Semantic Analysis

Semantic Analysis — 1 John (English → Nepali)

Method and Scope

This document analyzes 1 John in the original Koine Greek across its full five chapters. Part 1 gives verse-by-verse treatment of the core passage, 1 John 4:7–21 (the theological anchor of this curriculum: God’s love as source, propitiation, indwelling, and evidence in love for the brethren). Part 2 covers every chapter of the whole letter, chapter by chapter, surfacing every load-bearing theological term not already treated in Part 1, with the same fields: original word, transliteration, literal meaning, semantic range, English variants, contextual theological meaning, and destination-language (Nepali) rendering risk.

Where a term already appears in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json / bible_term_registry.json, the recorded Nepali rendering is reused exactly, and this is marked [BASELINE REUSE]. New terms introduced by 1 John are marked [NEW] and will be added to an updated translation memory in a later step. Nepali culture-collision risks follow the same analytical pattern the baseline established (Hindu Vedantic/Shakta/avatar concepts, Newar Tantric practice, Himalayan/Newar Buddhist doctrine, the historic Hindu-Kingdom/Muluki Ain caste-code legacy, and Nepal’s living shamanic/animist tradition of jhankri-dhami spirit mediums, which becomes newly relevant for 1 John’s “testing the spirits” material).

Part 1 — Core Passage: 1 John 4:7–21 (Verse-by-Verse)

4:7 — Ἀγαπητοί, ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους, ὅτι ἡ ἀγάπη ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν, καὶ πᾶς ὁ ἀγαπῶν ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ γεγέννηται καὶ γινώσκει τὸν θεόν.

love — Greek: ἀγάπη (agapē) / verb ἀγαπάω (agapaō); literal meaning: selfless, willed love directed toward the good of another; semantic range: covenantal/self-giving love (distinct from ἔρως romantic desire and φιλία friendly affection, though 1 John does not always press this distinction lexically); English variants: “love” (all major versions). Contextual theological meaning: the defining attribute and activity of God himself (v.8), the ground and pattern of all Christian love. [NEW] Nepali rendering: प्रेम (prem). Risk: High. प्रेम is the standard Nepali word for love across registers, but must be distinguished in this passage from (a) Hindu bhakti-love directed toward a deity in exchange for favor, and (b) romantic/familial प्रेम devoid of moral content. The doctrinal claim “God is love” (ईश्वर प्रेम हो) must be read as describing God’s essential nature and self-giving action in Christ, not a sentimental attribute.
born of God / begotten of God — Greek: γεγέννηται ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ, perfect passive of γεννάω (gennaō); literal meaning: “has been begotten/born out of God”; semantic range: physical birth, spiritual regeneration, divine begetting; English variants: “born of God,” “begotten of God.” Contextual theological meaning: new birth by the Holy Spirit produces a new capacity to love as God loves — this is the doctrine “Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth.” [NEW — CRITICAL] Nepali rendering: परमेश्वरबाट जन्म पाएका / नयाँ जन्म (Parameshwarbata janma paeka / nayaan janma). Risk: Critical. Must NEVER use पुनर्जन्म (already forbidden in the baseline for “resurrection,” on grounds of Hindu/Buddhist rebirth doctrine). Even though γεννάω literally means simply “to beget/be born,” Nepali “जन्म” vocabulary sits directly beside the culturally dominant concept of cyclical rebirth driven by karma; the phrase must always be anchored with परमेश्वरबाट (from/by God) or पवित्र आत्माद्वारा (by the Holy Spirit) to make clear this is a single, decisive, Spirit-wrought spiritual event, not a repeatable transmigration of the soul.
know God — Greek: γινώσκει τὸν θεόν, present of γινώσκω (ginōskō); literal meaning: to know by experience/relationship (contrasted with εἰδέναι, to know a fact); semantic range: relational, experiential, intimate knowledge. English variants: “knows God.” Contextual theological meaning: in 1 John, “knowing God” is John’s chief answer to proto-Gnostic teachers who claimed a superior esoteric knowledge (γνῶσις) unrelated to obedience and love. [NEW] Nepali rendering: चिन्नु (chinnu, to know personally/recognize) rather than जान्नु (to know a fact). Risk: High. This term sits in direct tension with Gnostic-style “salvation through secret knowledge,” which historically 1 John itself was written to refute, and it has a live parallel-risk in Nepal’s own esoteric/tantric traditions, where gnosis-like secret knowledge (initiatory knowledge from a guru) is a path to spiritual attainment. John’s “knowing God” is relational and ethical (evidenced by love and obedience), not initiatory or secret.

4:8 — ὁ μὴ ἀγαπῶν οὐκ ἔγνω τὸν θεόν, ὅτι ὁ θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστίν.

God is love — Greek: ὁ θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστίν; literal meaning: “God love is” (predicate nominative, describing essence not merely activity); semantic range: an identity-statement, not a simple description of one attribute among others. English variants: “God is love” (universal rendering). Contextual theological meaning: this is one of two defining statements about God’s nature in the letter (with “God is light,” 1:5) and the doctrinal anchor of the whole curriculum. Nepali rendering: परमेश्वर प्रेम हुनुहुन्छ (Parameshwar prem hunuhunchha), using the honorific verb form required for statements about God (see baseline gender/honorific convention). Risk: Critical. This must not be softened into “परमेश्वरले प्रेम गर्नुहुन्छ” (God loves/does love) alone, which would reduce an essence-statement to an activity-statement; the copula construction (है/हुनुहुन्छ) preserving identity, not mere action, must be retained, paralleling the doctrinal weight the baseline places on “Jesus is Lord” (येशू प्रभु हुनुहुन्छ) as a fixed, unqualified confession.

