Semantic Analysis — 3 John (Koine Greek → Sanskrit)

Curriculum: 3 John Core passage: 3 John 1:1–14 (the entire book — 3 John has only one chapter) Method: Every load-bearing term is analyzed with original Greek word, transliteration, literal meaning, semantic range, common English variants, contextual theological meaning in 3 John, and destination-language (Sanskrit) rendering risk. Terms already fixed in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json are reused exactly and marked “[BASELINE REUSE].” New terms follow the baseline’s methodology: least philosophically-encumbered available classical term, checked against citable Vedic/Vedāntic/Sāṅkhya/Yoga/Mīmāṃsā/Purāṇic sources before assignment, per 12_ai_translation_requirements.md.

Important structural note on book coverage: 3 John is a single-chapter epistle of 14 verses. The PRD’s mandate for full first-to-last chapter coverage is therefore satisfied entirely by the verse-by-verse treatment of the core passage below — there is no second chapter to analyze separately. This is stated explicitly here to avoid any appearance of silently omitted scope: 3 John Chapter 1 (the whole book) is fully covered in the verse-by-verse section that follows; no further chapters exist in this book.

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Core Passage Verse-by-Verse Analysis: 3 John 1:1–14

Verse 1

Greek: Ὁ πρεσβύτερος Γαΐῳ τῷ ἀγαπητῷ, ὃν ἐγὼ ἀγαπῶ ἐν ἀληθείჳ. Gloss: “The elder, to Gaius the beloved, whom I love in truth.”

Term	Transliteration	Literal Meaning	Semantic Range	English Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Sanskrit Rendering & Risk
πρεσβύτερος	presbyteros	”older man, elder”	Age-based seniority; a formal church office (cf. 1 Tim 5:17, Titus 1:5); self-designation of apostolic authority exercised with humility	”elder,” “the old man”	The author (traditionally the Apostle John) identifies himself by pastoral office/seniority, not personal name — a marker of humble, relationally-grounded authority set in deliberate contrast to Diotrephes’ self-promotion (v.9)	प्राचीनः (prācīnaḥ) — Medium risk. Rejected: वृद्धः (vṛddhaḥ, “old man,” too purely age-based, loses office sense); स्थविरः (sthaviraḥ, rejected — this is the specific technical title of a senior monk in Theravāda Buddhism, “Sthaviravāda” being the very name of that school, an unwanted cross-tradition collision). प्राचीनः must still be distinguished from a customary dharmaśāstra village/caste sabhā-elder role or a guru-paramparā lineage-holder (cf. baseline’s caution on गुरुः under “apostle”) — flag with a note that this is a functional pastoral office grounded in truth and love (v.1), not inherited social or lineage authority.
ἀγαπητός	agapētos	”beloved, dear”	Term of affectionate esteem; used of believers generally and of specific individuals	”beloved,” “dear,” “dear friend”	Personal affection within the fellowship of truth, addressed to a named individual believer	प्रियः (priyaḥ) — Medium risk. A common classical adjective (“dear”), lower risk than the noun प्रेम (see ἀγάπη below), though it can also occur as an epithet for Kṛṣṇa’s devotees/beloveds in bhakti literature; context (addressed to a named Christian believer) sufficiently disambiguates.
ἀγαπάω	agapaō	”to love”	Selfless, willed love; distinct from ἔρος (romantic/erotic) and φιλέω (affectionate friendship, though the two overlap in Johannine usage)	“to love”	John’s love for Gaius is grounded “in truth” (ἐν ἀληθείჳ) — love and truth are inseparable in Johannine theology	प्रेम करोति (prema karoti, verbal phrase built on the प्रेम root) — High risk, see ἀγάπη entry below for full reasoning.
ἀλήθεια	alētheia	”truth”	(a) correspondence to fact; (b) Johannine technical sense: the revealed reality of God in Christ, the sphere in which the believer lives and loves	”truth,” “the truth”	The governing theme of 3 John: love, hospitality, fellowship, and testimony are all located “in truth” — a relational-theological sphere, not an abstract proposition	सत्यम् (satyam) — High risk. सत्यम् is not a loosely “truth-flavored” background word: the Taittirīya Upaniṣad (2.1.1) defines Brahman itself as satyam jñānam anantam brahma (“Brahman is truth, knowledge, infinity”), and the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad’s famous satyam eva jayate (“truth alone triumphs,” 3.1.6) roots satya in a cosmic-metaphysical order (cf. the Vedic ṛta-satya nexus). An Advaita-trained reader may hear “walking in truth” or “fellow workers for the truth” as participation in the very ontological ground of Brahman rather than the Johannine sense: relational fidelity to the revealed reality of God in Christ, expressed in love, hospitality, and right conduct. Must be redefined at first occurrence per document. No safer classical alternative exists (ऋतम्, ṛtam, is even more tightly bound to Vedic cosmic-ritual order and is rejected for that reason).

