@2Pe 2:1-22. FALSE TEACHERS TO ARISE: THEM BAD PRACTICES AND SURE DESTRUCTION, FROM WHICH THE GODLY SHALL BE DELIVERED, AS LOT WAS.
1. But--in contrast to the prophets "moved by the Holy Ghost"
(@2Pe 1:21).
also--as well as the true prophets (@2Pe 1:19-21). Paul had
already testified the entrance of false prophets into the same churches.
among the people--Israel: he is writing to believing Israelites
primarily (see on 1Pe 1:1).
Such a "false prophet" was Balaam (@2Pe 2:15).
there shall be--Already symptoms of the evil were appearing
(@2Pe 2:9-22 Jude 1:4-13).
false teachers--teachers of falsehood. In contrast to the true
teachers, whom he exhorts his readers to give heed to (@2Pe 3:2).
who--such as (literally, "the which") shall.
privily--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 (@Jude 1:4).
damnable--literally, "of destruction"; entailing destruction
(@Php 3:19) on all who follow them.
heresies--self-chosen doctrines, not emanating from God (compare
"will-worship," @Col 2:23).
even--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 (@Lu 22:61,62).
denying--Him whom, above all others, they ought to confess.
Lord--"Master and Owner" (Greek), compare @Jude 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."
bought them--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).
bring upon themselves--compare "God bringing in the flood upon the world," @2Pe 2:5. Man brings upon himself the vengeance which
God brings upon him.
swift--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 @Jude 1:11, which is akin to this
passage.
2. follow--out: so the Greek.
pernicious ways--The oldest manuscripts and Vulgate read,
"licentiousness" (@Jude 1:4). False doctrine and immoral practice
generally go together (@2Pe 2:18,19).
by reason of whom--"on account of whom," namely, the followers of
the false teachers.
the way of truth shall be evil spoken of--"blasphemed" by those
without, who shall lay on Christianity itself the blame of its
professors' evil practice. Contrast @1Pe 2:12.
3. through, &c.--Greek, "IN covetousness" as their element
(@2Pe 2:14, end). Contrast @2Co 11:20 12:17.
of a long time--in God's eternal purpose. "Before of old ordained
to condemnation" (@Jude 1:4).
lingereth not--though sinners think it lingers; "is not idle."
damnation--Greek, "destruction"
(see on 2Pe 2:1). Personified.
slumbereth not--though sinners slumber.
4. if--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).
angels--the highest of intelligent creatures (compare with this
verse, @Jude 1:6), yet not spared when they sinned.
hell--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," @Lu 8:31; "the bottomless pit," @Re 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.
delivered--as the judge delivers the condemned prisoner to the
officers (@Re 20:2).
into chains--(@Jude 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.
5. eighth--that is, Noah, and seven others. Contrasted with the
densely peopled "world of the ungodly."
preacher--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.
6. with, &c.--"TO overthrow" [ALFORD].
ensample--"of (the fate that should befall) those who in after-time
should live ungodly." Compare @Jude 1:7,
"set forth for an example."
7. just--righteous.
filthy conversation--literally, "behavior in licentiousness"
(@Ge 19:5).
the wicked--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.
8. vexed--Greek, "tormented."
9. knoweth how--He is at no loss for means, even when men see no
escape.
out of--not actually from.
temptations--trials.
to be punished--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.
10. chiefly--They especially will be punished (@Jude 1:8).
after--following after.
lust of uncleanness--defilement: "hankering after polluting
and unlawful use of the flesh" [ALFORD].
government--Greek, "lordship," "dominion" (@Jude 1:8).
Presumptuous--Greek, "Darers." Self-will begets
presumption. Presumptuously daring.
are not afraid--though they are so insignificant in
might; Greek, "tremble not" (@Jude 1:8, end).
speak evil of--Greek, "blaspheme."
dignities--Greek, "glories."
11. which are--though they are.
greater--than these blasphemers. Jude instances Michael (@Jude 1:9).
railing accusation--Greek, "blaspheming judgment" (@Jude 1:9).
against them--against "dignities," as for instance, the fallen angels:
once exalted, and still retaining traces of their former power and
glory.
before the Lord--In the presence of the Lord, the Judge, in
reverence, they abstain from judgment [BENGEL].
