ἈΡΝΟΎΜΕΝΟΙ. They deny by their lives that Christ is their Master, and also in some cases by their teaching: for many who had grown up in the strong Monotheism of the Jews and had accepted Christianity to some extent, denied the divinity of Christ. In 1 John 2:22 we read of some who denied that Jesus... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑῚ ἘΝ ΠΛΕΟΝΕΞΊΑΙ Κ.Τ.Λ. A distinguishing mark of the false teachers was that they sought to make money: not merely to be supported by their hearers, which, as we see from St Paul’s letters, was not considered wrong. ἐμπορεύεσθαι is usually to traffic in something: not quite so here: “you” are the s... [ Continue Reading ]
4 sqq. ΕἸ ΓᾺΡ Ὁ ΘΕΌΣ Κ.Τ.Λ. to the end of 2 Peter 2:10. The sentence has a different climax to that which we expect. The _protasis_ is, roughly, this: “Speedy punishment awaits these men. For if God did not spare the angels … nor the old world at the Flood … nor Sodom and Gomorrah,”—the natural _apo... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΡΧΑΊΟΥ ΚΌΣΜΟΥ. ὁ τότε κόσμος 2 Peter 3:6. The absence of the article here is noticeable: in the next verse again it is absent (πόλεις Σοδόμων κ.τ.λ.). Sir 16:7 οὐκ ἐξιλάσατο περὶ τῶν�. ὌΓΔΟΟΝ with seven others: αὐτόν is commonly added in these phrases. ΝΩ͂Ε ΔΙΚΑΙΟΣΎΝΗΣ ΚΉΡΥΚΑ. The ancient writing... [ Continue Reading ]
5, 6. As in the next chapter, the destructive agencies of water and fire are here placed side by side.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΌΛΕΙΣ ΣΟΔΌΜΩΝ. The genitive, as in _urbs Romae_, is of apposition. ΤΕΦΡΏΣΑΣ. Examples are quoted from Dion Cassius describing an eruption of Vesuvius, and from Lycophron (who in his so-called play the _Alexandra_ or _Cassandra_ heaps together all the obscure words he can find): l. 227 τεφρώσας γυῖ... [ Continue Reading ]
ὙΠῸ ΤΗ͂Σ ΤΩ͂Ν�. The structure reminds us of the clause 2 Peter 1:4 τῆς ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἐν ἐπιθυμίᾳ φθορᾶς. ἈΘΈΣΜΩΝ again in 2 Peter 3:17, and nowhere else in N.T. ἔκθεσμος is used by Philo of the inhabitants of the cities of the plain.... [ Continue Reading ]
A parenthesis, telling why Lot needed deliverance. ΔΊΚΑΙΟΣ is preceded by the article ὁ in all MSS. except B. Westcott and Hort follow B. Some difference in rendering is entailed; omitting ὁ we translate “righteous in respect of looking and listening,” like the man in Isaiah 33:15 “that stoppeth hi... [ Continue Reading ]
The apodosis: see on 2 Peter 2:4. ΚΟΛΑΖΌΜΕΝΟΙ: _present_ participle. In _Enoch_ x. the sinful angels are bound in torment from the moment of their capture till the great day of judgment.... [ Continue Reading ]
With this verse the writer returns to the denunciation of the false teachers. Like the angels, the men before the Flood, the men of Sodom, they had sinned through lust. ὈΠΊΣΩ ΣΑΡΚΌΣ in Jude 1:7. ἘΠΙΘΥΜΊΑΙ ΜΙΑΣΜΟΥ͂. Adjectival as αἱρέσεις�, 2 Peter 2:1. ΚΥΡΙΌΤΗΤΟΣ ΚΑΤΑΦΡΟΝΟΥ͂ΝΤΑΣ. This is the main... [ Continue Reading ]
A veiled description of the incident of Michael and Satan which is openly told in Jude 1:9. See Introd. p. xiv.... [ Continue Reading ]
