by D. P. Johnson

Created on: February 21, 2009   Last Updated: March 01, 2009

The devil tried to pick a fight with the archangel concerning the body of Moses, and Michael's reply is meant to instruct us. Jude is the most neglected book in the New Testament. At first glance, the book's Old Testament and Apocryphal references may appear confusing, yet Jude has much to say to us. The following article is a moderately in depth analysis of this book.

A. Linguistic & Literary Concerns
Genre and Structural Analysis:

The book is the last of the general epistles. It is typically considered an epistle even though it does not have one of the traits of an epistlea closing to the body of the letter.[i]

The structure of Jude as an epistle is typically outlined as follows: The opening is found in verses one and two, and the body is verses three to twenty-three. The opening of the body is found in verses three and four and the middle of the letter body is considered to be Jude five to twenty-three. The body begins with an appeal to contend for the "faith" (verse three). Following this appeal is a long and detailed description of the ungodly men who have crept in among the faithful (verses four to nineteen). After Jude has described the ungodly, he lays out specifics as to how the faithful should contendfirst by ordering their own lives and secondly by rescuing those who have fallen prey to the ungodly men (verses twenty to twenty-three).

The closing is found in the last two verses of the book.[ii] It is not typical. Instead Jude concludes with a doxology. This has led some to surmise that Jude expected to letter to be read as "epistolary sermon"[iii] somewhat like a written speech.

Throughout the epistle, Jude writes and describes in triple formula. Nearly everything in the book is described in terms of threes. There are two exceptions to the triad formula. The first is Jude's description of himself and purpose. He calls himself the slave of Christ and brother of James (verse one) and his distinction between his desired purpose and actual purpose (verse three). The second and most notable exception of the triple description is the central description of the false teachers. This description is actually a "double-triple." Rather than give a three-part description, Jude gives a unit of six descriptors. The reader of Jude should notice that this six-part description is the central core of the book.[iv]

Key Words Key words in the book of Jude include: beloved, contend, faith, ungodly, and mercy. Jude calls those to whom he is writing "beloved." They are beloved

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