Discovery BoxJude 1:14-20
Context1:14 Now Enoch, the seventh in descent beginning with Adam, 1 even prophesied of them, 2 saying, “Look! The Lord is coming 3 with thousands and thousands 4 of his holy ones, 1:15 to execute judgment on 5 all, and to convict every person 6 of all their thoroughly ungodly deeds 7 that they have committed, 8 and of all the harsh words that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 9 1:16 These people are grumblers and 10 fault-finders who go 11 wherever their desires lead them, 12 and they give bombastic speeches, 13 enchanting folks 14 for their own gain. 15
1:17 But you, dear friends – recall the predictions 16 foretold by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 17 1:18 For they said to you, “In the end time there will come 18 scoffers, propelled by their own ungodly desires.” 19 1:19 These people are divisive, 20 worldly, 21 devoid of the Spirit. 22 1:20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith, by praying in the Holy Spirit, 23
Jude 1:1
Context1:1 From Jude, 24 a slave 25 of Jesus Christ and brother of James, 26 to those who are called, wrapped in the love of 27 God the Father and kept for 28 Jesus Christ.
Jude 1:13-14
Context1:13 wild sea waves, 29 spewing out the foam of 30 their shame; 31 wayward stars 32 for whom the utter depths of eternal darkness 33 have been reserved.
1:14 Now Enoch, the seventh in descent beginning with Adam, 34 even prophesied of them, 35 saying, “Look! The Lord is coming 36 with thousands and thousands 37 of his holy ones,
Esther 3:1
Context3:1 Some time later 38 King Ahasuerus promoted 39 Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, exalting him and setting his position 40 above that of all the officials who were with him.
Psalms 12:8
Context12:8 for the wicked seem to be everywhere, 41
when people promote evil. 42
Proverbs 28:12
Context28:12 When the righteous rejoice, 43 great is the glory, 44
but when the wicked rise to power, people are sought out. 45
Proverbs 28:28
Context28:28 When the wicked gain control, 46 people 47 hide themselves, 48
but when they perish, 49 the righteous increase.
[1:14] 1 tn Grk “the seventh from Adam.”
[1:14] 2 tn Grk “against them.” The dative τούτοις (toutois) is a dativus incommodi (dative of disadvantage).
[1:14] 3 tn Grk “has come,” a proleptic aorist.
[1:14] 4 tn Grk “ten thousands.” The word μυριάς (muria"), from which the English myriad is derived, means “ten thousand.” In the plural it means “ten thousands.” This would mean, minimally, 20,000 (a multiple of ten thousand). At the same time, the term was often used in apocalyptic literature to represent simply a rather large number, without any attempt to be specific.
[1:15] 5 tn Grk “against” (κατά [kata] + genitive). English usage is satisfied with “on” at this point, but the parallel is lost in the translation to some degree, for the end of v. 15 says that this judgment is meted out on these sinners because they spoke against him (κατά + genitive).
[1:15] 7 tn Grk “of all their works of ungodliness.” The adverb “thoroughly” is part of the following verb “have committed.” See note on verb “committed” later in this verse.
[1:15] 8 tn The verb in Greek does not simply mean “have committed,” but “have committed in an ungodly way.” The verb ἀσεβέω (asebew) is cognate to the noun ἀσέβεια (asebeia, “ungodliness”). There is no easy way to express this in English, since English does not have a single word that means the same thing. Nevertheless, the tenor of v. 15 is plainly seen, regardless of the translation.
[1:15] 9 sn An apparent quotation from 1 En. 1:9. There is some doubt as to whether Jude is actually quoting from the text of 1 Enoch; the text here in Jude differs in some respects from the extant text of this pseudepigraphic book. It is sometimes suggested that Jude may instead have been quoting from oral tradition which had roots older than the written text.
[1:16] 10 tn “And” is not in Greek, but is supplied for the sake of English style.
[1:16] 11 tn Or “going.” Though the participle is anarthrous, so also is the subject. Thus, the participle could be either adverbial or adjectival.
[1:16] 12 tn Grk “(who go/going) according to their own lusts.”
[1:16] 13 tn Grk “and their mouth speaks bombastic things.”
[1:16] 14 sn Enchanting folks (Grk “awing faces”) refers to the fact that the speeches of these false teachers are powerful and seductive.
[1:16] 15 tn Or “to their own advantage.”
[1:17] 16 tn Grk “words.” In conjunction with προεῖπον (proeipon), however, the meaning of the construction is that the apostles uttered prophecies.
[1:17] 17 sn This verse parallels 2 Pet 3:2 both conceptually and in much of the verbiage. There is one important difference, however: In 2 Pet 3:2 the prophets and apostles speak; here, just the apostles speak. This makes good sense if Jude is using 2 Peter as his main source and is urging his readers to go back to the authoritative writings, both OT and now especially NT.
[1:18] 19 tn Grk “going according to their own desires of ungodliness.”
[1:19] 20 tn Grk “these are the ones who cause divisions.”
[1:19] 21 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] 22 tn Grk “not having [the] Spirit.”
[1:20] 23 tn The participles in v. 20 have been variously interpreted. Some treat them imperativally or as attendant circumstance to the imperative in v. 21 (“maintain”): “build yourselves up…pray.” But they do not follow the normal contours of either the imperatival or attendant circumstance participles, rendering this unlikely. A better option is to treat them as the means by which the readers are to maintain themselves in the love of God. This both makes eminently good sense and fits the structural patterns of instrumental participles elsewhere.
