Jude 1:1

THE GENERAL EPISTLE OF JUDE.

Chronological Notes relative to this Epistle.

-Year of the Constantinopolitan era of the world, or that used by the Byzantine historians, and other eastern writers, 5573.

-Year of the Alexandrian era of the world, 5567.

-Year of the Antiochian era of the world, 5557.

-Year of the world, according to Archbishop Usher, 4069.

-Year of the world, according to Eusebius, in his Chronicon, 4291.

-Year of the minor Jewish era of the world, or that in common use, 3825.

-Year of the Greater Rabbinical era of the world, 4424.

-Year from the Flood, according to Archbishop Usher, and the English Bible, 2413.

-Year of the Cali yuga, or Indian era of the Deluge, 3167.

-Year of the era of Iphitus, or since the first commencement of the Olympic games, 1005.

-Year of the era of Nahonassar, king of Babylon, 814.

-Year of the CCXIth Olympiad, 1.

-Year from the building of Rome, according to Fabius Pictor, 812.

-Year from the building of Rome, according to Frontinus, 816.

-Year from the building of Rome, according to the Fasti Capitolini, 817.

-Year from the building of Rome, according to Varro, which was that most generally used, 818.

-Year of the era of the Seleucidae, 377.

-Year of the Caesarean era of Antioch, 113.

-Year of the Julian era, 110.

-Year of the Spanish era, 103.

-Year from the birth of Jesus Christ, according to Archbishop Usher, 69.

-Year of the vulgar era of Christ's nativity, 85.

-Year of Gessius Florus, governor of the Jews, 1.

-Year of Domitius Corbulo, governor of Syria, 5.

-Year of Matthias, high priest of the Jews, 2.

-Year of Vologesus, king of the Parthians, 16.

-Year of the Dionysian period, or Easter Cycle, 66.

-Year of the Grecian Cycle of nineteen years, or Common Golden Number, 9; or the year after the third embolismic.

-Year of the Jewish Cycle of nineteen years, 6; or the second embolismic.

-Year of the Solar Cycle, 18.

-Dominical Letter, it being the first year after the Bissextile, or Leap Year, F.

-Day of the Jewish Passover, the seventh of April, which happened in this year on the Jewish Sabbath.

-Easter Sunday, the fourteenth of April.

-Epact, or age of the moon on the 22d of March, (the day of the earliest Easter Sunday possible,) 28.

-Epact, according to the present mode of computation, or the moon's age on New Year's day, or the Calends of January, 6.

-Monthly Epacts, or age of the moon on the Calends of each month respectively, (beginning with January,) 6, 8, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 13, 14, 16, 16.

-Number of Direction, or the number of days from the twenty-first of March to the Jewish Passover, 17.

-Year of the Emperor Caius Tiberius Claudius Nero Caesar, 12.

-Roman Consuls, A. Licinius Nerva Silanus, and M. Vestinius Atticus. Vestinius was succeeded by Anicius Cerealis on the first of July.

JUDE.

The address and apostolical benediction, 1, 2.

The reasons which induced Jude to write this epistle, to excite

the Christians to contend for the true faith, and to beware of

false teachers, lest, falling from their steadfastness, they

should be destroyed after the example of backsliding Israel,

the apostate angels, and the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrha,

3-7.

Of the false teachers, 8.

Of Michael disputing about the body of Moses, 9.

The false teachers particularly described: they are like brute

beasts, going the way of Cain, run after the error of Balaam,

and shall perish, as did Korah in his gainsaying, 10, 11.

Are impure, unsteady, fierce, shameless, c., 12, 13.

How Enoch prophesied of such, 14, 15.

They are farther described as murmurers and complainers, 16.

We should remember the cautions given unto us by the apostles

who foretold of these men, 17-19.

We should build up ourselves on our most holy faith, 20, 21.

How the Church of Christ should treat such, 22, 23.

The apostle's farewell, and his doxology to God, 24, 25.

NOTES ON THE EPISTLE OF JUDE.

Verse Jude 1:1. Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ] Probably Jude the apostle, who was surnamed Thaddeus and Lebbeus, was son to Alpheus, and brother to James the less, Joses, and Simon. See Matthew 10:3, and collate with Luke 6:16 Matthew 13:55. See the preface.

Brother of James] Supposed to be James the less, bishop of Jerusalem, mentioned here, because he was an eminent person in the Church. See the preface to St. James.

To them that are sanctified by God] Instead of ηγιασμενοις, to the sanctified, AB, several others, both the Syriac, Erpen's Arabic, Coptic, Sahidic, Armenian, AEthiopic, and Vulgate, with several of the fathers, have ηγαπημενοις, to them that are beloved; and before εν τω θεω, in God, some MSS., with the Syriac and Armenian, have εθνεσιν, to the Gentiles, in God the Father: but although the first is only a probable reading, this is much less so. St. Jude writes to all believers everywhere, and not to any particular Church; hence this epistle has been called a general epistle.

Sanctified signifies here consecrated to God through faith in Christ.

Preserved in (or by) Jesus Christ] Signifies those who continued unshaken in the Christian faith; and implies also, that none can be preserved in the faith that do not continue in union with Christ, by whose grace alone they can be preserved and called. This should be read consecutively with the other epithets, and should be rather, in a translation, read first than last, to the saints in God the Father, called and preserved by Christ Jesus. Saints is the same as Christians; to become such they were called to believe in Christ by the preaching of the Gospel, and having believed, were preserved by the grace of Christ in the life and practice of piety.