23:1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,
2:16 When Herod 5 saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he became enraged. He sent men 6 to kill all the children in Bethlehem 7 and throughout the surrounding region from the age of two and under, according to the time he had learned from the wise men.
2:1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem 8 in Judea, in the time 9 of King Herod, 10 wise men 11 from the East came to Jerusalem 12
1 sn The term generation is being used here in its widest sense to refer to a full life span. When the chronological factors are considered and the genealogies tabulated, there are four hundred years of bondage. This suggests that in this context a generation is equivalent to one hundred years.
2 tn Heb “they”; the referent (“your descendants”) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Heb “is not yet complete.”
4 tn Grk “the judgment of Gehenna.”
5 sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1. Note the fulfillment of the prophecy given by the angel in 2:13.
6 tn Or “soldiers.”
7 map For location see Map5-B1; Map7-E2; Map8-E2; Map10-B4.
8 map For location see Map5-B1; Map7-E2; Map8-E2; Map10-B4.
9 tn Grk “in the days.”
10 sn King Herod was Herod the Great, who ruled Palestine from 37
11 sn The Greek term magi here describes a class of wise men and priests who were astrologers (L&N 32.40).
12 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
13 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
14 tn Grk “people.” However, if Jude is indeed arguing that Peter’s prophecy about false teachers has come true, these are most likely men in the original historical and cultural setting. See discussion of this point in the note on the phrase “these men” in 2 Pet 2:12.
15 tn “Among you” is not in the Greek text, but is obviously implied.
16 tn Or “in the past.” The adverb πάλαι (palai) can refer to either, though the meaning “long ago” is more common.
17 tn Grk “written about.”
18 tn Grk “for this condemnation.” τοῦτο (touto) is almost surely a kataphoric demonstrative pronoun, pointing to what follows in vv. 5-18. Otherwise, the condemnation is only implied (in v. 3b) or is merely a statement of their sinfulness (“ungodly” in v. 4b), not a judgment of it.
19 tn Grk “debauchery.” This is the same word Peter uses to predict what the false teachers will be like (2 Pet 2:2, 7, 18).
20 tc Most later witnesses (P Ψ Ï sy) have θεόν (qeon, “God”) after δεσπότην (despothn, “master”), which appears to be a motivated reading in that it explicitly links “Master” to “God” in keeping with the normal NT pattern (see Luke 2:29; Acts 4:24; 2 Tim 2:21; Rev 6:10). In patristic Greek, δεσπότης (despoth") was used especially of God (cf. BDAG 220 s.v. 1.b.). The earlier and better witnesses (Ì72,78 א A B C 0251 33 81 323 1241 1739 al co) lack θεόν; the shorter reading is thus preferred on both internal and external grounds.
21 tn The terms “Master and Lord” both refer to the same person. The construction in Greek is known as the Granville Sharp rule, named after the English philanthropist-linguist who first clearly articulated the rule in 1798. Sharp pointed out that in the construction article-noun-καί-noun (where καί [kai] = “and”), when two nouns are singular, personal, and common (i.e., not proper names), they always had the same referent. Illustrations such as “the friend and brother,” “the God and Father,” etc. abound in the NT to prove Sharp’s point. For more discussion see ExSyn 270-78. See also Titus 2:13 and 2 Pet 1:1