ ’ ηεροεντα μυχῳ χθονος ευρυοδειης·

‘ Black Tartarus, within earth’ s spacious womb.’

"And Homer, Iliad viii., lin. 13, etc., introduces Jupiter threatening any of the gods who should presume to assist either the Greeks or the Trojans, that he should either come back wounded to heaven, or be sent to Tartarus

Η μιν ἑλων ῥιψω ες ΤΑΡΤΑΡΟΝ ηεροεντα

Τηλε μαλ ’ , ἡχι βαθιστον ὑπο χθονος εστι βερεθρον

Ενθα σιδηρειαι τε πυλαι, και χαλκεος ουδος

Τοσσον ενερθ ’ αιδεω, ὁσον ονρανος εστ ’ απο γαιης.

‘ Or far, O far, from steep Olympus thrown

Low in the deep Tartarean gulf shall groan

That gulf which iron gates and brazen groun

Within the earth inexorably bound

As deep beneath th’ infernal center hurl’ d

As from that center to the ethereal world.’

Pope

‘ Where, according to Homer’ s description, Iliad viii., lin. 480, 1, -

- - Ουτ ’ αυγης ὑπεριονος ηελιοιο

Τερποντ ’ , ουτ ’ ανεμοισι· βαθυς δε τε ΤΑΡΤΑΡΟΣ αμφις.

‘ No sun e’ er gilds the gloomy horrors there

No cheerful gales refresh the lazy air

But murky Tartarus extends around.’

Pope

"Or, in the language of the old Latin poet, (cited by Cicero, Tuscul., lib. i. cap. 15)

Ubi rigida constat crassa caligo inferum

"On the whole, then, ταρταρουν, in St. Peter, is the same as ῥιπτειν ες Ταρταρον, to throw into Tartarus, in Homer, only rectifying the poet’ s mistake of Tartarus being in the bowels of the earth, and recurring to the original sense of that word above explained, which when applied to spirits must be interpreted spiritually; and thus ταρταρωσας will import that God cast the apostate angels out of his presence into that ζοφος του σκοτους, blackness of darkness, (2Pe 2:17; Jud 1:13), where they will be for ever banished from the light of his countenance, and from the beatifying influence of the ever blessed Three, as truly as a person plunged into the torpid boundary of this created system would be from the light of the sun and the benign operations of the material heavens."By chains of darkness we are to understand a place of darkness and wretchedness, from which it is impossible for them to escape.

Clarke: 2Pe 2:5

Spared not the old world - The apostle’ s argument is this: If God spared not the rebellious angels, nor the sinful antediluvians, nor the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha, he will not spare those wicked teachers who corrupt the pure doctrines of Christianity

Clarke: 2Pe 2:5

Saved Noah the eighth - Some think that the words should be translated, Noah the eighth preacher of righteousness; but it seems most evident, from 1Pe 3:20, that eight persons are here meant, which were the whole that were saved in the ark, viz. Shem, Ham, Japhet, and their three wives, six; Noah’ s wife seven; and Noah himself the eighth. The form of expression, ογδοον Νωε, Noah the eighth, i.e. Noah and seven more, is most common in the Greek language. So in Appian, Bell. Pun., p. 12, Τριτος δε ποτε εν σπηλαιῳ κρυπτομενος ελαθε, sometimes he the third (i.e. he with two others) lay hid in a cave. Andocides, Orat. iv. p. 295: Αἱρεθεις επι τουτῳ δεκατος αυτος, he himself the tenth (i.e. he and nine others) were chosen to this. See a number of other examples in Kypke

Clarke: 2Pe 2:5

World of the ungodly - A whole race without God - without any pure worship or rational religion.

Clarke: 2Pe 2:6

The cities of Sodom and Gomorrha - See the notes on Genesis 19 (note), for an account of the sin and punishment of these cities

Clarke: 2Pe 2:6

Making them an ensample - These three words, ὑποδειγμα, παραδειγμα, and δειγμα, are used to express the same idea; though the former may signify an example to be shunned, the second an example to be followed, and the third a simple exhibition. But these differences are not always observed.

Clarke: 2Pe 2:7

Vexed with the filthy conversation - Καταπονουμενον ὑπο της των αθεσμων εν ασελγεια αναστροφης· Being exceedingly pained with the unclean conduct of those lawless persons. What this was, see in the history, Genesis 19., and the notes there.

Clarke: 2Pe 2:8

That righteous man dwelling among them - Lot, after his departure from Abraham, A. M. 2086, lived at Sodom till A. M. 2107, a space of about twenty years; and, as he had a righteous soul, he must have been tormented with the abominations of that people from day to day

The word εβασανιζεν, tormented, is not less emphatic than the word καταπονουμενον, grievously pained, in the preceding verse, and shows what this man must have felt in dwelling so long among a people so abandoned.

Clarke: 2Pe 2:9

The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly - The preservation and deliverance of Lot gave the apostle occasion to remark, that God knew as well to save as to destroy; and that his goodness led him as forcibly to save righteous Lot, as his justice did to destroy the rebellious in the instances already adduced. And the design of the apostle in producing these examples is to show to the people to whom he was writing that, although God would destroy those false teachers, yet he would powerfully save his faithful servants from their contagion and from their destruction. We should carefully observe

1.    That the godly man is not to be preserved from temptation

2.    That he will be preserved in temptation

3.    That he will be delivered out of it.

Calvin: 2Pe 2:1

1.But there were As weak consciences are usually very grievously and dangerously shaken, when false teachers arise, who either corrupt or mutilate the doctrine of faith, it was necessary for the Apostle, while seeking to encourage the faithful to persevere, to remove out of the way an offense of this kind. He, moreover, comforted those to whom he was writing, and confirmed them by this argument, that God has always tried and proved his Church by such a temptation as this, in order that novelty might not disturb their hearts. “Not different,” he says, “will be the condition of the Church under the gospel, from what it was formerly under the law; false prophets disturbed the ancient Church; the same thing must also be expected by us.”

It was necessary expressly to shew this, because many imagined that the Church would enjoy tranquillity under the rein of Christ; for as the prophets had promised that at his coming there would be real peace, the highest degree of heavenly wisdom, and the full restoration of all things, they thought that the Church would be no more exposed to any contests. Let us then remember that the Spirit of God hath once for all declared, that the Church shall never be free from this intestine evil; and let this likeness be always borne in mind, that the trial of our faith is to be similar to that of the fathers, and for the same reason — that in this way it may be made evident, whether we really love God, as we find it written in Deu 13:3.

But it is not necessary here to refer to every example of this kind; it is enough, in short, to know that, like the fathers, we must contend against false doctrines, that our faith ought by no means to be shaken on account of discords and sects, because the truth of God shall remain unshaken notwithstanding the violent agitations by which Satan strives often to upset all things.

Observe also, that no one time in particular is mentioned by Peter, when he says there shall be false teachers, but that all ages are included; for he makes here a comparison between Christians and the ancient people. We ought, then, to apply this truth to our own time, lest, when we see false teachers rising up to oppose the truth of God, this trial should break us down. But the Spirit reminds us, in order that we may take the more heed; and to the same purpose is the whole description which follows.

He does not, indeed, paint each sect in its own colors, but particularly refers to profane men who manifested contempt towards God. The advice, indeed, is general, that we ought to beware of false teachers; but, at the same time, he selected one kind of such from whom the greater danger arose. What is said here will hereafter become more evident from the words of Jude, [Jud 1:4,] who treats exactly of the same subject.

Who privily shall bring in By these words he points out the craftiness of Satan, and of all the ungodly who militate under his banner, that they would creep in by oblique turnings, as through burrows under ground. ¹⁶³ The more watchful, then, ought the godly to be, so that they may escape their hidden frauds: for however they may insinuate themselves, they cannot circumvent those who are carefully vigilant.

He calls them opinions of perdition, or destructive opinions, that every one, solicitous for his salvation, might dread such opinions as the most noxious pests. As to the word opinions or heresies, it has not, without reason, been always deemed infamous and hateful by the children of God; for the bond of holy unity is the simple truth. As soon as we depart from that, nothing remains but dreadful discord.

Even denying the Lord that bought them Though Christ may be denied in various ways, yet Peter, as I think, refers here to what is expressed by Jude, that is, when the grace of God is turned into lasciviousness; for Christ redeemed us, that he might have a people separated from all the pollutions of the world, and devoted to holiness and innocency. They, then, who throw off the bridle, and give themselves up to all kinds of licentiousness, are not unjustly said to deny Christ by whom they have been redeemed. Hence, that the doctrine of the gospel may remain whole and complete among us, let this be fixed in our minds, that we have been redeemed by Christ, that he may be the Lord of our life and of our death, and that our main object ought to be, to live to him and to die to him. He then says, that their swift destruction was at hand, lest others should be ensnared by them. ¹⁶⁴

Calvin: 2Pe 2:2

2.And many shall follow. It is, indeed, no slight offense to the weak, when they see that false doctrines are received by the common consent of the world, that a large number of men are led astray, so that few continue in true obedience to Christ. So, at this day, there is nothing that more violently disturbs pious minds than such a defection. For hardly one in ten of those who have once made a profession of Christ, retains the purity of faith to the end. Almost all turn aside into corruptions, and being deluded by the teachers of licentiousness, they become profane. Lest this should make our faith to falter, Peter comes to our help, and in due time foretells that this very thing would be, that is, that false teachers would draw many to perdition.

But there is a double reading even in the Greek copies; for some read, “lasciviousness,” and others, “perdition.” I have, however, followed what has been mostly approved. ¹⁶⁵

By reason of whom the way of truth This I consider to have been said for this reason, because as religion is adorned when men are taught to fear God, to maintain uprightness of life, a chaste and virtuous conduct, or when at least the mouth of the wicked is closed, that they do not speak evil of the gospel; so when the reins are let loose, and every kind of licentiousness is practiced, the name and the doctrine of Christ are exposed to the reproaches of the ungodly. Others give a different explanation — that these false teachers, like filthy dogs, barked at sound doctrine. But the words of Peter appear to me on the contrary to intimate, that these would give occasion to enemies insolently to assail the truth of God. Though then they would not themselves assail the Christian faith with calumnies, yet they would arm others with the means of reproaching it.

Calvin: 2Pe 2:3

3.With feigned words Peter endeavors by all means to render the faithful displeased with ungodly teachers, that they might resist them more resolutely and more constantly. It is especially an odious thing that we should be exposed to sale like vile slaves. But he testifies that this is done, when any one seduces us from the redemption of Christ. He calls those feigned words which are artfully formed for the purpose of deceiving. ¹⁶⁶ Unless then one is so mad as to sell the salvation of his soul to false teachers, let him close up every avenue that may lead to their wicked inventions. For the same purpose as before he repeats again, that their destruction delayed not, that is, that he might frighten the good from their society. For since they were given up to a sudden destruction, every one who connected himself with them, must have perished with them.

Calvin: 2Pe 2:4

4.For if We have stated how much it behoves us to know that the ungodly, who by their mischievous opinions corrupt the Church, cannot escape God’s vengeance; and this he proves especially by three remarkable examples of God's judgment, — that he spared not even angels, that he once destroyed the whole world by a deluge, that he reduced Sodom to ashes, and other neighboring cities. But Peter thought it sufficient to take as granted what ought to be never doubted by us, that is, that God is the judge of the whole world. It hence follows that the punishment he formerly inflicted on the ungodly and wicked, he will now also inflict on the like characters. For he can never be unlike himself, nor does he shew respect of persons, so as to forgive the same wickedness in one which he has punished in another; but he hates injustice and wrong equally, whenever it is found. ¹⁶⁷

For we must always bear in mind that there is a difference between God and men; for men indeed judge unequally, but God keeps the same course in judging. For that he forgives sins, this is done because he blots them out through repentance and faith. He therefore does not otherwise reconcile himself to us than by justifying us; for until sin is taken away, there is always an occasion of discord between us and Him.

As to the angels. The argument is from the greater to the less; for they were far more excellent than we are, and yet their dignity did not preserve them from the hand of God; much less then can mortal men escape, when they follow them in their impiety. But as Peter mentions here but briefly the fall of angels, and as he has not named the time and the manner and other circumstances, it behoves us soberly to speak on the subject. Most men are curious and make no end of inquiries on these things; but since God in Scripture has only sparingly touched on them, and as it were by the way, he thus reminds us that we ought to be satisfied with this small knowledge. And indeed they who curiously inquire, do not regard edification, but seek to feed their souls with vain speculations. What is useful to us, God has made known, that is, that the devils were at first created, that they might serve and obey God, but that through their own fault they apostatized, because they would not submit to the authority of God; and that thus the wickedness found in them was accidental, and not from nature, so that it could not be ascribed to God.

All this Peter declares very clearly, when he says that angels fell, though superior to men; and Jude is still more express when he writes, that they kept not their first estate, or their pre-eminence. [Jud 1:6.] Let those who are not satisfied with these testimonies have recourse to the Sorbonian theology, which will teach them respecting angels to satiety, so as to precipitate them to hell together with the devils.

Chains of darkness This metaphor intimates that they are held bound in darkness until the last day. And the comparison is taken from malefactors, who, after having been condemned, suffer half of their punishment by the severity of the prison, until they are drawn forth to their final doom. We may hence learn, not only what punishment the wicked suffer after death, but also what is the condition of the children of God: for they calmly acquiesce in the hope of sure and perfect blessedness, though they do not as yet enjoy it; as the former suffer dreadful agonies on account of the vengeance prepared for them.

Calvin: 2Pe 2:5

5.The old world The import of what he says is, that God, after having drowned the human race, formed again as it were a new world. This is also an argument from the greater to the less; for how can the wicked escape the deluge of divine wrath, since the whole world was once destroyed by it? For by saying that eight only were saved, he intimates that a multitude would not be a shield against God to protect the wicked; but that as many as sin shall be punished, be they few or many in number.

But it may be asked why he calls Noah the preacher of righteousness. Some understand that he was the preacher of the righteousness of God, inasmuch as Scripture commends God's righteousness, because he defends his own and restores them, when dead, to life. But I rather think that he is called the preacher of righteousness, because he labored to restore a degenerated world to a sound mind, and this not only by his teaching and godly exhortations, but also by his anxious toil in building the ark for the term of a hundred and twenty years. Now, the design of the Apostle is to set before our eyes God’s wrath against the wicked, so as to encourage us at the same time to imitate the saints. ¹⁶⁸

Calvin: 2Pe 2:6

6.The cities of Sodom This was so memorable an example of Divine vengeance, that when the Scripture speaks of the universal destruction of the ungodly, it alludes commonly to this as the type. Hence Peter says, that these cities were made an example. This may, indeed, be truly said of others; but Peter points out something singular, because it was the chief and a lively image; yea, rather, because the Lord designed that his wrath against the ungodly should be made known to all ages; as when he redeemed his people from Egypt, he has set forth to us by that one favor the perpetual safety of his Church. Jude has also expressed the same thing, calling it the punishment of eternal fire. [Jud 1:7.]

Calvin: 2Pe 2:8

8.In seeing and hearing The common explanation is, that Lot was just in his eyes and ears, because all his senses abhorred the crimes of Sodom. However, another view may be taken of his seeing and hearing, so as to make this the meaning, that when the just man lived among the Sodomites, he tormented his soul by seeing and hearing; for we know that he was constrained to see and hear many things which greatly vexed his mind. The purport of what is said then is, that though the holy man was surrounded with every kind of monstrous wickedness, he yet never turned aside from his upright course.

But Peter expresses more than before, that is, that just Lot underwent voluntary sorrows; as it is right that all the godly should feel no small grief when they see the world rushing into every kind of evil, so the more necessary it is that they should groan for their own sins. And Peter expressly mentioned this, lest when impiety everywhere prevails, we should be captivated and inebriated by the allurements of vices, and perish together with others, but that we might prefer this grief, blessed by the Lord, to all the pleasures of the world.

Calvin: 2Pe 2:9

9.The Lord knoweth What first offends the weak is, that when the faithful anxiously seek aid, they are not immediately helped by God; but on the contrary he suffers them sometimes as it were to pine away through daily weariness and languor; and secondly, when the wicked grow wanton with impunity and God in the meantime is silent, as though he connived at their evil deeds. This double offense Peter now removes; for he testifies that the Lord knows when it is expedient to deliver the godly from temptation. By these words he reminds us that this office ought to be left to him, and that therefore we ought to endure temptations, and not to faint, when at any time he defers his vengeance against the ungodly.

This consolation is very necessary for us, for this thought is apt to creep in, “If the Lord would have his own to be safe, why does he not gather them all into some corner of the earth, that they may mutually stimulate one another to holiness? why does he mingle them with the wicked by whom they may be defiled?” But when God claims to himself the office of helping, and protecting his own, that they may not fail in the contest, we gather courage to fight more strenuously. The meaning of the first clause is, that this law is prescribed by the Lord to all the godly, that they are to be proved by various temptations, but that they are to entertain good hope of success, because they are never to be deprived of his aid and help.

And to reserve the unjust By this clause he shews that God so regulates his judgments as to bear with the wicked for a time, but not to leave them unpunished. Thus he corrects too much haste, by which we are wont to be carried headlong, especially when the atrocity of wickedness grievously wounds us, for we then wish God to fulminate without delay; when he does not do so, he seems no longer to be the judge of the world. Lest, then, this temporary impunity of wickedness should disturb us, Peter reminds us that a day of judgment has been appointed by the Lord; and that, therefore, the wicked shall by no means escape punishment, though it be not immediately inflicted.

There is an emphasis in the word reserve, as though he had said, that they shall not escape the hand of God, but be held bound as it were by hidden chains, that they may at a certain time be drawn forth to judgment. The participle κολαζομένους, though in the present tense, is yet to be thus explained, that they are reserved or kept to be punished, or, that they may be punished. For he bids us to rely on the expectation of the last judgment, so that in hope and patience we may fight till the end of life.

Defender: 2Pe 2:1

Even during the time that God's holy prophets were transmitting the Old Testament Scriptures, Satan had sent false prophets among the people to deceive and confuse them (Deu 18:20-22; Deu 13:1-5). The same proved true in New Testament times as false prophets arose to counteract the teachings of those with God's true gift of prophecy (Mat 7:15; Act 13:6; 2Co 11:13). As the New Testament neared completion, this true gift of prophecy began to (1Co 13:8) be superseded by the permanent gift of teaching God's revealed Word (Rom 12:6, Rom 12:7; 1Co 12:28; Eph 4:11). But, Satan continues to send false teachers (2Ti 4:3; Tit 1:10, Tit 1:11) and even occasional false teachers who claim to be prophets (1Jo 4:1; Rev 2:20; Mar 13:22). Warning against them, Peter describes many of their teachings and attitudes. This warning is very appropriate today, for false teaching in the name of Jesus is rampant today as never before, ranging from subtle heresies to flagrant denial of His divine/human nature.

Defender: 2Pe 2:1

The Greek word for "damnable" is apoleia. It is translated also as "destruction" (2Pe 2:1); "pernicious ways" (2Pe 2:2); "damnation" (2Pe 2:3); "perdition" (2Pe 3:7) and "destruction" (2Pe 3:16). Its basic meaning is "ruin."

Defender: 2Pe 2:1

The Lord's redemption price (1Co 6:20), which He paid in His own blood, was sufficient to purchase salvation for all who are lost, even those who deny Him and His redemption. However, if they choose to remain enslaved to sin and Satan, He will allow them to bring upon themselves the ruin they deserve.

Defender: 2Pe 2:1

Especially in the last days, many will follow such false teachers (2Ti 4:3). Today, cults, liberal churches, occult movements and false doctrines of every sort are proliferating rapidly all over the world, all speaking in the name of "Jesus" or "the Christ" but never "our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ"."

Defender: 2Pe 2:2

Literally, this means "blaspheming the way of truth." In this chapter, as well as other Scriptures, such false teachers are fully described. Some of their characteristics are as follows. They (1) deny the doctrine of redemption by the blood of Christ (2Pe 2:1), (2) deny the lordship of Christ (2Pe 2:10 - in this verse "government" is the same word as "lordship;" this denial is also evident in 2Pe 2:1), (3) twist the Scriptures to reflect their own beliefs (2Pe 1:19-21; 2Pe 3:16), (4) bring in their false teachings subtly (2Pe 2:1 - note "privily;" - and 2Pe 2:3 - note "feigned" words, or literally "plastic" words), (5) speak evil or sarcastically of true Biblical doctrine (2Pe 2:2, 2Pe 2:12), (6) ridicule divinely approved "dignities" - that is "glories" (Greek doxa), possibly God's holy angels and other representatives of His power, (7) covet money and prestige (2Pe 2:3, 2Pe 2:14, 2Pe 2:15), (8) are eloquent crowd-pleasers (2Pe 2:18), (9) are deceitful (2Pe 2:13), (10) are lustful and seductive, promoting carnality (2Pe 2:10, 2Pe 2:14), (11) are thorough going evolutionary uniformitarians (2Pe 3:4), and (12) deny Christ's bodily second coming (2Pe 3:3)."

Defender: 2Pe 2:4

There are previous references in the Bible to the sin of Satan, but none to the "angels that sinned," except in Gen 6:1-4 where "the sons of God" took control of human women and their progeny. According to Jud 1:6, they "left their own habitation" in the heavens, seeking to corrupt all flesh on Earth. For this crime, God "cast them down to hell" (Greek Tartarus, the traditional prison of condemned angels, the lowest compartment of Hades), whence they will eventually be cast into "everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" (Mat 25:41)."

Defender: 2Pe 2:5

Following the sin of the angels, the Lord had also to judge the corrupt world of ungodly men and women so hopelessly committed to wickedness that no hope of repentance remained. The patriarchal line from Adam had consisted of seven men who were the primary "preachers of righteousness" in their respective generations. These were, in order: Adam, Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, and Methuselah. Enoch is not included since he was translated into heaven while Jared was still serving in this capacity. Similarly, Lamech is not included because he died before his father, Methuselah. This left Noah to serve as the "eighth preacher of righteousness," but none but his own family heeded his warnings of coming judgment, and the "world of the ungodly" died in the Flood.

Defender: 2Pe 2:5

"Flood" here is kataklusmos in the Greek. Occurring only four times, always in reference to the great Flood in the days of Noah (Genesis 6-9), the word is not used for any ordinary flood. The latter was unique, being worldwide and globally destructive, inundating the entire world (Greek kosmos) in its purging waters and sparing only the four men and their wives in the ark. Lesser floods invariably are mentioned by a different Greek word."

Defender: 2Pe 2:6

The "overthrow" of the unspeakably wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, with their "filthy conversation" (2Pe 2:7) and their rampant "sodomy" was not worldwide but regional, evidently involving a great earthquake and volcanic eruptions (Genesis 19). The Greek for "overthrow" is katastrophe rather than kataklusmos, for the one was local and the other global. From these words, we obviously derive our words "catastrophe" and "catastrophism" on the one hand and "cataclysm" on the other. There has been only one cataclysm so far in world history, but many catastrophes. (2Pe 3:3-10)."

Defender: 2Pe 2:7

Despite Lot's compromises, God still considered him a "just," or "righteous" man, justified through the faith which led him to go with Abraham to Canaan, probably also worshipping at Abraham's altar (Gen 12:8)."

TSK: 2Pe 2:1

there were : Deu 13:1-3; 1Ki 18:19-22, 1Ki 22:6; Neh 6:12-14; Isa 9:15, Isa 56:10,Isa 56:11; Jer 14:13-15, Jer 23:16, Jer 23:17, Jer 23:25-32, Jer 27:14, Jer 27:15, Jer 28:15-17, Jer 29:8, Jer 29:9, Jer 29:31, Jer 29:32; Jer 37:19; Lam 2:14; Ezek. 13:3-18; Hos 9:8; Mic 2:11, Mic 3:5, Mic 3:11; Zec 13:3, Zec 13:4; Mat 7:15; Luk 6:26; Rom 16:18

even : Mat 24:5, Mat 24:11, Mat 24:24; Mar 13:22; Luk 21:8; Act 20:29, Act 20:30; 1Co 11:19; 2Co 11:13-15; Gal 4:17; Eph 4:14; Col 2:8, Col 2:18; 2Th 2:3-12; 1Ti 4:1-3; 2Ti 3:1-9, 2Ti 4:3; Tit 1:11; 1Jo 2:18, 1Jo 2:19, 1Jo 2:26, 1Jo 4:1; Jud 1:18; Rev 2:9, Rev 13:14

privily : 2Pe 2:3; Gal 2:4

damnable : 2Pe 2:3; Gal 5:20; Tit 3:10

denying : Mat 10:33; Luk 12:9; Act 3:13, Act 3:14; 2Ti 2:12, 2Ti 2:13; Jud 1:4; Rev 2:13, Rev 3:8

bought : Deu 32:6; Act 20:28; 1Co 6:20, 1Co 7:23; Gal 3:13; Eph 1:7; Heb 10:29; 1Pe 1:8; Rev 5:9

and bring : 2Pe 2:3; Mal 3:5; Phi 3:19

TSK: 2Pe 2:2

many : Mat 24:10-13, Mat 24:24; Mar 13:22; 1Jo 2:18, 1Jo 2:19; Rev 12:9, Rev 13:8, Rev 13:14

pernicious ways : or, lascivious ways, as some copies read, by reason. Rom 2:24; 1Ti 5:14; Tit 2:5, Tit 2:8

ways : 2Pe 2:15, 2Pe 2:21; Psa 18:21; Isa 35:8; Jer 6:16; Mat 7:14, Mat 22:16; Mar 12:14; Joh 14:6; Act 13:10, Act 16:17, Act 18:26, Act 19:9, Act 24:14

evil : 2Pe 2:12; Act 14:2; 1Pe 2:12; Jud 1:10,Jud 1:15

TSK: 2Pe 2:3

through : 2Pe 2:14, 2Pe 2:15; Isa 56:11; Jer 6:13, Jer 8:10; Eze 13:19; Mic 3:11; Mal 1:10; Rom 16:18; 2Co 12:17, 2Co 12:18; 1Ti 3:3, 1Ti 3:8, 1Ti 6:5; Tit 1:7, Tit 1:11; 1Pe 5:2; Jud 1:11

with : 2Pe 1:16; Psa 18:44, Psa 66:3, Psa 81:15 *marg. Luk 20:20, Luk 22:47; 1Th 2:5

make : Deu 24:17; Joh 2:16; 2Co 2:17; Rev 18:11-13

whose : 2Pe 2:1, 2Pe 2:9; Deu 32:35; Isa 5:19, Isa 30:13, Isa 30:14, Isa 60:22; Hab 3:3; Luk 18:8; 1Th 5:3; 1Pe 2:8; Jud 1:4, Jud 1:7, Jud 1:15

TSK: 2Pe 2:4

spared : 2Pe 2:5; Deu 29:20; Psa 78:50; Eze 5:11, Eze 7:4, Eze 7:9; Rom 8:32, Rom 11:21

the angels : Job 4:18; Luk 10:18; Joh 8:44; 1Jo 3:8; Jud 1:6

but : Isa 14:12; Mat 8:29, Mat 25:41; Mar 5:7; Luk 8:31; Rev 12:7-9, Rev 20:2, Rev 20:3, Rev 20:10

into : 2Pe 2:11; Jud 1:6

to be : 2Pe 2:9; Job 21:30; Jud 1:13

TSK: 2Pe 2:5

spared : Gen. 6:1-8:22; Job 22:15, Job 22:16; Mat 24:37-39; Luk 17:26, Luk 17:27; Heb 11:7

the eighth : Gen. 7:1-24; 1Pe 3:20

a preacher : 1Pe 3:19; Jud 1:14, Jud 1:15

bringing : 2Pe 3:6

TSK: 2Pe 2:6

turning : Gen 19:24, Gen 19:25, Gen 19:28; Deu 29:23; Isa 13:19; Jer 50:40; Eze 16:49-56; Hos 11:8; Amo 4:11; Zep 2:9; Luk 17:28-30; Jud 1:7

making : Num 26:10; Deu 29:23; 1Co 10:11

TSK: 2Pe 2:7

delivered : Gen 19:16, Gen 19:22, Gen 19:29; 1Co 10:13

vexed : Gen 13:13, Gen 19:7, Gen 19:8; Psa 120:5; Jer 9:1-6, Jer 23:9

TSK: 2Pe 2:8

that : Pro 25:26, Pro 28:12; 1Ti 1:9; Jam 5:16

in seeing : Psa 119:136, Psa 119:139, Psa 119:158; Eze 9:4, Eze 9:6; Mal 3:15-17

TSK: 2Pe 2:9

knoweth : Job 5:19; Psa 34:15-19; 1Co 10:13

the godly : Psa 4:3, Psa 12:1, Psa 32:6; 2Ti 3:12; Tit 2:14

and : 2Pe 2:4; Job 21:30; Pro 16:4; Jud 1:14, Jud 1:15

unto : 2Pe 3:7; Rom 2:5; 2Co 5:10,2Co 5:11

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: 2Pe 2:1

But there were false prophets also among the people - In the previous chapter, 2Pe 2:19-21, Peter had appealed to the prophecies as containing unanswerable proofs of the truth of the Christian religion. He says, however, that he did not mean to say that all who claimed to be prophets were true messengers of God. There were many who pretended to be such, who only led the people astray. It is unnecessary to say, that such men have abounded in all ages where there have been true prophets.

Even as there shall be false teachers among you - The fact that false teachers would arise in the church is often adverted to in the New Testament. Compare Mat 24:5, Mat 24:24; Act 20:29-30.

Who privily - That is, in a secret manner, or under plausible arts and pretences. They would not at first make an open avowal of their doctrines, but would, in fact, while their teachings seemed to be in accordance with truth, covertly maintain opinions which would sap the very foundations of religion. The Greek word here used, and which is rendered "who privily shall bring in,"( παρεισάγω pareisagō ,) means properly "to lead in by the side of others; to lead in along with others."Nothing could better express the usual way in which error is introduced. It is "by the side,"or "along with,"other doctrines which are true; that is, while the mind is turned mainly to other subjects, and is off its guard, gently and silently to lay down some principle, which, being admitted, would lead to the error, or from which the error would follow as a natural consequence. Those who inculcate error rarely do it openly. If they would at once boldly "deny the Lord that bought them,"it would be easy to meet them, and the mass of professed Christians would be in no danger of embracing the error. But when principles are laid down which may lead to that; when doubts on remote points are suggested which may involve it; or when a long train of reasoning is pursued which may secretly tend to it; there is much more probability that the mind will be corrupted from the truth.

Damnable heresies - αἱρέσεις ἀπωλείας haireseis apōleias . "Heresies of destruction;"that is, heresies that will be followed by destruction. The Greek word which is rendered "damnable,"is the same which in the close of the verse is rendered "destruction."It is so rendered also in Mat 7:13; Rom 9:22; Phi 3:19; 2Pe 3:16 - in all of which places it refers to the future loss of the soul The same word also is rendered "perdition"in Joh 17:12; Phi 1:28; 1Ti 6:9; Heb 10:39; 2Pe 3:7; Rev 17:8, Rev 17:11 - in all which places it has the same reference. On the meaning of the word rendered "heresies,"see the Act 24:14 note; 1Co 11:19 note. The idea of "sect"or "party"is that which is conveyed by this word, rather than doctrinal errors; but it is evident that in this case the formation of the sect or party, as is the fact in most cases, would be founded on error of doctrine.

The thing which these false teachers would attempt would be divisions, alienations, or parties, in the church, but these would be based on the erroneous doctrines which they would promulgate. What would be the particular doctrine in this case is immediately specified, to wit, that they "would deny the Lord that bought them."The idea then is, that these false teachers would form sects or parties in the church, of a destructive or ruinous nature, founded on a denial of the Lord that bought them. Such a formation of sects would be ruinous to piety, to good morals, and to the soul. The authors of these sects, holding the views which they did, and influenced by the motives which they would be, and practicing the morals which they would practice, as growing out of their principles, would bring upon themselves swift and certain destruction. It is not possible now to determine to what particular class of errorists the apostle had reference here, but it is generally supposed that it was to some form of the Gnostic belief. There were many early sects of so-called "heretics"to whom what he here says would be applicable.

Even denying the Lord that bought them - This must mean that they held doctrines which were in fact a denial of the Lord, or the tendency of which would be a denial of the Lord, for it cannot be supposed that, while they professed to be Christians, they would openly and avowedly deny him. To "deny the Lord"may be either to deny his existence, his claims, or his attributes; it is to withhold from him, in our belief and profession, anything which is essential to a proper conception of him. The particular thing, however, which is mentioned here as entering into that self-denial, is something connected with the fact that he had ""bought""them. It was such a denial of the Lord "as having bought them,"as to be in fact a renunciation of the uniqueness of the Christian religion. There has been much difference of opinion as to the meaning of the word "Lord"in this place - whether it refers to God the Father. or to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Greek word is Δεσπότης Despotēs . Many expositors have maintained that it refers to the Father, and that when it is said that he had "bought"them, it means in a general sense that he was the Author of the plan of redemption, and had causeD them to be purchased or redeemed. Michaelis supposes that the Gnostics are referred to as denying the Father by asserting that he was not the Creator of the universe, maintaining that it was created by an inferior being - Introduction to New Testament , iv. 360. Whitby, Benson, Slade, and many others, maintain that this refers to the Father as having originated the plan by which men are redeemed; and the same opinion is held, of necessity, by those who deny the doctrine of general atonement. The only arguments to show that it refers to God the Father would be,

(1)\caps1     t\caps0 hat the word used here Δεσπότην Despotēn is not the usual term ( κύριος kurios ) by which the Lord Jesus is designated in the New Testament; and,

(2)\caps1     t\caps0 hat the admission that it refers to the Lord Jesus would lead inevitably to the conclusion that some will perish for whom Christ died.

That it does, however, refer to the Lord Jesus, seems to me to be plain from the following considerations:

(1) It is the obvious interpretation; that which would be given by the great mass of Christians, and about which there could never have been any hesitancy if it had not been supposed that it would lead to the doctrine of general atonement. As to the alleged fact that the word used, Δεσπότης Despotēs , is not that which is commonly applied to the Lord Jesus, that may be admitted to be true, but still the word here may be understood as applied to him. It properly means "a master"as opposed to a servant; then it is used as denoting supreme authority, and is thus applied to God, and may be in that sense to the Lord Jesus Christ, as head over all things, or as having supreme authority over the church. It occurs in the New Testament only in the following places: 1Ti 6:1-2; Tit 2:9; 1Pe 2:18, where it is rendered "masters;"Luk 2:29; Act 4:24,; Rev 6:10, where it is rendered "Lord,"and is applied to God; and in Jud 1:4, and in the passage before us, in both which places it is rendered "Lord,"and is probably to be regarded as applied to the Lord Jesus. There is nothing in the proper signification of the word which would forbid this.

\caps1 (2) t\caps0 he phrase is one that is properly applicable to the Lord Jesus as having "bought"us with his blood. The Greek word is ἀγοράζω agorazō - a word which means properly "to market, to buy, to purchase,"and then to redeem, or acquire for oneself by a price paid, or by a ransom. It is rendered "buy"or "bought"in the following places in the New Testament: Mat 13:44, Mat 13:46; Mat 14:15; Mat 21:12; Mat 25:9-10; Mat 27:7; Mar 6:36-37; Mar 11:15; Mar 15:46; Mar 16:1; Luk 9:13; Luk 14:18-19; Luk 17:28; Luk 19:45; Luk 22:36; Joh 4:8; Joh 6:5; Joh 13:29; 1Co 7:30; Rev 3:18; Rev 13:17; Rev 18:11 - in all which places it is applicable to ordinary transactions of "buying."In the following places it is also rendered "bought,"as applicable to the redeemed, as being bought or purchased by the Lord Jesus: 1Co 6:20; 1Co 7:23, "Ye are ‘ bought’ with a price;"and in the following places it is rendered "redeemed,"Rev 5:9; Rev 14:3-4. It does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. It is true that in a large sense this word might be applied to the Father as having caused his people to be redeemed, or as being the Author of the plan of redemption; but it is also true that the word is more properly applicable to the Lord Jesus, and that, when used with reference to redemption, it is uniformly given to him in the New Testament. Compare the passages referred to above.

It is strictly and properly true only of the Son of God that he has "bought"us. The Father indeed is represented as making the arrangement, as giving his Son to die, and as the great Source of all the blessings secured by redemption; but the "purchase"was actually made by the Son of God by his sacrifice on the cross. Whatever there was of the nature of "a price"was paid by him; and whatever obligations may grow out of the fact that we are purchased or ransomed are due particularly to him; 2Co 5:15. These considerations seem to me to make it clear that Peter referred here to the Lord Jesus Christ, and that he meant to say that the false teachers mentioned held doctrines which were in fact a "denial"of that Saviour. He does not specify particularly what constituted such a denial; but it is plain that any doctrine which represented him, his person, or his work, as essentially different from what was the truth, would amount to such a denial.

