Jude

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

Epistle Of a canonical book of the New Testament, written against the heretics, who, by their impious doctrines and disorderly lives, corrupted the faith and good morals of Christians. The author of this epistle, called Judas, and also Thaddeus and Lebbeus, was one of the twelve Apostles; he was the son of Alpheus, brother of James the less, and one of those who were called our Lord's brethren. We are not informed when, or how, he was called to be an Apostle; but it has been conjectured, that, before his vocation to the Apostleship, he was a husbandman, that he was married, and that he had children. The only account we have of him in particular, is that which occurs in  John 14:21-23 . It is not unreasonable to suppose that, after having received, in common with other Apostles, extraordinary gifts at the pentecost, he preached the Gospel for some time in several parts of the land of Israel, and wrought miracles in the name of Christ. And, as his life seems to have been prolonged, it is probable that he afterward left Judea, and went abroad preaching the Gospel to Jews and Gentiles in other countries. Some have said that he preached in Arabia, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Persia; and that he suffered martyrdom in the last mentioned country. But we have no account of his travels upon which we can rely; and it may be questioned whether he was a martyr.

In the early ages of Christianity, several rejected the Epistle of St. Jude, because the apocryphal books of Enoch, and the ascension of Moses, are quoted in it. Nevertheless, it is to be found in all the ancient catalogues of the sacred writings; and Clement, of Alexandria, Tertullian, and Origen quote it as written by Jude, and reckon it among the books of sacred Scripture. In the time of Eusebius it was generally received. As to the objections that have been urged against its authority, Dr. Lardner suggests that there is no necessity for supposing that St. Jude quoted a book called Enoch or Enoch's prophecies; and even allowing that he did quote it, he gives it no authority; it was no canonical book of the Jews; and if such a book existed among the Jews, it was apocryphal, and yet there might be in it some right things. Instead of referring to a book called the "Assumption or Ascension of Christ," which probably was a forgery much later than his time, it is much more credible that St. Jude refers to the vision in  Zechariah 3:1-3 . It has been the opinion of several writers, and, among others, of Hammond and Benson, that St. Jude addressed his epistle to the Jewish Christians; but Dr. Lardner infers, from the words of the inscription of the epistle, verses, 1, 3, that it was designed for the use of all in general who had embraced the Christian religion. The last mentioned author supposes that this epistle was written A.D. 64, 65, or 66.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

Jude Lebbaeus, Thaddaeus Jude calls himself "servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James", namely, the apostle James "the Lord's brother" (a title which James omits in humility, as he was strictly only cousin of Christ), bishop of Jerusalem (compare  Galatians 1:19). (See James .) Similarly Jude was both an apostle and brother of our Lord. All Christ's brethren were not apostles, only James and Jude, sons of Alphaeus or Clopas and Mary. James being better known, Jude designates himself "brother of James." Like Paul in epistles to Philippians, Thessalonians, and Philemon, Jude omits his apostleship. A forger would have been sure to head the epistle with the designation "apostle."

Jude is distinguished from Judas Iscariot by the names Lebbaeus and Thaddaeus, i.e. courageous, from Hebrew Leeb "heart," Thad "breast," or Hodah "praise" ( Αdai is the name in Syriac):  Matthew 10:3;  Mark 3:18. Luke and John writing later, when no confusion with Judas Iscariot was likely, call him "Judas." The only notice of him is in  John 14:22, where, not understanding Jesus' promise ( John 14:21), Judas (not Iscariot) asked "Lord, how is it that Thou wilt manifest Thyself unto us and not unto the world?" His position in the last group of four among the twelve implies, like his question, low views at that time of the spirituality of Messiah's kingdom.

Eusebius tells that Abgarus, king of Edessa, being sick sent begging Jesus to come and heal him; the Lord replied, praising his faith because, though he had not seen, he believed, and promising when He should ascend to send one of His disciples to heal and give him life. Thomas then was inspired to send Thaddaeus. Such a message may have been sent verbally, and its substance afterward written (compare  Matthew 15:22; 2 Kings 5). Hegesippus (Eusebius, E. H. iii. 20) states that when the emperor Domitian inquired after David's posterity, grandsons of Jude "the Lord's brother" were brought before him; they stated their possessions were 39 acres, and that they paid him taxes thereout and lived by labour, pointing as a proof to their hard hands. They added, Christ's kingdom is not of this world, but heavenly, and will be manifested when He shall come again in glory.

Bridgeway Bible Dictionary

It is generally believed that the author of the letter of Jude was the younger brother of Jesus, whose original name Judas was later shortened to Jude ( Mark 6:3). Jesus’ brothers at first did not accept him as the Son of God and the Davidic Messiah ( John 7:5), but the resurrection must have caused them to change their minds. They were among the foundation members of the Jerusalem church ( Acts 1:14; cf.  1 Corinthians 15:7).

