Exegetical Notes on the Epistle of Jude

Exegetical Notes on the Epistle of Jude Nick Lall – 1581 Hermeneutics Dr. Ben Reynolds Tuesday, April 03, 2012 Text (ESV): v1. – “a servant” : slave, Greek ‘bondservant’ The original term, bondservant, signifies one being devoted to another, regardless of one’s own interests. The term conveys a sense of humility but retains much of the man’s dignity since, in contrast to slavery, this is one’s own choice. The claim of bondservant is a title that every Christian should strive to achieve. v1. – “kept for Jesus Christ” : or ‘by’ v5. – “although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved …”: Some manuscripts ‘although you fully knew it, that the Lord who once saved…’ v7. – “pursued unnatural desire” : Greek ‘other flesh’ v12. – “These are hidden reefs” : or ‘are blemishes’ v18. – “They said to you” – or ‘Christ, because they’ v23. – “garment” – Greek chiton, a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin. Translation: v1. – ESV,NIV “servant of Jesus Christ” NKJV “bondservant” v1. – ESV,NKJV “To those who are called” NIV “To those who have been called” v1. – ESV “beloved” NKJV “sanctified” NIV “loved” v2. – ESV, NKJV “May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you” NIV “Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.” v3. – ESV “write appealing” NKJV “write to you exhorting” NIV “write and urge you” v3. – ESV, NKJV “delivered to the saints” NIV “entrusted to God’s holy people” v4. – ESV,NKJV “have crept in unnoticed” NIV “have secretly slipped in among you” v4. – ESV “who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality” NKJV “who turn the grace of our God into lewdness” NIV “who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality” v5. – ESV “That Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt” NKJV “the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt” NIV “Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt” v6. – ESV,NIV “who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling” NKJV “who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode” v7. – ESV “unnatural desire” NKJV “strange flesh” NIV “perversion” v8. – ESV “defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones” NKJV “defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries” NIV “pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings” v9. – ESV “he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment” NJKV “dared not bring against him a reviling accusation” NIV “did not himself dare to condemn him for slander” v10. – ESV “But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively” NKJV “But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves” NIV “Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them” It’s important consider that while the three translations use synonyms for many individual words, but the phrasing changes the connotation of the verse. For example, the ESV and NKJV both create start comparisons of the in question people to unthinking animals, while the NIV lessens the sentiment by placing the simile as an afterthought. v12. – ESV “hidden reefs at your love feats” NKJV “spots in your love feasts” NIV “blemishes at your love feasts” v14. – ESV, NIV “his holy ones” NJKV “His saints” Interesting that only the NKJV saw fit to capitalize the pronoun ‘His’ in reference to God. v15. – ESV, NKJV “harsh things” NIV “defiant words” v16. – ESV “following their own sinful desires” NKJV “walking according to their own lusts” NIV “follow their own evil desires” v17. – ESV “predictions of the apostles” NKJV “words which were spoken before by the apostles” NIV “what the apostles of our Lord Jeus Christ foretold” v18. – ESV, NIV “scoffers” NKJV “mockers” v18. – ESV “passions” NKJV “lusts” NIV “desires” v19. – ESV “It is these who cause divisions, worldly people” NKJV “These are sensual persons, who cause divisions”; NIV omits any adjective, simply referring to “people” who divide the church and do not have the spirit. v21. – both ESV and NIV use temporal conjugates for the verb ‘to wait’, while NKJV refers to “looking for the mercy of our Lord” v22. – ESV, NIV “mercy on those who doubt” NKJV “on some have compassion, making a distinction” v23. – ESV, NIV “save others by snatching them from the fire” NKJV “pulling them out of the fire” v23. – ESV “to others show mercy with fear” NKVJ “but others save with fear” NIV “to others show mercy, mixed with fear” v23. – ESV “hating even the garment stained by the flesh” NKJV “hating even the garment defiled by the flesh” NIV “hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh” v.25 – ESV “to the only God, our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen” NKJV “to God our