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Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object, red:negative.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT For if God did not spare angels who had sinned, but, in chains of darkness throwing down to Tartarus, he handed over those being kept for judgment; [fn]

Some other versions read, to be kept in pits of lower darkness until the judgment;

UST This judgment is certain because God did not let the angels who acted sinfully remain unpunished. On the contrary, he threw them into hell where they are chained in darkness. God imprisoned these sinful angels there and is holding them there in order to judge them.

2:4 Greek cast them into Tartarus; see the First Book of Enoch (1 Enoch 13:1–11 and 1 Enoch 20:1–4).

2:4 TH and WH in pits

BLB For if God did not spare the angels having sinned, but having cast them down to Tartarus, in chains of gloomy darkness, delivered them, being kept for judgment;

AICNT For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but having cast them into Tartarus[fn] with chains of darkness, delivering them to be kept for judgment;

2:4, Tartarus: This is the only occurrence of this word in the New Testament. Tartarus, thought of by the Greeks as a subterranean place lower than Hades where divine punishment was meted out, and so regarded in Israelite apocalyptic as well. (BDAG, ταρταρόω)

OEB Remember, God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them down to Tartarus, and consigned them to caverns of darkness, to be kept under guard for judgment.

CSB For if God didn’t spare the angels who sinned but cast them into hell and delivered them in chains of utter darkness to be kept for judgment;

NLT For God did not spare even the angels who sinned. He threw them into hell, in gloomy pits of darkness, where they are being held until the day of judgment.

NIV For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;

CEV God did not have pity on the angels that sinned. He had them tied up and thrown into the dark pits of hell until the time of judgment.

ESV For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment;

NASB For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment;

LSB For if God did not spare angels who sinned, but cast them into the pit and delivered them to chains of darkness, being kept for judgment;

2DT For if God did not spare the envoys who sinned but gave them over, tossing them into Tartaros in chains of gloom, being kept for judgment,

WEBBE For if God didn’t spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus,[fn] and committed them to pits of darkness to be reserved for judgement;

2:4 Tartarus is another name for Hell

WMBB (Same as above including footnotes)

MSG ^(4-5)God didn’t let the rebel angels off the hook, but jailed them in hell till Judgment Day. Neither did he let the ancient ungodly world off. He wiped it out with a flood, rescuing only eight people—Noah, the sole voice of righteousness, was one of them.

NET For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but threw them into hell and locked them up in chains in utter darkness, to be kept until the judgment,

LSV For if God did not spare messengers having sinned, but having cast [them] down to Tartarus with chains of deepest gloom, delivered [them], having been reserved to judgment,

FBV For God didn't even spare the angels when they sinned. He threw them into Tartarus,[fn] holding them in dark pits ready for judgment.

2:4 “Tartarus.” This is often translated as “hell,” however this word has associations from other mythologies. It seems that “Tartarus” was used to represent the word “sheol” of the Old Testament, meaning the place of the dead.

TCNT For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus and committed them to [fn]chains of darkness to be kept for judgment;

2:4 chains ¦ pits TH WH

T4T God destroyed [LIT] the angels who sinned. He threw them into the worst place in hell and imprisoned them there in darkness in order to keep them there until he judges and punishes them.

LEB For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but held them captive in Tartarus with chains of darkness and handed them over to be kept for judgment,

NRSV For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of deepest darkness to be kept until the judgment;

NKJV For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;

NAB For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but condemned them to the chains of Tartarus and handed them over to be kept for judgment;

BBE For if God did not have pity for the angels who did evil, but sent them down into hell, to be kept in chains of eternal night till they were judged;

Moff For if God did not spare angels who had sinned, but committing them to pits of the nether gloom in Tartarus, reserved them under punishment for doom:

Wymth For God did not spare angels when they had sinned, but hurling them down to Tartarus consigned them to caves of darkness, keeping them in readiness for judgement.

ASV For if God spared not angels when they sinned, but cast them down to hell, and committed them to pits of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;

DRA For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but delivered them, drawn down by infernal ropes to the lower hell, unto torments, to be reserved unto judgment:

YLT For if God messengers who sinned did not spare, but with chains of thick gloom, having cast [them] down to Tartarus, did deliver [them] to judgment, having been reserved,

Drby For if [fn]God spared not [the] angels who had sinned, but having cast them down to the deepest pit of gloom has delivered them to chains of darkness [to be] kept for judgment;

2.4 Elohim

RV For if God spared not angels when they sinned, but cast them down to hell, and committed them to pits of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
(For if God spared not angels when they sinned, but cast them down to hell, and committed them to pits of darkness, to be reserved unto judgement; )

SLT For if God spared not the angels having sinned, but delivered up, hurled into Tartarus, to cords of darkness, having been kept for judgment;

