having eyes full of adultery, and who can’t cease from sin; enticing unsettled souls; having a heart trained in greed; children of cursing; forsaking the right way, they went astray, having followed the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of wrongdoing; but he was rebuked for his own disobedience. A mute donkey spoke with a man’s voice and stopped the madness of the prophet.
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2 Peter 2:14-16 sits inside this longer paragraph.
But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction. Many will follow their immoral ways, and as a result, the way of the truth will be maligned. In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old doesn’t linger, and their destruction will not slumber. For if God didn’t spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus, and committed them to pits of darkness to be reserved for judgment; and didn’t spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a preacher of righteousness, when he brought a flood on the world of the ungodly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, having made them an example to those who would live in an ungodly way; and delivered righteous Lot, who was very distressed by the lustful life of the wicked (for that righteous man dwelling among them was tormented in his righteous soul from day to day with seeing and hearing lawless deeds): the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, but chiefly those who walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries; whereas angels, though greater in might and power, don’t bring a railing judgment against them before the Lord. But these, as unreasoning creatures, born natural animals to be taken and destroyed, speaking evil in matters about which they are ignorant, will in their destroying surely be destroyed, receiving the wages of unrighteousness; people who count it pleasure to revel in the daytime, spots and defects, reveling in their deceit while they feast with you; having eyes full of adultery, and who can’t cease from sin; enticing unsettled souls; having a heart trained in greed; children of cursing; forsaking the right way, they went astray, having followed the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of wrongdoing; but he was rebuked for his own disobedience. A mute donkey spoke with a man’s voice and stopped the madness of the prophet. These are wells without water, clouds driven by a storm; for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever. For, uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness, those who are indeed escaping from those who live in error; promising them liberty, while they themselves are bondservants of corruption; for a man is brought into bondage by whoever overcomes him.
Parallel Translations
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having eyes full of adultery, and who can’t cease from sin; enticing unsettled souls; having a heart trained in greed; children of cursing;
forsaking the right way, they went astray, having followed the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of wrongdoing;
but he was rebuked for his own disobedience. A mute donkey spoke with a man’s voice and stopped the madness of the prophet.
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havinge eyes full of advoutrie and that cannot cease to synne begylynge vnstable soules. Hertes they have exercised with coveteousnes. They are cursed chyldren
and have forsaken the right waye and are gone astraye folowinge the waye of Balam the sonne of Bosor which loved the rewarde of vnrightewesnes:
but was rebuked of his iniquitie. The tame and dome beast speakinge with manes voyce forbade the folisshnes of the Prophete.
Show all 3 translations
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Hauing eyes full of adulterie, and that can not cease to sinne, beguiling vnstable soules: they haue heartes exercised with couetousnesse, they are the children of curse:
Which forsaking the right way, haue gone astray, folowing the way of Balaam, the sonne of Bosor, which loued the wages of vnrighteousnes.
But he was rebuked for his iniquitie: for the dumme beast speaking with mans voyce, forbade the foolishnesse of the Prophet.
Cross-references (49)
- 2 Peter 2:3 (v14) In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old doesn’t linger, and their destruction will not…
- 2 Peter 2:18 (v14) For, uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness, those who are indeed escaping…
- Revelation 2:14 (v15) But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to throw a stumbling…
- Jude 1:11 (vv14–15) Woe to them! For they went in the way of Cain, and ran riotously in the error of Balaam for hire, and perished in Korah’s rebellion.
- Ephesians 2:3 (v14) We also all once lived among them in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of…
Show all 48 cross-references
- Deuteronomy 23:4-5 (v15) because they didn’t meet you with bread and with water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the…
- Romans 16:18 (v14) For those who are such don’t serve our Lord, Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the…
- Ephesians 4:14 (v14) that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in…
- 2 Peter 3:16 (v14) as also in all of his letters, speaking in them of these things. In those, there are some things that are hard to understand, which the…
- Numbers 22:5-7 (v15) He sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the River, to the land of the children of his people, to call him,…
- Numbers 22:21-33 (v16) Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab. God’s anger burned because he went; and Yahweh’s…
- Numbers 31:16 (v15) Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against Yahweh in the matter of Peor, and so…
- Matthew 12:34 (v14) You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.
- John 5:44 (v14) How can you believe, who receive glory from one another, and you don’t seek the glory that comes from the only God?
- 1 Corinthians 11:19 (v14) For there also must be factions among you, that those who are approved may be revealed among you.
- Nehemiah 13:2 (v15) because they didn’t meet the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, to curse them; however our God…
- Jeremiah 13:23 (v14) Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may you also do good, who are accustomed to do evil.