Saviour, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen” NIV “to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen” Historical Context: Probably the brother of Jesus and James, and the well-known leader of the church in Jerusalem (Erdman 173) Uncertain and obscure origin; may have been written in the mid-60s (66-70 A.D.) (ESV Study Bible). Both Jewish and Hellenistic elements of the text are apparent (Frey 309). Probably written with more regard for Jewish Christian readers. (Reicke 191) Seems to be written regarding news the author received just before beginning to write a letter to his church, and had to change the theme of the treatise. v3. Jude says that he originally wanted to write to the church exhorting their “common salvation”. Due to the parallels between Jude and 2 Peter, it can be argued that Peter knew and adopted Jude into his letter (Frey 311) (Reicke 189) Literary Context Jude is a one chapter book; therefore it is not possible to address “What comes before it? What comes after it? Why is it placed where it is?” However, I can address the concern of authorship, and also address its parallels to the books place near it.: The author was probably the brother of Jesus and James, and the well-known leader of the church in Jerusalem (Erdman 173) In the Epistle, he does not identify himself as the brother of Christ, but instead, Christ’s slave. I assume that this was because of his great faith, in which he felt that he wasn’t worthy of being considered the brother of the Messiah. It should also be noted that most scholars now believe that Jude was taken in to account during the writing of 2 Peter. This is shown through the structure of Peter, outlining points covered in second Jude, even to the point of using similar wording. (Reicke 189) 2 Peter 3:2-3 “that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Saviour through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.” Jude vv.17-18 “But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They said to you, ‘In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.’” Form (Genre): The Epistle of Jude follows the format of Salutation, Occasion of Writing, Body, Blessing, and Doxology. (Erdman 174) Jude is a letter written in response to circumstances that have been brought to the author’s attention. Jude writes the letter to address the problem of false teachers and apostasy. He feels that there is much temptation from within the congregation and that these false witnesses need to be weeded out. Jude urges the readers to contend the faith that was delivered to the saints, God’s holy people, and combat the false teaching in the church. (Bray 247) Structure (ESV Study Bible): Initial Greeting (1-2) Jude’s Appeal: Contend for the Faith (3-4) The urgency of the defense (3) Description of the false teachers and their teaching (4) Immoral Character and Consequent Judgment of the False Teachers (5-16) Judgment reserved for the false teachers (5-7) The analogy of Egypt (5) The analogy of the rebellious angels (6) The analogy of Sodom and Gomorrah (7) Nature of the false teachers (8-13) The false teachers are blasphemers (8-10) The false teachers are motivated by greed (11) The false teachers exemplify depravity with impunity (12-13) Judgment on the false teachers revisited (14-15) Description of the judgment (14-15) Further reason for judgment (16) Concluding Exhortations 17-25) On the apostolic warning (17-19) On the antidote to the false teachers (20-21) On showing mercy (22-23) Doxology of great joy (24-25) Grammatical Issues: v1. – servant, could also be slave . Greek – bondservant v1. – ἀγαπάω or ἁγιάζω ? Some texts use “to love” instead of “to sanctify” (Wuest 231) v7. – Strange flesh, unnatural desire or perversion? In context of the people of Sodom seeking out the angels for their desires. Could also allude to homosexuality. v12. – hidden reefs, some manuscripts say “blemishes” Lexical Issues: Bondservant (v1.) “devoted to another to the disregard of one's own interests” http://www.studylight.org/desk/view.cgi?number=1401 (New Testament Greek Dictionary) Unnatural desire (v7.) The word unnatural is used to describe the desire that the sodomites had when they were searching for the angels disguised as men. Jude could have used this to refer to homosexuality. Hidden reefs (v12.) Some manuscripts use the term blemishes. Jude probably used this term to emphasize the danger of letting false teachers be among the church, like an unsuspecting ship heading towards hidden reefs. The phrase “hating even the garment stained by the flesh” is used in v23. This refers to the chiton, a garment worn under the cloak close to the skin. The author would have said this to emphasize the need to stay away from sexual immorality, to the point where one should detest the clothing worn while committing a sin of the flesh. Biblical Context: v5. – Unbelievers destroyed “your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me” (Num. 14:29) “Then they despised the pleasant land, having no faith in his promise. They murmured in their tents, and did not obey the voice of the Lord. Therefore he raised his hand and swore to them that he would make them fall in the wilderness” (Ps. 106:24-26) v7. – Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah “Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven.”