G2274 ἡττάω (hēttáō)

Overcome (2274) (hettao or hettaomai or hessaomai from hetton = less, inferior) first means to be less or inferior. The idea is to be put to the worse and hence to be defeated or conquered. To succumb. To be vanquished, subdued and enslaved or overcome as in a conflict or a lawsuit. To be forced to yield. The idea is of suffering a defeat that so that what conquers now has mastery over the defeated party. Hettao means to be vanquished as in a military battle alluding to the ancient law of war in which those who were defeated were taken captive by the conquerors and became their servants. Hettao is used in the NT only in this verse and 2Pe 2:20 (note). in Nestle-Aland, but in KJV is also used in 2Co 12:13 where hettao means to be treated as inferior to or worse than. To be made to feel less important, be treated worse. Hettao is used 13 times in the Septuagint (LXX) - Isa. 8:9; 13:15; 19:1; 20:5; 30:31; 31:4, 9; 33:1; 51:7; 54:17; Jer. 48:1; Da 6:5, 8. Webster has a parallel thought stating that "overcome" means get the better of by force or strategy and implies gaining mastery over the one conquered. Now don't you have a better picture of what is going on in the hearts and lives of these false teachers? They are may look very successful but they are not to be envied because they are "defeated" men! Hettao is in the perfect tense which signifies that they had been overcome at some point of time in the past and were still still overcome. The perfect tense speaks of the permanence of their condition.. Josephus provides us with a helpful illustration of the verb hettao describing Jacob as being overcome by his love for Rebekah... Jacob was quite overcome (hettao), not so much by their kindred, nor by that affection which might arise thence, as by his love to the damsel, and his surprise at her beauty, which was so flourishing, as few of the women of that age could vie with. He said then, "There is a relation between thee and me, elder than either thy or my birth, if thou be the daughter of Laban (The works of Josephus Ant I, xix 5) Adam Clarke comments that the idea of overcome... is an allusion to the ancient custom of selling for slaves those whom they had conquered and captivated in war. The ancient law was, that a man might either kill him whom he overcame in battle, or keep him for a slave. These were called servi, slaves, from the verb servare, to keep or preserve. And they were also called mancipia, from manu capiuntur, they are taken captive by the hand of their enemy. Thus the person who is overcome by his lusts is represented as being the slave of those lusts (see Ro 6:16-note). BY THIS HE IS ENSLAVED: touto dedoulotai (3SRPI): SIN ALWAYS ENSLAVES By this - By his sin. Several thousand years earlier Solomon (in context speaking of those trapped in the sin of sexual immorality) warned that sin enslaves explaining that... His own iniquities will capture the wicked, and he will be held with the cords of his sin. (Pr 5:22-notes) Solomon also described sinners as those who... lie in wait for their own blood. They ambush ("booby trap" NLT) their own lives. (Pr 1:18) (Beloved, sin no matter how alluring and pleasurable is always a deadly, deceptive trap - cp Heb 3:13- note, Jas 1:15-note) Jesus answering the Jews who had supposedly "believed" in Him (compare Jn 8:30, 31, 32 and Jn 8:40, 43, 44, 45, 46, 59 - notice His audience never changes!) ... Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits (present tense = habitually) sin is (present tense) the slave of sin. (Jn 8:34) Paul writing to the the saints at Rome... Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? (Ro 6:16-note) I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. (Ro 7:23-note) Comment: The motif of bondage and freedom is central to the teaching of Paul, and it takes two forms: bondage to law and bondage to sin and death. In Paul's last known written communication, explaining how the Lord's bondservant should conduct himself writes that he should do so... with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition (eg, as surely the "disciples" of such false teachers would be), if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil (compare the snare these false teachers had laid for their foolish audience), having been held captive by him to do his will. (see notes 2Ti 2:25; 26) So what defeats these men brings them into a permanent state of bondage as indicated by Peter's use of the perfect tense. "Copy and paste the address below into your web browser in order to go to the original page which will allow you to access live links related to the material on this page - these links include Scriptures (which can be read in context), Scripture pop-ups on mouse over, and a variety of related resources such as Bible dictionary articles, commentaries, sermon notes and theological journal articles related to the topic under discussion." http://www.preceptaustin.org/2_peter_219.htm#o