If he were Divine, and that fact was denied, making him wholly a different being; if he actually made an expiatory sacrifice by his death, and that fact was denied, and he was held to be a mere religious teacher, changing essentially the character of the work which he came to perform; if he, in some proper sense, "bought"them with his blood, and that fact was denied in such a way that according to their views it was not strictly proper to speak of him as having bought them at all, which would be the case if he were a mere prophet or religious teacher, then it is clear that such a representation would be in fact a denial of his true nature and work. That some of these views entered into their denial of him is clear, for it was with reference to the fact that he had bought them, or redeemed them, that they denied him.

And bring upon themselves swift destruction - The destruction here referred to can be only that which will occur in the future world, for there can be no evidence that Peter meant to say that this would destroy their health, their property, or their lives. The Greek word ( ἀπώλειαν apōleian ) is the same which is used in the former part of the verse, in the phrase "damnable heresies."See the notes. In regard, then, to this important passage, we may remark:

\caps1 (1) t\caps0 hat the apostle evidently believed that some would perish for whom Christ died.

\caps1 (2) i\caps0 f this is so, then the same truth may be expressed by saying that he died for others besides those who will be saved that is, that the atonement was not confined merely to the elect. This one passage, therefore, demonstrates the doctrine of general atonement. This conclusion would be drawn from it by the great mass of readers, and it may be presumed, therefore, that this is the fair interpretation of the passage.

(See the supplementary 2Co 5:14 note; Heb 2:9 note for a general view of the question regarding the extent of the atonement. On this text Scott has well observed: "Doubtless Christ intended to redeem those, and those only, who he foresaw would eventually be saved by faith in him; yet his ransom was of infinite sufficiency, and people are continually addressed according to their profession."Christ has indeed laid down such a price as that all the human family may claim and find salvation in him. An unhappy ambiguity of terms has made this controversy very much a war of words. When the author here says, "Christ died for others besides those who will be saved,"he does not use the words in the common sense of an actual design, on the part of Christ to save everyone. The reader will see, by consulting the notes above referred to, how much disputing might be saved by a careful definition of terms.)

\caps1 (3) i\caps0 t follows that people may destroy themselves by a denial of the great and vital "doctrines"of religion. It cannot be a harmless thing, then, to hold erroneous opinions; nor can men be safe who deny the fundamental doctrines of Christianity. It is truth, not error, that saves the soul; and an erroneous opinion on any subject may be as dangerous to a man’ s ultimate peace, happiness, and prosperity, as a wrong course of life. How many men have been ruined in their worldly prospects, their health, and their lives, by holding false sentiments on the subject of morals, or in regard to medical treatment! Who would regard it as a harmless thing if a son should deny in respect to his father that he was a man of truth, probity, and honesty, or should attribute to him a character which does not belong to him - a character just the reverse of truth? Can the same thing be innocent in regard to God our Saviour?

\caps1 (4) p\caps0 eople bring destruction "on themselves."No one compels them to deny the Lord that bought them; no one forces them to embrace any dangerous error. If people perish, they perish by their own fault, for:

(a)\caps1     a\caps0 mple provision was made for their salvation as well as for others;

(b)\caps1     t\caps0 hey were freely invited to be saved;

©\caps1     i\caps0 t was, in itself, just as easy for them to embrace the truth as it was for others; and,

(d)\caps1     i\caps0 t was as easy to embrace the truth as to embrace error.

Barnes: 2Pe 2:2

And many shall follow their pernicious ways - Margin: "lascivious."A large number of manuscripts and versions read "lascivious"here - ἀσελγείαις aselgeiais - instead of "pernicious"- ἀπωλείαις apōleiais (see Wetstein), and this reading is adopted in the editions of the Greek Testament by Tittman, Griesbach, and Hahn, and it seems probable that this is the correct reading. This will agree well with the account elsewhere given of these teachers, that their doctrines tended to licentiousness, 2Pe 2:10, 2Pe 2:14, 2Pe 2:18-19. It is a very remarkable circumstance, that those who have denied the essential doctrines of the gospel have been so frequently licentious in their own conduct, and have inculcated opinions which tended to licentiousness. Many of the forms of religious error have somehow had a connection with this vice. People who are corrupt at heart often seek to obtain the sanction of religion for their corruptions.

By reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of -

(1)\caps1     b\caps0 ecause they were professors of religion, and religion would seem to be held responsible for their conduct; and,

(2)\caps1     b\caps0 ecause they were professed teachers of religion, and, by many, would be understood as expounding the true doctrines of the gospel.

Barnes: 2Pe 2:3

And through covetousness - This shows what one of the things was by which they were influenced - a thing which, like licentiousness, usually exerts a powerful influence over the teachers of error. The religious principle is the strongest that is implanted in the human bosom: and men who can obtain a livelihood in no other way, or who are too unprincipled or too indolent to labor for an honest living, often turn public teachers of religion, and adopt the kind of doctrines that will be likely to give them the greatest power over the purses of others. True religion, indeed, requires of its friends to devote all that they have to the service of God and to the promotion of his cause; but it is very easy to pervert this requirement, so that the teacher of error shall take advantage of it for his own aggrandizement.

Shall they with feigned words - Greek formed, fashioned; then those which are formed for the occasion - feigned, false, deceitful. The idea is, thug the doctrines which they would defend were not maintained by solid and substantial arguments, but that they would make use of plausible reasoning made up for the occasion.

Make merchandise of you - Treat you not as rational beings but as a bale of goods, or any other article of traffic. That is, they would endeavor to make money out of them, and regard them only as fitted to promote that object.

Whose judgment - Whose condemnation.

Now of a long time lingereth not - Greek, "of old; long since."The idea seems to be, that justice had been long attentive to their movements, and was on its way to their destruction. It was not a new thing - that is, there was no new principle involved in their destruction; but it was a principle which had always been in operation, and which would certainly be applicable to them, and of a long time justice had been impatient to do the work which it was accustomed to do. What had occurred to the angels that sinned, 2Pe 2:4 to the old world, 2Pe 2:5 and to Sodom and Gomorrah, 2Pe 2:6 would occur to them; and the same justice which had overthrown them might be regarded as on its way to effect their destruction. Compare the notes at Isa 18:4.

And their damnation slumbereth not - Their condemnation, (Notes, 1Co 11:29) yet here referring to future punishment. "Mr. Blackwell observes, that this is a most beautiful figure, representing the vengeance that shall destroy such incorrigible sinners as an angel of judgment pursuing them on the wing, continually approaching nearer and nearer, and in the mean time keeping a watchful eye upon them, that he may at length discharge an unerring blow"- Doddridge. It is not uncommon to speak of "sleepless justice;"and the idea here is, that however justice may have seemed to slumber or to linger, it was not really so, but that it had on them an everwatchful eye, and was on its way to do that which was right in regard to them. A sinner should never forget that there is an eye of unslumbering vigilance always upon him, and that everything that he does is witnessed by one who will yet render exact justice to all men. No person, however careful to conceal his sins, or however bold in transgression, or however unconcerned he may seem to be, can hope that justice will always linger, or destruction always slumber.

Barnes: 2Pe 2:4

For if God spared not the angels that sinned - The apostle now proceeds to the proof of the proposition that these persons would be punished. It is to be remembered that they had been, or were even then, professing Christians, though they had really, if not in form, apostatized from the faith 2Pe 2:20-22, and a part of the proofs, therefore, are derived from the cases of those who had apostatized from the service of God. He appeals, therefore, to the case of the angels that had revolted. Neither their former rank, their dignity, nor their holiness, saved them from being thrust down to hell; and if God punished them so severely, then false teachers could not hope to escape. The apostle, by the "angels"here, refers undoubtedly to a revolt in heaven - an event referred to in Jud 1:6, and everywhere implied in the Scriptures. When that occurred, however - why they revolted, or what was the number of the apostates - we have not the slightest information, and on these points conjecture would be useless. In the supposition that it occurred, there is no improbability; for there is nothing more absurd in the belief that angels have revolted than that men have; and if there are evil angels, as there is no more reason to doubt than that there are evil men, it is morally certain that they must have fallen at some period from a state of holiness, for it cannot be believed that God made them wicked.

But cast them down to hell - Greek ταρταρώσας tartarōsas - "thrusting them down to Tartarus."The word here used occurs nowhere else in the New Testament, though it is common in the Classical writers. It is a verb formed from Τάρταρος Tartaros , Tartarus, which in Greek mythology was the lower part, or abyss of Hades, ᾍδης Hadēs , where the shades of the wicked were supposed to be imprisoned and tormented, and corresponded to the Jewish word Γεέννα Geenna - "Gehenna."It was regarded, commonly, as beneath the earth; as entered through the grave; as dark, dismal, gloomy; and as a place of punishment. Compare the Job 10:21-22 notes, and Mat 5:22 note. The word here is one that properly refers to a place of punishment, since the whole argument relates to that, and since it cannot be pretended that the "angels that sinned"were removed to a place of happiness on account of their transgression. It must also refer to punishment in some other world than this, for there is no evidence that This world is made a place of punishment for fallen angels.

And delivered them into chains of darkness - "Where darkness lies like chains upon them"- Robinson, Lexicon. The meaning seems to be, that they are confined in that dark prisonhouse as if by chains. We are not to suppose that spirits are literally bound; but it was common to bind or fetter prisoners who were in dungeons, and the representation here is taken from that fact. This representation that the mass of fallen angels are confined in "Tartarus,"or in hell, is not inconsistent with the representations which elsewhere occur that their leader is permitted to roam the earth, and that even many of those spirits are allowed to tempt men. It may be still true that the mass are con fined within the limits of their dark abode; and it may even be true also that Satan and those who axe permitted to roam the earth are under bondage, and are permitted to range only within certain bounds, and that they are so secured that they will be brought to trial at the last day.

To be reserved unto judgment - Jud 1:6, "to the judgment of the great day."They will then, with the revolted inhabitants of this world, be brought to trial for their crimes. That the fallen angels will be punished after the judgment is apparent from Rev 20:10. The argument in this verse is, that if God punished the angels who revolted from Him, it is a fair inference that He will punish wicked people, though they were once professors of religion.

Barnes: 2Pe 2:5

And spared not the old world - The world before the flood. The argument here is, that he cut off that wicked race, and thus showed that he would punish the guilty. By that awful act of sweeping away the inhabitants of a world, he showed that people could not sin with impunity, and that the incorrigibly wicked must perish.

But saved Noah the eighth person - This reference to Noah, like the reference to Lot in 2Pe 2:7, seems to have been thrown in in the progress of the argument as an incidental remark, to show that the righteous, however few in number, would be saved when the wicked were cut off. The phrase "Noah the eighth,"means Noah, one of eight; that is, Noah and seven others. This idiom is found, says Dr. Bloomfield, in the best writers - from Herodotus and Thucydides downward. See examples in Wetstein. The meaning in this place then is, that eight persons, and eight only of that race, were saved; thus showing, that while the wicked would be punished, however numerous they might be, the righteous, however few, would be saved.

A preacher of righteousness - In Gen 6:9, it is said of Noah that he was "a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God;"and it may be presumed that during his long life he was faithful in reproving the wickedness of his age, and warned the world of the judgment that was preparing for it. Compare the notes at Heb 11:7.

Bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly - Upon all the world besides that pious family. The argument here is, that if God would cut off a wicked race in this manner, the principle is settled that the wicked will not escape.

Barnes: 2Pe 2:6

And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes - Gen 19:24-25. This is a third example to demonstrate that God will punish the wicked. Compare the notes at Jud 1:7. The word here rendered "turning into ashes" τεφρωσας tephrōsas , occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It is from τέφρα tefra , ashes, and means to reduce to ashes, and then to consume or destroy.

Condemned them with an overthrow - By the fact of their being overthrown, he showed that they were to be condemned, or that he disapproved their conduct. Their calamity came expressly on account of their enormous sins; as it is frequently the case now that the awful judgments that come upon the licentious and the intemperate, are as plain a proof of the divine disapprobation as were the calamities that came upon Sodom and Gomorrah.

Making them an ensample ... - That is, they were a demonstration that God disapproved of the crimes for which they were punished, and would disapprove of the same crimes in every age and in every land. The punishment of one wicked man or people always becomes a warning to all others.

Barnes: 2Pe 2:7

And delivered just Lot - Gen 19:16. This case is incidentally referred to, to show that God makes a distinction between the righteous and the wicked; and that while the latter will be destroyed, the former will be saved. See 2Pe 2:9. Lot is called "just,"because he preserved himself uncontaminated amidst the surrounding wickedness. As long as he lived in Sodom he maintained the character of an upright and holy man.

Vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked - By the corrupt and licentious conduct of the wicked around him. On the word "conversation,"see the notes at Phi 1:27. The original phrase, which is rendered "filthy,"has reference to licentiousness. The corruption of Sodom was open and shameless; and as Lot was compelled to see much of it, his heart was pained. The word here rendered "vexed,"means that he was wearied or burdened. The crimes of those around him he found it hard to bear with.

Barnes: 2Pe 2:8

For that righteous man dwelling among them - The Latin Vulgate renders this, "For in seeing and hearing he was just;"meaning that he maintained his uprightness, or that he did not become contaminated by the vices of Sodom. Many expositors have supposed that this is the correct rendering; but the most natural and the most common explanation is that which is found in our version. According to that, the meaning is, that compelled as he was, while living among them, to see and to hear what was going on, his soul was constantly troubled.

In seeing and hearing - Seeing their open acts of depravity, and hearing their vile conversation. The effect which this had on the mind of Lot is not mentioned in Genesis, but nothing is more probable than the statement here made by Peter. Whether this statement was founded on tradition, or whether it is a suggestion of inspiration to the mind of Peter, cannot be determined. The words rendered "seeing"and "hearing"may refer to the ACT of seeing, or to the object seen. Wetstein and Robinson suppose that they refer here to the latter, and that the sense is, that he was troubled by what he saw and heard. The meaning is not materially different. Those who live among the wicked are compelled to see and hear much that pains their hearts, and it is well if they do not become indifferent to it, or contaminated by it. "Vexed"his "righteous soul from day to day with"their "unlawful deeds."

Tortured or tormented his soul - ἐβασάνιζεν ebasanizen Compare Mat 8:6, Mat 8:29; Luk 8:28; Rev 9:5; Rev 11:10; Rev 14:10; Rev 20:10, where the same word is rendered "tormented."The use of this word would seem to imply that there was something active on the part of Lot which produced this distress on account of their conduct. He was not merely troubled as if his soul were passively acted on, but there were strong mental exercises of a positive kind, arising perhaps from anxious solicitude how he might prevent their evil conduct, or from painful reflections on the consequences of their deeds to themselves, or from earnest pleadings in their behalf before God, or from reproofs and warnings of the wicked. At all events, the language is such as would seem to indicate that he was not a mere passive observer of their conduct. This, it would seem, was "from day to day,"that is, it was constant. There were doubtless reasons why Lot should remain among such a people, and why, when he might so easily have done it, he did not remove to another place.

Perhaps it was one purpose of his remaining to endeavor to do them good, as it is often the duty of good men now to reside among the wicked for the same purpose. Lot is supposed to have resided in Sodom - then probably the most corrupt place on the earth - for 16 years; and we have in that fact an instructive demonstration that a good man may maintain the life of religion in his soul when surrounded by the wicked, and an illustration of the effects which the conduct of the wicked will have on a man of true piety when he is compelled to witness it constantly. We may learn from the record made of Lot what those effect will be, and what is evidence that one is truly pious who lives among the wicked.

\caps1 (1) h\caps0 e will not be contaminated with their wickedness, or will not conform to their evil customs.

\caps1 (2) h\caps0 e will not become indifferent to it, but his heart will be more and more affected by their depravity. Compare Psa 119:136; Luk 19:41; Act 17:16.

\caps1 (3) h\caps0 e will have not only constant, but growing solicitude in regard to it - solicitude that will be felt every day: "He vexed his soul from day to day."It will not only be at intervals that his mind will be affected by their conduct, but it will be an habitual and constant thing. True piety is not fitful, periodical, and spasmodic; it is constant and steady. It is not a "jet"that occasionally bursts out; it is a fountain always flowing.

\caps1 (4) h\caps0 e will seek to do them good. We may suppose that this was the case with Lot; we are certain that it is a characteristic of true religion to seek to do good to all, however wicked they may be.

\caps1 (5) h\caps0 e will secure their confidence. He will practice no improper arts to do this, but it will be one of the usual results of a life of integrity, that a good man will secure the confidence of even the wicked. It does not appear that Lot lost that confidence, and the whole narrative in Genesis leads us to suppose that even the inhabitants of Sodom regarded him as a good man. The wicked may hate a good man because he is good; but if a man lives as he should, they will regard him as upright, and they will give him the credit of it when he dies, if they should withhold it while he lives.

Barnes: 2Pe 2:9

The Lord knoweth ... - That is, the cases referred to show that God is able to deliver his people when tempted, and understands the best way in which it should be done. He sees a way to do it when we cannot, though it is often a way which we should not have thought of. He can send an angel to take his tempted people by the hand; he can interpose and destroy the power of the tempter; he can raise up earthly friends; he can deliver his people completely and forever from temptation, by their removal to heaven.

And to reserve the unjust - As he does the rebel angels, 2Pe 2:4. The case of the angels shows that God can keep wicked men, as if under bonds, reserved for their final trial at his bar. Though they seem to go at large, yet they are under his control, and are kept by him with reference to their ultimate arraignment.

Poole: 2Pe 2:1

2Pe 2:1-6 The apostle foretelleth the appearance of false

teachers, the impiety of them and their followers,

and the judgments that would overtake them.

2Pe 2:7-9 The godly shall be delivered, as Lot was out of Sodom.

2Pe 2:10-19 The wicked principles and manners of these seducers

described.

2Pe 2:20-22 The mischief of relapsing into sin.

But there were false prophets also: the apostle having

been exhorting them to continuance and progress in faith, admonishes

them here of such as might labour to draw them from it; and having

made mention of the Old Testament prophets, holy men of God, he hereby

takes occasion to tell them of, and caution them against, false

teachers which would be among themselves. This also in the text

plainly relates to what went before: q.d. Together with those

prophets which were sent by God, there were likewise false prophets,

such as were not sent of him.

Among the people the people of Israel.

Even as there shall be false teachers teachers of false doctrine,

Mat 7:15 Act 20:29 .

Among you among you Jewish, as well as among the Gentile

Christians; or, among you as Christians and God’ s people under the New

Testament, in opposition to the people of God under the Old.

Who shall privily bring in: the Greek word signifies either to

bring in slily and craftily, under specious pretences, and without

being observed, Gal 2:4 Jud 1:4 ; or, to bring in over and above,

or beside the doctrine of the gospel, which they did not renounce; or

both may be implied.

Damnable heresies Greek, heresies of destruction, i.e.

destructive, such as lead to destruction, viz. eternal, or damnation.

Even denying either in their words or their practices, either

directly, or by consequence of their doctrines or actions; they that

profess they know God, but contradict that profession in their lives,

are said to deny him, Tit 1:16 .

The Lord either:

1. God the Father, so called, Luk 2:29 Act 4:24 , &c., and probably

Rev 6:10 ; nor is there any necessity, but, Jud 1:4 , the

word may be understood of God the Father. Or rather:

2. Christ.

That bought them: if we understand it of God the Father, the sense

is, either:

1. Denying God that bought them, or acquired them and made them his,

viz. by calling them out of the darkness and gross wickedness of

the world, to the knowledge of Christ and the gospel, and the

fellowship of his church. In this general sense the word buying is

sometimes taken, Isa 55:1 Rev 3:18 . Or:

2. Denying God that bought the people of Israel (whereof these false

teachers that should be among the Christian Jews were to be a part)

out of Egypt, to make them his peculiar people, whereof they would

boast themselves, and yet by their wicked practices deny that God

that bought them; the words seem to be taken out of Deu 32:6 :

Is not he thy Father that hath bought thee? As likewise from

2Pe 2:5 of that chapter. Peter calls them spots, 2Pe 2:13

of this chapter.

But if we understand it of Christ, which seems most probable, the

sense is, either:

1. That Christ bought or redeemed them, (in which sense the word is

sometimes taken), in that by his death he purchased the continuance

of their lives, and the staying of their execution, and rescued

them from that present destruction which, without Christ’ s

interposition, had seized on them, as it had likewise on the whole

visible creation immediately upon the apostacy of mankind. Or:

2. This is spoken not only of their pretences, that they should

profess themselves redeemed by Christ, but in the style of the

visible church, which should judge them to be so till they declared

the contrary by their wicked actions; and it likewise holds true in

a forensical or judicial style, according to which whosoever

professeth himself to be redeemed by Christ, and yet denies him in

his deeds, is said to deny the Lord that bought him; it being alike

as to the greatness of the crime, whether he be really redeemed,

or, professing himself to be so, denies his Redeemer.

And bring upon themselves swift destruction shall hasten their

own destruction, it may be temporal in this world; to be sure, eternal

in the other. It may be called

swift as coming upon them

unawares, and when they think least of it, as 1Th 5:3 .

Poole: 2Pe 2:2

And many shall follow their pernicious ways Greek, their destructions, i.e. those ways of error which are attended with destruction (the effect being put for the cause by a metonymy); and the sense is, that as these false teachers shall bring destruction upon themselves by their heresies; so others, running with them into the same errors, shall fall into the same destruction.

By reason of whom or, by whom, viz. these false teachers, or their followers, or both.

The way of truth the gospel, so called, as being the doctrine of saving truth. It is called the way, Act 9:2 19:9 22:4 ; the way of salvation, Act 16:17 ; the way of God, Act 18:26 .

Shall be evil spoken of blasphemed, whether by false teachers themselves and their followers, or by others taking occasion by them: see Rom 2:24 1Ti 6:1 Tit 2:5 .

Poole: 2Pe 2:3

With feigned words deceitful speeches, which have a show of truth to hide their errors.

Make merchandise of you as of slaves or beasts: it seems to be a metaphor taken from merchants that speak great things of bad wares, the better to vend them; the sense is, with specious words, and pious pretences, they shall deceive you to make a gain of you.

Whose judgment or, condemnation.

Now of a long time being of old determined by God, and foretold in the Scripture, and so nearer than they themselves imagine.

Lingereth not i.e. goes on apace, and hastens on them.

And their damnation or, destruction.

Slumbereth not: i.e. watcheth, as ready to overtake them in its time: it may be a metaphor taken from a traveller, as Pro 6:11 ; or the apostle alludes to Deu 32:35 , where the like expression is found: see 2Pe 2:1 .

Poole: 2Pe 2:4

For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell: elsewhere called the deep, Luk 8:31 , and the bottomless pit, Rev 9:1 11:7 17:8 20:1,3 . This implies a change:

1. Of the state of those sinning angels, that whereas before it was the highest among the creatures, now it is the lowest.

2. Of their place, that whereas they were before the throne of God with the rest of the angels, they are now thrust down into a lower place, agreeable to their sin and misery. What place that is we find not expressed in Scripture, and therefore we are not to be over curious in our inquiries after it; but may rest satisfied, that they are excluded from the place of their primitive happiness, and are in a place where they are afflicted with the pain both of loss and sense.

And delivered them into chains of darkness: either to be bound, or held with darkness as with chains; or kept in chains under darkness, as Jud 1:6 ; where darkness may imply the misery and horror of their condition, and chains, their obduracy in their wickedness, their despair of deliverance, their expectation of future judgment, Heb 10:27 , together with the providence and power of God, watching over and holding them in that condition, till final vengeance come upon them. It is a metaphor taken from malefactors condemned, who are bound in chains, and kept in the dungeon till execution.

To be reserved so kept that they cannot escape.

Unto judgment viz. that of the last day, the time of their full torment, in which the wrath of God, which they feel in a great measure now, will come upon them to the utmost.

Poole: 2Pe 2:5

And spared not the old world : the world, for men in the world, viz. those that lived in it before the flood.

But saved Noah the eighth person viz. together with the other seven, his wife, three sons, and their wives, 1Pe 3:20 . Noah may be particularly named, because God had a special respect to him, and for his sake spared others.

A preacher: constituted to be so by Divine authority and commission.

Of righteousness: i.e. not only:

1. Of the righteousness of God, who had threatened to destroy the world for its wickedness; but:

2. Of the righteousness of Christ upon all them that should believe. It is not to be doubted but he preached the same righteousness whereof he himself was heir, and that was the righteousness of faith, Heb 11:7 ; and this he did not in words only, but in his actions; in that he built the ark for the saving himself and his household, which was a type of the salvation of believers by Christ. And:

3. Of the righteousness of sanctification, in his exhorting the men that then were to repentance and holiness, if possibly thereby they might prevent the approaching deluge.

Bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly the whole multitude of wicked men then living in the world.

Poole: 2Pe 2:6

The cities of Sodom and Gomorrha which being the chief of the five, include Admah and Zeboim, Zoar, the fifth, being spared for Lot’ s sake, Gen 14:18 , compared with Gen 19:25 .

Condemned them with an overthrow i.e. punished them with a total subversion, or brought that destruction upon them to which he had condemned them.

Making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly of his wrath and vengeance ready to be poured out upon others that should live ungodly, to deter them from the imitation of the sins of those that had so miserably perished. The word may be rendered a type, (as it is, Heb 8:5 , and Heb 9:23 ), viz. of hell-fire, which is to be the punishment of wicked men at the last day: Jud 1:7 implies as much. As the deliverance of the Israelites out of Egypt was a kind of type of the deliverance of all God’ s people to the end of the world; so the subversion of these cities was so memorable an instance of Divine vengeance, that the Scripture frequently alludes to it, as a type or pattern, when it speaks of the general destruction of the wicked of the world.

Poole: 2Pe 2:7

Vexed grievously afflicted or wearied.

The wicked unjust, lawless, (understand men), such as had no respect to law or justice, in opposition to Lot, whom he calls just and righteous.

Poole: 2Pe 2:8

Seeing and hearing: their wickedness was so open and shameless, that he not only heard the report of it, but saw them commit it, Isa 3:9 .

Vexed Greek, tormented, i.e. extremely afflicted and troubled his own soul, provoking himself to godly sorrow at the sight and fame of their unlawful deeds. His grief was voluntary, and he active in it; the like is said of Christ, on occasion of Lazarus’ s death, Joh 11:33 , where the margin reads, he troubled himself.

Poole: 2Pe 2:9

The Lord knoweth according to the common rule, that words of knowledge in Scripture connote affections, as Psa 1:6 . God’ s knowing here implies not only his infinite wisdom, whereby he is never at a loss, but knows all the various ways whereby the godly may be delivered; but likewise his love and good will to them, whereby he is ready to do it, hath a heart for it: so the word is taken, Ecc 4:13 Amo 3:10 ; the text reads, will no more be admonished, the margin, knows not, &c.

How to deliver the godly those that walk in the steps of just Lot and Noah, who was perfect in his generation. This concludes what the apostle began, 2Pe 2:4 : the sum is: If God spared neither wicked angels nor wicked men, destroying the old world and Sodom, but delivered Lot and Noah, righteous persons; he still hath wisdom, power, and will to deliver other godly men, and punish other wicked men.

Out of temptations afflictions, Jam 1:2,12 .

And to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: the Greek word is in the present tense, which may be understood, either:

1. As put for the future, and then the sense is as in our translation, that though God many times lets the wicked alone in this world, so that they escape present punishment, yet they shall not escape future torment; they are a while spared, but never pardoned; and when free from temporal evils, are reserved for eternal vengeance. Or:

2. It may be understood as in the present tense, which agrees well with the instances of God’ s vengeance before mentioned, which was executed on wicked men in this world; and then the sense is: The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations when he sees fit, even in this life, and how to reserve those wicked men, whom he punisheth with temporal judgments here, to a much more severe and dreadful punishment at the day of judgment hereafter.

PBC: 2Pe 2:1

{2Pe 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."

Before we examine 2Pe 2:1-22 and 2Pe 3:1-18 in detail, we need to review some global issues and ideas. First of all, we must not overlook that Peter wrote this letter to believers regarding false teachers; he did not write the letter to false teachers. From the letter we can form our methods for equipping people to deal with the impact of false teachers. We cannot reach any specific conclusions regarding how to deal with the false teachers themselves.

Despite some rather intense-at times a bit uncomfortable-language about the false teachers, the primary emphasis of 2 Peter appears in 2Pe 1:1-21 and the closing verses. Peter sees his primary objective as one of equipping people to avoid the snares of false teachers. He does not take us on a witch-hunt or direct us into a massive conspiracy theory. Any teaching or lifestyle that focuses on such negative issues is bound eventually to fail. As the anecdotal story goes, a man wrote a letter to the editor of the local newspaper, criticizing his church. He had attended for years, but he couldn’t recall a single sermon the pastor had preached, so why continue going. A few days later another local citizen wrote a letter to the editor in response. His letter noted that he’d been married for forty years. He couldn’t recall the full details of a single meal that his wife had prepared for him over the years. However, he had enjoyed the good taste and nutrition of every meal she had prepared, and he was thankful for her devotion and skill as a cook. In our intensely self-focused world this " What’s in it for me?" mindset dominates many Christians as pervasively as non-Christians. Christians look for a church that meets their needs, that satisfies their personal appetite. They barely think of finding a church that glorifies God; that faithfully adheres to the literal teachings of the New Testament as closely as possible.

Lastly, we need to distinguish between godly teachers who may not believe every point of doctrine or practice as we and a devious false teacher. Peter deals with the second category, the false teacher, not with the errant brother who may at times teach things that need course correction from other believers. We must not confuse the two. Nor should we ever treat an errant brother as if he were a false teacher. Throughout our study of this sometimes difficult book, we must strive to maintain balance.

Second Peter and Jude, as fully as any of our inspired Biblical letters, come to us with a specific objective of dealing with the unpleasant fact of false teachers and their insidious influence on weak or young believers in the faith. Perhaps for this reason many contemporary Christians tend to avoid these two letters. Do we live in the sheltered viewpoint of thinking that we can survive by merely pretending that error doesn’t exist? The post-modern, post-Christian mind of many, even among those who profess to be Christians, dismisses any attempt to expose false teachers or their teachings on the premise that sincerity alone pleases God. We must rightly avoid a " witch-hunt" mentality that sees heresy in every idea that differs, however insignificantly, from ours. None of us has mastered all of God’s truth. However, our inability to master divine truth should not become a blanket rationalization by which we validate every aberrant view that we encounter as simply another way to God or another acceptable interpretation of Scripture.

We acknowledge the need for Biblical Christian liberty among believers. When we arrive in heaven, we will all have a profound transformation of faith, including many less-than-perfect ideas that we held dearly and sincerely during our lifetime. Notwithstanding our present imperfection and incomplete knowledge, we should hold tightly to major and clearly revealed Biblical doctrines that appear with emphasis in Scripture. The ancient and accepted doctrine of the " perspicuity of Scripture," the clarity of certain core or essential truths in Scripture, should guide our minds in our choice of essential versus non-essential doctrines. If God viewed something as highly important, He gave it more ink and greater clarity in the various forms of its explanation in the Bible. While God included nothing valueless in Scripture, He did include other things that are not as clearly or repeatedly set forth. It seems reasonable that we identify those major doctrines of Scripture that Biblical writers set forth with frequency and clarity as essential doctrines, while viewing those doctrines that appear with less frequency and clarity as non-essentials; important and Biblical truths, but truths that Bible-believing Christians may view somewhat differently without considering the other party as heretical or as departing from an essential doctrine. The continuum of essential versus non-essential doctrines should be approached with godly wisdom and caution. Excessive divisiveness itself becomes the mark of Biblical heresy; study the meaning of the word in the language in which the New Testament was first written. Excessive tolerance eradicates historical and Biblical Christianity from existence. Balance and godly wisdom must control our minds. Herein appears the necessity for balance in our study of this theme.

I offer a couple of examples that illustrate the way in which I attempt to apply charity in non-essentials to people who hold to different views than I I do not offer these examples as a rule for anyone else to follow, but as a personal practice. Regardless of our attempts to the contrary, to some extent, the distinction between essential and non-essential Biblical teachings involves a measure of subjectivity. I do not offer these examples as an endorsement of any idea or interpretation different from mine, but as my personal effort to show liberty toward others with whom I interact at times.

First I hold to the historical and, I believe, Biblical view that the Lord Who created this universe will at some future time terminate it in its present form, return in power to transform it and to judge-either punitively or declaratively-all sin, and all sinners. This will be the last event of time as we know it and the first event of eternity as we anticipate it from Scripture. Ask ten Christians of different backgrounds what they believe about the details of this doctrine of eschatology, the doctrine of final things, and you will almost certainly get ten answers. Each person will speak with deep and sincere conviction about their belief of this obviously epochal era in God’s purpose and plan for the universe that He created, including His ultimate judgment of the sentient, moral creatures that He brought into it. I strongly hold to a straightforward view of eschatology that rejects many of the popular notions of our era. I reject the idea of a secret rapture because Scripture teaches that, when the Lord returns, " ... every eye shall see him." I am inclined to reject the idea of a literal thousand year transitional dispensation between this world as we now know it and eternity, including most of the ideas presented under the broad umbrella of " dispensational" theology. However, as I study Scripture and the various views that claim longstanding historical acceptance in the faith, I hesitate to draw lines of essential distinction between my view and those historical views. Example; the view of a literal thousand years during which the Lord returns and rules the earth, though I do not embrace it, claims ancient and credible Christian acceptance. This view is significantly different from the contemporary secret rapture dispensational views popularized by Darby, Scofield, and Tim LaHaye in his Left Behind series of novels. The major tenets of the modern dispensational view cannot claim historical standing prior to around 1827 when J. N. Darby first introduced them. While I differ from many of the various historically accepted views, I grant proponents of those views liberty to hold them without any desire to break fellowship with them. Scripture clearly teaches that God shall terminate this world as we know it with a shout, the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to raise the dead, transform the living, judge all, apply the appropriate sentence to them (eternal punishment to the wicked and the ultimate realization of mercy through the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ to the elect), and initiate eternity with His people. When we begin probing the finer details of dispensational theology, Scripture is not so clear.

Second example; I hold that in regeneration, in bringing about the new birth, God works immediately (without an intermediate agent) and directly. Most people of other fellowships, even those who hold to the doctrines of grace similarly to my views, hold that God uses an intermediate agent, typically the gospel, in bringing about the new birth. When I encounter people who are willing to discuss these ideas without emotion or acrimony, I will gladly discuss them.

I must clarify that the strategy I follow with people from other fellowships may differ somewhat from my perspective when discussing these doctrines with people inside my fellowship. Christians from different fellowships should seek common ground where possible, not magnify differences. Thus in dialogue with someone from another fellowship, I will look for that common ground and seek to develop it in our conversation. Not only my own Primitive Baptist fellowship but all fellowships develop their own rules of tolerance or intolerance regarding various doctrines that they hold to be central to their unique interpretation of Scripture. Primitive Baptists have been accused of being anti-evangelical because we believe in the Holy Spirit’s immediate work in regeneration. Some of our folks have given our critics reason for the criticism, but our culture is not anti-evangelical. We hold to the immediate work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration because we believe it is taught in Scripture. We also hold to evangelical responsibility because it too is taught in Scripture. Thus, for someone within our fellowship to confuse the nature of the work of regeneration is more objectionable, given our history, than for someone outside our fellowship to do so.

In dialogue with people outside my fellowship I have reached the point that I will ask a central question, " Do you believe that faith precedes or follows regeneration?" If they say that they believe that faith comes before regeneration, I immediately understand that they and I have a significant theological difference. If they respond that they believe that regeneration comes before faith, I will acknowledge that they and I may not agree in all the points of this doctrine, but I will not attempt to engage them in intense dialogue over the nuances beyond this common belief. If they believe that the new birth occurs before faith, they and I have common ground. I celebrate the opportunity to underscore in their minds the fact that regeneration precedes faith. If they truly hold that position, both logically and Biblically, they must eventually come to the position that regeneration is immediate and direct by the agency of the Holy Spirit. Faith, which comes after regeneration, can hardly be viewed as either causative or as an essential agent in a work that occurred prior to faith.

