Jude 1:10 by Precept Austin Commentary

Jude 1:10 But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed: houtoi de hosa men ouk oidasin (3PRAI) blasphemousin (3PPAI) hosa de phusikos os ta aloga zoa epistantai (3PPPI) en toutois phtheirontai (3PPPI) speak = 2Pe 2:12 in those = Ro 1:21,22 Compare 2Peter 2:12. Barclay - But these people speak evil of everything which they do not understand, whereas they allow themselves to be corrupted by the knowledge which their instincts give them, living at the mercy of their instincts, like beasts without reason. Wuest - But these on the one hand revile as many things concerning which they do not have absolute knowledge, and on the other hand as many things, by instinct, like the unreasoning animals, which they understand, by these they are being brought to ruin. NET - But these men do not understand the things they slander, and they are being destroyed by the very things that, like irrational animals, they instinctively comprehend. But - Another term of contrast - "What is the Jude contrasting?" "“But these” (houtoi de) again centers the attention on the conduct of these arrogant sensualists." (Hiebert) How doest this verse compare to 2Peter 2:12? They continuously (present tense) revile, slander and rail against that which they are have no knowledge. They have no more knowledge than the brute beasts and make a lot of noise about things they know nothing about! "They speak contemptuously of these spiritual realities because they do not personally “know” them; these realities are beyond their ability to perceive and comprehend mentally. Lacking the Spirit (Jude 1:19), they are spiritually blind to spiritual realities (cf. 1Cor. 2:7–14)...Their verbal reaction is a revelation of their inner nature. (Hiebert) Revile (blasphemeo) the things which they do not understand (eido) - What things? Vincent says this refers to "the whole range of invisible things, while the other verb in this verse, translated know (epistamai, originally of skill in handicraft), refers to palpable things; objects of sense; the circumstances of sensual enjoyment." "Apostate teachers, in their brash, bold, egotistical infatuation with imagined power and authority, rail on that which they don't even understand. Apostates are intellectually arrogant and spiritually ignorant in that they don't now because they have been blinded by Satan (2Cor 4:4) and spiritual matters are beyond their unregenerate capacity to understand." (MacArthur) It is notable that blasphemeo (and blasphemia) is used 5x in 3v, which clearly identifies their hurtful, evil, slanderous tongues as one of their major markers, which should help us identify them as chaff in the midst of wheat. Spurgeon - It is a horrible thing when a man’s sin goes the full length of his knowledge, and he sins up to the degree of his possibilities. Know (1987)(epistamai) means to gain a firm mental grasp of something or to become acquainted with something. Epistamai was "originally used of skill in handicraft, and refers to palpable things, objects of sense, the circumstances of sensual enjoyment." (Vincent) This "know" introduces a striking contrast - they don't know spiritual truths but only know the things of their base instincts and their seeking to gratify their flesh would be their destruction. Barclay - "They allow themselves to be corrupted by the things they do understand. What they do understand are the fleshly instincts which they share with the brute beasts. Their way of life is to allow these instincts to have their way; their values are fleshly values. Jude describes men who have lost all awareness of spiritual things and for whom the things demanded by the animal instincts are the only standards. The terrible thing is that the first condition is the direct result of the second. The tragedy is that no man is born without a sense of the spiritual things but can lose that sense until for him the spiritual things cease to exist. A man may lose any faculty, if he refuses to use it. We discover that with such simple things as games and skills. If we give up playing a game, we lose the ability to play it. If we give up practicing a skill--such as playing the piano--we lose it. We discover that in such things as abilities. We may know something of a foreign language, but if we never speak or read it, we lose it. Every man can hear the voice of God; and every man has the animal instincts on which, indeed, the future existence of the race depends. But, if he consistently refuses to listen to God and makes his instincts the sole dynamic of his conduct, in the end he will be unable to hear the voice of God and will have nothing left to be his master but his brute desires. It is a terrible thing for a man to reach a stage where he is deaf to God and blind to goodness; and that is the stage which the men whom Jude attacks had reached." (Jude - Daily Study Bible) By instinct (5446) (phusikos) means instinctively or naturally. Phusikos is used only one other time in 2Peter 2:12-note and means natural or that which is produced by and belongs to nature or is governed by the natural instincts. Here in Jude 1:10 phusikos refers to those who are like animals and thus are governed by natural instincts. They followed their natural desires. Like animals in a jungle, their only value is in being caught and destroyed. This harsh language but is an indication of how dangerous their heresies are to the body of Christ. Webster says instinct is a "largely inheritable (cp Ro 5:12-note) and unalterable tendency of an organism to make a complex and specific response to environmental stimuli without involving reason. It describes behavior that is mediated by reactions below the conscious level." NET Note - Like irrational animals, these false teachers do grasp one thing - the instinctive behavior of animals in heat. R. Bauckham (Jude, 2 Peter [WBC], 63) notes that “Though they claim to be guided by special spiritual insight gained in heavenly revelations, they are in fact following the sexual instincts which they share with the animals.” Jude’s focus is somewhat different from Peter’s: Peter argued that, like irrational animals who are born to be caught and killed, these men will be destroyed when destroying others (2Pet 2:12). Jude, however, does not mention the destruction of animals, just that these false teachers will be destroyed for mimicking them. Like unreasoning animals - Notice that "like" is a term of comparison, specifically a simile. Always pause and ponder what (why, etc) the writer is comparing and how this insight illuminates the text you are