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FORSAKING THE
RIGHT WAY: kataleipontes (PAPMPN) eutheian hodon:
(1Sa
12:23; 1Ki 18:18; 19:10; Eze 9:10; Pr 28:4; Ho 14:8; Acts 13:10)
They have wandered off the right road (NLT).
Forsaking (2641)
(kataleipo = kata = intensifies meaning + leipo = leave behind) literally means
to leave behind and figuratively means to abandon or depart from.
The
present tense
indicates that the false teachers (active
voice
= their willful choice) are continually abandoning
the "right way"
which is God's way, synonymous with "the way of truth" Peter
mentioned in (2 Peter 2:2
[note]).
What these men teach continually veers both them
and their unstable "victims" away from the highway of holy doctrine that leads to holy living and
instead leads is to the broad way of destruction (see Matthew 7:13-note).
Right (2117) (euthus)
when used as an adjective literally means straight or a straight line and
figuratively to what is proper or right. The uses below will give you a
good sense of these literal and figurative meanings of euthus.
Euthus is also used as
adverb to mean immediately, right away, at once. The use of
euthus with the meaning of immediately is a key word in
the Gospel of Mark as evidenced by 11 uses just in the first chapter!
Mk 1:3 The voice of one crying in the
wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight
(euthus used as an adjective) ”
Mk 1:10 Immediately (adverb) coming up out of the water, He saw
the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him;
Mk 1:12 Immediately (adverb) the Spirit impelled Him to go out
into the wilderness.
Mk 1:18 Immediately (adverb) they left their nets and followed
Him.
Mk 1:20 Immediately (adverb) He called them; and they left their
father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to
follow Him.
Mk 1:21 They went into Capernaum; and Immediately (adverb) on the
Sabbath He entered the synagogue and began to teach.
Mk 1:23 Just then (adverb) there was a man in their synagogue
with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,
Mk 1:28 Immediately (adverb) the news about Him spread everywhere
into all the surrounding district of Galilee.
Mk 1:29 And Immediately (adverb) after they came out of the
synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and
John.
Mk 1:30 Now Simon’s mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and
Immediately (adverb) they spoke to Jesus about her.
Mk 1:42 Immediately (adverb) the leprosy left him and he was
cleansed.
Mk 1:43 And He sternly warned him and Immediately (adverb) sent
him away
There are 28 more uses of euthus
meaning immediately in the remainder of Mark. In chapter 4
Jesus used euthus in His description of the affect of the
sowing of the seed (the Word of God)...
And these are the ones who are beside
the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately
Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. 16
And in a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the
rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive
it with joy; 17 and they have no firm root in themselves, but are
only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of
the word, immediately they fall away. (Mark 4:15-17)
Below are examples of uses of
euthus as an adjective, which is the way it is used by
Peter.
After Saul was blinded on the
road to Damascus, Luke records the Lord's words to Ananias declaring...
Arise and go to the street called
Straight (euthus - presumably this was a literal use and the street
was straight and not crooked), and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from
Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying (Acts 9:11)
Peter addressed Simon who
tried to purchase the gift of God declaring...
You have no part or portion in this
matter, for your heart is not right (euthus) before God. (Acts
8:21)
Paul fixed his gaze on Elymas
the magician and declared...
You who are full of all deceit and
fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you
not cease to make crooked the straight (euthus) ways of the Lord?
(Acts13:10)
Upright conduct in the Bible is pictured as a
straight path. John the Baptizer uses the adjective euthus
in the synoptic gospels to call upon the Jewish people to "make
His
paths
straight!'" speaking of moral
and spiritual preparation of their hearts (i.e. changing behavior)
in anticipation of the appearing of their promised Messiah
For this is the one referred to by
Isaiah the prophet, saying, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
'Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight!' (Mt 3:3)
In the
Septuagint
euthus is used 58 times (Ge 15:4; 24:45; 33:12; 38:29; Num. 23:3;
Jos. 8:14; Jdg. 14:3; 1 Sam. 12:23; 1 Ki. 20:23, 25; 2 Ki. 10:15; Ezra
8:21; Neh. 9:13; Job 3:11; Ps. 7:9; 11:2; 19:8; 25:21; 27:11; 32:11;
33:1; 36:10; 37:14; 49:14; 58:1; 64:10; 73:1; 78:37; 94:15; 97:11;
107:7, 42; 111:1; 112:2, 4; 125:4; 140:13; 143:10; Prov. 2:13, 16, 19,
21; 20:11; 28:10; 29:10; Isa. 26:7; 33:15; 40:3f; 42:16; 45:13; 59:14;
Jer. 3:2; Ezek. 23:40; 33:17, 20; 46:9; Dan. 11:17; Hos. 14:9)
Below are some uses of euthus
in the
Septuagint
that help understand the meaning (observe who and what is
euthus and the effect of not walking in a euthus way, etc)...