That said, I reject any dispensational notion that unregenerate sinners will receive a "second chance" to claim salvation after death, along with the whole concept of a secret rapture, as violating essential Biblical teaching regarding the nature of the atoning work of Christ and the Second Coming. I also reject ideas that make the gospel causative or an intermediate agent in regeneration as also violating essential Biblical doctrine.

Based on the intensity of Peter’s teaching in the second chapter of his second letter, it is my belief that the degree of error, both in teaching and in conduct, that he opposed is far more insidious and destructive to the character of essential Christianity than either of the ideas that I used as examples above. Both in teaching and in conduct, their teaching would have destroyed the whole character of Biblical Christianity. In quite specific terms Peter directs us to oppose these teachings.

It appears that the false teachers that Peter exposes in this letter had accused him and the other apostles of contriving " cunningly devised fables" in their teaching of Jesus’ Incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension. Without question, the accusation related to Peter’s, and the other apostles’, teachings regarding the Incarnation, but Peter’s use of the word " coming," coupled with his specific emphasis on the truth of the Second or final Advent in the third chapter of this letter, distinctly indicates that their accusation included the apostolic teaching regarding both the first and the Second Advent. Rejection of the Second Coming of Christ at the end of time (Or should we say at the beginning of eternity?) clearly was part of the error held by these false teachers. The fact that, after dealing in detail with false teachers and their ways in the second chapter, Peter would immediately confront the skeptical rejection of the Second Coming in 2Pe 3:1-18 of the same letter, cannot be viewed as incidental. Can we reasonably avoid the link between the two chapters? Behavior of false teachers in the second chapter and skeptical rejection of the Second Coming in the third chapter cannot be viewed as unrelated issues.

As we read through 2Pe 2:1-22 of the letter, we cannot specifically identify the precise details of the false teachings that Peter opposed. Then as we examine 2Pe 3:1-18, it becomes clear that the false teachers so directly opposed in chapter two in some way rejected the doctrine of the Second Coming. As we study both chapters, we will observe several links between the two. The fact that the false teachers rejected the Incarnation opens the door to the first century gnostic error that attempted to invade Christianity.

Another possible error that fits Peter’s points is ancient Epicureanism. We have grown to associate this name with the " good life;" food, drink, or other indulgence of one’s senses and appetites without constraint. While ancient Epicureans believed in " the good life," they also held to unique religious ideas that would surprise most twenty-first century readers. Their primary objective was mental peace more than satisfaction of one’s physical appetites. In fact, according to their first century thinking, some indulgences would actually impair their ultimate peace. While believing in gods, ancient Epicureans would have fiercely rejected what most Christians refer to as providence. They believed that the gods had nothing to do with life or activities on earth. They also rejected any concept of an afterlife. Thus they, like the gnostics, would reject both Jesus’ first appearance on earth, as well as His Second Coming and judgment.

If you believed that God exists, but that He has nothing to do with anything that occurs on earth, you would necessarily reject the Incarnation, as well as any concept of Jesus’ final return or judgment of mankind. What impact would such religious ideas have on your lifestyle? I suggest that they would have no impact whatever on the way you live life or view the question of moral issues. Right or wrong, good or bad; apart from the Second Coming and final divine Judgment, moral and ethical questions are little more than a measure of personal taste. This point fits Peter’s accusation of the false teachers.

Peter accuses the false teachers of promising liberty to their converts while themselves being subject to slavery. The Roman moralist Seneca is credited with this quote, " To be enslaved to oneself is the heaviest of all servitudes." Although Seneca was not a Christian at all, his observation in this quote makes a true Christian point. Why did Jesus impose self-denial and the taking up of one’s cross as essentials of discipleship?

Although Peter wrestles with two implications of the false teachers and their errors, he never specifically identifies them or the precise nature of their error. We will interact with Peter’s words and his exposure of the two features of their error that he does surface throughout the next several chapters. Perhaps it is good that we do not know precisely what these ancient false teachers believed. It is instructive for our present situation to take note that the two features that Peter clearly identifies in these ancient false teachers are quite common among false teachers of almost every era of time, including our own. What distinguishes these false teachers in infamy? First, they are greedy, more motivated by what enhances them and their self-worth than by what is right or what is good for others. If self-gain, material and otherwise, is their primary objective, any idea of spiritual truths dealing with the Lord’s Second coming would clash with their basic perspective and, therefore, be fiercely rejected by them. Secondly, they despise authority.. They despised the authority of Peter and the apostles. They would likely have as readily despised any other authority. They are self-willed at the heart of their being and nature.

While Peter never precisely identifies these false teachers or the details of their false teaching, he deals at length with their conduct and character. We sometimes make a similar point. Doctrine relates to practice. Occasionally we attempt to neatly segregate our theological processes and ideas into two tidy packages, one named Doctrine and one named Practice. Scripture tightly-inseparably integrates the two. If a person holds to a significant error in doctrine, we may expect this same person to demonstrate his error through false living.

Regardless of the specific details of error that any particular false teacher might propagate, the behavioral patterns that Peter clearly describes in this letter will appear. This may further explain why he avoids a specific identification of the false teachers that he opposed or of the details of their error. By leaving us in doubt as to the detailed nuances of error in this case, he instructs us to watch the conduct of those who teach. You may well discern a problem in their attitude and conduct long before you will become aware of an error in their thinking or teaching.

Peter will briefly take note of the unstable and unlearned people who are vulnerable to populist false teachers, but he will keep the primary focus throughout the next two chapters of his letter on the false teachers themselves.

If we maintain our faith’s emphasis on the Person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ, we may not know what error will next appear, but we will be equipped to discover it and counter it. I qualify this observation with one point. Private meditation alone will not equip us to identify false teachers or their teachings. Only a Biblical study and emphasis will properly equip us. Remember Peter’s emphasis in the first chapter on the inspiration and authority of Scripture. Why did Paul {Eph 6:1-24} refer to Scripture as the sword of the Spirit, the one offensive weapon in the Christian armor depicted in that chapter? Scripture alone, not our private sentimental ideas, is to govern our faith. Study the textbook.

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False Teachers: Inevitable[i]

2Pe 2:1-9 "1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. 3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. 4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; 5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; 7 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: 8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) 9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:"

Peter begins this rather difficult section of his letter with a simple statement. Just as false prophets constantly buffeted Old Testament saints, false teachers will steadily assault New Testament saints. In his commentary on Jude and 2 Peter Richard Bauckham observes three constant traits of the Old Testament false prophets, equally applying these traits to the false teachers in 2 Peter and Jude.

1. They did not speak with divine authority.

2. Their message was one of " good news," promising peace and security in contrast to the warnings about judgment given by true prophets.

3. They were shown to be worthy of condemnation.

Although Peter surfaces brief excerpts from the false teachings of these people, he never delves into details regarding their errors. However, he spares no details in exposing and rejecting their character and conduct.

What two points does he make regarding their teachings? In 2Pe 1:1-21 he implies that he, unlike these false teachers, did not follow " cunningly devised fables" when he preached the gospel that emphasized the Incarnation and Second " coming" of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then in 2Pe 3:1-18 he goes into significant details regarding the skeptics’ (surely the same false teachers emphatically examined and rejected in 2Pe 2:1-22) rejection of the Second Coming.

In 2Pe 2:1-2, the verses that we examine in this chapter, Peter already begins his spotlight examination of the character and conduct of these false teachers. What does he write about their character and conduct?

1. They are false teachers, literally pseudo-teachers. They pretend to be something that they are not at all. Thus they are dishonest.

2. They present their false teachings " privily," secretly or craftily, another disclosure of their essential dishonesty. They know that, if openly and honestly presented, their ideas would be immediately and soundly rejected. Rather than repenting or changing their minds, they attempt to use verbal sleight of hand to trick people into believing their false teachings.

3. They introduce damnable (literally, deserving of eternal punishment) heresies. The word translated heresies means " 1 act of taking, capture: e.g. storming a city. 2 choosing, choice. 3 that which is chosen. 4 a body of men following their own tenets (sect or party). 4a of the Sadducees. 4b of the Pharisees. 4c of the Christians. 5 dissensions arising from diversity of opinions and aims." [ii]  They are knowingly and intentionally divisive. Their aim is to attract followers to themselves. Do not overlook the nuance in the definition of taking someone captive. Later in the chapter {2Pe 2:19} we will see that they promise freedom to their followers, though they themselves are enslaved.

4. Peter describes their ways as pernicious, the same Greek word as " damnable" in this context. Not only are their teachings damnable, so is their conduct.

5. Because of their character and conduct, the way of peace (They seek to enslave and capture the minds of people; they are at war with the saints, not peace.) shall receive evil reports. People will see them, claiming to be Christians and literally acting like the devil, and speak evil of all who profess faith in Christ.

6. They " deny the Lord that bought them." This clause is one of the most hotly disputed in the whole chapter. Did Jesus die for them? Were they saved people acting in such disgraceful ways? If we allow Peter to lead our minds with his inspired words, we will find it difficult to conclude anything other than that these false teachers were not saved, and therefore, not " bought" by the redemptive price paid by Jesus’ blood. Since the Old Testament doctrine of redemption was an altogether familial affair, its mold clearly appears in the leading New Testament doctrines that deal with our redemption through Jesus’ death. The Greek word translated " Lord" in this clause comes from the root for our word " despot." It refers to a sovereign ruler, but not to a family redeemer. Whatever Peter intended in this expression, it seems clear that he had no reference to the sin-redemption that the elect have in Jesus. If we allow the " perspicuity of Scripture" to rule our interpretation, the lack of clarity or specificity in this point should nudge us to leave it with Peter and the Holy Spirit to enlighten. Whatever interpretation we apply, we should do so with a soft grip and a generous measure of charity toward other interpretations. John Gill associates the term with the Old Testament people who dealt with their false prophets; specifically, he refers this term to God’s " purchase" of His people out of Egypt. Those false prophets denied the sovereign Lord Who bought them out of Egypt. Although we should not in every way think of Jude as a precise mirror of 2 Peter, much of Jude’s writings reflect an incredible similarity. Many scholars debate who copied from whom? Did Jude copy from Peter or Peter from Jude? I suggest that the omniscient Holy Spirit directed both men, writing to their individual audiences, to address a common problem that both would soon face in their faith. False teachers with very similar, if not identical, false notions would invade both groups and seek to neutralize their Christ-centric faith. Jude 1:4 accuses the false teachers with whom Jude deals as denying " the only Lord God, and perhaps the emphatic " even" our Lord Jesus Christ." In Jude’s words the false teachers deny either any reference to God, or they deny specifically the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. I suggest the probability that Peter intends the same character in his false teachers as Jude in his. If these people can make any credible case for being teachers of Christian people, they must in some way pretend to be Christians. However, the impact of Peter’s words indicates that they deny the very unique work of Christ that bought His true people from the mass of sinful, fallen humanity. In other words they deny what they pretend to claim, but factually don’t.

This last point is one of the most difficult in the chapter. Regardless of the interpretation we apply to the clause, we run into one or another difficulty. I dare not insist that you accept my tentative explanation with anything more than gentle suggestion. In my way of thinking, it sets up fewer and less difficult problems than the alternative interpretations that I have found among the variety of confused and seeking commentators who join we lesser believers who also struggle with the idea. Applying the " perspicuity of Scripture" rule to the whole chapter, we cannot doubt the damnable (including a likely eternal consequence) character and conduct of the false teachers that Peter describes. We cannot doubt their abominable character and conduct, for Peter devotes sufficient ink and clarity to those points that we can have no doubt as to his inspired assessment of them. We do well to allow Peter to lead, and we respectfully follow in the clear direction that he takes us. We should not allow our interest in this expression to detract our minds from the insidious character and conduct of false teachers. Nor should we overlook the truth that our best inoculation against them is a fully absorbed mind in the holy writings that God has given to us in Scripture.

In the third verse Peter continues his emphasis on the malicious character of the false teachers. However, at this point he shifts the focus from the character of the false teachers to the preeminent judgment of God against them. When we become too focused on false teachers, we are liable to forget God’s sovereignty, even over false teachers. Peter helps us see the healthy balance between the two. He will not adopt a passive, fatalistic " Leave them to God" attitude. Neither will he become so obsessed as to think that the false teachers are his personal responsibility.

Before exploring the certain judgments of God against these people, let’s examine Peter’s continuing assessment of the false teachers’ character.

1. They are covetous, but not for money or material possessions. They covet control over people. They reduce other people, believers in Christ, to their own personal possession.

2. They freely employ hypocritical, pretentious words to deceive the people who listen to them. Here the idea of " feigned" words suggests false or fabricated words, crafted to deceive, as opposed to sincere words of wisdom designed to inform. Self is the dominant force in their teachings. Rather than truth, as defined by God in Scripture and its object, glorifying God in all things, a false teachers’ objective is self-exaltation.

3. They " make merchandise" of other believers. A merchant trades in wares for the purpose of growing a profit, of personal gain. For these people, according to Peter, personal gain is the dominant motive of false teachers.

The over-arching theme of Peter’s assessment of the false teachers’ character is that of depraved, self-serving greed. We need go to no other passage to understand the intense condemnation that Peter lays upon these people. However, when you contrast their character with the New Testament description of a godly teacher and minister of the gospel, their true disposition becomes even more detestable. They are in every point opposite to the Biblical model of a godly teacher.

Having clearly established the evil nature of the false teachers against whom he writes, Peter now shifts the focus of his message to the certainty of God’s judgment against them.

1. Their "judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not." When we study 2Pe 3:1-18, we will see this point in greater detail. For the moment let’s simply follow Peter’s points here. We are inclined to think that God suspends all judgment or punishment of evil till the final judgment. Some teachers propose that at death God simply suspends the soul in a state of unconscious existence. They typically will illustrate their ideas with the metaphor of taking a tape out of a tape player. At death God merely takes the soul out of the body and stores it on the shelf till the resurrection. Peter rejects this notion. The idea of suspended judgment or of "soul sleep" will not stand under Peter’s words, nor under examination against the clear teaching of many other Biblical passages.

2. Peter illustrates the point of immediate judgment with three examples. The first example may refer to some event prior to the creation, or it may refer to the common Jewish idea that sinning angels contributed to the intense growth of sin just prior to the flood. Given the lack of clear and concise Biblical commentary, we might better allow the point to stand on the information that Peter provides rather than speculating. Jude 1:6 seems to refer to a similar event. The Jewish idea of angels fathering children with wicked women cannot find significant support in the Genesis narrative of Noah’s flood. The most direct and natural reading of that account is that the children of godly parents began to compromise their faith in God through marriages with ungodly partners. Rather than reforming their ungodly partners, the wicked partners corrupted their faith. Within a few generations the evil had multiplied and evoked divine judgment in the form of the flood. Some commentators will refer this passage to Isa 14:1-32 and the Lucifer passage. While that passage may refer to an angel that sinned, it hardly affords solid confirmation of the idea. Given the choice of speculating or stretching a passage beyond its comfort zone, I prefer to allow Peter and Jude to serve as our primary source of information. Accept what they wrote without embellishment. Rather than exemplifying suspended judgment, the example of sinning angels clearly makes the point that God immediately executed judgment against them, holding them in a state of conscious punishment until the final judgment that remains in the future.

Further, the two historical examples that Peter introduces, the flood and God’s destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, both reinforce the point made in the example of the fallen angels. Although God clearly has a future and final judgment in store for them, He immediately executed judgment against their fierce rejection of His authority. Judgment was immediate, not long suspended.

[i] Normally I attempt to keep my weekly chapters to one page in length. Given the significant transition that Peter makes as he begins the second chapter of his letter, I have actually included two chapters as one to give you greater continuity in your reading. 

[ii] Strong, J. (1996). The exhaustive concordance of the Bible: Showing every word of the test of the common English version of the canonical books, and every occurence of each word in regular order. (electronic ed.) (139). Ontario: Woodside Bible Fellowship.

PBC: 2Pe 2:7

False Teachers: Not Out of God’s Control or Judgment

Lot closes out Peter’s Old Testament illustrations of God’s speedy judgment against evildoers. Lot challenges our theological mindsets. If we read the account of his life in Genesis, we are not especially impressed with this fellow. He allows his herdsmen to quarrel with Abraham’s. He is willing to part company with his godly relative, Abraham. Upon leaving Abraham he settles in the plains just outside Sodom and Gomorrah. At first he merely pitches his tent near the suburbs. Eventually he moves into town and rubs shoulders with the city elders, the men who sit at the city gate. He appears in many ways to be the premier example of a good man who took the wrong path and got himself into trouble by a sequence of consistently wrong decisions and priorities. When he bargains with the evil men seeking the angelic messengers who visit him, he shocks us by offering his own daughters to them instead of the visitors. We possibly do him some injustice in this matter. He likely knew the people who knocked on his door better than we, and, if the tradition of the name " Sodom" is correct, their sexual orientation left his daughters free of real danger. Yet his act seems crass and shocking to us, even with this knowledge. Scripture leaves him, a broken man with his two daughters in a cave. With only that knowledge of Lot, what moral and ethical assessment would you make of the man? If he applied for membership in your church, would you vote to accept or reject him? If he asked you for a letter of personal reference, would you feel comfortable writing of his integrity?

Now we move to the New Testament and pick up the thread of his life from Peter in this lesson. We are amazed. Peter does not share our superficial impressions of this man. He refers to Lot as "just." Peter describes him as "that righteous man." We read of his "righteous soul" being vexed from day to day by the sinful conditions in the culture around him.

It seems that Peter wants to thoroughly confuse us! We were quite comfortable with our assessment of Lot as a failure of a spiritual man. We comfort ourselves with the fact that he doesn’t appear as a character witness for faith in Heb 11:1-40, but then neither do we appear there; nor do many other worthy saints from the Old Testament. Just as we are ready to despair in confusion, Peter explains why he has taken us down this slippery slope. In vivid contrast to our confusion about the true state of Lot’s moral and ethical character, Peter comfortably reminds us that God clearly knows the souls of men and has not lost any of His sovereignty or power to deliver the godly out of their temptations.

Finally, Peter is now prepared to complete the logical circle that he began with this lesson. God not only knows how to deliver the godly, and knows who is and who is not godly; he is also quite capable of reserving the ungodly for their ultimate and final judgment. Although Scripture speaks of Satan as the god of this world, it never elevates him to a position in competition with our sovereign Lord. Satan may be the god of this world, but the Lord Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords. {1Ti 6:15}

This passage will not allow us to deny the factual reality of the final judgment of God against all evil people. Occasionally preterists, people who attempt to interpret all eschatological (end times) Biblical judgment as occurring in A. D. 70 with the Roman siege and sacking of the city of Jerusalem, will claim 2 Peter as one of their strongest Biblical passages.[i]  The claim fails when we carefully examine 2 Peter. Our particular study passage clearly exemplifies this point. Peter does not say that God knows how to reserve only a single local segment of unjust Jewish people for judgment; he says that God knows how to reserve the unjust for judgment with no reservation or qualification regarding time or location. The passage simply says far too much to support the preterist’s denial of God’s epochal and final judgment against all evil people.

To assure us of God’s holy justice in this matter of judgment, Peter gives us a specific outline of the true character of the unjust who will face God in the final judgment. Divine justice is in no way blind. God’s eyes carefully observe every evil thought and deed so that He is fully informed and equipped to render righteous judgment against the wicked no less than He is capable of intervening in the lives of His people to deliver them from their trials. What is the character of evil people who will spend eternity in hell?

1. Don’t overlook the broad term " unjust." It refers to people who have violated justice To assure us of God’s holy justice in this matter of judgment, Peter gives us a specific outline of the true character of the unjust who will face God in the final judgment. Divine justice is in no way blind. God’s eyes carefully observe every evil thought and deed so that He is fully informed and equipped to render righteous judgment against the wicked no less than He is capable of intervening in the lives of His people to deliver them from their trials. What is the character of evil people who will spend eternity in hell?, who deal deceitfully and dishonestly with others.

2. They " walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness." Rather than desiring clean, honest things, they crave the unclean. The word translated " uncleanness" refers to moral defilement or moral pollution. Paul refers to this inclination of the wicked in somewhat different words that convey the same idea, "whose god is their belly." {Php 3:19}

3. They " despise government." The idea is that they despise any moral controls over them. They want to be wholly free to " do their own thing." The idea of being accountable to God for their conduct is despicable to them.

4. They are " presumptuous." They are daring, shameless in their pursuits of sin.

5. They are " self-willed." The idea of this word is self-pleasing and arrogant. They reject any thought of living to please others, much less to please God.

6. They are " not afraid to speak evil of dignities." Here dignities may refer to angels. Because of the verses that follow, some commentators believe that Peter is referring to their dialogue regarding fallen or wicked angels. The whole issue of fallen angels is difficult to explore. Often the best theologians walk farther down that path than reasonable Biblical knowledge reveals. The word translated " dignities" is the word for " doxology," praiseworthy, or glorious. We sometimes hear a cliché that describes them perfectly. " There is nothing sacred to them." They laughingly mock at any idea of God or of godly people. Peter will carry this final point further in the following verses, but he clearly establishes the point here.

The profound complexity of judging every man, woman, and child who ever lived overwhelms our minds. We cannot fathom the idea. Peter understands our limitation and reassures us that our God is fully capable of both preserving and blessing the righteous and of controlling and finally judging the wicked. Men may successfully distort justice by manipulating human judges or the court system. God cannot be manipulated. There is no such thing as a miscarriage of justice in God’s courtroom.

It seems that Peter wants to assure us in two ways. God knows how to tenderly watch over His people through their dangers, and He equally knows how to reserve the wicked till their final judgment. Godly people are not bloodthirsty. They do not sit around and relish the idea of God judging and punishing anyone. However, they often face the complexities of living through difficulties and wondering about their relationship with God at the time. Peter wants us to know that God is never overcome by evil or by its master, Satan. Scripture does not teach that God prevents any evil from coming upon us, but it clearly teaches that God will stand with us as we face it.

When we read about such evil events as the Holocaust or other human atrocities committed by man against his fellowman, we stand aghast at the depth of human depravity. We wonder why God allows such things to occur. We wonder if indeed all the evil of man against man will ever face true judgment. Peter puts our minds to rest. Yes, God knows precisely how to deal with the wicked and to judge them appropriately to their sins committed. We are not fully able to comprehend the depth of sin’s offense to our holy God. While we view evil with repugnance and disdain, it is a smelly smoke in the nostrils of our holy God. He assures us through Peter that He will have the last word, and that evil men and their deeds shall not escape his final judgment.

[i] The preterist claim that the city of Jerusalem was so destroyed as not to leave one stone on another has been proven historically and factually false. The " wailing wall" still in tact today in Jerusalem is generally accepted as part of the first century temple complex. When the Lord comes at the end, not one stone will be left standing on another. At least at this late hour, the prophecy has not been factually fulfilled.

Haydock: 2Pe 2:1

Lying teachers among you, some of which were already come, and many more were to follow, who shall bring in sects, [1] (heresies) leading to perdition, and deny the Lord who bought them, denying the divinity of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer; such were the disciples of Simon, and many after them. (Witham) ---

Sects of perdition; that is, heresies destructive of salvation. (Challoner)

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as this Greek word sometimes signifies; witness Aristotle, 4. Eth. where he puts as apposite, Greek: kata doxan, kai kat aletheian.

Haydock: 2Pe 2:2

Many shall follow their luxuries, or lasciviousness, such as are related of the Nicolaites and Gnostics, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be blasphemed, or ill spoken of, by those who made no distinction betwixt true and false Christians. (Witham)

Haydock: 2Pe 2:3

They shall make merchandise of you, preaching such lying doctrine as might please the people, but through a motive of covetousness, and for their own gain. (Witham)

Haydock: 2Pe 2:4

If God spared not the Angels, &c. St. Peter here brings these examples of God's justice. 1. Towards the rebellious angels that fell from heaven; 2. that of the general flood, or deluge; 3. when he destroyed Sodom and those other cities. First, angels that sinned, God by his justice delivered them, drawn down with infernal ropes into hell to be tormented, and to be reserved even for greater torments after the day of judgment. This seems to be the liberal sense of this fourth verse, which is obscure, and has divers reading in the Greek. In the examples of the deluge and of Sodom, St. Peter shews not only the severity of God's judgments upon the wicked, but also his merciful providence towards the small number of the just, as towards Noe [Noah], a preacher of justice, the eighth and chief of those that were preserved in the ark, when he spared not the world that was of old, (literally, the original world) or wicked of those ancient times. When he delivered that just man, Lot, at the time he reduced Sodom and those other cities to ashes: for Lot was just both in sight and hearing, without being corrupted by what he saw and heard; chaste as to his eyes and ears, or as to all that could be seen or heard of him, when the wicked among whom he lived vexed and grieved his just soul by their impious deeds. God, therefore, who knows and approves the ways of the godly, preserves them by his providence amidst temptations. (Witham)

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Rudentibus inferni detractos in tartarum tradidit cruciandos, in judicium reservari, Greek: seirais zophou (some few copies, Greek: adou ) Greek: tartarosas, paredoken eis krisin teteremenous; other manuscripts, Greek: teroumenous. Greek: Tartaroo must signify cast into a place, called Greek: tartaros, derived from Greek: taratto, turbo. The Rhem. Testament hath, with ropes of hell drawn down; but the sense rather seems to be, delivered into chains, or into prison. Some would have Greek: tartarosas to signify, cast down into this region of the air. It is true divers of the ancient Fathers were of opinion, that devils are dispersed in the airy region, where they are punished and tormented; but these same Fathers do not deny, that there is in the inferior parts of the earth a place of torments for the devils and damned souls, into which (called also the abyss) the devils begged not to be sent and confined there. (Luke viii. 31.) This is the place called hell, tartarus, &c.

Haydock: 2Pe 2:9

To reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment, &c. That is, God many times does not punish the wicked in this life, he suffers them to run on in the ways of iniquity, with prosperity as to the enjoyment of a short and vain happiness in this world, but his judgments are most of all to be dreaded, when the punishments are reserved till the next life, as it will appear at the day of general judgment: and from the time of their death they shall be tormented in hell. (Witham)

Gill: 2Pe 2:1

But there were false prophets also among the people,.... As well as holy men of God, who gave out prophecies, by the inspiration and impulse of the Holy Spirit; that is, among the people of the Jews, God's professing people, whose God was the Lord, and who had chosen them to be a special and peculiar people, above all people of the earth; and had distinguished them by his favours from all others: among these, though the Syriac version reads "in the world", there were false prophets, who ran, and were not sent; and who prophesied, and the Lord spake not to them: of these there were many in Jeremiah's time, and in the times of Ezekiel; and in Ahab's time, besides the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, slain by Elijah, there were four hundred that called themselves the prophets of the Lord; among whom went forth a lying spirit, encouraging Ahab to go up to Ramoth Gilead, promising him prosperity and success; Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah, with whom Micaiah, the true prophet, had much contention, was at the head of them; and such there were among that people in all ages, until the times of Christ, and in his likewise; see Mat 7:15 now from these, by an easy transition, the apostle proceeds to another part of his design in this epistle, to describe the characters of false teachers under the present dispensation, that saints may beware, and avoid their pernicious principles and practices:

even as there shall be false teachers among you; which need not to be wondered at, or stumble any, it being no new or strange thing, but what was always more or less the case of the people of God. This is a prophecy of what should be, and agrees with the prediction of our Lord, Mat 24:11 and which regards not only the times immediately following, in which it had a remarkable fulfilment, for false teachers now began to arise, and appeared in great numbers in the age succeeding the apostles, but to all periods of time from hence, to the second coming of Christ; and these were to spring from, and be among such that bore the Christian name, and so regards not Mahometans and Deists; and it is to be observed, that the phrase is varied in this clause, and these are called not "prophets" but "teachers": because as prophecy was more peculiar to the former dispensation, so is teaching to the present:

who privily shall bring in damnable heresies: errors in the fundamental doctrines of the Gospel; such as relate to a trinity of persons in the Godhead; and to the person of Christ, to his proper deity, distinct personality, eternal sonship, and real humanity; and to his office as Mediator, rejecting him as the true Messiah, and as the only Saviour of sinners; denying his sacrifice and satisfaction, and the imputation of his righteousness; and to the Holy Spirit, his deity, personality, and divine influences and operations: these are "damnable", or "destructive", or "heresies of destruction"; which lead to eternal destruction both those that introduce and propagate them, and those that embrace and profess them; for they remove, or attempt to remove, the foundation of eternal life and happiness: the manner in which these are usually introduced is "privily"; at unawares, secretly, under a disguise, and gradually, by little and little, and not at once, and openly; and which is the constant character and practice of such men, who lie in wait to deceive, creep into churches at unawares, and into houses privately; and insinuate their principles under specious pretences and appearances of truth, using the hidden things of dishonesty, walking in craftiness, handling the word of God deceitfully, and colouring things with false glosses and feigned words: and even denying the Lord that bought them; not the Lord Jesus Christ, but God the Father; for the word κυριος is not here used, which always is where Christ is spoken of as the Lord, but δεσποτης; and which is expressive of the power which masters have over their servants ⁱ, and which God has over all mankind; and wherever this word is elsewhere used, it is spoken of God the Father, whenever applied to a divine person, as in Luk 2:29 and especially this appears to be the sense, from the parallel text in Jud 1:4 where the Lord God denied by those men is manifestly distinguished from our Lord Jesus Christ, and by whom these persons are said to be bought: the meaning is not that they were redeemed by the blood of Christ, for Christ is not intended; and besides, whenever redemption by Christ is spoken of, the price is usually mentioned, or some circumstance or another which fully determines the sense; see Act 20:28 whereas here is not the least hint of anything of this kind: add to this, that such who are redeemed by Christ are the elect of God only, the people of Christ, his sheep and friends, and church, and who are never left to deny him so as to perish eternally; for could such be lost, or deceive, or be deceived finally and totally by damnable heresies, and bring on themselves swift destruction, Christ's purchase would be in vain, and the ransom price be paid for nought; but the word "bought" regards temporal mercies and deliverance, which these men enjoyed, and is used as an aggravation of their sin in denying the Lord; both by words, delivering out such tenets as are derogatory to the glory of the divine perfections, and which deny one or other of them, and of his purposes, providence, promises, and truths; and by works, turning the doctrine of the grace of God into lasciviousness, being disobedient and reprobate to every good work; that they should act this part against the Lord who had made them, and upheld them in their beings and took care of them in his providence, and had followed them with goodness and mercy all the days of their lives; just as Moses aggravates the ingratitude of the Jews in Deu 32:6 from whence this phrase is borrowed, and to which it manifestly refers: "do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise! is not he thy Father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?" nor is this the only place the apostle refers to in this chapter, see 2Pe 2:12 compared with Deu 32:5 and it is to be observed, that the persons he writes to were Jews, who were called the people the Lord had redeemed and purchased, Exo 15:13 and so were the first false teachers that rose up among them; and therefore this phrase is very applicable to them:

and bring upon themselves swift destruction; either in this life, being suddenly cut off in the midst of their days, and by the immediate hand of God, as Arius and other heretics have been; or eternal damnation in the other, which their tenets lead unto, and which will swiftly come upon them when they are promising themselves peace and safety.

Gill: 2Pe 2:2

And many shall follow their pernicious ways,.... Their principles and their practices, which lead to destruction, The Complutensian edition, the Alexandrian copy, and six copies of Beza's, and others, read "their lasciviousnesses"; and so the Vulgate Latin version renders it, "their luxuries"; and all the Oriental versions seem to have read in like manner. The Syriac version renders it, "their impurity"; and the Arabic version, "their unchastities"; and the Ethiopic version, "their lust"; and which seems to have respect to the impure conversation of the followers of Simon Magus, the Nicolaitans, the Gnostics, Carpocratians, and others, who indulged themselves in all unnatural lusts and uncleanness; and generally, when men make shipwreck of faith, they also do of a good conscience, and become immoral in their conversations; and yet, as destructive as their principles, and as dishonourable and scandalous as their practices be, many were, and are their followers; so it was foretold by Christ, Mat 24:11, and so it has been, Rev 13:3. The road both of error and wickedness is a broad one, in which many walk; and a multitude is no proof of the truth of a church or of the principles of men, nor to be followed:

by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of; that is, either Christ, who is truth itself, and the true way to eternal life and happiness; or the Gospel, the word of truth, which holds forth Christ the truth, and points to him, and every other truth, and nothing but truth; or the Christian religion, which is the true way, in opposition to all sects and heresies; and is what should be blasphemed and spoken against, either by these men or their followers; for the phrase may be rendered, "by whom", as it is in the Vulgate Latin version, and the meaning be, that they should, in a blasphemous way, speak and write against Christ and his truths, reproach and revile them, and in a virulent manner oppose them, and trample them under foot: "or for the sake of them", as other versions read; and as we do; "by reason of them"; they should be the occasion, by their impure lives, of the name of Christ, and his doctrines, being blasphemed by profane and irreligious men; see Rom 2:24. The Alexandrian copy, and one of Stephens's, read "the glory of truth"; and so the Ethiopic version, "the glory of his truth".

Gill: 2Pe 2:3

And through covetousness;.... Which is generally a prevailing vice among false teachers, they having no other end in view than themselves; either to gain popular applause and vain glory, which they are always covetous of; or to amass riches to themselves, after which they have an insatiable desire:

shall they with feigned words; made words, words of their own devising, and not which the Holy Ghost teacheth; whereby they cover themselves, and privily introduce their pernicious principles; and therefore new words and phrases are always to be suspected and guarded against, especially in articles of moment and importance: or with flattering words and fair speeches, great swelling words of vanity, having men's persons in admiration, because of worldly advantage; and in this way they gain their point:

make merchandise of you; deal with the souls of men, as merchants do with their goods, carry them to market and sell them; so false teachers deal with the souls of their followers, draw them, and sell them to Satan, and they themselves pay for it; see Zec 11:5 but in the issue, and that in a short time, they will be no gainers by such practices:

whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not: that is, their condemnation, which God in righteousness has determined, "from the creation of the world", as the Ethiopic version reads, or from all eternity, see Jud 1:4, to bring them into, for their vile principles and practices, is not retarded and delayed; it does not linger and stay behind, or slacken its pace; it will not tarry, it will come upon them at the appointed time:

and their damnation slumbereth not; an avenging God, who has appointed them to damnation for their sins, slumbers not; the justice of God is not asleep, nor careless and negligent, but is awake, and watches over them, to bring the evil upon them they have deserved, and is in reserve for them, and will hasten to perform it; the determined destruction does not lie dormant, but in a little time will be stirred up, and fall with dreadful weight on such sinners, as may be concluded from the following awful instances.

