Jude 1:15

Jud 1:15. Κρίσιν, judgment) Enoch looked forward beyond the deluge.—κατὰ πάντων, against all men) who have sinned. A general description (the genus).—ἐξελέγξαι,[8] to convince) The conviction, which there was even then, will be completed in the judgment. A process of conviction is employed against those who are unwilling to know.—πάντας τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς, all the ungodly) A particular description (the species).—ἐλάλησαν, have spoken) Jud 1:8; Jud 1:10.—κατʼ αὐτοῦ, against Himself) even though they had not thought that all their ungodly sayings [with which also the sons of the Lord and His servants are assailed, Job 42:7; Mal 3:13.—V. g.] were directed against Him.—ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἀσεβεῖς, ungodly sinners) A sinner is bad; ἀσεβὴς, one who sins without fear, is worse.

[8] However the simple ἐλέγξαι is considered preferable in the margin of both Ed.—E. B.

ABC Vulg. (“argucre”) read ἐλέγξαι: but Rec. Text, ἐξελέγξαι, with modern and cursive MSS.—E.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jud 1:15 . ποιῆσαι κρίσιν κατὰ πάντων . Follows exactly the Greek translation of Enoch given above, cf. Ael. V. H. ii. 6, Κρίτων ἔπειθεν αὐτὸν ἀποδρᾶναι καὶ τὴν κατʼ αὐτοῦ κρίσιν διαφθεῖραι . On the distinction between the active ποιεῖν κρίσιν “to execute judgment” (as in Joh 5:27 ) and the periphrastic middle = κρίνειν (as in Isocr.48 D) see my notes on αἰτεῖν and αἰτεῖσθαι , ἴδε and ἰδού (Jas 4:3 ; Jas 3:3 ).

ἐλέγξαι πάντας τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς περὶ πάντων τῶν ἔργων ἀσεβείας αὐτῶν ὧν ἠσέβησαν . Shortened from the Greek Enoch quoted above.

ἀσεβεῖς . Cf. Jud 1:4 ; Jud 1:18 . The word thrice repeated in this verse runs through the epistle as a sort of refrain.

περὶ πάντων τῶν σκληρῶν ὧν ἐλάλησαν . This is taken from Enoch xxvii. 2. Charles, p. 366 (To Gehenna shall come), πάντες οἵτινες ἐροῦσιν τῷ στόματι αὐτῶν κατὰ Κυρίου φωνὴν ἀπρεπῆ καὶ περὶ τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ σκληρὰ λαλήσουσιν , cf. ib. Jud 1:4 , “The law of the Lord ye have not fulfilled, but … have slanderously spoken proud and hard words with your impure mouths against His greatness,” ib. Son 3 , al., Gen 42:7 , ἐλάλησεν αὐτοῖς σκληρά , 1Ki 12:13 , ἀπεκρίθη πρὸς τὸν λαὸν σκληρά , Mal 3:13-15 .

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

This verse and the beginning of Enoch's prophecy is composed in Hebrew poetic parallelism, the oldest specimen extant. Some think Lamech's speech, which is also in poetic parallelism, was composed in mockery of Enoch's prophecy: as Enoch foretold Jehovah's coming to judgment, so Lamech presumes on impunity in polygamy and murder (just as Cain the murderer seemed to escape with impunity).

convince--convict.

hard speeches--such as are noticed in Jde 1:8, Jde 1:10, Jde 1:16; Mal 3:13-14; contrast Rom 16:17.

ungodly sinners--not merely sinners, but proud despisers of God: impious.

against him--They who speak against God's children are regarded by God as speaking against Himself.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 15. To execute judgment] This was originally spoken to the antediluvians; and the coming of the Lord to destroy that world was the thing spoken of in this prophecy or declaration. But as God had threatened this, it required no direct inspiration to foretell it. To execute judgment, c. This is a very strange verse as to its composition, and is loaded with various readings the MSS. and versions being at little agreement among themselves on its phraseology. αυτων, which we translate among them, is omitted by the best MSS. and versions, and is, in all probability, spurious. Many also omit ασεβειας after ργων, ungodly deeds. Many insert λογων, words or speeches, after σκληρων, hard; and this word our translators have supplied. And instead of αμαρτωλοι, sinners, the Sahidic has ανθρωποι, men. There are others of less note; but the frequent recurrence of ALL and UNGODLY makes the construction of the sentence very harsh.

