of mouth the message in the letter. Judas was a ‘prophet,’ and as a visiting speaker he gave many discourses to the brothers in Antioch, encouraging and strengthening them.—Acts 15:22, 23, 27, 30-32.

Acts 15:33 indicates that Judas and Silas returned to Jerusalem after they had “passed some time” with the Christians in Antioch. Certain manuscripts (such as Codex Ephraemi, Codex Bezae) contain verse 34, reading: “But it seemed good to Silas to remain there further.” However, this verse is omitted in older reliable manuscripts. (Sinaitic, Alexandrine, Vatican MS. No. 1209) Probably it was a marginal note intended to explain verse 40, and in time it crept into the main text.

Some commentators have suggested that Judas called Barsabbas was the brother of “Joseph called Barsabbas,” a disciple proposed to take the place of Judas Iscariot. (Acts 1:23) But there is no evidence supporting this, other than mere similarity in name. Judas is not mentioned again in the Bible after he returned to Jerusalem.

JUDE

Jude [lauded].

“A slave of Jesus Christ, but a brother of James.” This is the way the writer of the inspired letter bearing his name introduces himself. Apparently he was not the same person as “Judas the son of James,” one of the eleven faithful apostles of Jesus Christ. (Luke 6:16) He speaks of himself as a “slave,” not an “apostle,” of Jesus Christ; also he refers to the apostles in the third person as “they.”—Jude 1, 17, 18.

Though the Christian Greek Scriptures speak of other Judes or Judases, this Bible writer distinguished himself from the others by mentioning the name of his brother. (See JUDAS.) From this it may be inferred that his brother James was well known among Christians. Only one person by that name appears to have been outstandingly prominent. The apostle Paul referred to this James as one of the “pillars” of the Jerusalem congregation and as “the brother of the Lord.” (Gal. 1:19; 2:9; see also Acts 12:17; 15:13-21.) Therefore, Jude or Judas was evidently a half brother of Christ Jesus. (Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3) Yet humbly he did not seek to capitalize on his fleshly relationship to the Son of God, but calls himself a “slave of Jesus Christ.”

Almost nothing is known about Jude’s life. Early in the ministry of Christ Jesus, Jude may have been among those saying: “He has gone out of his mind.” (Mark 3:21) In any event, Jude and his other brothers did not then exercise faith in Christ Jesus.—John 7:5.

However, after his resurrection, Jesus appeared to his half-brother James. (1 Cor. 15:7) Doubtless this had much to do with convincing, not only James, but also Jude and his other brothers, that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. Therefore, even before Pentecost of 33 C.E. they were persisting in prayer with the eleven faithful apostles and others in an upper room at Jerusalem. It appears that they were also among the some 120 persons assembled on the occasion that Matthias was chosen by lot to replace the unfaithful Judas Iscariot. (Acts 1:14-26) If this is the case, it would indicate that they received the holy spirit on the day of Pentecost.—Acts 2:1-4.

JUDE, THE LETTER OF

An inspired letter of the Christian Greek Scriptures written by Jude, a brother of James and therefore evidently also a half brother of Jesus Christ. (See JUDE.) Addressed to “the called ones who are loved in relationship with God the Father and preserved for Jesus Christ,” this general letter was evidently to be circulated to all Christians.—Jude 1.

At the time Jude wrote his letter a threatening situation had developed. Immoral, animalistic men had slipped in among Christians and were ‘turning the undeserved kindness of God into an excuse for loose conduct.’ For this reason Jude did not, as he had originally intended, write about the salvation that Christians called to God’s heavenly kingdom hold in common. Instead, directed by God’s spirit, he provided exhortation to aid fellow believers to cope successfully with corruptive influences inside the congregation. Jude admonished them “to put up a hard fight for the faith” by resisting immoral persons, maintaining pure worship and fine conduct and by “praying with holy spirit.” (Jude 3, 4, 19-23) Drawing upon such examples as the angels that sinned, the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, Cain, Balaam and Korah, Jude forcefully proved that Jehovah’s judgment will be executed upon ungodly persons just as certainly as it was upon the unfaithful angels and wicked men of former times. He also exposed the baseness of those who were trying to defile Christians.—Jude 5-16, 19.

UNIQUE INFORMATION

Though short, Jude’s letter contains some information not found elsewhere in the Bible. It alone mentions the archangel Michael’s dispute with the Devil over Moses’ body and the prophecy uttered centuries earlier by Enoch. (Jude 9, 14, 15) Whether Jude received this information through direct revelation or by reliable transmission (either oral or written) is not known. If the latter was the case, this may explain the presence of a similar reference to Enoch’s prophesying in the apocryphal book of Enoch (thought to have been written probably sometime during the second and first centuries B.C.E.). A common source could have furnished the basis for the statement in the inspired letter as well as in the apocryphal book.

PLACE AND TIME OF WRITING

Likely Jude wrote his letter from Palestine, as there is no record of his ever having left this land. It is possible to arrive at an approximate date for the letter on the basis of internal evidence. The fact that Jude mentions neither Cestius Gallus’ coming against Jerusalem (66 C.E.) nor the fall of that city to the Romans under Titus (70 C.E.) suggests that he wrote before the year 66 C.E. Had even a part of Jesus’ prophecy regarding Jerusalem’s destruction been fulfilled (Luke 19:43, 44), Jude doubtless would have included this execution of divine judgment as another warning example. Since Jude seemingly quoted from Peter’s second letter about ridiculers appearing “in the last time” (compare 2 Peter 3:3 with Jude 18), it may be inferred that he wrote his letter later, possibly in 65 C.E.

AUTHENTICITY

The Bible book of Jude was accepted as canonical by early Scripture cataloguers. Among these from the second through the fourth centuries C.E. were Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Origen, Eusebius, Cyril of Jerusalem, Athanasius, Epiphanius, Gregory Nazianzus, Philastrius, Jerome and Augustine. The letter is also included in the Muratorian Fragment (c. 170 C.E.).

OUTLINE OF CONTENTS

I. Identification of writer and salutation (vss. 1, 2)

II. Reason for writing: Immoral, ungodly men slipped into congregation (vss. 3 4)

III. Historical examples of wrong conduct and consequences (vss. 5-7)

A. Israelites whom God saved out of Egypt but afterward destroyed for lack of faith (vs. 5)

B. Angels that forsook proper dwelling place in Noah’s days reserved by God for judgment (vs. 6)

C. Sodom and Gomorrah and surrounding cities, because of excessive fornication and sexual perversion, underwent judicial punishment of everlasting fire (vs. 7)

IV. Description of disrespectful, immoral persons that seek to defile flesh (vss. 8-13)

A. Disregard lordship and speak abusively of glorious ones, not imitating respectful attitude of archangel Michael (vss. 8-10)