l)v any regarded v.-ith suspicion (//wf. Eccles. ii, 23 ; iii, preach, but when this preaching w 25). "By^-^erome it is referred to as the work of an come a thing of the past (ver. 17). apostle (m r/f. i ; f^^ rtrf Pa«/«n. iii), and he states that, though suspected by some, in consequence of containing a quotation from the apocrj-phal book of Enoch, it had obtained such authority as to be reckoned part of the canonical Scriptiu-es (Catal. Script. Eccles.). From the 4th century onwards, the place thus conceded to it re- mained unquestioned (Westcott, Canon of the N. Test.). Thus the epistle is quoted by Malchian, a presbyter of Antioch. in a letter to the bishops of Alexandria and Rome (EiLsebius, I/ist. Eccles. vii, 30), and by Palladius, the friend of Chrysostom (Chrysostom, Opp. xiii, Dial. cc, 18, 20), and is contained in the Laodicene (A.D. 3G3), Carthaginian (397), and so-called Apostolic catalogues, as well as in those emanating from the churches of the East and West, with the exception of the Synopsis of Clirysostom, and those of Cassiodorus and Ebed Jesu.
Various reasons might be assigned for delay in re- ceiving this epistle, and the doubts long prevalent re- specting it. The uncertainty as to its author, and his standing in the Church; the unimportant nature of its contents, and their almost absolute identity with 2 Pet. ii; and the suppon^-d quotation of apocryphal books, would all tend to create a prejudice against it, which could only be overcome by time, and the gradual recog- nition by the leading churches of its genuineness and canonicity.
At the Reformation the doubts on the canonical au- thority on this epistle were revived, and have been shared in by modern commentators. They were more or less entertained by Grotius, Luther, Calvin, Bergen, Bolten, Dahl, llichaelis, and the Magdeburg Centuria- tors. It has been ably defended by Jessien, De A uthen- tia Ep. Jucke, Lips. 1821.
There is nothing, however, in the epistle itself to cast suspicion on its genuineness; on the contrary, it rather impresses one with the conviction that it must have proceeded from the writer whose name it bears. An- other, forging a work in his name, would hardly have omitted to make prominent tlie personality of Judas, and his relation to our Lord, neitlier of which comes be- fore U8 in this epistle (Bleek, Einl. in. d X. Test. jj. 557). See Canox.
III. Time ami Place of Writinfj.— There are few, if any, external grounds for deciding these points, and the internal evidence is I)ut small.
1. The question of date is connected by many with that of its relation to 2 Peter (sec below), and an earlier or later period has lioen assigned to it according as it has been considered to have lieen anterior or posterior to that epistle. Attempts have also been made to prove a hte date for the epistle, from an alleged (piotation in it from the apocryphal book of Enoch (verse 13) ; but it ia by no means certain that the passage is a quotation from the now extant book of Enoch, and scholars have yet to settle when the book of Enoch was written, so that from this notliing can be inferred as to the date of this epistle.
From the character of the errors against which it is directed, however, it cannot be placed very early; though
ion that "in the last time" (fv iffx«T</J XP"v<(>, ver. 18-, comp. 1 John ii, 18, iffxan] wpa tori) forbids our placing it in the apostolic age at all. Lardner places it between A.D. G4 and 66, Davidson before A.D. 70, Credner A.D. 80, Calrnet, Estius, Witsius, and Neander, after the death of all the apostles but John, and perhaps after the fall of Jerusalem ; although considerable weight is to be given to the argument of De Wette {Einleit. in N. T. p. 300), that if the destruction of Jerusalem had already taken place, some warning would have been drawn from so signal an instance of God's vengeance on the " un- godly." From the allusion, however to the preaching of the apostles, we may infer that it was among the later productions of the apostolic age ; for it was written whilst persons were still alive who had heard apostles IS beginning to be- On the other hand, again, if the autlior were really the brother of Jesus, es- pecially an elder brother, we cannot well suppose him to have lived much beyond the middle of the first cen- tury. We mav therefore conjecturally place it about A.D. 66.
2. There are still less data from which to determine the place of writing. Burton, however, is of opinion that inasmuch as the descendants of " Judas, the brother of the Lord," if we identify him with the author of the epistle, were found in Palestine, he probably "did not absent himself long from his native country," and that the epistle was published there, since he styles himself " the brother of James," an expression most likely to be used in a country where James was well known" {Ec- cles. Hist, i, 334). With this locality will agree all the above considerations as to date.
IV. Persons to ichom the Epistle is addressed. — These are described by the writer as " the called who are sancti- fied in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ." From the resemblance of some parts of this epistle to the sec- ond of Peter, it has been inferred that it was sent to the same parties in Asia Minor, and with a view to enforcing the apostle's admonitions; whilst others, from the strong- ly Jewish character of the writing, infer that it was ad- dressed to some body of Jewish Christians in Palestine. From the fact that the parties addressed seem to have been surrounded by a large and wicked population, some have supposed that they may have dwelt in Corinth, whilst others suggest one of the commercial cities of Syria. The supposition that the parties addressed dwelt in Egypt is mere conjecture. But the address ( ver. 1) is applicable to Christians generally, and there is noth- ing in the body of the epistle to limit its reference ; and though it is not improbable that the author had a par- ticular portion of the Church in view, and that the Christians of Palestine were the immediate objects of his warning, the dangers described were such as the whole Christian world was exposed to, and the adver- saries the same which had everywhere to be guarded against.