Who are the angels that sinned?

It is important not to isolate 2 Peter 2:4 from its context. Verse 1 relates, "There were false prophets among the people." The Apostle Peter was reminding them, "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; ... there is no new thing under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9). He then proceeded to prophesy, "There shall be false teachers among you" (verse 1), and "many shall follow their pernicious ways" (verse 2). 

In verse 3, Peter revealed their motivation ("covetousness") and their manner of operation ("feigned words"). Then, he spoke of "the angels that sinned" (verse 4). The subject under discussion had been "false prophets" and "false teachers" (verse 1). Verse 10 says it is "chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled." Contextually, the Apostle Peter was exposing those who were caught up with the spirit that produced the morning-time apostasy. He referred to these as "natural brute beasts" (verse 12).

When considering the expression "the angels," there is a natural tendency to assume this refers to celestial beings. The Greek word for "angels" is aggelos, and it means "a messenger, by implication a pastor" (Strong's Expanded Dictionary of Bible Words with Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary). It is used in various Scriptures (especially in the Book of Revelation) to denote a ministry (God's messengers). (Read Galatians 4:13-14 and Revelation 22:8-9.)

The word "sinned" indicates this verse is not referring to celestial beings. There can be no sin without temptation. James 1:14 says, "Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust [the Greek word means 'desire'], and enticed." 

The avenues of "lust" that are appealed to and tempt one to sin are "the lust of the flesh, ... the lust of the eyes, ... and the pride of life" (1 John 2:16). To be tempted, one must have "flesh" and "eyes." The "flesh" is a product of the earth. (Read Ecclesiastes 12:7.) Celestial angels are "spirits" (Psalm 104:4; Hebrews 1:7, 13-14). Certainly, "angels" can take on a human form, but they are not human. They are "spirits" and hence exempt from temptation. Thus, celestial angels could not have "sinned."

The expression "God ... cast them down to hell" (2 Peter 2:4) is akin to Jesus' words in Luke 10:18, which states, "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven." This is speaking of the devil and his false teachings being cast from an exalted position when understanding of the truth came to men's minds. Jesus said, "The spirits are subject unto you" (verse 20). What brought this about? "The Lord appointed other seventy also" (Luke 10:1), and through "preaching the gospel" (Luke 9:6), people received understanding. Satan and his falsities lost that exalted position in men's minds.

The word translated as "hell" in 2 Peter 2:4 is the Greek word tartarus. This is the only place that Greek word appears in the New Testament. It came from Greek mythology and was regarded by the ancient Greeks as a subterranean region, doleful and dark. It was supposedly where the Titans, who rebelled against Zeus (the mythological father of gods and men), had been cast (Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon and one noted Bible study series). 

Peter's usage of this unique word ("hell," tartarus) conveys that as the Lord instructed the true prophet in Isaiah 58:1 to "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet," the Lord allowed a true ministry to expose the falsities of the "false teachers" by crying out the truth and not sparing on the message. Thus, these "angels" (false ministry) were "cast down." They and their teachings were shown to be as false as Greek mythology and Zeus! 

Peter prophesied in verse 2, "Many shall follow their pernicious ['that will destroy or ruin'; The Thorndike Dictionary] ways." Verses 12-23 of this chapter describe the works and effects of these "false teachers." However, the Apostle was speaking to the judgment of God upon wrong when he spoke of these "angels" (verse 4), "bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly" (verse 5), and "turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes" (verse 6). 

The common element of these verses is that wrong will not stand. God has a way of showing His judgment. So He does in verse 4 with these "angels." 

After the "angels" are exposed as being as "false" as mythology, 2 Peter 2:4 says that they are "delivered ... into chains of darkness." Their "darkness" is what holds them in bondage! Second Thessalonians 2:10-11 reads, "Because they received not the love of the truth .... And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion." These "angels" are "false teachers" because they are not honest-hearted, do not have "the love of the truth," are deluded, and their own "darkness" holds them bound as in "chains." 

Jesus said in John 12:35, "Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth." Jude 13 speaks of this same condition and calls them "wandering stars" ("stars" represent the ministry; Revelation 1:16, 20). It also says "to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness." 

They are in the greatest darkness because of their spiritual position and condition. It is the "blackness of darkness." Jesus said in Matthew 6:23, "How great is that darkness!" Second Peter 2:4 reveals one under such a delusion and in such "darkness" will be in that sad state "unto judgment," that day when "God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ" (Romans 2:16). 

The Apostle conveyed in 2 Peter 2:4 that these "angels" were a ministry who, once "the Lord ... bought them" (verse 1), had "escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ," but "they are again entangled therein, and overcome" (verse 20). 
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These "angels" were men living on this earth. The verse in question does not say anything about them being in Heaven. The "hell" they were cast into is an expression denoting the exposure of the low level and mythology of their falsities. It has no connection to the hell to which the lost goes ("hell," or hades; Luke 16:23) and ultimately Gehenna (Mark 9:43).

Earl R. Borders

From the February 2024 issue of The Gospel Trumpeter