1. servant of Jesus Christ--as His minister and
apostle.
brother of James--who was more widely known as
bishop of Jerusalem and "brother of the Lord" (that is, either cousin, or
stepbrother, being son of Joseph by a former marriage; for ancient traditions universally
agree that Mary, Jesus' mother, continued perpetually a virgin). Jude therefore calls
himself modestly "brother of James." See my Introduction.
to them . . . sanctified by God the Father--The
oldest manuscripts and versions, ORIGEN, LUCIFER,
and others read, "beloved" for sanctified. If English Version be
read, compare @Col
1:12 1Pe 1:2. The Greek is not "by," but "in." God the
Father's love is the element IN which they are "beloved." Thus the
conclusion, @Jude 1:21,
corresponds, "Keep yourselves in the love of God." Compare "beloved
of the Lord" @2Th 2:13.
preserved in Jesus Christ--"kept."
Translate not "in," but as Greek, "FOR Jesus
Christ." "Kept continually (so the Greek perfect participle means)
by God the Father for Jesus Christ," against the day of His coming. Jude, beforehand,
mentions the source and guarantee for the final accomplishment of believers' salvation;
lest they should be disheartened by the dreadful evils which he proceeds to announce [BENGEL].
and called--predicated of "them that are
beloved in God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ: who are called." God's
effectual calling in the exercise of His divine prerogative, guarantees their
eternal safety.
2. Mercy--in a time of
wretchedness. Therefore mercy stands first; the mercy of Christ (@Jude 1:21).
peace--in the Holy Ghost (@Jude 1:20).
love--of God (@Jude 1:21). The three answer
to the divine Trinity.
be multiplied--in you and towards you.
3. Design of the Epistle
(compare @Jude 1:20,21).
all diligence--(@2Pe 1:5). As the minister is
to give all diligence to admonish, so the people should, in accordance with his
admonition, give all diligence to have all Christian graces, and to make their
calling sure.
the common salvation--wrought by Christ. Compare Note,
see on 2Pe 1:1, "obtained LIKE precious
faith," This community of faith, and of the object of faith, salvation,
forms the ground of mutual exhortation by appeals to common hopes and fears.
it was needful for me--rather, "I felt it
necessary to write (now at once; so the Greek aorist means; the present
infinitive 'to write,' which precedes, expresses merely the general fact of writing)
exhorting you." The reason why he felt it necessary "to write with
exhortation," he states, @Jude 1:4, "For there are
certain men crept in," &c. Having intended to write generally of "the
common salvation," he found it necessary from the existing evils in the Church,
to write specially that they should contend for the faith against those evils.
earnestly contend--Compare @Php 1:27, "striving
together for the faith of the Gospel."
once, &c.--Greek, "once for all
delivered." No other faith or revelation is to supersede it. A strong argument for
resisting heretical innovators (@Jude 1:4). Believers, like
Nehemiah's workmen (@Ne 4:17),
with one hand "build themselves up in their most holy faith"; with the other
they" contend earnestly for the faith" against its foes.
the saints--all Christians, holy (that is,
consecrated to God) by their calling, and in God's design.
4. certain men--implying
disparagement.
crept in unawares--stealthily and unlawfully. See on
2Pe
2:1, "privily shall bring in damnable heresies."
before . . . ordained--Greek,
"forewritten," namely, in Peter's prophecy @Jude 1:17,18; and in
Paul's before that, @1Ti
4:1 2Ti 3:1; and by implication in the judgments which overtook the apostate angels.
The disobedient Israelites, Sodom and Gomorrah, Balaam and Core, and which are written
"for an example" (@Jude
1:7, and @Jude
1:5,6,11). God's eternal character as the Punisher of sin, as set forth in Scripture
"of old," is the ground on which such apostate characters are ordained to
condemnation. Scripture is the reflection of God's book of life in which believers are
"written among the living." "Forewritten" is applied also in @Ro 15:4 to the things written
in Scripture. Scripture itself reflects God's character from everlasting, which is the
ground of His decrees from everlasting. BENGEL explains it as an
abbreviated phrase for, "They were of old foretold by Enoch (@Jude 1:14, who did not write
his prophecies), and afterwards marked out by the written word."
to this condemnation--Jude graphically puts their
judgment as it were present before the eyes, "THIS."
