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66

JUDE.

THE apostle who stands the tenth on Matthew's list, and is there called "Lebbeus whose surname was Thaddeus," is called in Mark's catalogue Thaddeus," and in Luke's, "Judas the brother of James." We cannot fail to remark how carefully he is always distinguished from the other Judas. Matthew and Mark avoid naming him by the name which he held in common with the traitor; and Luke takes care to distinguish him by adding to that ill-omened appellation that he was the brother of James.

Jude, Judas, and Judah are one and the same name. Jude is merely an English abbreviation of Judas, and Judas is only a Greek pronunciation of the old Hebrew name of Judah. It means the praise of the Lord. Thaddeus is derived from the same root, and has a similar signification. Lebbeus appears to mean a man of heart, or courage, being derived from a word signifying the heart. These two last names were probably adopted to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot. All that is said of him in the sacred histories

is, that at the last supper he asked Jesus why he was to manifest himself to his disciples, and not to the world. He was moved to put this question by the views which, in common with the other disciples, he entertained of the coming of the Messiah; who, as he thought, was to declare himself at last, with great pomp and external power. It was a mystery to him, therefore, how this victorious display was to be made to the small number of his disciples alone, and not to the whole admiring world. The answer of Jesus was not then, in all probability, understood. The meaning and substance of it was, that he and his Father would manifest themselves to those alone, and dwell in those alone, who loved him with that holy love, the fruits of which were righteousness and peace. tiful declaration of the

This strong and beauspirituality of the Mesadded to those which I

siah's kingdom is to be have already noticed. The circumstance is related by John in the fourteenth chapter of his Gospel, who designates the apostle as "Judas, not Iscariot." No light is anywhere thrown upon his character; and all that we know of his condition is, that he was the brother of James the Less, and consequently a cousin of our Lord.

Other accounts of this apostle are so various and contradictory, that it would be wasting time

to quote any of them. It is not known with certainty where he preached, or where he died, or whether he died a natural death, or suffered martyrdom. Most of the Latin writers say, that he travelled into Persia, where his labors were very successful; but where, having irritated the Magi by reproving them for their superstitious practices, he was put to a violent death. Some of the Greeks affirm that he died quietly at Berytus; and the Armenians contend that in their country he was martyred.*

There is a passage from the ancient writer Hegesippus, as quoted by Eusebius, from which it appears that Jude was perhaps an husbandman before he was an apostle, and that he had descendants. The passage is thus given by Lard

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"When Domitian made inquiries after the posterity of David, some grandsons of Jude,

*It is in vain to endeavor to learn anything of this apostle from the writings of the Fathers, who, as is very evident from their contradictory stories, knew nothing about him. They generally preferred, however, to record the most groundless legend, rather than to confess their ignorance. The men themselves," says Dr. Jortin, speaking of the Fathers, in his Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, "usually deserve much respect, and their writings are highly useful on several accounts; but it is better to defer too little than too much to their decisions, and to the authority of antiquity, that handmaid to Scripture, as she is called. She is like Briareus, and has a hundred hands, and these hands often clash, and beat one another."

called the Lord's brother, were brought before him. Being asked concerning their possessions and substance, they assured him that they had only so many acres of land, out of the improvement of which they both paid him tribute, and maintained themselves with their own hard labor. The truth of what they said was confirmed by the callousness of their hands. Being asked concerning Christ, and his kingdom, of what kind it was, and when it would appear, they answered, that it was not worldly and earthly, but heavenly and angelical; that it would be manifested at the end of the world, when, coming in great glory, he would judge the living and the dead, and render to every man according to his works. The men being mean, and their principles harmless, they were dismissed."

If the above passage be taken in connection with another from the old but doubtful book of the Apostolical Constitutions, in which the apostles are made to say, "Some of us are fishermen, others tent-makers, others husbandmen," the probability that Jude was a tiller of the soil is strengthened. At any rate, if the account of Hegesippus is to be relied on, he was married, and had descendants.

One epistle has been so generally ascribed to Judas, or Jude, that it has been admitted into the canon of the New Testament. There is

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hardly another book, however, in that canon, which has been so much disputed. And yet

there is no solid reason for rejecting the early tradition which gives it to this apostle. It was known in the first century, and there is no internal evidence against its apostolic origin. It was expressly quoted by Clement of Alexandria, who flourished about the year 194, and, after him, by succeeding Fathers. Lardner supposes it to have been written at some time between the years and 66, that is, a few years before the destruction of Jerusalem.

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October 28th is sacred, in the Western Calendar, to the memory of the Apostle Jude.

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