2 Peter 2:14-16

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. 2 Peter 2:14 tn Grk “having eyes.” See note on “men” at the beginning of v. 12.
2. 2 Peter 2:14 tn Grk “full of an adulteress.”
3. 2 Peter 2:14 tn Grk “and unceasing from sin.” Some translate this “insatiable for sin,” but such a translation is based on a textual variant with inadequate support.
4. 2 Peter 2:14 tn Grk “enticing.” See note on “men” at the beginning of v. 12.
5. 2 Peter 2:14 tn “People” is literally “souls.” The term ψυχή (psuchē) can refer to one’s soul, one’s life, or oneself.
6. 2 Peter 2:14 tn Grk “having hearts trained in greediness, children of cursing.” The participles continue the general description of the false teachers, without strong grammatical connection. The genitive κατάρας (kataras, “of cursing”) is taken attributively here.
7. 2 Peter 2:15 tn Although many modern translations (e.g., NASB, TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT) read “Beor” here, this is due to harmonization with the OT rather than following a variant textual reading. The Greek text of NA²⁸ as well as most witnesses reads “Bosor,” an otherwise unattested form of the name of Balaam’s father. Significantly, B and א* stand out against this reading (B has Βεωρ [“Beor”] while א* reads Βεωορσορ [“Beorsor”], a nonsensical conflation of the other two variants).
8. 2 Peter 2:15 tn “Wages of unrighteousness” in Greek is the same expression found in v. 13, “wages for harmful ways.” The repetition makes the link between the false teachers and Balaam more concrete.
9. 2 Peter 2:16 tn Grk “but he had a rebuke.”
10. 2 Peter 2:16 tn The Greek word ἄφωνος (aphōnos) means “mute, silent” or “incapable of speech.” For reasons of English style the word “dumb” was used in the translation. Despite the potential for misunderstanding (since “dumb” can refer to a lack of intellectual capability) more dynamic glosses were judged to be inelegant.
11. 2 Peter 2:16 tn Grk “a voice of a (man/person).”
12. 2 Peter 2:16 sn Balaam’s activities are detailed in Num 22-24 (see also Num 31:8, 16).