The Path of Cain, Balaam, and Korah

The Letter of Jude E5 — In verses 11-16, Jude continues warning his Jewish messianic audience about deceptive, immoral people infiltrating their house churches. He compares them to three characters from the Hebrew Bible—Cain, Balaam, and Korah—who choose rebellion for themselves and lead others astray. Next, he compares the corrupt church members to a series of images from Scripture, including selfish shepherds, rainless clouds, and wandering stars. In this episode, Jon and Tim continue exploring Jude’s dense prose, where he seamlessly weaves together allusions to the Hebrew Bible and Second-Temple period literature into a piercing critique of imposters within a community of disciples.

FULL SHOW NOTES

For chapter-by-chapter summaries, referenced Scriptures, and reflection questions, check out the full show notes for this episode.

CHAPTERS

1. Cain, Balaam, and Korah (0:00-23:23)
2. Six Images of Corrupt Leaders (23:23-37:45)
3. The Prophecy of Enoch (37:45-55:42)

OFFICIAL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

View this episode’s official transcript.

BIBLEPROJECT JUDE TRANSLATION

View our full translation of the Letter of Jude.

REFERENCED RESOURCES

• Antiquities of the Jews by Josephus
• Check out Tim’s extensive collection of recommended books here.

SHOW MUSIC

• “Gentle Lamb” by Lofi Sunday, Yoni Charis
• “Purple Clouds ft. Marc Vanparla” by Lofi Sunday
• BibleProject theme song by TENTS 

SHOW CREDITS

Production of today’s episode is by Lindsey Ponder, producer, and Cooper Peltz, managing producer. Tyler Bailey is our supervising engineer, who also edited today’s episode and provided the sound design and mix. JB Witty writes the show notes. Our host and creative director is Jon Collins, and our lead scholar is Tim Mackie.

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