Jude 1:10

1:10 But these men do not understand the things they slander, and they are being destroyed by the very things that, like irrational animals, they instinctively comprehend. ¹ 

Jude 1:16

1:16 These people are grumblers and ²  fault-finders who go ³  wherever their desires lead them, ⁴  and they give bombastic speeches, ⁵  enchanting folks ⁶  for their own gain. ⁷ 

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¹ tn Or “they should naturally comprehend.” The present tense in this context may have a conative force.

sn They instinctively comprehend. Like irrational animals, these false teachers do grasp one thing – the instinctive behavior of animals in heat. R. Bauckham (Jude, 2 Peter [WBC], 63) notes that “Though they claim to be guided by special spiritual insight gained in heavenly revelations, they are in fact following the sexual instincts which they share with the animals.” Jude’s focus is somewhat different from Peter’s: Peter argued that, like irrational animals who are born to be caught and killed, these men will be destroyed when destroying others (2 Pet 2:12). Jude, however, does not mention the destruction of animals, just that these false teachers will be destroyed for mimicking them.

² tn “And” is not in Greek, but is supplied for the sake of English style.

³ tn Or “going.” Though the participle is anarthrous, so also is the subject. Thus, the participle could be either adverbial or adjectival.

⁴ tn Grk “(who go/going) according to their own lusts.”

⁵ tn Grk “and their mouth speaks bombastic things.”

sn They give bombastic speeches. The idiom of opening one’s mouth in the NT often implied a public oration from a teacher or one in authority. Cf. Matt 5:2; Luke 4:22; Acts 1:16; 3:18; 10:34; Eph 6:19; Rev 13:5-6.

⁶ sn Enchanting folks (Grk “awing faces”) refers to the fact that the speeches of these false teachers are powerful and seductive.

⁷ tn Or “to their own advantage.”