Jude 1:11 kjv

Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

Jude 1:11 nkjv

Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

Jude 1:11 niv

Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam's error; they have been destroyed in Korah's rebellion.

Jude 1:11 esv

Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error and perished in Korah's rebellion.

Jude 1:11 nlt

What sorrow awaits them! For they follow in the footsteps of Cain, who killed his brother. Like Balaam, they deceive people for money. And like Korah, they perish in their rebellion.

Jude 1 verses

Jude 1 11 Meaning

Jude 1:11 pronounces severe judgment ("Woe") upon ungodly false teachers who infiltrate the Christian community. These individuals are condemned for behaviors mirroring three infamous Old Testament figures: Cain, Balaam, and Korah. They walk in the way of Cain, characterized by envious hatred and rejection of God's prescribed worship, leading to hostility against the righteous. They rush greedily into the error of Balaam, motivated by a lust for illicit gain, which compromises spiritual truth and leads others astray into sin. And they are destined for destruction, having perished in a rebellion akin to Korah's audacious challenge to divine authority. This verse underscores that such persistent patterns of sin inevitably lead to divine wrath and ruin.

Jude 1 11 Context

Jude's concise epistle serves as an urgent call to the Christian faithful to vigorously defend the pure doctrine of their faith. Written to counter dangerous false teachers who had secretly entered the early church, the letter denounces their licentious lifestyle, their denial of Christ's authority, and their deceptive influence on believers. Verse 11 functions as a stark and threefold denunciation, directly linking the contemporary false teachers to specific historical figures from the Old Testament: Cain, Balaam, and Korah. This historical linkage underscores the gravity of their sin, suggesting that their corrupt path is not novel but mirrors patterns of rebellion long since condemned by God, thereby emphasizing the certainty of divine judgment that awaits them. The passage aims to warn believers against these ungodly individuals and reinforce the unchanging nature of God's justice against unrighteousness and rebellion within His people.

Jude 1 11 Word analysis

• "Woe" (οὐαί, ouai): An exclamation used as a cry of grief or as a severe denunciation, frequently signifying impending judgment or utter destruction. It conveys both sorrow over the spiritual state of the condemned and a powerful declaration of God's definitive retribution.
• "them" (αὐτοῖς, autois): Directly refers to the "ungodly men" and "scoffers" Jude describes throughout his letter, those who infiltrated the church and perverted its teachings.
• "gone" (ἐπορεύθησαν, eporeuthēsan): A past tense verb indicating a definite action, implying a chosen direction or a consistent manner of life they have embraced. It suggests a fixed path, not an accidental stumble.
• "way" (ὁδῷ, hodō): Greek hodos. Refers not just to a physical path, but metaphorically to a manner of conduct, a chosen lifestyle, or a system of belief and action. Here, it denotes their characteristic and adopted moral course.
• "Cain" (Κάϊν, Kain): Son of Adam, the first murderer (Gen 4). His "way" symbolizes self-willed disobedience, the rejection of God's chosen method of worship, bitter envy, hostility towards righteousness, and the murder of a righteous brother.
• "run greedily" (ἐξεχύθησαν, exechythēsan): A strong metaphorical phrase from ekcheō ("to pour out" or "shed"). It implies a reckless, uncontrolled, or abandoned rush into a particular behavior, demonstrating their unrestrained and passionate pursuit of the "error of Balaam."
• "error" (πλάνῃ, planē): Greek planē. Denotes a straying from truth, delusion, or active deception. It's more than a mere mistake; it suggests a fundamental deviation from God's way, often with an intention to mislead others.
• "Balaam" (Βαλαάμ, Balaam): A pagan prophet in Num 22-24, 31. His "error" exemplifies using spiritual gifting or divine knowledge for selfish, mercenary gain, attempting to curse God's people, and later advising Israel's enemies to lure them into idolatry and immorality for profit.
• "profit" (μισθοῦ, misthou): Greek misthos. Literally wages, reward, or hire. This word explicitly states the motivation behind Balaam's error and, by extension, the primary driver for these false teachers: material or financial gain. It exposes their mercenary spirit.
• "perished" (ἀπώλοντο, apōlonto): Indicative aorist middle/passive of apollymi. To be utterly destroyed, ruined, or eternally lost. This indicates not merely a temporary setback but a definitive and catastrophic end, referring to divine judgment.
• "rebellion" (ἀντιλογίᾳ, antilogia): Greek antilogia. Means contradiction, dispute, opposition, or defiance. It describes open resistance or audacious challenge to legitimate authority, especially that appointed by God.
• "Korah" (Κορὲ, Kore): A Levite who led a rebellion against Moses and Aaron's God-appointed leadership (Num 16). His "rebellion" represents arrogant usurpation of spiritual authority, prideful challenge to divine order, and defiance of God's chosen servants.

