What Does 2 Peter 2:8 Mean?

(8) **For that righteous man.**—This epithet, here thrice given to Lot, seems at first sight to be at variance with his willingness to remain, for the sake of worldly advantages, in the midst of such wickedness. But “righteous is a relative term; and in this case we must look at Lot both in comparison with the defective morality of the age and also with the licentiousness of those with whom he is here contrasted. Moreover, in the midst of this corruption he preserves some of the brighter features of his purer nomad life, especially that “chivalrous hospitality” (Genesis 19:2-3; Genesis 19:8) to which the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews seems to point as a model: “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Genesis 13:2). Add to this the fact of God’s rescuing him and his family, especially in connexion with the declaration that ten “righteous” people would have saved the whole city (Genesis 18:32), and his ready belief and obedience when told to leave all, and also the fact that Zoar was saved at his intercession (Genesis 19:21), and we must then admit that the epithet “righteous” as applied to Lot is by no means without warrant.