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The study of the language of the Hellenistic Synagogue is quite rewarding. We will begin with a short book (only 25 verses). Take the test at the end of this page to pursue the diploma of our school.
IOUDA (GREEK
Yehuda)
MOSHIACH'S
LETTER THROUGH YEHUDA, THE BROTHER
OF
THE SHLIACH YA'AKOV, TO THE BRIT CHADASHA KEHILLAH in the
language of the Hellenistic Synagogue.
You may think that Greek is dreadfully difficult and not at all interesting
and yet you may be very excited about going into the ministry.
But doing one without the other could be hazardous to your health.
Now think for a minute: this letter, written by the half brother of the Messiah,
was written because certain false teachers were engaging in sexual immorality with certain
congregants. Now if G-d the Father had set his love upon these congregants and they were
being kept for Yeshua the Moshiach and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, can you imagine
the wrath that would be poured out on the false teachers?
Ministerial Casanovas will burn in the lake of fire because they are
touching what belongs to another, namely the Moshiach Yeshua.
Moreover, since congregants themselves are in danger of being
misled by immoral ministers, the congregants have the moral responsibility to
“keep themselves in the love of G-d”
(verse 21 agaph Qeou thrhsate [this is a command] THIS IS ANCIENT JEWISH GREEK LIKE THE TARGUM HASHIVIM), and
yet, even this rests not completely on their own shoulders, for G-d is able to
fulaxai umaV aptaistouV (v.24 “keep or guard you free from stumbling”)
since you are “kept for Yeshua HaMoshiach” (at his parousia)
as it says in v 1 Ihsou Cristw
tethrhmenoiV
Now let’s get back to this book.
We will call it just "Yehuda." Note the system of
paragraph divisions. "Salutation" and "Judgment on False
Teachers
(2
Pe. 2:1-17)" in the UBSGNT
(UNITED BIBLE SOCIETY GREEK NT,
used by permission), p. 827, are paragraph divisions put there by the editors
to help you clarify the structure of the book as a kind
of
overlaid outline. If there is a parallel passage as here
(II
Shliach
Kefa 2:l-l7) it is included underneath the
paragraph
divisions. Shliach Kefa says many similar things in the
second
chapter of his second book. Notice that the "warnings and
exhortations" running from Yehuda verses 17 to 23 are
warnings to
us in light of the terrible judgments (spelled out from
verses 3
to 16) that will fall on sexually immoral ministers in the
Brit
Chadasha kehillah. (Note: every seminary student should be
required
to study this book in the original language as it is given here.
The fear of the L-rd will then fall on him to protect him from
immorality in the parsonage. This book is even more frightening in Yiddish.)
Just from the paragraph divisions, it becomes
obvious that Yehuda is saying, "Since all this happens to
them,
don't be one of them, and make sure you aren't one of them
by
heeding my warnings that I now am giving you." Of course,
these
paragraph divisions are not part of what Yehuda wrote so they
can
be wrong, but, nevertheless, they can be helpful in seeing
the
over-all structure and message of the book at a glance.
Before
we look at each word, it should be helpful to have the whole alphabet
and the whole text we are studying in front of us.
ALPHA a
BETA
b
GAMMA g
DELTA
d
EPSILON e
ZETA
z
ETA h
THETA
q
IOTA
i
KAPPA
k
LAMBDA
l
MU
m
NU
n
XI
x
OMICRON
o
PI
p
SIGMA
sV
TAU
t
UPSILON
u
PHI
f
CHI c
PSI
y
OMEGA w
Here's the whole book. Look at each word (there are 461 words in
25 verses and we will number the words 1 to 461 below so that we can
refer to each word by its number). We will take them apart one by one and hopefully we
will have more yirat Shomayim (fear of Heaven [G-d]) when we finish than we had when we
began.
1:1
1 IoudaV 2
Ihsou 3 Cristou 4 douloV, 5 adelfoV 6 de 7 Iakwbou,
8 toiV 9 en 10 Qew 11 patri 12 hgaphmenoiV, 13
kai 14 Ihsou 15 Cristw 16 tethrhmenoiV,
17
klhtoiV
1:2
18 eleoV 19 umin 20
kai 21 eirhnh 22 kai ?23 agaph 24 plhqunqeih.
