A third example is now given: after judgment by water, there is judgment by fire. The case of Sodom and Gomorrah is also found in Jude 7, but the differences are so significant that it is perhaps best to discuss the present passage separately.

The account of Sodom and Gomorrah is found in Gen 19.1-29. In that account God rained burning sulphur on the two cities, and they were burned to the ground. In the present passage the focus seems to be the state of the cities after the burning is over; they were turned to ashes. The term for ashes appears only here in the New Testament and can be literally translated as “covering of ashes,” as in a volcanic eruption. Here again there are similarities with Jewish tradition. For example, this very term is used in some writings to describe Sodom and Gomorrah, and the region around the Dead Sea is known as “the land of ashes.” Fire and the source of the fire (from heaven, from God) are implicit in the Greek and may need to be made explicit in the translation, otherwise, people may assume that it is a natural fire; for example, “by causing fire to burn the cities … until they were ashes.”

He condemned them to extinction is interpreted by some as “condemned them with an overthrow” (the King James Version [ King James Version]), with “overthrow” referring to an earthquake that presumably followed the fire and resulted in the sinking of the cities and in the formation of the Dead Sea. This, however, is neither biblical nor historical but is part of the legends that came into being to explain why the Dead Sea was the way it was. Most modern translations, however, understand the text in the same way as Revised Standard Version (for instance, New English Bible “condemned them to total destruction,” Phillips “sentenced them to destruction,” Jerusalem Bible “he condemned … he destroyed them completely”). The meaning seems to be that God completely destroyed the cities and made it impossible for them to be rebuilt.

God did this to make these cities an example of what will happen to the ungodly if they do not repent. The word for example can be either positive (as in James 5.10) or somewhat negative, hence a “warning” (An American Translation; New English Bible “object-lesson”). Made them an example can also be rendered “used them as a warning.” For ungodly see 2 Peter 2.5 above. There is a textual problem here, as many manuscripts contain the variant reading followed by Revised Standard Version, to those who were to be ungodly. This is reflected in some translations; for example, New English Bible “godless men in future days,” Jerusalem Bible “anybody lacking reverence in the future,” Knox “the godless of a later time.” With this in mind, possible alternative translation models for this verse are:
• If God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed them completely by causing fire to burn them until they were ashes, and made them a warning of what will happen to those people who disobey him….

Or:
• God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, causing them to burn until they were ashes. He made them a warning to people of what will happen to those who disobey him.

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 .