Jude 1 — Clausal Layout (English)

independentparticipialrelativepurposecausecomparativecontentconditionalphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended

Flush-left = a main (independent) clause. Each dependent line begins directly beneath the word it attaches to in the line above — the anchor word is dotted-underlined, and lights up when you hover its dependent clause; each tag also names the attachment. A dashed border marks verbless, elliptical, or suspended lines. Where a long sentence's staircase runs wider than the page, the diagram scrolls sideways. (In print, or without JavaScript, lines fall back to stepped indent columns.)

The greeting — to the called, beloved and kept 1:1–2

Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and brother of James,independent — the superscription — δοῦλος first; 'brother of James', not 'of the Lord'

to those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:phrase modifier — the dative address — two perfect participles bracket κλητοῖς: loved, and kept (the letter's keyword, vv. 6, 13, 21)

May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.independent — the wish-prayer — optative; ἔλεος and ἀγάπη return at vv. 21–23

The occasion — contend for the faith: intruders have crept in 1:3–4

v. 3 — the letter he meant to write, and the letter he had to

Beloved, though I was making every effort to write to you about our common salvation,participial — concessive frame — leans on ἔσχον below: the intended letter set aside

I found it necessary to write to youindependent — the main clause — ἀνάγκη: the emergency overrides the plan

appealing that you contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.participial — the letter's charge — ἐπαγωνίζεσθαι: agonistic; the faith delivered ἅπαξ, closed to revision

v. 4 — the ground: the intruders and their double perversion

For certain men have crept in unnoticed,cause — γάρ — why the necessity: παρεισδύω, a stealth entry

who long ago were designated for this condemnation,phrase modifier — apposition — προγεγραμμένοι: written up beforehand for the very judgment vv. 5–15 unfold

ungodly ones, who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousnessparticipial — ἀσεβεῖς — the letter's brand-word — with the first count: grace transposed into license

and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.participial — the second count — one article spans δεσπότην καὶ κύριον: both titles of Jesus

The reminder — three judgments: Egypt, the angels, Sodom 1:5–7

Now I want to remind you,independent — the reminder-frame — one infinitive carries the three limbs below

though you know all things once for all,participial — concessive — ἅπαξ read with εἰδότας, echoing the ἅπαξ-delivered faith of v. 3

that Jesus, having saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe;content — first limb — Ἰησοῦς with NA28 (the crux; ὁ κύριος / ὁ θεός are rivals): saved, then destroyed

and that the angels who did not keep their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling he has kept in eternal chains under gloom for the judgment of the great day;content — second limb — the τηρέω irony: they kept not, so they are kept (1 Enoch's Watchers)

as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, which in the same manner as these indulged in sexual immorality and went after strange flesh, are set forth as an example,comparative — third limb — ὡς: τούτοις points back to the angels; σαρκὸς ἑτέρας, flesh of another order

undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.participial — πυρὸς αἰωνίου taken with δίκην, not δεῖγμα — the still-smoking exhibit

The dreamers indicted — Michael's restraint, the woe, the nature-images 1:8–13

v. 8 — the triple offense of the dreamers

Yet in the same way these dreamers also defile the flesh,independent — Ὁμοίως — undeterred by the three examples; ἐνυπνιαζόμενοι: visionary pretension, kept inline with the first count

reject lordship,independent — the second count — κυριότης: the Lord's authority they deny (v. 4)

and blaspheme the glories.independent — the third count — δόξαι: angelic majesties, the foil for v. 9

vv. 9–10 — the Michael contrast: what the archangel dared not, these dare

But Michael the archangel,independent — the subject suspended over the temporal — from the lost Assumption of Moses

when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses,conditional — temporal frame — the archangel in litigation with the slanderer himself

did not dare to bring against him a reviling judgment,independent — the main verb resumes the suspended subject — restraint where the dreamers blaspheme

but said,independent — the counter — judgment deferred to the Lord

'May the Lord rebuke you.'content — Zech 3:2 — optative: even the devil is left to the Lord's rebuke

