2 Peter 2:4 - Tartaroo Vs. Tartarus

2 Peter 2:4 - For if God didn't spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus, and committed them to pits of darkness, to be reserved to judgment. -- World English

The Greek word under consideration is transliterated by Wescott & Hort as *tartarwsas* (Strong's #5020, more often transliterated by its infinitive form of "tartaroo"), a verb that is rendered in the King James Version by five words, "cast them down to hell," - thus including a verb, a personal pronoun, an adverb, a preposition and a noun. Evidently, the translators were at a loss to know how to translate the word, but concluded they knew where the evil angels ought to be, and so they made bold to put them into "hell," though it took six words to twist the idea into the shape they had pre-determined it must take. This one word is similarly translated in the World English Bible translation by five words: "cast them down to Tartarus". Nevertheless, we do not find either the noun for "hell" (hades) or the noun "tartarus" in the Greek. True, the noun form of the verb in Greek is Tartarus, but the word "Tartarus" itself is not found in this verse, or anywhere else in the Bible.

"Tartarus" is a noun, not a verb. The word "Tartarus," in Greek mythology, is used to describe a subterranean place or region, allegedly the lowest realm of Hades, or perhaps even lower than Hades, where, it was claimed, that the immortal souls/spirits of the most vile people were supposed to go after death. Many of the apostate Jews, being highly influenced by Hellenistic philosophy adapted the heathen philosophies to the Hebrew Scriptures, promoting the idea that there are various levels of consciousness in sheol, and that the soul (or spirit) people go various portions of sheol when they die, depending on their works before they die.

Nevertheless, the noun tartarus does not appear at all in the New Testament Greek, and a form of the verb tartaroo only appears once, so most scholars, having accepted a philosophy that is actually adapted from the Grecian mythology, also have taken the word Tartarus as used in Greek mythology and adopted the heathen meaning of that word as an application to the word that Peter used, thus coming up with renderings such as: "cast them down to hell", "cast them down to Tartarus." Such rendering actually make it appear as though Peter himself was adapting the Greek mythology by consigning these angels to such a realm of conscious souls or spirits after death.

Many have become accustomed to thinking in terms of the noun Tartarus, which in Greek mythology is a place. The word tartaroo, however, is a verb, and does not actually denote a place, but an action, that is, the process of being imprisoned, restrained, degraded, etc. The idea of casting down to sheol, hades, or Gehenna, has to be added to the Greek, for Biblical usage of these words do not actually apply to the usage of tartaroo by Peter. Sheol/hades is the realm or state of being dead, as described in Ecclesiastes 9:10, and this is the result of the condemnation in Adam. Gehenna literally refers to the a valley near Jerusalem, which is used as a symbol of destruction in the Bible. A form of the word tartaroo is applied in 2 Peter 2:4, however, not to humans after death (as Greek mythology applies the word "Tartarus"), but to certain angels that sinned. Additionally, Peter makes no mention of any fires in the condition into which these angels were cast.

"Tartaroo", therefore, does not mean "Tartarus", although some translations render this as 'thrown into Tartarus'. We should not think that Peter was appealing to Greek mythology in using a form of the verb tartaroo. The noun, however, is actually not present in the verb tartaroo, except that one would want to read such into the verb. In comparing spiritual revealing with spiritual revealing (1 Corinthians 2:13), we conclude that the apostle Peter uses a form of the verb tartaroo to tell us that God imprisoned the angels that sinned (Genesis 6:2-4; 1 Peter 3:19,20), and he adds that they were delivered "into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment"; and since the apostle Jude (Jude 1:6,7) tells us that such imprisonment lasts until the judgment of the great day, and since these fallen angels are said to be the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2; 6:12, margin), are active among humans, e.g., in demonizing people, appearing in seances and other occult practices, we conclude that earth's atmosphere is their prison (Matthew 8:28-32; 12:22-28). Without the mythology added the word apparently simply means degraded or imprisoned.

The fall of the angels who sinned was from honor and dignity, into dishonor and condemnation, and the thought is thus: "God spared not the angels who sinned, but degraded them, and delivered them into chains of darkness."

These angels who sinned are described in Jude 1:6 as  "angels who didn't keep their first domain, but deserted their own dwelling place." Having incarnated themselves in bodies as men, they lived among men as though they were men, marrying the daughters of men, and producing a mongrel race of giants. (Genesis 6:1-3) As incarnate men, they were destroyed, and are not permitted to incarnate themselves as such today (else we would still see such activity still happening). Their fleshly bodies thus were evidently destroyed in the flood of Noah's day, but they themselves simply returned to the spirit realm, however, under the restraints of which Peter and Jude speak.

Many scholars say that the word "tartaroo" comes from the Greek word "Tartarus", while others claim that the word Tartarus comes from the verb, tartaroo. At this point, it would be difficult to determine which is true. Nevertheless, it appears that many scholars have a vested interest in a desire for the word to mean Tartarus, since they have accepted much of the heathen Grecian philosophy concerning inherent immortality.

At least one scholar even goes so far as to claim that Tartarus is a "transliteration" of tartaroo. This simply is not true. In reality, it is an example of how Bible scholars can become so zealous to find support for their extra-Biblical teachings that they would force the Grecian mythology into the Bible!

Once we realize that most of the works we have concerning the Greek is prepared by scholars who believe in the traditional "Christian" modification of the Jewish adaptation of the Greek mythologies, we realize that they are inclined to give the meaning of Tartarus to the verb tartaroo, and claim that Peter was referring to such a similar place as described in the Greek mythologies. And thus the groundwork for confusion is set, and even many who do not believe in the Grecian philosophies of the inherent immortality and the dead are really dead, insentient, have difficulties getting past what has been given to us by tradition.

At any rate, many will use the two words tartaroo and Tartarus interchangeably, or they will say that the Greek verb tartaroo "refers to Tartarus". By doing this, the minds of many, however, are highly inclined to associate Peter's words with the Grecian heathen mythology, and the Jewish adaptation of that mythology, which was later adjusted by the teachings of the Christian apostasy. In reality, Peter was not endorsing Greek heathen mythology, nor the Jewish adaptation thereof. Many who believe this kind of philosophy will deny that they believe in "Grecian" philosophies, and yet they will often describe their belief similar to or in basically the same terms of Grecian philosophy.

Others simply say that Tartarus is another word for their idea of a place of eternal suffering.

Some authors speak of these angels as "being held in Tartaroo", as though it were a noun and a place.

Nevertheless, while the word tartaroo itself, being a verb, denotes an act, not a place, the act of degrading, and especially imprisonment, implies a place or condition into which one is degraded or imprisoned. The "place" of degradation or imprisoment, however, in this case, is not the Greek mythological Tartarus, nor the traditional idea of a hell with burning flames, but evidently is the atmosphere of the earth. -- Ephesians 2:2.

Strictly speaking, Peter is not speaking about Tartarus (a place), but he is speaking about an action, the act of being degraded or imprisoned. The "place" or "condition" itself has to be supplied by the context and/or other scriptures, as we have ascertained above.