For substantive reasons (and because this is ‘translation-Greek’) the
aorist ἦλθεν should not be taken in reference to a past arrival, but should
rather be rendered as ‘timeless’; thus the Parousia—as in other early Christian
statements—is understood as being accompanied by an immense host of angels,
just as was traditionally included in depictions of the appearance of God, and
which now becomes just as much a ‘stock’ element of the Parousia of the Kyrios
who will come like God. Already 1 Thess 3:13 hinted at the notion that the
coming of Jesus would take place “with all his saints.” In keeping with
apocalyptic tradition these “saints” or “holy ones” are angelic beings, who are
presented here (following Deut 33:2; cf. Dan 7:10 and elsewhere) in
“myriads”—that is, in countless numbers. This expectation is also connected
with the eschatological significance of the angelic beings, perhaps even their
participation in the event of judgment, which in the author’s conceptual world
makes the opponents’ ‘disparagement’ of the angels so intolerable. (Jörg Frey, The
Letter of Jude and the Second Letter of Peter: A Theological Commentary [trans.
Kathleen Ess; Waco, Tex.: Baylor University Press, 2018], 128)