But these people blaspheme whatever they do not understand,independent — the first οὗτοι δέ — the ὅσα-relative kept inline: reviling the unknown

and whatever they do understand by instinct, like the irrational animals,relative — fronted relative — leans on φθείρονται below: instinct their only knowledge

by these things they are destroyed.independent — the resumption — ἐν τούτοις picks up the ὅσα: ruined by what they do grasp

v. 11 — the woe: Cain, Balaam, Korah

Woe to them!independent — the prophetic woe — verbless; the only NT epistolary οὐαί

For they went in the way of Cain,cause — first ground — Cain: the hater of the brother

and abandoned themselves to the error of Balaam for wages,cause — second ground — Balaam: μισθοῦ, genitive of price; ἐξεχύθησαν, poured out

and perished in the rebellion of Korah.cause — third ground — Korah: the aorist ἀπώλοντο, their doom already written

vv. 12–13 — the images: reefs, clouds, trees, waves, stars

These are the hidden reefs at your love-feasts,independent — the second οὗτοί εἰσιν — σπιλάδες: reefs beneath the surface of the ἀγάπαι

feasting together without fear,participial — ἀφόβως — no dread at the common table

shepherding only themselves,participial — Ezek 34:2 — shepherds who feed themselves

waterless clouds carried along by winds;phrase modifier — second predicate — promise without rain, driven, not driving

fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted;phrase modifier — third predicate — δὶς ἀποθανόντα: fruitless and rootless, a double death

wild waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame;phrase modifier — fourth predicate — Isa 57:20: the restless sea casting up its own disgrace

wandering stars,phrase modifier — fifth predicate — πλανῆται: lights that guide no one (1 Enoch's errant stars)

for whom the gloom of darkness has been reserved forever.relative — the column's seal — τετήρηται: 'kept', the angels' doom (v. 6) now theirs

The Enoch prophecy — the Lord comes with his myriads 1:14–16

It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied,independent — the citation-frame — 1 Enoch 1:9, quoted as prophecy; τούτοις: of these very men

saying,participial — the pleonastic participle of saying — one word carries the oracle

'Behold, the Lord came with his holy myriads,content — the theophany — prophetic aorist ἦλθεν: the coming seen as done

to execute judgment on all,purpose — first purpose — κατὰ πάντων: universal assize

and to convict every soulpurpose — second purpose — ἐλέγξαι: conviction with evidence

concerning all their works of ungodlinessphrase modifier — the first count of the charge — deeds

that they have done in an ungodly way,relative — attracted ὧν — the ἀσεβ- root hammered: ungodly works ungodly done

and concerning all the harsh thingsphrase modifier — the second count — words as well as works

that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.'relative — attracted ὧν — the oracle ends on ἀσεβεῖς, Jude's word for the intruders (vv. 4, 18)

These are grumblers, malcontents,independent — the third οὗτοί εἰσιν — the prophecy pinned to them: wilderness-style murmurers

following their own lusts;participial — the walk — πορευόμενοι, echoing the way of Cain (v. 11)

and their mouth speaks arrogant things,independent — ὑπέρογκα — the σκληρά of v. 15 heard in their own speech

flattering people for the sake of advantage.participial — plural ad sensum after τὸ στόμα — 'admiring faces': partiality for profit, Balaam's motive

The beloved fortified — remember, build, keep, triage 1:17–23

vv. 17–19 — remember the apostles' words; the dividers identified

But you, beloved, remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ,independent — the first Ὑμεῖς δέ — the counter-community; the attributive participle kept inline

that they were saying to you,content — the content of the remembering — imperfect: a standing apostolic refrain

'In the last time there will be scoffers,content — the prediction — ἐμπαῖκται (cf. 2 Pet 3:3): the intruders foretold

following after their own ungodly lusts.'participial — τῶν ἀσεβειῶν trails as hyperbaton on ἐπιθυμίας — v. 16's walk, verbatim

