21
In this verse, Jude told his readers to maintain/keep themselves in God’s love, using the means that he described in verse 20. They were to continue to do this as they waited for the Lord, Jesus Christ, to return so that they could live forever with him.
21a
keep yourselves in the love of God: This clause means “continue to experience God’s love.” It indicates that Jude’s readers should always remember that God loves them. They should live in such a way that they enjoy that knowledge. They should not do anything that would hinder them from experiencing his love or from receiving his blessings. Some ways to translate this are:
maintain yourselves in God’s love.
-or-
keep experiencing God’s love for you.
-or-
always remain in God’s love for you.
keep: Jude frequently used the Greek verb tēreō, which the Berean Standard Bible translates as keep. He used a form of tēreō in 1f, 6a, 6c, 13d (where the Berean Standard Bible translates it as “reserved”), and here in 21a. It was possible for Jude to use one verb in all these contexts in Greek because tēreō could be used in many different ways.
In other languages, including English, it may not be natural or possible to use the same verb in all these contexts. In each context, you should use a verb that expresses the meaning in a natural way.
the love of God: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as love of God in this context probably refers to God’s love for them, rather than to their love for God. (Some English versions indicate this explicitly, including Contemporary English Version, God’s Word, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, New Century Version, New International Version (2011 Revision), New Jerusalem Bible, and New Living Translation (2004 Revision). English versions which are ambiguous are: Berean Standard Bible, King James Version, New American Standard Bible, NET Bible, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, Revised Standard Version, and Good News Translation.). Here is another way to translate this verse part:
Live in such a way that God’s love can bless you. (New Living Translation (2004 Revision))
The phrase love of God is then parallel in meaning to “the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ” in 21c. These two phrases together are similar in meaning to what Jude wrote in 1e and 1f:
loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ:
21b–c
as you await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you eternal life: A literal translation of 21b–c is: “anticipating the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.” It can be difficult in English to show how the ideas in 21b–c are related to each other, and English versions differ in the ways they translate them. It may be easier to understand the meaning if the ideas are expressed in a different order. For example:
21cOur Lord Jesus Christ is merciful to you. Because of his mercy, he will give you eternal life. 21bYou are expecting/waiting-for him to do that.
Below are some ways that English versions have expressed the meaning. Notice that in each version a different idea follows the verb. These ideas are underlined.
as you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy to give you eternal life. (Good News Translation)
-or-
as you wait for the eternal life that our Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy is going to give you. (New Living Translation (2004 Revision))
-or-
as you look forward to the day when our Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy will give you eternal life.
These are not different interpretations. Instead, they are different ways to express the same interpretation in a clear and natural way. Use a natural way to express the idea in your language. (For example, in English, the objects “Jesus Christ” and “the day” are most natural when a form of the verb “wait” is used. The objects “eternal life” and “the day” work well in English with “look forward to.” However, while “the mercy” follows the form of the Greek wording, it is less natural with these verbs in English.)
as you await: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as you await is related to the verb “keep” in Jude 21a. Scholars have different views about exactly how it relates to this verb:
(1) It relates to the time of the verb “keep.” The action of the verb (await) happens at the same time as the action “keep.” For example:
keep…as you wait (Good News Translation)
-or-
maintain…while anticipating (NET Bible)
-or-
Remain…as you look for (God’s Word)
(Berean Standard Bible, Contemporary English Version, God’s Word, King James Version, New American Standard Bible, New Century Version, NET Bible, New International Version (2011 Revision), New Living Translation (2004 Revision), Good News Translation)
(2) It is another command, like the verb “keep.” The waiting was another thing that Jude told his readers to do. For example:
keep…and wait for (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
Keep…and look forward to (Revised English Bible)
(Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, New Jerusalem Bible, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, Revised Standard Version)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), as the majority of the English versions do.
A general comment on 21b–c at the end of these notes for 21b–c gives suggestions for how to relate the parts of 21b–c to each other in a translation.
await:
In the Bible, waiting and anticipation are often associated with the end times, and that is true here. Jude already referred to the end times in verses
6e and 14c–15.) In this context, the Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as await means “expect” or “anticipate.” The English expression await is also used here with that meaning.
the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ: The mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ is the kindness that Jesus would show toward Jude’s readers. He would show this mercy to them specifically by giving them eternal life when he returned.
mercy: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as mercy is also discussed in a note for verse 2.
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. This same phrase is also used in 4f and 17b.
to bring you eternal life: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as to bring you eternal life is literally, “to/for eternal life.” The English versions have supplied a verb, (For example, the Berean Standard Bible supplied to bring. Many English versions supply the verb “give.” (Contemporary English Version, God’s Word, New Century Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New Living Translation (2004 Revision), Revised English Bible, Good News Translation). When considering whether a verb such as “give” should be supplied as implied information, you may wish to make sure that it does not imply that believers do not, in any way, have eternal life during their time on earth, because in one sense they do (John 3:36, John 5:24, and John 6:47).) because it is required in English for the translation to be natural and clear.
eternal life: Here, eternal life is life that never ends. Jesus made eternal life possible by paying the penalty for people’s sins when he suffered and died on the cross. In one sense, Christians receive eternal life when they first believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior. However, in another sense, they will experience it fully only when Jesus returns. Then they will be transformed, and there will no longer be any sin or death.
Here Jude was talking about this time when Jesus returns. (Here eternal life refers specifically to the life without end that believers experience following the resurrection of the dead that will take place when Jesus returns.) It is not recommended that you include such details in your translation.
General Comment on 21b–c
A translator must determine the best way to write about the connection that Jude intended to express between his readers “awaiting,” “Jesus Christ,” “mercy,” and “eternal life.” The ways that English versions have expressed this may not fit your language. Here are some examples of other ways to express the relationship between the parts of 21b–c:
as you wait to be transformed in order to live forever, because our Lord Jesus Christ had mercy on us(incl).
-or-
as you look forward to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then you will enjoy the life that does not end, because he is compassionate toward us(incl).
General Comment on 20–21
In English, this paragraph sounds more natural if its parts are reordered so that the main verb (Berean Standard Bible: “keep”) comes before the verbs of verse 20 (Berean Standard Bible: “building…up” and “praying”). Here are examples of how this might be done:
20a But you, my dear friends, 21a you should maintain yourselves in God’s love. 20b Do this by building your lives upon the foundation of the uniquely holy truths that you believe, 20c and by praying with the Holy Spirit as your guide, 21b as you wait 21cto live forever because of the mercy our Lord Jesus Christ shows us.
-or-
20a My friends, 21a continue to experience God’s love for you. 20b Do this by basing your lives more and more on the most sacred truths you have believed 20c and by praying with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 21b Keep doing this while you wait 21cfor the day when our Lord, Jesus Christ, will return. Then you will live forever, because he had mercy on us.
© 2007 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
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.