Who is the author? “Jude” was a quite common name in Israel in New Testament times.
Definitely “top ten” in the list of most popular baby names for boys in this era. Variants include “Judah” (the Hebrew root) and “Judas” (the Greek derivative). Even if this man’s given name was “Jude” it is likely to have been pronounced “Judah,” as there really isn’t a “silent e” concept in Hebrew or Aramaic. The name itself means “God be praised.”
There are three prominent men in the New Testament who share this name. Judas Iscariot; another apostle also named Judas (see Luke 6:16; Acts 1:13); and Judas the brother of Jesus (Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3). This last choice is more likely. The author does not claim to be an apostle and even seems to separate himself from the apostles (v. 17). In addition, he describes himself as a “brother of James” (v. 1). Ordinarily, a person in Jude’s day would describe himself as someone’s son rather than as someone’s brother. The “James” named here is the same man who authored the book of James in the Bible, and who was a prominent leader in the church at Jerusalem at that time. Plus, this “James” was also a sibling of Jesus.
Although neither Jude nor James described himself as a brother of the Lord, others did not hesitate to speak of them in this way (Matthew 13:55; John 7:3–10; Acts 1:14; 1 Corinthians 9:5; Galatians 1:19). There are four male siblings of Jesus identified by name in the Bible: Jacob, Joseph, Simon, and Judah (perhaps Jude was the baby of the family?), but none of them were believers in Jesus until after they had witnessed Christ’s resurrection. They were generally identified with the disciples after Christ’s ascension (Acts 1:14), and extra-biblical historical sources and church tradition hold they all became prominent leaders and missionaries in the early church, particularly among ethnically Jewish believers. Specifically, Jude was traditionally identified as a traveling missionary and teacher. However, both James and Jude apparently refused to publicize the fact that they grew up in the same household as Jesus Christ, instead relying on Jesus’ message and how they were transformed by the Holy Spirit as their basis for the spreading of the gospel.
Unlike all of Paul’s letters, Jude’s letter is not addressed to any person, specific church, or Christian community. But because of his writing style and the references he makes, we can logically conclude that his intended audience consisted of believers in Jesus who were ethnically Jewish, and who were intimately familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures, as well as other popular Jewish literature of the time. But he is addressing a particular crisis the intended recipients of his letter were experiencing, which helps put the design and structure of his letter into perspective.
Because of its brevity, the structure/outline is easy to discern -- verses 1 through 4 announce his thesis — an opening warning about corruption coming into the church, urging Jude’s listeners to actively defend the faith. Verses 5-19 lay out Jude’s accusations against the corrupt influences he sees in the church. He wraps up the letter in verses 20-25 by instructing what this community of Christians needs to do.
As an aside, the subject matter of Jude’s letter relates very closely to what Peter warns of and addresses in his second letter, in 2 Peter chapters 2 and 3.
