Reference: Jude, Epistle of
Easton
The author was "Judas, the brother of James" the Less (Jude 1:1), called also Lebbaeus (Mt 10:3) and Thaddaeus (Mr 3:18). The genuineness of this epistle was early questioned, and doubts regarding it were revived at the time of the Reformation; but the evidences in support of its claims are complete. It has all the marks of having proceeded from the writer whose name it bears.
There is nothing very definite to determine the time and place at which it was written. It was apparently written in the later period of the apostolic age, for when it was written there were persons still alive who had heard the apostles preach (ver. 17). It may thus have been written about A.D. 66 or 70, and apparently in Palestine.
The epistle is addressed to Christians in general (ver. 1), and its design is to put them on their guard against the misleading efforts of a certain class of errorists to which they were exposed. The style of the epistle is that of an "impassioned invective, in the impetuous whirlwind of which the writer is hurried along, collecting example after example of divine vengeance on the ungodly; heaping epithet upon epithet, and piling image upon image, and, as it were, labouring for words and images strong enough to depict the polluted character of the licentious apostates against whom he is warning the Church; returning again and again to the subject, as though all language was insufficient to give an adequate idea of their profligacy, and to express his burning hatred of their perversion of the doctrines of the gospel."
The striking resemblance this epistle bears to 2PE suggests the idea that the author of the one had seen the epistle of the other.
The doxology with which the epistle concludes is regarded as the finest in the New Testament.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the tax-gatherer; James of Alpheus, and Lebbeus who was surnamed Thaddeus;
and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James of Alpheus, and Thaddeus, and Simon the Cananite,
Judas, of Jesus Christ a servant, and brother of James, to those sanctified in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ kept -- called,
Hastings
This short epistle is an earnest warning and appeal, couched in vivid and picturesque language, addressed to a church or a circle of churches which have become suddenly exposed to a mischievous attack of false teaching.
1. Contents
(1) Text.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary, and his brethren James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?
And when he is sitting on the mount of the Olives, the disciples came near to him by himself, saying, 'Tell us, when shall these be? and what is the sign of thy presence, and of the full end of the age?' And Jesus answering said to them, 'Take heed that no one may lead you astray, read more. for many shall come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and they shall lead many astray,
for many shall come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and they shall lead many astray, and ye shall begin to hear of wars, and reports of wars; see, be not troubled, for it behoveth all these to come to pass, but the end is not yet. read more. 'For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places; and all these are the beginning of sorrows; then they shall deliver you up to tribulation, and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated by all the nations because of my name; and then shall many be stumbled, and they shall deliver up one another, and shall hate one another. 'And many false prophets shall arise, and shall lead many astray;
'And many false prophets shall arise, and shall lead many astray; and because of the abounding of the lawlessness, the love of the many shall become cold;
and because of the abounding of the lawlessness, the love of the many shall become cold; but he who did endure to the end, he shall be saved; read more. and this good news of the reign shall be proclaimed in all the world, for a testimony to all the nations; and then shall the end arrive. 'Whenever, therefore, ye may see the abomination of the desolation, that was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoever is reading let him observe) then those in Judea -- let them flee to the mounts; he on the house-top -- let him not come down to take up any thing out of his house; and he in the field -- let him not turn back to take his garments. 'And woe to those with child, and to those giving suck in those days; and pray ye that your flight may not be in winter, nor on a sabbath; for there shall be then great tribulation, such as was not from the beginning of the world till now, no, nor may be. And if those days were not shortened, no flesh would have been saved; but because of the chosen, shall those days be shortened. Then if any one may say to you, Lo, here is the Christ! or here! ye may not believe; for there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and they shall give great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, also the chosen. Lo, I did tell you beforehand.
Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us?' -- and they were being stumbled at him.
Judas of James, and Judas Iscariot, who also became betrayer;)
The former account, indeed, I made concerning all things, O Theophilus, that Jesus began both to do and to teach,
and when they came in, they went up to the upper room, where were abiding both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James, of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zelotes, and Judas, of James;
And a certain man, by name Simon, was before in the city using magic, and amazing the nation of Samaria, saying himself to be a certain great one, to whom they were all giving heed, from small unto great, saying, 'This one is the great power of God;' read more. and they were giving heed to him, because of his having for a long time amazed them with deeds of magic. And when they believed Philip, proclaiming good news, the things concerning the reign of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized both men and women; and Simon also himself did believe, and, having been baptized, he was continuing with Philip, beholding also signs and mighty acts being done, he was amazed. And the apostles in Jerusalem having heard that Samaria hath received the word of God, did send unto them Peter and John, who having come down did pray concerning them, that they may receive the Holy Spirit, -- for as yet he was fallen upon none of them, and only they have been baptized -- to the name of the Lord Jesus; then were they laying hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. And Simon, having beheld that through the laying on of the hands of the apostles, the Holy Spirit is given, brought before them money, saying, 'Give also to me this authority, that on whomsoever I may lay the hands, he may receive the Holy Spirit.' And Peter said unto him, 'Thy silver with thee -- may it be to destruction! because the gift of God thou didst think to possess through money; thou hast neither part nor lot in this thing, for thy heart is not right before God; reform, therefore, from this thy wickedness, and beseech God, if then the purpose of thy heart may be forgiven thee, for in the gall of bitterness, and bond of unrighteousness, I perceive thee being.' And Simon answering, said, 'Beseech ye for me unto the Lord, that nothing may come upon me of the things ye have spoken.'
