2 Peter 2:15

Which have forsaken the right way,.... The right way of the Lord, the way of truth, the Gospel of truth; or Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life; the true way to eternal life, and which is

Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; Have. Some seducers are spoken of as already come, others as yet to come.

The right way; the way of truth, , i.e. the way of faith and holiness, which is the only right way to happiness. Are gone astray; into the by-paths of error. There is but one right way, and many wrong, in which they wander that leave the right. He seems to allude to Balaam, , who left the way of God, which was, to be obedient to God, and not go beyond his word, , and ran into the way of sin, when he went with Balak’ s messengers to curse God’ s people; and therefore his way is said to be perverse, . Following the way of Balaam; 1. In respect of their false doctrine: for, as Balaam was disobedient to God, and, against his command, went to Balak; so these men forsook the way of truth prescribed by God in his word. 2. In respect of their wicked lives: Balaam taught Balak to entice the children of Israel to commit fornication, and eat things sacrificed unto idols, ; and these taught men to commit lewdness, and indulge themselves in their sensualities. 3. Chiefly in respect of their covetousness, as follows. Of Bosor; either this is the name of his country, called Pethor, , and by change of two letters, P into B, and th into s, ( frequent in the Syriac language), Besor, or Bosor: or, the name of his father, called Beor, in Numbers, having two names; unless the apostle call him Bosor in allusion to Basar, flesh, as being of a fleshly mind, as the false teachers here were. Thus Beth-el was called Beth-aven, ; and Beelzebub called Beelzebul, the god of dung, . Who loved the wages of unrighteousness; the reward which Balak offered him for an unrighteous act, viz. the cursing of God’ s people.

15 Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; Ver. 15. The wages of unrighteousness] The mammon of unrighteousness, wages of wickedness. " Lucra iniusta putes iustis aequalia damnis. Dum peritura paras, per male parta peris."

(15) The right way.—(Comp. Acts 13:10.) In the Shepherd of Hermas (I. Vis. III. vii. 1) we have “Who have believed indeed, but through their doubting have forsaken their true way.” (See Notes on 2 Peter 2:1; 2 Peter 2:3; 2 Peter 2:13; 2 Peter 2:20; 2 Peter 3:5.) Are gone astray.—The main verb of this long sentence. Here parallels with Jude begin again. In the historical incident of Balaam, as in that of Sodom and Gomorrha, our Epistle is more detailed than Jude (see on 2 Peter 2:7). The past tenses in this verse are quite in harmony with the view that this chapter is a genuine prediction. (Comp. Genesis 49:9; Genesis 49:15; Genesis 49:23-24.) The future foretold with such confidence as to be spoken of as already past is a common form for prophecy to assume. Balaam the son of Bosor.—Bosor seems to be a dialectical variation from Beor, arising out of peculiar Aramaic pronunciation—a slight indication that the writer was a Jew of Palestine. The resemblance between these false teachers and Balaam consisted in their running counter to God’s will for their own profit, and in prostituting their office to an infamous purpose, which brought ruin on the community. He, like they, had “enticed unstable souls,” and had “a heart exercised in covetousness.” A comparison of this passage with Revelation 2:14-15, gives countenance to the view that among the false teachers thus stigmatised the Nicolaitans may be included. In Jude 1:11, these ungodly men are compared not only to Balaam, but also to Cain and Korah. It seems more likely that St. Jude should add these two very opprobrious comparisons than that the vehement writer of this Epistle should reject material so suitable to his invective. If so, we have here another argument for the priority of our Epistle. (See on 2 Peter 2:12.)

Verse 15. Which have forsaken the right way] As Balaam did, who, although God showed him the right way, took one contrary to it, preferring the reward offered him by Balak to the approbation and blessing of God. The way of Balaam] Is the counsel of Balaam. He counselled the Moabites to give their most beautiful young women to the Israelitish youth, that they might be enticed by them to commit idolatry. See Clarke on Numbers 22:5, c., and "Numbers 23:1", &c. The son of Bosor] Instead of βοσορ, BOSOR two ancient MSS. and some of the versions have βεωρ, Beor, to accommodate the word to the Hebrew text and the Septuagint. The difference in this name seems to have arisen from mistaking one letter for another in the Hebrew name, בעור Beor, for בצור Betsor or Bosor tsaddi צ and ain ע, which are very like each other, being interchanged.

15. which have forsaken the right way …] There may possibly be a reference to “the way of truth” in 2 Peter 2:2 and to the general use of “the way” for the sum and substance of the doctrine of Christ. (See note on 2 Peter 2:2.) It may be noted that the charge thus brought against the false teachers by St Peter is identical with that which St Paul brings against Elymas of “perverting the right ways of the Lord” (Acts 13:10). We may see in the sorcerer of Cyprus, as well as in that of Samaria, a representative instance of the character which both Apostles condemn.following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor] The use of the term “way” is probably connected with the stress laid in the narrative of Num 22:32 (“Thy way is perverse before me”), in the journey which Balaam took in spite of the Divine warnings. The form Bosor, instead of Beor, may represent the mode of pronouncing the guttural letter that enters into the Hebrew name (ò) which prevailed in Galilee, analogous to that which in other languages has turned ἐ ?ðôὰ into septem, ὕ ?ëç into sylva, and the like. On this supposition, St Peter’s use of the form presents a coincidence with his betraying himself by his Galilean dialect in Matthew 26:73. The characteristic feature of that dialect was its tendency to soften gutturals. Another explanation, not, however, incompatible with this, has been found in the conjecture that as the Hebrew word Bashar signifies “flesh,” the Apostle may have used the form of the name which conveyed the thought that Balaam was “a son of the flesh,” carnal and base of purpose. Like explanations have been given of the change of Sychem (= a portion) into Sychar (= a lie) (John 4:5), of Beelzebub (= lord of flies) into Beelzebul (= lord of dung) (Matthew 10:25; Matthew 12:24). If we accept the explanation given by many commentators of the name Nicolaitans (Revelation 2:6) as being a Greek equivalent for Balaamites, there would be reason for thinking that the prominence given to his history at this period of the Apostolic age led men, after the manner of the time, to find even in the syllables of his name a paronomasia which made it ominous and significant of evil.The prominence just spoken of is traceable not only here and in the parallel passage of Jude (2 Peter 2:11), but in Revelation 2:14, where it appears in close connexion with the practice of eating things sacrificed to idols and the impurity associated with that practice. It has been contended by some writers (Renan, St Paul, c. x. p. 304) that from the point of view of the three writers who thus refer to Balaam, St Paul, in teaching the essential indifference of the act (1 Corinthians 8:4-8), appeared to reproduce the errors of the son of Beor. The hypothesis is, however, a singularly untenable one.

Which have forsaken the right way - The straight path of honesty and integrity. Religion is often represented as a straight path, and to do wrong is to go out of that path in a crooked way.

15, 16. The right way—The straight way of Christian truth and duty. The way of Balaam was a crooked way.