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
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
Oxford 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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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.
- Origen of Alexandria, early Christian theologian, c. 185–254: "Jude, who wrote a letter of few lines, it is true, but filled with the healthful words of heavenly grace."
- John Calvin, Reformation theologian, 1509–1564: "Though there was a dispute among the ancients respecting this Epistle … it contains nothing inconsistent with the purity of apostolic doctrine."
- Tertullian, early Christian theologian of Carthage, c. 160–225: "To these considerations is added the fact that Enoch possesses a testimony in the apostle Jude."
- Richard Bauckham, British New Testament scholar, b. 1946: "A neglected book far more important for the study of early Christianity than has hitherto been recognized."