2 Peter 2:2

2 Peter 2:2. And many shall follow their wantonnesses. The A. V. gives ‘pernicious ways,' following a reading which is now given up. On the noun see on 1 Peter 4:3. The same strong term is used for following, as in chap. 2 Peter 1:16. It denotes completeness or closeness of pursuit. Here again the immoral life is represented as the natural result of the false belief. So too, and still more positively, in Jude 1:4.

by reason of whom the way of the truth shall be evil spoken of. As to the verb see on 1 Peter 4:4. Christianity is designated ‘the way of the truth' as being a mode of life which results from, or bears the qualities of, the truth. The term ‘way' in this particular application occurs with marked frequency in the Book of Acts (comp. Acts 9:2; Acts 16:17; Acts 18:25-26; Acts 19:9; Acts 19:23; Acts 22:4; Acts 24:14). The connection leaves it ambiguous whether the persons referred to here are the false teachers themselves, or their followers, or both together. The most natural reference on the whole would be to those who have been immediately spoken of as certain to follow these teachers. In this case the point may be, as it is understood, e.g., by Alford, that greatest injury is done to the cause of Christ among those outside by men who, while ‘seeming to be in the way of truth, yet favour and follow false teachers.'