2 Peter 2:1

2 Peter 2:1. But there arose also false prophets among the people. Israel is obviously meant by ‘the people' here (comp. Romans 15:11; Jude 1:5, etc.). As in the former Epistle, therefore, so here Peter regards the N. T. Church as the Israel of God, and finds in what took place within the O. T. Israel an image of what is to take place in the N. T. Church. The ‘but' introduces a contrast with what was stated at the close of the previous chapter. There were prophets in Israel who ‘spake from God,' but there arose in the same Israel false prophets, and so it shall be in the N. T. Israel. The term ‘false prophet' occurs in the O. T. (e.g. Jeremiah 6:13), but is of much commoner occurrence in the N. T. The form of the word leaves it somewhat uncertain whether it means precisely one who prophesies false things, or one who falsely pretends to be a prophet. The latter sense is preferred by some of the best interpreters. The class of false prophets is dealt with in Deuteronomy 13:1-5.

as also among you there shall be false teachers. The term ‘false teachers' occurs nowhere else in the N. T. As in the case of the ‘false prophet,' it is uncertain whether it has the sense of pretended teachers, or that of teachers cf. falsehood. Both amount, however, to much the same. Christ Himself foretells the rise of ‘false prophets' (Matthew 24:24), and Paul warned the elders of Ephesus of men who should arise within the Church ‘speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them' (Acts 20:30).

who shall privily bring in destructive heresies. The ‘who' means here rather ‘such as,' pointing not merely to the fact that they shall so act, but to their character as such. The verb (which occurs only here) means literally to bring in by the side. It may convey the idea of secrecy or insidiousness, which both the A. V. and the R. V. represent by ‘ privily bring in.' Compare Paul's use of the corresponding adjective, ‘false brethren unawares brought in ' (Galatians 2:4). Jude (Jude 1:4) uses a different term to express the same idea, and speaks of the event as already accomplished (‘crept in unawares'), while Peter speaks of it as still future. The ‘damnable heresies' of the A. V. is an unhappy rendering of the original, which means ‘heresies of destruction,' that is, heresies which lead to destruction, or, as the R. V. gives it, ‘destructive heresies.' It is doubtful whether the word ‘heresies' is to be understood here in the sense now attached to it, namely, that of heterodox, self-chosen doctrines, or in the sense of party divisions. The latter is undoubtedly the regular sense of the term in the N. T.; comp. Acts 5:17; Acts 15:5; Acts 24:5; Acts 26:5; Acts 28:22 (in all which it is rendered ‘sect' in the A. V.), and also Acts 24:14; 1 Corinthians 11:19 (where it goes with schisms), and Galatians 5:20 (where it ranks with divisions). There is nothing to necessitate a departure here from the stated use. For the idea of party divisions created by false teaching suits the context well enough. Some good interpreters (Huther, etc.), however, are of opinion that the matter in view is the opinions themselves, that this is more in keeping with the phrase ‘privily bring in,' and that the word, therefore, in this one instance at least, approaches the modern sense.

even denying the Lord that bought them, having brought upon themselves swift destruction. The construction of these clauses is uncertain. It is possible that one or other of the participles stands instead of the finite verb, and that the whole, therefore, takes the form, ‘and shall deny the Lord that bought them, bringing on themselves,' etc., or better, ‘and denying the Lord... shall bring upon themselves,' etc. It is best, however, to retain all the participles as such, and we have then an intensification of the previous statement. In bringing in these heresies of destruction the false teachers will be even denying the Lord, and their doing so will mean that they have brought doom upon themselves. If Peter writes this Epistle, this reference to the denial of Christ as the climax of all possible evil in faith, becomes doubly significant. The name given to Christ here is the term Master, which is repeatedly used to designate the head of a house in his relation of authority over, or in his rights of possession in, the members of his house (comp. 1 Timothy 6:1-2; 2 Timothy 2:21; Titus 2:9; 1 Peter 2:18). Christ's claims upon them are further described as the claims of One who had made them His own by purchase. Jude (Jude 1:4) omits this notice of the purchase. The purchase price, which is elsewhere stated to be His blood (1 Corinthians 6:20; 1 Corinthians 7:23; Revelation 5:9), is left unexplained. The passage is one of several, in which Christ's death is presented in its world-wide attitude, as the means of instituting new relations between God and all mankind. These are balanced by others which ascribe a special effect and a particular design to His death in relation to His own, who have been given Him of His Father. Both must find a place in our doctrine of His reconciling work. As to the ‘swift,' see on chap. 2 Peter 1:14. As there, so here it means sudden a destruction speedy, inevitable, ‘like the lightning's stroke' (Lillie).