4:9 — ἐν τούτῳ ἐφανερώθη ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν ἡμῖν, ὅτι τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ ἀπέσταλκεν ὁ θεὸς εἰς τὸν κόσμον, ἵνα ζήσωμεν διὰ αὐτοῦ.

manifested/revealed — Greek: ἐφανερώθη, aorist passive of φανερόω (phaneroō); literal meaning: “was made visible/apparent”; semantic range: disclosure of what was previously hidden. English variants: “was manifested,” “was revealed,” “was shown.” Contextual theological meaning: God’s love became historically visible in a specific act — the sending of the Son — not merely taught as an abstract truth. [NEW] Nepali rendering: प्रकट भयो (prakat bhayo). Risk: High. Must be anchored to the one-time, historical sending of the Son (देहधारण, incarnation) rather than read as a repeatable or ongoing divine self-disclosure in the way Hindu avatar theology narrates successive divine descents.
only-begotten / unique Son — Greek: τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ (monogenēs); literal meaning: “one of a kind,” “unique,” historically rendered “only-begotten”; semantic range: NOT “only child” in a simple genealogical sense, but unique, one-of-a-kind sonship without implying a beginning in time. English variants: “only-begotten Son” (KJV/NASB), “one and only Son” (NIV), “his only Son” (ESV). Contextual theological meaning: affirms the eternal, unique Sonship of Christ, directly continuous with the baseline’s “Sonship of Christ” Critical doctrine. [NEW — CRITICAL] Nepali rendering: उहाँका एकमात्र पुत्र (uhaanka ekmatra putra), used together with the baseline term परमेश्वरका पुत्र [BASELINE REUSE] where the fuller title is needed. Risk: Critical. Must not be read as implying Christ had an origin in time (an ancient Arian-adjacent misreading) nor collapsed into the Himalayan Buddhist tulku framework of recognized reincarnate lineage-successors, which the baseline’s sonship_of_christ entry already flags. एकमात्र must communicate uniqueness of relationship, not merely numerical singularity.
sent — Greek: ἀπέσταλκεν, perfect of ἀποστέλλω; literal meaning: “has sent (with a commission)”; semantic range: authoritative sending, not casual dispatch. English variants: “has sent,” “sent.” Contextual theological meaning: the Father’s initiative in the incarnation and atonement. [NEW] Nepali rendering: पठाउनुभयो (pathaunubhayo, honorific). Risk: Medium. Straightforward; doctrinal weight carried by object (the Son), not the verb itself.
world — Greek: κόσμος (kosmos); literal meaning: “order, arrangement,” extended to “the created/human world” and, elsewhere in 1 John, “the world-system in rebellion against God” (see 2:15–17). Semantic range: the inhabited world (neutral, as here) vs. the moral-spiritual system opposed to God (negative, elsewhere). English variants: “world” (universal). [NEW] Nepali rendering: संसार (sansaar). Risk: High. This is the single most significant new culture-collision risk 1 John introduces beyond the Romans baseline: संसार is the exact, standard Sanskrit/Nepali/Hindi term for saṃsāra — the Hindu and Buddhist cycle of rebirth and worldly existence from which moksha/nirvana offer escape. संसार is nonetheless the settled, established Nepali Bible rendering for κόσμος across the whole New Testament (including John 3:16) and must be retained for consistency; but because 1 John repeatedly commands believers not to love, and to overcome, “the world” (2:15–17; 4:4; 5:4–5, part of the “Overcoming the World” doctrine), translators and reviewers must actively guard against readers hearing this as a call to Hindu/Buddhist renunciation of worldly existence (vairāgya, or the bodhisattva path of detachment) rather than the biblical call to reject a personal, moral system of rebellion against a personal God while remaining engaged in ordinary life (consistent with the baseline’s “Separation unto God’s Service” doctrine note on avoiding a sadhu/ascetic-withdrawal reading).
that we might live through him — Greek: ἵνα ζήσωμεν διὰ αὐτοῦ; ζάω (zaō), “to live.” Contextual theological meaning: life (physical and eternal) is contingent on and mediated through Christ alone. Nepali: उहाँद्वारा हामी जीवित रहनको लागि. Risk: Medium, ties to eternal life below.

4:10 — ἐν τούτῳ ἐστὶν ἡ ἀγάπη, οὐχ ὅτι ἡμεῖς ἠγαπήκαμεν τὸν θεόν, ἀλλ᾿ ὅτι αὐτὸς ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς καὶ ἀπέστειλεν τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἱλασμὸν περὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν.

propitiation — Greek: ἱλασμός (hilasmos); literal meaning: “a means of appeasement/atonement,” from ἱλάσκομαι, “to propitiate, make atonement”; semantic range: a sacrifice that satisfies/turns aside deserved wrath, restoring relationship. English variants: “propitiation” (KJV/ESV/NASB), “atoning sacrifice” (NIV). Contextual theological meaning: Christ himself, sent by the Father, is the sacrifice that deals fully with sin’s guilt before a holy God — the ground of “Confession and Forgiveness of Sin.” [NEW — CRITICAL] Proposed Nepali rendering: प्रायश्चित्तको बलिदान (prayashchittako balidan, “sacrifice of atonement”) rather than प्रायश्चित्त alone. Risk: Critical. प्रायश्चित्त alone is a live, active term in Nepali Hindu religious practice denoting self-performed penance or ritual expiation undertaken BY the sinner to remove the sin’s effects (fasting, pilgrimage, ritual acts) — the reverse theological direction of ἱλασμός, in which God himself provides and sends the atoning sacrifice. The compound बलिदान (sacrifice/offering) must always be retained to anchor the phrase in a once-for-all substitutionary offering made by God’s initiative, on the same principle by which the baseline requires “धर्मी ठहराइने कार्य” rather than माफी alone for justification, and “आरोपित धार्मिकता” rather than आर्जित धार्मिकता for imputed righteousness.
loved us first — see v.19 below for the fuller treatment of πρῶτος. Here ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς establishes the same divine-initiative pattern as ἱλασμός: grace precedes and produces response, never the reverse — directly reinforcing the baseline’s Grace doctrine’s insistence on anugraha (अनुग्रह) as unmerited and never earned.

4:11 — Ἀγαπητοί, εἰ οὕτως ὁ θεὸς ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς, καὶ ἡμεῖς ὀφείλομεν ἀλλήλους ἀγαπᾶν.

ought — Greek: ὀφείλομεν, from ὀφείλω, “to owe, be obligated”; literal meaning: a debt-obligation, not a suggestion. English variants: “we ought,” “we also ought.” Contextual theological meaning: love for one another is not optional piety but a moral debt flowing necessarily from having received God’s love — grounding “Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth.” [NEW] Nepali rendering: हामी ऋणी छौं / हामीले … गर्नुपर्छ (hami rini chhau / hamile…garnuparchha). Risk: Medium. Care should be taken that this “debt” language is not misheard through a karmic-debt framework (owing merit or repaying a cosmic ledger); it is a relational, gratitude-driven obligation, not a transactional repayment that earns standing.

