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Word Biblical Commentary WORD BIBLICAL COMMENTARY VOLUME 50 Jude, 2 Peter RICHARD J. BAUCKHAM General Editors Bruce M. Metzger David A. Hubbard† Glenn W. Barker† Old Testament Editor John D. W. Wa!s New Testament Editor Ralph P. Martin WORD BOOKS, PUBLISHER • DALLAS, TEXAS Word Biblical Commentary JUDE, 2 PETER Copyright © 1983 by Word, Incorporated All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form with- out the wri!en permission of the publishers. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Main entry under title: Word biblical commentary. Includes bibliographies. 1. Bible—Commentaries—Collected works. BS491.2.W67 220.7’7 81-71768 ISBN 0-8499-0249-5 (v. 50) AACR2 Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations in the body of the commentary are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1946 (renewed 1973), 1956, and © 1971 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, and are used by permission. "ose marked NIV are from the New International Version of the Bible, copyright © 1973 by New York Bible Society International. "e author’s own translation of the text appears in italic type under the heading “Translation.” † Deceased Richard J. Bauckham, 2 Peter, Jude (vol. 50; Word Biblical Commentary; Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1983). Exported from Logos Bible Software, 8:02 PM June 9, 2020. 1 Address and Salutation (Jude 1–2) Bibliography Spicq, C. Agape, 365–67. Translation 1 Jude,a a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called, who are lovedb inc God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ.d 2 May mercy, peace, and love be given you in abundance. Notes a. Ἰούδας, elsewhere in English versions of the NT rendered “Judas,” has traditionally been rendered “Jude” in this one instance. "is commentary fol- lows the convention of calling the writer “Jude.” b. For ἠγαπημένοις, some MSS have ἡγιασμένοις, “sanctified” (K L P. al). "is is probably an assimilation to 1 Cor 1:2, prompted by the difficulty of the phrase ἐν θεῷ πατρὶ ἠγαπημένοις. c. Westco$ and Hort, followed by Mayor (clxxxii–clxxxiii), suggested that the ἐν originally stood before Ἰησοῦ, not before θεῷ; the versions give some support to including ἐν before Ἰησοῦ, but not to omi$ing it before θεῷ. "e difficulty of the present text is be$er tackled by exegesis. d. Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ: dative of advantage. "e meaning “by Jesus Christ” is unlikely, since God should be the agent implied in both ἠγαπημένοις and τετηρηνένοις, “kept,” and the dative of agent is rare in NT. To take Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ as governed by the ἐν which precedes θεῷ (Wand) is highly unnatural. Form/Structure/Se!ing "e opening was the most stereotyped part of the ancient le$er, and Jude here follows the form of the Jewish le$er of his day, in which the opening normally contained (a) a parties’ formula, naming the sender and the recipien- a Ἰούδας, elsewhere in English versions of the NT rendered “Judas,” has traditionally been rendered “Jude” in this one instance. "is commentary follows the convention of calling the writer “Jude.” b For ἠγαπημένοις, some MSS have ἡγιασμένοις, “sanctified” (K L P. al). "is is probably an assimilation to 1 Cor 1:2, prompted by the difficulty of the phrase ἐν θεῷ πατρὶ ἠγαπημένοις. c Westco$ and Hort, followed by Mayor (clxxxii–clxxxiii), suggested that the ἐν origi- nally stood before Ἰησοῦ, not before θεῷ; the versions give some support to including ἐν before Ἰησοῦ, but not to omi$ing it before θεῷ. "e difficulty of the present text is bet- ter tackled by exegesis. d Ἰησοῦ Χρστῷ: dative of advantage. "e meaning “by Jesus Christ” is unlikely, since God should be the agent implied in both ἠγαπημένοις and τετηρηνένοις, “kept,” and the dative of agent is rare in NT. To take Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ as governed by the ἐν which precedes θεῷ (Wand) is highly unnatural. Richard J. Bauckham, 2 Peter, Jude (vol. 50; Word Biblical Commentary; Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1983). Exported from Logos Bible Software, 8:02 PM June 9, 2020. 