23 mercy with fear. See Gal. 6:1.

garment stained by the flesh. A vivid metaphor for the contaminating influence of the false teachers, this phrase underscores the care that Jude’s readers must exercise in their contact with the false teachers and those under their influence (1 Cor. 5:11; 2 John 10, 11). On the metaphor, see Is. 64:6; Zech. 3:1–5; Matt. 22:12; Rev. 3:4, 5, 18; 19:8.