The New Testament Epistle of Jude is only 25 verses long—but it punches far above its weight when it comes to strange, ancient content. In just a few lines, Jude references imprisoned angels, sexual rebellion, fiery judgment, and a prophecy from a non-biblical book: 1 Enoch.
For modern Bible readers, Jude’s letter often raises more questions than answers. What angels did he mean? Why are they chained? Why does Jude quote Enoch—a book not found in our Bibles? And does this confirm that Genesis 6 was about angels?
Let’s unpack this passage, its connections to Second Temple thought, and what it means for us today.
Jude’s Shocking Statement About Angels
In verses 6–7, Jude makes this arresting claim:
“The angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—just as Sodom and Gomorrah… indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire…”
(Jude 6–7, ESV)
This tightly-packed pair of verses combines several heavy ideas:
- A group of angels “left their proper dwelling”
- These angels are now bound “in eternal chains”
- Their sin parallels that of Sodom and Gomorrah (suggesting sexual rebellion)
It’s not a stretch to say this would have made complete sense to Jude’s original readers—and almost no sense to a modern one unfamiliar with 1 Enoch or Second Temple Jewish literature.
Enoch, the Watchers, and the Angelic Fall
Jude’s main background source is unmistakably the Book of Enoch, written several centuries earlier (likely between 200–100 BC). The relevant section is 1 Enoch 6–16, often called the Book of the Watchers.
Here’s what it describes:
- A group of 200 angels—called “Watchers”—descended to earth
- They took human wives, violating heavenly boundaries
- Their children were the Nephilim—giants and tyrants of legend
- God judged both the angels and their offspring with a coming flood
- The worst offenders were bound in chains in subterranean darkness to await final judgment
Jude directly quotes this book just a few verses later:
“It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all…’”
(Jude 14–15, citing 1 Enoch 1:9)
He even emphasizes Enoch’s genealogy—“the seventh from Adam”—to establish its authority.
Jude’s point? The punishment of these angels is real. Their sin is real. And it stands as a pattern of judgment for all who rebel against God.
The Link to Genesis 6
Jude’s reference clearly echoes Genesis 6:1–4, which says:
“The sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose…”
Who are the “sons of God”? Interpretations vary:
- Sethite View: They were godly descendants of Seth marrying unbelieving women
- Royalty View: They were ancient kings who claimed divine status
- Angelic View: They were heavenly beings who took human wives
Jude (and 2 Peter) unmistakably endorse the third view.
Jude is not making a new claim—he is confirming a long-standing tradition among Jews and early Christians: Genesis 6 describes angels who sinned.
His terms echo 1 Enoch precisely: angels leaving their heavenly realm, kept in chains, awaiting judgment. Jude also links this fall to sexual sin, reinforcing the traditional reading.
A Shared View: Jude, Peter, and Early Christians
Jude’s teaching isn’t isolated. Peter echoes it twice:
“God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell [Greek: Tartarus] and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness…”
(2 Peter 2:4)
“…the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah…”
(1 Peter 3:19–20)
These aren’t vague references to demons—they are deliberate allusions to the Watchers narrative found in 1 Enoch and other Jewish traditions. Even Josephus, the 1st-century Jewish historian, described a similar angelic fall and the birth of giants:
“For many angels of God accompanied with women, and begat sons that proved unjust… men did what resembled the acts of those whom the Grecians call giants.”
(Antiquities 1.73)
But Does Jude Canonize Enoch?
Here’s the key issue: Jude quotes Enoch, but he doesn’t canonize Enoch.
Instead, he draws on a well-known tradition that his readers accepted as common knowledge. The Book of Enoch was widely read in Jewish communities and even among early Christians, especially in Ethiopia where it remains canonical in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
Jude’s quote affirms the truth of Enoch’s prophecy—but not necessarily the book’s full contents. He is using known imagery to underscore the certainty of judgment, not to elevate Enoch as Scripture.
In modern terms, it’s as if Jude is saying, “Even your old books agree: God will judge the ungodly. Just like He judged the angels.”
Wandering Stars and Eternal Chains
One of Jude’s most poetic moments is verse 13, where he describes these false teachers as:
“…wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.”
The phrase “wandering stars” might refer to planets—bright, unpredictable objects in the night sky—but ancient readers often associated them with fallen angels or celestial rebels. Jude layers the imagery: like the Watchers, these deceivers are off course, doomed to darkness.
Why This Matters
Jude may only be 25 verses long, but it bridges some of the Bible’s most mysterious stories:
- Genesis 6
- 1 Enoch
- The fall of angels
- Judgment for false teachers
His letter reminds us that biblical writers often shared a deep awareness of older traditions—some inside Scripture, some outside. Jude uses Enoch not to create a new doctrine, but to affirm an ancient warning: God will not ignore rebellion, spiritual or otherwise.
And for Christians, the hope lies not in avoiding judgment by knowledge, but by grace through Jesus Christ, whom Jude calls “our only Master and Lord” (v. 4).
Conclusion: Jude’s Testimony Stands
Jude doesn’t invent the Watchers story—he simply points to it as proof. Angels fell, giants were born, and the judgment came. And just as the flood once swept away rebellion, so will the final judgment come for those who reject Christ.
Yet Jude’s letter is also filled with urgency and hope:
“Keep yourselves in the love of God… waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.”
(Jude 21)
The real takeaway? The ancient stories weren’t meant to scare. They were meant to warn us toward grace, and call us back to the God who judges—and saves.
See the comparisons below. It’s quite a stretch to insist that Jude and Peter were somehow unaware of the wording they were using…
| Genesis 6 | 1 Peter | 2 Peter | Jude | Enoch 1 | Josephus |
| When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, | And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters. | Now this posterity of Seth continued to esteem God as the Lord of the universe, and to have an entire regard to virtue, for seven generations; but in process of time they were perverted, and forsook the practices of their forefathers… | |||
| the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. | For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, | And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling— | And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: ‘Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and beget us children.’ | For many angels of God accompanied with women, | |
| The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. | And they became pregnant, and they bare great giants, | and begat sons that proved unjust, and despisers of all that was good, on account of the confidence they had in their own strength; for the tradition is, that these men did what resembled the acts of those whom the Grecians call giants. | |||
| he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, | but cast them into hell [Greek: Tartarus] and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; | these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. | bind them fast for seventy generations in the valleys of the earth, till the day of their judgement and of their consummation, till the judgement that is for ever and ever is consummated. |
