Railing judgment. Compare Jude 9; Zech. iii. 1, 2.
12. As natural brute beasts made to be taken and de- stroyed. This massing of epithets is characteristic of Peter. Natural (pvorxa), Rev., mere animals, should be construed with made, or as Rev., born (yeyevunueva). Brute (droya), lit., unreasoning or irrational. Rev., without reason. Compare Acts xxy. 27. Beasts (faa). Lit., living creatures, from Saw, to live. More general and inclusive than beasts, since it denotes strictly all creatures that live, including man. Plato even ap- plies it to God himself. Hence Rev., properly, ereatures. To be taken and destroyed (eis Ghoow Kal dIopav). Lit., Sor capture and destruction. Destruction twice in this verse, and with a cognate verb. Render the whole, as Rev., But these, as creatures without reason, born mere animals to be taken and destroyed.
Cn. IL] THE SECOND GENERAL EPISTLE OF PETER. 697
Speak evil (@\acdnpodrtes). Participle. Rev., rightly, racd- ing. Compare vv. 10, 11.
And shall utterly perish in their own corruption (év 77 bIopa avtav Kai PJapjcovtat). There isa play upon the words, which the Rev. reproduces by rendering, “ shall in their destroy- ing surely be destroyed.” The and, which in the A. V. connects this and the. preceding sentence, is rather to be taken with shad be destroyed, as emphasizing it, and should be rendered, as Rev., surely, or as others, even or also. Compare on the whole verse Jude 10.
13. And shall receive (xousovpevor). Lit., being about or destined to receive. See on 1 Pet. i. 9, and compare 1 Pet. v. 4. Some good texts read déducotpevor, suffering wrong. So Rey., suffering wrong as the hire of wrong-doing.
Reward of unrighteousness (pic9ov dédixias). MucSos is hire, and so is rendered in Rev. Compare Matt. xx. 8; Luke x. 7; John iv. 36. It also has in classical Greek the general sense of reward, and so very often in the New Testament, in passages where hire or wages would be inappropriate. Thus Matt. v.12; vi. 1; x.41. Hire would seem to be better here, because of the reference to Balaam in ver. 15, where the word occurs again and requires that rendering. The phrase puodos ddixias, reward or wages of iniquity, oceurs only here and in Peter’s speech concerning Judas (Acts i. 18), where the Rev. retains the rendering of the A. V., reward of iniquity. It would have been better to render wages of iniquity in both places. Iniquity and unrighteousness are used in English almost synonymously ; though, etymologically, iniquity empha- sizes the idea of cnjustice (inaequus), while unrighteousness (non-rightness) is more general, implying add deviation from right, whether involving another’s interests or not. This dis- tinction is not, however, observed in the Rev., where the render- ing of ddvxia, and of the kindred adjective ddvxos, varies unac- countably, if not capriciously, between warighteous and unjust.
698 WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. [Cu. IL
As they that count it pleasure to riot (jdovjy ajyovmevor
" rpudyv). The as of the A.V. is needless. The discourse pro- ceeds from ver. 13 by a series of participles, as far as following (ver. 15). Literally the passage runs, counting riot a pleasure.
Riot (rpudyjv). Meaning rather daintiness, delicacy, luau- riousness. Even the Rev. revel is almost too strong. Compare Luke vii. 25, the only other passage where the word occurs, and where the Rev. retains the A. V., dive delicately. So, also, Rev. substitutes, in Jas. v. 5, lived delicately for lived in pleasure.
In the daytime. Compare Peter’s words Acts ii. 15; also, 1 Thess. v. 7.
Spots (omédor). Only here and Eph. v. 27. Compare the kindred participle spotted (Jude 23), and defileth (Jas. ili. 6).
Blemishes (uot). Only here in New Testament. The negatives of the two terms spots and blemishes occur at 1 Pet. i.L0.
Sporting themselves (évrpufavtes). From tpudy, lucu- riousness. See on riot. Rev., revelling.