Numbers 14:9

14:9 Only do not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. ¹  Their protection ²  has turned aside from them, but the Lord is with us. Do not fear them!”

Numbers 14:45

14:45 So the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country swooped ³  down and attacked them ⁴  as far as Hormah. ⁵ 

Joshua 23:13

23:13 know for certain that the Lord our God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. They will trap and ensnare you; ⁶  they will be a whip that tears ⁷  your sides and thorns that blind ⁸  your eyes until you disappear ⁹  from this good land the Lord your God gave you.

Jude 1:20-23

1:20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith, by praying in the Holy Spirit, ¹⁰  1:21 maintain ¹¹  yourselves in the love of God, while anticipating ¹²  the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings eternal life. ¹³  1:22 And have mercy on those who waver; 1:23 save ¹⁴  others by snatching them out of the fire; have mercy ¹⁵  on others, coupled with a fear of God, ¹⁶  hating even the clothes stained ¹⁷  by the flesh. ¹⁸ 

¹ sn The expression must indicate that they could destroy the enemies as easily as they could eat bread.

² tn Heb “their shade.” The figure compares the shade from the sun with the protection from the enemy. It is also possible that the text is alluding to their deities here.

³ tn Heb “came down.”

⁴ tn The verb used here means “crush by beating,” or “pounded” them. The Greek text used “cut them in pieces.”

⁵ tn The name “Hormah” means “destruction”; it is from the word that means “ban, devote” for either destruction or temple use.

⁶ tn Heb “be a trap and a snare to you.”

⁷ tn Heb “in.”

⁸ tn Heb “thorns in your eyes.”

⁹ tn Or “perish.”

¹⁰ tn The participles in v. 20 have been variously interpreted. Some treat them imperativally or as attendant circumstance to the imperative in v. 21 (“maintain”): “build yourselves up…pray.” But they do not follow the normal contours of either the imperatival or attendant circumstance participles, rendering this unlikely. A better option is to treat them as the means by which the readers are to maintain themselves in the love of God. This both makes eminently good sense and fits the structural patterns of instrumental participles elsewhere.

¹¹ tn Or “keep.”

¹² tn Or “waiting for.”

¹³ tn Grk “unto eternal life.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “and save.”

¹⁵ tn Grk “and have mercy.”

¹⁶ tn Grk “with fear.” But as this contrasts with ἀφόβως (afobw") in v. 12 (without reverence), the posture of the false teachers, it most likely refers to reverence for God.

¹⁷ sn The imagery here suggests that the things close to the sinners are contaminated by them, presumably during the process of sinning.

¹⁸ tn Grk “hating even the tunic spotted by the flesh.” The “flesh” in this instance could refer to the body or to the sin nature. It makes little difference in one sense: Jude is thinking primarily of sexual sins, which are borne of the sin nature and manifest themselves in inappropriate deeds done with the body. At the same time, he is not saying that the body is intrinsically bad, a view held by the opponents of Christianity. Hence, it is best to see “flesh” as referring to the sin nature here and the language as metaphorical.