The Epistle of Jude
Rex Banks
Lesson 28
Authorship
Internal Evidence
The writer introduces himself as “Jude
(Judas)...brother of James” (v 1). Some
take v 17 to mean that the writer distinguishes himself from those whom he
calls “the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ” but while this is possible, it is
not certain. However, the evidence does
suggest that the writer is not Jude the apostle (Lk
“The vocabulary of Jude proves that the author was a Jew, saturated
with the Old Testament, using Hebraisms, yet acquainted with the koine dialektos - the ‘common
dialect’ (Catholic Encyclopaedia).
External Evidence
Traces of Jude and references to the Epistle are found in a number of early works. For example:
·
“Wherefore, forsaking the
vanity of many, and their false doctrines, let us return to the word which has
been handed down to us from the beginning” (Polycarp Letter
to the Philippians).
This may
be based on Jude 3.
·
“You shall not hate any man;
but some you shall reprove, and concerning some you shall pray, and some you
shall love more than your own life” (Didache 2.7).
This may
be based on Jude 22.
·
“And it was He who rained fire
and brimstone from heaven, in the days of
· “For this is the affinity of the apostolical
teaching and the most holy ‘faith delivered unto us,’” (Fragments
from the Lost Writings of Ireneaus).
· “And with reference to the view that they have angels from birth,
one might quote …in the Epistle of Jude, ‘To them that are beloved in God the
Father and are kept for Jesus Christ, being called,’ - kept completely by the
angels who keep them” (Origen Commentary on Matthew Bk 13).
·
“The
greater he seems to be, the more humble should he be,” says Clement in the
Epistle to the Corinthians, - “such an one as is
capable of complying with the precept, ‘And some pluck from the fire, and on
others have compassion, making a difference.’” (Clement
of
·
“And the wonderful thing is, that, though
(Josephus) did not accept Jesus as Christ, he yet gave testimony that the
righteousness of James was so great; and he says that the people thought that
they had suffered these things because of James. And Jude, who wrote a letter of few lines, it
is true, but filled with the healthful words of heavenly grace, said in the
preface, ‘Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ and the brother of James’” (Origen Commentary on Matthew Bk 10).
·
Unger tells us that “early attestation to the authority of the book” is
also found in Shepherd of Hermas, Athenagoras Theophilus of
“These things are recorded in regard to James,
who is said to be the author of the first of the so-called catholic
epistles. But it is to be
observed that it is disputed; at least, not many of the ancients have mentioned
it, as is the case likewise with the epistle that bears the name of Jude, which
is also one of the seven so-called catholic epistles. Nevertheless we know that these
also, with the rest, have been read publicly in very many churches” (2.23.25).
Jude was not included in the Peshito Syriac Version (along
with 2 Peter, 2 John, 3 John and Revelation).
Objections
While some deny that Jude authored this
epistle, their arguments are not convincing.
·
Jerome explains why the epistle of Jude was not readily accepted by
some. He writes:
“Jude, the brother of
James, left a short epistle which is reckoned among the seven Catholic epistles, and because in it he quotes from the apocryphal
book of Enoch it is rejected by many. Nevertheless
by age and use it has gained authority and is reckoned among the Holy
Scriptures” (Illustrious Men 4).
Prior to the discovery of fragments of the
Book of Enoch in the Aramaic language among the
“It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the
Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all,
and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done
in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have
spoken against Him.’”
As we consider this matter, lets keep in mind
that Jude does not identify the Book of Enoch as the source of this quotation
and that it is quite possible that a true prophecy unrecorded in Genesis may
have been preserved.
“Amidst the multitude of
traditions…handed down by the Jews from a remote antiquity, though many of them
were false, and many of a trifling character, it is reasonable to presume that
some of them were true and were of importance. No man can prove that the one before us is not
of that character; no one can show that an inspired writer might not be led to
make the selection of a true prophecy from a mass of traditions; and as the
prophecy before us is one that would be every way worthy of a prophet, and
worthy to be preserved, its quotation furnishes no argument against the
inspiration of Jude” (Barnes).