Enoch's prophecy comprises the "ungodly men" of the last days before Christ's
coming to judgment, as well as their forerunners, the "ungodly men" before the
flood, the type of the last judgment (@Mt 24:37-39 2Pe
3:3-7). The disposition and the doom of both correspond.
the grace of our God--A phrase for the Gospel
especially sweet to believers who appropriate God in Christ as "our God,"
and so rendering the more odious the vile perversity of those who turn the Gospel state of
grace and liberty into a ground of licentiousness, as if their exemption from the law gave
them a license to sin.
denying the only Lord--The oldest manuscripts,
versions, and Fathers omit "God," which follows in English Version.
Translate as the Greek, "the only Master"; here used of Jesus Christ,
who is at once Master and "Lord" (a different Greek word). See on 2Pe
2:1. By virtue of Christ's perfect oneness with the Father, He, as well as the Father,
is termed "the ONLY" God and "MASTER."
Greek, "Master," implies God's absolute ownership to dispose of
His creatures as He likes.
5. (@Heb 3:16 4:13.)
therefore--Other oldest manuscripts and Vulgate
read, "But"; in contrast to the ungodly @Jude 1:4.
though ye once--rather, "once for all."
Translate, "I wish to remind you, as knowing ALL
(namely, that I am referring to; so the oldest manuscripts, versions, and Fathers) once
for all." As already they know all the facts once for all, he needs only
to "remind" them.
the Lord--The oldest manuscripts and versions read,
"Jesus." So "Christ" is said to have accompanied the Israelites in the
wilderness; so perfectly is Jesus one with the God of the Israelite theocracy.
saved--brought safely, and into a state of safety
and salvation.
afterward--Greek, "secondly"; in
the next instance "destroyed them that believed not," as contrasted with His in
the first instance having saved them.
6. (@2Pe 2:4.)
kept not their first estate--Vulgate
translates, "their own principality," which the fact of angels being
elsewhere called "principalities," favors: "their own" implies that,
instead of being content with the dignity once for all assigned to them under the
Son of God, they aspired higher. ALFORD thinks the narrative in @Ge 6:2 is alluded to, not the
fall of the devil and his angels, as he thinks "giving themselves over to
fornication" (@Jude 1:7)
proves; compare Greek, "in like manner to these," namely, to the
angels (@Jude 1:6). It
seems to me more natural to take "sons of God" (@Ge 6:2) of the Sethites, than
of angels, who, as "spirits," do not seem capable of carnal connection. The
parallel, @2Pe 2:4, plainly
refers to the fall of the apostate angels. And "in like manner to these,"
@Jude 1:7, refers to the
inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, "the cities about them" sinning "in
like manner" as "they" did [ESTIUS and CALVIN]. Even if Greek "these," @Jude 1:7, refer to the
angels, the sense of "in like manner as these" will be, not that the angels
carnally fornicated with the daughters of men, but that their ambition, whereby
their affections went away from God and they fell, is in God's view a sin of like
kind spiritually as Sodom's going away from God's order of nature after strange
flesh; the sin of the apostate angels after their kind is analogous to that of the human
Sodomites after their kind. Compare the somewhat similar spiritual connection of whoremongers
and covetousness. The apocryphal book of Enoch interprets @Ge 6:2 as ALFORD.
