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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
2 Pet 2 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V20 V21 V22
OET (OET-LV) promising freedom to_them, they being to_slaves of_ the _corruption, because/for by_what anyone has_been_overcome, by_this one he_has_been_enslaved.
OET (OET-RV) are promised freedom, but they themselves have become slaves to corruption, because whatever a person has been defeated by is what they become a slave to.
In this section, Peter warned the people who read his letter against false teachers who behaved wickedly and who would try to encourage believers to behave in the same immoral way as they did. But God would certainly destroy these false teachers.
Many of the verses in this section are similar to verses in Jude’s letter. Whoever wrote second, Peter or Jude, may have had a copy of the other one’s letter and used words and ideas out of that letter. Or perhaps someone else had written something with similar words and ideas in it, and Peter and Jude both used words and ideas from that writing. Why these two letters are so similar is not the most important thing. But if you have already translated Jude, it is important to have that translation open in front of you while you are studying and translating this section of 2 Peter. However be careful not to copy any verse exactly from Jude’s letter to your translation of 2 Peter, because there are differences between them which must remain in your translation.
Peter continued to describe the wicked way that the false teachers behaved. Because they were so wicked, God was reserving a place in hell for them.
Peter used many metaphors and other figures of speech in this paragraph. This makes his words very vivid. You may not be able to use the same figurative language in your translation, but try to find other ways of making your translation as vivid as the original.
The false teachers taught the people who had recently become Christians that they could live however they wanted to live because they were free. In other words, these teachers taught that God no longer required people to obey his laws. But in fact, the teachers were slaves to their own wicked behavior, and they themselves were not free to do what was right.
They promise them freedom,
They tell the people: “If you follow our(excl) teaching, we promise you that you will be free, so you can do exactly what you like to do.”
They promise people that if they obey their teaching God will no longer require them to obey his laws but they will be able to behave just as they want to.
freedom: Peter did not specify what the false teachers promised freedom from. Most probably they were promising that those who followed them would be free from the need to obey any rules on how a Christian should behave. They were probably teaching that Christians could therefore behave just as they wanted to, even immorally. In languages where there is no word for freedom, you could translate this as: “You are no longer under the law,” or “God does not require you to obey his laws any more.”
while they themselves are slaves to depravity.
But the false teachers themselves are not free to do as they like. They are slaves of bad behavior which will ruin them,
But the false teachers themselves have no power to stop doing the wicked things which will destroy them,
slaves to depravity: The Greek word that BSB translates depravity is the same word that Peter used in 1:4, where BSB translated it “corruption.” See note on 1:4b. The wicked way that they behaved controlled them and would ruin them.
For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.
I call them slaves because, as people say, if a person allows something to control him, it is as if he were a slave to that thing, he cannot stop doing it.
For: This word links 19c to 19b. You may need to make the link clearer by saying something like “I call them slaves because….”
a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him: This was probably a well-known proverb. Peter quoted it to explain why he had called the false teachers “slaves of depravity” in 19b. They had allowed their desire to do wicked and immoral things control them and so now they were like slaves to those wicked actions and could behave in no other way.
mastered: The Greek word here means “overcome by, defeated by.”
ἐλευθερίαν αὐτοῖς ἐπαγγελλόμενοι
freedom ˱to˲_them promising
This clause refers to another means by which the false teachers enticed their followers, continuing from the previous verse. Alternate translation: [They also entice them by promising freedom to them]
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ἐλευθερίαν αὐτοῖς ἐπαγγελλόμενοι
freedom ˱to˲_them promising
Here, freedom is a metaphor for the ability to live exactly as one wants. Alternate translation: [promising to give them the ability to live exactly as they want to live]
Note 2 topic: writing-pronouns
ἐλευθερίαν αὐτοῖς ἐπαγγελλόμενοι
freedom ˱to˲_them promising
Here, the pronoun them refers to those people who are deceived by the false teachers. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this explicitly. Alternate translation: [promising freedom to those whom they deceive]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / rpronouns
αὐτοὶ δοῦλοι ὑπάρχοντες τῆς φθορᾶς;
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐλευθερίαν αὐτοῖς ἐπαγγελλόμενοι αὐτοί δοῦλοι ὑπάρχοντες τῆς φθορᾶς ᾧ γάρ τὶς ἡττῆται τούτῳ δεδούλωται)
Peter uses the word themselves here to emphasize the irony of spiritually enslaved people promising spiritual freedom to others. Alternate translation: [while they themselves are slaves of destruction]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
δοῦλοι
˱to˲_slaves
Peter speaks of people who live sinfully as if they were slaves to sin who need to escape from their captivity. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this metaphor as a simile. Alternate translation: [like slaves]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / possession
δοῦλοι & τῆς φθορᾶς
˱to˲_slaves & ¬the ˱of˲_corruption
Peter is using the possessive form to describe slaves that are characterized by destruction. Alternate translation: [slaves that will be destroyed]
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ᾧ γάρ τις ἥττηται, τούτῳ δεδούλωται
˱by˲_what for (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐλευθερίαν αὐτοῖς ἐπαγγελλόμενοι αὐτοί δοῦλοι ὑπάρχοντες τῆς φθορᾶς ᾧ γάρ τὶς ἡττῆται τούτῳ δεδούλωται)
Peter speaks of a person as being enslaved when anything has control over that person, he speaks of that thing as the master of that person. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this metaphor by translating this plainly or as a simile. Alternate translation: [For if a person is overpowered by something, that person becomes controlled by that thing] or [For if a person is overpowered by something, that person becomes like a slave to that thing]
Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
ᾧ γάρ τις ἥττηται, τούτῳ δεδούλωται
˱by˲_what for (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐλευθερίαν αὐτοῖς ἐπαγγελλόμενοι αὐτοί δοῦλοι ὑπάρχοντες τῆς φθορᾶς ᾧ γάρ τὶς ἡττῆται τούτῳ δεδούλωται)
If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this passive sentence with an active form. Alternate translation: [For if something overpowers a person, that thing enslaves that person]
OET (OET-LV) promising freedom to_them, they being to_slaves of_ the _corruption, because/for by_what anyone has_been_overcome, by_this one he_has_been_enslaved.
OET (OET-RV) are promised freedom, but they themselves have become slaves to corruption, because whatever a person has been defeated by is what they become a slave to.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.
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