Genesis 17:7-8

17:7 I will confirm ¹  my covenant as a perpetual ²  covenant between me and you. It will extend to your descendants after you throughout their generations. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you. ³  17:8 I will give the whole land of Canaan – the land where you are now residing ⁴  – to you and your descendants after you as a permanent ⁵  possession. I will be their God.”

Genesis 17:24-26

17:24 Now Abraham was 99 years old ⁶  when he was circumcised; ⁷  17:25 his son Ishmael was thirteen years old ⁸  when he was circumcised. 17:26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the very same day.

Genesis 21:4

21:4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, ⁹  Abraham circumcised him just as God had commanded him to do. ¹⁰ 

Jude 1:7

1:7 So also ¹¹  Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns, ¹²  since they indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire ¹³  in a way similar to ¹⁴  these angels, ¹⁵  are now displayed as an example by suffering the punishment of eternal fire.

Jude 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Jude, ¹⁶  a slave ¹⁷  of Jesus Christ and brother of James, ¹⁸  to those who are called, wrapped in the love of ¹⁹  God the Father and kept for ²⁰  Jesus Christ.

Jude 1:11

1:11 Woe to them! For they have traveled down Cain’s path, ²¹  and because of greed ²²  have abandoned themselves ²³  to ²⁴  Balaam’s error; hence, ²⁵  they will certainly perish ²⁶  in Korah’s rebellion.

Jude 1:22

1:22 And have mercy on those who waver;

Jude 1:24

Final Blessing

1:24 Now to the one who is able to keep you from falling, ²⁷  and to cause you to stand, rejoicing, ²⁸  without blemish ²⁹  before his glorious presence, ³⁰ 

Jude 1:18

1:18 For they said to you, “In the end time there will come ³¹  scoffers, propelled by their own ungodly desires.” ³² 

Mark 10:14

10:14 But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ³³ 

Luke 18:16-17

18:16 But Jesus called for the children, ³⁴  saying, “Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of God ³⁵  belongs to such as these. ³⁶  18:17 I tell you the truth, ³⁷  whoever does not receive ³⁸  the kingdom of God like a child ³⁹  will never ⁴⁰  enter it.”

[17:7]  ¹ tn The verb קוּם (qum, “to arise, to stand up”) in the Hiphil verbal stem means “to confirm, to give effect to, to carry out” (i.e., a covenant or oath; see BDB 878-79 s.v. קוּם).

[17:7]  ² tn Or “as an eternal.”

[17:7]  ³ tn Heb “to be to you for God and to your descendants after you.”

[17:8]  ⁴ tn The verbal root is גּוּר (gur, “to sojourn, to reside temporarily,” i.e., as a resident alien). It is the land in which Abram resides, but does not yet possess as his very own.

[17:8]  ⁵ tn Or “as an eternal.”

[17:24]  ⁶ tn Heb “the son of ninety-nine years.”

[17:24]  ⁷ tn Heb “circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin” (also in v. 25).

[17:25]  ⁸ tn Heb “the son of thirteen years.”

[21:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “Isaac his son, the son of eight days.” The name “Isaac” is repeated in the translation for clarity.

[21:4]  ¹⁰ sn Just as God had commanded him to do. With the birth of the promised child, Abraham obeyed the Lord by both naming (Gen 17:19) and circumcising Isaac (17:12).

[1:7]  ¹¹ tn Grk “as.”

[1:7]  ¹² tn Grk “the towns [or cities] surrounding them.”

[1:7]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Or “in the same way as.”

[1:7]  ¹⁵ tn “Angels” is not in the Greek text; but the masculine demonstrative pronoun most likely refers back to the angels of v. 6.

[1:1]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ 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.

[1:11]  ²¹ tn Or “they have gone the way of Cain.”

[1:11]  ²² tn Grk “for wages.”

[1:11]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ tn Or “in.”

[1:11]  ²⁵ tn Grk “and.” See note on “perish” later in this verse.

[1:11]  ²⁶ 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).

[1:24]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ tn The construction in Greek is a double accusative object-complement. “You” is the object and “without blemish” is the adjectival complement.

[1:24]  ³⁰ tn Or “in the presence of his glory,” “before his glory.”

[1:18]  ³¹ tn Grk “be.”

[1:18]  ³² tn Grk “going according to their own desires of ungodliness.”

[10:14]  ³³ sn The kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Children are a picture of those whose simple trust illustrates what faith is all about. The remark illustrates how everyone is important to God, even those whom others regard as insignificant.

[18:16]  ³⁴ tn Grk “summoned them”; the referent (the children) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:16]  ³⁵ sn The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong. See Luke 6:20; 11:20; 17:20-21.

[18:16]  ³⁶ sn The kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Children are a picture of those whose simple trust illustrates what faith is all about. The remark illustrates how everyone is important to God, even those whom others regard as insignificant.

[18:17]  ³⁷ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[18:17]  ³⁸ sn On receive see John 1:12.

[18:17]  ³⁹ sn The point of the comparison receive the kingdom of God like a child has more to do with a child’s trusting spirit and willingness to be dependent and receive from others than any inherent humility the child might possess.

[18:17]  ⁴⁰ tn The negation in Greek used here (οὐ μή, ou mh) is very strong.