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Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) |
INTRODUCTION
AUTHOR.--He calls himself in the address "the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James." See Introduction to the Epistle of James, in proof of James the apostle, and James the Lord's brother, the bishop of Jerusalem, being one and the same person. @Ga 1:19 alone seems to me to prove this. Similarly, Jude the brother of our Lord, and Jude the apostle, seem to be one and the same. JEROME [Against Helvidius], rightly maintains that by the Lord's brethren are meant his cousins, children of Mary and Cleophas (the same as Alphæus). From @1Co 9:5 (as "brethren of the Lord" stands between "other apostles" and "Cephas"), it seems natural to think that the brethren of the Lord are distinguished from the apostles only because all his brethren were not apostles, but only James and Jude. Jude's reason for calling himself "brother of Jesus," was that James, as bishop of Jerusalem, was better known than himself. Had he been, in the strict sense, brother of our Lord, he probably would have so entitled himself. His omission of mention of his apostleship is no proof that he was not an apostle; for so also James omits it in his heading; and Paul, in his Epistles to the Philippians, Thessalonians, and Philemon, omits it. Had the writer been a counterfeiter of the apostle Jude, he would doubtless have called himself an "apostle." He was called also Lebbæus and Thaddeus, probably to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot, the traitor. Lebbæus, from Hebrew "leeb," "heart," means courageous. Thaddeus is the same as Theudas, from Hebrew "thad," the "breast." Luke and John, writing later than Matthew, when there would be no confusion between him and Judas Iscariot, give his name Judas. The only circumstance relating to him recorded in the Gospels occurs in @Joh 14:22, "Judas saith unto Him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that Thou wilt manifest Thyself unto us, and not unto the world?" JEROME [Commentary on Matthew] says that he was sent to Edessa, to Abgarus, king of Osroene, or Edessa, and that he preached in Syria, Arabia, Mesopotamia, and Persia, in which last country he suffered martyrdom. The story is told on EUSEBIUS' authority, that Abgarus, on his sickbed, having heard of Jesus' power to heal, sent to beg Him to come and cure him, to which the Lord replied, praising his faith, that though he had not seen the Saviour, he yet believed; adding, "As for what thou hast written, that I should come to thee, it is necessary that all those things for which I was sent should be fulfilled by Me in this place, and that having filled them I should be received up to Him that sent Me. When, therefore, I shall be received into heaven, I will send unto thee some one of My disciples who shall both heal thy distemper and give life to thee and those with thee." Thomas is accordingly said to have been inspired to send Thaddeus for the cure and baptism of Abgarus. The letters are said to have been shown Thaddeus among the archives of Edessa. It is possible such a message was verbally sent. and the substance of it registered in writing afterwards (compare @2Ki 5:1-27; and @Mt 15:22). HEGESIPPUS (in EUSEBIUS [Ecclesiastical History, 3.20]) states that when Domitian inquired after David's posterity, some grandsons of Jude, called the Lord's brother, were brought into his presence. Being asked as to their possessions, they said that they had thirty-nine acres of the value of nine thousand denarii, out of which they paid him taxes, and lived by the labor of their hands, a proof of which they gave by showing the hardness of their hands. Being interrogated as to Christ and His kingdom, they replied that it was not of this world, but heavenly; and that it would be manifested at the end of the world, when He would come in glory to judge the living and the dead.
AUTHENTICITY.--EUSEBIUS [Ecclesiastical History, 3.25], reckons it among the Antilegomena or controverted Scriptures, "though recognized by the majority." The reference to the contest of Michael, the archangel, with the devil, for the body of Moses, not mentioned elsewhere in the Old Testament, but found in the apocryphal "Book of Enoch," probably raised doubts as to its authenticity, as JEROME [On Illustrious Men, 4] says. Moreover, its not being addressed to one particular Church, or individual, caused it not to be so immediately recognized as canonical. A counterfeiter would have avoided using what did not occur in the Old Testament, and which might be regarded as apocryphal.
