2 Peter 2:8

8 That good man lived among them, and day after day he suffered agony as he saw and heard their evil actions.

2 Peter 2:8 Meaning and Commentary

2 Peter 2:8

For that righteous man dwelling among them
Which is sometimes the lot of good men, to their great sorrow and grief, ( Psalms 120:5-7 ) ( Isaiah 6:5 ) . Upon mentioning those words in ( Genesis 13:12 Genesis 13:13 ) "and pitched his tent towards Sodom", but the men of Sodom were wicked, &c. says R. Eleazar F9;

``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 ( Psalms 119:158 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F9 T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 38. 2.

2 Peter 2:8 In-Context

6 God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, destroying them with fire, and made them an example of what will happen to the godless.
7 He rescued Lot, a good man, who was distressed by the immoral conduct of lawless people.
8 That good man lived among them, and day after day he suffered agony as he saw and heard their evil actions.
9 And so the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials and how to keep the wicked under punishment for the Day of Judgment,
10 especially those who follow their filthy bodily lusts and despise God's authority. These false teachers are bold and arrogant, and show no respect for the glorious beings above; instead, they insult them.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.