Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jude 1:23
And others save with fear, pulling [them] out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
23. and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire ] Here again the MSS. present a striking variation, those of most authority giving “others save, snatching them out of the fire, and have compassion on others with fear.” If we adopt this reading we have two classes of offenders brought before us, those who are to be saved as from the fire, as on the very verge of destruction, and those who are for some reason or other objects of a more tender pity, though they do not come within the range of immediate action. That pity, however, the context shews, was not to be accompanied by any tolerance of the evils into which they had fallen. In “snatching out of the fire” we have probably a reminiscence of the “brand plucked out of the fire” of Zec 3:2.
hating even the garment spotted by the flesh ] The “garment” is the inner tunic worn next to the flesh, and therefore thought of as contaminated by its impurity, and it serves accordingly as a symbol of all outer habits of life that are affected by the inner foulness of the soul that is in bondage to the flesh. As men would loathe the touch of a defiled garment, bearing the stains of a cancerous ulcer, so they were to hate whatever was analogous to it in conduct (comp. Isa 30:22). The allusion to Zec 3:2 in the previous clause makes it probable that here also there is a reference to the “filthy garments;” polluted, i.e., with some ceremonial uncleanness, in which the high-priest Joshua the son of Josedech first appears in the prophet’s vision. In the benediction of Rev 3:4 on those who “have not defiled their garments,” we have the same imagery.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And others – Another class; those who were of such a character, or in such circumstances, that a more bold, earnest, and determined manner would be better adapted to them.
Save with fear – That is, by appeals adapted to produce fear. The idea seems to be that the arguments on which they relied were to be drawn from the dangers of the persons referred to, or from the dread of future wrath. It is undoubtedly true, that while there is a class of persons who can be won to embrace religion by mild and gentle persuasion, there is another class who can be aroused only by the terrors of the law. Every method is to be employed, in its proper place, that we by all means may save some.
Pulling them out of the fire – As you would snatch persons out of the fire; or as you would seize on a person that was walking into a volcano. Then, a man would not use the mild and gentle language of persuasion, but by word and gesture show that he was deeply in earnest.
Hating even the garment spotted by the flesh – The allusion here is not quite certain, though the idea which the apostle meant to convey is not difficult to be understood. By the garment spotted by the flesh there may be an allusion to a garment worn by one who had had the plague, or some offensive disease which might be communicated to others by touching even the clothing which they had worn. Or there may be an allusion to the ceremonial law of Moses, by which all those who came in contact with dead bodies were regarded as unclean, Lev 21:11; Num 6:6; Num 9:6; Num 19:11. Or there may be an allusion to the case mentioned in Lev 15:4, Lev 15:10, Lev 15:17; or perhaps to a case of leprosy. In all such instances, there would be the idea that the thing referred to by which the garment had been spotted was polluting, contagious, or loathsome, and that it was proper not even to touch such a garment, or to come in contact with it in any way. To something of this kind the apostle compares the sins of the persons here referred to. While the utmost effort was to be made to save them, they were in no way to partake of their sins; their conduct was to be regarded as loathsome and contagious; and those who attempted to save them were to take every precaution to preserve their own purity. There is much wisdom in this counsel. While we endeavor to save the sinner, we cannot too deeply loathe his sins; and in approaching some classes of sinners there is need of as much care to avoid being defiled by them, as there would be to escape the plague if we had any transaction with one who had it. Not a few have been deeply corrupted in their attempts to reform the polluted. There never could be, for example, too much circumspection and prayer for personal safety from pollution, in attempting to reform licentious and abandoned females.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Jud 1:23
Pulling them out of the fire.
Gods firemen
By this text we are reminded that there are points of resemblance between sin and fire. The writer has before his mind, not a harmless fire, in range or furnace, for utility and comfort, but a dangerous, spreading conflagration, which demands immediate attention, and which makes the energy implied in the text both seemly and appropriate.
I. Sin is like fire, because it is mysterious. What is fire? Of what are its consuming properties composed? What weight, shape, or size is it? No man can answer these questions. Yet, with all the mystery, we have such palpable evidence that there is such a thing as fire that no sane man would dare to deny it. So sin is a mystery. How came it into existence in a world made and governed by a Being of almighty power and love? Yet no man, properly under the sway of reason, can allow the mystery to cause him to ignore or deny the fact of sin. We have seen the destructive work it has wrought in society, and alas! what is worse than all, every man has felt its scorching in his own heart.