Verse 2

Greek: Ἀγαπητέ, περὶ πάντων εὔχομαί σε εὐοδοῦσθαι καὶ ὑγιαίνειν, καθὼς εὐοδοῦταί σου ἡ ψυχή. Gloss: “Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.”

Term	Transliteration	Literal Meaning	Semantic Range	English Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Sanskrit Rendering & Risk
εὔχομαι	euchomai	”to wish, to pray”	A prayer-wish for another’s welfare	”I pray,” “I wish”	Pastoral intercessory goodwill	प्रार्थये (prārthaye, “I pray/request”) — Low risk, plain verb form.
εὐοδοῦσθαι	euodousthai	”to have a good journey, to prosper”	Literally journey-related (“good road”), extended to general prospering	”prosper,” “go well,” “succeed”	General material/circumstantial well-being, paired with spiritual well-being	कुशलं भवति (kuśalaṃ bhavati, “may it go well”) — Low risk.
ὑγιαίνειν	hygiainein	”to be healthy”	Physical health; elsewhere in NT metaphorically “sound doctrine” (not here)	“be in good health”	Literal physical health wish, not a doctrinal metaphor in this verse	स्वस्थः भवति (svasthaḥ bhavati) — Low risk.
ψυχή	psychē	”soul, life, self”	The whole inner person/life, sometimes = “self” in Semitic-influenced idiom (cf. Hebrew nephesh)	“soul,” “self,” “life”	Gaius’s whole inner spiritual condition, contrasted with (and here matching) his outward circumstances	जीवः (jīvaḥ) — High risk. Must NOT be rendered आत्मा. The baseline translation_memory.json reserves आत्मा exclusively, and with mandatory personhood notes, for the Holy Spirit (पवित्र आत्मा), precisely because of the Upaniṣadic ātman = Brahman mahāvākyas. ψυχή here is a different Greek word from πνεῦμα and must never be rendered with आत्मा, which would multiply the very collision risk the baseline works to contain. जीवः is the best available alternative but is not risk-free: jīva is itself a major technical term in the jīva–Brahman debate central to Vedānta (Advaita: jīva is Brahman under ignorance-imposed limitation; Viśiṣṭādvaita/Dvaita: jīva is eternally distinct from Brahman). Must be redefined at first occurrence: here jīva = the believer’s whole inner well-being before God, not a position in that classical metaphysical debate.

Verse 3

Greek: ἐχάρην γὰρ λίαν ἐρχομένων ἀδελφῶν καὶ μαρτυρούντων σου τῇ ἀληθείჳ, καθὼς σὺ ἐν ἀληθείჳ περιπατεῖς. Gloss: “For I rejoiced greatly when brothers came and testified to your truth, just as you walk in truth.”

Term	Transliteration	Literal Meaning	Semantic Range	English Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Sanskrit Rendering & Risk
χαίρω	chairō	”to rejoice”	Joy, gladness	”rejoice,” “be glad”	John’s pastoral joy at good report of Gaius	हृष्यामि (verb from हर्षः, see v.4) — Medium risk, see हर्षः below.
ἀδελφός	adelphos	”brother”	Literal sibling; extended fictive-kinship term for fellow believers	”brother,” “fellow believer”	Traveling Christian ministers, addressed as family in the faith	भ्राता (bhrātā) — Low-Medium risk. Context must establish fictive-kinship (fellow believer), not literal sibling, similar to caution applied to other kinship terms across the pipeline.
μαρτυρέω	martyreō	”to testify, bear witness”	Formal or informal attestation of observed fact or character	”testify,” “bear witness,” “give a good report”	Reported eyewitness attestation to Gaius’s godly conduct — a key structural device of 3 John (used of Gaius v.3, of Demetrius v.12)	साक्ष्यं करोति / साक्षी भवति — see साक्ष्यम् entry, v.12, for full risk discussion.
περιπατέω	peripateō	”to walk”	Literal walking; standard NT metaphor for habitual life-conduct	”walk,” “live,” “conduct oneself”	Gaius’s consistent, observable godly manner of life	आचरति (ācarati, “conducts oneself”) — Low risk; standard metaphor-to-plain-verb rendering, avoids any literalistic “walking” confusion.

Verse 4

Greek: μειζοτέραν τούτων οὐκ ἔχω χαράν, ἵνα ἀκούω τὰ ἐμὰ τέκνα ἐν τῇ ἀληθείჳ περιπατοῦντα. Gloss: “I have no greater joy than this, that I hear my children are walking in truth.”