and having gone through the island unto Paphos, they found a certain magian, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name is Bar-Jesus; who was with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man; this one having called for Barnabas and Saul, did desire to hear the word of God, read more. and there withstood them Elymas the magian -- for so is his name interpreted -- seeking to pervert the proconsul from the faith. And Saul -- who also is Paul -- having been filled with the Holy Spirit, and having looked stedfastly on him, said, 'O full of all guile, and all profligacy, son of a devil, enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease perverting the right ways of the Lord? and now, lo, a hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season;' and presently there fell upon him a mist and darkness, and he, going about, was seeking some to lead him by the hand; then the proconsul having seen what hath come to pass, did believe, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.
and they, having heard, were baptized -- to the name of the Lord Jesus, and Paul having laid on them his hands, the Holy Spirit came upon them, they were speaking also with tongues, and prophesying, read more. and all the men were, as it were, twelve.
many also of those who did believe were coming, confessing and declaring their acts, and many of those who had practised the curious arts, having brought the books together, were burning them before all; and they reckoned together the prices of them, and found it five myriads of silverlings;
and the hope doth not make ashamed, because the love of God hath been poured forth in our hearts through the Holy Spirit that hath been given to us.
And, in like manner also, the Spirit doth help our weaknesses; for, what we may pray for, as it behoveth us, we have not known, but the Spirit himself doth make intercession for us with groanings unutterable,
And to Him who is able to establish you, according to my good news, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the secret, in the times of the ages having been kept silent, and now having been made manifest, also, through prophetic writings, according to a command of the age-during God, having been made known to all the nations for obedience of faith -- read more. to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to him be glory to the ages. Amen.
and the natural man doth not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for to him they are foolishness, and he is not able to know them, because spiritually they are discerned;
and not certainly with the whoremongers of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, seeing ye ought then to go forth out of the world --
And this declaring, I give no praise, because not for the better, but for the worse ye come together;
Then, after fourteen years again I went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas, having taken with me also Titus;
and having known the grace that was given to me, James, and Cephas, and John, who were esteemed to be pillars, a right hand of fellowship they did give to me, and to Barnabas, that we to the nations, and they to the circumcision may go,
for before the coming of certain from James, with the nations he was eating, and when they came, he was withdrawing and separating himself, fearing those of the circumcision,
in the body of his flesh through the death, to present you holy, and unblemished, and unblameable before himself,
being rooted and built up in him, and confirmed in the faith, as ye were taught -- abounding in it in thanksgiving.
having known, brethren beloved, by God, your election,
let not any one deceive you in any manner, because -- if the falling away may not come first, and the man of sin be revealed -- the son of the destruction,
according as I did exhort thee to remain in Ephesus -- I going on to Macedonia -- that thou mightest charge certain not to teach any other thing,
and to the King of the ages, the incorruptible, invisible, only wise God, is honour and glory -- to the ages of the ages! Amen.
