But they will proceed no further. For their folly will be evident to all men, as theirs also came to be.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 9. But they shall proceed no farther. How doth this agree with verse 13 where it is said, that seducers shall grow worse and worse? or with what he said in the last chapter, (verse 17) that their talk spreadeth like a cancer? We may answer, that the heretics became worse, and seduced very many in all ages, but the providence of God always put a stop to their progress, so that they could never prevail against the Church, as they hoped and proposed to do. Witham.—Saint Paul shews what will be the fate of all heresies; and the annals of the Church prove good his words, that they will appear to flourish for a time, and then will die away and be forgotten.