Paragraph 17–19

In this paragraph, Jude used the text-application style (The style he used was the “midrash” style, which was sometimes used by Jewish rabbis (see the Introduction for these Notes). This midrash has a text-application pair. The text (18b–d) was a prophecy taught by the apostles of Jesus Christ. In verse 19, Jude applied this prophecy to the situation that Jude’s readers faced.) again for the last time in his letter. (This is the last midrash of the letter.) (See Section 5–19 for more explanation of this style.) In verses 17–18 he reminded his readers of a prophecy which the apostles of Jesus Christ had made. They had prophesied that there would be scoffers who would follow their own evil desires. In verse 19, Jude applied this prophecy to the fake Christians who were causing trouble in their church.

This paragraph 17–19 provides a transition from Section 5–19 to Section 20–23. (Jude began both paragraph 17–19 and the first paragraph of the next section (paragraph 20–21) by addressing his readers with exactly the same Greek words, literally, “But you, beloved.”)

17a

But you, beloved, remember: Jude used this phrase to mark the text in 18b–d as being more important (Possible reasons why Jude marked this midrash (text-application) text as being more important include:(a) because it was the last midrash text in his letter.(b) because it was the only text he cited from a Christian source.) than the other texts (This refers to the text portions of the midrash text-application pairs in this Section 5–19.) in the text-application pairs that preceded it in the letter. He indicated its importance in several ways:

(a) He used an emphatic pronoun, you.

(b) He addressed his readers directly with the expression, beloved.

(c) He used an imperative verb. Jude told them to remember.

But: The Greek word de that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as But shows that this paragraph contrasts with the paragraphs that precede it.

beloved: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as beloved was also used in 3a and later at 20a. This was a normal way for Jude to address Christian friends whom he loved. See the note on 3a.

Languages differ in the most natural placement for a direct address. In some languages it may be most natural to begin the sentence with a direct address like this. In other languages, it is natural to put the direct address after the verb. In your translation, look for the position that is most natural for your language.

remember: Jude told (Jude used an imperative verb form here, whereas he used a less directive form (aorist infinitive) in 5a. A literal translation of the Greek phrase that Jude wrote in 5a is “I want to remind you.”) his readers to remember/recall a prophecy with which they were already familiar.

17b

what was foretold by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: We do not know how Jude’s readers knew about this prophecy. They themselves may have heard the apostles speak it, or someone else may have reported it to them. The only other verse in the New Testament that this prophecy is mentioned is in the parallel passage in 2 Peter 3:3.

foretold: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as foretold is literally “spoken before.” It indicates here that the apostles predicted what was going to happen. This can also be translated as:

what the apostles…prophesied
-or-
the predictions of the apostles (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
what the apostles…said would happen
-or-
what the apostles…told you to expect (God’s Word)

apostles: Jude probably referred here to men whom Jesus himself chose to be his apostles. This would include the twelve apostles whom Jesus chose while he was still on earth, and it might possibly include the apostle Paul.

our Lord Jesus Christ: Jude used the phrase our Lord Jesus Christ to indicate the relationship that he and his readers had with their master, Jesus Christ.

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.