As to the book of Enoch, if quoted by Jude, his quotation of a passage from it gives an inspired sanction only to the truth of that passage, not to the whole book; just as Paul, by inspiration, sanctions particular sentiments from ARATUS, EPIMENIDES, and MENANDER, but not all their writings. I think, rather as there is some slight variation between Jude's statement and that of the book of Enoch, that Jude, though probably not ignorant of the book of Enoch, stamps with inspired sanction the current tradition of the Jews as to Enoch's prophecies; just as Paul mentions the names of the Egyptian magicians, "Jannes and Jambres" (@2Ti 3:8), not mentioned in the Old Testament. At all events, the prophecy ascribed to Enoch by Jude was really his, being sanctioned as such by this inspired writer. So also the narration as to the archangel Michael's dispute with Satan concerning the body of Moses, is by Jude's inspired authority (@Jude 1:9) declared true. The book of Enoch is quoted by JUSTIN MARTYR, IRENÆUS, CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA, &c. Bruce, the Abyssinian traveller, brought home three copies of it in Ethiopic, from Alexandria, of which Archbishop Lawrence, in 1821, gave an English translation. The Ethiopic was a version from the Greek, and the Greek doubtless a version from the Hebrew, as the names of the angels in it show. The Apostolic Constitutions, ORIGEN [Against Celsus], JEROME, and AUGUSTINE, pronounce it not canonical. Yet it is in the main edifying, vindicating God's government of the world, natural and spiritual, and contradicting none of the Scripture statements. The name Jesus never occurs, though "Son of man," so often given to Messiah in the Gospels, is frequent, and terms are used expressive of His dignity, character, and acts, exceeding the views of Messiah in any other Jewish book. The writer seems to have been a Jew who had become thoroughly imbued with the sacred writings of Daniel. And, though many coincidences occur between its sentiments and the New Testament, the Messianic portions are not distinct enough to prove that the writer knew the New Testament. Rather, he seems to have immediately preceded Christ's coming, about the time of Herod the Great, and so gives us a most interesting view of believing Jews' opinions before the advent of our Lord. The Trinity is recognized (Enoch 60:13,14). Messiah is "the elect One" existing from eternity (Enoch 48:2,3,5); "All kings shall fall down before Him, and worship and fix their hopes on this Son of man" (Enoch 61:10-13). He is the object of worship (Enoch 48:3,4); He is the supreme Judge (Enoch 60:10,11; 68:38,39). There shall be a future state of retribution (Enoch 93:8,9; 94:2,4; 95; 96; 99; 103); The eternity of future punishment (Enoch 103:5). VOLKMAR, in ALFORD, thinks the book was written at the time of the sedition of Barchochebas (A.D. 132), by a follower of Rabbi Akiba, the upholder of that impostor. This would make the book Antichristian in its origin. If this date be correct, doubtless it copied some things from Jude, giving them the Jewish, not the Christian, coloring.
EUSEBIUS [Demonstration of the Gospel, 3.5] remarks, it accords with John's humility that in Second and Third John he calls himself "the elder." For the same reason James and Jude call themselves "servants of Jesus Christ." CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA [Adumbrations, in Epistle of Jude, p. 1007] says, "Jude, through reverential awe, did not call himself brother, but servant, of Jesus Christ, and brother of James."
TERTULLIAN [On the Apparel of Women, 3] cites the Epistle as that of the apostle James. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA in Miscellanies [3.2.11] quotes @Jude 1:8,17 as Scripture, in The Instructor [3.8.44], @Jude 1:5. The MURATORI fragment asserts its canonicity [ROUTH, Sacred Fragments, 1.306]. ORIGEN [Commentary on Matthew 13:55] says, "Jude wrote an Epistle of few lines, but one filled full of the strong words of heavenly grace." Also, in his Commentary on Matthew 22:23, ORIGEN quotes @Jude 1:6; and on Matthew 18:10, he quotes @Jude 1:1. He calls the writer "Jude the apostle," in the Latin remains of his works (compare DAVIDSON, Introduction to the New Testament, vol. 3, p. 498). JEROME [On Illustrious Men, 4] reckons it among the Scriptures. Though the oldest manuscripts of the Peschito omit it, EPHREM THE SYRIAN recognizes it. WORDSWORTH reasons for its genuineness thus: Jude, we know, died before John, that is, before the beginning of the second century. Now EUSEBIUS [Ecclesiastical History, 3.32] tells us that James was succeeded in the bishopric of Jerusalem by Symeon his brother; and also that Symeon sat in that see till A.D. 107, when as a martyr he was crucified in his hundred twentieth year. We find that the Epistle to Jude was known in the East and West in the second century; it was therefore circulated in Symeon's lifetime. It never would have received currency such as it had, nor would Symeon have permitted a letter bearing the name of an apostle, his own brother Jude, brother of his own apostolical predecessor, James, to have been circulated, if it were not really Jude's.
TO WHOM ADDRESSED.--The references to Old Testament history, @Jude 1:5,7, and to Jewish tradition, @Jude 1:14, &c., make it likely that Jewish Christians are the readers to whom Jude mainly (though including also all Christians, @Jude 1:1) writes, just as the kindred Epistle, Second Peter, is addressed primarily to the same class; compare Introduction to First Peter and Introduction to Second Peter. The persons stigmatized in it were not merely libertines (as ALFORD thinks), though no doubt that was one of their prominent characteristics, but heretics in doctrine, "denying the only Lord God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ." Hence he urges believers "earnestly to contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints" (@Jude 1:3). Insubordination, self-seeking, and licentiousness, the fruit of Antinomian teachings, were the evils against which Jude warns his readers; reminding them that, to build themselves in their most holy faith, and to pray in the Holy Ghost, are the only effectual safeguards. The same evils, along with mocking skepticism, shall characterize the last days before the final judgment, even as in the days when Enoch warned the ungodly of the coming flood. As Peter was in Babylon in writing @1Pe 5:13, and probably also in writing Second Peter (compare Introduction to First Peter and Introduction to Second Peter), Jude addressed his Epistle primarily to the Jewish Christians in and about Mesopotamian Babylon (a place of great resort to the Jews in that day), or else to the Christian Jews dispersed in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia (@1Pe 1:1), the persons addressed by Peter. For Jude is expressly said to have preached in Mesopotamia [JEROME, Commentary on Matthew], and his Epistle, consisting of only twenty-five verses, contains in them no less than eleven passages from Second Peter (see my Introduction to Second Peter for the list). Probably in @Jude 1:4 he witnesses to the fulfilment of Peter's prophecy, "There are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained (rather as Greek, "forewritten," that is, announced beforehand by the apostle Peter's written prophecy) to this condemnation, ungodly men denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ." Compare @2Pe 2:1, "There shall be false teachers among you who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction." Also @Jude 1:17,18 plainly refers to the very words of @2Pe 3:3, "Remember the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus; how they told you there should be mockers in the last time who should walk after their own ungodly lusts." This proves, in opposition to ALFORD, that Jude's Epistle is later than Peter's (whose inspiration he thus confirms, just as Peter confirms Paul's, @2Pe 3:15,16), not vice versa.
