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G1829 · Greek · New Testament
ἐξέραμα
exerama
Noun, neuter
vomit; that which is vomited out

Definition

Exerama appears once, in 2 Peter 2:22, quoting Proverbs 26:11: 'The dog returns to its own vomit.' Peter uses this visceral image to describe false teachers who know the way of righteousness but turn back to the corruption they had escaped. The proverb was well-known in ancient culture, used by both Jewish and Greek writers to describe shameful reversal.

Usage & Theological Significance

The exerama proverb is one of the Bible's most sobering warnings about apostasy. Peter is not describing ordinary backsliding but a deliberate, knowing return to what was rejected. The theology here connects to Hebrews 6:4-6 and 10:26-29: those who have been enlightened and then deliberately turned away face a severe reckoning. The pastoral implication is clear: perseverance is evidence of genuine salvation. The dog-to-vomit return is a sign of a nature unchanged, not a nature redeemed.

Key Verses

2 Peter 2:22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: 'The dog returns to its own vomit [exerama].'
Proverbs 26:11 Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.
Hebrews 6:4-6 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened... and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance.
John 10:27-28 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish.
1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us.

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