Gill: 2Pe 2:4

For if God spared not the angels that sinned..... By whom are meant the devil and his angels; who are spirits created by God and as such were good; their first estate which they left was pure and holy, as well as high and honourable; they, were at first in the truth, though they abode not in it; they were once among the morning stars and sons of God, and were angels of light; their numbers are many, and therefore are here expressed in the plural number, "angels", though it cannot be said how large; a legion of them was in one man; one at first might be in the rebellion, and draw a large number with him into it, at least was at the head of it, who is called Beelzebub, the prince of devils: what their first sin was, and the occasion of it, is not easy to say; it is generally thought to be pride, affecting a likeness to, or an equality with God; since this was what man was tempted to by them, and by which he fell, as they are thought to do; and because this is the sin of such who fall into the condemnation of the devil; 1Ti 3:6 and is the sin, that goes before a fall in common; as it did before the fall of man, so it might before the fall of angels, Pro 16:18. The passage in Joh 8:44 seems most clearly of any to express their sin, which was "not abiding in the truth"; in the truth of the Gospel, particularly the great truth of the salvation of men, by the incarnate Son of God; and which they could by no means brook and which might spring from pride, they not bearing the thought that the human nature should be exalted above theirs; hence the Jews, in opposing Christ as the Messiah and Saviour, are said to be of their father the devil, and to do his lusts; and Judas that betrayed him, and fell from his apostleship, and the truth, is called a devil; and the heresies of men, respecting the person and office of Christ, are styled doctrines of devils; and men that have professed this truth, and afterwards deny it, are represented in the same irrecoverable and desperate case with devils, and must expect the same punishment, Joh 8:44, and also it may be observed on the contrary, that the good angels that stand, greatly love, value, esteem, and pry into the truths of the Gospel; particularly the scheme of man's salvation, by the incarnation, obedience, sufferings, and death of Christ: now these

God spared not; or "had no mercy on", as the Arabic version renders it; he did not forgive their sin, nor provide a Saviour for them; but directly, and at once, notwithstanding the dignity and excellency of their nature, in strict justice, and awful severity, without any mercy, inflicted due punishment on them; wherefore it cannot be thought that false teachers, who, as they, abide not in the truth, but deny and oppose it, should escape the vengeance of God:

but cast them down to hell; they were hurled out of heaven, from whence they fell as lightning, into the "lowest", or inferior places, as the Syriac version renders it; either into the air, as in Eph 2:2 or into the earth; as in Rev 12:9 or into the deep, the abyss, the bottomless pit, where they are detained, as in a prison, Luk 8:31 though for certain reasons, and at certain times, are suffered to come forth, and rove about in this earth, and in the air: and these, when removed from their ancient seats in heaven, were not merely bid to go away, as the wicked will at the day of judgment; or were "drove" out, as Adam was from the garden of Eden; but "cast down"; with great power, indignation, wrath, and contempt, never to be raised and restored again:

and delivered them into chains of darkness: leaving them under the guilt of sin, which is the power of darkness, and in black despair; shutting them up in unbelief, impenitence, and hardness of mind; being holden with the cords of their sins, and in the most dreadful state of bondage and captivity to their lusts, in just judgment on them; and in the most miserable and uncomfortable condition, being driven from the realms of light, deprived of the face and presence of God, in the utmost horror and trembling, and fearful looking for of judgment, and fiery indignation to consume them; and in utter darkness, without the least glimmering of light, joy, peace, and comfort; and where there is nothing but weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth; and being also under the restraints of the power and providence of God, and not able to stir or move, or do anything without divine permission; and being likewise, by the everlasting, unalterable, and inscrutable purposes and decrees of God, appointed to everlasting wrath and destruction; by which they are consigned and bound over to it, and held fast, that they cannot escape it:

to be reserved unto judgment: to the day of judgment, to the last and general judgment; the judgment of torment, as the Syriac version here calls it; the words may be rendered, "and delivered them to be kept at judgment, in chains of darkness"; when they will be in full torment, which they are not yet in; and then they will be cast into the lake of fire prepared for them, and be everlastingly shut up in the prison of hell from whence they will never more be suffered to go out; till which time they are indeed under restraints, and are held in by Christ, who has the power of binding and loosing them at pleasure; and who then, as the Judge of men and devils, will bring them forth, and pass and execute sentence on them. The Jews give an account of the dejection, fall, and punishment of the angels, in a manner pretty much like this of Peter's, whom they speak of under different names; so of the serpent that deceived Adam and Eve, whom they call Samael, and because of that sin of his, they say ^k that the Lord

"cast down Samael and his company from the place of their holiness, out of heaven;''

and of Aza and Azael, angels, who, they say, sinned by lusting after the daughters of men, they frequently affirm, that God cast them down from their holiness ^l, and that he אפיל לון לתתא, "cast them down below in chains" ^m; and that God cast them down from their holiness from above; and when they descended, they were rolled in the air--and he brought them to the mountains of darkness, which are called the mountains of the east, and bound them "in chains" of iron, and the chains were sunk into the midst of the great deep ⁿ: and elsewhere they say ^o, that God cast them down from their holy degree, out of heaven--from their holy place out of heaven--and bound them in "chains" of iron, in the mountains of "darkness".

Gill: 2Pe 2:5

And spared not the old world,.... In distinction from the present world, that now is; which was, as it were, formed anew out of that which was destroyed by the deluge. The Vulgate Latin version renders it, "the original world"; and the Ethiopic version, "the first world"; it designs the ancient inhabitants of the world, as it was from the beginning, before the flood; who, being wicked, were not spared by God, but had just punishment inflicted on them:

but saved Noah the eighth person; not the eighth from Adam, as Enoch is said to be the seventh from him, Jud 1:14 for he was the tenth; nor is it to be read with the following clause, "the eighth preacher of righteousness"; but he was the eighth person, or one of the eight persons, saved from the flood; see 1Pe 3:20 hence the Ethiopic version, rather as a paraphrase than a version, renders it, "but caused to remain seven souls with Noah; whom he saved"; Hottinger ^p and Dr. Hammond ^q observe, from the Arabic writers, that the mountain on which the ark rested, and a town near it, were called Themenim; that is, "the eight", from the number of persons then and there saved:

a preacher of righteousness; of the righteousness of God, in all his ways and works, and in case he should destroy the world by a flood, as he had threatened; and of civil and moral righteousness among men, both by words, during the building of the ark, and by works, by his own example, in his righteous life and conversation; and of the righteousness of faith, or of Christ, by which he was justified and of which he was an heir, Heb 11:7, the Jews ^r say that Noah was a prophet; and they represent him also, as a preacher, and even tell us the very words he used in his exhortations to the old world ^s, saying,

"be ye turned from your evil ways and works, lest the waters of the flood come upon you, and cut off all the seed of the children of men:''

but though Noah, a preacher of righteousness, was saved, false teachers cannot expect to escape divine vengeance; who only are transformed as ministers of righteousness, but in truth are ministers of unrighteousness; opposers of the righteousness of Christ, and live unrighteous lives and conversations, and so their end will be according to their works:

bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; or "the ungodly of the world", as רשעי ארעא "the ungodly of the earth" ^t; see Psa 75:8 though here it indeed means a whole world of wicked men, all but a very few, which were destroyed by the flood. This expresses both the wickedness of the men of that generation, the imagination of the thoughts of whose heart were evil continually; and whose lives were filled up with uncleanness, violence, rapine, oppression, injustice, and corruption, of all sorts; and likewise the large numbers of them, there was a whole world of them; and yet this did not secure them from the wrath of God, but served to stir it up the more; wherefore false teachers and their followers must not build upon their numbers, or hope to be screened from just punishment on that account; since a world of ungodly men were, for their wickedness, at once swept away, with a flood of God's bringing upon them; causing that very useful and serviceable element of water to be the means of their destruction; for this was not a casual thing, which came of itself, or by chance, but was of God himself, who broke up the fountains of the great deep, and opened the windows of heaven, and destroyed at once all mankind, men, women, and children, and every living creature, excepting what were with Noah in the ark: and since they were persons of such a character as here described, it is not to be thought their punishment is ended here; it is the general notion of the Jews ^u, that

"the generation of the flood shall have no part in the world to come, nor shall they stand in judgment.''

Gill: 2Pe 2:6

And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes,.... By raining brimstone and fire upon them from heaven, Gen 19:24 which soon reduced them to ashes, with Admah and Zeboiim, Deu 29:25, cities delightfully situated, which were as the garden of God, and the land of Egypt, together with the inhabitants of them; and after they had received a signal mercy, in being rescued by Abraham from the kings who had carried them captive; and though Abraham, the friend of God, interceded for them, and righteous Lot dwelt among them. The first of these cities is in the Hebrew language called Sedom; Philo the Jew ^w calls it Sodoma, as in Rom 9:29 and in the Septuagint on Gen 13:10 here it is said to be a city, and Josephus ^x always calls it the city of the Sodomites, but in Mat 10:15 we read of the land of Sodom; and so Philo ^y the Jew speaks of χωρα, the region or country of the Sodomites; here the word is of the plural number, as in Mat 10:15 as it is also in the Septuagint in Gen 10:19 and in Philo the Jew ^z, and so is Gomorrah in some copies of this, place, as in Mat 10:15. Solinus, the historian, gives an account of these cities, in agreement with this;

"a good way off of Jerusalem (he says ^a) is opened a sorrowful gulf, which the black ground, "in cinerem soluta", "reduced to ashes", shows it to be touched by heaven; there were two towns, or cities, the one called Sodom, and the other Gomorrah; where an apple is produced, which, although it has an appearance of ripeness, cannot be eaten; for the outward skin that encompasses it only contains a sort of soot, or embers within, which, ever so lightly squeezed, evaporates into smoke and dust;''

and so the author of the book of Wisdom 10:7 speaking of the five cities, on which fire fell, says,

"of whose wickedness, even to this day, the waste land that smoketh is a testimony; and plants bearing fruit, that never come to ripeness.''

Philo the Jew ^b says, that

"there are showed to this day in Syria monuments of this unspeakable destruction that happened; as ruins, ashes, sulphur, smoke, and a weak flame, breaking forth as of a fire burning:''

condemned them with an overthrow; by this sad "catastrophe" God condemned the sins of those men of Sodom and Gomorrah, and condemned their persons to everlasting damnation; of which their temporal punishment was an emblem and figure; see Jud 1:7, the word "overthrow" is generally used when this destruction is spoken of, Deu 29:23 and therefore retained by the apostle here:

making them ensamples unto those who after should live ungodly; in the commission of any sins, and be open, bold, and impudent in them, and declare them as they did; and especially that should live in the commission of the same sins, those unnatural lusts and uncleannesses, which to this day go by the name of "sodomy", and "sodomitical" practices; now the punishment of the inhabitants of these cities was an ensample to such wicked conduct, showing what they must expect, and was a representation of those everlasting burnings, which such sinners, as a righteous retaliation for their burning lusts, shall be cast into. The Jews say ^c the same of the men of Sodom and Gomorrah as of the old world;

"the men of Sodom have no part in the world to come, as is said Gen 13:13 "but the men of Sodom were wicked, and sinners before the Lord exceedingly"; wicked in this world, and sinners in the world to come;''

See Gill on JuDeu 1:7.

Gill: 2Pe 2:7

And delivered just Lot,.... Who was a just man, being justified by the righteousness of Christ imputed to him; and having the new man formed in him, which is created in righteousness and true holiness; and living soberly, righteously, and godly, though not without sin: for there is not a just man that lives and sinneth not; this righteous man was delivered from the burning of Sodom by the means of angels, Gen 19:16. The Jews are very injurious to this good man's character, and give a very different one of him from this of the apostle's; they call him a wicked man, a perfect wicked man, as wicked as the inhabitants of Sodom ^d; and say, that because they abounded in sin, therefore Lot chose to dwell among them ^e; and affirm ^f, that all the time he was with Abraham, God did not join himself to him, and did not commune with Abraham on his account; but, when he was separated from him, did; they call him the evil imagination, and the old serpent that was accursed, and cursed Lot ^g; but Philo the Jew ^h speaks better of him, and says that he did not embrace and delight in the iniquities of the inhabitants, though he did not arrive to the perfection of wisdom; and the author of the book of Wisdom calls him the "righteous man",

"When the ungodly perished, she delivered the righteous man, who fled from the fire which fell down upon the five cities.'' (Wisdom 10:6)

as the apostle does here; and very truly, since it follows:

vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked; the inhabitants of Sodom, who had no regard to the laws of God or man, or to the law and light of nature; but as worse than brute beasts, lived daily in the commission of unnatural lusts; and therefore their conversation is rightly said to be filthy, and was a grievous burden to righteous Lot: for to a good man, not only his own sins, but the sins of others, whether professors or profane, are a burden, and make him groan under them, being grievously fatigued with them, as this good man was, and weary of life because of them, as Rebekah was, through the daughters of Heth.

Gill: 2Pe 2:8

For that righteous man dwelling among them,.... Which is sometimes the lot of good men, to their great sorrow and grief, Psa 120:5. Upon mentioning those words in Gen 13:12 "and pitched his tent towards Sodom", but the men of Sodom were wicked, &c. says R. Eleazar ⁱ;

"he is a righteous man that dwells between two wicked men, and does not learn their works;''

and such an one was Lot, whatever they are elsewhere pleased to say of him: "in seeing and hearing"; the Vulgate Latin version reads this in connection with the word "righteous", thus, "in seeing and hearing he was righteous": he could not bear to see their filthy actions, and hear their obscene language, but turned away from them, and shut his eyes, and stopped his ears, by which he appears to be a righteous and good man; though rather this belongs to what follows, seeing their wicked practices, and hearing their filthy talk:

vexed his righteous soul from, day today with their unlawful deeds; either "they vexed" him, as the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions read; or rather "he vexed" himself; he fretted and teased himself, and became exceeding uneasy, and was put upon a rack and tortured, as the word signifies, continually, with their wicked actions; see Psa 119:158.

Gill: 2Pe 2:9

That "fear him", as the Syriac version renders it; or that "rightly worship", as the Arabic; such as Noah and Lot, men that know God in Christ spiritually and experimentally; that believe in him, love him, fear him, worship him in spirit and truth, and live soberly, righteously, and godly. This verse is a conclusion from the preceding instances and examples, respecting both the mercy and justice of God; the mercy of God in delivering the godly and righteous "out of temptations"; by which are meant, not the temptations of Satan to sin, distrust, and despondency, though the Lord knows how, and is both able and willing to, and does deliver them from them; but afflictions and tribulations, such as Noah and Lot were exposed to; and which are so called, because they try the graces, particularly the faith and patience of the godly; and to deliver from these is the Lord's work: he grants his presence in them; he supports under them; he sanctifies them to them, and in his own time delivers out of them; for he knows how, and by what means, and when to do it, and is both able and willing: he has determined to do it, for the nature, measure, and duration of afflictions are fixed by him, and in his providence he does do it, as the instances before given prove.

And to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished. This is that part of the conclusion from the above premises, respecting the justice of God; and by "the unjust" are designed, persons without a righteousness, and that are full of all unrighteousness, and take pleasure in it, and live unrighteous lives, committing acts of injustice, both with respect to God and men; and the Lord, that has reserved the fallen angels in chains of darkness unto judgment, knows how to reserve "in prison", as the Arabic version renders it, the souls of those in hell, and their bodies in the grave "unto the day of judgment"; of the last and general judgment, when Christ shall judge both quick and dead, and bring every secret thing to light, which that day shall declare, God has appointed to judge the world in; in order "to be punished" in soul and body, with everlasting and complete destruction, which, as yet, is not. This phrase, "the day of judgment", is used in Judith and is a Jewish one.

"Woe to the nations that rise up against my kindred! the Lord Almighty will take vengeance of them in the day of judgment, in putting fire and worms in their flesh; and they shall feel them, and weep for ever.'' (Judith 16:17)

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 2Pe 2:1

¹ sn There will be false teachers among you. Peter uses the same verb, γίνομαι (ginomai), in 2 Pet 2:1 as he had used in 1:20 to describe the process of inspiration. He may well be contrasting, by way of a catchword, the two kinds of prophets.

² tn Grk “who”; verse 1 is one sentence in Greek, the second half constituting a relative clause.

³ sn By the use of the future tense (will infiltrate), Peter is boldly prophesying the role that false teachers will have before these Gentile believers. It was necessary for him to establish both his own credentials and to anchor his audience’s faith in the written Word before he could get to this point, for these false teachers will question both.

⁴ tn Grk “will bring in,” often with the connotation of secretiveness; “your midst” is implied.

⁵ tn Or “destructive opinions,” “destructive viewpoints.” The genitive ἀπωλείας (apwleia") could be taken either attributively (“destructive”) or as a genitive of destination (“leading to destruction”). Although the preferable interpretation is a genitive of destination, especially because of the elaboration given at the end of the verse (“bringing swift destruction on themselves”), translating it attributively is less cumbersome in English. Either way, the net result is the same.

⁶ tn Grk “even.” The καί (kai) is ascensive, suggesting that the worst heresy is mentioned in the words that follow.

⁷ tn Grk “bringing.” The present participle ἐπάγοντες (epagonte") indicates the result of the preceding clause.

NET Notes: 2Pe 2:2

¹ tn “Debauched lifestyles” is literally “licentiousnesses,” “sensualities,” “debaucheries.”

² tn Grk “because of whom,” introducing a subordinate clause to the first part of the verse.

³ tn Or “blasphemed,” “reviled,” “treated with contempt.”

NET Notes: 2Pe 2:3

¹ tn Grk “to whom,” introducing a subordinate relative clause.

² tn Grk “the ancient judgment.”

³ tn Grk “is not idle.”

⁴ tn Greek has “and their.” As introducing a synonymous parallel, it is superfluous in English.

NET Notes: 2Pe 2:4

¹ tn The participle ἁμαρτησάντων (Jamarthsantwn) could either be attributive (“who sinned”) or adverbial (“when they sinned”). The relation to the judgment of the false teachers in v. 3 suggests that the objects of God’s judgment are not in question, but the time frame for the execution of justice is. If the participle is taken temporally, the point of comparison is not as acute. The objection that the illustrations following (the flood, Sodom and Gomorrah) are viewed temporally does not mitigate this translation, for in both instances only the time of executing judgment is in view. Further, in both instances the OT notes that God withheld punishment for a long time.

² tn Grk “casting them into Tartarus” or “holding them captive in Tartarus.” This verb, ταρταρόω (tartarow), occurs only here in the NT, but its meaning is clearly established in both Hellenistic and Jewish literature. “Tartarus [was] thought of by the Greeks as a subterranean place lower than Hades where divine punishment was meted out, and so regarded in Israelite apocalyptic as well” (BDAG 991 s.v.). Grammatically, it has been translated as an indicative because it is an attendant circumstance participle.

³ tn Grk “handed them over.”

⁴ tc The reading σειραῖς (seirai", “chains”) is found in Ì⁷² P Ψ 33 1739 Ï vg sy, while σιροῖς (sirois [or σειροῖς, seirois], “pits”) is found in א A B C 81 pc. The evidence is thus fairly evenly divided. Internally, the reading adopted here (σειραῖς) is a rarer term, perhaps prompting some scribes to replace it with the more common word. However, this more common term is not a synonym and hence does not follow the normal pattern of scribes. As well, the use of the genitive ζόφου (zofou) in “chains of darkness” is a bit awkward (a rare genitive of place), perhaps prompting some scribes to change the imagery to “pits of darkness” (in which case ζόφου is an attributive genitive). A further point that complicates the issue is the relationship of 2 Peter to Jude. Jude’s parallel (v. 6) has δεσμοῖς (desmois, “chains”). Apart from the issue of whether 2 Peter used Jude or Jude used 2 Peter, this parallel suggests one of two possibilities: either (1) since these two books obviously have a literary relationship, σειραῖς is original, or (2) early scribes, recognizing that these two books shared their material, changed σειροῖς to σειραῖς to conform the wording, at least conceptually, to Jude 6. On balance, σειραῖς looks to be original because scribes were not prone to harmonize extensively between books other than the Gospels (although 2 Peter and Jude do display some of this harmonizing). Further, such harmonization is often, if not usually, verbally exact, but δεσμοῖς is not a variant here.

⁵ tn The genitive ζόφου (zofou) is taken as a genitive of place. See previous note for discussion.

NET Notes: 2Pe 2:5

¹ tn “Along with seven others” is implied in the cryptic, “the eighth, Noah.” A more literal translation thus would be, “he did protect Noah [as] the eighth…”

² tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been repeated here for clarity, although this is somewhat redundant with the beginning of v. 4.

³ tn Grk “a world of the ungodly.”

NET Notes: 2Pe 2:6

¹ tc Several important witnesses omit καταστροφῇ (katastrofh, “destruction”; such as Ì^72* B C* 1241 1739 1881 pc), but this is probably best explained as an accidental omission due to homoioarcton (the word following is κατέκρινεν [katekrinen, “he condemned”]).

tn Or “ruin,” or “extinction.” The first part of this verse more literally reads “And [if] he condemned to annihilation the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, by turning them to ashes.”

sn The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is detailed in Gen 18:16—19:29.

² tn The perfect participle τεθεικώς (teqeikw") suggests an antecedent act. More idiomatically, the idea seems to be, “because he had already appointed them to serve as an example.”

³ tn “To serve as” is not in Greek but is implied in the object-complement construction.

⁴ tn Grk “an example of the things coming to the ungodly,” or perhaps “an example to the ungodly of coming [ages].”

NET Notes: 2Pe 2:7

¹ tn Or “unprincipled.”

² tn This verse more literally reads “And [if] he rescued righteous Lot, who was deeply distressed by the lifestyle of the lawless in [their] debauchery.”

NET Notes: 2Pe 2:8

¹ tn Grk “that righteous man tormented his righteous soul.”

² tn Grk “by lawless deeds, in seeing and hearing [them].”

NET Notes: 2Pe 2:9

¹ tn The Greek is one long conditional sentence, from v. 4 to v. 10a. 2Pet 2:4-8 constitute the protasis; vv. 9 and 10a, the apodosis. In order to show this connection more clearly, a resumptive summary protasis – “if so,” or “if God did these things” – is needed in English translation.

² tn Grk “from trial,” or possibly “from temptation” (though this second meaning for πειρασμός (peirasmo") does not fit the context in which Noah and Lot are seen as in the midst of trials, not temptation).

³ tn The adverbial participle κολαζομένους (kolazomenou") can refer either to contemporaneous time or subsequent time. At stake is the meaning of the following prepositional phrase (at the day of judgment or until the day of judgment). If the participle is contemporaneous, the idea is “to keep the ungodly in a state of punishment until the day of judgment.” If subsequent, the meaning is “to keep the ungodly to be punished at the day of judgment.” Many commentators/translations opt for the first view, assuming that the present participle cannot be used of subsequent time. However, the present participle is the normal one used for result, and is often used of purpose (cf., e.g., for present participles suggesting result, Mark 9:7; Luke 4:15; John 5:18; Eph 2:15; 2 Pet 2:1, mentioned above; for present participles indicating purpose, note Luke 10:25; John 12:33; Acts 3:26; 2 Pet 2:10 [as even most translations render it]). Further, the context supports this: 2:1-10 forms something of an inclusio, in which the final end of the false teachers is mentioned specifically in v. 1, then as a general principle in v. 9. The point of v. 3 – that the punishment of the false teachers is certain, even though the sentence has not yet been carried out, is underscored by a participle of purpose in v. 9.

Geneva Bible: 2Pe 2:1

But ^{( 1 )} there were false prophets also among the ^{( a )} people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

^{( 1 )} As in times past there were two kinds of prophets, the one true and the other false, so Peter tells them that there will be true and false teachers in the Church, so much so that Christ himself will be denied by some, who nonetheless will call him redeemer.

^{( a )} Under the law, while the state and policy of the Jews was yet standing.

Geneva Bible: 2Pe 2:2

^{( 2 )} And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

^{( 2 )} There shall not only be heresies, but also many followers of them.

Geneva Bible: 2Pe 2:3

^{( 3 )} And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make ^{( b )} merchandise of you: ^{( 4 )} whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

^{( 3 )} Covetousness for the most part is a companion of heresy, and makes trade in souls.

^{( b )} They will abuse you, and sell you as they sell cattle in an auction. ^{( 4 )} Comfort for the godly: God who cast the angels that fell away from him, headlong into the darkness of hell, to eventually be judged; and who burned Sodom, and saved Lot, will deliver his elect from these errors, and will utterly destroy those unrighteous.

Geneva Bible: 2Pe 2:4

For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast [them] down to ^{( c )} hell, and delivered [them] into ^{( d )} chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;

^{( c )} So the Greeks called the deep dungeons under the earth, which should be appointed to torment the souls of the wicked in.

^{( d )} Bound them with darkness as with chains: and by darkness he means that most miserable state of life that is full of horror.

Geneva Bible: 2Pe 2:5

And spared not the ^{( e )} old world, but saved Noah the eighth [person], a ^{( f )} preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

^{( e )} Which was before the flood: not that God made a new world, but because the world seemed new.

^{( f )} For one hundred and twenty years, he did not cease to warn the wicked both by word and deed, of the wrath of God hanging over their heads.

Geneva Bible: 2Pe 2:8

(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in ^{( g )} seeing and hearing, ^{( h )} vexed [his] righteous soul from day to day with [their] unlawful deeds;)

^{( g )} Whatever way he looked, and turned his ears.

^{( h )} He had a troubled soul, and being vehemently grieved, lived a painful life.

Geneva Bible: 2Pe 2:9

The Lord ^{( i )} knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

^{( i )} Has been long practised in saving and delivering the righteous.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: 2Pe 2:1-22

1 He foretells them of false teachers, shewing the impiety and punishment both of them and their followers;

7 from which the godly shall be delivered, as Lot was out of Sodom;

10 and more fully describes the manners of those profane and blasphemous seducers, whereby they may be the better known, and avoided.

Maclaren: 2Pe 2:1

The Owner And His Slaves

Denying the Lord that bought them.'--2 Peter 2:1.

THE institution of slavery was one of the greatest blots on ancient civilisation. It was twice cursed, cursing both parties, degrading each, turning the slave into a chattel, and the master, in many cases, into a brute. Christianity, as represented in the New Testament, never says a word to condemn it, but Christianity has killed it. Make the tree good and its fruit good.' Do not aim at institutions, change the people that live under them and you change them. Girdle the tree and it will die, and save you the trouble of felling it. But not only does Christianity never condemn slavery, though it was in dead antagonism to all its principles, and could not possibly survive where its principles were accepted, but it also takes this essentially immoral relation and finds a soul of goodness in the evil thing, which serves to illustrate the relation between God and man, between Christ and us. It does with slavery as it does with war, uses what is good in it as illustrating higher truths, and trusts to the operation, the slow operation of its deepest principles for its destruction.

So, then, we have one Apostle, in his letters, binding on his forehead as a crown the designation, Paul,' a slave of Jesus Christ,' and we have in my text an expanded allusion to slavery. The word that is here rendered rightly enough, Lord,' is the word which has been transferred into English as despot,' and it carries with it some suggestion of the roughness and absoluteness of authority which that word suggests to us. It does not mean merely master,' it means owner,' and it suggests an unconditional authority, to which the only thing in us that corresponds is abject and unconditional submission. That is what Christ is to you and me; the Lord, the Despot, the Owner.

But we have not only owner and slave here; we have one of the ugliest features of the institution referred to. You have the slave-market, the Lord that bought them,' and because He purchased them, owns them. Think of the hell of miseries that are connected with that practice of buying and selling human flesh, and then estimate the magnificent boldness of the metaphor which Peter does not scruple to take from it here, speaking of the owner who acquired them by a price. And not only that, but slaves will run away, and when they are stopped, and asked who they belong to, will say they know nothing about him. And so here is the runaway's denial, denying the Lord that bought them.' Now I ask you to think of these three points.

I. Here We Have The Owner Of Us All.

I do not need, I suppose, to spend a moment in showing you that this relationship, which is laid down in our text, subsists between Jesus Christ and men, and it subsists between Jesus Christ and all men. For the people about whom the Apostle is saying that they have denied the Lord that bought them' can, by no construction, be supposed to be true Christians, but were enemies that had crept into the Church without any real allegiance to Jesus Christ, and were trying to wreck it, and to destroy His work. So there is no reference here to a little elected group out of the midst of humanity, who especially belonged to Jesus Christ, and for whom the price has been paid; but the outlook of my text in its latter portion is as wide as humanity. The Lord--that is, Jesus Christ--owns all men.

Let me expand that thought in one or two illustrations which may help to make it perhaps more vivid. The slave's owner has absolute authority over him. You remember the occasion when a Roman officer, by reflecting upon the military discipline of the legion, and the mystical power that the commander's word had to set all his men in obedient activity, had come to the conclusion that, somehow or other, this Jesus whom he desired to heal his servant had a similar power in the material universe, and that just as he, subordinate officer though he was, had yet--by reason of the fact that he was under authority,' and an organ of a higher authority--the power to say to his servant, Go,' and he would go; and to another one, Come,' and he would come; so this Christ had power to say to disease, Depart,' and it would depart; and to health, Come,' and it would come; and to all the material forces of the universe, Do this,' and obediently they would do it. That is the picture, in another region, of the relation which Jesus Christ bears to men, though, alas, it is not the picture of the relation which men bear to Christ. But to all of us He has the right to say, wherever we are, Come,' the right to say, Go,' the right to say, Do,' the right to say, Be this, that, and the other thing.'

Absolute authority is His; what should be yours? Unconditional submission. My friend, it is no use your calling yourself a Christian unless that is your attitude. My sermon to-night has something else to do than simply to present truths to you. It has to press truths on you, and to appeal not only to your feelings, not only to your understandings, but to your wills. And so I come with this question: Do you, dear friend, day by day, yield to the absolute Master the absolute submission? And is that rebellious will--which is in you, as it is in us all--tamed and submitted so as that you can say, Speak, Lord! Thy servant heareth'? Is it?

Further, the owner has the right, as part of that absolute authority of which I have been speaking, to settle without appeal each man's work. In those Eastern monarchies where the king was surrounded, not by constitutional ministers, but by his personal slaves, he made one man a shoeblack or a pipe-bearer, and the man standing next to him his prime minister. And neither the one nor the other had the right to say a word. Jesus Christ has the right to regulate your life in all its details, to set you your tasks. Some of us will get what the world vulgarly calls more important duties'; some will get what the world ignorantly calls more insignificant' ones. What does that matter? It was our Owner that set us to our work, and if He tells us to black shoes, let us black them with all the pith of our elbows, and with the best blacking and brushes we can find; and if He sets us to work, which people think is more important and more conspicuous, let us do that too, in the same spirit, and for the same end.

Again, the owner has the absolute right of possession of all the slave's possessions. He gets a little bit Of land in the corner of his master's plantation, and grows his vegetables, yams, pumpkins, a leaf of tobacco or two, or what not, there. And if his master comes along and says, These are mine,' the slave has no resource, and is obliged to accept the conditions and to give them up. So Jesus Christ claims ours as well as us--ours because He claims us--and whilst, on the other hand, the surrender of external good is incomplete without the surrender of the inward will, on the other hand the abandonment and surrender of the inward life is incomplete, if it be not hypocritical, without the surrender of external possessions. All the slave's goods belonged to the owner.

And the owner has another right. He can say, Take that man's child and sell him in the market!' and he can break up the family ties and separate husband and wife, and parent and child, and not a word can be said. Our Master comes, not with rough authority, but with loving, though absolute authority, and He sometimes untwines the hands that are most closely clasped, and says to the one of the two that have grown together in love and blessedness, Come!' and he cometh, and to the other Go!' and she goeth. Blessed they who can say, It is the Lord! Let Him do what seemeth Him good.'

Now, dear friends, this absolute authority cannot be exercised by any man upon another man, and this unconditional submission, which Jesus Christ asks from us all, ought not to be rendered by any man to a man. It is a degradation when a human creature is put even in the external relation of slavery and servitude to another human creature, but it is an honour when Jesus Christ says to me, Thou art Mine,' and I say to Him, I am Thine, O Lord, truly I am Thy servant; Thou hast loosed my bonds.' In the old Saxon monarchies, some antiquarians tell us, the foundation of our modern nobility or aristocracy is found in that the king's servants became nobles. Jesus Christ's slave is everybody else's master. And it is the highest honour that a man can have to bow himself before that Lord, and to take His yoke upon him and learn of Him. So much, then, for my first point; now a word with regard to the second.

II. The Sale, And The Price.

The Lord that bought them.' You perhaps remember other words which say, Ye are bought with a price; be not the servants of men'; also other words of this Apostle himself, in which he speaks, in his other letter, of being bought with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot.' Now notice, Christ's ownership of us does not depend on Christ's Divinity, which I suppose most of us believe, but on Christ's sacrifice for us. It is perfectly true that creation gives rights to the Creator. It is perfectly true that if we believe, as I think the New Testament teaches, that He, who before His name was Jesus was the Eternal Word of God, was the Agent of all Creation, and therefore has rights. But Christ's heart does not care for rights of that sort. It wants something far deeper, far tenderer, far closer than any such. And He comes to us with the language that is the language of love over all the universe, as between man and woman, as between man and man, as between man and God, as between God and man, upon His lips, and says, Thou must love Me, for I have died for thee.' Yes, brother; the only ground upon which absolute possession of a man can be rested is the ground of prior absolute surrender to Him. Christ must give Himself to me before He can ask me to give myself to Him. So all that was apparently harsh in the relationship, as I have been trying to set it forth to you, melts away and disappears. No owner ever owned a slave as truly as a loving woman owns her husband, or a loving husband his wife, because the ownership is the expression of perfect love on both sides. And that is the golden bond that binds men's souls to Christ in a submission which, the more abject it is, the more elevating it is, just because He loved me, and gave Himself for me.'

I do not dwell upon any cold theological doctrine of an Atonement, but I wish you to feel that deep in this great metaphor of our text there lie the two things; first, the price that was paid, and, second, the bondage from which the slave was delivered. He belonged to another master before Christ bought him for Himself. He that committeth sin is the slave of sin.' Some of you are your own despots, your own tyrants. The worse half of you has got the upper hand. The mutineers that ought to have been down under hatches, and shackled, have taken possession of the deck and clapped the captain and the officers, and all the sextants and log-books, away into a corner, and they are driving the ship--that is, you--on to the rocks, as hard as they can. A man that is not Christ's slave has a far worse slavery in submitting to these tyrant sins that have tempted him with the notion of how fine it is to break through these old-womanly restraints and conventional fads of a narrow morality, and to have his fling, and do as he likes and follow nature. Ay, some of you have been doing that, and could write a far better commentary than any preacher ever wrote, out of your own experience, on the great words, Whilst they promised them liberty, they themselves are the slaves of corruption!' Young men, is that true about any of you--that you came here into Manchester to a situation, and lonely lodgings, comparatively innocent, and that somebody said, Oh, do not be a milksop! come along and see life,' and you thought it was fine to shake off the shackles that your poor old mother used to try to put upon your limbs? And what have you made of it? I will tell you what a great many young men have made of it --I have seen scores of them in the forty years that I have been preaching here: His bones are full of the iniquity of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust.'

There is a slavery which is blessedness, and there is a slavery which at first is delightsome to the worst part of us, and afterwards becomes bitter and deadly. And it is the bondage of sin, the bondage to my worst self, the bondage to my indulged passions, the bondage to other men, the bondage to the material world. Jesus Christ speaks to each of us in His great sacrifice, by which He says to us, The Son will make you free, and you shall be free indeed.' The Lord has bought us. Have you let Him emancipate you from all your bondage? Dear friends, bear with me if I press again upon you, I pray God that it may ring in your ears till you can answer that question, Jesus Christ having bought me, do I belong to Him?

III. And Now, Lastly, Notice The Runaways.

Did it ever occur to you what a pathetic force there is in Peter's picking out that word denying' as the shorthand expression for all sorts of sins? Who was it that thrice denied that he knew Him? That experience went very deep into the Apostle; and here, as I take it, is a most significant illustration of his penitent remembrance of his past life, all the more significant because of its reticence. The allusion is one that nobody could catch that did not know his past, but which to those who did know it was full of meaning: and o.f pathos:--Denying the Lord, as I did on that dismal morning, in the High Priest's palace. I am speaking about it, for I know what it comes to, and the tears that will follow after.

But what I desire to press upon you, dear friends, is just this: That in that view of the lives of people who are not Christians there is suggested to us the essential sinfulness, the black ingratitude, and the absolute folly of refusing to acknowledge the claims of Him to whom we belong, and who has bought us at such a price. You can do it by word, and perhaps some of us are not guiltless in that respect. You can do it by paring down the character and office of Jesus Christ, and minimising the importance of His sacrifice from the world's sins, and thinking of Him, not as the Owner that bought us, but as the Master that teaches us. You can do it by cowardly hiding of your colours and being too shamefaced, too sensitive to the curled lip of the man that works at the next bench, or sits at the next desk, or the student that is beside you, or somebody else whose opinion you esteem, which prevents you from saying like a man, I belong to Jesus Christ, and whomsoever other people serve, as for me, I am going to serve Him.' And you can do it, and many of you are doing it, by simply ignoring His claims, refusing to turn to Him, not yielding up your will to Him, not turning your heart to Him, not setting your dependence upon Him. Is it not a shame that men, whose hearts will glow with thankfulness when another man, especially if he is a superior, comes to them with some gift, valuable, but nothing as compared with the transcendent gift that Christ brings, will yet let Him die for them and not care anything about Him? I can understand the vehement antagonism that some people have to Christ and Christianity, but what I cannot understand is the attitude of the immense mass of people that come to services like this, who profess to believe that Jesus Christ's love for them brought Him to the cross, and yet will not even pay the poor tribute of a little interest and a momentary inclination of heart towards Him. Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by,' that Jesus Christ died for you? He bought you for His own. Let me beseech you to yield yourselves' servants, slaves of Christ, and then you will be free, and you will hear Him say in the very depth of your hearts, Henceforth I call you not slaves, but friends.'

