32:30 How can one man chase a thousand of them, 1
and two pursue ten thousand;
unless their Rock had delivered them up, 2
and the Lord had handed them over?
1:14 Now Enoch, the seventh in descent beginning with Adam, 3 even prophesied of them, 4 saying, “Look! The Lord is coming 5 with thousands and thousands 6 of his holy ones,
1:8 Yet these men, 7 as a result of their dreams, 8 defile the flesh, reject authority, 9 and insult 10 the glorious ones. 11
50:1 This is what the Lord says:
“Where is your mother’s divorce certificate
by which I divorced her?
Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? 13
Look, you were sold because of your sins; 14
because of your rebellious acts I divorced your mother. 15
50:2 Why does no one challenge me when I come?
Why does no one respond when I call? 16
Is my hand too weak 17 to deliver 18 you?
Do I lack the power to rescue you?
Look, with a mere shout 19 I can dry up the sea;
I can turn streams into a desert,
so the fish rot away and die
from lack of water. 20
1 tn The words “man” and “of them” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Heb “sold them” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
3 tn Grk “the seventh from Adam.”
4 tn Grk “against them.” The dative τούτοις (toutois) is a dativus incommodi (dative of disadvantage).
5 tn Grk “has come,” a proleptic aorist.
6 tn Grk “ten thousands.” The word μυριάς (muria"), from which the English myriad is derived, means “ten thousand.” In the plural it means “ten thousands.” This would mean, minimally, 20,000 (a multiple of ten thousand). At the same time, the term was often used in apocalyptic literature to represent simply a rather large number, without any attempt to be specific.
7 tn The reference is now to the false teachers.
8 tn Grk “dreaming.” The participle ἐνυπνιαζόμενοι (enupniazomenoi, “dreaming”) is adverbial to the pronoun οὗτοι (|outoi, “these”), though the particular relationship is not clear. It could mean, “while dreaming,” “by dreaming,” or “because of dreaming.” This translation has adopted the last option as Jude’s meaning, partially for syntactical reasons (the causal participle usually precedes the main verb) and partially for contextual reasons (these false teachers must derive their authority from some source, and the dreams provide the most obvious base). The participle ἐνυπνιαζόμενοι was sometimes used of apocalyptic visions, both of true and false prophets. This seems to be the meaning here.
9 tn Most likely, the authority of the Lord is in view. This verse, then, echoes the indictment of v. 4: “they deny our Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”
10 tn The construction with the three verbs (“defile, “reject,” and “insult”) involves the particles μέν, δέ, δέ (men, de, de). A more literal (and pedantic) translation would be: “on the one hand, they defile the flesh, on the other hand, they reject authority, and on another hand, they insult the glorious ones.”
11 sn The glorious ones refers to angelic beings rather than mere human beings, just as in 2 Pet 2:10 (on which this passage apparently depends). Whether the angelic beings are good or evil, however, is difficult to tell (hence, the translation is left ambiguous). However, both in 2 Pet 2:11 and here, in Jude 9, the wicked angels seem to be in view (for not even Michael insults them).
12 tn Grk “may mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.”
13 sn The Lord challenges the exiles (Zion’s children) to bring incriminating evidence against him. The rhetorical questions imply that Israel accused the Lord of divorcing his wife (Zion) and selling his children (the Israelites) into slavery to pay off a debt.
14 sn The Lord admits that he did sell the Israelites, but it was because of their sins, not because of some debt he owed. If he had sold them to a creditor, they ought to be able to point him out, but the preceding rhetorical question implies they would not be able to do so.
15 sn The Lord admits he did divorce Zion, but that too was the result of the nation’s sins. The force of the earlier rhetorical question comes into clearer focus now. The question does not imply that a certificate does not exist and that no divorce occurred. Rather, the question asks for the certificate to be produced so the accuser can see the reason for the divorce in black and white. The Lord did not put Zion away arbitrarily.
16 sn The present tense translation of the verbs assumes that the Lord is questioning why Israel does not attempt to counter his arguments. Another possibility is to take the verbs as referring to past events: “Why did no one meet me when I came? Why did no one answer when I called?” In this case the Lord might be asking why Israel rejected his calls to repent and his offer to deliver them.
17 tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV).
18 tn Or “ransom” (NAB, NASB, NIV).
19 tn Heb “with my rebuke.”
20 tn Heb “the fish stink from lack of water and die from thirst.”