Meals for the Soul — Orthodox Resources

The New Testament · The Catholic Epistles

Jude

Twenty-five verses, written in a hurry, and quoting a book that is not in anyone’s Bible.

Chapters
1
Verses
0
Where it sits
The Catholic Epistles
1

What it is

The writer says plainly that this is not the letter he meant to send. He had intended to write about our common salvation, and found he had to write instead about contending for the faith, because certain people had crept in unnoticed.

What follows is a rapid chain of examples of judgement — the wilderness generation, the fallen angels, Sodom, Cain, Balaam, Korah — and then one of the finest doxologies in Scripture.

Known for

Verse 3. Verse 9, Michael disputing with the devil over the body of Moses. Verses 14–15, which quote the Book of Enoch by name as prophecy. Verses 24–25.

Where it sits

The author names himself Jude, brother of James — traditionally the brother of the Lord. It was among the disputed books, and the reason is visible on the page: it quotes 1 Enoch and alludes to a lost work about Moses, which unsettled ancient readers who did not want to grant those books scriptural weight. Its relationship with 2 Peter is usually explained as 2 Peter drawing on Jude rather than the reverse.

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