Judgment belongs to God,
not the angels. How great is the dignity of the saints who, as Christ's
assessors, shall hereafter judge angels! Meanwhile, railing judgments, though spoken with truth, against dignities, as being uttered
irreverently, are of the nature of "blasphemies" (Greek, @1Co 4:4,5). If superior angels dare not, as being in the presence
of God, the Judge, speak evil even of the bad angels, how awful the
presumption of those who speak evil blasphemously of good "dignities."
@2Sa 16:7,8, Shimei; @Nu 16:2,3, Korah, &c., referred to also
in @Jude 1:11 Nu 12:8, "Were ye (Aaron and Miriam)
not afraid to speak evil of My servant Moses?" The angels who
sinned still retain the indelible impress of majesty. Satan is still "a
strong man": "prince of this world"; and under him are "principalities,
powers, rulers of the darkness of this world." We are to avoid
irreverence in regard to them, not on their account, but on account of
God. A warning to those who use Satan's name irreverently and in
blasphemy. "When the ungodly curseth Satan, he curseth his own soul."
12. (@Jude 1:19).
But--In contrast to the "angels," @2Pe 2:11.
brute--Greek, "irrational." In contrast to angels that
"excel in strength."
beasts--Greek, "animals" (compare @Ps 49:20).
natural--transposed in the oldest manuscripts, "born natural," that
is, born naturally so: being in their very nature (that is, naturally)
as such (irrational animals), born to be taken and destroyed
(Greek, "unto capture and destruction," or corruption,
see on Ga 6:8;
compare end of this verse, "shall perish,"
literally, "shall be corrupted," in their own corruption. @Jude 1:10, naturally . . . corrupt themselves," and so destroy
themselves; for one and the same Greek word expresses corruption, the seed, and destruction, the developed fruit).
speak evil of--Greek, "in the case of things which they
understand not." Compare the same presumption, the parent of subsequent
Gnostic error, producing an opposite, though kindred, error, the
worshipping of good angels": @Col 2:18,
"intruding into those things which he hath not seen."
13. receive--"shall carry off as their due."
reward of--that is, for their "unrighteousness"
[ALFORD]. Perhaps
it is implied, unrighteousness shall be its own reward or
punishment. "Wages of unrighteousness" (@2Pe 2:15) has a different
sense, namely, the earthly gain to be gotten by "unrighteousness."
in the daytime--Translate as Greek, "counting the luxury which
is in the daytime (not restricted to night, as ordinary revelling.
Or as Vulgate and CALVIN, "the luxury which is but for a day":
so @Heb 11:25, "the pleasures of sin for a season"; and
@Heb 12:16, Esau) to be pleasure," that is, to be their chief good
and highest enjoyment.
Spots--in themselves.
blemishes--disgraces: bringing blame (so the Greek)
on the Church and on Christianity itself.
sporting themselves--Greek, "luxuriating."
with--Greek, "in."
deceivings--or else passively, "deceits":
luxuries gotten by deceit. Compare @Mt 13:22, "Deceitfulness of
riches"; @Eph 4:22, "Deceitful lusts." While deceiving others, they are
deceived themselves. Compare with English Version, @Php 3:19,
"Whose glory is in their shame." "Their own" stands in opposition to
"you": "While partaking of the love-feast (compare @Jude 1:12)
with you," they are at the same time "luxuriating in their own deceivings," or "deceits" (to which latter clause answers @Jude 1:12,
end: Peter presents the positive side, "they luxuriate in their own
deceivings"; Jude, the negative, "feeding themselves without fear").
But several of the oldest manuscripts, Vulgate, Syriac, and
Sahidic Versions read (as Jude), "In their own love-feasts": "their
own" will then imply that they pervert the love-feasts so as to make
them subserve their own self-indulgent purposes.
14. full of adultery--literally, "full of an adulteress," as though
they carried about adulteresses always dwelling in their eyes: the eye
being the avenue of lust [HORNEIUS].
BENGEL makes the adulteress who fills their eyes, to be "alluring desire."
that cannot cease--"that cannot be made to cease from sin."
beguiling--"laying baits for."
unstable--not firmly established in faith and piety.
heart--not only the eyes, which are the channel, but the
heart, the fountain head of lust. @Job 31:7, "Mine
heart walked after mine eyes."
covetous practices--The oldest manuscripts read singular,
"covetousness."
cursed children--rather as Greek, "children of curse," that is,
devoted to the curse. Cursing and covetousness, as in Balaam's
case, often go together: the curse he designed for Israel fell on
Israel's foes and on himself. True believers bless, and curse not,
and so are blessed.
