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John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Peter 2:19

Verse 19 19.While they promise them liberty. He shews their inconsistency, that they falsely promised liberty, while they themselves served sin, and were in the worst bondage; for no one can give what he has not. This reason, however, does not seem to be sufficiently valid, because it sometimes happens that wicked men, and wholly unacquainted with Christ, preach usefully concerning the benefits and blessings of Christ. But we must observe, that what is condemned here is vicious doctrine,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Peter 2:17

These are wells without water. St. Peter has spoken of the vices of the false teachers; he goes on to describe the unprofitableness of their teaching. They are like wells without water; they deceive men with a promise which they do not fulfill. In Jud 2 Peter 1:12 there is a slight difference—"clouds without water" (comp. Jeremiah 2:13 ). Clouds that are carried with a tempest; better, mists driven by a tempest. The best manuscripts have ὁμίχλαι , mists, instead of νεφέλαι ,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Peter 2:18

For when they speak great swelling words of vanity; literally, for speaking. "Great swelling words" is expressed by one word in the Greek, ὑπέρογκα , St. Jude has the same word in Jude 1:16 ; it is used in the classical writers of great bulk of any kind, literal or figurative. The genitive is descriptive—the words are swelling, high-sounding; but they are only words, vain and meaningless; they have nothing but emptiness behind them. They allure through the lusts of the flesh, ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Peter 2:19

While they promise them liberty; literally, promising. The words cohere closely with the preceding clause. Liberty was the subject of their great swelling words of vanity; they talked loudly, made a great boast, about liberty. Perhaps they were wresting to their own destruction the teaching of St. Paul concerning Christian liberty. St. Paul had spoken of the liberty of the glory of the children of God ( Romans 8:21 ); he had again and again asserted the liberty of Christians in things... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Peter 2:17

These are wells without water - Jude 1:12-13 employs several other epithets to describe the same class of persons. The language employed both by Peter and Jude is singularly terse, pointed, and emphatic. Nothing to an oriental mind would be more expressive than to say of professed religious teachers, that they were “wells without water.” It was always a sad disappointment to a traveler in the hot sands of the desert to come to a well where it was expected that water might be found, and to find... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Peter 2:18

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... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Peter 2:19

While they promise them liberty - True religion always promises and produces liberty (see the notes at John 8:36), but the particular liberty which these persons seem to have promised, was freedom from what they regarded as needless restraint, or from strict and narrow views of religion.They themselves are the servants of corruption - They are the slaves of gross and corrupt passions, themselves utter strangers to freedom, and bound in the chains of servitude. These passions and appetites have... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 2 Peter 2:17

2 Peter 2:17. These are wells without water, &c. Pretenders to knowledge and piety, but really destitute thereof; clouds Promising fertilizing showers of instructive and edifying doctrine, but yielding none; carried with a tempest Driven by the violence of their own lusts from one error and vice to another; to whom the mist Ο ζοφος , the blackness; of darkness is reserved for ever Eternal darkness. Frequently in Scripture the word darkness signifies a state of disconsolate... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 2 Peter 2:18-19

2 Peter 2:18-19. When they speak great swelling words of vanity Propose their vain and false doctrine in a lofty style, or affect sublime strains of language, which are often void of any real meaning; they allure through the lusts of the flesh By allowing their hearers to live in lewd courses, or to gratify some unholy desires under pretence of Christian liberty, 2 Peter 2:10; 2 Peter 2:19; those Who, as Christians; were clean escaped from the spirit, customs, and company of them... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - 2 Peter 2:11-22

Character of the false teachers (2:10b-22)Being arrogant and self-assertive, the false teachers show no respect for anyone. They even insult angels, who hold a higher position than humans in the order of created beings. By contrast, the angels have such reverence for God that they dare not use insulting language in his presence, even against those who deserve condemnation (10b-11).The false teachers use neither their reasoning nor their willpower to control themselves. Like animals they simply... read more

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