- Mark 13:22 (v14) For there will arise false christs and false prophets, and will show signs and wonders, that they may lead astray, if possible, even the…
- 1 John 2:16 (v14) For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, isn’t the Father’s, but is the world’s.
- Micah 6:5 (v15) My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may…
- Colossians 2:18 (v14) Let no one rob you of your prize by self-abasement and worshiping of the angels, dwelling in the things which he has not seen, vainly…
- James 1:8 (v14) He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
- 2 Samuel 11:2-4 (v14) At evening, David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. From the roof, he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was…
- Proverbs 28:4 (v15) Those who forsake the law praise the wicked; but those who keep the law contend with them.
- Acts 1:18 (v15) Now this man obtained a field with the reward for his wickedness, and falling headlong, his body burst open, and all his intestines gushed…
- Acts 13:10 (v15) and said, “You son of the devil, full of all deceit and all cunning, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to pervert the…
- 2 Peter 2:13 (v15) receiving the wages of unrighteousness; people who count it pleasure to revel in the daytime, spots and defects, reveling in their deceit…
- Numbers 22:18-21 (v15) Balaam answered the servants of Balak, “If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can’t go beyond the word of Yahweh my…
- Numbers 22:23 (v15) The donkey saw Yahweh’s angel standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand; and the donkey turned out of the path, and went into…
- Numbers 22:28 (v15) Yahweh opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”
- 1 Samuel 12:23 (v15) Moreover as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against Yahweh in ceasing to pray for you: but I will instruct you in the good and…
- 1 Kings 18:18 (v15) He answered, “I have not troubled Israel; but you, and your father’s house, in that you have forsaken Yahweh’s commandments, and you have…
- Isaiah 34:5 (v14) For my sword has drunk its fill in the sky. Behold, it will come down on Edom, and on the people of my curse, for judgment.
- Ezekiel 9:10 (v15) As for me also, my eye won’t spare, neither will I have pity, but I will bring their way on their head.”
- Hosea 14:8 (v15) Ephraim, what have I to do any more with idols? I answer, and will take care of him. I am like a green cypress tree; from me your fruit is…
- 1 Kings 19:10 (v15) He said, “I have been very jealous for Yahweh, the God of Armies; for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your…
- Ecclesiastes 7:25 (v16) I turned around, and my heart sought to know and to search out, and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know that wickedness is…
- Ecclesiastes 9:3 (v16) This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one event to all: yes also, the heart of the sons of men is full of evil,…
- Hosea 9:7 (v16) The days of visitation have come. The days of reckoning have come. Israel will consider the prophet to be a fool, and the man who is…
- Luke 16:11 (v16) If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
- Acts 26:11 (v16) Punishing them often in all the synagogues, I tried to make them blaspheme. Being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even…
- Job 31:7 (v14) if my step has turned out of the way, if my heart walked after my eyes, if any defilement has stuck to my hands,
- Job 31:9 (v14) “If my heart has been enticed to a woman, and I have laid wait at my neighbor’s door,
- Proverbs 6:25 (v14) Don’t lust after her beauty in your heart, neither let her captivate you with her eyelids.
- Isaiah 1:16 (v14) Wash yourselves. Make yourself clean. Put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes. Cease to do evil.
- Isaiah 65:20 (v14) “No more will there be an infant who only lives a few days, nor an old man who has not filled his days; for the child will die one hundred…
- Matthew 5:28 (v14) but I tell you that everyone who gazes at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.
- Matthew 25:41 (v14) Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his…
48 distinct cross-references across this passage (49 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (22 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv14–16 14. Beguiling, or baiting, unstable souls. By the metaphor…
14. Beguiling, or baiting, unstable souls. By the metaphor of baiting he reminds the faithful to beware of their hidden and deceitful arts; for he compares their impostures to hooks which may catch the unwary to their destruction. By adding unstable souls he shews the reason for caution, that is, when we have not struck firm roots in faith and in the fear of the Lord: and he intimates at the same time, that they have no excuse who suffer themselves to be baited or lured by such flatteries; for this must have been ascribed to their levity. Let there be then a stability of faith, and we shall be safe from the artifices of the ungodly.
An heart they have exercised with covetous practices, or, with lusts. Erasmus renders the last word, “rapines.” The word is of a doubtful meaning. I prefer “lusts.” As he had before condemned incontinence in their eyes, so he now seems to refer to the vices latent in their hearts. It ought not, however, to be confined to covetousness. By calling them cursed or execrable children, he may be understood to mean, that they were so either actively or passively, that is, that they brought a curse with them wherever they went, or that they deserved a curse.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v14 He condemneth those men, as showing even in their…
He condemneth those men, as showing even in their behavior and countenance an inmeasurable lust, as making merchandise of the souls of light persons, as men exercised in all the crafts of covetousness, to be short, as men that sell themselves for money to curse the Sons of God after Balaam’s example, whom the dumb beast reproved.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv14–16 14 Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot…
14 Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:
Ver. 14. Having eyes full of adultery] Gr. Of the adulteress, as if she were seen sitting in the eyes of the adulterer. The wanton Greek was said to have in his eyes ου κορας αλλα πορνας, non virgines sed meretrices, not maids but minions. {a} Archilaus the philosopher told a young wanton, Nihil interest quibus membris cinaedi sitis, posterioribus an prioribus. The leper was to shave his eyebrows, to teach us to take away the lust of the eyes, Lev 14:9. These, like Jacob’s sheep, too firmly fixed on beautiful objects, make the affections bring forth spotted fruit. And it is as easy to quench the fire of Etna as the thought fixed by lust.
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And that cannot cease to sin] Though they have made many covenants with God, promises to men. So Pro 19:19. They break all, as easily as Samson did the new ropes.
Exercised with covetous practices] Which they constantly follow, as the artificer doth his trade.
{a} Plutarch. Κορη puellam et pupillam oculi significat. Vitiis nobis in animum per oculos est via. Quintil.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv14–16 Having eyes; he mentions the eyes, both because they…
Having eyes; he mentions the eyes, both because they let in the objects of lust into the heart, Job 31:1; Mat 5:28, and because the signs of lust in the heart appear especially in the eyes, Gen 39:7; Pro 6:25.
Full of adultery; full of an adulteress, which either may be a Hebraism, the concrete being put for the abstract, as drunken for drunkenness, and thirsty for thirst, Deu 29:19; or it may be a proverbial expression of the wretchedness of such men’s hearts, when they still carried an adulteress in their eyes.
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That cannot cease from sin; never satisfied with looking upon, or still looking about for, such objects as might inflame their lusts; or still seeking with wanton looks to entice others to folly.
Beguiling; either alluring them by their wantonness to embrace their false doctrines, promising them pleasures and carnal liberties, 2Pe 2:18; or enticing them to lewdness, by instilling false doctrines into them, which tend to licentiousness.
Unstable souls; those that were not well grounded in the faith and doctrine of holiness, who might therefore easily be drawn aside.
An heart they have exercised with covetous practices; a heart wholly intent upon getting gain, accustomed to it, and skilful in it.
Practices; the word is in the plural number, to show that the seducers had several arts and ways of exercising their covetousness.
Cursed children; Greek, children of the curse. It may be taken either actively, for such as were causes of a curse, brought a curse with them; or passively, for such as were worthy of a curse, or obnoxious to it; as children of wrath, Eph 2:3.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v15 Our apostle, having charged these men with insatiable lust…
Our apostle, having charged these men with insatiable lust in the former verse, proceeds next to tax them with insatiable covetousness in this verse, declaring that this sin had diverted them from the right way of truth and godliness, and caused them to imitate Balaam of old, whose love of honour and wealth so blinded his eyes, that the ass he rode upon could see beyond him, whose mouth God miraculously opened to rebuke the madness of the prophet.
Note here, 1. How the wicked in after ages do in their courses and practices imitate such wicked persons as lived before them in former ages: These men followed the way of Balaam, imitate his covetousness and insatiable desire of wealth.
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Note, 2. That as it is the nature of all sin to carry men out of the way, so covetousness in particular will carry a man astray, and put him upon the practice of any wickedness: It neither fears nor forbears any sinful course to attain its end; they that will be rich meet with many enticements unto sin, and they will not fear to embrace any enticement. Nay, verily, a thirst after gain, will make a man thirst after blood, to get gain. Witness Balaam and Judas, who were both covetous and bloody. Covetousness is oft-times the cause of uncleanness. How many, for the sake of money, have violated their matrimonial faith, allured more with the adulterer’s purse than by his person. Let no person hope to escape any sin that embraces this one sin.
Note, 3. What a mighty struggle there sometimes is in a natural man’s conscience concerning sin. The light of Balaam’s conscience made him refuse the wages of unrighteousness, and speak honourably: If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot, &c. but at the same time lust in his heart led him forth strongly to desire it. He loved the wages of unrighteousness: loved it, yet durst not touch it.
Note, 4. How extremely, yea, brutishly mad, such men are upon their lusts, who will not be rebuked or stopped in their progress of impiety without a miracle. Balaam’s running was so greedy, and his march so furious, that he had cursed the people, had not the angel stopped him, and the ass spoken to him. Little thanks to a resolute sinner that he does not rush on, when the arm of omnipotency pulls him back. O let the heart-changing power of the grace of God influence us to good, as well as his almighty arm restrain us from evil, or we are miserable.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv14–16 Having eyes full of adultery,.... For the seventh command…
Having eyes full of adultery,.... For the seventh command is not only violated by unclean actions, and obscene words, but also by unchaste looks: and so the Jews explain (k) that precept,
""thou shalt not commit adultery", Exo 20:14; you shall not go after your hearts, nor after "your eyes"; says R. Levi, the heart and the "eye" are sin's two brokers.''
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Hence we read (l) of , "one that commits adultery with his eyes"; See Gill on Mat 5:28; compare Job 31:1. Some read the words, "having eyes full of the adulteress": that is, having a lewd and infamous woman always in mind and sight, continually looking at her and lusting after her:
and that cannot cease from sin: which may be understood either of these wicked men, who are like the troubled sea, that cannot rest, but are continually casting up the mire and dirt of sin out of their polluted heart; who live and walk in sin, and are always committing it, their conversation being nothing else but one continued series of sinning; nor can they do otherwise, since they are slaves to their lusts, and are carried away with the force and power of them: or of their eyes, which were always rolling after unlawful objects; their eyes and their hearts were only, and always, for their lust, as the prophet says of others, that they were but for their covetousness, Jer 22:17; a sin also which reigned in these men:
beguiling unstable souls: such as were unsteady in their principles, and unstable in their ways; were like children tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine, not being rooted in Christ, nor established in the faith; these, as the serpent beguiled Eye, they corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ; imposed false doctrines on them, and deceived them by false glosses and outward appearances; and by fair words and good speeches, and by their wanton looks and carnal lusts, they allured them into the sin of adultery; or ensnared them, drew them into the net and snare of Satan, and so they were taken and led captive.
An heart they have exercised with covetous practices; an immoderate love of money, a covetous desire after it, is the root of all evil, the bane of religion, and source of heresy, and is a vice which has always prevailed among false teachers; and the character here given well agrees with Simon Magus, the father of heresies, and his followers: hence care is always taken to insert, among, the characters and qualifications of Gospel ministers, that they be not greedy of filthy lucre, Ti1 3:3; this iniquity, when it is a reigning one, and is become an habit, as it was in the persons here described, for it had its seat in their heart, they were habituated to it, and continually exercised it in a multitude of instances and wicked practices, is insatiable and damnable:
cursed children; or "children of the curse"; which may be understood either actively, children that do curse, as children of disobedience are such as commit acts of disobedience; so these were cursing children, who, though their mouths might not be full of cursing and bitterness, as openly profane sinners be, yet they inwardly, and from their hearts, cursed the true followers of Christ, and their principles; or passively, cursed children who were under the curse of the law, and from which there was no redemption for them, but at the last day will have the awful sentence pronounced on them, Go, ye cursed, into everlasting fire.
(k) T. Hieros. Beracot, fol. 3. 3. (l) Vajikra Rabba, sect. 23. fol. 165. 1. Vid. A. Gell. Noct. Attic. l. 3. c. 5.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv15–16 The way of Balaam the son of Bosor -…
The way of Balaam the son of Bosor - So the Chaldeans pronounced what the Jews termed Beor; namely, the way of covetousness. Who loved - Earnestly desired, though he did not dare to take, the reward of unrighteousness - The money which Balak would have given him for cursing Israel.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv14–16 Verse 14. Having eyes full of adultery] μοιχαλιδος. Of…
Verse 14. Having eyes full of adultery] μοιχαλιδος. Of an adulteress; being ever bent on the gratification of their sensual desires, so that they are represented as having an adulteress constantly before their eyes, and that their eyes can take in no other object but her. But instead of μοιχαλιδος of an adulteress, the Codex Alexandrinus, three others, with the Coptic, Vulgate, and one copy of the Itala, together with several of the fathers, have μοιχαλιας, of adultery.
Cannot cease from sin] Which cease not from sin; they might cease from sin, but they do not; they love and practise it. Instead of ακαταπαυστους, which cannot cease, several MSS. and versions have ακαταπαυστου, and this requires the place to be read, Having eyes full of adultery and incessant sin. The images of sinful acts were continually floating before their disordered and impure fancy. This figure of speech is very common in the Greek writers; and Kypke gives many instances of it, which indeed carry the image too far to be here translated.
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Beguiling unstable souls] The metaphor is taken from adulterers seducing unwary, inexperienced, and light, trifling women; so do those false teachers seduce those who are not established in righteousness.
Exercised with covetous practices] The metaphor is taken from the agonistae in the Grecian games, who exercised themselves in those feats, such as wrestling, boxing, running, c., in which they proposed to contend in the public games. These persons had their hearts schooled in nefarious practices they had exercised themselves till they were perfectly expert in all the arts of seduction, overreaching, and every kind of fraud.
Cursed children] Such not only live under God's curse here, but they are heirs to it hereafter.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv15–16 2Pe 2:15. Which have forsaken the right — Ευθειαν,…
2Pe 2:15. Which have forsaken the right — Ευθειαν, straight; way — The way of truth and integrity, and are gone astray — Have wandered in dangerous and destructive paths; following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor — (So the Chaldeans pronounced what the Jews called Beor,) namely, the ways of covetousness. Balaam loved wealth and honour so much, that to obtain them he acted contrary to his conscience. To follow his way, therefore, is to be guided by similar base passions, and to commit similar base actions; who loved the wages of unrighteousness — “When Balaam was first sent for to curse the Israelites, Balak’s messengers carried only the rewards of divination in their hands, Num 22:7 : and therefore when God forbade him to go, he easily acquiesced, and refused to go, 2Pe 2:13. But when Balak sent a second request by more honourable messengers, and with them a promise to promote him to very great honour, and to do whatever he should say to him, Balaam, inflamed with the love of the promised hire, endeavoured a second time to obtain permission to go. And though God allowed him to go, on the express condition that he should do nothing in the affair without his order, Balaam went with the resolution of cursing the Israelites, whether God permitted him or not;” as evidently appears from the circumstances of the story, to which the reader is referred. “And though he so far obeyed God that he blessed the Israelites, it was no dictate of his heart, but a suggestion of the Spirit of God, which he could not resist. For that his love of the hire, and his inclination to curse the Israelites continued, he showed by his behaviour afterward, when, to bring the curse of God upon the Israelites, he counselled Balak to entice them to fornication and idolatry by means of the Midianitish women, Num 31:16; Rev 2:14 :” in giving which advice he acted most unrighteously, knowing it to be evil, and that God’s purpose concerning the Israelites was irrevocable, Num 23:19, &c. “He therefore gave the advice, not in the persuasion that it would be effectual, but merely to gain the promised hire, which therefore is called the hire of unrighteousness. In these things the false teachers, who, to draw money from their disciples, encouraged them by their doctrine to commit all manner of lewdness, might well be said to follow in the way of Baalam; and their doctrine might justly be called, the doctrine of Balaam.” — Macknight.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv14–16 Having eyes full of adultery - Margin, as in…
Having eyes full of adultery - Margin, as in the Greek, “an adulteress;” that is, gazing with desire after such persons. The word “full” is designed to denote that the corrupt passion referred to had wholly seized and occupied their minds. The eye was, as it were, full of this passion; it saw nothing else but some occasion for its indulgence; it expressed nothing else but the desire. The reference here is to the sacred festival mentioned in the previous verse; and the meaning is, that they celebrated that festival with licentious feelings, giving free indulgence to their corrupt desires by gazing on the females who were assembled with them. In the passion here referred to, the “eye” is usually the first offender, the inlet to corrupt desires, and the medium by which they are expressed. Compare the notes at Mat 5:28. The wanton glance is a principal occasion of exciting the sin; and there is much often in dress, and mien, and gesture, to charm the eye and to deepen the debasing passion.
And that cannot cease from sin - They cannot look on the females who may be present without sinning. Compare Mat 5:28. There are many men in whom the presence of the most virtuous woman only excites impure and corrupt desires. The expression here does not mean that they have no natural ability to cease from sin, or that they are impelled to it by any physical necessity, but only that they are so corrupt and unprincipled that they certainly will sin always.
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Beguiling unstable souls - Those who are not strong in Christian principle, or who are naturally fluctuating and irresolute. The word rendered beguiling means to bait, to entrap, and would be applicable to the methods practiced in hunting. Here it means that it was one of their arts to place specious allurements before those who were known not to have settled principles or firmness, in order to allure them to sin. Compare 2Ti 3:6.
An heart they have exercised with covetous practices - Skilled in the arts which covetous men adopt in order to cheat others out of their property. A leading purpose which influenced these men was to obtain money. One of the most certain ways for dishonest men to do this is to make use of the religious principle; to corrupt and control the conscience; to make others believe that they are eminently holy, or that they are the special favorites of heaven; and when they can do this, they have the purses of others at command. For the religious principle is the most powerful of all principles; and he who can control that, can control all that a man possesses. The idea here is that these persons had made this their study, and had learned the ways in which men could be induced to part with their money under religious pretences. We should always be on our guard when professedly religious teachers propose to have much to do with money matters. While we should always be ready to aid every good cause, yet we should remember that unprincipled and indolent men often assume the mask of religion that they may practice their arts on the credulity of others, and that their real aim is to obtain their property, not to save their souls.
