Translation commentary on Jude 1:17

But you is emphatic and indicates a sharp contrast between Jude’s readers and the godless people referred to in the previous section. The last mention of those people was at the beginning of verse 16.

Must remember is an imperative; that is, it is grammatically a command. However, the readers are not exactly commanded to remember something in the sense of putting some new fact into their memory; rather they are exhorted to call to mind or recall something they already know. Therefore you must remember can be rendered as “it is necessary for you to recall,” or “it is important for you to bring to mind,” or “… not to forget.”

What they are supposed to recall or remember are the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. Predictions is literally “words spoken before” or “words said beforehand.” The focus is not so much on whether these words are predictions or prophetic utterances, but on the fact that these were spoken before the time of the writing of Jude’s letter.

This is the first time in the letter that Jude uses the word apostles, which describes persons who are sent with a message and a mission, and who can speak and act with the authority of the sender. The word has both a restricted and a general usage. It refers in particular to the first disciples of Jesus (sometimes known as the Twelve). This list includes Matthias, who took the place of Judas Iscariot (Acts 1.26). Generally, however, apostles is used to refer to Christian missionaries, evangelists, and other Christian workers (Acts 15.5; Rom 16.7; 2 Cor 8.23). In the early church the apostles were recognized as people of authority; they derived this authority from the fact that they were with Jesus while he was on earth and were eyewitnesses to the events in Jesus’ life. It is therefore proper for Jude to appeal to apostolic authority. The plural form here, the apostles, perhaps refers not to the general meaning of the term but to its restricted usage, meaning the original twelve disciples of Jesus. This is probably why Jude clearly excludes himself from the group. In some languages apostles will be referred to as “sent ones” or “messengers of Jesus Christ”; but in others a term similar to “ambassador” will be used, referring to an individual who is sent by someone to convey a message—in this case the Good News. So one may translate “ambassadors from Jesus Christ,” or even “special ambassadors from….”

For Jesus Christ see comments on Jude 1.1; and for Lord see comments on Jude 1.4. The close relation between the Christians and Jesus is indicated by the use of the pronoun our. It should be translated here in an inclusive sense, to include Jude and his readers.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• But it is important for you, my dear fellow Christians, not to forget (or, to bring to mind) the words that the apostles spoke in the past about our Lord Jesus Christ.

Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Letter from Jude. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator's Notes on Jude 1:17

Paragraph 17–19

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

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

17a

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

(a) He used an emphatic pronoun, you.

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

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

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

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

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

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

17b

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

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

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

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

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

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Sung version of Jude

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