My shield is with God, Who saves the
upright
(Hebrew = yashar = straight; pleasing; upright; righteous;
LXX
= euthus) in heart. (Ps 7:10)
(See
Spurgeon's note)
For, behold, the wicked bend the bow,
They make ready their arrow upon the string, To shoot in darkness at the
upright
(Hebrew = yashar = straight; pleasing; upright; righteous;
LXX
= euthus) in heart.
(Ps
11:2) (See
Spurgeon's note)
The precepts of the LORD are
right
(Hebrew = yashar = straight; pleasing; upright; righteous;
LXX
= euthus), rejoicing
the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. (Ps 19:8)
(See
Spurgeon's note)
Let integrity and
uprightness (Hebrew = yoshar = straight; pleasing; upright; righteous;
LXX
= euthus) preserve me,
For I wait for Thee. (Psalm 25:21) (See
Spurgeon's note)
Teach me Thy way, O LORD, and lead me
in a level
(Hebrew = mishor = level place, uprightness;
LXX
= euthus) path, Because
of my foes. (Psalm 27:11) (See
Spurgeon's note)
Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you
righteous ones, and shout for joy, all you who are
upright
(Hebrew = yashar = straight; pleasing; upright; righteous;
LXX
= euthus) in heart.
(Psalm 32:11) (See
Spurgeon's note)
Sing for joy in the LORD, O you
righteous ones; Praise is becoming to the
upright
(Hebrew = yashar = straight; pleasing; upright; righteous;
LXX
= euthus). (Psalm 33:1)
(See
Spurgeon's note)
The righteous man will be glad in the
LORD, and will take refuge in Him; And all the
upright
(Hebrew = yashar = straight; pleasing; upright; righteous;
LXX
= euthus) in heart will
glory. (Psalm 64:10) (Verse
10)
Surely God is good to Israel, To
those who are pure (Hebrew =
bar = pure; clean; righteous;
LXX
= euthus)
in heart! (Psalm 73:1) (See
Spurgeon's note)
The
upright
(Hebrew = yashar = straight; pleasing; upright; righteous;
LXX
= euthus) see it, and
are glad; but all unrighteousness shuts its mouth. (Psalm 107:42) (See
Spurgeon's note)
His descendants will be mighty on
earth; The generation of the
upright
(Hebrew = yashar = straight; pleasing; upright; righteous;
LXX
= euthus) will be
blessed. (Psalm 112:2) (See
Spurgeon's note)
Light arises in the darkness for the
upright
(Hebrew = yashar = straight; pleasing; upright; righteous;
LXX
= euthus). He is
gracious and compassionate and righteous. (Psalm 112:4) (See
Spurgeon's note)
Do good, O LORD, to those who are
good, and to those who are
upright
(Hebrew = yashar = straight; pleasing; upright; righteous;
LXX
= euthus) in their
hearts. (Psalm 125:4) (See
Spurgeon's note)
Surely the righteous will give thanks
to Thy name; The upright
(Hebrew = yashar = straight; pleasing; upright; righteous;
LXX
= euthus) will dwell in
Thy presence. (Psalm 140:13) (See
Spurgeon's note)
From those who leave the paths of
uprightness (Hebrew = yoshar = straight; pleasing; upright; righteous;
LXX
= euthus),
To walk in the ways of darkness; 14 Who delight in doing evil, And
rejoice in the perversity of evil; 15 Whose paths are crooked, And who
are devious in their ways; whose
paths are
crooked, and who are
devious in their
ways. (Pr 2:13-15)
Whoever is wise, let him understand
these things; Whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of
the LORD are
right (Hebrew = yashar = straight; pleasing;
upright; righteous;
LXX
= euthus), and the
righteous will walk in them, but transgressors will stumble in them.(
Hosea 14:9)
Way (3598)
(hodos) literally means
a way for traveling or moving from one place to another and figuratively
(which is how Peter uses it in the present context) refers to the
course of behavior or to one's way of life.
