Jude 1:8
Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones.
English Standard Version (ESV)
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The word for "dreamers" here doesn't just mean people who have literal dreams, but those lost in deluded, imaginary thinking that ignores reality. This disconnect fuels their contempt for any authority, spiritual or earthly, and leads them to reckless self-indulgence and harmful speech.
Jude is applying the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah to false teachers within the church. These individuals are characterized by their "dreaming" – a metaphor for their deluded spiritual state and baseless teachings – which leads them to indulge in sexual immorality, reject any form of authority (both earthly and heavenly), and insult powerful spiritual beings. Jude uses these past examples of divine judgment to warn his readers about the present danger posed by these corrupting influences within their communities.
Jude calls these false teachers 'dreamers.' But this isn't about pleasant dreams! It's about a dangerous delusion that leads to real-world destruction.
The term "dreamers" (or "men dreaming") here isn't about nighttime visions. It paints a picture of people living in a fantasy world of their own making, disconnected from reality and truth.
A World of "Fantasies"
These false teachers don't just cause trouble on earth; their rebellion reaches into the heavenly realms. Who are they really challenging?
Jude accuses these individuals of two serious offenses: despising dominion and speaking evil of dignities. This isn't just about disrespecting human leaders; it's a direct assault on heavenly authority.
Levels of Rebellion
Understand the original words
miainousin · Greek Verb
To stain, pollute, or render ceremonially or morally unclean, often referring to the corruption of one's physical body or the community of faith.
blasphēmousin · Greek Verb
To speak irreverently, mockingly, or slanderously against God, His attributes, His people, or celestial beings; an affront to divine majesty.
Jude draws upon a long history of God's judgment against rebellion, rebellion that often manifested as sexual immorality and defiance of God's authority. The false teachers he confronts mirror these ancient patterns, leading Jude to warn believers to contend for the faith against those who promote licentious freedom and disrespect spiritual order.
c. 1400 BC
Israelites Rebell Against God
After God delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, many rebelled against Him in the wilderness. God judged them with plagues and fiery serpents, and many died. This sets a precedent for God's judgment on disobedience and rebellion.
722 BC
Assyrian Captivity of Israel
The Northern Kingdom of Israel was conquered and its people exiled by the Assyrian Empire due to their persistent idolatry and disobedience.
586 BC
Babylonian Captivity of Judah
The Southern Kingdom of Judah fell to the Babylonians, its Temple was destroyed, and its people were exiled. This represented a major judgment for covenant unfaithfulness.
c. 1st Century AD
Rise of Antinomian Gnostic Sects
Various early Gnostic groups emerged, some of which taught that the material world was evil and that spiritual attainment freed one from moral law, leading to licentious behavior.
This passage directly parallels Jude's description of these false teachers, using similar language to describe their contempt for authority and their indulgence in sinful desires.
Genesis 19:5Jude is drawing a direct parallel between the sinfulness of these false teachers and the inhabitants of Sodom, highlighting their moral corruption and defiance.
Exodus 22:28This verse addresses the respect due to those in positions of authority, providing a contrast to the 'despising dominion' and 'blaspheming the glorious ones' that Jude condemns.
Isaiah 56:10The imagery of 'dreamers' here, specifically referencing blind watchmen who are themselves asleep and ignorant, echoes Jude's depiction of false teachers who are deluded and ineffective.
Daniel 10:13This verse mentions angelic 'princes' or 'chiefs' (similar to 'glorious ones' or 'dignities') who hold authority, providing a context for understanding what Jude's readers might have considered 'dignities' that should not be blasphemed.
gillJude 1:8: "Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities."
Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh,.... Which may be literally understood, either of the Jewish doctors, who pretended to be interpreters of dreams, as R. Akiba, R. Lazar, and others (n); or of the false teachers in the apostle's time, and of their filthy dreams, and nocturnal pollutions in them; which sense the Arabic and Ethiopic versions confirm; the former rende…
pulpitJude 1:8: "Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities."
Verse 8. - Having set in the forefront of his warnings these terrible instances of gross sin and overwhelming penalty, the writer proceeds to deal with the real character of the insidious troublers and corrupters of the Churches of his time. He describes them as filthy dreamers; or better, as the Revised Version puts it, men in their dreamings - an expression pointing to the foul and…
The word for "dreamers" here doesn't just mean people who have literal dreams, but those lost in deluded, imaginary thinking that ignores reality. This disconnect fuels their contempt for any authority, spiritual or earthly, and leads them to reckless self-indulgence and harmful speech.
Jude is applying the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah to false teachers within the church. These individuals are characterized by their "dreaming" – a metaphor for their deluded spiritual state and baseless teachings – which leads them to indulge in sexual immorality, reject any form of authority (both earthly and heavenly), and insult powerful spiritual beings. Jude uses these past examples of divine judgment to warn his readers about the present danger posed by these corrupting influences within their communities.
Jude is applying the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah to false teachers within the church. These individuals are characterized by their "dreaming" – a metaphor for their deluded spiritual state and baseless teachings – which leads them to indulge in sexual immorality, reject any form of authority (both earthly and heavenly), and insult powerful spiritual beings. Jude uses these past examples of divine judgment to warn his readers about the present danger posed by these corrupting influences within their communities.
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c. AD 64— this verse
False Teachers Corrupting the Church
Jude addresses his letter to believers facing infiltration by false teachers who distort grace into licentiousness, reject legitimate authority, and disrespect spiritual realities.
c. AD 66
Destruction of Jerusalem and Temple
While not directly addressed by Jude, the impending destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by Rome served as a profound judgment for unfaithfulness, echoing the Old Testament patterns Jude cites.
"Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones." — The word for "dreamers" here doesn't just mean people who have literal dreams, but those lost in deluded, imaginary thinking that ignores reality. This disconnect fuels their contempt for any authori…
