To execute judgment upon all and to reprove all the ungodly for all the works of their ungodliness, whereby they have done ungodly: and for all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against God.
ποιησαι κρισιν κατα παντων και ελεγξαι παντας τους ασεβεις αυτων περι παντων των εργων ασεβειας αυτων ων ησεβησαν και περι παντων των σκληρων ων ελαλησαν κατ αυτου αμαρτωλοι ασεβεις
6 Church Fathers comment on this verse
To what was said above he adds that Enoch also prophesied concerning the punishment from God that awaits them in the last days, that is, on the day of God’s righteous judgment. The difference between the ungodly man and the sinner is this: the ungodly man sins in relation to God, while the sinner turns aside in the affairs of life from the aim of righteousness.
The ungodly man differs from the sinner, because the ungodly man acts lawlessly against God, while the sinner acts against what ought to be done in life and does not attain the aim of righteousness.
"To execute judgment," and so forth. Here a general idea of judgment is set forth. No particular features are indicated that would especially characterize the general concept of judgment. Yet at the same time the general designation of the objects of judgment is very precise. Judgment, as a divine determination or decision, is to be executed upon all without exception (2 Cor 5:10). It is upon impious sinners and upon the righteous, for recompense to each according to his works. Judgment will take place for exposure, examination, disclosure, and the general solemn manifestation of the deeds of all men (cf. Mt 25:31 and following, with note). It will especially expose, among them all, the impious men who from Cain's time walked in the way of Cain (v. 11).
They always walked in it, they walked in it in the days of the apostles, and they will walk in it in the last times. In Enoch's prophetic contemplation, all the impious of all times are presented in a general form. At such a judgment the impious are exposed and will be exposed. First, they will be exposed in all the deeds their impiety produced. These are actions and acts, both inward and outward, performed by them and, through them and by their influence, by others. They are acts of impiety and of the impious (v. 4). Second, they will be exposed especially in all blasphemies, false teachings, profanities, mockeries (2 Pet 3:4), and in general blasphemous words and deeds that these impious men spewed forth against Him, that is, against the Lord (v. 14), God and the Son of God (v. 5 and note). All these blasphemers, impious men, and sinners, when spewing blasphemies against God, spew and have always spewed them, in the Old and New Testaments, and will spew them until the end of the world, against the Son of God. They do so both before His Incarnation and after His Incarnation. Therefore He is precisely the One who has judged, judges, and will judge them for their blasphemies and every impiety.
After this the Apostle cites the prophecy of Enoch, and also that of Christ's Apostles, concerning the bitter lot awaiting the heretics he denounces. He outlines their manner of life in the darkest colors. Where is the prophecy of Enoch quoted by the Apostle Jude found? It is not in the sacred books of the Old Testament. But it was preserved in Hebrew tradition, which the holy Apostle Jude introduced into his epistle. By this he gave it inspired significance. For New Testament writers often supplemented the Old Testament writers, introducing into their books from the sacred tradition of God's people what the Holy Spirit inspired them to say about it.
Meanwhile, this passage in Jude, like the previous passage about Michael the Archangel, raised various doubts among ecclesiastical writers about its authenticity. Blessed Jerome, for example, bears witness to this. In antiquity there existed an entire apocryphal book under the title "Book of Enoch," filled with various mythical tales about Enoch. Among other things, it contains the above-mentioned prophecy cited by the Apostle Jude. It was said that the Apostle could not have drawn from such a turbid source. But he did not draw from it. According to the strictest scholarly investigations, the "Book of Enoch" could have appeared only in the second century of the Christian era, or at least at the end of the last quarter of the first. This means that in any case it is later than Jude's epistle. Therefore the reverse could have occurred: from the Epistle of the Apostle Jude, the prophecy he recorded passed into the apocryphon about Enoch that later took shape.
The prophecy of Enoch mentioned here is not recorded in the sacred books of the Old Testament, but is taken from Tradition. This prophecy fully accords with Enoch's position among the impious men of his time and with the true teaching about the last judgment over all men. In particular, it accords with the teaching on recompense for blasphemy. "For every idle word men may speak, they will give account in the day of judgment," says Jesus Christ Himself (Mt 12:36). How much more will those give account who blaspheme God and His Christ (cf. v. 8 and Ps 2:3).
In confirmation of the threat of eternal punishment against the impious false teachers, expressed in the preceding verse, the Apostle Jude applies to them the prophecy of the antediluvian patriarch Enoch. According to this prophecy, contained in the apocryphal Book of Enoch and preserved in living oral tradition, the Lord will come with myriads of His holy angels. Compare Deut 33:2; Zech 14:5; Heb 12:22. He will execute judgment upon all and convict the ungodly not only of their impious deeds, but also of all the harsh words they have spoken against God.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 27 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS