Jude 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Jude, ¹  a slave ²  of Jesus Christ and brother of James, ³  to those who are called, wrapped in the love of ⁴  God the Father and kept for ⁵  Jesus Christ.

Psalms 68:12

68:12 Kings leading armies run away – they run away! ⁶ 

The lovely lady ⁷  of the house divides up the loot.

Proverbs 31:21

31:21 She is not ⁸  afraid of the snow ⁹  for her household,

for all of her household are clothed with scarlet. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 3:16-26

Washing Away Impurity

3:16 The Lord says,

“The women ¹¹  of Zion are proud.

They walk with their heads high ¹² 

and flirt with their eyes.

They skip along ¹³ 

and the jewelry on their ankles jingles. ¹⁴ 

3:17 So ¹⁵  the sovereign master ¹⁶  will afflict the foreheads of Zion’s women ¹⁷  with skin diseases, ¹⁸ 

the Lord will make the front of their heads bald.” ¹⁹ 

3:18 ²⁰ At that time ²¹  the sovereign master will remove their beautiful ankle jewelry, ²²  neck ornaments, crescent shaped ornaments, 3:19 earrings, bracelets, veils, 3:20 headdresses, ankle ornaments, sashes, sachets, ²³  amulets, 3:21 rings, nose rings, 3:22 festive dresses, robes, shawls, purses, 3:23 garments, vests, head coverings, and gowns. ²⁴ 

3:24 A putrid stench will replace the smell of spices, ²⁵ 

a rope will replace a belt,

baldness will replace braided locks of hair,

a sackcloth garment will replace a fine robe,

and a prisoner’s brand will replace beauty.

3:25 Your ²⁶  men will fall by the sword,

your strong men will die in battle. ²⁷ 

3:26 Her gates will mourn and lament;

deprived of her people, she will sit on the ground. ²⁸ 

Jeremiah 2:32

2:32 Does a young woman forget to put on her jewels?

Does a bride forget to put on her bridal attire?

But my people have forgotten me

for more days than can even be counted.

Jeremiah 2:1

The Lord Recalls Israel’s Earlier Faithfulness

2:1 The Lord spoke to me. He said:

Jeremiah 2:9-10

The Lord Charges Contemporary Israel with Spiritual Adultery

2:9 “So, once more I will state my case ²⁹  against you,” says the Lord.

“I will also state it against your children and grandchildren. ³⁰ 

2:10 Go west ³¹  across the sea to the coasts of Cyprus ³²  and see.

Send someone east to Kedar ³³  and have them look carefully.

See if such a thing as this has ever happened:

Jeremiah 2:1

The Lord Recalls Israel’s Earlier Faithfulness

2:1 The Lord spoke to me. He said:

Jeremiah 3:3-5

3:3 That is why the rains have been withheld,

and the spring rains have not come.

Yet in spite of this you are obstinate as a prostitute. ³⁴ 

You refuse to be ashamed of what you have done.

3:4 Even now you say to me, ‘You are my father! ³⁵ 

You have been my faithful companion ever since I was young.

3:5 You will not always be angry with me, will you?

You will not be mad at me forever, will you?’ ³⁶ 

That is what you say,

but you continually do all the evil that you can.” ³⁷ 

[1:1]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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.

[68:12]  ⁶ tn The verbal repetition draws attention to the statement.

[68:12]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew form appears to be the construct of נוּה (nuh, “pasture”) but the phrase “pasture of the house” makes no sense here. The translation assumes that the form is an alternative or corruption of נצוה (“beautiful woman”). A reference to a woman would be appropriate in light of v. 11b.

[31:21]  ⁸ tn The first word of the twelfth line begins with ל (lamed), the twelfth letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[31:21]  ⁹ sn “Snow” is a metonymy of adjunct; it refers to the cold weather when snow comes. The verse is saying that this time is not a concern for the wise woman because the family is well prepared.

