The author of the letter that bears his name — 'a slave of Jesus Christ and brother of JAMES' (1:1). Naming James the Just, leader of the Jerusalem church and a brother of Jesus, identifies this Jude as another of the Lord's brothers (listed in Mark 6:3 as 'James and Joses and Judas and Simon'). He writes not by family claim but as a servant, calling the church to 'contend for the faith once for all delivered.' ⚠️ Not to be confused with Judas Iscariot, or with the apostle Judas 'not Iscariot' (John 14:22); the brother-of-James signature marks him out.