SIMON ZELOTES.HIS NAME.Theever-recurring difficulty about the distinctive appellations of the apostles, forms the most prominent point of inquiry in the life of this person, otherwise so little known as to afford hardly a single topic for the apostolic historian. The dispute here indeed involves no question about personal identity, but merely refers to the coincidence of signification between the two different words by which he is designated in the apostolic lists, to distinguish him from the illustrious chief of the twelve, who bore the same name with him. Matthew and Mark in giving the names of the apostles,——the only occasion on which they name him,——call him “Simon the Cananite;” but Luke, in a similar notice, mentions him as “Simon Zelotes;” and the question then arises, whether these two distinctive appellations have not a common origin. In the vernacular language of Palestine, the word from whichCananiteis derived, has a meaning identical with that of the root of the Greek wordZelotes; and hence it is most rationally concluded, that the latter is a translation of the former,——Luke, who wrote entirely for Greeks, choosing to translate into their language a term whose original force could be apprehended only by those acquainted with the local circumstances with which it was connected. The nameZelotes, which may be faithfully translated by its English derivative,Zealot, has a meaning deeply involved in some of the most bloody scenes in the history of the Jews, in the apostolic age. This name, or rather its Hebrew original, was assumed by a set of ferocious desperadoes, who, under the honorable pretense of a holyzealfor their country and religion, set all law at defiance, and constituting themselves at once the judges and the executors of right, they went through the land waging war against the Romans, andall who peacefully submitted to that foreign sway. This sect, however, did not arise by this name until many years after the death of Jesus, and there is no good reason to suppose that Simon derived his surname from any connection with the bloody Zealots who did their utmost to increase the last agonies of their distracted country, but from a more holy zeal displayed in a more righteous manner. It may have been simply characteristic of his general conduct, or it may have referred to some particular occasion in which he decidedly evinced this trait of zeal in a righteous cause.The Cananite.——In respect to this name, a most absurd and unjustifiable blunder has stood in all the common versions of it, which deserves notice. This is the representation of the word in the form, “Canaanite,” which is a gross perversion of the original. The Greek word isΚανανιτης, (Kananites,) a totally different word from that which is used both in the New Testament, and in the Alexandrian version of the Old, to express the Hebrew term for an inhabitant of Canaan. The name of the land of Canaan is always expressed by the aspirated form,Χανααν, which in the Latin and all modern versions is very properly expressed by “Chanaan.” In Matthewxv.22, where the Canaanitish woman is spoken of, the original isΧαναναια, (Chananaia,) nor is there any passage in which the name of an inhabitant of Canaan is expressed by the formΚανανιτης, (Cananites,) with the smooth K, and the single A. Yet the Latin ecclesiastic writers, and even the usually accurate Natalis Alexander, express this apostle’s name as “SimonChananaeus,” which is the word for “Canaanite.”The true force and derivation of the word is this. The name assumed in the language of Palestine by the ferocious sect above mentioned, was derived from the Hebrew primitiveקנא(QanaorKana,) and thence the nameקנני(Kanani) was very fairly expressed, according to the forms and terminations of the Greek, byΚανανιτης, (Kananites.) The Hebrew root is a verb which means “to bezealous,” and the name derived from it of course means, “one who iszealous,” of which the just Greek translation is the wordΖηλωτης, (Zelotes,) the very name by which Luke represents it in this instance. (Lukevi.15; Actsi.13.) One of these names is, in short, a mere translation of the other,——nor is there any way of evading this construction, except by supposing that Luke was mistaken in supposing that Simon was called “the Zealot,” being deceived by the resemblance of the name “Cananites” to the Hebrew name of that sect. But no believer in the inspiration of the gospel can allow this supposition. Equally unfounded, and inconsistent with Luke’s translation, is the notion that the name Cananite is derived from Cana the village of Galilee, famous as the scene of Christ’s first miracle.The account given in the Life of Matthew shows the character of this sect, as it existed in the last days of the Jewish state. Josephus describes them very fully in his history of the Jewish War, (iv.3.) Simon probably received this name, however, not from any connection with a sect which arose long after the death of Christ, but from something in his own character which showed a greatzealfor the cause which he had espoused.HIS HISTORY.No very direct statement as to his parentage is made in the New Testament; but one or two incidental allusions to some circumstances connected with it, afford ground for a reasonable conclusion on this point. In the enumeration which Matthew and Mark give of the four brothers of Jesus, in the discourse of the offended citizens of Nazareth, Simon is mentioned along with James, Juda and Joses. It is worthy of notice, also, that on allthe apostolic lists, Simon the apostle is mentioned between the brothers James and Juda; an arrangement that can not be accounted for, except by supposing that he was also the brother of James. The reason why Juda is distinctly specified as the brother of James, while Simon is mentioned without reference to any such relationship, is, doubtless, that the latter was so well known by the appellation of the Zealot, that there was no need of specifying his relations, to distinguish him from Simon Peter. These two circumstances, incidentally mentioned, may be considered as justifying the supposition, that Simon Zelotes was the same person as Simon the brother of Jesus. In this manner, all the old writers have understood the connection; and though such use is no authority, it is worth mentioning that the monkish chroniclers always consider Simon Zelotes as the brother of Juda; and they associate these two, as wandering together in eastern countries, to preach the gospel in Persia and Mesopotamia. Others carry him into much more improbable wanderings. Egypt and Northern Africa, and even Britain, are mentioned as the scenes of his apostolic labors, in the ingenious narratives of those who undertook to supply almost every one of the nations of the eastern continent with an apostolic patron saint. All this is very poor consolation for the general dearth of facts in relation to this apostle; and the searcher for historical truth will not be so well satisfied with the tedious tales of monkish romance, as with the decided and unquestionable assurance, that the whole history of this apostle, from beginning to end, is perfectly unknown, and that not one action of his life has been preserved from the darkness of an utterly impenetrable oblivion.
HIS NAME.Theever-recurring difficulty about the distinctive appellations of the apostles, forms the most prominent point of inquiry in the life of this person, otherwise so little known as to afford hardly a single topic for the apostolic historian. The dispute here indeed involves no question about personal identity, but merely refers to the coincidence of signification between the two different words by which he is designated in the apostolic lists, to distinguish him from the illustrious chief of the twelve, who bore the same name with him. Matthew and Mark in giving the names of the apostles,——the only occasion on which they name him,——call him “Simon the Cananite;” but Luke, in a similar notice, mentions him as “Simon Zelotes;” and the question then arises, whether these two distinctive appellations have not a common origin. In the vernacular language of Palestine, the word from whichCananiteis derived, has a meaning identical with that of the root of the Greek wordZelotes; and hence it is most rationally concluded, that the latter is a translation of the former,——Luke, who wrote entirely for Greeks, choosing to translate into their language a term whose original force could be apprehended only by those acquainted with the local circumstances with which it was connected. The nameZelotes, which may be faithfully translated by its English derivative,Zealot, has a meaning deeply involved in some of the most bloody scenes in the history of the Jews, in the apostolic age. This name, or rather its Hebrew original, was assumed by a set of ferocious desperadoes, who, under the honorable pretense of a holyzealfor their country and religion, set all law at defiance, and constituting themselves at once the judges and the executors of right, they went through the land waging war against the Romans, andall who peacefully submitted to that foreign sway. This sect, however, did not arise by this name until many years after the death of Jesus, and there is no good reason to suppose that Simon derived his surname from any connection with the bloody Zealots who did their utmost to increase the last agonies of their distracted country, but from a more holy zeal displayed in a more righteous manner. It may have been simply characteristic of his general conduct, or it may have referred to some particular occasion in which he decidedly evinced this trait of zeal in a righteous cause.