Term	Transliteration	Literal Meaning	Semantic Range	English Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Sanskrit Rendering & Risk
χαρά	chara	”joy”	Gladness, delight	”joy,” “gladness”	Pastoral, relational joy — a this-worldly delight in others’ faithfulness, not a metaphysical state	हर्षः (harṣaḥ) — Medium-High risk. आनन्दः (ānandaḥ) is explicitly rejected: in Advaita Vedānta, ānanda is the third term of sat-cit-ānanda (“being-consciousness-bliss”), the classical threefold description of Brahman’s own nature (Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2.7, “raso vai saḥ… ānandaṃ brahma,” “He is the essence… Brahman is bliss”). Using ānanda for John’s ordinary relational joy at good news risks activating this description of the Absolute’s own nature. हर्षः (ordinary emotional delight, without this specific metaphysical freight) is preferred.
τέκνα	tekna	”children”	Literal offspring; extended to spiritual converts/disciples under a minister’s care	”children,” “my children”	Believers John led to or nurtured in the faith, not biological children	सन्तानाः (santānāḥ) — Medium risk. शिष्याः (śiṣyāḥ, “disciples”) is rejected: it activates the guru-śiṣya-paramparā lineage-transmission framework, the same reasoning the baseline uses to reject गुरुः for “apostle.” आत्मजाः (ātmajāḥ, “self-born,” a common classical word for “child”) is also avoided here as an unnecessary additional exposure of the आत्मा root, given the baseline’s strict containment of that root to Holy Spirit contexts.

Verse 5

Greek: Ἀγαπητέ, πιστὸν ποιεῖς ὃ ἐὰν ἐργάσῃ εἰς τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς καὶ τοῦτο ξένους, Gloss: “Beloved, you do a faithful thing in whatever you do for the brothers, and especially strangers.”

Term	Transliteration	Literal Meaning	Semantic Range	English Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Sanskrit Rendering & Risk
πιστός	pistos	”faithful, trustworthy”	Reliability of a person or action; adjectival cognate of πίστις (“faith”)	“faithful,” “trustworthy,” “loyal”	Gaius’s hospitality is itself an act of faithfulness, built on the same root as saving faith (baseline विश्वासः)	विश्वस्तम् (viśvastam, “trustworthy,” built on the established विश्वासः root) — Medium risk; deliberately reuses the baseline’s विश्वास- root for consistency rather than introducing an unrelated adjective, per the “same root across documents” consistency principle.
ξένος	xenos	”stranger, foreigner, guest”	One from outside one’s own household/community, in view here as a traveling Christian minister needing hospitality	”stranger,” “guest,” “traveling minister”	The theological center of the “Hospitality to Traveling Ministers” doctrine: extending material support to itinerant gospel-workers as an act of gospel partnership	अतिथिः (atithiḥ) — High risk. अतिथि is a richly positive but doctrinally loaded classical term: hospitality to the guest (atithi-satkāra) is one of the five great daily sacrifices (pañca-mahāyajña — deva-, pitṛ-, bhūta-, manuṣya-/nṛ-, and brahma-yajña) prescribed for the householder in dharmaśāstra (Manusmṛti 3.69–70), and the Taittirīya Upaniṣad’s śikṣā-vallī closes with the maxim later popularized as “atithi devo bhava” (“let the guest be as a god to you,” Taittirīya Upaniṣad 1.11.2). This is a genuinely useful cultural bridge for the hospitality theme, but it risks recasting Gaius’s gospel-partnership hospitality (v.8, “fellow workers for the truth”) as fulfillment of a prescribed ritual householder-duty (a dharmic obligation discharged for merit) rather than a free response flowing from love and truth. Must be explicitly distinguished at first occurrence.

Verse 6

Greek: οἳ ἐμαρτύρησάν σου τῇ ἀγάπῃ ἐνώπιον ἐκκλησίας· οὕς καλῶς ποιήσεις προπέμψας ἀξίως τοῦ θεοῦ· Gloss: “They testified to your love before the church; you will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God.”

