25a

to the only God our Savior: Here Jude affirmed that there is only one God, that he is the only true God, and that God is our Savior.

our Savior: It was common in the Old Testament to speak about God as Savior. God saves (rescues) his people from many types of danger or harm.

In the New Testament this word usually refers to the salvation which God provided through Jesus. This is the way that Jude used it in this verse. Through Jesus Christ, God saved people from being slaves to their sins and from eternal punishment and separation from God. Other ways to say this are:

our rescuer
-or-
our deliverer

Savior: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Savior has the same root as the one that was translated “salvation” in 3c. This is the same Greek word that the Bible often uses to talk about Jesus.

25b

be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority: The Greek text of Jude 25 has no verb. However, in English and some other languages, it is necessary to supply a verb. There are two ways to interpret the meaning of the Greek text here:

(1) Jude was giving praise to God by stating what God is like. So, glory, majesty, dominion, and authority are attributes of God. In English, this idea can be expressed by a verb like “belong” or “are.” For example:

glory, majesty, power, and authority belong to him. (New Living Translation (2004 Revision))

(2) Jude was expressing as a type of prayer or desire for God to receive glory, majesty, dominion, and authority. For example:

To him be glory, greatness, power, and authority. (New Century Version)

It is difficult to determine which interpretation English versions follow only by the verb that is used. It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). Jude was praising God by describing what he is like.

glory: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as glory is another form of the word that was translated as “glorious” in 24b. In both places it refers to God’s splendor and excellence. Everything about God is the best. He is so splendid and great that nothing can even be compared to him. Sometimes the glory of God is described as the bright light that is part of his splendor.

majesty: This refers to God’s greatness as the king. There is no greater ruler. If your language has a word or phrase that describes the splendor or greatness of an earthly king or chief, you may be able to use it here.

dominion: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as dominion refers to the fact that God is able to do whatever he wants. God is able to accomplish all his perfect plans. In this context, the word does not refer to physical power or strength.

authority: The meaning of the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as authority is related to the word translated “dominion.” Here, authority refers to God’s right to rule as the absolute sovereign. He is the rightful ruler of everyone and everything.

25c

through Jesus Christ our Lord: Scholars have different opinions concerning how this phrase relates to the other parts of this verse. Two possibilities are:

(1) It connects with “our Savior” in 25a. Jesus Christ is the agent/person through whom God saved us. God is our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. For example:

^25ato the only God, our Savior ^25cthrough Jesus Christ our Lord, (Revised Standard Version)

(2) It connects with the list of God’s attributes in 25b, that is, “glory, majesty, dominion, and authority.” For example:

^25ato the only God our Saviour, ^25b…glory and majesty, power and authority, ^25cthrough Jesus Christ our Lord, (Revised English Bible)

Many English versions are ambiguous on this issue. It is impossible to determine which interpretation they follow, based only on the order of phrases. It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), which fits best with the meaning of each part of the doxology.

Jesus Christ our Lord: This has the same meaning as the similar phrase “our Lord Jesus Christ.” See the notes on 17b and 21b–c.

25d

In the Greek text of Jude 25, this verse part follows 25b. The attributes of God listed there, “glory, majesty, dominion, and authority,” belonged to God for all time. They were his “before all time,” and they belong to him “now, and for all eternity.”

before all time, and now, and for all eternity: The Greek expressions that the Berean Standard Bible translates as before all time, and now, and for all eternity refer to time. They work together to communicate one idea: The attributes in 25b always have belonged to God and always will.

In the notes below, definitions are given for each of these expressions of time. However, in many languages it is not necessary to translate each expression separately to communicate the idea. Look for the most natural way in your language to communicate the meaning. Your translation does not have to follow the form of the Greek text. Examples include:

from the start of time until today and until the end of time
-or-
from the very beginning to the very end
-or-
It has always been so, and it always will be so.
-or-
always and forever

before all time: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as before all time is literally “before all the time/eternity.” This means before time even began. Some ways to say this include:

before all ages
-or-
before time began/was
-or-
before God created anything

now: This means more than just “today.” It refers to the passing of time in this present age, including the time now.

for all eternity: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as for all eternity is literally “into all the ages,” and it means “forevermore, never to end.”

Amen: This word occurs over one hundred times in the New Testament, so you have probably seen it before. It may be familiar to your readers from the Bible version in your national language, or your people may use it to end prayers. If this is so, it is recommended that you use that familiar term here.

However, you may decide to use an expression from your own language to translate the meaning. Some ways to express the meaning in English are:

Truly!
-or-
Indeed!
-or-
So it shall be.

General Comment on 24–25

In some languages, it may be necessary or more natural to identify God as “the only God” at the beginning of this paragraph. In addition, it may be clearer if you reorder other parts of this paragraph. For example:

^25aThe only God ^24ais the one who is able to keep you from falling, ^24band he is able to make you innocent and joyful when he brings you to stand before him in his glory. ^25aHe has saved us ^25cthrough our Lord, Jesus Christ. ^25bGlory, majesty, power, and authority were his ^25dsince before time began, are still his now, and will be his forever. Amen.

1:1a

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ: In an ancient Greek letter, it was normal for the writer to mention his own name first. So James began this letter with his own name. However, in some languages, starting with James’ name will not make it clear that James was the writer of the letter. It may be necessary to say this explicitly. For example:

This letter is from James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. (New Living Translation (2004 Revision))

In some languages, it is not usual for a person to talk about himself in the third person. In these languages, it may be necessary to say:

I, James, am writing this letter. I am a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
-or-
I am James. I am writing this letter to you. I am a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

James: James was one of Jesus’ younger brothers. He was also one of the leaders of the church in Jerusalem. He is mentioned in Matthew 13:55, Mark 6:3, and various other places in the NT. It is important to spell the name James the same way here as you did in those passages.

For more information about James, see the section called “The person who wrote the letter” in the Introduction.

a servant of God: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as servant also means “slave.” This normally refers to someone who was owned by another person. He worked for his owner without receiving pay.

The phrase servant of God (or more often “servant of the Lord”) is often used figuratively in the Old Testament to describe the relationship that God’s people have to him, their master. It refers to someone who submits to God, serves God, and is devoted and loyal to God.

People often despised servants or slaves. But when someone called himself a servant of God, as James did here, he was not ashamed of it. If you have more than one word to describe servants or slaves, choose the one that is most appropriate to be used in this positive sense that describes a believer’s relationship to God.

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

a slave of God (New Living Translation (2004 Revision))
-or-
a worker of/for God

In some languages, it will be best to translate the word servant as a verb. For example:

I serve God
-or-
belong to God
-or-
submit to God

and of the Lord Jesus Christ: James also called himself a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Lord: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Lord means someone who has authority over someone or something. Here it is a title that identifies Jesus as God, the one who has supreme authority.