TIME AND PLACE OF WRITING.--ALFORD thinks, that, considering Jude was writing to Jews and citing signal instances of divine vengeance, it is very unlikely he would have omitted to allude to the destruction of Jerusalem if he had written after that event which uprooted the Jewish polity and people. He conjectures from the tone and references that the writer lived in Palestine. But as to the former, negative evidence is doubtful; for neither does John allude in his Epistles, written after the destruction of Jerusalem, to that event. MILL fixes on A.D. 90, after the death of all the apostles save John. I incline to think from @Jude 1:17,18 that some time had elapsed since the Second Epistle of Peter (written probably about A.D. 68 or 69) when Jude wrote, and, therefore, that the Epistle of Jude was written after the destruction of Jerusalem.
@Jude 1:1-25. ADDRESS: GREETING: HIS OBJECT IN WRITING: WARNING AGAINST SEDUCERS IN DOCTRINE AND PRACTICE FROM GOD'S VENGENANCE ON APOSTATES, ISRAEL, THE FALLEN ANGELS, SODOM AND GOMORRAH. DESCRIPTION OF THESE BAD MEN, IN CONTRAST TO MICHAEL: LIKE CAIN, BALAAM, AND CORE: ENOCH'S PROPHECY AS TO THEM: THE APOSTLES' FOREWARNING: CONCLUDING EXHORTATION AS TO PRESERVING THEIR OWN FAITH, AND TRYING TO SAVE OTHERS: DOXOLOGY.
1. servant of Jesus Christ--as His minister and apostle.
brother of James--who was more widely known as bishop of Jerusalem
and "brother of the Lord" (that is, either cousin, or stepbrother,
being son of Joseph by a former marriage; for ancient traditions
universally agree that Mary, Jesus' mother, continued perpetually a
virgin). Jude therefore calls himself modestly "brother of James."
See my Introduction.
to them . . . sanctified by God the Father--The oldest
manuscripts and versions, ORIGEN,
LUCIFER, and others read, "beloved" for
sanctified. If English Version be read, compare
@Col 1:12 1Pe 1:2. The Greek is not "by," but "in." God the
Father's love is the element IN which they are "beloved." Thus the
conclusion, @Jude 1:21, corresponds, "Keep yourselves in the
love of God." Compare "beloved of the Lord" @2Th 2:13.
preserved in Jesus Christ--"kept." Translate not "in," but as
Greek, "FOR
Jesus Christ." "Kept continually (so the
Greek perfect participle means) by God the Father for Jesus Christ,"
against the day of His coming. Jude, beforehand, mentions the source and
guarantee for the final accomplishment of believers' salvation; lest
they should be disheartened by the dreadful evils which he proceeds to
announce [BENGEL].
and called--predicated of "them that are beloved in God the
Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ: who are called." God's effectual
calling in the exercise of His divine prerogative, guarantees their
eternal safety.
2. Mercy--in a time of wretchedness. Therefore mercy stands
first; the mercy of Christ (@Jude 1:21).
peace--in the Holy Ghost (@Jude 1:20).
love--of God (@Jude 1:21). The three answer to the divine
Trinity.
be multiplied--in you and towards you.
3. Design of the Epistle (compare @Jude 1:20,21).
all diligence--(@2Pe 1:5). As the minister is to give
all diligence to admonish, so the people should, in accordance with
his admonition, give all diligence to have all Christian graces, and
to make their calling sure.
the common salvation--wrought by Christ. Compare Note,
see on 2Pe 1:1,
"obtained LIKE precious faith," This
community of faith, and of the object of faith, salvation, forms
the ground of mutual exhortation by appeals to common hopes and fears.
it was needful for me--rather, "I felt it necessary to write (now
at once; so the Greek aorist means; the present infinitive
'to write,' which precedes, expresses merely the general fact of
writing) exhorting you." The reason why he felt it necessary "to write
with exhortation," he states, @Jude 1:4, "For there are certain
men crept in," &c. Having intended to write generally of
"the common salvation," he found it necessary from the existing
evils in the Church, to write specially that they should
contend for the faith against those evils.
earnestly contend--Compare @Php 1:27, "striving together for the
faith of the Gospel."
once, &c.--Greek, "once for all delivered." No other faith
or revelation is to supersede it. A strong argument for resisting
heretical innovators (@Jude 1:4). Believers, like Nehemiah's workmen
(@Ne 4:17), with one hand "build themselves up in their most holy
faith"; with the other they" contend earnestly for the faith" against
its foes.
the saints--all Christians, holy (that is, consecrated to
God) by their calling, and in God's design.
