2 Peter 2:1-9

False Prophets and Teachers

1 But ¹false prophets also arose among the people, ²just as there will be false teachers among you, who will ³secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master ⁴who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.

2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth ⁵will be blasphemed.

3 And ⁶in their greed they will exploit you ⁷with false words. ⁸Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

4 For if God did not spare ⁹angels when they sinned, but ¹⁰cast them into hell^[a] and committed them to chains^[b] of gloomy darkness ¹¹to be kept until the judgment;

5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but ¹²preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought ¹³a flood upon the world of the ungodly;

6 if by ¹⁴turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, ¹⁵making them an example of ¹⁶what is going to happen to the ungodly; ^[c]

7 and ¹⁷if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked

8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, ¹⁸he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard);

9 then ¹⁹the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, ^[d] and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment,

2 Peter 2:1-9 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 PETER 2

This chapter contains a description of false teachers, that were then in Christian churches, as there had been false prophets among the Jews; and they are described by the doctrines, which they privily introduced; in general, damnable heresies; in particular, denying the Lord that bought them; and by their success, having many followers of them in their pernicious ways; and by the sad effects following hereupon; with respect to the way of truth, that was blasphemed; with respect to their hearers, they, through the covetousness of these false teachers, were made merchandise of; and with respect to themselves, swift and sure destruction would be brought upon them, 2Pe 2:1-3, which is illustrated and confirmed by the instances of punishment in the angels, the men of the old world, and the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, 2Pe 2:4-8 and whereas, in these instances, notice is taken of the deliverance of some righteous persons, as Noah and Lot, when wicked men were destroyed; the apostle draws this conclusion from the whole, that the Lord knows both how to deliver the saints out of afflictions, and to reserve wicked men until the day of judgment, then to be punished, 2Pe 2:9, especially such shall be then punished, who are described by their impure course of lift, their contempt of civil government, and their presumption and selfwill, 2Pe 1:10 which sins of theirs are aggravated by the different conduct of angels, superior to them; and by their being like brute beasts, as ignorant as they, and even below them; whose punishment will be to perish in their corruption, as the just reward of their unrighteousness, since they are open in sin, take pleasure in it, and sport themselves with it, and are spots and blemishes in Christian societies, 2Pe 2:11-13 and these, who are no other than the false teachers before spoken of, are further described by their adulterous eyes, which cannot cease from sin; by their beguiling unstable souls; by the covetous practices their hearts were exercised with; by their just desert, cursed children; by the course they steer, forsaking the right way, going astray from it, and following the way of Balaam in his covetousness, and other wicked practices, for which he was reproved by his ass; and by various metaphors, which express the emptiness of these persons, and which also point at their destruction, and describe their boasts and brags, and the influence they have, through their lasciviousness and uncleanness, on some persons, who have been outwardly reformed, 2Pe 2:14-18 and this they obtain over them in a very stupid and senseless way, by promising them liberty, when through being overcome by them, and drawn into sin, they were brought into bondage, and become servants of corruption; and so their case is worse than it was before their reformation, and profession of religion; and better it would have been not to have had the knowledge they had, than after it to turn from the paths of truth and holiness, which is illustrated by a true Scripture proverb, which expresses the filthy nature of sin, the character of these men, and their irrecoverable state and condition, 2Pe 2:19-22.

Cross References

• 1. 2:1 Deut. 13:1; See Matt. 7:15
• 2. 2:1 Acts 20:30; 2 Cor. 11:13; 1 Tim. 4:1; [Matt. 24:11]
• 3. 2:1 Jude 4; [Matt. 10:33; Gal. 2:4]
• 4. 2:1 1 Cor. 6:20; 7:23; Gal. 3:13; 4:5; Rev. 5:9; [Ex. 15:16; 1 Pet. 1:18; Rev. 14:3, 4]
• 5. 2:2 Rom. 2:24
• 6. 2:3 [2 Cor. 12:17, 18; 1 Tim. 6:5; Titus 1:11]
• 7. 2:3 Rom. 16:18; Col. 2:4
• 8. 2:3 [Deut. 32:35; Phil. 3:19]
• 9. 2:4 Jude 6
• 10. 2:4 [Rev. 20:2, 3, 10]
• 11. 2:4 Matt. 25:41
• 12. 2:5 See 1 Pet. 3:20
• 13. 2:5 ch. 3:6; Job 22:16
• 14. 2:6 See Gen. 19:24
• 15. 2:6 [Num. 26:10]
• 16. 2:6 Jude 15
• 17. 2:7 Gen. 19:16
• 18. 2:8 Ps. 119:136, 158; [Ezek. 9:4]
• 19. 2:9 1 Cor. 10:13; Rev. 3:10

Footnotes

• [a] 2:4 Greek 'Tartarus'
• [b] 2:4 Some manuscripts 'pits'
• [c] 2:6 Some manuscripts 'an example to those who were to be ungodly'
• [d] 2:9 Or 'temptations'