Some other ways to translate Lord are:

Master
-or-
Owner
-or-
supreme Chief/Leader

In some languages, it may be necessary to add a word like “our” before Lord. For example:

our Master/Chief

Christ: The word Christ is sometimes used as a title and sometimes as a name. Even when it is used as a name, it has the same meaning that it has as a title. Here in James, the word Christ probably functions as a title more than as a name. (This is based on the position taken in these Notes that James addressed this letter to Jewish Christians for whom the title “Christ” (or “Messiah”) would have had significant meaning. It is also based on an assumed early date for the book of James (sometime between AD 50 and AD 62), a time before “Christ” came to be established as a name. See, for example, McCartney, page 79, and the Translator’s Handbook, page 8, (which agrees that “Christ” would have been a title to early Christians of Jewish background though the Handbook takes the position that James wrote to Christians in general, Jewish and Gentile alike).)

The title Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word “Messiah.” The Jews used this title to refer to the person whom God had appointed and promised to send as king and savior.

Some ways to translate Christ are:

• Use a title or a descriptive phrase in your language that has the same meaning as Christ. For example:

Messiah
-or-
Promised Deliverer
-or-
the Rescuer-King whom God appointed

• Transliterate Christ and include a phrase that explains the meaning. For example:

Christ, the appointed one
-or-
Cristo, the Savior whom God promised to send
-or-
the Christ, he comes from God

• Transliterate Christ and indicate in some way that it is a title. For example:

the Christ
-or-
the Kirisita

If you do not indicate the meaning of Christ in the text, you may want to include a footnote to explain it. Or you may want to explain the meaning in a glossary. For example:

The word/title “Christ” refers to the one whom God had promised to send. He would be both king and savior.

1:1b

To the twelve tribes of the Dispersion: Greetings: In some languages, it may be natural to place the word Greetings before the phrase saying whom James was greeting. For example:

Greetings to the twelve tribes scattered all over the world. (Contemporary English Version)

It may also be necessary to use a verb that means “greets” rather than the noun Greetings. For example:

I greet the twelve tribes scattered among the nations
-or-
I say “hello” to you twelve tribes scattered among the nations

To the twelve tribes of the Dispersion: Most scholars interpret the phrase the twelve tribes to refer to Christians. (A small group of scholars say that James was writing to all Jews. For more information, see the section called “The people to whom James wrote” in the Introduction.) However, there are two ways to interpret which Christians this phrase refers to:

(1) It refers to Jewish Christians who were scattered in other countries. The twelve tribes was a common way to refer to the Jews. Here it refers to Jews who were Christians. For example, the New Living Translation (2004 Revision) says:

I am writing to the “twelve tribes”—Jewish believers scattered abroad.

(New Living Translation (2004 Revision))

(2) It refers to both Jewish and Gentile Christians. Certain passages describe Christians as true or spiritual Israel. (See, for example, Galatians 3:7 and Galatians 3:29). Christians are of the Dispersion in the sense that they do not live in heaven which is their true homeland. For example, the Good News Translation says:

to all God’s people scattered over the whole world

(Good News Translation, New Century Version, God’s Word)

Most English versions translate this phrase literally and do not make it clear to whom the phrase refers. It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) (We are following a majority of Bible scholars, though opinion is split on this issue.) and make this interpretation clear either in the text or in a footnote.

Some ways to translate this phrase are:

• Make it explicit that the phrase the twelve tribes refers to the twelve tribes “of Israel.” For example:

to the twelve tribes/clans of Israel who are scattered among the nations
-or-
to the people of Israel who are scattered among the nations

If you do this, you should include a footnote to explain that the twelve tribes refers to Jewish Christians.

• Make it explicit that the phrase the twelve tribes refers to Jewish Christians. For example:

to Jewish believers who are scattered among the nations

the twelve tribes: The phrase the twelve tribes refers to the descendants of Jacob’s twelve sons, whom God renamed as Israel. These people all spoke the same language and all considered themselves to belong to the same ethnic group.

In some languages it is more natural to call them:

clans
-or-
sections/divisions

of the Dispersion: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the Dispersion refers to certain times during the Jews’ history, when they had been forced to flee from their country. Many of them still lived in other (non-Jewish) countries. These are the people who would normally be referred to as the Dispersion.

However, James was probably writing to Jewish Christians. So he might also have meant the Jewish believers who had been forced to leave Jerusalem because they had been persecuted for their faith. See Acts 11:19 for an example.

The word Dispersion means that these people were living outside of their country or home areas. It does not mean that these people were living far apart from each other.

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

dispersed throughout the world (Revised English Bible)
-or-
spread outside of their homeland
-or-
living in other countries

© 2012 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.

4

In this verse, Jude explained the problem that faced the Christians to whom he was writing. People who did not really believe the truth about God were gathering with the real Christians. They were fake Christians. (In verse 4, Jude first mentioned the people who had secretly slipped into the Christian congregation. Jude mentioned them many more times in this letter, but he referred to them with a pronoun, not a name or descriptive phrase. In order to refer to them clearly in these Notes, they are called fake Christians. This matches Jude’s distinctive description of them here in verse 4.) (Other writers have referred to these people as “false teachers,” “ungodly men,” or “ungodly people.” Each of these has some difficulty:False teachers: While the texts from which Jude chose his illustrations may imply that these people were teachers or leaders, Jude nowhere directly described them as such. The people Jude had in mind may have included some people who were not teachers or leaders.Ungodly men: Were there no women among these fake Christians? Jude does not say specifically.Ungodly men and ungodly people: To call these fake Christians “ungodly men” or “ungodly people” does not distinguish them from other groups of people in this letter. Jude also referred to ungodly people who were not part of this group, for example, the “ungodly” in verse 15.Therefore, in these Notes, “fake Christians” refers to the people whom Jude described as people who had secretly slipped in among the true believers.)

In some languages it may be more natural to reorder 4a–c as shown in the Display. The Notes will use this order in the discussion that follows.

4a_

For: The Greek conjunction gar that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as For connects verse 4 with verse 3. It indicates that verse 4 is a reason for an idea (There are two interpretations as to what this was in verse 3:(1) The presence of these fake Christians was the reason Jude wrote this letter.(2) The presence of these fake Christians was the reason why the true believers needed to contend for the Christian faith.Most English versions are ambiguous, allowing for either interpretation. For languages that must select one of the two interpretations, interpretation (1) is recommended in the Notes, because it implies both interpretations. Because Jude said in verse 3 that he wrote this letter in order to encourage the readers to contend for the Christian faith, translating according to interpretation (1) implies interpretation (2) as well.) in verse 3. If your language requires you to say what that idea is, the context shows that it is the reason that Jude wrote this letter. In order to make this connection clear, you may need to make this explicit. For example:

I am writing these things to you because there are certain men among you…

For languages that normally place the reason first, it may be more natural to change the order of verses 3 and 4. See the general comment on 3–4 at the end of the notes for 4f for an example.

certain men: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as men can also refer to people in general. For example:

Certain people (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
certain persons (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
Some people (God’s Word, New Century Version)

4bhave crept in among you unnoticed: This is a metaphor. Jude used it to describe how the fake Christians had deceived the true Christians. When the fake Christians joined the church, the true Christians were unaware that these fake Christians did not really believe the truth.

unnoticed: Jude indicated here that the fake Christians hid their wrong beliefs when they joined this group of believers. It was not a secret that they had joined the group. Jude’s readers did not realize that these fake Christians did not really believe the truth. Some ways to say this are:

^4acertain people ^4bhave infiltrated your group.
-or-
^4acertain people ^4bwho pretend to believe have joined your group.
-or-
^4acertain people, ^4bwho say they believe, but who really do not, have joined your group.

