body of Moses ) He is plainly speaking of the identical body of Moses, now lifeless. In a matter full of mystery, we ought not to alter that part of the language which is plain, according to our own convenience. The devil, who had the power of death, and there- fore perhaps claimed the right of hindering the resurrection of Moses, made some attempt, whatever it was, against the body of Moses.1 — ou% sroX/xYjffs, did not dare) Modesty is an angelic virtue. The greater was the victory at length given to Michael : Apoc. xii. 7. — The Synopsis of Sohar, p. 92, n. 6. It is not permitted man igno- miniously to rail at a race opposed to him ; that is, evil spirits. — Selioett- genius. ovx, — aXX’ wg, Rom. ix. 32. — (3\aff<pr)fiia,g, of railing) that is, fiXdotprifAov, railing, 2 Pet. ii. 11. — cot , punish thee) An instance of the Divine reserve. — K vpiog, the Lord) and none but He. To His judgment the angel assents beforehand [in advance].
10. "Off a) all things , which . — ovx, dlbuffi , they are not acquainted with) This is said of spiritual things, belonging to God and the saints. — (pvaixwg, naturally) by their natural faculties, respecting natural things, by a natural mode of knowledge, and a natural appetite. That which is physical is here opposed to that which is spiritual , ver. 19. — g^/Vravra/, they know) A more subtle knowledge is conveyed by the former expression, o’ibaffi , they are (not) acquainted with. — pkipovrui, they perish [“corrupt themselves”]) Comp, the following verse.
11. Oua/, woe!) Jude alone of the apostles, and he in this pas- sage only, threatens a woe , from a threefold reason, which follows immediately. To the same purport, Peter calls them accursed children !2 — ro D Kd/V, of Cain) the murderer of his brother. — roD BaXaa/A, of Balaam) the false prophet. — fuffdov) for reward. —
Otjffav) they have been poured forth , like a torrent without a bank. — dmXoy/a, in the gainsaying) rn'HD, Septuagint, amXoy/a. — roO Kopg, of Korali) thrusting himself into the priesthood.
12. ’Ey raTg ayavaig v/tiuv, in your agapce [love-feasts’]) in your banquets by which brotherly love is nourished. — ffmXabsg) As there is a Paronomasia between Peter and Jude on the words dydcr aig and uwuroug, so there is an instance of Homonymia3 between the same writers in the words tfcr^Xo/, 2 Pet. ii. 13, and oviXudeg, in this passage : for ffffriXddsg may be taken for “spots” ( maculae ), as the Vulgate
1 For a full discussion of the subject, see Michaelis’ Introduction, by Bishop Marsh, vol. 6. — T.
8 Accursed children — literally, sons of cursing, maledictionis filios. — T.
8 For Homonymia and Paronomasia, see Append.— E.