(Gen. 19:24) “the whole land burned out with brimstone and salt, nothing sown and nothing growing, where no plant can sprout, an overthrow like that of Sodom and Gomorrah” (Deut. 29:23) v9. – Body of Moses “and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows the place of his burial to this day” (Deut. 34:5-6) v11. – “Walked in the way of Cain” “Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.” (Gen. 4:5-8) v11. – Korah’s Rebellion “And they rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, 250 chiefs of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men” (Num. 16:1-3) “And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods.” (num. 16:31-35) v14. – Holy Ones “The Lord came from Sinai and dawned from Seir upon us;[a] he shone forth from Mount Paran; he came from the ten thousands of holy ones” (Deut. 33:2) v16. – “Showing favouritism to gain advantage” “You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbour” (Lev. 19:15) “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe” (Deut. 10:17) v23. – “Snatching them out of the fire” “and you were as a brand plucked out of the burning” (Amos 4:11) “The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebukes you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” (Zech. 3:2) Theology: Main point of the letter is to warn the readers of the dangers of false teachers, and appealing them to be vigilant against those that sneak into the church. Jude urges true believers to focus on Christian growth, to keep praying and remain confident in their faith, and keep hope for when Christ comes again. (Erdman 174) Secondary Literature: “The letter of Jude warns against those who, having gained admission to the church, were perverting the grace of God, denying ‘our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ’ (v.4). Jude used Old Testament examples to warn of these ‘blemishes’ on the church. He wrote multiple denunciations of these ungodly people who ‘defile the flesh’ and ‘reject authority’ (v.8). He urged Christians to continue in godliness and love toward suck people, in some cases reasoning with them, in other cases ‘snatching them out the fire’ (v.23). Jude closes with one of the most beautiful doxologies in all of Scripture (vv.24-25). (ESV Bible) The accusation of ‘defiling the flesh’ in Jude 8 only occurs as a supplement to the more fundamental reproach of ‘blaspheming’ the angels. Here we cannot see any connection to the Jewish halakah. The rather strange admonition to hate ‘even the garment spotted by the flesh’ (v.23) might be seen as strengthening the sexual connotations, or very generally as a prohibition of any contact with those who are caught up in heresy. (Frey 318) Following the opening salutation (w. 1-2), Jude explained that his letter was prompted by the intrusion of immoral persons into the churches (w. 3-4). Before beginning his own denunciation of these evil men, Jude assured his readers of God's judgment on such individuals by citing three examples of His incisive judgment on aggressive evildoers in the past (w. 5-7). (Hiebert 355) Application (Interpretation/hermeneutics): There are false teachers and false teachings in Christianity today, and if we are not careful, we can allow ourselves to be lead astray from what God wants with our lives. We need to keep strong in hope, confidence, faith and prayer in order to fully combat the threats to the grace in salvation that has been delivered to us through Christ. Jude reminds us to build each other up on the faith, as to keep a strong foundation; one that is not easily swayed in the face of vile and perverse doctrine. Summary of the epistle of Jude Today we will be looking at the Epistle of Jude, a book that usually is skimmed over and not given a lot of in depth consideration due to its length and obscurity. The epistle starts out with the Salutation, followed by the Occasion of Writing, and the Body, and finally closes with the Doxology. Most scholars believe that the ‘Jude’ in question was in fact the brother of James and of Jesus, though he only identifies himself as the servant of the latter, and thus it is thought that