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690 WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. (Cu. II.
Swift (raywv). Used by Peter only. See on ch. i. 14. 2. Shall follow. See on ch. i. 16.
Pernicious ways (a@deias). The true reading is aced- yelats, Lascivious doings. So Rev. See on 1 Pet. iv. 3. The use of the pluralis rare. Compare Jude 4.
3. Through covetousness (év mAcoveE(q). Lit., 2 covet- ousness ; denoting the element or sphere in which the evil is wrought.
Feigned (adactois). Only here in New Testament. From mrdocw, to mould, as in clay or wax. The idea is, therefore, of words moulded at will to suit their vain imaginations.
Make merchandise (éuzropevocovtat). Only here and Jas. iv. 13. Compare Jude 16, for the sake of advantage, their glory being in having a multitude of followers.
Judgment (xpiua). Rev., sentence. So, commonly, in New Testament; the process or act of judging being expressed by Kpiots.
Of a long time (ék7raka). Rev., better, from of old, bring- ing out thus more sharply the force of é«. Only here and ch. iii. 5. Construe with lengereth.
Lingereth (apye?). Only here in New Testament. Compare on the kindred adjective ¢d/e, ch. i. 8. There is a graphic pict- ure in the sentence. The judgment is not zdle. It is ‘‘ repre- sented as a living thing, awake and expectant. Long ago that judgment started on its destroying path, and the fate of sinning angels, and the deluge, and the overthrow of Sodom and Gomor- rah were but incidental illustrations of its power; nor has it ever since lingered. . . . It advances still, strong and vig- ilant as when first it sprang from the bosom of God, and will
Cu. IL] THE SECOND GENERAL EPISTLE OF PETER. 691
not fail to reach the mark to which it was pointed from of old” (Salmond and Lillie).
Damnation (a7@dea). More literally, Rev., destruction. The word occurs three times in vv. 1-3.
Slumbereth (vycrafer). See on Matt. xxv. 5, the only other passage where it occurs.
4. The angels. Noarticle. Angels. So Rev. Compare Jude 6.
Cast them down to hell (raprapécas). Only here in New Testament. From Téptapos, Tartarus. It is strange to find Peter using this Pagan term, which represents the Greek hell, though treated here not as equivalent to Gehenna, but as the place of detention until the judgment.
Chains of darkness (cecpais Sodov). eupd is a cord or band, sometimes of metal. Compare Septuagint, Prov. v. 22; Wisd. of Sol. xvii. 2,18. The best texts, however, substitute cipois or ceipois, pits or caverns. Zpds originally is a place for storing corn. Rev., pits of darkness.
Of darkness (odov). Peculiar to Peter and Jude. Origi- nally of the gloom of the nether world, So Homer:
‘« These halls are full Of shadows hastening down to Erebus Amid the gloom (im (épov).”’ * Odyssey, xx., 355.
’
When Ulysses meets his mother in the shades, she says to him:
“* How didst thou come, my child, a living man, Into this place of darkness ? (61d (égov).” Odyssey, xi., 155.
Compare Jude 13. So Milton:
‘¢ Here their prison ordained In utter darkness, and their portion set As far removed from God and light of heaven As from the centre thrice to the utmost pole.” Paradise Lost, i., 71-74.
692 WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. [Cu. II.
And Dante:
‘¢ That air forever black.” Inferno, iii., 329.
‘¢ Upon the verge I found me Of the abysmal valley dolorous That gathers thunder of infinite ululations. Obscure, profound it was, and nebulous, So that by fixing on its depths my sight Nothing whatever I discerned therein.” Inferno, iv., 7, 12.
*¢ T came unto a place mute of all light.” Inferno, v., 28.
To be reserved (rnpoupuévous). Lit., beeng reserved. See on 1 Pet. i. 4, “ reserved in heaven.”
5. Saved (épvratev). Rev., preserved. See on 1 Pet. i. 4, and compare “the Lord shut him in” (Gen. vii. 16).