Jewish tradition mentions the names of two
magicians, Jannes and Jambres,
who opposed Moses, and Paul confirms the accuracy of this tradition (2 Tim
3:8). If Jude did quote from a Jewish
writing, this fact would not establish the inspiration of that work any more
than Paul’s quotations from Aratus, Menander and Epimenides (Acts
According to Clement of Alexandria and others,
when Jude describes the conflict between the archangel Michael and Satan over
the body of Moses (v 9), he is quoting from an apocryphal book entitled the Assumption
of Moses, of which only small portions survive today. Again, if true, this would not call into
question the inspiration of the Epistle.
·
It is sometimes suggested that
the errorists against whom Jude warns were Gnostics (see notes on Pastorals,
Colossians, 1, 2, 3, John) betraying a post first century date, but as we have
seen, the seeds which gave rise to this heresy were present in the first
century. There is no reason to suppose
that Jude is opposing full blown Gnosticism.
· Others suggest that v 17 show that the writer is quite some time removed from the apostolic age, but this is to get more out of this verse than is there.
· Finally, some contend that the very Hellenistic language of the epistle along with the use of numerous rare words suggest that this was not the work of a Galilean. However, as we have seen, we simply do not know enough about the first century situation to make such an argument.
Jude
(1)
Jude, along with his brothers,
failed to recognize Jesus as the Messiah until after His resurrection (Jn 7:5 cf Acts
(2)
Eusebius has the following:
“(When)…Domitian had commanded that the
descendants of David should be slain, an ancient tradition says that some of
the heretics brought accusation against the descendants of Jude (said to have
been a brother of the Saviour according to the
flesh), on the ground that they were of the lineage of David and were related
to Christ himself. Hegesippus relates
these facts in the following words.
‘Of the family of the Lord there were still
living the grandchildren of Jude, who is said to have been the Lord’s brother
according to the flesh. Information was
given that they belonged to the family of David, and they were brought to the
Emperor Domitian by the Evocatus. For Domitian feared the coming of Christ as
Herod also had feared it. And he asked
them if they were descendants of David, and they confessed that they were. Then
he asked them how much property they had, or how much money they owned. And
both of them answered that they had only nine thousand denarii,
half of which belonged to each of them; and this property did not consist of
silver, but of a piece of land which contained only thirty-nine acres, and from
which they raised their taxes and supported themselves by their own labor.’
Then they showed their hands, exhibiting the
hardness of their bodies and the callousness produced upon their hands by
continuous toil as evidence of their own labor. And when they were asked concerning Christ and
his kingdom, of what sort it was and where and when it was to appear, they
answered that it was not a temporal nor an earthly kingdom, but a heavenly and
angelic one, which would appear at the end of the world, when he should come in
glory to judge the quick and the dead, and to give unto every one according to
his works. Upon hearing this, Domitian
did not pass judgment against them, but, despising them as of no account, he
let them go, and by a decree put a stop to the persecution of the Church. But when they were released they ruled the
churches because they were witnesses and were also relatives of the Lord. And peace being
established, they lived until the time of Trajan. These things are related by Hegesippus” (3.19–20.7 c.f. 3.32.5, 6).
Addressees
This short epistle is addressed to “those who
are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ” (v
1). This very general greeting coupled
with the absence of personal allusions in the body of the letter makes precise
identification of the recipients impossible.
There may be an indication that the writer had direct
information about a particular group of Christians. He calls them “beloved” (v 3) and knows that
“certain persons have crept in among (them)” (v 4). He also urges them to “remember the words
that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v 17).
Some have suggested on the basis of v 1 that
Jude is addressing the same audience as James, namely scattered Jewish
Christians (see notes on James). The
exegetical method employed by Jude and his dependence upon the Hebrew rather
than Greek text may point in this direction but we cannot be certain of
this. Others have suggested on the basis
of the similarity between 2 Peter and Jude that the latter is writing to
Christians of a predominantly pagan background in
Composition:
Date, Place and Circumstances
(1)
It is very clear that the
language of Jude is very similar to that of 2 Peter. Some argue that the former was reliant upon
the latter, while others incline to the opposite view. Some argue for the priority of 2 Peter on the
basis of the fact that Peter sometimes (but not always) uses the future
tense when speaking of the false teachers (eg 2:1-3,
12-13), whereas Jude speaks of an existing situation when speaking of
the same (eg v 4).