HIS NAME.
Theever-recurring difficulty about the distinctive appellations of the apostles, forms the most prominent point of inquiry in the life of this person, otherwise so little known as to afford hardly a single topic for the apostolic historian. The dispute here indeed involves no question about personal identity, but merely refers to the coincidence of signification between the two different words by which he is designated in the apostolic lists, to distinguish him from the illustrious chief of the twelve, who bore the same name with him. Matthew and Mark in giving the names of the apostles,——the only occasion on which they name him,——call him “Simon the Cananite;” but Luke, in a similar notice, mentions him as “Simon Zelotes;” and the question then arises, whether these two distinctive appellations have not a common origin. In the vernacular language of Palestine, the word from whichCananiteis derived, has a meaning identical with that of the root of the Greek wordZelotes; and hence it is most rationally concluded, that the latter is a translation of the former,——Luke, who wrote entirely for Greeks, choosing to translate into their language a term whose original force could be apprehended only by those acquainted with the local circumstances with which it was connected. The nameZelotes, which may be faithfully translated by its English derivative,Zealot, has a meaning deeply involved in some of the most bloody scenes in the history of the Jews, in the apostolic age. This name, or rather its Hebrew original, was assumed by a set of ferocious desperadoes, who, under the honorable pretense of a holyzealfor their country and religion, set all law at defiance, and constituting themselves at once the judges and the executors of right, they went through the land waging war against the Romans, andall who peacefully submitted to that foreign sway. This sect, however, did not arise by this name until many years after the death of Jesus, and there is no good reason to suppose that Simon derived his surname from any connection with the bloody Zealots who did their utmost to increase the last agonies of their distracted country, but from a more holy zeal displayed in a more righteous manner. It may have been simply characteristic of his general conduct, or it may have referred to some particular occasion in which he decidedly evinced this trait of zeal in a righteous cause.
The Cananite.——In respect to this name, a most absurd and unjustifiable blunder has stood in all the common versions of it, which deserves notice. This is the representation of the word in the form, “Canaanite,” which is a gross perversion of the original. The Greek word isΚανανιτης, (Kananites,) a totally different word from that which is used both in the New Testament, and in the Alexandrian version of the Old, to express the Hebrew term for an inhabitant of Canaan. The name of the land of Canaan is always expressed by the aspirated form,Χανααν, which in the Latin and all modern versions is very properly expressed by “Chanaan.” In Matthewxv.22, where the Canaanitish woman is spoken of, the original isΧαναναια, (Chananaia,) nor is there any passage in which the name of an inhabitant of Canaan is expressed by the formΚανανιτης, (Cananites,) with the smooth K, and the single A. Yet the Latin ecclesiastic writers, and even the usually accurate Natalis Alexander, express this apostle’s name as “SimonChananaeus,” which is the word for “Canaanite.”
The true force and derivation of the word is this. The name assumed in the language of Palestine by the ferocious sect above mentioned, was derived from the Hebrew primitiveקנא(QanaorKana,) and thence the nameקנני(Kanani) was very fairly expressed, according to the forms and terminations of the Greek, byΚανανιτης, (Kananites.) The Hebrew root is a verb which means “to bezealous,” and the name derived from it of course means, “one who iszealous,” of which the just Greek translation is the wordΖηλωτης, (Zelotes,) the very name by which Luke represents it in this instance. (Lukevi.15; Actsi.13.) One of these names is, in short, a mere translation of the other,——nor is there any way of evading this construction, except by supposing that Luke was mistaken in supposing that Simon was called “the Zealot,” being deceived by the resemblance of the name “Cananites” to the Hebrew name of that sect. But no believer in the inspiration of the gospel can allow this supposition. Equally unfounded, and inconsistent with Luke’s translation, is the notion that the name Cananite is derived from Cana the village of Galilee, famous as the scene of Christ’s first miracle.
The account given in the Life of Matthew shows the character of this sect, as it existed in the last days of the Jewish state. Josephus describes them very fully in his history of the Jewish War, (iv.3.) Simon probably received this name, however, not from any connection with a sect which arose long after the death of Christ, but from something in his own character which showed a greatzealfor the cause which he had espoused.
HIS HISTORY.No very direct statement as to his parentage is made in the New Testament; but one or two incidental allusions to some circumstances connected with it, afford ground for a reasonable conclusion on this point. In the enumeration which Matthew and Mark give of the four brothers of Jesus, in the discourse of the offended citizens of Nazareth, Simon is mentioned along with James, Juda and Joses. It is worthy of notice, also, that on allthe apostolic lists, Simon the apostle is mentioned between the brothers James and Juda; an arrangement that can not be accounted for, except by supposing that he was also the brother of James. The reason why Juda is distinctly specified as the brother of James, while Simon is mentioned without reference to any such relationship, is, doubtless, that the latter was so well known by the appellation of the Zealot, that there was no need of specifying his relations, to distinguish him from Simon Peter. These two circumstances, incidentally mentioned, may be considered as justifying the supposition, that Simon Zelotes was the same person as Simon the brother of Jesus. In this manner, all the old writers have understood the connection; and though such use is no authority, it is worth mentioning that the monkish chroniclers always consider Simon Zelotes as the brother of Juda; and they associate these two, as wandering together in eastern countries, to preach the gospel in Persia and Mesopotamia. Others carry him into much more improbable wanderings. Egypt and Northern Africa, and even Britain, are mentioned as the scenes of his apostolic labors, in the ingenious narratives of those who undertook to supply almost every one of the nations of the eastern continent with an apostolic patron saint. All this is very poor consolation for the general dearth of facts in relation to this apostle; and the searcher for historical truth will not be so well satisfied with the tedious tales of monkish romance, as with the decided and unquestionable assurance, that the whole history of this apostle, from beginning to end, is perfectly unknown, and that not one action of his life has been preserved from the darkness of an utterly impenetrable oblivion.
HIS HISTORY.
No very direct statement as to his parentage is made in the New Testament; but one or two incidental allusions to some circumstances connected with it, afford ground for a reasonable conclusion on this point. In the enumeration which Matthew and Mark give of the four brothers of Jesus, in the discourse of the offended citizens of Nazareth, Simon is mentioned along with James, Juda and Joses. It is worthy of notice, also, that on allthe apostolic lists, Simon the apostle is mentioned between the brothers James and Juda; an arrangement that can not be accounted for, except by supposing that he was also the brother of James. The reason why Juda is distinctly specified as the brother of James, while Simon is mentioned without reference to any such relationship, is, doubtless, that the latter was so well known by the appellation of the Zealot, that there was no need of specifying his relations, to distinguish him from Simon Peter. These two circumstances, incidentally mentioned, may be considered as justifying the supposition, that Simon Zelotes was the same person as Simon the brother of Jesus. In this manner, all the old writers have understood the connection; and though such use is no authority, it is worth mentioning that the monkish chroniclers always consider Simon Zelotes as the brother of Juda; and they associate these two, as wandering together in eastern countries, to preach the gospel in Persia and Mesopotamia. Others carry him into much more improbable wanderings. Egypt and Northern Africa, and even Britain, are mentioned as the scenes of his apostolic labors, in the ingenious narratives of those who undertook to supply almost every one of the nations of the eastern continent with an apostolic patron saint. All this is very poor consolation for the general dearth of facts in relation to this apostle; and the searcher for historical truth will not be so well satisfied with the tedious tales of monkish romance, as with the decided and unquestionable assurance, that the whole history of this apostle, from beginning to end, is perfectly unknown, and that not one action of his life has been preserved from the darkness of an utterly impenetrable oblivion.
JUDA.HIS NAME.Thenumber of instances, among the men of the apostolic age, of two persons bearing the same name, is very curious, and seems to show a great poverty of appellatives among their parents. Among the twelve there are two Simons, two Jameses, and two Judases; and including those whose labors were any way connected with theirs, there are three Johns, (the Baptist, the Apostle, and John Mark,) and two Philips, besides other minor coincidences. The confusion which this repetition of names causes among common readers, is truly undesirable; and it requires attention for them to avoid error. In the case of this apostle, indeed, the occasion of error is obviated for the most part, by a slight change in the termination; his name being generally written Juda, (in modern versions, Jude,) while the wretched traitor who bears the same name, preserves the common form terminating in S, which is also the form in which Luke and John express this apostle’s name. A more serious difficulty occurs, however, in a diversity noticed between the account given by the two first evangelists, and the forms in which his name is expressed in the writings of Luke and John, and in the introduction to his own epistle. Matthew and Mark, in giving the names of the apostles, mention in the tenth place, the name of Thaddeus, to whom the former evangelist also gives the name of Lebbeus. They give him a place before Simon Zelotes, and immediately after James, the son of Alpheus. Luke gives the tenth place to Simon Zelotes, in both his lists, and after him mentions “Judas, the brother of James”; and John speaks of “Judas, (not Iscariot,”) among the chosen disciples. Juda, in his epistle also, announces himself as “the brother of James.” From all these circumstances it would seem to be very fairly inferred, that Judas, or Juda, the brother ofJames, and Lebbeus or Thaddeus, were all only different names of the same apostle. But this view is by no means universally received, and some have been found bold enough to declare, that these two sets of names referred to different persons, both of whom were at different times numbered among the twelve apostles, and were received or excluded from the list by Jesus, from some various circumstances, now unknown;——or were perhaps considered such by one evangelist or another, according to the notions and individual preferences of each writer. But such a view is so opposed to the established impressions of the uniform and fixed character of the apostolic list, and of the consistency of different parts of the sacred record, that it may very justly be rejected without the trouble of a discussion.Another inquiry still, concerning this apostle, is, whether he is the same as that Judas who is mentioned along with James, Joses and Simon, as the brother of Jesus. All the important points involved in this question, have been already fully discussed in the life of James, the Little; and if the conclusion of that argument is correct, the irresistible consequence is, that the apostle Jude was also one of these relatives of Jesus. The absurdity of the view of his being a different person, can not be better exposed than by a simple statement of its assertions. It requires the reader to believe that there was a Judas, and a James, brothers and apostles; and another Judas and another James, also brothers, and brothers of Jesus, but not apostles; and that these are all mentioned in the New Testament without anything like a satisfactory explanation of the reality and distinctness of this remarkable duplicate of brotherhoods. Add to this, moreover, the circumstance that Juda, the author of the epistle, specifies himself as “the brother of James,” as though that were sufficient to prevent his being confounded with any other Judas or Juda in this world;——a specification totally useless, if there was another Judas, the brother of another James, all eminent as Christian teachers.There is still another question connected with his simple entity and identity. Ancient traditions make mention of a Thaddeus, who first preached the gospel in the interior of Syria; and the question is, whether he is the same person as the apostle Juda, who is called Thaddeus by Matthew and Mark. The great majority of ancient writers, more especially the Syrians, consider the missionary Thaddeus not as one of the twelve apostles, but as one of the seventy disciples, sent out by Jesus in the same way as theselect twelve. Another confirmation of the view that he was a different person from the apostle Jude, is found in the circumstance, that the epistle which bears the name of the latter, was not for several centuries received by the Syrian churches, though generally adopted throughout all Christendom, as an inspired apostolic writing. But surely, if their national evangelizer had been identical with the apostle Jude who wrote that epistle, they would have been the first to acknowledge its authenticity and authority, and to receive it into their scriptural canon.So perfectly destitute are the gospel and apostolic history, of the slightest account of this apostle’s life and actions, that his whole biography may be considered completed in the mere settlement of his name and identity. The only word that has been preserved as coming from his lips, is recorded in John’s account of the parting discourses of Jesus to his disciples, on the eve of his crucifixion. Jesus was promising them that the love of God should be the sign and the reward of him who faithfully kept his commandments,——“He that holds and keeps my commandments, is the man that loves me; and he that loves me shall be loved by my Father; and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” These words constituted the occasion of the remark of Judas, thus recorded by John. “Judas (not Iscariot) says to him, ‘Lord! how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself to us as thou dost not to the world?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If a man love me, he will keep my words; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him.’” A natural inquiry, aptly and happily suggested, and most clearly and satisfactorily answered, in the plain but illustrative words of the divine teacher! Would that the honest inquirer after the true, simple meaning of the words of God, might have his painful researches through the wisdom of ages, as well rewarded as did the favored hearers of Jesus! And would that the trying efforts of critical thought might end in a result so brilliant and so cheering!HIS EPISTLE.The solitary monument and testimony of his apostolic labors, are found in that brief, but strongly characterized and peculiar writing, which bears his name, and forms the last portion, but one, of the modern scriptural canon. Short as it is, and obscure too, by the numerous references it contains, to local and temporary circumstances, there is much expressed in this little portion ofthe apostolic writings, which is highly interesting to the inquirer into the darker portions of the earliest Christian history.Several very remarkable circumstances in this epistle, have, from the earliest ages of Christian theology, excited great inquiry among writers, and in many cases have not only led commentators and critics to pronounce the work very suspicious in its character, but even absolutely to condemn it as unworthy of a place in the sacred canon. One of these circumstances is, that the writer quotes apocryphal books of a mystical and superstitious character, that have never been received by Christians or Jews, as possessing any divine authority, nor as entitled to any regard whatever in religious matters. At least two distinct quotations from these confessedly fictitious writings, are found in this brief epistle. The first is from the book of Enoch, which has been preserved even to the present day, in the Ethiopic translation; the original Hebrew having been irrecoverably lost. Some of the highest authorities in orthodoxy and in learning have pronounced the original to have been a very ancient writing;——a forgery, indeed, since it professed to be the writing of Enoch himself,——but made up in the earliest ages of Rabbinical literature, after the Old Testament canon was completed, but before any portion of the New Testament was written,——probably some years before the Christian era, though the means of ascertaining its exact date are wanting. Another quotation, equally remarkable, occurs in this epistle, without any mention being made, however, of the exact source from which the passage has been drawn; and the point is at present a subject of dispute,——as references have been made by different authorities, ancient and modern, to different apocryphal Jewish books, which contain similar passages. But the most valuable authorities, both ancient and modern, decide it to be a work now universally allowed to be apocryphal,——“the Ascension of Moses,” which is directly quoted as authority on a subject altogether removed from human knowledge, and on which no testimony could be of any value, except it were derived directly and solely from the sources of inspiration. The consequence of these references to these two doubtful authorities, is, that many of the critical examiners of this epistle, in all ages, have felt themselves justified in condemning it.Tertullian (A. D. 200) is the earliest writer who has distinctly quoted this epistle. He refers to it in connection with the quotation from the book of Enoch. “Hence it is that Enoch is quoted by the apostle Jude.” (De cultu feminarum, 3.) Clement of Alexandria also repeatedly quotes the epistle of Jude as an apostolic writing. Origen (A. D.230,) very clearly expresses his opinion in favor of this epistle as the production of Jude, the brother of Jesus. In his commentary on Matthewxiii.55, where James, Simon and Jude are mentioned, he says, “Jude wrote an epistle, of few lines indeed, but full of powerful words of heavenly grace, who, at the beginning says, ‘Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and the brother of James.’” Origen thought everything connected with this epistle, of such high authority, that he considered the apocryphal book of “the Ascension of Moses,” a work of authority, because it had been quoted by Jude, (verse 9.) He confesses however, that there were some who doubted the authenticity of the epistle of Jude; and that this was the fact, appears still more distinctly from the account of the apostolic writings, given by Eusebius, (A. D. 320,) who sets it down among thedisputedwritings. The ancient Syriac version (executed before A. D. 100,) rejects this as well as the second of Peter, and the second and third of John. After the fourth century all these became universally established in the Greek and Latin churches. The great Michaelis however, utterly condemns it as probably a forgery. (Introduction,IV.xxix.5.)The clearest statement of the character of this reference to the book of Enoch, is given by Hug’s translator,Dr.Wait. (Introduction.Vol. II.p.618, note.)