But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,

And ye, beloved, on your most holy faith building yourselves up, in the Holy Spirit praying,

But you, my dearly-loved friends, building yourselves up on the basis of your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,

And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said; and he took the land of the three sons of Anak, driving them out from there.

But you, beloved, keep building yourselves up in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.

But you must, dear friends, build up your characters on the foundation of your most holy faith, pray under the guidance of the Holy Spirit,

Vos autem dilecti, sanctissimæ vestræ fidei vosmet superstruentes, in Spiritu Sancti precantes,

But ye, beloved. He shews the manner in which they could overcome all the devices of Satan, that is, by having love connected with faith, and by standing on their guard as it were in their watch-tower, until the coming of Christ. But as he uses often and thickly his metaphors, so he has here a way of speaking peculiar to himself, which must be briefly noticed. He bids them first to build themselves on faith; by which he means, that the foundation of faith ought to be retained, but that the first instruction is not sufficient, except they who have been already grounded on true faith, went on continually towards perfection. He calls their faith most holy, in order that they might wholly rely on it, and that, leaning on its firmness, they might never vacillate. But since the whole perfection of man consists in faith, it may seem strange that he bids them to build upon it another building, as though faith were only a commencement to man. This difficulty is removed by the Apostle in the words which follow, when he adds, that men build on faith when love is added; except, perhaps, some one may prefer to take this meaning, that men build on faith, as far as they make proficiency in it, and doubtless the daily progress of faith is such, that itself rises up as a building. [1] Thus the Apostle teaches us, that in order to increase in faith, we must be instant in prayer and maintain our calling by love. Praying in the Holy Ghost. The way of persevering is, when we are endued with the power of God. Hence whenever the question is respecting the constancy of faith, we must flee to prayer. And as we commonly pray in a formal manner, he adds, In the Spirit; as though he had said, that such is our sloth, and that such is the coldness of our flesh, that no one can pray aright except he be roused by the Spirit of God; and that we are also so inclined to diffidence and trembling, that no one dares to call God his Father, except through the teaching of the same Spirit; for from him is solicitude, from him is ardor and vehemence, from him is alacrity, from him is confidence in obtaining what we ask; in short, from him are those unutterable groanings mentioned by Paul (Romans 8:26.) It is not, then, without reason that Jude teaches us, that no one can pray as he ought without having the Spirit as his guide.

Footnotes

1 - It is better to take "faith" here metonymically for the word or doctrine of faith, the gospel; and the sense would be more evident, were we to render heautous, "one another," as it means in 1-Thessalonians 5:13 20. "But ye, beloved, building one another on your most holy faith, (on the most holy doctrine which you believe,) praying by the 21. Holy Spirit, keep one another in love to God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. And on some, indeed, have compassion, making a difference; but others save with fear," etc. The whole passage would read thus better, when their duty towards one another is specifically pointed out. -- Ed.

But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith - Compare the notes at Jde 1:3. On the word "building," see the 1-Corinthians 3:9-10 notes; Ephesians 2:20 note. It is said here that they were to "build up themselves;" that is, they were to act as moral and responsible agents in this, or were to put forth their own proper exertions to do it. Dependent, as we are, and as all persons with correct views will feel themselves to be, yet it is proper to endeavor to do the work of religion as if we had ample power of ourselves. See the notes at Philippians 2:12. The phrase "most holy faith" here refers to the system of religion which was founded on faith; and the meaning is, that they should seek to establish themselves most firmly in the belief of the doctrines, and in the practice of the duties of that system of religion.
Praying in the Holy Ghost - See the notes at Ephesians 6:18.

Building up yourselves - Having the most holy faith - the Gospel of our Lord Jesus, and the writings of his apostles, for your foundation; founding all your expectations on these, and seeking from the Christ who is their sum and substance; all the grace and glory ye need.
Praying in the Holy Ghost - Holding fast the Divine influence which ye have received, and under that influence making prayer and supplication to God. The prayer that is not sent up through the influence of the Holy Ghost is never likely to reach heaven.

But ye, beloved,.... See Gill on ,
building up yourselves on your most holy faith; some copies, and the Complutensian edition, read, "our most holy faith"; meaning the doctrine of faith in all its branches, which is holy, a most holy doctrine; which displays the holiness of God, and is a means of beginning and increasing internal holiness in the saints, and of encouraging and exciting them to external holiness of life and conversation: this phrase, , "holy faith", is in use with the Jews (k): and it becomes the saints to build up one another upon this; the doctrine of faith, is a foundation to build upon, particularly what regards the person, offices, and grace of Christ, and is itself of an edifying nature; and they should not content themselves with their present knowledge of it, but seek for an improvement in it; and though they were passive when first built on Christ and his doctrines, and though ministers are greatly instruments in building of them up more and more; yet they are capable of building up themselves, and one another, by attending on the ministry of the word, and by private conversation, with each other, and particularly by
praying in the Holy Ghost; which is a special means of increase and establishment in the doctrine of faith; the Holy Ghost is the author and enditer of prayer, and an assister in it; without him saints cannot call God their Father, nor pray with faith and fervency, or with freedom and liberty,
(k) Zohar in Genesis. fol. 47. 4.

Resuming Jde 1:17.
building up yourselves--the opposite to the "separate themselves" (Jde 1:19): as "in the Holy Ghost" is opposed to "having not the Spirit."
on--as on a foundation. Building on THE FAITH is equivalent to building on Christ, the object of faith.
praying in the Holy Ghost-- (Romans 8:26; Ephesians 6:18). The Holy Spirit teaches what we are to pray for, and how. None can pray aright save by being in the Spirit, that is, in the element of His influence. CHRYSOSTOM states that, among the charisms bestowed at the beginning of the New Testament dispensation, was the gift of prayer, bestowed on someone who prayed in the name of the rest, and taught others to pray. Moreover, their prayers so conceived and often used, were received and preserved among Christians, and out of them forms of prayer were framed. Such is the origin of liturgies [HAMMOND].

Building up yourselves. Instead of separating from the faith.
Praying in the Holy Spirit. See notes on Ephesians 6:18.
Keep yourselves in the love of God. By holy lives and prayer.
On some have mercy, who are in doubt. See the Revision. The thought is to be very gentle and pitiful to those disturbed by doubt.
And some save, snatching them out of the fire. By snatching away from sin by the most vigorous effort. By stern preaching.
Some have mercy with fear. Mercifully point out the danger.
Hating even the garment, etc. All the while abhorring their sins.

But ye, beloved, not separating, but building yourselves up in your most holy faith - Than which none can be more holy in itself, or more conducive to the most refined and exalted holiness. Praying through the Holy Spirit - Who alone is able to build you up, as he alone laid the foundation. In this and the following verse St. Jude mentions the Father, Son, and Spirit, together with faith, love, and hope.