Jude Translation of Verse 4 with Notes

Jude 4 παρεισέδυσαν γάρ τινες ἄνθρωποι, οἱ πάλαι προγεγραμμένοι εἰς τοῦτο τὸ κρίμα, ἀσεβεῖς, τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν χάριτα μετατιθέντες εἰς ἀσέλγειαν καὶ τὸν μόνον δεσπότην καὶ κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν ἀρνούμενοι.

Translation: For certain men have wormed their way in (the church), who long ago were marked for judgment, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness, and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Notes:

The “certain people” (τινες ἄνθρωποι ) listed in verse 4, are later referred to as “those who pervert” or “the ungodly ones.” Jude begins with a generic description and then puts a direct focus on their identity. Discussions over the identity of this group has led to three separate interpretations, namely, Gnostics, False Teachers, or the Zealots. Bateman takes the latter position convincingly, while others prefer to not take any of these routes and simply refer to them as “the others.”

Bateman notes (140) that during the Jewish revolt, the men and women were involved meaning that the temptation to embrace the cause of revolt goes to both males and females which may stimulate Jude’s profound distaste for this group.

In my younger days I would read about debates pertaining to the nature of that last phrase in Jude 4, namely the specific reference to our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. The debate stemmed from concerns that Arminians could use that phrase to say assert that Christ also died for those who were condemned from old. It’s a cheap attempt to make limited atonement false. But it seems obvious that Jude is addressing the Christ that belongs to the Judean Christians and not those who worm their way in to seduce the flock; but even, if the reference to God’s Lordship were universal it would still only imply that there is only one way to know this God which is by forsaking zealotry and revolts, as Jude makes clear later.

An additional implication is that ἀσέλγειαν ought to be understood merely as “sexual immorality,” thus implying that the great sin being passed on to the Jewish converts is promiscuity. But if the case is made that we are referring to the Zealots, sexual immorality would not fit their description. As Bateman notes, “the Zealots were staunchly against sexual immorality…” (151). Thus, it is more reasonable to assert that ἀσέλγειαν refers to their acts being without restraint. After all, they hoped to revolt Rome which implied unrestrained actions.