“This manifestly appears to have been the reason why Jude cited apocryphal works in his epistle,viz.for the sake of refuting their own assertions from those productions, which, like the rest of their nation, they most probably respected. For this purpose the book of Enoch was peculiarly calculated, since in the midst of all itsineptiaeand absurdities, this point, and the orders of the spiritual world, are strongly urged and discussed in it. It is irrelevant to the inquiry, how much of the present book existed at this time, for that it was framed by different writers, and at different periods, no critic can deny; yet that this was the leading character of the work, and that these were the prominent dogmata of those parts which were then in existence, we have every presumptive evidence. The Hebrew names of angels,&c., such as the Ophanim, plainly indicate it to have been a translation from some lost Jewish original, which was doubtless known both to Peter and to Jude; nor can the unprejudiced examiner of these epistles well hesitate to acknowledge Hug’s explanation of them to be the most correct and the most reasonable.”The whole defense of the epistle against these imputations, may be grounded upon the supposition, that the apostle was writing against a peculiar class of heretics, who did acknowledge these apocryphal books to be of divine authority, and to whom he might quote these with a view to show, that even by their own standards of truth, their errors of doctrine and life must be condemned. The sect of the Gnostics has been already mentioned in the life of John, as being the first ever known to have perverted the purity of Christian doctrine, by heresy. These heretics certainly are not very fully described in those few passages of this short epistle that are directed at the errors of doctrine; but the character of those errors which Jude denounces, is accordant with what is known of some of the prominent peculiarities of the Gnostics. But whatever may have been the particular character of these heretics, it is evident that they must, like the great majority of the Jews in those days, have acknowledged the divine authority of these ancient apocryphal writings; and the apostle was therefore right in making use of quotations from these works, to refute their very remarkable errors. The evils which he denounced, however, were not merely of a speculative character; but he more especially condemns their gross immoralities, asa scandal and an outrage on the purity of the Christian assemblies with which they still associated. In all those passages where these vices are referred to, it will be observed that both immoralities and doctrinal errors are included in one common condemnation, which shows that both were inseparably connected in the conduct of those heretics whom the writer condemns. This circumstance also does much to identify them with some of the Gnostical sects before alluded to,——more especially with the Nicolaitans, as they are called by John in the beginning of the Apocalypse, where he is addressing the church of Pergamos. In respect to this very remarkable peculiarity of a vicious and abominable life, combined with speculative errors, the ancient Christian writers very fully describe the Nicolaitans; and their accounts are so unanimous, and their accusations so definite, that it is just and reasonable to consider this epistle as directed particularly against them.Nicolaitans.——An allusion has already been made to this sect in the life of John, but they deserve a distinct reference here also, as they are so distinctly mentioned in Jude’s epistle. The explanation of the name which in the former passage (page343,) was crowded out by other matters prolonging that part of the work beyond its due limits, may here be given most satisfactorily, in the words of the learnedDr.Hug. (Introduction,Vol. II.note,§182, original,§174, translation.)“The arguments of those who decide them to have been the Nicolaitans, according to my opinion, are at present the following:——John in the Apocalypse describes the Nicolaitans nearly as the heretics are here represented to us, with the same comparison, and with the same vices; persons who exercise the arts of Balaam, who taught Balak to ensnare the children of Israel, and to induce them to partake of idolatrous sacrifices, and to fornicate, (Actsii.14: Jude 2: 2 Peterii.15.) Evenבלעםaccording to its derivation, is equivalent toΝίκολαος. They also certainly denied the Lord’s creation and government of the world.Alterum quidem fabricatorem, alium autem Patrem Domini ... et eam conditionem, quae est secundum nos non a primo Deo factam, sed a Virtute aliqua valde deorsum subjecta.(IrenaeusL. iii.c.11.) If now all corporeal and material existence has its origin from the Creator of the world, who is a very imperfect and gross spirit, it flows naturally from this notion, that they could not admit a corporeal resuscitation by the agency of the Supreme Being, or by the agency of Jesus, in a universal day of judgment. With respect to the spiritual world, they also actually taught such absurdities, that it must be said of themδοξας βλασφημοῦσι; for they supposed,Aeones quosdam turpitudinis natos; et complexus, et permixtiones execrabiles, et obscaenas.(Tertullianus in append. ad Lib. de praescript.c.46.) But, as to their excesses and abominable mode of life, the accounts of the ancients are so unanimous, and the accusations are so constituted, that the two apostolic epistles may have most pertinently referred to them.”The passage from Irenaeus relating to this sect, (quoted on page343,) contains a remarkable Latin word, “vulsio,” not found in any other author, and not explained at all, in the common dictionaries. That miserable, unsatisfactory mass of words, Ainsworth’s Thesaurus, does not contain it, and I was left to infer the meaning from the theme,vello, and it was therefore translated “fragment,”——a meaning not inconsistent with its true sense. Since that was printed, a learned friend, to whom the difficulty was mentioned, on searching for the word in better dictionaries, found it in Gesner’s Thesaurus, distinctly quoted from the very passage, with a very satisfactory explanation of its exact meaning. Gesner’s account of it is as follows: “Vulsio, Irenaeus,iii.11.Nicolaitae sunt vulsio ejus.i. e.surculus inde enatus, et revulsus, stolo,ἀπὀρρώξ.Secta una ex altera velut pullulavit.” The meaning therefore is a “sucker,”“a shoot or scion, springing out of the root or side of the stock,” and the expression in this passage may therefore be translated, “The Nicolaitans are a slip or sprig of the old stock of theGnosis.” And as Gesner happily explains it, “One sect, as it were, sprouted up from another.”The word “scientia” in this wretched Latin translation, is quoted along with the adjacent words from Paul’s second epistle to Timothy, (vi.20.) where he is warning him against the delusions of the Gnostics, and speaks of “the dogmas of theGnosis,” (γνωσις,) translated “science,” but the word is evidently technical in this passage. Irenaeus no doubt quoted it in the Greek, but his ignorant translator, not perceiving the peculiar force of the word, translated it “scientia,” losing all the sense of the expression. The common translations of the Bible have done the same, in the passage in 2 Timothyvi.20.Another circumstance in this epistle which has attracted a critical notice, and which has occasioned its condemnation by some, is the remarkable coincidence both of sense and words between it and the second chapter of the second epistle of Peter. There are probably few diligent readers of the New Testament to whom this has not been a subject of curious remark, as several verses in one, seem a mere transcript of corresponding passages in the other. Various conjectures have been made to account for this resemblance in matter and in words,——some supposing Jude to have written first, and concluding that Peter, writing to the same persons, made references in this manner to the substance of what they had already learned from another apostle,——and others supposing that Peter wrote first, and that Jude followed, and amplified a portion of the epistle which had already lightly touched in some parts only upon the particular errors which the latter writer wished more especially to refute and condemn. This coincidence is nevertheless no more a ground for rejecting one or the other of the two writings, than the far more perfect parallelisms between the gospels are a reason for concluding that only one of them can be an authorized document. Both the apostles were evidently denouncing the same errors and condemning the same vices, and nothing was more natural than that this similarity of purpose should produce a proportional similarity of language. Either of the above suppositions is consistent with the character of the writings;——Peter may have written first, and Jude may have taken a portion of that epistle as furnishing hints for a more protracted view of these particular points; or, on the supposition that Jude wrote first, Peter may have thought it worth while only to refer generally, and not to dwell very particularly on those points which his fellow-apostle had already so fully and powerfully treated.The particular churches to which this epistle was addressed, are utterly unknown; nor do modern writers pretend to find anymeans of detecting the places to which it was addressed in any peculiar passage, except so far as the chief seats of the heretics, against whom he wrote, are supposed to be known. Asia Minor, Syria and the East, were the regions to which the Gnostical errors were mostly confined; and in the former country more especially they were objects of attention, to the ministers of truth, during the apostolic age and in succeeding times. It was probably intended for the same persons to whom Peter wrote; and what has been said on the direction of his two epistles, will illustrate the immediate design of this also.Its date is involved in the same uncertainty that covers all points in its own history and that of its author; the prominent difficulty being its great brevity, in consequence of which it offers but few characteristics of any kind, for the decision of doubtful points; and the life and works of Juda must therefore be set down among those matters, in which the indifference of those who could once have preserved historical truth for the eyes of posterity, has left even the research of modern criticism, not one hook to hang a guess upon.
