Jude and the Watchers in the Early Church

Abstract Jude 6 and 2 Pet 2:4 refer to the Watchers myth, which was a widespread interpretation of Gen 6:1–4 in the Second Temple period. This article reinforces that case exegetically in the face of a recent argument that the verses refer instead to a more general sin of angelic blasphemy. It then offers a comprehensive survey of the reception of both verses in patristic writers, which yields two findings. First, no early Christian authors read Jude 6 and 2 Pet 2:4 as referring to blasphemy, whereas some see it as indicating the Watchers myth, adding supporting evidence to the exegetical case. And yet, secondly, many writers (especially after the second century) read these verses without reference to the Watchers myth, demonstrating how they came to be read in a more general sense with relevance for angelology and pneumatology.