Charles Ellicott Commentary Jude 1:11

"Woe unto them! For they went in the way of Cain, and ran riotously in the error of Balaam for hire, and perished in the gainsaying of Korah." — Jude 1:11 (ASV)

Three examples of similar wickedness: Cain, Balaam, Korah.

Woe to them! This is an echo of Christ’s denunciations in the first three Gospels, by which the description of these evildoers momentarily takes a denunciatory form. The past tenses immediately following are used because the writer, in thought, places himself at the moment when these men reap the consequences of their sins. Their punishment is so certain that he regards it as having already come.

In the way of Cain. This refers to the first great criminal, the first to outrage the laws of nature. Explanations suggesting that these libertines followed Cain by murdering men’s souls with their corrupt doctrine, or by persecuting believers, and other, even more curious suggestions, are needlessly far-fetched.

John 8:44 and 1 John 3:15 are not strictly relevant here. While these ungodly men may have hated and persecuted the righteous, Jude does not tell us so. Sensuality is always selfish, but by no means always ill-natured or malignant.

Ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward. The Greek for “ran greedily” literally means “they were poured out in streams;” the Greek for “error” can also mean “deception.” Hence, three renderings are possible:

1. As the Authorised Version.
2. “They ran greedily after the deception of Balaam’s reward.”
3. “They were undone by the deception of Balaam’s reward.”

The first rendering is best. “Reward” in the Greek is the genitive of price. Compare to the rewards of divination (Numbers 22:7); they hired against thee Balaam (Deuteronomy 23:4; Nehemiah 13:2).

Here, again, far-fetched explanations can be avoided. The allusion is obvious: running counter to God’s will from self-interested motives. Possibly, there is also some allusion to Balaam’s causing the Israelites to be seduced into licentiousness (Revelation 2:14).

Perished in the gainsaying of Core—that is, through rebellion like that of Korah, referring to his speaking against Moses in the revolutionary opposition he headed. These libertines, like Korah, treated sacred ordinances with contempt.

The triplet in this verse, like that in Jude 1:8, is parallel to the three examples of God’s vengeance in Jude 1:5-7. Cain, like the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrha, outraged the laws of nature; Balaam, like the impure angels, despised the sovereignty of God; Korah, like those who disbelieved the report of the spies, spoke evil of dignities.