Translation choice · documented · Afterlife
What the source reads — ταρταρώσας — tartaróō, 'to cast into Tartarus': the pit beneath Hades where Greek myth chained the Titans; its only appearance in the Bible
What this version reads — 'cast them down to hell' — the KJV dissolves the borrowed myth-name into plain 'hell' (the Vulgate and Martini keep 'Tartarus' / 'tartaro')
Peter reaches for a word out of Greek mythology — tartaróō, to hurl into Tartarus, the abyss below the underworld where the Titans were imprisoned. It is the fourth distinct word the KJV melts into one 'hell', after Sheol, Hades and Gehenna. Here the split shows: the Vulgate writes 'in tartarum' and Martini keeps 'nel tartaro', preserving the pagan name the KJV erased. The old cosmology's deepest dungeon, quietly renamed.
Read this chapter side by side — 2 Peter 2:4 →