Semantic Analysis

07 Semantic Analysis — Jude (English → Mandarin)

Scope and Structural Note

The book of Jude consists of a single chapter, 25 verses. There is no chapter 2, 3, etc. to survey — the “full-book coverage” mandate is therefore satisfied by covering the entirety of Jude 1 in two parts:

Core passage, verse-by-verse (Jude 1:3–23) — the theological body of the letter (greeting exhortation through the closing charge to the church), containing nearly all of the book’s load-bearing vocabulary.
Chapter 1 remainder (Jude 1:1–2, 1:24–25) — the epistolary opening (author, recipients, greeting) and the closing doxology, covering the small number of load-bearing terms that fall outside the core passage.

Together, sections 1 and 2 below constitute complete, first-verse-to-last-verse coverage of the book of Jude. No chapter is silently omitted because no further chapter exists.

Every term already established in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json is reused exactly as recorded there (marked “[Reused from Romans TM]” below). New terms required for Jude’s distinct vocabulary are marked “[New — Jude]” and are risk-tiered using the same Critical/High/Medium/Low framework as the baseline doctrine_risk_registry.json.

PART 1: Core Passage Verse-by-Verse — Jude 1:3–23

Jude 1:3

contend for (ἐπαγωνίζομαι, epagōnizomai) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: “to struggle upon/against,” from ἀγών (agōn, an athletic contest or struggle, root of English “agony”), intensified by the prefix ἐπι-.
Semantic range: to fight/strive/compete with full physical and mental exertion, as in an athletic or military contest; metaphorically, to strive earnestly for a cause under pressure or opposition.
English variants: “contend for,” “fight for,” “struggle for,” “earnestly defend.”
Contextual theological meaning: This is the thesis verb of Jude and the anchor term for the curriculum doctrine “Contending for the Faith Once Delivered.” It describes a strenuous, effortful, agonistic defense of apostolic teaching against active corruption from within the community (v.4), not a passive holding of belief or an academic debate.
Destination rendering: 竭力争辩 (jiélì zhēngbiàn, “to strive with all one’s strength to contend”) — the established CUV rendering.
Risk: HIGH. Must not be softened to 辩护 (biànhù, “to defend,” legal/passive) or 辩论 (biànlùn, “to debate,” academic/neutral), both of which lose the athletic-contest intensity and moral urgency of ἐπαγωνίζομαι. This verb sets the tone for the entire letter and must not be flattened into calm discourse.

the faith (πίστις, pistis) — objective sense, “the faith once delivered” — [New — Jude; extends Romans TM entry]

Literal meaning: trust, trustworthiness; by extension, the body of belief that is trusted.
Semantic range: (a) personal trust/reliance placed in a person (Romans’ dominant sense); (b) the fixed, transmitted content of Christian doctrine — “the faith” as a deposit, not an act of trusting.
English variants: “the faith,” “the truth,” “the doctrine,” “the once-delivered faith.”
Contextual theological meaning: Jude 1:3 uses πίστις in sense (b): a settled, closed body of apostolic teaching handed down once for all, which believers must defend rather than personally exercise trust toward an object. This is distinct from the Romans 4/10 sense of πίστις as the verb-like act of trusting Christ.
Destination rendering: 真道 (zhēndào, “the true way/doctrine”) — this is the CUV’s own established rendering of πίστις in this specific objective sense (also at Jude 1:20), distinct from 信心 (xìnxīn, personal trust, Romans TM) and from 信仰 (xìnyǎng, “a belief system,” noted in the Romans package as acceptable for the noun sense).
Risk: CRITICAL. Because the same Greek word πίστις is rendered with two different Mandarin terms depending on sense (信心 for trust-verb sense in Romans; 真道 for deposit-of-doctrine sense in Jude), every occurrence must be flagged so translators do not default to 信心 here or assume 真道 elsewhere. Collapsing the distinction risks either (a) implying “the faith” is merely a private trust-feeling with no fixed content, or (b) implying personal trust in Christ (Romans’ emphasis) is a body of rules to be memorized. A translator note is required at every Jude occurrence (1:3, 1:20).

once for all (ἅπαξ, hapax) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: one time, once.
Semantic range: a single occurrence; theologically extended (as in Hebrews, 1 Peter, Jude) to mean a settled, unrepeatable, complete act — not merely “on one occasion among many” but “decisively, finally.”
English variants: “once,” “once for all,” “once and for all.”
Contextual theological meaning: The faith was delivered in a single, closed, authoritative transmission — not an ongoing or evolving revelation that later generations may add to.
Destination rendering: 一次 (yī cì), following CUV’s literal phrase 一次交付 (“delivered one time”).
Risk: MEDIUM. 一次 by itself reads as merely “one time” (frequency) in ordinary Mandarin; must be reinforced through surrounding phrasing or teaching notes to convey finality and closedness, not mere historical occurrence.

delivered / handed down (παραδίδωμι, paradidōmi — here παραδοθείσῃ) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: to hand over, to transmit, to entrust.
Semantic range: to hand over physically (e.g., to authorities, to betray); to transmit teaching or tradition from one party to another.
English variants: “delivered,” “handed down,” “entrusted,” “transmitted.”
Contextual theological meaning: The apostolic faith was transmitted as a fixed deposit to the saints, complete and unchangeable.
Destination rendering: 交付 (jiāofù, “handed over/delivered”), following CUV.
Risk: HIGH. This concept risks collapsing into 传承 (chuánchéng, “lineage transmission”), the standard Chinese term for a master-to-disciple transmission chain (used for Chan Buddhist dharma-transmission and Confucian scholarly lineages) in which each generation’s master may reinterpret, add to, or personally realize the teaching anew. Biblical “once-for-all delivery” is the opposite concept: a closed, fixed, non-reinterpretable deposit. Never use 传承 for this concept; teaching notes must make the contrast explicit.

saints (ἁγίοις, hagiois) — [Reused from Romans TM] → 圣徒 (shèngtú). Risk: High (per baseline — see Romans TM “saints” entry; avoid 圣人).

Jude 1:4

crept in secretly (παρεισέδυσαν, pareisedysan) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: “to slip in beside/alongside,” from a compound of “beside” + “into” + “sink/enter.”
Semantic range: to enter stealthily, by a side door, without proper authorization or notice.
English variants: “crept in unnoticed,” “slipped in,” “infiltrated.”
Contextual theological meaning: False teachers did not arrive openly but insinuated themselves into the congregation, which is central to “Judgment on Ungodly False Teachers.”
Destination rendering: 偷偷地进来 (tōutōu de jìnlái, “entered stealthily”), following CUV.
Risk: LOW. Clear natural-language equivalent; no significant doctrinal collision.

ungodly (ἀσεβεῖς, asebeis; ἀσέβεια, asebeia) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: without reverence toward the gods/God; irreverent.
Semantic range: a lack of proper reverence, awe, and submission toward God, manifest in both belief and conduct.
English variants: “ungodly,” “impious,” “irreverent.”
Contextual theological meaning: The dominant descriptor for the false teachers throughout Jude (vv.4, 15, 18) — this is the key term for “Judgment on Ungodly False Teachers.”
Destination rendering: 不敬虔 (bù jìngqián, “not reverent/godly”), following CUV.
Risk: MEDIUM–HIGH. 敬虔 (jìngqián, “reverence/piety”) is not itself a folk-religious loanword, but Chinese readers’ primary cultural referent for “reverence” is often 孝敬 (xiàojìng, filial reverence toward parents/ancestors) or ritual reverence toward ancestral spirits and temple deities. Teaching must make clear ἀσέβεια/敬虔 concerns reverence toward the one true God specifically, not a generalized social virtue of respectfulness that could be satisfied by ancestor veneration or civic deference.

