What Does 2 Peter 2:15 Mean in the King James?
Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Love of an unjust reward turns departure from the straight way into a chosen route.
THE MEANING
You can be moving with purpose and still move away from alignment: the straight path gives way to a route whose reward draws you. Because that payment is bound to injustice, its gain cannot be separated from the way that produces it.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A profitable outcome proves that the route was right; this verse shows that reward can be attached to injustice.
THE ROOT
ὁδόν
hodon hodō
GROWS FROM
ὁδ-
hod-
A road, path, or way of going.
The same Greek noun names both the way forsaken and the way followed. The verse frames the change as a transfer of route: movement continues, but now it follows Balaam’s path.
ALSO GROWS
exodos: Way out, departure
ἔξοδος
The compound keeps hodos, way, inside the word for an exit, showing that a way is a route one takes.
methodos: Pursuit, way of inquiry
μέθοδος
This compound preserves the image of following a path toward an end, like the pursuit of reward in the verse.
πλανηθέντες
planēthentes
GROWS FROM
πλαν- (plan-, from πλανάω)
To wander or to lead astray.
“gone astray” in this verse is planēthentes. The Greek form is passive: “having been led astray.” The same word-family names wandering and error, so the verse holds together leaving the path, being drawn off course, and following another way.
ALSO GROWS
planē: Wandering, error
πλάνη
Jude uses this same root for the “error of Balaam,” linking wandering with the path followed for reward.
planētēs: Wanderer; the source of English “planet”
πλανήτης
The word preserves the image of wandering, making the movement inside “gone astray” easier to see.
ἀδικίας
adikias
GROWS FROM
δίκη
dikē
Justice; what is right or fitting.
“unrighteousness” in this verse is adikias. The Greek word ἀδικία (adikia, injustice) is formed with a- negating δίκη. Its family also names what is just and aligned, so the phrase describes wages bound to a way outside justice, not simply the fact of receiving a reward.
ALSO GROWS
dikaios: Just, aligned
δίκαιος
This names the just quality that adikia lacks.
dikaiosynē: Justice, alignment
δικαιοσύνη
This branch brings the contrast into view: Balaam’s reward is tied to the opposite of alignment.
THE PATTERN
When gain becomes the guide, it bends a straight path toward injustice.
And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak.Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.THE THREAD
Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.Jude’s “error” is πλάνη (planē, wandering), from the same Greek root as “gone astray” here. Both verses join Balaam’s wandering way to reward, revealing how the pursuit of gain can shape the path itself.
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