the letter was addressed to the main church of Jerusalem, of which Jude was a well-known leader. The main purpose of the letter is to address the issue of false teaching in the church; people who are putting forward doctrine so that they may be in the church and continue with their sinful desires. Jude begins by urging his readers to contend for the faith that was given to the believers. He announces that he is aware of the presence of people who have “crept in unnoticed” (v.4) among the church. It is apparent that there is concern on Jude’s part and he wastes no time getting to the point. He describes these false teachers as those who “pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (v.4). In verse 5, Jude begins by reminding the readers that it was through Jesus’ power that “a people were saved out of the land of Egypt” but also notes that those who did not believe were destroyed. In the following verses, he lists the analogies of the angels that were cast down and of Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities that were destroyed because of their indulgence in sexual immorality. It seems that Jude is outlining the consequences of the past to iterate that they should already know what judgement these false teachers have in store. Jude calls these people “hidden reefs” (v.12) at feasts ready to shipwreck an unsuspecting crew, or like shepherds too busy taking care of themselves to take care of their flock. But it is not all bad news. Jude concludes his message by iterating how to persevere through the temptations of the world and its agents; to build ourselves and our brothers upon faith, while we have mercy on doubters and attempt to save those who are in danger of the fire. (vv.20-23) At our current age, we come across temptation daily, and a bad decision today can shape our tomorrow. There are those at our churches, schools or university that have a new tool for temptation every day; some always seem to be able to justify doing things that conflict with our convictions and it gets harder and harder to walk away. Jude tells us that the simplest way we can maintain our strength and persevere is to build up our faith on the foundation that is Christ. If we attempt to handle things by ourselves, we find that it becomes easier to be swayed by false doctrine. We need to pray and we need to keep each other accountable as we cannot allow ourselves to be lead away from what God wants with our lives. Before we go, I want to challenge you to find an accountability partner in this group; someone you can trust to go to when the temptations of false teaching get to you, and need someone to turn to. Prayer in numbers is most powerful and we need to remember that we are not alone. Outline of Summary Introduction to passage Historical Background Authorship, Genre Urgency for Contention Description of False Teaching The Analogies Consequences for the false teachers The Defilement of Authority Call to Persevere Relating to our own Lives Obeying through temptation Conviction to Faith Challenge to look toward Christ and brothers and ask for help in times of temptation and confusion. – “You are not alone” Works Cited: Bray, Gerald, and Thomas C. Oden. Ancient Christian Commentary. Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2000. Constable, Thomas L.. "Notes on Jude." Sonic Light 2012 Edition (2010). http://www.soniclight.com/constable/notes/pdf/jude.pdf (accessed March 29, 2012). Erdman, Charles Rosenbury. The General epistles. Philadelphia: The Westminster press, 1918. Frey, Jorg , Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr, and Robert W. Wall. The Catholic Epistles & Apostolic Traditions. Waco, Texas: Baylor University Press, 2009. Gossip, Arthur John, and J. F. McFadyen. The General Epistles: a little library of exposition. London: Cassell & Co., 1930. Hassold, William J.. ""Keep yourselves in the love of God": an interpretation of Jude 20, 21." Concordia Theological Monthly 23, no. 12 (1952): 884-894. Hiebert, D Edmond . "Selected studies from Jude, pt 3 : An exposition of Jude 17-23.." Bibliotheca Sacra 142, no. 568 (1985): 355-366.. Reicke, Bo. The Epistles of James, Peter, and Jude. 1st ed. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1964. Winter, Sara C.. "Jude 22-23 : A Note on the Text and Translation." Harvard Theological Review 87, no. 2 (1994): 215-222. Wolthuis, Thomas R.. "Jude and the rhetorician : a dialogue on the rhetorical nature of the Epistle of Jude." Calvin Theological Journal 24, no. 1 (1989): 126-134. Wuest, Kenneth Samuel. In these last days: II Peter, I, II, III John, and Jude in the Greek New Testament for the English reader. Grand Rapids: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1954.