licentiousness / sensuality (ἀσέλγεια, aselgeia) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: unrestrained, shameless self-indulgence, especially sexual.
Semantic range: moral abandon without regard for shame or restraint.
English variants: “licentiousness,” “sensuality,” “debauchery.”
Contextual theological meaning: The false teachers “pervert the grace of our God into” this — turning the doctrine of grace into a license for sin, directly implicating the Grace doctrine network from the Romans baseline.
Destination rendering: 放纵情欲 (fàngzòng qíngyù, “unrestrained indulgence of desire”), following CUV.
Risk: MEDIUM. Must be tied explicitly back to grace (恩典) so the contrast — grace corrupted into license, not grace itself — is unmistakable; connects directly to the baseline’s Critical “Grace” doctrine entry (grace ≠ merit-license) and must not be taught in isolation from it.

grace (χάριν, charin) — [Reused from Romans TM] → 恩典 (ēndiǎn). Risk: Critical (per baseline). Jude 1:4 is a new primary passage for the Critical “Grace” doctrine, since it depicts grace being actively perverted rather than merely contrasted with merit — teaching must show that this is an abuse of true grace, not evidence that 恩典 itself licenses sin.

only Sovereign (μόνον δεσπότην, monon despotēn) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: δεσπότης = master with absolute ownership/authority over a household or servants (root of English “despot”); μόνος = only, sole.
Semantic range: absolute owner-master, distinct from κύριος (lord/master in a relational or social sense) by its emphasis on outright ownership and unchallenged control.
English variants: “Sovereign,” “Master,” “only Sovereign Lord.”
Contextual theological meaning: Emphasizes God’s/Christ’s absolute, exclusive ownership-authority, which the false teachers deny by their conduct.
Destination rendering: 独一的主宰 (dú yī de zhǔzǎi, “the only Sovereign/Master”), following CUV.
Risk: MEDIUM. 主宰 (zhǔzǎi) in everyday Mandarin can denote an impersonal force that “controls fate” (e.g., 命运的主宰, “master of fate/destiny”). Teaching must clarify this is the personal God’s exclusive, relational sovereignty, not an impersonal fate-determining power — a distinction paralleling the baseline’s caution against 天意/命运 for providence and calling.

deny (ἀρνούμενοι, arnoumenoi) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: to say no to, to disown, to refuse to acknowledge.
Semantic range: verbal or behavioral repudiation of a person, claim, or relationship.
English variants: “deny,” “disown,” “reject.”
Contextual theological meaning: The false teachers deny Christ’s exclusive Lordship by their conduct — the direct photographic negative of the Romans 10:9 confession “耶稣是主” (Jesus is Lord).
Destination rendering: 不认 (bù rèn, “do not acknowledge/deny”), following CUV.
Risk: MEDIUM. Must be kept terminologically distinct from, and recognizable as the opposite of, the baseline’s Lordship confession language so the doctrinal contrast (confess vs. deny) is visible to the reader.

condemnation / judgment (κρίμα, krima) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: a legal verdict or sentence, the result of a κρίσις (judging process).
Semantic range: the outcome of judgment: a verdict, sentence, or condemnation, as distinct from κρίσις (the act/process of judging, see v.6, v.15).
English variants: “condemnation,” “judgment,” “sentence.”
Contextual theological meaning: The false teachers were long ago “marked out” for this specific condemnation — establishing certainty of coming judgment, a pillar of “Judgment on Ungodly False Teachers.”
Destination rendering: 刑罚 (xíngfá, “punishment/penalty”) or 定罪 (dìngzuì, “condemnation”), following CUV usage in context.
Risk: HIGH. Must be clearly distinguished from 报应 (bàoyìng, karmic retribution across a person’s fortune/lineage, flagged as a “sin” collision risk in the baseline) — biblical judgment is a personal God’s forensic verdict against specific unrepented sin, not an impersonal karmic mechanism operating automatically through cause and effect.

Jude 1:5

saved (σώσας, sōsas) — [Reused from Romans TM] → base verb of 救恩 (jiùēn, salvation). Risk: Critical (per baseline). Here used of the historical rescue of Israel from Egypt — establishes the OT type for “Old Testament Warnings as Types (Israel…).”

destroyed (ἀπώλεσεν, apōlesen) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: to destroy utterly, to bring to ruin/loss.
Semantic range: total destruction or loss, of life, property, or standing.
English variants: “destroyed,” “brought to ruin,” “did away with.”
Contextual theological meaning: God’s judgment on the unbelieving generation of Israelites after their rescue from Egypt — establishing the pattern that past privilege (having been saved) does not exempt from later judgment for unbelief, foundational to the “Israel” type in “Old Testament Warnings as Types.”
Destination rendering: 灭没 (mièmò) or 除灭 (chúmiè, “destroyed/eliminated”), following CUV register for divine judgment narratives.
Risk: MEDIUM. Low collision risk in itself, but the doctrinal point (that God judges even those he has previously delivered) must not be softened into a merely natural historical consequence.

Jude 1:6

angels (ἀγγέλους, angelous) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: messenger.
Semantic range: a spirit-being sent by God as a messenger or agent, in both faithful and (as here) fallen senses.
English variants: “angels.”
Contextual theological meaning: The second OT-adjacent “type” in Jude’s warning triad — angels who abandoned their proper position, now kept for judgment; foundational to the “Angels” type in “Old Testament Warnings as Types.”
Destination rendering: 天使 (tiānshǐ), the established CUV/modern-Chinese Christian term.
Risk: MEDIUM. 天使 is a fairly well-differentiated modern loan-concept with limited folk-religion overlap, but teaching should avoid conflating it with Daoist immortals (仙人, xiānrén) or generic “heavenly beings” (神仙, shénxiān) from popular religion and fiction, which are morally ambiguous, power-seeking, or capricious figures rather than created servants of a sovereign personal God.

kept / did not keep (τηρήσαντας, tērēsantas) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: to guard, watch over, keep, preserve, maintain in a given state.
Semantic range: (a) positive: to protect/preserve something entrusted; (b) here, negatively: to fail to keep/maintain one’s proper position.
English variants: “kept,” “did not keep,” “abandoned.”
Contextual theological meaning: τηρέω is Jude’s single most theologically loaded recurring verb, used in both directions: angels who did not keep (τηρήσαντας, negative — failure to remain) their position are now kept (τετήρηκεν, v.6b — divine custody for judgment) in chains, while believers are kept (τετηρημένοις, v.1; τηρήσατε, v.21) by and for Jesus Christ unto blessing. This dual use anchors the curriculum doctrine “Kept by God and Presented Blameless” and must be tracked carefully across the whole letter.
Destination rendering: For the positive, protective sense (God keeping believers): 保守 (bǎoshǒu, “to guard/preserve”). For the negative, custodial-for-judgment sense (angels/darkness reserved for judgment): 拘留 (jūliú, “held in custody”) or 存留 (cúnliú, “reserved/retained”), following CUV’s distinct wording at each occurrence.
Risk: HIGH. Using a single undifferentiated Mandarin verb for all occurrences of τηρέω would blur the crucial distinction between God’s protective keeping of the faithful and his custodial keeping of the condemned for judgment — collapsing two opposite doctrinal outcomes into one word. Each occurrence (1:1, 1:6 [×2], 1:13, 1:21, 1:24) must be checked individually and rendered according to its specific sense.

own dwelling (ἴδιον οἰκητήριον, idion oikētērion) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: one’s own habitation/dwelling place.
Semantic range: an assigned or proper residence.
English variants: “own dwelling,” “proper abode,” “own domain.”
Contextual theological meaning: Angels abandoned the position/domain God assigned them — a picture of illegitimate self-elevation paralleling the false teachers’ rejection of proper authority (v.8).
Destination rendering: 自己的住处 (zìjǐ de zhùchù), following CUV.
Risk: LOW. Straightforward, no significant collision.