In Acts
the Way was a common early
name for the Christian faith. Luke first alludes to the Way in
Acts 9...
Now Saul, still breathing threats and
murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and
asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he
found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might
bring them bound to Jerusalem. (Acts 9:1, 2 cp the Way in Acts
19:9, 23, 24:14, 22)
These false teachers have abandoned true and righteous belief ("the Way") resulting in unrighteous behavior.
What you believe (and obey) is important, for your beliefs
will direct your behavior.
Jude pronounces a woe on
the false brethren who have gone
the
WAY
of
Cain
(Jude
1:11),
a clear parallel to the behavior of the false teachers here in 2 Peter.
GONE ASTRAY: eplanethesan
(3PAPI):
These false teachers left the right road and lost their way
(GWT)
Gone astray (4105)
(planao
[word study]
from plane which
describes "a wandering" and gives us our English word "planet") means
literally to wander out of the way (active sense), to be led astray or made to err from the
right way (passive sense).
Planao can describe physical wandering but more often in the NT it is
used as Peter does in this verse to describe
straying from spiritual truth or "following the wrong way".
Compare the Latin word errare.
Planao
in this verse
is in the
passive voice
which means they have been deceived, misled and
have been led astray by an outside force (e.g., the lusts of the flesh,
the world, devil). The
present tense indicates that this is not a
momentary action but that they are continually being led
astray and exerting this same tragic effect on their followers.
Peter's description of the false
teachers reminds one of Paul's warning of those in the last day
who he describes as...
evil (poneros = actively harmful) men
and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving (planao
in the
active voice)
and being (planao
in the
passive voice)
deceived. (see note
2 Timothy 3:13)
Comment: Notice that These men actively lead others astray from
THE TRUTH whether through conduct, speech, or writing, but are
themselves deceived by outside source or power (as indicated by the use
of passive voice "being deceived".
Hiebert comments these false teacher's...
conscious, deliberate disobedience to
the truth, which they knew, led to the inevitable result that they went
astray, effectively lost their way. (ref)
The Mishnah (Rabbinic
commentary on the Torah)
note on Balaam is interesting
The characteristics of the talmidim (Ed note: like our modern day "disciples) of
Bil‘am
(Ed note: Hebrew for "Balaam")
the wicked are an evil eye, a proud soul... [They] inherit Gey-Hinnom (Ed note: like gehenna = lake of fire = eternal punishment) and descend to the pit of destruction.
HAVING FOLLOWED THE WAY OF BALAAM
THE SON OF BEOR: exakolouthesantes (AAPMPN) te hodo tou Balaam tou Bosor: (Jer
6:13, 8:10, Nu 22:5, 6, 7,22:18, 19, 20, 21,23,28; Nu 25:1, 2, 3, 4,
5ff, Nu 31:16; Dt 23:4,5; Josh 13:22; 24:9 Neh 13:2, Mic 6:5; Jude 1:11;
Rev 2:14, the "end" of Balaam Nu 31:8)
Read the dictionary summary of
Balaam: Short version
SBD, Long version
ISBE.
Balaam is used three times in the last books of the NT describing the way
of Balaam (this verse),
the error of Balaam (Jude
1:11)
and the teaching (doctrine) of Balaam
THE ERROR:
Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have
rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion
of Korah. (Jude
1:11)
THE
TEACHING: But I have a
few things against you, because you have there some who hold the
teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block
(see study of this interesting Greek word -
skandalon) before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to
commit acts of immorality. (see note
Revelation 2:14).
This is Peters fourth OT illustration in this chapter presenting Balaam
as the perfect illustration of a leader who leads people astray for his
own personal gain.
