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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 2Pe_2:10-16
10bDaring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties, 11whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord. 12But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, 13suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, as they carouse with you, 14having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children; 15forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16but he received a rebuke for his own transgression, for a mute donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet.
2Pe_2:10 b "daring" (cf. Mar_12:34; Mar_15:43)
▣ "self-willed" (cf. Tit_1:7)
▣ "they do not tremble" (cf. Mat_28:4; Luk_8:47; Act_7:32; 1Co_2:3).
The three preceding terms describe the false teachers' lack of respect for spiritual powers and authorities. They possibly relate to the Gnostics' extensive theology of angelic levels (aeons) and the secret names of these angels necessary to supposedly pass through their realm on the way to fellowship with the high, good god.
NASB "angelic majesties"
NKJV "speak evil of dignitaries"
NRSV "slander the glorious ones"
TEV "no respect for the glorious being above"
NJB "offending the glorious one"
See note in previous section from Jude on "glories" (doxai).
2Pe_2:11 "do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord" This is parallel to Jud_1:9, which may be a quote from The Assumption of Moses. It relates an incident between Michael (i.e., the Arch Angel and guardian of Israel) and Satan over the body of Moses (cf. Deu_34:6).
There is a Greek manuscript variant in this phrase.
1. before the Lord (para with the locative, à , B, C, K, P, cf. NASB, NKJV, TEV, NJB)
2. from the Lord (para with the ablative, P72, cf. NRSV)
2Pe_2:12 This verse is parallel to Jud_1:10. Jud_1:9 describes Michael's encounter with Satan. This verse in 2 Peter and Jud_1:10 describes how the false teachers react to angelic authority and power
1. they act like unreasoning animals
2. they are creatures of animal instinct
What they know (and how they act) will destroy them.
▣ "destruction. . .destroyed" See Special Topic following.
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2Pe_2:13 "suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong" This is an unusual construction which is either (1) an idiom or (2) a word play (i.e., adikoumenoi, meaning "suffering wrong" and adikias, translated "of wrong").
▣ "to revel in the daytime" They flaunt their actions for all to see. This phrase and the last phrase of 2Pe_2:12 are saying the same thing.
NASB "stains and blemishes"
NKJV "spots and blemishes"
NRSV "blots and blemishes"
TEV "a shame and a disgrace"
NJB "unsightly blots"
The first term spilas (and its forms) has two distinct meanings: (1) originally it refers to unseen dangers, literally, hidden or shallow reefs (cf. Jud_1:12) and (2) stains or spots (cf. Eph_5:27; Jas_3:6; 2Pe_2:13; Jud_1:23).
The second term is somewhat synonymous. It is used metaphorically of "blemishes" or "spots." Both of these refer to the immoral false teachers' sexually preying on believers at the Christian love feasts (the Lord's Supper meal).
NASB "as they carouse with you"
NKJV, NRSV "while they feast with you"
TEV "join in your meals"
NJB "even when they are sharing your table"
This is parallel to Jud_1:12. The meal referred to was called "The Love Feast" (cf. 1Co_11:17-22), which was a communal Eucharist of the believing community.
2Pe_2:14 "eyes full of adultery" They looked at every woman at Christ's table as a sex object. These false teachers were sexually exploitive (cf. 2Pe_2:2; 2Pe_2:10; 2Pe_2:14; 2Pe_2:18). The rabbis say that the eyes are the windows of the soul. Sin begins in the thought life. These false teachers' eyes never rest!
▣ "enticing unstable souls" They snare and entrap weak or new believers (cf. Mat_18:6; 2Ti_3:6).
▣ "having a heart trained in greed" This is a perfect passive participle. We get the English word "gymnasium" from this word. They regularly trained to get more and more for themselves at any cost! See hyperlink at Mar_2:6.
NASB "accursed children"
NKJV "and are accursed children"
NRSV "Accursed children"
TEV "They are under God's curse"
NJB "They are under a curse"
This is a Hebrew idiom (cf. Eph_2:3). They demonstrate the characteristics and settled character of their father, the Devil. The positive opposite of this idiom is "obedient children" of 1Pe_1:14!
2Pe_2:15 "forsaking the right way" This reflects the Hebrew idiom for "sin" (cf. NRSV, TEV, NJB). Righteousness was described as a path or road. The godly were to follow the path (cf. Psa_119:105; Pro_6:23). Any deviation from the path was sin.
▣ "have gone astray" The term "astray" is our English word "planet," which meant "wanderer." This is parallel to Jud_1:13.
▣ "the way of Balaam" This same OT incident is mentioned in Jud_1:11. It is recorded in Numbers 22-25; Num_31:8; Num_31:16. As Balaam desired money, so too, these false teachers (i.e., greed, 2Pe_2:14).
NASB, NKJV,
TEV "Beor"
NRSV, NJB "Bosor"
The first reading is from the Septuagint of Numbers 22 and is the reading in MS B. The second reading is found in MSS P72, à cf8 i2, Ac, C, and UBS4 gives it an "A" rating (certain). However, there is no example of this name anywhere else.
2Pe_2:16 "a mute donkey, speaking with a voice of a man" This refers to Num_22:24; Num_22:31, another OT incident involving an angel.
NASB (UPDATED TEXT: 2Pe_2:17-22
17These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved. 18For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, 19promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved. 20For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them. 22It has happened to them according to the true proverb, "A dog returns to its own vomit," and, "A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire."