eternal chains (δεσμοῖς ἀϊδίοις, desmois aïdiois) and gloom/darkness (ζόφον, zophon) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: δεσμός = bond/chain/fetter; ἀΐδιος = everlasting, perpetual; ζόφος = thick gloom, deep darkness (a stronger term than the ordinary word for darkness, σκότος, with which it is paired at v.13).
Semantic range: permanent physical/spiritual restraint; the darkness of the place of judgment prior to final sentencing.
English variants: “eternal chains,” “everlasting bonds,” “gloom,” “deep darkness.”
Contextual theological meaning: Describes the present, pre-final-judgment custody of the fallen angels, awaiting “the judgment of the great day” — reinforcing certainty of coming, decisive judgment.
Destination rendering: 永远的锁链 (yǒngyuǎn de suǒliàn, “eternal chains”); 黑暗 (hēi’àn) or 幽暗 (yōu’àn, “gloom”), following CUV.
Risk: LOW–MEDIUM. Vivid, largely self-explanatory imagery; minor risk of confusion with folk notions of ghosts wandering in darkness (阴间, yīnjiān, the shadowy underworld of Chinese folk religion) — teaching should distinguish divine custodial judgment from the folk-religious underworld bureaucracy.

judgment (κρίσιν, krisin) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: the act or process of judging; a legal trial or evaluation.
Semantic range: distinct from κρίμα (v.4, the resulting verdict) — κρίσις is the judging process/event itself, here specifically “the judgment of the great day,” i.e., the final eschatological judgment.
English variants: “judgment,” “the judgment,” “trial.”
Contextual theological meaning: The still-future, decisive judgment day toward which all the letter’s warnings point.
Destination rendering: 审判 (shěnpàn, “judgment/trial”), following CUV; consistently distinguished from 刑罚/定罪 (κρίμα, v.4) as the process versus the verdict.
Risk: HIGH. As with κρίμα, must be kept distinct from 报应 (karmic retribution). 审判 in Chinese Christian usage is already reasonably well differentiated (associated with courtroom imagery, 审判官/审判台), which helps, but teaching notes should still reinforce that this judgment is executed by a personal God at an appointed future day, not an impersonal, automatic law of cosmic cause-and-effect.

Jude 1:7

Sodom and Gomorrah (Σόδομα καὶ Γόμορρα) — proper nouns.

Destination rendering: 所多玛和蛾摩拉 (Suǒduōmǎ hé émóluó), the established CUV form.
Risk: LOW (transliteration only), but the doctrinal use — as the third OT “type” in the warning triad, alongside Israel and the angels — is High-importance for “Old Testament Warnings as Types (…Sodom)” and requires background explanation, since Chinese readers will not have inherited biblical-narrative literacy about these cities.

sexual immorality / indulging in fornication (ἐκπορνεύσασαι, ekporneusasai) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: to give oneself over completely (intensive prefix ἐκ-) to fornication/sexual immorality.
Semantic range: thoroughgoing, unrestrained sexual sin.
English variants: “indulged in sexual immorality,” “gave themselves over to fornication.”
Destination rendering: 行淫 (xíngyín) or CUV’s fuller “照他们一样的样子縣行邪淫” — 邪淫 (xiéyín, “immoral/depraved sexual sin”), following CUV.
Risk: LOW–MEDIUM. Direct term, minimal collision; ensure it is not moralized into merely a social-propriety violation but retained as the specific covenantal sin that provoked divine judgment on the cities.

eternal fire (πυρὸς αἰωνίου, pyros aiōniou) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: fire that is everlasting/without end.
Semantic range: fire as a symbol and instrument of ongoing divine judgment.
English variants: “eternal fire,” “everlasting fire.”
Contextual theological meaning: Sodom and Gomorrah’s destruction stands as a visible, ongoing “example” (δεῖγμα) of the certainty and severity of final judgment.
Destination rendering: 永火 (yǒnghuǒ), the established CUV compound.
Risk: MEDIUM. Should be linked terminologically to other “eternal” (αἰώνιος) occurrences in Jude (chains, v.6; life, v.21) for consistency, and distinguished from Buddhist/folk depictions of hell-fire torment (地狱, dìyù, and its associated purgatorial/karmic-debt-paying imagery) — biblical eternal fire is a fixed, final judgment on unrepentant sin, not a temporary purificatory ordeal from which release is eventually possible through merit or ritual (cf. baseline’s caution against 超度).

Jude 1:8

defile the flesh (σάρκα μιαίνουσιν, sarka miainousin) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: μιαίνω = to stain, pollute, defile (often of ritual or moral impurity); σάρξ = flesh.
Semantic range: moral/bodily corruption through sin, specifically sexual sin in this context.
English variants: “defile the flesh,” “pollute the body.”
Contextual theological meaning: Describes the moral corruption of the false teachers’ bodily conduct.
Destination rendering: 污秽身体 (wūhuì shēntǐ, “defile the body”), following CUV.
Risk: MEDIUM. Note that σάρξ (“flesh”) here is used in its moral-corruption sense (as at v.23), which must be kept terminologically distinguishable from σάρξ in the incarnational sense used in doctrinal statements about Christ’s genuine humanity (cf. Romans-package doctrine “Humanity of Christ,” “seed of David… according to the flesh”). Mandarin commonly uses 肉体 (ròutǐ, “the body/flesh,” moral-corruption sense) versus 肉身 (ròushēn, used in 道成肉身, the Incarnation) — these two compounds must not be interchanged across doctrinal contexts.

reject authority (κυριότητα ἀθετοῦσιν, kyriotēta athetousin) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: κυριότης = lordship/dominion/ruling authority (cognate with κύριος, Lord); ἀθετέω = to set aside, nullify, reject.
Semantic range: repudiation of a legitimate governing or ruling authority — here, likely angelic order or, ultimately, Christ’s own lordship.
English variants: “reject authority,” “despise dominion,” “set aside lordship.”
Destination rendering: 轻慢主治的 (qīngmàn zhǔzhì de, “treat with contempt those who have authority/rule”), following CUV.
Risk: MEDIUM–HIGH. Because κυριότης shares its root with κύριος (Lord — Critical risk term in the baseline), this rejection-of-authority language must not be read as unrelated to Christ’s own Lordship; teaching should note the thematic link even though the immediate referent may be angelic authority structures.

blaspheme glorious ones (δόξας βλασφημοῦσιν, doxas blasphēmousin) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: βλασφημέω = to speak abusively/slanderously, especially of the divine; δόξα = glory, here plural “glorious ones,” likely referring to angelic beings.
Semantic range: verbal contempt or slander directed at what should be honored.
English variants: “blaspheme glorious ones,” “slander the glories,” “revile majestic beings.”
Destination rendering: 毁谤尊荣的 (huǐbàng zūnróng de, “slander/revile the glorious/honored ones”), following CUV.
Risk: MEDIUM. 毁谤 (huǐbàng, slander) and 亵渎 (xièdú, blaspheme, v.10) both risk being read as generic disrespect toward any revered figure (ancestors, deities, officials) in Chinese cultural usage; teaching must anchor the term to contempt for what God has established as honorable, not a general social-harmony violation.

