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:5 De 29:20 Ps 78:50 Eze 5:11; 7:4,9 Ro 8:32; 11:21

Verse 4. For if God spared not the angels] The angels were originally placed in a state of probation; some having fallen and some having stood proves this. How long that probation was to last to them, and what was the particular test of their fidelity, we know not; nor indeed do we know what was their sin; nor when nor how they fell. St. Jude says they kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation; which seems to indicate that they got discontented with their lot, and aspired to higher honours, or perhaps to celestial domination. The tradition of their fall is in all countries and in all religions, but the accounts given are various and contradictory; and no wonder, for we have no direct revelation on the subject. They kept not their first estate, and they sinned, is the sum of what we know on the subject; and here curiosity and conjecture are useless.

But cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness] alla seiraiv zofou tartarwsav paredwken eiv krisin tethrhmenouv? But with chains of darkness confining them in Tartarus, delivered them over to be kept to judgment; or, sinking them into Tartarus, delivered them over into custody for punishment, to chains of darkness.

Chains of darkness is a highly poetic expression. Darkness binds them on all hands; and so dense and strong is this darkness that it cannot be broken through; they cannot deliver themselves, nor be delivered by others.

As the word Tartarus is found nowhere else in the New Testament, nor does it appear in the Septuagint, we must have recourse to the Greek writers for its meaning. Mr. Parkhurst, under the word tartarow, has made some good collections from those writers, which I here subjoin.

"The Scholiast on AESCHYLUS, Eumen., says: Pindar relates that Apollo overcame the Python by force; wherefore the earth endeavoured tartarwsai, to cast him into Tartarus. Tzetzes uses the same word, tartarow, for casting or sending into Tartarus; and the compound verb katatartaroun, is found in Apollodourus; in Didymus' Scholia on Homer; in Phurnutus, Deuteronomy Nat, Deor., p. 11, edit. Gale; and in the book peri potamwn, which is extant among the works of Plutarch.

And those whom Apollodourus styles katatartarwqentav, he in the same breath calls rifqentav eiv tartaron, cast into Tartarus. Thus the learned Windet, in Pole's Synopsis. We may then, I think, safely assert that tartarwsav, in St. Peter, means not, as Mede (Works, fol., p. 23) interprets it, to adjudge to, but to cast into, Tartarus; riptein eiv tartaron, as in Homer, cited below. And in order to know what was the precise intention of the apostle by this expression, we must inquire what is the accurate import of the term tartarov. Now, it appears from a passage of Lucian, that by tartarov was meant, in a physical sense, the bounds or verge of this material system; for, addressing himself to erwv, Cupid or Love, he says: su gar ex afanouv kai kecumenhv amorfiav to pan emorfwsav, k. t. l. 'Thou formedst the universe from its confused and chaotic state; and, after separating and dispersing the circumfused chaos, in which, as in one common sepulchre, the whole world lay buried, thou drovest it to the confines or recesses of outer Tartarus - 'Where iron gates and bars of solid brass Keep it in durance irrefrangible, And its return prohibit.' "The ancient Greeks appear to have received, by tradition, an account of the punishment of the 'fallen angels,' and of bad men after death; and their poets did, in conformity I presume with that account, make Tartarus the place where the giants who rebelled against Jupiter, and the souls of the wicked, were confined. 'Here,' saith Hesiod, Theogon., lin. 720, 1, 'the rebellious Titans were bound in penal chains.' tosson enerq� upo ghv, oson ouranov est� apo gaihv. ison gar t� apo ghv ev tartaron heroenta.

'As far beneath the earth as earth from heaven; For such the distance thence to Tartarus.' Which description will very well agree with the proper sense of Tartarus, if we take the earth for the center of the material system, and reckon from our zenith, or the extremity of the heavens that is over our heads. But as the Greeks imagined the earth to be of a boundless depth, so it must not be dissembled that their poets speak of Tartarus as a vast pit or gulf in the bowels of it. Thus Hesiod in the same poem, lin. 119, calls it- tartara t� heroenta mucw cqonov euruodeihv? 'Black Tartarus, within earth's spacious womb.' "And Homer, Iliad viii., lin. 13, &c., introduces Jupiter threatening any of the gods who should presume to assist either the Greeks or the Trojans, that he should either come back wounded to heaven, or be sent to Tartarus.

h min elwn riyw ev tartaron herenta, thle mal�, hci baqiston upo cqonov esti bepeqron, enqa sidhreiai te pulai, kai calkeov oudov, tosson enerq� aidew, oson onranov est� apo gaihv.

'Or far, O far, from steep Olympus thrown, Low in the deep Tartarean gulf shall groan.

That gulf which iron gates and brazen ground Within the earth inexorably bound; As deep beneath th' infernal center hurl'd, As from that center to the ethereal world.' POPE.

'Where, according to Homer's description, Iliad viii., lin. 480, 1,]- out� aughv uperionov helioio terpont�, out� anemoisi? baquv de te tartarov amoiv.

'No sun e'er gilds the gloomy horrors there, No cheerful gales refresh the lazy air, But murky Tartarus extends around.' POPE.

"Or, in the language of the old Latin poet, (cited by Cicero, Tuscul., lib. i. cap. 15,) Ubi rigida constat crassa caligo inferum.

"On the whole, then, tartaroun, in St. Peter, is the same as riptein ev tartaron, to throw into Tartarus, in Homer, only rectifying the poet's mistake of Tartarus being in the bowels of the earth, and recurring to the original sense of that word above explained, which when applied to spirits must be interpreted spiritually; and thus tartarwsav will import that God cast the apostate angels out of his presence into that zofov tou skotouv, blackness of darkness, (ver. 17; Jude 13,) where they will be for ever banished from the light of his countenance, and from the beatifying influence of the ever blessed Three, as truly as a person plunged into the torpid boundary of this created system would be from the light of the sun and the benign operations of the material heavens." By chains of darkness we are to understand a place of darkness and wretchedness, from which it is impossible for them to escape.

