Linguistic Gap Analysis — Jude — English → Sanskrit

Curriculum: Jude 1:1–25 (core passage 1:3–23) Extends: Romans translation_memory.json (baseline authority) and this Jude package’s analysis/08_core_glossary.md / assets/bible_term_registry.json Audience: Scholarly, liturgical, and inter-religious dialogue readership (no first-language Sanskrit speakers), per 12_ai_translation_requirements.md

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0. Method and Scope

This analysis follows the categorical framing already established for the Romans baseline: Sanskrit possesses no “loose cultural background” vocabulary comparable to vernacular Language Packages. Every candidate rendering discussed below is a precise, already-theorized term within a developed philosophical or ritual system (Vedānta, Sāṅkhya-Yoga, Mīmāṃsā, Nyāya, dharmaśāstra, Purāṇic/epic cosmology, or living devotional/ritual practice such as bhakti or rakṣā-sūtra custom). Jude is a short, densely doctrinal epistle built almost entirely around six doctrines with an unusually high concentration of Critical/High terms per verse (vv. 3–23 contain the entire core passage). This analysis surveys the whole letter (vv. 1–25) verse-by-verse coverage-wise, but concentrates analytical weight on the load-bearing doctrinal vocabulary already surfaced in the Core Glossary and Term Registry.

Two distinct kinds of lexical risk recur throughout Jude, more densely than in Romans:

1. Crowded semantic neighborhoods — an English/Greek term lands on a Sanskrit word that is already the fixed technical name of a rival theorized doctrine (e.g. सनातन, आनन्दः, सम्प्रदाय, ग्रह, तमस्, अमृतत्वम्). These require fencing: mandatory redefinition notes and, in several cases, absolute forbidden-substitution status.
2. Missing vocabulary — no existing Sanskrit term names the concept at all (e.g. ἅπαξ’s unrepeatable-closed-transmission sense, ψυχικός’s Spirit/non-Spirit anthropological contrast, ἀγαλλίασις’s relational eschatological joy). These require new, deliberately under-theorized coinages or compounds, selected precisely because they are not already claimed by a rival school.

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1. Doctrine Vocabulary Matrix