Jude 1:9

Michael the archangel (Μιχαὴλ ὁ ἀρχάγγελος) — proper noun + title. [New — Jude]

Destination rendering: 米迦勒天使长 (Mǐjiālè tiānshǐ zhǎng), 天使长 (tiānshǐ zhǎng, “archangel,” lit. “chief of angels”) following established Chinese Christian usage.
Risk: LOW. Transliteration/title compound; minor risk of confusion with generic “chief deity” figures in folk hierarchies (e.g., city god 城隆) if introduced without context — teaching should clarify Michael is a created angelic being, not a deity.

the devil (τῷ διαβόλῳ, tō diabolō) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: διάβολος = slanderer, accuser (from διαβάλλω, to throw across/accuse).
Semantic range: the personal, chief adversary of God and his people; in Jewish and Christian usage, a proper title for Satan.
English variants: “the devil,” “Satan,” “the accuser.”
Contextual theological meaning: Presented as a real, personal supernatural adversary that even an archangel does not presume to condemn on his own authority, but defers to the Lord’s rebuke — a model for restraint even in confronting real evil.
Destination rendering: 魔鬼 (móguǐ), the established CUV term.
Risk: HIGH. 鬼 (guǐ), the second character, is the ordinary Chinese word for “ghost” and carries dense folk-religious associations: wandering ghosts, hungry ghosts (饿鬼) fed during the Ghost Festival, ancestor spirits gone unworshipped, and other beings within the vast Chinese folk-spirit taxonomy. 魔鬼 as a fixed compound is reasonably well established in Chinese Christian usage as referring specifically to Satan, but teaching must explicitly clarify that 魔鬼 names one specific, personal, fallen created being in rebellion against God — not a wandering unworshipped ancestor-ghost or a class of folk-religious spirit that can be placated through ritual offerings.

dispute (διελέγετο, dielegeto) and rebuke (ἐπιτιμάω, epitimaō — ἐπιτιμήσαι) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: διαλέγομαι = to converse/argue/dispute back and forth; ἐπιτιμάω = to rebuke, charge sharply, censure with authority.
English variants: “disputed/argued” and “rebuke.”
Destination rendering: 争辩 (zhēngbiàn, “dispute/argue”) and 责备 (zébèi, “rebuke”), following CUV.
Risk: LOW. Standard vocabulary; low collision risk. Note thematic echo with ἐπαγωνίζομαι (“contend,” v.3) — both involve vigorous verbal contest, but only the Lord, not Michael himself, pronounces the rebuke, modeling appropriate restraint.

Jude 1:10

blaspheme what they do not understand (ὅσα οὐκ οἴδασιν βλασφημοῦσιν) — reuses βλασφημέω (v.8) → 亵渎 (xièdú). Risk: Medium (see v.8 note).

unreasoning animals (τὰ ἄλογα ζῷα, ta aloga zōa) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: ἄλογος = without reason/speech (a-, “without” + logos, “word/reason”); ζῷον = living creature/animal.
Semantic range: creatures lacking rational, moral capacity — used pejoratively of the false teachers, who follow base instinct rather than reasoned, revealed truth.
Destination rendering: 无灵性的畜类 (wú língxìng de chùlèi, “unreasoning/soulless beasts”) or 没有理性的动物, following CUV wording.
Risk: LOW–MEDIUM. Straightforward pejorative comparison; minor care needed so it is not read as a comment on animals’ moral status generally, but as a rhetorical device highlighting the false teachers’ instinct-driven corruption.

Jude 1:11

woe (οὐαὶ, ouai) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: an interjection of lament/warning, “woe,” “alas.”
English variants: “woe,” “how terrible.”
Destination rendering: 有祸了 (yǒu huò le, “woe/disaster upon…”), the established CUV formula for prophetic woe-pronouncements.
Risk: LOW. Standard prophetic-genre term; minor risk that 祸 (huò, “disaster/misfortune”) could be read through a fatalistic or fortune-telling lens (cf. 祸福, “misfortune and fortune,” a common fatalistic pairing) rather than as a specific divine pronouncement of coming judgment — teaching should anchor 有祸了 to the specific judgment described in the surrounding verses.

way of Cain (ὁδῷ τοῦ Κάϊν), error of Balaam (πλάνῃ τοῦ Βαλαάμ), rebellion of Korah (ἀντιλογίᾳ τοῦ Κόρε) — proper nouns + type-terms. [New — Jude]

Destination rendering (proper names): 该隐 (Gāiyǐn, Cain), 巴兰 (Bālán, Balaam), 可拉 (Kělā, Korah) — established CUV forms.
Destination rendering (type-terms): 路 (lù, “way/path”) for ὁδός; 错谬 (cuòmiù, “error”) for πλάνη; 悖逆 (bèinì, “rebellion/insubordination”) for ἀντιλογία, following CUV wording (“该隐的道路…巴兰的错谬…可拉的背叛”).
Contextual theological meaning: A third OT-type triad (distinct from the Israel/angels/Sodom triad in vv.5–7), each figure representing a specific pattern of the false teachers’ sin: Cain (murderous envy/false worship), Balaam (prophesying for profit), Korah (rebellion against God-ordained authority) — all directly relevant to “Old Testament Warnings as Types.”
Risk: MEDIUM. Requires substantial background explanation, since none of these narratives have any native cultural counterpart in China; the risk is not mistranslation of the names but under-explanation leaving the typological argument opaque to readers without OT literacy.

Jude 1:12

love feasts (ἀγάπαις, agapais) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: plural of ἀγάπη (love); by early Christian usage, the communal fellowship meal of the early church, often preceding or accompanying the Lord’s Supper.
Semantic range: a specific liturgical/social institution of the earliest church community.
English variants: “love feasts,” “love-suppers,” “fellowship meals.”
Contextual theological meaning: The false teachers corrupt the church’s most intimate communal gathering, feasting “without fear” for their own gratification rather than for the body’s edification — connects to the baseline’s “Christian Fellowship” (团契) doctrine.
Destination rendering: 爱席 (àixí, “love-banquet”), a Chinese Christian coinage paralleling 团契 (fellowship, baseline term).
Risk: MEDIUM–HIGH. Must be clearly distinguished from ancestor-veneration and folk-deity offering-feasts (祭祀宴, jìsìyàn) — communal ritual meals in Chinese religious practice that involve presenting food to spirits/ancestors for their benefit. The Christian ἀγάπη-feast is a meal of mutual, horizontal fellowship among living believers in Christ, not a vertical offering-meal directed toward spirits or ancestors.

hidden reefs (σπιλάδες, spilades), waterless clouds (νεφέλαι ἄνυδροι), fruitless autumn trees (δένδρα φθινοπωρινὰ ἄκαρπα), twice dead (δὶς ἀποθανόντα), uprooted (ἐκριζωθέντα) — [New — Jude]

Literal/semantic notes: A chain of vivid natural metaphors describing the false teachers as dangerous, empty, unproductive, and thoroughly (doubly) dead/removed.
Contextual theological meaning: Reinforces “Judgment on Ungodly False Teachers” through concrete imagery of uselessness and coming removal, rather than abstract description.
Destination rendering: 暗礁 (ànjiāo, “hidden reef”), 无水的云 (wú shuǐ de yún, “waterless clouds”), 秋天没有果子的树 (qiūtiān méiyǒu guǒzi de shù, “fruitless autumn trees”), 死而又死 (sǐ ér yòu sǐ, “dead and dead again”), 拔了根 (bále gēn, “uprooted”) — following natural Mandarin equivalents per CUV.
Risk: LOW. Figurative, non-technical vocabulary with ready natural equivalents; minor care that translators do not substitute unrelated local idioms (e.g., a Chinese four-character idiom carrying its own unrelated cultural narrative) that would lose the specific judgment-imagery Jude intends.