Dr. Macknight supposes that Enoch's prophecy was common among the Jews; for the first words in Hebrew are Maranatha, and these were used by them in that form of excommunication or cursing which they pronounced against irreclaimable offenders. The doctor forgets himself here; the words Maranatha are not Hebrew, but Syriac. In Hebrew the form of execration begins with ארור אתה arur attah, "cursed art thou;" or מחרם אתה mochoram attah: but the Syriac [Syriac] maran atha, is literally, our Lord is coming; see on 1Co 16:22; but here, in the Syriac, the words are [Syriac] atha moria, "the Lord cometh." So it is doubtful whether this fancied analogy exists.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

But the vengeance suspended over the wicked ought to keep the elect in fear and watchfulness. He speaks of deeds and words, Because their corrupters did much evil, not only by their wicked life, but also by their impure and false speech. And their words were hard, on account of the refractory audacity, by which, being elated, they acted insolently.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

15. to execute judgment upon all …] The following is given as a literal translation of the prophecy as it stands in the Book of Enoch: “And He cometh with ten thousands of His holy ones, that He may execute judgment upon them and destroy the ungodly, and may plead with all the carnal ones for all the things which sinners and the ungodly have done or wrought against Him.” St Jude’s version differs from this in the reiterated use of the word “ungodly” as noun, adjective, verb and adverb.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

To execute judgment upon all,.... Quick and dead, small and great, high and low, rich and poor, good and bad, righteous and wicked, sheep and goats; to pass the definitive sentence on each, that of absolution, life, and happiness, on his own people, and that of condemnation, death, and misery, on the wicked; which will be done in the most strict and righteous manner:

and to convince all that are ungodly among them; those who are without God, the fear of him love to him, or faith in him; who have lived without the worship of him, or in a false worship; and particularly false teachers are here meant, the same as in Jde 1:4; who will then be convicted in their own consciences, by that clear evidence, and full light, in which things will be set:

of all their ungodly deeds; both against law and Gospel:

which they have ungodly committed; which they lived in the commission of, and continually practised in a vile manner, publicly, and in defiance of heaven, and with seared consciences:

and of all their hard speeches, which ungodly sinners have spoken against him; either "against" God, as the Vulgate Latin version reads, against his being, his perfections, his providence, his purposes, his word, and worship; or rather against Jesus Christ the Lord, who will come to judge them, against his person and offices, his blood, righteousness, and sacrifice; his ministers and people, his truths and ordinances.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

To execute judgment upon all - That is, he shall come to judge all the dwellers upon the earth, good and bad.

And to convince all - The word “convince we now use commonly in a somewhat limited sense, as meaning “to satisfy” a man’s own mind” either of the truth of some proposition, or of the fact that he has done wrong, as being in this latter sense synonymous with the word “convict.” This “conviction” is commonly produced by argument or truth, and is not necessarily followed by any sentence of disapprobation, or by any judicial condemnation. But this is clearly not the sense in which the word is used here. The purpose of the coming of the Lord will not be to convince men in that sense, though it is undoubtedly true that the wicked will see that their lives have been wrong; but it will be to pronounce a sentence on them as the result of the evidence of their guilt. The Greek word which is here used occurs nowhere else in the New Testament.

All that are ungodly among them - All that are not pious; all that have no religion.

Of all their ungodly deeds ... - Of their wicked actions and words. This is the common doctrine of the Bible, that all the wicked actions and words of men will be called into judgment. In regard to this passage, thus quoted from an ancient prophecy, we may remark:

(1) That the style bears the marks of its being a quotation, or of its being preserved by Jude in the language in which it had been handed down by tradition. It is not the style of Jude. It is not so terse, pointed, energetic.

(2) It has every probable mark of its having been actually delivered by Enoch. The age in which he lived was corrupt. The world was ripening for the deluge. He was himself a good man, and, as would seem perhaps, almost the only good man of his generation. Nothing would be more natural than that he should be reproached by hard words and speeches, and nothing more natural than that he should have pointed the men of his own age to the future judgment.

(3) The doctrine of the final judgment, if this was uttered by Enoch, was an early doctrine in the world. It was held even in the first generations of the race. It was one of those great truths early communicated to man to restrain him from sin, and to lead him to prepare for the great events which are to occur on the earth. The same doctrine has been transmitted from age to age, and is now one of the most important and the most affecting that refers to the final destiny of men.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Nothing more terrible than a God avenging in the majesty of his power his own cause. Then the impious libertine, in proportion as he has studied to extinguish in himself and to stifle in others the light of faith, the more shall be confounded and overwhelmed with the glory of God in the day of just retribution.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

To execute judgment upon all; either upon all the wicked in general, who afterwards may seem to be distinguished into different sorts, or else the Greek preposition κατα is put for περι, and the word all is to be understood of all universally, good and bad; and the words may be read, to execute judgment over all, i.e. to judge all.

And to convince all that are ungodly among them: if we take the words in the latter sense mentioned, then he distinguisheth those that are to be judged into good and bad, and the Lord comes to execute judgment over all, having convinced the wicked among them; but if in the former, the ungodly here may be taken for those that are more notoriously so, those that have obstinately rejected the gospel, or wickedly perverted it, or persecuted the saints, &c.

Which they have ungodly committed; i.e. with an ungodly mind, willingly, delightfully, perseveringly.

Their hard speeches; i.e. blasphemous, irreverent, against God, his truth and ways.

Which ungodly sinners have spoken against him; he executes judgment, though upon all the wicked, yet especially upon these ungodly sinners, i.e. that are such both in their words and deeds against him, in his truths, ways, ordinances, people, &c., and therefore are the worst of sinners.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

15. To execute judgment—The office of judge, rather than executioner, is here described, which is performed upon all.

To convince—To expose and convict of their sin, stripping away every excuse, and exhibiting their naked guilt.