Doctrine (curriculum)	Available Sanskrit terms	Weaknesses of each	Recommended strategy
Contending for the Faith Once Delivered	विश्वासः (TM reuse); सकृत् (new); समर्पितः/दत्तः (new); संघर्षः (new)	विश्वासः was theorized in Romans for subjective trust, not the objective deposit of doctrine sense Jude 1:3 requires — the two senses are not marked apart in Sanskrit the way Greek’s article does it. सम्प्रदाय (the obvious “transmitted tradition” word) is disastrous: it names a living, branching guru-lineage with competing variants, the opposite of a closed, singular deposit. युद्धम् for “contend” imports Gītā 2.31–37 kṣatriya dharma-yuddha framing.	Reuse विश्वासः but mandate a first-occurrence gloss distinguishing “act of trusting” vs. “fixed content trusted.” Use समर्पितः/दत्तः, never सम्प्रदाय-vocabulary, for “delivered.” Use संघर्षः with an explicit note: intellectual/spiritual contention, not martial or caste-duty combat.
Judgment on Ungodly False Teachers	दण्डः/दण्डाज्ञा (new); अधार्मिकाः (new, on TM root धार्मिकता); शैतान् (new, transliterated); लौकिकाः (new)	निर्णयः is already claimed by the fixed “justification” compound (धर्मीति निर्णयः) — reusing it for condemnation would collapse two opposite forensic verdicts into one word. न्यायः collides with the Nyāya darśana. Native mythological terms for “devil” (असुरः, राक्षसः, पिशाचः) each name one member of a multiple-being class, undermining the devil’s singular uniqueness. आत्मा-based coinages for ψυχικός would directly collapse the Holy-Spirit/Advaita-ātman fence the entire baseline exists to protect.	Use दण्डnीति (penal-statecraft) vocabulary for judgment/punishment, entirely apart from निर्णयः/न्यायः. Transliterate “devil” as शैतान् with a uniqueness note. Render ψυχικοί as लौकिकाः (from loka, “worldly”), never any आत्मा-compound; escalate every occurrence (v. 19) to mandatory theologian review.
Old Testament Warnings as Types (Israel, Angels, Sodom, Cain, Balaam, Korah)	दृष्टान्तः (new); स्वर्गदूताः (new); रक्षा/रक्षितः (new — shared with doctrine 5); भ्रान्तिः (new); भ्रमन्तः ताराः (new); transliterated proper names	भ्रान्ति is a live Advaita epistemological term (superimposed/illusory cognition, cf. adhyāsa) — usable for “error” only with a note restricting it to moral/doctrinal error. ग्रह (“planet/seizer,” navagraha) would import Jyotiṣa astrological fate-determinism into “wandering stars.” तमः/तमस् (rejected for “darkness,” see below) is the guṇa-neighborhood risk running throughout this doctrine’s imagery.	Use दृष्टान्तः (plain classical rhetorical “example/type,” compatible even with its Nyāya-syllogism use). Use तारा + भ्रमन्त् (plain participle), never ग्रह. Transliterate Cain/Balaam/Korah/Sodom-Gomorrah/Enoch/Michael/Moses per Serampore convention.
Mercy and Rescue of the Wavering	दया (new, preferred); कृपा (new, disfavored); त्रायध्वम् (TM root √trā); द्विविधचित्ताः/संदिग्धाः (new); अग्नेः उद्धरन्तः (new); दूषितं वस्त्रम् (new)	कृपा carries Vaiṣṇava bhakti-responsive resonance (compassion bestowed in response to devotion) — the opposite causal order from biblical mercy, which precedes and does not depend on the recipient’s spiritual attainment. “Stained garment” imagery sits close to ritual cloth-contact purity codes (varṇa-based śuddhi).	Prefer दया over कृपा with an explicit priority-of-mercy note. Keep all “save/rescue” verb forms on the √trā root (त्रायध्वम्, consistent with त्राणम्); never shift to मुच्/मोच् (mokṣa-root) forms even under metrical or stylistic pressure.
Kept by God and Presented Blameless	रक्षा/रक्षितः (new, central); निष्खलितः (new); स्थापयितुम् (new, + महिमा TM root); निर्दोषः (new, central)	रक्षा’s dominant living cultural association is not a classical-philosophical school but a popular ritual practice: rakṣā-sūtra protective thread-tying (e.g. Rakṣā Bandhan) and protective mantra/amulet use — risking an apotropaic-charm reading of divine preservation. दोष is also the Āyurvedic humoral-balance term (vāta/pitta/kapha) and a general dharmaśāstra moral/ritual-fault term.	Every रक्षा occurrence requires a note distinguishing sovereign preserving grace from a protective charm, AND a note disambiguating direction of agency (God keeping believers for glory, vv. 1, 21, 24, vs. God keeping the condemned for judgment, vv. 6, 13; divine agency v. 24 vs. reflexive human responsibility v. 21). निर्दोषः requires a note tying it to forensic positional standing (parallel to आरोपिता धार्मिकता), not Āyurvedic balance or behavioral perfection.
Doxology and God’s Preserving Power	हर्षः (new, central); एकः सर्वेश्वरः/त्राता (TM root + new agent-noun); गौरवम् (new); सामर्थ्यम् (TM reuse); अधिकारः (new); काल (new, “time,” deliberately generic); आमीन् (established)	आनन्दः is Vedānta’s sat-cit-ānanda term for the very nature of Brahman/the liberated Self — using it for believers’ joy before God’s glory would collapse relational, granted joy into attainment of Brahman’s own intrinsic bliss-nature, one of the single worst possible false equivalences available in this whole package. युग collides with the cyclical four-yuga scheme, undermining the single, linear, bracketing eternity doxology asserts.	Use हर्षः, never आनन्दः, for “exceeding joy,” escalated to mandatory theologian review on the same footing as आत्मा. Use काल, never युग, for “age/time” in vv. 18, 25. Reuse सामर्थ्यम् (never शक्तिः) for “dominion/might,” continuing the Romans baseline’s power_of_god decision exactly.

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2. Missing Vocabulary vs. Crowded Semantic Neighborhoods

2.1 Missing Vocabulary (no existing term; new, deliberately under-theorized coinage required)

These concepts have no ready-made Sanskrit technical term at all — the gap is not “too many competing meanings” but “zero prior theorization,” which is actually the safer condition, since a new compound can be introduced cleanly with a controlling gloss rather than having to out-argue an entrenched rival doctrine.

