Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
2 Peter 2:6 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 6. 6And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse adds Sodom and Gomorrah's overthrow as an example within the judgment chain.
Read It With
- 2 Peter 2:4–10
Read 2 Peter 2:6 with 2:4–10. This verse adds Sodom and Gomorrah's overthrow as an example within the judgment chain. The complete unit establishes this movement: A chain of angels, flood, and Sodom traditions argues that God can both rescue the godly from trial and hold the unjust for judgment, especially people characterized by corrupt desire and contempt for authority.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The examples support the claim that judgment is not sleeping while keeping rescue—not only destruction—at the paragraph's center. Within that movement, this verse adds Sodom and Gomorrah's overthrow as an example within the judgment chain.
Read 2 Peter 2:4–10 together
Why these verses belong together: The angels, flood, and Sodom-Lot examples build to the conclusion that the Lord knows rescue and reservation for judgment.
Verse 4. 4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
Verse 5. 5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
Verse 6. 6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
Verse 7. 7 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:
Verse 8. 8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)
Verse 9. 9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
Verse 10. 10 But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.
Follow the Context
- God did not spare sinning angels but confined them for judgment.
- God did not spare the ancient world but preserved Noah with seven others when the flood came.
- God condemned Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes as an example.
- God rescued Lot, portrayed as distressed by lawless conduct.
- The conclusion states the Lord's knowledge of rescue and reservation for punishment.
- Verse 10 especially applies the warning to corrupt desire and contempt for authority.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“making them an ensample”
In plain language: The cities serve the letter's warning, but application remains controlled by the actual canonical narratives.
Adds Sodom and Gomorrah's overthrow as an example within the judgment chain. Entrenched communal violence and ungodliness are not morally invisible.
Why it matters: The wording carries interpretive or ethical risk that requires the full unit and its stated limits.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
The verse does not reduce Sodom to an anti-LGBTQ slogan, authorize hatred, or make every modern city a candidate for violent judgment.
What Remains True
Entrenched communal violence and ungodliness are not morally invisible.
How It Can Shape Life
- Read Sodom with Genesis and the wider canon while protecting present minorities from weaponized collective blame.
Teach It Back
Explain 2 Peter 2:6's contribution to 2 Peter 2:4–10: Adds Sodom and Gomorrah's overthrow as an example within the judgment chain. Include what the surrounding verses add, the stated uncertainty, and what this verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read 2 Peter 2:4–10 — Judgment Examples Lead to Rescue and ReservationSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The example's full moral scope comes from the wider canonical traditions, including violence, arrogance, excess, neglect, and abomination.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: 2 Peter 2:4–10, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording, clause relationships, repeated terms, and the base text used for original-language discussion.
Exact location: SBLGNT official text file 2Pet.txt, 2:4–10
Open the 2 Peter Greek text file ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — 2 Peter with translators' and textual notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2005–2026 online edition
Supports: Verse-level Greek, syntax, KJV-era wording, textual variants, and interpretive alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible 2 Peter PDF, 2:4–10 translation and attached translator, study, and textual notes
Open the official NET 2 Peter PDF ↗