Yudas 1:20-22

1:20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith, by praying in the Holy Spirit, ¹  1:21 maintain ²  yourselves in the love of God, while anticipating ³  the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings eternal life. ⁴  1:22 And have mercy on those who waver;

Yudas 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Jude, ⁵  a slave ⁶  of Jesus Christ and brother of James, ⁷  to those who are called, wrapped in the love of ⁸  God the Father and kept for ⁹  Jesus Christ.

1 Samuel 4:5

4:5 When the ark of the covenant of the Lord arrived at the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly ¹⁰  that the ground shook.

1 Samuel 17:20

17:20 So David got up early in the morning and entrusted the flock to someone else who would watch over it. ¹¹  After loading up, he went just as Jesse had instructed him. He arrived at the camp ¹²  as the army was going out to the battle lines shouting its battle cry.

1 Samuel 17:52

17:52 Then the men of Israel and Judah charged forward, shouting a battle cry. ¹³  They chased the Philistines to the valley ¹⁴  and to the very gates of Ekron. The Philistine corpses lay fallen along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.

1 Samuel 17:2

17:2 Saul and the Israelite army ¹⁵  assembled and camped in the valley of Elah, where they arranged their battle lines to fight against ¹⁶  the Philistines.

1 Samuel 13:14-15

13:14 But now your kingdom will not continue! The Lord has sought out ¹⁷  for himself a man who is loyal to him ¹⁸  and the Lord has appointed ¹⁹  him to be leader over his people, for you have not obeyed what the Lord commanded you.”

13:15 Then Samuel set out and went up from Gilgal ²⁰  to Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin. ²¹  Saul mustered the army that remained with him; there were about six hundred men.

Yeremia 50:15

50:15 Shout the battle cry from all around the city.

She will throw up her hands in surrender. ²² 

Her towers ²³  will fall.

Her walls will be torn down.

Because I, the Lord, am wreaking revenge, ²⁴ 

take out your vengeance on her!

Do to her as she has done!

[1:20]  ¹ tn The participles in v. 20 have been variously interpreted. Some treat them imperativally or as attendant circumstance to the imperative in v. 21 (“maintain”): “build yourselves up…pray.” But they do not follow the normal contours of either the imperatival or attendant circumstance participles, rendering this unlikely. A better option is to treat them as the means by which the readers are to maintain themselves in the love of God. This both makes eminently good sense and fits the structural patterns of instrumental participles elsewhere.

[1:21]  ² tn Or “keep.”

[1:21]  ³ tn Or “waiting for.”

[1:21]  ⁴ tn Grk “unto eternal life.”

[1:1]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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.

[4:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “shouted [with] a great shout.”

[17:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to a guard”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “with a keeper”; NIV “with a shepherd.” Since in contemporary English “guard” sounds like someone at a military installation or a prison, the present translation uses “to someone else who would watch over it.”

[17:20]  ¹² tn Or “entrenchment.”

[17:52]  ¹³ tn Heb “arose and cried out.”

[17:52]  ¹⁴ tc Most of the LXX ms tradition has here “Gath.”

[17:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the men of Israel” (so KJV, NASB); NAB, NIV, NRSV “the Israelites.”

[17:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “to meet.”

[13:14]  ¹⁷ tn This verb form, as well as the one that follows (“appointed”), indicates completed action from the standpoint of the speaker. This does not necessarily mean that the Lord had already conducted his search and made his choice, however. The forms may be used for rhetorical effect to emphasize the certainty of the action. The divine search for a new king is as good as done, emphasizing that the days of Saul’s dynasty are numbered.

[13:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “according to his heart.” The idiomatic expression means to be like-minded with another, as its use in 1 Sam 14:7 indicates.

[13:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “commanded.”

[13:15]  ²⁰ tc The LXX and two Old Latin mss include the following words here: “on his way. And the rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the warring army. When they arrived from Gilgal….”

[13:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “at Gibeah of Benjamin.” The words “in the territory” are supplied in the translation for clarity (likewise in the following verse).

[50:15]  ²² tn Heb “She has given her hand.” For the idiom here involving submission/surrender see BDB 680 s.v. נָתַן Qal.1.z and compare the usage in 1 Chr 29:24; 2 Chr 30:8. For a different interpretation, however, see the rather complete discussion in G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, and T. G. Smothers (Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 366) who see this as a reference to making a covenant. The verb in this line and the next two lines are all Hebrew perfects and most translators and commentaries see them as past. God’s Word, however, treats them as prophetic perfects and translates them as future. This is more likely in the light of the imperatives both before and after.

[50:15]  ²³ tn The meaning of this word is uncertain. The definition here follows that of HALOT 91 s.v. אָשְׁיָה, which defines it on the basis of an Akkadian word and treats it as a loanword.

[50:15]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Because it is the Lord’s vengeance.” The first person has again been used because the Lord is the speaker and the nominal expression has been turned into a verbal one more in keeping with contemporary English style.