A general comment at the end of the notes for 4f shows that 4a–f may be reordered, with 4d placed earlier in the verse. In some languages, this may be more natural.

4c

ungodly ones: Jude described the fake Christians as ungodly, because they did not respect God or his authority. Because these people did not respect God’s authority over them, they lived sinful lives. Other ways to say this include:

They do not respect God.
-or-
They do not respect the authority of God over them.

ones: The Berean Standard Bible has supplied the word ones to refer to people in general. For example:

godless people (Good News Translation)
-or-
ungodly persons (New American Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version)

4dwho were designated long ago for condemnation: Jude described the people he had mentioned in 4a as people who were designated long ago for condemnation.

were designated: In this context there are several ways to interpret the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as were designated:

(1) It means written about. For example:

the prophets wrote about these people (New Century Version)

(Contemporary English Version, God’s Word, New Century Version, New International Version (2011 Revision), Good News Translation)

(2) It means that either the people or their punishment was designated or determined. For example:

The fate of such people was determined long ago. (New Living Translation (2004 Revision))
-or-
who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation. (New American Standard Bible)

(Berean Standard Bible, King James Version, New Living Translation (2004 Revision), New Revised Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, NET Bible, New Jerusalem Bible)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). Jude probably meant that their condemnation was written about in the Old Testament. This interpretation is used in the Meaning Lines of the Display.

In the main section of this letter, verses 5–19, Jude used many examples from the Old Testament. However, he also used some examples that are not from the Old Testament (see verses 9, 14–15, 17–18). Therefore, it is best not to specify where the condemnation of these people was written about. However, if your language requires you to make explicit where this was written, you may use your key term for “scripture.” For example:

scripture (Revised English Bible)

the Scriptures (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version)

Jude did not mean that the scriptures contained a list of the names of these people. Instead, he meant that God had said in the scriptures that he would punish people who sinned like these people did.

condemnation: The word condemnation refers here to God judging (From the parallel passage of 2 Peter 2:9, Jude was apparently referring to the judgment which God will speak against them on the last day. This is true regardless of which letter was written first.) these people and condemning them. This condemnation implies two ideas:

(a) God would judge them and pronounce them “guilty” of certain sins. Jude listed these sins in 4e–f.

(b) This condemnation also included the punishment that they would receive because of these sins.

Some English versions also imply both of these ideas. For example:

…long ago the Scriptures warned that these godless people were doomed (Contemporary English Version)

4e–f

In 4e–f, Jude mentioned two ways in which these people showed that they did not respect God.

4e

They turn the grace of our God into a license for immorality: These fake Christians were using God’s grace as an excuse to do whatever they wanted to do. They were saying that since God is kind and forgives people when they sin, it was therefore acceptable to continue to behave immorally. (Paul spoke against this false teaching in Romans 5:20–6:2.)

the grace: In this context, grace refers to God’s kindness towards human beings and his desire to forgive their sins. God showed this kindness by sacrificing his Son, Jesus Christ, to enable people to have fellowship with God. The grace of God made Jesus willing to suffer and die to save human beings from being damned because of their sins. For example, the New Living Translation (2004 Revision) translates the grace as:

God’s forgiveness (New Living Translation (2004 Revision))

our God:

Several versions omit
our (Contemporary English Version, God’s Word, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, New Living Translation (2004 Revision)). The Greek text includes this idea.) Jude referred to God as our God, to indicate the close relationship that he and the true believers had with God.

However, in some languages, using a pronoun like our with God might communicate a wrong meaning, such as:

(a) God belonged to Jude and his readers like a possession.

(b) There is another god.

(c) The fake Christians claimed to worship a different god, other than the true God.

If saying our God might communicate wrong meaning (a), you could say:

the God we worship
-or-
God, whom we worship

If saying our God might communicate wrong meaning (b) or (c), you could omit our.

a license for immorality: The fake Christians acted as if they could sin freely. Some other ways this has been translated are:

to excuse their immoral ways (Good News Translation)
-or-
an opportunity for immorality (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
-or-
a reason for sexual sin (New Century Version)
-or-
allows us to live immoral lives (New Living Translation (2004 Revision))

immorality: The immorality to which Jude referred included sexual sin, but also other sins. If your language has a word, phrase, or idiom that definitely includes sexual sin but could also include other sins, it may be a good choice here.

4f

and they deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ:

It is recommended that you do not use the King James Version as a model for translating 4f. The King James Version followed some copies of the Greek text that contain the word “God” in 4f. However, we can tell from other better copies that “God” was not part of what Jude wrote in 4f.
) In 4f, Jude mentioned another way that the fake Christians showed that they did not respect God: they denied Jesus Christ.

deny: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as deny means “reject [someone] or refuse to accept [him].” Some ways to translate this are:

reject (New Jerusalem Bible)

refuse to accept (New Century Version)

disowning (Revised English Bible)

The manner in which these fake Christians were denying Jesus Christ may have been:

(a) by what they said, in words only.

(b) by their actions, by what they did.

(c) by both their words and their actions.

From what Jude wrote in this letter, it is obvious that the fake Christians denied and rejected Jesus by both their words and their actions. Therefore, it is good to use an expression that includes both words and actions. However, if you need to choose between words and actions, it is recommended that you refer to sinful actions.

Christ: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as Christ is part of the name, Jesus Christ, so it should be translated as a name.

Master and Lord: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as Master described the someone over the servants or slaves, the head of a household, or a ruler with absolute authority.

The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Lord is the word that New Testament writers normally used to speak of Jesus as leader or chief.

The two Greek words, translated Master and Lord, have almost the same meaning. Jude used them together to emphasize that Jesus has total or absolute authority.

Try to find two words or phrases in your language that speak about the highest authorities. If possible, make sure that one of these is how you normally refer to Jesus as Lord. However, if you can find only one suitable word or phrase, then translate these two Greek words with one expression.

General Comment on 3–4

As the notes for 4a mentioned, verse 4 gives the reason for verse 3. Because of the fake Christians, Jude felt that he needed to write this letter urging his readers to defend the faith.

In many languages, it is normal to put the reason for an action first. If this is true in your language, you may need to reorder verses 3 and 4. For example:

^4aBecause certain people ^4bwho pretend to believe have joined your group, ^3dI felt the need to write this letter to you ^3eto urge you to defend the faith….
-or-
^4aHowever, certain people ^4bwho say they believe in God, but who really do not, have joined your group. ^3dTherefore, I must write ^3eto ask you to contend for the faith….

General Comment on 4a–f

In some languages it is more natural to reorder 4a–f, placing 4d later in the verse. There are two options:

• 4d may be placed right after 4b. For example:

^4aFor certain persons ^4bhave crept in unnoticed, ^4dthose who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ^4cungodly persons ^4ewho turn the grace of our God into licentiousness ^4fand deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. (New American Standard Bible)

• 4d may be placed after 4f. For example:

^4aFor some ^4cgodless people ^4bhave slipped in unnoticed among us, ^4epersons who distort the message about the grace of our God in order to excuse their immoral ways, ^4fand who reject Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord. ^4dLong ago the Scriptures predicted the condemnation they have received. (Good News Translation)

© 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.

