Observation: What do I see in the text?
Interpretation: What does the text mean?
1. Read 2 Peter 2:1-11 at least twice.
2. Focus in on verses 9-11 and do the following:
- Mark any key words/terms you find in verses 9-11. One example of a key word/term in verse 10, where Peter is describing the characteristics of the false teachers, is the word "self-willed." The word refers to being self-pleasing or arrogant.
- Look up the meanings of the key words/terms you found in verses 9-11.
- Mark key verbs/verbal phrases that you find in verses 9-11. One example of a key verb in verse 10 is the verb "despise". Peter is saying that these false teachers continually or diligently disdain or think little or nothing of authority whether that be the authority of Christ or of His apostles.
3. Read 2 Peter 2:9-11 in at least two different Bible translations. I appreciate the way the Good News Translation translates verse 10: "especially those who follow their filthy bodily lusts and despise God's authority. These false teachers are bold and arrogant, and show no respect for the glorious beings above; instead, they insult them. "
4. Read at least two commentaries on verses 9-11. I like what John Calvin wrote concerning verse 10: "For since God will punish all the wicked, how can they escape who abandon themselves like brute beasts to every kind of iniquity? To walk after the flesh, is to be given up to the flesh, like brute animals, who are not led by reason and judgment, but have the natural desire of their flesh as their chief guide. By the lust of uncleanness understand filthy and unbridled gratifications, when men, having cast away every virtuous feeling, and shaken off shame, are carried away into every uncleanness."