Concept	Gap	Resolution
ἅπαξ, “once for all” (v. 3) — a closed, unrepeatable transmission	No Sanskrit temporal adverb inherently excludes future repetition; classical religious literature assumes repeatable ritual (each yajña repeatable) and repeatable avatāra (Gītā 4.7-8, once per yuga)	सकृत् (“one time”), with mandatory explicit-closure gloss at first occurrence
δεσπότης distinct from κύριος in the same clause (v. 4) — a second honorific for the same Person	No native Sanskrit doublet-honorific convention for a single referent across two titles in one clause	अधिपतिः, with a note that this and प्रभुः name one Person, not two
ψυχικοί/πνεῦμα contrast (v. 19) — Spirit-possession vs. natural human life, without invoking ātman at all	The entire Sanskrit anthropological vocabulary (ātman, jīva, puruṣa) is Advaita/Sāṅkhya-loaded; none is neutral enough to safely name “governed by natural human life, without the Spirit”	लौकिकाः (“of this world,” from loka), explicitly avoiding all आत्मा-compounds
ἀγαλλίασις, eschatological exultant joy before God’s presence (v. 24)	Sanskrit’s dominant “ultimate joy” term (आनन्द) is already Vedānta’s technical name for Brahman’s own nature	हर्षः, a plain and comparatively unclaimed gladness-term
δοῦλος as total-ownership self-designation (v. 1)	भृत्यः wrongly implies a wage-contract; no perfectly neutral term exists	दासः (accepted despite mild dāsya-bhāva bhakti resonance, which reinforces rather than undermines the sense)

2.2 Crowded Semantic Neighborhoods (existing terms already claimed by a rival doctrine; require fencing)

These are the inverse problem: Sanskrit already has a well-developed, textually citable term, but that term’s home doctrine is incompatible with Jude’s meaning. Each requires either an absolute forbidden-substitution rule (Critical) or a mandatory disambiguating note (High/Medium).

