Which have forsaken the right way,— It is called the way of righteousness, 2 Peter 2:21 which leads to happiness; but turning aside to error and vice, is wandering out of the way into forbidden paths, which lead to misery and destruction. Perhaps the apostle here alluded to Numbers 22:32 when the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, Thy way is perverse before me. The wages of unrighteousness are called the rewards of divination, Numbers 22:7 namely, the riches and honour which he sought by wicked methods. When God would not allow him by the Spirit of prophesy to curse Israel, he gave Balak the most diabolical advice; namely, that by the beautiful Midianitish women he should tempt the Israelites, first to debauchery and then to idolatry, as the most likely way to expose them to a curse. Jude, 2 Peter 2:12.Revelation 2:14. Now as Balaam, through covetousness, corrupted the people of Israel, and thereby exposed them to the judgment of God, so did those false teachers, through covetousness, corrupt the Christians, giving them liberty to indulge the lusts of the flesh; and thereby exposed them to the righteous judgment of God.
Related Commentaries of 2 Peter 2:15
2 Peter 2:15
15 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;