4. certain men--implying disparagement.
crept in unawares--stealthily and unlawfully.
See on 2Pe 2:1,
"privily shall bring in damnable heresies."
before . . . ordained--Greek, "forewritten," namely, in Peter's
prophecy @Jude 1:17,18; and in Paul's before that,
@1Ti 4:1 2Ti 3:1; and by implication in the judgments which overtook
the apostate angels. The disobedient Israelites, Sodom and Gomorrah,
Balaam and Core, and which are written "for an example" (@Jude 1:7,
and @Jude 1:5,6,11). God's eternal character as the Punisher of sin,
as set forth in Scripture "of old," is the ground on which such apostate
characters are ordained to condemnation. Scripture is the reflection of
God's book of life in which believers are "written among the living."
"Forewritten" is applied also in @Ro 15:4 to the things written in
Scripture. Scripture itself reflects God's character from everlasting,
which is the ground of His decrees from everlasting.
BENGEL explains it
as an abbreviated phrase for, "They were of old foretold by Enoch
(@Jude 1:14, who did not write his prophecies), and afterwards
marked out by the written word."
to this condemnation--Jude graphically puts their judgment as it
were present before the eyes, "THIS." Enoch's prophecy comprises the
"ungodly men" of the last days before Christ's coming to judgment, as
well as their forerunners, the "ungodly men" before the flood, the type
of the last judgment (@Mt 24:37-39 2Pe 3:3-7). The disposition and
the doom of both correspond.
the grace of our God--A phrase for the Gospel especially sweet to
believers who appropriate God in Christ as "our God," and so rendering
the more odious the vile perversity of those who turn the Gospel state
of grace and liberty into a ground of licentiousness, as if their
exemption from the law gave them a license to sin.
denying the only Lord--The oldest manuscripts, versions, and Fathers
omit "God," which follows in English Version. Translate as the
Greek, "the only Master"; here used of Jesus Christ, who is at
once Master and "Lord" (a different Greek word).
See on 2Pe 2:1.
By virtue of Christ's perfect oneness with the
Father, He, as well as the Father, is termed "the ONLY" God and
"MASTER." Greek, "Master," implies God's
absolute ownership to dispose of His creatures as He likes.
5. (@Heb 3:16 4:13.)
therefore--Other oldest manuscripts and Vulgate read, "But"; in
contrast to the ungodly @Jude 1:4.
though ye once--rather, "once for all." Translate, "I wish to remind
you, as knowing ALL (namely, that I am referring to; so the
oldest manuscripts, versions, and Fathers) once for all." As already they know all the facts once for all, he needs only to "remind"
them.
the Lord--The oldest manuscripts and versions read, "Jesus." So
"Christ" is said to have accompanied the Israelites in the wilderness;
so perfectly is Jesus one with the God of the Israelite theocracy.
saved--brought safely, and into a state of safety and salvation.
afterward--Greek, "secondly"; in the next instance
"destroyed them that believed not," as contrasted with His
in the first instance having saved them.
6. (@2Pe 2:4.)
kept not their first estate--Vulgate translates, "their own
principality," which the fact of angels being elsewhere called
"principalities," favors: "their own" implies that, instead of being
content with the dignity once for all assigned to them under the Son
of God, they aspired higher. ALFORD
thinks the narrative in @Ge 6:2
is alluded to, not the fall of the devil and his angels, as he thinks
"giving themselves over to fornication" (@Jude 1:7) proves; compare
Greek, "in like manner to these," namely, to the angels
(@Jude 1:6). It seems to me more natural to take "sons of God"
(@Ge 6:2) of the Sethites, than of angels, who, as "spirits," do not
seem capable of carnal connection. The parallel, @2Pe 2:4, plainly
refers to the fall of the apostate angels. And "in like manner
to these," @Jude 1:7, refers to
the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, "the cities about them"
sinning "in like manner" as "they" did [ESTIUS and
CALVIN]. Even if
Greek "these," @Jude 1:7, refer to the angels, the sense of
"in like manner as these" will be, not that the angels carnally
fornicated with the daughters of men, but that their ambition,
whereby their affections went away from God and they fell, is in
God's view a sin of like kind spiritually as Sodom's going away from
God's order of nature after strange flesh; the sin of the apostate
angels after their kind is analogous to that of the human Sodomites
after their kind. Compare the somewhat similar spiritual connection of
whoremongers and covetousness. The apocryphal book of Enoch
interprets @Ge 6:2 as ALFORD. But though Jude accords with it in
some particulars, it does not follow that he accords with it in all.