II. Sin is like fire, because it exists in a twofold state–latent and active. Fire, in its active state, renders our homes habitable in winter, illuminates our cities by night, flames out in the sweeping conflagration, drives our factories and railways, flashes into the lightning, and thunders in the earthquake. Fire, in its latent state, exists in every material object about us. So sin exists in an active and latent state. In its active state it flames out in Sabbath desecration, profanity, and reckless living. It blazes up before the public in the destruction of individual character; it flashes out in deeply laid schemes of political corruption and in gigantic plans of commercial dishonesty. Sin, in its latent state, is strikingly symbolised by latent fire. It slumbers in the heart of universal humanity; it exists in every man that comes into the world. The virtue of some people is nothing more than vice sleeping; all it wants is contact with some tempting circumstance to awake it into vigour. As savages light their fire by rubbing pieces of wood together, so men stir up the latent fire of depravity by mutual contact. There is sufficient latent fire around us to burn up the globe; and there is sufficient latent sin in human nature to turn this world into a hell. Latent sin in the heart of a child is somewhat like latent fire in nature. At first it does no particular damage, and scarcely indicates its presence. Through the friction of temper, the whispers of self-love, and the gusts of provocation, however, it soon begins its destructive work, though the seriousness of its doings may not be even suspected. Thus it is that sin begins its withering, debilitating business in the human heart. Like latent fire in a forest, it soon begins to destroy the roots and fibres of the moral nature. There are persons all about us, the very fibres and roots of whose character are all charred and wasted by this latent fire of sin, and they are ready to topple over into disgrace and ruin as soon as a gale of temptation comes in the right direction.
III. Sin is like fire, because of its power to attract. How a child loves to toy with fire! how oblivious to the possible consequences! What multitudes are attracted by a conflagration; what haste they make, and what dangers they run! So there is a marvellous power in sin to lure and fascinate, especially to the young to decoy them from the path of innocence and purity into the fiery pathways of sin and death.
IV. Sin is like fire, because it is remorselessly indifferent as to what it destroys. The most splendid mansions, the most costly furniture, the most valuable paintings, the rarest gems of art, all, all are consumed as ruthlessly as the meagre contents of the beggars hovel. So with sin. The man of broadest nature and noblest parts is the most tempting mark for Satan. No conflagration is so disastrous and dreadful as the burning down of a man. I have seen the poor wretch weep and groan under the periodical consciousness of the awful destiny before him. I have watched the progress of the fire, and seen self-control give way, and self-respect give way, and regard for the good opinion of others give way, and love of wife and children give way, and hope, the longest and strongest rafter in the structure, give way, and the whole man collapse–a heap of ghastly, smouldering ruins; a disgrace to his family, and a curse to the community where he lived.
V. Sin is like fire, because it turns everything into its own essence. Not only will fire turn ordinary fuel into fire, but also princely mansions; the most precious gems and diamonds, when brought in contact with fire, are at once transformed into its own nature. There is hardly any object in nature, even the hardest granite, that fire cannot turn into fire. So it is with sin. Its uniform tendency is to make everything like itself over which it gains control–that is, a curse. When Archimedes, in order to wreak vengeance upon the Romans, brought down the genial rays of the sun by his magic glass and burned up their ships, he only dramatised the universal fact that sin ever strives to turn the greatest blessings of God into the greatest curse.
VI. Sin is like fire, because it can be resisted and put out, and must be, or it will destroy everything within its reach. You cannot set fire to the forest and accomplish the desire of burning down just one acre. So no man can kindle the fire of sin in the forest of his appetites and passions and forecast correctly the extent of the burning. Sin is like fire, then, because it must be resisted and put out, or it will destroy everything combustible within its reach. Fire, properly resisted, can be put out. So, thank God, the fire of sin can be put out, and God has His firemen to do it. (T. Kelly.)
The damager of sizzlers
A poor, guilty, secure sinner is like a drunken man that is fallen into the fire.
1. In point of security. He is ready to be burned, but he feeleth it not.
2. In point of danger. Sinners are compared to a brand in the burning (Zec 3:2; Amo 4:11). They are in the suburbs of hell, the fire is already kindled.
3. In point of impotency and inability to help themselves. Minister! art thou sensible of the danger of souls? Christian! art thou sensible of the danger of thy carnal neighbours? (T. Manton.)
Zeal in saving others
There was a medical student at Edinburgh who was half through his course of four years, and he worked very hard and had lived an entirely selfish life. One day he said, Here are four of the best years of my life, and I have never done a hands turn to make better or to help any other fellow. He then found another medical student who had come from the same part of the country as himself. He had gone to the bad. His people had given him up. He was drinking himself to death. For months he had not read a book. This first man had not seen him for months, but he went out to hunt him up. He found the man still drunk, and said to him, These are poor lodgings for you. I want to take you to my rooms. The other man said, I am in debt. Well, I will pay your bill, replied number one. They gathered up the luggage and number one led the way to his room. Next morning number one said, Look here, I have a little contract. We will mess here together for the next few months. I have written out here four articles, which we will both sign. The first is, neither of us to go out alone. The second is, if either of us have to go out alone, twenty minutes to be allowed to go to the Commons and back, overtime to be accounted for. The third, one hour to be set aside every night for pleasure, anything but study; and the fourth, that bygones shall be bygones. Things went well for a month. One night number two threw down his Anatomy and said, I cannot stand this any longer. I want to have a bust. Very well, replied the other, bust here. What do you want? I want some drink. Number one got some drink, and number two had his bust there, and was thus tided over the hour. That hour comes to every man who is trying to reform. He must treat himself like a convalescent. If there is a man who is beginning to live a better life, let him remember for the next three months that he is a convalescent. He must not go into a draught or he will take cold. He must not read the books he read last week. Number two wanted another bust, and he got it, but he did not leave the room. And so the months passed. One night number two said to number one, I notice you reading a book. I see you read the Bible, and you never talk to me about religion. Talk about religion! What was the use of talking religion when the man was living the life of Christ before him? and living is the one thing that is of value in religion. Number one said, If you choose we will read together. He read a couple of verses, but number two stopped him and said, That is enough now. Number one passed out after the two years. He did not have a brilliant record; he was only a fairly commonplace man. Number two, on the other hand, who had been picked up out of the gutter, passed out with special honour. The last I heard of them, number one was filling an appointment in London, and number two was known as the Christian Doctor. Do you think that when number one looks back upon his college course he will not see standing above it all the face of that one man whom he saved? (Prof. H. Drummond.)
