Genesis 12:6-7

12:6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the oak tree ¹  of Moreh ²  at Shechem. ³  (At that time the Canaanites were in the land.) ⁴  12:7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants ⁵  I will give this land.” So Abram ⁶  built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

Genesis 33:18-20

33:18 After he left Paddan Aram, Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan, and he camped near ⁷  the city. 33:19 Then he purchased the portion of the field where he had pitched his tent; he bought it ⁸  from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of money. ⁹  33:20 There he set up an altar and called it “The God of Israel is God.” ¹⁰ 

Deuteronomy 27:12

27:12 “The following tribes ¹¹  must stand to bless the people on Mount Gerizim when you cross the Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin.

Joshua 8:33-35

8:33 All the people, ¹²  rulers, ¹³  leaders, and judges were standing on either side of the ark, in front of the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord. Both resident foreigners and native Israelites were there. ¹⁴  Half the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and the other half in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the Lord’s servant had previously instructed to them to do for the formal blessing ceremony. ¹⁵  8:34 Then ¹⁶  Joshua read aloud all the words of the law, including the blessings and the curses, just as they are written in the law scroll. 8:35 Joshua read aloud every commandment Moses had given ¹⁷  before the whole assembly of Israel, including the women, children, and resident foreigners who lived among them. ¹⁸ 

Jude 1:6-7

1:6 You also know that ¹⁹  the angels who did not keep within their proper domain ²⁰  but abandoned their own place of residence, he has kept ²¹  in eternal chains ²²  in utter ²³  darkness, locked up ²⁴  for the judgment of the great Day. 1:7 So also ²⁵  Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns, ²⁶  since they indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire ²⁷  in a way similar to ²⁸  these angels, ²⁹  are now displayed as an example by suffering the punishment of eternal fire.

Jude 1:2

1:2 May mercy, peace, and love be lavished on you! ³⁰ 

Jude 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Jude, ³¹  a slave ³²  of Jesus Christ and brother of James, ³³  to those who are called, wrapped in the love of ³⁴  God the Father and kept for ³⁵  Jesus Christ.

[12:6]  ¹ tn Or “terebinth.”

[12:6]  ² sn The Hebrew word Moreh (מוֹרֶה, moreh) means “teacher.” It may well be that the place of this great oak tree was a Canaanite shrine where instruction took place.

[12:6]  ³ tn Heb “as far as the place of Shechem, as far as the oak of Moreh.”

[12:6]  ⁴ tn The disjunctive clause gives important information parenthetical in nature – the promised land was occupied by Canaanites.

[12:7]  ⁵ tn The same Hebrew term זֶרַע (zera’) may mean “seed” (for planting), “offspring” (occasionally of animals, but usually of people), or “descendants” depending on the context.

[12:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been supplied in the translation for clarification.

[33:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “in front of.”

[33:19]  ⁸ tn The words “he bought it” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text v. 19 is one long sentence.

[33:19]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew word קְשִׂיטָה (qÿsitah) is generally understood to refer to a unit of money, but the value is unknown. (However, cf. REB, which renders the term as “sheep”).

[33:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “God, the God of Israel.” Rather than translating the name, a number of modern translations merely transliterate it from the Hebrew as “El Elohe Israel” (cf. NIV, NRSV, REB). It is not entirely clear how the name should be interpreted grammatically. One option is to supply an equative verb, as in the translation: “The God of Israel [is] God.” Another interpretive option is “the God of Israel [is] strong [or “mighty”].” Buying the land and settling down for a while was a momentous step for the patriarch, so the commemorative naming of the altar is significant.

[27:12]  ¹¹ tn The word “tribes” has been supplied here and in the following verse in the translation for clarity.

[8:33]  ¹² tn Heb “All Israel.”

[8:33]  ¹³ tn Or “elders.”

[8:33]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “like the resident alien, like the citizen.” The language is idiomatic, meaning that both groups were treated the same, at least in this instance.

[8:33]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “as Moses, the Lord’s servant, commanded to bless the people, Israel, formerly.”

[8:34]  ¹⁶ tn Or “afterward.”

[8:35]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “There was not a word from all which Moses commanded that Joshua did not read aloud.”

[8:35]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “walked in their midst.”

[1:6]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “and.” Verse 6 is a continuation of the same sentence begun in v. 5. Due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:6]  ²⁰ tn Grk “who did not keep their own domain.”