The Hebrews name the fallen angels Aza and Azael.
left--on their own accord.
their own--Greek, "their proper."
habitation--heaven, all bright and glorious, as opposed to the
"darkness" to which they now are doomed. Their ambitious designs
seem to have had a peculiar connection with this earth, of which Satan
before his fall may have been God's vicegerent, whence arises his
subsequent connection with it as first the Tempter, then "the prince of
this world."
reserved--As the Greek is the same, and there is an evident
reference to their having "kept not their first estate,"
translate, "He hath kept." Probably what is meant is, He hath kept them
in His purpose; that is their sure doom; moreover, as yet, Satan and
his demons roam at large on the earth. An earnest of their doom is their
having been cast out of heaven, being already restricted to "the
darkness of this present world," the "air" that surrounds the earth,
their peculiar element now. They lurk in places of gloom and death,
looking forward with agonizing fear to their final torment in the
bottomless pit. He means not literal chains and darkness, but figurative
in this present world where, with restricted powers and liberties, shut
out from heaven, they, like condemned prisoners, await their doom.
7. Even as--ALFORD translates, "I wish to remind you (@Jude 1:5)
that."
Sodom, &c.--(@2Pe 2:6).
giving themselves over to fornication--following fornication
extraordinarily, that is, out of the order of nature. On "in
like manner to them" (Greek), compare Note,
see on Jude 1:6.
Compare on spiritual fornication, "go a
whoring from thee," @Ps 73:27.
going after strange flesh--departing from the course of nature, and
going after that which is unnatural. In later times the most
enlightened heathen nations indulged in the sin of Sodom without
compunction or shame.
are set forth--before our eyes.
suffering--undergoing to this present time; alluding to the marks
of volcanic fire about the Dead Sea.
the vengeance--Greek, "righteous retribution."
eternal fire--The lasting marks of the fire that consumed the cities
irreparably, is a type of the eternal fire to which the inhabitants have
been consigned. BENGEL translates as the Greek will admit,
"Suffering (the) punishment (which they endure) as an
example or sample of eternal fire (namely, that which shall consume
the wicked)." @Eze 16:53-55 shows that Sodom's punishment, as a nation,
is not eternal. Compare also @2Pe 2:6.
8. also--rather, "In like manner nevertheless" (notwithstanding these
warning examples) [ALFORD].
these . . . dreamers--The Greek has not "filthy" of
English Version. The clause, "these men dreaming" (that is, in their
dreams), belongs to all the verbs, "defile," "despise," and "speak
evil." All sinners are spiritually asleep, and their carnal activity is
as it were a dream (@1Th 5:6,7). Their speaking evil of dignities is because they are dreaming, and
know not what they are speaking evil of (@Jude 1:10). "As a man
dreaming seems to himself to be seeing and nearing many things, so the
natural man's lusts are agitated by joy, distress, fear, and the other
passions. But he is a stranger to self-command. Hence, though he bring
into play all the powers of reason, he cannot conceive the true liberty
which the sons of light, who are awake and in the daylight; enjoy"
[BENGEL].
defile the flesh--(@Jude 1:7).
dominion--"lordship."
dignities--literally, "glories." Earthly and heavenly dignities.
9. Michael, the archangel--Nowhere in Scripture is the plural used,
"archangels"; but only ONE, "archangel." The only other passage in the
New Testament where it occurs, is @1Th 4:16, where Christ is
distinguished from the archangel, with whose voice He shall descend to
raise the dead; they therefore err who confound Christ with Michael. The
name means, Who is like God? In @Da 10:13 he is called "One
('the first,' Margin) of the chief princes." He is the champion
angel of Israel. In @Re 12:7 the conflict between Michael and Satan
is again alluded to.
about the body of Moses--his literal body. Satan, as having the
power of death, opposed the raising of it again, on the ground of Moses'
sin at Meribah, and his murder of the Egyptian. That Moses' body was
raised, appears from his presence with Elijah and Jesus (who were in the
body) at the Transfiguration: the sample and earnest of the coming
resurrection kingdom, to be ushered in by Michael's standing up for
God's people. Thus in each dispensation a sample and pledge of the
future resurrection was given: Enoch in the patriarchal dispensation,
Moses in the Levitical, Elijah in the prophetical. It is noteworthy that
the same rebuke is recorded here as was used by the Angel of the Lord,
or Jehovah the Second Person, in pleading for Joshua, the representative
of the Jewish Church, against Satan, in @Zec 3:2; whence some have
thought that also here "the body of Moses" means the Jewish Church
accused by Satan, before God, for its filthiness, on which ground he
demands that divine justice should take its course against Israel, but
is rebuked by the Lord who has "chosen Jerusalem": thus, as "the body of
Christ" is the Christian Church, so "the body of Moses" is the
Jewish Church. But the literal body is evidently here meant (though,
secondarily, the Jewish Church is typified by Moses' body, as it was
there represented by Joshua the high priest); and Michael, whose
connection seems to be so close with Jehovah-Messiah on the one hand,
and with Israel on the other, naturally uses the same language as his
Lord. As Satan (adversary in court) or the devil (accuser)
accuses alike the Church collectively and "the brethren" individually,
so Christ pleads for us as our Advocate. Israel's, and all believers'
full justification, and the accuser's being rebuked finally, is yet
future. JOSEPHUS
[Antiquities,4.8], states that God hid Moses' body,
lest, if it had been exposed to view, it would have been made an idol
of. Jude, in this account, either adopts it from the apocryphal
"assumption of Moses" (as ORIGEN
[Concerning Principalities, 3.2]
thinks), or else from the ancient tradition on which that work was
founded. Jude, as inspired, could distinguish how much of the
tradition was true, how much false. We have no such means of
distinguishing, and therefore can be sure of no tradition, save that
which is in the written word.
