Date It is difficult to determine when the Letter of Jude was written. The range of suggested dates has spanned from the 50s to the early second century. This divergence of opinion is due, not only to the disagreements over authorship noted above, but also to the absence of dateable historical information within the letter. Attempts to narrow the range of possible dates usually focus on three questions of interpretation. (1) One concerns the identity of Jude's opponents. Those who identify them as Jewish or Jewish-Christian propagandists tend to date the letter earlier, when Jewish concerns were felt most acutely in the Church. On the other hand, those who identify them as either Gnostics or their forerunners are inclined to date it later, since the problem of Gnosticism erupted with full force only in the second century. (2) Another question concerns the literary relationship that seems to exist between Jude and 2 Peter. Scholars generally hold that one of these letters draws material from the other, either Jude from 2 Peter or, more likely, 2 Peter from Jude. Either way, the date one assigns to 2 Peter has a direct bearing on the date one assigns to Jude. (3) Still another issue concerns statements made in Jude 3 and 17-18 and whether they imply a date for the epistle later than the apostolic age. Some claim they do, though neither passage strictly requires such an interpretation. In the end, the little evidence one has to work with tilts toward an earlier date, perhaps in the 50s or 60s. Not only is it probable that 2 Peter was written in the early to mid-60s, thus requiring a still earlier date for Jude, but the prominence of Jewish themes and traditions utilized by the author are better accounted for if the letter was written in a Jewish-Christian environment toward the middle of the first century.

Destination Jude addresses a Christian community that is threatened by the intrusion of false teachers. Its location is uncertain because Jude never identifies his whereabouts or that of his readers. It is clear only that Jude is informed about the troubles these believers are facing (Jude 8, 12, 16) and that he regards them as "beloved" (3, 17, 20). Apparently the Churches involved were founded by the original apostles (17-18). The most likely hypothesis, given the Jewish tone and outlook of the letter, is that Jude is writing to Jewish-Christians in Palestine who are expected to know the Hebrew Scriptures, as well as the apocryphal literature of Judaism (9, 14-15).

Themes and Characteristics The Letter of Jude is an emergency dispatch that issues both a solemn appeal and a stern warning to an endangered community of Christians. The appeal is for believers to fight for the true faith against an incoming hoard of deceivers (Jude 3-4). In practical terms, Jude urges readers to deepen their grasp of apostolic doctrine (20), to wait prayerfully and patiently upon the Lord (21), and to steady the faith of others who are either wavering in doubt or overcome by deception (22-23). The warning is that believers must raise their guard against the corruption of the recently arrived false prophets. Though their doctrinal errors are only hinted at, it is clear that Jude regards these troublemakers with intense disapproval and sees their influence as a significant threat to the faith. Most of the letter is a denunciation of these deceivers (5-19).

Distinctive of this short letter is the careful arrangement that Jude gives to an array of traditions that foretell the judgment of the wicked. Drawing from biblical (5-7, 11), apocryphal (9, 14-15), and apostolic teachings (17-18), Jude illustrates how certain events in biblical history foreshadow the disastrous end of the ungodly (argument from typology), while oracles uttered by Enoch and the apostles foretell their demise in more explicit terms (argument from prophecy). Interspersed among these are brief applications that Jude adds to demonstrate that the sayings of the past are taking shape in the present threat of the false teachers. The exegesis of Scripture that lies behind Jude's argument is quite sophisticated and bears a certain likeness to the techniques of biblical interpretation exhibited in the Dead Sea Scrolls. «

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