The angels who left their “proper domain,” or “former habitation,” were those who followed Satan in his rebellion. In Jude 5–7, Jude compares human apostates with (1) the unbelieving Israelites who were saved from Egypt, (2) the angels who rebelled, and (3) the men of Sodom and Gomorrah. Jude was not saying that the angels of verse 6 had “gone after strange flesh” as the Sodomites had done; he was saying that the human apostates (the “certain men” of verse 4) were like Sodom and Gomorrah in that they had “given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh…” (verse 7).

The debate is over whether the “these” of verse 7 are the angels of verse 6 or someone else. Some commentators believe the term refers to Sodom and Gomorrah. They understand verse 7 this way: “as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these [i.e., the nearby cities, similar to these cities—Sodom and Gomorrah], having given themselves over to sexual immorality.”

However, the repeated use of “these” in the text leaves little doubt that the “these” of verse 7 are the “certain men” of verse 4. Notice: “these dreamers” (verse 8); “these speak evil” (verse 10); “These are spots in your love feasts” (verse 12); “These are grumblers” (verse 16); “These are sensual persons” (verse 19).