Epistle of Jude
The Epistle of Jude is the penultimate book of the New Testament and of the Christian Bible. The Epistle of Jude claims authorship by Jude, identified as a servant of Jesus and brother of James, though there is scholarly debate about his exact identity, literacy, and the letter's date. It was most likely written in the late first century, with some considering its authorship pseudepigraphical.
Jude urges believers to defend the faith against false teachers and warns of their destructive consequences by recalling examples of divine judgment on the unbelieving and rebellious. He encourages steadfastness in God's love despite scoffers, uses vivid imagery to describe these opponents, and supports his message by quoting the Book of Enoch. The Epistle of Jude references both canonical books like Zechariah and non-canonical works such as the Book of Enoch and the Assumption of Moses, indicating its author's familiarity with a range of writings. The Epistle of Jude condemns vague opponents—variously interpreted as rebellious leaders, heretics rejecting divine or ecclesiastical authority, proto-Gnostics, or critics of Pauline teachings—but their exact identity remains uncertain due to the epistle's ambiguous and limited descriptions. The Epistle of Jude, a brief, combative, and impassioned letter of 25 verses likely intended as a circular letter to Jewish Christians familiar with Hebrew Bible and Enochian references. It concludes with a doxology.
The one aspect of the potential ideology discussed in the letter is that these opponents denigrate angels and their role. If this was indeed a part of the ideology of this group the author opposed, then the epistle is possibly a counterpoint to the Epistle to the Colossians. Colossians condemns those who give angels undue prominence and worship them; this implies the two letters might be part of an early Christian debate on Christian angelology. The phrase "heap abuse on celestial beings" may reflect early Christian tensions between more Jewish-aligned figures like James and Jude and the Pauline tradition, which emphasized believers' authority over angels and rejected strict adherence to Jewish law.
Many scholars believe that the strong similarities between Jude and 2 Peter—particularly in 2 Peter 2 and Jude 4–18—indicate that one borrowed from the other or both used a common source, with most favoring Jude as the earlier text, though conservative objections exist. The Epistle of Jude was disputed but gradually accepted as canonical by most churches by the late second century, despite early doubts about its authorship and content due to its rare citation and use of apocryphal sources. Its formal inclusion in the New Testament canon was solidified by the late fourth century.
Authorship
The epistle introduces itself with a simple claim of authorship: "Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James". "James" is generally taken to mean James, brother of Jesus, a prominent leader in the early church. Introductions would typically refer to a father in the era, so the use of a brother suggests that this would only be done if the brother was famous within the community. Little is known about Jude himself. As the brother of James, it has traditionally meant Jude was also a brother of Jesus, since James is described as being the brother of Jesus. This is why Clement of Alexandria wrote in his work "Comments on the Epistle of Jude" that Jude, the author, was a son of Joseph and a brother of Jesus. However, there is a dispute as to whether "brother" means someone who has the same father and mother, or a half-brother, cousin, or more distant familial relationship. This dispute over the true meaning of "brother" grew as the doctrine of the Virgin Birth evolved. For example, Saint Jerome believed that not only Mary but also Joseph were virgins their entire lives, and thus James and by extension Jude were cousins.Outside the book of Jude, a "Jude" is mentioned five times in the New Testament: three times as Jude the Apostle, and twice as Jude the brother of Jesus. Debate continues as to whether the author of the epistle is the apostle, the brother of Jesus, both, or neither. Scholars have argued that since the author of the letter has not identified himself as an apostle and also refers to the apostles as a third party, he cannot be identified with Jude the Apostle. Other scholars have drawn the opposite conclusion, which is that, as an apostle, he would not have made a claim of apostleship on his own behalf. Scholars who have defended the authorship of the brother of James as plausible include Richard Bauckham.