1:3
25 Agaphtoi, 26
pasan 27 spoudhn 28 poioumenoV 29 grafein 30 umin 31 peri
32 thV 33 koinhV 34 hmwn 35
swthriaV,
36 anagkhn 37 escon 38
grayai 39 umin, 40 parakalwn
41 epagwnizesqai 42 th 43
apax 44 paradoqeish 45 toiV 46 agioiV 47 pistei.
1:4
48 Pareisedusan 49
gar 50 tineV 51 anqrwpoi, 52 oi 53 palai
54 progegrammenoi 55 eiV 56
touto 57 to 58 krima,
59 asebeiV, 60 thn 61 tou
62 Qeou 63 hmwn 64 carita 65 metatiqenteV 66 eiV
67 aselgeian, 68 kai 69 ton
70 monon 71 despothn 72 kai 73 kurion 74 hmwn,
75 Ihsoun 76 Criston 77
arnoumenoi.
1:5
78 Upomnhsai 79 de
80 umaV 81 boulomai,
82 eidotaV 83 [umaV] 84
panta 85 oti 86 [o] 87 KurioV, 88 apax
89 laon 90 ek 91 ghV 92
Aiguptou 93 swsaV, 94 to 95 deuteron 96 touV 97 mh
98 pisteusantaV 99
apwlesen.
1:6
100 AggelouV 101 te
102 touV 103 mh 104 thrhsantaV 105 thn 106 eautwn 107 archn,
108 alla 109 apolipontaV
110 to 111 idion 112 oikhthrion,
113 eiV 114 krisin 115
megalhV 116 hmeraV 117 desmoiV
118 aidioiV 119 upo 120
zofon 121 tethrhken,
1:7
122 wV 123 Sodoma
124 kai 125 Gomorra, 126 kai 127 ai 128 peri 129 autaV 130 poleiV,
131 ton 132 omoion 133
tropon 134 toutoiV 135 ekporneusasai, 136 kai
137 apelqousai 138 opisw
139 sarkoV
140 eteraV, 141 prokeintai
142 deigma, 143 puroV 144 aiwniou 145 dikhn 146 upecousai.
1:8
147 OmoiwV 148
mentoi 149 kai 150 outoi
151 enupniazomenoi 152
sarka 153 men 154 miainousin,
155 kuriothta 156 de 157
aqetousin, 158 doxaV 159 de 160 blasfhmousin.
1:9
161 O 162 de 163
Micahl 164 o 165 arcaggeloV,
166 ote 167 tw 168 diabolw
169 diakrinomenoV
170 dielegeto 171 peri 172
tou 173 MwusewV 174 swmatoV, 175 ouk
176 etolmhsen 177 krisin
178 epenegkein
179 blasfhmiaV, 180 alla
181 eipen, 182 Epitimhsai 183 soi 184 KurioV.
1:10
185 Outoi 186 de
187 osa 188 men 189 ouk 190 oidasin
191 blasfhmousin, 192 osa
193 de 194 fusikwV
195 wV 196 ta 197 aloga 198
zwa, 199 epistantai, 200 en 201 toutoiV 202 fqeirontai.
1:11
203 Ouai 204
autoiV, 205 oti 206 th 207 odw 208 tou 209 Kain 210 eporeuqhsan,
211 kai 212 th 213 planh
214 tou
215 balaam 216 misqou 217
execuqhsan 218 kai 219 th
220 antilogia 221 tou 222
Kore
223
apwlonto.
1:12
224 Outoi 225 eisin
226 oi 227 en 228 taiV 229 agapaiV 230 umwn 231 spiladeV
232 suneuwcoumenoi 233
afobwV, 234 eautouV 235 poimainonteV, 236 nefelai 237 anudroi
238 upo 239 anemwn 240
paraferomenai, 241 dendra 242 fqinopwrina 243 akarpa
244 diV 245 apoqanonta 246
ekrizwqenta,
1:13
247 kumata 248
agria 249 qalasshV 250 epafrizonta 251 taV 252 eautwn
253 aiscunaV, 254 astereV
255 planhtai 256 oiV 257 o 258 zofoV
259 tou 260 skotouV 261 eiV
262 aiwna 263 tethrhtai.
