Bible Strands
2 Peter 2:17
These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Peter writes to believers to warn them against false teachers who have infiltrated the community. He issues this instruction during a period of urgent doctrinal defense against corruption.
The words — The Greek πηγαὶ (pēgai) translates literally to "springs," paired with ἄνυδροι (anudroi) meaning "without water." The phrase describes a source that promises sustenance but delivers none.
The thread — This imagery runs parallel to Jeremiah 14:3, where servants return with empty jars from dry cisterns, and Jude 1:12, which identifies these figures as corrupting communal meals. It also aligns with Ephesians 4:14’s warning against being tossed by every wind of teaching.
Why it lands — The text states that false teachers are empty and destined for fixed darkness, requiring readers to recognize their deceit and refuse their sensual appeals. It demands doctrinal vigilance rather than passive acceptance.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.
Cross-references
- Jude 1:12 These men are hidden reefs in your love feasts, shamelessly feasting with you but shepherding only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried along by the wind; fruitless trees in autumn, twice dead after being uprooted.
- Jeremiah 14:3 The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns, but find no water; their jars return empty. They are ashamed and humiliated; they cover their heads.
- Ephesians 4:14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming.
- Job 6:14 A despairing man should have the kindness of his friend, even if he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
- Hosea 6:4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning mist, like the early dew that vanishes.
- Matthew 8:12 But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
- Matthew 22:13 Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
- Matthew 25:30 And throw that worthless servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
- 2 Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;
- Jude 1:6 And the angels who did not stay within their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling—these He has kept in eternal chains under darkness, bound for judgment on that great day.