2 Petrus 2:15

2:15 By forsaking the right path they have gone astray, because they followed the way of Balaam son of Bosor, ¹  who loved the wages of unrighteousness, ² 

2 Petrus 2:18

2:18 For by speaking high-sounding but empty words ³  they are able to entice, ⁴  with fleshly desires and with debauchery, ⁵  people ⁶  who have just escaped ⁷  from those who reside in error. ⁸ 

2 Petrus 3:17

3:17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, ⁹  be on your guard that you do not get led astray by the error of these unprincipled men ¹⁰  and fall from your firm grasp on the truth. ¹¹ 

2 Petrus 2:1

The False Teachers’ Ungodly Lifestyle

2:1 But false prophets arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. ¹²  These false teachers ¹³  will ¹⁴  infiltrate your midst ¹⁵  with destructive heresies, ¹⁶  even to the point of ¹⁷  denying the Master who bought them. As a result, they will bring ¹⁸  swift destruction on themselves.

2 Petrus 2:13

2:13 suffering harm as the wages for their harmful ways. ¹⁹  By considering it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight, ²⁰  they are stains and blemishes, indulging ²¹  in their deceitful pleasures when they feast together with you.

[2:15]  ¹ 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 NA²⁷ reads “Bosor,” an otherwise unattested form of the name of Balaam’s father.

[2:15]  ² 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.

[2:18]  ³ tn Grk “high-sounding words of futility.”

[2:18]  ⁴ tn Grk “they entice.”

[2:18]  ⁵ tn Grk “with the lusts of the flesh, with debauchery.”

[2:18]  ⁶ tn Grk “those.”

[2:18]  ⁷ tn Or “those who are barely escaping.”

[2:18]  ⁸ tn Or “deceit.”

[3:17]  ⁹ tn Grk “knowing beforehand.”

[3:17]  ¹⁰ tn Or “lawless ones.”

[3:17]  sn These unprincipled men. The same word is used in 2:7, suggesting further that the heretics in view in chapter 3 are the false teachers of chapter 2.

[3:17]  ¹¹ tn Grk “fall from your firmness.”

[2:1]  ¹² sn There will be false teachers among you. Peter uses the same verb, γίνομαι (ginomai), in 2 Pet 2:1 as he had used in 1:20 to describe the process of inspiration. He may well be contrasting, by way of a catchword, the two kinds of prophets.

[2:1]  ¹³ tn Grk “who”; verse 1 is one sentence in Greek, the second half constituting a relative clause.

[2:1]  ¹⁴ sn By the use of the future tense (will infiltrate), Peter is boldly prophesying the role that false teachers will have before these Gentile believers. It was necessary for him to establish both his own credentials and to anchor his audience’s faith in the written Word before he could get to this point, for these false teachers will question both.

[2:1]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “will bring in,” often with the connotation of secretiveness; “your midst” is implied.

[2:1]  ¹⁶ tn Or “destructive opinions,” “destructive viewpoints.” The genitive ἀπωλείας (apwleia") could be taken either attributively (“destructive”) or as a genitive of destination (“leading to destruction”). Although the preferable interpretation is a genitive of destination, especially because of the elaboration given at the end of the verse (“bringing swift destruction on themselves”), translating it attributively is less cumbersome in English. Either way, the net result is the same.

[2:1]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “even.” The καί (kai) is ascensive, suggesting that the worst heresy is mentioned in the words that follow.

[2:1]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “bringing.” The present participle ἐπάγοντες (epagonte") indicates the result of the preceding clause.

[2:13]  ¹⁹ tn There is a play on words in Greek, but this is difficult to express adequately in English. The verb ἀδικέω (adikew) 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).

[2:13]  ²⁰ tn Grk “considering carousing in the daytime a pleasure.”

[2:13]  ²¹ tn Or “carousing,” “reveling.” The participle ἐντρυφῶντες (entrufwnte") is a cognate to the noun τρυφή (trufh, “carousing”) used earlier in the verse.