Purpose and content of Jude’s letter

Jude’s purpose in writing his letter was to oppose a kind of false teaching which denied that practical self-control was necessary for those who had become Christians. They claimed that when a person passed into a higher experience of spiritual life, the deeds of the body could no longer affect the purity of the soul. In fact, immoral behaviour could be a sign of spiritual maturity.

Jude’s response to this was to warn his readers that those who taught and practised such immorality were perverting the gospel and bringing judgment upon themselves (v. 1-16). True Christians, besides learning more of Christian truth, kept themselves pure and developed practical godliness in their daily lives (v. 17-25).

The content of Jude is similar to that of 2 Peter. Perhaps one writer borrowed from the other; or, more likely, both used a kind of argument that was common in opposing the false teaching. Such false teaching was widespread during the latter half of the first century, and seems to have been yet another early form of Gnosticism.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Jude. Jude or Ju'das , called also Lebbaeus , and Thaddeus , Authorized Version, "Judas, The Brother of James," one of the twelve apostles. The name of Jude occurs only once in the Gospel narrative.  John 14:22;  Matthew 10:3;  Mark 3:18;  Luke 6:16;  John 14:22;  Acts 1:13. Nothing is certainly known of the later history of the apostle. Tradition connects him with the foundation of the church at Edessa.

See Judas .

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Jude ( Jûde ), Epistle of . It is referred to by Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, and Origen. It was probably written in Palestine, about a.d. 65. This epistle seems to have been intended to guard the faithful against prevalent errors, and to urge them to constancy in the faith. It is not improbable that Peter had read Jude's epistle, when he wrote his Second epistle; and that the thoughts, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, had made a strong impression upon his mind.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Jude 1:1 Matthew 13:55 John 14:22 Acts 1:13 Matthew 10:3 Mark 3:18 Matthew 10:4 Mark 3:19 Luke 6:16 John 14:22

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

See Judas 2.

The Epistle Of Jude assigned conjecturally to the year 66 A. D., is a fervid and vehement voice of warning against following certain false teachers in their errors and corruptions, and so sharing their awful doom. It resembles the second epistle of Peter. As to the quotation in  Jude 1:14,15 , see Enoch 2.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

See JUDAS.

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

See Judas

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

or, rather, JUDAS ( Ι᾿Ούδας , i.q. JUDAH; (See Juda) ). There were two of this name among the twelve apostles — Judas, called also LEBBAEUS and Thaddaeus ( Matthew 10:4;  Mark 3:18), and Judas Iscariot. Judas is likewise the name of one of our Lord's brethren ( Matthew 13:55;  Mark 6:3), but it is not agreed whether our Lord's brother is the same with the apostle of this name. Luke (Gospel, 6:16;  Acts 1:13) calls him Ι᾿Ούδας Ι᾿Ακώβου , which in the English Auth. Vers. is translated "Judas, The Brother of James." This is defended by Winer ( Gramm. Of N.T. Dict. ) , Arnaud ( Recher. Crit. Sur L ' Ep. De Jude ) , and accepted by Burton, Alford, Tregelles, Michaelis, etc. The ellipsis, however, between Ι᾿Ούδας and Ιακώβου is supplied by the old Syriac translator (who was unacquainted with the Epistle of Jude, the writer of which calls himself Ι᾿Ούδας Ἀδελφὸς Ι᾿Ακώβου , Jude,  Acts 1:1), with the word Son, and not Brother. Among our Lord's brethren are named (along with Judas) James and Joses ( Matthew 13:55;  Mark 6:3). If, with Helvidius among the ancients (see Jerome, Contra Helvidium ) , and Kuin Ö l, Neander, and a few other modern commentators, we were to consider our Lord's brethren to be children of Joseph and the Virgin Mary, we should be under the necessity of supposing that there was a James, a Joses, and a Judas who were uterine brothers of our Lord, together with the apostles James and Judas, who were children of Mary, the sister or cousin of the Virgin (see Pearson, On the Creed, art. 4). Otherwise it remains for us to choose the opinion that our Lord's brethren were children of Joseph by a former wife (Escha or Salome, according to an apocryphal tradition), which was the sentiment of the majority of the fathers (still received in the Oriental Church), or the opinion adopted in the Western Church, and first broached by Jerome (Cont. Helvid.), that the brethren of our Lord were his cousins, as being children of Mary, the wife of Cleophas, who must therefore be considered as the same with Alphaeus. If we consider James, the brother of our Lord, to be a different person from James, the son of Alphseus, and not one of the Twelve, Jude, the brother of James, must consequently be placed in the same category; but, if they are one and the same, Jude must be considered as the person who is numbered with our Lord's apostles. The most plausible solution of the whole difficulty is by means of the following hypotheses: Alphoeus, otherwise called Clopas, was the brother of Joseph, the reputed father of Christ, and married Mary (not necessarily a blood relative of the Virgin); dying without issue, he left his wife, thenceforth designated as Mary, the wife (i.e. widow) of Clopas, to his brother Joseph, who had by her several children, namely; James, Judas, Simon, and Joses (and perhaps others, including sisters), the eldest of whom (James) was especially. designated as the son of Alphaeus, as being his heir. ( Deuteronomy 25:5). The first two of these (being probably older than Jesus) were the James and Judas, or Jude, mentioned among the apostles, as also the authors of the epistles bearing their respective names, being half brothers of Christ, as the reputed son of the common parent Joseph. (See Alpheus); (See James); (See Joseph); MARY.