This is not conclusive evidence that Jude is later than 2 Peter because
the future is also used to speak of events and situations which are likely
to occur. In my view, a stronger
argument can be made on the basis of v 17 where Jude warns:
“But you, beloved, ought
to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that they were saying to you, ‘In the last time there will be
mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.’”
This warning follows Jude’s
description of the errorists in language which closely resembles 2 Peter. It seems most natural to conclude that Jude
has 2 Pet 3:3-4 in mind when he reminds his readers of the apostolic warnings
against errorists. Jude says that the
errorists had been “written about” (lit) of old. “The original term for ‘of old’ (palai) sometimes indicates but a brief space of time, eg Mk 15:44 (according to the text of Weymouth and Nestle,
and RV) relates that Pilate asked the centurion if Jesus had been ‘any while’ (palai) dead, which limits the term to a few hours” (International
Standard Bible Encyclopaedia). Thus Jude may have had 2 Pet 3:3-4 in mind.
In Adam
Clarke’s view:
“The Epistle of St. Jude
is not a bare copy of the Second Epistle of St. Peter, for in the former, not
only several thoughts are more completely unravelled than in the latter, but
several additions are made to what St. Peter had said; for instance Jud 1:4,
Jud 1:5, Jud 1:9, Jud 1:16.”
Since the Petrine
Epistles likely date from the 60s, if Jude is reliant upon 2 Peter, this short
Epistle was written sometime later.
Guthrie’s date of 65-80 AD is most reasonable. A pre 70 AD date may be suggested by
the fact that Jude does not mention the destruction of
(vv 5-7).
(2)
Certainty is beyond us and
there are other factors to consider.
Some take v 17 to indicate that the apostles are figures of the past
but this is far from certain. Others
take Jude 3 (“the faith once delivered unto the saints”) as an indication that
the contents of the faith have long been settled but again this is quite a
stretch. Some give various reasons for
defending the priority of Jude. For
example, some defend Jude’s priority on the basis of style and on the basis of
the fact that Peter tends to throw light of Jude’s more obscure passages. Others suggest that it is more likely that
Peter has embodied the text of Jude in his Epistle than that Jude has included part
of Peter’s Epistle in his. These
and similar arguments in defense of Jude’s priority
do not appear to carry much weight.
(3)
On the other hand there is no doubt about why
Jude wrote as he did at this time because our author tells us in so many words
in the body of the epistle. Since his
explanation for writing is central to an understanding of the epistle as a
whole, we will consider this in our discussion of the letter itself.
The Letter
(1) Jude introduces the body of his epistle with an explanation of his purpose for writing (vv 3-4). Verse 3 tells us that Jude was either contemplating writing, or was already engaged in writing a treatise on what he calls “our common salvation,” that salvation which all Christians enjoy together. Evidently Jude learned of dangers facing the brethren from false teachers and suspended the writing of this treatise and instead wrote this present letter. In this context, the following points are noteworthy:
·
“The aorist (write) contrasted
with the present inf. implies that the new epistle had to be written at once
and could not be prepared for at leisure, like the one he had previously
contemplated” (Reineker and Rogers Linguistic Key to the Greek New
Testament).
·
The urgency is due to the fact
that “certain persons have crept in unnoticed” (v 4) - hence Jude’s
concern. These “certain persons” are
false teachers, and the word translated “unnoticed” suggests
the idea of “slipping in alongside of,” or, as it were by a side door (cf 2 Pet 2:1-2). The
situation is critical. The errorists are
those “whose condemnation was written about long ago” (NIV), perhaps a
reference to Old Testament prophecy about the fate of such false teachers or a
reference to 2 Peter. These false
teachers are “ungodly persons” who “turn the grace of our God into
licentiousness,” evidently “by interpreting it as actually allowing or
supporting the practice of lasciviousness, gross fleshly indulgence” (Woods). Such teaching amounted to a denial of “our
only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”
·
In
light of this, Jude’s brethren are to “contend earnestly” for “the faith,” that
body of apostolic teaching (cf Acts 6:7; cp Acts
13:7, 8, 12 – “the word of God,” “the faith,” “the teaching of the Lord”) which
was delivered “once for all” and was thus never to be reviewed, updated,
amended or modified.
