the second ἐλεᾶτε, and therefore of the second οὓς δέ. The reading διακρινόµενοι in KLP was a natural assimilation to the following nominative ἁρπάζοντες, and seemed, to those were not aware of the difference in the meaning of the active and middle of διακρίνω, to supply a very appropriate thought, viz., that discrimination must be used; treatment should differ in different cases.
The real difficulty however of the triple division is to arrive at a clear demarcation between the classes alluded to. ‘The triple divi- sion,” says Hort (4p. p. 107), “gives no satisfactory sense ” ; and it certainly has been very diversely interpreted, some holding with Kiihl that the first case is the worst and the last the most hopeful: “ Die dritte Klasse . . . durch helfendes Erbarmen wieder hergestellt wer- den kénnen, mit denen es also nicht so schlimm steht, wie mit denen, welchen gegeniiber nur ἐλέγχειν zu tiben ist, aber auch nicht so schlimm, wie mit denen, die nur durch rasche, zugreifende That zu retten sind’’; while the majority take Reiche’s view of a climax: ‘“a dubi- tantibus minusque depravatis . . . ad insanabiles, quibus opem ferre pro tempore ab ipsorum contumacia prohibemur”. My own view is that Jude does not here touch on the case of the heretical leaders, of whom he has spoken with such severity before. In their present mood they are not subjects of ἔλεος, any more than the Pharisees con- demned by our Lord, as long as they persisted in their hostility to the truth. The admonition here given by St. Jude seems to be the same as that contained in the final verses of the Epistle written by his brother long before: ἐάν τις ἐν ὑμῖν πλανηθῇ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ ἐπιστ- ρέψῃ τις αὐτόν, γινώσκετε ὅτι 6 ἐπιστρέψας ἁμαρτωλὸν ἐκ πλάνης ὁδοῦ αὐτοῦ σώσει ψυχὴν ἐκ θανάτου. The first class with which the believers are called upon to deal is that of doubters, διακρινόµενοι, men still halting between two opinions (cf. James i. 6), or perhaps we should under- stand it of disputers, as in Jude 9. These they are to reprove and con- vince (cf. John xvi. 8, 9, ἐλέγξει περὶ ἁμαρτίας ὅτι οὐ πιστεύουσιν εἰς ἐμέ). Then follow two classes undistinguished by any special characteristic, whose condition we can only conjecture from the course of action to be pursued respecting them. The second class is evidently in more imminent danger than the one we have already considered, since they are to be saved by immediate energetic action, snatching them from the fire; the third seems to be beyond human help, since the duty of ΄ the believers is limited to trembling compassion, expressing itself no doubt in prayer, but apparently shrinking from personal communica- tion with the terrible infection of evil. We may compare with this St. Paul’s judgment as to the case of incest in the Church of Corinth (1 Cor. v. 5), and the story told about Cerinthus and St. John.
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