Having
followed (1811) (exakoloutheo
from ek = out or intensifies meaning + akolouthéo =
follow) is a strong compound clearly a "key word" in 2 Peter 2 (used 3
times and no where else) where the preposition ek gives the force of following out
emphasizing close pursuance, and figuratively conveys the idea that
these false teachers are
closely following Balaam's way to the full end. They were assiduously
following Balaam's lead, treading in his steps, imitating his way of
acting.
The main root word akoloutheo is used
elsewhere in the NT to describe the disciple's
initial commitment to follow Jesus
And they [Peter
and Andrew
upon hearing Jesus' call] immediately left the nets, and followed Him. (Mt 4:20).
In translating Ruth's commitment to remain with Naomi, the Septuagint (Gk
translation of Hebrew OT)
translators selected akoloutheo for the Hebrew word
clung,
the latter picturing one sticking to another like "glue"! (Ruth 1:4-note).
The picture conveyed by exakoloutheo (which
again is even stronger Greek word than akoloutheo)
is that of "disciples" of Balaam so to speak who "stick like glue" to
his ways. The verb is in the
active voice indicating that
they were not coerced by external forces but that they made an active
decision of their will to stick to the ways of Balaam, lest any one
should wonder whether they are personally accountable for their evil
actions.
Jesus teaching is relevant to this discussion of Balaam...
No one can
serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other,
or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God
and wealth (see note
Matthew 6:34).
These tricksters did not follow the Way
of Jesus Son of God instead
choosing to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor! The first "Way is
narrow that leads to life and few are those who find it" (see
Matthew 7:14-note)
and the second "way is broad that leads to destruction and many are
those who enter by it" (Matthew 7:13-note).
These false teachers may indeed
experience seeming success and riches but it is only temporal pay, their
eternal pay awaiting them in the form of destruction as Peter has
already noted.
If you are following men who
follow Balaam's ways, you need to take note, repent and return to the
Way of truth. And do not delay or rationalize, just run back to Jesus
the Way.
Wycliffe Commentary adds that
even in
evangelical circles, an inordinate concern over financial return, or
carelessness in the use of funds, has negated the work of some princes
of the pulpit whose words were irresistibly powerful. (Pfeiffer,
C F: Wycliffe Bible Commentary. 1981. Moody
or
Logos)
WHO LOVED THE WAGES OF UNRIGHTEOUSNESS: os misthon adikias egaphesen
(3SAAI): (2Pe 2:13)
Balaam was a "man who had no objection to wickedness as long as he
was paid for it"
(Phillips) and who
"loved the reward of wickedness" (Amp).
Loved
(25)
(agapao
[word study]) defines a love not as much out of affection as
out of a decision of one's will, a love which is willing to sacrifice
self for the "benefit" of the recipient (in this case their paychecks).
Like Balaam these men loved money and were willing to pursue it even
"sacrificially" instead of
obeying God (see
Balaam's story especially in Nu 22:5-24:25).
Balaam also taught
immorality...
OLD TESTAMENT: And Moses said
to them, "Have you spared all the women (the Midianite women)? 16
"Behold, these caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of
Balaam, to trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, so the
plague was among the congregation of the LORD. 17 "Now therefore, kill
every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man
intimately. (Nu 31:15-17)
NEW TESTAMENT: But I have a
few things against you (Jesus to the Church at Pergamum), because you
have there some who hold the teaching (doctrine) of Balaam, who kept
teaching Balak to put a stumbling block (see study of this interesting
Greek word -
skandalon) before the sons of Israel, to
eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit acts of immorality. (See
note
Revelation 2:14)
Comment: Note that doctrine is
important - Balaam's doctrine polluted their mind and led to their
unrighteous acts. False teachers are master purveyors of false doctrine.
We desperately need churches where the pastors are teaching sound
doctrine to renew minds able to identify and resist false doctrine that
is creeping into even the most conservative evangelical churches.
The wages of sin are death (Romans
6:23-note) and
so Balaam paid for his false teaching with his life...
And they killed the kings of Midian along with the rest of their slain:
Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, the five kings of Midian; they
also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword. (Nu 31:8).
In summary, the false teachers
have left the biblical way and have gone into Balaam's error--mercenary
greed and sexual impurity, the wages of which ultimately is eternal
death away from the presence of God.
Wuest
adds that
Balaam was the hireling prophet who
commercialized his gift. These false teachers were in the profession for
the money they could get out of it.
