The Lord, &c. This answers to 2 Peter 2:4, and closes the sense which was begun there; knoweth how to deliver As if he had said, It plainly appears, from these instances, that the Lord hath both wisdom and power sufficient, or can find out ways and means, and will do so; to deliver the godly Those who now suffer persecution; out of temptations
That is, trials and afflictions of various kinds; and to reserve Or, keep in ward, as it were; (so τηρειν seems here to signify;) the unjust The unrighteous, or ungodly; unto the day of judgment Temporal and eternal; to be punished In a most signal manner, or with a severity becoming their guilt and wickedness. “The multitude of the inhabitants of the old world, and of the cities of the plain, was, in the eye of God, no reason for not destroying them. He destroyed them all at once. On the other hand, the few godly persons among them were not overlooked by God because they were few, but preserved by an immediate interposition of his power. This last observation Peter makes to show that, notwithstanding God permits false teachers to arise and deceive many, he will preserve the sincere from being deluded by them, and at length will destroy them out of the church. By God's keeping the unrighteous in ward to be punished at the day of judgment, we are taught that the punishment inflicted on the wicked in this life, will not hinder them from being punished in the next. The principal part of their punishment will be that which they shall suffer after the judgment.”