Doubt or dispute (Jude 9 and 22-23) 213 the verb diakrivnomai that denotes a form of intrapersonal conflict, “doubt”. However, independent evidence (i.e., independent from a special NT meaning argument) for the existence of such an intrapersonal struggle within some of the faithful, and thus, evidence for a subgroup of “doubting-faithful”, is lacking (38). If someone reveals an inner disconnect with reality, it is the infiltrator who is lost in a dream world (v. 8); if one is empty inside, it is the infiltrator who is like a cloud without water (v. 11); and if one reveals that which fills this inner emptiness, it is the infiltrator who is a wild wave that coughs up shame (v. 13). Once interpretations of diakrivnomai with the special NT meaning, “doubt”, are abandoned, it is possible to see that Jude’s introduction of the plural diakrinomevnou" without further explanation suggests that this group of persons is already known to his audience — Jude consistently portrays them (vv. 4-21) as a force that threatens the faithful. Of the two groups mentioned throughout Jude’s letter, the faithful and the infiltrators/querulous murmurers/separatists, only the latter fits the profile of diakrinomenoi, i.e., disputers (39). The translation “disputers” for diakrinomevnou" fits both within the classical/Hellenistic range of meaning and within the literary context of the letter, describing the final characteristic of the infiltrators (40). (38) In contrast, ALLEN, New Possibility, 140-141 translates diakrivnomai “doubt”, and discovers “shadows of Jude’s concern for those who doubt” throughout the letter. These “shadows”, however, are cast solely by his assumption that there exists a special NT meaning for diakrivnomai and lead to an unsubstantiated mirror-reading of Jude’s text. Allen posits a group of doubting believers to be implicitly included in v. 19. For him, the verb ajpodiorivzw signifies the presence of doubters. Allen also posits that v. 20, an exhortation to believers to build themselves up in faith, would apply to doubters; and in v. 24, the reference to being kept from falling would mean “to be kept from doubting”. (39) Some, for instance KRAFTCHICK, Jude, 2 Peter, 66, HIEBERT, Exposition of Jude, 363, and SCHREINER, 1, 2 Peter, Jude, 487-488 consider — but reject — the possibility that diakrivnomai may actually refer to “disputers”. However, C. BIGG, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistles of St. Peter and St. Jude (ICC; Edinburgh 1901) 341, BAUCKHAM, Jude, 2 Peter, 115, MAYOR, Jude and 2 Peter, 50, OSBURN, Text of Jude, 141, and NEYREY, 2 Peter, Jude, 22,84 favor the translation “disputers”; cf. also the unrevised Elberfelder Bibel (Wuppertal 1871) and L. SEGOND, La Sainte Bible qui comprend l’ancien et le nouveau Testament, traduits sur les textes originaux hébreu et grec, Paris 1910. (40) Cf. Neyrey’s (2 Peter, Jude, 78-79) emphasis on the infiltrators’ “sins of the mouth” is especially appropriate because Jude describes them as disputers: they deny the Lord (v. 4), insult the glories (v. 8), speak defiantly against the Lord (v. 15), and murmur disgruntledly (v. 16). Neyrey also points out (2 Peter, Jude,