Terrance Callan, «Use of the Letter of Jude by the Second Letter of Peter» biblica, Vol. 85 (2004) 42-64 page 44

Vol 85 (2004)

Terrance Callan, «Use of the Letter of Jude by the Second Letter of Peter», Vol. 85 (2004) 42-64

Assuming that 2 Pet 2,1–3,3 is dependent on Jude 4-18, this essay describes in detail the way the author of 2 Peter has used Jude’s material. It is clear that the author of 2 Peter has not simply incorporated Jude, as is sometimes asserted. Rather, 2 Peter has thoroughly reworked Jude to serve its own purposes. 2 Pet 2,1–3,3 is best described as a free paraphrase of Jude 4-18. The relationship between the two texts is similar to the relationship between 1 Clem 36.2-5 and Heb 1,3-13.

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44 Terrance Callan letter criticized both the content of their teaching and the immoral behavior that flowed from it. Jude is mainly a critique of the immoral behavior of its opponents (6). However, the author of 2 Peter adapted Jude to serve as an argument against both the teaching and the behavior of its opponents. In order to do so, 2 Peter made rather free use of Jude. In adapting Jude, the author of 2 Peter also changed Judeâ€™s critique of a group presently confronting its readers into prediction of a group that will confront the readers of 2 Peter in the future. This may have been required by the fiction that the author is Peter, writing in the past. This was not difficult to do; it was mainly a matter of changing the aorist of Jude 4 into future tense in 2 Pet 2,1-3. Jude 5-7.9 describe historical precedents for the error of Judeâ€™s present opponents, and Jude 17-18 contains a prediction of their arrival; both of these served 2 Peterâ€™s purpose without alteration of tense. And Judeâ€™s description of its opponents in present tense in vv. 8.10-13, and 16 could be used as a description of the future opponents predicted by 2 Peter, taking its meaning in 2 Peter from the tense of 2,1-3. However, the author of 2 Peter made several other changes in the tense of the verbs he took from Jude; these will be noted below. In what follows I will consider each section of 2 Pet 2,1â€“3,3 in turn and discuss the way the author has used Jude in that section. 1. Jude 4(-5) / 2 Pet 2,1-3 2,1 âˆ†Egevnonto de; kai; yeudoprofh'tai ejn tw'/ law/' wJ" kai; ejn uJmi'n e[sontai yeudodidavskaloi, oi{tine" 1,4 pareisevdusan gavr tine" a[nqrwpoi, pareisavxousin aiJrevsei" oiJ pavlai progegrammevnoi eij" tou'to to; ajpwleiva" krima, ajsebei'", th;n tou' qeou' hJmw'n v cavrita metatiqevnte" eij" ajsevlgeian kai; to;n movnon despovthn kai; kuvrion kai; to;n ajgoravsanta aujtou;" despovthn hmw'n âˆ†Ihsou;n Cristo;n ajrnouvmenoi. J arnoumenoi. ejpavgonte" eJautoi'" j v tacinhn ajpwvleian, ; 2,2 kai; polloi; ejxakolouqhvsousin aujtw'n tai'" ajselgeivai" diâˆ† ou} hJ oJdo;" th'" ajlhqeiva" blasfhmhqhvsetai, (6) For descriptions of the purpose of Jude see BAUCKHAM, Jude, 2 Peter, 11- 13; WATSON, Invention, 29-30; NEYREY, 2 Peter, Jude, 31-32; L. THURÃ‰N, â€œHey Jude! Asking for the Original Situation and Message of a Catholic Epistleâ€, NTS 43 (1997) 451-465.