Die einde is hier! Tekstuele strategie en historiese verstaan in die Judasbrief

Abstract

'The end is here!' Textual strategy and historical understanding in the Letter of Jude. After a brief discussion of the performative functions of persuasive discourse in general, the sociohistorical context of the letter of Jude is constructed. This is followed  by a literary analysis of the rhetorical strategies in the letter in order to persuade the intended readers to reject a group of teachers in their midst with conflicting perceptions of reality. In this regard, the author's transtextual reinterpretation and contextual application of well-known motifs, persons and groups from Jewish history, who all serve as types  of divine intervention and punishment, receive particular attention. Jude applies the principles of identification and association to villify his opponents. By hermeneutically shifting the emphasis from his present context to the past, Jude, through various textual strategies, identifies the opponents with the notorious 'archetypes of sinners' from history who defined the nature of sin and disobedience to God. But, at the same time, the present 'chaos' caused by these teachers are also related to the final eschatological events in the divine calender.