WORD

BIBLICAL

COMMENTARY

VOLUME 50

Jude, 2 Peter

RICHARD J. BAUCKHAM

General Editors

Bruce M. Metzger

David A. Hubbard†

Glenn W. Barker†

Old Testament Editor

John D. W. Watts

New Testament Editor

Ralph P. Martin

WORD BOOKS, PUBLISHER • DALLAS, TEXAS

Word Biblical Commentary

Jude, 2 Peter

Copyright © 1983 by Word, Incorporated

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the publishers.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Main entry under title:

Word biblical commentary.

Includes bibliographies.

1. Bible—Commentaries—Collected works.

BS491.2.W67 220.7’7 81-71768

ISBN 0-8499-0249-5 (v. 50) AACR2

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations in the body of the commentary are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1946 (renewed 1973), 1956, and © 1971 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, and are used by permission. Those marked niv are from the New International Version of the Bible, copyright © 1973 by New York Bible Society International. The author’s own translation of the text appears in italic type under the heading “Translation.”

To My Mother

And in Memory of my Father

Table of Contents

Editorial Preface

Author’s Preface

Abbreviations

Jude

Introduction

Form and Structure

Language

Sources

Character of the Letter

The Opponents

Date

Authorship

Destination

Attestation

Address and Salutation (vv 1–2)

Occasion and Theme (vv 3–4)

Three Old Testament Types (vv 5–10)

Excursus: The Background and Source of Jude 9

Three More Old Testament Types (vv 11–13)

The Prophecy of Enoch (vv 14–16)

The Prophecy of the Apostles (vv 17–19)

The Appeal (vv 20–23)

Closing Doxology (vv 24–25)

Bibliography

2 Peter

Introduction

Form and Structure

Language

Literary Relationships

Character of the Letter

The Opponents

Date

Authorship and Pseudonymity

Attestation

Address and Salutation (1:1–2)

Theme: A Summary of Peter’s Message (1:3–11)

Occasion: Peter’s Testament (1:12–15)

Reply to Objection 1: (a) Apostolic Eyewitness (1:16–18)

Reply to Objection 1: (b) The Value of Old Testament Prophecy (1:19)

Reply to Objection 2: The Inspiration of OT Prophecy (1:20–21)

Peter’s Prediction of False Teachers (2:1–3a)

Reply to Objection 3: The Certainty of Judgment (2:3b–10a)

Denunciation of the False Teachers (a) (2:10b–16)

Denunciation of the False Teachers (b) (2:17–22)

Peter’s Prediction of Scoffers (3:1–4)

Reply to Objection 4: (a) The Sovereignty of God’s Word (3:5–7)

Reply to Objection 4: (b) The Forbearance of the Lord (3:8–10)

Exhortation (3:11–16)

Conclusion (3:17–18)

Bibliography

Indexes

Editorial Preface

The launching of the Word Biblical Commentary brings to fulfillment an enterprise of several years’ planning. The publishers and the members of the editorial board met in 1977 to explore the possibility of a new commentary on the books of the Bible that would incorporate several distinctive features. Prospective readers ...