Sanskrit term	Owning doctrine/school	Collision with Jude’s sense	Fence applied
सम्प्रदाय	Guru-to-disciple lineage transmission (Vaiṣṇava sampradāyas, Advaita sampradāya)	Jude 1:3 asserts one single, closed deposit — sampradāya assumes a living, branching, multi-variant tradition	Absolutely forbidden; use समर्पितः/दत्तः
निर्णयः	Reserved in the Romans baseline for धर्मीति निर्णयः (“justification,” a declared-righteous verdict)	Jude’s κρίσις needs condemnation, the opposite forensic outcome	Forbidden for this sense; use दण्डः/दण्डाज्ञा
न्यायः	Proper name of the Nyāya darśana	Any plain “justice/judgment” use risks school-name collision (already flagged in the baseline for “righteousness”)	Forbidden; use दण्ड-family vocabulary
सनातन	Self-designating term for “the eternal Vedic order” (sanātana dharma)	Using it for “eternal” (chains, fire, life) risks reading as appropriation of Hinduism’s own primary self-designation	Forbidden; use नित्य throughout
तमः/तमस्	Third guṇa (sattva-rajas-tamas) in Sāṅkhya-Yoga cosmology	”Darkness/gloom” (v. 6, 13) risks importing guṇa-metaphysics into a simple judgment-image	Forbidden; use अन्धकारः
ग्रह	The nine Jyotiṣa astrological planets/nodes believed to “seize” and determine fate	”Wandering stars” (v. 13) risks astrological fate-determinism	Forbidden; use तारा + भ्रमन्त्
असुरः / राक्षसः / पिशाचः	Named classes of multiple mythological beings in Vedic/Purāṇic/epic cosmology	”The devil” (v. 9) is unique and singular; any of these folds him into an existing multiplicity	Forbidden; transliterate शैतान् with uniqueness note
आत्मा (unqualified, or any compound built on it)	Central Advaita identity-term (ātman = Brahman, per the mahāvākyas); already reserved exclusively for पवित्र आत्मा	ψυχικοί (v. 19) sits in the same verse as πνεῦμα — using two आत्मा-family words here would directly collapse the Trinity/monism fence	Forbidden for ψυχικοί; use लौकिकाः
आनन्दः	Third term of Vedānta’s sat-cit-ānanda, Brahman’s/the liberated Self’s own defining nature	”Exceeding joy” (v. 24) risks reframing believers’ joy as attainment of Brahman’s intrinsic bliss	Forbidden; use हर्षः, mandatory theologian review every occurrence
युग	The four cyclically recurring cosmic ages (kṛta/tretā/dvāpara/kali)	“Age/time” in the doxology’s linear before-all-time/forever bracket (v. 18, 25) risks importing cyclical time	Forbidden; use काल
शक्ति	Hypostasized divine-feminine creative power, Śākta Tantric theology (cf. Devī Māhātmyam)	“Dominion/might” (v. 25) — already forbidden in the Romans baseline for “power of God”	Forbidden; reuse सामर्थ्यम्
अमृतत्वम्	Upaniṣadic goal of the Self’s deathlessness through Self-knowledge (Kaṭha, Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣads)	“Eternal life” (v. 21) risks collapsing granted life-in-Christ into an already-eternal Self’s realized immortality	Forbidden; use नित्यं जीवनम्
प्रेम / राग	प्रेम: Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava graded soteriological summit (prema-bhakti); राग: one of the five kleśas (Yoga Sūtra 2.3) binding the soul to saṃsāra	”Love” (vv. 1-2, 12, 21) — प्रेम over-theorizes upward, राग over-theorizes downward (as bondage)	Forbidden as primary term; use प्रीतिः with introductory gloss
दोष	Āyurvedic humoral factor (vāta/pitta/kapha) and general dharmaśāstra moral fault	”Blameless” (v. 24) risks a bodily-balance or generic-fault reading rather than forensic positional standing	Permitted with mandatory note; निर्दोषः tied explicitly to आरोपिता धार्मिकता’s forensic pattern
भ्रान्ति/भ्रम	Advaita epistemological term for superimposed/illusory cognition (adhyāsa-adjacent)	“Error” (v. 11) and “wandering” (v. 13) risk a metaphysical-illusion reading	Permitted with mandatory first-use note; restricted to moral/doctrinal error
कृपा	Vaiṣṇava bhakti-responsive divine compassion, bestowed in response to devotion	”Mercy” (vv. 2, 21, 22-23) — biblical mercy precedes and does not depend on the recipient’s attainment	Disfavored, not absolutely forbidden; दया preferred with priority-of-mercy note
रक्षा (root)	Living popular ritual practice: rakṣā-sūtra protective thread-tying (Rakṣā Bandhan), protective amulet/mantra custom	”Kept” (τηρέω/φυλάσσω family, vv. 1, 6, 13, 21, 24) risks an apotropaic-charm reading	Permitted with mandatory note at every occurrence, disambiguating agency-direction each time
भेद	Dvaita Vedānta’s technical term for real ontological difference between jīva and Brahman (opposed to Advaita’s abheda)	“Cause division” (v. 19) uses भेद generically for social/ecclesial division	Permitted with brief disambiguating note; not a metaphysical claim here
महिमा (extended use)	Reserved in the Romans baseline for Christ’s/God’s own unique glory	”Glorious ones” (δόξαι, v. 8, angelic dignitaries) uses the same root, महिमावन्तः	Permitted with mandatory note; created/derivative glory, never confused with God’s own underived महिमा
पवित्र (extended use)	Reserved for पवित्राः जनाः (“saints,” human believers)	“Holy myriads” (v. 14, angelic hosts) uses the same root, पवित्रैः असंख्यैः (गणैः)	Permitted with mandatory note; distinct referent (angels, not human saints)
प्रभुत्वम्	Built on प्रभुः, reserved for Christ’s own exclusive Lordship	”Angelic authority” (κυριότης, v. 8) uses the same abstract noun for created governmental/angelic structures the false teachers wrongly reject	Permitted with mandatory contextual note distinguishing the two referents at each occurrence

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3. Transliteration vs. Paraphrase Decisions