HIS NAME.Thenumber of instances, among the men of the apostolic age, of two persons bearing the same name, is very curious, and seems to show a great poverty of appellatives among their parents. Among the twelve there are two Simons, two Jameses, and two Judases; and including those whose labors were any way connected with theirs, there are three Johns, (the Baptist, the Apostle, and John Mark,) and two Philips, besides other minor coincidences. The confusion which this repetition of names causes among common readers, is truly undesirable; and it requires attention for them to avoid error. In the case of this apostle, indeed, the occasion of error is obviated for the most part, by a slight change in the termination; his name being generally written Juda, (in modern versions, Jude,) while the wretched traitor who bears the same name, preserves the common form terminating in S, which is also the form in which Luke and John express this apostle’s name. A more serious difficulty occurs, however, in a diversity noticed between the account given by the two first evangelists, and the forms in which his name is expressed in the writings of Luke and John, and in the introduction to his own epistle. Matthew and Mark, in giving the names of the apostles, mention in the tenth place, the name of Thaddeus, to whom the former evangelist also gives the name of Lebbeus. They give him a place before Simon Zelotes, and immediately after James, the son of Alpheus. Luke gives the tenth place to Simon Zelotes, in both his lists, and after him mentions “Judas, the brother of James”; and John speaks of “Judas, (not Iscariot,”) among the chosen disciples. Juda, in his epistle also, announces himself as “the brother of James.” From all these circumstances it would seem to be very fairly inferred, that Judas, or Juda, the brother ofJames, and Lebbeus or Thaddeus, were all only different names of the same apostle. But this view is by no means universally received, and some have been found bold enough to declare, that these two sets of names referred to different persons, both of whom were at different times numbered among the twelve apostles, and were received or excluded from the list by Jesus, from some various circumstances, now unknown;——or were perhaps considered such by one evangelist or another, according to the notions and individual preferences of each writer. But such a view is so opposed to the established impressions of the uniform and fixed character of the apostolic list, and of the consistency of different parts of the sacred record, that it may very justly be rejected without the trouble of a discussion.Another inquiry still, concerning this apostle, is, whether he is the same as that Judas who is mentioned along with James, Joses and Simon, as the brother of Jesus. All the important points involved in this question, have been already fully discussed in the life of James, the Little; and if the conclusion of that argument is correct, the irresistible consequence is, that the apostle Jude was also one of these relatives of Jesus. The absurdity of the view of his being a different person, can not be better exposed than by a simple statement of its assertions. It requires the reader to believe that there was a Judas, and a James, brothers and apostles; and another Judas and another James, also brothers, and brothers of Jesus, but not apostles; and that these are all mentioned in the New Testament without anything like a satisfactory explanation of the reality and distinctness of this remarkable duplicate of brotherhoods. Add to this, moreover, the circumstance that Juda, the author of the epistle, specifies himself as “the brother of James,” as though that were sufficient to prevent his being confounded with any other Judas or Juda in this world;——a specification totally useless, if there was another Judas, the brother of another James, all eminent as Christian teachers.There is still another question connected with his simple entity and identity. Ancient traditions make mention of a Thaddeus, who first preached the gospel in the interior of Syria; and the question is, whether he is the same person as the apostle Juda, who is called Thaddeus by Matthew and Mark. The great majority of ancient writers, more especially the Syrians, consider the missionary Thaddeus not as one of the twelve apostles, but as one of the seventy disciples, sent out by Jesus in the same way as theselect twelve. Another confirmation of the view that he was a different person from the apostle Jude, is found in the circumstance, that the epistle which bears the name of the latter, was not for several centuries received by the Syrian churches, though generally adopted throughout all Christendom, as an inspired apostolic writing. But surely, if their national evangelizer had been identical with the apostle Jude who wrote that epistle, they would have been the first to acknowledge its authenticity and authority, and to receive it into their scriptural canon.So perfectly destitute are the gospel and apostolic history, of the slightest account of this apostle’s life and actions, that his whole biography may be considered completed in the mere settlement of his name and identity. The only word that has been preserved as coming from his lips, is recorded in John’s account of the parting discourses of Jesus to his disciples, on the eve of his crucifixion. Jesus was promising them that the love of God should be the sign and the reward of him who faithfully kept his commandments,——“He that holds and keeps my commandments, is the man that loves me; and he that loves me shall be loved by my Father; and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” These words constituted the occasion of the remark of Judas, thus recorded by John. “Judas (not Iscariot) says to him, ‘Lord! how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself to us as thou dost not to the world?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If a man love me, he will keep my words; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him.’” A natural inquiry, aptly and happily suggested, and most clearly and satisfactorily answered, in the plain but illustrative words of the divine teacher! Would that the honest inquirer after the true, simple meaning of the words of God, might have his painful researches through the wisdom of ages, as well rewarded as did the favored hearers of Jesus! And would that the trying efforts of critical thought might end in a result so brilliant and so cheering!HIS EPISTLE.The solitary monument and testimony of his apostolic labors, are found in that brief, but strongly characterized and peculiar writing, which bears his name, and forms the last portion, but one, of the modern scriptural canon. Short as it is, and obscure too, by the numerous references it contains, to local and temporary circumstances, there is much expressed in this little portion ofthe apostolic writings, which is highly interesting to the inquirer into the darker portions of the earliest Christian history.Several very remarkable circumstances in this epistle, have, from the earliest ages of Christian theology, excited great inquiry among writers, and in many cases have not only led commentators and critics to pronounce the work very suspicious in its character, but even absolutely to condemn it as unworthy of a place in the sacred canon. One of these circumstances is, that the writer quotes apocryphal books of a mystical and superstitious character, that have never been received by Christians or Jews, as possessing any divine authority, nor as entitled to any regard whatever in religious matters. At least two distinct quotations from these confessedly fictitious writings, are found in this brief epistle. The first is from the book of Enoch, which has been preserved even to the present day, in the Ethiopic translation; the original Hebrew having been irrecoverably lost. Some of the highest authorities in orthodoxy and in learning have pronounced the original to have been a very ancient writing;——a forgery, indeed, since it professed to be the writing of Enoch himself,——but made up in the earliest ages of Rabbinical literature, after the Old Testament canon was completed, but before any portion of the New Testament was written,——probably some years before the Christian era, though the means of ascertaining its exact date are wanting. Another quotation, equally remarkable, occurs in this epistle, without any mention being made, however, of the exact source from which the passage has been drawn; and the point is at present a subject of dispute,——as references have been made by different authorities, ancient and modern, to different apocryphal Jewish books, which contain similar passages. But the most valuable authorities, both ancient and modern, decide it to be a work now universally allowed to be apocryphal,——“the Ascension of Moses,” which is directly quoted as authority on a subject altogether removed from human knowledge, and on which no testimony could be of any value, except it were derived directly and solely from the sources of inspiration. The consequence of these references to these two doubtful authorities, is, that many of the critical examiners of this epistle, in all ages, have felt themselves justified in condemning it.
