Yudas 1:24

Final Blessing

1:24 Now to the one who is able to keep you from falling, ¹  and to cause you to stand, rejoicing, ²  without blemish ³  before his glorious presence, ⁴ 

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 1:8

1:8 Finally her husband Elkanah said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep and not eat? Why are you so sad? ¹⁰  Am I not better to you than ten ¹¹  sons?”

1 Samuel 1:2

1:2 He had two wives; the name of the first was Hannah and the name of the second was Peninnah. Now Peninnah had children, but Hannah was childless.

1 Samuel 13:4

13:4 All Israel heard this message, ¹²  “Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel is repulsive ¹³  to the Philistines!” So the people were summoned to join ¹⁴  Saul at Gilgal.

Nehemia 2:2

2:2 So the king said to me, “Why do you appear to be depressed when you aren’t sick? What can this be other than sadness of heart?” This made me very fearful.

Lukas 24:17

24:17 Then ¹⁵  he said to them, “What are these matters ¹⁶  you are discussing so intently ¹⁷  as you walk along?” And they stood still, looking sad.

[1:24]  ¹ tn The construction in Greek is a double accusative object-complement. “You” is the object and “free from falling” is the adjectival complement.

[1:24]  ² tn Grk “with rejoicing.” The prepositional clause is placed after “his glorious presence” in Greek, but most likely goes with “cause you to stand.”

[1:24]  ³ tn The construction in Greek is a double accusative object-complement. “You” is the object and “without blemish” is the adjectival complement.

[1:24]  ⁴ tn Or “in the presence of his glory,” “before his glory.”

[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.

[1:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “why is your heart displeased?”

[1:8]  ¹¹ sn Like the number seven, the number ten is sometimes used in the OT as an ideal number (see, for example, Dan 1:20, Zech 8:23).

[13:4]  ¹² tn The words “this message” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[13:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “stinks.” The figurative language indicates that Israel had become repulsive to the Philistines.

[13:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “were summoned after.”

[24:17]  ¹⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[24:17]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “words,” but the term λόγος (logos) can refer to “matters” rather than only “words” (BDAG 600 s.v. 1.a.ε).

[24:17]  ¹⁷ tn “Discussing so intently” translates the reciprocal idea conveyed by πρὸς ἀλλήλους (pro" allhlou"). The term ἀντιβάλλω (antiballw), used only here in the NT, has the nuance of “arguing” or “debating” a point (the English idiom “to exchange words” also comes close).