of certain men the sins are manifest beforehand, leading before to judgment, and certain also they follow after;
wranglings of men wholly corrupted in mind, and destitute of the truth, supposing the piety to be gain; depart from such;
for there shall be a season when the sound teaching they will not suffer, but according to their own desires to themselves they shall heap up teachers -- itching in the hearing,
Be diligent to come unto me quickly,
Remind them to be subject to principalities and authorities, to obey rule, unto every good work to be ready,
which He poured upon us richly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour,
Stedfast is the word; and concerning these things I counsel thee to affirm fully, that they may be thoughtful, to be leading in good works -- who have believed God; these are the good and profitable things to men,
Zenas the lawyer and Apollos bring diligently on their way, that nothing to them may be lacking,
Judas, of Jesus Christ a servant, and brother of James, to those sanctified in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ kept -- called,
Judas, of Jesus Christ a servant, and brother of James, to those sanctified in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ kept -- called, kindness to you, and peace, and love, be multiplied! read more. Beloved, all diligence using to write to you concerning the common salvation, I had necessity to write to you, exhorting to agonize for the faith once delivered to the saints, for there did come in unobserved certain men, long ago having been written beforehand to this judgment, impious, the grace of our God perverting to lasciviousness, and our only Master, God, and Lord -- Jesus Christ -- denying, and to remind you I intend, you knowing once this, that the Lord, a people out of the land of Egypt having saved, again those who did not believe did destroy;
and to remind you I intend, you knowing once this, that the Lord, a people out of the land of Egypt having saved, again those who did not believe did destroy;
and these, as many things indeed as they have not known, they speak evil of; and as many things as naturally (as the irrational beasts) they understand, in these they are corrupted;
these are those setting themselves apart, natural men, the Spirit not having. And ye, beloved, on your most holy faith building yourselves up, in the Holy Spirit praying, read more. yourselves in the love of God keep ye, waiting for the kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ -- to life age-during; and to some be kind, judging thoroughly,
and to some be kind, judging thoroughly, and some in fear save ye, out of the fire snatching, hating even the coat from the flesh spotted.
and some in fear save ye, out of the fire snatching, hating even the coat from the flesh spotted. And to Him who is able to guard you not stumbling, and to set you in the presence of His glory unblemished, in gladness, read more. to the only wise God our Saviour, is glory and greatness, power and authority, both now and to all the ages! Amen.
I have known thy works, and thy labour, and thy endurance, and that thou art not able to bear evil ones, and that thou hast tried those saying themselves to be apostles and are not, and hast found them liars,
but this thou hast, that thou dost hate the works of the Nicolaitans, that I also hate.
'But I have against thee a few things: That thou hast there those holding the teaching of Balaam, who did teach Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the sons of Israel, to eat idol-sacrifices, and to commit whoredom; so hast thou, even thou, those holding the teaching of the Nicolaitans -- which thing I hate.
Morish
Written by Jude the brother of James, and apparently the same person as the apostle JUDAS, q.v. The Epistle is addressed to "the called ones, beloved in God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ." Apostasy had set in, and the saints are exhorted to contend for the faith divinely delivered. Ungodly ones had crept in, who abused the grace of God, and denied their only Master and Lord Jesus Christ.
Three instances are produced to show how apostasy had been punished:
1. Some of those saved out of Egypt were yet destroyed.
2. Fallen angels are kept in eternal chains for judgement.
3. Sodom and Gomorrha, which lie under the abiding effect of the judgement on them. Then the railers are put to shame by the conduct of Michael the archangel, who when rightly contending with Satan about the body of Moses did not rail against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke thee."
Three stages of departure from the way of truth are mentioned, with a woe upon those who are found in them:
1. The way of Cain
See Verses Found in Dictionary
not as Cain -- of the evil one he was, and he did slay his brother, and wherefore did he slay him? because his works were evil, and those of his brother righteous.
Smith
Jude, Epistle of.
Its author was probably Jude, one of the brethren of Jesus, the subject of the preceding article. There are no data from which to determine its date or place of writing, but it is placed about A.D.
65. The object of the epistle is plainly enough announced ver. 3; the reason for this exhortation is given ver.
4. The remainder of the epistle is almost entirely occupied by a minute depiction of the adversaries of the faith. The epistle closes by briefly reminding the readers of the oft-repeated prediction of the apostles --among whom the writer seems not to rank himself --that the faith would be assailed by such enemies as he has depicted, vs.
exhorting them to maintain their own steadfastness in the faith, vs.
while they earnestly sought to rescue others from the corrupt example of those licentious livers, vs.
and commending them to the power of God in language which forcibly recalls the closing benediction of the epistle to the Romans. vs.
cf. Roma 16:25-27 This epistle presents one peculiarity, which, as we learn from St. Jerome, caused its authority to be impugned in very early times --the supposed citation of apocryphal writings. vs.
The larger portion of this epistle, vs.
