New King James Version
2 Peter 2:17
17These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
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 Living Translation (NLT)These people are as useless as dried-up springs or as mist blown away by the wind. They are doomed to blackest darkness.
Context of 2 Peter 2:17
15They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet. These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. 18For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. 19While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage.
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“To him who is afflicted, kindness should be shown by his friend, Even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
- Jeremiah 14:3Their nobles have sent their lads for water; They went to the cisterns and found no water. They returned with their vessels empty; They were ashamed and confounded And covered their heads.
- Hosea 6:4“O Ephraim, what shall I do to you? O Judah, what shall I do to you? For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud, And like the early dew it goes away.
- Jude 1:12These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots;
- Ephesians 4:14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
- 2 Peter 2:4For 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;
- Matthew 8:12But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
- Matthew 22:13Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
- Matthew 25:30And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
- Jude 1:6And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries