Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Peter 2:18

"For, uttering great swelling [words] of vanity, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by lasciviousness, those who are just escaping from them that live in error;" — 2 Peter 2:18 (ASV)

Great swelling words of vanity.—Exaggeration, unreality, boastfulness, and emptiness are expressed by this phrase. It carries on the same idea as the waterless wells and the driven mists—great pretensions and no results. The rebuke here is not unlike the warning in 1 Peter 5:5–6.

Allure.—Translated “beguile” in 2 Peter 2:14, where see Note.

Through the lusts of the flesh.—Better, in the lusts of the flesh (as in 2 Peter 2:3, and 2 Peter 1:1–2; 2 Peter 1:4; 2 Peter 1:13). The preposition “in” points to the sphere in which the enticement takes place; “through” should be reserved for “wantonness” (see Note on 2 Peter 2:2), which is the bait used to entice.

Were clean escaped.—Both verb and adverb require correction. The margin indicates the right reading for the adverb—“for a little,” or better, by a little; scarcely. The verb should be present, not past—those who are scarcely escaping, namely, the “unstable souls” of 2 Peter 2:14.

Wiclif has “scapen a litil;” Rheims “escape a litle.” The word translated “scarcely” occurs nowhere else in the New Testament; that translated here “clean,” and elsewhere “indeed,” or “certainly,” is frequent (Mark 11:32; Luke 23:47; Luke 24:34, etc.). Hence the change, an unfamiliar word being, by a slight alteration, turned into a familiar one. The two Greek words are much alike.