1:14
264 Proefhteusen
265 de 266 kai 267 toutoiV
268 ebdomoV 269 apo 270
Adam 271 Enwc 272 legwn,
273 Idou 274 hlqen 275
KurioV 276 en 277 agiaiV 278 muriasin 279 autou,
1:15
280 poihsai 281
krisin 282 kata 283 pantwn 284 kai 285 elegxai 286 pasan
287 yuchn 288 peri 289
pantwn 290 twn 291 ergwn 292 asebeiaV 293 autwn 294 wn
295 hsebhsan 296 kai 297
peri 298 pantwn 299 twn 300 sklhrwn 301 wn 302 elalhsan
303 kat 304 autou 305
amartwloi 306 asebeiV.
1:16
307 Outoi 308 eisin
309 goggustai 310 memyimoiroi,
311 kata 312 taV 313
epiqumiaV 314 eautwn 315 poreuomenoi,
316 kai 317 to 318 stoma
319 autwn 320 lalei 321 uperogka,
322 qaumazonteV 323 proswpa
324 wfeleiaV 325 carin.
1:17
326 UmeiV 327 de,
328 agaphtoi,
329 mnhsqhte 330 twn 331
rhmatwn 332 twn 333 proeirhmenwn
334 upo 335 twn 336
apostolwn 337 tou 338 Kuriou 339 hmwn 340 Ihsou 341
Cristou
1:18
342 oti 343 elegon
344 umin 345 [oti] 346 Ep 347 escatou
348 [tou] 349 cronou 350
esontai 351 empaiktai
352 kata 353 taV 354 eautwn
355 epiqumiaV 356 poreuomenoi 357 twn 358 asebeiwn.
1:19
359 Outoi 360 eisin
361 oi 362 apodiorizonteV,
363 yucikoi, 364 pneuma 365
mh 366 econteV.
1:20
367 umeiV 368 de
369 agaphtoi, 370 epoikodomounteV 371 eautouV
372 th 373 agiwtath 374
umwn 375 pistei,
376 en 377 Pneumati 378
Agiw 379 proseucomenoi,
1:21
380 eautouV 381 en
382 agaph 383 Qeou 384 thrhsate
385 prosdecomenoi 386 to
387 eleoV 388 tou 389 Kuriou 390 hmwn
391 Ihsou 392 Cristou 393
eiV 394 zwhn 395 aiwnion.
1:22
396 Kai 397 ouV 398
men 399 eleate 400 diakrinomenouV,
1:23
401 ouV 402 de 403
swzete 404 ek 405 puroV 406 arpazonteV,
407 ouV 408 de 409 eleate
410 en 411 fobw
412 misounteV 413 kai 414
ton 415 apo 416 thV 417 sarkoV 418 espilwmenon 419 citwna.
1:24
420 Tw 421 de 422
dunamenw 423 fulaxai 424 umaV 425 aptaistouV
426 kai 427 sthsai 428
katenwpion 429 thV 430 doxhV
431 autou 432 amwmouV 433
en 434 agalliasei,
1:25
435 monw 436 Qew
437 swthri 438 hmwn
439 dia 440 Ihsou 441
Cristou 442 tou 443 Kuriou 444 hmwn 445 doxa
446 megalwsunh 447 kratoV
448 kai 449 exousia
450 pro 451 pantoV 452 tou
453 aiwnoV 454 kai 455 nun 456 kai 457 eiV
458 pantaV 459 touV 460
aiwnaV. 461 Amhn.
Yehuda 1:1
IoudaV (ee-OO-dahs = Yehuda).
This is the first word in the book of Yehuda. It is important
because the name appears elsewhere in Mark 6:3, where
Yehoshua/Yeshua/Ihsou is
said
to have brothers and sisters, and his brothers are named
"Ya'akov,"
"Yosi," "Yehuda" and "Shimon." These are called the
adelfoi (brothers) of Yehoshua/Yeshua. They
were not members
of the Twelve. Until the resurrection appearances brought them to
faith (I Cor.
