Great Swelling Words | The Institute for Creation Research

Great Swelling Words



“These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.” (Jude 1:16)

This picturesque phrase, “great swelling words,” is the King James Version translation of huperonkos, which literally means “super-massive,” with the implied noun “words” added because of the context.

The word is used only one other time in the New Testament, in the parallel passage in 2 Peter 2:18: “For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.”

Both apostles, in context, are warning against false teachers who, after somehow obtaining positions of influence among the spiritually immature believers in the body, would then seek to lead them back into worldly ways of thinking and acting. Peter compares those who heed such words to washed sows going back to wallow in the mire (2 Peter 2:22).

Such teachers may appear very intellectual and charismatic, with their “feigned words” (2 Peter 2:3), promises of “liberty” (1 Peter 2:16), and flatteries (see text above), but it is a deadly mistake to follow them. Both Peter and Jude give various ways by which to recognize them. They may actually deny the redemptive work of Christ (2 Peter 2:1) or seek to undermine those whom God has placed in authority (2:10). Perhaps most commonly, they are interested in worldly gain or prestige for themselves (2 Peter 2:14; Jude 1:11). They also may practice and encourage carnal lifestyles (Jude 1:4).

Other characteristics of these deceptive teachers are given in these two key chapters and, by all means, young believers need to be alert to this danger, staying close to God’s Word and obedient to His will. HMM

Days of Praise Podcast Days of Praise Podcast is a podcast based on the Institute for Creation Research quarterly print devotional, Days of Praise. Start your day with devotional readings written by Dr. Henry Morris, Dr. Henry Morris III, Dr. John Morris, and others to strengthen and encourage you in your Christian faith.
 
         

 

The Latest
NEWS
''The Flood of Death'': A Mass Dino Grave in Canada
Paleontologists in Alberta, Canada, have recently unearthed “a mass grave on a monumental scale.”1 The BBC story speaks of Thousands...

CREATION PODCAST
The 100th Episode of The Creation Podcast! | Let's Talk About...
What role do in-person events play for a creation science ministry? How can you host an event through ICR? Are these events still important...

NEWS
Bone, Skin, Claw Lasted…150 Million Years?
Experts and educators have long assumed Archaeopteryx represents a transition from theropod dinosaurs to modern birds. All of this speculation depends...

NEWS
How Did Earth Get Its Water?
Earth’s oceans contain 321 million cubic miles (1.335 billion cubic kilometers) of water. The moon causes ebb and flow of tides twice in a 24-hour...

NEWS
New Fossil Discovery Upends Animal Evolution...Again
Reptiles belong to a group of animals called amniotes that also include birds and mammals. A new Australian fossil discovery of a clawed amniote demonstrates...

NEWS
100% Cicada Fossil
Cicadas are an unusual-looking insect belonging to the order Hemiptera (the true bugs, including bed bugs and aphids). If you live in the eastern United...

CREATION PODCAST
Earth’s Origins: Science, Theology, and a New Geology Textbook...
Since the late eighteenth century, most scientists have argued for a uniformitarian view of Earth’s history. They claim the world...

NEWS
June 2025 ICR Wallpaper
"He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from...

CREATION.LIVE PODCAST
Getting the Gospel into People's Hands | Creation.Live Podcast:...
Can God use an atheist airline pilot to reach other nations with the truth of the Gospel? The answer, obviously, is yes.   Host...

NEWS
Chimp Genome Markedly Different from Human
An oft-repeated claim of evolutionary propaganda is that chimpanzee and human DNA are 98.5% identical. This high level of DNA similarity, which has...