Roma 16:18

16:18 For these are the kind who do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By their smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds ¹  of the naive.

Filipi 3:18-19

3:18 For many live, about whom I have often told you, and now, with tears, I tell you that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. 3:19 Their end is destruction, their god is the belly, they exult in their shame, and they think about earthly things. ² 

Filipi 3:1

True and False Righteousness

3:1 Finally, my brothers and sisters, ³  rejoice in the Lord! To write this again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.

Titus 1:6

1:6 An elder must be blameless, ⁴  the husband of one wife, ⁵  with faithful children ⁶  who cannot be charged with dissipation or rebellion.

Titus 1:2

1:2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the ages began. ⁷ 

Pengkhotbah 2:13

2:13 I realized that wisdom is preferable to folly, ⁸ 

just as light is preferable to darkness:

Pengkhotbah 2:15

2:15 So I thought to myself, “The fate of the fool will happen even to me! ⁹ 

Then what did I gain by becoming so excessively ¹⁰  wise?” ¹¹ 

So I lamented to myself, ¹² 

“The benefits of wisdom ¹³  are ultimately ¹⁴  meaningless!”

Yudas 1:4

1:4 For certain men ¹⁵  have secretly slipped in among you ¹⁶  – men who long ago ¹⁷  were marked out ¹⁸  for the condemnation I am about to describe ¹⁹  – ungodly men who have turned the grace of our God into a license for evil ²⁰  and who deny our only Master ²¹  and Lord, ²²  Jesus Christ.

Yudas 1:19

1:19 These people are divisive, ²³  worldly, ²⁴  devoid of the Spirit. ²⁵ 

[16:18]  ¹ tn Grk “hearts.”

[3:19]  ² tn Grk “whose end is destruction, whose god is the belly and glory is their shame, these who think of earthly things.”

[3:1]  ³ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:12.

[1:6]  ⁴ tn Grk “if anyone is blameless…” as a continuation of v. 5b, beginning to describe the elder’s character.

[1:6]  ⁵ tn Or “married only once,” “devoted solely to his wife.” See the note on “wife” in 1 Tim 3:2; also 1 Tim 3:12; 5:9.

[1:6]  ⁶ tn Or “believing children.” The phrase could be translated “believing children,” but the parallel with 1 Tim 3:4 (“keeping his children in control”) argues for the sense given in the translation.

[1:2]  ⁷ tn Grk “before eternal ages.”

[2:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “and I saw that there is profit for wisdom more than folly.”

[2:15]  ⁹ tn The emphatic use of the 1st person common singular personal pronoun אֲנִי (’ani, “me”) with the emphatic particle of association גַּם (gam, “even, as well as”; HALOT 195–96 s.v. גַּם) appears to emphasize the 1st person common singular suffix on יִקְרֵנִי (yiqreni) “it will befall [or “happen to”] me” (Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular + 1st person common singular suffix from קָרָה, qarah, “to befall; to happen to”); see GKC 438 §135.e. Qoheleth laments not that the fate of the wise man is the same as that of the fool, but that even he himself – the wisest man of all – would fare no better in the end than the most foolish.

[2:15]  ¹⁰ tn The adjective יוֹתֵר (yoter) means “too much; excessive,” e.g., 7:16 “excessively righteous” (HALOT 404 s.v. יוֹתֵר 2; BDB 452 s.v. יוֹתֵר). It is derived from the root יֶתֶר (yeter, “what is left over”); see HALOT 452 s.v. I יֶתֶר. It is related to the verbal root יתר (Niphal “to be left over”; Hiphil “to have left over”); see HALOT 451–52 s.v. I יתר. The adjective is related to יִתְרוֹן (yitron, “advantage; profit”) which is a key-term in this section, creating a word-play: The wise man has a relative “advantage” (יִתְרוֹן) over the fool (2:13-14a); however, there is no ultimate advantage because both share the same fate, i.e., death (2:14b-15a). Thus, Qoheleth’s acquisition of tremendous wisdom (1:16; 2:9) was “excessive” because it exceeded its relative advantage over folly: it could not deliver him from the same fate as the fool. He had striven to obtain wisdom, yet it held no ultimate advantage.