These are the ones who cause divisions,independent — the fourth and last οὗτοί εἰσιν — the prediction cashed out: the line-drawers

worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.phrase modifier — the double apposition — ψυχικοί who claim the Spirit have none

vv. 20–21 — the counter: one imperative, three participles

But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith,participial — fronted participle — leans on τηρήσατε below; the faith of v. 3 as foundation

praying in the Holy Spirit,participial — the second means — leans on τηρήσατε below; the Spirit the dividers lack (v. 19)

keep yourselves in the love of God,independent — the letter's one imperative to the beloved — τηρήσατε: keep, as you are kept (v. 1)

awaiting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.participial — the third participle — the ἔλεος of v. 2, now eschatological

vv. 22–23 — the triage: mercy, rescue, mercy with fear

And have mercy on those who waver;independent — first class — the longer three-clause text read (vv. 22–23 are the letter's textual tangle); διακρινομένους: the doubting

and others save, snatching them out of the fire;independent — second class — Zech 3:2 again: brands plucked from the burning; the fire of v. 7

and to others show mercy with fear,independent — third class — mercy still, but ἐν φόβῳ: rescue without contagion

hating even the garment stained by the flesh.participial — the caution — ἐσπιλωμένον echoes the σπιλάδες (v. 12): hate even the tunic the flesh has touched

The doxology — to him who is able to keep you from stumbling 1:24–25

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumblingindependent — the dative frame, suspended — the keeping (vv. 1, 21) handed back to God: ἀπταίστους, unstumbling

and to set you before his glory blameless, with great joy —content — the second infinitive of the ability — presented ἀμώμους, the sacrificial word, ἐν ἀγαλλιάσει

to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord,phrase modifier — the frame resumed — apposition to Τῷ δυναμένῳ: the only God, and the one Mediator (contrast the μόνον δεσπότην denied, v. 4)

be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority,independent — the ascription lands — fourfold, asyndetic until the last καί; unlike Rom 16:27, the sentence completes

before all time and now and unto all the ages. Amen.phrase modifier — the three-beat sweep — past, present, and every age to come; sealed with ἀμήν

Analysis. Jude's twenty-five verses run on a purple spine of short main clauses — παρεισέδυσαν, βούλομαι, μιαίνουσιν/ἀθετοῦσιν/βλασφημοῦσιν, οὐαὶ αὐτοῖς, the drumbeat οὗτοί εἰσιν (vv. 12, 16, 19) answered by Ὑμεῖς δέ (vv. 17, 20) — with two great suspensions at either end. The reminder of vv. 5–7 hangs its three example-limbs (Egypt, the angels, Sodom) side by side under the one word Ὑπομνῆσαι; the nature-images of vv. 12–13 stand as a verbless dashed column of predicates under εἰσιν — reefs, clouds, trees, waves, stars — sealed by the blue οἷς-relative that reserves the gloom of darkness forever; and the Enoch quotation (vv. 14–15) steps down five levels from Προεφήτευσεν through λέγων to the attracted ὧν-relatives. The doxology (vv. 24–25) is the letter's other deep shape: the dative frame Τῷ δὲ δυναμένῳ suspended (dashed) over its two infinitives, resumed in the apposition μόνῳ θεῷ σωτῆρι ἡμῶν, and completed — unlike Rom 16:25–27's anacoluthon — by the verbless fourfold ascription δόξα μεγαλωσύνη κράτος καὶ ἐξουσία with its three-beat sweep of time. Choices taken: Ἰησοῦς is read at v. 5 with NA28 (the harder reading; ὁ κύριος / ὁ θεός are the rivals), and ἅπαξ construed with εἰδότας ('knowing all things once for all'), not with σώσας; the ὡς of v. 7 attaches Sodom to the reminder as its third limb, τὸν ὅμοιον τρόπον τούτοις pointing back to the angels; ὅτε (v. 9) and the fronted participles of vv. 3 and 20 lean forward, protasis-like, on their main verbs below; πυρὸς αἰωνίου (v. 7) is taken with δίκην, not δεῖγμα; θαυμάζοντες (v. 16) is plural ad sensum after the singular τὸ στόμα; and vv. 22–23 follow the longer three-clause text (ἐλεᾶτε … σῴζετε … ἐλεᾶτε), the disturbed shorter readings noted at the data file.