But though Jude accords with it in some particulars, it does not follow that he accords
with it in all. The Hebrews name the fallen angels Aza and Azael.
left--on their own accord.
their own--Greek, "their proper."
habitation--heaven, all bright and glorious, as
opposed to the "darkness" to which they now are doomed. Their ambitious
designs seem to have had a peculiar connection with this earth, of which Satan before his
fall may have been God's vicegerent, whence arises his subsequent connection with it as
first the Tempter, then "the prince of this world."
reserved--As the Greek is the same, and there
is an evident reference to their having "kept not their first
estate," translate, "He hath kept." Probably what is meant is, He hath kept
them in His purpose; that is their sure doom; moreover, as yet, Satan and his
demons roam at large on the earth. An earnest of their doom is their having been cast out
of heaven, being already restricted to "the darkness of this present world," the
"air" that surrounds the earth, their peculiar element now. They lurk in places
of gloom and death, looking forward with agonizing fear to their final torment in the
bottomless pit. He means not literal chains and darkness, but figurative in this present
world where, with restricted powers and liberties, shut out from heaven, they, like
condemned prisoners, await their doom.
7. Even as--ALFORD translates, "I wish to remind you (@Jude 1:5) that."
Sodom, &c.--(@2Pe 2:6).
giving themselves over to fornication--following
fornication extraordinarily, that is, out of the order of nature. On
"in like manner to them" (Greek), compare Note, see on Jude
1:6. Compare on spiritual fornication, "go a whoring from thee," @Ps 73:27.
going after strange flesh--departing from the course
of nature, and going after that which is unnatural. In later times the most enlightened
heathen nations indulged in the sin of Sodom without compunction or shame.
are set forth--before our eyes.
suffering--undergoing to this present time;
alluding to the marks of volcanic fire about the Dead Sea.
the vengeance--Greek, "righteous
retribution."
eternal fire--The lasting marks of the fire that
consumed the cities irreparably, is a type of the eternal fire to which the inhabitants
have been consigned. BENGEL translates as the Greek will
admit, "Suffering (the) punishment (which they endure) as an
example or sample of eternal fire (namely, that which shall consume the
wicked)." @Eze
16:53-55 shows that Sodom's punishment, as a nation, is not eternal. Compare
also @2Pe 2:6.
8. also--rather, "In
like manner nevertheless" (notwithstanding these warning examples) [ALFORD].
these . . . dreamers--The Greek has
not "filthy" of English Version. The clause, "these men
dreaming" (that is, in their dreams), belongs to all the verbs, "defile,"
"despise," and "speak evil." All sinners are spiritually asleep, and
their carnal activity is as it were a dream (@1Th 5:6,7). Their speaking
evil of dignities is because they are dreaming, and know not what they are
speaking evil of (@Jude
1:10). "As a man dreaming seems to himself to be seeing and nearing many things,
so the natural man's lusts are agitated by joy, distress, fear, and the other passions.
But he is a stranger to self-command. Hence, though he bring into play all the powers of
reason, he cannot conceive the true liberty which the sons of light, who are awake and in
the daylight; enjoy" [BENGEL].
defile the flesh--(@Jude 1:7).
dominion--"lordship."
dignities--literally, "glories." Earthly
and heavenly dignities.
9. Michael, the archangel--Nowhere
in Scripture is the plural used, "archangels"; but only ONE,
"archangel." The only other passage in the New Testament where it occurs, is @1Th 4:16, where Christ is
distinguished from the archangel, with whose voice He shall descend to raise the dead;
they therefore err who confound Christ with Michael. The name means, Who is like God?
In @Da 10:13 he is called
"One ('the first,' Margin) of the chief princes." He is the
champion angel of Israel. In @Re
12:7 the conflict between Michael and Satan is again alluded to.