15

In this verse, Jude continued to quote a prophecy made by Enoch. This quotation started at 14c and ends at 15d.

This verse repeats the word for “ungodly” several times for emphasis. See the general comment at the end of the notes for 15d for translation suggestions.

15a

to execute judgment on everyone: The prophecy indicates here that the Lord will execute judgment on everyone when he returns. However, he will “convict” (15b) only the “ungodly” people (15b–d).

to execute judgment: In this context, the Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as to execute judgment means “to say publicly whether someone is guilty or not guilty.” It does not include the idea of deciding punishment. Here are some other ways to translate the word execute:

declare
-or-
pronounce/announce
-or-
proclaim

everyone: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as everyone is literally “all.” It refers to all human beings. This includes both righteous people and unrighteous people.

15b

and to convict: In this context, the Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as to convict means “to declare someone to be guilty and to sentence the guilty person to be punished.” Some other ways that English versions translate this include:

to sentence (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
to condemn (Good News Translation)
-or-
to punish (New Century Version)

all the ungodly: Copies of the Greek text differ about the phrase that is used here:

(1) Some copies have a phrase that means all the ungodly. Most English versions follow these copies. (Some of these versions leave the idea all implicit.) For example:

all the godless (Revised English Bible)
-or-
all the ungodly (New American Standard Bible)

(Berean Standard Bible, Contemporary English Version, God’s Word, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, King James Version, New American Standard Bible, New International Version (2011 Revision), New Jerusalem Bible, New Living Translation (2004 Revision), Revised English Bible, Revised Standard Version, New Century Version)

(2) Some other copies have a phrase that means “every soul.” Some English versions follow these copies. For example:

every person (NET Bible)

(NET Bible, New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation)

It is recommended that you follow option (1).

ungodly: The Greek word asebeias, which the Berean Standard Bible translates here as ungodly, is the same word that was used in 4c. This Greek adjective described people who did not respect God or his authority. Because they did not respect God’s authority over them, they lived sinful lives. Ways to translate this include: (Although the word “ungodly” includes the English word for God, this is not true in Greek (The Greek word is asebeis.) It is not necessary in other languages to include a word for “god” in the expression that is used to translate this idea. Some examples of ways to translate without using a word for god are: “impious,” “irreverent,” “immoral,” or “irreligious.”)

impious
-or-
irreverent
-or-
do not respect God

In English an adjective like ungodly implies a noun like “people.” In some languages it may be necessary to include a word to clarify what ungodly describes. For example:

ungodly people (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
ungodly sinners (God’s Word)

Jude used other forms of this Greek word several times in this verse, and once in 18d.

15c

of every ungodly act of wickedness: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as of every ungodly act of wickedness can also be translated literally as “concerning all of the/their ungodly works.” These ungodly works are everything that they have done to disobey or disrespect God.

Again, Jude used another form of the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as ungodly in 15b. These people did not just disobey and disrespect God, but they did it in ways that showed their disrespect of him. Some ways to say this include:

they have done in rebellion (New Living Translation (2004 Revision))
-or-
which they have committed in an ungodly manner

15d

Enoch had prophesied that the Lord would convict ungodly people also for the harsh words they spoke against him. Jude had already stated that Enoch’s prophecy applied to the fake Christians that he wrote about in this letter (14b). Jude had already mentioned that these fake Christians were guilty of disrespectful speech against the Lord Jesus (8d, 10a).

and every harsh word: The Greek term that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as harsh word refers to talk which is disrespectful, defiant, insulting, or hurtful.

spoken against Him: This phrase refers specifically to the words they have spoken against the Lord. Enoch indicated that sinners would be punished for what they said against the Lord, not only for what they did (15c).

Him: The Greek pronoun that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as Him refers to the Lord. This pronoun refers back to “the Lord” in 14c.

by ungodly sinners: The Greek adjective that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as sinners can also be translated literally as “sinful.” Here Jude added sinful to his description of the ungodly people. This emphasized that they were guilty and deserved to be punished.

In some languages the words ungodly and sinners may be too similar to translate separately. If that is true in your language, you may need to use only one term here instead of two.

ungodly: Here Jude again used another form of the Greek word which the Berean Standard Bible translates as ungodly in 15b.

General Comment on 15a–d

In this verse, Jude repeated the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as “ungodly” several times. He also used the word “sinners.” He did this to emphasize that the fake Christians were very guilty, and they deserved for the Lord to punish them. Repetition is a natural way to express this emphasis in Greek.

In some languages it may not be natural to repeat a word so many times in such a short verse. If this is true in your language, look for the most natural way to emphasize their guilt. You may be able to do this by using several different words to express the idea. For example:

to convict all ungodly people for all the immoral and evil things that they have done, and for all the harsh words sinners have spoken against him.
-or-
He will sentence/condemn all ungodly people for all of their evil and impious actions, and for everything disrespectful that immoral and sinful people have spoken against him.

General Comment on 14–15

The Berean Standard Bible text of 14a–b has reordered the phrases to be more natural English. In the Greek text, Jude began the verse by referring to the fake Christians as the ones whom Enoch prophesied about. The Revised Standard Version follows the Greek order more closely here. For example:

^14bIt was of these also that ^14aEnoch in the seventh generation from Adam ^14bprophesied, saying… (Revised Standard Version)

In some languages it may not be natural or possible to introduce the information in that order. It may help to reorder verses 14–15. Reordering may also help to connect these verses to verse 16. For example:

^14a Enoch, born in the seventh generation from Adam, 14bprophesied, ^14c“See, the Lord will certainly come with many thousands of his holy angels. ^15aWhen he comes, he will judge everyone, ^15band he will sentence all ungodly people. ^15cHe will condemn them for all the immoral and evil things they have done, ^15dand for everything disrespectful that ungodly and sinful people have spoken against him.” ^14bEnoch’s prophecy applies also to the people who have infiltrated your church. ^16aThese men are…

If you use this order, you may need to use a more specific phrase at the end of 14–15 to refer to the fake Christians. Since “These men” in 16a resumes the description of the fake Christians, it may be helpful at the end of 14–15 to use a clear phrase in your language. You can consider using the one which you used in 4c. In the example above, these people are referred to as “the people who have infiltrated your church.”

© 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.

Paragraph 5–7

In these verses, Jude reminded his readers about three well-known groups who had sinned, and as a result had suffered terrible punishments:

(a) The Israelites had been slaves in Egypt, and the Lord brought them out from there. However, afterwards he destroyed those among them who did not trust in him.

(b) Some angels had rebelled against the Lord, so he placed them in chains in a dark place until the day when he would judge them.

(c) The people of Sodom and Gomorrah had sinned sexually, so the Lord destroyed them by fire.

5a–b

The general comment at the end of the notes for 5b discusses an issue that affects 5a–b. You will want to consider this issue before you make a final decision about how to translate this verse.

5a

Although you are fully aware of this, I want to remind you that: Jude realized that the three examples which he used in verses 5–7 were familiar to his readers. He was careful to mention that he knew this fact, probably so that he would not offend them. Some ways to express this meaning include:

I want to remind you of some things you already know: (New Century Version)
-or-
Although you already know all these things/facts, I want to remind you that…
-or-
I want you to consider some things/facts that you already know.