Self-salvation not the only concern of Christians
A man who has been shipwrecked with a thousand others happens to get upon the shore, and the others are all down in the surf. He goes up into a fishermans cabin and sits down to warm himself. This fisherman says, Oh, this wont do. Come out and help me to get these others out of the surf. Oh, no! says the man; its my business now to warm myself. But, says the fisherman, these men are dying; are you not going to give them help? Oh, no! Ive got ashore myself, and I must warm myself! That is what people are doing in the Church to-day. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
Soul-saving–a method amusing yet effective
Some of his methods of catching men and bringing them to decision were highly amusing. While he was conducting revival services at Newark, a youth put his head inside the door to hear what was going on. This lad had a shock of curly hair that arrested Mr. Marsdens attention. Presently he walked down the aisle to the door, and spoke kindly to the lad, and invited him to come in. As he seemed timid and inclined to run away, the preacher laid hold of A handful of curls and held him fast. Then he told him how the Lord Jesus Christ wanted to make a man of him, and the devil wanted to make a fool of him; and urged him to come and seek for mercy. He pleaded with the lad, and gently pulled his curls, till the lad followed his hair and marched up the aisle to the communion rail. The preacher held him by the hair till he had safely deposited him among the penitents. The youth was converted, and became a minister in one of the sister churches, and often tells his friends that Isaac Marsden brought him to Christ by the hair of his head. (John Taylors Reminiscences of Isaac Marsden.)
A passion for the saving of souls
But what we need most is a keener appreciation of our relationship to the souls of those with whom we have to do–a profounder interest in their spiritual well-being–a stronger anxiety that men may be saved. It is written of the sainted Alleine, author of the Alarm to the Unconverted, that he was infinitely and insatiably greedy of the conversion of souls. Bunyan said, I could not be satisfied unless some fruits did appear in my work. Brainerd, on more than one occasion, said, I care not where or how I live, or what hardships I go through, so that I can but gain souls to Christ. Doddridge, writing to a friend, said, I long for the conversion of souls more sensibly than anything besides. Matthew Henry wrote, I would think it a greater happiness to gain one soul to Christ than mountains of silver and gold to myself. The sainted Fletcher said to Samuel Bradburn, when as a young man he called to see him as the Vicar of Madeley, If you should live to preach the gospel forty years, and be the instrument of saving only one soul, it will be worth all your labours. Whitfield seldom preached without weeping under the solemn impression of the value of souls. He said one day in his sermon, How can I help weeping when you will not weep for yourselves, though your immortal souls are on the verge of destruction! Dr. Lyman Beecher, when dying, said to a minister standing by his couch, The greatest of all things is not theology; it is not controversy; it is to save souls. (J. H. Hitchen.)
Pulling men out of the fire
On one occasion Charles Simeon was summoned to the dying bed of a brother. Entering the room, his relative extended his hand to him, and with deep emotion said, I am dying; and you never warned me of the state I was in, and of the danger to which I was exposed by neglecting the salvation of my soul! Nay, my brother, replied Mr. Simeon, I took every reasonable opportunity of bringing the subject of religion before your mind, and frequently alluded to it in my letters. Yes, exclaimed the dying man, you did; but that was not enough. You never came to me, closed the door, and took me by the collar of my coat, and told me that I was unconverted, and that if I died in that state I should be lost. And now I am dying; and but for Gods grace I might have been for ever undone! It is said that this affecting scene made an ineffaceable impression on Mr. Simeons mind.
Earnest to save souls
The traveller who crosses the Alps by the St.Bernard, Simplon, or Splugon Pass, finds situated near the summit a friendly hospice. Knocking timidly at the door, it is promptly opened by a good-natured monk, who bids him welcome; warming his half-frozen limbs before the blazing fire, and chatting merrily with half a dozen priests, he thinks what easy lives these men lead. Suddenly the clouds gather, the wind howls, the blinding snowflakes fall; and starting up, calling their faithful dogs around them, these bravo fellows go forth in the teeth of the tempest. Why and where are they going? To seek and succour belated travellers who may be out in the storm. Why not wait till they come and knock at the door as I did? Wait, man! Why, they would have to wait till doomsday. God help any poor creatures out on such a night! They must have lost their way. Half buried beneath the snow, they are beginning to sleep the sleep that knows no waking. So if the masses are to be aroused, the perishing rescued, we must do more than merely sit week by week in our comfortably cushioned, brilliantly lit, and cosily warmed sanctuaries. We must do more than merely stand at the church doors, waiting to welcome those who, with timid faith and dawning love, desire to be admitted to our fellowship. There are many who will never knock at the door; they are too far gone for that. They are sleeping, dying; they need to be shaken and roused. And men are wanted who will trudge forth over snow and ice; who, like the Master, will go out to seek and to save that which was lost. (E. G. Gange.)
