Paragraph 14–16

In this paragraph, Jude quoted a prophecy made by a man named Enoch. Enoch lived in the Old Testament period, before the great flood. Genesis 5:18–24 indicates that Enoch had a special relationship with God, and that he never died.

Enoch prophesied that the Lord would condemn people like these fake Christians. Jude did not learn this prophecy from the Bible, but from some other reliable source.

Jude presented the information about Enoch in an order that is unusual for some languages, including English. A general comment at the end of the notes for 15d shows a way to reorder 14–15.

14a

Enoch, the seventh from Adam: Jude identified Enoch as the seventh from Adam. The list of his ancestors recorded in Genesis chapter 5 begins with Adam, the first person whom God created. The order in Genesis 5 is:

(a) Adam

(b) Seth

(c) Enosh

(d) Kenan

(e) Mahalalel

(f) Jared

(g) Enoch

According to the way that Jude and his readers counted generations, Enoch was the seventh from Adam. They counted Adam as the first generation. According to the way that some other people groups normally count generations today, Enoch was the sixth generation from Adam.

Because the number seven is an important number in the Bible, (The number seven can symbolize completeness.) it is recommended that you use seventh in your translation, instead of “sixth.” You may be able to say something like:

Enoch was the seventh generation from Adam, who was the first.

If your language requires you to say something other than seventh, it is recommended that you include a footnote explaining that Jude wrote seventh. For example:

This numbering includes both the first and the last in the series of seven names from Adam to Enoch. (Good News Translation)

14b

prophesied:

Enoch’s prophecy is not recorded in the Old Testament. However, a similar statement was written in the non-biblical Jewish book of 1 Enoch.
) The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as prophesied can also be translated as:

foretold
-or-
told what would happen
-or-
was inspired by God to foretell…

about them:

The Greek pronoun
toutois is in the dative case. In a note, the NET Bible interprets this as a dative of disadvantage, meaning that Enoch prophesied “against them.”) The Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates as about them can also be translated as:

about these men (New International Version (2011 Revision))
-or-
about these people (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
against them (Revised English Bible)

them: The Greek pronoun that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as them refers to the fake Christians whom Jude mentioned in verses 4, 8, and 10–13. Some English versions use a general expression like “these people.” Other notes that refer to this issue are “certain men” in 4a, and “these men” in 12a and in 10a.

General Comment on 14 a-b

The third word in the Greek text of Jude 14 is kai, which is often translated “and.” Here it probably means “also” as in 14b of the Berean Standard Bible and indicates that the fake Christians were also included in what Enoch prophesied. Consider a natural way in your language to express this. For example:

It was of these also that Enoch in the seventh generation from Adam prophesied. (Revised Standard Version)

In some languages, it may be more natural to leave this kai untranslated.

14c

The Greek text of this verse contains the verb legōn, which can be translated literally as “saying.” For example:

It was of these also that Enoch…prophesied, saying, (Revised Standard Version)

This verb introduces Enoch’s prophecy. In 14c through the end of 15, Jude quoted Enoch’s words. Introduce this quote in a natural way in your language.

Behold: The Greek word idou that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Behold is used here to focus the attention of the reader on what Jude was about to say. Other ways to translate this word include:

Look!
-or-
Listen to this!
-or-
I tell you

Consider how to focus the readers’ attention in a natural way in your language. If your language would not use an expression like idou here, you may need to omit it, as some English versions have done. For example:

The Lord will come with many thousands of his holy angels… (Good News Translation)

the Lord: The phrase the Lord refers here to Jesus Christ. Jude referred to him as Lord in this verse, even though Lord was not in Enoch’s original prophecy. (1 Enoch 1:9 says, “And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of His holy ones…”)

is coming: The form of the Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as is coming is past tense (“came”). Enoch’s prophecy concerned future events. However, Jude quoted Enoch as if he were speaking about past events. (The past tense may indicate that the prophet had actually seen the events of the prophecy in a vision or in his mind. For example, the Revised English Bible says: “I saw the Lord come with his myriads of angels….”) It was common for prophets to speak like this to indicate that the prophecy would certainly happen. (Another way to think about this certainty is that, by using the past tense, the prophet indicated that what he prophesied was as certain as if it had already happened.)

You may use the verb form that is most appropriate in your language to communicate a prophecy (whether past, present, future, or another form). In some languages it will be helpful to include a word like “certainly” to emphasize that the prophecy was certain to happen. For example,

The Lord will certainly come…

myriads: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as myriads is the plural form of “ten thousand.” The word is used in a general way to mean “a very large number.” It does not refer to any precise number. Ways to translate this include:

many thousands

countless

very many

of His holy ones: Most scholars think that His holy ones refers to his angels. You may use your key term for angels here. For example:

of his angels

of his holy angels

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