HIS NAME.
Thenumber of instances, among the men of the apostolic age, of two persons bearing the same name, is very curious, and seems to show a great poverty of appellatives among their parents. Among the twelve there are two Simons, two Jameses, and two Judases; and including those whose labors were any way connected with theirs, there are three Johns, (the Baptist, the Apostle, and John Mark,) and two Philips, besides other minor coincidences. The confusion which this repetition of names causes among common readers, is truly undesirable; and it requires attention for them to avoid error. In the case of this apostle, indeed, the occasion of error is obviated for the most part, by a slight change in the termination; his name being generally written Juda, (in modern versions, Jude,) while the wretched traitor who bears the same name, preserves the common form terminating in S, which is also the form in which Luke and John express this apostle’s name. A more serious difficulty occurs, however, in a diversity noticed between the account given by the two first evangelists, and the forms in which his name is expressed in the writings of Luke and John, and in the introduction to his own epistle. Matthew and Mark, in giving the names of the apostles, mention in the tenth place, the name of Thaddeus, to whom the former evangelist also gives the name of Lebbeus. They give him a place before Simon Zelotes, and immediately after James, the son of Alpheus. Luke gives the tenth place to Simon Zelotes, in both his lists, and after him mentions “Judas, the brother of James”; and John speaks of “Judas, (not Iscariot,”) among the chosen disciples. Juda, in his epistle also, announces himself as “the brother of James.” From all these circumstances it would seem to be very fairly inferred, that Judas, or Juda, the brother ofJames, and Lebbeus or Thaddeus, were all only different names of the same apostle. But this view is by no means universally received, and some have been found bold enough to declare, that these two sets of names referred to different persons, both of whom were at different times numbered among the twelve apostles, and were received or excluded from the list by Jesus, from some various circumstances, now unknown;——or were perhaps considered such by one evangelist or another, according to the notions and individual preferences of each writer. But such a view is so opposed to the established impressions of the uniform and fixed character of the apostolic list, and of the consistency of different parts of the sacred record, that it may very justly be rejected without the trouble of a discussion.
Another inquiry still, concerning this apostle, is, whether he is the same as that Judas who is mentioned along with James, Joses and Simon, as the brother of Jesus. All the important points involved in this question, have been already fully discussed in the life of James, the Little; and if the conclusion of that argument is correct, the irresistible consequence is, that the apostle Jude was also one of these relatives of Jesus. The absurdity of the view of his being a different person, can not be better exposed than by a simple statement of its assertions. It requires the reader to believe that there was a Judas, and a James, brothers and apostles; and another Judas and another James, also brothers, and brothers of Jesus, but not apostles; and that these are all mentioned in the New Testament without anything like a satisfactory explanation of the reality and distinctness of this remarkable duplicate of brotherhoods. Add to this, moreover, the circumstance that Juda, the author of the epistle, specifies himself as “the brother of James,” as though that were sufficient to prevent his being confounded with any other Judas or Juda in this world;——a specification totally useless, if there was another Judas, the brother of another James, all eminent as Christian teachers.
There is still another question connected with his simple entity and identity. Ancient traditions make mention of a Thaddeus, who first preached the gospel in the interior of Syria; and the question is, whether he is the same person as the apostle Juda, who is called Thaddeus by Matthew and Mark. The great majority of ancient writers, more especially the Syrians, consider the missionary Thaddeus not as one of the twelve apostles, but as one of the seventy disciples, sent out by Jesus in the same way as theselect twelve. Another confirmation of the view that he was a different person from the apostle Jude, is found in the circumstance, that the epistle which bears the name of the latter, was not for several centuries received by the Syrian churches, though generally adopted throughout all Christendom, as an inspired apostolic writing. But surely, if their national evangelizer had been identical with the apostle Jude who wrote that epistle, they would have been the first to acknowledge its authenticity and authority, and to receive it into their scriptural canon.
So perfectly destitute are the gospel and apostolic history, of the slightest account of this apostle’s life and actions, that his whole biography may be considered completed in the mere settlement of his name and identity. The only word that has been preserved as coming from his lips, is recorded in John’s account of the parting discourses of Jesus to his disciples, on the eve of his crucifixion. Jesus was promising them that the love of God should be the sign and the reward of him who faithfully kept his commandments,——“He that holds and keeps my commandments, is the man that loves me; and he that loves me shall be loved by my Father; and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” These words constituted the occasion of the remark of Judas, thus recorded by John. “Judas (not Iscariot) says to him, ‘Lord! how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself to us as thou dost not to the world?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If a man love me, he will keep my words; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him.’” A natural inquiry, aptly and happily suggested, and most clearly and satisfactorily answered, in the plain but illustrative words of the divine teacher! Would that the honest inquirer after the true, simple meaning of the words of God, might have his painful researches through the wisdom of ages, as well rewarded as did the favored hearers of Jesus! And would that the trying efforts of critical thought might end in a result so brilliant and so cheering!
HIS EPISTLE.
The solitary monument and testimony of his apostolic labors, are found in that brief, but strongly characterized and peculiar writing, which bears his name, and forms the last portion, but one, of the modern scriptural canon. Short as it is, and obscure too, by the numerous references it contains, to local and temporary circumstances, there is much expressed in this little portion ofthe apostolic writings, which is highly interesting to the inquirer into the darker portions of the earliest Christian history.
