Naravist

The Letters · New Testament

2 Peter 2

2 Peter 2: false teachers, examples from the past, and a proverb

General context

False prophets were among the people before, and false teachers are said to be coming among the readers, bringing in damnable heresies privily, denying the Lord that bought them, and drawing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow them, the way of truth will be spoken against, and through covetousness they will make merchandise of the readers. Three examples from the past follow: God did not spare the angels that sinned but reserved them to judgment; he did not spare the old world but saved Noah, the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, while bringing the flood; and he turned Sodom and Gomorrha to ashes while delivering just Lot, whose soul was vexed day by day by what he saw and heard. The conclusion drawn is that the Lord knows how to deliver the godly and to reserve the unjust for punishment, chiefly those who walk after the flesh and despise government. They are then described at length: presumptuous, selfwilled, unafraid to speak evil of dignities where angels are not, speaking against what they do not understand, rioting in the day time, feasting with the readers, beguiling unstable souls. They are said to follow the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness and was rebuked by a dumb ass speaking with man's voice. They are called wells without water and clouds carried with a tempest, promising liberty while serving corruption. Those who escaped the pollutions of the world and are entangled again end worse than they began. A proverb closes the chapter, about a dog returning to its vomit and a washed sow to the mire.

Cited passages: 2 Peter 2:1, 2 Peter 2:2, 2 Peter 2:3, 2 Peter 2:4, 2 Peter 2:5, 2 Peter 2:6, 2 Peter 2:7, 2 Peter 2:8, 2 Peter 2:9, 2 Peter 2:10, 2 Peter 2:11, 2 Peter 2:12, 2 Peter 2:13, 2 Peter 2:14, 2 Peter 2:15, 2 Peter 2:16, 2 Peter 2:17, 2 Peter 2:19, 2 Peter 2:20, 2 Peter 2:21, 2 Peter 2:22

2 Peter 2 (KJV)

1But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

2And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

3And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

4For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;

5And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

6And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;

7And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:

8(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)

9The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

10But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.

11Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.

12But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

13And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;

14Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:

15Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

16But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet.

17These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.

18For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.

19While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

20For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.

21For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.

22But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The chapter speaks of the false teachers in the future tense at the start, "there shall be false teachers among you", and then in the present, "while they feast with you", so the letter both predicts them and describes them as already at table. It names none of them, gives no teaching of theirs beyond denying the Lord that bought them and promising liberty, and names no place. Four figures from older scripture appear. Noah is called "the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness". Lot is called just and righteous, and his distress is described. Sodom and Gomorrha are named as turned to ashes, which Genesis 19:24 reports as fire and brimstone rained on them. Balaam is called "the son of Bosor", where Numbers 22:5 names "Balaam the son of Beor", and the speaking ass matches Numbers 22:28, where the Lord opens the mouth of the ass. The closing line is introduced as "the true proverb" and reads "The dog is turned to his own vomit again"; Proverbs 26:11 reads "As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly", and the sow is not in that verse.

Cited passages: 2 Peter 2:1, 2 Peter 2:13, 2 Peter 2:5, 2 Peter 2:6, Genesis 19:24, 2 Peter 2:15, Numbers 22:5, Numbers 22:28, 2 Peter 2:22, Proverbs 26:11

Literary context

The chapter is one long sentence of argument broken into pieces. Verses 4 to 9 hang together as a suspended condition, twice "spared not" and then a third case beginning "And turning", before the main clause arrives at verse 9 with what the Lord knows how to do, so the examples are stacked before any conclusion is allowed. The examples pair destruction with rescue each time, a drowned world with Noah, burned cities with Lot, and the pattern is what the argument rests on. After that the writing turns to portraiture and abandons argument for accumulation: brute beasts, spots, blemishes, wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, the last two dry where they should hold water. Balaam is the one named parallel, and the detail chosen from his story is the animal that had to correct him. The closing proverb puts the whole chapter in two pictures, both of creatures going back to what they had left, which is the charge the chapter has been making in prose.

Cited passages: 2 Peter 2:4, 2 Peter 2:5, 2 Peter 2:9, 2 Peter 2:12, 2 Peter 2:13, 2 Peter 2:17, 2 Peter 2:16, 2 Peter 2:22

Key moments

  1. False teachers coming (2 Peter 2:1). The letter warns of teachers bringing in heresies privately.
  2. Merchandise of you (2 Peter 2:3). Covetousness and feigned words are named as their method.
  3. Noah and the old world (2 Peter 2:5). A drowned world is paired with one family preserved.
  4. Just Lot vexed daily (2 Peter 2:8). Lot's distress among his neighbours is described in detail.
  5. Feasting with you (2 Peter 2:13). The accused are placed at the readers' own table.
  6. The way of Balaam (2 Peter 2:15). A named prophet is used as the pattern for paid error.
  7. The dog and the sow (2 Peter 2:22). A proverb closes the chapter with two returning animals.

For reflection

The chapter says these teachers are sitting at the readers' own feasts while it describes them. What would make a person recognisable as one of them before the damage is done?

People in this chapter

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