5b

Jesus: There is a textual issue here:

(1) Some copies of the Greek text have Lord. For example:

that the Lord, after saving a people (New American Standard Bible)

(Contemporary English Version, God’s Word, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, King James Version, New American Standard Bible, New Century Version, New International Version (2011 Revision), New Jerusalem Bible, New Living Translation (2004 Revision), New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, Good News Translation)

(2) Other copies of the Greek text have Jesus. For example:

that Jesus, having saved the people (NET Bible)

(Berean Standard Bible, NET Bible; notes in New American Standard Bible, New International Version (2011 Revision), New Living Translation (2004 Revision), New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, Good News Translation)

Scholars have different opinions about what Jude originally wrote. While most modern versions follow option (1) and have “Lord,” there is also strong evidence for option (2), Jesus. (The NET Bible argues the case for Jude having written “Jesus.” The NET Bible does this in two notes at Jude 5 and another at 1 Corinthians 10:9 for “Christ.” (See Jude 5 in NET Bible and 1 Corinthians 10:9 in NET Bible.)) If Jude wrote “Lord,” then in this context (4f), “Lord” would refer to Jesus Christ before he became a human being.

In your translation, you can follow the major language version in your area. If you follow option (1) (“Lord”), it is recommended that you include a footnote saying that Jude may have written Jesus.

had delivered His people out of the land of Egypt: Jude referred here to the time when the Lord freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and led them away from there. This is recorded in the book of Exodus.

had delivered: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as delivered includes these ideas:

(a) to free someone from something bad,

(b) to rescue/save,

(c) to keep someone safe.

Some ways to translate delivered include:

released

rescued

saved/freed from slavery

His people: The phrase His people refers to the Israelites. The Greek word for His is not explicit in the text. Therefore, you do not need to translate the word His. For example:

a people (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
the people (NET Bible)
-or-
the people of Israel (Good News Translation)

out of the land of Egypt: Egypt was the country where the Israelites had been slaves. It was from slavery in this country that the Lord delivered them. It may be more natural in your language to make the idea of slavery explicit. For example:

The Lord rescued his people from slavery, bringing them out of Egypt.
-or-
The Lord freed his people from Egypt where they were slaves.

General Comment on 5a–b

The Greek text for verse 5 contains the word hapax. This Greek word can be translated literally as “once” or “once for all.” Many English versions leave it implicit (Berean Standard Bible, Contemporary English Version, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, New Century Version, New International Version (2011 Revision), New Living Translation (2004 Revision)).

Copies of the Greek text differ about where hapax is placed in this verse. This affects which verb hapax relates to. Two options are:

(1) It relates to the verb translated as “delivered” in 5b. For example:

The Lord once saved his people from Egypt. (God’s Word)

(God’s Word, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, Good News Translation)

(2) It relates to the verb translated as “fully aware” in 5a. For example:

you have been fully informed of these facts once for all. (NET Bible)

(King James Version, New American Standard Bible, NET Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Revised Standard Version)

If you translate this Greek word, it is recommended that you follow option (1). Option (1) gives a better contrast with 5c than option (2) does. Most of the English versions that do not translate hapax probably also follow option (1).

5b–c

after Jesus had delivered His people out of the land of Egypt, He destroyed those who did not believe: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as after is literally “the second” and occurs at the beginning of 5c. With this phrase, Jude indicated that the event in 5c happened after the Lord saved the Israelites out of Egypt. This after action by the Lord contrasts with the saving action he did earlier. Some versions include “but” to indicate this contrast and place the phrase at the beginning of 5c. For example:

^5bthe Lord rescued the nation from Egypt, ^5cbut afterwards he still destroyed the people who refused to believe him (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
^5bThe Lord once saved his people from Egypt. ^5cBut on another occasion he destroyed those who didn’t believe. (God’s Word)

5c

He destroyed: The Lord destroyed some of the people whom he freed from Egypt. He destroyed them by causing them to die in the wilderness.

those who did not believe: The Lord destroyed those Israelites who did not believe in him. In some languages it is necessary for a verb like believe to have a stated object. For example:

did not believe in him
-or-
did not have faith in him
-or-
did not trust him

© 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.

16

In this verse, Jude applied Enoch’s prophecy (14c and 15a–d) directly to the fake Christians in the Christian church to which he was writing. (As mentioned in the Introduction for these Notes, Jude used the “midrash” style, which was sometimes used by Jewish rabbis. This style had text-application pairs. Here Jude wrote the application part (verse 16) of this midrash (14–16). This comment applied the text part (14c–15) to the situation about which Jude was writing. In 16 he further described the ways of the fake Christians. )

16a

These men: Again, These men refers to the fake Christians. Jude mentioned these people frequently throughout his letter (4, 8a, 10–13, 14b).

men: The Greek pronoun that the Berean Standard Bible translates as “These men” did not necessarily refer only to males. Many English versions do not indicate whether they were male or female. For example:

These people… (Good News Translation)
-or-
They… (Revised English Bible)

discontented: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as discontented refers to people who are critical and find fault with others. They criticize other people, the Lord, (The fake Christians may have been blaming the Lord for the things they did not like.) situations, or anything at all. This word is similar in meaning to the word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as “grumblers,” and the form also implies that the fake Christians did this repeatedly or as a habit. Some ways to translate this idea are:

faultfinders (New International Version (2011 Revision))

blame others (New Century Version)

criticizers

malcontents

In some languages it may be necessary to specify with whom they found fault. If that is true in your language, you may specify that they found fault with the Lord. However, it is better to be general here, if possible.

grumblers: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as grumblers refers to people who complain. Some English versions use a verb to translate this idea. For example:

These people grumble. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
These people complain. (New Century Version)

The Greek word indicates that the people grumbled as a habit. They complained repeatedly. If your language has a special way to indicate habitual or repeated action, consider using it here.

Jude did not say against whom the fake Christians were grumbling or what they were grumbling about. However, in the context, he may be referring to the “harsh words” they “spoke against” the Lord (verse 15). (Specifically, the Lord Jesus Christ.) In a sense, all grumbling is against the Lord, because he is ruler over everything.

In this letter, whenever Jude specified the person against whom a particular sin was directed, it was always against the Lord. (In verse 4, the fake Christians rejected the Lord, and in verse 5, the Israelites did not trust him. Here in verse 16 Jude was commenting on verses 14–15, where Enoch’s prophecy said that the Lord would declare guilty people who spoke harsh words against him. Therefore, it is reasonable to think that the fake Christians whom Jude described in verse 16 were grumbling against the Lord.) In some languages it may be necessary to make “the Lord” explicit here.

