Jude The Half Brother of Jesus


1:1–2. Jude. The salutation is normal and unpretentious. The author identifies himself as the brother of James (who was well known as the leader of the church in Jerusalem), but more importantly to him, as the servant of Jesus Christ. The word servant (Gr doulos) is literally “slave” and conveys the picture of a bondslave who belonged to another person. Even though, as the brother of James, Jude was the brother of Christ, he prefers that we know him as the “slave” or property of Christ. Peter (II Pet 1:1) and Paul (Rom 1:1) also spoke of themselves in this way; it is a metaphor of complete dedication. Of the readers, we know only that they were sanctified … preserved, and called, and that they must have lived somewhere in the vicinity of Palestine in order to know who James was. There is a variant in the text which should read “well-loved” rather than sanctified, and an acceptable translation would be, “To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ.”

KJV Bible Commentary. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997, c1994, S. 2647

Jude could have name job and been like "Jesus is my brother so treat me special" but instead he submitted himself willing as Jesus'es bond servant.


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