Bible Dictionary

Jude, Epistle of

Scripture • New Testament

The Epistle of Jude urges Christians to contend for the faith and warns against ungodly teachers who corrupt the gospel. It recalls examples of divine judgment and closes with a strong doxology.

Definition

The Epistle of Jude is a general Christian letter attributed to Judas, the brother of James, also associated in the sources with Lebbaeus and Thaddaeus. It warns Christians against ungodly and licentious teachers who corrupt the gospel, recalls examples of divine judgment, and urges believers to remain faithful. It concludes with a notable doxology.

Biblical Usage

The letter is addressed to Christians generally and calls them to contend for the faith. Its warning draws upon examples of judgment against the ungodly and seeks to guard the Church from error and moral corruption. The concluding doxology praises God’s power to keep believers from falling.

Historical Background

The letter was apparently written during the later apostolic period, perhaps around A.D. 65–70, though its exact date and place are uncertain. The supplied sources suggest Palestine as a possible place of writing and observe a striking resemblance to 2 Peter.

Scripture References

Jude 1:1 Matthew 10:3 Mark 3:18 2 Peter 2:1-19

Related Figures

Historical Bible Dictionaries

Easton's Bible Dictionary

The author was “Judas, the brother of James” the Less (Jude 1:1), called also Lebbaeus (Matt. 10:3) and Thaddaeus (Mark 3:18). The genuineness of this epistle was early questioned, and doubts regarding it were revived at the time of the Reformation; but the evidences in support of its claims are complete. It has all the marks of having proceeded from the writer whose name it bears. There is nothing very definite to determine the time and place at which it was written. It was apparently written in the later period of the apostolic age, for when it was written there were persons still alive who had heard the apostles preach (ver. 17). It may thus have been written about A.D. 66 or 70, and apparently in Palestine. The epistle is addressed to Christians in general (ver. 1), and its design is to put them on their guard against the misleading efforts of a certain class of errorists to which they were exposed. The style of the epistle is that of an “impassioned invective, in the impetuous whirlwind of which the writer is hurried along, collecting example after example of divine vengeance on the ungodly; heaping epithet upon epithet, and piling image upon image, and, as it were, labouring for words and images strong enough to depict the polluted character of the licentious apostates against whom he is warning the Church; returning again and again to the subject, as though all language was insufficient to give an adequate idea of their profligacy, and to express his burning hatred of their perversion of the doctrines of the gospel.” The striking resemblance this epistle bears to 2 Peter suggests the idea that the author of the one had seen the epistle of the other. The doxology with which the epistle concludes is regarded as the finest in the New Testament.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Its author was probably Jude, one of the brethren of Jesus, the subject of the preceding article. There are no data from which to determine its date or place of writing, but it is placed about A.D. 65. The object of the epistle is plainly enough announced ver. 3; the reason for this exhortation is given ver.

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