1:1 From Jude, 2 a slave 3 of Jesus Christ and brother of James, 4 to those who are called, wrapped in the love of 5 God the Father and kept for 6 Jesus Christ.
4:16 For they cannot sleep unless they cause harm; 13
they are robbed of sleep 14 until they make someone stumble. 15
4:17 For they eat bread 16 gained from wickedness 17
and drink wine obtained from violence. 18
4:18 But the path of the righteous is like the bright morning light, 19
growing brighter and brighter 20 until full day. 21
2:1 Those who devise sinful plans are as good as dead, 22
those who dream about doing evil as they lie in bed. 23
As soon as morning dawns they carry out their plans, 24
because they have the power to do so.
22:66 When day came, the council of the elders of the people gathered together, both the chief priests and the experts in the law. 25 Then 26 they led Jesus 27 away to their council 28
Now when the high priest and those who were with him arrived, they summoned the Sanhedrin 31 – that is, the whole high council 32 of the Israelites 33 – and sent to the jail to have the apostles 34 brought before them. 35
1 tn Grk “may mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.”
2 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.
3 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.
4 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.
5 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.”
6 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.
3 tn Or “they have gone the way of Cain.”
4 tn Grk “for wages.”
5 tn The verb ἐκχέω (ekcew) normally means “pour out.” Here, in the passive, it occasionally has a reflexive idea, as BDAG 312 s.v. 3. suggests (with extra-biblical examples).
6 tn Or “in.”
7 tn Grk “and.” See note on “perish” later in this verse.
8 tn The three verbs in this verse are all aorist indicative (“have gone down,” “have abandoned,” “have perished”). Although the first and second could be considered constative or ingressive, the last is almost surely proleptic (referring to the certainty of their future judgment). Although it may seem odd that a proleptic aorist is so casually connected to other aorists with a different syntactical force, it is not unparalleled (cf. Rom 8:30).
4 sn The verb is רָעַע (ra’a’), which means “to do evil; to harm.” The verse is using the figure of hyperbole to stress the preoccupation of some people with causing trouble. R. L. Alden says, “How sick to find peace only at the price of another man’s misfortune” (Proverbs, 47).
5 sn Heb “their sleep is robbed/seized”; these expressions are metonymical for their restlessness in plotting evil.
6 sn The Hiphil imperfect (Kethib) means “cause to stumble.” This idiom (from hypocatastasis) means “bring injury/ruin to someone” (BDB 505-6 s.v. כָּשַׁל Hiph.1).
5 tn The noun is a cognate accusative stressing that they consume wickedness.
6 tn Heb “the bread of wickedness” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV). There are two ways to take the genitives: (1) genitives of apposition: wickedness and violence are their food and drink (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT), or (2) genitives of source: they derive their livelihood from the evil they do (C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 93).
7 tn Heb “the wine of violence” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV). This is a genitive of source, meaning that the wine they drink was plundered from their violent crime. The Hebrew is structured in an AB:BA chiasm: “For they eat the bread of wickedness, and the wine of violence they drink.” The word order in the translation is reversed for the sake of smoothness and readability.
6 tn Heb “like light of brightness.” This construction is an attributive genitive: “bright light.” The word “light” (אוֹר, ’or) refers to the early morning light or the dawn (BDB 21 s.v.). The point of the simile is that the course of life that the righteous follow is like the clear, bright morning light. It is illumined, clear, easy to follow, and healthy and safe – the opposite of what darkness represents.
7 tn The construction uses the Qal active participle of הָלַךְ (halakh) in a metaphorical sense to add the idea of continuance or continually to the participle הוֹלֵךְ (holekh). Here the path was growing light, but the added participle signifies continually.
8 tn Heb “until the day is established.” This expression refers to the coming of the full day or the time of high noon.
7 tn Heb “Woe to those who plan sin.” The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”; “ah”) was a cry used in mourning the dead.
8 tn Heb “those who do evil upon their beds.”
9 tn Heb “at the light of morning they do it.”
8 tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.
9 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
10 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 sn Their council is probably a reference to the Jewish Sanhedrin, the council of seventy leaders.
9 tn Grk “the temple.” See the note on the same phrase in the preceding verse.
10 tn The imperfect verb ἐδίδασκον (edidaskon) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.
11 tn Or “the council” (the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).
12 tn A hendiadys (two different terms referring to a single thing) is likely here (a reference to a single legislative body rather than two separate ones) because the term γερουσίαν (gerousian) is used in both 1 Macc 12:6 and Josephus, Ant. 13.5.8 (13.166) to refer to the Sanhedrin.
13 tn Grk “sons of Israel.”
14 tn Grk “have them”; the referent (the apostles) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
15 tn The words “before them” are not in the Greek text but are implied.