Term	Transliteration	Literal Meaning	Semantic Range	English Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Sanskrit Rendering & Risk
ἀγάπη	agapē	”love”	Selfless, covenantal, willed love — the noun-form of ἀγαπάω (v.1)	“love,” “charity”	Gaius’s practical, hospitable love, publicly attested before the assembled church	प्रेम (prema) — High risk. प्रेम is the standard and historically attested Christian Sanskrit rendering, but it carries very significant doctrinal weight in Gauḑīya Vaiṣṇava theology: Rūpa Gosvāmī’s Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu systematically catalogues prema as the mature, ecstatic culmination of bhakti-rasa, paradigmatically expressed as passionate romantic (mādhurya-rasa) devotion between Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. This is not vague cultural background but a fully worked-out devotional-aesthetic theology with named textual sources. Every occurrence of प्रेम as agapē must carry a note distinguishing selfless, others-directed, covenantal love (agapē) from erotic/romantic rasa-love. Rejected alternatives: स्नेहः (snehaḥ, mere affection — too weak for the theological weight of agapē); अनुरागः (anurāgaḥ — also bhakti-rasa vocabulary, “passionate attachment,” equally loaded).
ἐκκλησία	ekklēsia	”assembly, church”	The gathered congregation of believers	”church,” “congregation”	The local assembly before which Gaius’s love was publicly reported	मण्डली (maṇḍalī) — [BASELINE REUSE, exact]. Medium risk per baseline; never मन्दिरम् or मठः.
προπέμπω	propempō	”to send forward, help on one’s way”	Practical logistical/material assistance for a departing traveler (provisions, escort, funds)	“send on their way,” “help on their journey,” “provide for their journey”	Concrete hospitality: material support for missionary travel	अग्रे प्रस्थापनम् (agre prasthāpanam, “sending forth / helping set out”) — Low-Medium risk, descriptive compound, no major rival technical sense.
ἀξίως	axiōs	”worthily”	Conduct matching the dignity of its object	”worthy of,” “in a manner worthy of”	Hospitality rendered to God’s standard, not mere social custom	योग्यरूपेण (yogyarūpeṇa, “in a fitting/worthy manner”) — Low risk.
θεός	theos	”God”	The one true God	”God”	The standard against which Gaius’s hospitality is measured	सर्वेश्वरः (sarveśvaraḥ) — [BASELINE REUSE, exact]. Critical risk per baseline; never bare ईश्वरः, ब्रह्मन्, भगवान्, or देवः.

Verse 7

Greek: ὑπὲρ γὰρ τοῦ ὀνόματος ἐξῆλθον μηδὲν λαμβάνοντες ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνικῶν. Gloss: “For they went out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from the pagans/outsiders.”

Term	Transliteration	Literal Meaning	Semantic Range	English Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Sanskrit Rendering & Risk
ὄνομα	onoma	”name”	Literal name; NT idiom “for the Name” = for the sake of Christ himself and his cause	”the Name,” “for his name’s sake”	Shorthand for Christ’s person and gospel mission — motivation for missionary travel	नाम (nāma, in context “तस्य नामार्थम्,” “for the sake of his Name”) — Low-Medium risk; standard idiom, requires the referent (Christ) to be recoverable from context, per general idiom-handling rules.
ἐθνικός	ethnikos	”pertaining to a nation/people; pagan, non-believer”	Adjectival cognate of ἔθνη (“nations/Gentiles”), but with a more pointed sense here: those outside the Christian community, whose material support the missionaries decline	”pagans,” “unbelievers,” “the Gentiles” (in a more pejorative/exclusionary register than Romans’ ἔθνη)	Missionaries maintain financial independence from non-Christians to avoid any appearance of profiting from unbelief	अन्यजातीयाः (anyajātīyāḥ) — [BASELINE REUSE], Medium risk with contextual nuance flag. In Romans, this term names ethnic non-Jews within a hoped-for unity-of-Jew-and-Gentile narrative. Here, ἐθνικός carries a moral-religious “outsider/unbeliever” nuance (those from whom support is deliberately declined) rather than a category of people the gospel is reaching toward. Reuse the same rendering for lexical consistency, but flag the semantic shift for translator awareness at each occurrence.

Verse 8

Greek: ἡμεῖς οὖν ὀφείλομεν ὑπολαμβάνειν τοὺς τοιούτους, ἵνα συνεργοὶ γινώμεθα τῇ ἀληθείჳ. Gloss: “We therefore ought to support such people, so that we may become fellow workers for the truth.”

