2 Peter 2:4

We could translate the "ifs" in 2 Peter 2:4; 2 Peter 2:6-7 "since." Each one is a first class condition in Greek. A first class condition assumes for the sake of the argument that what the writer wrote is true. In this case each statement describes a situation that is indeed true to reality.

Angels are in many respects superior to humans, yet God judged even them for sinning by consigning them to tartarosas (hell). This is the only reference to "Tartarus" in the Bible. This term evidently originated in Greek mythology. [Note: Hiebert, Second Peter . . ., p. 97.] This is probably the same angelic rebellion to which Jude referred (Judges 6). Tartarus is evidently a holding place of darkness and bondage. [Note: Gangel, p. 870.] Another view is that the reference to Tartarus is metaphorical and indicates a limitation on the sphere of influence that God imposed on these angels who fell rather than a literal place where they currently reside. [Note: Moo, pp. 102-3.] God will send these angels from Tartarus to the lake of fire, their terminal place of punishment, after He judges them finally (cf. Matthew 25:41). These angels appear to be those that rebelled with Satan. However since they are in bondage now they are evidently not the demons that assist Satan in his work on earth now. "Fetters" (Gr. seirais) has slightly better textual support than "pits" (Gr. Seirois; cf. Judges 6). We should probably not equate these angels with the "sons of God" that Moses wrote about in Genesis 6:1-4. [Note: See my comments on 1 Peter 3:19-20.]