The Background of the Book of Jude

The Book of Jude was likely written by Jude, the brother of Jesus, around 65-70 AD. By then, the apostolic era was nearing its end, the apostolic faith had been established (verse 3), the words of the apostles were being remembered (verse 17), and the apostles’ warnings had come true (verse 18), with many heresies beginning to trouble the church. The content of the Book of Jude is very similar to 2 Peter, suggesting that Jude and Peter may have been writing around the same time, both greatly concerned with the heretical threats facing their congregations.

The letter has a distinctly Jewish cultural flavor, quoting from Jewish apocalyptic literature and using the three-part sentence structure characteristic of Aramaic, all while being written in elegant Greek. This suggests the author was a bilingual, native Galilean, and his original readers were likely Jewish believers.

The letter quotes from at least two Pseudepigrapha: the Book of Enoch from the 1st century BC and the Assumption of Moses from the early 1st century AD. Verse 6 may also quote from the Testament of Naphtali, and verse 8 may have been borrowed from the Testament of Asher. Both the Assumption of Moses and the Book of Enoch were well-known Jewish writings of the time. Jude’s use of Pseudepigrapha does not mean he endorsed their authenticity. It is similar to how Chinese people use idioms like “Lord Ye’s love of dragons” or “the foolish old man moves the mountains,” which come from mythical stories. They use these idioms because readers understand their meaning, not because they believe the stories are true.

New Testament authors quoted from many extra-canonical works. For example, the “spiritual rock” (1 Corinthians 10:4) refers to Jewish rabbinic literature called the Midrash; the author of Hebrews often responded to the writings of Philo; the story of Jannes and Jambres opposing Moses before Pharaoh (2 Timothy 3:8) and the angels serving as a medium for the law (Galatians 3:19; Hebrews 2:2) come from Jewish historical traditions called the Haggadah. Acts 7:22, James 5:17, and Hebrews 11:37 all quote from pseudepigraphical works. Paul also quoted poetry written by non-believing poets (Acts 17:28; 1 Corinthians 15:32-33; Titus 1:12). A person inspired by the Holy Spirit can use contemporary, secular ideas that do not conflict with revelation to make their point.