Peter now turns to his immediate readers. He warns them of the false teachers’ greed, that is, their desire to acquire more and more things for themselves and for their own exclusive benefit. The object of their greed is not mentioned, but perhaps New English Bible is correct in identifying it as “greed for money.” If this interpretation is correct, the phrase in their greed may be rendered as “Because they are greedy,” “Because these false teachers are greedy,” or “Because these false teachers want a lot of money.” This greed leads them to exploit Christians, that is, to “make a profit” (Good News Translation) from the members of the Christian community, or possibly, to “take advantage of” the Christians. One way they will do this is with false words. The Greek word translated false primarily means “invented,” “fabricated,” or “made up” (as in Good News Translation “made-up stories”). False words therefore are stories or accounts or teachings that have no factual basis but are simply the result of the clever imaginations of the false teachers. This of course is related to 1.16, “cleverly devised myths,” and the meaning is essentially the same, although Peter uses a different Greek word. What is being asserted here is that it is not the apostles and Christian teachers, but the false teachers, who are depending on concocted fairy tales.

The second half of the verse speaks of the judgment and destruction of the false teachers. Condemnation and destruction may be taken as having the same meaning, in which case the two clauses can be taken as parallel to each other. On the other hand condemnation may refer more specifically to the process of judgment in order to assess just punishment. Destruction can then be taken as the result of punishment: they will be punished to such an extent that they will be utterly destroyed. Here both condemnation and destruction are personified, that is, they are spoken of as if they are persons who are able to act. Good News Translation has shifted the focus from the personified action to the doer of the action; hence “For a long time now their Judge has been ready, and their Destroyer has been wide awake!” It is clearly understood in the text that the agent in the judgment and destruction of the false teachers is God himself, and if necessary this information can be included in the translation; for example, “God, who judges them, is the one who will destroy them.”

From of old refers to a time in the distant past, although the text does not indicate when or where their condemnation was pronounced. Among the possibilities suggested by commentators are:

1. The condemnation of false prophets in the Old Testament already included the condemnation of false teachers, and that condemnation shows how the false teachers will be judged and punished.

2. The examples in the following verses (verses 4-9) are pictures of the coming judgment, which means that the false teachers will be judged in a similar manner. For further discussion, see comments on Jude 4.

Has not been idle and has not been asleep are parallel expressions, stressing certainty and nearness of both judgment and destruction. It is possible that the time of punishment is associated with the end of the age, which will be signaled by the Parousia. There are in fact some references in the New Testament to the effect that the last days before the end will be characterized by the appearance of false prophets and false teachers (as in Matt 24.24; 1 Tim 4.1). In certain languages the order of the two verb phrases may be reversed; for example, “has been wide awake and ready to punish them.”

An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• Because these false teachers want a lot of money, they will take advantage of you by telling you made-up stories. For a long time now, God their Judge and Destroyer has been ready and wide awake to punish them.

Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Second Letter from Peter. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .