G4761 στρεβλόω (streblóō)

Distort (4761) (strebloo from strepho = twisted) means to wrench, to torment, to twist or to distort. Herodotus used strebloo to convey the idea of to twist or wrench a dislocated limb, with a view to setting it. This verb is used only here in the NT (and once in the Septuagint =LXX in 2Sa 22:27 and 5 times in the Apocrypha). A stréble was a winch, an instrument that produced torture by twisting or pulling one's limbs out of joint. Thus one meaning of the verb strebloo was to put to the rack. In one secular writing strebloo was used metaphorically to describe one who was "tortured by anxiety" and thus spoke of inward pain or torment. BDAG writes that strebloo originally meant to... ‘twist, make taut’ of cables ("to draw the cables taut with windlasses", "to screw up the strings of an instrument"), then in various senses of wrenching dislocated limbs for the purpose of setting them, and of the use of tortuous devices in the course of inquiries (Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature) Metaphorically, strebloo meant to pervert as one who wrests or tortures language to a false sense. Peter thus chose a singularly graphic word to picture the tortuous perversion of the Scriptures. The untaught and unstable "twisted and tortured" the writings of Paul producing distortion and perversion of his intended meaning. It was the continual practice (strebloo is in the present tense = habitual action) of the "untaught and unstable" to take Paul's statements and twist them like victims on a rack to force them to say what they wanted them to say. Some accused Paul of teaching that, since we are saved by grace, it makes no difference how we live! It was “slanderously reported” that Paul taught, “Let us do evil that good may come” (Ro 3:8; cf. Ro 6:1ff). Others accused Paul of being against the Law because he taught the equality of Jews and Gentiles in the church (Gal 3:28) and their liberty in Christ. AS THEY DO ALSO THE REST OF THE SCRIPTURES: os ka tas loipas graphas: The rest (3062) (loipoy) remaining or residue referring to the Scriptures other than Paul's thus identifying Paul's writing as Scripture. Note that Peter gives a very high place to Paul's writings, on a par with "the rest of the Scriptures", i.e. the Old Testament Scriptures and whatever portions of the NT were then available. Peter clearly acknowledges that the Pauline Epistles were part of the inspired sacred Scriptures. This in fact is the most clear cut statement on the pages of Scripture to affirm the writings of Paul are Scripture. Loipoy - 55v in NT - Matt. 22:6; 25:11; 26:45; 27:49; Mk. 4:19; 14:41; 16:13; Lk. 8:10; 12:26; 18:9, 11; 24:9f; Acts 2:37; 5:13; 17:9; 27:20, 44; 28:9; Rom. 1:13; 11:7; 1 Co. 1:16; 4:2; 7:12, 29; 9:5; 11:34; 15:37; 2 Co. 12:13; 13:2, 11; Gal. 2:13; 6:17; Eph. 2:3; 6:10; Phil. 1:13; 3:1; 4:3, 8; 1 Thess. 4:1, 13; 5:6; 2 Thess. 3:1; 1 Tim. 5:20; 2 Tim. 4:8; Heb. 10:13; 2 Pet. 3:16; Rev. 2:24; 3:2; 8:13; 9:20; 11:13; 12:17; 19:21; 20:5