4:12 — θεὸν οὐδεὶς πώποτε τεθέαται· ἐὰν ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους, ὁ θεὸς ἐν ἡμῖν μένει καὶ ἡ ἀγάπη αὐτοῦ τετελειωμένη ἐν ἡμῖν ἐστιν.

abide/remain — Greek: μένει, present of μένω (menō); literal meaning: “to stay, remain, dwell continuously”; semantic range: a key Johannine relational term for continuing, settled communion (used ~24 times in this short letter). English variants: “abides,” “remains,” “lives in.” Contextual theological meaning: God’s own indwelling presence within the believer, and the believer’s continuing communion with God — central to “Fellowship with God and One Another.” [NEW] Nepali rendering: रहनु (rahanu, to remain/dwell). Risk: High. Must be read as ongoing, personal, relational communion between two distinct persons (God dwelling in the believer, the believer dwelling in God) — not the absorption/dissolution-of-self implied by Vedantic union with Brahman (advaita) or Buddhist non-dual meditative states. Fellowship (सहभागिता) and abiding (रहनु) are companion terms in this curriculum and should be kept terminologically distinct but doctrinally coordinated throughout the material.
perfected/completed — Greek: τετελειωμένη, perfect passive participle of τελειόω (teleioō); literal meaning: “brought to completeness/maturity,” not “flawlessness” in an abstract sense; semantic range: reaching its intended full expression. English variants: “perfected,” “made complete,” “fully formed.” Contextual theological meaning: God’s love reaches its full, visible expression precisely in and through the mutual love of believers. [NEW — HIGH] Nepali rendering: पूर्ण भएको (purna bhayeko, “become complete/whole”). Risk: High. AVOID सिद्ध (siddha) for this concept: सिद्ध is the term for a “perfected/accomplished” spiritual adept in Hindu yogic and Tantric tradition (a siddha attains supernatural power/liberation through disciplined practice) — exactly the self-achieved-attainment framework 1 John’s grace-driven “perfected love” (given, not attained) must avoid. पूर्ण keeps the sense of wholeness/completeness without importing self-achieved spiritual attainment.

4:13 — ἐν τούτῳ γινώσκομεν ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ μένομεν καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν ἡμῖν, ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος αὐτοῦ δέδωκεν ἡμῖν.

his Spirit — Greek: ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος αὐτοῦ; πνεῦμα (pneuma), “spirit, breath, wind”; here specifically God’s own Spirit given to indwell believers, i.e., the Holy Spirit, though the bare phrase “Holy Spirit” (πνεῦμα ἅγιον) never actually occurs verbatim in 1 John. [NEW — CRITICAL for disambiguation] Nepali rendering in this verse: उहाँको आत्मा / पवित्र आत्मा — reuse baseline पवित्र आत्मा [BASELINE REUSE] to make the Trinitarian referent explicit, since Nepali “आत्मा” alone is doctrinally loaded (see Chapter 4 discussion of 4:1–6 below, and the wider Testing the Spirits doctrine). Risk: Critical. Every occurrence of πνεῦμα in 1 John must be individually assessed: some (3:24; 4:13) refer to the Holy Spirit indwelling believers and should be rendered/clarified as पवित्र आत्मा; others (4:1, 4:6b “spirit of error”) refer to created spirits, whether true or false, and must be rendered with plain आत्मा, never पवित्र आत्मा, to avoid implying multiple “holy spirits.”

4:14 — καὶ ἡμεῖς τεθεάμεθα καὶ μαρτυροῦμεν ὅτι ὁ πατὴρ ἀπέσταλκεν τὸν υἱὸν σωτῆρα τοῦ κόσμου.

testify/bear witness — Greek: μαρτυροῦμεν, present of μαρτυρέω (martyreō); literal meaning: “to give witness/testimony,” a forensic and eyewitness term. English variants: “testify,” “bear witness,” “witness.” Contextual theological meaning: John (and the apostolic circle) grounds the gospel in verified eyewitness testimony, not private mystical experience — key to “Assurance of Salvation.” [NEW] Nepali rendering: गवाही दिनु (gavahi dinu). Risk: Medium. Should be kept forensic/eyewitness in tone, distinct from the more fluid, experience-based “testimony” of a spirit-medium’s utterance in Nepali shamanic (jhankri/dhami) or oracle practice, where a spirit “speaks through” a human vessel; John’s testimony is remembered apostolic eyewitness report, not channeled revelation.
Savior of the world — Greek: σωτῆρα τοῦ κόσμου; σωτήρ (sōtēr), “one who saves/delivers/rescues.” English variants: “Savior of the world.” Contextual theological meaning: Christ’s saving work is universal in scope (available to all, Jew and Gentile alike — cf. baseline’s Universal Scope of the Gospel doctrine) though not automatically universal in application (see 5:1, requiring faith). [NEW — HIGH] Nepali rendering: संसारका उद्धारकर्ता (sansaarka uddharkarta), built on baseline उद्धार [BASELINE REUSE]. Risk: High, inherited directly from the baseline’s Critical risk profile on उद्धार: must never drift toward मुक्ति/मोक्ष/निर्वाण-style universal liberation language, especially since this phrase pairs σωτήρ with κόσμος (संसार) in the very same clause, doubling the collision surface.

4:15 — ὃς ἐὰν ὁμολογήσῃ ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, ὁ θεὸς ἐν αὐτῷ μένει καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν τῷ θεῷ.

confess — Greek: ὁμολογήσῃ, aorist subjunctive of ὁμολογέω (homologeō); literal meaning: “to say the same thing (as another),” i.e., to agree/acknowledge openly; semantic range: public acknowledgment/agreement, both of sin (1:9) and of doctrinal truth (here, and 4:2–3). English variants: “confess,” “acknowledge.” Contextual theological meaning: doctrinal confession that Jesus is the Son of God is inseparably linked to authentic fellowship with God — an outward, verbal test alongside the inward evidence of love. [NEW] Nepali rendering: स्वीकार गर्नु / अंगाल्नु (swikar garnu / angalnu). Risk: High. Must be distinguished from (a) ritual confession/penance practices in Hindu tradition performed to remove sin’s effects, and (b) mere private assent; this is public, verbal acknowledgment tied directly to the confession formula the baseline already fixes for Romans 10:9 (येशू प्रभु हुनुहुन्छ) — 1 John 4:15’s confession (“Jesus is the Son of God”) and Romans 10:9’s confession (“Jesus is Lord”) should be treated as parallel, mutually reinforcing confessional statements using consistent verb choice.

4:16 — καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐγνώκαμεν καὶ πεπιστεύκαμεν τὴν ἀγάπην ἣν ἔχει ὁ θεὸς ἐν ἡμῖν. ὁ θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστίν, καὶ ὁ μένων ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ ἐν τῷ θεῷ μένει καὶ ὁ θεὸς ἐν αὐτῷ μένει.

known and believed — γινώσκω and πιστεύω paired: relational knowledge and settled trust reinforce each other; πιστεύω reuses baseline विश्वास [BASELINE REUSE]. Risk: High (inherited from baseline Faith doctrine). No new rendering issue, but note the pairing itself: John consistently binds “knowing” to “believing” against any Gnostic-style claim to knowledge divorced from trust and obedience.
Repetition of God is love and abide — see 4:8 and 4:12 above; same risk ratings apply and consistency of rendering across repetitions within this single passage is essential (per the baseline’s Theological Consistency Rules for repeated key verses).

4:17 — ἐν τούτῳ τετελείωται ἡ ἀγάπη μεθ᾿ ἡμῶν, ἵνα παρρησίαν ἔχωμεν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς κρίσεως, ὅτι καθὼς ἐκεῖνός ἐστιν καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐσμεν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ τούτῳ.

confidence/boldness — Greek: παρρησία (parrēsia); literal meaning: “freedom of speech,” extended to “confident, unashamed boldness” before an authority. English variants: “confidence,” “boldness.” Contextual theological meaning: assurance before God’s future judgment, grounded in union with Christ, not in accumulated merit — central to “Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life.” [NEW] Nepali rendering: निर्धक्कता / साहस (nirdhakkata / sahas). Risk: Medium-High. Must communicate assurance grounded in Christ’s finished work, not the anxious uncertainty about one’s future rebirth-status that characterizes karma-based frameworks of merit-accounting — this term should be coordinated with the baseline’s “Assurance of Salvation” doctrine entry.
day of judgment — Greek: ἡμέρα τῆς κρίσεως; κρίσις (krisis), “judgment, decision.” Nepali: न्यायको दिन (nyayako din). Risk: Medium. A fixed, future, singular day of divine judgment/reckoning by a personal God, not one judgment-episode within an ongoing cycle of rebirths determined by karmic accounting.

4:18 — φόβος οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ, ἀλλ᾿ ἡ τελεία ἀγάπη ἔξω βάλλει τὸν φόβον, ὅτι ὁ φόβος κόλασιν ἔχει· ὁ δὲ φοβούμενος οὐ τετελείωται ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ.

fear — Greek: φόβος (phobos); literal meaning: “fear, dread, terror.” Contextual theological meaning: the anxious dread of judgment that has no place once perfect love (see τέλειος at 4:12 above) has done its full work. [NEW] Nepali rendering: डर (dar). Risk: Medium. Should be distinguished from reverential “fear of the Lord” language elsewhere in Scripture (a distinct, positive sense not in view in this verse); here it is specifically dread/terror before judgment, which perfected love casts out.
casts out — Greek: ἔξω βάλλει, “throws outside.” Vivid, active imagery; Nepali: बाहिर निकाल्छ. Risk: Low, but preserve the vividness rather than flattening to an abstract “removes.”
punishment/torment — Greek: κόλασιν, “punishment, torment.” Nepali: सजाय/दण्ड. Risk: Low.

4:19 — ἡμεῖς ἀγαπῶμεν, ὅτι αὐτὸς πρῶτος ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς.

he first loved us — Greek: αὐτὸς πρῶτος ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς; πρῶτος (prōtos), “first, first in order/priority.” Contextual theological meaning: the entire logical and temporal sequence of salvation begins with God’s initiative, never human initiative — the single most concentrated statement of the Grace doctrine in this passage. [NEW] Nepali rendering: उहाँले नै पहिले हामीलाई प्रेम गर्नुभयो (uhaanle nai pahile hamilai prem garnubhayo). Risk: High. This verse must be translated and taught in explicit, direct tension with any merit-first framework (do good works/accumulate merit, then receive divine favor) shared by both Hindu and Buddhist ethical systems in Nepal, reinforcing the baseline Grace doctrine’s insistence that grace/love precedes and is never a response earned by prior human devotion or merit.

4:20 — ἐάν τις εἴπῃ ὅτι ἀγαπῶ τὸν θεόν, καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ μισῇ, ψεύστης ἐστίν· ὁ γὰρ μὴ ἀγαπῶν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ ὃν ἑώρακεν, τὸν θεὸν ὃν οὐχ ἑώρακεν οὐ δύναται ἀγαπᾶν.

liar — Greek: ψεύστης (pseustēs); literal meaning: “liar, one who speaks falsehood.” English variants: “liar.” Contextual theological meaning: professed love for God that produces no love for a brother is exposed as false profession, not a lesser but still valid form of piety. [NEW] Nepali rendering: झूटा (jhutaa). Risk: Low-Medium. Straightforward moral term; doctrinal weight lies in the verse’s logical structure (love for the unseen God is verified by love for the seen brother), which must be preserved without softening the accusatory force (“is a liar,” not merely “is mistaken”).
brother — Greek: ἀδελφός (adelphos); literal meaning: “brother,” extended in the New Testament to fellow believers regardless of blood kinship. [NEW] Nepali rendering: भाई (bhai), understood inclusively of both genders in the sense of “fellow believer” (भाइबहिनी, brother/sister, may be used where inclusive clarity is needed). Risk: Medium-High. Given the baseline’s documented concern about caste-linked social hierarchy formerly codified in the Muluki Ain, this term in 1 John’s “Love for the Brethren” doctrine must be rendered so that it clearly transcends caste, ethnicity, and biological family lines — the brotherhood in view is constituted by common new birth from God (see 4:7), not by any inherited social status.