Ver. 4. For if God spared not the angels that sinned . etc.] By whom are meant the devil and his angels; who are spirits created by God and as such were good; their first estate which they left was pure and holy, as well as high and honourable; they, were at first in the truth, though they abode not in it; they were once among the morning stars and sons of God, and were angels of light; their numbers are many, and therefore are here expressed in the plural number, �angels�, though it cannot be said how large; a legion of them was in one man; one at first might be in the rebellion, and draw a large number with him into it, at least was at the head of it, who is called Beelzebub, the prince of devils: what their first sin was, and the occasion of it, is not easy to say; it is generally thought to be pride, affecting a likeness to, or an equality with God; since this was what man was tempted to by them, and by which he fell, as they are thought to do; and because this is the sin of such who fall into the condemnation of the devil; ( 1 Timothy 3:6) and is the sin, that goes before a fall in common; as it did before the fall of man, so it might before the fall of angels, ( Proverbs 16:18). The passage in ( John 8:44) seems most clearly of any to express their sin, which was �not abiding in the truth�; in the truth of the Gospel, particularly the great truth of the salvation of men, by the incarnate Son of God; and which they could by no means brook and which might spring from pride, they not bearing the thought that the human nature should be exalted above theirs; hence the Jews, in opposing Christ as the Messiah and Saviour, are said to be of their father the devil, and to do his lusts; and Judas that betrayed him, and fell from his apostleship, and the truth, is called a devil; and the heresies of men, respecting the person and office of Christ, are styled doctrines of devils; and men that have professed this truth, and afterwards deny it, are represented in the same irrecoverable and desperate case with devils, and must expect the same punishment, ( John 8:44 6:70 1 Timothy 4:1 Hebrews 6:6 10:26,29), and also it may be observed on the contrary, that the good angels that stand, greatly love, value, esteem, and pry into the truths of the Gospel; particularly the scheme of man's salvation, by the incarnation, obedience, sufferings, and death of Christ: now these God spared not ; or �had no mercy on�, as the Arabic version renders it; he did not forgive their sin, nor provide a Saviour for them; but directly, and at once, notwithstanding the dignity and excellency of their nature, in strict justice, and awful severity, without any mercy, inflicted due punishment on them; wherefore it cannot be thought that false teachers, who, as they, abide not in the truth, but deny and oppose it, should escape the vengeance of God: but cast them down to hell ; they were hurled out of heaven, from whence they fell as lightning, into the �lowest�, or inferior places, as the Syriac version renders it; either into the air, as in ( Ephesians 2:2) or into the earth; as in ( Revelation 12:9) or into the deep, the abyss, the bottomless pit, where they are detained, as in a prison, ( Luke 8:31 Revelation 9:11 20:3,7) though for certain reasons, and at certain times, are suffered to come forth, and rove about in this earth, and in the air: and these, when removed from their ancient seats in heaven, were not merely bid to go away, as the wicked will at the day of judgment; or were �drove� out, as Adam was from the garden of Eden; but �cast down�; with great power, indignation, wrath, and contempt, never to be raised and restored again: [and] delivered [them] into chains of darkness : leaving them under the guilt of sin, which is the power of darkness, and in black despair; shutting them up in unbelief, impenitence, and hardness of mind; being holden with the cords of their sins, and in the most dreadful state of bondage and captivity to their lusts, in just judgment on them; and in the most miserable and uncomfortable condition, being driven from the realms of light, deprived of the face and presence of God, in the utmost horror and trembling, and fearful looking for of judgment, and fiery indignation to consume them; and in utter darkness, without the least glimmering of light, joy, peace, and comfort; and where there is nothing but weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth; and being also under the restraints of the power and providence of God, and not able to stir or move, or do anything without divine permission; and being likewise, by the everlasting, unalterable, and inscrutable purposes and decrees of God, appointed to everlasting wrath and destruction; by which they are consigned and bound over to it, and held fast, that they cannot escape it: to be reserved unto judgment : to the day of judgment, to the last and general judgment; the judgment of torment, as the Syriac version here calls it; the words may be rendered, �and delivered them to be kept at judgment, in chains of darkness�; when they will be in full torment, which they are not yet in; and then they will be cast into the lake of fire prepared for them, and be everlastingly shut up in the prison of hell from whence they will never more be suffered to go out; till which time they are indeed under restraints, and are held in by Christ, who has the power of binding and loosing them at pleasure; and who then, as the Judge of men and devils, will bring them forth, and pass and execute sentence on them. The Jews give an account of the dejection, fall, and punishment of the angels, in a manner pretty much like this of Peter's, whom they speak of under different names; so of the serpent that deceived Adam and Eve, whom they call Samael, and because of that sin of his, they say that the Lord �cast down Samael and his company from the place of their holiness, out of heaven;� and of Aza and Azael, angels, who, they say, sinned by lusting after the daughters of men, they frequently affirm, that God cast them down from their holiness f10 , and that he attl �wl lypa , �cast them down below in chains� f11 ; and that God cast them down from their holiness from above; and when they descended, they were rolled in the air � and he brought them to the mountains of darkness, which are called the mountains of the east, and bound them �in chains� of iron, and the chains were sunk into the midst of the great deep f12 : and elsewhere they say f13 , that God cast them down from their holy degree, out of heaven � from their holy place out of heaven � and bound them in �chains� of iron, in the mountains of �darkness�.

To be reserved (throumenouv). Lit., being reserved. See on 1 Pet. i. 4, "reserved in heaven."