Jude 1:1

Jude. Rev., Judas. One of the brethren of Jesus; not the brother of James the Apostle, the son of Alphaeus, but of James the superintendent of the church at Jerusalem. He is named among the brethren of the Lord. Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3.

Servant. He does not call himself an apostle, as Paul and Peter in their introductions, and seems to distinguish himself from the apostles in vv. 17, 18 : "The apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, how that they said," etc. We are told that Christ's brethren did not believe on him (John 7:5); and in Acts 1 the brethren of Jesus (ver. 14) are mentioned in a way which seems to separate them from the apostles. Doulov, bond - servant, occurs in the introductions to Romans, Philippians, Titus, James, and 2 Peter.

Brother of James. That Jude does not allude to his relationship to the Lord may be explained by the fact that the natural relationship in his mind would be subordinate to the spiritual (see Luke 11:27; Luke 11:28), and that such a designation would, as Dean Alford remarks, "have been in harmony with those later and superstitious feelings with which the next and following ages regarded the Lord's earthly relatives." He would shrink from emphasizing a distinction to which none of the other disciples or apostles could have a claim, the more so because of his former unbelief in Christ's authority and mission. It is noticeable that Jas. likewise avoids such a designation.

Kept. See on 1 Peter 1:4. Compare John 17:6; John 17:12.

In Jesus Christ [ι η σ ο υ χ ρ ι σ τ ω]. The simple dative without preposition. Therefore for Jesus Christ; by the Father to whom Christ committed them (John 17:11). Compare 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Philippians 1:6; Philippians 1:10.

Called [κ λ η τ ο ι ς]. At the end of the verse, for emphasis.