Yudas 1:3

Condemnation of the False Teachers

1:3 Dear friends, although I have been eager to write to you ¹  about our common salvation, I now feel compelled ²  instead to write to encourage ³  you to contend earnestly ⁴  for the faith ⁵  that was once for all ⁶  entrusted to the saints. ⁷ 

Yudas 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Jude, ⁸  a slave ⁹  of Jesus Christ and brother of James, ¹⁰  to those who are called, wrapped in the love of ¹¹  God the Father and kept for ¹²  Jesus Christ.

1 Samuel 14:48

14:48 He fought bravely, striking down the Amalekites and delivering Israel from the hand of its enemies. ¹³ 

1 Samuel 15:3-8

15:3 So go now and strike down the Amalekites. Destroy everything that they have. Don’t spare ¹⁴  them. Put them to death – man, woman, child, infant, ox, sheep, camel, and donkey alike.’”

15:4 So Saul assembled ¹⁵  the army ¹⁶  and mustered them at Telaim. There were 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah. 15:5 Saul proceeded to the city ¹⁷  of Amalek, where he set an ambush ¹⁸  in the wadi. ¹⁹  15:6 Saul said to the Kenites, “Go on and leave! Go down from among the Amalekites! Otherwise I will sweep you away ²⁰  with them! After all, you were kind to all the Israelites when they came up from Egypt.” So the Kenites withdrew from among the Amalekites.

15:7 Then Saul struck down the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to ²¹  Shur, which is next to Egypt. 15:8 He captured King Agag of the Amalekites alive, but he executed all Agag’s people ²²  with the sword.

1 Samuel 27:8-9

27:8 Then David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. (They had been living in that land for a long time, from the approach ²³  to Shur as far as the land of Egypt.) 27:9 When David would attack a district, ²⁴  he would leave neither man nor woman alive. He would take sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and clothing and would then go back to Achish.

1 Samuel 30:1

David Defeats the Amalekites

30:1 On the third day David and his men came to Ziklag. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They attacked Ziklag and burned it. ²⁵ 

1 Samuel 30:17

30:17 But David struck them down from twilight until the following evening. None of them escaped, with the exception of four hundred young men who got away on camels. ²⁶ 

1 Samuel 30:1

David Defeats the Amalekites

30:1 On the third day David and his men came to Ziklag. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They attacked Ziklag and burned it. ²⁷ 

1 Samuel 4:1

4:1 Samuel revealed the word of the Lord ²⁸  to all Israel.

The Ark of the Covenant is Lost to the Philistines

Then the Israelites went out to fight the Philistines. ²⁹  They camped at Ebenezer, ³⁰  and the Philistines camped at Aphek.

Ester 3:1

Haman Conspires to Destroy the Jews

3:1 Some time later ³¹  King Ahasuerus promoted ³²  Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, exalting him and setting his position ³³  above that of all the officials who were with him.

Ester 7:9-10

7:9 Harbona, ³⁴  one of the king’s eunuchs, said, “Indeed, there is the gallows that Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke out in the king’s behalf. It stands near Haman’s home and is seventy-five feet ³⁵  high.”

The king said, “Hang him on it!” 7:10 So they hanged Haman on the very gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. The king’s rage then abated.

Ester 9:14

9:14 So the king issued orders for this to be done. A law was passed in Susa, and the ten sons of Haman were hanged.

[1:3]  ¹ tn Grk “while being quite diligent to write to you,” or “while making all haste to write to you.” Two issues are at stake: (1) whether σπουδή (spoudh) here means diligence, eagerness, or haste; (2) whether ποιούμενος γράφειν (poioumeno" grafein) is to be taken conatively (“I was about to write”) or progressively (“I was writing”). Without knowing more of the background, it is difficult to tell which option is to be preferred.

[1:3]  ² tn Grk “I had the necessity.” The term ἀνάγκη (anankh, “necessity”) often connotes urgency or distress. In this context, Jude is indicating that the more comprehensive treatment about the faith shared between himself and his readers was not nearly as urgent as the letter he found it now necessary to write.

[1:3]  ³ tn Grk “encouraging.” Παρακαλῶν (parakalwn) is most likely a telic participle. In keeping with other participles of purpose, it is present tense and occurs after the main verb.

[1:3]  ⁴ tn the verb ἐπαγωνίζομαι (epagwnizomai) is an intensive form of ἀγωνίζομαι (agwnizomai). As such, the notion of struggling, fighting, contending, etc. is heightened.

[1:3]  ⁵ tn Τῇ πίστει (th pistei) here is taken as a dative of advantage (“on behalf of the faith”). Though rare (see BDAG 820 s.v. 3), it is not unexampled and must have this meaning here.

[1:3]  sn The term “faith” has a variety of meanings in the NT. Here, the faith refers to the doctrinal content embraced by believers rather than the act of believing. Rather than discuss the points of agreement that Jude would have with these believers, because of the urgency of the present situation he must assume that these believers were well grounded and press on to encourage them to fight for this common belief.

[1:3]  ⁶ sn The adverb once for all (ἅπαξ, Japax) seems to indicate that the doctrinal convictions of the early church had been substantially codified. That is to say, Jude could appeal to written documents of the Christian faith in his arguments with the false teachers. Most likely, these documents were the letters of Paul and perhaps one or more gospels. First and Second Peter may also have been among the documents Jude has in mind (see also the note on the phrase entrusted to the saints in this verse).

