OET interlinear 2 PET 2:6

Section 2:1–22: Peter warned believers against false teachers

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.

Paragraph 2:4–10a

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.

if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes

• You^(plur) also know that long ago God condemned the people who lived in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because they had done wicked things and he burned them and their cities completely until only ash remained.

• You^(plur) also know that long ago God decided that the people of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah deserved to be punished because of the wicked things they had done. Therefore he destroyed them and their cities by burning them completely until only ashes were left.

as an example of what is coming on the ungodly;

• When he did this, he showed people that he will punish those people who disregard him.

• When he punished them like this, he showed what will happen to people who do not fear him.