Epistle of Jude

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"Jud." redirects here. Not to be confused with Book of Judges, Book of Judith, or Gospel of Judas.
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The Epistle of Jude

James the Just, and thus possibly a brother of Jesus
as well.

Jude is a short epistle written in

Christian angelology
.

Authorship

The epistle introduces itself with a simple claim of authorship: "Jude, a servant of

Saint Jerome believed that not only Mary but also Joseph were virgins their entire lives, and thus James and by extension Jude were cousins.[7]

Outside the book of Jude, a "Jude" is mentioned five times in the New Testament: three times as Jude the Apostle,[8] and twice as Jude the brother of Jesus[9] (aside from references to Judas Iscariot and Judah (son of Jacob)). Debate continues as to whether the author of the epistle is the apostle, the brother of Jesus, both, or neither. Scholars have argued that since the author of the letter has not identified himself as an apostle and also refers to the apostles as a third party, he cannot be identified with Jude the Apostle. Other scholars have drawn the opposite conclusion, which is that, as an apostle, he would not have made a claim of apostleship on his own behalf.[6] Scholars who have defended the authorship of the brother of James as plausible include Richard Bauckham.[10]

A reason to doubt that a relative of Jesus wrote the book is that they are unlikely to have been literate.

Hellenized Jews to master Greek as the author did. Ultimately, it is impossible to know more details of Jude's life for sure. One early Christian tradition states that Jude's grandchildren were brought before Emperor Domitian and interrogated; in the story, they defended themselves as not rebels and mere poor laborers eking out what they could from a single patch of land. While the story is clearly apocryphal – Roman emperors did not generally interrogate Galilean peasants – it does suggest that early Christians remembered Jude's family as lower-class laborers, not literate elites.[12]

If the Jude writing the letter was not Jude the Apostle mentioned in the gospels, then he was possibly an unknown Christian who happened to share the name and coincidentally also had a brother named James. A final possibility is that the epistle is pseudepigrapha – that the author intentionally hinted to readers that it was from the more famous Jude, but only as a false attribution to give the letter more authority.[12][11]

Date

The date of composition is not known, but is loosely speculated to be between the years 50 and 110. Among those who favor the authorship of the Jude mentioned in the gospels, the letter is generally placed before

Bart Ehrman suggests an even later date, in the second half of the second century, due to use of certain terminology in ways similar to the pastoral epistles that was uncommon in the first century.[12]

Content

Jude urges his readers to "contend for the faith" against "certain intruders [who] have stolen in among you."[20] He warns about false teachers who twist the grace of Christ as a pretext for wantonness. Jude asks the reader to recall how even after the Lord saved his own people out of the land of Egypt, he did not hesitate to destroy those who fell into unbelief, much as he punished the angels who fell from their original exalted status and the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah.[21] He also paraphrases (verse 9) an incident apparently from the Assumption of Moses that has since been lost about Satan and Michael the Archangel quarreling over the body of Moses.

Continuing the analogy from Israel's history, he says that the false teachers have followed in the way of Cain, have rushed after reward into the error of Balaam, and have perished in the rebellion of Korach. He describes in vivid terms the opponents he warns of, calling them "clouds without rain", "trees without fruit", "foaming waves of the sea", and "wandering stars".[22] He exhorts believers to remember the words spoken by the Apostles, using language similar to the second epistle of Peter to answer concerns that the Lord seemed to tarry: "In the last time there will be scoffers, indulging their own ungodly lusts,"[23] and to keep themselves in God's love,[24] before delivering a doxology to God.[25]

Jude quotes directly from the Book of Enoch, a widely distributed work among the Old Testament pseudepigrapha, citing a section of 1 Enoch 1:8 that is based on Deuteronomy 33:2.[26][27]

Style and audience

Consisting of just 1 chapter with 25 verses, the Epistle of Jude is among the shortest books of the Bible. (The Epistle to Philemon also contains 25 verses, while the 21-verse Book of Obadiah, the 14-verse 3 John, and the 13-verse 2 John are shorter.)

The wording and syntax of this epistle in its original Greek demonstrates that the author was capable and fluent. The epistle's style is combative, impassioned, and rushed. Many examples of evildoers and warnings about their fates are given in rapid succession.

The epistle concludes with a doxology, which is considered by Peter H. Davids to be one of the highest in quality contained in the Bible.[28]

It may have been composed as an

Jewish Christian main audience that would be familiar with Enochian literature and revere James.[11]

Canonical status

The letter of Jude was one of the disputed books of the

Council of Carthage (c. 397) included the epistle of Jude.[31]

The first historical record of doubts as to authorship are found in the writings of

Saint Jerome wrote in 392 AD that the book was "rejected by many" since it quotes the Book of Enoch.[33]

Surviving early manuscripts

See also: Textual variants in the Epistle of Jude
Papyrus 78, containing the Epistle of Jude verses 4, 5, 7 and 8; it is dated to the 3rd or 4th century
Colophon of the Epistle of Jude in the Codex Alexandrinus

Early manuscripts containing the text of the epistle of Jude include:[34]

Identity of the opponents

The epistle fiercely condemns the opponents it warns of and declares that God will judge and punish them, despite them being a part of the Christian community. However, the exact nature of these opponents has been a continuing interest for both theologians and historians, as the epistle does not describe them in any more detail than calling them corrupt and ungodly. Several theories have been proposed. The most specific verse describing the opponents is verse 8:

In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings.