16b

following after their own lusts: This English phrase is a figure of speech. The Greek text says literally: “proceeding/going according to their desires.” It indicates that their desires were the basis for their actions. They used their own desires to decide what to do, instead of considering the Lord’s will. Here is another way to translate this phrase:

follow their own desires (God’s Word)

lusts: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as lusts is neutral. It can refer to good desires as well as to evil ones, depending on the context. The text implies that these people followed their own desires instead of what the Lord desired. However, in this context, their desires were evil. Some ways to translate this include:

They do the evil acts they desire to do.
-or-
Their own evil desires lead/entice them to sin.
-or-
governed only by their own desires (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
who go wherever their desires lead them (NET Bible)

16c

their mouths spew arrogance: The Greek text that the Berean Standard Bible translates as their mouths spew arrogance is literally “and the mouths of them speaking too-large.” The fake Christians were saying arrogant things. In the context, Jude may be referring to their arrogant claims that showed their disrespect for the Lord’s authority. Some ways to translate this are:

say arrogant things (God’s Word)
-or-
with mouths full of boastful talk (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
They brag about themselves. (Contemporary English Version, New Century Version, Good News Translation)

Look for the most natural way in your language to clearly communicate this idea.

16d

flatter others for their own advantage: Jude indicated here that they complimented other people and pretended to admire them, even if they did not deserve it. They did this to get what they wanted, not to express sincere appreciation. Other ways to translate this include:

flatter others to get what they want (Contemporary English Version, New Century Version)
-or-
compliment other people for their own benefit

© 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.

6–7

In some languages it may be helpful to use an introductory phrase at the start of verse 6, and maybe also verse 7. This phrase would be similar to “I want to remind you” in 5a. For example:

6
And remember the angels…. 7Also remember the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah…. (New Century Version)

Several other English versions, including the New Living Translation (2004 Revision), Revised English Bible, and Good News Translation, have a phrase like this.

6

In verse 6, Jude gave his second example of a group that sinned against God, and as a result, suffered terrible punishments.

6a

the angels: Here Jude referred to angels who had rebelled against the Lord. He did not refer to all angels, but only to those who rebelled.

Many other angels have always obeyed God. In some languages, it may be necessary to make it clear that Jude was not referring to all angels. For example, it might be helpful to say:

some angels
-or-
certain angels

In other languages, it may be better to put this information in a footnote.

Translators should avoid using a term that implies that angels are the spirits of human beings, either alive or dead.

In the Greek text there is no definite article (the) before the word for angels. Some scholars believe that this emphasizes the high status of angels. (Several commentaries understand “angels” without the definite article in this case to be qualitative, emphasizing their high status, or contrasting them with the human beings described in the examples before and after (verses 5 & 7). The meaning seems to be that the Lord punishes even angels who rebel against him. If a translator wanted to include this, then verse 6 could be started like this: “And the Lord has punished even certain angels….”) For example:

And the very angels… (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

who did not stay within their own domain:

Jude frequently used the Greek verb, tēreō, which the Berean Standard Bible translates as stay. He used a form of tēreō in 1f, 6a, 6c, 13d (where the Berean Standard Bible uses the verb “reserved”), and 21a. Though it was possible for Jude to use one verb in all these places, the meanings translated into natural English require the use of more than one English verb.) Here Jude described the way in which these angels had sinned. God had given authority to the angels by giving each of them certain responsibilities. The angels whom Jude mentioned here rebelled. They left their own domains, refusing to fulfill the responsibilities which God had assigned to them. Some other ways to say this include:

didn’t do their work (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
refused to do their duty

Jude did not say why these angels left their positions of authority. (Most English versions also do not state the reason (Berean Standard Bible, Contemporary English Version, God’s Word, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, King James Version, New American Standard Bible, New Century Version, New International Version (2011 Revision), New Jerusalem Bible, New Revised Standard Version, Revised Standard Version).) A few English versions have indicated that they abandoned these positions because they were not content or felt limited in some way. (English versions that indicate a reason why these angels abandoned their positions of authority are: NET Bible, New Living Translation (2004 Revision), Revised English Bible and Good News Translation.) For example:

who did not stay within the limits of their proper authority (Good News Translation)
-or-
who were not content to maintain the dominion assigned to them, (Revised English Bible)

their own domain: In this context the Greek word archē, which the Berean Standard Bible translates as domain means “rule” or “positions of authority.” It indicates that these angels were in charge of something. However, they had received each domain from God, and they were accountable to him. You may be able to use a term that describes the kind of authority that a king or chief gives to someone else to manage his wealth or property.

6b

but: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as but marks contrast. The contrast is:

6a
having their own domain

but

6b
abandoned the places where they have that domain

In some languages, it may be more natural to connect 6a and 6b in a different way. A conjunction like “and” would indicate connection and similarity between:

6a
not keeping their own domain

“and”

6b
abandoning the places where they have that domain

For example:

didn’t do their work and left their proper places. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
failed in their high duties and abandoned their proper sphere (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

abandoned their proper dwelling: The Greek word oikētērion occurs only twice in the New Testament. (The only other use of oikētērion in the New Testament is by Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:2. There the Berean Standard Bible translates this word as “dwelling.” The context in 2 Corinthians is talking about the resurrection body.) Here it includes two ideas:

(a) Its literal meaning is home. In this verse, it implies that the angels left their place of residence. For example:

abandoned their own place of residence (NET Bible)
-or-
abandoned their own dwelling place (Good News Translation)

(b) It has an extended meaning that includes the activities that should occur at a home or place. In this context, these angels abandoned their places, including the activities that God had assigned to them to do. (Louw and Nida, classify oikētērion as one of the Greek words that imply “abandoned their proper dwelling.” (Subdomain E, starting at 85.67, footnote 864.)) For example:

abandoned their assigned place. (God’s Word)
-or-
abandoned their proper sphere (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

The second meaning is more in focus in this context. In your translation, it will be helpful to use an expression that includes this idea. (If your language has a word or phrase which, like oikētērion, can mean home or place of residence, but also implies the activities that happen there, you may be able to use it here.) Such an expression will also help to indicate that both 6a and 6b describe the way that these angels rebelled against God.

abandoned: In this context, the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as abandoned means “left completely.” These angels left permanently. Try to avoid using a verb that would cause your readers to think that these angels left but intended to return later.

6c

these: The word these refers to the angels about whom Jude wrote in 6a–b. The Berean Standard Bible has supplied the word these in order to help clarify that the actions in 6c–d happened to these angels.

He has kept in eternal chains under darkness:

The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as
under can mean that these angels were under the control of darkness, that is, unable to escape it.) Jude did not explain what he meant by darkness. However, it is clear that the Lord put these angels in some kind of dark prison/place and kept them there. This agrees with what Jude mentioned about eternal chains in this verse.

In some languages, it may be necessary to mention first that the Lord put the angels under darkness before saying that he kept them there. For example:

He put them in darkness, and he has kept them there.
-or-
The Lord put these angels in a dark place where he still keeps them.

He:

The Greek text of this verse does not contain either “God” or “Lord.” The English versions refer to the agent, i.e. who it was who “kept” the angels in darkness, in three different ways.

He (Berean Standard Bible, God’s Word, King James Version, New American Standard Bible, NET Bible, New International Version (2011 Revision), New Jerusalem Bible, New Revised Standard Version). The pronoun He refers back to “Jesus” in 5b. If it is not natural or not clear to use the pronoun He here, then you may say “the Lord.” For example:

The Lord has kept these angels in darkness. (New Century Version)

has kept:

Jude frequently used the Greek verb, tēreō, that the Berean Standard Bible translates as kept. He used a form of tēreō in 1f, 6a, 6c, 13d (where the Berean Standard Bible uses the verb “reserved”), and 21a. Though it was possible for Jude to use one verb in all these places, the meanings translated into natural English require the use of more than one English verb.) In this verse, Jude used a play on words. The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as has kept is a form of the verb that was translated “stay” in 6a. In this way, Jude used a type of irony: the angels would not “keep” their proper places so the Lord has kept them in a place of punishment.