[31:21]  ¹⁰ tn For the MT’s “scarlet” the LXX and the Latin have “two” or “double” – the difference being essentially the vocalization of a plural as opposed to a dual. The word is taken in the versions with the word that follows (“covers”) to means “double garments.” The question to be asked is whether scarlet would keep one warm in winter or double garments. The latter is the easier reading and therefore suspect.

[3:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “daughters” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV).

[3:16]  ¹² tn Heb “with an outstretched neck.” They proudly hold their heads high so that others can see the jewelry around their necks.

[3:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “walking and skipping, they walk.”

[3:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and with their feet they jingle.”

[3:17]  ¹⁵ tn In the Hebrew text vv. 16-17 and one long sentence, “Because the daughters of Zion are proud and walk…, the sovereign master will afflict….” In v. 17 the Lord refers to himself in the third person.

[3:17]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in v. 18 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[3:17]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the daughters of Zion.”

[3:17]  ¹⁸ tn Or “a scab” (KJV, ASV); NIV, NCV, CEV “sores.”

[3:17]  ¹⁹ tn The precise meaning of this line is unclear because of the presence of the rare word פֹּת (pot). Since the verb in the line means “lay bare, make naked,” some take פֹּת as a reference to the genitals (cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV, CEV). (In 1 Kgs 7:50 a noun פֹּת appears, with the apparent meaning “socket.”) J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:139, n. 2), basing his argument on alleged Akkadian evidence and the parallelism of the verse, takes פֹּת as “forehead.”

[3:18]  ²⁰ sn The translation assumes that the direct quotation ends with v. 17. The introductory formula “in that day” and the shift from a poetic to prosaic style indicate that a new speech unit begins in v. 18.

[3:18]  ²¹ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[3:18]  ²² tn Or “the beauty of [their] ankle jewelry.”

[3:20]  ²³ tn Heb “houses of breath.” HALOT 124 s.v. בַּיִת defines them as “scent-bottles”; cf. NAB, NRSV “perfume boxes.”

[3:23]  ²⁴ tn The precise meaning of many of the words in this list is uncertain.

[3:24]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and it will be in place of spices there will be a stench.” The nouns for “spices” and “stench” are right next to each other in the MT for emphatic contrast. The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[3:25]  ²⁶ tn The pronoun is feminine singular, suggesting personified Zion, as representative of its women, is the addressee. The reference to “her gates’ in v. 26 makes this identification almost certain.

[3:25]  ²⁷ tn Heb “your strength in battle.” The verb in the first clause provides the verbal idea for the second clause.

[3:26]  ²⁸ tn Heb “she will be empty, on the ground she will sit.” Jerusalem is personified as a destitute woman who sits mourning the empty city.

[2:9]  ²⁹ tn Or “bring charges against you.”

[2:9]  ³⁰ tn The words “your children and” are supplied in the translation to bring out the idea of corporate solidarity implicit in the passage.

[2:10]  ³¹ tn Heb “For go west.”

[2:10]  ³² tn Heb “pass over to the coasts of Kittim.” The words “west across the sea” in this line and “east of” in the next are implicit in the text and are supplied in the translation to give geographical orientation.

[2:10]  ³³ sn Kedar is the home of the Bedouin tribes in the Syro-Arabian desert. See Gen 25:18 and Jer 49:38. See also the previous note for the significance of the reference here.

[3:3]  ³⁴ tn Heb “you have the forehead of a prostitute.”

[3:4]  ³⁵ tn Heb “Have you not just now called out to me, ‘[you are] my father!’?” The rhetorical question expects a positive answer.

[3:5]  ³⁶ tn Heb “Will he keep angry forever? Will he maintain [it] to the end?” The questions are rhetorical and expect a negative answer. The change to direct address in the English translation is intended to ease the problem of the rapid transition, common in Hebrew style (but not in English), from second person direct address in the preceding lines to third person indirect address in these two lines. See GKC 462 §144.p.

[3:5]  ³⁷ tn Heb “You do the evil and you are able.” This is an example of hendiadys, meaning “You do all the evil that you are able to do.”