15:7; see I Cor. 9:5 adelfoi tou kuriou
the
achim haAdon; Acts 1:14), somewhat like Sha'ul of Tarsus, they
opposed Moshiach Yehoshua/Yeshua and did not accept his claims (Mark
3:21; Yochanan 7:5), nor were they impressed by his miracles, but
were
like the other unbelievers in
and
Moshiach Yehoshua/Yeshua marvelled at such unbelief (Mark 6:6) in
the
face of so many miracles and signs. For the people of
contempt,
and his sisters were still living among them in
and
his mother, remembering his deceased foster father Yosef
also,
no doubt. Therefore, how could a common worker seemingly
like themselves, a mere carpenter, a manual laborer (with what
the
Greeks considered a menial trade), a mere man whom they
remembered as a child, have Messianic pretensions? This is the
point
of Mark 6:3, and explains why Moshiach Yehoshua/Yeshua as a
prophet with a Messianic aura was persona non grata in his own
hometown.
Also in that Jewish culture, to call a man the son of
his
mother (Mark 6:3), even when the woman had been widowed, had
an uncomplimentary innuendo of illegitimacy (see Judges
11:1;
also
see Yochanan 8:41; 9:29). However, such rumors help to
confirm the truth of G-d-with-us, Moshiach Ben haAlmah,
since
only
Miryam and Yosef had supernatural information regarding the
true
nature of Miryam's first pregnancy, and outsiders, even
their
other children, might very well suspect the worst, and what
but
the Moshiach's resurrection itself could confirm Miryam's
indelicate testimony?
Biblical evidence that many did suspect
the
worst confirms that the circumstances of the birth of
Moshiach
Yehoshua/Yeshua were not normal, and that the Brit Chadasha
scriptural
witness to the Moshiach's supernatural entrance on the
human
scene was not a mere fabrication superimposed on a normal
birth.
Luke and Matthew had access to interview enough people to
ascertain
the truth, if this miracle were a mere later tradition
of
the Brit Chadasha kehillah without historical and early
attestation.
G-d made sure that Rav Sha'ul had in his ministry
team
a man with the education and expertise of a First Century
historian,
so that before this generation of eye-witnesses had
died off, their eye-witnessed testimony could be pieced together
in
what become Luke-Acts. Luke tells us he spoke to autoptai
(eyewitnesses),
Luke parhkolouqhkoti (having
investigated)
anwqen (from [the] beginning) pasin (everything) akribwV
(carefully) kaqexhV (in an orderly way)--see Luke 1:2-3. This
was
done with a view to establishing asfaleian (certainty)--see
Luke
1:4. Oxford Classical scholar William M. Ramsay had a
high
regard for Luke as a historian,
and his books should be
consulted
by those with an open mind. This is all relevant to
the
first verse of Yehuda, as we will see. Look at the first
Greek word again. IoudaV
#1. Turn to p.433 in UBSGNT where you see this word in Acts 7:45 Ihsou (ee-ee-SOO = Yehoshua/Yeshua).
Proof that this is the way the
Hebrew word Yehoshua (Joshua) was written is found in Acts 7:45.
Cristou = (khree-STOO = Moshiach)
douloV (DOO-lohs = servant/slave).
Notice
the difference in the endings. Insou Cristou
douloV
These two words in Jude 1:1 end in
-ou and the last word ends in -oV. These are called case
endings. Greek is an inflected language, meaning that words
show
their relationship to one another by adding recognizable
components to the base form. These components are called case
endings.
Look at the following sentence in English and see how the Greek
case
endings, when we add them, indicate which noun is the
subject
of the verb's action, which noun is the object of the
verb's action, etc. A noun is the name of a person, place, or
thing.
"Listen, 0 Believer, Yehuda, the servant of Moshiach Yehoshua,
wrote
a letter to the Called." (Fifteen words)
Before we talk about noun case endings, let's motivate you to put out the effort to learn. In the very first verse of Yehuda, the noun case endings will tell us that we have Elohim HaAv (noun case ending = dative of agent) loving us and we have
a "Rebbe HaMelech HaMoshiach" and we are being kept or preserved for him (noun case ending dative of advantage).
So
words #14 and #15 Ihsou Cristw are
important to notice because Cristw
is in the dative case. This is called dative of advantage. We are being kept or preserved
for the advantage or benefit of Moshiach, this is what dative of advantage means. So remember
what Yeshua said in Yochanan 6:37, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me.”
