2:3
Peter wrote that the false teachers would be greedy people who would lie in order to deceive other people. He wrote that this is how they would try to convince people to give them money, but that God would judge and destroy these false teachers.
2:3a
exploit: This means “profit dishonestly from someone, cheat someone.”
deceptive words: The literal meaning of the Greek is “forged/fabricated words.” This refers to the teaching of the false teachers. It is similar to the words which Peter used in 1:16a. There he said that what he and the other apostles taught were not fabricated stories. Now here in 2:3, Peter was saying that the false teachers would be the ones who would use stories that someone had fabricated.
2:3b
For a long time, even before Peter wrote these words, God had been ready to judge, condemn and destroy the false teachers.
The longstanding verdict against them remains in force: The literal meaning of the Greek is “for whom condemnation is not idle.” The Greek word that Berean Standard Bible translates as verdict means “judgement, decision.” It can refer to the decision a judge takes in court when he says that a person has done something wrong and deserves to be punished. Sometimes the word refers to the punishment itself. That is what it refers to here.
2:3c
their destruction does not sleep: This use of the negative not is really a vivid way of saying the opposite: “destruction is on the way” (New Living Translation (2004 Revision)). This is similar in form and meaning to 2:3b. Peter spoke about destruction as if it were a person doing something. If you are unable to do this in your language, you will need to state the meaning in a different form as you did in 2:3b. God is the one who will destroy the false teachers, just as he was the one who would condemn and punish them in 2:3b.
destruction: See note on 2:1e.
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