2 Peter 2:13-14

2:13 suffering harm as the wages for their harmful ways.¹ By considering it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight,² they are stains and blemishes, indulging³ in their deceitful pleasures when they feast together with you. 2:14 Their eyes,⁴ full of adultery,⁵ never stop sinning;⁶ they entice⁷ unstable people.⁸ They have trained their hearts for greed, these cursed children!⁹

¹tn There is a play on words in Greek, but this is difficult to express adequately in English. The verb ἀδικέω (adikew) as a passive means “to suffer harm,” or “to suffer an injustice.” The noun ἀδικία (adikia) means “unrighteousness.” Since the Greek verb has a wider field of meaning than the English, to translate it as suffer an injustice is unwarranted, for it implicitly attributes evil to God. As R. Bauckham notes, “in English it is impossible to translate ἀδικούμενοι as a morally neutral term and ἀδικίας with a morally pejorative term, while retaining the play on words” (Jude, 2 Peter [WBC], 265).

²tn Grk “considering carousing in the daytime a pleasure.”

³tn Or “carousing,” “reveling.” The participle ἐντρυφῶντες (entrufwnte") is a cognate to the noun τρυφή (trufh, “carousing”) used earlier in the verse.

⁴tn Grk “having eyes.” See note on “men” at the beginning of v. 12.

⁵tn Grk “full of an adulteress.”

⁶tn Grk “and unceasing from sin.” Some translate this “insatiable for sin,” but such a translation is based on a textual variant with inadequate support.

⁷tn Grk “enticing.” See note on “men” at the beginning of v. 12.

⁸tn “People” is literally “souls.” The term ψυχή (yuch) can refer to one’s soul, one’s life, or oneself.

⁹tn Grk “having hearts trained in greediness, children of cursing.” The participles continue the general description of the false teachers, without strong grammatical connection. The genitive κατάρας (kataras, “of cursing”) is taken attributively here.