(Wuest,
K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans
or
Logos)
He was bent on cursing Israel, though
God had forbidden it. He wanted the money the Moabite king Balak offered
him.
Similarly these false teachers apparently were guilty of attempting to
extract money from naive listeners.
Wages (3408)
(misthos)
literally refers to pay which is due for labor performed or dues paid
for work.
Misthos is used in two
general senses in the NT, either to refer to wages or to reward,
recognition or recompense. In this latter figurative usage, misthos
refers to rewards which God bestows for the moral quality of an action,
such rewards most often to be bestowed in eternity future.
Some uses as in this present
passage in 2Peter refer to "wages" obtained through iniquity, similar to
the "wages" paid to Judas for his betrayal of Christ (see Acts 1:18).
Although Paul does not use misthos in
the following passage, the principle of spiritual reaping clearly is
related to rewards both here and in the future...
For the one who sows to his own flesh
shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit
shall from the Spirit reap eternal life. (Gal 6:8)
Jesus associates rewards with
giving, fasting and praying teaching that are dependent upon one's
motive (Mt 6:1; 6:2; 6:5; 6:16-see notes
Mt 6:1;
6:2;
6:5;
6:16).
Note especially future rewards for having suffered for the Name of
Christ in this life (Mt 5:12-note; Lk 6:23).
Here are the 29 uses of misthos
in the NT...
Matthew 5:12 (note)
"Rejoice, and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so
they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matthew 5:46 (note)
"For if you love those who love
you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax-gatherers do the
same?
Matthew 6:1 (note)
"Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by
them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in
heaven.
6:2
"When therefore you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the
hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be
honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in
full.
Matthew 6:5 (note)
"And when you pray, you are not to be
as the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and
on the street corners, in order to be seen by men. Truly I say to you,
they have their reward in full.
Matthew 6:16 (note)
"And whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites
do, for they neglect their appearance in order to be seen fasting by
men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.
Matthew 10:41 "He who receives
a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward;
and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall
receive a righteous man's reward. 42 "And whoever in the name of
a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to
drink, truly I say to you he shall not lose his reward."
Matthew 20:8 "And when evening
had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the
laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group
to the first.'
Mark 9:41 "For whoever gives
you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ,
truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.
Luke 6:23 "Be glad in that
day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in
heaven; for in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets.
Luke 6:35 "But love your
enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your
reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He
Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.
Luke 10:7 "And stay in that
house, eating and drinking what they give you; for the laborer is worthy
of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house.
John 4:36 "Already he who
reaps is receiving wages, and is gathering fruit for life
eternal; that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.
Acts 1:18 (Now this man
acquired a field with the price (wages) of his wickedness; and
falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed
out.
Romans 4:4 (note)
Now to the one who works, his wage is not reckoned as a favor,
but as what is due.
1 Corinthians 3:8 Now he who
plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own
reward according to his own labor.
1 Corinthians 3:14 If any
man's work which he has built upon it remains, he shall receive a
reward.
1 Corinthians 9:17 For if I do
this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have
a stewardship entrusted to me. 18 What then is my reward?
That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge,
so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.
1 Timothy 5:18 For the
Scripture says, "You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing," and
"The laborer is worthy of his wages."
James 5:4 Behold, the pay of
the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you,
cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting
has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
2 Peter 2:13
suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to
revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their
deceptions, as they carouse with you,
2 Peter 2:15
forsaking the right way they have gone astray, having followed the way
of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness,
2 John 1:8 Watch yourselves,
that you might not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may
receive a full reward. (Comment: Although this warning is
especially in the context of spiritual deceivers, this warning is worth
pondering in a general sense as we contemplate the future rewards at the
Judgment Seat of Christ.)
Jude 1:11 Woe to them! For
they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed
headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of
Korah.
Revelation 11:18 (note)
"And the nations were enraged, and Thy wrath came, and the time came for
the dead to be judged, and the time to give their reward to Thy
bond-servants the prophets and to the saints and to those who fear Thy
name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the
earth."
Revelation 22:12 (note)
"Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render
to every man according to what he has done.