MHCC: 2Pe 2:1-9

Though the way of error is a hurtful way, many are always ready to walk therein. Let us take care we give no occasion to the enemy to blaspheme the holy name whereby we are called, or to speak evil of the way of salvation by Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. These seducers used feigned words, they deceived the hearts of their followers. Such are condemned already, and the wrath of God abides upon them. God's usual method of proceeding is shown by examples. Angels were cast down from all their glory and dignity, for their disobedience. If creatures sin, even in heaven, they must suffer in hell. Sin is the work of darkness, and darkness is the wages of sin. See how God dealt with the old world. The number of offenders no more procures favour, than their quality. If the sin be universal, the punishment shall likewise extend to all. If in a fruitful soil the people abound in sin, God can at once turn a fruitful land into barrenness, and a well-watered country into ashes. No plans or politics can keep off judgments from a sinful people. He who keeps fire and water from hurting his people, Isa 43:2, can make either destroy his enemies; they are never safe. When God sends destruction on the ungodly, he commands deliverance for the righteous. In bad company we cannot but get either guilt or grief. Let the sins of others be troubles to us. Yet it is possible for the children of the Lord, living among the most profane, to retain their integrity; there being more power in the grace of Christ, and his dwelling in them, than in the temptations of Satan, or the example of the wicked, with all their terrors or allurements. In our intentions and inclinations to commit sin, we meet with strange hinderances, if we mark them When we intend mischief, God sends many stops to hinder us, as if to say, Take heed what you do. His wisdom and power will surely effect the purposes of his love, and the engagements of his truth; while wicked men often escape suffering here, because they are kept to the day of judgment, to be punished with the devil and his angels.

Matthew Henry: 2Pe 2:1-3

I. In the end of the former chapter there is mention made of holy men of God, who lived in the times of the Old Testament, and were used as the amanuenses of the Holy Ghost, in writing the sacred oracles; but in the beginning of this he tells us they had, even at that time, false prophets in the church as well as true. In all ages of the church, and under all dispensations, when God sends true prophets, the devil sends some to seduce and deceive, false prophets in the Old Testament, and false Christs, false apostles, and seducing teachers, in the New. Concerning these observe, 1. Their business is to bring in destructive errors, even damnable heresies, as the business of teachers sent of God is to show the way of truth, even the true way to everlasting life. There are damnable heresies as well as damnable practices; and false teachers are industrious to spread pernicious errors. 2. Damnable heresies are commonly brought in privily, under the cloak and colour of truth. Those who introduce destructive heresies deny the Lord that bought them. They reject and refuse to hear and learn of the great teacher sent from God, though he is the only Saviour and Redeemer of men, who paid a price sufficient to redeem as many worlds of sinners as there are sinners in the world. 4. Those who bring in errors destructive to others bring swift (and therefore sure) destruction upon themselves. Self-destroyers are soon destroyed; and those who are so hardened as to propagate errors destructive to others shall surely and suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.

II. He proceeds, in the second verse, to tell us the consequence with respect to others; and here we may learn, 1. Corrupt leaders seldom fail of many to follow them; though the way of error is a pernicious way, yet many are ready to walk therein. Men drink in iniquity like water, and are pleased to live in error. The prophets prophesy falsely, and the people love to have it so. 2. The spreading of error will bring up an evil report on the way of truth; that is, the way of salvation by Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life. The Christian religion is from the God of truth as the author, leads to true happiness in the enjoyment of the true God as the end, and works truth in the inward part as the means of acceptably serving God. And yet this way of truth is traduced and blasphemed by those who embrace and advance destructive errors. This the apostle has foretold as what should certainly come to pass. Let us not be offended at any thing of this in our day, but take care that we give no occasion to the enemy to blaspheme the holy name whereby we are called, or speak evil of that way whereby we hope to be saved.

III. Observe, in the next place, the method seducers take to draw disciples after them: they use feigned words; they flatter, and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple, inducing them to yield entirely to the opinions which these seducers endeavour to propagate, and sell and deliver themselves over to the instruction and government of these false teacher, who make a gain of those whom they make their proselytes, serving themselves and making some advantage of them; for all this is through covetousness, with a desire and design to get more wealth, or credit, or commendation, by increasing the number of their followers. The faithful ministers of Christ, who show men the way of truth, desire the profit and advantage of their followers, that they may be saved; but these seducing teachers desire and design only their own temporal advantage and worldly grandeur.

Matthew Henry: 2Pe 2:3-6

Men are apt to think that a reprieve is the forerunner of a pardon, and that if judgment be not speedily executed it is, or will be, certainly reversed. But the apostle tells us that how successful and prosperous soever false teachers may be, and that for a time, yet their judgment lingereth not. God has determined long ago how he will deal with them. Such unbelievers, who endeavour to turn others from the faith, are condemned already, and the wrath of God abideth on them. The righteous Judge will speedily take vengeance; the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste. To prove this assertion, here are several examples of the righteous judgment of God, in taking vengeance on sinners, proposed to our serious consideration.

I. See how God dealt with the angels who sinned. Observe, 1. No excellency will exempt a sinner from punishment. If the angels, who excel us vastly in strength and knowledge, violate the law of God, the sentence which that law awards shall be executed upon them, and that without mercy or mitigation, for God did not spare them. Hence observe, 2. By how much the more excellent the offender, by so much the more severe the punishment. These angels, who had the advantage of men as to the dignity of their nature, are immediately punished. There is no sparing them for a few days, no favour at all shown them. 3. Sin debases and degrades the persons who commit it. The angels of heaven are cast down from the height of their excellency, and divested of all their glory and dignity, upon their disobedience. Whoever sins against God does a manifest hurt to himself. 4. Those who rebel against the God of heaven shall all be sent down to hell. There is no place nor state between the height of glory and the depth of misery in which they shall be allowed to rest. If creatures sin in heaven, they must suffer in hell. 5. Sin is the work of darkness, and darkness is the wages of sin. The darkness of misery and torment follows the darkness of sin. Those who will not walk according to the light and direction of God's law shall be deprived of the light of God's countenance and the comforts of his presence. 6. As sin binds men over to punishment, so misery and torment hold men under punishment. The darkness which is their misery keeps them so that they cannot get away from their torment. 7. The last degree of torment is not till the day of judgment. The sinning angels, though in hell already, are yet reserved to the judgment of the great day.

II. See how God dealt with the old world, even in much the same way that he dealt with the angels. He spared not the old world. Here observe, 1. The number of offenders signifies no more to procure any favour than the quality. If the sin be universal, the punishment shall likewise extend to all. But, 2. If there be but a few righteous, they shall be preserved. God does not destroy the good with the bad. In wrath he remembers mercy. 3. Those who are preachers of righteousness in an age of universal corruption and degeneracy, holding forth the word of life in an unblamable and exemplary conversation, shall be preserved in a time of general destruction. 4. God can make use of those creatures as the instruments of his vengeance in punishing sinners which he at first made and appointed for their service and benefit. He destroyed the whole world by water; but observe, 5. What was the procuring cause of this: it was a world of ungodly men. Ungodliness puts men out of the divine protection, and exposes them to utter destruction.

III. See how God dealt with Sodom and Gomorrah; though they were situated in a country like the garden of the Lord, yet, if in such a fruitful soil they abound in sin, God can soon turn a fruitful land into barrenness and a well-watered country into dust and ashes. Observe, 1. No political union or confederacy can keep off judgments from a sinful people. Sodom and the neighbouring cities were no more secured by their regular government than the angels by the dignity of their nature or the old world by their vast number. 2. God can make use of contrary creatures to punish incorrigible sinners. He destroys the old world by water, and Sodom by fire. He who keeps fire and water from hurting his people (Isa 43:2) can make either to destroy his enemies; therefore they are never safe. 3. Most heinous sins bring most grievous judgments. Those who were abominable in their vices were remarkable for their plagues. Those who are sinners exceedingly before the Lord must expect the most dreadful vengeance. 4. The punishment of sinners in former ages is designed for the example of those who come after. "Follow them, not only in the time of living, but in their course and way of living. "Men who live ungodly must see what they are to expect if they go on still in a course of impiety. Let us take warning by all the instances of God's taking vengeance, which are recorded for our admonition, and to prevent our promising ourselves impunity, though we go on in a course of sin.

Matthew Henry: 2Pe 2:7-9

When God sends destruction on the ungodly, he commands deliverance for the righteous; and, if he rain fire and brimstone on the wicked, he will cover the head of the just, and they shall be hid in the day of his anger. This we have an instance of in his preserving Lot. Here observe, 1. The character given of Lot; he is called a just man; this he was as to the generally prevailing bent of his heart and through the main of his conversation. God does not account men just or unjust from one single act, but from their general course of life. And here is a just man in the midst of a most corrupt and profligate generation universally gone off from all good. He does not follow the multitude to do evil, but in a city of injustice he walks uprightly. 2. The impression the sins of others made upon this righteous man. Though the sinner takes pleasure in his wickedness, it is a grief and vexation to the soul of the righteous. In bad company we cannot escape either guilt or grief. Let the sins of others be a trouble to us, otherwise it will not be possible for us to keep ourselves pure. 3. Here is a particular mention of the duration and continuance of this good man's grief and vexation: it was from day to day. Being accustomed to hear and see their wickedness did not reconcile him to it, nor abate of the horror that was occasioned by it. This is the righteous man whom God preserved from the desolating judgment that destroyed all round about him. From this instance we are taught to argue that God knows how to deliver his people and punish his enemies. It is here presupposed that the righteous must have their temptations and trials. The devil and his instruments will thrust sore at them, that they may fall; and, if we will get to heaven, it must be through many tribulations. It is therefore our duty to reckon upon and prepare for them. Observe here, (1.) The Lord knows those that are his. He has set apart him who is godly for himself; and, if there is but one in five cities, he knows him; and where there is a greater number he cannot be ignorant of nor overlook any one of them. (2.) The wisdom of God is never at a loss about ways and means to deliver his people. They are often utterly at a loss, and can see no way; he can deliver a great many. (3.) The deliverance of the godly is the work of God, that which he concerns himself in, both his wisdom to contrive the way and his power to work out the deliverance out of temptation, to prevent their falling into sin and their being ruined by their troubles. And surely, if he can deliver out of temptation, he could keep from falling into it if he did not see such trials to be necessary. (4.) God makes a very great difference in his dealings with the godly and the wicked. When he saves his people from destruction, he delivers over his enemies to deserved ruin. The unjust has no share in the salvation God works out for the righteous. The wicked are reserved to the day of judgment. Here we see, [1.] There is a day of judgment. God has appointed a day wherein he will judge the world. [2.] The preservation of impenitent sinners is only a reserving of them to the day of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God.

Barclay: 2Pe 2:1

That there should arise false prophets within the Church was something only to be expected, for in every generation false prophets had been responsible for leading God's people astray and for bringing disaster on the nation. It is worth while looking at the false prophets in the Old Testament story for their characteristics were recurring in the time of Peter and are still recurring today.

(i) The false prophets were more interested in gaining popularity than in telling the truth. Their policy was to tell people what they wanted to hear. The false prophets said, "Peace, peace, when there is no peace" (Jer 6:14). They saw visions of peace, when the Lord God was saying that there was no peace (Eze 13:16). In the days of Jehosaphat, Zedekiah, the false prophet, donned his horns of iron and said that Israel would push the Syrians out of the way as he pushed with these horns; Micaiah the true prophet foretold disaster if Jehosaphat went to war. Of course, Zedekiah was popular and his message was accepted; but Jehosaphat went forth to war with the Syrians and perished tragically (1Ki 22 ). In the days of Jeremiah, Hananiah prophesied the swift end of the power of Babylon, while Jeremiah prophesied the servitude of the nation to her; and again the prophet who told people what they wished to hear was the popular one (Jer 28 ). Diogenes, the great cynic philosopher, spoke of the false teachers of his day whose method was to follow wherever the applause of the crowd led. One of the first characteristics of the false prophet is that he tells men what they want to hear and not the truth they need to hear.

(ii) The false prophets were interested in personal gain. As Micah said, "Its priests teach for hire, and its prophets divine for money" (Mic 3:11). They teach for filthy lucre's sake (Tit 1:11), and they identify godliness and gain, making their religion a money-making thing (1Ti 6:5). We can see these exploiters at work in the early church. In The Didache, The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, which is what might be called the first service-order book, it is laid down that a prophet who asks for money or for a table to be spread in front of him, is a false prophet. "Traffickers in Christ," the Didache (compare 1322) calls such men (The Didache 11). The false prophet is a covetous creature who regards men as dupes to be exploited for his own ends.

(iii) The false prophets were dissolute in their personal life. Isaiah writes: "The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink; they are confused with wine" (Isa 28:7). Jeremiah says, "In the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing; they commit adultery and walk in lies; they strengthen the hands of evil-doers.... They lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness" (Jer 23:14; Jer 23:32). The false prophet in himself is a seduction to evil rather than an attraction to good.

(iv) The false prophet was above all a man who led other men further away from God instead of closer to him. The prophet who invites the people: "Let us go after other gods," must be mercilessly destroyed (Deu 13:1-5; Deu 18:20). The false prophet takes men in the wrong direction.

These were the characteristics of the false prophets in the ancient days and in Peter's time; and they are their characteristics still.

Barclay: 2Pe 2:1

In this verse Peter has certain things to say about these false prophets and their actions.

(i) They insidiously introduce destructive heresies. The Greek for heresy is hairesis (139). It comes from the verb haireisthai (compare 140), which means to choose; and originally it was a perfectly honourable word. It simply meant a line of belief and action which a man had chosen for himself. In the New Testament we read of the hairesis (139) of the Sadducees, the Pharisees, and the Nazarenes (Act 5:17; Act 15:5; Act 24:5). It was perfectly possible to speak of the hairesis (139) of Plato and to mean nothing more than those who were Platonist in their thought. It was perfectly possible to speak of a group of doctors who practised a certain method of treatment as a hairesis (139). But very soon in the Christian Church hairesis (139) changed its complexion. In Paul's thought heresies and schisms go together as things to be condemned (1Co 11:18-19); haireseis (139) (the plural form of the word) are part of the works of the flesh; a man that is a heretic is to be warned and even given a second chance, and then rejected (Tit 3:10).

Why the change? The point is that before the coming of Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life, there was no such thing as definite, God-given truth. A man was presented with a number of alternatives any one of which he was perfectly free to choose to believe. But with the coming of Jesus, God's truth came to men and they had either to accept or to reject it. A heretic then became a man who believed what he wished to believe instead of accepting the truth of God which he ought to believe.

What was happening in the case of Peter's people was that certain self-styled prophets were insidiously persuading men to believe the things they wished to be true rather than the things which God had revealed to be true. They did not set themselves up as opponents of Christianity. Far from it. They set themselves up as the finest fruits of Christian thinking; and so it was gradually and subtly that people were being lured away from God's truth to other men's private opinions, which is what heresy is.

(ii) These men denied the Lord who had bought them. This idea of Christ buying men for himself is one which runs through the whole New Testament. It comes from his own word that he had come to give his life a ransom for many (Mar 10:45). The idea was that men were slaves to sin and Jesus purchased them at the cost of his life for himself, and, therefore, for freedom. "You were bought with a price," says Paul (1Co 7:23). "Christ redeemed us (bought us out) from the curse of the law" (Gal 3:13). In the new song in the Revelation the hosts of heaven tell how Jesus Christ bought them with his blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation (Rev 5:9). This clearly means two things. It means that the Christian by right of purchase belongs absolutely to Christ; and it means that a life which cost so much cannot be squandered on sin or on cheap things.

The heretics in Peter's letter were denying the Lord who bought them. That could mean that they were saying that they did not know Christ; and it could mean that they were denying his authority. But it is not as simple as that; one might say that it is not as honest as that. We have seen that these men claimed to be Christians; more, they claimed to be the wisest and the most advanced of Christians. Let us take a human analogy. Suppose a man says that he loves his wife and yet is consistently unfaithful to her. By his acts of infidelity he denies, gives the lie to his words of love. Suppose a man protests eternal friendship to someone, and yet is consistently disloyal to him. His actions deny, give the lie to, his protestations of friendship. What these evil men, who were troubling Peter's people, were doing, was to say that they loved and served Christ, while the things they taught and did were a complete denial of him.

(iii) The end of these evil men was destruction. They were insidiously introducing destructive heresies, but these heresies would in the end destroy themselves. There is no more certain way to ultimate condemnation than to teach another to sin.

Barclay: 2Pe 2:2-3

In this short passage we see four things about the false teachers and their teaching.

(i) We see the cause of false teaching. It is evil ambition. The word is pleonexia (4124); pleon (4119) means more and -exia comes from the verb echein (2192), which means to have. Pleonexia (4124) is the desire to possess more but it acquires a certain flavour. It is by no means always a sin to desire to possess more; there are many cases in which that is a perfectly honourable desire, as in the case of virtue, or knowledge, or skill. But pleonexia (4124) comes to mean the desire to possess that which a man has no right to desire, still less to take. So it can mean covetous desire for money and for other people's goods; lustful desire for someone's person; unholy ambition for prestige and power. False teaching comes from the desire to put its own ideas in the place of the truth of Jesus Christ; the false teacher is guilty of nothing less than of usurping the place of Christ.

(ii) We see the method of false teaching. It is the use of cunningly forged arguments. Falsehood is easily resisted when it is presented as falsehood; it is when it is disguised as truth that it becomes menacing. There is only one touchstone. Any teacher's teaching must be tested by the words and presence of Jesus Christ himself.

(iii) We see the affect of the false teaching. It was twofold. It encouraged men to take the way of blatant immorality. The word is aselgeia (766) which describes the attitude of the man who is lost to shame and cares for the judgment of neither man nor God. We must remember what was at the back of this false teaching. It was perverting the grace of God into a justification for sin. The false teachers were telling men that grace was inexhaustible and that, therefore, they were free to sin as they liked for grace would forgive.

This false teaching had a second effect. It brought Christianity into disrepute. In the early days, just as now, every Christian was a good or bad advertisement for Christianity and the Christian Church. It is Paul's accusation to the Jews that through them the name of God has been brought into disrepute (Rom 2:24). In the Pastoral Epistles the younger women are urged to behave with such modesty and chastity that the Church will never be brought into disrepute (Tit 2:5). Any teaching which produces a person who repels men from Christianity instead of attracting them to it is false teaching, and the work of those who are enemies of Christ.

(iv) We see the ultimate end of false teaching and that is destruction. Sentence was passed on the false prophets long ago; the Old Testament pronounced their doom (Deu 13:1-5). It might look as if that sentence had become inoperative or was slumbering, but it was still valid, and the day would come when the false teachers would pay the terrible price of their falsehood. No man who leads another astray will ever escape his own judgment.

Barclay: 2Pe 2:4-11

Here is a passage which for us combines undoubted power and equally undoubted obscurity. The white heat of its rhetorical intensity glows through it to this day; but it moves in allusions which would be terrifyingly effective to those who heard it for the first time, but which have become unfamiliar to us today. It cites three notorious examples of sin and its destruction; and in two of the cases it shows how, when sin was obliterated, righteousness was rescued and preserved by the mercy and the grace of God. Let us look at these examples one by one.

(1) The Sin Of The Angels

Before we retell the story which lies behind this in Jewish legend, there are two separate words at which we must look.

Peter says that God condemned the sinning angels to the lowest depths of hell. Literally the Greek says that God condemned the angels to Tartarus (tartaroun, 5020). Tartarus was not a Hebrew conception but Greek. In Greek mythology Tartarus was the lowest hell; it was as far beneath Hades as the heaven is high above the earth. In particular it was the place into which there had been cast the Titans who had rebelled against Zeus, the Father of gods and men.

The second word is that which speaks of the pits of darkness. Here there is a doubt. There are two Greek words, both rather uncommon, which are confused in this passage. One is siros or seiros which originally meant a great earthenware jar for the storing of grain. Then it came to mean the great underground pits in which grain was stored and which served as granaries. Siros has come into English via Provencal in the form of silo, which still describes the towers in which grain is stored. Still later the word went on to mean a pit in which a wolf or other wild animal was trapped. If we think that this is the word which Peter uses, and according to the best manuscripts it is, it will mean that the wicked angels were cast into great subterranean pits and kept there in darkness and in punishment. This well suits the idea of a Tartarus beneath the lowest depths of Hades.

But there is a very similar word seira (4577), which means a chain. This is the word which the King James Version translates when it speaks of chains of darkness (2Pe 2:4). The Greek manuscripts of Second Peter vary between seiroi (4577), pits, and seirai (4577), chains. But the better manuscripts have seiroi (4577), and pits o darkness makes better sense than chains of darkness; so we may take seiros (4577) as right, and assume that here the King James Version is in error.

The story of the fall of the angels is one which rooted itself deeply in Hebrew thought and which underwent much development as the years went on. The original story is in Gen 6:1-5. There the angels are called the sons of God, as they commonly are in the Old Testament. In Job, the sons of God come to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan comes amongst them (Job 1:6; compare Job 2:1; Job 38:7). The Psalmist speaks of the sons of gods (Psa 89:6). These angels came to earth and seduced mortal women. The result of this lustful union was the race of giants; and through them wickedness came upon the earth. Clearly this is an old, old story belonging to the childhood of the race.

This story was much developed in the Book of Enoch, and it is from it that Peter is drawing his allusions, for in his day that was a book which everyone would know. In Enoch the angels are called The Watchers. Their leader in rebellion was Semjaza or Azazel. At his instigation they descended to Mount Hermon in the days of Jared, the father of Enoch. They took mortal wives and instructed them in magic and in arts which gave them power. They produced the race of the giants, and the giants produced the nephilim (05303), the giants who inhabited the land of Canaan and of whom the people were afraid (Num 13:33).

These giants became cannibals and were guilty of every kind of lust and crime, and especially of insolent arrogance to God and man. The apocryphal literature has many references to them and their pride. Wisdom (Wis 14:6) tells how the proud giants perished. Ecclesiasticus (Sir 16:7) tells how the ancient giants fell away in the strength of their foolishness. They had no wisdom and they perished in their folly (Bar 3:26-28). Josephus says that they were arrogant and contemptuous of all that was good and trusted in their own strength (Antiquities 1.3.1). Job says that God charged his angels with folly (Job 4:18).

This old story makes a strange and fleeting appearance in the letters of Paul. In 1Co 11:10Paul says that women must have their hair covered in the Church because of the angels. Behind that strange saying lies the old belief that it was the loveliness of the long hair of the women of the olden times which moved the angels to desire, and Paul wishes to see that the angels are not tempted again.

In the end even men complained of the sorrow and misery brought into the world by these giants through the sin of the angels. The result was that God sent out his archangels. Raphael bound Azazel hand and foot and shut him up in darkness; Gabriel slew the giants; and the Watchers, the sinning angels, were shut up in the abysses of darkness under the mountains for seventy generations and then confined for ever in everlasting fire. Here is the story which is in Peter's mind; and which his readers well knew. The angels had sinned and God had sent his destruction, and they were shut up for ever in the pits of darkness and the depths of hell. That is what happens to rebellious sin.

The story does not stop there; and it reappears in another of its forms in this passage of Second Peter. In 2Pe 2:10Peter speaks of those who live lives dominated by the polluting lusts of the flesh and who despise the celestial powers. The word is kuriotes (2963), which is the name of one of the ranks of angels. They speak evil of the angelic glories. The word is doxai (1391), which also is a word for one of the ranks of angels. They slander the angels and bring them into disrepute.

Here is where the second turn of the story comes in. Obviously this story of the angels is very primitive and, as time went on, it became rather an awkward and embarrassing story because of its ascription of lust to angels. So in later Jewish and Christian thought two lines of thought developed. First, it was denied that the story involved angels at all. The sons of God were said to be good men who were the descendants of Seth, and the daughters of men were said to be evil women who were the daughters of Cain and corrupted the good men. There is no scriptural evidence for this distinction and this way of escape. Second, the whole story was allegorised. It was claimed, for instance by Philo, that it was never meant to be taken literally and described the fall of the human soul under the attack of the seductions of lustful pleasures. Augustine declared that no man could take this story literally and talk of the angels like that. Cyril of Alexandria said that it could not be taken literally, for did not Jesus say that in the after-life men would be like angels and there would be no marrying or giving in marriage (Mat 22:30)? Chrysostom said that, if the story was taken literally, it was nothing short of blasphemy. And Cyril went on to say that the story was nothing other than an incentive to sin, if it was taken as literally true.

It is clear that men began to see that this was indeed a dangerous story. Here we get our clue as to what Peter means when he speaks of men who despise the celestial powers and bring the angelic glories into disrepute by speaking slanderously of them. The men whom Peter was opposing were turning their religion into an excuse for blatant immorality. Cyril of Alexandria makes it clear that in his day the story could be used as an incentive to sin. Most probably what was happening was that the wicked men of Peter's time were citing the example of the angels as a justification for their own sin. They were saying, "If angels came from heaven and took mortal women, why should not we?" They were making the conduct of the angels an excuse for their own sin.

We have to go still further with this passage. In 2Pe 2:11it finishes very obscurely. It says that angels who are greater in strength and in power do not bring a slanderous charge against them in the presence of God. Once again Peter is speaking allusively, in a way that would be clear enough to the people of his day but which is obscure to us. His reference may be to either of two stories.

(a) He may be referring to the story to which Jude refers in Jd 9 ; that the archangel Michael was entrusted with the burying of the body of Moses. Satan claimed the body on the grounds that all matter belonged to him and that once Moses had murdered an Egyptian. Michael did not bring a railing charge against Satan; all he said was: "The Lord rebuke you." The point is that even an angel so great as Michael would not bring an evil charge against an angel so dark as Satan. He left the matter to God. If Michael refrained from slandering an evil angel, how can men bring slanderous charges against the angels of God?

(b) He may be referring to a further development of the Enoch story. Enoch tells that when the conduct of the giants on earth became intolerable, men made their complaint to the archangels Michael, Uriel, Gabriel and Raphael. The archangels took this complaint to God; but they did not rail against the evil angels who were responsible for it all; they simply took the story to God, for him to deal with (Enoch 9).

As far as we can see today, the situation behind Peter's allusions is that the wicked men who were the slaves of lust claimed that the angels were their examples and their justification and so slandered them; Peter reminds them that not even archangels dared slander other angels and demands how men can dare to do so.

This is a strange and difficult passage; but the meaning is clear. Even angels, when they sinned, were punished. How much more shall men be punished? Angels could not rebel against God and escape the consequences. How shall men escape? And men need not seek to put the blame on others, not even on angels; nothing but their own rebelliousness is responsible for their sin.

(2) The Men Of The Flood And The Rescue Of Noah

The second illustration of the destruction of wickedness which Peter chooses may be said to lead on from the first. The sin introduced into the world by the sinning angels led to that intolerable sin which ended in the destruction by the deluge (Gen 6:5). In the midst of this destruction God did not forget those who had clung to him, Noah was saved together with seven others, his wife, his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japhet, and their wives. In Jewish tradition Noah acquired a very special place. Not only was he regarded as the one man who had been saved; but also as the preacher who had done his best to turn men from the evil of their ways. Josephus says, "Many angels of God lay with women and begat sons, who were violent and who despised all good, on account of their reliance on their own strength.... But Noah displeased and distressed at their behaviour, tried to induce them to alter their dispositions and conduct for the better" (Antiquities 1.3.1).

Attention in this passage is concentrated not so much on the people who were destroyed as on the man who was saved. Noah is offered as the type of man who, amidst the destruction of the wicked, receives the salvation of God. His outstanding qualities were two.

(i) In the midst of a sinning generation he remained faithful to God. Later Paul was to urge his people to be not conformed to the world but transformed from it (Rom 12:2). It may well be said that often the most dangerous sin of all is conformity. To be the same as others is always easy; to be different is always difficult. But from the days of Noah until now he who would be the servant of God must be prepared to be different from the world.

(ii) The later legends pick out another characteristic of Noah. He was the preacher of righteousness. The word for preacher used here is kerux (2783), which literally means a herald. Epictetus called the philosopher the kerux (2783) of the gods. The preacher is the man who brings to men an announcement from God. Here is something of very considerable significance. The good man is concerned not only with the saving of his own soul but just as much with the saving of the souls of others. He does not, in order to preserve his own purity live apart from men. He is concerned to bring God's message to them. A man ought never to keep to himself the grace which he has received. It is always his duty to bring light to those who sit in darkness, guidance to the wanderer and warning to those who are going astray.

(3) The Destruction Of Sodom And Gomorrah And The Rescue Of Lot

The third example is the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the rescue of Lot.

The terrible and dramatic story is told in Gen 18-19. It begins with Abraham's plea that God should not destroy the righteous with the guilty and his request that, if even ten just men are found in these cities, they may be spared (Gen 18:16-33). Then follows one of the grimmest tales in the Old Testament.

The angelic visitors came to Lot and he persuaded them to stay with him; but his house was surrounded by the men of Sodom demanding that these strangers might be brought out for them to use for their unnatural lust (Gen 19:1-11). By that terrible deed--at once the abuse of hospitality, the insulting of angels and the raging of unnatural lust--the doom of the cities was sealed. As the destruction of heaven came upon them Lot and his family were saved, except his wife, who lingered and looked back and turned into a pillar of salt (Gen 19:12-26). "So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt" (Gen 19:29). Here again is the story of the destruction of sin and the rescue of righteousness. As in Noah, we see in Lot the characteristics of the righteous man.

(i) Lot lived in the midst of evil, and the very sight of it was a constant distress to him. Moffatt reminds us of the saying of Newman: "Our great security against sin lies in being shocked at it." Here is something very significant. It often happens that, when evils first emerge, people are shocked at them; but, as time goes on, they cease to be shocked at them and accept them as a matter of course. There are many things at which we ought to be shocked. In our own generation there are the problems of prostitution and promiscuity, drunkenness and drugs, the extraordinary gambling fever which has the country in its grip, the breakdown of the marriage bond, violence, vandalism and crime, death upon the roads, still-existing slum conditions and many others. In many cases the tragedy is that these things have ceased to shock and are accepted in a matter-of-fact style as part of the normal order of things. For the good of the world and of our own souls, we must keep alive the sensitiveness which is shocked by sin.

(ii) Lot lived in the midst of evil, and yet he escaped its taint. Amidst the sin of Sodom he remained true to God. If a man will remember it, he has in the grace of God an antiseptic which will preserve him from the infection of sin. No man need be the slave of the environment in which he happens to find himself.

(iii) When the worst came to the worst, Lot was willing to make a clean break with his environment. He was prepared, however much he did not want to do so, to leave it for ever. It was because his wife was not prepared to make the clean break that she perished. There is a strange verse in the Old Testament story. It says that, when Lot lingered, the angelic messengers took hold of his hand (Gen 19:16). There are times when the influence of heaven tries to force us out of some evil situation. It may come to any man to have to make the choice between security and the new start; and there are times when a man can save his soul only by breaking clean away from his present situation and beginning all over again. It was in doing just this that Lot found his salvation; and it was in failing to do just this that his wife lost hers.

Barclay: 2Pe 2:4-11

2Pe 2:9-11give us a picture of the evil man. Peter with a few swift, vivid strokes of the pen paints the outstanding characteristics of him who may properly be called the bad man.

(i) He is the desire-dominated man. His life is dominated by the lusts of the flesh. Such a man is guilty of two sins.

(a) Every man has two sides to his nature. He has a physical side; he has instincts, passions and impulses which he shares with the animal creation. These instincts are good--if they are kept in their proper place. They are even necessary for the preservation of individual life and the continuation of the race. The word temperament literally means a mixture. The picture behind it is that human nature consists of a large variety of ingredients all mixed together. It is clear that the efficacy of any mixture depends on each ingredient being there in its proper proportion. Wherever there is either excess or defect the mixture is not what it ought to be. Man has a physical nature and also a spiritual nature; and manhood depends on a correct mixture of the two. The desire-dominated man has allowed his animal nature to usurp a place it should not have; he has allowed the ingredients to get out of proportion and the recipe for manhood has gone wrong.

(b) There is a reason for this loss of proportion--selfishness. The root evil of the lust-dominated life is that it proceeds on the assumption that nothing matters but the gratification of its own desires and the expression of its own feelings. It has ceased to have any respect or care for others. Selfishness and desire go hand in hand.

The bad man is he who has allowed one side of his nature a far greater place than it ought to have and who has done so because he is essentially selfish.

(ii) He is the audacious man. The Greek is tolmetes (5113), from the verb tolman (5111), to dare. There are two kinds of daring. There is the daring which is a noble thing, the mark of true courage. There is the daring which is an evil thing, the shameless performance of things which are an affront to decency and right. As the character in Shakespeare had it: "I dare do all becomes a man. Who dares do more is none." The bad man is he who has the audacity to defy the will of God as it is known to him.

(iii) He is the self-willed man. Self-willed is not really an adequate translation. The Greek is authades (829), derived from autos (846), self, and hadon, pleasing, and used of a man who had no idea of anything other than pleasing himself. In it there is always the element of obstinacy. If a man is authades (829), no logic, nor common sense, nor appeal, nor sense of decency will keep him from doing what he wants to do. As R. C. Trench says, "Thus obstinately maintaining his own opinion, or asserting his own rights, he is reckless of the rights, opinions and interests of others." The man who is authades (829) is stubbornly and arrogantly and even brutally determined on his own way. The bad man is he who has no regard for either human appeal or divine guidance.

(iv) He is the man who is contemptuous of the angels. We have already seen how this goes back to allusions in Hebrew tradition which are obscure to us. But it has a wider meaning. The bad man insists on living in one world. To him the spiritual world does not exist and he never hears the voices from beyond. He is of the earth earthy. He has forgotten that there is a heaven and is blind and deaf when the sights and sounds of heaven break through to him.

Constable: 2Pe 2:1-22

IV. THE DANGER TO THE CHRISTIAN 2:1-22

Peter next warned his readers of the false teachers who presented a message contradictory to that of the apostles to help them avoid their influence. In chapter 1 Peter stressed the importance of building oneself up spiritually. In chapter 2 he described the reason it is important that we are strong. He began by describing the characteristics of false teachers, then the consequences of their teaching, then their conduct, and finally their condemnation. The connecting link with the end of chapter 1 is the reference to the Old Testament prophets.

"Only Christ's withering woes on hypocritical leaders in Matthew 23 and the parallel picture in the Epistle of Jude convey the same severe denunciation of false teachers contained in this chapter."⁷¹

This whole chapter gives evidence of being written out of great emotional concern. Peter did not discuss his subject of false teachers in a cool, logical fashion. He kept returning to previous thoughts and adding additional information. Some of his sentences are quite long and involved. His thoughts seem to have been rushing ahead of his ability to state them.

Constable: 2Pe 2:1-3

A. The Characteristics of False Teachers 2:1-3

2:1 "The people" in view are God's people in Old Testament times, the times to which Peter had just been referring (1:19-22). False prophets in Old Testament times sought to lead God's people away from the revelations of the true prophets. False teachers in Peter's time would try to lead God's people away from the teaching of the apostles. These men--they were typically males in Peter's day--would arise from the believers (cf. Jer. 5:31; 23:9-18; Acts 20:29). The term "false prophets" (Gr. pseudoprophetai) may refer to those who falsely claim to be prophets of God and or those who prophesy falsely. Likewise "false teachers" (Gr. pseudodidaskaloi) can refer to those who claim to be teachers of God's truth but whom the churches' leaders do not recognize as teachers and or those who teach falsehood.⁷² Evidently the false teachers that Peter warned about did not claim to be prophets.

"Secretly introduce" literally means to bring in alongside. The heretics would seek to add some other teaching to the orthodox faith and or some other teaching as a substitute for the truth (cf. Gal. 2:4). The implication is that they would seek to do this in some underhanded way. They would unobtrusively change the doctrinal foundation of the church and thereby make it unstable. "Heresies" refers to ideas inconsistent with the revealed truth of God.

These men would go as far as even repeatedly or typically denying (present participle in Greek) teaching and practices associated with Christ. The inconsistency of their position is that they deny the Person they profess to submit to as Christians, their Master (Gr. despoten) Jesus Christ.⁷³ When Jesus Christ died, He paid the penalty for everyone's sins and redeemed (purchased, Gr. agorasanta) every human being in this sense, even unbelievers (John 3:16; 1 Tim. 2:4-6; 4:10; Acts 17:30; Heb. 2:9; 1 John 2:2). This verse supports the doctrine of unlimited atonement, the view that Jesus Christ died for everyone, not just for those whom He would later save.

One limited atonement advocate believed that the whole case for unlimited atonement hangs on this verse.⁷⁴ This is an over-simplification, though another writer said, ". . . no assertion of universal redemption can be plainer than this."⁷⁵

Peter was not claiming that all the false teachers were Christians. In view of how he described them, most of them appear to have been unbelievers (cf. vv. 4-6). However some of them could have been believers.