Item	Decision	Rationale
Proper names (Cain, Balaam, Korah, Sodom, Gomorrah, Enoch, Michael, Moses, Jude/Judas author-name)	Transliterate, following Serampore Sanskrit New Testament convention where precedent exists (मोशेः already established in the baseline); new names (कयिनः, बालाम्, कोरहः, सदोमगोमोरे, एनोकः, मीखायेलः) coined on the same transliteration pattern	Consistency with existing Christian Sanskrit Bible tradition; proper names carry low doctrinal risk but must not be replaced with a paraphrastic or descriptive substitute that could suggest identification with an unrelated indigenous figure
διάβολος, “the devil”	Transliterate (शैतान्), not paraphrase with a native mythological term	Every available native term (असुरः, राक्षसः, पिशाचः) names one member of a multiple-being class; transliteration is the only way to preserve singular uniqueness without borrowing an entire rival cosmology
δεσπότης, “Master/Sovereign”	Paraphrase (अधिपतिः)	A functioning Sanskrit compound exists and needs no transliteration; the risk here is not lexical availability but disambiguation from प्रभुः, handled by translator note rather than transliteration
ἀγάπη, “love”	Paraphrase (प्रीतिः), explicitly not प्रेम or राग	A workable native term exists once fenced by gloss; transliterating “agape” would be needlessly foreign for a concept classical Sanskrit can express, once the crowded neighborhood (§2.2) is fenced
ἀγαλλίασις, “exceeding joy”	Paraphrase (हर्षः), explicitly not आनन्दः	Same logic — a workable, comparatively neutral native term exists; transliteration is unnecessary once आनन्दः is fenced off
παραδοθείσῃ, “delivered/entrusted”	Paraphrase (समर्पितः/दत्तः), explicitly not any सम्प्रदाय-based coinage	A neutral native verb-root exists; the risk is a specific rival noun family, not lack of vocabulary
Ἀμήν, “Amen”	Transliterate (आमीन्)	Already established in the baseline AI-requirements document as a fixed liturgical transliteration; no paraphrase attempted
ψυχικοί	Paraphrase (लौकिकाः), explicitly avoiding all आत्मा-compounds	A neutral native adjective (from loka) exists that entirely sidesteps the crowded ātman neighborhood; no transliteration needed or desirable

General rule for this package: transliterate proper names and already-fixed liturgical exclamations; paraphrase all theological/doctrinal concepts using the least philosophically-encumbered available Sanskrit resource, per the baseline’s standing instruction, reserving transliteration for concepts (like διάβολος) where every native alternative names a member of an incompatible multiplicity class.

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4. Ranked List of Highest-Risk Ambiguities in Jude

Ranked by combined severity (doctrinal centrality × collision specificity × frequency/position in the core passage 1:3–23):

1. ἀγαλλίασις → हर्षः vs. आनन्दः (v. 24). The single highest-severity new risk in this package: आनन्दः is Vedānta’s technical name for Brahman’s/the liberated Self’s own nature (sat-cit-ānanda). A wrong choice here would let the doxology’s climactic emotional note be heard as Self-realization rather than relational, granted joy before a distinct, worshipped God. Mandatory theologian review at every occurrence, on par with आत्मा.

2. ψυχικοί / πνεῦμα ἅγιον contrast → लौकिकाः / पवित्र आत्मा (v. 19). The verse places the ātman-adjacent risk under maximum pressure: any आत्मा-family word for “worldly/soulish” in the same verse as पवित्र आत्मा would collapse the Trinity/Advaita-monism fence the entire baseline exists to protect. Mandatory theologian review every occurrence.

3. παραδοθείσῃ → समर्पितः/दत्तः vs. सम्प्रदाय (v. 3). The thesis verse of the whole epistle. Sampradāya is the single most natural-sounding Sanskrit word for “a transmitted tradition,” making it the likeliest unconscious substitution a translator might reach for — yet it asserts precisely the branching-lineage model Jude denies. Requires absolute forbidden-substitution enforcement, not just a preference note.

4. διάβολος → शैतान् vs. असुरः/राक्षसः/पिशाचः (v. 9). Every native alternative belongs to a class with many members; only transliteration preserves the devil’s singular uniqueness. High risk of unconscious domestication toward a familiar epic/Purāṇic figure.

