2 Peter 2:4 4For if God did not spare angels who sinned, but with chains of darkness holding them captive in Tartarus, he delivered them for being kept for judgment,
Verse 4 begins a long sentence with a series of conditional clauses that end with an apodosis in verses 9-10. The complex protasis of four major clauses is governed by the opening if. Each clause reflects on accepting the false teachings of the heretics mentioned in verses 1-3. The complexity and length of this sentence emphasize the severity of the warning. Peter makes it clear to the letter recipients about the necessity of knowing the truth of the gospel and living it out in righteousness. The four situations go sequentially in ancient history.
The first example is about the angels who sinned and were judged. Jude 6 refers to the same situation of sinning angels. Many modern English translations interpret the participle holding captive in Tartarus (tartarōsas) as “hell.” Many ancient cultures, including Greek and Jewish, believed in a subterranean place of punishment lower than Hades, the place of the dead. Another way to think of this is the farthest place away from God one can get. The angels were bound and cast into the “lowest hell” because of their sin. At some point in the future, they will be judged for their sin. This verse shows the seriousness with which God takes sin. Not even rebellious angels can escape punishment. Sin must be taken seriously. We must be on guard against deceit and temptation because even the best and closest beings to God who know God and are in God’s presence can fall because of their rebellion. We must take sin and judgment seriously and be vigilant in our pursuit of holiness!