2 Peter 2:14

2 Peter 2:14. having eyes full of an adulteress. The noun rendered ‘adultery' both by the A. V. and by the R. V. means really an adulteress. The phrase ‘full of' also means, at least occasionally in the Classics, ‘engrossed by.' Thus the sense may be either having eyes for nothing else but an adulteress, or revealing in their very eyes the adulterous object of their desire. It is possible, as has been suggested, that Peter is recalling here his Lord's words recorded in Matthew 5:28. There is no reason to suppose, however, that any particular temptress occupying a prominent position is in view. The phrase is simply a bold method of expressing the sensual passion of the men, men whose eyes burned with impure fires, whose adulterous lust gleamed in their eyes.

and that cannot be made to cease from sin. So it may be rendered rather than simply ‘unsatisfied with sin,' or ‘that cannot cease from sin.' The clause adds the strokes of restlessness and persistence to the picture of their sensual profligacy.

enticing unstable souls. The verb occurs again in 2 Peter 2:18 and in James 1:14, and is a more picturesque term than the ‘beguiling' of the A. V. It means to allure by holding out a bait to one.

having a heart exercised in covetous - ness. The N. T. more than once brings greed and sensuality into very intimate connection (1 Thessalonians 4:6; 1 Corinthians 5:11; Ephesians 5:3; Ephesians 5:5), and hence some eminent interpreters (Calvin, Plumptre, etc.) suppose that the sin of impurity is meant here. But as covetousness has already been introduced in 2 Peter 2:3 as a prominent characteristic of these men, there is no reason for departing from the ordinary sense of the word here. Three great vices, therefore, which go naturally together, being only so many types of the same selfishness, viz. luxuriousness, sensuality, avarice, are ascribed to them here. children of a curse; that is to say, men who are devoted to the curse, who are of the quality or character so described. On this formula see note on 1 Peter 1:14; comp. also John 17:12; Ephesians 2:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:3. The description given in this verse as a whole does not meet us again in Jude.