2 Peter 2:4

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Peter 2:3-6

Men are apt to think that a reprieve is the forerunner of a pardon, and that if judgment be not speedily executed it is, or will be, certainly reversed. But the apostle tells us that how successful and prosperous soever false teachers may be, and that for a time, yet their judgment lingereth not. God has determined long ago how he will deal with them. Such unbelievers, who endeavour to turn others from the faith, are condemned already, and the wrath of God abideth on them. The righteous Judge... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 2 Peter 2:4-11

2:4-11 If God did not spare even angels who had sinned, but condemned them to the lowest hell and committed them to the pits of darkness, where they remain kept for judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved in safety Noah, the preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when he despatched the flood on a world of impious men; if he reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, when he sentenced them to destruction and so gave an example of what would happen to those... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 2 Peter 2:4-11

2 Peter 2:9-11 give us a picture of the evil man. Peter with a few swift, vivid strokes of the pen paints the outstanding characteristics of him who may properly be called the bad man. (i) He is the desire-dominated man. His life is dominated by the lusts of the flesh. Such a man is guilty of two sins. (a) Every man has two sides to his nature. He has a physical side; he has instincts, passions and impulses which he shares with the animal creation. These instincts are good--if they are... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Peter 2:4

For if God spared not the angels that sinned ..... By whom are meant the devil and his angels; who are spirits created by God and as such were good; their first estate which they left was pure and holy, as well as high and honourable; they, were at first in the truth, though they abode not in it; they were once among the morning stars and sons of God, and were angels of light; their numbers are many, and therefore are here expressed in the plural number, "angels", though it cannot be said... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Peter 2:4

For if God spared not the angels - The angels were originally placed in a state of probation; some having fallen and some having stood proves this. How long that probation was to last to them, and what was the particular test of their fidelity, we know not; nor indeed do we know what was their sin; nor when nor how they fell. St. Jude says they kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation; which seems to indicate that they got discontented with their lot, and aspired to higher... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Peter 2:4

Verse 4 4.For if. We have stated how much it behoves us to know that the ungodly, who by their mischievous opinions corrupt the Church, cannot escape God’s vengeance; and this he proves especially by three remarkable examples of God's judgment, — that he spared not even angels, that he once destroyed the whole world by a deluge, that he reduced Sodom to ashes, and other neighboring cities. But Peter thought it sufficient to take as granted what ought to be never doubted by us, that is, that God... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Peter 2:4

For if God spared not the angels that sinned; rather, angels when they sinned ; there is no article. St. Peter is giving proofs of his assertion that the punishment of the ungodly lingereth not. The first is the punishment of angels that sinned. He does not specify the sin, whether rebellion, as in Revelation 12:7 ; or uncleanness, as apparently in Jud Revelation 1:6 , Revelation 1:7 , and Genesis 6:4 . Formally, there is an anacoluthon here, but in thought we have the apodosis in ... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Peter 2:4

For if God spared not the angels that sinned - The apostle now proceeds to the proof of the proposition that these persons would be punished. It is to be remembered that they had been, or were even then, professing Christians, though they had really, if not in form, apostatized from the faith 2 Peter 2:20-22, and a part of the proofs, therefore, are derived from the cases of those who had apostatized from the service of God. He appeals, therefore, to the case of the angels that had revolted.... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 2 Peter 2:4

2 Peter 2:4. For if Or since, as ει γαρ may be here rendered; God spared not the angels that sinned “The angels seem to have been placed originally in a state of trial. Those who stood are called in Scripture, the holy angels. The sin of the angels is spoken of likewise, John 8:44, and Jude, 2 Peter 2:6, as a thing well known. Perhaps it was handed down by tradition from Adam and Eve, for the memory of it seems to have been preserved among the heathens in the fable of the Titans... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - 2 Peter 2:1-10

2:1-22 WARNING AGAINST FALSE TEACHERSPunishment of the ungodly (2:1-10a)Having spoken about the purpose of prophecies, Peter now gives a warning to beware of those who will use prophecies to support their own teachings. History shows that there have always been false teachers who have tried to gain a following by the misuse of Scripture (2:1). The punishment of all such people is certain. They oppose Christ, give the church a bad name, lead people into sin and make financial profit from the... read more

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