Term	Transliteration	Literal Meaning	Semantic Range	English Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Sanskrit Rendering & Risk
ὀφείλω	opheilō	”to owe, be obligated”	Moral/relational debt or duty	”ought,” “we owe it to,” “are obligated”	Hospitality framed as an obligation flowing from gospel partnership, not mere kindness	कर्तव्यम् (kartavyam, “it is a duty”) — Medium risk. Should be paired with explicit teaching that this is a gospel-partnership obligation, not a varṇāśrama-dharma social duty (cf. baseline’s “obedience of faith” caution against धर्माचरणम्).
ὑπολαμβάνω	hypolambanō	”to receive, support, take up”	Hospitable material/logistical support	”support,” “receive,” “welcome and assist”	The concrete act of hospitality toward traveling ministers	आतिथ्यकरणम् (ātithyakaraṇam, “performing hospitality,” built on the अतिथि root) — High risk; carries the same pañca-mahāyajña/atithi-satkāra caution as ξένος above (v.5) — cross-reference required.
συνεργός	synergos	”fellow worker, co-laborer”	Partnership in a shared task	”fellow worker,” “co-worker,” “partner”	Hospitality as active participation in gospel ministry, not passive charity	सहकारी (sahakārī) — Low-Medium risk, transparent compound, no major rival technical sense.
ἀλήθεια	alētheia	”truth”	(see v.1)	“the truth”	The gospel-reality that hospitality serves and advances	सत्यम् (satyam) — [carried forward from v.1], High risk, same redefinition requirement applies at every occurrence.

Verse 9

Greek: Ἔγραψα τῇ ἐκκλησίჳ· ἀλλ’ ὁ φιλοπρωτεύων αὐτῶν Διοτρέφης οὐκ ἐπιδέχεται ἡμᾶς. Gloss: “I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not receive us.”

Term	Transliteration	Literal Meaning	Semantic Range	English Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Sanskrit Rendering & Risk
φιλοπρωτεύω	philoprōteuō	”to love being first/preeminent”	A rare NT compound (φιλέω + πρῶτος) — self-promoting desire for primacy/status	”loves to be first,” “wants to be preeminent,” “loves preeminence”	The precise diagnosis of Diotrephes’ sin: not doctrinal error but disordered love of status within the church — the core term for the “Church Leadership and Pride” doctrine	अग्रिमपदप्रियता (agrimapadapriyatā, “fondness for the foremost position,” a descriptive coinage) — Medium risk. See also the related doctrine-support term for “pride” below.
ἐπιδέχομαι	epidechomai	”to receive, welcome, accept”	Formal reception/acceptance of a person or their authority	”receive,” “welcome,” “accept”	Diotrephes’ refusal to receive John’s authority/emissaries — an act of ecclesial defiance	अङ्गीकरणम् (aṅgīkaraṇam, “acceptance”) / negated: न अङ्गीकरोति — Low-Medium risk.
ἐκκλησία	ekklēsia	”church”	(see v.6)	“church”	The local congregation caught between John’s authority and Diotrephes’ self-promotion	मण्डली (maṇḍalī) — [BASELINE REUSE, exact].
Διοτρέφης	Diotrephēs	proper name (“nourished by Zeus,” etymologically, though the etymology is not theologically operative in the text)	Proper name of the antagonist	”Diotrephes”	Named individual whose conduct is condemned as a negative example (cf. “Imitating Good rather than Evil” doctrine)	दियोत्रेफः (diyotrephaḥ) — Low risk; transliterated proper name, following Serampore-tradition transliteration conventions for Greek proper names.

Verse 10

Greek: διὰ τοῦτο, ἐὰν ἔλθω, ὑπομνήσω τὰ ἔργα ἃ ποιεῖ λόγοις πονηροῖς φλυαρῶν ἡμᾶς, καὶ μὴ ἀρκούμενος ἐπὶ τούτοις οὔτε αὐτὸς ἐπιδέχεται τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς καὶ τοὺς βουλομένους κωλύει καὶ ἐκ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἐκβάλλει. Gloss: “Therefore, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds, how he speaks against us with malicious words; and not satisfied with that, he himself does not receive the brothers, and forbids those wanting to and puts them out of the church.”

Term	Transliteration	Literal Meaning	Semantic Range	English Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Sanskrit Rendering & Risk
ὑπομιμνήσκω	hypomimnēskō	”to remind, call attention to”	Bringing something formally to notice	”call attention to,” “remind,” “expose”	John’s intended corrective confrontation upon his visit	स्मारयिष्यामि (smārayiṣyāmi, “I will remind/bring to notice”) — Low risk.
λόγοις πονηροῖς φλυαρῶν	logois ponērois phlyarōn	”babbling/talking nonsense against [us] with evil words”	φλυαρέω is a rare, pejorative verb for baseless, malicious talk; πονηρός = “evil, malicious"	"spreading malicious nonsense,” “making false charges,” “slandering”	Diotrephes’ verbal attacks on the apostolic delegation	दुर्वचनैः अपवादः (durvacanaiḥ apavādaḥ, “false accusation with evil words”) — Low-Medium risk, descriptive, no major rival technical sense.
κωλύω	kōlyō	”to hinder, forbid, prevent”	Active obstruction of others’ actions	”forbid,” “hinder,” “prevent”	Diotrephes actively prevents others in the congregation from showing hospitality	निवारयति (nivārayati) — Low risk.
ἐκβάλλω	ekballō	”to cast out, expel, throw out”	Forceful removal/expulsion from a group or place	”expel,” “put out,” “cast out”	Diotrephes’ abuse of church authority to excommunicate those who oppose him	बहिष्करणम् (bahiṣkaraṇam) — Medium-High risk. Must be distinguished from the dharmaśāstra category of patita — one who has “fallen” from caste/varṇa status through transgression (discussed e.g. in Manusmṛti’s treatment of patita-sāvarga), a hereditary, socially catastrophic status-loss. Diotrephes’ expulsion is an (abusive) congregational-discipline act, not a caste-purity mechanism; this distinction should be flagged wherever ἐκβάλλω occurs in an ecclesial-discipline sense.