Hating oven the garment spotted by the flesh.
Sin to be carefully shunned
Personal holiness, the concern for which called forth this admonition, is uniformly the object of Christian doctrine and Christian precept. To profess faith in Christianity is to choose a life of purity; for in our professing it we are said, according to a strong figure, to put on Christ Jesus.
I. Be warned against the influence of every degree of familiarity with what is sinful. To come so frequently in the way of sin as to see men engaged day after day, and thus to grow familiar with the view of what is criminal, may indeed easily be calculated in the amount of its evil influence. The perception of the odiousness of iniquity is thereby weakened–the sensibility of conscience is diminished–partial attention, indifference, and callousness to vice often follow in quick succession.
II. For the same important end it is suggested that these words of the apostle may warn you, not only against the vices of the world themselves, But likewise against whatever is allied to them. It is, you will observe, not the disease merely, but even the garment infected with it, which you are to turn from. That is, everything that may prove an incitement, or an accessory, or by remote and indirect ways an introduction to sin, is to be shunned for the very reasons which urge you to flee from the sin itself. The doing so is cutting off the possibility, by removing the occasions, of guilt. It is as a person extinguishing the little spark which his taper has thrown off among the combustible materials of his dwelling. It is as a person closing up every chink and aperture in his embankment against the stream. It is as a person not suffering himself to touch even a shred of raiment which has lain in the vicinity of the plague. The wisdom which these illustrations recommend does reflect, it must be owned, somewhat hardly upon many of the indulgences in common life. These indulgences are allowed and entered into, because you cannot prove that there is anything decidedly sinful in them. There is an amusement which no law, either human or Divine, can be brought to condemn. And if there be nothing criminal in it, am I not free, every one asks, to partake of it? But the person who, following the principles of Christianity, is sincerely desirous of advancing his moral improvement will deem it necessary to ascertain first what is its tendency, whither it leads, what shall be its effects on his peculiar condition or temperament. Is it the forerunner, or the means, or the attendant of aught that is wrong? To say absolutely that we are to enter into no situation where we may dread the exercise of any evil influence upon the principles and habits of the religious character would certainly be prescribing what cannot be practised. We should have, as the apostle expresses himself, to go out of the world. But still is it not true that there is frequently an uncalled-for, a premature, a rash, and hence a hazardous, intercourse with the world? Are not situations entered upon without due forethought? Are not objects pursued after with avidity, the utility or hurtfulness of which has never been seriously considered? Where the wonder, then, that the garment which no care is exerted to retain pure should, in the very centre of pollution, become spotted?
III. To the duty of shunning evil there is another which it is incumbent on us to add, the strong language of the text intimating that iniquity is to be the object of our expressed aversion. We are to hate it, and to show that we do so. Hence, if ever there is made in our hearing the attack against our blessed religion, whether through the grave objections of philosophy or the sarcasms of profane wit–if ever those immoral maxims which, for the easier diffusion, are coloured over with the fallacious names of liberality are inculcated in our presence–if ever the character and ordinances of our God and Saviour are lightly spoken of, or those works which His Spirit is sent to destroy are approved and defended before us, let us feel how urgent is the call to make that confession before men, which is to be followed with the acknowledgment of our fidelity before the Father and His holy angels. In these circumstances, however, we cannot make that confession without showing hatred to what opposes the high subject of our confession. And hatred, when turned against sin and all the appearances of sin, is the only lawful form under which that passion may be cherished. Nothing is so worthy of our hatred. Ought sin ever to be seen by us, then, without moving aversion and stirring up a holy resentment within us?
IV. But here let us be admonished, while we cherish and on every fit occasion express the feeling of zeal against iniquity, to make it ever appear that our hatred is all the while to the sin, and not to the sinner. Him we compassionate; and we are not to leave him in doubt that he is the object of our sympathy. And let us remember that there is no hope of giving efficacy to our remonstrances against sin, nor of recommending the good cause for the support of which we offer ourselves, nor of honouring the name of Jesus by our testimony to His gospel, as long as we render it hard to separate our zeal for religion from the appearance of a proud struggle for our own superiority. Pride, contempt, and overbearing haughtiness make the sinner feel that you are hostile to his person. He is stirred up, as it were, to the defence of his own interests. Charity is the subduing part of religious zeal. I repeat it therefore, Let there be hatred at the very garment spotted by sin. But show that you have none to the unhappy person who wears it. (W. Muir, D. D.)
