Jude 1:6 by Precept Austin Commentary

Jude 1:6 And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day: aggelous te tous me teresantas (AAPMPA) ten heauton arche alla apolipontas (AAPMPA) to idion oiketerion eis krisin megales hemeras desmois aidiois upo zophon tetereken (3SRAI), angels = John 8:44 first estate or, principality = Ep 6:12 he hath = Mt 25:41; 2Pe 2:4 unto = Mt 8:29; Heb 10:27; Rev 20:10 APOSTATE ANGELS Barclay - and that he has placed under guard in eternal chains in the abyss of darkness, to await the judgment which shall take place on the great day, the angels who did not keep their own rank but left their own proper habitation. Wuest - And angels who did not carefully guard their original position of preeminent dignity, but abandoned once for all their own private dwelling-place, with a view to the judgment of the great day, in everlasting bonds under darkness, He has put under careful guard. NET You also know that the angels who did not keep within their proper domain but abandoned their own place of residence, he has kept in eternal chains in utter darkness, locked up for the judgment of the great Day. And - Continuation of the sentence in Jude 1:5. Barclay on angels - The Jews had a very highly developed doctrine of angels, the servants of God. In particular the Jews believed that every nation had its presiding angel. In the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Hebrew Scriptures, Deuteronomy 32:8 reads, "When the Most High divided the nations, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God." That is to say, to each nation there was an angel. The Jews believed in a fall of the angels and much is said about this in the Book of Enoch which is so often behind the thought of Jude. In regard to this there were two lines of tradition. (Jude - Barclay's Daily Study Bible) Peter said the angels sinned writing For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment. (2Peter 2:4) Did not keep (5083) (tereo) means they did not keep their proper domain in view, and did not watch over it carefully. Tereo speaks of guarding something which is in one’s possession, something these angels did not do. These angels did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them. The verb expresses the act of watchful care. That is, these angels did not fulfil their obligation of carefully guarding and maintaining their original position in which they were created, but transgressed those limits to invade territory which was foreign to them, namely, the human race. "The idea is that certain angels acted improperly, going outside the bounds prescribed by God (their proper domain)." (NET Note) Their own (2398)(idios) means belonging to oneself and not to another, one’s own, peculiar. Wuest on "their own domain" - Their own is idion which means “one’s own private, personal, unique possession,” Heaven was made for the angels, not for man. It is the temporary abode of the departed saints until the new heavens and new earth are brought into being, but man’s eternal dwelling-place will be on the perfect earth (Rev 21:1-3-note). Domain (dominion, authority, power) (746)(arche) refers to the commencement of something as an action, process, or state of being. Arche originally signified beginning but from this comes a secondary meaning of the beginning or first place of power = sovereignty, dominion, magistracy (principalities = Ro 8:38; rule = 1Co 15:24). Thus arche refers to the domain or rule or sphere of influence given to the angels. The implication is that God assigned angels stipulated responsibilities (arche, "dominion") and a set place (oiketerion). "The idea is that certain angels acted improperly, going outside the bounds prescribed by God (their proper domain)." (NET Note) Wuest - Arche is used in the Book of Enoch 12:4 of the Watchers (Angels) who have abandoned the high heaven and the holy eternal place and defiled themselves with women (Mayor). Vincent - The Jews regarded the angels as having dominion over earthly creatures; and the angels are often spoken of in the NT as arche, principalities (Ro 8:38; Ephesians 1:21), so that this term would be appropriate to designate their dignity, which they forsook. Spurgeon - See, then the need of stability, the need of abiding in the faith, and abiding in the practice of it, lest we should turn out to be like the Israelites, who, though they came out of Egypt, left their carcasses in the wilderness, or like the angels, who, though they once stood in God’s presence in glory, have fallen to the depths of the abyss because of their apostasy. Abandoned (620) (apoleipo from apo = from + leipo = lack, leave, forsake) means literally to leave behind. The deserted at some point in time past. "These angels left heaven behind. That is, they had abandoned heaven. They were done with it forever. The verb is aorist in tense which refers to a once-for-all act. This was apostasy with a vengeance. They