Verse 11

Greek: Ἀγαπητέ, μὴ μιμοῦ τὸ κακὸν ἀλλὰ τὸ ἀγαθόν. ὁ ἀγαθοποιῶν ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν· ὁ κακοποιῶν οὐχ ἑώρακεν τὸν θεόν. Gloss: “Beloved, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. The one who does good is from God; the one who does evil has not seen God.”

Term	Transliteration	Literal Meaning	Semantic Range	English Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Sanskrit Rendering & Risk
μιμέομαι	mimeomai	”to imitate”	Modeling one’s conduct on another’s example	”imitate,” “follow the example of”	The explicit ethical instruction underlying “Imitating Good rather than Evil”: Gaius must not model himself on Diotrephes	अनुकरणम् (anukaraṇam, noun)/ अनुकरोति (verb) — Low-Medium risk. Note: अनुकरण is also a term of art in classical Sanskrit dramaturgy (Bharata’s Nāṭyaśāstra treats anukaraṇa/mimetic representation as foundational to dramatic art). This adjacent aesthetic-theory sense is a minor distraction risk, not a doctrinal collision, and does not require redefinition, only translator awareness.
κακόν (τὸ κακόν)	kakon	”the evil, what is bad”	Substantivized neuter adjective naming a category of conduct	”evil,” “what is evil/bad”	The negative example (embodied by Diotrephes) not to be followed	दुष्टम् (duṣṭam) — Low-Medium risk. Rejected alternatives: पापम् (already fixed by baseline as the term for “sin” specifically — moral transgression before a personal God — reserving it prevents translation-memory conflict with a distinct Greek lexeme here); असत् (asat, rejected — this is the metaphysical “non-being/unreal” pole of the Vedāntic sat/asat ontological binary, e.g. the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad’s prayer asato mā sad gamaya, “lead me from non-being to being” — a category mismatch with moral “evil”).
ἀγαθόν (τὸ ἀγαθόν)	agathon	”the good, what is good”	Substantivized neuter adjective naming a category of conduct	”good,” “what is good”	The positive example to be followed	उत्तमम् (uttamam, “excellent/good”) — Low-Medium risk. Rejected alternatives: कल्याणम् / शुभम् (both carry auspicious/ritually-favorable connotations — शुभ was already rejected in the baseline for “gospel” on the same grounds, śubha-muhūrta astrological timing); पुण्यम् (rejected — accumulated karmic merit, already rejected by the baseline for “grace” on this basis); साधु (sādhu, rejected as a primary rendering — while a fine general adjective for “good/virtuous,” साधु is also a specific noun-title for a Hindu ascetic/holy man, risking category confusion between adjective and honorific).
ἀγαθοποιέω / κακοποιέω	agathopoieō / kakopoieō	”to do good / to do evil”	Verbal compounds built on the ἀγαθόν/κακόν roots above	”does good” / “does evil”	The criterion distinguishing those who are “from God” from those who “have not seen God”	उत्तमकर्म करोति / दुष्कर्म करोति — Low-Medium risk, transparent compounds built consistently on the terms above.
ὁράω	horaō (perfect ἑώρακεν)	“to see” (perfect: “has seen”)	Literal visual perception; here figurative for genuine relational knowledge of God	”has seen,” “has known,” “has perceived”	A Johannine idiom: doing evil is incompatible with having any real relational knowledge of God	दृष्टवान् (dṣṭavān, verbal form “has seen”) — Medium risk. The verb form itself is comparatively safe, but the corresponding noun दर्शनम् (darśanam) is explicitly flagged as a term to avoid in this context: darśana is the central technical term of Hindu image-worship theology (the reciprocal “seeing and being seen” by a deity’s iconic form in temple worship) and is also the standard word for a philosophical “school” (ṣaḍ-darśana, the six orthodox schools). Neither association is intended here; keep to the verb form and avoid nominalizing this into दर्शनम् in exposition.
θεός	theos	”God”	(see v.6)	“God”	(see v.6)	सर्वेश्वरः (sarveśvaraḥ) — [BASELINE REUSE, exact].
(doctrine-support term) “pride”	—	Not a single Greek lexeme in 3 John; the vice is shown through Diotrephes’ conduct (φιλοπρωτεύων, v.9; his slander, obstruction, and expulsion of others, v.10), not named abstractly	The underlying vice requiring a Sanskrit exposition-term for the curriculum’s “Church Leadership and Pride (Diotrephes)” doctrine	”pride,” “self-promotion,” “arrogance”	Diotrephes’ disordered love of status is the antithesis of the truth-and-love-governed leadership modeled by “the elder”	गर्वः (garvaḥ) — Medium risk, recommended. अहंकारः (ahaṅkāraḥ) is explicitly rejected as the primary exposition-term for “pride”: in Sāṅkhya metaphysics, ahaṅkāra is the third of the twenty-four tattvas evolving from prakṛti, the technical “I-principle” responsible for the sense of individuated selfhood (Sāṅkhya Kārikā 22), and it recurs in this exact technical sense in Bhagavad Gītā 3.27 (“ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā,” one deluded by the ego-principle). Using it for the simple moral vice of self-promotion would import an entire cosmological psychology not intended by the text. गर्वः (plain arrogance/pride) carries no comparable technical baggage.

Verse 12

Greek: Δημητρίῳ μεμαρτύρηται ὑπὸ πάντων καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς ἀληθείας αὐτῆς· καὶ ἡμεῖς δὲ μαρτυροῦμεν, καὶ οἶδας ὅτι ἡ μαρτυρία ἡμῶν ἀληθής ἐστιν. Gloss: “Demetrius has been testified to by everyone, and by the truth itself; and we also testify, and you know that our testimony is true.”

Term	Transliteration	Literal Meaning	Semantic Range	English Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Sanskrit Rendering & Risk
Δημήτριος	Dēmētrios	proper name	Proper name of the commended positive example	”Demetrius”	Named individual whose good character is publicly attested — the positive counterpart to Diotrephes, central to “Commendation of Faithful Witness”	देमेत्रियः (dēmetriyaḥ) — Low risk; transliterated proper name.
μαρτυρέω / μαρτυρία	martyreō / martyria	”to testify” / “testimony”	Formal or informal attestation; in Johannine literature, also carries theological weight (truth itself “testifies”)	“testify,” “bear witness” / “testimony,” “witness”	Personified: “the truth itself” testifies to Demetrius, alongside human witnesses — the theological climax of the “Commendation of Faithful Witness” doctrine	साक्ष्यम् (sākṣyam, noun) / साक्ष्यं दधाति (sākṣyaṃ dadhāti, “bears testimony,” verb phrase) — High risk. साक्षिन् (sākṣin, “witness”) is a major technical term in Sāṅkhya-Yoga and Advaita Vedānta epistemology: the sākṣī-caitanya or sākṣī-cetana is the changeless, purely observing consciousness (puruṣa in Sāṅkhya; the witnessing Self in Advaita) that impassively “witnesses” the activities of the mind without itself acting — a foundational category distinguishing the passive, liberated Self from active prakṛti. This is structurally analogous to the ātman risk flagged in the baseline: a philosophically-trained reader could hear “testimony/witness” language as invoking this metaphysical Witness-Self rather than a person’s ordinary, historically-situated factual attestation about another person’s character and conduct. Must be redefined at first occurrence: here sākṣya = a factual, evidentiary report about Demetrius’s observed character, not the impersonal metaphysical Witness-consciousness of Sāṅkhya/Advaita epistemology.
ἀλήθεια	alētheia	”truth”	(see v.1)	“the truth itself”	Truth personified as itself bearing witness — an unusually strong Johannine formulation	सत्यम् (satyam) — [carried forward from v.1], High risk, same redefinition requirement.
ἀληθής	alēthēs	”true”	Adjectival cognate of ἀλήθεια	”true”	The reliability of John’s own testimony about Demetrius	सत्यः (satyaḥ, adjectival form of the same root) — High risk, same considerations as ἀλήθεια; reuse the same root deliberately for cross-document consistency.

Verse 13

Greek: Πολλὰ εἶχον γράψαι σοι, ἀλλ’ οὐ θέλω διὰ μέλανος καὶ καλάμου σοι γράφειν· Gloss: “I had many things to write to you, but I do not want to write with ink and pen.”

Term	Transliteration	Literal Meaning	Semantic Range	English Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Sanskrit Rendering & Risk
μέλαν	melan	”ink” (literally “black [substance]“)	Writing material	”ink”	Material culture reference; no doctrinal content	मषी (masī) — Low risk.
κάλαμος	kalamos	”reed, pen”	Writing instrument	”pen,” “reed-pen”	Material culture reference; no doctrinal content	लेखनी (lekhanī) — Low risk.

Verse 14

Greek: ἐλπίζω δὲ εὐθέως σε ἰδεῖν, καὶ στόμα πρὸς στόμα λαλήσομεν. Εἰρήνη σοι. ἀσπάζονται σε οἱ φίλοι. ἀσπάζου τοὺς φίλους κατ’ ὀνόμα. Gloss: “But I hope to see you soon, and we will speak face to face. Peace to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends by name.”

Term	Transliteration	Literal Meaning	Semantic Range	English Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Sanskrit Rendering & Risk
ἐλπίζω	elpizō	”to hope”	Confident expectation, not mere wishful desire	”hope,” “expect”	John’s confident expectation of a personal visit	आशा करोति (āśāṃ karoti) — Medium risk. Christian hope (confident expectation grounded in relationship and promise) must be distinguished from आशा/तृष्णा (āśā/tṣṇā) as ordinary craving-desire, which classical Yoga and Vedānta soteriology (vairāgya, dispassion, as a cultivated virtue; tṣṇā as a root of bondage in adjacent Buddhist-influenced usage) generally counsels renouncing rather than cultivating. Flag for redefinition: here āśā names confident relational expectation of reunion, not the desire-attachment targeted for renunciation in moksha-oriented literature.
στόμα πρὸς στόμα	stoma pros stoma	”mouth to mouth”	Semitic-influenced idiom for direct, personal, face-to-face communication	”face to face,” “in person”	Preference for personal presence over written correspondence	सम्मुखम् (sammukham, “face to face”) — Low risk; idiom rendered by meaning rather than literal “mouth to mouth,” per standard idiom-handling rules (avoid literal translation of idioms).
εἰρήνη	eirēnē	”peace”	Relational well-being/blessing in epistolary closing	”peace”	Conventional epistolary peace-blessing	शान्तिः (śāntiḥ) — [BASELINE REUSE, exact]. Medium risk per baseline; here in its ordinary epistolary-blessing sense rather than Romans 5:1’s forensic “peace with God,” though the same Yoga Sūtra citta-vṛtti-nirodha caution applies to any use of this term.
ἀσπάζομαι	aspazomai	”to greet, send greetings”	Conventional epistolary greeting formula	”greet,” “send greetings”	Closing greetings within the Christian community	अभिवादनम् (abhivādanam, noun) / अभिवादयति (verb) — Medium risk. नमस्कारः (namaskāraḥ) is explicitly rejected as the default rendering: namaskāra ordinarily carries an obeisance/reverential-salutation register (used toward deities, images, elders, and gurus, and functioning in some contexts as a mild devotional gesture), which would overstate the register of an ordinary peer-to-peer epistolary greeting between believers. अभिवादनम् (a respectful greeting, also attested in dharmaśāstra rules for younger-to-elder greeting protocol) is a closer functional match, though it still carries a mild hierarchical connotation worth flagging.
φίλος	philos	”friend”	Personal affectionate relationship, distinct from ἀδελφός (fictive-kinship “brother”)	“friend,” “friends”	A notable shift from “the brothers” (vv.3,5,10) to “the friends” in the closing — echoes Johannine friendship theology (cf. John 15:14-15, “no longer servants but friends”)	मित्रम् (mitram) — Low risk; plain term, no significant technical baggage. Worth a translator note on the ἀδελφός→φίλος shift for exposition, though the term itself carries minimal doctrinal risk.

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Whole-Book Chapter-by-Chapter Coverage Statement

3 John has a single chapter, consisting of the 14 verses analyzed verse-by-verse above. There is no additional chapter content to survey separately. Per the PRD’s full-book-coverage mandate, this is stated explicitly rather than left to be inferred: the entirety of 3 John (Chapter 1, vv.1–14) has been analyzed above; no chapter of this book has been omitted, and no chapter remains for separate treatment.

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This document should be loaded alongside 08_core_glossary.md before Phase 2 translation work begins. All Sanskrit renderings above marked “[BASELINE REUSE]” must be enforced exactly per translation_memory.json; all newly introduced terms in this document should be added to translation memory before Phase 2 segment translation proceeds, per the New-Term Discovery Protocol in 12_ai_translation_requirements.md.