2 Peter 2:8

8 (for by what that righteous man saw and heard as he lived among them, he was vexed in his righteous soul day after day with their lawless deeds),

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 if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomor'rah to ashes he condemned them to extinction and made them an example to those who were to be ungodly;
7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the licentiousness of the wicked
8 (for by what that righteous man saw and heard as he lived among them, he was vexed in his righteous soul day after day with their lawless deeds),
9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment,
10 and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and wilful, they are not afraid to revile the glorious ones,
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.