Jud 1:5 Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, SUBSEQUENTLY DESTROYED those who did not believe.

Now I desire to remind you--This verse begins with a petition-oriented phrase.  The term “remind” is a petition verb meant to get the attention of the reader.  Remind (hupmone) could be translated “to select recognition of” (Perschbacher 421).  Jude in this verse is trying to get their attention to things that they have already known (Kelcy 174).

THOUGH ALL THINGS ONCE FOR ALL—See the notes on verse 3 for information on the word “all” and it’s usage in Jude. The ‘all things’ specifically refers to the way God deals with the godly in contrast to the ungodly and he will illustrate it in the proceeding verses. The phrase shows you know this truth so do not waver in the face of false teachers because the faith has been “delivered once and for all”.

that the Lord—Again the word Lord is emphasized which is a key word in the epistle, then the writer goes on to show an eternal character of the Lord (Gill e-sword). 

after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe—The eternal character of the Lord he is manifesting is that the righteous will be rewarded and the unbelieving will be punished.  He gives them an example they would immediately recognize and that is the Exodus account.  This is the beginning of a list of historical examples of ungodly people and here specifically a historical example of God’s judgment (Hiebert 230).

Jud 1:6 And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day.

AND ANGELS WHO DID NOT KEEP THEIR OWN DOMAIN—The preceding quotation is that which is shrouded in controversy.  There are many scholars that assume this is in reference to the book of Enoch (Green 165). For further discussion on the book of Enoch and its relation to Jude see notes on verse14. There are two major views on what these angels are in reference to.

1.  The angels that fell to pride and rebelliousness and followed Satan in his removal from the heavenly realm.

2.  The angels that supposedly had lust for the women on earth in Genesis 6 and left the heavenly realm to fulfill their lusts (Barclay 183-4).

The second possibility is far fetched and based on uninspired writings (Woods 531).  The first view is that which seems to be in most agreement with scripture (Barnes 1514).  In 2 Peter 2:4 Peter writes “For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but rather confined them to tartarus, and delivered them into chains of darkness, reserved for judgment” (EMTV). (For further notes on the comparison of Peter and Jude, see notes on verse 17).  Jude is illustrating an example of insubordination.  He illustrates this with the account of angels who did not keep/maintain (see notes on verse 1) their own “domain, magistracy or principality” (Vincent e-sword), but instead rebelled against their subordinate and sought to abandon their God ordained locale. Throughout the book the word “own” is used to describe a personal responsibility. The angels forsook their place God ordained for them.

BUT ABANDONED THEIR PROPER ABODE—(o idion oike¯te¯rion) this is a rare phrase in the New Testament, it is only used here and in 2 Corinthians 5:2 in reference to the body being the dwelling place of the spirit (Robertson).  The angels left where they belonged and instead of following the true Lord of verse 4 they rejected his authority (Clarke e-sword).  It is because of their rejection of God that…
        

He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness – God has them reserved and waiting for the judgment to come.  The angels here are in eternal bonds; they are everlasting (Thayer 14).  When angels fall there is no provision for there repentance.  Their destiny has been set, and that is why Jude again uses the word “kept” to describe the state in which they are forced to maintain.  The angels have rejected the authority of God are now in eternal bonds of darkness in which they cannot ever escape. (Sheerer 1108).  The word for darkness in this verse is not the typical word used in the New Testament skotia,but instead the word zophos.  Zophos is used to describe the “darkness of the nether regions” (Arndt 340).  This word again shows the parallel of this verse to 2 Peter 2:4 where zophos is used to describe the darkness that the banished angels abide in while awaiting…

for the judgment of the great day—This is the future last judgment of the creation (Gill e-sword).  This great day is the day Jesus refers to in Mathew 25:41. This judgment, the angels who left their proper abode will not be able to escape.  This verse brings to completion the second example given by Jude of ungodly beings “who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness”.

Jud 1:7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.

      just as sodom and gomorrah and the cities around them—jude turns to his third example to show the wicked are punished and the righteous are delivered.  The story found in Genesis 18 and 19 describes the destruction of the unrighteous people of the cities while righteous Lot and his family were spared (Clarke e-sword).

      The phrase “just as” does not always mean in the exact way (Arndt 905,6).  The phrase is used in verse 10 meaning a similar characteristic.  Jude is saying similar to the angels, Sodom and Gomorrah went astray.  This similar way is they both went beyond God’s law for them.

      SINCE THEY IN THE SAME WAY AS THESE—It has been held by some that this proves angels engaged in sexual intercourse with women.  The adherents state ‘they’ refers to “Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities,” while “these” goes back to verse 6 and is in reference to angels (Green 166,7).  They then argue that “in the same way” proves the angels were involved in unlawful sexual relations because the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah is sexual in nature (Hiebert 237).  As earlier stated this is based on uninspired scripture, and has little merit.  It should be rejected further for the following reasons:

1. The Greek word toutois has the same form in the masculine and neuter; therefore it can refer to Sodom and Gomorrah (Moulton 407).
2. The rule in Greek is that whenever you determine the antecedent of a pronoun, with more than one grammatical option, the nearer option should be selected.
3. Angels and women engaging in sexual intercourse would violate God’s Law of reproduction after own kind (Woods 391).

The conclusion of what Jude means by this phrase then is that the cities around Sodom and Gomorrah committed the same sins as Sodom and Gomorrah.

INDULGED IN GROSS IMMORALITY—This compound (ekporneuo) is only found here in the New Testament (Robertson e-sword).  The preposition ek in the compound denotes  “out and out” or “giving up utterly” (Vincent e-sword).  The word is used in the LXX to denote the participation in harlotry (Genesis 38:34; Exodus 34:15, 16).  Porneia refers to premarital sexual intercourse, adultery, bestiality, and homosexuality (Jackson 65).  The reference her is in relation to the gross homosexuality, which the citizens of these cities partook (Genesis 18:24 cf. 19:4,5). 

AND WENT AFTER STRANGE FLESH—The word for strange is heteros, which is used to refer to a difference “externally or internally” (Arndt 315).  It also can refer to another of a “different sort” (Vine 29).  The point is these people were going to another type of flesh.  This could refer to either men going after men, women going after women, or men and women going after beasts.  All of these fit with the type of debauchery present in Sodom and Gomorrah (Wolff 77).

It should be noted that the homosexual movement holds the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was not of a sexual nature, but rather it was about violence, class distinction, and unloving relationships (Williams 47-70).  Jude however shows the sin of these cities was of a sexual nature.

AS AN EXAMPLE—This word is peculiar to the book of Jude (Vincent e-sword).  It can mean a specimen (Robertson e-sword).  The root of the word means, “to give the evidence or proof of a thing” (Thayer 127).  The definition by Thayer seems to be the way it is used in this verse.

IN UNDERGOING THE PUNISHMENT OF ETERNAL FIRE—Sodom and Gomorrah serve as the evidence God will send ungodly men into an eternal punishment (Green 167).  The use of the word eternal shows the duration of this punishment.  Some have stated God will not punish those disobedient for eternity, opting rather for total annihilation (Smith 175).  Jude, however, states the length of the punishment to the wicked is the same as the length of the life to the godly (7 cf. 21).

The eternal example of Sodom and Gomorrah is used to remind the Christians of what will happen to those who leave “the faith once delivered.”  This fits in perfectly with the purpose of the book.