4:21 — καὶ ταύτην τὴν ἐντολὴν ἔχομεν ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ, ἵνα ὁ ἀγαπῶν τὸν θεὸν ἀγαπᾷ καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ.

commandment — Greek: ἐντολή (entolē); literal meaning: “commandment, instruction, charge.” English variants: “commandment.” Contextual theological meaning: love for the brother is not optional counsel but a binding command received directly “from him” (Christ), summarizing the whole ethical burden of the letter. [NEW] Nepali rendering: आज्ञा (agya), consistent with the आज्ञा root already used in the baseline’s obedience_of_faith term (विश्वासको आज्ञाकारिता). Risk: Medium. Must be framed as a command that flows from, and is enabled by, the love already received (v.19) — obedience of faith, not independent legal duty performed to earn standing (paralleling the baseline’s law-vs-obedience-of-faith distinction, though here ἐντολή is not the Mosaic νόμος but Christ’s own relational charge to his own).

Part 2 — Chapter-by-Chapter Study of the Whole Book

Chapter 1 (1 John 1:1–10)

Word of life — Greek: ὁ λόγος τῆς ζωῆς (ho logos tēs zōēs), 1:1; λόγος (logos), “word, discourse, reason,” used here as in John 1:1 as a personal Christological title for the eternal Son. [NEW — CRITICAL] Nepali rendering: जीवनको वचन (jivanko vachan), reusing the established Nepali Bible term वचन (vachan) for λόγος from John’s Gospel tradition. Risk: Critical. वचन/शब्द carries a serious latent collision with Hindu Vedic philosophy, where वाक् (Vāc, “speech/word”) is itself venerated as a divine principle, and with the doctrine of शब्द ब्रह्म (Shabda Brahman, sound/word as the impersonal ultimate reality manifest through mantra). The Johannine λόγος must be taught unambiguously as the personal, eternal Son — who “was with God, and was God” (John 1:1) and “we have heard, seen, and touched” (1 John 1:1) — not an impersonal cosmic sound-principle or a mantra-like utterance with inherent power.
fellowship — Greek: κοινωνία (koinōnia), 1:3, 1:6, 1:7. [BASELINE REUSE] Nepali: सहभागिता (sahabhagita). Risk: elevated for this curriculum to High in practical terms, since Fellowship with God and One Another is a named doctrine of this whole curriculum and receives its programmatic statement here (1:3: “that you may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son”). Rendering itself unchanged from baseline.
light — Greek: φῶς (phōs), 1:5, 1:7; darkness — σκότος/σκοτία (skotos/skotia), 1:5–6. [NEW] Nepali rendering: light = ज्योति (jyoti); darkness = अन्धकार (andhakar). Risk: High for light. God’s radiant moral purity and self-revelation must be distinguished from (a) the baseline’s existing caution around glory/mahima imagery colliding with Newar Tantric/living-goddess radiance traditions, and (b) the widespread Hindu/Buddhist metaphor of “enlightenment” (ज्योति/प्रकाश as inner illumination attained through spiritual practice). “God is light” (1:5) is a moral-relational claim (God is utterly holy, truthful, and self-revealing) received by faith, not an attainable inner illumination reached through meditative practice.
sin — ἁμαρτία (hamartia), 1:7–1:9. [BASELINE REUSE] Nepali: पाप. Risk: High (unchanged from baseline).
confess — ὁμολογέω, 1:9 (of sin). [NEW] See treatment at 4:15 above; here specifically confession of sin, not doctrinal confession. Nepali: स्वीकार गर्नु (paapko swikar garnu). Risk: High, grounding the “Confession and Forgiveness of Sin” doctrine: this must communicate honest acknowledgment before a personal God who forgives on the basis of Christ’s blood (below), not a ritual act that itself effects purification.
faithful and just/righteous — Greek: πιστός καὶ δίκαιος (pistos kai dikaios), 1:9. πιστός built on the same root as baseline’s विश्वास; Nepali: विश्वासयोग्य (Risk: Low). δίκαιος, “righteous,” here describing God’s character, reuses the धार्मिकता root: Nepali धर्मी (dharmi), consistent with the baseline’s justification phrase धर्मी ठहराइने कार्य. [BASELINE-CONSISTENT NEW] Risk: Medium, since it is the baseline’s established, safe root (never धर्म alone).
cleanse — Greek: καθαρίζω (katharizō), 1:7, 1:9. [NEW] Nepali rendering: शुद्ध पार्नु (shuddha parnu). Risk: High. Note the tension with the baseline’s rejection of शुद्ध for “holy” (which carries ritual-purity connotations in Hindu/Buddhist ceremonial contexts): here, as a verb describing the effect of Christ’s blood on moral guilt, शुद्ध पार्नु is the established Nepali Bible rendering and may be retained, but translator notes must make explicit that the cleansing in view is forensic/moral (removal of the guilt and defilement of sin before God) achieved once by Christ’s blood, not repeatable ritual purification (Hindu snana/ritual bathing, or Buddhist purification rites) performed by the worshiper.
blood — Greek: αἷμα (haima), 1:7. [NEW] Nepali rendering: रगत (ragat). Risk: Medium. Central to the doctrine of atonement (cf. ἱλασμός at 4:10); must be kept concrete and historical (the literal blood of Jesus’ death), not metaphorical or symbolic-only.
unrighteousness — Greek: ἀδικία (adikia), 1:9. [NEW] Proposed Nepali rendering: अधार्मिकता (adharmikata), built directly as the negation of the baseline’s established धार्मिकता, rather than the more common but riskier अधर्म (which retains the धर्म root the baseline explicitly excludes for soteriological contexts because of its Muluki Ain caste-code associations). Risk: High. This proposed rendering should be flagged for theologian review as a new coinage extending baseline methodology; it preserves full internal consistency with righteousness/justification vocabulary already fixed.