[1:6]  ²¹ sn There is an interesting play on words used in this verse. Because the angels did not keep their proper place, Jesus has kept them chained up in another place. The same verb keep is used in v. 1 to describe believers’ status before God and Christ.

[1:6]  ²² sn In 2 Pet 2:4 a less common word for chains is used.

[1:6]  ²³ tn The word ζόφος (zofos, “utter, deepest darkness”) is used only five times in the NT: two in 2 Peter, two in Jude, and one in Hebrews. Jude 6 parallels 2 Pet 2:4; Jude 13 parallels 2 Pet 2:17.

[1:6]  ²⁴ tn The words “locked up” are not in Greek, but is expressed in English as a resumptive point after the double prepositional phrase (“in eternal chains in utter darkness”).

[1:7]  ²⁵ tn Grk “as.”

[1:7]  ²⁶ tn Grk “the towns [or cities] surrounding them.”

[1:7]  ²⁷ tn Grk “strange flesh.” This phrase has been variously interpreted. It could refer to flesh of another species (such as angels lusting after human flesh). This would aptly describe the sin of the angels, but not easily explain the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah. It could refer to the homosexual practices of the Sodomites, but a difficulty arises from the use of ἕτερος ({etero"; “strange,” “other”). When this is to be distinguished from ἄλλος (allos, “another”) it suggests “another of a different kind.” If so, would that properly describe homosexual behavior? In response, the language could easily be compact: “pursued flesh other than what was normally pursued.” However, would this find an analogy in the lust of angels (such would imply that angels normally had sexual relations of some sort, but cf. Matt 22:30)? Another alternative is that the focus of the parallel is on the activity of the surrounding cities and the activity of the angels. This is especially plausible since the participles ἐκπορνεύσασαι (ekporneusasai, “having indulged in sexual immorality”) and ἀπελθοῦσαι (apelqousai, “having pursued”) have concord with “cities” (πόλεις, poleis), a feminine plural noun, rather than with Sodom and Gomorrah (both masculine nouns). If so, then their sin would not necessarily have to be homosexuality. However, most likely the feminine participles are used because of constructio ad sensum (construction according to sense). That is, since both Sodom and Gomorrah are cities, the feminine is used to imply that all the cities are involved. The connection with angels thus seems to be somewhat loose: Both angels and Sodom and Gomorrah indulged in heinous sexual immorality. Thus, whether the false teachers indulge in homosexual activity is not the point; mere sexual immorality is enough to condemn them.

[1:7]  ²⁸ tn Or “in the same way as.”

[1:7]  ²⁹ tn “Angels” is not in the Greek text; but the masculine demonstrative pronoun most likely refers back to the angels of v. 6.

[1:2]  ³⁰ tn Grk “may mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.”

[1:1]  ³¹ tn Grk “Judas,” traditionally “Jude” in English versions to distinguish him from the one who betrayed Jesus. The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ³² tn Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). At the same time, perhaps “servant” is apt in that the δοῦλος of Jesus Christ took on that role voluntarily, unlike a slave. The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:1]  ³³ sn Although Jude was half-brother of Jesus, he humbly associates himself with James, his full brother. By first calling himself a slave of Jesus Christ, it is evident that he wants no one to place stock in his physical connections. At the same time, he must identify himself further: Since Jude was a common name in the 1st century (two of Jesus’ disciples were so named, including his betrayer), more information was needed, that is to say, brother of James.

[1:1]  ³⁴ tn Grk “loved in.” The perfect passive participle suggests that the audience’s relationship to God is not recent; the preposition ἐν (en) before πατρί (patri) could be taken as sphere or instrument (agency is unlikely, however). Another possible translation would be “dear to God.”

[1:1]  ³⁵ tn Or “by.” Datives of agency are quite rare in the NT (and other ancient Greek), almost always found with a perfect verb. Although this text qualifies, in light of the well-worn idiom of τηρέω (threw) in eschatological contexts, in which God or Christ keeps the believer safe until the parousia (cf. 1 Thess 5:23; 1 Pet 1:4; Rev 3:10; other terms meaning “to guard,” “to keep” are also found in similar eschatological contexts [cf. 2 Thess 3:3; 2 Tim 1:12; 1 Pet 1:5; Jude 24]), it is probably better to understand this verse as having such an eschatological tinge. It is at the same time possible that Jude’s language was intentionally ambiguous, implying both ideas (“kept by Jesus Christ [so that they might be] kept for Jesus Christ”). Elsewhere he displays a certain fondness for wordplays; this may be a hint of things to come.