2 Peter 2

Peter warns that false teachers will rise inside the church, as false prophets did in Israel. They will lead many into immorality for their own profit. Peter shows from the Flood, Sodom and Lot that God judges the wicked and rescues the godly, then describes the teachers’ empty promises and the tragedy of turning back after knowing Christ.

2 Peter 2:1

Israel had false prophets, and the church will have false teachers. Their error comes in quietly, dressed as Christian teaching. At its worst it denies the Master who bought them. Such teaching is not harmless, since it brings ruin on those who spread it.

BSA: secretly introduce (“slyly bring in, smuggle”): The error is smuggled in like contraband, not announced openly. bought (“purchased, redeemed”): Christ paid a price for them, which makes denying Him all the more grievous.

Greek: παρεισάξουσιν (pareisaxousin, G3919) — “will bring in alongside, sneak in.” The word pictures something slipped in by a side door. False teaching rarely arrives labeled as false.

See also: Matthew 7:15; Acts 20:29-30.

2 Peter 2:2

Many will copy the teachers’ loose living. Their conduct then damages the church’s witness, and outsiders speak evil of the way of truth. Wrong living by those who claim Christ’s name can make people scorn the gospel itself.

BSA: defamed (“evil spoken of, blasphemed, slandered”): The gospel itself gets blamed for the bad behavior of its false representatives.

2 Peter 2:3

Greed drives these teachers. They treat people as goods to be traded and use persuasive, made-up words to profit from them. But their judgment was decided long ago. It is not lingering or asleep, and God has not forgotten.

BSA: exploit (“make merchandise of, traffic in”): Believers become merchandise to be used for the teachers’ gain. sleep (“is not postponed, does not slumber”): God’s judgment is not dozing or forgotten, though it may seem delayed.

2 Peter 2:4

Peter’s first example is the angels who sinned. Their high rank did not save them. God held them in dark confinement until judgment. If heavenly beings were not spared, false teachers should not imagine they will be.

BSA: hell (“Tartarus, a place of eternal torment”): Peter uses a rare word for a dark prison where fallen angels await judgment.

Greek: ταρταρώσας (tartarōsas, G5020) — “cast into Tartarus.” This verb appears only here in the New Testament. It names a deep, dark place of confinement, which is a different thing from the final lake of fire.

See also: Jude 1:6.

2 Peter 2:5

The second example is the Flood. God judged a whole ungodly world yet kept Noah and seven others safe. Noah called people to righteousness while the world mocked. Judgment and rescue came together.

BSA: preacher (“herald, messenger”): Noah publicly announced God’s message to his generation.

See also: Genesis 7:1; 1 Peter 3:20.

2 Peter 2:6

Sodom and Gomorrah are the third example. God turned them to ashes, and their fate stands as a warning of what awaits the ungodly. Their ruin shows that God’s verdicts are real and carried out.

BSA: example (“a pattern, a warning”): The burned cities serve as a lasting sign of coming judgment.

See also: Genesis 19:24-25; Jude 1:7.

2 Peter 2:7-8

Lot lived in Sodom and was rescued from it. Peter calls him righteous. His soul was tormented day after day by the evil he saw and heard. His grief shows that he did not share the city’s ways. God notices a believer’s inner distress.

BSA: tormented (“vexed, distressed, tortured”): Constant exposure to sin wore on Lot’s conscience like steady pain.

See also: Genesis 19:15-16.

2 Peter 2:9

Here is Peter’s conclusion. The Lord knows how to deliver the godly from trials and how to keep the unrighteous for judgment. Believers surrounded by evil can trust that God knows His way through. Those who are wicked will not escape.

BSA: trials (“temptations, testing”): The word covers both outward hardship and inward pressure to sin. hold (“to keep, to reserve”): The unrighteous are kept under guard for a set day, not forgotten.

See also: 1 Corinthians 10:13.

2 Peter 2:10

Judgment falls hardest on those who feed corrupt desires and despise authority. They are bold and self-willed. They even mock glorious spiritual beings without fear. Their pride blinds them to the weight of what they dismiss.

BSA: self-willed (“arrogant, uncontrolled”): They answer to no one but themselves. despise (“think little of, disregard”): They treat God’s rightful authority as unimportant.

Greek: αὐθάδεις (authadeis, G829) — “self-pleasing, stubborn.” It describes someone so pleased with himself that he will listen to no one else.

