God’s Word Translation
2 Peter 2:17
17These false teachers are dried-up springs. They are a mist blown around by a storm. Gloomy darkness has been kept for them.
2 Peter 2:17 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.
- New International Version (NIV)These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.
- English Standard Version (ESV)These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved.
- New King James Version (NKJV)These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
Context of 2 Peter 2:17
15These false teachers have left the straight path and wandered off to follow the path of Balaam, son of Beor. Balaam loved what his wrongdoing earned him. 16But he was convicted for his evil. A donkey, which normally can’t talk, spoke with a human voice and wouldn’t allow the prophet to continue his insanity. These false teachers are dried-up springs. They are a mist blown around by a storm. Gloomy darkness has been kept for them. 18They arrogantly use nonsense to seduce people by appealing to their sexual desires, especially to sexual freedom. They seduce people who have just escaped from those who live in error. 19They promise these people freedom, but they themselves are slaves to corruption. A person is a slave to whatever he gives in to.
Read all of 2 Peter 22 Peter 2:17 word by word
οὗτοί εἰσιν πηγαὶ ἄνυδροι καὶ ὁμίχλαι ὑπὸ λαίλαπος ἐλαυνόμεναι, οἷς ὁ ζόφος τοῦ σκότους τετήρηται.¶Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Theseοὗτοςhoutos houtoi hautē hautai · this/he/she/itG3778
- areεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
- wellsπηγήpēgē · flowG4077
- without waterἄνυδροςanudros · waterlessG504
- cloudsνεφέληnephelē · cloudG3507
- that are carriedἐλαύνωelaunō · to driveG1643
- withὑπόhupo · by/under: byG5259
- a tempestλαῖλαψlailaps · stormG2978
- to whomὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
- the mistὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- the mistζόφοςzophos · darknessG2217
- of darknessσκότοςskotos · darknessG4655
- is reservedτηρέωtēreō · to keep: guardG5083
- forεἰςeis · towardG1519
- everαἰώνaiōn · an age: ageG165
Cross-references for 2 Peter 2:17
- Job 6:14“A friend should treat a troubled person kindly, even if he abandons the fear of the Almighty.
- Jeremiah 14:3Important people send their assistants out for water. They go to the cisterns, but they don’t find any water. They come back with their containers empty. They cover their heads, because they are ashamed and disgraced.
- Hosea 6:4“What should I do with you, Ephraim? What should I do with you, Judah? Your love is like fog in the morning. It disappears as quickly as the morning dew.
- Jude 1:12These people are a disgrace at the special meals you share with other believers. They eat with you and don’t feel ashamed. They are shepherds who care ⌞only⌟ for themselves. They are dry clouds blown around by the winds. They are withered, uprooted trees without any fruit. As a result, they have died twice.
- Ephesians 4:14Then we will no longer be little children, tossed and carried about by all kinds of teachings that change like the wind. We will no longer be influenced by people who use cunning and clever strategies to lead us astray.
- 2 Peter 2:4God didn’t spare angels who sinned. He threw them into hell, where he has secured them with chains of darkness and is holding them for judgment.
- Matthew 8:12The citizens of that kingdom will be thrown outside into the darkness. People will cry and be in extreme pain there.”
- Matthew 22:13Then the king told his servants, ‘Tie his hands and feet, and throw him outside into the darkness. People will cry and be in extreme pain there.’
- Matthew 25:30Throw this useless servant outside into the darkness. People will cry and be in extreme pain there.’
- Jude 1:6He held angels for judgment on the great day. They were held in darkness, bound by eternal chains. These are the angels who didn’t keep their position of authority but abandoned their assigned place.
Commentaries on 2 Peter 2:17
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17These are wells without water - Persons who, by their profession, should furnish the water of life to souls athirst for salvation; but they have not this water; they are teachers without ability to instruct; they are sowers, and have no seed in their basket. Nothing is more cheering in the deserts of the east than to meet with a well of water; and nothing more distressing, when parched with thirst, than to meet with a well that contains no water. Clouds…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17These are wells without water - Jude 1:12-13 employs several other epithets to describe the same class of persons. The language employed both by Peter and Jude is singularly terse, pointed, and emphatic. Nothing to an oriental mind would be more expressive than to say of professed religious teachers, that they were “wells without water.” It was always a sad disappointment to a traveler in the hot sands of the desert to come to a well where it was expected…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-22Verses 17-22 The word of truth is the water of life, which refreshes the souls that receive it; but deceivers spread and promote error, and are set forth as empty, because there is no truth in them. As clouds hinder the light of the sun, so do these darken counsel by words wherein there is no truth. Seeing that these men increase darkness in this world, it is very just that the mist of darkness should be their portion in the next. In the midst of their…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17-22Peter continues to describe the false teachers by showing how they harm other people.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1717. (Jude 12, 13.) wells--"clouds" in Jude; both promising (compare 2Pe 2:19) water, but yielding none; so their "great swelling words" are found on trial to be but "vanity" (2Pe 2:18). clouds--The oldest manuscripts and versions read, "mists," dark, and not transparent and bright as "clouds" often are, whence the latter term is applied sometimes to the saints; fit emblem of the children of darkness. "Clouds" is a transcriber's correction from Jude 12…Read the comment
Topics related to 2 Peter 2:17
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 2 Peter 2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries