2nd Peter Chapter 2 verse 18 Holy Bible
For, uttering great swelling `words' of vanity, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by lasciviousness, those who are just escaping from them that live in error;
read chapter 2 in ASV
For with high-sounding false words, making use of the attraction of unclean desires of the flesh, they get into their power those newly made free from those who are living in error;
read chapter 2 in BBE
For [while] speaking great highflown words of vanity, they allure with [the] lusts of [the] flesh, by dissoluteness, those who have just fled those who walk in error,
read chapter 2 in DARBY
For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
read chapter 2 in KJV
read chapter 2 in WBT
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;
read chapter 2 in WEB
for overswellings of vanity speaking, they do entice in desires of the flesh -- lasciviousnesses, those who had truly escaped from those conducting themselves in error,
read chapter 2 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 18. - For when they speak great swelling words of vanity; literally, for speaking. "Great swelling words" is expressed by one word in the Greek, ὑπέρογκα, St. Jude has the same word in verse 16; it is used in the classical writers of great bulk of any kind, literal or figurative. The genitive is descriptive - the words are swelling, high-sounding; but they are only words, vain and meaningless; they have nothing but emptiness behind them. They allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness; rather, as in the Revised Version, they entice (as in verse 14) in the lusts of the flesh, by lasciviousness. The preposition "in" denotes the sphere in which these men live, their condition, habits of life. The dative ἀσελγείαις, literally "by lasciviousnesses," that is, by acts of lasciviousness, is the dative of the instrument; it states the means by which they entice men. Those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. The Authorized Version follows the T.R., τοὺς ὄντως ἀποφυγόντας; but most of the best manuscripts have τοὺς ὀλίγως ἀποφεύγοντας. This last reading gives a better sense, "Those who are just escaping." The adverb ὀλίγως may be understood of time, or, perhaps better, of measure - "escaping by a little, a little way." Those who were "clean escaped "would not be so easily enticed by the false teachers. These are only beginning to escape; they have heard the word with joy, but have no root in themselves; they put their hand to the plough, but they look back. They "that live in error" are the heathen; the unhappy men who are led astray by the false teachers are just escaping from the heathen and from their mode of life. It is possible to understand these last words as a coordinate clause, a further description of those who are just escaping. The false teachers entice "those who are just escaping, those who live in error." But the common rendering seems better. The verb translated "live" (ἀναστρεφομένους) is a favourite word with St. Peter (see 1 Peter 1:15, 18; 1 Peter 2:12; 1 Peter 3:1, 2, 16).
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(18) Great swelling words of vanity.--Exaggeration, unreality, boastfulness, and emptiness are expressed by this phrase. It carries on the same idea as the waterless wells and the driven mists--great pretensions and no results. The rebuke here is not unlike the warning in 1Peter 5:5-6.Allure.--Translated "beguile" in 2Peter 2:14, where see Note.Through the lusts of the flesh.--Better, in the lusts of the flesh (as in 2Peter 2:3, and 2Peter 1:1-2; 2Peter 1:4; 2Peter 1:13). The preposition "in" points to the sphere in which the enticement takes place; "through" should be reserved for "wantonness" (see Note on 2Peter 2:2), which is the bait used to entice. . . .