about the body of Moses--his literal body. Satan, as
having the power of death, opposed the raising of it again, on the ground of Moses' sin at
Meribah, and his murder of the Egyptian. That Moses' body was raised, appears from his
presence with Elijah and Jesus (who were in the body) at the Transfiguration: the sample
and earnest of the coming resurrection kingdom, to be ushered in by Michael's standing up
for God's people. Thus in each dispensation a sample and pledge of the future resurrection
was given: Enoch in the patriarchal dispensation, Moses in the Levitical, Elijah in the
prophetical. It is noteworthy that the same rebuke is recorded here as was used by the
Angel of the Lord, or Jehovah the Second Person, in pleading for Joshua, the
representative of the Jewish Church, against Satan, in @Zec 3:2; whence some have
thought that also here "the body of Moses" means the Jewish Church accused by
Satan, before God, for its filthiness, on which ground he demands that divine justice
should take its course against Israel, but is rebuked by the Lord who has "chosen
Jerusalem": thus, as "the body of Christ" is the Christian Church,
so "the body of Moses" is the Jewish Church. But the literal body is evidently
here meant (though, secondarily, the Jewish Church is typified by Moses' body, as it was
there represented by Joshua the high priest); and Michael, whose connection seems to be so
close with Jehovah-Messiah on the one hand, and with Israel on the other, naturally uses
the same language as his Lord. As Satan (adversary in court) or the devil (accuser)
accuses alike the Church collectively and "the brethren" individually, so Christ
pleads for us as our Advocate. Israel's, and all believers' full justification, and the
accuser's being rebuked finally, is yet future. JOSEPHUS [Antiquities,4.8],
states that God hid Moses' body, lest, if it had been exposed to view, it would have been
made an idol of. Jude, in this account, either adopts it from the apocryphal
"assumption of Moses" (as ORIGEN [Concerning
Principalities, 3.2] thinks), or else from the ancient tradition on which that work
was founded. Jude, as inspired, could distinguish how much of the tradition was
true, how much false. We have no such means of distinguishing, and therefore can be
sure of no tradition, save that which is in the written word.
durst not--from reverence for Satan's former dignity
(@Jude 1:8).
railing accusation--Greek, "judgment of
blasphemy," or evil-speaking. Peter said, Angels do not, in order to avenge
themselves, rail at dignities, though ungodly, when they have to contend with them: Jude
says that the archangel Michael himself did not rail even at the time when he fought with
the devil, the prince of evil spirits--not from fear of him, but from reverence of God,
whose delegated power in this world Satan once had, and even in some degree still has.
From the word "disputed," or debated in controversy, it is plain it was a
judicial contest.
10. (@2Pe 2:12.)
those things which--Greek, "all things whatsoever
they understand not," namely, the things of the spiritual world.
but what . . . naturally--Connect thus,
"Whatever (so the Greek) things naturally (by natural, blind instinct),
as the unreasoning (so the Greek) animals, they know," &c. The Greek
for the former "know" implies deeper knowledge; the latter "know," the
mere perception of the "animal senses and faculties."
11. Woe--See on 2Pe
2:14, "cursed children."
Cain--the murderer: the root of whose sin was hatred
and envy of the godly, as it is the sin of these seducers.
ran greedily--literally, "have been poured
forth" like a torrent that has burst its banks. Reckless of what it costs, the loss
of God's favor and heaven, on they rush after gain like Balaam.
perished in the gainsaying of Core--(compare Note,
see on Jude 1:12). When we read of Korah perishing by gainsaying, we
read virtually also of these perishing in like manner through the same: for the same seed
bears the same harvest.
12. spots--So @2Pe 2:13, Greek,
"spiloi"; but here the Greek is spilades, which elsewhere,
in secular writers, means rocks, namely, on which the Christian love-feasts
were in danger of being shipwrecked. The oldest manuscript prefixes the article
emphatically, "THE rocks." The reference to "clouds
. . . winds . . . waves of the sea," accords with this image of rocks.
Vulgate seems to have been misled by the similar sounding word to translate, as English
Version, "spots"; compare however, @Jude 1:23, which favors English
Version, if the Greek will bear it. Two oldest manuscripts, by the
transcriber's effort to make Jude say the same as Peter, read here "deceivings"
for "love-feasts," but the weightiest manuscript and authorities support English
Version reading. The love-feast accompanied the Lord's Supper (@1Co 11:17-34, end). Korah
the Levite, not satisfied with his ministry, aspired to the sacrificing
priesthood also: so ministers in the Lord's Supper have sought to make it a sacrifice,
and themselves the sacrificing priests, usurping the function of our only Christian
sacerdotal Priest, Christ Jesus. Let them beware of Korah's doom!