durst not--from reverence for Satan's former dignity
(@Jude 1:8).
railing accusation--Greek, "judgment of blasphemy," or
evil-speaking. Peter said, Angels do not, in order to avenge
themselves, rail at dignities, though ungodly, when they have to contend
with them: Jude says that the archangel Michael himself did not rail
even at the time when he fought with the devil, the prince of evil
spirits--not from fear of him, but from reverence of God, whose
delegated power in this world Satan once had, and even in some degree
still has. From the word "disputed," or debated in controversy, it
is plain it was a judicial contest.
10. (@2Pe 2:12.)
those things which--Greek, "all things whatsoever they
understand not," namely, the things of the spiritual world.
but what . . . naturally--Connect thus, "Whatever
(so the Greek) things naturally (by natural, blind instinct), as the
unreasoning (so the Greek) animals, they know," &c. The Greek for the former "know" implies deeper knowledge; the latter "know," the
mere perception of the "animal senses and faculties."
11. Woe--See on 2Pe 2:14,
"cursed children."
Cain--the murderer: the root of whose sin was hatred and envy of the
godly, as it is the sin of these seducers.
ran greedily--literally, "have been poured forth" like a torrent that
has burst its banks. Reckless of what it costs, the loss of God's favor
and heaven, on they rush after gain like Balaam.
perished in the gainsaying of Core--(compare Note,
see on Jude 1:12).
When we read of Korah perishing by
gainsaying, we read virtually also of these perishing in like manner
through the same: for the same seed bears the same harvest.
12. spots--So @2Pe 2:13, Greek, "spiloi"; but here the
Greek is spilades, which elsewhere, in secular writers, means
rocks, namely, on which the Christian love-feasts were in danger
of being shipwrecked. The oldest manuscript prefixes the article
emphatically, "THE
rocks." The reference to "clouds . . . winds . . .
waves of the sea," accords with this image of rocks. Vulgate seems
to have been misled by the similar sounding word to translate, as
English Version, "spots"; compare however, @Jude 1:23, which
favors English Version, if the Greek will bear it. Two oldest
manuscripts, by the transcriber's effort to make Jude say the same as
Peter, read here "deceivings" for "love-feasts," but the weightiest
manuscript and authorities support English Version reading. The
love-feast accompanied the Lord's Supper (@1Co 11:17-34, end). Korah
the Levite, not satisfied with his ministry, aspired to the
sacrificing priesthood also: so ministers in the Lord's Supper have
sought to make it a sacrifice, and themselves the sacrificing priests, usurping the function of our only Christian sacerdotal
Priest, Christ Jesus. Let them beware of Korah's doom!
feeding themselves--Greek, "pasturing (tending) themselves."
What they look to is the pampering of themselves, not the feeding of
the flock.
without fear--Join these words not as English Version, but with
"feast." Sacred feasts especially ought to be celebrated with fear. Feasting is not faulty in itself
[BENGEL], but it needs to be
accompanied with fear of forgetting God, as Job in the case of his
sons' feasts.
clouds--from which one would expect refreshing rains. @2Pe 2:17,
"wells without water." Professors without practice.
carried about--The oldest manuscripts have "carried aside," that is,
out of the right course (compare @Eph 4:14).
trees whose fruit withereth--rather, "trees of the late (or waning)
autumn," namely, when there are no longer leaves or fruits on the trees
[BENGEL].
without fruit--having no good fruit of knowledge and practice;
sometimes used of what is positively bad.
twice dead--First when they cast their leaves in autumn, and seem
during winter dead, but revive again in spring; secondly, when they
are "plucked up by the roots." So these apostates, once dead in
unbelief, and then by profession and baptism raised from the death of
sin to the life of righteousness, but now having become dead again by apostasy, and so hopelessly dead. There is a climax. Not only
without leaves, like trees in late autumn, but without fruit: not only so, but dead twice; and to crown all, "plucked up by the
roots."
13. Raging--wild. Jude has in mind @Isa 57:20.
shame--plural in Greek, "shames" (compare @Php 3:19).
wandering stars--instead of moving on in a regular orbit, as lights
to the world, bursting forth on the world like erratic comets, or
rather, meteors of fire, with a strange glare, and then doomed to fall
back again into the blackness of gloom.
