AUTHOR: The author of this epistle has been identified as “Judas, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James” [James 1:1]. Six men appear in the Scriptures with that name: Judas Iscariot, chosen by Jesus to be an apostle [ Mt 10:4 ], the brother of Jesus [ Mt 13:55 ], the apostle, son of James, also called Thaddeus [ Mt 10 :3] and [Lk 6:16], a Christian from Damascus, in whose house Paul stayed, after his conversion [Acts 9:11], a prominent Christian in the Church of Jerusalem, also called Barsabbas [Acts 15 :22-32 ] and finally Judas the Galilean, a revolutionary [Acts 5:37 ]. The early Church has identified Judas as the half brother of Jesus [Mt 13:55] and [Mk 6:3], who, like his brothers, did not believe in Jesus until after his resurrection [Mk 3:21], [Mark 3:31] and [Acts 1:14].

THEME: The theme of Judas is perseverance in faith. Jude shows urgency in his purpose of warning Christians against false teachers, urging Christians to contend for the faith that was once given to the saints [Jude 1:3]. His purpose was to have Christians recognize the danger of false teachings and protect themselves and other believers. He exhorts his readers to grow in the knowledge of Christian truth [ Jude 1:2 ], to have a firm witness for the truth [ Jude 1:3 ] and to seek to rescue those whose faith has faltered [ Jude 1:22- 23 ].

COMPILATION: There is no consensus regarding the date on which this letter was written. For some this epistle was written before 2 Peter, therefore before the year 65 A.D., for others it was written after 2 Peter, as many scholars believe, around the year 80 A.D. It consists of 1 chapter and 25 verses.