Bible Strands
2 Peter 2:3
In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction does not sleep.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Peter writes to believers being actively targeted by false teachers who are exploiting them now, not in some future scenario. The verdict against these teachers is already in force.
The words — πλαστοῖς (plastois) means "fabricated" or "counterfeit," as in a forged coin; it modifies words (λόγοις), so the speech itself is counterfeit. πλεονεξία (pleonexia) is the engine: covetousness, not mere want, but grasping beyond what is owed.
The thread — Paul's warning against those who "peddle the word of God for profit" (2 Corinthians 2:17) and who "by smooth talk and flattery deceive the hearts" of the weak (Romans 16:18) runs on the same track. Deuteronomy 32:35 echoes the second half: their day of disaster is near, and their doom is not sleeping.
Why it lands — The verse demands that a reader stop treating false teaching as a matter of taste or theology alone and see it as a transaction driven by greed. It also removes any anxiety about whether judgment will come: it is already in motion.
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
And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
Cross-references
- 2 Corinthians 2:17 For we are not like so many others, who peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as men sent from God.
- Deuteronomy 32:35 Vengeance is Mine; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; for their day of disaster is near, and their doom is coming quickly.”
- Romans 16:18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:5 As you know, we never used words of flattery or any pretext for greed. God is our witness!
- Jude 1:15 to execute judgment on everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of every ungodly act of wickedness and every harsh word spoken against Him by ungodly sinners.”
- 1 Timothy 6:5 and constant friction between men of depraved mind who are devoid of the truth. These men regard godliness as a means of gain.
- Titus 1:11 who must be silenced. For the sake of dishonorable gain, they undermine entire households and teach things they should not.
- Titus 1:7 As God’s steward, an overseer must be above reproach—not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not greedy for money.
- 1 Peter 5:2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is among you, watching over them not out of compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not out of greed, but out of eagerness;
- 2 Peter 2:9 if all this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.