studying. The phrase unreasoning animals in Peter's description of the false teachers and helps us understand these men But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, (2Pet 2:12-note) Philosophers (e.g., Epictetus and 2nd-century Stoic emperor Marcus Aurelius) characterized animals as creatures ruled by instinct as opposed to humans, who were ruled by reason, and considered unreasoning humans “wild beasts.” These false teachers act like instinct driven animals, guided not by true intelligence (they cannot think rightly - they are deceived and don't even know it - cp 2Ti 3:13-note), but only by their animalistic cravings and base passions. Rather than following reason and revelation, they are guided by ignorance and instinct (sinful at that), a manner of thinking that derives from their unredeemed totally depraved flesh. They are ultimate religious hypocrites who profess to have deep religious insights when in reality they are led about by the natural sense and cravings rather than by Biblical truths (cp "form of godliness" 2Ti 3:5-note; Titus 1:16-note) . Like wild (and even domesticated) animals, these spiritual masqueraders react only to present circumstances, without giving thought to the consequences of their actions (cp the principle of sowing and reaping -- Gal 6:7, 8-note, Job 4:8, Pr 22:8, Jer 12:13, Ho 8:7, 10:13, 2Pe 2:12,19, Rev 22:11, cp Jn 8:34, Pr 5:22-note, Jer 2:19). They act like wild beasts and so reap the same destiny. Sow a thought, and you reap an act; Sow an act, and you reap a habit; Sow a habit, and you reap a character; Sow a character, and you reap a destiny. —Samuel Smiles Unreasoning (249) (alogos from a = without + logos = word, reason) means literally without speech or reason and so irrational, brute (not working by reason, characteristic of an animal in quality, action, or instinct), destitute or unendowed with reason. In short they are not governed or acting according to reason because they lack reasoning capacity! Animals (2226) (zoon from zao = to live, breathe - zoe = life) is a living creature, the exact phrase that reverberates through the unfolding of the book of the Revelation (Rev 4:6–9; 5:6, 8, 11, 14; 6:1, 3, 5–7; 7:11; 14:3; 15:7; 19:4). Jude describes these men, like "surreptitious snakes" who have crept in unnoticed and turned the grace of God into licentiousness (Jude 1:4) (See Animal) The English definition of animal presents a good picture of these false teachers = "a human being considered chiefly as physical or non-rational; a brutish person; of or relating to the physical needs or desires; carnal; sensual; a very cruel, violent, or uncivilized person." Matthew Henry - Men, under the power of sin, are so far from observing divine revelation that they do not exercise reason, nor act according to the direction thereof. They walk by sight, and not by faith, and judge of things according to their senses; as these represent things pleasant and agreeable, so they must be approved and esteemed. Brute-creatures follow the instinct of their sensitive appetite, and sinful man follows the inclination of his carnal mind; these refuse to employ the understanding and reason God has given them, and so are ignorant of what they might and ought to know. Strachan says of these false teachers that "Their chief characteristic is that they are ‘alive,’ (Ed: But see Ep 2:1-note, Ep 2:2-note, Ep 2:3-note) and have no sense of the moral issues of life. Like animals, they exist to be taken and destroyed." Sin will take you further than you ever intended to stray. It will keep you longer than you ever intended to stay. And it will cost you more than you ever dreamed you would pay. By these things they are destroyed - Ask "What things?" Green - "Jude is stating a profound truth in linking these two characteristics together. If a man is persistently blind to spiritual values, deaf to the call of God, and rates self-determination as the highest good, then a time will come when he cannot hear the call he has spurned, but is left to the mercy of the turbulent instincts to which he once turned in search of freedom." Are destroyed (5351) (phtheiro from phthío or phthíno = waste, decay, wither, pine away) means to cause harm to in a physical manner or in outward circumstances. To shrivel, to wither, to spoil. It means to ruin or destroy something with the implication of causing something to be corrupt. Figuratively it means to ruin, to cause deterioration of a man's inner life (as by erroneous teaching or immorality) Classic Greek used phtheiro to describe buildings which crumbled with age and a derivative kataphtheiro to described economic ruin. "Phtheireste" was used as a curse to mean "be damned" or "go to the devil". Often in contracts it is laid down that the nurse engaged should not “spoil” her milk. Many papyri refer to animals that have "fallen." The word group can refer to loss of food, of fruits destroyed by grasshoppers. In sum, this is a tragic description of the end for men originally created in the image of God with the express purpose of giving Him glory (Isa 43:7). (See also W E Vine's discussion of this word group - verbs = phtheiro, diaphtheiro, nouns = phthora, diaphthora - Corrupt, Corruption, Corruptible, Vine's Expository Dictionary) Phtheiro is in the present tense, passive voice, indicating that they are in a state of continual destruction (destruction is an inevitable, unavoidable process so to speak), the passive voice emphasizing that this destruction derives from an outside force or power. "It is passive in voice, thus, “by these things they are being brought to ruin.” (Wuest) Their condition is indeed a fearful condition! Their life is ruined temporally in this life and eternally in the life to come! These men have "lowered themselves to the level of animals and in the sexual pursuits (Jude 1:8) are guided by instinct. Yet, unlike the animals which abide by the laws of nature, these godless men are destroyed by the very things they fail to understand. When men by instinct, they abandon even natural law and consequently perish. They place themselves on a par with the animals, but because of their refusal to obey even the laws God has placed in nature, they are destroyed (cp Ro 1:24-note)." (Kistemaker) ESV Study Bible - Following subjective feelings and desires, for someone whose conscience is not trained and governed by God’s Word, will lead that person ultimately to be destroyed by his own sinful compulsions.

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Jude 1:10

Precept Austin Commentary

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