Yudas 1:16-19

1:16 These people are grumblers and ¹  fault-finders who go ²  wherever their desires lead them, ³  and they give bombastic speeches, ⁴  enchanting folks ⁵  for their own gain. ⁶ 

Exhortation to the Faithful

1:17 But you, dear friends – recall the predictions ⁷  foretold by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁸  1:18 For they said to you, “In the end time there will come ⁹  scoffers, propelled by their own ungodly desires.” ¹⁰  1:19 These people are divisive, ¹¹  worldly, ¹²  devoid of the Spirit. ¹³ 

[1:16]  ¹ tn “And” is not in Greek, but is supplied for the sake of English style.

[1:16]  ² tn Or “going.” Though the participle is anarthrous, so also is the subject. Thus, the participle could be either adverbial or adjectival.

[1:16]  ³ tn Grk “(who go/going) according to their own lusts.”

[1:16]  ⁴ tn Grk “and their mouth speaks bombastic things.”

[1:16]  sn They give bombastic speeches. The idiom of opening one’s mouth in the NT often implied a public oration from a teacher or one in authority. Cf. Matt 5:2; Luke 4:22; Acts 1:16; 3:18; 10:34; Eph 6:19; Rev 13:5-6.

[1:16]  ⁵ sn Enchanting folks (Grk “awing faces”) refers to the fact that the speeches of these false teachers are powerful and seductive.

[1:16]  ⁶ tn Or “to their own advantage.”

[1:17]  ⁷ tn Grk “words.” In conjunction with προεῖπον (proeipon), however, the meaning of the construction is that the apostles uttered prophecies.

[1:17]  ⁸ sn This verse parallels 2 Pet 3:2 both conceptually and in much of the verbiage. There is one important difference, however: In 2 Pet 3:2 the prophets and apostles speak; here, just the apostles speak. This makes good sense if Jude is using 2 Peter as his main source and is urging his readers to go back to the authoritative writings, both OT and now especially NT.

[1:18]  ⁹ tn Grk “be.”

[1:18]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “going according to their own desires of ungodliness.”

[1:18]  sn Jude cites 2 Pet 3:3, changing a few of the words among other things, cleaning up the syntax, conforming it to Hellenistic style.

[1:19]  ¹¹ tn Grk “these are the ones who cause divisions.”

[1:19]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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.