II Peter 2:13

receive--"shall carry off as their due." reward of--that is, for their "unrighteousness" [ALFORD]. Perhaps it is implied, unrighteousness shall be its own reward or punishment. "Wages of unrighteousness" (Pe2 2:15) has a different sense, namely, the earthly gain to be gotten by "unrighteousness." in the daytime--Translate as Greek, "counting the luxury which is in the daytime (not restricted to night, as ordinary revelling. Or as Vulgate and CALVIN, "the luxury which is but for a day": so Heb 11:25, "the pleasures of sin for a season"; and Heb 12:16, Esau) to be pleasure," that is, to be their chief good and highest enjoyment. Spots--in themselves. blemishes--disgraces: bringing blame (so the Greek) on the Church and on Christianity itself. sporting themselves--Greek, "luxuriating." with--Greek, "in." deceivings--or else passively, "deceits": luxuries gotten by deceit. Compare Mat 13:22, "Deceitfulness of riches"; Eph 4:22, "Deceitful lusts." While deceiving others, they are deceived themselves. Compare with English Version, Phi 3:19, "Whose glory is in their shame." "Their own" stands in opposition to "you": "While partaking of the love-feast (compare Jde 1:12) with you," they are at the same time "luxuriating in their own deceivings," or "deceits" (to which latter clause answers Jde 1:12, end: Peter presents the positive side, "they luxuriate in their own deceivings"; Jude, the negative, "feeding themselves without fear"). But several of the oldest manuscripts, Vulgate, Syriac, and Sahidic Versions read (as Jude), "In their own love-feasts": "their own" will then imply that they pervert the love-feasts so as to make them subserve their own self-indulgent purposes.

The apostle, having in the foregoing chapter exhorted them to proceed and advance in the Christian race, now comes to remove, as much as in him lay, what he could not but apprehend would hinder their complying with his exhortation. He therefore gives them fair warning of false teachers, by whom they might be in danger of being seduced. To prevent this, I. He describes these seducers as impious in themselves, and very pernicious to others (Pe2 2:1-3). II. He assures them of the punishment that shall be inflicted on them (Pe2 2:3-6). III. He tells us how contrary the method is which God takes with those who fear him (Pe2 2:7-9). IV. He fills up the rest of the chapter with a further description of those seducers of whom he would have them beware.

2:13 They delight in deception even as they eat with you in your fellowship meals: Cp. Jude 1:12. Christians often ate fellowship meals together in celebration of the Lord (see Acts 2:46; 6:1). The false teachers were using these mealtimes as opportunities to deceive true believers. Some manuscripts read They delight (or revel, or carouse) in their fellowship meals as they eat with you. If this reading is correct, they were using the fellowship meals for self-indulgence (cp. 1 Cor 11:20-22).