Jude 1:21-24

1:21 maintain ¹  yourselves in the love of God, while anticipating ²  the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings eternal life. ³  1:22 And have mercy on those who waver; 1:23 save ⁴  others by snatching them out of the fire; have mercy ⁵  on others, coupled with a fear of God, ⁶  hating even the clothes stained ⁷  by the flesh. ⁸ 

Final Blessing

1:24 Now to the one who is able to keep you from falling, ⁹  and to cause you to stand, rejoicing, ¹⁰  without blemish ¹¹  before his glorious presence, ¹² 

Jeremiah 27:5-7

27:5 “I made the earth and the people and animals on it by my mighty power and great strength, ¹³  and I give it to whomever I see fit. ¹⁴  27:6 I have at this time placed all these nations of yours under the power ¹⁵  of my servant, ¹⁶  King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I have even made all the wild animals subject to him. ¹⁷  27:7 All nations must serve him and his son and grandson ¹⁸  until the time comes for his own nation to fall. ¹⁹  Then many nations and great kings will in turn subjugate Babylon. ²⁰ 

Daniel 4:25-32

4:25 You will be driven ²¹  from human society, ²²  and you will live ²³  with the wild animals. You will be fed ²⁴  grass like oxen, ²⁵  and you will become damp with the dew of the sky. Seven periods of time will pass by for you, before ²⁶  you understand that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms and gives them to whomever he wishes. 4:26 They said to leave the taproot of the tree, for your kingdom will be restored to you when you come to understand that heaven ²⁷  rules. 4:27 Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you. Break away from your sins by doing what is right, and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps your prosperity will be prolonged.” ²⁸ 

4:28 Now all of this happened ²⁹  to King Nebuchadnezzar. 4:29 After twelve months, he happened to be walking around on the battlements ³⁰  of the royal palace of Babylon. 4:30 The king uttered these words: “Is this not the great Babylon that I have built for a royal residence ³¹  by my own mighty strength ³²  and for my majestic honor?” 4:31 While these words were still on the king’s lips, ³³  a voice came down from heaven: “It is hereby announced to you, ³⁴  King Nebuchadnezzar, that your kingdom has been removed from you! 4:32 You will be driven from human society, and you will live with the wild animals. You will be fed grass like oxen, and seven periods of time will pass by for you before ³⁵  you understand that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms and gives them to whomever he wishes.”

Daniel 5:18

5:18 As for you, O king, the most high God bestowed on your father Nebuchadnezzar a kingdom, greatness, honor, and majesty. ³⁶ 

[1:21]  ¹ tn Or “keep.”

[1:21]  ² tn Or “waiting for.”

[1:21]  ³ tn Grk “unto eternal life.”

[1:23]  ⁴ tn Grk “and save.”

[1:23]  ⁵ tn Grk “and have mercy.”

[1:23]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ sn The imagery here suggests that the things close to the sinners are contaminated by them, presumably during the process of sinning.

[1:23]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn The construction in Greek is a double accusative object-complement. “You” is the object and “without blemish” is the adjectival complement.

[1:24]  ¹² tn Or “in the presence of his glory,” “before his glory.”

[27:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “by my great power and my outstretched arm.” Again “arm” is symbolical for “strength.” Compare the similar expression in 21:5.

[27:5]  ¹⁴ sn See Dan 4:17 for a similar statement.

[27:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “have given…into the hand of.”

[27:6]  ¹⁶ sn See the study note on 25:9 for the significance of the application of this term to Nebuchadnezzar.

[27:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “I have given…to him to serve him.” The verb “give” in this syntactical situation is functioning like the Hiphil stem, i.e., as a causative. See Dan 1:9 for parallel usage. For the usage of “serve” meaning “be subject to” compare 2 Sam 22:44 and BDB 713 s.v. עָבַד 3.

[27:7]  ¹⁸ sn This is a figure that emphasizes that they will serve for a long time but not for an unlimited duration. The kingdom of Babylon lasted a relatively short time by ancient standards. It lasted from 605 b.c. when Nebuchadnezzar defeated Necho at Carchemish until the fall of Babylon in 538 b.c. There were only four rulers. Nebuchadnezzar was succeeded by his son, Evil Merodach (cf. 52:31), and two other rulers who were not descended from him.

[27:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “until the time of his land, even his, comes.” The independent pronoun is placed here for emphasis on the possessive pronoun. The word “time” is used by substitution for the things that are done in it (compare in the NT John 2:4; 7:30; 8:20 “his hour had not yet come”).

[27:7]  ²⁰ tn Heb “him.” This is a good example of the figure of substitution where the person is put for his descendants or the nation or subject he rules. (See Gen 28:13-14 for another good example and Acts 22:7 in the NT.)

[4:25]  ²¹ tn The Aramaic indefinite active plural is used here like the English passive. So also in v. 28, 29,32.

[4:25]  ²² tn Aram “from mankind.” So also in v. 32.

[4:25]  ²³ tn Aram “your dwelling will be.” So also in v. 32.

[4:25]  ²⁴ tn Or perhaps “be made to eat.”

[4:25]  ²⁵ sn Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity has features that are associated with the mental disorder known as boanthropy, in which the person so afflicted imagines himself to be an ox or a similar animal and behaves accordingly.

[4:25]  ²⁶ tn Aram “until.”

[4:26]  ²⁷ sn The reference to heaven here is a circumlocution for God. There was a tendency in Jewish contexts to avoid direct reference to God. Cf. the expression “kingdom of heaven” in the NT and such statements as “I have sinned against heaven and in your sight” (Luke 15:21).

[4:27]  ²⁸ tn Aram “if there may be a lengthening to your prosperity.”

[4:28]  ²⁹ tn Aram “reached.”

[4:29]  ³⁰ tn The word “battlements” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied from context. Many English versions supply “roof” here (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); cf. NLT “on the flat roof.”

[4:30]  ³¹ tn Aram “house.”

[4:30]  ³² tn Aram “by the might of my strength.”

[4:31]  ³³ tn Aram “in the mouth of the king.”

[4:31]  ³⁴ tn Aram “to you they say.”

[4:32]  ³⁵ tn Aram “until.”

[5:18]  ³⁶ tn Or “royal greatness and majestic honor,” if the four terms are understood as a double hendiadys.