Jude 1:13

wild waves (κύματα ἄγρια), foaming up their own shame (ἐπαφρίζοντα τὰς ἑαυτῶν αἰσχύνας), wandering stars (ἀστέρες πλανῆται) — [New — Jude]

Semantic notes: Continuing the natural-metaphor chain; “wandering stars” (πλανήτης, root of English “planet”) pictures stars/luminaries that do not hold a fixed, reliable course — a fitting image for teachers who depart from fixed apostolic truth.
Destination rendering: 海里的狂浪 (hǎilǐ de kuánglàng), 涌出自己的羞辱来如同污秢的沫子 (following CUV’s fuller phrasing), 流荡的星 (liúdàng de xīng, “wandering/drifting stars”).
Risk: LOW. Figurative; no significant doctrinal collision, though “wandering stars” could be mildly conflated with astrological fate-reading (占星, zhānxīng) common in folk practice — teaching should clarify the image is about moral instability, not a comment on astrology.

gloom of darkness reserved forever (ὁ ζόφος τοῦ σκότους εἰς αἰῶνα τετήρηται) — reuses ζόφος (v.6) and τηρέω (see v.1, v.6 notes above, custodial-for-judgment sense) → 幽暗 (yōu’àn) / 存留 (cúnliú). Risk: High — same τηρέω-sense-tracking concern as v.6; confirms this occurrence belongs to the “custodial keeping for judgment” branch, not the “protective keeping” branch.

Jude 1:14

Enoch (Ἐνὼχ), seventh from Adam (ἕβδομος ἀπὸ Ἀδάμ) — proper nouns. [New — Jude]

Destination rendering: 以诺 (Yǐnuò, Enoch), 亚当 (Yàdāng, Adam) — established CUV forms; “seventh from Adam” = 从亚当七世的孙子 (following CUV’s genealogical count phrasing).
Risk: LOW (transliteration), but requires OT genealogical background explanation for readers without Genesis literacy.

prophesied (προεφήτευσεν, proephēteusen) — [Reused from Romans TM network] → base of 预言 (yùyán, “prophecy”) / 先知 (xiānzhī, “prophet”). Risk: Low–Medium per baseline. Note the interesting detail that Jude cites material from outside the Hebrew canon (the Book of Enoch tradition) as authoritative prophetic content — this raises a distinct canonical/authority question for teaching notes (why Jude can cite this material) that is separate from, though related to, the “Inspiration of Scripture” doctrine in the baseline registry.

holy myriads / ten thousands of his holy ones (ἁγίαις μυριάσιν αὐτοῦ) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: μυριάς = ten thousand, a very large countless number; ἅγιος = holy.
Semantic range: an innumerable heavenly host, likely angelic beings accompanying the Lord at his coming.
Destination rendering: 千万圣者 (qiānwàn shèngzhě, “ten-thousands/myriads of holy ones”), following CUV.
Risk: MEDIUM. 圣者 (shèngzhě, “holy one(s)”) here refers to an angelic host accompanying Christ’s return, and must be kept distinct from 圣徒 (shèngtú, baseline term for believers/saints) so readers do not confuse the accompanying angelic host with the church itself. Also connects to 圣洁 (holy, baseline High-risk term) — same underlying concept of moral set-apartness, applied here to heavenly beings rather than human believers.

Jude 1:15

execute judgment (ποιῆσαι κρίσιν, poiēsai krisin) — reuses κρίσις (v.6) → 施行审判 (shīxíng shěnpàn) / 行审判. Risk: High (see v.6 note).

convict (ἐλέγξαι, elegxai) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: to expose, convict, bring to light, prove guilty.
Semantic range: legal/moral exposure of wrongdoing, often with a view to correction, but here final and condemnatory.
Destination rendering: 证实…的罪 (zhèngshí…de zuì, “prove/establish the guilt of…”) or 责备, following CUV’s fuller phrasing.
Risk: LOW–MEDIUM. Reuses conceptual territory of 罪 (sin, High risk per baseline) — teaching should reinforce that this final conviction is God’s own forensic verdict, consistent with the baseline’s caution against reducing 罪 to mere legal infraction or karmic bad luck; here it is precisely the opposite emphasis (a personal God’s just verdict against real moral guilt).

harsh words / harsh things (λόγων σκληρῶν, logōn sklērōn) — [New — Jude]

Destination rendering: 刚愎的话 (gāngbì de huà, “stubborn/arrogant words”), following CUV.
Risk: LOW. Descriptive, low collision.

Jude 1:16

grumblers (γογγυσταί, gongystai), malcontents (μεμψίμοιροι, mempsimoiroi) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: γογγυστής = one who murmurs/grumbles (an onomatopoeic Greek root); μεμψίμοιρος = literally “blaming one’s μοῖρα (lot/portion/fate)” — a compound of μέμψις (blame) + μοῖρα (fate/allotted portion).
Semantic range: chronic, private complaint and dissatisfaction with one’s circumstances or authority.
Destination rendering: 私自议论、常发怨言的人 (sīzì yìlùn, cháng fā yuànyán de rén, “those who murmur privately and constantly complain”), following CUV.
Risk: LOW–MEDIUM. Note the etymological curiosity that μεμψίμοιρος literally means “blaming one’s fate” — a near-perfect semantic parallel to Chinese fatalistic complaint-language (怨命, yuàn mìng, “resent one’s fate/lot”). CUV does not render this literal fate-language directly, folding it into 发怨言; teaching materials may draw on this parallel constructively (both cultures recognize the vice of blaming one’s circumstances) without importing any Chinese fatalism doctrine into the term itself.

speak arrogant/bombastic things (λαλεῖ ὑπέρογκα) — [New — Jude]

Destination rendering: 说夸大的话 (shuō kuādà de huà, “speak exaggerated/boastful words”), following CUV.
Risk: LOW.

flattering for advantage (θαυμάζοντες πρόσωπα ὠφελείας χάριν) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: θαυμάζω = to admire/marvel at; πρόσωπον = face; the idiom “admiring faces” = showing partiality/favoritism; ὠφέλεια = benefit/advantage; χάριν (here as preposition) = “for the sake of.”
Semantic range: insincere flattery or favoritism extended strategically to those who can provide personal benefit.
English variants: “flattering people for advantage,” “showing favoritism for gain.”
Contextual theological meaning: Names a specific, socially manipulative sin of the false teachers — currying favor for material or social gain.
Destination rendering: 为得便宜说好话讨人的喜悦 (wèi dé piányi shuō hǎohuà tǎo rén de xǐyuè, “flattering people to please them for personal gain”), following CUV.
Risk: MEDIUM–HIGH. This idiom’s literal image of “admiring/marveling at faces” sits directly adjacent to the Chinese social-relational concept of 面子 (miànzi, “face”) and 给面子 (gěi miànzi, “giving face,” extending flattery/deference to preserve or curry social standing) — a dynamic the baseline’s own AI translation requirements already flag for native-speaker review (“Segments with honor/face (面子) dynamics”). Teaching must clarify that Jude condemns this as self-serving manipulation for illegitimate gain, not merely a violation of proper social courtesy; care must be taken that the Mandarin rendering does not accidentally read as condemning ordinary, legitimate face-giving courtesy in Chinese social life.

Jude 1:17

remember (μνήσθητε, mnēsthēte) — [New — Jude]

Destination rendering: 你们要记念 (nǐmen yào jìniàn), following CUV.
Risk: LOW.

apostles (τῶν ἀποστόλων) — [Reused from Romans TM] → 使徒 (shǐtú). Risk: Low (per baseline). Here cited as the authoritative source of prior prophetic warning about last-days scoffers, reinforcing the “faith once delivered” (v.3) theme — apostolic teaching, not ongoing prophetic innovation, is the fixed standard.

Jude 1:18

last time (ἐπ’ ἐσχάτου χρόνου) — [New — Jude]

Destination rendering: 末世的时候 (mòshì de shíhòu, “the time of the last age”), following CUV eschatological vocabulary.
Risk: LOW–MEDIUM. Standard Chinese Christian eschatological term; minor risk of conflation with secular apocalyptic pop-culture usage of 末世 (common in contemporary Chinese fiction/film for generic doomsday scenarios) — teaching should anchor the term to the specific biblical framework of Christ’s return and final judgment.

scoffers (ἐμπαῖκται, empaiktai) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: one who mocks or ridicules.
Destination rendering: 讥诮的人 (jīqiào de rén, “mockers”), following CUV.
Risk: LOW.