Let’s
illustrate this. In
go back to
school they are not allowed to date American boys because they are being kept for their Pakistani
husband-to-be in
Cristw is telling us is that this word is a dative of advantage, meaning we are kept FOR Moshiach,
like a Pakistani-American girl is kept FOR her Pakistani husband, for his advantage, for his benefit.
So do you see all the meaning that can be packed into one little letter at the end of a word,
in this instance, a dative case ending, showing us that Cristw
is in the dative case and that it is to be construed as dative of advantage, meaning
that we can say of ourselves that “having been loved in G-d the Father and having been
kept for Yeshua HaMoshiach (dative of advantage). This makes our calling, our divine summons, very
exciting indeed. Notice the intensive way we can read the Brit
Chadasha now, in slow motion, clinging to the letters in prayer
(devekut beotiot). It makes one want to start praying in
the Spirit. It also puts a certain fear in us, in that
OMEGA w with subscript i on the end of
Cristw for I know a true story where a Pakistani American girl was flirting with an
American high school boy and the Father became very angry because his daughter
was being kept for a boy in
her husband. Now think for a minute: this letter written by the half brother of the Messiah
was written because certain false teachers were engaging in sexual immorality with certain
congregants. Now if G-d the Father had set his love upon these congregants and they were
being kept for Yeshua the Moshiach and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, can you imagine
the wrath that would be poured out on the false teachers? The American high school boy
mentioned above had better stay away from a Pakistani American girl whose Father has
arranged for her to be given in marriage to a boy in
away from congregants that have been kept for Yeshua HaMoshiach. Now look how the Greek noun case endings would be added to the
same sentence.
Remember we said that -ou and
-oV. are
called case
endings. Greek is an inflected language, meaning that words
show their relationship to one another by adding
recognizable
components to the base form. These components are called case
endings.
Watch
how we show the way the meaning is construed by showing
the relationship of the nouns to each other by adding case endings,
thus indicating by case endings which noun is the subject, which is the object of the preposition,
which is the direct object etc. Please be patient as we go through this because we are
leading up to something very important, namely that the inerrancy of the Bible is at
stake in the discussion we will be having regarding various words in this book and
the case endings of these words.
"Listen, Believere, YehudaaV servantoV Yehoshuaou Moshiachou,
wrote
letterhn CalledoiV." (Nine words. Compare
this to the English
above: "Listen, 0 Believer, Yehuda, the servant of Moshiach Yehoshua,
wrote a letter to the Called." (Fifteen words)
See why G-d chose for the language of the New Testament Hellenistic
Synagogue Greek rather than English, and this is only the first advantage,
economy.)
Each
of these noun case endings has a name: vocative, nominative,
genitive,
accusative, dative. The name indicates the kind of
meaning
relationship the noun has with the other words in the
sentence.
#2.
Nouns that are subjects of the verbs of a sentence are in the
nominative case and this -oV ending on douloV (the fourth word
in the book of Yehuda) indicates that the word is in the
nominative case. In this instance, however, douloV is in
apposition to IoudaV, which is the subject. Apposition means
that
the second expression identifies or supplements the first
expression.
So the second noun, douloV, is in the
nominative
case
because it identifies the first noun, IoudaV (the
subject)
and is in apposition to it. Actually, IoudaV is
called
an independent nominative because it is the greeting of a
letter,
and the greeting is without normal subject-verb
grammatical relationship. That is, the standard form of ancient
letters
of this period began, not "Dear Simon" but "Writer's name
to
name of addressees, greetings."
#3. The genitive case is often translated with "of" in English
because it is the case that attributes some quality or
relationship to the noun modified. Yehuda is Yehoshua/Yeshua the
Moshiach's servant. This is called genitive of relationship,
because Jude's servitude as a servant is in relationship to
Yehoshua/Yeshua the Moshiach. Notice the literal translation of Yehuda
1:1
reads: "Yehuda, of-Yehoshua/Yeshua Moshiach servant." The inverted
order indicates emphasis falls on the last word, servant: "Yehuda,
SERVANT! of Moshiach Yehoshua/Yeshua"--possibly inferring that Yehuda,
in proper reverence toward the status accorded Moshiach Yehoshua/Yeshua
by virtue of his supernatural entrance and exit (Virgin Birth and
Resurrection), which Yehuda himself may at one time have
misinterpreted
as illegitimacy, dare not call himself "BROTHER!