We are not informed as to the time of the vocation of the apostle Jude to that dignity. Indeed, the only circumstance relating to him which is recorded in the Gospels consists in the question put by him to our Lord ( John 14:22): "Judas saith unto him (not Iscariot), Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself to us, and not unto the world?" Nor have we any account given of his proceedings after our Lord's resurrection, for the traditionary notices which have been preserved of him rest on no very certain foundation (Lardner's History Of The Apostles ). There may be some truth in the tradition which connects him with the foundation of the church at Edessa; though here again there is much confusion, and doubt is thrown over the account by its connection with the worthless fiction of "Abgarus, king of Edessa" (Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. 1 , 13; Jerome, Comm. In Matthew 10 ). Nicephorus (Hist. Eccl. 2, 40) makes Jude die a natural death in that city after preaching in Palestine, Syria, and Arabia. The Syrian tradition speaks of his abode at Edessa, but adds that he went thence to Assyria, and was martyred in Phoenicia on his return; while that of the West makes Persia the field of his labors and the scene of his martyrdom. Jude the apostle is commemorated in the Western Church, together with the apostle Simon (the name, also, of one of our Lord's brethren), on the 8th of October. Eusebius gives us an interesting tradition of Hegesippus (Hist. Eccl. 3, 20, 32) that two grandsons of Jude, "who, according to the flesh, was called the Lord's brother" (comp.  1 Corinthians 9:5), were seized and carried to Rome by order of Domitian, whose apprehensions had been excited by what he had heard of the mighty power of the kingdom of Christ; but that the emperor having discovered by their answers to his inquiries, and the appearance of their hands, that they were poor men, supporting themselves by their labor, and having learned the spiritual nature of Christ's kingdom, dismissed them in contempt, and ceased from his persecution of the Church, whereupon they returned to Palestine, and took a leading place in the churches, "as being at the same time confessors and of the Lord's family" ( Ώς ¨ Ν Δὴ Μάρτυρας Ὁμοῦ Καὶ Ἀπὸ Γένεος Ὄντας Τοῦ Κυρίου ) , and lived till the time of Trajan. Nicephorus (1, 23) tells us that Jude's wife was named Mary. For further discussion, see Bertholdt, Einl. 5, 2679; 6, 31, 79; Perionii Vitoe Apostol. p. 166; Assemani. Biblioth. Orient. 3 , 2, 13; 1, 302, 611; Bayer, Hist. Osrhoen. Et Edessen. p. 104; Credner, Einl. 1, 611; De Wette, Einl. ins N.T. 1). 340; Harenberg, in Miscell. Lips. nov. 3, 373; Michaelis, Einl. 2, 1489; and the monographs cited by Volbeding, Index, p. 32. On the pretended Gospel of Thaddaeus, see Kleuker, Apokr. N.T. p. 67 sq. (See Lebbaeus).

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Jude or Judas. There were two of this name among the twelve Apostles—Judas, called also Lebbaeus and Thaddeus (; , which see), and Judas Iscariot. Judas is the name of one of our Lord's brethren, but it is not agreed whether our Lord's brother is the same with the Apostle of this name [JAMES]. We are not informed as to the time of the vocation of the Apostle Jude to that dignity. Indeed, the only circumstance relating to him which is recorded in the Gospels consists in the question put by him to our Lord . 'Judas saith unto him (not Iscariot), Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself to us, and not unto the world?' Nor have we any account given of his proceedings after our Lord's resurrection, for the traditional notices which have been preserved of him rest on no very certain foundation. It has been asserted that he was sent to Edessa, to Abgarus, king of Osröene, and that he preached in Syria, Arabia, Mesopotamia, and Persia; in which latter country he suffered martyrdom.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

jōōd ( Ἰούδας , Ioúdas ): Brother of the Lord, and author of the Epistle of Jude. See Judas Of James and following article.