Several very remarkable circumstances in this epistle, have, from the earliest ages of Christian theology, excited great inquiry among writers, and in many cases have not only led commentators and critics to pronounce the work very suspicious in its character, but even absolutely to condemn it as unworthy of a place in the sacred canon. One of these circumstances is, that the writer quotes apocryphal books of a mystical and superstitious character, that have never been received by Christians or Jews, as possessing any divine authority, nor as entitled to any regard whatever in religious matters. At least two distinct quotations from these confessedly fictitious writings, are found in this brief epistle. The first is from the book of Enoch, which has been preserved even to the present day, in the Ethiopic translation; the original Hebrew having been irrecoverably lost. Some of the highest authorities in orthodoxy and in learning have pronounced the original to have been a very ancient writing;——a forgery, indeed, since it professed to be the writing of Enoch himself,——but made up in the earliest ages of Rabbinical literature, after the Old Testament canon was completed, but before any portion of the New Testament was written,——probably some years before the Christian era, though the means of ascertaining its exact date are wanting. Another quotation, equally remarkable, occurs in this epistle, without any mention being made, however, of the exact source from which the passage has been drawn; and the point is at present a subject of dispute,——as references have been made by different authorities, ancient and modern, to different apocryphal Jewish books, which contain similar passages. But the most valuable authorities, both ancient and modern, decide it to be a work now universally allowed to be apocryphal,——“the Ascension of Moses,” which is directly quoted as authority on a subject altogether removed from human knowledge, and on which no testimony could be of any value, except it were derived directly and solely from the sources of inspiration. The consequence of these references to these two doubtful authorities, is, that many of the critical examiners of this epistle, in all ages, have felt themselves justified in condemning it.
Tertullian (A. D. 200) is the earliest writer who has distinctly quoted this epistle. He refers to it in connection with the quotation from the book of Enoch. “Hence it is that Enoch is quoted by the apostle Jude.” (De cultu feminarum, 3.) Clement of Alexandria also repeatedly quotes the epistle of Jude as an apostolic writing. Origen (A. D.230,) very clearly expresses his opinion in favor of this epistle as the production of Jude, the brother of Jesus. In his commentary on Matthewxiii.55, where James, Simon and Jude are mentioned, he says, “Jude wrote an epistle, of few lines indeed, but full of powerful words of heavenly grace, who, at the beginning says, ‘Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and the brother of James.’” Origen thought everything connected with this epistle, of such high authority, that he considered the apocryphal book of “the Ascension of Moses,” a work of authority, because it had been quoted by Jude, (verse 9.) He confesses however, that there were some who doubted the authenticity of the epistle of Jude; and that this was the fact, appears still more distinctly from the account of the apostolic writings, given by Eusebius, (A. D. 320,) who sets it down among thedisputedwritings. The ancient Syriac version (executed before A. D. 100,) rejects this as well as the second of Peter, and the second and third of John. After the fourth century all these became universally established in the Greek and Latin churches. The great Michaelis however, utterly condemns it as probably a forgery. (Introduction,IV.xxix.5.)
The clearest statement of the character of this reference to the book of Enoch, is given by Hug’s translator,Dr.Wait. (Introduction.Vol. II.p.618, note.)
“This manifestly appears to have been the reason why Jude cited apocryphal works in his epistle,viz.for the sake of refuting their own assertions from those productions, which, like the rest of their nation, they most probably respected. For this purpose the book of Enoch was peculiarly calculated, since in the midst of all itsineptiaeand absurdities, this point, and the orders of the spiritual world, are strongly urged and discussed in it. It is irrelevant to the inquiry, how much of the present book existed at this time, for that it was framed by different writers, and at different periods, no critic can deny; yet that this was the leading character of the work, and that these were the prominent dogmata of those parts which were then in existence, we have every presumptive evidence. The Hebrew names of angels,&c., such as the Ophanim, plainly indicate it to have been a translation from some lost Jewish original, which was doubtless known both to Peter and to Jude; nor can the unprejudiced examiner of these epistles well hesitate to acknowledge Hug’s explanation of them to be the most correct and the most reasonable.”
The whole defense of the epistle against these imputations, may be grounded upon the supposition, that the apostle was writing against a peculiar class of heretics, who did acknowledge these apocryphal books to be of divine authority, and to whom he might quote these with a view to show, that even by their own standards of truth, their errors of doctrine and life must be condemned. The sect of the Gnostics has been already mentioned in the life of John, as being the first ever known to have perverted the purity of Christian doctrine, by heresy. These heretics certainly are not very fully described in those few passages of this short epistle that are directed at the errors of doctrine; but the character of those errors which Jude denounces, is accordant with what is known of some of the prominent peculiarities of the Gnostics. But whatever may have been the particular character of these heretics, it is evident that they must, like the great majority of the Jews in those days, have acknowledged the divine authority of these ancient apocryphal writings; and the apostle was therefore right in making use of quotations from these works, to refute their very remarkable errors. The evils which he denounced, however, were not merely of a speculative character; but he more especially condemns their gross immoralities, asa scandal and an outrage on the purity of the Christian assemblies with which they still associated. In all those passages where these vices are referred to, it will be observed that both immoralities and doctrinal errors are included in one common condemnation, which shows that both were inseparably connected in the conduct of those heretics whom the writer condemns. This circumstance also does much to identify them with some of the Gnostical sects before alluded to,——more especially with the Nicolaitans, as they are called by John in the beginning of the Apocalypse, where he is addressing the church of Pergamos. In respect to this very remarkable peculiarity of a vicious and abominable life, combined with speculative errors, the ancient Christian writers very fully describe the Nicolaitans; and their accounts are so unanimous, and their accusations so definite, that it is just and reasonable to consider this epistle as directed particularly against them.
The whole defense of the epistle against these imputations, may be grounded upon the supposition, that the apostle was writing against a peculiar class of heretics, who did acknowledge these apocryphal books to be of divine authority, and to whom he might quote these with a view to show, that even by their own standards of truth, their errors of doctrine and life must be condemned. The sect of the Gnostics has been already mentioned in the life of John, as being the first ever known to have perverted the purity of Christian doctrine, by heresy. These heretics certainly are not very fully described in those few passages of this short epistle that are directed at the errors of doctrine; but the character of those errors which Jude denounces, is accordant with what is known of some of the prominent peculiarities of the Gnostics. But whatever may have been the particular character of these heretics, it is evident that they must, like the great majority of the Jews in those days, have acknowledged the divine authority of these ancient apocryphal writings; and the apostle was therefore right in making use of quotations from these works, to refute their very remarkable errors. The evils which he denounced, however, were not merely of a speculative character; but he more especially condemns their gross immoralities, asa scandal and an outrage on the purity of the Christian assemblies with which they still associated. In all those passages where these vices are referred to, it will be observed that both immoralities and doctrinal errors are included in one common condemnation, which shows that both were inseparably connected in the conduct of those heretics whom the writer condemns. This circumstance also does much to identify them with some of the Gnostical sects before alluded to,——more especially with the Nicolaitans, as they are called by John in the beginning of the Apocalypse, where he is addressing the church of Pergamos. In respect to this very remarkable peculiarity of a vicious and abominable life, combined with speculative errors, the ancient Christian writers very fully describe the Nicolaitans; and their accounts are so unanimous, and their accusations so definite, that it is just and reasonable to consider this epistle as directed particularly against them.
Nicolaitans.——An allusion has already been made to this sect in the life of John, but they deserve a distinct reference here also, as they are so distinctly mentioned in Jude’s epistle. The explanation of the name which in the former passage (page343,) was crowded out by other matters prolonging that part of the work beyond its due limits, may here be given most satisfactorily, in the words of the learnedDr.Hug. (Introduction,Vol. II.note,§182, original,§174, translation.)
