1 Kings 21:25-26

21:25 (There had never been anyone like Ahab, who was firmly committed ¹  to doing evil in the sight of ²  the Lord, urged on by his wife Jezebel. ³  21:26 He was so wicked he worshiped the disgusting idols, ⁴  just like the Amorites ⁵  whom the Lord had driven out from before the Israelites.)

Jude 1:11

1:11 Woe to them! For they have traveled down Cain’s path, ⁶  and because of greed ⁷  have abandoned themselves ⁸  to ⁹  Balaam’s error; hence, ¹⁰  they will certainly perish ¹¹  in Korah’s rebellion.

Jude 1:7

1:7 So also ¹²  Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns, ¹³  since they indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire ¹⁴  in a way similar to ¹⁵  these angels, ¹⁶  are now displayed as an example by suffering the punishment of eternal fire.

Jude 1:6

1:6 You also know that ¹⁷  the angels who did not keep within their proper domain ¹⁸  but abandoned their own place of residence, he has kept ¹⁹  in eternal chains ²⁰  in utter ²¹  darkness, locked up ²²  for the judgment of the great Day.

Jude 1:2

1:2 May mercy, peace, and love be lavished on you! ²³ 

Jude 1:18

1:18 For they said to you, “In the end time there will come ²⁴  scoffers, propelled by their own ungodly desires.” ²⁵ 

Jude 1:16

1:16 These people are grumblers and ²⁶  fault-finders who go ²⁷  wherever their desires lead them, ²⁸  and they give bombastic speeches, ²⁹  enchanting folks ³⁰  for their own gain. ³¹ 

[21:25]  ¹ tn Heb “who sold himself.”

[21:25]  ² tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[21:25]  ³ tn Heb “like Ahab…whom his wife Jezebel incited.”

[21:26]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew word used here, גִלּוּלִים (gillulim) is always used as a disdainful reference to idols. It is generally thought to have originally referred to “dung pellets” (cf. KBL 183 s.v. גִלּוּלִים). It is only one of several terms used in this way, such as אֱלִילִים (’elilim, “worthless things”) and הֲבָלִים (havalim, “vanities” or “empty winds”).

[21:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “He acted very abominably by walking after the disgusting idols, according to all which the Amorites had done.”

[1:11]  ⁶ tn Or “they have gone the way of Cain.”

[1:11]  ⁷ tn Grk “for wages.”

[1:11]  ⁸ 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).

[1:11]  ⁹ tn Or “in.”

[1:11]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “and.” See note on “perish” later in this verse.

[1:11]  ¹¹ 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).

[1:7]  ¹² tn Grk “as.”

[1:7]  ¹³ tn Grk “the towns [or cities] surrounding them.”

[1:7]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “strange flesh.” This phrase has been variously interpreted. It could refer to flesh of another species (such as angels lusting after human flesh). This would aptly describe the sin of the angels, but not easily explain the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah. It could refer to the homosexual practices of the Sodomites, but a difficulty arises from the use of ἕτερος ({etero"; “strange,” “other”). When this is to be distinguished from ἄλλος (allos, “another”) it suggests “another of a different kind.” If so, would that properly describe homosexual behavior? In response, the language could easily be compact: “pursued flesh other than what was normally pursued.” However, would this find an analogy in the lust of angels (such would imply that angels normally had sexual relations of some sort, but cf. Matt 22:30)? Another alternative is that the focus of the parallel is on the activity of the surrounding cities and the activity of the angels. This is especially plausible since the participles ἐκπορνεύσασαι (ekporneusasai, “having indulged in sexual immorality”) and ἀπελθοῦσαι (apelqousai, “having pursued”) have concord with “cities” (πόλεις, poleis), a feminine plural noun, rather than with Sodom and Gomorrah (both masculine nouns). If so, then their sin would not necessarily have to be homosexuality. However, most likely the feminine participles are used because of constructio ad sensum (construction according to sense). That is, since both Sodom and Gomorrah are cities, the feminine is used to imply that all the cities are involved. The connection with angels thus seems to be somewhat loose: Both angels and Sodom and Gomorrah indulged in heinous sexual immorality. Thus, whether the false teachers indulge in homosexual activity is not the point; mere sexual immorality is enough to condemn them.

[1:7]  ¹⁵ tn Or “in the same way as.”

[1:7]  ¹⁶ tn “Angels” is not in the Greek text; but the masculine demonstrative pronoun most likely refers back to the angels of v. 6.

[1:6]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “and.” Verse 6 is a continuation of the same sentence begun in v. 5. Due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:6]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “who did not keep their own domain.”

[1:6]  ¹⁹ sn There is an interesting play on words used in this verse. Because the angels did not keep their proper place, Jesus has kept them chained up in another place. The same verb keep is used in v. 1 to describe believers’ status before God and Christ.

[1:6]  ²⁰ sn In 2 Pet 2:4 a less common word for chains is used.

[1:6]  ²¹ tn The word ζόφος (zofos, “utter, deepest darkness”) is used only five times in the NT: two in 2 Peter, two in Jude, and one in Hebrews. Jude 6 parallels 2 Pet 2:4; Jude 13 parallels 2 Pet 2:17.

[1:6]  ²² tn The words “locked up” are not in Greek, but is expressed in English as a resumptive point after the double prepositional phrase (“in eternal chains in utter darkness”).

[1:2]  ²³ tn Grk “may mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.”

[1:18]  ²⁴ tn Grk “be.”

[1:18]  ²⁵ tn Grk “going according to their own desires of ungodliness.”

[1:16]  ²⁶ tn “And” is not in Greek, but is supplied for the sake of English style.

[1:16]  ²⁷ tn Or “going.” Though the participle is anarthrous, so also is the subject. Thus, the participle could be either adverbial or adjectival.

[1:16]  ²⁸ tn Grk “(who go/going) according to their own lusts.”

[1:16]  ²⁹ tn Grk “and their mouth speaks bombastic things.”

[1:16]  ³⁰ sn Enchanting folks (Grk “awing faces”) refers to the fact that the speeches of these false teachers are powerful and seductive.

[1:16]  ³¹ tn Or “to their own advantage.”