Chapter 2 (1 John 2:1–29)

advocate — Greek: παράκλητος (paraklētos), 2:1, referring to Christ’s role before the Father (elsewhere in John’s Gospel, this same word designates the Holy Spirit as “Helper/Comforter”). Literal meaning: “one called alongside” — a legal advocate, intercessor, or helper. English variants: “advocate” (ESV/NASB), “one who speaks to the Father in our defense” (NIV). Contextual theological meaning: Christ’s ongoing intercessory ministry on behalf of believers who sin, grounded in his propitiatory death (2:2). [NEW — CRITICAL] Proposed Nepali rendering: मध्यस्थ (madhyastha, “mediator/intercessor”), coordinated with the baseline’s मध्यस्थता (intercession). Risk: Critical. This concept carries an unusually direct and theologically serious collision risk in Nepal’s substantial Buddhist context: the Mahayana Buddhist bodhisattva — a compassionate being who intercedes for devotees and may transfer accumulated merit to them — is a live, popularly understood devotional concept. Christ’s advocacy must be taught as grounded in his unique, finished, once-for-all atoning sacrifice (ἱλασμός, 2:2) and his unique deity and incarnation (देहधारण), not as one exceptionally compassionate intercessor among many possible merit-transferring intercessory figures.
propitiation — ἱλασμός, 2:2. See full treatment at 4:10 above; note here it is extended explicitly (“not for ours only, but also for the whole world”) — pairs with κόσμος risk (see 4:9 above) and the Universal Scope of the Gospel doctrine.
commandment — ἐντολή, 2:3–4, 2:7–8. See 4:21 above. Introduced here as “the old/new commandment” (love), foundational for the whole letter’s structure.
know him — γινώσκω, 2:3–4. See 4:7 above; here explicitly contrasted with false claims to knowledge unaccompanied by obedience — the letter’s direct engagement with proto-Gnostic teaching.
abide — μένω, 2:6, 2:10, 2:14, 2:17, 2:24, 2:27–28. See 4:12 above; frequent throughout this chapter.
world — κόσμος, 2:2, 2:15–17. See 4:9 above; here in its explicitly negative, morally-opposed sense (“do not love the world… the world is passing away”) — the chapter’s key “Overcoming the World” material, making the संसार/saṃsāra collision risk especially acute here, since renunciation-of-worldly-attachment language (vairāgya) is a live, positively-valued Hindu/Buddhist spiritual ideal that could be conflated with this command if not carefully taught as rejection of a moral system of rebellion, not of embodied/created existence itself.
antichrist — Greek: ἀντίχριστος (antichristos), 2:18, 2:22 (also 4:3; 2 John 7). Literal meaning: “against Christ” or “instead of Christ” (the prefix ἀντι- can carry either sense). Semantic range: both a specific end-time figure and, in 1 John, present false teachers who deny Christ. English variants: “antichrist.” [NEW — CRITICAL] Nepali rendering: ख्रीष्ट-विरोधी (Khrist-virodhi, “opponent of Christ”), with एन्टिक्राइस्ट available as a supplementary transliteration gloss where needed. Risk: Critical. Central to the “Incarnation and Antichrist” doctrine. Must not be flattened into a generic “evil person,” nor mapped onto indigenous demonic/mythological figures from Hindu epic literature (e.g., Ravana) or Buddhist demonology (Mara), which would relocate this specifically Christological heresy (denial that Jesus is the Christ come in the flesh, 2:22, 4:2–3) into an unrelated mythological category.
anointing — Greek: χρῖσμα (chrisma), 2:20, 2:27. Literal meaning: “an anointing, unguent”; semantic range: the Holy Spirit’s indwelling gift given to all believers, teaching them so that they do not depend on any human teacher for basic gospel truth. English variants: “anointing.” [NEW — HIGH] Nepali rendering: अभिषेक (abhishek), qualified wherever possible as पवित्र आत्माको अभिषेक (the Holy Spirit’s anointing). Risk: High. अभिषेक is a live, concrete Nepali/Hindu ritual term for the ceremonial anointing/consecration of deity images and, historically, for the coronation-consecration of Nepal’s Shah-dynasty kings (who were venerated as living avatars of Vishnu until the monarchy’s 2008 abolition) — directly paralleling the baseline’s avatar/incarnation caution. 1 John’s point is the opposite of an elite royal or priestly consecration: this anointing is given to every ordinary believer (universal, not restricted to a sacred elite), consistent with the baseline’s सन्त/साधु caution for “saints.”
the Holy One — Greek: τοῦ ἁγίου (tou hagiou), 2:20, a substantive use of ἅγιος as a title (likely referring to Christ, possibly the Father). [NEW] Nepali rendering requires care: this is NOT the same referent as the baseline’s plural corporate term पवित्र जन (saints/believers) and should not reuse that phrase. Proposed rendering: पवित्र प्रभुबाट or पवित्र हुनुहुनेबाट (“from the Holy One/from him who is holy”), supplying the implied divine referent. Risk: Medium-High, flagged for theologian review to confirm the referent (Christ or the Father) and avoid confusion with the corporate “saints” usage already fixed in the baseline.
children of God — Greek: τέκνα θεοῦ (tekna theou), first appears 2:12 (“little children,” τεκνία, an affectionate address) and doctrinally in 3:1–2, 3:10, 5:2. See full treatment under Chapter 3 below.
liar / deny — ψεύστης (2:4, 2:22); ἀρνέομαι (arneomai, “deny,” 2:22–23). [NEW] Nepali: liar = झूटा; deny = इन्कार गर्नु. Risk: High for “deny the Son” (2:23) specifically, since denying that Jesus is the Christ severs relationship with the Father as well — a direct statement of the exclusivity underlying Lordship and Sonship of Christ doctrines.
practice righteousness — δικαιοσύνην ποιεῖν (2:29), reusing baseline धार्मिकता. [BASELINE REUSE] Risk: Critical (retained). Note the distinctive Johannine nuance: righteousness here functions as visible evidence/fruit of new birth (being “born of him”) rather than the primarily forensic-declarative sense emphasized in Romans; translators must present both senses as complementary, not contradictory, and avoid letting the “practiced” nuance drift toward a merit-earning, dharma-performance framing.

