For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell [Tartarus] and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment;
2 Peter 2:4 (ESV)
And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day
Jude 1:6 (ESV)
2 Peter 2 and Jude both warn against false teachers who introduce destructive heresies. Teachers who live only to satisfy their own lusts. And Peter and Jude both refer to the judgment that these teachers are facing, using several examples, including the angels who sinned.
Who are these angels who sinned, leaving their positions of authority and their proper dwelling? They are most likely the “sons of God” referenced in Genesis 6:1-4. Jewish tradition in the Second Temple period overwhelmingly taught that the sons of God in Genesis 6:1-4 were fallen angels who had sex with human women and produced the Nephilim, giants.
That Jewish tradition taught something does not necessarily make it true. However, Peter and Jude both appealed to that tradition without making any corrections, indicating that they accepted it as true.
These angels who sinned are described as bound with eternal chains under gloomy darkness, awaiting their judgment. Even while waiting for that great day of judgment, they are experiencing punishment for their sin. What their ultimate fate will be is not stated here, but likely is “the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41).
Peter and Jude did not include these comments about the angels who sinned as just an interesting little tidbit. For both of them, the point was that if God dealt in this fashion with angels who sinned, he is more than capable of keeping “the unrighteous (especially false teachers) under punishment until the day of judgment” (2 Pet. 2:9).
Don’t get caught up in the error of fallen angels, false teachers, or the ungodly. They may prosper now, but their punishment and judgment are sure.