[1:1] 24 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] 25 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] 26 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] 27 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] 28 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.
[1:13] 29 tn Grk “wild waves of the sea.”
[1:13] 30 tn Grk “foaming, causing to foam.” The verb form is intensive and causative. BDAG 360 s.v. ἐπαφρίζω suggests the meaning “to cause to splash up like froth, cause to foam,” or, in this context, “waves casting up their own shameless deeds like (dirty) foam.”
[1:13] 31 tn Grk “shames, shameful things.” It is uncertain whether shameful deeds or shameful words are in view. Either way, the picture has taken a decided turn: Though waterless clouds and fruitless trees may promise good things, but deliver nothing, wild sea-waves are portents of filth spewed forth from the belly of the sea.
[1:13] 32 sn The imagery of a star seems to fit the nautical theme that Jude is developing. Stars were of course the guides to sailors at night, just as teachers are responsible to lead the flock through a benighted world. But false teachers, as wayward stars, are not fixed and hence offer unreliable, even disastrous guidance. They are thus both the dangerous reefs on which the ships could be destroyed and the false guides, leading them into these rocks. There is a special irony that these lights will be snuffed out, reserved for the darkest depths of eternal darkness.
[1:13] 33 tn Grk “utter darkness of darkness for eternity.” See note on the word “utter” in v. 6.
[1:14] 34 tn Grk “the seventh from Adam.”
[1:14] 35 tn Grk “against them.” The dative τούτοις (toutois) is a dativus incommodi (dative of disadvantage).
[1:14] 36 tn Grk “has come,” a proleptic aorist.
[1:14] 37 tn Grk “ten thousands.” The word μυριάς (muria"), from which the English myriad is derived, means “ten thousand.” In the plural it means “ten thousands.” This would mean, minimally, 20,000 (a multiple of ten thousand). At the same time, the term was often used in apocalyptic literature to represent simply a rather large number, without any attempt to be specific.
[3:1] 38 tn Heb “after these things” (so KJV, ASV); NAB, NASB, NIV “After these events.”
[3:1] 39 tn Heb “made great”; NAB “raised…to high rank”; NIV “honored.”
[3:1] 40 tn Heb “chair”; KJV, NRSV “seat”; NASB “established his authority.”
[12:8] 41 tn Heb “the wicked walk all around.” One could translate v. 8a as an independent clause, in which case it would be a concluding observation in proverbial style. The present translation assumes that v. 8a is a subordinate explanatory clause, or perhaps a subordinate temporal clause (“while the wicked walk all around”). The adverb סָבִיב (saviv, “around”), in combination with the Hitpael form of the verb “walk” (which indicates repeated action), pictures the wicked as ubiquitous. They have seemingly overrun society.
[12:8] 42 tn Heb “when evil is lifted up by the sons of man.” The abstract noun זֻלּוּת (zulut, “evil”) occurs only here. On the basis of evidence from the cognate languages (see HALOT 272 s.v.), one might propose the meaning “base character,” or “morally foolish behavior.”
[28:12] 43 tn The form בַּעֲלֹץ (ba’alots) is the infinitive construct with the preposition indicating a temporal clause (“when…”); the “righteous” are the subject of this clause (subjective genitive). The word may be taken as a metonymy of adjunct – the righteous exult or rejoice because they are prosperous (cf. NLT “succeed”).
[28:12] 44 sn “Glory” here may have the sense of elation and praise.
[28:12] 45 tn The meaning of “sought out” (יְחֻפַּשׂ, yÿkhuppas) indicates that people have gone into hiding. So the development of the ideas for this proverb require in the first line that “rejoice” be connected with “triumph” that means they have come to power; and in the second line that “are sought out” means people have gone into hiding (cf. ASV, NIV, NRSV, NLT). C. H. Toy thinks this is too strained; he offers this rendering: “When the righteous are exalted there is great confidence, but when the wicked come into power men hide themselves” (Proverbs [ICC], 500). For the verb G. R. Driver posits an Arabic cognate hafasa, “prostrated; trampled on” (“Problems in the Hebrew Text of Proverbs,” Bib 32 [1951]: 192-93), which gives a clearer result of wicked rule, but is perhaps unnecessary (e.g., Prov 28:28; 29:2). See J. A. Emerton, “Notes on Some Passages in the Book of Proverbs,” JTS 20 (1969): 202-20.
[28:28] 46 tn Heb “the wicked rise,” referring to an accession to power, as in a government. Cf. TEV “come to power”; NLT “take charge.”
[28:28] 47 tn Heb “a man” or “mankind” in a generic sense.
[28:28] 48 tn The form is the Niphal imperfect of סָתַר (satar, “to hide”); in this stem it can mean “to hide themselves” or “to go into hiding.” In either case the expression would be a hyperbole; the populace would not go into hiding, but they would tread softly and move about cautiously. G. R. Driver suggests the Akkadian sataru instead, which means “to demolish,” and is cognate to the Aramaic “to destroy.” This would produce the idea that people are “destroyed” when the wicked come to power (“Problems in the Hebrew Text of Proverbs,” Bib 32 [1951]: 192-93). That meaning certainly fits the idea, but there is no reason for the change because the MT is perfectly readable as it is and makes good sense.
[28:28] 49 tn The two clauses have parallel constructions: They both begin with infinitives construct with prepositions functioning as temporal clauses, followed by subjective genitives (first the wicked, and then the pronoun referring to them). This heightens the antithesis: “when the wicked rise…when they perish.”
