2 Petrus 2:8

2:8 (for while he lived among them day after day, that righteous man was tormented in his righteous soul ¹  by the lawless deeds he saw and heard ² )

2 Petrus 2:10

2:10 especially those who indulge their fleshly desires ³  and who despise authority.

Brazen and insolent, ⁴  they are not afraid to insult ⁵  the glorious ones, ⁶ 

2 Petrus 2:12

2:12 But ⁷  these men, ⁸  like irrational animals – creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed ⁹  – do not understand whom ¹⁰  they are insulting, and consequently ¹¹  in their destruction they will be destroyed, ¹² 

2 Petrus 2:14

2:14 Their eyes, ¹³  full of adultery, ¹⁴  never stop sinning; ¹⁵  they entice ¹⁶  unstable people. ¹⁷  They have trained their hearts for greed, these cursed children! ¹⁸ 

2 Petrus 2:16

2:16 yet was rebuked ¹⁹  for his own transgression (a dumb donkey, ²⁰  speaking with a human voice, ²¹  restrained the prophet’s madness). ²² 

2 Petrus 2:19

2:19 Although these false teachers promise ²³  such people ²⁴  freedom, they themselves are enslaved to ²⁵  immorality. ²⁶  For whatever a person succumbs to, to that he is enslaved. ²⁷ 

[2:8]  ¹ tn Grk “that righteous man tormented his righteous soul.”

[2:8]  ² tn Grk “by lawless deeds, in seeing and hearing [them].”

[2:10]  ³ tn Grk “those who go after the flesh in [its] lust.”

[2:10]  ⁴ tn There is no “and” in Greek; it is supplied for the sake of English convention.

[2:10]  ⁵ tn The translation takes βλασφημοῦντες (blasfhmounte") as an adverbial participle of purpose, as most translations do. However, it is also possible to see this temporally (thus, “they do not tremble when they blaspheme”).

[2:10]  ⁶ tn Δόξας (doxas) almost certainly refers to angelic beings rather than mere human authorities, though it is difficult to tell whether good or bad angels are in view. Verse 11 seems to suggest that wicked angels is what the author intends.

[2:12]  ⁷ 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.

[2:12]  ⁸ 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.”

[2:12]  ⁹ tn Grk “born for capture and destruction.”

[2:12]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “with [reference to] whom.”

[2:12]  ¹¹ 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.

[2:12]  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 (autwn; 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.

[2:14]  ¹³ tn Grk “having eyes.” See note on “men” at the beginning of v. 12.

[2:14]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “full of an adulteress.”

[2:14]  ¹⁵ 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.

[2:14]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “enticing.” See note on “men” at the beginning of v. 12.

[2:14]  ¹⁷ tn “People” is literally “souls.” The term ψυχή (yuch) can refer to one’s soul, one’s life, or oneself.

[2:14]  ¹⁸ 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.

[2:16]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “but he had a rebuke.”

[2:16]  ²⁰ tn The Greek word ἄφωνος (afwno") 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.

[2:16]  ²¹ tn Grk “a voice of a (man/person).”

[2:16]  ²² sn Balaam’s activities are detailed in Num 22—24 (see also Num 31:8, 16).

[2:19]  ²³ 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 (Juparconte", “while being”).

[2:19]  ²⁴ tn Grk “them.”

[2:19]  ²⁵ tn Grk “slaves of.” See the note on the word “slave” in 1:1.

[2:19]  ²⁶ 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.

[2:19]  ²⁷ tn Grk “for by what someone is overcome, to this he is enslaved.”