2:13a

It is better to include 13a in this paragraph which begins at verse 10b, rather than follow Berean Standard Bible which starts the new paragraph at the beginning of verse 12, because 13a continues to speak of how God will punish the false teachers.

The harm they will suffer is the wages of their wickedness: There is a problem in the Greek text here.

(1) Some manuscripts have a verb (adikoumenoi), which Berean Standard Bible translates as The harm they will suffer. This is the text most English versions follow.

(2) Other manuscripts have a different verb (komioumenoi) “received.” For example:

And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness (King James Version)

It is recommended that you follow the first interpretation (1) like Berean Standard Bible and the majority of English versions.

Paragraph 2:13b–16

The false teachers’ main pleasure was to feast and to get as much of food, things to drink, and sex as they wanted. It is bad to behave this way at any time, but these people were so shameless they didn’t even try to hide what they were doing by waiting until night. Instead they were doing these things in the daytime, when everyone could see them behaving in such a way. So the false teachers brought shame on the Christians when they joined them for meals together.

Peter compared the false teachers to the prophet Balaam. Read the story of Balaam in Numbers 22–24. Balak, the king of the country of Moab, offered to reward Balaam if he would curse the people of Israel. Balaam was greedy to get the reward which Balak had offered him. That is why he tried three times to curse the people of Israel, even though he knew God didn’t want him to do it. But each time he tried to curse the people of Israel, he failed, because God caused him to bless them instead.

When Balaam was first going to Balak, God sent his angel to block Balaam’s way. Balaam could not see the angel, but the donkey he was riding could see him and refused to go on. Balaam then beat the donkey, and so God gave the donkey the ability to speak and it protested against the unfair way that Balaam had treated it.

2:13b

carouse: The Greek word which Berean Standard Bible translates carouse means “luxury.” It can have a good sense, “delight,” but here Peter used it to mean “self indulgence,” that is, eating and drinking too much at feasts without any self-control.

2:13c

blots and blemishes: These two words are very similar in meaning. Both spoil the garment or face where they are. Peter used the words figuratively. He meant that the false teachers were like blots and blemishes because the disgraceful way that they behaved when they were eating together with the Christians spoiled the reputation of the whole group.

reveling in their deception: The Greek word which Berean Standard Bible translates as reveling is connected to “carouse” in 13b, and it means to enjoy oneself by eating, drinking and behaving immorally without any self-control.

deception: The word Peter used here (apatais (There is also a problem with the Greek manuscript at this point. Some manuscripts have the Greek word agapais instead of apatais. This word is usually translated as “love feasts” and refers to the meals the early Christians used to eat together. It is also the word Jude used in the parallel section in his letter (Jude 12). No major English version translates “love feasts” in the text, though some do mention it in a footnote.)) literally means “deceits.” However in some contexts, the word can mean “pleasure that involves doing wrong.” Here is another way to translate this verse part:

They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you (New International Version (2011 Revision))

While the false teachers ate with the Christians, they enjoyed indulging themselves.

The Meaning Line in the Display follows Berean Standard Bible. If you want to follow New International Version (2011 Revision), see the translation given above.

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