[2:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “And why was I wise (to) excess?” The rhetorical question is an example of negative affirmation, expecting a negative answer: “I gained nothing!” (E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 949).

[2:15]  ¹² tn Heb “So I said in my heart.”

[2:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “and also this,” referring to the relative advantage of wisdom over folly.

[2:15]  ¹⁴ tn The word “ultimately” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:4]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “people.” However, if Jude is indeed arguing that Peter’s prophecy about false teachers has come true, these are most likely men in the original historical and cultural setting. See discussion of this point in the note on the phrase “these men” in 2 Pet 2:12.

[1:4]  ¹⁶ tn “Among you” is not in the Greek text, but is obviously implied.

[1:4]  sn The infiltration referred to by the phrase slipped in among you was predicted by Peter (2 Pet 2:1), Paul (e.g., Acts 20:29-30), and OT prophets.

[1:4]  ¹⁷ tn Or “in the past.” The adverb πάλαι (palai) can refer to either, though the meaning “long ago” is more common.

[1:4]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “written about.”

[1:4]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “for this condemnation.” τοῦτο (touto) is almost surely a kataphoric demonstrative pronoun, pointing to what follows in vv. 5-18. Otherwise, the condemnation is only implied (in v. 3b) or is merely a statement of their sinfulness (“ungodly” in v. 4b), not a judgment of it.

[1:4]  ²⁰ tn Grk “debauchery.” This is the same word Peter uses to predict what the false teachers will be like (2 Pet 2:2, 7, 18).

[1:4]  sn Turned the grace of our God into a license for evil. One of the implications that the gospel in the apostolic period was truly a gospel of grace was the fact that the enemies of the gospel could pervert it into license. If it were a gospel of works, no such abuse could be imagined. Along these lines, note Rom 6:1 – “Are we to remain in sin so that grace may increase?” This question could not have even been asked had the gospel been one of works. But grace is easily misunderstood by those who would abuse it.

[1:4]  ²¹ tc Most later witnesses (P Ψ Ï sy) have θεόν (qeon, “God”) after δεσπότην (despothn, “master”), which appears to be a motivated reading in that it explicitly links “Master” to “God” in keeping with the normal NT pattern (see Luke 2:29; Acts 4:24; 2 Tim 2:21; Rev 6:10). In patristic Greek, δεσπότης (despoth") was used especially of God (cf. BDAG 220 s.v. 1.b.). The earlier and better witnesses (Ì^72,78 א A B C 0251 33 81 323 1241 1739 al co) lack θεόν; the shorter reading is thus preferred on both internal and external grounds.

[1:4]  sn The Greek term for Master (δεσπότης, despoths) is the same term the author of 2 Peter used (2 Pet 2:1) to describe his Lord when he prophesied about these false teachers. Since δεσπότης is used only ten times in the NT, the verbal connection between these two books at this juncture is striking. This is especially so since both Peter and Jude speak of these false teachers as denying the Master (both using the same verb). The basic difference is that Peter is looking to the future, while Jude is arguing that these false teachers are here now.

[1:4]  ²² tn The terms “Master and Lord” both refer to the same person. The construction in Greek is known as the Granville Sharp rule, named after the English philanthropist-linguist who first clearly articulated the rule in 1798. Sharp pointed out that in the construction article-noun-καί-noun (where καί [kai] = “and”), when two nouns are singular, personal, and common (i.e., not proper names), they always had the same referent. Illustrations such as “the friend and brother,” “the God and Father,” etc. abound in the NT to prove Sharp’s point. For more discussion see ExSyn 270-78. See also Titus 2:13 and 2 Pet 1:1

[1:19]  ²³ tn Grk “these are the ones who cause divisions.”

[1:19]  ²⁴ tn Or “natural,” that is, living on the level of instincts, not on a spiritual level (the same word occurs in 1 Cor 2:14 as a description of nonbelievers).

[1:19]  ²⁵ tn Grk “not having [the] Spirit.”

[1:19]  sn The phrase devoid of the Spirit may well indicate Jude’s and Peter’s assessment of the spiritual status of the false teachers. Those who do not have the Spirit are clearly not saved.