Jude 1:11

Woe to them! For they have traveled down Cain’s path, ¹  and because of greed ²  have abandoned themselves ³  to ⁴  Balaam’s error; hence, ⁵  they will certainly perish ⁶  in Korah’s rebellion.

Ge 4:5-14; Nu 16:1-35; Nu 22:1-24:25; Nu 26:9,10; Nu 31:16; De 23:4; Jos 24:9-11; Isa 3:9,11; Jer 13:27; Eze 13:3; Mic 6:5; Zec 11:17; Mt 11:21; Mt 23:13-16; Lu 11:42-47; 2Pe 2:15; 1Jo 3:12; Re 2:14

¹ tn Or “they have gone the way of Cain.”

² tn Grk “for wages.”

³ tn The verb ἐκχέω (ekcew) normally means “pour out.” Here, in the passive, it occasionally has a reflexive idea, as BDAG 312 s.v. 3. suggests (with extra-biblical examples).

⁴ tn Or “in.”

⁵ tn Grk “and.” See note on “perish” later in this verse.

⁶ tn The three verbs in this verse are all aorist indicative (“have gone down,” “have abandoned,” “have perished”). Although the first and second could be considered constative or ingressive, the last is almost surely proleptic (referring to the certainty of their future judgment). Although it may seem odd that a proleptic aorist is so casually connected to other aorists with a different syntactical force, it is not unparalleled (cf. Rom 8:30).