Biblion Bible Commentary
Read the introduction to 2 Peter · About this commentary
False Teachers Among You
2 Peter 2:1-3
1 But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction. · WEB
The danger is not novel and not external — Israel had false prophets, and these will arise inside the congregation.
But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you. The precedent is the argument. Israel's false prophets did not come from outside; they held the same office and used the same vocabulary, which is why Scripture had to give tests for telling them apart Deuteronomy 13:1–3.
The method is concealment: secretly bringing in destructive teachings, the verb picturing something smuggled alongside legitimate cargo. And the content is stated in the sharpest possible form — denying even the Master who bought them. Whatever they professed, the letter classes it as a repudiation of ownership, and the purchase language makes the denial a matter of title rather than of opinion.
Verse 2 names the collateral damage, and it is not confined to their followers: because of them, the way of the truth will be maligned. Outsiders will blame the road for the people on it. Verse 3 gives the motive without softening — in covetousness, with fabricated words — and then insists the verdict is neither new nor asleep.
settled What this mark means