[1:3]  ⁷ sn I now feel compelled instead…saints. Apparently news of some crisis has reached Jude, prompting him to write a different letter than what he had originally planned. A plausible scenario (assuming authenticity of 2 Peter or at least that there are authentic Petrine snippets in it) is that after Peter’s death, Jude intended to write to the same Gentile readers that Peter had written to (essentially, Paul’s churches). Jude starts by affirming that the gospel the Gentiles had received from Paul was the same as the one the Jewish Christians had received from the other apostles (our common salvation). But in the midst of writing this letter, Jude felt that the present crisis deserved another, shorter piece. The crisis, as the letter reveals, is that the false teachers whom Peter prophesied have now infiltrated the church. The letter of Jude is thus an ad hoc letter, intended to confirm the truth of Peter’s letter and encourage the saints to ground their faith in the written documents of the nascent church, rather than listen to the twisted gospel of the false teachers. In large measure, the letter of Jude illustrates the necessity of clinging to the authority of scripture as opposed to those who claim to be prophets.

[1:1]  ⁸ tn Grk “Judas,” traditionally “Jude” in English versions to distinguish him from the one who betrayed Jesus. The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ⁹ tn Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). At the same time, perhaps “servant” is apt in that the δοῦλος of Jesus Christ took on that role voluntarily, unlike a slave. The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:1]  sn Undoubtedly the background for the concept of being the Lord’s slave or servant is to be found in the Old Testament scriptures. For a Jew this concept did not connote drudgery, but honor and privilege. It was used of national Israel at times (Isa 43:10), but was especially associated with famous OT personalities, including such great men as Moses (Josh 14:7), David (Ps 89:3; cf. 2 Sam 7:5, 8) and Elijah (2 Kgs 10:10); all these men were “servants (or slaves) of the Lord.”

[1:1]  ¹⁰ sn Although Jude was half-brother of Jesus, he humbly associates himself with James, his full brother. By first calling himself a slave of Jesus Christ, it is evident that he wants no one to place stock in his physical connections. At the same time, he must identify himself further: Since Jude was a common name in the 1st century (two of Jesus’ disciples were so named, including his betrayer), more information was needed, that is to say, brother of James.

[1:1]  ¹¹ tn Grk “loved in.” The perfect passive participle suggests that the audience’s relationship to God is not recent; the preposition ἐν (en) before πατρί (patri) could be taken as sphere or instrument (agency is unlikely, however). Another possible translation would be “dear to God.”

[1:1]  ¹² tn Or “by.” Datives of agency are quite rare in the NT (and other ancient Greek), almost always found with a perfect verb. Although this text qualifies, in light of the well-worn idiom of τηρέω (threw) in eschatological contexts, in which God or Christ keeps the believer safe until the parousia (cf. 1 Thess 5:23; 1 Pet 1:4; Rev 3:10; other terms meaning “to guard,” “to keep” are also found in similar eschatological contexts [cf. 2 Thess 3:3; 2 Tim 1:12; 1 Pet 1:5; Jude 24]), it is probably better to understand this verse as having such an eschatological tinge. It is at the same time possible that Jude’s language was intentionally ambiguous, implying both ideas (“kept by Jesus Christ [so that they might be] kept for Jesus Christ”). Elsewhere he displays a certain fondness for wordplays; this may be a hint of things to come.

[14:48]  ¹³ tn Heb “plunderers.”

[15:3]  ¹⁴ tn Or perhaps “don’t take pity on” (cf. CEV).

[15:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “caused the people to hear.”

[15:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “people.”

[15:5]  ¹⁷ tc The LXX has the plural here, “cities.”

[15:5]  ¹⁸ tc The translation follows the LXX and Vulgate which assume a reading וַיָּאָרֶב (vayya’arev, “and he set an ambush,” from the root ארב [’rv] with quiescence of alef) rather than the MT, which has וַיָּרֶב (vayyareb, “and he contended,” from the root ריב [ryv]).

[15:5]  ¹⁹ tn That is, “the dry stream bed.”

[15:6]  ²⁰ tc The translation follows the Syriac Peshitta and Vulgate which assume a reading אֶסִפְךָ (’esfÿka, “I sweep you away,” from the root ספה [sfh]) rather than the MT אֹסִפְךָ (’osifÿka, “I am gathering you,” from the root אסף[’sf]).

[15:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “[as] you enter.”

[15:8]  ²² tn Heb “all the people.” For clarity “Agag’s” has been supplied in the translation.

[27:8]  ²³ tn Heb “from where you come.”

[27:9]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the land.”

[30:1]  ²⁵ tn The Hebrew text adds “with fire.”

[30:17]  ²⁶ tn Heb “who rode on camels and fled.”

[30:1]  ²⁷ tn The Hebrew text adds “with fire.”

[4:1]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and the word of Samuel was.” The present translation understands Samuel to be the speaker of the divine word (“Samuel” is a subjective genitive in this case), although the statement could mean that he was the recipient of the divine word (“Samuel” is an objective genitive in this case) who in turn reported it to Israel.

[4:1]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and Israel went out to meet the Philistines for battle.”

[4:1]  ³⁰ tn Heb “the stone, the help.” The second noun is in apposition to the first one and apparently is the name by which the stone was known. Contrast the expression used in 5:1 and 7:12, where the first word lacks the definite article, unlike 4:1.

[3:1]  ³¹ tn Heb “after these things” (so KJV, ASV); NAB, NASB, NIV “After these events.”

[3:1]  ³² tn Heb “made great”; NAB “raised…to high rank”; NIV “honored.”

[3:1]  sn The promotion of Haman in 3:1 for reasons unexplained contrasts noticeably with 2:19-23, where Mordecai’s contribution to saving the king’s life goes unnoticed. The irony is striking.

[3:1]  ³³ tn Heb “chair”; KJV, NRSV “seat”; NASB “established his authority.”

[7:9]  ³⁴ sn Cf. 1:10, where Harbona is one of the seven eunuchs sent by the king to summon Queen Vashti to his banquet.

[7:9]  ³⁵ tn Heb “fifty cubits.” See the note on this expression in Esth 5:14.