". . . New Testament writers sometimes use the language of Christian conversion for such people [non-Christians] on the basis of their appearance."⁷⁶

The destruction of these heretics will be swift in the sense that when their judgment descends it will be sudden, not that it was about to descend as Peter wrote. They were saying that the Lord was slow in coming to exercise judgment (3:9), but their own judgment was imminent (Gr. taxinen). Their spiritual rather than their physical destruction seems to be in view primarily. In the case of Christian false teachers who departed from the truth they previously embraced, they too brought sudden spiritual ruin on themselves. This ruin would come on them at Jesus Christ's judgment seat (2 Cor. 5:10) if not sooner.

"Ironically, the false teachers incur judgment by teaching that there will be no future judgment and thereby leading themselves and others into immorality."⁷⁷

". . . destruction' for leading others to destruction' is inevitable."⁷⁸

"False teachers are better known for what they deny than for what they affirm."⁷⁹

2:2 Reckless and hardened immorality would accompany their doctrinal error.

"Clearly they permitted and defended immorality in a very broad sense."⁸⁰

When people abandon God's standard of truth they usually adopt a lower standard of morality. Since sensuality appeals to the flesh many people follow the example of heretics believing that they are correct in doing so because of the rationalizations of their teachers.

"No doctrine, however senseless and monstrous, which under the guise of a religious faith ministers to the sensual appetites of men, will ever want followers."⁸¹

This "religion" brings great dishonor on the church because unbelievers identify the immoral as professing Christians and judge their behavior as hypocritical.

2:3 False teachers typically desire to satisfy themselves rather than God. This leads them to take advantage of their audiences.

". . . Peter pointed out that the false teachers used feigned words.' The Greek word is plastos, from which we get our English word plastic. Plastic words! Words that can be twisted to mean anything you want them to mean! The false teachers use our vocabulary, but they do not use our dictionary. They talk about salvation,' inspiration,' and the great words of the Christian faith, but they do not mean what we mean. Immature and untaught believers hear these preachers or read their books and think that these men are sound in the faith, but they are not."⁸²

"There are also plastic preachers who can be molded and shaped by the people that they serve."⁸³

Peter personified their "judgment" and "destruction." His point was that God is never late or asleep in executing justice, though He is patient (cf. 3:9).

"We can argue that the danger of false teaching is greater in our day than it has ever been. Why? Because we live in an era that is deeply suspicious of absolute truth."⁸⁴

Constable: 2Pe 2:4-10

B. The Consequences of False Teaching 2:4-10a

Peter next described the consequences that follow false teaching to help his readers see the importance of avoiding it.

"Verses 4-10a form one long, complex conditional sentence; verses 4-8 form the conditional statement, and verses 9-10a the conclusion. This long sentence skillfully combines the different aspects involved in God's judicial dealings with mankind."⁸⁵

"Now Peter will give us three examples of apostates in the past. His first example is of the angels who sinned (v. 4), and it is an example of how the Devil works. His second example is that of the world of Noah's day (v. 5), and it is the example of the world. The third example (v. 6) is the turning of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, and that is the example of the flesh."⁸⁶

2:4 We could translate the "ifs" in verses 4, 6, and 7 "since."⁸⁷ Angels are in many respects superior to humans, yet God judged even them for sinning by consigning them to tartarosas (hell). This is the only reference to "Tartarus" in the Bible. This term evidently originated in Greek mythology.⁸⁸ This is probably the same angelic rebellion to which Jude referred (Jude 6). Tartarus is evidently a holding place of darkness and bondage.⁸⁹ God will send these angels from Tartarus to the lake of fire, their terminal place of punishment, after He judges them finally (cf. Matt. 25:41). These angels appear to be those that rebelled with Satan. However since they are in bondage now they are evidently not the demons that assist Satan in his work on earth now.⁹⁰ We should probably not equate these angels with the "sons of God" that Moses wrote about in Genesis 6:1-4.⁹¹

2:5 God did not spare the sinners in the ancient world of Noah's day. Consequently there is no basis for supposing that He will spare any sinner in the world today. Both types of sinners are ungodly. Peter called Noah a herald of righteousness here (cf. 1 Pet. 3:19). By his words and deeds Noah proclaimed righteousness to his ungodly neighbors. By referring to seven others whom God saved with Noah (i.e., his family members), Peter was probably hinting that he was the beginning of a new creation.

"The reason for this stress is perhaps to be found in the eschatological symbolism of the number eight, which represented an eighth day of new creation, following the seven days of the old creation's history (cf 2 Enoch 33:1-2; Barn. 15:9). Early Christians associated this symbolism with Sunday, the eighth day' (Barn. 15:9: Justin, Dial. 24.1: 41.4; 138.1). Sunday was the eighth day because it was the day of Christ's resurrection in which the new creation was begun . . .

"Noah, preserved from the old world to be the beginning of the new world after the Flood, is a type of faithful Christians who will be preserved from the present world to inherit the new world after the judgment."⁹²

Many Bible students believe that the pattern of Noah's deliverance before the Flood prefigures the pretribulation rapture of Christians.

2:6 God already demonstrated that He would judge ungodly sinners with fire when he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. The ungodly from then on should not expect to escape the same fate, though the fire that will judge them will be eternal. God also delivered Lot and his family before He brought fiery judgment on his world (cf. the pretribulation rapture; 1 Thess. 5:9-10).

"Undoubtedly the author sees the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah by fire as a pattern for the fiery judgment of the ungodly at the Parousia (3:7)."⁹³

"It has well been said that if God spares today's cities from judgment, He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah."⁹⁴

All three of Peter's examples (vv. 4-6) deal with unbelievers. These were the primary focus of Peter's warning. If there were some believers among the false teachers, Peter undoubtedly intended that they should take these warnings to heart even though they would not suffer the same eternal judgment as unbelievers.

2:7-9 This example shows that God will not only punish the wicked but He will also extricate the righteous from the judgment He will send on the ungodly that surround them. This example, as well as the example of Noah (v. 5), assured Peter's faithful readers that God would not lose them in the mass of sinners whom He would judge. The destruction of Jerusalem was going to destroy the unbelieving Jews living there in A.D. 70.⁹⁵ However the primary warning deals with eschatological deliverance and punishment at the return of Christ.⁹⁶

Of course, many righteous people have died along with the ungodly in what have appeared to be God's judgments. One example of this is the faithful remnant in Israel who died in the wars that resulted in Israel and Judah's captivities. Note that Peter said God is able to deliver the righteous. He did not say that He would do so in every case. This is still a ground for comfort. If the will of God be so, the righteous will not suffer with the wicked. In the end God will separate these two groups eternally, and no righteous person will suffer eternal judgment (cf. Matt. 13:30).

Had Peter not told us Lot was a righteous man we might have concluded otherwise. This strengthens Peter's illustration.

"Righteous' is a relative term; and in this case we must look at Lot both in comparison with the defective morality of the age and also with the licentiousness of those with whom he is here contrasted. Moreover, in the midst of this corruption he preserves some of the brighter features of his purer nomad life."⁹⁷

We cannot always tell who the righteous are, but God knows. How a person behaves may be misleading. Not only may some unbelievers appear to be saints, but some believers, such as Lot, appear to be unsaved. If every genuine believer gives evidence of his salvation by his good works, as some interpreters assert, then Lot was the exception to the rule. It seems more likely that Lot was what the New Testament calls a carnal believer.

"It is possible for a Christian to live close to sin, but he may barely escape with his life."⁹⁸

2:10a Here is another indication that the false teachers Peter warned of indulged their fleshly passions (v. 2). To do so they had to despise the authority of the apostles, the teaching of their Bibles, and God. However, Peter's reference to "authority" is probably a general one indicating the principle of authority.⁹⁹

"Those who subject themselves to the flesh cannot be subject to the Lord."¹⁰⁰

"False teaching and false behaviour ultimately always produce suffering and disaster, be it in Lot's day, in Peter's, or in our own."¹⁰¹

"The main idea in these verses comes across clearly: God judges those who obstinately disregard his commands while he protects those who stay faithful to him."¹⁰²

College: 2Pe 2:1-22

2 PETER 2

B. WARNING AGAINST FALSE TEACHERS (2:1-22)

1. The Coming of False Teachers (2:1-3)

¹ But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them - bringing swift destruction on themselves. ² Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. ³ In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

With this section Peter gets to the heart of his reason for writing the letter. False teachers are about, and their teachings are not only wrong but absolutely destructive to Christian living. They will be severely punished, but they will first do terrible harm to God's people. Peter wants to ensure that his readers are not among those who will be led astray.

One of the great questions for the interpretation of this chapter concerns the time referent. Peter speaks of what the false teachers will do (future tense) in verses 1-3, yet in the remainder of the chapter speaks of what they are doing (present) or have done (past). A number of explanations have been offered. 1) A standard explanation of many critical scholars is that the letter was actually written long after the death of Peter, when the false teachers were active. The writer attributed these words to Peter as a prophetic warning for a later generation. The writer chose Peter either because his teachings were consistent with those of Peter or because he simply wanted to use a name which carried authority. The different tenses, then, are the result of the writer not carrying through with his fiction about Peter writing well before the events. The writer slipped up, so to speak, and revealed himself to be from a later generation. 2) The future tense is used in the early verses because Peter expects the situation to get worse. That is, false teachers were present, but more were to come. 3) The use of the future tense was simply a rhetorical device, and no time reference was intended. 4) The false teachers are not yet with Peter's readers, but he anticipates that they soon will be. He therefore speaks of their future arrival, but he knows of their present and past teachings and lifestyles. 5) In verses 1-3 Peter is quoting the substance of prophetic warnings from Jesus and early Christian prophets. For example, in the Olivet Discourse Jesus speaks of coming false teachers (Matt 24:11,24). Peter's "quotation" of earlier warnings therefore includes their use of the future tense. Peter thereby implies that even Jesus warned of these heretics, giving his readers even greater courage to reject the false teaching.

It is argued in the introduction to the commentary that there is no overwhelming reason to deny the Petrine authorship of 2 Peter. Therefore the first solution above should be rejected. It is difficult to know which of the other explanations may be correct, although I favor option 2 or 4. Fortunately, having the right answer to this question is not essential for understanding this section of the letter.

A further matter already discussed in the introduction is the question of this letter's relation to Jude. The great similarities to Jude begin in these verses, and it is probable that the two are somehow related literarily. However, we cannot be certain whether Jude used Peter's work or vice versa. Our understanding of these verses will therefore not be based on any theory of dependence.

2:1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.

Peter's discussion of prophets who "spoke from God" in the previous verses provides the transition to the present warning that "there will be false teachers among you." Here Peter turns the tables on the false teachers, by arguing that it was not the biblical prophets who spoke falsely about the Second Coming - it is rather the false teachers who are playing the role of the Old Testament "false prophets." It is interesting that Peter uses the term "false teachers" for his opponents rather than "false prophets." Most likely these men did not claim to be prophets.

They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them - bringing swift destruction on themselves.

Peter attacks in the strongest of terms, exposing these men on several fronts. First, they do their work "secretly." This probably suggests that they have pretended to be what they are not, in order to gain a hearing. Second, their teachings are "destructive." Since the term translated "heresies" was not yet a synonym for "unorthodox teaching," the emphasis here is probably on the destructive nature of their opinions. Peter will shortly give abundant evidence for his teaching that false thinking leads to sinful behavior that eventually leads to destruction. Third, the false teachers go so far as to "deny the sovereign Lord." Only here is it implied that they deny Christ, and one might think that the denial of Christ (as Messiah or as Son of God) would be the central concern of Peter in this letter. For that reason, most think that they were denying Christ by denying his future return or by denying his lordship in practice (by immoral behavior). Either or both of these may be in Peter's thoughts.

The mention of "the sovereign Lord who bought them" reminds Peter's readers that Christ has an absolute claim on Christians as their new master. The (common) metaphor pictures Christians as slaves, purchased by a "sovereign Lord," the NIV's translation of the unusual term despovth" (despotçs), from which arose the English word "despot." The purchase price in Peter's mind was without doubt the cross. Peter's point is that these false teachers by their teaching and actions were in fact denying the very one who died in order to free them from their former masters, sin and death. This can only bring "swift destruction" on them. God will not long tolerate this deliberate rebellion.

2:2 Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.

Unfortunately, false teachers usually gain a following. The reason is that the false teaching always has an attractive element to it, in this case its "shameful ways." The term normally indicates sensual immorality, most often of a sexual nature. Peter will be much more specific about these sins later in this chapter, where he writes of their sexual excesses and greed.

Tragically, their sins will harm not only themselves but also "the way of truth." This phrase is roughly equivalent to "the Christian way of life," pointing to the ethical conduct of Christians. The verb translated "bring . . . into disrepute" (blasfhmevw, blasphçmeô) shows that Peter is alluding to the Greek translation of Isaiah 52:5: "Because of you my name is continually blasphemed among the Gentiles." Peter's concern here is that non-Christians will speak badly of the Christian way of life, severely hindering the church from carrying out its mission.

2:3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up.

This is the first of several times Peter accuses his opponents of greed. How is it that they were profiting from their activity? They were almost certainly being supported by the churches in which they taught. After all, Jesus said, "The worker deserves his wages" (Luke 10:7), and Paul further argued the point in 1 Corinthians 9.

There are few hints to help the modern interpreter know what sort of "stories" the false teachers may have told. However, contending that they have "made up" the stories is Peter's way of using his opponents' arguments against them. They accused the apostles of following "cleverly invented stories," according to 1:16. So Peter here writes that they are the ones who are making things up.

Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

Peter states that the condemnation of these false teachers was pronounced long ago. Perhaps he means that the Old Testament pronouncements against false prophets apply to these men. More likely, though, he is thinking that the destruction that came upon people like them in the Old Testament is clear enough evidence that the same will come upon these false teachers. The next seven verses, rehearsing the destruction of many ungodly groups, are the explanation of this sentence, as the beginning "for" in verse 4 indicates.

Most interestingly, Peter apparently is using the false teachers' words against them. They probably were ridiculing the idea of the Second Coming by statements such as, "God's judgment is idle, and his punishment is asleep." Peter's quotation of their taunt in 3:4 and his response in 3:9 further suggest the possibility of such statements. If they indeed uttered such words, Peter's choice of words is very deliberate: "Their condemnation . . . has not been idle, and their destruction is not asleep" (NRSV).

Readers should pay close attention to the nature of the false teaching here in 2 Peter and throughout the New Testament. Those who are labeled "false teachers" are typically those who are denying a central doctrine of Christianity. For example, some denied that Jesus came in the flesh (1 John 4:2); others taught that the resurrection of believers had already taken place (1 Timothy 2:18). Many others taught that sins of the flesh were of no concern. When central Christian teachings are being denied, Christians must do as Peter, Paul, and John did. We must stamp out the error. However, some have taken texts about false teachers out of context and applied them to everyone who holds a different opinion from theirs. Modern Christians should take their cue from the apostles and attack only those who uphold the sort of teachings of the false teachers in the New Testament.

2. The Condemnation of False Teachers (2:4-10a)

⁴ For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, ^a putting them into gloomy dungeons ^b to be held for judgment; ⁵ if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; ⁶ if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; ⁷ and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men ⁸ (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard) - ⁹ if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment. ^{c 10} This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature ^d and despise authority.

^a 4 Greek Tartarus ^b 4 Some manuscripts into chains of darkness ^c 9 Or unrighteous for punishment until the day of judgment ^d 10 Or the flesh

Verses 4-9 comprise one of the longest sentences in the NIV Bible. The translators were unable to follow their usual practice of breaking long sentences into smaller ones, because verses 4-8 provide a protasis (the "if" statement) and verse 9 (and verse 10 in the original) give the apodosis (the "then" statement). The point could hardly be clearer: God has always brought certain destruction upon those who rebelliously follow their sinful desires, and at the same time he has protected those who remain faithful to him. If he did so then, he can be counted on to do the same with regard to these Christians and the false teachers who are afflicting them (see v. 3b).

Peter reminds these believers of three stories of God's judgment upon rebellious sinfulness, two of which include God's protection of godly people in the midst of the those who were destroyed. There are obvious parallels with Jude 5-7.

2:4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment;

The next two examples of God's judgment (the flood, Sodom and Gomorrah) are much easier to understand than this one concerning sinning angels. There is no absolutely clear Old Testament text which describes such an event. The mysterious allusions to fallen angels in Ezekiel 28:11-19 and Isaiah 14:12-17 are possibly in Peter's mind, but there is no reference to gloomy dungeons in hell in those texts. It is far more likely, as many scholars have suggested, that Peter has in mind Genesis 6:1-4 and the Jewish traditions about these verses. The Genesis story is about the sons of God (a frequent designation for angels) who married and had children with "the daughters of men." The intertestamental writing 1 Enoch tells the story of God punishing these angels by confining them to the darkness of the underworld (see 1 Enoch 10:4-6). The story therefore fits very well Peter's allusion.

Several observations further suggest that Peter has in mind this story. First, the parallel passage in Jude alludes to the same story (verse 6), and Jude explicitly quotes 1 Enoch in verses 14-15. Second, Peter apparently makes reference to these confined angels ("spirits in prison") in 1 Peter 3:19 (see comments there). Third, Peter's three examples of God's judgment are probably intended to be in chronological order (Gen 6:1-4; 6:5-8:22; 19:1-29).

The word translated "cast . . . into hell" in the NIV is actually a word from Greek mythology meaning "cast into Tartarus." Tartarus was the underworld into which rebellious spirits and humans were sent. Peter makes it clear that this is a (horrible) holding place for them until the day of judgment. It is thus not quite the same as hell. The phrase, "gloomy dungeons," is an accurate description of the place of punishment described in 1 Enoch.

2:5 if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;

Peter's second example of God's judgment is closely related to the first. In Genesis 6:5 and in the story in 1 Enoch the sinful "sons of God" are partly responsible for the growing sinfulness of humanity which leads to the flood. In Peter's former story, the angels are punished. In this story, the people are punished.

It is not surprising that Peter uses the flood story to remind his readers that "the ancient world" was destroyed because the people were "ungodly." Nor is it surprising that he mentions Noah and those with him being "protected." After all, his goal is to give confidence to his godly readers while warning them about the ungodly false teachers. It may be surprising, though, that he calls Noah "a preacher of righteousness." The Genesis story never mentions Noah's preaching, although a number of nonbiblical Jewish works fill in that void. Peter may be referring to these traditions, or he may be referring to the unspoken "preaching" of building an ark for 120 years.

The mention of "seven others" obscures the original, "the eighth Noah," an idiom which means, "Noah and seven others." The reference to eight in the original reminds the attentive reader of 1 Peter 3:20, which also mentions the eight who were saved, immediately after the mention of the "spirits in prison" (see verse 4). More importantly, the number reminds the believers that the godly are often found in small numbers.

2:6 if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;

Peter's third story of punishment for the ungodly and protection for the righteous is the story of Sodom and Gomorrah and of Lot. It may be worth noting that this story, like the earlier two, seems to revolve around punishment for sexual sin. The angels in verse 4 lust and have illicit sexual relations with women, leading to their punishment. The offspring of this sexual union lead the world even further into rebellion, and all but eight people are destroyed. Similarly, in Genesis 19 it is the men following their basest sexual desires that leads to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. (Peter refers to the "filthy lives of lawless men" in the next verse.) In verses 13-14 Peter will accuse his opponents of the same. Here he assures his readers that their fate will also be like that of Sodom and Gomorrah.

2:7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men 2:8 (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard) -

Peter's readers can be assured that God will take care of them as he took care of Lot (and Noah). Even in the midst of people destined for utter destruction, God's people will be "rescued."

Modern readers are somewhat surprised that the adjective "righteous" is used to describe Lot. The Genesis narratives show him to be wavering and cowardly (although some later Jewish writings improved upon his moral stature). However, Lot does emerge from the stories a righteous, though tragic, character. The Genesis narrative shows him to be one who believed and trusted God, despite some obvious failings. He protected his visitors from the men of Sodom and pleaded with the Sodomites not to do "this wicked thing." For Peter, Lot's being "distressed" about their "filthy lives" is what shows his righteousness, since he mentions again that Lot was "tormented in his righteous soul." Peter assumes that this occurred "day after day," since Lot was "living among them." Perhaps one can be considered "righteous" if, even though weak, he is distressed and tormented by the evil around and within him.

2:9 if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.

After four "if" statements, Peter finally provides the "then." If God has been faithful in the past, then he will be so in the future. The "godly men," Noah and Lot, were rescued from God's worst destruction against the ungodly. This must have been comforting to Peter's readers, who were being told that there would be no final judgment for the immoral and thus no salvation or protection for those who are distressed and tormented by immorality.

The Greek term translated "while continuing their punishment" may also be understood to mean that the ungodly are going "to be punished" at the day of judgment (rather than while waiting). However, the NIV has chosen the more natural grammatical understanding and that which is supported by verse 4. "The unrighteous" who are being punished while awaiting "the day of judgment" include at least the fallen angels who were consigned to the gloomy dungeons. But does Peter imply here that all the unrighteous dead are experiencing punishment while they await judgment? This is probably his intention since this was the common early Christian opinion and since this statement would appear to refer to more than simply the fallen angels.

2:10 This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority.

Peter does not have to refer specifically to the false teachers for all readers to know he has them in mind. The two broad categories of sin of which they are guilty are 1) "indulging their flesh in depraved lust" (NRSV, a better translation here than that of the NIV), and 2) "despising authority." The terms used in the first charge suggest that in their sexual sins they have made a god of "the flesh" (savrx, sarx ). The term means not "the physical body" but, as the NIV well translates, "the sinful nature" or the sinful tendency within human beings.

The false teachers' contempt for authority has been hinted at already. They apparently have spoken against the apostles (1:16) and the prophets (1:20). They also "slander celestial beings," as the next sentence states (2:10b). Most seriously, they also deny "the sovereign Lord" (2:1). Peter's statement here probably refers to all of these (and more). These men are unwilling to answer to any but themselves and their lusts. However, willing or not, they will answer to the God who has always punished willful sinfulness.

3. The Sins of the False Teachers (2:10b-16)

Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings; ¹¹ yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord. ¹² But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish.

¹³ They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you. ^{a 14} With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed - an accursed brood! ¹⁵ They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness. ¹⁶ But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey - a beast without speech - who spoke with a man's voice and restrained the prophet's madness.

^a 13 Some manuscripts in their love feasts

Peter has already written of the coming of the false teachers and their future condemnation. He has also offered Old Testament examples of the sort of destruction that awaits them. In this section he gives his most detailed description of their attitude and behavior. They are ignorant, arrogant, adulterous, and greedy.

Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings;

"These men," the false teachers, not only despise authority, but they are "bold and arrogant" about it. Since they do not believe in a final judgment, they are afraid of nothing and no one. Already we learned that they did not accept the words of the apostles (1:16) or that of the prophets (1:20). Peter now writes that they "slander celestial beings." The NIV rendering is again interpretive, understanding the term "glorious ones" (dovxa", doxas ) as "celestial beings," without naming them as good (angels) or evil (demons). Although a few have argued that human authority figures should be included in this term, there are good reasons for the NIV interpretation. First, in the parallel text, Jude 8, the term clearly refers to angelic beings. (Note that Jude goes on to mention the story of the archangel Michael disputing with the devil, but not slandering him.) Second, the next verse in 2 Peter makes most sense if these beings are spiritual beings rather than human beings (see below).

But just who are these celestial beings the false teachers are slandering? And why are they slandering them? Peter gives few hints. We will never know for sure, but we can make some educated guesses. Perhaps the slandered spiritual beings are demonic forces, whose very existence the false teachers deny. Perhaps the false teachers have not accepted teachings such as those of Paul, who writes, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Eph 6:12). It is not difficult to imagine that they ridiculed those who would warn them that their sinful behavior puts them in great danger of coming under the control of these forces.

2:11 yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord.

The celestial beings of verse 10 must be evil spiritual beings, since "even" angels refrain from accusing them. But why does Peter note that angels do not slander "such beings?" And to what story is he alluding? The parallel in Jude may shed light in this case, since it provides an example of an angel who refrained from accusing an evil spiritual being. Jude 9 refers to an intertestamental Jewish writing called the Assumption of Moses , in which the archangel Michael argues with the devil over the body of Moses. Even though the devil has slandered Moses by accusing him of murder, Michael leaves the accusation of the devil up to God, saying, "The Lord rebuke you!"

Angels are "stronger and more powerful" than human beings, as evidenced by many biblical stories. Perhaps the first in the mind of Peter's readers would be the angels who came to Abraham to tell him of the future destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. These angels struck blind the men of Sodom, and they later called down burning sulfur on the cities.

The point is that even with their God-given power, angels do not take lightly the power of evil spiritual beings. The devil and his forces are not to be underestimated. They have destroyed many foolish victims.

Much has been said and written in recent years about "spiritual warfare," guardian angels, demonic forces and the like. Much of this has been speculation, and some has been clearly unbiblical. A lot of bad advice has been given about how to do battle against the demonic powers. However, it is also dangerous to underestimate the power of spiritual forces, as this text suggests.

2:12 But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand.

It is always poor judgment to speak against that which one does not understand. It is especially foolish to revile those with superior power and a desire to destroy. The fact that these teachers are ignorant about these forces is no excuse, because they are ignorant by their own choice. It is a common theme throughout Scripture that those who have chosen to ignore the truth are just as guilty as those who know it and disobey.

They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish. 2:13 They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done.

Peter draws an important distinction between humans and mere animals, categorizing these foolish men with the "brute [a[loga, aloga , "unreasoning"] beasts" that were "born only" to be slaughtered for their meat. Rather than following reason and revelation, the false teachers are guided only by their ignorance and sinful desires. Their arrogance and their passion for wealth and sexual indulgence (vv. 13-16) will ensure that "they too will perish." Peter then employs a pun to state that the coming destruction of the false teachers will be God's retribution: they will receive harm for inflicting harm.

Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight.

This sentence begins Peter's clearest description of their sins, the first of which is that they "carouse." The term trufhv (tryphç) implies self-indulgence, the gratification of the basic appetites without restraint. The false teachers are shown to be bold and arrogant even in their carousing, since they practice it "in broad daylight." Sexual sin, drunkenness, and other sensual excesses were generally practiced at night in the first century, just as now.

They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.

The interpretation of this sentence may be helped by noting its parallel in Jude 12. There Jude speaks of the false teachers as "blemishes at your love feasts" (Jude 12). The term "love feasts" (ajgavpai", agapais ) there refers to the fellowship meals during which the Lord's supper was eaten. This may explain Peter's reference to the "feasting" in this verse. The term agapais (love feasts) may also have suggested Peter's term for pleasures, ajpavtai" ( apatais ).

Peter's terms, "blots and blemishes," are another pair of synonyms. The terms look ahead to 3:14, where Christians are encouraged to be found " without spot or blemish" at the Second Coming. The terms therefore also look back to the Jewish sacrificial system: the sacrificial animals were to be without blemish. Peter's point, then, is that these men are sinful and unacceptable blemishes on what is otherwise a holy gathering of Christians.

The false teachers not only follow their sinful desires ("reveling in their pleasures"), but they do so when the church is gathered to "feast" together. As in Jude 12, the reference is probably to the regular shared meals of the church. Perhaps we are to understand that the false teachers were guilty of gluttony and drunkenness at the very time they were supposed to have been celebrating their redemption from sin in the cross of Jesus.

2:14 With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable;

The phrase, "eyes full of adultery," means literally that they are always looking for an adulteress. The next words, "they never stop sinning," also refers to the eyes of these men. They are constantly seeking someone with whom they can commit adultery. Unfortunately, they are sometimes successful, because there are among the Christians some who are not well grounded. These "unstable" Christians are without doubt the target of much of the "teaching" of these false teachers. Peter accuses them in verse 18 of preying upon new converts.

they are experts in greed - an accursed brood!

As mentioned in 2:3, Peter's antagonists are greedy. The term in Greek is much like the term in English. A person can be greedy for money, sex, power, and more. But it probably refers primarily to financial gain, since the next verse recalls a greedy Old Testament false prophet. The false teachers have found a way to profit financially from their activities, probably being supported by the church for their teaching. The NIV attempts with the word "expert" to translate a vivid phrase, "having hearts well trained [gegumnasmevnhn, gegymnasmençn] in greed." Not only are they greedy - they have worked at it and perfected it.

Writing that they are "an accursed brood" is Peter's way of reminding his readers again that these men are doomed to destruction. No matter how impressive and successful they appear to be, they stand under God's curse.

2:15 They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.

Peter has already mentioned "the way of truth" in 2:2. Now he writes of "the straight way," a common metaphor in Jewish and early Christian literature. The straight way is the way of holy living, but these men have "wandered off" the path, just as Balaam the son of Beor did. The NIV translation ignores the fact that the best Greek manuscripts read "son of Bosor" rather than "son of Beor." Balaam is nowhere else called by this name, but the term may be an intentional mixing of the term "Beor" with the term for "flesh" (Hebrew basar). Perhaps Peter is calling Balaam the "son of the flesh." "The way of Balaam" is a double entendre, referring to the sinful desire of Balaam as well as the literal path on which he rode the donkey, a path that he was forced to "wander off" because of the angel.

Balaam was, of course, the prophet whom the king of Moab tried to hire to curse Israel, according to Numbers 22-24. The Israelites were poised to enter Canaan, and Moab's king was terrified of them. Balaam wanted to receive the fee from the king, but he knew that he must first consult the Lord. The Lord first refused but later allowed him to go to the king of Moab. Apparently because of Balaam's wrong intentions (to curse Israel for money), God sent an angel to stop him, but only his donkey could see the angel. When the donkey turned off the road, crushed Balaam's foot, and finally stopped, he threatened the donkey, after which God opened his eyes to see the angel.

Balaam had long since become a standard negative example, in the Old Testament and in later Jewish literature (Deut 23:4-5; Josh 13:22; 24:9-10; Neh 13:1-2; Micah 6:5). Jewish tradition states what the Numbers narrative implies, that Balaam's sin was his desire to prophesy what the king desired in exchange for money. Therefore the phrase, "the wages of wickedness," refers to the financial gain a prophet or teacher receives for speaking.

2:16 But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey - a beast without speech - who spoke with a man's voice and restrained the prophet's madness.

The assumption is that Balaam had decided to prophesy against Israel for the money. So the "brute beast" (from verse 12) proved more reasonable than the man who, like the false teachers, was following his worst impulses. The donkey acts as the man should, and the man acts like the donkey, that is, irrationally ("madness").

4. The Future Suffering of the False Teachers (2:17-22)

¹⁷ These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. ¹⁸ For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity - for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. ²⁰ If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. ²¹ It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. ²² Of them the proverbs are true: ''A dog returns to its vomit," ^a and, ''A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud."

^a 22 Prov. 26:11

In this section Peter continues to attack the false teachers, especially with regard to their teaching of others. The emphasis is that their teaching leaves those who follow them even worse off than they were before becoming Christians. Peter's vivid metaphors reflect his attitude toward the false teachers.

2:17 These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.

Since water sustains life, water is a common metaphor for the teachings of God. Jesus speaks, for example, of the living water which he could give the Samaritan woman so that she would never thirst again (John 4:14). Peter accuses the false teachers of promising water but failing to deliver. They are like springs that have run dry and mists that are quickly blown away before they can refresh.

Since the last six words are exactly the same as those in Jude 13, many think that Peter is following Jude here. If so, he has altered the metaphor that in Jude referred to "wandering stars" forever consigned to darkness. Peter's reference to "darkness" is just like that which was common among Jews and Christians. For example, Jesus warns that some "will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matt 8:12).

2:18 For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error.

Peter now explains how the false teachers are like springs and mists that promise water but cannot produce. They make great claims, but there is in fact nothing to them. Their success in reality comes from their appeal to the sinful desires of people. Here those desires are called "lustful," probably implying sexual desire. Unfortunately, those who are most likely to follow them are recent converts who are not yet established in faith and practice. They are "enticed" back into the sinful ways of their former pagan friends ("those who live in error"). They have not yet had time to grow out of their desire for their former practices.

Perhaps a word is in order at this point about those who appeal to the worst in people in order to further their personal agendas. Modern Christian leaders who preach the health and wealth gospel would be good examples. Similarly, those who deny biblical teachings on sexual matters regarding premarital sex and homosexuality may also fall into this category.

2:19 They promise them freedom,

Peter now explains one of the boastful claims that these teachers have falsely made. Though empty, their promise of freedom must have sounded impressive and, in fact, very much like one of the great claims of the early Christians. Paul especially calls his churches to freedom in Christ, making such statements as, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free" (Gal 5:1).

From the earliest times there have been Christians whose misunderstanding of God's grace has led them to be unconcerned about sin (see Rom 6:1-3). The false teachers opposed by Peter may have shared such a doctrine of grace, and they may have misread Paul's letters in order to support their understandings (see 3:16). However, their freedom from moral concerns was also related directly to their disbelief in the final judgment at the Second Coming of Christ. Their "no final judgment" doctrine led to their loose living.

while they themselves are slaves of depravity - for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.

The term fqovra ( phthora ) translated "depravity" might also be translated "corruption," the destruction to be brought upon evildoers. In either case, Peter notes the irony that the so-called freedom of the false teachers actually leads to slavery. If Peter means that they have become slaves of (future) destruction, this is certainly true. However, he probably means that they have become enslaved by their sinful desires. The next statement concerning their having been "mastered" favors this view. This was most likely a well-known proverb in Peter's day. As applied to the false teachers, it means that they were no longer in control of their own lives, since their passions had taken charge.

2:20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.

Peter continues to speak of moral corruption. But to whom does he refer when he writes, "they have escaped?" Are "they" the false teachers or those whom they are enticing? The Greek is ambiguous, as is the NIV. Although many modern commentators favor the false teachers, there are two reasons for thinking otherwise. First, this section returns to the idea introduced in verse 13 concerning the "harm" which these teachers are doing. Second, Peter has nowhere suggested that these false teachers ever lived holy lives that proclaimed Jesus Christ as Lord. It seems better to take verse 19 as a parenthetical comment, so that "they" in verse 20 refers to the "people who are just escaping" in verse 18. (Of course, this verse presents a terrible truth, no matter which group Peter has in mind.)

"Knowing" Jesus as "Lord and Savior," according to Peter, leads to freedom from the sinfulness of the world. But he knows that it is possible to become involved again in ungodly living. The terms "entangled" and "overcome" suggest how Christians often revert to earlier sins. It is rarely a conscious choice to do what is wrong. More often such Christians assume they can handle the situation, only to find themselves trapped and overpowered. Peter's primary point is found in the final words in this verse: those who return to lives dominated by sin are actually "worse off" than they were before becoming Christians. The English reader will probably miss the fact that these words are almost exactly those of Jesus in Matthew 12:45: "The final condition of that man is worse than the first." Jesus spoke these words at the end of his discussion about the evil spirit that left a man but then found no better place to live. When it returned and found its former home unoccupied, it brought seven other worse spirits to live there, too. Peter's use of Jesus' words is further explained in verse 21.

2:21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.

Restating in stronger terms what he has just written, Peter argues that they would be better off if they had never experienced the Christian life than to "turn their backs" on holy living. The general import of the statement is clear - it would be better at the judgment never to have been a Christian, because God will punish more severely those who knew the truth but gave it up.

The phrase "the way of righteousness" recalls the earlier phrases, "the way of truth" in 2:2 and "the straight way" in 2:15. All three refer to the "way" of holy living. The "sacred command that was passed on to them" refers most likely to the command to live lives of holiness, rather than any of the specific instructions they were given when they became Christians.

2:22 Of them the proverbs are true: ''A dog returns to its vomit," and, ''A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud."

The final statements in this section are Peter's quotation of two well-known and distasteful proverbs. Both involve animals that were unclean to Jews and generally regarded as disgusting by all. This is the third comparison in this chapter of unholy lives to the ways of animals (see verses 12 and 16). The point of the analogy is painfully obvious.

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

Commentary -- Other

Critics Ask: 2Pe 2:4

2 PETER 2:4 —Are fallen angels bound or are they free to tempt human beings?

PROBLEM: Peter affirms in this passage that God cast the fallen angels “down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment” (cf. Jude 6 ). However, it is evident from the NT that demons roam freely over the earth, oppressing and even possessing people (cf. Matt. 12:22 ; 17:14-17 ; Acts 16:16-18 ; Rev. 16:14 ).

SOLUTION: There are two basic explanations of this apparent contradiction. First, it is possible that Peter is speaking of the official and ultimate destiny of fallen angels (demons), not their actual and immediate status. That is, while they are already sentenced by God to eternal damnation, they have not yet actually started serving their term. Nonetheless, they know their time is coming ( Matt. 8:29 ; Rev. 12:12 ).

