“Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh , despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.”
My Notes
What Does Jude 1:8 Mean?
Jude describes false teachers with three charges: they defile the flesh (sexual immorality), despise dominion (reject all authority), and speak evil of dignities (slander angelic beings or church leaders). The triad covers their relationship to bodies (defilement), authority (rejection), and spiritual powers (blasphemy).
The phrase "filthy dreamers" (enypniazomenoi) means they dream — suggesting their teaching comes from visions or spiritual experiences they claim to have had. They justify their behavior by claiming divine revelation. The dreaming is the source of the deception: they've had experiences that they interpret as divine authorization for lawless behavior.
"Despise dominion" (kyriotēs — lordship, authority) means they reject the concept of being under anyone's authority. They're autonomous. Self-governing. Answerable to no one. The rejection isn't just of specific leaders. It's of the principle of authority itself.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Where have you seen 'dreams' (claimed spiritual experiences) used to justify behavior that contradicts Scripture?
- 2.How do you evaluate someone who claims divine revelation that conveniently exempts them from accountability?
- 3.Does 'despising dominion' (rejecting all authority) describe a cultural value you've absorbed — and is it biblical?
- 4.What's the relationship between genuine spiritual experience and submission to established authority?
Devotional
They dream. They defile. They reject all authority. And they slander what they don't understand.
Jude names three characteristics of the false teachers infiltrating the church, and every one is about rejection of limits. They defile the flesh — no bodily limits. They despise dominion — no authority limits. They speak evil of dignities — no spiritual limits. Limitlessness is their creed.
The "filthy dreamers" part is key: they claim divine experiences. They've had visions, dreams, revelations. And they use those experiences to justify the limitlessness. God showed me. God told me. Who are you to question my revelation? The spiritual experience becomes the license for behavior that Scripture clearly forbids.
This pattern is timeless: a leader claims a private revelation that conveniently exempts them from public accountability. A teacher declares a dream that just happens to authorize what they were already doing. The experience is invoked to override the authority. And anyone who challenges them is accused of "speaking against what God has shown."
Jude says: these are clouds without water (verse 12). Wandering stars (verse 13). They have the appearance of spiritual substance and the reality of emptiness. The dreams are real to them. The authority they produce is false.
The test is always the same: does the dream align with the word? Does the experience produce submission or autonomy? Does the revelation honor authority or despise it? If it despises dominion, the dream — no matter how vivid — isn't from God.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh,.... Which may be literally understood, either of the Jewish…
Likewise also - In the same way do these persons defile the flesh, or resemble the inhabitants of Sodom; that is, they…
Likewise also these filthy dreamers - He means to say that these false teachers and their followers were as unbelieving…
The apostle here exhibits a charge against deceivers who were now seducing the disciples of Christ from the profession…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture