only respecting these, and not to the antediluvians only ; for he says, all: ver. 15. — s/Sdo/Aog, the seventh) The antiquity of the prophecy is shown, ver. 4 ; for it appears to have been the earliest respecting the coming of the J udge. There were only five fathers between Enoch and Adam : 1 Chron. i. 1 ; and the translation of Enoch took place earlier than a.m. 1000 : and this very title is peculiar to Enoch, and of frequent use among the Hebrews. The seventh from Adam , is an expression not without mystery ; for in him who is thus described, freedom from death and a sacred number are combined : for every seventh object is most highly valued. The Fragment of Enoch, indeed, relates a tenfold septenary : inasmuch as those un- godly men, who were overwhelmed ’with the deluge, bzdhrsc in) ifido- (irxovru yeveag s)g rug vunag rrjg yrjg, shall be bound to dark valleys of the earth for seventy generations, even until the day of their judg- ment. See Heidan. de Orig. Err., p. 174. — un'o ’ Adu,u, from Adam) The first coming of Christ was foretold to Adam ; the second to Enoch. The seventh from Adam prophesied the things which shall close the seventh age of the wrorld. — ’Evw^, Enoch) Who shall de- termine, whether St J ude took this also from some ancient book, or from tradition, or from immediate revelation ? If from a book, it is however judged to be different from that against which Bangius disputes, in his Treatises on the Origin of Letters, espe- cially p. 94. Comp. Suicer’s Thesaurus, P. i. col. 1131. — Kupiog , the Lord) The name of Jehovah was already known in the time of Enoch. — iv ufiuig pvpiuM, amidst holy myriads) of angels : Matt, xxv. 31. A mysterious ellipsis1 was suitable to those early times.
15. KpiffiVj judgment) Enoch looked forward beyond the deluge. — %uru nuvrm, against all men) wTho have sinned. A general descrip- tion (the genus). — i^sX'sy^ui2 to convince) The conviction, which there was even then, will be completed in the judgment. A pro- cess of conviction is employed against those who are unwilling to know. — nuvrug robg uffefi&Tg, all the. ungodly) A particular description (the species). — iXuXqffuv, have spoken) ver. 8, 10. — xar auroD, against Himself) even though they had not thought that all their ungodly
1 A mysterious ellipsis : i.e. an ellipsis intentionally hiding the details, not revealing that which we now know, that it shall be with holy myriads of angels. — T.
2 However the simple ihiy^au is considered preferable in the margin of both Ed.— E. B.
ABC Yulg. (“ arguere ”) read ihiy^ou : but Rec. Text, e&xiyi*!, with modern and cursive MSS E.