— Jude 1:8 (NIV)[37]

Reject "authority" (κυριότητα, kyriotēta; alternate translations include "dominion" or "lordship") could mean several things. The most direct would be rejection of civil or ecclesiastical authority: the opponents were ignoring guidance from leaders.

kyriotētes (Dominions), a class of angels.[38] This would fit with the final part of the sentence of "heap abuse on celestial beings", but it is unusual that the singular is used. Versions of Jude vary, and some manuscripts such as the Codex Sinaiticus indeed use the plural form. [39]

"Heap abuse on celestial beings" is also a relevant statement, as it stands in some tension with the works of

Ephesians go even further, with Colossians decrying the alleged worship of angels.[12] A hypothesis is thus that the author may have been attacking forms of Pauline Christianity that were not suitably deferential to angels in their opinion. "Rejecting authority" may be a reference to Paul's preaching that gentiles did not need to comply with Jewish Law. As James was known to be a major figure among Jewish Christians, this might indicate tension between the more Jewish strands of early Christianity represented by James and Jude set against Paul's message to the gentiles.[12]
However, the line about "heap abuse on celestial beings" might have essentially been just another insult, in which case this entire line of thought is rendered moot.

Another hypothesis is that the opponents may have been proto-

Gnostics. This rests on the accusation that the verse 19 that the opponents are "worldly" (psychikoi), a term also used to attack Gnosticism in other literature.[18]

The inherent vagueness of the epistle means that the identities of these opponents may never be known.

Similarity to 2 Peter

Shared passages[41]
2 Peter Jude
1:5 3
1:12 5
2:1 4
2:4 6
2:6 7
2:10–11 8–9
2:12 10
2:13–17 11–13
3:2-3 17-18
3:14 24
3:18 25

Part of Jude is very similar to

2 Peter (mainly 2 Peter chapter 2); so much so that most scholars agree that either one letter used the other directly, or they both drew on a common source.[42] Comparing the Greek text portions of 2 Peter 2:1–3:3 (426 words) to Jude 4–18 (311 words) results in 80 words in common and 7 words of substituted synonyms.[43]

Because this epistle is much shorter than 2 Peter, and due to various stylistic details, some scholars consider Jude the source for the similar passages of 2 Peter.

2 Peter 3:3 as past tense, consider Jude to have come after 2 Peter.[45]

Some scholars who consider Jude to predate 2 Peter note that the latter appears to quote the former but omits the reference to the non-canonical book of Enoch, or apocalyptic Jewish works in general.[18][46]

References to other books

Jude 9 on Codex Sinaiticus (c. 330–360)

The Epistle of Jude references at least three other books, with two (

2 Peter) being canonical in all churches and the other (Book of Enoch
) non-canonical in most churches.

Verse 9 refers to a dispute between

James Charlesworth argues that the Assumption of Moses never contained any such content, and other ancient Church writers supported a different origin.[52]

Verses 14–15 contain a direct quotation of a prophecy from 1 Enoch 1:9. The title "Enoch, the seventh from Adam" is also sourced from 1 En. 60:1.

Enoch as the author of the Book of Enoch which contains the same quotation. An alternative explanation is that Jude quotes the Book of Enoch aware that verses 14–15 are an expansion of the words of Moses from Deuteronomy 33:2.[54][55]

The Book of Enoch is not considered canonical by most churches, although it is by the

Ethiopian Orthodox church. According to Western scholars, the older sections of the Book of Enoch (mainly in the Book of the Watchers) date from about 300 BC and the latest part (Book of Parables) probably was composed at the end of the 1st century BC.[56] 1 Enoch 1:9, mentioned above, is part of the pseudepigrapha and is among the Dead Sea Scrolls [4Q Enoch (4Q204[4QENAR]) COL I 16–18].[57] It is largely accepted by scholars that the author of the Epistle of Jude was familiar with the Book of Enoch and was influenced by it in thought and diction.[58] The reference to fallen angels suggests the possibility the author was familiar with related literature to Enoch such as the Book of Jubilees and 2 Baruch as well.[18]

The epistle also closely mirrors the Epistle of James, with many similar sentences and borrowed phrases.[12]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The book is sometimes called the Letter of Jude, or simply Jude[1] (which is also its most common form of abbreviation).[2]