Deeds… speeches—The external sins alone are here mentioned as exhibitions of character.

Ungodly committed—As an English adverb we should here have ungodlily.

Hard—Hostile, unsubmissive, impenitent.

Sinners… against him—The Greek order of words is more emphatic: which they spoke against him, sinners, impious. It is supposed by some that Jude here quotes an apocryphal Book of Enoch, of which Dr.

Mombert says:— “The above mentioned apocryphal Book of Enoch was formerly known only by fragments and notices of the early Fathers, but has recently been discovered in an AEthiopic translation, and translated from the AEthiopic into German. It became known in Europe about the close of the last century. Winner, Dorner, and others, ascribe its authorship to a Jew of the first century of the Christian era; Ewald places its date at the end of the second century before Christ. A new edition and translation of this book was published by D. Dillman in 1853, who pronounces it to have been written about B.C. 110. The book consists, according to the careful investigation of the last-named scholar, of three parts: 1. The proper and original Book of Enoch, which constitutes the greatest part of this apocryphal work. 2. Of historical additions for the elucidation of several doctrines and ideas from the pen of another author, who wrote nothing afterwards. 3. Of so-called Noachian additions, connected with other interpolations made by a third author, belonging at least to the end of the first century B.C.… Considering that the variations between the epistle and the Book of Enoch are not inconsiderable, and that the Book of Enoch is not expressly cited, there is still room to doubt whether Jude knew that book.

But the tradition of Enoch’s prophecy he must at all events have known, and considered true as to its kernel.” A late German writer, Volcmar, maintains that the book was written in the time of Hadrian, the beginning of the second century, and his argument Alford approves. In America, Stuart maintains the post-christian character of the book; and Dr. Gardiner, in a very able excursus, maintains more conclusively the same ground, denying that Jude quoted the book. Our own conclusion is, that it contains words and phrases used in a manner not found in any other pre-christian book, and the book can hardly be accepted as pre-christian. Alford says, “That the particulars related in Second Peter and in our epistle of the fallen angels, are found also in the Book of Enoch, is no proof that the writers of these epistles took them from that book. Three other solutions are possible: 1. That the apocryphal writer took them from our epistle; 2. That their source in each case was ancient tradition; 3. That the Book of Enoch itself consists of separate portions written at different times.”

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

To execute judgment - Enoch herein looked beyond the flood. Upon all - Sinners, in general. And to convict all the ungodly, in particular, of all the grievous things which ungodly sinners (a sinner is bad; but the ungodly who sin without fear are worse) have spoken against him, ver. 8, 10, though they might not think, all those speeches were against him.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

sinners

Sin. (See Scofield "Rom 3:23").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15. Here Enoch describes the great Tribulation into which this wicked world is hastening. When the Ancient of Days, i.e., God the Father (Daniel 7), will come down and execute judgment against the wicked nations and fallen churches, preparatory to the millennial reign of His Son, these carnal preachers will meet an awful retribution for usurping the government of the Church out of the hands of the Holy Ghost.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15. To execute judgment upon all. For a general judgment. To convince. To convict all ungodly men of their ungodly deeds.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

15.] Prophecy of Enoch respecting them:—see below. Yea, and (δὲ καί are better taken together, applying to the whole sentence, than separated, joining καί with τούτοις, “of these as well as of others,” for no other prophecies of Enoch are alluded to) of these (προφητεύειν is usually joined with περί: here and in ref. only (γεγραμμένα) with a dat. It is the dat. of reference, answering to πρὸς αὐτούς, Mar 12:12: see Winer, edn. 6, § 31. 4) prophesied Enoch seventh from Adam (“ut vaticinii antiquitatem commendet,” Calv. Possibly also the fact of seven being the sacred number may have been in view, as Bengel: “mysterii non expers, in quo immunitas a morte et numerus sanctus concurrunt.” Cf. Wetstein’s note, in which several similar designations are quoted: e. g. Philo, Vit. Mos. i. 2, vol. ii. p. 81, alleges Moses to have been the seventh generation from Abraham. R. Berbai, on Num 25:12, says, “Erat autem Phineas septima progenies a Jacobo patre nostro,” &c.), saying, Behold, the Lord (“Jam Henochi tempore nomen Jehovah notum erat,” Bengel) came (the historic tense of prophecy) among (in, as surrounded by) His holy myriads (of angels: cf. Deu 33:2: Zec 14:5, Heb 12:23), to execute judgment (reff.) upon all, and to convict all the impious concerning all their works of impiety which they impiously did, and concerning all the hard things which impious sinners spoke against Him. I have discussed in the prolegomena the question as to the source of this citation, and its relation to the present apocryphal book of Enoch. I will only here set down the passage as it at present stands in De Sacy’s version: “Et venit cum myriadibus sanctorum, ut faciat judicium super eos et perdat impios et litiget cum omnibus carnahbus pro omnibus quæ fecerunt et operati sunt contra eum peccatores et impii.”

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.