Cursed children - This is a Hebraism, meaning literally, “children of the curse,” that is, persons devoted to the curse, or who will certainly be destroyed.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv14–15 And what is still an aggravation to the weight…
And what is still an aggravation to the weight of their sins, they entice and allure others, unstable souls, not sufficiently grounded in faith and virtue, by promising them liberty and happiness, though they themselves be miserable slaves to their passions. At the same time they make dupes of them out of covetousness, to get a share of their money and riches. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv14–16 full of adultery--literally, "full of an adulteress," as though…
full of adultery--literally, "full of an adulteress," as though they carried about adulteresses always dwelling in their eyes: the eye being the avenue of lust [HORNEIUS]. BENGEL makes the adulteress who fills their eyes, to be "alluring desire."
that cannot cease--"that cannot be made to cease from sin."
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beguiling--"laying baits for."
unstable--not firmly established in faith and piety.
heart--not only the eyes, which are the channel, but the heart, the fountain head of lust. Job 31:7, "Mine heart walked after mine eyes."
covetous practices--The oldest manuscripts read singular, "covetousness."
cursed children--rather as Greek, "children of curse," that is, devoted to the curse. Cursing and covetousness, as in Balaam's case, often go together: the curse he designed for Israel fell on Israel's foes and on himself. True believers bless, and curse not, and so are blessed.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv14–15 14. Full of adultery—Rather, Of an adulteress. At the…
14. Full of adultery—Rather, Of an adulteress. At the love-feasts their very eyes speak their insatiable lust, and do not cease from the sin of lustful gazing. Mat_5:28.
Beguiling—Laying baits for those not established in Christian doctrine and life.
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Exercised—They had trained their heart so thoroughly in covetousness, as a gymnast trains himself, that they had become skilful experts in all its arts.
Cursed children—Rather, children of a curse, like “the son of perdition.” Joh_17:12. Their unblushing greed and abominable licentiousness had brought them where God’s curse was abiding upon them.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv14–16 14. having eyes full of adultery] The Greek gives…
14. having eyes full of adultery] The Greek gives literally the somewhat strange figure, having eyes full of an adulteress. The phrase is probably connected with a recollection of our Lord’s words as to the sin of looking on a woman, to lust after her, being equivalent to adultery (Mat_5:28). St John’s mention of the “woman Jezebel” in the Church of Thyatira (Rev_2:20-22) suggests the thought that there may have been some conspicuous woman of that type of character present to St Peter’s thoughts, who at once encouraged her followers to bring their dainties—even though they were things that had been sacrificed to idols,—to the Agapae of the Christian Church, and when they were there held them fascinated by her wanton beauty. The spell thus exercised is further described as causing a restlessness in evil. The eyes that were thus attracted could not “cease from sin.”
beguiling unstable souls] The Greek word for “beguiling” may be noted as one of those which St Peter had in common with St James. It means primarily to “take with a bait, or in a snare,” and in Jas_1:14 is rightly rendered “enticed.” The idea suggested is that the false teachers attended the Agapae as seducers of the innocence of others.
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a heart they have exercised with covetous practices] Better, trained in covetousness. The words have an adequate meaning if we take “covetousness” in its ordinary sense. Greed of gain as well as wantonness characterised the false teachers. (See note on 2Pe_2:3.) In not a few instances, however, there is so close a connexion between the Greek word and sins of impurity (comp. 1Th_4:6; 1Co_5:11; Eph_5:3; Eph_5:5) that it is not unreasonable to see that meaning here also. The idiomatic use of the English phrase “taking advantage” of a woman’s weakness, presents a like association of thought.
cursed children] Better, children of a curse. The Apostle falls back on the old Hebrew idiom of expressing character by the idea of sonship. So we have “children of obedience in 1Pe_1:14. “Children of disobedience” (Eph_2:2). The “son of perdition” (Joh_17:12).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv14–16 (14) Of adultery.—Literally, of an adulteress. This verse has…
(14) Of adultery.—Literally, of an adulteress. This verse has no counterpart in Jude.
That cannot cease from sin.—Literally, that cannot be made to cease from sin. (Comp. attentively 1Pe_4:1.) It was precisely because these men refused to “suffer in the flesh,” but, on the contrary, gave the flesh all possible licence on principle, that they could not “cease from sin.”
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Beguiling.—Strictly, enticing with bait. We have the same word in 2Pe_2:18, Jas_1:14, and nowhere else. If “deceits” be the right reading in 2Pe_2:13, this clause throws some light on it. In any case, the metaphor from fishing, twice in this Epistle and only once elsewhere, may point to a fisherman of Galilee. (Comp. Mat_17:27.)
With covetous practices.—Better, in covetousness. The word is singular, as in 2Pe_2:3, according to all the best MSS. and versions.