Second, these passages may be speaking of two different classes of fallen angels, some already in chains ( 2 Peter 2:4 ) and the rest yet loose. Some believe Peter is referring to the “sons of God” (angels) of Genesis 6 who instigated intermarriage with women just before the Flood, since the very next verse refers to Noah (v. 5 ). If so, then this may account for why these particular angels are already in chains (so they cannot repeat their feat), as opposed to other demons who are loose.   

Evidence: 2Pe 2:4

Judgment Day : For verses that warn of its reality, see 2Pe 3:7 .

Evidence: 2Pe 2:5

The Bible’s fascinating facts . In Genesis 6, God gave Noah the dimensions of the 1.5 million cubic foot ark he was to build. In 1609 at Hoorn in Holland, a ship was built after that same pattern, revolutionizing shipbuilding. By 1900 every large ship on the high seas was inclined toward the proportions of the ark (as verified by " Lloyd’s Register of Shipping" in the World Almanac).

Evidence: 2Pe 2:6

Witnessing to homosexuals . I had an angry lesbian heckle me one Friday night while speaking in Santa Monica in front of a large crowd. I was so pleased to have the Law of God as a weapon. When she insisted that she was born with homosexual desires, I told her that I was too. I was born with a capacity to be a homosexual, to fornicate, commit adultery, lie, and steal. I said that it was called ‘sin,’ and that we all had it in our nature. It diffused her intent on making me seem like a ‘gay-basher.’ I could see the frustration on her face when she wasn’t able to take the discourse in the direction she wanted. Instead of seeming the poor victim, she found herself in the public hot-seat of having sinned against God.

The way to witness to a homosexual is simply to follow the biblical guidelines and use the Law.

See Mat 19:17-22 footnote.

Evidence: 2Pe 2:9

Using a Survey to Share Your Faith . Begin by asking:

" Do you have a moment to answer a couple of quick questions for a survey?"

1) Do you believe in the existence of any type of God or Higher Power? (Yes No )

2) If there truly was a coming Day of Judgment when God would give every person either everlasting life or everlasting punishment, do you think it would be important for people to know what they would need to do to receive everlasting life? (Yes No )

3) If there truly was a coming Day of Judgment, do you think you would know how a person could receive everlasting life? (Yes No ) If so, how?

Introduction / Outline

Robertson: 2 Peter (Book Introduction)

THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PETER

ABOUT a.d. 66 OR 67

By Way of Introduction

Most Doubtful New Testament Book

Every book in the New Testament is challenged by some one, as indeed the historicity of Jesus Christ himself is and the very existence of God. But it is true that more modern scholars deny the genuineness of 2 Peter than that of any single book in the canon. This is done by men like F. H. Chase, J. B. Mayor, and R. D. Strachan, who are followers of Christ as Lord and Saviour. One has to admit that the case concerning 2 Peter has problems of peculiar difficulty that call for careful consideration and balanced judgment. One other word needs to be said, which is that an adverse decision against the authenticity of 2 Peter stands by itself and does not affect the genuineness of the other books. It is easy to take an extreme position for or against it without full knowledge of all the evidence.

Slow in General Acceptance

It was accepted in the canon by the council at Laodicea (372) and at Carthage (397). Jerome accepted it for the Vulgate, though it was absent from the Peshito Syriac Version. Eusebius placed it among the disputed books, while Origen was inclined to accept it. Clement of Alexandria accepted it and apparently wrote a commentary on it. It is probable that the so-called Apocalypse of Peter (early second century) used it and the Epistle of Jude either used it or 2 Peter used Jude. There are undoubted allusions also to phrases in 2 Peter in Aristides, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Ignatius, Clement of Rome. When one considers the brevity of the Epistle, the use of it is really as strong as one can expect. Athanasius and Augustine accepted it as genuine, as did Luther, while Calvin doubted and Erasmus rejected it. It may be said for it that it won its way under criticism and was not accepted blindly.

Claims Petrine Authorship

Not only so, but in fuller form than 1Pe_1:1, for the writer terms himself " Simon (Symeon in some MSS.) Peter," a fact that has been used against the genuineness. If no claim had been made, that would have been considered decisive against him. Simon (Symeon was the Jewish form as used by James in Act_15:14) is the real name (Joh_1:42) and Peter merely the Greek for Cephas, the nickname given by Christ. There is no reason why both could not properly be employed here. But the claim to Petrine authorship, if not genuine, leaves the Epistle pseudonymous. That was a custom among some Jewish writers and even Christian writers, as the spurious Petrine literature testifies (Gospel of Peter, Apocalypse of Peter, etc.), works of a heretical or curious nature. Whatever the motive for such a pious fraud, the fact remains that 2 Peter, if not genuine, has to take its place with this pseudonymous literature and can hardly be deemed worthy of a place in the New Testament. And yet there is no heresy in this Epistle, no startling new ideas that would lead one to use the name of Simon Peter. It is the rather full of edifying and orthodox teaching.

And Personal Experiences of Peter

The writer makes use of his own contact with Jesus, especially at the Transfiguration of Christ (Mar_9:2-8; Mat_17:1-8; Luk_9:28-36). This fact has been used against the genuineness of the Epistle on the plea that the writer is too anxious, anyhow, to show that he is Symeon Peter (2Pe_1:1). But Bigg rightly replies that, if he had only given his name with no personal contacts with Jesus, the name would be called " a forged addition." It is possible also that the experience on the Mount of Transfiguration may have been suggested by Peter’s use of exodos for his own death (2Pe_1:15), the very word used by Luke (Luk_9:31) as the topic of discussion between Jesus and Moses and Elijah. There is also in 2Pe_1:13 the use of " tent" ( skēnoma ) for the life in the body, like Peter’s use of " tents" ( skēnas ) to Jesus at that very time (Mar_9:5; Mat_17:4; Luk_9:33). In 2Pe_1:14 Peter also refers to the plain words of Jesus about his coming death (Joh_21:18.). In 2Pe_1:15 Peter speaks of his own plan for preserving the knowledge of Jesus when he is gone (possibly by Mark’s Gospel). All this is in perfect keeping with Peter’s own nature.

And yet the Epistle Differs in Style from First Peter

This is a fact, though one greatly exaggerated by some scholars. There are many points of similarity, for one thing, like the habit of repeating words ( epichorēgeō in 2Pe_1:10, 2Pe_1:19, bebaios in 2Pe_1:12, 2Pe_1:13, 2Pe_1:15, prophēteia in 2Pe_1:20; 2Pe_3:3, etc.). These repetitions occur all through the Epistle as in 1 Peter. " This is a matter of very high importance" (Bigg). Again in both Epistles there is a certain dignity of style with a tendency to iambic rhythm. There is more quotation of the Old Testament in 1 Peter, but frequent allusion to words and phrases in 2 Peter. There are more allusions to words and facts in the Gospels in 1 Peter than in 2 Peter, though some do occur in 2 Peter. Besides those already given, note 2Pe_1:8 (Luk_13:7.), 2Pe_2:1 (Mat_10:33), 2Pe_2:20 (Mat_12:45; Luk_11:26), 2Pe_3:4 (Mat_24:1.), and possibly 2Pe_1:3 to Christ’s calling the apostles. Both appear to know and use the O.T. Apocrypha. Both are fond of the plural of abstract substantives. Both make sparing use of Greek particles. Both use the article similarly, idiomatically, and sometimes not using it. There are some 361 words in 1 Peter not in 2 Peter, 231 in 2 Peter not in 1 Peter. There are 686 hapax legomena in N.T., 54 in 2 Peter instead of the average of 62, a large number when the brevity of the Epistle is considered. There are several ways of explaining these variations. One way is to say that they are written by different men, but difference of subject has to be borne in mind. All writers and artists have an early and a later manner. Another solution is that Peter employed different amanuenses. Silvanus was the one for 1 Peter (1Pe_5:12). Mark was Peter’s usual interpreter, but we do not know who was the amanuensis for 2 Peter, if indeed one was used. We know from Act_4:13 that Peter and John were considered unlettered men ( agrammatoi kai idiōtai ). 2 Peter and the Apocalypse illustrate this statement. 2 Peter may have more of Peter’s real style than 1 Peter.

He Accepts Paul’s Epistles as Scripture

This fact (2Pe_3:15.) has been used as conclusive proof by Baur and his school that Peter could not have written the Epistle after the stern rebuke from Paul at Antioch (Gal_2:11.). But this argument ignores one element in Peter’s impulsive nature and that is his coming back as he did with Jesus. Paul after that event in Antioch spoke kindly of Peter (1Co_9:5). Neither Peter nor Paul cherished a personal grudge where the Master’s work was involved. It is also objected that Peter would not have put Paul’s Epistles on the level with the O.T. and call them by implication " Scripture." But Paul claimed the help of the Holy Spirit in his writings and Peter knew the marks of the Holy Spirit’s power. Besides, in calling Paul’s Epistles Scripture he may not have meant to place them exactly on a par with the Old Testament.

The Resemblance to the Epistle of Jude

This is undoubted, particularly between Jude and the second chapter of 2 Peter. Kuhl argues that 2 Peter 2:1-3:2 is an interpolation, though the same style runs through out the Epistle. " The theory of interpolation is always a last and desperate expedient" (Bigg). In 2 Peter 2 we have the fallen angels, the flood, the cities of the plain with Lot, Balaam. In Jude we have Israel in the wilderness, the fallen angels, the cities of the plain (with no mention of Lot, Cain, Balaam, Korah). Jude mentions the dispute between Michael and Satan, quotes Enoch by name. There is rather more freshness in Jude than in 2 Peter, though 2 Peter is more intelligible. Evidently one had the other before him, besides other material. Which is the earlier? There is no way to decide this point clearly. Every point is looked at differently and argued differently by different writers. My own feeling is that Jude was before (just before) 2 Peter, though it is only a feeling and not a conviction.

Anachronisms

It used to be said that it was impossible for 2 Peter to have been written in the first century, because it had the atmosphere of the second. But one fact is strongly against that argument. In 2Pe_3:8 occurs the quotation of Psa_90:4 about the thousand years without any chiliastic turn at all, a thing sure to happen in the second century after chiliasm had come to have such a swing. Peter’s use of it suits the first century, not the second. As a matter of fact, the false teachers described in 2 Peter suit the first century precisely if one recalls Paul’s troubles with the Judaizers in Galatia and Corinth and with the Gnostics in Colossae and Ephesus. " Every feature in the description of the false teachers and mockers is to be found in the apostolic age" (Bigg).

The Readers

The author says that this is his second Epistle to them (2Pe_3:1), and that means that he is writing to the saints in the five Roman provinces in Asia Minor to whom the first Epistle was sent (1Pe_1:1). Spitta and Zahn deny this on the ground that the two Epistles do not discuss the same subjects, surely a flimsy objection. Zahn even holds that 2 Peter precedes 1 Peter and that the Epistle referred to in 2Pe_3:1 has been lost. He holds that 2 Peter was addressed to the church in Corinth. He considers the readers to be Jews while 1 Peter was addressed to Gentiles. But " there is nothing in 2 Peter to differentiate its first readers from those of 1 Peter" (Bigg).

The Purpose

Certainly Peter is here concerned chiefly with the heresies of that general region in Asia Minor that so disturbed Paul (Colossians, Ephesians, Pastoral Epistles) and John (Gospel, Epistles, Apocalypse). Paul early foresaw at Miletus these wolves that would ravish the sheep (Act_20:29.). In 1 Peter he is concerned chiefly with the fiery persecutions that are upon them, but here with the heretics that threaten to lead them astray.

Balance of Probability

There are difficulties in any decision about the authorship and character of 2 Peter. But, when all things are considered, I agree with Bigg that the Epistle is what it professes to be by Simon Peter. Else it is pseudonymous. The Epistle more closely resembles the other New Testament books than it does the large pseudepigraphic literature of the second and third centuries.

The Date

If we accept the Petrine authorship, it must come before his death, which was probably a.d. 67 or 68. Hence the Epistle cannot be beyond this date. There are those who argue for a.d. 64 as the date of Peter’s death, but on insufficient grounds in my opinion.

JFB: 2 Peter (Book Introduction)

AUTHENTICITY AND GENUINENESS.--If not a gross imposture, its own internal witness is unequivocal in its favor. It has Peter's name and apostleship in its heading: not only his surname, but his original name Simon, or Simeon, he thus, at the close of his life, reminding his readers who he originally was before his call. Again, in 2Pe 1:16-18, he mentions his presence at the Transfiguration, and Christ's prophecy of his death! and in 2Pe 3:15, his brotherhood with Paul. Again, in 2Pe 3:1, the author speaks of himself as author of the former Epistle: it is, moreover, addressed so as to include (but not to be restricted to) the same persons as the first, whom he presupposes to be acquainted with the writings of Paul, by that time recognized as "Scripture" (2Pe 3:15, "the long-suffering of God," compare Rom 2:4). This necessarily implies a late date, when Paul's Epistles (including Romans) already had become generally diffused and accepted as Scripture in the Church. The Church of the fourth century had, besides the testimony which we have of the doubts of the earlier Christians, other external evidence which we have not, and which, doubtless, under God's overruling providence, caused them to accept it. It is hard to understand how a book palpably false (as it would be if Peter be not the author) could have been accepted in the Canon as finally established in the Councils of Laodicea, A.D. 360 (if the fifty-ninth article be genuine), Hippo, and Carthage in the fourth century (393 and 397). The whole tone and spirit of the Epistle disprove its being an imposture. He writes as one not speaking of himself, but moved by the Holy Ghost (2Pe 1:21). An attempt at such a fraud in the first ages would have brought only shame and suffering, alike from Christians and heathen, on the perpetrator: there was then no temptation to pious frauds as in later times. That it must have been written in the earliest age is plain from the wide gulf in style which separates it and the other New Testament Scriptures from even the earliest and best of the post-apostolic period. DAILLE well says, "God has allowed a fosse to be drawn by human weakness around the sacred canon to protect it from all invasion."

Traces of acquaintance with it appear in the earliest Fathers. HERMAS [Similitudes, 6.4] (compare 2Pe 2:13), Greek, "luxury in the day . . . luxuriating with their own deceivings"; and [Shepherd, Vision 3.7], "They have left their true way" (compare 2Pe 2:15); and [Shepherd, Vision 4.3], "Thou hast escaped this world" (compare 2Pe 2:20). CLEMENT OF ROME, [Epistle to the Corinthians, 7.9; 10], as to Noah's preaching and Lot's deliverance, "the Lord making it known that He does not abandon those that trust in Him, but appoints those otherwise inclined to judgment" (compare 2Pe 2:5-7, 2Pe 2:9). IRENÆUS, A.D. 178 ("the day of the Lord is as a thousand years"), and JUSTIN MARTYR seem to allude to 2Pe 3:8. HIPPOLYTUS [On Antichrist], seems to refer to 2Pe 1:21, "The prophets spake not of their own private (individual) ability and will, but what was (revealed) to them alone by God." The difficulty is, neither TERTULLIAN, CYPRIAN, CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA, nor the oldest Syriac (Peschito) version (the later Syriac has it), nor the fragment known as Muratori's Canon, mentions it. The first writer who has expressly named it is ORIGEN, in the third century (Homily on Joshua; also Homily 4 on Leviticus, and Homily 13 on Numbers), who names it "Scripture," quoting 2Pe 1:4; 2Pe 2:16; however (in EUSEBIUS [Ecclesiastical History, 6.25]), he mentions that the Second Epistle was doubted by some. FIRMILIAN, bishop of Cappadocia, in Epistle to Cyrpian speaks of Peter's Epistles as warning us to avoid heretics (a monition which occurs in the Second, not the First Epistle). Now Cappadocia is one of the countries mentioned (compare 1Pe 1:1 with 2Pe 3:1) as addressed; and it is striking, that from Cappadocia we get the earliest decisive testimony. "Internally it claims to be written by Peter, and this claim is confirmed by the Christians of that very region in whose custody it ought to have been found" [TREGELLES].

The books disputed (Antilegomena), as distinguished from those universally recognized (Homologoumena), are Epistles Second Peter, James, Second and Third John, Jude, the Apocalypse, Epistle to Hebrews (compare EUSEBIUS [Ecclesiastical History, 3.3,25]). The Antilegomena stand in quite a different class from the Spurious; of these there was no dispute, they were universally rejected; for example, the Shepherd of Hermas, the Revelation of Peter, the Epistle of Barnabas. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM (A.D. 348) enumerates seven Catholic Epistles, including Second Peter; so also GREGORY NAZIANZEN (A.D. 389), and EPIPHANIUS (A.D. 367). The oldest Greek manuscripts extant (of the fourth century) contain the Antilegomena. JEROME [On Illustrious Men], conjectured, from a supposed difference of style between the two Epistles, that Peter, being unable to write Greek, employed a different translator of his Hebrew dictation in the Second Epistle, and not the same as translated the First into Greek. Mark is said to have been his translator in the case of the Gospel according to Mark; but this is all gratuitous conjecture. Much of the same views pervade both Epistles. In both alike he looks for the Lord's coming suddenly, and the end of the world (compare 2Pe 3:8-10 with 1Pe 4:5); the inspiration of the prophets (compare 1Pe 1:10-12 with 2Pe 1:19-21; 2Pe 3:2); the new birth by the divine word a motive to abstinence from worldly lusts (1Pe 1:22; 1Pe 2:2; compare 2Pe 1:4); also compare 1Pe 2:9 with 2Pe 1:3, both containing in the Greek the rare word "virtue" (1Pe 4:17 with 2Pe 2:3).

It is not strange that distinctive peculiarities of STYLE should mark each Epistle, the design of both not being the same. Thus the sufferings of Christ are more prominent in the First Epistle, the object there being to encourage thereby Christian sufferers; the glory of the exalted Lord is more prominent in the Second, the object being to communicate fuller "knowledge" of Him as the antidote to the false teaching against which Peter warns his readers. Hence His title of redemption, "Christ," is the one employed in the First Epistle; but in the Second Epistle, "the Lord." Hope is characteristic of the First Epistle; full knowledge, of the Second Epistle. In the First Epistle he puts his apostolic authority less prominently forward than in the Second, wherein his design is to warn against false teachers. The same difference is observable in Paul's Epistles. Contrast 1Th 1:1; 2Th 1:1; Phi 1:1, with Gal 1:1; 1Co 1:1. The reference to Paul's writings as already existing in numbers, and as then a recognized part of Scripture (2Pe 3:15-16), implies that this Epistle was written at a late date, just before Peter's death.

Striking verbal coincidences occur: compare 1Pe 1:19, end, with 2Pe 3:14, end; "His own," Greek, 2Pe 1:3, 2Pe 2:16; 2Pe 3:17 with 1Pe 3:1, 1Pe 3:5. The omission of the Greek article, 1Pe 2:13 with 2Pe 1:21; 2Pe 2:4-5, 2Pe 2:7. Moreover, two words occur, 2Pe 1:13, "tabernacle," that is, the body, and 2Pe 1:15, "decease," which at once remind us of the transfiguration narrative in the Gospel. Both Epistles refer to the deluge, and to Noah as the eighth that was saved. Though the First Epistle abounds in quotations of the Old Testament, whereas the Second contains none, yet references to the Old Testament occur often (2Pe 1:21; 2Pe 2:5-8, 2Pe 2:15; 2Pe 3:5-6, 2Pe 3:10, 2Pe 3:13). Compare Greek, "putting away," 1Pe 3:21, with 2Pe 1:14; Greek, "pass the time," 1Pe 1:17, with 2Pe 2:18; "walked in," 1Pe 4:3, with 2Pe 2:10; 2Pe 3:3; "called you," 1Pe 1:15; 1Pe 2:9; 1Pe 5:10, with 2Pe 1:3.

Moreover, more verbal coincidences with the speeches of Peter in Acts occur in this Second, than in the First Epistle. Compare Greek, "obtained," 2Pe 1:1 with Act 1:17; Greek, "godliness," 2Pe 1:6, with Act 3:12, the only passage where the term occurs, except in the Pastoral Epistles; and 2Pe 2:9 with Act 10:2, Act 10:7; "punished," 2Pe 2:9, with Act 4:21, the only places where the term occurs; the double genitive, 2Pe 3:2, with Act 5:32; "the day of the Lord," 2Pe 3:10, with Act 2:20, where only it occurs, except in 1Th 5:2.

The testimony of Jude, Jud 1:17-18, is strong for its genuineness and inspiration, by adopting its very words, and by referring to it as received by the churches to which he, Jude, wrote, "Remember the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts." Jude, therefore, must have written after Second Peter, to which he plainly refers; not before, as ALFORD thinks. No less than eleven passages of Jude rest on similar statements of Second Peter. Jud 1:2, compare 2Pe 1:2; Jud 1:4, compare 2Pe 2:1; Jud 1:6, compare 2Pe 2:4; Jud 1:7, compare 2Pe 2:6; Jud 1:8, compare 2Pe 2:10; Jud 1:9, compare 2Pe 2:11; Jud 1:11, compare 2Pe 2:15; Jud 1:12, compare 2Pe 2:17; Jud 1:16, compare 2Pe 2:18; Jud 1:18, compare 2Pe 2:1; 2Pe 3:3. Just in the same way Micah, Mic 4:1-4, leans on the somewhat earlier prophecy of Isaiah, whose inspiration he thereby confirms. ALFORD reasons that because Jude, in many of the passages akin to Second Peter, is fuller than Second Peter, he must be prior. This by no means follows. It is at least as likely, if not more so, that the briefer is the earlier, rather than the fuller. The dignity and energy of the style is quite consonant to what we should expect from the prompt and ardent foreman of the apostles. The difference of style between First and Second Peter accords with the distinctness of the subjects and objects.

THE DATE, from what has been said, would be about A.D. 68 or 69, about a year after the first, and shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem, the typical precursor of the world's end, to which 2Pe 3:10-13 so solemnly calls attention, after Paul's ministry had closed (compare Greek aorist tense, "wrote," past time, 2Pe 3:15), just before Peter's own death. It was written to include the same persons, and perhaps in, or about the same place, as the first. Being without salutations of individuals, and entrusted to the care of no one church, or particular churches as the first is, but directed generally "to them that have obtained like precious faith with us" (2Pe 1:1), it took a longer time in being recognized as canonical. Had Rome been the place of its composition or publication, it could hardly have failed to have had an early acceptance--an incidental argument against the tradition of Peter's martyrdom at Rome. The remote scene of its composition in Babylon, or else in some of the contiguous regions beyond the borders of the Roman empire, and of its circulation in Cappadocia, Pontus, &c., will additionally account for its tardy but at last universal acceptance in the catholic Church. The former Epistle, through its more definite address, was earlier in its general acceptance.

OBJECT.--In 2Pe 3:17-18 the twofold design of the Epistle is set forth; namely, to guard his readers against "the error" of false teachers, and to exhort them to grow in experimental "knowledge of our Lord and Saviour" (2Pe 3:18). The ground on which this knowledge rests is stated, 2Pe 1:12-21, namely, the inspired testimony of apostles and prophets. The danger now, as of old, was about to arise from false teachers, who soon were to come among them, as Paul also (to whom reference is made, 2Pe 3:15-16) testified in the same region. The grand antidote is "the full knowledge of our Lord and Saviour," through which we know God the Father, partake of His nature, escape from the pollutions of the world, and have entrance into Christ's kingdom. The aspect of Christ presented is not so much that of the past suffering, as of the future reigning, Saviour, His present power, and future new kingdom. This aspect is taken as best fitted to counteract the theories of the false teachers who should "deny" His Lordship and His coming again, the two very points which, as an apostle and eye-witness, Peter attests (His "power" and His "coming"); also, to counteract their evil example in practice, blaspheming the way of truth, despising governments, slaves to covetousness and filthy lusts of the flesh, while boasting of Christian freedom, and, worst of all, apostates from the truth. The knowledge of Christ, as being the knowledge of "the way of righteousness," "the right way," is the antidote of their bad practice. Hence "the preacher" of righteousness, Noah, and "righteous Lot," are instanced as escaping the destruction which overtook the "unjust" or "unrighteous"; and Balaam is instanced as exemplifying the awful result of "unrighteousness" such as characterized the false teachers. Thus the Epistle forms one connected whole, the parts being closely bound together by mutual relation, and the end corresponding with the beginning; compare 2Pe 3:14, 2Pe 3:18 with 2Pe 1:2, in both "grace" and "peace" being connected with "the knowledge" of our Saviour; compare also 2Pe 3:17 with 2Pe 1:4, 2Pe 1:10, 2Pe 1:12; and 2Pe 3:18, "grow in grace and knowledge," with the fuller 2Pe 1:5-8; and 2Pe 2:21; and 2Pe 3:13, "righteousness," with 2Pe 1:1; and 2Pe 3:1 with 2Pe 1:13; and 2Pe 3:2 with 2Pe 1:19.

The germs of Carpocratian and Gnostic heresies already existed, but the actual manifestation of these heresies is spoken of as future (2Pe 2:1-2, &c.): another proof that this Epistle was written, as it professes, in the apostolic age, before the development of the Gnostic heresies in the end of the first and the beginning of the second centuries. The description is too general to identify the heresies with any particular one of the subsequent forms of heresy, but applies generally to them all.

Though altogether distinct in aim from the First Epistle, yet a connection may be traced. The neglect of the warnings to circumspection in the walk led to the evils foretold in the Second Epistle. Compare the warning against the abuse of Christian freedom, 1Pe 2:16 with 2Pe 2:19, "While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption"; also the caution against pride, 1Pe 5:5-6 with 2Pe 2:18, "they speak great swelling words of vanity."

JFB: 2 Peter (Outline)

• ADDRESS: EXHORTATION TO ALL GRACES, AS GOD HAS GIVEN US, IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST, ALL THINGS PERTAINING TO LIFE: CONFIRMED BY THE TESTIMONY OF APOSTLES, AND ALSO PROPHETS, TO THE POWER AND COMING OF CHRIST. (2Pe. 1:1-21)
• FALSE TEACHERS TO ARISE: THEM BAD PRACTICES AND SURE DESTRUCTION, FROM WHICH THE GODLY SHALL BE DELIVERED, AS LOT WAS. (2Pe. 2:1-22)
• SURENESS OF CHRIST'S COMING, AND ITS ACCOMPANIMENTS, DECLARED IN OPPOSITION TO SCOFFERS ABOUT TO ARISE. GOD'S LONG SUFFERING A MOTIVE TO REPENTANCE, AS PAUL'S EPISTLES SET FORTH; CONCLUDING EXHORTATION TO GROWTH IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST. (2Pe. 3:1-18)

TSK: 2 Peter 2 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

2Pe 2:1, He foretells them of false teachers, shewing the impiety and punishment both of them and their followers; 2Pe 2:7, from which the godly shall be delivered, as Lot was out of Sodom; 2Pe 2:10, and more fully describes the manners of those profane and blasphemous seducers, whereby they may be the better known, and avoided.

Poole: 2 Peter 2 (Chapter Introduction)

PETER CHAPTER 2

MHCC: 2 Peter (Book Introduction)

This epistle clearly is connected with the former epistle of Peter. The apostle having stated the blessings to which God has called Christians, exhorts those who had received these precious gifts, to endeavour to improve in graces and virtues. They are urged to this from the wickedness of false teachers. They are guarded against impostors and scoffers, by disproving their false assertions, 2Pe 3:1-7, and by showing why the great day of Christ's coming was delayed, with a description of its awful circumstances and consequences; and suitable exhortations to diligence and holiness are given.

MHCC: 2 Peter 2 (Chapter Introduction)

(2Pe 2:1-9) Believers are cautioned against false teachers, and the certainty of their punishment shown from examples.

(2Pe 2:10-16) An account of these seducers, as exceedingly wicked.

(2Pe 2:17-22) But as making high pretences to liberty and purity.

Matthew Henry: 2 Peter (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Second Epistle General of Peter

The penman of this epistle appears plainly to be the same who wrote the foregoing; and, whatever difference some learned men apprehend they discern in the style of this epistle from that of the former, this cannot be a sufficient argument to assert that it was written by Simon who succeeded the apostle James in the church at Jerusalem, inasmuch as he who wrote this epistle calls himself Simon Peter, and an apostle (2Pe 1:1), and says that he was one of the three apostles that were present at Christ's transfiguration (2Pe 1:18), and says expressly that he had written a former epistle to them, 2Pe 3:1. The design of this second epistle is the same with that of the former, as is evident from the first verse of the third chapter, whence observe that, in the things of God, we have need of precept upon precept, and line upon line, and all little enough to keep them in remembrance; and yet these are the things which should be most faithfully recorded and frequently remembered by us.

Matthew Henry: 2 Peter 2 (Chapter Introduction)

The apostle, having in the foregoing chapter exhorted them to proceed and advance in the Christian race, now comes to remove, as much as in him lay, what he could not but apprehend would hinder their complying with his exhortation. He therefore gives them fair warning of false teachers, by whom they might be in danger of being seduced. To prevent this, I. He describes these seducers as impious in themselves, and very pernicious to others (2Pe 2:1-3). II. He assures them of the punishment that shall be inflicted on them (2Pe 2:3-6). III. He tells us how contrary the method is which God takes with those who fear him (2Pe 2:7-9). IV. He fills up the rest of the chapter with a further description of those seducers of whom he would have them beware.

Barclay: 2 Peter (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND LETTER OF PETER

The Neglected Book And Its Contents

Second Peter is one of the neglected books of the New Testament. Very few people will claim to have read it, still less to have studied it in detail. E. F. Scott says "it is far inferior in every respect to First Peter"; and goes on "it is the least valuable of the New Testament writings." It was only with the greatest difficulty that Second Peter gained entry into the New Testament, and for many years the Christian Church seemed to be unaware of its existence. But, before we approach its history, let us look at its contents.

The Lawless Men

Second Peter was written to combat the beliefs and activities of certain men who were a threat to the Church. It begins by insisting that the Christian is a man who has escaped from the corruption of the world (2Pe_1:4 ) and must always remember that he has been purged of his old sins (2Pe_1:9 ). There is laid upon him the duty of moral goodness, which culminates in the great Christian virtue of love (2Pe_1:5-8 ).

Let us set out the characteristics of the men whom Second Peter rebukes. They twist Scripture to make it suit their own purpose (2Pe_1:20 ; 2Pe_3:16 ). They bring the Christian faith into disrepute (2Pe_2:2 ). They are covetous of gain and exploiters of their fellow-men (2Pe_2:3 ; 2Pe_2:14-15 ). They are doomed and will share the fate of the sinning angels (2Pe_2:4 ), the men before the Flood (2Pe_2:5 ), the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah (2Pe_2:6 ), and the false prophet Balaam (2Pe_2:15 ). They are bestial creatures, ruled by their brute instincts (2Pe_2:12 ), and dominated by their lusts (2Pe_2:10 ; 2Pe_2:18 ). Their eyes are full of adultery (2Pe_2:14 ). They are presumptuous, self-willed and arrogant (2Pe_2:10 , 2Pe_2:18 ). They spend even the daylight hours in unrestrained and luxurious revelry (2Pe_2:13 ). They speak of liberty but what they call liberty is unbridled licence and they themselves are the slaves of their own lusts (2Pe_2:19 ). Not only are they deluded, they also delude others and lead them astray (2Pe_2:14 ; 2Pe_2:18 ). They are worse than those who never knew the right, because they knew what goodness is and have relapsed into evil, like a dog returning to its vomit and a sow returning to the mud after it has been washed (2Pe_2:20-22 ).

It is clear that Peter is describing antinomians, men who used Godgrace as a justification for sinning. In all probability they were Gnostics, who said that only spirit was good and that matter was essentially evil and that, therefore, it did not matter what we did with the body and that we could glut its appetites and it made no difference. They lived the most immoral lives and encouraged others to do so; and they justified their actions by perverting grace and interpreting Scripture to suit themselves.

The Denial Of The Second Coming

Further, these evil men denied the Second Coming (2Pe_3:3-4 ). They argued that this was a stable world in which things remained unalterably the same, and that God was so dilatory that it was possible to assume that the Second Coming was never going to happen at all. The answer of Second Peter is that this is not a stable world; that it has, in fact, been destroyed by water in the Flood and that it will be destroyed by fire in the final conflagration (2Pe_3:5-7 ). What they regard as dilatoriness is in fact God withholding his hand in patience to give men still another chance to repent (2Pe_3:8-9 ). But the day of destruction is coming (2Pe_3:10 ). A new heaven and a new earth are on the way; therefore. goodness is an absolute necessity if a man is to be saved in the day of judgment (2Pe_3:11-14 ). With this Paul agrees, however difficult his letters may be to understand, and however false teachers deliberately misinterpret them (2Pe_3:15-16 ). The duty of the Christian is to stand fast, firmly founded in the faith, and to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ (2Pe_3:17-18 ).

The Doubts Of The Early Church

Such are the contents of the letter. For long it was regarded with doubt and with something very like misgiving. There is no trace of it until after A.D. 200. It is not included in the Muratorian Canon Of A.D. 170 which was the first official list of New Testament books. It did not exist in the Old Latin Version of the Scriptures; nor in the New Testament of the early Syrian Church.

The great scholars of Alexandria either did not know it or were doubtful about it. Clement of Alexandria, who wrote outlines of the books of Scripture, does not appear to have included Second Peter. Origen says that Peter left behind one epistle which is generally acknowledged; "perhaps also a second, for it is a disputed question." Didymus commented on it, but concluded his work by saying: "It must not be forgotten that this letter is spurious; it may be read in public; but it is not part of the canon of Scripture."

Eusebius, the great scholar of Caesarea, who made a careful investigation of the Christian literature of his day, comes to the conclusion: "Of Peter, one Epistle, which is called his former Epistle, is acknowledged by all; of this the ancient presbyters have made frequent use in their writings as indisputably genuine; but that which is circulated as his second Epistle we have received to be not canonical although, since it appeared to be useful to many, it has been diligently read with the other Scriptures."

It was not until well into the fourth century that Second Peter came to rest in the canon of the New Testament.

The Objections

It is the well-nigh universal judgment of scholars, both ancient and modern, that Peter is not the author of Second Peter. Even John Calvin regarded it as impossible that Peter could have spoken of Paul as Second Peter speaks of him (2Pe_3:15-16 ), although he was willing to believe that someone else wrote the letter at Peterrequest. What, then, are the arguments against Peterauthorship?

(i) There is the extreme slowness, and even reluctance, of the early church to accept it. If it had been truly Peter there can be little doubt that the Church would have welcomed and honoured it from the first. But the case was very different. For the first two centuries the letter is never quoted at all in any certain instance; it is regarded with doubt and suspicion for more than another century; and only late in the fourth century is it accepted.

(ii) The contents make it difficult to believe that it is Peter There is no mention of the Passion, the Resurrection and the Ascension of Jesus Christ; no mention of the Church as the true Israel; no mention of that faith which is undefeatable hope and trust combined; no mention of the Holy Spirit, of prayer, of baptism; and no passionate desire to call men to the supreme example of Jesus Christ. If one took away these great verities from First Peter there would be little or nothing left, and yet none of them occurs in Second Peter.

(iii) It is wholly different in character and style from First Peter. This was realized as early as Jerome who wrote: "Simon Peter wrote two Epistles which are called Catholic, of which the authenticity of the second is denied by many because of the difference of the style from the first." The Greek style of this letter is very difficult. Clogg calls it ambitious, artificial and often obscure, and remarks that it is the only book in the New Testament which is improved by translation. Bishop Chase writes: "The Epistle does produce the impression of being a somewhat artificial piece of rhetoric. It shows throughout signs of self-conscious effort. The author appears to be ambitious of writing in a style which is beyond his literary power." He concludes that it is hard to reconcile the literary character of this letter with the supposition that Peter wrote it. Moffatt says: "Second Peter is more periodic and ambitious than First Peter, but its linguistic and its stylistic efforts only reveal by their cumbrous obscurity a decided inferiority of conception, which marks it off from First Peter."

It might be claimed, as Jerome claimed, that, while Peter used Silvanus for First Peter, he used a different amanuensis for Second Peter and that this explains the change in style. But J. B. Mayor compares the two letters. He quotes some of the great passages of First Peter and then says: "I think that none who read these words can help feeling that, not even in Paul, not even in John, is there to be found a more beautiful or a more living description of the secret of primitive Christianity, of the force that overcame the world, than in the perfect quaternion of faith and hope and love and joy, which pervades this short epistle (i.e. First Peter). No one could make the same assertion with regard to Second Peter: thoughtful and interesting as it is, it lacks that intense sympathy, that flame of love, which marks First Peter.... No change of circumstances can account for the change of tone of which we are conscious in passing from one epistle to the other." It is the conclusion of that great and conservative scholar that no explanation, other than difference of authorship, can explain, not so much the difference in style as the difference in atmosphere between First and Second Peter. It is true that from the purely linguistic point of view there are 369 words which occur in First Peter which do not occur in Second Peter; and there are 230 words which occur in Second Peter and not in First Peter. But there is more than a difference in style. A writer can change his style and his vocabulary to suit his audience and his occasion. But the difference between the two letters in atmosphere and attitude is so wide that it is hardly possible that the same person should have written both.