2Pe_2:17 "springs without water and mists" This is paralleled in Jud_1:12. They had the promise of blessing, but gave only death.
▣ "for whom the black darkness has been reserved" This is literally "thick darkness of darkness" (cf. 2Pe_2:4; Jud_1:6; Jud_1:13). The verb is a perfect passive indicative implying permanent judgment and confinement by God.
This is also paralleled in Jud_1:13. It is a metaphor for eternal punishment using darkness (cf. Mat_8:12; Mat_22:13; Mat_25:30 and I Enoch 10:4-5; 63:6).
2Pe_2:18
NASB "speaking out arrogant words of vanity"
NKJV "speak great swelling words of emptiness"
NRSV "speak bombastic nonsense"
TEV "make proud and stupid statements"
NJB "high-sounding but empty talk"
This is parallel to 2Pe_2:17 and Jud_1:12-13; Jud_1:16. They appear spiritual and truthful, but it is a sham, a deception.
NASB "they entice by fleshly desire"
NKJV "they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through licentiousness"
NRSV "with licentious desires of the flesh they entice"
TEV "use immoral body lusts to trap"
NJB "they tempt. . .by playing on the disordered desires of their human nature and debaucheries"
This is again the sexual aspects of the false teachers. They were in error not only theologically, but also morally.
NASB "those who barely escape"
NKJV "the ones who actually escaped"
NRSV "who have just escaped"
TEV "those who are just beginning to escape"
NJB "people who have scarcely escaped"
There is a Greek manuscript variant in this phrase.
1. oligôs, meaning "almost" (cf. MSS P72, à cf8 i2, A, B, and the Vulgate; Syriac, and Coptic translations)
2. ontôs, meaning "truly" or "actually" (cf. MSS à *, C, and the Armenian and Slavonic translations).
The theological issue is were these believers being led astray (cf. NKJV, NRSV, NIV) or were they almost believers (cf. NASB, NRSV [footnote], TEV)? The context of 2Pe_2:20-21 surely implies they were believers (i.e., first class conditional sentence).
2Pe_2:19 "promising them freedom" These false teachers were promising freedom in two senses: (1) a theological freedom based on secret knowledge of the angelic spheres and (2) a freedom from moral restraints based on salvation only involving an intellectual attainment (i.e., libertine or antinomian gnostics).
Paul urged believers not to use their freedom as a license to sin (cf. Gal_2:16), as did Peter (cf. 1Pe_2:16). Freedom has always been the forbidden fruit. Self control is a mark of spiritual maturity (cf. Gal_5:23). This is not in the Stoic sense of self mastery, but in the Christian sense of a believers yielding to the indwelling Spirit and conforming themselves to God's revelation (the NT). The real question then is who or what controls and/or characterizes our lives?
▣ "corruption" See Special Topic at 2Pe_2:12.
2Pe_2:20 "if" This is a first class conditional that is assumed to be true from the author's perspective or for his literary purposes. This implies that the victims of 2Pe_2:18 were believers.
▣ "they have escaped the defilements of the world" This is an aorist active participle, which implies a completed action (their profession of faith in Christ). The gospel had freed them from the power of the fallen nature (cf. Romans 6).
▣ "by the knowledge of the Lord" This is the term epignôskô, which has the connotation of full experiential knowledge (cf. 2Pe_1:2). The means of their salvation was the gospel which is a person, truth about that person, and a lifestyle like that person. The false teachers violated all three!
▣ "they are again entangled in them and are overcome" The first verbal is an aorist passive participle, while the second is a present passive indicative. Notice the passive voice, which implies an outside agency (i.e., the false teachers or the evil one). The immediate context defines the entanglement as sensuality and fleshly desires. For a good discussion of this verse see Hard Sayings of the Bible, pp. 729-730. I fully concur with their assessment.
▣ "the last state has become worse for them than the first" This could relate to (1) new believers (2Pe_2:14 b, 2Pe_2:18 b, 2Pe_2:21) or (2) the false teachers (2Pe_2:17-18 a). This same ambiguity relates to 2Pe_2:19.
2Pe_2:21 How could their condition be worse? (1) They became vaccinated against the real faith. They are like Heb_2:1-4; Heb_6:4-6; Heb_10:26-31 (i.e., unbelievers in the presence of great light); (2) This could refer to new or weak believers' lifestyle witness being lost more than their personal salvation. There is an intense warfare between the old and new natures (cf. Romans 7), both before salvation and even after.
▣ "the way of righteousness" This refers to the gospel, as does "the holy commandment" also in 2Pe_2:21 and "the knowledge of the Lord" in 2Pe_2:20 (cf. 2Pe_3:2).
2Pe_2:22 "the true proverb" The proverb of the dog is from the MT, not the LXX of Pro_26:11. The proverb of the hog is from the Aramaic wisdom book of Ahikan (i.e., 2 8:18), which was well known to the Jews during the Assyrian exile. Ahikan is mentioned in the Jewish book Tobit as a wise man from one of the northern ten exiled tribes. Jewish tradition says he rose to be a high government official (i.e., like Daniel) during the reigns of Sennacherib and Esarhaddon. These false teachers looked as if they were believers (i.e., wise men), but their actions showed it was only a surface change and not true repentance (cf. Matthew 7, 13).
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