2 Peter 2:17

2 Peter 2:17

These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.

a. NLT: These people are as useless as dried-up springs or as mist blown away by the wind. They are doomed to blackest darkness. [Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.]

b. ASV: These are springs without water, and mists driven by a storm; for whom the blackness of darkness hath been reserved. [Thomas Nelson & Sons first published the American Standard Version in 1901. This translation of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. YLT: These are wells without water, and clouds by a tempest driven, to whom the thick gloom of the darkness to the age hath been kept;

 [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

d. Classic Amplified: These are springs without water and mists driven along before a tempest, for whom is reserved forever the gloom of darkness. [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

1. “These are wells without water…”

a. These [Strong: 3778. houtos hoo'-tos, including nominative masculine plural houtoi hoo'-toy, nominative feminine singular haute how'-tay, and nominative feminine plural hautai how'-tahee from the article 3588 and 846; the he (she or it), i.e. this or that (often with article repeated):--he (it was that), hereof, it, she, such as, the same, these, they, this (man, same, woman), which, who.]

b. are [Strong: 1526. eisi i-see' 3d person plural present indicative of 1510; they are:--agree, are, be, dure, X is, were.]

c. wells [Strong: 4077. pege pay-gay' probably from 4078 (through the idea of gushing plumply); a fount (literally or figuratively), i.e. source or supply (of water, blood, enjoyment) (not necessarily the original spring):--fountain, well.]

d. without water [Strong: 504. anudros an'-oo-dros from 1 (as a negative particle) and 5204; waterless, i.e. dry:--dry, without water.]

1). Wells without water means they changed their gods.

a). Jeremiah 2:11-13 Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.

2:12Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD.

2:13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

2). If there is no water, there is no salvation. These individuals are not saved. Given the language of 2 Peter 2:15, where it mentions these had forsaken the right way and went astray, they previously had been right with God. 

a). John 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

b). Isaiah 12:3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

3). Adam Clark’s Commentary: “Persons who, by their profession, should furnish the water of life to souls athirst for salvation; but they have not this water; they are teachers without ability to instruct; they are sowers, and have no seed in their basket.  Nothing is more cheering in the deserts of the east than to meet with a well of water; and nothing more distressing, when parched with thirst, than to meet with a well that contains no water.”

2. “…clouds that are carried with a tempest…”

a. clouds [Strong: 3507. nephele nef-el'-ay from 3509; properly, cloudiness, i.e. (concretely) a cloud:--cloud.]

b. [that are] carried [Strong: 1643. elauno el-ow'-no a prolonged form of a primary verb (obsolete except in certain tenses as an alternative of this) of uncertain affinity; to push (as wind, oars or dæmonical power):--carry, drive, row.]

c. with [Strong: 5259. hupo hoop-o' a primary preposition; under, i.e. (with the genitive case) of place (beneath), or with verbs (the agency or means, through); (with the accusative case) of place (whither (underneath) or where (below) or time (when (at)):--among, by, from, in, of, under, with. In the comparative, it retains the same general applications, especially of inferior position or condition, and specially, covertly or moderately.]

d. [a] tempest [Strong: 2978. lailaps lah'-ee-laps of uncertain derivation; a whirlwind (squall):--storm, tempest.] [Thayer: a whirlwind, a tempestuous wind, a violent attack of wind, a squall, never a single gust nor a steady blowing wind, however violent, but a storm breaking forth from black thunder clouds in furious gusts, with floods of rain, and throwing everything topsy-turvy.]

3. “..to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.”

a. [to] whom [Strong: 3739. hos hos, including feminine he hay, and neuter ho ho probably a primary word (or perhaps a form of the article 3588); the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, that:--one, (an-, the) other, some, that, what, which, who(-m, -se), etc.]

b. the [Strong: 3588. [ho] ho ho, including the feminine he hay, and the neuter to to in all their inflections; the definite article; the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom):--the, this, that, one, he, she, it, etc.] [Thayer: [ho] ὁ, ἡ, τό, originally τος, τῇ, τό (as is evident from the forms τοι, ται for οἱ, αἱ in Homer and the Ionic writings), corresponds to our definite article the (German der, die, das), which is properly a demonstrative pronoun, which we see in its full force in Homer, and of which we find certain indubitable traces also in all kinds of Greek prose, and hence also in the N. T.]

c. mist [Strong: 2217. zophos dzof'-os akin to the base of 3509; gloom (as shrouding like a cloud):--blackness, darkness, mist.] [Zodhiates: Darkness, elsewhere spoken of the darkness of Tartarus or Gehenna, of the darkness or thick darkness associated with the region of those who are lost.]

1). The Greek phrase translated “mist of darkness” is the same Greek words used in Jude 13 translated “blackness of darkness”. Why the King James translators chose to word it differently in each verse is unknown to me.

2). The English phrase “mist of darkness” is used one other time in Acts.

a). Acts 13:6-12 And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus: 

13:7 Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God.

13:8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. 

13:9 Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, 

13:10 And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? 

13:11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.

13:12 Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.

b). Though darkness is the same Greek word used in Jude 13 and 2 Peter 2:17, the word “mist” in Acts 13:11 is not the same as in 2 Peter 2:17. 

 c). mist [Strong: 887. achlus akh-looce' of uncertain derivation; dimness of sight, i.e. (probably) a cataract:--mist.] [Zodhiates: a thick mist, a collection of heavy vapors which diverts the rays of light by turning them out of their direct course.] [Thayer: mist, darkness.]

d). Perhaps the “mist of darkness” was a preview of what Elymas was in store for.

d. darkness [Strong: 4655. skotos skot'-os from the base of 4639; shadiness, i.e. obscurity (literally or figuratively):--darkness.]

e. [is] reserved [Strong: 5083. tereo tay-reh'-o from teros (a watch; perhaps akin to 2334); to guard (from loss or injury, properly, by keeping the eye upon; and thus differing from 5442, which is properly to prevent escaping; and from 2892, which implies a fortress or full military lines of apparatus), i.e. to note (a prophecy; figuratively, to fulfil a command); by implication, to detain (in custody; figuratively, to maintain); by extension, to withhold (for personal ends; figuratively, to keep unmarried); by extension, to withhold (for personal ends; figuratively, to keep unmarried):--hold fast, keep(- er), (pre-, re-)serve, watch.]

f. for [Strong: 1519. eis ice a primary preposition; to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etc.); also in adverbial phrases:--(abundant-)ly, against, among, as, at, (back-)ward, before, by, concerning, + continual, + far more exceeding, for (intent, purpose), fore, + forth, in (among, at, unto, -so much that, -to), to the intent that, + of one mind, + never, of, (up-)on, + perish, + set at one again, (so) that, therefore(-unto), throughout, til, to (be, the end, -ward), (here-)until(-to), ...ward, (where-)fore, with. Often used in composition with the same general import, but only with verbs (etc.) expressing motion (literally or figuratively).]

g. ever [Strong: 165. aion ahee-ohn' from the same as 104; properly, an age; by extension, perpetuity (also past); by implication, the world; specially (Jewish) a Messianic period (present or future):--age, course, eternal, (for) ever(-more), (n-)ever, (beginning of the , while the) world (began, without end).]