14. See Introduction
on the source whence
Jude derived this prophecy of Enoch. The Holy Spirit, by Jude, has
sealed the truth of this much of the matter contained in the book of
Enoch, though probably that book, as well as Jude, derived it from
tradition (compare Note,
see on Jude 1:9). There are reasons
given by some for thinking the book of Enoch copied from Jude rather
than vice versa. It is striking how, from the first, prophecy hastened
towards its consummation. The earliest prophecies of the Redeemer dwell
on His second coming in glory, rather than His first coming in lowliness
(compare @Ge 3:15 with @Ro 16:20). Enoch, in his translation
without death, illustrated that truth which he all his life preached to
the unbelieving world, the certainty of the Lord's coming, and the
resurrection of the dead, as the only effectual antidote to their
skepticism and self-wise confidence in nature's permanence.
And Enoch--Greek, "Moreover, also Enoch," &c.
seventh from Adam--Seven is the sacred number. In Enoch, freedom
from death and the sacred number are combined: for every seventh object
is most highly valued. Jude thus shows the antiquity of the prophecies.
Compare Note,
see on Jude 1:4, "of old." There were
only five fathers between Enoch and Adam. The seventh from Adam
prophesied the things which shall close the seventh age of the world
[BENGEL].
of these--in relation to these. The reference of his prophecies was
not to the antediluvians alone, but to all the ungodly
(@Jude 1:15). His prophecy applied primarily indeed to the flood, but
ultimately to the final judgment.
cometh--literally, "came." Prophecy regards the future as certain as
if it were past.
saints--Holy angels (compare
@De 33:2 Da 7:10 Zec 14:5 Mt 25:31 Heb 12:22).
15. This verse and the beginning of Enoch's prophecy is composed in
Hebrew poetic parallelism, the oldest specimen extant. Some think
Lamech's speech, which is also in poetic parallelism, was composed in
mockery of Enoch's prophecy: as Enoch foretold Jehovah's coming to
judgment, so Lamech presumes on impunity in polygamy and murder (just as
Cain the murderer seemed to escape with impunity).
convince--convict.
hard speeches--such as are noticed in
@Jude 1:8,10,16 Mal 3:13,14; contrast @Ro 16:17.
ungodly sinners--not merely sinners, but proud
despisers of God: impious.
against him--They who speak against God's children are regarded by
God as speaking against Himself.
16. murmurers--in secret: muttering murmurs against God's
ordinances and ministers in Church and state. Compare @Jude 1:8,
"speak evil of dignities"; @Jude 1:15, "hard speeches"; against the
Lord.
complainers--never satisfied with their lot (@Nu 11:1; compare
the penalty, @De 28:47,48).
walking after their own lusts--(@Jude 1:18). The secret of their
murmuring and complaining is the restless insatiability of their
desires.
great swelling words--(@2Pe 2:18).
men's persons--their mere outward appearance and rank.
because of advantage--for the sake of what they may gain from them.
While they talk great swelling words, they are really mean and
fawning towards those of wealth and rank.
17. But; beloved . . . ye--in contrast to those reprobates,
@Jude 1:20, again.
remember--implying that his readers had been contemporaries of the
apostles. For Peter uses the very same formula in reminding the
contemporaries of himself and the other apostles.
spoken before--spoken already before now.
the apostles--Peter
(see on 2Pe 3:2,3),
and Paul before Peter
(@Ac 20:29 1Ti 4:1 2Ti 3:1). Jude does not exclude himself from the
number of the apostles here, for in @Jude 1:18, immediately
after, he says, "they told You," not us (rather as Greek, "used
to tell you" implying that Jude's readers were contemporaries of the
apostles, who used to tell them).
18. mockers--In the parallel, @2Pe 3:3, the same Greek is
translated, "scoffers." The word is found nowhere else in the New
Testament. How ALFORD can deny that @2Pe 3:2,3 is referred to (at
least in part), I cannot imagine, seeing that Jude quotes the very words
of Peter as the words which the apostles used to speak to his
(Jude's) readers.
walk after their own ungodly lusts--literally, "after (according
to) their own lusts of ungodliness."
19. These be they--showing that their characters are such as Peter
and Paul had foretold.
separate themselves--from Church communion in its vital, spiritual
reality: for outwardly they took part in Church ordinances
(@Jude 1:12). Some oldest manuscripts omit "themselves": then
understand it, "separate," cast out members of the Church by
excommunication (@Isa 65:5 66:5 Lu 6:22 Joh 9:34; compare "casteth
them out of the Church;" @3Jo 1:10). Many, however, understand
"themselves," which indeed is read in some of the oldest manuscripts as
English Version has it. Arrogant setting up of themselves, as
having greater sanctity and a wisdom and peculiar doctrine, distinct
from others, is implied.
sensual--literally, "animal-souled": as opposed to the spiritual, or "having the Spirit." It is translated, "the natural man,"
@1Co 2:14. In the threefold division of man's being,
body, soul, and spirit, the due state in God's design is, that "the
spirit," which is the recipient of the Holy Spirit uniting man to God,
should be first, and should rule the soul, which stands intermediate
between the body and spirit: but in the animal, or natural man, the spirit is sunk into subserviency to the animal soul, which is
earthly in its motives and aims. The "carnal" sink somewhat lower, for
in these the flesh, the lowest element and corrupt side of man's
bodily nature, reigns paramount.
having not the Spirit--In the animal and natural man the spirit, his higher part, which ought to be the receiver of the Holy Spirit, is
not so; and therefore, his spirit not being in its normal state, he is
said not to have the spirit (compare @Joh 3:5,6). In the
completion of redemption the parts of redeemed man shall be placed in
their due relation: whereas in the ungodly, the soul severed from
the spirit shall have for ever animal life without union to God and
heaven--a living death.