Wbstr For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved to judgment;

KJB-1769 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
(For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgement; )

KJB-1611 For if God spared not the Angels that sinned, but cast them downe to hell, and deliuered them into chaines of darkenesse, to be reserued vnto iudgment:
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation and punctuation)

Bshps For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them downe into hell, and delyuered them into chaynes of darknesse, to be kept vnto iudgement:
(For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down into hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be kept unto judgement:)

Gnva For if God spared not the Angels that had sinned, but cast them downe into hell, and deliuered them into chaines of darkenes, to be kept vnto damnation:
(For if God spared not the Angels that had sinned, but cast them down into hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be kept unto damnation: )

Cvdl For yf God spared not the angels that synned, but cast them downe with the cheynes of darknes in to hell, and delyuered the ouer to be kepte vnto iudgment:
(For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down with the chains of darkness in to hell, and delivered the over to be kept unto judgement:)

TNT For yf god spared not the angels that synned but cast them doune into hell and delyuered them in chaynes of darknes to be kept vnto iudgement.
(For if god spared not the angels that sinned but cast them down into hell and delivered them in chains of darkness to be kept unto judgement. )

Wycl For if God sparide not aungels synnynge, but bitook hem to be turmentid, and to be drawun doun with boondis of helle in to helle, to be kept in to dom;
(For if God spared not angels sinning, but betook/entrusted hem to be tormented, and to be drawn down with bonds of hell in to hell, to be kept in to judgement;)

Luth Denn so GOtt der Engel, die gesündiget haben, nicht verschonet hat, sondern hat sie mit Ketten der Finsternis zur Hölle verstoßen und übergeben, daß sie zum Gerichte behalten werden;
(Because so God the/of_the angel, the sinned have, not spared has, rather has they/she/them with chains the/of_the darkness to/for hell violated and hand-over/transfer, that they/she/them for_the court(n)/justice keep become;)

ClVg Si enim Deus angelis peccantibus non pepercit, sed rudentibus inferni detractos in tartarum tradidit cruciandos, in judicium reservari.[fn]
(When/But_if because God to/by/with_the_messengers/angels peccantibus not/no pepercit, but rudentibus hell detractos in/into/on tartarum he_delivered cruciandos, in/into/on judgement reservari. )

2.4 Si enim Deus angelis. ID. Si Deus apostatas angelos traditos pœnis inferni, etc., usque ad in abyssi profunda sunt rapti.

2.4 When/But_if because God to/by/with_the_messengers/angels. ID. When/But_if God apostatas messenger/angels traditos punishment hell, etc., until to in/into/on the_abyss deep are rapti.

UGNT εἰ γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς ἀγγέλων ἁμαρτησάντων οὐκ ἐφείσατο, ἀλλὰ σειροῖς ζόφου ταρταρώσας, παρέδωκεν εἰς κρίσιν τηρουμένους;
(ei gar ho Theos angelōn hamartaʸsantōn ouk efeisato, alla seirois zofou tartarōsas, paredōken eis krisin taʸroumenous;)

SBL-GNT Εἰ γὰρ ὁ θεὸς ἀγγέλων ἁμαρτησάντων οὐκ ἐφείσατο, ἀλλὰ ⸀σειραῖς ζόφου ταρταρώσας παρέδωκεν εἰς κρίσιν τηρουμένους,
(Ei gar ho theos angelōn hamartaʸsantōn ouk efeisato, alla ⸀seirais zofou tartarōsas paredōken eis krisin taʸroumenous,)

RP-GNT Εἰ γὰρ ὁ θεὸς ἀγγέλων ἁμαρτησάντων οὐκ ἐφείσατο, ἀλλὰ σειραῖς ζόφου ταρταρώσας παρέδωκεν εἰς κρίσιν τηρουμένους·
(Ei gar ho theos angelōn hamartaʸsantōn ouk efeisato, alla seirais zofou tartarōsas paredōken eis krisin taʸroumenous;)

TC-GNT Εἰ γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς ἀγγέλων ἁμαρτησάντων οὐκ ἐφείσατο, ἀλλὰ [fn]σειραῖς ζόφου ταρταρώσας παρέδωκεν εἰς κρίσιν [fn]τηρουμένους·
(Ei gar ho Theos angelōn hamartaʸsantōn ouk efeisato, alla seirais zofou tartarōsas paredōken eis krisin taʸroumenous; )

2:4 σειραις ¦ σειροις TH WH

2:4 τηρουμενους ¦ τετηρημενους TR

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

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.

2:4

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…

2:4a

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.)

2:4b

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.

2:4c

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.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

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

Connecting Statement:

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 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

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