Jude 1:19

cause divisions (ἀποδιορίζοντες, apodiorizontes) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: to mark off/separate by boundary lines (an intensive compound), i.e., to draw factional lines within the community.
Destination rendering: 引人结党 (yǐn rén jié dǎng, “cause people to form factions/parties”), following CUV.
Risk: MEDIUM. Care must be taken not to over-translate this as 邪教 (xiéjiào, “evil cult/heterodox teaching”) — a legally and politically loaded contemporary Chinese term (used, e.g., of banned religious movements) that would import a specific modern political-legal category foreign to the text. Jude’s concern is factional self-separation from genuine fellowship, not the establishment of an organized alternative religion.

worldly / soulish (ψυχικοί, psychikoi) and not having the Spirit (πνεῦμα μὴ ἔχοντες) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: ψυχικός = “of the soul/natural life” (from ψυχή, soul/natural life-breath), as opposed to πνευματικός (“of the Spirit”); describes a person operating on merely natural human capacities, without the Holy Spirit.
Semantic range: the merely natural, unregenerate aspect of human life, contrasted with Spirit-indwelt life.
English variants: “worldly,” “sensual,” “natural,” “soulish,” “without the Spirit.”
Contextual theological meaning: Identifies the false teachers as lacking the Holy Spirit altogether — the sharpest statement in the letter distinguishing them from genuine believers.
Destination rendering: 属乎血气 (shǔ hū xuèqì, “belonging to blood and vital breath,” i.e., merely natural), following CUV; 没有圣灵的 (méiyǒu Shènglíng de, “not having the Holy Spirit”) for the second clause, using the baseline’s mandatory compound 圣灵 (never 灵 alone).
Risk: HIGH. The CUV phrase 血气 (xuèqì, “blood and breath/vitality,” idiomatically “mere human nature”) contains the character 气 (qì), which the baseline translation_memory.json and AI translation requirements explicitly forbid as a stand-alone rendering for “power of God” (气 = the vital life-energy of Chinese medicine, qigong, and Daoist/martial-arts cosmology). This is a genuine, specific collision risk requiring explicit clarification: the fixed idiomatic compound 血气 (describing merely natural, un-Spirit-filled human existence) is doctrinally and linguistically distinct from an isolated or cultivation-flavored use of 气, and must never be confused with, or used interchangeably with, terms for supernatural power (神的大能) or spiritual cultivation practices. Every occurrence of 血气 in Jude teaching materials should carry a note clarifying this is idiomatic (“natural human life”) and unrelated to qì-cultivation concepts. The second clause’s mandatory 圣灵 (never bare 灵) directly reinforces the baseline’s Critical Holy Spirit safeguard.

Jude 1:20

build up / building yourselves up (ἐποικοδομοῦντες, epoikodomountes) — [New — Jude; reuses baseline “Mutual Edification” doctrine concept]

Destination rendering: 建立自己 (jiànlì zìjǐ, “build up yourselves”), consistent with the baseline’s 彼此造就 (mutual edification) network.
Risk: LOW (per baseline’s Low-risk “Mutual Edification” doctrine entry).

most holy faith (τῇ ἁγιωτάτῃ ὑμῶν πίστει) — [New — Jude; see v.3 note on πίστις]

Literal meaning: ἁγιωτάτῃ = superlative of ἅγιος (holy) — “most holy.”
Destination rendering: 至圣的真道 (zhì shèng de zhēndào, “the most holy true way/doctrine”) — combining 至圣 (superlative of 圣洁/圣, baseline High-risk “holy” term) with 真道 (established here for the objective/doctrinal sense of πίστις, per the v.3 note).
Risk: CRITICAL. Same core risk as v.3: this occurrence of πίστις must use 真道, not 信心, to preserve the objective/doctrinal sense — and it compounds the baseline’s High-risk “holy” (圣洁) term. A translator note is required flagging both the πίστις-sense distinction and the 圣洁/Neo-Confucian self-cultivation distinction (per baseline “sanctification” note) since “holy faith built up” could otherwise be misread as a self-cultivated attainment.

praying in the Holy Spirit (ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ προσευχόμενοι) — [Reused from Romans TM] → 圣灵 (Shènglíng, mandatory compound). Risk: Critical (per baseline). Also connects to the baseline’s “Prayer and Intercession” doctrine (代求/祷告 network, Medium risk).

Jude 1:21

keep yourselves in the love of God (ἑαυτοὺς ἐν ἀγάπῃ θεοῦ τηρήσατε) — reuses τηρέω (see v.1, v.6 notes) in its protective, self-directed sense (imperative: believers actively keeping themselves, in cooperation with God’s keeping in v.1/v.24).

Destination rendering: 保守自己常在神的爱中 (bǎoshǒu zìjǐ cháng zài Shén de ài zhōng, “keep yourselves continually in God’s love”), following CUV; 神的爱 (Shén de ài, “God’s love”) built on the baseline’s established vocabulary for God (神) and the general term for love (ἀγάπη).
Risk: HIGH (τηρέω-sense tracking, per v.6 note) — confirm this is the protective-keeping branch, matching v.1 and v.24, not the custodial-for-judgment branch (v.6, v.13).

mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ (τὸ ἔλεος τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ) — see v.22–23 for full treatment of ἔλεος.

eternal life (ζωὴν αἰώνιον, zōēn aiōnion) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: ζωή = life; αἰώνιος = everlasting, of the age (to come).
Semantic range: the resurrection/consummated life of the age to come, in fellowship with God — a fixed, established Chinese Christian term.
English variants: “eternal life,” “everlasting life.”
Contextual theological meaning: The believer’s hoped-for future destination, held in tension with present “waiting” (προσδεχόμενοι) — connects to the baseline “salvation” (救恩) doctrine as its culminating, future-facing dimension.
Destination rendering: 永生 (yǒngshēng), the established CUV/modern Chinese Christian term.
Risk: HIGH. 永生 must be sharply distinguished from Daoist longevity/immortality-seeking (长生不老, chángshēng bùlǎo, “long life without aging”), a prominent traditional Chinese religious and popular-cultural aspiration pursued through elixirs, alchemy, qigong practice, and ritual cultivation. Biblical 永生 is a relational, resurrection-life gift received from God through Christ (cf. 救恩, 恩典), not a technique-attained extension or preservation of present bodily life through personal spiritual effort. This distinction closely parallels the baseline’s existing cautions against 修炼/修身 for sanctification and 功德 for grace, and should be taught alongside them.