feeding themselves--Greek, "pasturing
(tending) themselves." What they look to is the pampering of themselves, not
the feeding of the flock.
without fear--Join these words not as English
Version, but with "feast." Sacred feasts especially ought to be celebrated with
fear. Feasting is not faulty in itself [BENGEL], but it needs
to be accompanied with fear of forgetting God, as Job in the case of his sons'
feasts.
clouds--from which one would expect refreshing
rains. @2Pe 2:17,
"wells without water." Professors without practice.
carried about--The oldest manuscripts have
"carried aside," that is, out of the right course (compare @Eph 4:14).
trees whose fruit withereth--rather, "trees of
the late (or waning) autumn," namely, when there are no longer leaves or
fruits on the trees [BENGEL].
without fruit--having no good fruit of knowledge and
practice; sometimes used of what is positively bad.
twice dead--First when they cast their leaves in
autumn, and seem during winter dead, but revive again in spring; secondly, when
they are "plucked up by the roots." So these apostates, once dead in unbelief,
and then by profession and baptism raised from the death of sin to the life of
righteousness, but now having become dead again by apostasy, and so hopelessly
dead. There is a climax. Not only without leaves, like trees in late autumn,
but without fruit: not only so, but dead twice; and to crown all, "plucked up
by the roots."
13. Raging--wild. Jude has
in mind @Isa 57:20.
shame--plural in Greek, "shames"
(compare @Php 3:19).
wandering stars--instead of moving on in a regular
orbit, as lights to the world, bursting forth on the world like erratic comets, or rather,
meteors of fire, with a strange glare, and then doomed to fall back again into the
blackness of gloom.
14. See Introduction on the source whence Jude derived this
prophecy of Enoch. The Holy Spirit, by Jude, has sealed the truth of this much of the
matter contained in the book of Enoch, though probably that book, as well as Jude, derived
it from tradition (compare Note, see on Jude
1:9). There are reasons given by some for thinking the book of Enoch copied from Jude
rather than vice versa. It is striking how, from the first, prophecy hastened towards its
consummation. The earliest prophecies of the Redeemer dwell on His second coming in glory,
rather than His first coming in lowliness (compare @Ge 3:15 with @Ro 16:20). Enoch, in his
translation without death, illustrated that truth which he all his life preached to the
unbelieving world, the certainty of the Lord's coming, and the resurrection of the dead,
as the only effectual antidote to their skepticism and self-wise confidence in nature's
permanence.
And Enoch--Greek, "Moreover, also
Enoch," &c.
seventh from Adam--Seven is the sacred
number. In Enoch, freedom from death and the sacred number are combined: for every seventh
object is most highly valued. Jude thus shows the antiquity of the prophecies. Compare Note,
see on Jude 1:4, "of old." There were only five
fathers between Enoch and Adam. The seventh from Adam prophesied the things which
shall close the seventh age of the world [BENGEL].
of these--in relation to these. The reference of his
prophecies was not to the antediluvians alone, but to all the ungodly (@Jude 1:15). His prophecy
applied primarily indeed to the flood, but ultimately to the final judgment.
cometh--literally, "came." Prophecy
regards the future as certain as if it were past.
saints--Holy angels (compare @De
33:2 Da 7:10 Zec 14:5 Mt 25:31 Heb 12:22).
15. This verse and the
beginning of Enoch's prophecy is composed in Hebrew poetic parallelism, the oldest
specimen extant. Some think Lamech's speech, which is also in poetic parallelism, was
composed in mockery of Enoch's prophecy: as Enoch foretold Jehovah's coming to judgment,
so Lamech presumes on impunity in polygamy and murder (just as Cain the murderer seemed to
escape with impunity).
convince--convict.
hard speeches--such as are noticed in @Jude 1:8,10,16
Mal 3:13,14; contrast @Ro
16:17.
ungodly sinners--not merely sinners, but
proud despisers of God: impious.
against him--They who speak against God's children
are regarded by God as speaking against Himself.