(iv) Certain things within Second Peter point well-nigh irresistibly to a late date. So much time has passed that men have begun to abandon hope of the Second Coming altogether (2Pe_3:4 ). The apostles are spoken of as figures of the past (2Pe_3:2 ). The fathers, that is the founders of the Christian faith, are now figures of the almost dim and distant past; there have been generations between this letter and the first coming of the Christian faith (2Pe_3:4 ).

There are references which require the passing of the years to explain them. The reference to Peterapproaching death looks very like a reference to Jesusrophecy in Joh_21:18-19 , and the Fourth Gospel was not written until about A.D. 100. The statement that Peter is going to leave something which will continue his teaching after he has gone looks very like a reference to MarkGospel (Mar_1:12-14 ).

Above all there is the reference to the letters of Paul (2Pe_3:15-16 ). From this it is quite certain that Paulletters are known and used throughout all the Church; they are public property, and furthermore they are regarded as Scripture and on a level with "the other Scriptures" (2Pe_3:16 ). It was not until at least A.D. 90 that these letters were collected and published, and it would take many years for them to acquire the position of sacred Scripture. It is practically impossible that anyone should write like this until midway through the second century A.D.

All the evidence converges to prove that Second Peter is a late book. It is not until the third century that it is quoted. The great scholars of the early church did not regard it as Peteralthough they did not question its usefulness. The letter has references which require the passing of the years to explain them. The great interest of Second Peter lies in the very fact that it was the last book in the New Testament to be written and the last to gain entry into the New Testament.

In PeterName

How, then, did it become attached to the name of Peter? The answer is that it was deliberately attached. This may seem to us a strange proceeding but in the ancient world this was common practice. Platoletters were written not by Plato but by a disciple in the mastername. The Jews repeatedly used this method of writing. Between the Old and the New Testament, books were written under the names of Solomon, Isaiah, Moses, Baruch, Ezra, Enoch and many another. And in New Testament times there is a whole literature around the name of Peter--The Gospel of Peter, The Preaching of Peter, The Apocalypse of Peter.

One salient fact makes this method of writing even more intelligible. The heretics used it. They issued misleading and pernicious books under the names of the great apostles, claiming that they were the secret teaching of the great founders of the Church handed down by word of mouth to them. Faced with this, the Church retaliated in kind and issued books in which men set down for their own generation the things they were quite sure that the apostles would have said had they been facing this new situation. There is nothing either unusual or discreditable in a book being issued under the name of Peter although Peter did not write it. The writer in humility was putting the message which the Holy Spirit had given him into the mouth of Peter because he felt his own name was unworthy to appear upon the book.

We will not find Second Peter easy to read; but it is a book of first-rate importance because it was written to men who were undermining the Christian ethic and the Christian doctrine and who had to be stopped before the Christian faith was wrecked by their perversion of the truth.

FURTHER READING

2 Peter

C. Bigg, St. Peter and St. Jude (ICC; G)

C. E. B. Cranfield, 1 and 2 Peter and Jude (Tch; E)

J. B. Mayor, The Second Epistle of St. Peter and the Epistle of St. Jude (MmC; G)

J. Moffatt, The General Epistles: James, Peter and Jude (MC; E)

Abbreviations

ICC: International Critical Commentary

MC : Moffatt Commentary

MmC: Macmillan Commentary

NCB: New Century Bible

Tch: Torch Commentary

E: English Text

G: Greek Text

Barclay: 2 Peter 2 (Chapter Introduction)

False Prophets (2Pe_2:1)

The Sins Of The False Prophets And Their End (2Pe_2:1 Continued)

The Work Of Falsehood (2Pe_2:2-3)

The Fate Of The Wicked And The Rescue Of The Righteous (2Pe_2:4-11)

The Picture Of The Evil Man (2Pe_2:4-11 Continued)

Deluding Self And Deluding Others (2Pe_2:12-14)

On The Wrong Road (2Pe_2:15-16)

The Perils Of Relapse (2Pe_2:17-22)

Constable: 2 Peter (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Historical Background

This epistle claims that the Apostle Peter wrote it (1:1). It also claims to follow a former letter by Peter (3:1) that appears to be a reference to 1 Peter, though Peter may have been referring to a letter we no longer have. The author's reference to the fact that Jesus had predicted a certain kind of death for him (1:14) ties in with Jesus' statement to Peter recorded in John 21:18.

The earliest external testimony (outside Scripture) to Petrine authorship comes from the third century.¹ The writings of the church fathers contain fewer references to the Petrine authorship of 2 Peter than to the authorship of any other New Testament book. It is easy to see why critics who look for reasons to reject the authority of Scripture have targeted this book for attack. Ironically in this letter Peter warned his readers of heretics who departed from the teaching of the apostles and the Old Testament prophets, which is the very thing these modern critics do. Perhaps that is another reason some contemporary teachers question its authenticity. Not all who reject Petrine authorship are false teachers, however. The arguments of these modern critics have convinced some otherwise conservative scholars who retain belief in the epistle's inspiration.

Regardless of the external evidence, there is strong internal testimony to the fact that Peter wrote the book.² This includes stylistic similarities to 1 Peter, similar vocabulary compared with Peter's sermons in Acts, and the specific statements already mentioned (i.e., 1:1, 14; 3:1). In addition, the writer claimed to have witnessed Jesus' transfiguration (1:16-18) and to have received information about his own death from Jesus (1:13-14; cf. John 21:18).

Assuming Peter's reference to his former letter (3:1) is to 1 Peter, he seems to have sent this epistle to the same general audience. That audience was primarily Gentile but also Jewish Christians living in northern Asia Minor (cf. 1 Pet. 1:1). The background of the readers and the situation they faced, as Peter described these, fit such an audience well.³

Peter's reference to his imminent departure from this life (1:13-15) suggests that the time of composition may have been just before Peter suffered martyrdom.⁴ The writings of church fathers place Peter's death at A.D. 67-68 in Rome.⁵ Consequently a date of composition about that time seems most likely. Early church tradition also says Peter spent the last decade of his life in Rome.

"Second Peter is the swan song of Peter, just as 2 Timothy is the swan song of Paul. There are striking similarities between the two books. Both epistles put up a warning sign along the pilgrim pathway the church is traveling to identify the awful apostasy that was on the way at the time and which in our time has now arrived. What was then like a cloud the size of a man's hand today envelops the sky and produces a storm of hurricane proportions. Peter warns of heresy among teachers; Paul warns of heresy among the laity."⁶

The similarities between 2 Peter 2 and the Book of Jude, especially Jude 4-18, have raised several questions. Did Peter have access to Jude's epistle, or did Jude have a copy of 2 Peter? Which book came first? Did one man use the other's material, or did both draw from a common source? The commentators and writers of New Testament introductions deal with these questions thoroughly. See them for further explanations.⁷

Suffice it to say that the church through the ages has recognized the end product of both 2 Peter and Jude as epistles that God inspired. As far as which came first, we may never know for sure until we get to heaven. The consensus among scholars now is that Jude probably wrote before Peter (or his agent) composed 2 Peter.⁸ I tend to favor the priority of 2 Peter as do many conservative authorities.⁹

"Most scholars, in fact, date 2 Peter in the early part of the second century and consider it the last New Testament book to have been written. The author's claim to Petrine authorship, therefore, is part of the phenomenon of pseudonymity' in the ancient world, whereby the authority and tradition of a revered religious figure were attributed to a later work by an anonymous author."¹⁰

This quotation reflects the majority of scholarly opinion but not the conviction of many conservatives including myself.

"The purpose of 2 Peter is to call Christians to spiritual growth so that they can combat apostasy as they look forward to the Lord's return."¹¹

Message¹²

Peter wrote this epistle, as he did 1 Peter, to establish believers in their faith. He wrote both letters in obedience to Jesus' instructions to him to "strengthen your brothers" (Luke 22:32). Both epistles contain reminders of fundamental Christian teaching. Both evidently went to the same audience (2 Pet. 3:1). Both deal with how to handle various kinds of trials among other things, suffering in 1 Peter and false teachers in 2 Peter. Both also emphasize God's grace.

The differences between these two epistles are also significant.

The first epistle ends, "Stand firm in it [grace]" (5:12). Its theme is the sufficiency of God's grace. We need to stand fast in grace as Christians.

The second epistle ends, "Grow in grace" (3:18). Its theme is the responsibility of grace. We also need to keep growing in grace. This letter builds on the first. We do not only need to stand fast in grace, but we also need to keep growing in it.

We could state the message of the book therefore as follows: fulfill your responsibilities as recipients of the true grace of God. The message of 1 Peter was, "Stand firm in the true grace of God."

Let me identify the major revelations of this letter.

First, as recipients of God's grace we have resources that create responsibilities. Peter emphasized two of our resources.

Our first resource is the power of God (1:3). God's power grants us everything we need for godly living. Godly living becomes possible when we come to know God by saving faith. We grow in our knowledge of God as we get to know Him better through study of the Scriptures. We also do so as we respond to our increasing knowledge of Him properly by abiding in Him.

One area of life that God's power transforms is our spiritual vitality, energy. God wants us to be vital Christians (John 10:10; cf. James). The opposite condition is to have no spiritual energy. God's power enables us to demonstrate His own "glory" by giving us spiritual vitality (1:3). Peter saw the glory of God manifested through Jesus Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration (1:17). God wants to manifest His glory through every Christian (3:18). People can see God's glory in our spiritual vitality. The clearest illustration of spiritual vitality is Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry.

Another area of life that God's power transforms is our conduct, more specifically. By conduct I mean how we conduct ourselves in thought, word, and deed--what we do, and what we do not do. God wants us to be godly Christians as well as glorious Christians. He wants us to be virtuous as well as vital. The opposite condition is ungodly and unclean. The false teachers reflected the opposite condition, and Peter described their conduct quite fully in chapter 2. God's power enables us to demonstrate His own "excellence" by making us godly (1:3). Peter heard the excellence of God testified to on the Mount of Transfiguration when he heard God say of Jesus Christ, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." (Cf. 1:17-18). God wants to manifest His excellence through every Christian (cf. 1 Pet. 2:9). People can see God's excellence in our godly conduct.

The second resource Peter emphasized that every Christian has is the promises of God (1:4). God's promises grant us everything we need to realize our potential and to maintain our purity in godly living. These promises are "magnificent" because they are essentially great and wonderful. They are "precious" to us because they are gifts of our loving heavenly Father and because they are the keys to our realizing our potential and maintaining our purity.

One area of life that God's promises transforms is our character. God wants us to partake of His nature. We receive His nature (i.e., the Holy Spirit) initially when we believe His promise that Christ died for our sins. However, He wants us to partake of that nature fully in this life. When we do so, we realize our potential as the children of God. We do so by continuing to believe God's promises to us. As we began the Christian life by faith, we should continue to walk by faith (cf. James). Because the false teachers rejected the promises of God they failed to realize their potential as human beings. They did not become partakers of the divine nature.

Another area of life that God's promises transforms is, more specifically, our morality. Again we receive future deliverance from the penalty of sin by believing that Christ died for our sins. Nevertheless we also receive present deliverance from the power of sin by believing other of God's promises to us. For example, God promises us that sin will no longer have enslaving power over us (Rom. 6:14; cf. 1 Pet. 4:11; 5:11). He also promises us that He will give us a way of escape in temptation (1 Cor. 10:13). He also promises us that He will give us the desire and the ability to obey Him (Phil. 1:6). One of the promises that Peter emphasized especially in this epistle was the promise that Jesus Christ would return (3:4, 9, 13). He discussed this promise in 3:4-16. When Christ returns He will perfect us. God has given us many more promises. Relying on these is key to maintaining our purity as Christians. Because the false teachers rejected the promises of God, they failed to maintain moral purity. They did not escape the corruption that is in the world through lust.

These then are the resources that create our responsibility: God's power within us, and God's promises in His Word. You can succeed in life and in ministry because you have these resources.

Next let us notice what Peter appealed to his readers to do in view of their resources. He called them to give diligence to two things.

First, we should diligently appropriate our resources (1:5-8). We do this be responding responsibly. We must respond by fulfilling our responsibility as well as by trusting God to fulfill His. We must exercise effort and self-discipline to develop qualities God wants to perfect within us (1:5-8). No one can become a strong Christian without self-discipline.

Second, we should diligently avoid our perils. We do this by remembering God's promises (1:9, 12-13; 3:1-2). Our tendency is to forget God's power and our responsibilities (1:9; 3:5). Our tendency is also to forget God's promises (3:4). Peter's concern was mainly that his readers not forget the promise of the Lord's return (3:9, 13). This promise should affect us by encouraging us to live pure lives (3:14). Because the false teachers chose to forget it, they failed to fulfill the responsibilities of God's grace. Scripture memorization and review are valuable activities because they help us remember God's promises.

These are the major revelations in the book. As recipients of God's grace we have resources that create responsibilities, namely God's power and promises. We also need to give diligence to our responsibilities of responding to God's power and remembering God's promises.

I would also like to point out some applications of this epistle's message to our lives.

First, God's resources do not free us from responsibility to cultivate godliness diligently. They increase that responsibility. The Christian life is a combination of trusting and toiling. We must balance these things. When we neglect either responsibility, we get into trouble (1:5). We are partners with God.

Our sanctification is a process in which we labor together with God.

We are responsible to trust and to obey, to exercise faith in God and to work. We frustrate the Holy Spirit's work of sanctifying us if we do not trust or if we do not obey. The Christian life is a lot like water skiing. We have to lean back and let God pull us out of the stuff that holds us down. However we also have to hold on to the rope, to keep following His leading. When we do both things He enables us to overcome. We can even fly over what formerly held us in its clutches.

Second, we should cultivate habits that will help us remember our resources: God's power and promises. One of the most important reasons we should read our Bibles regularly is that they remind us of things we need to remember. The same is true of memorizing Scripture, attending church services, and having fellowship with other Christians. Peter said it is better not to know Scripture than to forget it (2:21).

Third, God intended the promise of the Lord's return and the events that will follow to be important motivations for us. This is our hope. If we neglect the prophetic portions of Scripture, our motivation for godly living will sag (3:14).

Constable: 2 Peter (Outline)

Outline

I. Introduction 1:1-2

II. The condition of the Christian 1:3-11

A. The believer's resources 1:3-4

B. The believer's needs 1:5-9

C. The believer's adequacy 1:10-11

III. The authority for the Christian 1:12-21

A. The need for a reminder 1:12-15

B. The trustworthiness of the apostles' witness 1:16-18

C. The divine origin of Scripture 1:19-21

IV. The danger to the Christian 2:1-22

A. The characteristics of false teachers 2:1-3

B. The consequences of false teaching 2:4-10a

C. The conduct of false teachers 2:10b-19

D. The condemnation of false teachers 2:20-22

V. The prospect for the Christian 3:1-16

A. The purpose of this epistle 3:1-2

B. Scoffing in the last days 3:3-6

C. End-time events 3:7-10

D. Living in view of the future 3:11-16

VI. Conclusion 3:17-18

Constable: 2 Peter

2 Peter

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Hodges, Zane C. "Exposition of Second Peter." The KERUGMA Message 1:1 (May-June 1991):3-4; 1:2 (July-August 1991):3-4; 1:3 (November-December 1991):2-3; 2:1 (Spring 1992):2-3; 2:2 (Winter 1992):2-4, 6; 3:1 (Spring 1993):2-3; 3:1 (January-March 1994):1, 3-4.

Howe, Frederic R. "The Christian Life in Peter's Theology." Bibliotheca Sacra 157:627 (July-September 2000):304-14.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Edited by James Orr. 1957 ed. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. S.v. "Peter, The Second Epistle of," by William G. Moorehead.

Ironside, H. A. Expository Notes on the Epistles of Peter. New York: Loizeaux Brothers, 1947.

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Lenski, Richard C. H. The Interpretation of the Epistles of St. Peter, St. John and St. Jude. Reprint ed. Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961.

Lillie, John. Lectures on the First and Second Epistles of Peter. Reprint ed. Minneapolis: Klock & Klock Christian Publishers, 1978.

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: 2 Peter (Book Introduction)

THE

SECOND EPISTLE OF ST. PETER,

THE APOSTLE.

INTRODUCTION.

This epistle, though not at first received [by some Churches] as canonical, was acknowledged as such [by all Churches] about the end of the fourth age [century]. See Eusebuis, lib. iii. History of the Church, chap. iii.; St. Jerome, de Vir. Illust. Tillem. art. 33. The design, as it appears, Chap. i. 13. and Chap. iii. 1. was to give them admonitions and instructions against teachers of false doctrine, particularly against the Simonites. It seems to have been written a little before his martyrdom, about the year 66. (Witham) --- In this epistle St. Peter says, (Chap. iii.) "Behold this is the second epistle I write unto you:" and before, (Chap. i. 14.) "Being assured that the putting off of this my tabernacle is at hand." This shews that it was written a very short time before his martyrdom, which was about thirty-five years after our Lord's ascension. In this epistle he admonishes the faithful to be mindful of the great gifts they received from God, and to join all other virtues with their faith. He warns them against false teachers, by describing their practices and foretelling their punishments. He describes the dissolution of this world by fire, and the day of judgment. (Challoner) --- This epistle may be considered as the spiritual testament or last will of the apostle, as it contains his last admonitions to the faithful. He first calls their attention to the care they should have of their sanctification and perfection, next to the perils that concern the Church one the part of heretics, those that menaced her in her infant state, and those that will assail her in the latter days, which includes an invincible proof of her perpetuity; for is is the same infallible and indefectible Church that is to encounter the latter as the former trials, but always with promised success. Hence the great St. John Chrysostom says: the same day that shall see the Church of God ended, shall see the end of the world; and to these continued struggles shall succeed perfect peace, to be enjoyed through a blissful eternity. If some are still found to object, that the present epistle was not written by St. Peter, on account of the marked difference of the style, St. Jerome removes this objection thus: St. Peter employed different interpreters, sometimes Glaucias, and sometimes St. Mark; hence the difference of the style, from the diversity of his scribes. St. Mark was with him when he penned the first, but was not with him when he dictated the present. The present epistle contains, as we said above, an account of the last dreadful trials that are to assail the faithful before the end of time; but all that faith teaches us on that subject is: first, That the world will have an end; secondly, that it will end by fire; and thirdly, that the world will not be destroyed, but changed and perfected. Hence all that is said with regard to the duration of the world; on the nature and quality of the fire that is to burn and purify the world; if it be to precede or follow the last judgment, all is problematical, all is doubtful. Hence the Christian knows a good deal, who knows how to entertain proper doubts.

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Gill: 2 Peter (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 2 PETER

Though there was, among the ancients, a doubt concerning the authority of this epistle, which is first mentioned by Origen ^a, and afterwards by Eusebius ^b and Jerom ^c, yet it prevailed not among the churches, nor hindered the diligent reading and use of it, together with other Scriptures; it appearing to be useful and profitable, as Eusebius declares; and in process of time this doubt was entirely removed, and it was universally received by fathers and councils into the canon of the Scriptures, where it is justly retained, it having plain signatures of its divine original. Nor is there anything in it unworthy of so great an apostle, whose name it bears; but the whole of it is agreeable to the analogy of faith, to the rest of the sacred writings, particularly to the epistle of Jude, between which, and the second chapter of this, there is a great likeness. The only reason of the doubt of the genuineness of this epistle, and whether it was written by the Apostle Peter, is the difference of its style from the former; but the Holy Ghost, the dictator of the sacred writings, is not limited to a man's natural style, but could vary it as he pleased: besides, a man's style is not the same at different times, and when writing on different subjects; add to which, that this objection can only regard the second chapter, for the first and third agree with the former epistle. And some have thought that the second chapter is an extract out of some ancient Hebrew book, describing the characters of the old false prophets; which book Peter and Jude having before them, took the characters of the old prophets, and, under divine direction, applied them to the false teachers of the present age; and if so it is not to be wondered at that the style of the epistle should differ from the former, and even from itself in this part. But that it was written by the Apostle Peter, not only the inscription shows, which, if false, would indeed discredit the genuineness of the book, but the account that is given of the writer of it, as one that was with Christ at his transfiguration, 2Pe 1:16. Now there were only the three following disciples there, Peter, John, and, James. The last of these had been dead some time when this epistle was written, and it was never ascribed by any to the Apostle John, and therefore it remains that Peter must be the writer of it. As for Simeon, bishop of Jerusalem, that succeeded James, whom Grotius would suggest as the author of it, the character does not agree with him; he was not with Christ on the holy mount, nor heard the voice from heaven, asserting the sonship of Christ, and the divine complacency in him: moreover, this epistle is called a "second epistle", 2Pe 3:1 and supposes a first, and manifestly refers to the former epistle of Peter's, about which there never was any doubt, as the authors before mentioned observe. It was written by the apostle in his old age, when upon the decline of life, just as he was about to put off his tabernacle, 2Pe 1:13 a little before his martyrdom, in the year 68, though Dr. Lightfoot places it in 66; and it is sent to the same persons as his first, namely, to the believing Jews scattered throughout several parts of Asia, he being the minister of the circumcision; see 1Pe 1:1 compared with 2Pe 3:1. The scope and design of it are, to put them upon a concern for a larger increase of grace and spiritual knowledge; to confirm and establish them in the present truth of the Gospel; to warn them against false teachers, which he largely describes; and he puts them in mind of the dissolution of all things, and of what will precede and follow it; from whence he draws several useful hints and inferences.

Gill: 2 Peter 2 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 2 PETER 2

This chapter contains a description of false teachers, that were then in Christian churches, as there had been false prophets among the Jews; and they are described by the doctrines, which they privily introduced; in general, damnable heresies; in particular, denying the Lord that bought them; and by their success, having many followers of them in their pernicious ways; and by the sad effects following hereupon; with respect to the way of truth, that was blasphemed; with respect to their hearers, they, through the covetousness of these false teachers, were made merchandise of; and with respect to themselves, swift and sure destruction would be brought upon them, 2Pe 2:1, which is illustrated and confirmed by the instances of punishment in the angels, the men of the old world, and the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, 2Pe 2:4 and whereas, in these instances, notice is taken of the deliverance of some righteous persons, as Noah and Lot, when wicked men were destroyed; the apostle draws this conclusion from the whole, that the Lord knows both how to deliver the saints out of afflictions, and to reserve wicked men until the day of judgment, then to be punished, 2Pe 2:9, especially such shall be then punished, who are described by their impure course of lift, their contempt of civil government, and their presumption and selfwill, 2Pe 1:10 which sins of theirs are aggravated by the different conduct of angels, superior to them; and by their being like brute beasts, as ignorant as they, and even below them; whose punishment will be to perish in their corruption, as the just reward of their unrighteousness, since they are open in sin, take pleasure in it, and sport themselves with it, and are spots and blemishes in Christian societies, 2Pe 2:11 and these, who are no other than the false teachers before spoken of, are further described by their adulterous eyes, which cannot cease from sin; by their beguiling unstable souls; by the covetous practices their hearts were exercised with; by their just desert, cursed children; by the course they steer, forsaking the right way, going astray from it, and following the way of Balaam in his covetousness, and other wicked practices, for which he was reproved by his ass; and by various metaphors, which express the emptiness of these persons, and which also point at their destruction, and describe their boasts and brags, and the influence they have, through their lasciviousness and uncleanness, on some persons, who have been outwardly reformed, 2Pe 2:14 and this they obtain over them in a very stupid and senseless way, by promising them liberty, when through being overcome by them, and drawn into sin, they were brought into bondage, and become servants of corruption; and so their case is worse than it was before their reformation, and profession of religion; and better it would have been not to have had the knowledge they had, than after it to turn from the paths of truth and holiness, which is illustrated by a true Scripture proverb, which expresses the filthy nature of sin, the character of these men, and their irrecoverable state and condition, 2Pe 2:19.

College: 2 Peter (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION

ABOUT THIS COMMENTARY

This commentary is written for serious students of the Bible, including Bible class teachers, preachers, college students, and other motivated readers. However, it is written on a popular rather than a scholarly level, so that readers need not be familiar with Greek or scholarly methods or jargon.

The goal is to help the modern reader to hear the message of 2 Peter as its first readers heard it. Our assumption is that we must know what it meant before we can know what it means . Peter wrote for a particular group of Christians facing a particular set of problems. The letter was therefore not written to us (although we believe that it was written for us). To be faithful to Peter's intent, we must attempt to place ourselves in the shoes of the earliest readers.

This is a difficult task for a couple of reasons. First, this "book" of the New Testament is a letter. This means we are reading someone else's mail. The problem is that both Peter and his readers knew the situation, so that Peter only makes allusions to what was going on. For example, we would like to know much more about the false teachers. However, Peter had no need to discuss in detail what both he and his readers already know. We are left to read between the lines in order to reconstruct the situation. Second, we are dealing with literature written in an ancient language to an ancient culture. They had a very different worldview, lived very different lifestyles, and practiced very different customs from those with which we are familiar.

Our task is therefore difficult, but it is not hopeless. We will never grasp the details of this letter exactly as the first readers did, but we can have confidence that we are understanding the larger picture. Greek scholars, historians, specialists in ancient Jewish and Christian literature, and others have spent countless hours studying this and other ancient documents. We are fortunate to stand on their shoulders.

Finally, we must mention the nature of this letter. Many dislike it because it is largely negative. After all, it is Peter's scathing denunciation of false teachers. Everyone prefers the message of grace to the message of judgment. However, it is sometimes necessary to expose error, even if the task is not enjoyable. This letter ought to remind Christians of the importance of guarding the essential doctrines of the Christian faith. As Peter makes painfully clear, bad doctrine leads to bad living, which leads to sure judgment. Christians must never shrink from the unpleasant task of fighting heresy.

The reader will quickly discover that I am greatly indebted to the fine commentaries of Douglas J. Moo and especially Richard Bauckham. Moo offers excellent comments from an evangelical perspective. Bauckham's detailed discussion of linguistic, historical, and literary matters is without equal. The reader is referred to his commentary in numerous footnotes simply because his discussion is the most thorough available.

AUTHORSHIP AND DATE

Second Peter claims to have been written by Simon Peter, the apostle of Jesus (1:1) and eyewitness to his transfiguration (1:16-18). Since he writes of his approaching death (1:14-15), Peter must have written this letter by the mid-60s of the first century A.D. (The tradition that Peter was martyred in Rome under the emperor Nero is probably reliable.)

A large number of modern scholars, however, are convinced that Peter could not have written this letter. In fact, this New Testament writing more than all others is believed to be pseudonymous (written under a false name). A number of reasons are given for this belief.

First, there is the language and style of the original Greek. Second Peter is written in elaborate Greek, often using rare and poetic terminology. Many believe that a Galilean Jew could not have written in this style. More significantly, 2 Peter is very much unlike 1 Peter. Most argue that the writer who wrote 1 Peter could not have written this letter. In response it must be admitted that this is an argument of some weight. However, conservative scholars are not convinced. First, no one can really know what Peter could and could not have written at different times in life and to different audiences. The style argument always involves considerable subjectivity. Second, many conservative commentators admit that the style of 2 Peter disallows thinking that Peter wrote it himself. They suggest that an amanuensis probably wrote the letter for Peter, as Silvanus may have done in 1 Peter (5:12). A trusted "secretary" may well have written Peter's thoughts in a different style from that of Peter.

A second argument against Petrine authorship is that even some of the early Christians had their doubts about this letter. The evidence is quite complex and difficult to analyze, but a few facts are fairly clear. Origen (3rd century) notes that 2 Peter was a disputed letter, although he believes that Peter wrote it. Eusebius (4th century) rejects its authenticity, although he suggests that the majority accepted it. Jerome (end of 4th century) writes that many rejected it because it was so unlike 1 Peter; yet he contends that Peter probably used two different amanuenses (secretaries). In response, it must again be granted that this is a substantive claim. More than any other New Testament book, 2 Peter was late in being universally accepted. However, evangelical scholars underscore the fact that it was accepted; and it was accepted at a time when a number of works falsely attributed to Peter were being rejected. The evidence from the early church is not unanimous, but it is clearly for the authenticity of 2 Peter.

A third argument for the pseudonymity of 2 Peter concerns the time references regarding the false teachers. At times the writer speaks of false teachers who will come, but at other times he makes it clear that they are already present. The argument is that the actual writer attempts to write as if Peter is predicting the future. In reality he betrays the fact that he is actually living during the times of the false teachers. In response, conservatives note that there are many possible reasons for the changing tenses. The possibility that the pseudonymous writer forgot to continue his fiction is not the most likely. Perhaps the false teachers had not arrived yet but were known because they were already present in other locations. The full discussion is found in the comments on 2:1.

Fourth, many think that the inference in 3:16 that Paul's letters are "Scripture" betrays a late date. Paul's letters, it is argued, were not considered Scripture until at least the late first century. Those who accept Petrine authorship must admit that Peter's words are somewhat surprising. However, it cannot be ruled out that the written words of one regarded as an inspired apostle would be called Scripture. Scholars are often too sure that they know what early Christians could and could not think.

Fifth, many who deny that Peter wrote this letter do so on the basis that it is a "testament," a final address of a leader before his death to the group which reveres him (see comments on 1:11). Most often, a testament was written well after the death of the hero whose name is attached to it, and it addressed the needs of the later generation. Many believe therefore that someone wrote this testament in Peter's name in order to lend his authority to the crisis provoked by the false teachers. Conservatives have responded that there are certainly some elements of the testament genre in 2 Peter, but that these elements do not make 2 Peter a testament like others. Furthermore, testaments need not be pseudonymous. Peter certainly could have written this way at the end of his life.

Sixth, many scholars reject 2 Peter on the basis of the false teaching it opposes. Many think that the heresy is Gnosticism, which developed in the second century. However, while there are minor similarities to that heresy, there is nothing in 2 Peter that would identify the false teachers as second-century Gnostics. The sort of false teaching in 2 Peter is already seen in Paul's letters.

Finally, some also argue that the apostle Peter would not have borrowed from the letter of Jude (see section on "Relation to Jude"). However, this argument is really quite weak. It is not clear why Peter would not have borrowed useful material from another source. Neither is it certain that Peter borrowed from Jude. Jude may have borrowed from Peter, or both may have borrowed from another source, whether oral or written.

In the final analysis, most conservative scholars argue that the apostle Peter wrote 2 Peter. They know that this can never be proven and that the decision is in part based on faith and tradition. Nonconservative scholars make significant arguments against Petrine authorship, but they wrongly claim that they have proven that Peter did not write this letter. We find their arguments weighty but not conclusive. In this commentary we will assume that Peter wrote 2 Peter.

OCCASION

Peter wrote to a specific church (or group of churches) facing specific problems, namely the coming of false teachers. Second Peter may have been written to the same churches as 1 Peter (churches in Asia Minor, according to 1:1), since 2 Peter mentions an earlier letter to this group (3:1). However, the fact that he may have written letters to other churches means that we cannot be sure.

Peter wrote this letter primarily because false teachers were 1) denying the Second Coming of Jesus, and 2) living without moral restraint and encouraging others to do so. Peter writes that they denied the teachings of prophets and apostles and that they arrogantly slandered spiritual beings. They denied the Second Coming, arguing that the world was simply continuing on its course as it had since the creation.

Their belief that there would be no Second Coming (and therefore no final judgment) led these false teachers into ungodly lifestyles. They willfully satisfied their sinful desires, including greed, sexual immorality, and gluttony. They encouraged others to follow their sinful examples, especially recent converts who were just escaping these very sins.

Readers of 2 Peter would like to know more about these teachers of error. There is much that we do not know, because of the nature of a letter. (Both author and recipients knew the situation, so there was no need to rehearse the details.) It would be helpful to know more precisely the identity of the false teachers, their background, their practices, and their teaching. This lack of information has led scholars to speculate regarding the identity of the troublemakers. Many have theorized that they were Gnostics, a group of second-century heretics who argued that knowledge was the key to salvation. They believed in a strict dualism between the spiritual and the physical worlds. Therefore they did not believe that Christ was actually human. They also tended to discount the importance of sins involving the body, such as sexual sin. The body, they claimed, belonged to the evil physical world that was created by an inferior god.

There is no evidence in 2 Peter that the false teachers were Gnostics since there is not a trace of the developed Gnostic systems of the second century. Furthermore, all of the teachings which Peter attacked are also found in Paul's letters. For example, in 1 Corinthians Paul writes against some who deny the resurrection (15:12-34) and others who argue for the right to engage in sexual sin (5:1-2; 6:12-20). The most that can be said is that 2 Peter's antagonists may have been the predecessors of what would later be called Gnostics.

A better and more cautious approach is to call these false teachers simply libertines. Their libertine approach seems to have sprung from their (false) understanding of grace and their denial of the judgment at the Second Coming of Jesus.

Another reason Peter wrote 2 Peter is that he was nearing the end of his life. This may have been his last opportunity to offer his teachings concerning sin, judgment, and false teachers. This was especially important because he was an eyewitness to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. As an apostle, it was his responsibility to testify to the truth about Jesus and to destroy the efforts of the false teachers.

RELATION TO JUDE

Portions of 2 Peter and Jude are remarkably similar. This applies not only to their contents but also to their order. They use the same examples of destruction for sinfulness: evil angels cast into hell and the judgment against Sodom and Gomorrah. They use similar metaphors, such as clouds or mists driven by a storm. They speak in the same way of the false teachers, including their slander of celestial beings and their following the way of Balaam. They speak of their opponents as "scoffers" and their readers as "friends."

Most scholars think that the resemblance between the two letters is simply too close to be coincidental. It is remotely possible that both may be relying on an oral body of teaching against false teachers. However, it is likely that there is a literary dependence between the two letters. It could be that Peter has used Jude, Jude has used Peter, or that both have used another written source. Very few argue for a third (unknown) source used by both, since this only compounds the problem. Most think that Peter used Jude, and they may be correct. It does seem more plausible that Peter adapted and expanded Jude than that Jude used only a portion of 2 Peter and added very little to it.

However, the fact is that all theories about the literary relationship are conjectural. Fortunately, we need not know the direction of influence in order to interpret the letter. It is obvious that both writers are facing similar problems. Their churches were facing so-called Christian teachers who not only taught false doctrine but lived ungodly lives.

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

BIBLIOGRAPHY

2 PETER

Bauckham, Richard. Jude, 2 Peter. Word Biblical Commentary. Waco, TX: Word, 1983.

Green, Michael. The Second General Epistle of Peter and the General Epistle of Jude. Tyndale New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1968.

Hillyer, Norman. 1 and 2 Peter, Jude. New International Biblical Commentary. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1992.

Kelly, J.N.D. A Commentary on the Epistles of Peter and of Jude . Harper's New Testament Commentary. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1969.

Mayor, Joseph B. The Epistle of St. Jude and the Second Epistle of St. Peter: Greek Text with Introduction, Notes, and Comments. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1979 (orig. 1907).

Moo, Douglas J. 2 Peter and Jude. The NIV Application Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996.

Neyrey, Jerome H. 2 Peter, Jude: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. Anchor Bible. New York: Doubleday, 1993.

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

College: 2 Peter (Outline)

OUTLINE

I. INTRODUCTION - 1:1-15

A. Salutation and Greeting - 1:1-2

B. Preface: Exhortation to Godly Living - 1:3-11

C. Occasion: The Approaching Death of Peter - 1:12-15

II. BODY OF LETTER - 1:16-3:13

A. Reasons for Believing in Christ's Return - 1:16-21

1. Peter's Eyewitness Testimony - 1:16-18

2. The Sure Prophetic Word - 1:19-21

B. Warning against False Teachers - 2:1-22

1. The Coming of False Teachers - 2:1-3

2. The Condemnation of False Teachers - 2:4-10a

3. The Sins of the False Teachers - 2:10b-16

4. The Future Suffering of the False Teachers - 2:17-22

C. The Necessity of Believing in Christ's Return - 3:1-13

1. The Content of the False Teaching - 3:1-7

2. The Sure Return of Christ - 3:8-10

3. Christian Living in Light of Christ's Return - 3:11-13

III. FINAL EXHORTATIONS - 3:14-18

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV