Reconsidering the Text of Jude 5, 13, 15 and 18 123 the choice114. Also, in case of the inclusion, the external evidence is too tightly divided between the singular and the plural forms. The internal evidence is complex. The reading ἐπ᾽ ἐσχάτων τῶν χρονῶν is likely a harmonisation115, as it is found in 2 Pet. 3,3. The author of Jude may have had the Hebrew phrase mymyh tyrx)b in mind when he wrote ἐπ᾽ ἐσχάτου [τοῦ] χρόνου, because he was fond of set expressions and the Hebrew phrase would have provided him a well-known Old Testament literary unit116. It has been variously translated in the Septuagint as ἐπ᾽ ἐσχάτου τῶν ἡμερῶν (Num. 24,14; Jer. 23,20; 49,39; Dan. 10,14; only in Heb 1,2 in the NT), as ἐπ᾽ ἐσχατῶν τῶν ἡμερῶν (Gen. 49,1; Jer. 30,24; Eze. 38,16; Hos. 3,5; Mic. 4,1; only in 2 Pet. 3,3 in the NT), as ἐπ᾽ ἐσχάτῳ τῶν ἡμερῶν (Deut. 4,30), as ἔσχατον τῶν ἡμερῶν (Deut. 31,29), and as ἐν ταῖς ἐσχαταῖς ἡμεραῖς (Isa. 2,2). Theodotian version has ἐπ᾽ ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν in Dan. 10,14117. Although the same Hebrew expression has five different Greek “equivalents”, they all have the article just like the Hebrew phrase itself. On the other hand, the author may have had a particularly poignant Aramaic phrase )ymwy tyrx)b in mind. It is found in Dan. 2,28, and has been translated as ἐπ᾽ ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν in the Septuagint118. Its more direct translation, however, is ἐπ᾽ ἐσχάτου τοῦ χρόνου. This possibility also supports the inclusion of the article. The text in Jude has χρόνος instead of ἡμέρα but this is not a major obstacle, as the author of Jude may have given his own rendition of )ymwy tyrx)b instead of following the LXX. The Hebrew mwy has been translated as χρόνος in various phrases in the LXX in the following verses: Gen 26,1.15; Deut. 12,19, 22,19.29; Jos. 4,14.24; 24,29; Est. 9,28; Job 10,20; 12,12; 29,18; 32,6; 32,7; Prov. 9,11; 15,15; 28,16; Isa. 23,15; 38,5; 65,20; Jer. 45,28. The phrase mymyh tyrx)b is never translated as ἐπ᾽ ἐσχάτου τοῦ χρόνου or ἐπ᾽ ἐσχάτου τῶν χρονῶν Wasserman states that the external evidence is ambiguous. This may be a slight 114 overstatement, but it is essentially correct. See Wasserman, The Epistle of Jude, 314. Kubo, P72 and the Codex Vaticanus, 144; Landon, A Text-Critical Study, 124. 115 Kelly, The Epistles of Peter and of Jude, 282; Landon, A Text-Critical Study, 32; 116 Wasserman, The Epistle of Jude, 313; Bauckham, Jude, 2 Peter, 6, 104, notes the Hebrew phrase and argues that Jude translated the Semitic expression relatively freely. I’m assum- ing that the author had Semitic expressions in mind. This of course is not certain and the matter is debated how much Semitic ideas and expressions dictated the author’s Greek. Wasserman, The Epistle of Jude, 312, gives somewhat a misleading list. (1) The verse 117 numbers are those of the Septuagint without a clear statement that they are. (2) Neither Jos. 24,27 nor Dan. 11,20 has “in the last days” in the Hebrew text. (3) Prov. 31,25 reads mwyl }wrx) / ἐν ἡμέραις ἐσχάταις, which is not close enough parallel to Jude 18. (4) He does not note Theodotian Dan 10,14. Wasserman, The Epistle of Jude, 312, notes the reference but does not explain the 118 Aramaic phrase itself.