Are all the fallen angels in hell already??

WKUHilltopper

Well-Known Member
I was going over 2nd Peter last night and came up on this passage (I don't know if I've ever seen this before although I've read 2nd Peter before).

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;

I know the final judgment place, "Lake of Fire", has not been established yet, but this passage seems to suggest that those angels in rebellion are in Hell and chained up already. Or are these spirits that Jesus cast out not "fallen angels"? I always kind of assumed they were.
 

Eco

Well-Known Member
I believe some angels are already in hell, but not the majority. I believe that when Peter wrote this passage he was looking into the future. Consider Satan...he certainly isn't in hell right now. He's milling about the earth being a jerk. I think somewhere in Revelation as well, it talks about the fallen angels being kicked down to the world from heaven.

One final point is demon possessions. They are very real, and happen more frequently than anyone would like. So when Peter wrote that, I think he was ultimately talking about a future completion of that. :idunno:
 

mattfivefour

Well-Known Member
My understanding of this verse is this, bro: The sinning angels were cast down from Heaven, the abode of the blessed ... to Tartaros, the abode of the condemned. But such a place of abode does not mean they are imprisoned there. It merely means that is where they now belong being permanently expelled from the dwelling place of the blessed. I believe the Greek phrase "chains of darkness" means simply that the chains they are in are the bondage of the darkness that they chose over the light. In other words, their darkness of being has become chains that bind them. And since judgment has already been passed upon them for their sin, there is no escape for them but they are marked for that judgment that shall one day be executed upon them. The Greek phrase translated "reserved unto judgment" is ἰς κρίσιν τηρουμένους, (ICE KREE-sin tay-roo-MEN-oos) literally "unto judgment being guarded." In other words, they cannot escape their coming fate.
 

WKUHilltopper

Well-Known Member
So you're thinking that "chains of darkness" is more metaphorically speaking of, say, being separated from God--in that, they're no longer able to access the presence of God? Much in the same way we can equate sin as "chains of darkness" as it is a form of bondage?

Just a side bar: I think it's interesting that Holman's calls this "Tartartus" and the KJV just says "Hell". Sometimes I read the KJV and Holman's side by side.

Thanks, Eco...your comments were helpful as well.



My understanding of this verse is this, bro: The sinning angels were cast down from Heaven, the abode of the blessed ... to Tartaros, the abode of the condemned. But such a place of abode does not mean they are imprisoned there. It merely means that is where they now belong being permanently expelled from the dwelling place of the blessed. I believe the Greek phrase "chains of darkness" means simply that the chains they are in are the bondage of the darkness that they chose over the light. In other words, their darkness of being has become chains that bind them. And since judgment has already been passed upon them for their sin, there is no escape for them but they are marked for that judgment that shall one day be executed upon them. The Greek phrase translated "reserved unto judgment" is ἰς κρίσιν τηρουμένους, (ICE KREE-sin tay-roo-MEN-oos) literally "unto judgment being guarded." In other words, they cannot escape their coming fate.
 

mattfivefour

Well-Known Member
WKU, to answer your question: Yes. I think it to be metaphorical because it does not say they are "delivered into chains" but "delivered into chains of darkness". This language is clearly metaphorical. And just as in Romans 1 man is bound by the chains of his refusal to acknowledge God, so the fallen angels are bound by the chains of their rejection of Him. And those chains truly are of darkness ... there is no light in those so bound, as God's Word says.

Further, the word translated "delivered" in 2 Peter 2:4 is paradidomi in Greek and has a variety of meanings around the idea of "being delivered". Buttressing my argument above, is the fact that this use of paradidomi is parallel to Romans 1:24 where Paul, speaking of those humans who rejected God says: "Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts to dishonour their own bodies between themselves?" The phrase "gave them up" is exactly the same Greek word (paradidomi) as "delivered" in 2 Peter 2:4.
 
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