God’s Word Translation
2 Peter 2:4
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.
2 Peter 2:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
- New International Version (NIV)For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;
- English Standard Version (ESV)For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment;
- New King James Version (NKJV)For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;
Context of 2 Peter 2:4
2Many people will follow them in their sexual freedom and will cause others to dishonor the way of truth. 3In their greed they will use good-sounding arguments to exploit you. The verdict against them from long ago is still in force, and their destruction is not asleep. God 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. 5God didn’t spare the ancient world either. He brought the flood on the world of ungodly people, but he protected Noah and seven other people. Noah was his messenger who told people about the kind of life that has God’s approval. 6God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed them by burning them to ashes. He made those cities an example to ungodly people of what is going to happen to them.
Read all of 2 Peter 22 Peter 2:4 word by word
Εἰ γὰρ ὁ θεὸς ἀγγέλων ἁμαρτησάντων οὐκ ἐφείσατο, ἀλλὰ σειραῖς ζόφου ταρταρώσας παρέδωκεν εἰς κρίσιν τηρουμένους,Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Forγάρgar · forG1063
- ifεἰei · ifG1487
- Godὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
- sparedφείδομαιpheidomai · to spareG5339
- notοὐou · noG3756
- the angelsἄγγελοςaggelos · angelG32
- that sinnedἁμαρτάνωhamartanō · to sinG264
- butἀλλάalla · butG235
- castταρταρόωtartaroō · hell: TartarusG5020
- and deliveredπαραδίδωμιparadidōmi · to deliverG3860
- into chainsσειράseira · chainG4577
- of darknessζόφοςzophos · darknessG2217
- to be reservedτηρέωtēreō · to keep: guardG5083
- untoεἰςeis · towardG1519
- judgmentκρίσιςkrisis · judgmentG2920
Cross-references for 2 Peter 2:4
- 2 Peter 2:5God didn’t spare the ancient world either. He brought the flood on the world of ungodly people, but he protected Noah and seven other people. Noah was his messenger who told people about the kind of life that has God’s approval.
- Deuteronomy 29:20The Lord will never be willing to forgive that person, because the Lord’s burning anger will smolder against him. All the curses described in this book will happen to him. The Lord will erase ⌞every memory of⌟ that person’s name from the earth.
- Psalms 78:50He cleared a path for his anger. He did not spare them. He let the plague take their lives.
- Ezekiel 5:11“As I live, declares the Almighty Lord, because you have dishonored my holy worship place with all your disgusting and detestable things, I will have you killed. I will not have compassion for you or feel sorry for you.
- Ezekiel 7:4I will not have compassion for you or feel sorry for you. I will pay you back for the way you have lived and for the detestable things you have done. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
- Romans 8:32God didn’t spare his own Son but handed him over ⌞to death⌟ for all of us. So he will also give us everything along with him.
- Romans 11:21If God didn’t spare the natural branches, he won’t spare you, either.
- Job 4:18“You see, God doesn’t trust his own servants, and he accuses his angels of making mistakes.
- Luke 10:18Jesus said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like lightning.
- John 8:44You come from your father, the devil, and you desire to do what your father wants you to do. The devil was a murderer from the beginning. He has never been truthful. He doesn’t know what the truth is. Whenever he tells a lie, he’s doing what comes naturally to him. He’s a liar and the father of lies.
- 1 John 3:8The person who lives a sinful life belongs to the devil, because the devil has been committing sin since the beginning. The reason that the Son of God appeared was to destroy what the devil does.
- 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.
- Isaiah 14:12How you have fallen from heaven, you morning star, son of the dawn! How you have been cut down to the ground, you conqueror of nations!
- Matthew 8:29They shouted, “Why are you bothering us now, Son of God? Did you come here to torture us before it is time?”
- Matthew 25:41“Then the king will say to those on his left, ‘Get away from me! God has cursed you! Go into everlasting fire that was prepared for the devil and his angels!
- Mark 5:7and shouted, “Why are you bothering me now, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me.”
Commentaries on 2 Peter 2:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4For if God spared not the angels - The angels were originally placed in a state of probation; some having fallen and some having stood proves this. How long that probation was to last to them, and what was the particular test of their fidelity, we know not; nor indeed do we know what was their sin; nor when nor how they fell. St. Jude says they kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation; which seems to indicate that they got discontented…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4For if God spared not the angels that sinned - The apostle now proceeds to the proof of the proposition that these persons would be punished. It is to be remembered that they had been, or were even then, professing Christians, though they had really, if not in form, apostatized from the faith 2 Peter 2:20-22, and a part of the proofs, therefore, are derived from the cases of those who had apostatized from the service of God. He appeals, therefore, to the…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4The first example of judgment is the angels when they sinned. The common Jewish tradition was that "the sons of God" in Genesis 6:1–5 (understood as angels) had sexual relations with women. As a result, God judged them at that time (see 1 Enoch 6–10; compare 1 Peter 3:19–20; Jude 1:6). in chains of darkness: This phrase reflects a common ancient description of the underworld. It is probably a metaphor that pictures a place of deep darkness and confinement.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. if--The apodosis or consequent member of the sentence is not expressed, but is virtually contained in 2Pe 2:9. If God in past time has punished the ungodly and saved His people, He will be sure to do so also in our days (compare end of 2Pe 2:3). angels--the highest of intelligent creatures (compare with this verse, Jude 6), yet not spared when they sinned. hell--Greek, "Tartarus": nowhere else in New Testament or the Septuagint: equivalent to the usual…Read the comment
Topics related to 2 Peter 2:4
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
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