In some languages, it may be possible to express the irony in a similar way. However, in some languages it may not be natural to use the same verb in both of these contexts. If that is true in your language, you may express the irony in another way or let it be implied by the context. (If it is not natural to do this through the verb, the translator may be able to express irony through the use of “place,” that is, “abandoned their place” (6b) versus “place of darkness” (6c).)

in eternal chains: When Jude wrote this letter, it was common to restrain prisoners. Jude used this practice to describe a spiritual reality. These angels were deprived of freedom. It was impossible for them to escape.

chains: The chains used in Jude’s time were made of strong metal. In some cultures people may not be familiar with the practice of using chains to bind or restrain someone. If that is true in your culture, it may be better to use a more general expression. For example:

restrained
-or-
imprisoned
-or-
bound with steel
-or-
tied securely

6d

bound: The Berean Standard Bible has supplied the verb bound. When talking about chains, bound is a more natural verb in English than “has kept” in 6c. The verb “has kept” in 6c applies also to 6d.

For some languages, it is more natural to use an active verb and specify who imprisoned the angels. The note for “he” in 6c explains that the Lord imprisoned them in this way. For example:

he has bound them…

for judgment on that great day: The Lord has imprisoned these angels in darkness until the time comes for them to be judged. This will happen on what Jude called that great day.

The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as for can refer to time. In this case, it can mean until the great Day. For example:

until the judgment of the great day. (Revised Standard Version, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English) (The New Jerusalem Bible has the same wording, but capitalizes the D of Day, that is, “the great Day.”)
-or-
until the great day of judgment. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
waiting for the day of judgment. (New Living Translation (2004 Revision))

judgment: The outcome of this judgment was not in doubt. The judgment which Jude referred to here included condemnation and punishment for rebelling against God. In some languages, it may be better to use a more specific word, like “condemned.” For example:

that great Day on which they will be condemned. (Good News Translation)

that great day: The phrase that great day refers to the day when Christ will deliver the final judgment on angels and people. In other places in the Bible, this day is referred to as, “the great and glorious day of the Lord” (Acts 2:20), and “the great day of God Almighty” (Revelation 16:14).

General Comment on 6a–e

In some languages it may be clearer to reorder this verse. For example:

^6aAnd the Lord punished certain angels. ^6cHe has put them in a dark place, and he keeps them there in everlasting chains, ^6dwaiting to be judged on the great Day. ^6aThese are the angels who did not keep their positions of authority. ^6bInstead they abandoned their place. (In 6c, the note on “has kept” explains that Jude expressed irony through his use of the same Greek verb. If it is not natural to do this through the verb, the translator may be able to express irony through use of “place,” that is, “abandoned their place” (6b) versus “place of darkness” (6c).)

© 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.

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.

© 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.

7

In verse 7, Jude gave a third example of a group who sinned against God, and as a result, suffered terrible punishment. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah sinned sexually. The Lord destroyed them by fire.

In some languages, it may be helpful to use an introductory phrase (As mentioned in the note for 6–7, this is also true for the start of verse 6.) at the beginning of verse 7. You may use a phrase that is similar to the phrase, “I want to remind you,” in 5a.

The notes for verse 7 are based on a literal translation of the Greek text, instead of on the Berean Standard Bible. (Notice the abbreviation “lit.” before the words and phrases in the notes below.) Some of the parts of the verse have been reordered to give the notes a more natural order for English. The letters of the verse parts will follow the new order, which is indicated here:

^7aIn a similar way to these, ^7bSodom and Gomorrah and the towns around them ^7care exhibited as an example of eternal fire, ^7dthe penalty they experience, ^7ehaving committed sexual sin and gone after different flesh.

7a (reordered)

Verse 7 begins with the Greek word, hōs. It can be translated in a variety of ways, including “that” and “how.” In this context Jude used hōs to mark the beginning of this third example of punishment for sin. (Lenski (page 621) thought that Jude used hos here, instead of the hoti (5a) that governs both 5 and 6, because the evidence of what had happened to Sodom and Gomorrah could still be seen. The examples in 5 and 6 were known only through their stories being written or told. However, Jude’s readers could still find evidence of God’s punishment of Sodom and Gomorrah at the south end of the Dead Sea. As the Greek present tense verb prokeintai implies, Sodom and Gomorrah are an example that has observable evidence.) It indicates that it should be considered along with the first two examples in verse 5 and verse 6. Some ways to express this include:

Also consider that…
-or-
You also know how…
-or-
I want to remind you that…

(lit.) In a similar way to these: In order to translate verse 7, a translator must decide two issues of interpretation:

Issue 1:

Scholars have different opinions about who these refers to. The two main possibilities are: (Two other interpretations that are sometimes suggested are:(3) It refers to either the men of Sodom and Gomorrah or to the men of the surrounding towns, one of these groups being compared to the other.(4) It refers to the fake Christians (verse 4).In the Greek text, “these” is marked for both gender and number as masculine and plural. Interpretation (3) is unlikely because the Greek words for “Sodom and Gomorrah” and also for “towns” are not masculine. While some scholars suggest that “these” refers to the men in the towns, there is no compelling reason to assume this. It would require Jude to have linked the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah with the sin of the surrounding towns in a very indirect and unnecessarily complicated way. Finally, interpretation (4) is not correct. In verse 8, Jude definitely wrote about the same fake Christians as in verse 4. If “these” in verse 7 also referred to these same people, then Jude would have been repeating himself in verse 8 for no apparent reason.)

(1) It refers to both the angels whom Jude mentioned in verse 6 and to the Israelites who did not believe and were destroyed (verse 5).

(2) It refers to just the angels (verse 6).

Greek grammar would allow either interpretation, (In the Greek text, “these” is marked for both gender and number as masculine and plural. “Angels” is the closest preceding noun that is marked as masculine and plural. The unbelieving Israelites are also marked as masculine and plural.) but interpretation (1) is more likely because the conjunction used to join verses 5 and 6 indicates a close relationship between these verses. If there is a natural way to include both the angels and unbelieving Israelites in your translation, then it is recommended that you use it here. For example:

In a similar way to these unbelieving Israelites and angels

Issue 2:

Another interpretation issue is to decide in what way the people of Sodom and Gomorrah (7b) were similar to the preceding two groups, (This assumes that interpretation (1) above is correct.) which were:

(a) the angels who rebelled (verse 6),

(b) the unbelieving Israelites (verse 5).

