1:14 Now Enoch, the seventh in descent beginning with Adam, 4 even prophesied of them, 5 saying, “Look! The Lord is coming 6 with thousands and thousands 7 of his holy ones, 1:15 to execute judgment on 8 all, and to convict every person 9 of all their thoroughly ungodly deeds 10 that they have committed, 11 and of all the harsh words that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 12
1 tn The word “even” is not in Greek; it is implied by the height of the contrast.
2 sn According to Jewish intertestamental literature (such as 1 En. 20), Michael was one of seven archangels.
3 tn The sentence structure is a bit different in Greek. Literally it reads: “But Michael the archangel, when arguing with the devil and disputing.”
4 tn Grk “the seventh from Adam.”
sn The genealogical count is inclusive, counting Adam as the first, for Enoch is really the sixth in descent from Adam (Adam, Seth, Enosh, Cainan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch). In this way, the picture of perfection/completion was retained (for the number seven is often used for perfection or completion in the Bible) starting with Adam and concluding with Enoch.
5 tn Grk “against them.” The dative τούτοις (toutois) is a dativus incommodi (dative of disadvantage).
6 tn Grk “has come,” a proleptic aorist.
7 tn Grk “ten thousands.” The word μυριάς (muria"), from which the English myriad is derived, means “ten thousand.” In the plural it means “ten thousands.” This would mean, minimally, 20,000 (a multiple of ten thousand). At the same time, the term was often used in apocalyptic literature to represent simply a rather large number, without any attempt to be specific.
8 tn Grk “against” (κατά [kata] + genitive). English usage is satisfied with “on” at this point, but the parallel is lost in the translation to some degree, for the end of v. 15 says that this judgment is meted out on these sinners because they spoke against him (κατά + genitive).
9 tn Or “soul.”
10 tn Grk “of all their works of ungodliness.” The adverb “thoroughly” is part of the following verb “have committed.” See note on verb “committed” later in this verse.
11 tn The verb in Greek does not simply mean “have committed,” but “have committed in an ungodly way.” The verb ἀσεβέω (asebew) is cognate to the noun ἀσέβεια (asebeia, “ungodliness”). There is no easy way to express this in English, since English does not have a single word that means the same thing. Nevertheless, the tenor of v. 15 is plainly seen, regardless of the translation.
12 sn An apparent quotation from 1 En. 1:9. There is some doubt as to whether Jude is actually quoting from the text of 1 Enoch; the text here in Jude differs in some respects from the extant text of this pseudepigraphic book. It is sometimes suggested that Jude may instead have been quoting from oral tradition which had roots older than the written text.