Here are the 40 uses of misthos in the
Septuagint (LXX)
(Gen. 15:1; 29:15; 30:18, 28, 32f; 31:7f, 41; Exod. 2:9; 22:15; Lev.
19:13; Num. 18:31; Deut. 15:18; 24:14f; Ruth 2:12; 1 Ki. 5:6; 2 Chr.
15:7; Job 7:2; Ps. 127:3; Prov. 11:18, 21; 17:8; Eccl. 4:9; 9:5; Isa.
23:18; 40:10; 62:11; Jer. 22:13; 31:16; Ezek. 27:15, 27, 33; 29:18f;
Mic. 3:11; Hag. 1:6; Zech. 8:10; 11:12; Mal. 3:5) Below are some
instructive uses of misthos in the Old Testament (Lxx)...
Genesis 15:1 After these
things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not
fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your
reward
(Hebrew = sakar = wages, reward; Lxx = misthos) shall be very
great."
Ruth 2:12 (note)
"May the LORD reward your work, and your wages (Hebrew =
maskoreth = wages; Lxx = misthos) be full from the LORD, the God of
Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge."
Psalm 127:3 (Spurgeon's
note) Behold, children are
a gift of the LORD; The fruit of the womb is a
reward
(Hebrew = sakar = wages, reward; Lxx = misthos).
Isaiah 40:10 Behold, the Lord
God will come with might, With His arm ruling for Him. Behold, His
reward
(Hebrew = sakar = wages, reward; Lxx = misthos) is with Him, And
His recompense before Him.
Isaiah 62:11 Behold, the LORD
has proclaimed to the end of the earth, Say to the daughter of Zion,
"Lo, your salvation comes; Behold His
reward
(Hebrew = sakar = wages, reward; Lxx = misthos) is with Him, and
His recompense before Him."
Zechariah 11:12 And I said to
them, "If it is good in your sight, give me my wages; but if not, never
mind!" So they weighed out thirty shekels of silver as my
wages
(Hebrew = sakar = wages, reward; Lxx = misthos).
Malachi 3:5 "Then I will draw
near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the
sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear
falsely, and against those who oppress the wage earner in his
wages
(Hebrew = sakar = wages, reward; Lxx = misthos), the widow and
the orphan, and those who turn aside the alien, and do not fear Me,"
says the LORD of hosts
Unrighteousness
(93)
(adikia
[word study]
from a = not + dikê = right) is a condition of not being
right, whether with God, according to the standard of His holiness and
righteousness or with man, according to the standard of what man knows
to be right by his conscience.
Adikia - 25x in 24v - Luke
13:27; 16:8f; 18:6; John 7:18; Acts 1:18; 8:23; Rom 1:18, 29; 2:8; 3:5;
6:13; 9:14; 1 Cor 13:6; 2 Cor 12:13; 2 Thess 2:10, 12; 2 Tim 2:19; Heb
8:12; Jas 3:6; 2 Pet 2:13, 15; 1 John 1:9; 5:17. NAS = doing wrong(1),
evildoers(1), iniquities(1), iniquity(2), injustice(1), unrighteous(2),
unrighteousness(12), wickedness(4), wrong(1).
In secular Greek adikia
referred to unjust acts, or to deeds which caused personal injury.
Rather than a general concept of injustice, this word was taken, in the
writings of Plato, to mean an unjust act which injures a specific
person. Such an act was not necessarily a violation of some specific
law, but rather an affront against the just order of society. Among the
acts which fell into this category were theft, fraud, and sexual crimes.
Later this word came to mean a neglect of duty toward the pagan gods.
The
Septuagint (LXX)
used this word to describe social sins, those deeds which violated human
relations or the political order of society. Among these injustices were
deceit, fraud, and lying.
Unrighteousness is simple
straightforward terms is loving sin more than loving God and His truth.
Unrighteousness is costly for as Scripture and experience have
proven, love of this present world is often the cause of apostasy from
the Truth. Balaam's business card could have read "Prophet for hire"
[cf
Nu 22:17].
Balaam loved what his wrongdoing earned him (GWT)
Balaam reminds one of Demas
who seemed to start well but who ended in love with the world
for Demas, having loved this present
world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to
Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. (See note
2 Timothy 4:10)
cp
Philemon 1:24 >
Colossians 4:14 [note]) |