Thus
the book of Jude is a call for faithful Christians to take up arms against
crafty enemies of the gospel who are infiltrating the church.
(2) Jude’s treatment of the errorists is strikingly similar to Peter’s discussion in 2 Peter 2, as the following parallels show:
|
2 Pet 2:1 |
Jude 4 |
Warning against heretics who deny the Lord
that bought them. |
|
2 Pet 2:2 |
Jude 4 |
These individuals turned God’s grace into
licentiousness. |
|
2 Peter 2:1 |
Jude 4 |
They were deceptive. |
|
2 Peter 2:3, 15 |
Jude 11 |
They were motivated by covetousness. |
|
2 Peter 2:10 |
Jude 8 |
They despised authority. |
|
2 Peter 2:18 |
Jude 16 |
They spoke words of vanity. |
|
2 Peter 2:12 |
Jude 10 |
They were brutal, unreasoning. |
|
2 Peter 2:5 |
Jude 11 |
They are likened to Balaam. |
|
2 Peter 2:17 |
Jude 17 |
They are “springs without water...clouds
carried away along by winds.” |
Divine judgment upon these false
teachers is as certain as was judgment upon the unfaithful Israelites at the
time of Moses, the angels who rebelled and the immoral citizens of
(3)
In addition to warning
the faithful, Jude also exhorts and encourages them (vv 17-23). In fact “the negative polemic against the
false teachers is subordinate to the positive teaching of vv 20-23” (Bruce
M. Metzger and Michael D. Coogan, The
Verses 20 and 21
contain four exhortations
·
“Building
yourselves up on your most holy faith” (as opposed to building upon human
philosophy or the unstable teaching of errorists).
·
“Praying
in the Holy Spirit” (likely meaning according to the Spirit’s will as set forth
in the Word, and perhaps also in the knowledge that the Spirit helps us in our
weakness as we pray).
·
“keep yourselves in the love of God.”
·
“waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to
eternal life…”
Verses 22 and 23 continue to encourage by
giving instructions about certain groups
(Minor textual problems are involved
here. KJV mentions two groups, most later versions three groups. The later appears to have the strongest
manuscript support and is in keeping with the triadic pattern of Jude’s
thought). Three classes of people and
three different attitudes are dealt with now:
·
“Have mercy on some who are doubting.” “The
teaching and practice of the false teachers have caused them to be uncertain
about the truth of Christianity” (Blum). These bewildered brethren are to be treated
tenderly and patiently, and escorted back to the truth.
·
“Save
others - snatching them out of the fire.”
These are more advanced in error, on their way to the fire of hell. There is urgency about the “snatching” from
the fire to which they are dangerously close.
·
“On
some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.” These are those deeply embedded in the immorality of
the false teachers, and precautions are to be taken against contamination.
Verses 24 and 25 take the form of a doxology
to God, a reminder to Jude’s audience that despite the false teachers, they need
not fear because of what God can do
He is
“able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His
glory, blameless with great joy.” This
is a fitting assurance with which to end an epistle full of urgent warnings
against crafty, ungodly opponents.
Origen described Jude as “an Epistle…filled with the vigorous words of
heavenly grace” and it certainly is an interesting little document. Metzger and Coogan describe Jude as a “masterly
composition…which at times achieves an almost poetic effect.” Jude’s descriptions “are often just as
picturesque as those of James, for example, when he compares the intruders to
“spots (‘hidden rocks’ - RV) in the feasts of charity;” “clouds without water,
carried along by wind;” “autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by
the roots;” “wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame” (Berkhof).
Although the letter does not contain direct quotes from the OT, various
OT characters are alluded to, such as the Israelites in the desert (v 5), the
people of
Outline
(1)
Greetings and Purpose for
writing explained (Jude 1-4).
(2) False Teachers (Jude 5-16).
Certainty
of Judgment (Jude 5-7).
Their
Characteristics (Jude 8-13).
Their
Future Judgment (Jude 14-16).
(3)
Exhortation and Encouragement
to the Faithful (Jude 17-23).
(4)
Closing Doxology (Jude 24-25).