The two main possibilities are:

(1) The three groups were similar because all were examples and warnings that the Lord punishes sinners. For example:

We should also be warned by what happened to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah…. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
What happened to Sodom and Gomorrah…is an example…of the punishment…. The people of these cities suffered the same fate that God’s people and the angels did…. (God’s Word)

(Contemporary English Version, God’s Word, New Living Translation (2004 Revision))

(2) The sexual sin committed by the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, was similar in nature to the sins that the angels (Scholars who accept this view interpret Genesis 6:1–4 as talking about angelic beings taking human wives. No clear biblical evidence exists that angels are capable of having sexual relations with human beings or that angels and human beings have had children together.) and the unbelieving Israelites (While the Israelites who left Egypt did commit sexual sin (Exodus 32:6, Numbers 25:1), verse 5 probably referred to what happened to the Israelites who refused to follow the advice of Joshua and Caleb. They died in the desert because they refused to enter the land that God was giving to them.) had committed. According to this interpretation, Jude used three examples of sexual sin. For example:

Sodom and Gomorrah…which, in the same manner as they, indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural lust… (New Revised Standard Version (It is possible that the New Revised Standard Version is comparing the people of Sodom and Gomorrah only to the angels, and not to the Israelites that Jude mentioned. Other English versions that clearly compare the people of Sodom and Gomorrah to the angels but not to the Israelites, are the NET Bible, Revised English Bible and Good News Translation. All four of these versions imply that Jude was indicating sexual immorality as a similarity between the people of Sodom and Gomorrah and the angels.))

(New Revised Standard Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).

7b (reordered)

(lit.) Sodom and Gomorrah: Jude reminded his readers of what happened to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. God destroyed these cities with fire because of the sexually immoral behavior of the people who lived there. You may read about this in Genesis 18:20–22, 19:1–29.

It was not just the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah themselves (with the buildings and possessions) that were destroyed. All the people who lived there were killed. In some languages it may help to make this explicit. For example:

the people of Sodom and Gomorrah

(lit.) and the towns around them: This phrase refers to the towns near Sodom and Gomorrah that God destroyed at the same time. (The names of two of these towns were Admah and Zeboiim (Deuteronomy 29:23). Another nearby town named Zoar was spared.) Some ways to say this include:

and the neighboring towns
-or-
and the surrounding towns
-or-
and the towns that were nearby

7c–d (reordered)

(lit.) are exhibited as an example of eternal fire, the penalty they experience: Scholars have different opinions about how the expression eternal fire relates to the other words in this verse. The two main interpretations are:

(1) eternal fire relates primarily to the word example in 7c. What happened to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah was an example and warning that sinful people will be punished by eternal fire in hell. For example:

are a warning of the eternal fire that will punish all who are evil. (New Living Translation (2004 Revision))

(God’s Word, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, New Living Translation (2004 Revision))

(2) Eternal fire relates primarily to the word penalty in 7d. Sodom and Gomorrah and the towns were experiencing the penalty of eternal fire. (Many scholars who accept interpretation (2) do not think that Jude meant the eternal fire of hell. According to them, the eternal fire is the fire whose smoke could still be seen at the south end of the Dead Sea, where these cities once stood.) For example:

are put before us as an example since they are paying the penalty of eternal fire. (New Jerusalem Bible)

(Berean Standard Bible, King James Version, New American Standard Bible, New Century Version, NET Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible, Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation)

The Greek grammar of this verse allows for either or both to be correct. It is recommended that, if possible, you translate as if both interpretations (Jude and his readers were very aware that these cities were destroyed by fire. Implicit in his example is the manner in which God destroyed these cities. The horrible fire that God used in this destruction made Sodom and Gomorrah especially fitting as an illustration or example of what the end will be for all who continue in willful sin—the eternal fire of hell.) are correct. However, if you must choose between them, it is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), which has more support in the commentaries.

The following examples show how this verse may be translated with both interpretations.

Like these people and angels, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns are a warning of eternal fire, the penalty they suffer because they committed sexual sin and went after different flesh.
-or-
In a similar way to these unbelieving Israelites and angels, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns are exhibited as an example of the punishment of eternal fire. Their people suffer the penalty of eternal fire, because they committed sexual sin and went after different flesh.

7c (reordered)

(lit.) are exhibited as an example: Other ways to translate this include:

they are an apparent/clear example.
-or-
they…are now displayed as an example. (NET Bible)
-or-
By looking at them, people can see that…

In some languages, it may be better to say explicitly that this type of example is a warning. For example:

Those cities…are a warning… (New Living Translation (2004 Revision))
-or-
as a plain warning… (Good News Translation)

(lit.) eternal fire: This expression refers to the eternal fire of hell. It is recommended that you not indicate explicitly that this refers to hell, unless that is necessary in your language.

7d (reordered)

(lit.) the penalty they experience: Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns were destroyed by fire. At the time when Jude wrote this letter, people could still see evidence of this punishment. They could go to the Dead Sea and see signs of destruction where those cities had been.

However, the penalty for the people who lived there involved more than their death at the time when the cities were destroyed. They were also to spend eternity in the fire of hell. That is an even greater penalty, and Jude may have been thinking of it also.

(lit.) penalty: Their penalty was punishment for their sins (7e).

(lit.) they experience: What they experience is punishment. In some languages, it may be more natural to indicate explicitly that this is an experience of punishment or suffering. For example:

they suffer the punishment (Good News Translation)
-or-
undergoing a punishment (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
they are paying the penalty (New Jerusalem Bible)

7e (reordered)

(lit.) having committed sexual sin and gone after different flesh: Jude gave the information in this part of the verse as the reason that God punished the people of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns. They were guilty of sexual sin. Their sexual immorality was so bad that God caused them and their cities to be destroyed. Some ways to indicate this reason are:

because they committed sexual sins and… (God’s Word)
-or-
since they indulged in sexual immorality and… (NET Bible)

Jude was probably referring to sexual sin that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah did regularly. It was the habit of these people to sin sexually. If your language normally marks habitual action, you may do so here. For example:

habitually/regularly committed sexual sin

(lit.) having committed sexual sin: This phrase is a literal translation of one Greek word. It could refer to any kind of sexual sin. Look for the most natural way in your language to refer to sexual sin in general, rather than to a specific type of sexual sin.

(lit.) gone after different flesh: Pursuing different flesh was the way that Jude referred to homosexual acts; (Scholars have different opinions concerning what sin Jude described as “having gone after different flesh.” The main interpretations are:(1) It refers to homosexual acts; that is, men having sex with men.(2) It refers to bestiality.(3) It refers to the men of Sodom trying to have sex with the two angels who visited Lot (Genesis chapter 19).It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). Many scholars say that this going after different flesh was homosexual acts, and they are probably correct.The last interpretation is unlikely, because God had already decided to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding town before the incident with the angels at Lot’s house happened. Also, only the men of Sodom tried to have sex with the angels, and God destroyed more than Sodom. In addition, there is no evidence that the men of Sodom knew that the two visitors to Lot’s house were angels. Another reason to reject this last opinion is that Jude said that these men went after different “flesh,” and angels are spirit beings who do not have “flesh.”) that is, men having sex with other men. Some ways that English versions have translated this include:

engaged in homosexual activities. (God’s Word)
-or-
indulged in unnatural lust (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
sexual relations that God does not allow. (New Century Version)

Languages often have more than one way to refer to this type of sexual activity. Look for the most natural way in your language that is suitable for reading in worship meetings where people of all ages and both sexes may be present.

© 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.