Jude 1:12

These are they who are hidden rocks in your love feasts when they feast with you, shepherds that without fear feed themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

Hidden rocks in your love-feasts ... The metaphor appears to be a sunken shoal, or reef, upon which the unwary mariner might suffer shipwreck.

Love-feasts ... The love-feast mentioned here "still appears to be one with the eucharistic assembly,"[37] and therefore not the type which was mentioned by Tertullian as continuing into the fourth century. This, according to Robinson, suggests something near a mid-century date (61-62 A.D.) for Jude. Essential to the success of these evil poachers in the Lords' vineyard was the secret and stealthy modus operandi which attended their operations.

Shepherds that without fear feed themselves ... Like everything else in his letter, Jude here drew this from the Old Testament example of "shepherds that feed themselves" (Ezekiel 34). Ezekiel called them "fat cattle" who abuse the flock of God, fouling their food with refuse, etc.; as some would say today, "They were fat cats, living in luxury while impoverishing others."

Clouds without water ... Note that this is a metaphor drawn from the arid area of Judaea, perfectly ordinary, and universally known. Clouds without water were a terrible disappointment to people who needed rain most of the time.

Carried along by winds ... A similar cloud metaphor having the meaning of instability. Now one may see such a cloud; then he doesn't. That was the way it was with the false teachers.

Autumn trees without fruit ... The autumn trees here were those which normally bore their fruit in the autumn. Fruit time was disappointment time for those who looked to barren trees.

Twice dead, plucked up by the roots ... In a sense, an unfruitful, or barren tree, was "dead"; but, when it had already been grubbed up from the earth, it was "doubly dead." "Spiritually, these men were twice dead in having returned after baptism to the death of sin."[38] Many have likewise identified this as parallel with such passages as Hebrews 6:4-7.

[37] John A. T. Robinson, Redating the New Testament (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1976), p. 172.

[38] Alfred Plummer, op. cit., p. 513.