101
17. Our©/ eta, these are) From ver. 10 to 16 the character of false teachers has been described ; now their very plan of proceeding is described, which they use towards their disciples. — rrriyut, wells) A well and a cloud promise water : so these men boast vnspoyxu, great swelling words , as though they were the lights of the Church ; comp. ver. 10, 19, at the beginning ; but these ivells and these clouds give no supply. Those great swelling words are of vanity . — vspsXou,1 clouds) impostors.2 — o7g, to whom) This does not refer to wells and clouds , but to these . The definition is put for the thing de- fined, a arspsc nXavrirou, wandering stars. Comp. Jude 13, note. — o Lltpog rou txorovg, the mist of darkness) ?6<pog is the chilling horror [horror algidus] with which darkness (txorog) is attended. Comp, note on Heb. xii. 18. — rsr^ra/, is reserved) For this reason espe- cially, that they carry off to destruction so many souls. See the following verses.
18. 2 upxog dffzXysiag) 2 dp% dtizhyuag is most polluted flesh. Many have written dczXyuaig instead of aatXyetag3 by an easy slip of the pen into rhythm after the word sKiQv/ataig. — rovg oXiyug dvo<p&vyovrag rovg sv irXdvy) umffrps pofi'evovg, those , who for a little time had escaped from them who live in error) rovg repeated, is not put in apposition, but the word unoytvyovrug (comp. ver. 20) governs the clause rovg h rrXuvr) dwarpepofi'svovg, to make it known what it is that they have escaped ; and these avaffrpscpo^evoi are either the same false teachers, or others. There is here an accusative case governing an accusa- tive ; as in Luke xviii. 9, s^ovdsvovvrag rovg Xoivovg, despising others. Instead of oXtywg , some read ovrug.4 The copyists with equal readiness hastily put either of these words for the other. The compound verb dtropvyuv has of itself such force, that even without the ad- verb ovrcog , it denotes those who truly escape , ver. 20, i. 4 ; but oXiyug, for a short time, added to the verb, adds remarkably to the sense of the passage. No sooner have some escaped from those who live in error, than these wretched men are afresh ensnared by them.
1 The reading xccl opcty^Kut ( and mists) is preferred by the margin of both Editions , and so also the Germ. Version. — E. B.
ABC Vulg. support xoti opu'xfixt ; but Rec. Text viQikou, with Syr. Version and later Uncial MSS. — E.
2 Nebulones, dissipated impostors. — T.
* AB(?)C Theb. read doikyzious \ and so Rec. Text and Lachm. But Vulg. and both Syr. Versions, and inferior, viz. cursive, MSS. read drtkyziots ; and so Tisch.— E.
4 AB Vulg. read okiyoig : C and Rec. Text our us, with less authority. — E.
102