had, so to speak, burnt their bridges behind them, and had descended to a new sphere, the earth, and into a foreign relationship, that with the human race, foreign, because the latter belongs to a different category of created intelligences than they." (Wuest) Henry Morris - A certain segment of the devil's angels not only followed Satan in his primeval rebellion against God, but also attempted to corrupt all mankind by taking physical possession of "the daughters of men" to produce "giants in the earth in those days" (Ge 6:1-4; Job 4:18; 2Peter 2:4). They "left their own habitation" in heaven, and have been confined in the lowest and darkest compartment of Hades awaiting the final judgment. Satan still has a great host of fallen angels (or demons) under his direction (Ephesians 6:12; Revelation 12:3-9), and these will ultimately be cast into the Lake of Fire forever (Mt 25:41; Rev 20:10-15). Related Resource: Who were the sons of God and daughters of men in Genesis 6:1-4? Thomas Schreiner - We can be almost certain that Jude referred here to the sin of the angels in Gen 6:1–4. The sin the angels committed, according to the Jewish tradition, was sexual intercourse with the daughters of men. Apparently Jude also understood Gen 6:1–4 in the same way. Three reasons support such a conclusion. First, Jewish tradition consistently understood Gen 6:1–4 in this way (1 En. 6–19; 21; 86–88; 106:13–17; Jub. 4:15, 22; 5:1; CD 2:17–19; 1QapGen 2:1; T. Reu. 5:6–7; T. Naph. 3:5; 2 Bar. 56:10–14; cf. Josephus, Ant. 1.73). Second, we know from Jude 1:14–15 that Jude was influenced by 1 Enoch, and 1 Enoch goes into great detail about the sin and punishment of these angels. Jude almost certainly would need to explain that he departed from the customary Jewish view of Ge 6:1–4 if he disagreed with Jewish tradition. The brevity of the verse supports the idea that he concurred with Jewish tradition. Third, the text forges a parallel between the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah and the angels (“In a similar way,” Jude 1:7; hōs and ton homoion tropon toutois). The implication is that sexual sin was prominent in both instances. (The New American Commentary- 1, 2 Peter, Jude) Abode (3613)(oiketerion from oikéo = to dwell; Only other use 2Co 5:2) means dwelling, habitation, abode. Has kept (5083) (tereo) is in the perfect tense which means at a point in time they were kept and that continues to be their condition. Perfect tense describes the permanence of this keeping. "There is an interesting play on words used in this verse. Because the angels did not keep their proper place, Jesus has kept them chained up in another place. The same verb keep is used in Jude 1:1 to describe believers' status before God and Christ." (NET Note) Eternal (126) (aidios from aeí = ever, always) means everlasting, having infinite duration, lasting or enduring forever, existing or continuing without end. Only other use in Ro 1:20. Hiebert - Their present fettering is only temporal, looking forward to the final judgment; but the expression underlines the unbreakable nature of their chains, their prison is escape-proof. No prospect of restoration awaits them; their fall is final. Because they are bound, these angels must be distinguished from other fallen angels who are now unbound and active against mankind (Lk 8:31; Ro 8:38; Col. 2:15). (Second Peter and Jude An Expositional Commentary) Enoch 69:26–29 describes the Jesus as sitting in judgment over the bound angels. Darkness (2217) (zophos) describes darkness that ranges from partial to total and conveys a suggestion of foreboding and gloom and in here specifically referring to the thick darkness associated with the region of those who are lost, "a designation for the underworld." (See 2Pe 2:4-note) Compare Hesiod: There the Titanian gods, to murky gloom Condemned by will of cloud-collecting Jove, Lie hid in region foul. Theogony v., 729. Hiebert - Ward suggests that appropriately, God punishes these angels with this darkness “symbolically, inasmuch as God is light; and it also imports an atmosphere of terror. They cannot move; they cannot see; and therefore they cannot unite.” (Second Peter-Jude: An Expositional Commentary by D. Edmond Hiebert) The judgment of the great day - The confinement of the angels to darkness is not their final abode, which will be assigned on the great day. And remember what Jude is doing in this section -- with these examples of flagrant sin which brought God's judgment, in the same way those who creep in unaware will also be judged. Hence Jude encouraged the believers to stand fast in the face of their false teaching. Ronald Ward - If the highest beings known in creation were subject to judgment, how much more sinful men! (The Epistles of John and Jude: A Study Manual)

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Jude 1:6

Precept Austin Commentary

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