Abstinence from sin
In these words the apostle speaks figuratively. He wishes to exhort to abstinence from all and every kind of sin. And to make his exhortation the more easily remembered and the more deeply impressed, he clothes it in metaphor. The religion which preceded Christianity was the Jewish, established amongst a peculiar people for certain wise and intelligible reasons. In this dispensation God taught His people more by signs than words, by ceremonies than by precepts Time will not permit to speak of all the figurative instruction of the Jewish religion. But, in connection with our text, I may speak of the figurative distinctions of clean and unclean. Under this dispensation, then, there were many things considered unclean. Certain animals–as, for instance, swine–came within this evil distinction; and persons with certain diseases, such as leprosy or an issue of blood, were prohibited all intercourse with their fellows during the time the disease lay upon them; and a corpse was considered unclean; and those who might happen to touch it, or to come in contact with persons already unclean through disease or other causes, were themselves for a season unclean. Now, this calling of some things clean and unclean was designed to notify unequivocally the broad immutable distinction between sin and holiness, their utter, unending contrariety. But our text has a more especial reference to the uncleanness of leprosy. Leprosy in the East was a very loathsome disease, and fitly symbolises sin. And such was the virulence of his malady that none might approach or touch him; for there was uncleanness, not only in his personal touch, but in his garments. The garments became spotted by the flesh; they partook of the infection, and brought beneath a ban the unfortunate who might touch them. There appears to have been also an independent plague, peculiarly affecting raiment. Now God commanded His priests to destroy those leprous garments (Lev 13:47-52). Do we, then, arrive at an understanding of the apostles figure? Does it not suggest a Christian precept of a like significance, but written in plain, unfigurative language? To hate the garment spotted by the flesh is to keep sin at the farthest distance; to avoid those things into which it can by subtilty infuse its fatal poison; things which, though lawful and innocent, may prove by remote possibility the occasion of falling to ourselves and to others. It is to keep far within the border-line which separates holiness from sin; not to venture out among the outposts, lest there be a sudden surprise, but to remain entrenched within the citadel, within which is safety. (R. L. Joyce, B. A.)
Purity of character
Over the beauty of the plum and the apricot there grows a bloom and beauty more exquisite than the fruit itself–a soft, delicate flush that overspreads its blushing cheek. Now, if you strike your hand over that, and it is once gone, it is gone for ever, for it never grows but once. The flower that hangs in the morning impearled with dew–arrayed as no queenly woman ever was arrayed in jewels–once shake it so that the beads roll off, and you may sprinkle water over it as you please, yet it can never be made again what it was when the dew fell silently upon it from heaven. On a frosty morning you may see the panes of glass covered with landscapes–mountains, lakes, and trees blended in a beautiful, fantastic picture. Now lay your hand upon the glass, and by the scratch of your finger or by the warmth of your palm all the delicate tracery will be obliterated. So there is in youth a beauty and purity of character which, when once touched and defiled, can never be restored. Such is the consequence of crime. Its effects cannot be eradicated; it can only be forgiven.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 23. And others save with fear] “Some of them snatch from the fire: but when they repent, have mercy upon them in fear.”-Syriac. “And some of them rebuke for their sins; and on others have mercy when they are convicted; and others save from the fire and deliver them.”-Erpen’s Arabic. Mr. Wesley’s note has probably hit the sense. “Meantime watch over others as well as yourselves; and give them such help as their various needs require. For instance, 1. Some that are wavering in judgment, staggered by others’ or by their own evil reasoning, endeavour more deeply to convince of the truth as it is in Jesus. 2. Some snatch with a swift and strong hand out of the fire of sin and temptation. 3. On others show compassion, in a milder and gentler way; though still with a jealous fear, lest you yourselves be infected with the disease you endeavour to cure. See therefore that, while ye love the sinners, ye retain the utmost abhorrence of their sins, and of any, the least degree of or approach to them.”
Having even the garment spotted by the flesh.] Fleeing from all appearance of evil. Dictum sumptum, ut apparet, a mulieribus sanguine menstruo pollutis, quarum vestes etiam pollutae censebantur: or there may be an allusion to a case of leprosy, for that infected the garments of the afflicted person, and these garments were capable of conveying the contagion to others.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And others; those that are further gone, not so easily reducible, and in great danger.
Save; i.e. labour to save them, as instruments under God.
With fear; by more severe courses, sharper reprehensions, setting before them Gods judgments against obstinate sinners, 1Co 5:5.
Pulling them out of the fire: it is a proverbial speech, Zec 3:2; the sense is, that as they that are in the fire, and like to be destroyed by it, must not be gently exhorted to come out of it of themselves, but speedily and forcibly pulled out, in consideration of their eminent danger; so they that are more stubborn sinners, being in apparent danger of being destroyed by the fire of their lusts, and being as it were in the mouth of hell, must be more harshly and severely dealt with, by setting the Lords terrors before them, 2Co 5:11, and inflicting church censures on them.
