Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Jude 6 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 6. 6And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
The second example reverses the keeping theme: angels who did not keep their place are kept for judgment.
Read It With
- Jude 5–7
Read Jude 5–7 as a complete section. Read all three judgment examples as a coordinated warning, while keeping the textual variant in verse 5 and the angel-Sodom ambiguity explicit.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The second example extends the warning from rescued people to exalted creatures who abandoned their assigned place.
Read Jude 1:5–7 together
Why these verses belong together: Unbelieving Israel, transgressing angels, and Sodom with surrounding cities form Jude's coordinated triad of judgment examples.
Verse 5. 5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
Verse 6. 6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
Verse 7. 7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Follow the Context
- Jude reminds knowledgeable readers that rescue from Egypt did not shield later unbelief from judgment.
- Angels who did not keep their assigned domain and left their dwelling are now kept for the great day's judgment.
- Sodom, Gomorrah, and surrounding cities pursued sexual immorality and strange flesh and stand as an example of judgment.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“kept not ... he hath reserved”
In plain language: The same keeping verb describes the angels' failure and God's present custody of them.
The verbal reversal supports judgment without filling in an undisclosed angelic biography.
Why it matters: It shows Jude's rhetorical design without speculative demonology.
How certain? strongWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
Jude 6 does not supply a complete angelic history, hierarchy, or method for speculative spiritual warfare.
What Remains True
Exalted status does not exempt a creature who abandons God's assigned order from judgment.
How It Can Shape Life
- Respect the boundaries the text gives and refuse speculative claims about the angelic realm.
Teach It Back
Explain Jude 6's specific contribution to Jude 5–7: The second example reverses the keeping theme: angels who did not keep their place are kept for judgment. Include the surrounding movement, one uncertainty or limit where relevant, and what the verse does not permit readers to conclude.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Jude 5–7 — Three Judgment Examples Warn the CommunitySources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The angelic tradition behind the verse and the exact sin or event are not narrated in full; direct dependence on a Watchers form is debated.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: The exact displayed KJV wording and immediate English context for Jude 5–7.
Exact location: eBible/CrossWire eng-kjv2006 USFM, source files dated 2026-08-19, Jude 1, verses within Jude 5–7; archive and normalized-corpus SHA-256 values are recorded in the library policy.
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: The critically edited Greek wording, clause relationships, and visible variation markers checked for the passage.
Exact location: Faithlife SBLGNT repository, data/sblgnt/text/Jude.txt, verses within Jude 5–7.
Open the Jude Greek text file ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — Jude with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2005–2026 online edition
Supports: Material translation choices, syntax questions, and textual variants checked for this passage.
Exact location: NET Bible, Jude 1, translator and textual notes attached to the verses in Jude 5–7.
Open source ↗peer reviewed open access study
Reassessing Jude's Use of Enochic Traditions (with Notes on their Later Reception History)
Peter J. Gentry and Andrew M. Fountain
Tyndale Bulletin 68.2, 2017
Supports: The relationship between Jude and Enochic traditions, competing dependency proposals, and limits on claims about the whole Enochic collection.
Exact location: Peter J. Gentry and Andrew M. Fountain, Reassessing Jude's Use of Enochic Traditions, pp. 263–280, especially the discussion of Jude 6–7.
Open source ↗