Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - 2 Peter 2:17 - 2:17

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Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - 2 Peter 2:17 - 2:17


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

17. “Waterless springs and mists driven by a gale: for whom darkness is reserved.” In Jude the list of comparisons is longer; Waterless clouds, barren trees, wild waves, wandering stars, for whom darkness is reserved. It is conceivable that some words have dropped out of the text of our Epistle.

πηγαί. One who sets up to be a teacher ought to be a fountain of wisdom. These men yield none.

ὁμίχλαι κ.τ.λ. “Mists” which veil the light, not clouds which promise fertilising rain. And the mists are to be swept away by a tempest into darkness. Compare Wis 5:14 “the life of the ungodly is ὡς φερόμενος χνοῦς ἀπὸ ἀνέμου καὶ ὡς πάχνη ὑπὸ λαίλαπος διωχθεῖσα λεπτή.”

οἷς ὁ ζόφος κ.τ.λ. This cannot be pressed into connexion with the metaphor of springs: to the mists it is not inapplicable. In its original place in Jude it applies, with complete suitability, to stars. The masculine οἷς here must, as the text stands, be referred to the men who are described under these various images: but a lacuna seems not improbable.