2 Peter 2:6
in 2 Peter 2if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes as an example of what is coming on the ungodly;
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, having made them an example unto those that should live ungodly;
KJV
And 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;
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This verse in 2 Peter 2
Commentary
12 notes on this verseAnd turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes,.... By raining brimstone and fire upon them from heaven, Gen 19:24 which soon reduced them to ashes, with Admah and Zeboiim, Deu 29:25, cities delightfully situated, which were as the garden of God, and the land of Egypt, together with the inhabitants of them; and after they had received a signal mercy, in being rescued by Abraham from the kings who had carried them captive; and though Abraham, the friend of God, interceded for them, and righteous Lot dwelt among them.
This site's exposition
if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah
on 2 Peter 2:6-8
Sodom and Gomorrah were reduced to ashes, tephrosas, as an example, hypodeigma, for the ungodly. Lot, a righteous man, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard. God judges and rescues in one act, as at the flood.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
God wished to proclaim the judgment that is to come when he sent fiery death from heaven upon a wicked people, setting an example for those who desire to lead wicked lives.
Here is proof that all the ungodly will be punished. For Peter goes over the examples of Sodom and Gomorrah so that anyone who sees this will not behave wickedly, knowing that if he does so he will suffer the same kind of punishment as …
Lot, withal, the brother of Abraham, proves that it was for the merits of righteousness, without observance of the law, that he was freed from the conflagration of the Sodomites.
A commentator
Clement of RomeClement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 11 · Written before 99.
proposed
On account of his hospitality and godliness, Lot was saved out of Sodom when all the country round was punished by means of fire and brimstone, the Lord thus making it manifest that He does not forsake those that hope in Him, but gives up such as depart from Him to punishment and torture. [Genesis 19:15-26, 2 Peter 2:6-9] For Lot's wife, who went forth with him, being of a different mind from himself, and not continuing in agreement with him [as to the command which had been given them], was made an example of, so as to be a pillar of salt unto this day. This was done that all might know that those who are of a double mind, and who distrust the power of God, bring down judgment on themselves and become a sign to all succeeding generations.
Do you want to know why these things happened? There was one sin which was more wicked and disgusting than any other which those people were committing. It was because of that that God gave them this judgment.
5 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers1 voice
For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them into chains of gloomy Tartarus10, delivering them to be kept for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, when he brought …
The Medieval Church2 voices
Not without reason does the apostle begin with believers, who are more honorable, but he wishes to show that they are liable to greater condemnation for their sins. They have the advantage of being the first called to apostleship. Therefore, for going astray from the …
And the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, etc. Because he asserts that the cities of the impious were reduced to ashes, it should be understood in two ways. Because first, through fire, he reduced them along with the adjacent lands to ashes, and when he …
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The cities of Sodom and Gomorrha - See the notes on Genesis 19 (note), for an account of the sin and punishment of these cities. Making them an ensample - These three words, ὑποδειγμα, παραδειγμα, and δειγμα, are used to express the same idea; though the former may signify an example to be shunned, the second an example to be followed, and the third a simple exhibition. But these differences are not always observed.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes - Gen 19:24-25. This is a third example to demonstrate that God will punish the wicked. Compare the notes at Jud 1:7. The word here rendered “turning into ashes” τεφρωσας tephrōsas, occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It is from τέφρα tefra, ashes, and means to reduce to ashes, and then to consume or destroy. Condemned them with an overthrow - By the fact of their being overthrown, he showed that they were to be condemned, or that he disapproved their conduct. Their calamity came expressly on account of their enormous sins; as it is frequently the case now that the awful judgments that come upon the licentious and the intemperate, are as plain a proof of the divine disapprobation as were the calamities that came upon Sodom and Gomorrah. Making them an ensample ... - That is, they were a demonstration that God disapproved of the crimes for which they were punished, and would disapprove of the same crimes in every age and in every land. The punishment of one wicked man or people always becomes a warning to all others.
The words behind it
12 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| πόλεις | poleis | [the] cities | G4172 → | |
| Σοδόμων | sodomon | of Sodom | G4670 → | |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| Γομόρρας | gomorras | Gomorrah | G1116 → | |
| τεφρώσας | tephrosas | having reduced to ashes | G5077 → | |
| καταστροφῇ | katastrophea | to destruction | G2692 → | |
| κατέκρινεν | katekrinen | He condemned [them] | G2632 → | |
| ὑπόδειγμα | hupodeigma | an example | G5262 → | |
| μελλόντων | mellonton | of what is coming on | G3195 → | |
| ἀσεβέσιν | asebesin | ungodly | G765 → | 9 times |
| τεθεικώς, | tetheikos | having set | G5087 → |
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
πόλεις[the] cities
poleisG4172 →
Σοδόμωνof Sodom
sodomonG4670 →
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ΓομόρραςGomorrah
gomorrasG1116 →
τεφρώσαςhaving reduced to ashes
tephrosasG5077 →
καταστροφῇto destruction
katastropheaG2692 →
κατέκρινενHe condemned [them]
katekrinenG2632 →
ὑπόδειγμαan example
hupodeigmaG5262 →
μελλόντωνof what is coming on
mellontonG3195 →
ἀσεβέσινungodly
asebesinG765 →9 times
τεθεικώς,having set
tetheikosG5087 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Jude 1:7In like manner, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, who indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh, are on display as an example of those who sustain the punishment of eternal…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 29:23
All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown and unproductive, with no plant growing on it, just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the…
- Romans 1:26–27
For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.
- Genesis 18:20
Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great. Because their sin is so grievous,
- Genesis 19:24–26
Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens.
- Genesis 13:13
But the men of Sodom were wicked, sinning greatly against the LORD.
- Deuteronomy 29:23
Through
Numbers 26:10And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them along with Korah, whose followers died when the fire consumed 250 men. They serve as a warning sign.
it leads to
- Numbers 16:38
As for the censers of those who sinned at the cost of their own lives, hammer them into sheets to overlay the altar, for these were presented before the LORD, and so have become…
- Numbers 16:38
Through
Deuteronomy 29:23All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown and unproductive, with no plant growing on it, just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 17:6
He will be like a shrub in the desert; he will not see when prosperity comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.
- Zephaniah 2:9
Therefore, as surely as I live,” declares the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, “surely Moab will be like Sodom and the Ammonites like Gomorrah—a place of weeds and salt pits, a perpetual…
- Jeremiah 17:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies16
About 2 Peter
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 13 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on the Catholic Epistles; Clement of Rome, Clement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 11; Hesychius of Jerusalem, CATENA; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, CATENA; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; Oecumenius, Commentary on 2 Peter; Salvian the Presbyter, ON THE GOVERNANCE OF GOD 1.8; Tertullian, An Answer to the Jews and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 2 Peter.