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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 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22
OET (OET-LV) For/Because if the god not spared of_the_messengers having_sinned, but having_committed_to_the_underworld them to_pits of_darkness, gave_over them for judgement being_kept,
OET (OET-RV) Because if God didn’t spare the messengers when they sinned, but chained them in darkness and kept them to be delivered to judgement in due course,
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 wrote this paragraph mainly to support what he said in 2:3b–c. He supported what he had said by telling three examples from the OT of how God punished wicked people and rescued people who obeyed him. These were examples with which the people to whom he wrote this letter would have been familiar.
In the Greek this whole paragraph is one long sentence, but it may be necessary for you to break it up. Read GNT and notice how that version has broken the one sentence into several shorter sentences. Perhaps you should begin this paragraph with “See” or “You know that.” Think about whether that would help people who read your translation to understand that Peter was starting to prove a point here. You may even need to repeat the “See” or “You know that” each time Peter used a new example.
Although verses 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9 begin with “if” in the BSB, this is not because the events which Peter was talking about may not have happened. These events all did happen. This use of “if” in English (and Greek) was to prove a point, here what Peter said in verse 9. The GNT shows one way to communicate this meaning without using the word “if” at all.
For: Peter was now going to say why God would certainly punish the false teachers. GNT and CEV consider the link between the previous paragraph and the one that starts here in 2:4 to be clear enough, so they do not include any explicit translation of “For.” If it is necessary to clearly state the link in your language, you could say something like:
I say that God is going to punish them because…
For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned,
¶ You(plur) know that long ago when some angels sinned, God did not ignore the evil that they had done.
¶ Remember that long ago when some of the angels disobeyed God, he did not fail to punish them for what they did.
God did not spare the angels: This means that he did not overlook their sin. Instead, he punished them.
angels: The first example from the OT that Peter wrote about is what happened to the wicked angels. Scholars do not know for certain which angels were being referred to.Bible scholars are not certain who these angels were. Some think the angels are “the sons of God” that Genesis 6:1–4 mentions, who came down to earth and married human women. But other scholars strongly disagree. They say that the phrase “sons of God” in Genesis does not refer to angels at all but rather to the descendants of Adam’s son, Seth. (One of the reasons they say that Genesis 6 does not refer to angels is because Jesus said in Mark 12:25 that angels do not marry.)
but cast them deep into hell,
He imprisoned them in the deep hole where he imprisons all wicked people.
hell: The Jews and Greeks who lived at the time when Peter was writing his letter believed that there was a deep pit under the earth where God imprisoned wicked angels and humans in order to punish them.
placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;
He will keep them in that dark prison until the day when he will judge and punish them.
They will stay there in the darkness until the day when he will judge them.
chains of darkness: There is a problem in the Greek text here. Some manuscripts have “chains (seirais) of gloom” while others have “pits (sirois) of gloom.” That is why BSB says “chains of darkness” while some translations say “gloomy dungeons.” But the meaning of the two possible Greek phrases is almost the same. They both mean that God has imprisoned the wicked angels.
darkness: This means “nearly dark.” The word describes what a place looks like when there is almost no light there.
Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result
γὰρ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: εἰ Γάρ ὁ Θεός ἀγγέλων ἁμαρτησάντων οὐκ ἐφείσατο ἀλλά σιροῖς ζόφου ταρταρώσας παρέδωκεν εἰς κρίσιν τηρουμένους)
For indicates here that Peter is giving the reason for the result he implicitly described in the previous verse. He is saying why the destruction of the false teachers is certain. Alternate translation: [This is because]
Note 2 topic: grammar-connect-condition-fact
εἰ
if
Here, if indicates the beginning of a conditional sentence that extends from [2:4](../02/04.md) to [2:10](../02/10.md). Peter is speaking as if this were a hypothetical possibility, but he means that it is actually true. If your language does not state something as a condition if it is certain or true, and if your readers might think that what Peter is saying is not certain, then you could translate his words as an affirmative statement. Alternate translation: [Since God did not spare the angels who had sinned]
οὐκ ἐφείσατο
not spared
Here, spare means “to refrain from punishing.” Alternate translation: [did not refrain from punishing]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / distinguish
ἀγγέλων ἁμαρτησάντων
˱of˲_˓the˒_angels ˓having˒_sinned
Peter uses who had sinned to distinguish the angels who were punished by God from those that were not.
Note 4 topic: translate-textvariants
σειροῖς ζόφου
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: εἰ Γάρ ὁ Θεός ἀγγέλων ἁμαρτησάντων οὐκ ἐφείσατο ἀλλά σιροῖς ζόφου ταρταρώσας παρέδωκεν εἰς κρίσιν τηρουμένους)
Some of the best ancient manuscripts read “pits” instead of “chains.” If a translation of the Bible exists in your region, you may wish to use the reading that it has. If a translation of the Bible does not exist in your region, you may wish to use the reading in the ULT.
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
σειροῖς ζόφου
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: εἰ Γάρ ὁ Θεός ἀγγέλων ἁμαρτησάντων οὐκ ἐφείσατο ἀλλά σιροῖς ζόφου ταρταρώσας παρέδωκεν εἰς κρίσιν τηρουμένους)
This phrase could refer to: (1) chains in a very dark place. Alternate translation: [in chains in darkness] (2) a very deep darkness that imprisons them like chains. Alternate translation: [bound in darkness like chains]
Note 6 topic: translate-names
ταρταρώσας
˓having˒_committed_to_Tartarus_‹them›
The word Tartarus is a term from Ancient Greek religion that refers to the place where evil spirits and wicked men who have died are punished. Some Ancient Jewish literature written in Greek uses Tartarus as a term for the place where God punishes the wicked. Alternate translation: [he cast them into hell]
Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
παρέδωκεν
gave_over_‹them›
God is the one who handed over the angels who had sinned. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could make that explicit in your translation. Alternate translation: [God handed over]
Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
παρέδωκεν
gave_over_‹them›
Here, Peter speaks of God imprisoning the angels who sinned like someone who has handed over a criminal to the prison guards for imprisonment. Alternate translation: [imprisoned]
Note 9 topic: grammar-connect-logic-goal
εἰς κρίσιν
for judgment
This phrase gives the purpose or goal for which the sinning angels are being held in captivity. Alternate translation: [for the purpose of judgment]
Note 10 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
εἰς κρίσιν
for judgment
If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the abstract noun judgment by translating it with a verbal phrase. Alternate translation: [to be judged]
Note 11 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
εἰς κρίσιν τηρουμένους
for judgment ˓being˒_kept
This phrase refers to the sinful angels mentioned earlier in the verse. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could express this explicitly. Alternate translation: [those sinful angels who are being kept for judgment]
Note 12 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
εἰς κρίσιν τηρουμένους
for judgment ˓being˒_kept
If your language does not use this passive form, you can express this with an active verbal form and you can indicate who is doing the action. Alternate translation: [those whom God is keeping for judgment]
OET (OET-LV) For/Because if the god not spared of_the_messengers having_sinned, but having_committed_to_the_underworld them to_pits of_darkness, gave_over them for judgement being_kept,
OET (OET-RV) Because if God didn’t spare the messengers when they sinned, but chained them in darkness and kept them to be delivered to judgement in due course,
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.