Jude 5, Jesus, and the Exodus
Jude 5: Now I desire to remind you (even though you have been fully
informed of these facts once for all) that Jesus, having
saved the people out of the land of Egypt, later destroyed those who did
not believe. [NET Bible]
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NET Bible Commentary on Jude 5: " The reading *Ihsou'" (Ihsous, "Jesus")
is deemed too hard by several scholars, since it involves the notion of Jesus
acting
in the early history of the nation Israel. However, not only does this reading
enjoy strong support from a variety of early witnesses (e.g., A B 33 81 vg
et alii), but the plethora of variants demonstrate that scribes were uncomfortable
with it, for they typically exchanged kuvrio" (kurios, "Lord")
or qeov" (qeos, "God") for *Ihsou'" (though Ì72
has the intriguing reading qeoV" Cristov" [qeos Cristos, "God
Christ"] for *Ihsou'"). As difficult as the reading *Ihsou'" is,
in light of v. 4 and in light of the progress of revelation (Jude being one
of the last books in the NT to be composed), it is wholly appropriate.
sn (1:5) The construction our Master and Lord, Jesus Christ in v. 4 follows
Granville Sharp's rule (see tn (1:5) on Lord). The construction strongly
implies the deity of Christ. This is followed by a statement that Jesus was
involved in the salvation (and later judgment) of the Hebrews. He
is thus to be identified with the Lord God, Yahweh. Verse 5, then, simply
fleshes
out what is implicit in v. 4."
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The Old Testament narratives of the children of Israel being
led out of Egypt and through the wilderness is clearly the work of Yahweh.
["The LORD {Yahweh} replied...not one of the men who saw my glory and the
miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed
me and tested me ten times--not one of them will ever see the land I promised
on oath to their forefathers." {Numbers 14:20-23}]
The declaration that Jesus saved His people out of Egypt and later destroyed
the unbelieving is yet another powerful argument for Jesus not only being
God, but for Jesus being the revealed God of the Old Testament.
Note also that Judges 2:1 declares that the messenger
[malak--often translated as "angel"] of the LORD is the one who led the
Israelites out of Egypt!
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Jude 5 ESV Bible:
"Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus,
who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who
did not believe."
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