Isaiah 56:11-12

56:11 The dogs have big appetites;

they are never full. ¹ 

They are shepherds who have no understanding;

they all go their own way,

each one looking for monetary gain. ² 

56:12 Each one says, ³ 

‘Come on, I’ll get some wine!

Let’s guzzle some beer!

Tomorrow will be just like today!

We’ll have everything we want!’ ⁴ 

Hosea 4:18

The Shameful Sinners Will Be Brought to Shame

4:18 They consume their alcohol,

then engage in cult prostitution;

they dearly love their shameful behavior.

Micah 7:3

7:3 They are determined to be experts at doing evil; ⁵ 

government officials and judges take bribes, ⁶ 

prominent men make demands,

and they all do what is necessary to satisfy them. ⁷ 

Romans 16:18

16:18 For these are the kind who do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By their smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds ⁸  of the naive.

Romans 16:2

16:2 so that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and provide her with whatever help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many, including me.

Romans 2:3

2:3 And do you think, ⁹  whoever you are, when you judge ¹⁰  those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, ¹¹  that you will escape God’s judgment?

Romans 2:13-15

2:13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous before God, but those who do the law will be declared righteous. ¹²  2:14 For whenever the Gentiles, ¹³  who do not have the law, do by nature ¹⁴  the things required by the law, ¹⁵  these who do not have the law are a law to themselves. 2:15 They ¹⁶  show that the work of the law is written ¹⁷  in their hearts, as their conscience bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or else defend ¹⁸  them, ¹⁹ 

Jude 1:11-12

1:11 Woe to them! For they have traveled down Cain’s path, ²⁰  and because of greed ²¹  have abandoned themselves ²²  to ²³  Balaam’s error; hence, ²⁴  they will certainly perish ²⁵  in Korah’s rebellion. 1:12 These men are ²⁶  dangerous reefs ²⁷  at your love feasts, ²⁸  feasting without reverence, ²⁹  feeding only themselves. ³⁰  They are ³¹  waterless ³²  clouds, carried along by the winds; autumn trees without fruit ³³  – twice dead, ³⁴  uprooted;

[56:11]  ¹ sn The phrase never full alludes to the greed of the leaders.

[56:11]  ² tn Heb “for his gain from his end.”

[56:12]  ³ tn The words “each one says” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[56:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “great, [in] abundance, very much,” i.e., “very great indeed.” See HALOT 452 s.v. יֶתֶר.

[7:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “upon evil [are their] hands to do [it] well.”

[7:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “the official asks – and the judge – for a bribe.”

[7:3]  ⁷ tn More literally, “the great one announces what his appetite desires and they weave it together.” Apparently this means that subordinates plot and maneuver to make sure the prominent man’s desires materialize.

[16:18]  ⁸ tn Grk “hearts.”

[2:3]  ⁹ tn Grk “do you think this,” referring to the clause in v. 3b.

[2:3]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “O man, the one who judges.”

[2:3]  ¹¹ tn Grk “and do them.” The other words are supplied to bring out the contrast implied in this clause.

[2:13]  ¹² tn The Greek sentence expresses this contrast more succinctly than is possible in English. Grk “For not the hearers of the law are righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be declared righteous.”

[2:14]  ¹³ sn Gentile is a NT term for a non-Jew.

[2:14]  ¹⁴ tn Some (e.g. C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:135-37) take the phrase φύσει (fusei, “by nature”) to go with the preceding “do not have the law,” thus: “the Gentiles who do not have the law by nature,” that is, by virtue of not being born Jewish.

[2:14]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “do by nature the things of the law.”

[2:15]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “who.” The relative pronoun was converted to a personal pronoun and, because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[2:15]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “show the work of the law [to be] written,” with the words in brackets implied by the Greek construction.

[2:15]  ¹⁸ tn Or “excuse.”

[2:15]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “their conscience bearing witness and between the thoughts accusing or also defending one another.”

[1:11]  ²⁰ tn Or “they have gone the way of Cain.”

[1:11]  ²¹ tn Grk “for wages.”

[1:11]  ²² 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]  ²³ tn Or “in.”

[1:11]  ²⁴ tn Grk “and.” See note on “perish” later in this verse.

[1:11]  ²⁵ 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).

[1:12]  ²⁶ tn Grk “these are the men who are.”

[1:12]  ²⁷ tn Though σπιλάδες (spilades) is frequently translated “blemishes” or “stains,” such is actually a translation of the Greek word σπίλοι (spiloi). The two words are quite similar, especially in their root or lexical forms (σπιλάς [spila"] and σπίλος [spilos] respectively). Some scholars have suggested that σπιλάδες in this context means the same thing as σπίλοι. But such could be the case only by a stretch of the imagination (see BDAG 938 s.v. σπιλάς for discussion). Others suggest that Jude’s spelling was in error (which also is doubtful). One reason for the tension is that in the parallel passage, 2 Pet 2:13, the term used is indeed σπίλος. And if either Jude used 2 Peter or 2 Peter used Jude, one would expect to see the same word. Jude, however, may have changed the wording for the sake of a subtle wordplay. The word σπιλάς was often used of a mere rock, though it normally was associated with a rock along the shore or one jutting out in the water. Thus, the false teachers would appear as “rocks” – as pillars in the community (cf. Matt 16:18; Gal 2:9), when in reality if a believer got too close to them his faith would get shipwrecked. Some suggest that σπιλάδες here means “hidden rocks.” Though this meaning is attested for the word, it is inappropriate in this context, since these false teachers are anything but hidden. They are dangerous because undiscerning folks get close to them, thinking they are rocks and pillars, when they are really dangerous reefs.

[1:12]  ²⁸ tc Several witnesses (A C^vid 1243 1846 al), influenced by the parallel in 2 Pet 2:13, read ἀπάταις (apatai", “deceptions”) for ἀγάπαις (agapai", “love-feasts”) in v. 12. However, ἀγάπαις has much stronger and earlier support and should therefore be considered original.

[1:12]  ²⁹ tn Or “fearlessly.” The term in this context, however, is decidedly negative. The implication is that these false teachers ate the Lord’s Supper without regarding the sanctity of the meal. Cf. 1 Cor 11:17-22.

[1:12]  ³⁰ tn Grk “shepherding themselves.” The verb ποιμαίνω (poimainw) means “shepherd, nurture [the flock].” But these men, rather than tending to the flock of God, nurture only themselves. They thus fall under the condemnation Paul uttered when writing to the Corinthians: “For when it comes time to eat [the Lord’s Supper,] each one goes ahead with his own meal” (1 Cor 11:21). Above all, the love-feast was intended to be a shared meal in which all ate and all felt welcome.

[1:12]  ³¹ tn “They are” is not in Greek, but resumes the thought begun at the front of v. 12. There is no period before “They are.” English usage requires breaking this into more than one sentence.

[1:12]  ³² tn Cf. 2 Pet 2:17. Jude’s emphasis is slightly different (instead of waterless springs, they are waterless clouds).

[1:12]  ³³ sn The imagery portraying the false teachers as autumn trees without fruit has to do with their lack of productivity. Recall the statement to the same effect by Jesus in Matt 7:16-20, in which false prophets will be known by their fruits. Like waterless clouds full of false hope, these trees do not yield any harvest even though it is expected.

[1:12]  ³⁴ tn Grk “having died twice.”