1:6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one 7 who called you by the grace of Christ 8 and are following 9 a different 10 gospel – 1:7 not that there really is another gospel, 11 but 12 there are some who are disturbing you and wanting 13 to distort the gospel of Christ. 1:8 But even if we (or an angel from heaven) should preach 14 a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, 15 let him be condemned to hell! 16 1:9 As we have said before, and now I say again, if any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let him be condemned to hell! 17 1:10 Am I now trying to gain the approval of people, 18 or of God? Or am I trying to please people? 19 If I were still trying to please 20 people, 21 I would not be a slave 22 of Christ!
1:3 Dear friends, although I have been eager to write to you 27 about our common salvation, I now feel compelled 28 instead to write to encourage 29 you to contend earnestly 30 for the faith 31 that was once for all 32 entrusted to the saints. 33
1 tn Or “discussion.” This term is repeated from v. 2.
2 tn Or “long ago” (an idiom, literally “from ancient days”). According to L&N 67.26, “this reference to Peter having been chosen by God sometime before to bring the gospel to the Gentiles can hardly be regarded as a reference to ancient times, though some persons understand this to mean that God’s decision was made at the beginning of time. The usage of ἀφ᾿ ἡμερῶν ἀρχαίων is probably designed to emphasize the established nature of God’s decision for Peter to take the gospel to the Gentiles beginning with the centurion Cornelius. The fact that this was relatively early in the development of the church may also serve to explain the use of the idiom.”
3 sn God chose. The theme of God’s sovereign choice is an important point, because 1st century Jews believed Israel’s unique position and customs were a reflection of God’s choice.
4 tn Or “word.”
5 tn Or “of the good news.”
6 tn Grk “God chose among you from my mouth the Gentiles to hear the message of the gospel and to believe.” The sense of this sentence in Greek is difficult to render in English. The Greek verb ἐκλέγομαι (eklegomai, “choose”) normally takes a person or thing as a direct object; in this verse the verb has neither clearly stated. The translation understands the phrase “from my mouth,” referring to Peter, as a description of both who God chose and the task to be done. This coupled with the following statement about Gentiles hearing the message of the gospel leads to the more dynamic rendering in the translation.
7 sn The one who called you is a reference to God the Father (note the mention of Christ in the following prepositional phrase and the mention of God the Father in 1:1).
8 tc Although the majority of witnesses, including some of the most important ones (Ì51 א A B Fc Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï f vg syp bo), read “by the grace of Christ” (χάριτι Χριστοῦ, cariti Cristou) here, this reading is not without variables. Besides alternate readings such as χάριτι ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ (cariti Ihsou Cristou, “by the grace of Jesus Christ”; D 326 1241s pc syh**) and χάριτι θεοῦ (cariti qeou, “by the grace of God”; 327 pc Thretlem), a few
9 tn Grk “deserting [turning away] to” a different gospel, implying the idea of “following.”
10 tn Grk “another.”
11 tn Grk “which is not another,” but this could be misunderstood to mean “which is not really different.” In fact, as Paul goes on to make clear, there is no other gospel than the one he preaches.
12 tn Grk “except.”
13 tn Or “trying.”
14 tc ‡ Most witnesses have ὑμῖν (Jumin, “to you”) either after (א2 A [D* ὑμᾶς] 6 33 326 614 945 1881 Ï Tertpt Ambst) or before (Ì51vid B H 0278 630 1175 [1739* ἡμῖν]) εὐαγγελίζηται (euaggelizhtai, “should preach” [or some variation on the form of this verb]). But the fact that it floats suggests its inauthenticity, especially since it appears to be a motivated reading for purposes of clarification. The following witnesses lack the pronoun: א* F G Ψ ar b g Cyp McionT Tertpt Lcf. The external evidence admittedly is not as weighty as evidence for the pronoun, but coupled with strong internal evidence the shorter reading should be considered original. Although it is possible that scribes may have deleted the pronoun to make Paul’s statement seem more universal, the fact that the pronoun floats suggests otherwise. NA27 has the pronoun in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.