Cursed children.—Rather, children of malediction. So Rheims; Wiclif has “sones of cursynge.” They are devoted to execration; malediction has adopted them as its own. (Comp. “son of perdition,” Joh_17:12; 2Th_2:3.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv14–16 Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease…
Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; literally, of an adulteress. Compare our Lord"s words in the sermon on the mount, (Mat_5:28) which may have been in St. Peter"s thoughts. For the second clause, comp. 1Pe_4:1, "He that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin." Beguiling unstable souls; rather, enticing. The word deleazontev, from delear, a bait, belongs to the art of the fowler or fisherman, and would naturally occur to St. Peter"s mind. He uses it again in verse 18 of this chapter (comp. also. (Jam_1:14) The word for "unstable" (ajsthriktouv) occurs only here and inrixon) 2Pe_3:16. It is a word of peculiar significance in the mouth of St. Peter, conscious, as he must have been, of his own want of stability in times past. He would remember also the charge once given to him, "When thou art converted, strengthen (sth) thy brethren". (Luk_22:32) A heart they have exercised with covetous practices; rather, trained in covetousness, according to the reading of the best manuscripts, pleonexiav. This is the third vice laid to the charge of the false teachers. They had practiced it so long that their very heart was trained in the habitual pursuit of gain by all unrighteous means. Cursed children; rather, children of curse. Like "the son of perdition," "children of wrath," "children of disobedience," "son of Belial," etc.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv14–15 Having eyes full of adultery.
2Pe_2:14
Having eyes full of adultery.
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Adultery
1. It is a conquering sin, for it hath overcome the strongest.
2. It is a cheating sin, for, instead of repentance, it works the adulterer to labour a concealment. Instead of clearing their sin, they labour to cloak it.
3. It is a commanding sin; no iniquity that stands in the way must be refused if adultery be once admitted.
4. It is a condemning sin, and carries its own sentence about it. It must needs abandon all love of God, for that and the love of a harlot cannot stand together. As malice is damnable, because it is so diametrically repugnant to God who is love; so God is also purity, and therefore nothing more directly contrary to Him than uncleanness.
I. Their eyes be the beagles that hunt after the game.
1. There is no sense which is not at the hearts command; but the principality of those servants is varied according to the disposition of their mistress. If the heart be gracious, the ear hath the superiority; if vicious, the eye.
2. The eye is of all senses the quickest of apprehension--a port to land the commodities of hell before the soul have warning.
3. The eye is the pander of a lustful heart; the window that lets in the infection, the first betrayer of the fort. Pliny writes of a chalky brimstone that draws to itself distant fire: the wanton eye attracts this adulterous fire to the heart. Alexander refused so much as to see Dariuss wife, a lady of incomparable beauty, fearing lest he that had conquered the husband should be overcome by the wife.
4. Satans first project is to take the eye; if that be once his friend, he hopes well of all the rest. Indeed, if the door stand open to the thief, what safety can be in the house?
5. Where be the eyes that have not been faulty? If the eyes have sinned, why should not the eyes be punished? Oh, let those eyes that have been the cisterns of corruption become the fountains of compunction!
II. adultery is the game, the beast they hunt.
1. The main attractive of the eye is beauty, and of this the fancy is informed by the eye; yet being so informed, then the eye is ruled by the fancy, and as that imagines her, so the eye sees her. Many a womans beauty hath been her ruin; but blessing never forsook a beautiful soul.
2. But if a mans eye be delighted with beauty, may he not enjoy it with chastity? What a laborious, what a dangerous way the lustful finds out to his pleasure!
3. It is an adulteress they love, and that is but one bow short of Satan. We hate the Turks for selling Christians as slaves. How odious are they that sell themselves!
III. full of adultery--this is the pursuit of the game, full cry. The eyes do not engross all their uncleanness; they are not only full, and the other parts empty. The caterer fills his basket with provision, but this serves afterward to fill the mouth and to fill the stomach. The eyes be first full, as the cistern; but the cistern serves all other offices of the house. Nor is this a fulness of satisfaction, for as he that loveth silver shall never be satisfied with silver, so he that loves women shall never be satisfied with women. Unnatural desires are infinite: hunger is soon appeased with meat, and thirst allayed with drink; but in burning fevers, the more water is drunk, the more it is thirsted for. Full. There is no mediocrity in sin: in extremes can be no mean; and every sin is an extreme, either deficient or excessive. (Thos. Adams.)