Jude 1:22–23

mercy (ἐλεᾶτε, eleate — verb form of ἔλεος, eleos) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: ἔλεος = compassion/pity extended toward someone in need or distress, moving one to act on their behalf.
Semantic range: God’s compassionate, active favor toward the suffering, the guilty, or the wavering; can be shown by God to people or, as here, commanded of believers toward one another.
English variants: “mercy,” “compassion,” “have mercy.”
Contextual theological meaning: The controlling term for the curriculum doctrine “Mercy and Rescue of the Wavering.” Believers are commanded to extend the same quality of compassionate rescue toward doubting members of the community that God has extended toward them (cf. v.2, v.21).
Destination rendering: 怜悯 (liánmǐn), the established CUV term.
Risk: HIGH. 怜悯 must never be rendered or taught as equivalent to 慈悲 (cíbēi), the standard Buddhist term for the compassion of bodhisattvas (especially Guanyin, 观音/观世音菩萨, “Guanyin of Compassion”), which in popular Chinese religious imagination is a universal, impersonal, dispositional benevolence extended to all sentient beings as a function of enlightened detachment from self. Biblical ἔλεος/怜悯 is the personal compassion of the one true God (and, derivatively, of his people) directed at specific persons in specific distress, flowing from covenant relationship, not from a metaphysical principle of universal compassion untethered to any personal deity or particular relationship. Distinct also from 恩典 (grace, Critical baseline term): mercy addresses a person’s misery/need, grace addresses a person’s guilt/demerit — both terms should be taught together but kept conceptually distinct.

wavering / doubting (διακρινομένους, diakrinomenous) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: to be divided in judgment, to doubt, to dispute internally.
Semantic range: an internal state of doubt or vacillation, distinct from settled unbelief or outright apostasy.
English variants: “those who are wavering,” “those who doubt,” “those who dispute.”
Contextual theological meaning: Names the specific pastoral target of merciful rescue — insiders within the community who are unsettled or drifting under the influence of the false teachers, not yet hardened outsiders.
Destination rendering: 存疑心的人 (cún yíxīn de rén, “those who harbor doubt”), following CUV.
Risk: MEDIUM–HIGH. Must not be rendered or taught as equivalent to “unbelievers” (未信的人, wèi xìn de rén) or “outsiders” — these are members of the covenant community who are unsettled, and the pastoral response commanded is patient mercy and rescue, not the treatment appropriate to an unconverted outsider. This distinction is pastorally significant for the entire “Mercy and Rescue of the Wavering” doctrine and must be preserved precisely.

save, snatching out of the fire (σῴζετε ἐκ πυρὸς ἁρπάζοντες) — [New — Jude; reuses baseline “salvation” network]

Literal meaning: ἁρπάζω = to seize/snatch forcibly and suddenly (the same verb used of the Spirit “snatching away” Philip in Acts 8:39, and of believers being “caught up” in 1 Thessalonians 4:17).
Semantic range: urgent, forceful rescue from imminent danger.
Contextual theological meaning: Vivid rescue imagery reinforcing that some in the community face genuine, urgent spiritual danger (the “fire” recalling the judgment imagery of vv.7, 23) requiring decisive intervention, not passive concern.
Destination rendering: 从火中抢出来 (cóng huǒ zhōng qiǎng chūlái, “snatch out of the fire”), following CUV; 拯救/搭救 (zhěngjiù/dājiù, “rescue/save”) for σῴζετε, connecting to the baseline’s established 救恩 (salvation) word-family.
Risk: MEDIUM. Connects directly to the baseline’s Critical “salvation” (救恩) doctrine; ensure this urgent, this-life rescue-from-danger sense is not confused with a posthumous-rite concept (超度, explicitly forbidden in the baseline) — this fire-imagery describes present spiritual peril and present rescue, not a ritual performed after death.

hating the garment stained by the flesh (μισοῦντες τὸν ἀπὸ τῆς σαρκὸς ἐσπιλωμένον χιτῶνα) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: σπιλόω = to stain/spot; χιτών = a garment/tunic; here, σάρξ (flesh) is used idiomatically for sinful, corrupting desire/practice rather than the incarnational sense of “flesh.”
Semantic range: a vivid metaphor of moral contamination clinging to and needing to be handled with extreme caution, even while rescuing the person wearing it.
English variants: “hating even the garment stained by the flesh,” “abhorring even the corrupted clothing.”
Contextual theological meaning: Models mercy exercised “with fear” — a careful, self-protective compassion that rescues the person while refusing to be contaminated by the sin itself.
Destination rendering: 连那被情欲沾染的衣服也当厌恶 (lián nà bèi qíngyù zhānrǎn de yīfú yě dāng yànwù), following CUV, using 情欲 (qíngyù, “fleshly desire”) for σάρξ in this specific moral-corruption idiom.
Risk: MEDIUM. As at v.8, σάρξ here (rendered 情欲, not 肉身/肉体) must be kept in its distinct moral-corruption sense, separate from the incarnational or “genuine human nature” senses of “flesh” used elsewhere in doctrinal contexts. Also reinforces “mercy with fear” as active, discerning compassion rather than uncritical affirmation — an important nuance for pastoral teaching in the “Mercy and Rescue of the Wavering” doctrine.

PART 2: Chapter 1 Remainder — Jude 1:1–2 and Jude 1:24–25

(Note: Jude has only one chapter. This section, together with Part 1 above, completes coverage of the entire book.)

Jude 1:1–2 (Greeting)

Jude (Ἰούδας, Ioudas) — proper noun, author’s name. [New — Jude]

Destination rendering: 犹大 (Yóudà), the established CUV form.
Risk: MEDIUM–HIGH. CUV renders both “Jude” (the author of this letter, brother of James) and “Judas Iscariot” (the betrayer) with the identical Chinese transliteration 犹大, since both derive from the same Greek name Ἰούδας/Ἰουδας. Chinese readers with limited biblical literacy may confuse the letter’s author with Christ’s betrayer purely from the shared name-form. Teaching materials introducing this book must explicitly clarify, at first mention, that this 犹大 is “not Judas Iscariot” (不是加略人犹大) but the brother of James and (per Jude 1) a half-brother of Jesus — a clarification note is required wherever this book is introduced.

servant (δοῦλος, doulos) — [New — Jude; also present but unflagged in the Romans baseline at Romans 1:1]

Literal meaning: a bondservant/slave, one wholly owned by and obligated to a master.
Semantic range: ranges from a socially degraded status (chattel slavery) to, in NT usage applied to gospel workers (Paul, James, Jude, Peter), an honored self-designation of total, willing devotion to Christ as absolute Master (δεσπότης, cf. v.4).
English variants: “servant,” “slave,” “bondservant.”
Contextual theological meaning: Jude identifies himself not by his blood relationship to Jesus (which he does not claim, despite being a well-attested brother) but by his relationship of total service — a model of humility relevant to how authority is exercised as the letter opens (contrast with the false teachers’ abuse of authority and flattery for gain in vv.4–19).
Destination rendering: 仆人 (púrén), the established CUV term.
Risk: MEDIUM. This term does not appear as a flagged entry in the baseline Romans package despite Paul’s identical self-designation δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ at Romans 1:1 — this is a genuine gap in the baseline that should be closed going forward. 仆人 in ordinary Mandarin carries a socially low, servile connotation (domestic servant/hired help) that could read as demeaning rather than as the intended honored posture of total devotion; teaching notes should clarify the term is a deliberate, honored self-designation among the apostolic writers, not a statement of low social class.

James (Ἰακώβου, Iakōbou) — [Reused from Romans TM proper-name conventions] → 雅各 (Yǎgè), established CUV form. Risk: Low, but requires a clarifying note that this is James the Lord’s brother (author of the Epistle of James), not James the son of Zebedee or James the son of Alphaeus.

called (κλητοῖς, klētois) — [Reused from Romans TM] → 蒙召的 (méngzhào de). Risk: High (per baseline). Confirms Jude’s audience is defined by the same personal, relational divine summons documented in the baseline’s “Divine Calling” doctrine, not an impersonal 天命-style cosmic entitlement.

beloved / loved (ἠγαπημένοις, ēgapēmenois) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: perfect passive participle of ἀγαπάω (to love) — “having been loved” (and remaining in that state).
Semantic range: the settled, ongoing state of being the object of God’s love.
English variants: “beloved,” “loved (by God).”
Destination rendering: 蒙爱的 (méng ài de, “the ones who have received love”), following CUV.
Risk: LOW–MEDIUM. Distinguish from the vocative address form ἀγαπητοί (“beloved ones,” used at v.3, v.17, v.20 as direct address to the readers), rendered 亲爱的 (qīn’ài de) in CUV — the two Greek forms are related but grammatically and functionally distinct (a description of God’s prior action toward them, vs. a term of direct address), and Mandarin correctly uses two different renderings; translators should not collapse them into a single interchangeable term.

