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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 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22
OET (OET-LV) And many will_be_following_after of_them in_the wantonnesses, because_of whom the way of_the truth will_be_being_slandered.
OET (OET-RV) Many people will follow their gross immorality causing evil to be spoken of about the true way.
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 warned that false teachers would come and deceive many people, but he also said that God would punish these false teachers in the end.
Many will follow in their depravity,
Many who say they are believers will imitate the immoral way that they behave,
Many: This means many of the people who claimed to be Christians.
depravity: The Greek word means “very bad, immoral behavior.” It often refers specifically to sexual immorality, but not always. The other places that Peter used this word in his letters are 1 Peter 4:3, and 2 Peter 2:7, 2:18.
and because of them the way of truth will be defamed.
and other people who are not believers will say bad things about the true way of living because of the way they behave.
and as a result, other people who are not believers will say bad things about the true way to live.
the way of truth: This means the true way to live, the way Jesus and the true teachers had taught Christians to live.
will be defamed: The literal meaning of the Greek is “blaspheme, say bad things about.” Peter was saying that the bad behavior of the people who claimed to be Christians but who followed the false teachers would cause other people to say bad things about the Christian teaching about how to live.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
πολλοὶ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί πολλοί ἐξακολουθήσουσιν αὐτῶν ταῖς ἀσελγείαις διʼ οὕς ἡ ὁδός τῆς ἀληθείας βλασφημηθήσεται)
If it would be helpful to your readers, you could indicate explicitly, as the UST does, that many refers to people.
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ἐξακολουθήσουσιν
˓will_be˒_following_after
Here Peter uses the word follow to refer to someone imitating the actions of someone else, like someone who walks behind another person in the same direction. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this metaphor literally. Alternate translation: [will imitate their licentious acts]
Note 3 topic: writing-pronouns
αὐτῶν ταῖς ἀσελγείαις
˱of˲_them ˱in˲_the wantonnesses
Here the pronoun their refers to the false teachers introduced in the previous verse. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this explicitly. Alternate translation: [the licentious acts of these false teachers]
ταῖς ἀσελγείαις
˱in˲_the wantonnesses
Here, licentious acts refers to immoral sexual actions that demonstrate a lack of self-control. Alternate translation: [uncontrolled sensual acts]
Note 4 topic: writing-pronouns
δι’ οὓς
because_of (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί πολλοί ἐξακολουθήσουσιν αὐτῶν ταῖς ἀσελγείαις διʼ οὕς ἡ ὁδός τῆς ἀληθείας βλασφημηθήσεται)
Here, whom refers to the false teachers. It does not refer to the licentious acts in the previous clause. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could indicate explicitly, as the UST does, that this refers to the false teachers. Alternate translation: [through these false teachers]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ἡ ὁδὸς τῆς ἀληθείας
the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί πολλοί ἐξακολουθήσουσιν αὐτῶν ταῖς ἀσελγείαις διʼ οὕς ἡ ὁδός τῆς ἀληθείας βλασφημηθήσεται)
Peter uses the phrase the way of truth here to refer to the Christian faith or how a Christian person lives his or her life. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this metaphor literally. Alternate translation: [the true Christian manner of living] or [the true Christian faith]
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / possession
ἡ ὁδὸς τῆς ἀληθείας
the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί πολλοί ἐξακολουθήσουσιν αὐτῶν ταῖς ἀσελγείαις διʼ οὕς ἡ ὁδός τῆς ἀληθείας βλασφημηθήσεται)
Peter is using the possessive form to describe the way that is characterized by truth. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use the adjective “true” instead of the noun “truth.” Alternate translation: [the true way]
Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
ἡ ὁδὸς τῆς ἀληθείας βλασφημηθήσεται
the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί πολλοί ἐξακολουθήσουσιν αὐτῶν ταῖς ἀσελγείαις διʼ οὕς ἡ ὁδός τῆς ἀληθείας βλασφημηθήσεται)
If your language does not use this passive form, you can state this in active form and say who will do the action. Alternate translation: [unbelievers will slander the way of truth]
Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / personification
ἡ ὁδὸς τῆς ἀληθείας βλασφημηθήσεται
the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί πολλοί ἐξακολουθήσουσιν αὐτῶν ταῖς ἀσελγείαις διʼ οὕς ἡ ὁδός τῆς ἀληθείας βλασφημηθήσεται)
Peter speaks of the way of truth as if it were a person who could be slandered or shown disrespect. Alternate translation: [they will say bad things about the way of truth]
Note 9 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἡ ὁδὸς τῆς ἀληθείας βλασφημηθήσεται
the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί πολλοί ἐξακολουθήσουσιν αὐτῶν ταῖς ἀσελγείαις διʼ οὕς ἡ ὁδός τῆς ἀληθείας βλασφημηθήσεται)
Peter assumes that his audience will know that unbelievers will be the ones who slander the Christian faith when they see the sensual lives of the false teachers and their followers. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could indicate this explicitly. Alternate translation: [the way of truth will be slandered by unbelievers]
2:2 One of the saddest effects of false teaching is that the way of truth will be slandered by a watching world. By their immoral and greedy conduct, false teachers bring shame on Christ.
OET (OET-LV) And many will_be_following_after of_them in_the wantonnesses, because_of whom the way of_the truth will_be_being_slandered.
OET (OET-RV) Many people will follow their gross immorality causing evil to be spoken of about the true way.
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.