2 Peter 2:12-22

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. 2 Peter 2:12 tn 2 Pet 2:12 through 16 constitute one cumbersome sentence in Greek. It is difficult to tell whether a hard break belongs in the middle of v. 13, as the translation has it, or whether the compounding of participles is meant in a loosely descriptive sort of way, without strong grammatical connection. Either way, the sentence rambles in a way that often betrays a great “vehemence of spirit” (A. T. Robertson, Grammar, 435). The author is obviously agitated at these false teachers who are to come.
2. 2 Peter 2:12 tn The false teachers could conceivably be men or women, but in v. 14 they are said to have eyes “full of an adulteress.” This can only refer to men. Hence, both here and in v. 17 the false teachers are described as “men.”
3. 2 Peter 2:12 tn Grk “born for capture and destruction.”
4. 2 Peter 2:12 tn Grk “with [reference to] whom.”
5. 2 Peter 2:12 tn There is no conjunction joining this last clause of v. 12 to the preceding (i.e., no “and consequently”). The argument builds asyndetically (a powerful rhetorical device in Greek), but cannot be naturally expressed in English as such.
6. 2 Peter 2:12 tn This cryptic expression has been variously interpreted. (1) It could involve a simple cognate dative in which case the idea is “they will be utterly destroyed.” But the presence of αὐτῶν (autōn; their, of them) is problematic for this view. Other, more plausible views are: (2) the false teachers will be destroyed at the same time as the irrational beasts, or (3) in the same manner as these creatures (i.e., by being caught); or (4) the false teachers will be destroyed together with the evil angels whom they insult. Because of the difficulties of the text, it was thought best to leave it ambiguous, as the Greek has it.
7. 2 Peter 2:13 tn There is a play on words in Greek, but this is difficult to express adequately in English. The verb ἀδικέω (adikeō) as a passive means “to suffer harm,” or “to suffer an injustice.” The noun ἀδικία (adikia) means “unrighteousness.” Since the Greek verb has a wider field of meaning than the English, to translate it as suffer an injustice is unwarranted, for it implicitly attributes evil to God. As R. Bauckham notes, “in English it is impossible to translate ἀδικούμενοι as a morally neutral term and ἀδικίας with a morally pejorative term, while retaining the play on words” (Jude, 2 Peter [WBC], 265).
8. 2 Peter 2:13 tn Grk “considering carousing in the daytime a pleasure.”
9. 2 Peter 2:13 tn Or “carousing,” “reveling.” The participle ἐντρυφῶντες (entruphōntes) is a cognate to the noun τρυφή (truphē, “carousing”) used earlier in the verse.
10. 2 Peter 2:14 tn Grk “having eyes.” See note on “men” at the beginning of v. 12.
11. 2 Peter 2:14 tn Grk “full of an adulteress.”
12. 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.
13. 2 Peter 2:14 tn Grk “enticing.” See note on “men” at the beginning of v. 12.
14. 2 Peter 2:14 tn “People” is literally “souls.” The term ψυχή (psuchē) can refer to one’s soul, one’s life, or oneself.
15. 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.
16. 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).
17. 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.
18. 2 Peter 2:16 tn Grk “but he had a rebuke.”
19. 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.
20. 2 Peter 2:16 tn Grk “a voice of a (man/person).”
21. 2 Peter 2:16 sn Balaam’s activities are detailed in Num 22-24 (see also Num 31:8, 16).
22. 2 Peter 2:17 tn Although some translations have simply “these” or “these people,” since in v. 14 they are described as having eyes “full of an adulteress,” men are in view.
23. 2 Peter 2:17 tn Grk “utter darkness of darkness.” Verse 4 speaks of wicked angels presently in “chains of utter darkness,” while the final fate of the false teachers is a darker place still.
24. 2 Peter 2:18 tn Grk “high-sounding words of futility.”
25. 2 Peter 2:18 tn Grk “they entice.”
26. 2 Peter 2:18 tn Grk “with the lusts of the flesh, with debauchery.”
27. 2 Peter 2:18 tn Grk “those.”
28. 2 Peter 2:18 tn Or “those who are barely escaping.”
29. 2 Peter 2:18 tn Or “deceit.”
30. 2 Peter 2:19 tn Verse 19 is a subordinate clause in Greek. The masculine nominative participle “promising” (ἐπαγγελλόμενοι, epangellomenoi) refers back to the subject of vv. 17-18. At the same time, it functions subordinately to the following participle, ὑπάρχοντες (huparchontes, “while being”).
31. 2 Peter 2:19 tn Grk “them.”
32. 2 Peter 2:19 tn Grk “slaves of.” See the note on the word “slave” in 1:1.
33. 2 Peter 2:19 tn Or “corruption,” “depravity.” Verse 19 constitutes a subordinate clause to v. 18 in Greek. The main verbal components of these two verses are: “uttering…they entice…promising…being (enslaved).” The main verb is (they) entice. The three participles are adverbial and seem to indicate an instrumental relation (by uttering), a concessive relation (although promising), and a temporal relation (while being [enslaved]). For the sake of English usage, in the translation of the text this is broken down into two sentences.
34. 2 Peter 2:19 tn Grk “for by what someone is overcome, to this he is enslaved.”
35. 2 Peter 2:20 tn Grk “defilements”; “contaminations”; “pollutions.”
36. 2 Peter 2:20 sn Through the rich knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The implication is not that these people necessarily knew the Lord (in the sense of being saved), but that they were in the circle of those who had embraced Christ as Lord and Savior.
37. 2 Peter 2:20 tn Grk “(and/but) they.”
38. 2 Peter 2:20 tn Grk “they again, after becoming entangled in them, are overcome by them.”
39. 2 Peter 2:22 tn Grk “the [statement] of the true proverb has happened to them.” The idiom in Greek cannot be translated easily in English.
40. 2 Peter 2:22 tn The quotation is a loose rendering of Prov 26:11. This proverb involves a participle that is translated like a finite verb (“returns”). In the LXX this line constitutes a subordinate and dependent clause. But since the line has been lifted from its original context, it has been translated as an independent statement.
41. 2 Peter 2:22 tn Or “after being washed.” The middle verb may be direct (“wash oneself”) or permissive (“allow oneself to be washed”).
42. 2 Peter 2:22 tn The source of this quotation is uncertain. Heraclitus has often been mentioned as a possible source, but this is doubtful. Other options on the translation of the second line include a sow, having (once) bathed herself (in mud), (returns) to wallowing in the mire, or a sow that washes herself by wallowing in the mire (BDAG 181 s.v. βόρβορος). The advantage of this last translation is that no verbs need to be supplied for it to make sense. The disadvantage is that in this context it does not make any contribution to the argument. Since the source of the quotation is not known, there is some guesswork involved in the reconstruction. Most commentators prefer a translation similar to the one in the text above.