Brutal (savage, fierce, untamed, cruel) (434) (anemeros from a = without + hemeros = mild, lame) (found only in this verse in the NT) means literally not mild, not tame, savage, merciless, the very opposite of the gentle. These men have a character and conduct befitting a brute beast and are grossly ruthless or unfeeling. They are like animals in their nature, action and instincts. They are savage (lacking the restraints normal to civilized human beings), cruel, violent like that of wild beasts, who attack enemies and tear them in pieces. These men are not just given to violence now and then; they are in fact, ferocious "savages" who pounce on whoever gets in their way, and have no regard for the rights or feelings of anyone other than themselves. Even a dog may be sorry when he has hurt his master, but these men in their malevolent treatment of others have lost natural human sympathy and feeling. This trait is the opposite of gentleness called for in the manners of the bondservant of the Lord in (2:24). Genuine godliness has power which produces gentleness and the want of this power makes men rough, harsh and cruel. HATERS OF GOOD: aphilagaqoi: (Ps 22:6; Isa 53:3; 60:14; Lk 10:16; 16:14; 1Th 4:8; Jas 2:6)