15. have--Some of the seducers are spoken of as already come,
others as yet to come.
following--out: so the Greek.
the way--(@Nu 22:23,32 Isa 56:11).
son of Bosor--the same as Beor (@Nu 22:5). This word was
adopted, perhaps, because the kindred word Basar means flesh; and Balaam is justly termed son of carnality, as covetous, and the
enticer of Israel to lust.
loved the wages of unrighteousness--and therefore wished (in order
to gain them from Balak) to curse Israel whom God had blessed, and at
last gave the hellish counsel that the only way to bring God's curse on
Israel was to entice them to fleshly lust and idolatry, which
often go together.
16. was rebuked--Greek, "had a rebuke," or conviction; an
exposure of his specious wickedness on his being tested (the
root verb of the Greek noun means to "convict on testing").
his--Greek, "his own": his own beast convicted him of his own iniquity.
ass--literally, "beast of burden"; the ass was the ordinary animal
used in riding in Palestine.
dumb--Greek, "voiceless-speaking in man's voice";
marking the marvellous nature of the miracle.
forbade--literally, "hindered." It was not the words of the ass
(for it merely deprecated his beating it), but
the miraculous fact of its speaking at all, which withstood
Balaam's perversity in desiring to go after God had forbidden him in
the first instance. Thus indirectly the ass, and directly the angel,
rebuked his worse than asinine obstinacy; the ass turned aside
at the sight of the angel, but Balaam, after God had plainly said, Thou
shalt not go, persevered in wishing to go for gain; thus the ass,
in act, forbade his madness. How awful a contrast--a dumb beast
forbidding an inspired prophet!
17. (@Jude 1:12,13.)
wells--"clouds" in Jude; both promising (compare @2Pe 2:19)
water, but yielding none; so their "great swelling words" are found on
trial to be but "vanity" (@2Pe 2:18).
clouds--The oldest manuscripts and versions read, "mists," dark, and not transparent and bright as "clouds" often are, whence the latter
term is applied sometimes to the saints; fit emblem of the children of
darkness. "Clouds" is a transcriber's correction from @Jude 1:12,
where it is appropriate, "clouds . . . without water" (promising what
they do not perform); but not here, "mists driven along by a tempest."
mist--blackness; "the chilling horror accompanying
darkness" [BENGEL].
18. allure--Greek, "lay baits for."
through--Greek, "in"; the lusts of the flesh being the element
IN which they lay their baits.
much wantonness--Greek, "by licentiousness"; the bait which they
lay.
clean escaped--Greek, "really escaped." But the oldest manuscripts
and Vulgate read, "scarcely," or "for but a little time"; scarcely
have they escaped from them who live in error (the ungodly world), when
they are allured by these seducers into sin again (@2Pe 2:20).
19. promise . . . liberty--(Christian)--These promises are instances
of their "great swelling words" (@2Pe 2:18). The liberty which
they propose is such as fears not Satan, nor loathes the flesh. Pauline
language, adopted by Peter here, and @1Pe 2:16;
see on 1Pe 2:16;
(compare @2Pe 3:15 Ro 6:16-22 8:15,21 Ga 5:1,13;
compare @Joh 8:34).
corruption--(See on 2Pe 2:12);
"destroyed . . . perish . . . corruption."
of whom--"by whatever . . . by the same," &c.
20. after they--the seducers "themselves" have escaped
(@2Pe 2:19;
see on Heb 6:4-6).
pollutions--which bring "corruption" (@2Pe 2:19).
through--Greek, "in."
knowledge--Greek, "full and accurate knowledge."
the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ--solemnly expressing in full the
great and gracious One from whom they fall.
latter end is worse . . . than the beginning--Peter remembers
Christ's words. "Worse" stands opposed to "better" (@2Pe 2:21).
21. the way of righteousness--"the way of truth" (@2Pe 2:2).
Christian doctrine, and "the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour."
turn--back again; so the Greek.
from the holy commandment--the Gospel which enjoins holiness; in
opposition to their corruption. "Holy," not that it makes holy, but
because it ought to be kept inviolate [TITTMANN].
delivered--once for all; admitting no turning back.
22. But--You need not wonder at the event; for dogs and swine they were before, and dogs and swine they will continue. They "scarcely" (@2Pe 2:18) have escaped from their filthy folly, when they again are entangled in it. Then they seduce others who have in like manner "for a little time escaped from them that live in error" (@2Pe 2:18). Peter often quoted Proverbs in his First Epistle (@1Pe 1:7 2:17 4:8,18); another proof that both Epistles come from the same writer.