Chapter 3 (1 John 3:1–24)

children of God — τέκνα θεοῦ, 3:1–2, 3:10; cf. υἱοί (huioi, “sons”) is not used here — John consistently prefers τέκνα in this letter. Literal meaning: “born ones, offspring.” Semantic range: family-membership language grounded in birth/nature, complementing (not replacing) the baseline’s legal-adoption term (δεδώκειν, υἱοθεσία, दत्तक पुत्रता). English variants: “children of God.” [NEW — HIGH] Nepali rendering: परमेश्वरका सन्तान (Parameshwarka santaan). Risk: High. Must be coordinated with, but kept distinct from, the baseline’s दत्तक पुत्रता (adoption): Romans emphasizes the legal transaction and inheritance-rights of adoption; 1 John emphasizes shared family nature and likeness by new birth (see γεννάω/seed of God below). Both doctrines are complementary aspects of the same reality and should be taught together, not conflated. Must not be read through the lens of Hindu Puranic narratives of semi-divine offspring of gods, nor confused with reincarnate-lineage sonship (tulku) frameworks already flagged in the baseline.
seed of God — Greek: σπέρμα αὐτοῦ (sperma autou, “his seed”), 3:9. Literal meaning: “seed,” here metaphorical for the divine life/nature implanted at new birth that produces continuity in righteous living. English variants: “his seed,” “God’s seed,” “God’s nature.” [NEW — HIGH] Nepali rendering: परमेश्वरको बीज (Parameshwarko beej). Risk: High. Distinct from the baseline’s दाऊदको वंश (seed of David, physical royal lineage); here the metaphor is the implanted divine life-principle of the new birth. Should be flagged for care because बीज (seed) also carries resonance with the Tantric बीज मन्त्र (bīja mantra, “seed syllable” believed to carry inherent spiritual power) in Newar Tantric practice; translators should ensure the metaphor is clearly explained as the regenerating life given by the Holy Spirit at new birth, not a mystically potent syllable or self-propagating spiritual force.
lawlessness — Greek: ἀνομία (anomia), 3:4 (“sin is lawlessness”). Literal meaning: “without-law-ness,” transgression of God’s moral order. English variants: “lawlessness,” “transgression of the law.” [NEW — HIGH] Proposed Nepali rendering: व्यवस्थाहीनता (vyavasthahinata, “law-less-ness”), built on the baseline’s established व्यवस्था (law), rather than the more common अधर्म, which retains the धर्म root the baseline excludes from soteriological vocabulary due to its Muluki Ain caste-code associations. Risk: High, flagged as a new coinage for theologian review, extending the same reasoning already applied to अधार्मिकता (Chapter 1 above) for full internal consistency of the धर्म-avoidance principle across this curriculum.
devil — Greek: διάβολος (diabolos), 3:8, 3:10 (“works of the devil,” “children of the devil”). Literal meaning: “slanderer, accuser.” English variants: “devil.” [NEW — HIGH] Nepali rendering: दियाबल or शैतान (Satan, used interchangeably in Nepali Bible tradition for this figure). Risk: High. Must be presented as a single, personal, fallen spiritual being opposed to God — not one class among many mythological demons (rakshasa, asura) in Hindu epic literature, nor one of the malevolent spirits (भूत-प्रेत) addressed by Nepali shamanic ritual specialists (jhankri/dhami), which are a different and much broader folk-religious category.
love one another / Cain — 3:11–12 (contrast with Cain who murdered his brother out of envy). Reinforces “Love for the Brethren” with a concrete negative Old Testament example; no new terms, reuses ἀδελφός/भाई (see 4:20 above) and πονηρός (evil one, see below).
lay down one’s life — Greek: τὴν ψυχὴν … τιθέναι (3:16). Literal meaning: “to lay down the soul/life,” echoing Christ’s own self-sacrifice as the pattern for costly, sacrificial love for the brethren. Nepali: ज्यान दिनु / प्राण त्याग गर्नु. Risk: Medium, ensure the sacrificial-substitutionary pattern of Christ (not merely heroic self-sacrifice in a generic sense) remains the explicit referent.
confidence/boldness before God — παρρησία, 3:21. See 4:17 above.
keep his commandments — ἐντολή/τηρέω (tēreō, “to keep, guard, observe”), 3:22, 3:24. Nepali: आज्ञा पालन गर्नु. Risk: Medium, same obedience-of-faith caution as 4:21.
the Spirit he has given us — τὸ πνεῦμα ὃ ἔδωκεν ἡμῖν, 3:24. See 4:13 above for the Holy Spirit disambiguation principle.

Chapter 4 — Non-Core Verses (1 John 4:1–6)

(1 John 4:7–21, the core passage, is fully treated in Part 1 above. This section covers only 4:1–6, the “Testing the Spirits” material at the start of the chapter.)

test the spirits — Greek: δοκιμάζετε τὰ πνεύματα (dokimazete ta pneumata), 4:1; δοκιμάζω, “to test, examine, prove genuine” (a term from testing metals/coins for authenticity). Literal meaning: “put to the test, assay.” English variants: “test the spirits,” “try the spirits.” Contextual theological meaning: believers must actively discern true from false spiritual claims by an objective doctrinal criterion (confession of Christ come in the flesh, 4:2–3), not by subjective spiritual experience alone — this is the doctrine “Testing the Spirits.” [NEW — HIGH] Nepali rendering: आत्माहरूलाई जाँच्नु (aatmaharulai janchnu). Risk: High. This doctrine has an unusually concrete and current point of cultural contact in Nepal: the living tradition of jhankri and dhami shamanic ritual specialists, who mediate communication with spirits and are consulted widely, including by professing Christians in some rural areas, alongside broader Himalayan Buddhist oracle traditions. Translators and teachers must make explicit that John’s test is doctrinal and Christological (does the spirit’s teaching confess Jesus Christ come in the flesh?), not a a matter of comparative spiritual power, ritual efficacy, or trance-authenticity as commonly assessed in folk-religious spirit-testing practice.
spirits (plural, general) — πνεῦμα (pneuma), 4:1, 4:3 (“spirit of antichrist”), 4:6 (“spirit of truth… spirit of error”). [NEW — CRITICAL for disambiguation] Nepali rendering: plain आत्मा (aatma), explicitly WITHOUT the qualifier पवित्र (holy), since these are not the Holy Spirit. Risk: Critical. This is the single most important disambiguation point introduced by this chapter: आत्मा alone, unqualified, is heavily loaded in Nepali religious vocabulary — in Hindu Vedantic philosophy it can denote Ātman, the eternal universal Self; in Nepali folk religion it denotes ancestral or malevolent spirits/ghosts addressed by jhankri ritual. Every occurrence of πνεῦμα across the letter must be individually flagged for theologian/reviewer judgment as to whether पवित्र आत्मा (the Holy Spirit) or plain आत्मा (a created spirit, true or false) is intended, since the English word “spirit” and the Nepali word आत्मा do not map onto identical semantic fields.
false prophets — Greek: ψευδοπροφῆται (pseudoprophētai), 4:1, built on the baseline’s established अगमवक्ता (prophet). [BASELINE-CONSISTENT NEW] Nepali rendering: झूटा अगमवक्ता. Risk: Medium, straightforward compound.
come in the flesh — Greek: ἐν σαρκί (en sarki), 4:2–3, ἐληλυθότα ἐν σαρκί (“has come in the flesh”); σάρξ (sarx), “flesh,” here denoting real, physical human nature, not a metaphor for sinfulness (as σάρξ sometimes functions in Paul). English variants: “come in the flesh.” Contextual theological meaning: confessing the reality of the incarnation (full, real humanity assumed by the eternal Son) is John’s decisive test distinguishing true from false spirits — the doctrinal heart of “The Incarnation and Antichrist.” [NEW — CRITICAL] Nepali rendering: देहमा आउनुभयो / मानव देह धारण गर्नुभयो, drawing directly on the baseline’s established देहधारण (incarnation). Risk: Critical. Must reinforce, not weaken, the baseline’s existing caution: this is a unique, historical, once-for-all assumption of real human nature by the eternal Son, and denial of it (the mark of the spirit of antichrist, 4:3) must be taught with full doctrinal weight, since it is the exact heresy (docetism, denying Christ’s real physical humanity) this passage confronts.
overcome — Greek: νενικήκατε (nenikēkate, perfect of νικάω), 4:4 (“you have overcome them”). See fuller treatment under Chapter 5 below, where νικάω becomes the letter’s climactic term for “Overcoming the World.”