“The arguments of those who decide them to have been the Nicolaitans, according to my opinion, are at present the following:——John in the Apocalypse describes the Nicolaitans nearly as the heretics are here represented to us, with the same comparison, and with the same vices; persons who exercise the arts of Balaam, who taught Balak to ensnare the children of Israel, and to induce them to partake of idolatrous sacrifices, and to fornicate, (Actsii.14: Jude 2: 2 Peterii.15.) Evenבלעםaccording to its derivation, is equivalent toΝίκολαος. They also certainly denied the Lord’s creation and government of the world.Alterum quidem fabricatorem, alium autem Patrem Domini ... et eam conditionem, quae est secundum nos non a primo Deo factam, sed a Virtute aliqua valde deorsum subjecta.(IrenaeusL. iii.c.11.) If now all corporeal and material existence has its origin from the Creator of the world, who is a very imperfect and gross spirit, it flows naturally from this notion, that they could not admit a corporeal resuscitation by the agency of the Supreme Being, or by the agency of Jesus, in a universal day of judgment. With respect to the spiritual world, they also actually taught such absurdities, that it must be said of themδοξας βλασφημοῦσι; for they supposed,Aeones quosdam turpitudinis natos; et complexus, et permixtiones execrabiles, et obscaenas.(Tertullianus in append. ad Lib. de praescript.c.46.) But, as to their excesses and abominable mode of life, the accounts of the ancients are so unanimous, and the accusations are so constituted, that the two apostolic epistles may have most pertinently referred to them.”
The passage from Irenaeus relating to this sect, (quoted on page343,) contains a remarkable Latin word, “vulsio,” not found in any other author, and not explained at all, in the common dictionaries. That miserable, unsatisfactory mass of words, Ainsworth’s Thesaurus, does not contain it, and I was left to infer the meaning from the theme,vello, and it was therefore translated “fragment,”——a meaning not inconsistent with its true sense. Since that was printed, a learned friend, to whom the difficulty was mentioned, on searching for the word in better dictionaries, found it in Gesner’s Thesaurus, distinctly quoted from the very passage, with a very satisfactory explanation of its exact meaning. Gesner’s account of it is as follows: “Vulsio, Irenaeus,iii.11.Nicolaitae sunt vulsio ejus.i. e.surculus inde enatus, et revulsus, stolo,ἀπὀρρώξ.Secta una ex altera velut pullulavit.” The meaning therefore is a “sucker,”“a shoot or scion, springing out of the root or side of the stock,” and the expression in this passage may therefore be translated, “The Nicolaitans are a slip or sprig of the old stock of theGnosis.” And as Gesner happily explains it, “One sect, as it were, sprouted up from another.”
The word “scientia” in this wretched Latin translation, is quoted along with the adjacent words from Paul’s second epistle to Timothy, (vi.20.) where he is warning him against the delusions of the Gnostics, and speaks of “the dogmas of theGnosis,” (γνωσις,) translated “science,” but the word is evidently technical in this passage. Irenaeus no doubt quoted it in the Greek, but his ignorant translator, not perceiving the peculiar force of the word, translated it “scientia,” losing all the sense of the expression. The common translations of the Bible have done the same, in the passage in 2 Timothyvi.20.
Another circumstance in this epistle which has attracted a critical notice, and which has occasioned its condemnation by some, is the remarkable coincidence both of sense and words between it and the second chapter of the second epistle of Peter. There are probably few diligent readers of the New Testament to whom this has not been a subject of curious remark, as several verses in one, seem a mere transcript of corresponding passages in the other. Various conjectures have been made to account for this resemblance in matter and in words,——some supposing Jude to have written first, and concluding that Peter, writing to the same persons, made references in this manner to the substance of what they had already learned from another apostle,——and others supposing that Peter wrote first, and that Jude followed, and amplified a portion of the epistle which had already lightly touched in some parts only upon the particular errors which the latter writer wished more especially to refute and condemn. This coincidence is nevertheless no more a ground for rejecting one or the other of the two writings, than the far more perfect parallelisms between the gospels are a reason for concluding that only one of them can be an authorized document. Both the apostles were evidently denouncing the same errors and condemning the same vices, and nothing was more natural than that this similarity of purpose should produce a proportional similarity of language. Either of the above suppositions is consistent with the character of the writings;——Peter may have written first, and Jude may have taken a portion of that epistle as furnishing hints for a more protracted view of these particular points; or, on the supposition that Jude wrote first, Peter may have thought it worth while only to refer generally, and not to dwell very particularly on those points which his fellow-apostle had already so fully and powerfully treated.The particular churches to which this epistle was addressed, are utterly unknown; nor do modern writers pretend to find anymeans of detecting the places to which it was addressed in any peculiar passage, except so far as the chief seats of the heretics, against whom he wrote, are supposed to be known. Asia Minor, Syria and the East, were the regions to which the Gnostical errors were mostly confined; and in the former country more especially they were objects of attention, to the ministers of truth, during the apostolic age and in succeeding times. It was probably intended for the same persons to whom Peter wrote; and what has been said on the direction of his two epistles, will illustrate the immediate design of this also.Its date is involved in the same uncertainty that covers all points in its own history and that of its author; the prominent difficulty being its great brevity, in consequence of which it offers but few characteristics of any kind, for the decision of doubtful points; and the life and works of Juda must therefore be set down among those matters, in which the indifference of those who could once have preserved historical truth for the eyes of posterity, has left even the research of modern criticism, not one hook to hang a guess upon.
Another circumstance in this epistle which has attracted a critical notice, and which has occasioned its condemnation by some, is the remarkable coincidence both of sense and words between it and the second chapter of the second epistle of Peter. There are probably few diligent readers of the New Testament to whom this has not been a subject of curious remark, as several verses in one, seem a mere transcript of corresponding passages in the other. Various conjectures have been made to account for this resemblance in matter and in words,——some supposing Jude to have written first, and concluding that Peter, writing to the same persons, made references in this manner to the substance of what they had already learned from another apostle,——and others supposing that Peter wrote first, and that Jude followed, and amplified a portion of the epistle which had already lightly touched in some parts only upon the particular errors which the latter writer wished more especially to refute and condemn. This coincidence is nevertheless no more a ground for rejecting one or the other of the two writings, than the far more perfect parallelisms between the gospels are a reason for concluding that only one of them can be an authorized document. Both the apostles were evidently denouncing the same errors and condemning the same vices, and nothing was more natural than that this similarity of purpose should produce a proportional similarity of language. Either of the above suppositions is consistent with the character of the writings;——Peter may have written first, and Jude may have taken a portion of that epistle as furnishing hints for a more protracted view of these particular points; or, on the supposition that Jude wrote first, Peter may have thought it worth while only to refer generally, and not to dwell very particularly on those points which his fellow-apostle had already so fully and powerfully treated.
The particular churches to which this epistle was addressed, are utterly unknown; nor do modern writers pretend to find anymeans of detecting the places to which it was addressed in any peculiar passage, except so far as the chief seats of the heretics, against whom he wrote, are supposed to be known. Asia Minor, Syria and the East, were the regions to which the Gnostical errors were mostly confined; and in the former country more especially they were objects of attention, to the ministers of truth, during the apostolic age and in succeeding times. It was probably intended for the same persons to whom Peter wrote; and what has been said on the direction of his two epistles, will illustrate the immediate design of this also.
Its date is involved in the same uncertainty that covers all points in its own history and that of its author; the prominent difficulty being its great brevity, in consequence of which it offers but few characteristics of any kind, for the decision of doubtful points; and the life and works of Juda must therefore be set down among those matters, in which the indifference of those who could once have preserved historical truth for the eyes of posterity, has left even the research of modern criticism, not one hook to hang a guess upon.