2:12

There are a couple of places in this verse where scholars understand the Greek in different ways. These Notes follow one widely accepted interpretation. Peter compared the false teachers to wild animals who behave according to their instinct. They act without thinking, according to what they want to do. God will destroy these false teachers in the same way that men catch and kill wild animals.

2:12a

like irrational animals, creatures of instinct: This is probably a pair of words that Peter used together in this sentence in order to emphasize how much like animals these false teachers were. The false teachers did only what the desires of their bodies drove them to do, like animals who do not think about what they do.

blaspheme: In English this word means “to say bad things about holy things or people.” But the Greek word it translates here can also mean “to say bad things about ordinary people or things.” Some scholars think Peter was talking about saying bad things about “glorious beings” (see 2:10c). But others think he meant saying bad things about church or government leaders.

2:12b

like such creatures, they too will be destroyed: Literally, “in their destruction they will be destroyed.” Scholars have interpreted this in many different ways, so it is difficult to be sure what Peter intended to say. Versions translate differently according to the interpretation they follow. For example:

(1) Since the false teachers behave like wild animals, God will destroy them in the same way as people destroy wild animals. Peter used the same Greek word here for “destroy” as he used in 2:12a when talking about the animals being born “only to be caught and destroyed.” For exapmle:

They will be destroyed like wild animals (Good News Translation)

(Berean Standard Bible, Good News Translation, New International Version (2011 Revision), New English Bible, and Revised Standard Version follow this interpretation.)

(2) The wicked behavior of the false teachers will cause their own destruction. For example:

They will certainly destroy themselves by their own work of destruction (The Jerusalem Bible)

(The Jerusalem Bible, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English also follows this interpretation.)

It is recommended that you follow the first interpretation (1).

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