of
Moshiach Yehoshua/Yeshua." This is true, in spite of the fact that
Yehuda
was the half brother of Moshiach Yehoshua/Yeshua. To be a man's
half
brother is to be a male offspring having only one parent in
common
with another male offspring. Miryam was not a perpetual
virgin,
according to the Biblical record, if we give the Biblical
account
preeminence over human tradition. Look at Ya'akov 1:1
where
Ya'akov also indicates a similar modesty and reverence by
calling
himself the "servant" rather than the "brother" of the
Moshiach
Adoneinu. The Shlichim themselves, however, do not
hesitate
to call these men "the achim of HaAdon" (I Cor.9:5; Acts
1:14) and Yehuda and Ya'akov were considered "pillars" among the
Messianic Adat Bnei Yisroel and the Yerushalayim messianic kehillah
as well as traveling emissaries of Moshiach.
#4. In Greek, nouns show how they relate to other nouns by means
of case endings. Subjects are nominative. The genitive case
indicates
some attribute or quality to the noun modified. Direct
objects
have accusative noun case endings. Indirect objects are
indicated
by the dative case endings. In English, we rely largely
on
word order and other signals to convey these ideas, not word
endings.
We might say in English, "Listen, 0 Believer: Yehuda,
the
servant of Moshiach Yehoshua/Yeshua, wrote a letter to the Called."
#5. "Yehuda" is the subject of the verb "wrote." "Servant" is in
apposition to "Yehuda." "Letter" is the direct object of the verb
"wrote," receiving its action. "Called" is the indirect object
because it is more remote than the direct object or "catches" the
object of the verb.
#6. In the English sample sentence above, endings of words don't
show relationships between the nouns in a sentence. In Greek,
however, "Yehuda" would have a nominative ending to show it was
the subject, and "servant" would also have a nominative ending
because it is in apposition to (defines) "Yehuda." In Greek, an
appositive agrees in case with the word it describes; therefore,
"servant" and "Yehuda" are both nominative, indicating the
appositional relationship between these nouns. In Yehuda 1:1, the
- aV ending in IoudaV and the - oV ending in douloV are both
nominative endings to show us that "servant" is in apposition to
"Yehuda."
#7. In our hypothetical sentence above, "Believer" would have a
vocative
singular case ending (because we say a noun is vocative
if
it is what is being addressed).
#8. "Moshiach Yehoshua/Yeshua" would have a genitive ending. As we just
explained, the genitive case is often translated with "of" in
English because it is the case that attributes some quality or
relationship to the noun modified. Yehuda is Moshiach's servant,
the servant of Moshiach Yehoshua/Yeshua. We might say in English,
"Listen, 0 Believer: Yehuda,
the
servant of Moshiach Yehoshua/Yeshua, wrote a letter to the Called."
"Letter" would have an accusative case ending, because it is the direct object of the
verb "wrote." "Called" would have a dative ending, because it is
the indirect object indicating the "catcher" of the object of the
verb's action. The Called are the people that are called or summoned with a divine call.
#9. Here are some of the Greek case endings:
A. Some nominative singular endings: - a - h - aV - hV - oV - on - V
Some nominative plural endings: - ai - oi - a - eV
Some genitive singular endings: - aV - hV - ou - oV - ewV
Some
genitive plural endings: - wn
Some
dative singular endings: - a with a i subscript - h with a i subscript
- w with a i subscript - i
Some
dative plural endings: - aiV - oiV - si(n)
Some accusative singular endings: - an - hn - on - a - V
Some accusative plural endings: - aV - ouV - a - aV - eiV
Some vocative endings: often the same as the nominative but
sometimes just - e is added to the noun stem
#10. As we saw in #1, the Greek noun case endings afford
extremely accurate and economical means to indicate the
relationship between one noun and the other words in a sentence.
For instance we know that the word "these" toutoiV word #134
in verse 7 above can refer to "certain men" tineV anqrwpoi
[words #50-#51] in verse 4, "a people" [laon word #89] in
verse 5, and "angels" or malachim [aggelouV, word #100] in
verse
6 but can not refer to "
because