6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts,
7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
8 Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith;
9 but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.
of this sort (v.6) = lit. “out of these” — those mentioned in vs. 2-5
creep (v.6) = to hide, to put on, to clothe with — used of putting on clothes — carries the idea of insinuating oneself into
make captives (v.6) = lead away captive, subjugate, bring under control, take captive one’s mind
gullible women (v.6) = lit. “womanlings, little women” = women who lack the qualities that characterize true womanhood — women without discretion
One of the great virtues of womanhood, namely, that of trusting another, is turned into a weakness by Satan here. Eve was deceived. Adam sinned with his eyes wide open. — Wuest, page 146.
loaded down (v.6) = lit. “heaped on” = overwhelmed — used elsewhere only in Romans 12:20 of heaping coals of fire on an enemy’s head.
led away (v.6) = to move, impel — used of forces and influences affecting the mind
lusts (v.6) = desires, physical or otherwise
never able (v.7) — because they look to the wrong sources for information
knowledge (v.7) = epignosis = knowledge gained by experience — with the prefix here, “precise and correct knowledge gained by experience
I think Paul is referring to those people who get caught up in every passing Christian fad, buying into whatever is new, whatever is fashionable (like The Prayer of Jabez or Heaven is For Real) and never spending any time in actual Bible study and so never getting to the place where they can discern the truth. It is probably the case that women are more susceptible to these fads than are men.
Jannes and Jambres (v.8) — These men were two of the chief spiritists who antagonized Moses and the witness given by him. Their names are retained in the oral tradition of Israel and are found in the Targum of Jonathan of Exodus 7:11, 22. They opposed Moses by counteracting the signs which he wrought by the power of God. They were under the influence of the powers of darkness, who work behind the scenes and lead astray those who, pursuing a self-willed course, follow their own desires instead of the will of God.
The deceivers of Paul’s time were men of the same character as Jannes and Jambres, as in the cases of Simon Magus, Elymas the sorcerer, and the sons of Sceva, who practiced the occult arts for the sake of money. — Vine, page 221.
so (v.8) — probably referring to the degree of their hostility, rather than the manner of it. The false teachers in Paul’s day may have used magic, but not necessarily.
resisted (v.8) = to set one’s self against
corrupt (v.8) = corrupted — not just a condition but the effect of opposing the truth
disapproved (v.8) = rejected after being tested for the purposes of approval
progress (v.9) = lit. “lengthen out by hammering” = to promote, to forward
folly (v.9) = lit. “without understanding” — senselessness, even madness
