Deuteronomy 32:26-27

The Weakness of Other Gods

32:26 “I said, ‘I want to cut them in pieces. ¹ 

I want to make people forget they ever existed.

32:27 But I fear the reaction ²  of their enemies,

for ³  their adversaries would misunderstand

and say, “Our power is great, ⁴ 

and the Lord has not done all this!”’

Jude 1:19

1:19 These people are divisive, ⁵  worldly, ⁶  devoid of the Spirit. ⁷ 

Jude 1:23-24

1:23 save ⁸  others by snatching them out of the fire; have mercy ⁹  on others, coupled with a fear of God, ¹⁰  hating even the clothes stained ¹¹  by the flesh. ¹² 

Final Blessing

1:24 Now to the one who is able to keep you from falling, ¹³  and to cause you to stand, rejoicing, ¹⁴  without blemish ¹⁵  before his glorious presence, ¹⁶ 

Jude 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Jude, ¹⁷  a slave ¹⁸  of Jesus Christ and brother of James, ¹⁹  to those who are called, wrapped in the love of ²⁰  God the Father and kept for ²¹  Jesus Christ.

Jude 1:9

1:9 But even ²²  when Michael the archangel ²³  was arguing with the devil and debating with him ²⁴  concerning Moses’ body, he did not dare to bring a slanderous judgment, but said, “May the Lord rebuke you!”

Micah 1:10

1:10 Don’t spread the news in Gath! ²⁵ 

Don’t shed even a single tear! ²⁶ 

In Beth Leaphrah sit in the dust! ²⁷ 

[32:26]  ¹ tc The LXX reads “I said I would scatter them.” This reading is followed by a number of English versions (e.g., KJV, ASV, NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT, CEV).

[32:27]  ² tn Heb “anger.”

[32:27]  ³ tn Heb “lest.”

[32:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “Our hand is high.” Cf. NAB “Our own hand won the victory.”

[1:19]  ⁵ tn Grk “these are the ones who cause divisions.”

[1:19]  ⁶ tn Or “natural,” that is, living on the level of instincts, not on a spiritual level (the same word occurs in 1 Cor 2:14 as a description of nonbelievers).

[1:19]  ⁷ tn Grk “not having [the] Spirit.”

[1:23]  ⁸ tn Grk “and save.”

[1:23]  ⁹ tn Grk “and have mercy.”

[1:23]  ¹⁰ 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.

[1:23]  ¹¹ sn The imagery here suggests that the things close to the sinners are contaminated by them, presumably during the process of sinning.

[1:23]  ¹² 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.

[1:24]  ¹³ tn The construction in Greek is a double accusative object-complement. “You” is the object and “free from falling” is the adjectival complement.

[1:24]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “with rejoicing.” The prepositional clause is placed after “his glorious presence” in Greek, but most likely goes with “cause you to stand.”

[1:24]  ¹⁵ tn The construction in Greek is a double accusative object-complement. “You” is the object and “without blemish” is the adjectival complement.

[1:24]  ¹⁶ tn Or “in the presence of his glory,” “before his glory.”

[1:1]  ¹⁷ 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.

[1:1]  ¹⁸ 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.

[1:1]  ¹⁹ 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.

[1:1]  ²⁰ 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.”

[1:1]  ²¹ 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.

[1:9]  ²² tn The word “even” is not in Greek; it is implied by the height of the contrast.

[1:9]  ²³ sn According to Jewish intertestamental literature (such as 1 En. 20), Michael was one of seven archangels.

[1:9]  ²⁴ tn The sentence structure is a bit different in Greek. Literally it reads: “But Michael the archangel, when arguing with the devil and disputing.”

[1:10]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Tell it not in Gath.” The Hebrew word for “tell” (נָגַד, nagad) sounds like the name of the city, Gath (גַּת, gat).

[1:10]  ²⁶ tn The Hebrew infinitive absolute before the negated jussive emphasizes the prohibition.

[1:10]  ²⁷ tc The translation assumes a masculine plural imperative. If one were to emend בְּבֵית (bÿvet) to בֵית (vet), Beth Leaphrah would then be the addressee and the feminine singular imperative (see Qere) could be retained, “O Beth Leaphrah, sit in the dust.”