Words-group by words-group analysis:

• "Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain": This pronouncement of doom signifies the severe divine displeasure awaiting the false teachers. Their foundational spiritual error is aligned with Cain's, whose character embodied unrighteousness, jealous hatred of his righteous brother, and defiance of God's will regarding acceptable worship—leading ultimately to violence and a life apart from God's favor.
• "have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit": This vivid phrase depicts their unrestrained and fervent pursuit of financial gain. Their corruption, likened to Balaam's, involves perverting truth and leading others astray, explicitly for personal enrichment, highlighting a spiritual prostitution driven by avarice.
• "and perished in the rebellion of Korah": This describes their inevitable, destructive end, connecting it to the definitive divine judgment meted out to Korah and his followers. Like Korah, who proudly challenged God's divinely appointed authority and structure, these false teachers face spiritual ruin due to their arrogant opposition to established truth and leadership within the Christian community.

Jude 1 11 Bonus section

The "Woe to them" declaration in Jude 1:11 serves not just as a prophecy of doom, but also as an expression of sorrow and lament over the dire spiritual condition and inevitable fate of these individuals, echoing Christ's own lamentations. The selection of Cain, Balaam, and Korah is highly intentional and powerful. These three figures represent a cumulative scale of wickedness: Cain signifies rejection of personal accountability and hatred of righteousness (individual moral failure); Balaam illustrates corruption of spiritual gifts for greed, leading others astray (deception for profit); and Korah embodies outright, brazen rebellion against divine authority (organized rebellion against God's appointed order). This tripartite structure functions as a rhetorical crescendo, intensifying the condemnation and demonstrating that these pervasive sinful patterns recur throughout redemptive history, each inevitably met with certain divine judgment. The clear consequence for these types of actions across the Old Testament history emphasizes to Jude's audience that divine judgment on similar deeds in the present age would be equally inescapable and severe. The Epistle of Jude itself serves as a crucial theological warning against antinomianism, where individuals incorrectly presumed that God's grace granted license for immoral behavior; this verse emphatically debunks such a notion by connecting current depravity to past judgments.

Jude 1 11 Commentary

Jude 1:11 encapsulates the pervasive danger of apostasy by cataloging the core transgressions of false teachers through three historical types, each representing a distinct but interconnected form of spiritual perversion, all leading to divine condemnation. The "way of Cain" underscores the inherent evil that rejects God's divine standard and exhibits an envious, murderous disposition toward spiritual purity and righteousness, flowing from a self-righteous attitude. The "error of Balaam" highlights the corruption driven by covetousness, where spiritual insight or positions are prostituted for material gain, actively leading others into compromise and immorality. Finally, the "rebellion of Korah" points to the sin of open defiance against God-ordained authority, fueled by pride and a desire for illegitimate power or prominence, culminating in direct opposition to the divine order. Jude employs these vivid Old Testament examples to illustrate that such spiritual rebellion is not new, but carries consistent characteristics throughout history, ensuring that God's righteous judgment against them will be as sure and devastating as it was for these archetypal figures. These false teachers embody fundamental betrayals of faith: malice, avarice, and insolent insubordination, each deserving of God's profound "Woe."

Examples:

• A spiritual leader fosters bitter division, spreading lies about a righteous colleague due to personal jealousy and desire for more influence. (Cain)
• A charismatic speaker designs a prosperity gospel message that is skewed towards maximizing tithes and offerings for personal enrichment, encouraging followers into debt with false promises. (Balaam)
• An individual openly disrespects and undermines the established church leadership, challenging their authority without proper cause, driven by personal ambition and pride. (Korah)