is almost identical in language and subject with a part of the Second Epistle of Peter.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And there did come also false prophets among the people, as also among you there shall be false teachers, who shall bring in besides destructive sects, and the Master who bought them denying, bringing to themselves quick destruction, and many shall follow out their destructive ways, because of whom the way of the truth shall be evil spoken of, read more. and in covetousness, with moulded words, of you they shall make merchandise, whose judgment of old is not idle, and their destruction doth not slumber. For if God messengers who sinned did not spare, but with chains of thick gloom, having cast them down to Tartarus, did deliver them to judgment, having been reserved, and the old world did not spare, but the eighth person, Noah, of righteousness a preacher, did keep, a flood on the world of the impious having brought, and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah having turned to ashes, with an overthrow did condemn, an example to those about to be impious having set them; and righteous Lot, worn down by the conduct in lasciviousness of the impious, He did rescue, for in seeing and hearing, the righteous man, dwelling among them, day by day the righteous soul with unlawful works was harassing. The Lord hath known to rescue pious ones out of temptation, and unrighteous ones to a day of judgment, being punished, to keep, and chiefly those going behind the flesh in desire of uncleanness, and lordship despising; presumptuous, self-complacent, dignities they are not afraid to speak evil of, whereas messengers, in strength and power being greater, do not bear against them before the Lord an evil speaking judgment; and these, as irrational natural beasts, made to be caught and destroyed -- in what things they are ignorant of, speaking evil -- in their destruction shall be destroyed, about to receive a reward of unrighteousness, pleasures counting the luxury in the day, spots and blemishes, luxuriating in their deceits, feasting with you, having eyes full of adultery, and unable to cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having an heart exercised in covetousnesses, children of a curse, having forsaken a right way, they did go astray, having followed in the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who a reward of unrighteousness did love, and had a rebuke of his own iniquity -- a dumb ass, in man's voice having spoken, did forbid the madness of the prophet. These are wells without water, and clouds by a tempest driven, to whom the thick gloom of the darkness to the age hath been kept; for overswellings of vanity speaking, they do entice in desires of the flesh -- lasciviousnesses, those who had truly escaped from those conducting themselves in error, liberty to them promising, themselves being servants of the corruption, for by whom any one hath been overcome, to this one also he hath been brought to servitude,
Beloved, all diligence using to write to you concerning the common salvation, I had necessity to write to you, exhorting to agonize for the faith once delivered to the saints, for there did come in unobserved certain men, long ago having been written beforehand to this judgment, impious, the grace of our God perverting to lasciviousness, and our only Master, God, and Lord -- Jesus Christ -- denying, read more. and to remind you I intend, you knowing once this, that the Lord, a people out of the land of Egypt having saved, again those who did not believe did destroy; messengers also, those who did not keep their own principality, but did leave their proper dwelling, to a judgment of a great day, in bonds everlasting, under darkness He hath kept, as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them, in like manner to these, having given themselves to whoredom, and gone after other flesh, have been set before -- an example, of fire age-during, justice suffering. In like manner, nevertheless, those dreaming also the flesh indeed do defile, and lordship they put away, and dignities they speak evil of, yet Michael, the chief messenger, when, with the devil contending, he was disputing about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring up an evil-speaking judgment, but said, 'The Lord rebuke thee!'
yet Michael, the chief messenger, when, with the devil contending, he was disputing about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring up an evil-speaking judgment, but said, 'The Lord rebuke thee!' and these, as many things indeed as they have not known, they speak evil of; and as many things as naturally (as the irrational beasts) they understand, in these they are corrupted; read more. woe to them! because in the way of Cain they did go on, and to the deceit of Balaam for reward they did rush, and in the gainsaying of Korah they did perish. These are in your love-feasts craggy rocks; feasting together with you, without fear shepherding themselves; clouds without water, by winds carried about; trees autumnal, without fruit, twice dead, rooted up; wild waves of a sea, foaming out their own shames; stars going astray, to whom the gloom of the darkness to the age hath been kept. And prophesy also to these did the seventh from Adam -- Enoch -- saying, 'Lo, the Lord did come in His saintly myriads,
And prophesy also to these did the seventh from Adam -- Enoch -- saying, 'Lo, the Lord did come in His saintly myriads, to do judgment against all, and to convict all their impious ones, concerning all their works of impiety that they did impiously, and concerning all the stiff things that speak against Him did impious sinners.'
to do judgment against all, and to convict all their impious ones, concerning all their works of impiety that they did impiously, and concerning all the stiff things that speak against Him did impious sinners.' These are murmurers, repiners; according to their desires walking, and their mouth doth speak great swellings, giving admiration to persons for the sake of profit; read more. and ye, beloved, remember ye the sayings spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: that they said to you, that in the last time there shall be scoffers, after their own desires of impieties going on, these are those setting themselves apart, natural men, the Spirit not having. And ye, beloved, on your most holy faith building yourselves up, in the Holy Spirit praying, yourselves in the love of God keep ye, waiting for the kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ -- to life age-during; and to some be kind, judging thoroughly, and some in fear save ye, out of the fire snatching, hating even the coat from the flesh spotted. And to Him who is able to guard you not stumbling, and to set you in the presence of His glory unblemished, in gladness, to the only wise God our Saviour, is glory and greatness, power and authority, both now and to all the ages! Amen.