A reason to doubt that a relative of Jesus wrote the book is that they are unlikely to have been literate. Jesus's family were common laborers from Aramaic-speaking Galilee, and literary composition skills were overwhelmingly concentrated in the elite in antiquity. Few knew how to read, fewer how to write, and fewer still how to write complicated literary treatises. Jesus himself may have been able to read, presumably in Hebrew, but he was also exceptional and the star of the family. Even if somehow Jude had learned a little of how to read Hebrew, the epistle is written in excellent, complicated Koine Greek, with knowledge of common forms of rhetoric and argument of the era, as well as seeming knowledge of the scriptures in Hebrew. All this would be exceptional for a countryside Galilean. Scholars who support the authorship of Jude generally assume that he must have embarked upon extensive travel and missionary work among Hellenized Jews to master Greek as the author did. Ultimately, it is impossible to know more details of Jude's life for sure. One early Christian tradition states that Jude's grandchildren were brought before Emperor Domitian and interrogated; in the story, they defended themselves as not rebels and mere poor laborers eking out what they could from a single patch of land. While the story is clearly apocryphal – Roman emperors did not generally interrogate Galilean peasants – it does suggest that early Christians remembered Jude's family as lower-class laborers, not literate elites.
If the Jude writing the letter was not Jude the Apostle mentioned in the gospels, then he was possibly an unknown Christian who happened to share the name and coincidentally also had a brother named James. A final possibility is that the epistle is pseudepigrapha – that the author intentionally hinted to readers that it was from the more famous Jude, but only as a false attribution to give the letter more authority.
Date
The date of composition is not known, but is loosely speculated to be between the years 50 and 110. If the epistle was written by the Jude mentioned in the gospels, that would place it sometime in the early apostolic age of before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem; if the letter reflects "early catholicism" and the beginnings of an organized church, then a date of the last decade of the first century or the early second century is indicated; and if the letter is an attack on Gnosticism, then a much later date is indicated, perhaps around 150 AD. Scholars who consider the letter a pseudonymous work generally favor the later dates due to the letter's references to the apostles and to an authoritative tradition, and because of its competent Greek style. Bo Reicke suggests around 90 AD; Heikki Räisänen concurs and believes that it may have been written at the end of the first century. Bart Ehrman also agrees that toward the end of the first century is the most likely, due to use of certain terminology in ways similar to the pastoral epistles that match a late first century date.Content
Jude urges his readers to "contend for the faith" which was delivered "once and for all", against "certain intruders have stolen in among you". He warns about false teachers who twist the grace of Christ as a pretext for wantonness. Jude asks the reader to recall how even after the Lord saved his own people out of the land of Egypt, he did not hesitate to destroy those who fell into unbelief, much as he punished the angels who fell from their original exalted status and the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah. He also paraphrases an incident apparently from the Assumption of Moses that has since been lost about Satan and Michael the Archangel quarreling over the body of Moses.Continuing the analogy from Israel's history, he says that the false teachers have followed in the way of Cain, have rushed after reward into the error of Balaam, and have perished in the rebellion of Korach. He describes in vivid terms the opponents he warns of, calling them "clouds without rain", "trees without fruit", "foaming waves of the sea", and "wandering stars". He exhorts believers to remember the words spoken by the Apostles, using language similar to the second epistle of Peter to answer concerns that the Lord seemed to tarry: "In the last time there will be scoffers, indulging their own ungodly lusts," and to keep themselves in God's love, before delivering a doxology to God.
Jude quotes directly from the Book of Enoch, a widely distributed work among the Old Testament pseudepigrapha, citing a section of 1 Enoch 1:8 that is based on Deuteronomy 33:2.
Style and audience
Consisting of just one chapter with 25 verses, the Epistle of Jude is among the shortest books of the Bible. The Epistle to Philemon also contains 25 verses, while the 21-verse Book of Obadiah, the 14-verse 3 John, and the 13-verse 2 John are shorter.The wording and syntax of this epistle in its original Greek demonstrates that the author was capable and fluent. The epistle's style is combative, impassioned, and rushed. Many examples of evildoers and warnings about their fates are given in rapid succession.
The epistle concludes with a doxology, which is considered by Peter H. Davids to be one of the highest in quality contained in the Bible. Reicke describes it as "grand and soul-stirring".
It may have been composed as an encyclical letter—that is, one not directed to the members of one church in particular, but intended rather to be circulated and read in all churches. While addressed to the Christian Church as a whole, the references to Old Testament figures such as Michael, Cain, and Korah's sons, the Book of Enoch, and the invocation of James as head of the church of Jerusalem suggest a Jewish Christian main audience who would be familiar with Enochian literature and revere James.