GIUDA TADDEO. - Apostle, distinguished in the lists from the traitor of the same name by the designation G. [brother] of Giacomo (in Lk. 6:16, in the penultimate place; in Acts 1:13, in the last place, Iscariota being absent), or by the epithet Taddeo (in Mt. 10:3 and Mk. 3:18, in the third-to-last place). Instead of Taddeo (= “broad-chested, magnanimous”), codices D, k, and Origene have Lebbeo (= “courageous”) in Mt. 10:3. Other textual witnesses join Lebbeo to Taddeo (EFGKL). Some codices of the Old Latin write Iudas Zelotes (a b g h q).
Some, following the Arabic and Dutch recension of Taziano’Diatessaron (v.), think that the expression G. di Giacomo means “G., son of Giacomo.” But in formulae of this kind, when the person in the genitive is better known than the father, the article 706 (= “of”) may imply another degree of kinship. For example, in Mk. 15:14, “Maria di Giacomo” does not mean “daughter of Giacomo,” but “mother of Giacomo,” that is, of the famous Giacomo il Minore (v.), head of the Church of Jerusalem. The author of the Epistle of G. clearly describes himself as “G., brother of Giacomo.” For the kinship of G. with Giacomo and Gesù V. GIACOMO IL MINORE.
Jn. 14:22 preserves a question addressed by G. “not the Iscariota” to Gesù at the Last Supper: “Lord, how is it that you have manifested yourself to us and not to the world?”
Tradition is uncertain concerning the remainder of G.’s life. According to Niceforo Callisto, G. first fished with the Gospel net in Giudea, Galilea, and Samaria, then in the cities of Siria and Mesopotamia, and died at Edessa, the city of Abgar (PG 145, 864). Eusebio (Hist. eccl., I, 13: PG 20, 124) and the Syriac writers distinguish our G. T. from the Taddeo (Addaj) who went to Edessa to Abgar. According to the Syrians, he suffered martyrdom at Arad, near Beirut.
In the Latin liturgy he is joined with the apostle Simone (28 October) and is invoked by the people in desperate cases.
After the address and greetings (vv. 1-2), the author states the purpose for which he writes: “to exhort you to com-
As regards genuineness and canonicity, it is highly probable that G. is already used by II Pietro. It is cited in the Muratorian Canon (lines 68 ff.), attributed to the apostle G. by Tertullian (De cultu foem., 1, 3 : PL 1, 1308), commented upon by Clement of Alexandria (PG 9, 731), and accepted into the canon by Origen (PG 12, 857; 13, 877). It is known to the Didaché (2, 7), to Polycarp, to Theophilus of Antioch, and to others.
Eusebius lists it among the disputed books (antilegomeni : Hist. eccl., III, 25 : PG 20, 269). The reason for doubts concerning its canonicity is indicated by St. Jerome in the fact that the Epistle of G. seems to cite the apocryphal Henoch (De viris ill., 4 : PL 23, 645). For their part, Eusebius and St. Jerome use it as Holy Scripture.
The opponents of its canonicity, mentioned by St. Jerome, based themselves especially on the fact that G. ENOCH (v.) as follows: “The seventh [patriarch] after Adam, Henoch, also prophesied concerning these, saying: ‘Behold, the Lord comes,’ etc.” (vv. 14-15). These words are in fact also found in the Greek fragments of Henoch, 1, 9.
To resolve this difficulty, some ancient writers, with Tertullian and St. Augustine, thought that Henoch had in fact written something inspired; but St. Jerome observed that an entire book is not to be understood as approved when only a small part of it is found to be approved (In Tit., 1, 12 : PL 26, 571). Other solutions have been offered: it is pointed out that the term “prophet” may be used improperly; Epimenide (v.) is called such by St. Paul in Tit. 1, 12; the verb “to prophesy,” among the Jewish apocalyptic writers known to G. and his Jewish readers, often meant “to compose fictitious visions, attributed to famous ancient personages.” Thus inerrancy is preserved by supposing that the author and readers knew this literary device of apocalyptic writing.
The prologue is generically addressed “to those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ.” But from the context and from the fact that the author calls himself “brother of James,” it follows that the Epistle of G. is not a circular letter, but a writing intended for particular Jewish-Christian readers of the diaspora, whom James had already addressed in his epistle. False teachers had infiltrated among these readers, making a kind of syncretism between Judaism, paganism, and Christianity. G. warns the faithful against such impious and dishonest men, who are “stains in the agapes” (v. 12), who deny the only master and our Lord Jesus Christ (v. 4), who defile their bodies, despise sovereignty, and revile angelic glories (v. 8), and who are grumblers and arrogant (v. 16).
The Epistle of G. seems to have been composed after the death of James (A.D. 62) and before II Pietro, which makes use of it (A.D. 67). With Cornely, an approximate date around 65 may be assigned. J. Chaine, who considers II Pietro pseudepigraphic, places the composition of ours between 70 and 80. Non-Catholics disagree: some, with Jülicher, date it as late as 180; Renan, who sees in it an anti-Pauline writing, dates it as early as 54.
Numerous Semitisms confirm the Hebrew origin of the author. The style is simple and lively, fond of the so-called triplet (analogous expressions occurring in groups of three): e.g., vv. 2, 4, 6-7, 8, 11, 19, 20 ff., 22 ff.
The principal truths of the Creed are contained in this brief writing; in particular, the doctrine concerning angels and demons is developed.