3 t(s), and (b) a salutation. (a) !e parties’ formula (v 1) follows the form “X to Y” (found in the Aramaic and Greek le!ers from Naḥal Ḥever, as well as in all the NT le!ers which have le!er-openings). An extended Christian theological characterization of the recipients is common in early Christian le!ers (cf. Rom 1:7; 1 Cor 1:2; 1 $ess 1:1; 2 $ess 1:1; 1 Pet 1:2; 2 Pet 1:2; 1 Clem inscr.; and all the le!ers of Ignatius), and the binitarian form can also be paralleled (1 $ess 1:1; 2 $ess 1:1; 1 Clem inscr.; all the le!ers of Ignatius mention God the Father and Jesus Christ in describing the recipients). Most early Christian le!ers specify in the parties’ formula a destination, a specific church or group of churches, to which they are sent. Jude’s failure to do this has led to the view, traditional from an early period, that his le!er is a “catholic le!er,” addressed to all Christians. $is view is expressed in the addi- tion of the phrase τοῖς ἔθνεσι (“to the Genthes”) in v 1 in a few minuscule manuscripts and the Syriac version. Among modern scholars it is still held by Plummer (376), Windisch, Reicke, Krodel (92), and Wisse (“Jude”). Most modern commentators, however, have recognized that Jude addresses a spe- cific situation in which false teachers of a specific kind were active, and so he must have intended his le!er for a specific church or group of churches. It is possible that the destination was omi!ed when the le!er was copied for wider circulation, perhaps in the second century when its relevance to the problem of Gnosticism throughout the church was seen. Alternatively, Jude did not include the destination in his parties’ formula, either because his messenger would in any case know where to deliver it, probably with additional verbal messages, or perhaps because it was intended for a large group of churches which Jude intended the messenger to visit in turn, allowing each church to make its own copy. (b) !e salutation (v 2) is somewhat closer than many other early Christian examples to Jewish forms. $is kind of salutation originates from blessing formulae (K. Berger, “Apostelbrief und apostolische Rede,” ZNW 65 [1974] 191–201): the writer desires God to bless the recipients. All such salutations .(חסד wish peace to the recipients, some add mercy (ἔλεος, corresponding to $e one extant example in a Jewish le!er is 2 Apoc. Bar. 78:2: “Mercy and peace be with you” (for the text see P. Bogaert, Apocalypse de Baruch [SC 144–45; Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1969] 1, 68, 70; cf. 2, 142), but non-epistolary blessings cf. 1 Enoch 5:6; and for ;א provide other parallels (Num 6:25–26; Tob 7:12 “mercy” in blessings, cf. also 2 Sam 2:6; 15:20; Ps 33:22). In early Christian let- ters ἔλεος occurs in 1 Tim 1:2; 2 Tim 1:2; 2 John 3; Pol. Phil. inscr.; Mart. Pol., inscr. (cf. also Gal 6:16, in a le!er-ending): like Jude’s, these represent a contin- uation of Jewish practice. $e third element in Jude’s salutation, however, is a Christian addition to the formula: ἀγάπη (“love”) is found in no Jewish exam- ple, and in only one other early Christian example, the salutation in Mart. Pol. (though cf. also 2 Cor 13:14; Eph 6:23; “3 Cor.” 3:40, in le!er-endings). Finally, again derives from blessings (שגא the use of “increase” (πληθύνειν, Aramaic formulae (K. Berger, “Apostelbrief und apostolische Rede,” ZNW 65 [1974] 195–96 and n.29; and to his references add Herm. Sim. 9:24:3), and is found in Richard J. Bauckham, 2 Peter, Jude (vol. 50; Word Biblical Commentary; Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1983). Exported from Logos Bible Software, 8:02 PM June 9, 2020. 4 both Jewish and early Christian le!er salutations (G. R. Driver, Aramaic Docu- ments of the Fi!h Century B.C. [Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1957] nos. I, II, III, XIII; A. Cowley, Aramaic Papyri of the Fi!h Century B.C. [Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1923] nos. 38–42; Dan 3:31 [Aram.]; Dan 4:1 "eod. Geeek.; 4:37c LXX; 6:26 [Aram.], "eod. Geeek b. Sanh. 11b; y. Sanh 18d; 1 Pet 1:2; 2 Pet 1:2; 1 Clem inscr.; Pol. Phil. inscr.; Mart. Pol. inscr.; Ep. Apost 1). It is used as a “divine pas- sive” to wish that God may give blessings abundantly. "us, apart from the addition of ἀγάπη, Jude’s salutation follows the form of Jewish le!ers. It should be noted that Jude does not adopt two other Christian adaptations of the salutation which are extremely common in early Christian le!ers. One of these, the use of χάρις (“grace”), is nearly universal: it occurs in all the NT le!ers which have this kind of salutation (all Pauline le!ers; 1 Pet 1:2; 2 Pet 1:2; 2 John 3; Rev 1:4) and in 1 Clem Among early Christian le!ers which have this kind of salutation, χάρις is lacking only in Jude; Pol. Phil.; and Mart. Pol. "e other common feature of early Christian le!er salutations which Jude does not adopt is the indication of the source of blessings by a binitarian for- mula such as “from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ” (all Pauline let- ters except Col 1:2, which has “from God our Father,” and 1 "ess 1:1; also 2 John 3; Rev 1:4–5; 1 Clem inscr.; Pol.
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