Contrast this with Jude 1:10. Jude says: These men speak evil of what they do not know: what they do know by natural instinct, like irrational beasts, they turn to a bad use.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΔΙΚΟΎΜΕΝΟΙ ΜΙΣΘῸΝ�. This is the reading of א (first hand) BP, one Syriac version and the Armenian; whereas a corrector of א, ACKL, the Latin, Egyptian, and another Syriac version give the undoubtedly easier κομιούμενοι “destined to receive.” It has rather a close parallel in Colossians 3:25, ὁ γὰρ�... [ Continue Reading ]
ὈΦΘΑΛΜΟῪΣ ἜΧΟΝΤΕΣ ΜΕΣΤΟῪΣ ΜΟΙΧΑΛΊΔΟΣ. Dr Bigg unhesitatingly rejects μοιχαλίδος as a blunder for μοιχείας: the only various reading in the MSS. is μοιχαλίας (אA and three cursives) which is not a possible word. μοιχαλίδος does not seem to yield a tolerable sense, though it is accepted by commentator... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΞΑΚΟΛΟΥΘΉΣΑΝΤΕΣ, for the third time in this Epistle (2 Peter 1:16; 2 Peter 2:2). The sentence about Balaam is loosely constructed. There are some various readings. For Βεὼρ (B and two versions) Βόσορ is read by the other uncials except א which has Βεωορσορ, showing a consciousness of both forms. Βό... [ Continue Reading ]
ἸΔΊΑΣ seems unnecessarily emphatic: it may not have been so intended by the writer. In later (and in modern) Greek the word tends to lose its force and become little more than a possessive. ΠΡΟΦΉΤΟΥ is put in to mark the contrast with the ὑποζύγιον ἄφωνον. ΠΑΡΑΦΡΟΝΊΑ is not found elsewhere: but for... [ Continue Reading ]
“Waterless springs and mists driven by a gale: for whom darkness is reserved.” In Jude the list of comparisons is longer; Waterless clouds, barren trees, wild waves, wandering stars, for whom darkness is reserved. It is conceivable that some words have dropped out of the text of our Epistle. ΠΗΓΑΊ.... [ Continue Reading ]
ὙΠΈΡΟΓΚΑ κ.τ.λ. ἘΝ ἘΠΙΘΥΜΊΑΙΣ ΣΑΡΚΌΣ. This is the last case of borrowing from Jude for some time. It answers to Jude 1:16 κατὰ τὰς ἐπιθυμίας αὐτῶν πορευόμενοι καὶ τὸ στόμα αὐτῶν λαλεῖ ὑπέρογκα. ἘΝ ἘΠΙΘΥΜΊΑΙΣ ΣΑΡΚῸΣ�. σαρκός is best taken with ἐπιθυμίαις. The whole phrase is rather pleonastic to our... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΛΕΥΘΕΡΊΑΝ κ.τ.λ. This degeneracy of liberty into licence was a constant danger. πάντα ἔξεστιν· ἀλλʼ οὐ πάντα συμφέρει (1 Corinthians 10:23). Galatians 5:13 μόνον μὴ τὴν ἐλευθερίαν εἱς�. 1 Peter 2:16 μὴ ὡς ἐπικάλυμμα ἔχοντες τῆς κακίας τὴν ἐλευθερίαν. Men have been found in all ages to say either op... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΠΟΦΥΓΌΝΤΕΣ ΤᾺ ΜΙΆΣΜΑΤΑ ΤΟΥ͂ ΚΌΣΜΟΥ. We revert to the language of chapter 1. (2 Peter 1:4 ἀποφυγόντες τῆς ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἐν ἐπιθυμίᾳ φθορᾶς). ἘΝ ἘΠΙΓΝΏΣΕΙ κ.τ.λ. 2 Peter 1:2. In the words δελεάζειν, ἀποφεύγειν, ἡττᾶσθαι we have fresh instances of our author’s tendency to use words over again at short... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤῊΝ ὉΔῸΝ ΤΗ͂Σ ΔΙΚΑΙΟΣΎΝΗΣ occurs in the _Apocalypse of Peter_, §§ 7, 13. It is not a common phrase.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤῸ ΤΗ͂Σ�: a usual phrase for introducing a proverb, as Lucian, _Dialogues of the Dead_, viii. 1, τοῦτʼ ἐκεῖνο τὸ τῆς παροιμίας. ΚΎΩΝ etc. The equivalent is in Proverbs 26:11, the LXX. has ἔμετον for ἐξέραμα which is a very unusual word. ὟΣ ΛΟΥΣΑΜΈΝΗ “after a wash.” In the ancient _History of Ahika... [ Continue Reading ]