Hating even the garment spotted by the flesh: it is an allusion to that ceremonial law, Lev 15:4,17, where he that touched a defiled garment was himself defiled. The sense is, either:
1. That where there is danger of infection from heretics and obstinate sinners, all converse with them, and any thing whereby the contagion of their doctrine or manners may reach us, is to be avoided: or:
2. That when we reprehend others, we should do it with suitable affections, and though we would save themselves, we should hate their vices, and any thing that promotes them or savours of them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
savewith fear The oldest manuscripts do not read with fear in thisposition: but after snatching them out of the fire (with which,compare Amo4:11;1Co3:15;Zec3:2,said of a most narrow escape), they add the following words, forminga THIRD class, and others compassionate with (IN) fear. Threekinds of patients require three kinds of medical treatment. Ministersand Christians are said to save those whom they are made theinstruments of saving; the Greekfor save is present, therefore meaning try to save. Judealready (Jud1:9)had reference to the same passage (Zec3:1-3).The three classes are: (1) those who contendwith you(accusative case in oldest manuscripts), whom you should convict;(2) those who are as brands already in thefire,of which hell-fire is the consummation: these you should tryto save by snatching them out;(3) those who are objects of compassion,whom accordingly you should compassionate(and help if occasion should offer), but at the same time not letpity degenerate into connivance at their error. Your compassion is tobe accompanied with fear of being at all defiled by them.
hating Even hatredhas its legitimate field of exercise. Sin is the only thing which Godhates: so ought we.
eventhe garment a proverbial phrase: avoiding the most remote contact with sin,and hating that which borders on it. As garmentsof the apostles wrought miracles of good in healing, so the verygarmentof sinners metaphorically, that is, anything brought into contactwith their pollution, is to be avoided. Compare as to lepers andother persons defiled, Lev13:52-57;Lev15:4-17: the garments were held polluted; and anyone touching them wasexcluded, until purified, from religious and civil communion with thesanctified people of Israel. Christians who received at baptism thewhite garment in token of purity, are not to defile it by anyapproach to what is defiled.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And others save with fear,…. Meaning false teachers, who lead others into errors, and such as give themselves over unto sin, whether teachers or hearers, and who are obstinate and irreclaimable; even such as these, means should be used to save, if possible, by sharp admonitions and severe language; by denouncing the awful judgments of God, which threaten them; by inflicting on them church censures in a terrible manner; by declaring the terrors of the Lord, and of hell, and of everlasting damnation:
pulling [them] out of the fire; of their soul destroying doctrines, and of their filthy and unnatural lusts, and as it were out of the fire of hell, of which they are in great danger:
hating even the garment spotted, by the flesh; by which may be meant the conversation of those men, even their filthy conversation, which is to be hated, though their persons are not; but all ways and means should be used to save them; and this is one way, by showing a dislike unto, and a resentment at their wicked way of living, excluding them from church communion for it, and shunning all conversation with them. The allusion is not to garments defiled by profluvious persons, or menstruous women, as some think, but to garments spotted with nocturnal pollutions, or through unnatural lusts, which these persons were addicted to l. It was reckoned very dishonourable for religious persons, in the time of divine service, or on a sabbath day, to have on a garment spotted with any thing; if a priest’s garments were spotted, and he performed service in them, that service was not right m; and if a disciple of a wise man had any grease on his garments (on a sabbath day), he was guilty of death n.
l Vid. Sueton. in Vita Neronis, c. 28. m T. Bab. Pesachim, fol. 65. 2. & Zebachim, fol. 18. 2. & Piske Tosephot in Yoma, art. 9. & Maimon. Cele Hamikdash, c. 8. sect. 4. n T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 114. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
And some save ( ). B omits .
Snatching them out of the fire ( ). Present active participle of , old verb, to seize. Quotation from Am 4:11 and Zec 3:3. Cf. Ps 106:18. Firemen today literally do this rescue work. Do Christians?
And on some have mercy with fear ( ). In fear “of the contagion of sin while we are rescuing them” (Vincent). For this idea see 1Pet 1:17; 1Pet 3:15; 2Cor 7:1; Phil 2:12.
Spotted (). Perfect passive participle of , late and common verb (from , spot, 2Pe 2:13), in N.T. only here and Jas 3:6.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Snatching them out of the fire. The writer has in mind Zec 3:2, a brand plucked from the burning. Compare Amo 4:11.
With fear [ ] . Lit., in fear; i e., of the contagion of sin while we are rescuing them.
Spotted [] . Only here and Jas 3:6. See on 2Pe 2:13.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And others save with fear” – the term save (Greek sozete) means to rescue, as a drowning man gone overboard, or being swept toward a waterfall. Or rescue as an unconscious person from the flames of a burning building, unconscious of his nearness to death. Jas 5:19-20.
2) “Pulling them out of the fire” (Greek harpazontes) means to snatch with haste and firm grip -out of the fire – relates to engulfed danger surrounding the weak, among complaining separated packs, and huddles formed by false brethren who had crept in among the sanctified. Misled children of God have different temperaments. The more reasoning deliberate thinker may be rescued by gentle, slow compassionate, reasoning, pity. The more impulsive, emotionally constituted, however, must be rescued by the sanctified by the more sudden, shocking, seizure, snatching, and shaking of strong rebuke, reproof, etc., lest their life’s work and influence should be burned by fire, at the Judgement Seat of Christ, 1Co 3:13-15; 2Jn 1:8 “lose not – but receive a full reward.”
3) “Hating even the garment spotted by the flesh”. (Greek, misontes) means to hate, hold with holy disapproval, the very specks, spots, and blemishes of the flesh, outer garment of the soul, the old man in which the inner man, the new man, new creature, dwells. Jude was saying, watch that donkey nature in you, bridle it, control it, subject it to the will and work of God. Gal 5:22-25. Evil deeds, words, and thoughts cast their shadows on, in, and through the flesh, like running sores. Jude admonishes that the sanctified should first, keep themselves from such, and second by pity and in fear snatch others, the weaker, from ruined lives for the Master’s sake.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
23. Hating even the garment. This passage, which otherwise would appear obscure, will have no difficulty in it, when the metaphor is rightly explained. He would have the faithful not only to beware of contact with vices, but that no contagion might reach them, he reminds them that everything that borders on vices and is near to them ought to be avoided: as, when we speak of lasciviousness, we say that all excitements to lusts ought to be removed. The passage will also become clearer, when the whole sentence is filled up, that is, that we should hate not only the flesh, but also the garment, which, by a contact with it, is infected. The particle καὶ even serves to give greater emphasis. He, then, does not allow evil be cherished by indulgence, so that he bids all preparations and all accessories, as they say, to be cut off.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
23. Others A second class.
Save The Greek present signifies the effort to save, but does not, as the aorist would, imply a sure saving result, or the absolute power to accomplish a success.
Pulling them out of the fire As if they were in terrible danger of being scorched and burnt by the errorists, yet could, perhaps, be rescued with a desperate pull.
With fear Belongs to third class. Read: Others still, compassionate with fear hating, etc. This third class we can only pity, with a mingled feeling of fear and abhorrence of their shame-bespotted characters.
The sin and danger of the three classes increase in climax. First, there is the set in the Church inclined to be schismatic, who must be rebuked and brought to order. Second, the class tending towards the vice of the sensualists, who are to be rescued with an energetic pull from their fatal course. Third, the nearly hopeless apostate, whom we can little else than pity, and from whose contaminated natures we are obliged to shrink.
Garment spotted by the flesh A fearful emblem of depravity. Their tunic or under-garment is foul with the spots of their debauchery. Rev 3:4.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jud 1:23. And others save with fear, Those who were more deeply immersed in the errors of the false teachers, and more corrupted with their vices, were to be saved, or reformed by fear; especially if they were also stubborn and intractable. The Christians were to set before them the terrors of the Lord: to denounce against them the judgments of God, which were over their heads, just ready to fall upon them if they did not repent, and that speedily. They were to make this difference between them and the meek and tractable. Pulling, or snatching them out of the fire, is a proverbial expression made use of, Amo 4:11. Zec 3:2 and alluded to 1Co 3:15. Just as one would hastily take a brand out of the burning, or snatch one’s most valuable treasure or dearest friend out of a house on fire; in like manner must notorious sinners be treated to prevent their perishing. Not that men are to punish the incorrigible by legal penalties, unless they disturb the peace of civil society; but they are to be threatened with the divine displeasure. This method of saving men denotes, first, That they were to be speedy in attempting to reform them, for fear of losing the opportunity. Secondly, They were to use some more rough and disagreeable methods, rather than suffer them to perish. Fear may be of service to deter men from vice, and make them look for pardon, and attend to holiness and piety. But, when the love of God is shed abroad in men’s hearts by the Holy Ghost given unto them, they will act from the nobler principle of love to God and goodness. Some have taken pains to shew, that by the word garment, in the next clause, we are to understand the human body; which is often called a garment, or compared to a garment: others have given different interpretations of this passage; but whoever reads Leviticus, Leviticus 13-15; Isa 30:22; Isa 64:6 and considers that they were Jewish Christians to whom St. Jude primarily wrote, will easily discern, that this is a fine allusion to the garments which were polluted by touching the body of a person who is unclean. The meaning is, that the Jews of old were carefully to avoid every legal pollution, or ceremonial impurity, which rendered them odious to, and avoided by their neighbours; so Christians were most carefully to avoid every moral impurity (1Th 5:22. Rev 3:4.). While they endeavoured under grace to save some by gentle methods, and others by fear, they were to take care, lest they themselves should be polluted by their bad example, or infected by coming near them. Heb 12:15. Jam 1:27. A physician who attempts to cure the plague, should take care, lest he himself be infected by the persons whom he endeavours to cure.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jud 1:23 . . Here again a word which is strictly applicable to God is transferred to him whom God uses as His instrument, cf. 1Pe 4:11 and notes on , above, especially Jas 5:20 , .