That cannot cease from sin--
The fixity of habit
Having eyes full of an adulteress. All who possess eyes at all have them full of something. I have heard one of exquisite aesthetic sensibility, who had seen some of the glorious painted glass at St. Gudule, in Brussels, on a summer day, declare that for days his eyes were full of those colours, especially the blue. The eye of the woman of meek and quiet spirit, wherever circumstances may lead her, is full of love. Even so the sensualists eye is full of an adulteress, filled full, so that it can hold no more. The eyes are fixed in an evil expression which they can never lose. They give signal to all whom it concerns that they are ever on the watch. That which is choke-full often means, in the original, satiated. But such eyes are insatiate and insatiable. This is one of Gods terrible voices of mortal judgment, one of those hints which tell us what a man may become. Let us consider that law of human character which is the foundation of the law of Divine punishment, without which, indeed, the latter cannot be spiritually construed to the spiritual nature. Character, then, as the derivation of the word implies, has a tendency to become, and frequently does become, absolutely stereotyped, from a practical point of view. Generally speaking, up to a certain date, a man may issue a second edition of his moral life, revised and corrected, perhaps even entirely recast. Still a day comes when the second edition, with the errata expunged, is not possible any longer. The eye once full of an adulteress may be filled with dust, but the ineradicable image has been carried to, and abides for ever in, that inward eye, which is the bliss or bane, the heaven or hell of solitude. This is a solemn argument for youth, when the vapour of imagination and passion are beginning to condense into habit; for that portion of manhood during which habit is becoming of insoluble density. Let us beware of the lust of the eyes. Be ours the prayer, Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken Thou me in Thy way. Nor let any who ponders this argument turn from it with a sigh of despair, For me it is too late. If we have enough of will left to desire earnestly a new mind, it is not too late. Such can still hear the voice--Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out. (Abp. Wm. Alexander.)
Covetous practices.
Covetousness
Some of us may remember the fable of a covetous man, who chanced to find his way one moonlight night into a fairys palace. There he saw bars, apparently of solid gold, strewed on every side, and he was permitted to take away as many as he could carry. In the morning, when the sun rose on his imaginary treasure, borne home with so much toil, behold! there was only a bundle of sticks, and invisible beings filled the air around him with scornful laughter.
Covetousness
Oh do not so marry yourselves to money that you are resolved nothing shall part you but death; be not like the medlar, which is never good till it be rotten. A covetous man may be compared to a Christmas-box--he receives money, but parts with none till death breaks this box in pieces; then the silver and gold comes tumbling out. (T. Watson.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv14–16 14. Having eyes full of adultery. Looking around with…
14. Having eyes full of adultery. Looking around with a lustful appetite.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv14–15 Sin. (See Scofield "Rom 3:23").
sin
Sin. (See Scofield "Rom 3:23").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v15 Balaam’s example:
Balaam’s example:
v. 15. Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam, the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness,
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v. 16. but was rebuked for his iniquity; the dumb ass, speaking with man’s voice, forbade the madness of the prophet.
The character and the motive of the false teachers is brought out strongly by the comparison with the behavior of Balaam: Having left the right way, they have gone astray, by exactly following the way of Balaam, the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness, but received a rebuke for his transgression; the dumb ass, speaking with the voice of a man, hindered the prophet’s senseless behavior. The manner in which most false teachers go wrong is exemplified by Balaam, Num 22:5-41; Num 23:1-30; Num 24:1-25. Although the Lord had expressly told him that he must not curse the children of Israel, yet the bribe money which was offered by Balak, king of the Moabites, induced him to make an attempt at cursing Israel. His greed for money was stronger than his obedience to God. He was conscious that he was tempting God in setting out on his mission, and an evil conscience made him irritable. When his ass tried to crowd out of the way at the appearance of the angel, he beat her unmercifully, until the Lord Himself opened her mouth and rebuked Balaam for his transgression, for his foolish, senseless behavior, for his madness. Thus it is madness that has taken hold of the false teachers when they put aside all virtue and become adepts in every form of unrighteousness, at the same time drawing with them the souls of men.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v15 They have abandoned the right way and have wandered…
They have abandoned the right way and have wandered off to follow
"These false teachers have abandoned the right way and have gone astray to follow." The false teachers have refused to be obedient to God because they have rejected what is right.
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the right way
Right behavior that honors God is spoken of as if it were a path to follow. (See: Metaphor)
he obtained a rebuke
You can specify it was God who rebuked Balaam. AT: "God rebuked him" (See: Abstract Nouns)
a mute donkey speaking in a human voice
A donkey, which is naturally unable to speak, spoke with a voice like a human.
stopped the prophet's insanity
God used a donkey to stop the prophet's foolish action. (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
astray
Balaam
love
receive
righteous
rebuke
transgress
donkey
voice
prophet
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v15 2:15 who loved to earn money by doing wrong:…
2:15 who loved to earn money by doing wrong: Despite consulting with God about what he should do, Balaam was determined to go his own way in hopes of receiving Balak’s money (see Num 22–24). The Old Testament account hints at Balaam’s greed, and Jewish tradition developed this theme (see Numbers Rabbah 20:10; Mishnah Avot 5:22; Philo, Moses 1:266-268).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.