References

  1. ISBN 978-1-4335-6343-0. Archived
    from the original on June 3, 2021.
  2. ^ "Bible Book Abbreviations". Logos Bible Software. Archived from the original on April 21, 2022. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  3. ^ "Jude wrote the Catholic Epistle, the brother of the sons of Joseph, and very religious, while knowing the near relationship of the Lord, yet did not say that he himself was His brother. But what said he? "Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ,"—of Him as Lord; but "the brother of James." For this is true; he was His brother, (the son) of Joseph."of Alexandria, Clement. Comments on the Epistle of Jude. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  4. ISBN 0-7661-7988-5
    , pp 3–53
  5. ^ Chester, A and Martin, RP (1994), 'The Theology of the Letters of James, Peter and Jude', CUP, p.65
  6. ^ a b c Bauckham 1983, p. 13-16.
  7. Ehrman, Bart (January 3, 2015). "The Virgin Birth and Jesus' Brothers"
    . The Bart Ehrman Blog: The History & Literature of Early Christianity. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  8. ^ Luke 6:16, Acts 1:13, John 14:22
  9. ^ Matthew 13:55, Mark 6:3
  10. ISBN 978-1474230469
    .
  11. ^
    LCCN 63-8221
    .
  12. ^
    ISBN 9780199928033
    .
  13. ^ Historia Ecclesiastica, translated by Arthur Cushman McGiffert. See footnote on p. 203 by McGiffert.
  14. ISBN 9780195377378
    .
  15. ^ Jude 17–18
  16. ^ Jude 3
  17. ^ "Jude". United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Archived from the original on 2011-04-28.
  18. ^ a b c d Perrin, Norman; Duling, Dennis C. (1982) [1974]. The New Testament: An Introduction (Second ed.). Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. pp. 379–381.
  19. ^ Heikki Räisänen, The Rise of Christian Beliefs: The Thought World of Early Christians, p. 66. "The Epistle of Jude is another letter written in the name of a brother of Jesus, perhaps toward the end of the first century. It consists of a vicious attack against some other Christians."
  20. ^ Jude 3–4
  21. ^ Jude 5–7
  22. ^ Jude 8–16
  23. ^ Jude 18
  24. ^ Jude 21
  25. ^ Jude 24–25
  26. ^ intertextual.bible/text/1-enoch-1.9-jude-1.14
  27. ^ Maxwell Davidson Angels at Qumran: A Comparative Study of 1 Enoch 1-36 1992 p32 " ten thousands of holy ones" "this section is modelled in part on Deuteronomy 33 [as noted by J. VanderKam, The Theophany of Enoch 1973 and PD Miller The Divine Warrior in Early Israel 1973] "
  28. ^ Davids, Peter H. (2006). The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Letters of 2 Peter and Jude. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. p. 106.
  29. ^ Bauckham 1983, p. 17 "More remarkable is the evidence that by the end of the second century Jude was widely accepted as canonical."
  30. ISBN 1-4051-1078-3
  31. ^ B. F. Westcott, A General Survey of the History of the Canon of the New Testament (5th ed. Edinburgh, 1881), pp. 440, 541–2.
  32. ISBN 9780520964969
    . ...it must be noted its authenticity is doubted, and that not many of the ancients mention it... Nevertheless, we know that these two, along with the rest, are used publicly in most churches.
  33. ISBN 0-8132-0100-4
    .
  34. ^ Robinson 2017, p. 12.
  35. ISBN 978-0-8028-4098-1
    .
  36. ^ Eberhard Nestle, Erwin Nestle, Barbara Aland and Kurt Aland (eds), Novum Testamentum Graece, 26th edition, (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1991), p. 689.
  37. ^ Jude 1:8
  38. ^
    ISBN 0-943575-87-7
    .
  39. ^ Lewis R. Donelson. I & II Peter and Jude: A Commentary
  40. ^ Hebrews 1
  41. ^ Robinson 2017, p. 10.
  42. ^ Introduction to 2 Peter in Expositor's Bible Commentary, Ed. F. E. Gaebelein, Zondervan 1976–1992
  43. ^ Callan 2004, p. 43.
  44. ^ e.g. Callan 2004, pp. 42–64.
  45. ^ e.g. John MacArthur 1, 2, 3, John Jude 2007 p101 "...closely parallels that of 2 Peter (2:1–3:4), and it is believed that Peter's writing predated Jude for several reasons: (1) Second Peter anticipates the coming of false teachers (2 Peter 2:1–2; 3:3), whereas Jude deals with their arrival (verses 4, 11–12, 17–18); and (2) Jude quotes directly from 2 Peter 3:3 and acknowledges that it is from an apostle (verses 17–18)."
  46. ^ Dale Martin 2009 (lecture). "24. Apocalyptic and Accommodation". Yale University. Accessed July 22, 2013.
  47. ISBN 978-0-310-53025-1
    .
  48. ISBN 978-0-8308-9784-1
    .
  49. ^ "Philip Schaff: ANF04. Fathers of the Third Century: Tertullian, Part Fourth; Minucius Felix; Commodian; Origen, Parts First and Second - Christian Classics Ethereal Library". www.ccel.org.
  50. ^ Reicke 1964, p. 202–203
  51. ^ Johannes Tromp. The Assumption of Moses: a critical edition. p. 270
  52. ^ James Charlesworth Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, p. 76, Google books link
  53. ^ intertextual.bible/text/1-enoch-60.7-jude-1.14
  54. ^ Charles R. Enoch OUP, p. 119
  55. ^ Nickelsburg G. 1 Enoch Fortress
  56. ISBN 0-8028-2416-1
    (2004)
  57. ISBN 978-0-9778737-1-5
  58. Encyclopedia Biblica

Bibliography

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