Yeremia 50:29

50:29 “Call for archers ¹  to come against Babylon!

Summon against her all who draw the bow!

Set up camp all around the city!

Do not allow anyone to escape!

Pay her back for what she has done.

Do to her what she has done to others.

For she has proudly defied me, ² 

the Holy One of Israel. ³ 

Yudas 1:6-7

1:6 You also know that ⁴  the angels who did not keep within their proper domain ⁵  but abandoned their own place of residence, he has kept ⁶  in eternal chains ⁷  in utter ⁸  darkness, locked up ⁹  for the judgment of the great Day. 1:7 So also ¹⁰  Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns, ¹¹  since they indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire ¹²  in a way similar to ¹³  these angels, ¹⁴  are now displayed as an example by suffering the punishment of eternal fire.

Yudas 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Jude, ¹⁵  a slave ¹⁶  of Jesus Christ and brother of James, ¹⁷  to those who are called, wrapped in the love of ¹⁸  God the Father and kept for ¹⁹  Jesus Christ.

1 Samuel 15:33

15:33 Samuel said, “Just as your sword left women childless, so your mother will be the most bereaved among women!” Then Samuel hacked Agag to pieces there in Gilgal before the Lord.

Mazmur 137:8-9

137:8 O daughter Babylon, soon to be devastated! ²⁰ 

How blessed will be the one who repays you

for what you dished out to us! ²¹ 

137:9 How blessed will be the one who grabs your babies

and smashes them on a rock! ²² 

Matius 7:2

7:2 For by the standard you judge you will be judged, and the measure you use will be the measure you receive. ²³ 

Yakobus 2:13

2:13 For judgment is merciless for the one who has shown no mercy. But mercy triumphs over ²⁴  judgment.

Wahyu 16:6

16:6 because they poured out the blood of your saints and prophets,

so ²⁵  you have given them blood to drink. They got what they deserved!” ²⁶ 

Wahyu 18:6

18:6 Repay her the same way she repaid others; ²⁷  pay her back double ²⁸  corresponding to her deeds. In the cup she mixed, mix double the amount for her.

Wahyu 19:2

19:2 because his judgments are true and just. ²⁹ 

For he has judged ³⁰  the great prostitute

who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality,

and has avenged the blood of his servants ³¹  poured out by her own hands!” ³² 

[50:29]  ¹ tn For this word see BDB 914 s.v. III רַב and compare usage in Prov 26:10 and Job 16:12 and compare the usage of the verb in Gen 49:23. Based on this evidence, it is not necessary to emend the form to רֹבִים (rovim) as many commentators contend.

[50:29]  ² tn Heb “for she has acted insolently against the Lord.” Once again there is the problem of the Lord speaking about himself in the third person (or the prophet dropping his identification with the Lord). As in several other places the present translation, along with several other modern English versions (TEV, CEV, NIrV), has substituted the first person to maintain consistency with the context.

[50:29]  ³ sn The Holy One of Israel is a common title for the Lord in the book of Isaiah. It is applied to the Lord only here and in 51:5 in the book of Jeremiah. It is a figure where an attribute of a person is put as a title of a person (compare “your majesty” for a king). It pictures the Lord as the sovereign king who rules over his covenant people and exercises moral authority over them.

[1:6]  ⁴ tn Grk “and.” Verse 6 is a continuation of the same sentence begun in v. 5. Due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:6]  ⁵ tn Grk “who did not keep their own domain.”

[1:6]  sn The idea is that certain angels acted improperly, going outside the bounds prescribed by God (their proper domain).

[1:6]  ⁶ sn There is an interesting play on words used in this verse. Because the angels did not keep their proper place, Jesus has kept them chained up in another place. The same verb keep is used in v. 1 to describe believers’ status before God and Christ.

[1:6]  ⁷ sn In 2 Pet 2:4 a less common word for chains is used.

[1:6]  ⁸ tn The word ζόφος (zofos, “utter, deepest darkness”) is used only five times in the NT: two in 2 Peter, two in Jude, and one in Hebrews. Jude 6 parallels 2 Pet 2:4; Jude 13 parallels 2 Pet 2:17.

[1:6]  ⁹ tn The words “locked up” are not in Greek, but is expressed in English as a resumptive point after the double prepositional phrase (“in eternal chains in utter darkness”).

[1:7]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “as.”

[1:7]  ¹¹ tn Grk “the towns [or cities] surrounding them.”

[1:7]  ¹² tn Grk “strange flesh.” This phrase has been variously interpreted. It could refer to flesh of another species (such as angels lusting after human flesh). This would aptly describe the sin of the angels, but not easily explain the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah. It could refer to the homosexual practices of the Sodomites, but a difficulty arises from the use of ἕτερος ({etero"; “strange,” “other”). When this is to be distinguished from ἄλλος (allos, “another”) it suggests “another of a different kind.” If so, would that properly describe homosexual behavior? In response, the language could easily be compact: “pursued flesh other than what was normally pursued.” However, would this find an analogy in the lust of angels (such would imply that angels normally had sexual relations of some sort, but cf. Matt 22:30)? Another alternative is that the focus of the parallel is on the activity of the surrounding cities and the activity of the angels. This is especially plausible since the participles ἐκπορνεύσασαι (ekporneusasai, “having indulged in sexual immorality”) and ἀπελθοῦσαι (apelqousai, “having pursued”) have concord with “cities” (πόλεις, poleis), a feminine plural noun, rather than with Sodom and Gomorrah (both masculine nouns). If so, then their sin would not necessarily have to be homosexuality. However, most likely the feminine participles are used because of constructio ad sensum (construction according to sense). That is, since both Sodom and Gomorrah are cities, the feminine is used to imply that all the cities are involved. The connection with angels thus seems to be somewhat loose: Both angels and Sodom and Gomorrah indulged in heinous sexual immorality. Thus, whether the false teachers indulge in homosexual activity is not the point; mere sexual immorality is enough to condemn them.

[1:7]  ¹³ tn Or “in the same way as.”

[1:7]  ¹⁴ tn “Angels” is not in the Greek text; but the masculine demonstrative pronoun most likely refers back to the angels of v. 6.

[1:1]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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.

[137:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “O devastated daughter of Babylon.” The psalmist dramatically anticipates Babylon’s demise.

[137:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “O the happiness of the one who repays you your wage which you paid to us.”

[137:9]  ²² sn For other references to the wholesale slaughter of babies in the context of ancient Near Eastern warfare, see 2 Kgs 8:12; Isa 13:16; Hos 13:16; Nah 3:10.

[7:2]  ²³ tn Grk “by [the measure] with which you measure it will be measured to you.”

[2:13]  ²⁴ tn Grk “boasts against, exults over,” in victory.

[16:6]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate that this judgment is the result of what these wicked people did to the saints and prophets.

[16:6]  ²⁶ tn Grk “They are worthy”; i.e., of this kind of punishment. By extension, “they got what they deserve.”

[18:6]  ²⁷ tn The word “others” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[18:6]  ²⁸ tn On this term BDAG 252 s.v. διπλόω states, “to double τὰ διπλᾶ pay back double Rv 18:6.”

[19:2]  ²⁹ tn Compare the similar phrase in Rev 16:7.

[19:2]  ³⁰ tn Or “has punished.” See BDAG 568 s.v. κρίνω 5.b.α, describing the OT background which involves both the vindication of the innocent and the punishment of the guilty.

[19:2]  ³¹ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[19:2]  ³² tn Grk “from her hand” (referring to her responsibility in causing the blood of God’s followers to be shed).