2 Peter 2:18
in 2 Peter 2With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For, uttering great swelling words of vanity, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by lasciviousness, those who are just escaping from them that live in error;
KJV
For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
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This verse in 2 Peter 2
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThey speak great swelling words of vanity - The word ὑπερογκα signifies things of great magnitude, grand, superb, sublime; it sometimes signifies inflated, tumid, bombastic. These false teachers spoke of great and high things, and no doubt promised their disciples the greatest privileges, as they themselves pretended to a high degree of illumination; but they were all false and vain, though they tickled the fancy and excited the desires of the flesh; and indeed this appears to have been their object. And hence some think that the impure sect of the Nicolaitans is meant. See the preface.
This site's exposition
wells without water
on 2 Peter 2:17-19
Wells without water and clouds carried by a tempest name the same failure twice, promise without substance, a cistern that looks like it should hold something and a cloud that looks like it should bring rain, both offering nothing when tested, and the mist of darkness reserved for them for ever answers their own emptiness with an emptiness that never lifts. They speak great swelling words of vanity, hyperonka, bombastic and hollow, and allure through the lusts of the flesh those that were clean escaped, only just breaking free from a life of error, catching converts on their way out the door. While they promise them liberty, eleutherian, they are themselves the servants of corruption, douloi tes phthoras, the letter's own irony sharpest here, that the men selling freedom are slaves twice over, first to their own lusts and now to the ruin those lusts produce.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Pride is always vain because it makes people stupid, as they are without God insofar as they are proud.
These are the springs lacking water, the clouds carried by the storm, by which the darkness of gloom has been preserved for eternity. Indeed, where the proud words of vanity have sounded, they ensnare through the lusts of the flesh in their desires, those who …
The Medieval Church2 voices
They are not punished merely for their ungodliness but for the enormity of it as well.
He also gives the reason for this, namely that out of vanity they utter swelling words, enticing through fleshly lust into debauchery those who had completely escaped it, or who, if they were once in error, had afterwards submitted themselves to the Lord.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
They ensnare in the desires of the flesh - Allowing them to gratify some unholy desire. Those who were before entirely escaped from the spirit, custom, and company of them that live in error - In sin.
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
For when they speak great swelling words of vanity,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For when they speak great swelling words of vanity - When they make pretensions to wisdom and learning, or seem to attach great importance to what they say, and urge it in a pompous and positive manner. Truth is simple, and delights in simple statements. It expects to make its way by its own intrinsic force, and is willing to pass for what it is worth. Error is noisy and declamatory, and hopes to succeed by substituting sound for sense, and by such tones and arts as shall induce men to believe that what is said is true, when it is known by the speaker to be false. They allure through the lusts of the flesh - The same word is used here which in 2Pe 2:14 is rendered “beguiling,” and in Jas 1:14 “enticed.” It does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. It means that they make use of deceitful arts to allure, ensnare, or beguile others. The “means” which it is here said they employed, were “the lusts of the flesh;” that is, they promised unlimited indulgence to the carnal appetites, or taught such doctrines that their followers would feel themselves free to give unrestrained liberty to such propensities. This has been quite a common method in the world, of inducing people to embrace false doctrines. Through much wantonness - See the notes at 2Ti 3:6. The meaning here is, that they made use of every variety of lascivious arts to beguile others under religious pretences. This has been often done in the world; for religion has been abused to give seducers access to the confidence of the innocent, only that they might betray and ruin them. […]
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ὑπέρογκα | huperogka | Arrogant | G5246 → | |
| γὰρ | gar | for | G1063 → | 1039 times |
| ματαιότητος | mataiotetos | of vanity | G3153 → | |
| φθεγγόμενοι | phthengomenoi | speaking words | G5350 → | |
| δελεάζουσιν | deleazousin | they entice | G1185 → | |
| ἐν | en | with | G1722 → | 2738 times |
| ἐπιθυμίαις | epithumiais | [the] passions | G1939 → | 38 times |
| σαρκὸς | sarkos | of [the] flesh | G4561 → | |
| ἀσελγείαις | aselgeiais | to sensuality | G766 → | 10 times |
| τοὺς | tous | those | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ὀλίγως | oligos | scarcely | ||
| ἀποφεύγοντας | apopheugontas | escaping | G668 → | 3 times |
| τοὺς | tous | from those | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἐν | en | in | G1722 → | 2738 times |
| πλάνῃ | plane | error | G4106 → | |
| ἀναστρεφομένους, | anastrephomenous | living, | G390 → |
ὙπέρογκαArrogant
huperogkaG5246 →
γὰρfor
garG1063 →1039 times
ματαιότητοςof vanity
mataiotetosG3153 →
φθεγγόμενοιspeaking words
phthengomenoiG5350 →
δελεάζουσινthey entice
deleazousinG1185 →
ἐνwith
enG1722 →2738 times
ἐπιθυμίαις[the] passions
epithumiaisG1939 →38 times
σαρκὸςof [the] flesh
sarkosG4561 →
ἀσελγείαιςto sensuality
aselgeiaisG766 →10 times
τοὺςthose
tousG3588 →19766 times
ὀλίγωςscarcely
oligos
ἀποφεύγονταςescaping
apopheugontasG668 →3 times
τοὺςfrom those
tousG3588 →19766 times
ἐνin
enG1722 →2738 times
πλάνῃerror
planeG4106 →
ἀναστρεφομένους,living,
anastrephomenousG390 →
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
2 Peter 1:4Through these He has given us His precious and magnificent promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, now that you have escaped the corruption in the world caused…
it leads to
- Ephesians 4:23–24
to be renewed in the spirit of your minds;
- Ezekiel 36:25–27
I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.
- 2 Corinthians 3:18
And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
- Colossians 3:10
and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
- Hebrews 12:10
Our fathers disciplined us for a short time as they thought best, but God disciplines us for our good, so that we may share in His holiness.
- Ephesians 4:23–24
Through
2 Peter 2:20If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, only to be entangled and overcome by it again, their final condition is worse…
it leads to
- Hebrews 10:26–27
If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains,
- Hebrews 6:4–8
It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,
- Hebrews 10:26–27
Through
Romans 13:13Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
it leads to
- Galatians 5:21
and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
- Galatians 5:21
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this verse
About 2 Peter
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Andreas of Caesarea, CATENA; Hilary of Arles, INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 2 PETER; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Oecumenius, Commentary on 2 Peter and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 2 Peter.