15 tn Or “other than the one we preached to you.”
16 tn Grk “let him be accursed” (ἀνάθεμα, anaqema). The translation gives the outcome which is implied by this dreadful curse.
17 tn See the note on this phrase in the previous verse.
18 tn Grk “of men”; but here ἀνθρώπους (anqrwpou") is used in a generic sense of both men and women.
19 tn Grk “men”; but here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") is used in a generic sense of both men and women.
20 tn The imperfect verb has been translated conatively (ExSyn 550).
21 tn Grk “men”; but here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") is used in a generic sense of both men and women.
22 tn Traditionally, “servant” or “bondservant.” 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.). 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.
23 tn Grk “slaves, nor did we…” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, οὐδέ (oude) was translated as “But…even” and a new sentence started in the translation at the beginning of v. 5.
24 tn Or “we did not cave in to their demands.”
25 tn Grk “even for an hour” (an idiom for a very short period of time).
26 sn In order that the truth of the gospel would remain with you. Paul evidently viewed the demands of the so-called “false brothers” as a departure from the truth contained in the gospel he preached. This was a very serious charge (see Gal 1:8).
27 tn Grk “while being quite diligent to write to you,” or “while making all haste to write to you.” Two issues are at stake: (1) whether σπουδή (spoudh) here means diligence, eagerness, or haste; (2) whether ποιούμενος γράφειν (poioumeno" grafein) is to be taken conatively (“I was about to write”) or progressively (“I was writing”). Without knowing more of the background, it is difficult to tell which option is to be preferred.
28 tn Grk “I had the necessity.” The term ἀνάγκη (anankh, “necessity”) often connotes urgency or distress. In this context, Jude is indicating that the more comprehensive treatment about the faith shared between himself and his readers was not nearly as urgent as the letter he found it now necessary to write.
29 tn Grk “encouraging.” Παρακαλῶν (parakalwn) is most likely a telic participle. In keeping with other participles of purpose, it is present tense and occurs after the main verb.
30 tn the verb ἐπαγωνίζομαι (epagwnizomai) is an intensive form of ἀγωνίζομαι (agwnizomai). As such, the notion of struggling, fighting, contending, etc. is heightened.
31 tn Τῇ πίστει (th pistei) here is taken as a dative of advantage (“on behalf of the faith”). Though rare (see BDAG 820 s.v. 3), it is not unexampled and must have this meaning here.
32 sn The adverb once for all (ἅπαξ, Japax) seems to indicate that the doctrinal convictions of the early church had been substantially codified. That is to say, Jude could appeal to written documents of the Christian faith in his arguments with the false teachers. Most likely, these documents were the letters of Paul and perhaps one or more gospels. First and Second Peter may also have been among the documents Jude has in mind (see also the note on the phrase entrusted to the saints in this verse).
33 sn I now feel compelled instead…saints. Apparently news of some crisis has reached Jude, prompting him to write a different letter than what he had originally planned. A plausible scenario (assuming authenticity of 2 Peter or at least that there are authentic Petrine snippets in it) is that after Peter’s death, Jude intended to write to the same Gentile readers that Peter had written to (essentially, Paul’s churches). Jude starts by affirming that the gospel the Gentiles had received from Paul was the same as the one the Jewish Christians had received from the other apostles (our common salvation). But in the midst of writing this letter, Jude felt that the present crisis deserved another, shorter piece. The crisis, as the letter reveals, is that the false teachers whom Peter prophesied have now infiltrated the church. The letter of Jude is thus an ad hoc letter, intended to confirm the truth of Peter’s letter and encourage the saints to ground their faith in the written documents of the nascent church, rather than listen to the twisted gospel of the false teachers. In large measure, the letter of Jude illustrates the necessity of clinging to the authority of scripture as opposed to those who claim to be prophets.