Yudas 1:8

1:8 Yet these men, ¹  as a result of their dreams, ²  defile the flesh, reject authority, ³  and insult ⁴  the glorious ones. ⁵ 

Yudas 1:16

1:16 These people are grumblers and ⁶  fault-finders who go ⁷  wherever their desires lead them, ⁸  and they give bombastic speeches, ⁹  enchanting folks ¹⁰  for their own gain. ¹¹ 

[1:8]  ¹ tn The reference is now to the false teachers.

[1:8]  ² tn Grk “dreaming.” The participle ἐνυπνιαζόμενοι (enupniazomenoi, “dreaming”) is adverbial to the pronoun οὗτοι (|outoi, “these”), though the particular relationship is not clear. It could mean, “while dreaming,” “by dreaming,” or “because of dreaming.” This translation has adopted the last option as Jude’s meaning, partially for syntactical reasons (the causal participle usually precedes the main verb) and partially for contextual reasons (these false teachers must derive their authority from some source, and the dreams provide the most obvious base). The participle ἐνυπνιαζόμενοι was sometimes used of apocalyptic visions, both of true and false prophets. This seems to be the meaning here.

[1:8]  ³ tn Most likely, the authority of the Lord is in view. This verse, then, echoes the indictment of v. 4: “they deny our Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

[1:8]  ⁴ tn The construction with the three verbs (“defile, “reject,” and “insult”) involves the particles μέν, δέ, δέ (men, de, de). A more literal (and pedantic) translation would be: “on the one hand, they defile the flesh, on the other hand, they reject authority, and on another hand, they insult the glorious ones.”

[1:8]  ⁵ sn The glorious ones refers to angelic beings rather than mere human beings, just as in 2 Pet 2:10 (on which this passage apparently depends). Whether the angelic beings are good or evil, however, is difficult to tell (hence, the translation is left ambiguous). However, both in 2 Pet 2:11 and here, in Jude 9, the wicked angels seem to be in view (for not even Michael insults them).

[1:16]  ⁶ tn “And” is not in Greek, but is supplied for the sake of English style.

[1:16]  ⁷ tn Or “going.” Though the participle is anarthrous, so also is the subject. Thus, the participle could be either adverbial or adjectival.

[1:16]  ⁸ tn Grk “(who go/going) according to their own lusts.”

[1:16]  ⁹ tn Grk “and their mouth speaks bombastic things.”

[1:16]  sn They give bombastic speeches. The idiom of opening one’s mouth in the NT often implied a public oration from a teacher or one in authority. Cf. Matt 5:2; Luke 4:22; Acts 1:16; 3:18; 10:34; Eph 6:19; Rev 13:5-6.

[1:16]  ¹⁰ sn Enchanting folks (Grk “awing faces”) refers to the fact that the speeches of these false teachers are powerful and seductive.

[1:16]  ¹¹ tn Or “to their own advantage.”