2 Peter 2:11

Angels are stronger than these men, yet even they do not hurl insults at evil beings. They leave judgment to the Lord. The false teachers show reckless pride by doing what angels will not.

See also: Jude 1:9.

2 Peter 2:12

Peter likens these men to animals that act on instinct, without thought. They speak abusively about things they do not understand. Like beasts born to be caught and killed, they are headed for destruction.

BSA: irrational (“unreasonable, without logic”): They are led by appetite, not by clear thought or reverence.

2 Peter 2:13

What they suffer is only the payment their wickedness has earned. They find pleasure in daytime revelry, which was usually shameful. They are stains on the church, and they even join its shared meals while delighting in their own deceit.

BSA: wages (“reward, payment”): Judgment is pictured as pay due for the work of sin. blots (“stains, spots”): They mar the church’s fellowship like stains on a clean cloth.

See also: Jude 1:12.

2 Peter 2:14

Their eyes search for sin and cannot rest. They lure unsteady believers and have trained their hearts in greed, as an athlete trains his body. Sin practiced long enough becomes a habit that demands more and is never satisfied.

BSA: trained (“exercised”): Their greed is a skill built by constant practice. unstable (“vacillating”): Those not yet firmly rooted in Christ are easily led away.

Greek: γεγυμνασμένην (gegymnasmenēn, G1128) — “trained, exercised.” This is the word for athletic training, from which we get ‘gymnasium’. Their greed is a fitness they have built up.

2 Peter 2:15-16

They have left the straight path, as Balaam did. He loved the money he could earn by cursing Israel. A speaking donkey rebuked him, and the animal showed more sense than the prophet. Love of money can make a person deaf to God.

BSA: madness (“insanity, foolishness, paranoia”): Chasing profit against God’s will is a kind of insanity.

See also: Numbers 22:21-35; Jude 1:11.

2 Peter 2:17

They promise much and give nothing. A spring that is dry and a mist that blows away disappoint the thirsty. Blackest darkness waits for such teachers. Those who look to them for spiritual refreshment leave empty.

BSA: springs (“sources of living water”): A spring promises water, so a dry one is a bitter disappointment.

See also: Jude 1:12-13.

2 Peter 2:18

Their words sound grand but are hollow. They appeal to fleshly desires and target new believers who are only just escaping a life of error. Those newly freed from a sinful life are especially at risk.

BSA: entice (“lure, tempt”): The word is a fisherman’s term for baiting a hook, so these teachers use attractive bait. empty (“of no real value, futile”): Their talk has size but no substance.

Greek: δελεάζουσιν (deleazousin, G1185) — “they bait, they lure.” It is a fishing word, meaning to catch with bait. The teachers hide the hook behind what looks appealing.

2 Peter 2:19

They offer freedom to do as one pleases, but they are slaves themselves. Whatever overpowers a person becomes his master. Real freedom is found in Christ, and not in indulging sin.

BSA: freedom (“liberty from sin’s bondage”): The true freedom is release from sin, not permission to sin. slaves (“bondservants, servants of corruption”): Corruption rules them like a master who owns them.

See also: John 8:34; Romans 6:16.

2 Peter 2:20

Peter speaks of people who escaped the world’s corruption through knowing Jesus, then were caught up in it again. Their last state is worse than their first. Knowing the truth and then rejecting it carries a heavier responsibility. Christians read this passage with some care about what it says of these people’s standing.

BSA: entangled (“involved, trapped”): Like an animal caught in a net, they are tangled in what they once left. knowledge (“deep understanding, recognition”): It is a real and full knowing of Christ, and not just a passing acquaintance.

Greek: ἐπιγνώσει (epignōsei, G1922) — “full knowledge, recognition.” It means more than hearing about Christ. It denotes real acquaintance, which makes turning back all the sadder.

See also: Matthew 12:43-45; Hebrews 6:4-6.

2 Peter 2:21

It would have been better never to know the way of righteousness than to know it and walk away from the holy commandment given to them. The gospel is a sacred trust. Turning away from clear light carries serious weight.

BSA: turn away (“revert, apostatize”): It is a deliberate turning back from the path once known. passed on (“delivered, surrendered”): The faith was handed down to them as a trust, not invented by them.

See also: Luke 12:47-48.

2 Peter 2:22

Peter ends with two blunt sayings. A dog goes back to its vomit, and a washed pig goes back to the mud. Outward cleaning without a changed nature does not last. The one who truly belongs to Christ is given a new heart.

See also: Proverbs 26:11.