kept for Jesus Christ (τετηρημένοις, tetērēmenois) — see τηρέω discussion at v.6/v.21 above; this is the first occurrence of the verb in the letter and belongs to the protective-keeping branch (God keeping believers, for Jesus Christ). → 蒙保守 (méng bǎoshǒu). Risk: High (τηρέω-sense tracking).

mercy, peace, and love, multiplied (ἔλεος καὶ εἰρήνη καὶ ἀγάπη πληθυνθείη) — [New — Jude, but reuses baseline terms]

平安 (peace) — [Reused from Romans TM], Risk: Medium (per baseline; distinguish from amulet-style good-fortune wishes).
ἀγάπη (love) here as a general noun — connects to the baseline’s grace/love conceptual network; low risk in this greeting-formula use.
ἔλεος (mercy) — see full treatment at vv.22–23 above; High risk (慈悲 collision).
Contextual theological meaning: The greeting formula previews three of the letter’s major closing themes (mercy in the doxology’s implicit backdrop, peace, love, v.20-21) — a structural literary observation worth noting for translators maintaining thematic consistency start to finish.

Jude 1:24–25 (Doxology)

able to keep you from stumbling (τῷ δυναμένῳ φυλάξαι… ἀπταίστους) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: φυλάσσω = to guard, watch, protect (a near-synonym of τηρέω, used here instead — note Jude varies his vocabulary for “keeping” between τηρέω, used of angels/believers/darkness throughout the body of the letter, and φυλάσσω, used specifically in the closing doxology of God’s guarding power); ἄπταιστος = without stumbling, not tripped up.
Semantic range: protective guarding that prevents a fall or failure.
Contextual theological meaning: The doxological climax of “Kept by God and Presented Blameless” — God himself, not human effort, is the one able to guard believers from spiritual failure.
Destination rendering: 那能保守你们不失脚 (nà néng bǎoshǒu nǐmen bù shījiǎo, “he who is able to keep you from stumbling”), following CUV; 保守 (bǎoshǒu) here aligns with the protective-keeping branch of τηρέω vocabulary established earlier (v.1, v.21), maintaining consistency even though the underlying Greek verb differs (φυλάσσω vs. τηρέω) — the Mandarin rendering should track theological sense (protective vs. custodial) rather than mechanically mirror which Greek verb root is used.
Risk: HIGH. Same τηρέω/φυλάσσω-sense-tracking concern as throughout the letter; must land clearly on the protective-guarding branch (保守), consistent with v.1, v.21.

present blameless / without blemish (στῆσαι κατενώπιον τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ ἀμώμους) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: ἵστημι (here στῆσαι) = to cause to stand, present; ἄμωμος = without blemish/spot, the same term used throughout the LXX of unblemished sacrificial animals fit for offering, and applied elsewhere in the NT to Christ himself (1 Peter 1:19) and to the church’s future presentation (Ephesians 5:27).
Semantic range: a state of complete, sacrificially-qualified purity/perfection, fit to be presented before a holy God.
English variants: “present blameless,” “without blemish,” “without spot.”
Contextual theological meaning: The believer’s future perfected standing before God is entirely God’s own accomplishment (“him who is able… to present you”), not a self-achieved state — directly reinforcing the baseline’s “sanctification” (成圣) doctrine caution against self-achieved moral perfection, now extended to its future, completed dimension.
Destination rendering: 无瑕无疵、欢欢喜喜站在他荣耀之前 (wú xiá wú cī, huānhuān xǐxǐ zhàn zài tā róngyào zhī qián, “without blemish or flaw, joyfully standing before his glory”), following CUV.
Risk: HIGH. 无瑕无疵 (without blemish or flaw) must be taught as a status conferred by God’s keeping power, presented at the end as the culmination of his protective work throughout the letter — not as a description of a moral perfection the believer works toward and achieves through personal cultivation. This directly parallels, and should be cross-taught with, the baseline’s Critical “sanctification” (成圣) doctrine note distinguishing Spirit-wrought holiness from Neo-Confucian self-cultivation into sagehood (修身/修炼).

glory (δόξης, doxēs) — [Reused from Romans TM] → 荣耀 (róngyào). Risk: Medium (per baseline; distinguish from 面子/光宗耀祖).

the only God our Savior (μόνῳ θεῷ σωτῆρι ἡμῶν) — [New — Jude; reuses baseline God/salvation network]

Destination rendering: 独一的神我们的救主 (dú yī de Shén, wǒmen de jiùzhǔ), using the baseline’s mandatory 神 (God) plus 救主 (jiùzhǔ, “Savior,” built on the established 救恩 root).
Risk: CRITICAL. Reuses the baseline’s Critical “God” (神) entry directly; the addition of 独一的 (“the only”) here should reinforce, not merely repeat, the monotheism-explicit teaching the baseline requires wherever 神 is used, given 神 is also the ordinary Chinese noun for any deity/spirit.

through Jesus Christ our Lord (διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν) — [Reused from Romans TM] → 耶稣基督我们的主 (Yēsū Jīdū wǒmen de zhǔ). Risk: Critical (per baseline, Lordship of Christ / Jesus / Messiah entries).

majesty, dominion, and authority (μεγαλωσύνη, κράτος, ἐξουσία) — [New — Jude]

Literal meaning: μεγαλωσύνη = greatness/majesty; κράτος = might/dominion/ruling power; ἐξουσία = authority/legitimate right to rule/act.
Destination rendering: 大权、能力 (dà quán, “sovereign power/great authority”; néng lì, “might”) following CUV’s compact doxological phrasing (“愿荣耀、威严、能力、权柄，从万古以前，并现今，直到永永远远，归与他”), rendering the fourfold list distinctly: 荣耀 (glory), 威严 (wēiyán, majesty), 能力 (nénglì, power/might), 权柄 (quánbǐng, authority).
Risk: LOW–MEDIUM. Standard doxological vocabulary; ensure the fourfold list is not collapsed into a single generic “greatness” term, since each word contributes a distinct facet of God’s supreme, personal rule — and none should slip toward 天意/命运-style impersonal cosmic-power language (cf. baseline “providence” caution).

before all time, now, and forever (πρὸ παντὸς τοῦ αἰῶνος καὶ νῦν καὶ εἰς πάντας τοὺς αἰῶνας) — [New — Jude]

Destination rendering: 从万古以前，并现今，直到永永远远 (cóng wàngǔ yǐqián, bìng xiànjīn, zhídào yǒngyǒng-yuǎnyuǎn), following CUV’s established doxological formula, reusing the αἰώνιος (“eternal”) word-family established throughout the letter (chains, v.6; fire, v.7; life, v.21).
Risk: LOW. Standard doxological closing formula; maintain consistency with the 永 (yǒng-) prefix family used for “eternal” throughout the letter.

Summary Note on Full-Book Coverage

Jude 1:1–25 has now been fully analyzed: verses 3–23 (Part 1, the core passage) verse-by-verse, and verses 1–2 and 24–25 (Part 2) covering the epistolary frame. No portion of the single-chapter book has been left unreviewed. The single most pervasive cross-verse tracking requirement identified in this analysis is the τηρέω/φυλάσσω (“keep”) word-family, which must be rendered according to theological sense (protective-keeping vs. custodial-keeping-for-judgment) at every occurrence (1:1, 1:6 [×2], 1:13, 1:21, 1:24), and the πίστις (“faith”) objective-sense rendering as 真道 (distinct from 信心) at 1:3 and 1:20.

Library content is free and openly licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 — share and adapt it for non-commercial use, with attribution to tri-bible.ai.