20. Resuming @Jude 1:17.
building up yourselves--the opposite to the "separate themselves"
(@Jude 1:19):as "in the Holy Ghost" is opposed to "having not the
Spirit."
on--as on a foundation. Building on
THE FAITH is equivalent
to building on Christ, the object of faith.
praying in the Holy Ghost--(@Ro 8:26 Eph 6:18). The Holy Spirit
teaches what we are to pray for, and how. None can pray aright
save by being in the Spirit, that is, in the element of His
influence. CHRYSOSTOM states that, among the charisms bestowed at the
beginning of the New Testament dispensation, was the gift of prayer, bestowed on someone who prayed in the name of the rest, and taught
others to pray. Moreover, their prayers so conceived and often used,
were received and preserved among Christians, and out of them forms of
prayer were framed. Such is the origin of liturgies [HAMMOND].
21. In @Jude 1:20,21, Jude combines the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Ghost: and faith, hope, and love.
Keep yourselves--not in your own strength, but "in the love of God,"
that is, God's love to you and all His believing children, the only
guarantee for their being kept safe. Man's need of watching is
implied; at the same time he cannot keep himself, unless God in His
love keep him.
looking for--in hope.
the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ--to be fully manifested at His
coming. Mercy is usually attributed to the Father: here to the Son;
so entirely one are they.
22, 23. None but those who "keep themselves" are likely to "save"
others.
have compassion--So one oldest manuscript reads. But two oldest
manuscripts, Vulgate, &c., read, "convict"; "reprove to their
conviction"; "confute, so as to convince."
making a difference--The oldest manuscripts and versions read the
accusative for the nominative, "when separating themselves" [WAHL],
referring to @Jude 1:19; or "when contending with you," as the
Greek is translated, @Jude 1:9.
23. save with fear--The oldest manuscripts do not read "with fear"
in this position: but after "snatching them out of the fire" (with
which, compare @Am 4:11 1Co 3:15 Zec 3:2, said of a most narrow
escape), they add the following words, forming a THIRD class, "and
others compassionate with (IN) fear." Three kinds of patients require
three kinds of medical treatment. Ministers and Christians are said to
"save" those whom they are made the instruments of saving; the Greek for "save" is present, therefore meaning "try to save." Jude already
(@Jude 1:9) had reference to the same passage (@Zec 3:1-3). The
three classes are: (1) those who contend with you (accusative case
in oldest manuscripts), whom you should convict; (2) those who are
as brands already in the fire, of which hell-fire is the consummation:
these you should try to save by snatching them out; (3) those who
are objects of compassion, whom accordingly you should
compassionate (and help if occasion should offer), but at the same
time not let pity degenerate into connivance at their error. Your
compassion is to be accompanied "with fear" of being at all defiled by
them.
hating--Even hatred has its legitimate field of exercise. Sin is
the only thing which God hates: so ought we.
even the garment--a proverbial phrase: avoiding the most remote
contact with sin, and hating that which borders on it. As garments of the apostles wrought miracles of good in healing, so the very
garment of sinners metaphorically, that is, anything brought into
contact with their pollution, is to be avoided. Compare as to lepers and
other persons defiled, @Le 13:52-57 15:4-17: the garments were held
polluted; and anyone touching them was excluded, until purified, from
religious and civil communion with the sanctified people of Israel.
Christians who received at baptism the white garment in token of purity,
are not to defile it by any approach to what is defiled.
24, 25. Concluding doxology.
Now--Greek, "But."
you--ALFORD, on inferior authority, reads, "them." You is in
contradistinction to those ungodly men mentioned above.
keep . . . from falling--rather, "guard . . . (so as to be)
without falling," or stumbling.
faultless--Greek, "blameless."
before the presence of his glory--that is, before Himself, when
He shall be revealed in glory.
with exceeding joy--literally, "with exultation" as of those who
leap for joy.
25. To the only . . . God our Saviour--The oldest manuscripts add,
"through Jesus Christ our Lord." The transcribers, fancying that
"Saviour" applied to Christ alone, omitted the words. The sense is, To
the only God (the Father) who is our Saviour through
(that is, by the mediation of) Jesus Christ our Lord.
dominion--Greek, "might."
power--authority: legitimate power. The oldest manuscripts and
Vulgate, after "power," have "before all the age," that is, before
all time as to the past: "and now," as to the present; "and to all
the ages," that is, for ever, as to the time to come.
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Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) |
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