. The expression is borrowed from Amo 4:11 , , , , , and Zec 3:3 , ; Both passages have further connexions with our epistle, the former from the reference to Sodom (see above Jud 1:7 ), the latter as following immediately on the words, quoted in Jud 1:9 , and preceding a reference to filthy garments (see note below). In it the High Priest Joshua is a representative of Israel, saved like a brand from the captivity, which was the punishment of national sin. The image of fire is naturally suggested by the allusion to the punishment of Sodom in the passage of Amos, and of Korah (see above Jud 1:7 ) described in Num 16:35 , Psa 106:18 , . The writer may also have had in mind St. Paul’s description of the building erected on the One Foundation (see above Jud 1:20 ), which, he says, will be tried by fire, 1Co 3:13-15 , , , , , . Such an one may be spoken of as “a brand snatched from the fire,” not however as here, saved from the fire of temptation, but as saved through the agency of God’s purgatorial fire, whether in this or in a future life.
. The faithful are urged to show all possible tenderness for the fallen, but at the same time to have a fear lest they themselves or others whom they influence should be led to think too lightly of the sin whose ravages they are endeavouring to repair. Cf. 2Co 7:1 , , Php 2:12 , 1Pe 1:17 ; 1Pe 3:15 . For the confusion of the contracted verbs in – and – in late Greek see Jannaris, 850. 854 f., Winer p. 104. The best MSS. read in Pro 21:26 , and Rom 9:16 , but in Rom 9:18 .
. While it is the duty of the Christian to pity and pray for the sinner, he must view with loathing all that bears traces of the sin. The form of expression seems borrowed from such passages as Isa 30:22 , Lev 15:17 , perhaps too from Zec 3:4 , . Cf. Rev 3:4 , , and Apocal. Pauli quoted by Spitta, . The derivatives of are peculiar to late Greek: the only other examples of in Biblical Greek are Jas 3:6 , and Wis 15:4 , . Compare for the treatment of the erring 2Ti 2:25-26 , , , .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
with. The texts read en. App-104.
spotted. Greek. spiloo, See Jam 3:6, and compare Rev 3:4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Reciprocal: Gen 35:2 – clean Gen 42:24 – Simeon Lev 13:6 – pronounce Lev 13:47 – The garment Lev 13:48 – thing made of Num 19:19 – shall sprinkle Pro 7:8 – General Amo 4:11 – as a Hag 2:14 – So is this people Zec 3:2 – a brand Mat 13:28 – Wilt Rom 7:15 – what I hate Rom 13:13 – chambering 1Co 3:15 – yet 1Co 5:5 – that 2Co 2:8 – that 2Co 5:11 – the terror 2Co 7:11 – fear 2Co 12:21 – uncleanness Gal 6:1 – restore 1Th 5:22 – General 2Th 3:15 – count Heb 12:13 – but let Jam 5:19 – and one Rev 3:4 – which
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jud 1:23. Save with fear denotes a feeling of terror over the wilful doing of wrong by others. Those deserve no mercy especially and should be dealt with sternly in the hopes they may possibly be rescued, just as we would snatch a person from drowning even if we had to grasp him by the hair of his head. Hating even the garment denotes that we should abhor anything that has been near fleshly sin. Jas 1:27 says that pure religion consists in one’s keeping himself unspotted from the world.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
By this the apostle means every thing that doth defile, though in the least degree; he forbids all affinity and nearness to the errors and vices of these sinners, implying that some sinners are so filthy and unclean, that there is no keeping company with them without defilement; and intimating that Christians in their conversing with erroneous or vicious persons, whom they labour to recover, should take great care that they be not corrupted nor debauched by them, they being only to deal with them as physicians, not as companions. Hating the garment spotted with the flesh.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
1:23 And others save with {p} fear, pulling [them] out of the fire; hating even the {q} garment spotted by the flesh.
(p) By fearing them and holding them back with godly severity.
(q) An amplification, taken from the forbidden things of the law which did defile.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Sixth, Jude gave instruction concerning those believers who have already fallen under God’s discipline by capitulating to false teachers. We should attempt to extract them from their error before their consequent judgment falls (cf. Amo 4:11; Zec 3:2). Fire is symbolic of God’s judgment in Scripture. Here Jude saw God’s judgment coming on believers for yielding to sin or false teaching. [Note: Hiebert, Second Peter . . ., p. 290; Lawlor, p. 127. Cf. Joh 15:6; 1Co 3:15.] And he also saw it coming on unbelievers. [Note: Coder, p. 116. Cf. Rev 20:15.]
In the case of those whom heresy has completely swept away, we should have pity on them rather than condemning them without compassion. Moreover we should regard them with fear, not fear of being infected by physical contact with them, but fear of falling under God’s displeasure and discipline if we embrace their error. We should avoid any contact with these people because of the corrupting influence they can have on us through their words and actions (cf. 1Co 5:9-11; 2Th 3:14-15). The "garment" stands for those things affected by contact with fleshly behavior such as personal habits and practices, speech, companions, and the like. Scripture often uses garments as a symbol of what other people see, namely, our conduct.