Chapter 5 (1 John 5:1–21)

overcome/victory — Greek: νικάω (nikaō), 5:4–5 (“whatever is born of God overcomes the world… this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith”); also νίκη (nikē, “victory,” 5:4). Literal meaning: “to conquer, win a decisive victory.” English variants: “overcome,” “conquer,” “victory.” Contextual theological meaning: the doctrine “Overcoming the World” is here given its definitive statement: victory over the world-system is secured by faith in Christ, not self-effort. [NEW — HIGH] Nepali rendering: जित्नु (jitnu, to overcome/win); noun जीत (jeet, victory). Risk: High. Must be taught as victory granted through faith-union with the already-victorious Christ (5:5, “he who overcomes the world” — echoing John 16:33), not self-achieved liberation through yogic discipline (conquest of desire/attachment in classical Hindu spiritual practice) or the Buddhist Eightfold Path’s conquest of craving (taṇhā) as a self-directed path to nirvana. Both frameworks locate victory in the practitioner’s own disciplined effort; 1 John locates it in Christ’s accomplished work, appropriated by faith.
testimony/witness (triad: Spirit, water, blood) — Greek: μαρτυρία (martyria, noun), 5:6–11; τρεῖς εἰσιν οἱ μαρτυροῦντες, τὸ πνεῦμα καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ τὸ αἷμα (5:8). See μαρτυρέω/μαρτυρία at 4:14 above for the base term. [NEW] Nepali: testimony = गवाही; water = पानी; blood = रगत (reuse from 1:7). Risk: Medium, primarily a matter of keeping the threefold testimony concrete and historically anchored (Christ’s baptism, death, and the Spirit’s ongoing witness) rather than abstracted into generic “signs.”
eternal life — Greek: ζωὴ αἰώνιος (zōē aiōnios), 1:2, 2:25, 3:15, 5:11–13, 5:20. Literal meaning: “life of the age (to come),” qualitatively and temporally unending life in relationship with God. English variants: “eternal life,” “everlasting life.” Contextual theological meaning: the explicit purpose statement of the whole letter (5:13, “these things I have written… so that you may know that you have eternal life”) — the doctrinal climax of “Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life.” [NEW — CRITICAL] Nepali rendering: अनन्त जीवन (ananta jivan). Risk: Critical, inherited directly from the baseline’s Critical risk profile on Salvation/उद्धार: this must be taught as unending, personal, relational life with the true God through the Son, positively distinct from (a) मोक्ष/मुक्ति (Hindu liberation ending the rebirth cycle), (b) निर्वाण (Buddhist cessation of craving and self), and (c) any notion of merely an indefinitely extended series of favorable future rebirths. 5:13’s assurance (“that you may know that you have eternal life”) is itself a distinctive claim — a settled, knowable present possession — sharply different from the inherently uncertain, multi-lifetime progress toward liberation shared by both Hindu and Buddhist frameworks (cf. baseline’s Assurance of Salvation doctrine note).
sin unto/not unto death — Greek: ἁμαρτία πρὸς θάνατον (5:16), an interpretively difficult phrase (traditionally understood as a settled, unrepentant rejection of Christ rather than any specific sin-act). Nepali: मृत्युतर्फको पाप. Risk: Medium, primarily an exegetical/pastoral difficulty rather than a culture-collision risk; flag for theologian review on interpretation, not on terminology.
the evil one — Greek: ὁ πονηρός (ho ponēros), 5:18–19 (“the whole world lies in the power of the evil one”). Nepali: दुष्ट/शैतान. Risk: Medium, coordinate with διάβολος (3:8) above as referring to the same personal figure.
idols — Greek: εἴδωλον (eidōlon), 5:21, the letter’s closing exhortation, “keep yourselves from idols.” Literal meaning: “image, likeness,” extended to “an object of false worship.” English variants: “idols.” [NEW — HIGH] Nepali rendering: मूर्ति (murti). Risk: High. Unlike in most target languages in this pipeline, this closing command lands on an unusually concrete and visible cultural reality in Nepal: मूर्ति denotes the literal physical images at the center of daily Hindu devotional life (temple images, household shrine images, prominent public sites such as Pashupatinath) and, secondarily, Buddhist devotional images. The command must be preserved with its full, direct force (this is a call to exclusive worship of the one true, personal God, not merely a call to inward detachment from “idols” understood metaphorically as worldly distractions), while pastoral framing in accompanying teaching materials should be handled with sensitivity given the concrete, everyday visibility of such images in Nepali religious life and the country’s continuing social and legal sensitivities around religious identity and practice.

Summary Note on Full-Book Coverage

All five chapters of 1 John have been analyzed. No chapter was found to introduce zero new theological vocabulary; each chapter contributes at least one load-bearing term beyond the baseline Romans package, reflecting 1 John’s distinct pastoral and polemical concerns (fellowship, proto-Gnostic denial of the incarnation, assurance, and testing spirits) not addressed by the Romans curriculum. All terms identified here are carried forward into analysis/08_core_glossary.md.

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