Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

Jude 1:10

οὗτοι δὲ ὅσα μὲν οὐκ οἴδασιν βλασφημοῦσιν. The libertines do the contrary of what we are told of the respect shown by the angel even towards Satan: they speak evil of that spiritual world, those spiritual beings, of which they know nothing, cf. 2 Peter 2:12. The common verb βλασφ. shows that the δόξαι of Jude 1:8 are identical with ὅσα οὐκ οἴδασιν here. For the blindness of the carnal mind to all higher wisdom cf. 1 Corinthians 2:7-16, a passage linked with our epistle by the distinction between the ψυχικοί and πνευματικοί and by the words λαλοῦμεν Θεοῦ σοφίαν, ἣν οὐδεὶς τῶν ἀρχόντων τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου ἔγνωκεν · εἰ γὰρ ἔγνωσαν οὐκ ἂν τὸν κύριον τῆς δόξης ἐσταύρωσαν. See too John 8:19; 1 Timothy 6:4, τετύφωται μηδὲν ἐπιστάμενος. For the form οἴδασιν see my ed. of St. James, p. 183.

ὅσα δὲ φυσικῶς ὡς τὰ ἄλογα ζῷα ἐπίστανται. This stands for σάρκα in Jude 1:8 and is explained by ἀσέλγειαν in Jude 1:4, ἐκπορνεύσασαι in Jude 1:7, μιαίνουσιν in Jude 1:8, κατὰ τὰς ἐπιθυμίας αὐτῶν πορευόμενοι in Jude 1:16.

φυσικῶς, “by instinct,” so Dion. L. x. 137, φυσικῶς καὶ χωρὶς λόγου. Alford cites Xen. Cyrop. ii. 3, 9, μάχην ὁρῶ πάντας ἀνθρώπους φύσει ἐπισταμένους, ὥσπερ γε καὶ τἄλλα ζῷα ἐπίσταταί τινα μάχην ἕκαστα οὐδὲ παρʼ ἑνὸς ἄλλου μαθόντα ἢ παρὰ τῆς φύσεως.

ἐν τούτοις φθείρονται. The natural antithesis here would have been “these things they admire and delight in”. For this Jude substitutes by a stern irony “these things are their ruin”. Cf. Philippians 3:19, where speaking of the enemies of the Cross the apostle says: ὧν τὸ τέλος ἀπώλεια, ὧν ὁ θεὸς ἡ κοιλία, καὶ ἡ δόξα ἐν τῇ αἰσχύνῃ αὐτῶν, Ephesians 4:22, ἀποθέσθαι … τὸν παλαιὸν ἄθρωπον τὸν φθειρόμενον κατὰ τὰς ἐπιθυμίας.

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Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

Jude 1:10

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