16. murmurers--in secret: muttering
murmurs against God's ordinances and ministers in Church and state. Compare @Jude 1:8, "speak evil of
dignities"; @Jude 1:15,
"hard speeches"; against the Lord.
complainers--never satisfied with their lot (@Nu 11:1; compare the penalty,
@De 28:47,48).
walking after their own lusts--(@Jude 1:18). The secret of
their murmuring and complaining is the restless insatiability of their desires.
great swelling words--(@2Pe 2:18).
men's persons--their mere outward appearance and
rank.
because of advantage--for the sake of what they may
gain from them. While they talk great swelling words, they are really mean and
fawning towards those of wealth and rank.
17. But; beloved
. . . ye--in contrast to those reprobates, @Jude 1:20, again.
remember--implying that his readers had been
contemporaries of the apostles. For Peter uses the very same formula in reminding the
contemporaries of himself and the other apostles.
spoken before--spoken already before now.
the apostles--Peter (see on 2Pe
3:2,3), and Paul before Peter (@Ac 20:29 1Ti 4:1
2Ti 3:1). Jude does not exclude himself from the number of the apostles here,
for in @Jude 1:18,
immediately after, he says, "they told You," not us (rather as Greek,
"used to tell you" implying that Jude's readers were contemporaries of the
apostles, who used to tell them).
18. mockers--In the
parallel, @2Pe 3:3, the
same Greek is translated, "scoffers." The word is found nowhere else in
the New Testament. How ALFORD can deny that @2Pe 3:2,3 is referred to (at
least in part), I cannot imagine, seeing that Jude quotes the very words of Peter
as the words which the apostles used to speak to his (Jude's) readers.
walk after their own ungodly lusts--literally,
"after (according to) their own lusts of ungodliness."
19. These be they--showing
that their characters are such as Peter and Paul had foretold.
separate themselves--from Church communion in its
vital, spiritual reality: for outwardly they took part in Church ordinances (@Jude 1:12). Some oldest
manuscripts omit "themselves": then understand it, "separate," cast
out members of the Church by excommunication (@Isa 65:5
66:5 Lu 6:22 Joh 9:34; compare "casteth them out of the Church;" @3Jo 1:10). Many, however,
understand "themselves," which indeed is read in some of the oldest manuscripts
as English Version has it. Arrogant setting up of themselves, as having greater
sanctity and a wisdom and peculiar doctrine, distinct from others, is implied.
sensual--literally, "animal-souled": as
opposed to the spiritual, or "having the Spirit." It is translated,
"the natural man," @1Co 2:14. In the threefold
division of man's being, body, soul, and spirit, the due state in God's design is,
that "the spirit," which is the recipient of the Holy Spirit uniting man to God,
should be first, and should rule the soul, which stands intermediate between the body
and spirit: but in the animal, or natural man, the spirit is sunk
into subserviency to the animal soul, which is earthly in its motives and aims. The
"carnal" sink somewhat lower, for in these the flesh, the lowest element
and corrupt side of man's bodily nature, reigns paramount.
having not the Spirit--In the animal and natural man
the spirit, his higher part, which ought to be the receiver of the Holy Spirit, is
not so; and therefore, his spirit not being in its normal state, he is said not to have
the spirit (compare @Joh
3:5,6). In the completion of redemption the parts of redeemed man shall be placed in
their due relation: whereas in the ungodly, the soul severed from the spirit
shall have for ever animal life without union to God and heaven--a living death.
20. Resuming @Jude 1:17.
building up yourselves--the opposite to the
"separate themselves" (@Jude 1:19):as "in the
Holy Ghost" is opposed to "having not the Spirit."
on--as on a foundation. Building on THE FAITH is equivalent to building on Christ, the object of
faith.
praying in the Holy Ghost--(@Ro 8:26 Eph 6:18).
The Holy Spirit teaches what we are to pray for, and how. None can pray
aright save by being in the Spirit, that is, in the element of His influence. CHRYSOSTOM states that, among the charisms bestowed at the beginning of
the New Testament dispensation, was the gift of prayer, bestowed on someone who
prayed in the name of the rest, and taught others to pray. Moreover, their prayers so
conceived and often used, were received and preserved among Christians, and out of them
forms of prayer were framed. Such is the origin of liturgies [HAMMOND].
21. In @Jude 1:20,21, Jude
combines the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost: and faith, hope, and love.
Keep yourselves--not in your own strength, but
"in the love of God," that is, God's love to you and all His believing
children, the only guarantee for their being kept safe. Man's need of watching is
implied; at the same time he cannot keep himself, unless God in His love keep him.
looking for--in hope.
the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ--to be fully
manifested at His coming. Mercy is usually attributed to the Father: here to the
Son; so entirely one are they.
22, 23. None but those who
"keep themselves" are likely to "save" others.
have compassion--So one oldest manuscript reads. But
two oldest manuscripts, Vulgate, &c., read, "convict"; "reprove
to their conviction"; "confute, so as to convince."
making a difference--The oldest manuscripts and
versions read the accusative for the nominative, "when separating themselves" [WAHL], referring to @Jude 1:19; or "when
contending with you," as the Greek is translated, @Jude 1:9.
23. save with fear--The
oldest manuscripts do not read "with fear" in this position: but after
"snatching them out of the fire" (with which, compare @Am 4:11 1Co 3:15
Zec 3:2, said of a most narrow escape), they add the following words, forming a THIRD
class, "and others compassionate with (IN) fear." Three kinds of patients
require three kinds of medical treatment. Ministers and Christians are said to
"save" those whom they are made the instruments of saving; the Greek for
"save" is present, therefore meaning "try to save." Jude already (@Jude 1:9) had reference to
the same passage (@Zec 3:1-3).
The three classes are: (1) those who contend with you (accusative case in oldest
manuscripts), whom you should convict; (2) those who are as brands already in the
fire, of which hell-fire is the consummation: these you should try to save by snatching
them out; (3) those who are objects of compassion, whom accordingly you should compassionate
(and help if occasion should offer), but at the same time not let pity degenerate into
connivance at their error. Your compassion is to be accompanied "with fear" of
being at all defiled by them.
hating--Even hatred has its legitimate field
of exercise. Sin is the only thing which God hates: so ought we.
even the garment--a proverbial phrase: avoiding the
most remote contact with sin, and hating that which borders on it. As garments of
the apostles wrought miracles of good in healing, so the very garment of sinners
metaphorically, that is, anything brought into contact with their pollution, is to be
avoided. Compare as to lepers and other persons defiled, @Le 13:52-57 15:4-17:
the garments were held polluted; and anyone touching them was excluded, until purified,
from religious and civil communion with the sanctified people of Israel. Christians who
received at baptism the white garment in token of purity, are not to defile it by any
approach to what is defiled.
24, 25. Concluding
doxology.
Now--Greek, "But."
you--ALFORD, on inferior
authority, reads, "them." You is in contradistinction to those ungodly
men mentioned above.
keep . . . from falling--rather,
"guard . . . (so as to be) without falling," or stumbling.
faultless--Greek, "blameless."
before the presence of his glory--that is, before
Himself, when He shall be revealed in glory.
with exceeding joy--literally, "with
exultation" as of those who leap for joy.
25. To the only
. . . God our Saviour--The oldest manuscripts add, "through Jesus
Christ our Lord." The transcribers, fancying that "Saviour" applied to
Christ alone, omitted the words. The sense is, To the only God (the Father) who is our
Saviour through (that is, by the mediation of) Jesus Christ our Lord.
dominion--Greek, "might."
power--authority: legitimate power. The
oldest manuscripts and Vulgate, after "power," have "before all the
age," that is, before all time as to the past: "and now," as
to the present; "and to all the ages," that is, for ever, as to the time
to come.