John Calvin Commentary Jude 1:14

"And to these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones," — Jude 1:14 (ASV)

And Enoch also. I am more inclined to think that this prophecy was unwritten, rather than taken from an apocryphal book, for it may have been passed down by memory to posterity by the ancients. If anyone were to ask why—since similar sentences occur in many parts of Scripture—he did not quote a testimony written by one of the prophets, the answer is obvious: he wished to repeat from the most ancient times what the Spirit had pronounced concerning them. This is what the words imply, for he says expressly that he was the seventh from Adam, in order to emphasize the antiquity of the prophecy, because it existed in the world before the flood.

But I have said that this prophecy was known to the Jews through oral tradition. If anyone thinks otherwise, I will not argue with him, nor, indeed, concerning the epistle itself—whether it is Jude's or someone else's. In doubtful matters, I only follow what seems probable.

Behold, the Lord cometh, or came. The past tense, in the manner of the prophets, is used for the future. He says that the Lord would come with ten thousand of his saints; and by saints he means the faithful as well as angels, for both will adorn the tribunal of Christ when he descends to judge the world.

He says, ten thousand, as Daniel also mentions myriads of angels (Daniel 7:10), so that the multitude of the ungodly may not, like a violent sea, overwhelm the children of God. Instead, they should remember that the Lord will one day gather his own people, some of whom are dwelling in heaven, unseen by us, and some are hidden under a great mass of chaff.

But the vengeance awaiting the wicked should keep the elect in fear and watchfulness. He speaks of deeds and words, because these corrupters did much evil, not only by their wicked life but also by their impure and false speech. And their words were hard on account of their defiant arrogance, by which, being puffed up, they behaved insolently.