Jude
Jude quotes Jewish texts that never made it into scripture, like 1 Enoch and the Assumption of Moses.
Read this if you…
- want a one-page New Testament rant against false teachers — Jude doesn't have time to be polite
- like that it quotes 1 Enoch and the Assumption of Moses as scripture — extra-biblical books most Christians don't even know exist
- care about the archangel Michael disputing with the devil over Moses' body (Jude 9) — one of the weirdest verses in the canon
Skip this if you…
- don't want to read explicitly religious/Christian texts
Why It Matters
Jude quotes Jewish texts that never made it into scripture, like 1 Enoch and the Assumption of Moses. That raised real questions about where the boundaries of the canon actually sit and how canonical and extra-canonical writing relate.
Depicted in Art
A bearded Jude in red and green robes turns three-quarters to the viewer, his lifted right hand gesturing as he holds a small book — the epistle — close to his chest.
El Greco, 1612
Jude emerges from deep shadow holding a halberd diagonally across his body; his weathered, bearded face is lit from one side in stark tenebrist contrast.
Georges de La Tour, 1620
A weather-beaten Jude in profile, dark beard and untamed hair rendered with thick brushwork, head turned slightly toward the viewer against a brown ground.
Anthony van Dyck, 1620
Simon and Jude stand side by side in gold-ground Sienese style, each holding a book; Jude on the right gazes outward, his halo overlapping his companion's.
Ugolino di Nerio, 1325
Recommended Editions
King James Version
Cambridge University Press · 1611
The most influential and commonly quoted translation in English. The prose rhythm everyone else is responding to, even modern translations.
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Deep Dive
What It's About
This summary gives away plot details.
Notable Quotes
“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.”
“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”