5. κρίσις/δίκη → दण्ड-family vs. निर्णयः/न्यायः (vv. 6, 7, 9, 15). Reusing निर्णयः (already fixed for “justification”) would silently invert the forensic direction of one of two paired baseline concepts; न्यायः collides with an entire darśana’s proper name. High frequency across the letter (five occurrences) multiplies the exposure.

6. αἰώνιος → नित्य vs. सनातन (vv. 6, 7, 21). Sanātana is not a neutral synonym but Hinduism’s own dominant self-designation for its eternal order (sanātana dharma); repeated use of “eternal” across three key verses makes consistent avoidance essential.

7. κυριότης/δόξαι → प्रभुत्वम्/महिमावन्तः applied to both Christ and to created angelic/governmental authority in the same short span (v. 8). Reusing Christological root-terms for creaturely referents within a few words of each other creates a high risk of referent-confusion without a note at each occurrence.

8. τηρέω/φυλάσσω → रक्षा-family across five verses (vv. 1, 6, 13, 21, 24) with shifting agency (God keeping the condemned vs. God keeping believers vs. believers keeping themselves). Not a classical-school collision but a live ritual-practice collision (rakṣā-sūtra amulet custom) compounded by genuinely shifting theological agency across occurrences — the most operationally complex fencing requirement in the letter.

9. ζωὴν αἰώνιον → नित्यं जीवनम् vs. अमृतत्वम् (v. 21). Amṛtatva’s Upaniṣadic deathlessness-through-Self-knowledge framing is a tempting “elegant” synonym that must be resisted precisely because of its elegance and precision — an unusually seductive wrong choice.

10. ἀγάπη → प्रीतिः vs. प्रेम/राग (vv. 1-2, 12, 21). Two rival crowded neighborhoods pull in opposite directions (प्रेम upward into Gauḍīya prema-bhakti soteriology, राग downward into Yogic kleśa-bondage), making “love” a term with unusually little safe middle ground and requiring a firm gloss rather than reliance on context alone.

11. πλάνη / ἀστέρες πλανῆται → भ्रान्तिः / भ्रमन्तः ताराः vs. ग्रह (vv. 11, 13). Astrological ग्रह is a live, widely recognized cultural reference point (navagraha) that could intrude even where translators consciously avoid भ्रान्ति’s Advaita loading; the two related terms compound each other’s risk within two adjacent verses.

12. ἀμώμους → निर्दोषः vs. Āyurvedic/general दोष usage (v. 24). Lower severity than the forensic term itself (कृपा/दया, दण्ड-family) but still requires a note tying “blameless” to positional standing granted through Christ, parallel to आरोपिता धार्मिकता, rather than to bodily-humor balance or behavioral perfection.

13. ἔλεος → दया vs. कृपा (vv. 2, 21, 22-23). Lower severity because κρपा is disfavored rather than forbidden, but its bhakti-responsive resonance (compassion following devotion) inverts biblical mercy’s unconditional priority, and the term recurs at the pastoral climax of the letter (vv. 22-23).

14. αἰώνιος (age/time sense) → काल vs. युग (vv. 18, 25). Distinct from ranking #6 (which addresses “eternal” as a durational adjective); this entry addresses the doxology’s cyclical-vs-linear time framing specifically, where युग’s four-age cosmology would undercut the single, bracketing eternity Jude asserts.

15. ἀπόλλυμι pattern-word repetition (vv. 5, 10, 11) → नाशम्, consistency risk rather than collision risk. Lowest-ranked entry included here because, while नाशम् has no rival-school collision, failure to render all three occurrences with the same root would obscure Jude’s deliberate rhetorical repetition tying Israel, the false teachers, and Korah’s rebels into a single typological pattern — a structural rather than lexical risk, flagged for consistency review.

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5. Full-Book Coverage Note

Every verse of Jude (1:1–25) has been reviewed for terminology against the doctrines above. Verses not separately itemized in §§1–4 (e.g. the epistolary opening formulas of v. 1-2 beyond “servant,” “beloved,” “called,” “mercy, peace, love,” and the transitional narrative connectives in vv. 12-13, 17-18 beyond the terms already tabled) introduce no new theological vocabulary beyond what is captured in the Core Glossary and Term Registry, and are confirmed reviewed with no outstanding gap.