07 Semantic Analysis — 1 John (Full Book) in Koine Greek

Destination Language: Vietnamese

Methodology Note

This analysis follows the same method established in the Romans Language Package. Terms already fixed in translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json (baseline, Romans) are reused exactly — they are marked “REUSE (baseline)” below and are not re-litigated. New terms required for 1 John are analyzed in full and proposed for addition to translation memory in 08_core_glossary.md. The core passage (1 John 4:7-21) receives verse-by-verse treatment. Every other chapter of the book (1, 2, 3, 4:1-6, 5) receives chapter-level treatment of its load-bearing theological vocabulary. Where a term repeats within the core passage, the full entry is given at first occurrence and cross-referenced thereafter.

---

PART A — CORE PASSAGE: 1 John 4:7-21 (Verse-by-Verse)

Verse 7

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

• ἀγαπητοί (agapētoi) — “beloved ones.” From the same root as ἀγάπη (below); a term of pastoral endearment used by John throughout the letter (2:7; 3:2, 21; 4:1, 7, 11). English variants: “beloved,” “dear friends.” Theological weight: identifies the readers as objects of God’s and the author’s love before commanding them to love. VN rendering: “Hỡi kẻ rất yêu dấu” (established BDTT vocative form). Risk: Low.
• ἀγάπη (agapē) / ἀγαπάω (agapaō) — noun/verb “love.” Literal meaning: selfless, willed love, distinct from ἔρως (romantic/erotic desire) and φιλία (affectionate friendship). Semantic range in NT usage: God’s self-giving love toward humanity, the love command between believers, occasionally weakened in common Koine to mean simple affection. English variants: “love,” “charity” (KJV). Contextual theological meaning: the defining, sourced-in-God, self-giving love that is both the origin and the proof of new birth. VN rendering: “sự yêu thương” (noun) / “yêu thương” (verb). Risk: High — Vietnamese has multiple love-vocabulary registers (tình yêu = often romantic love; lòng thương/từ bi = Buddhist compassion/mercy toward suffering beings; hiếu = filial love/duty). “Sự yêu thương” must be taught as agapē — willed, God-originated, self-giving love — not romantic attachment (tình yêu lãng mạn) and not Buddhist compassion generated by contemplating suffering (từ bi, which arises from within the practitioner rather than being received from a personal God). NEW TERM for translation memory.
• γεγέννηται (gegennētai) — perfect passive of γεννάω, “has been born/begotten.” Literal meaning: to be fathered, brought into being. Semantic range: physical birth; spiritual begetting by God (John’s distinctive use). English variants: “is born of,” “has been begotten of.” Contextual theological meaning: new birth is the origin, not the goal, of Christian love — love is evidence of a completed spiritual begetting by God, not a means of earning it. VN rendering: “được Đức Chúa Trời sinh ra” / “sanh bởi Đức Chúa Trời.” Risk: Critical — Vietnamese readers from a Buddhist background may hear “born of / begotten of” through the lens of luân hồi (reincarnation/rebirth into a new existence). This must be explicitly distinguished: γεγέννηται ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ is a one-time, non-repeatable spiritual begetting by a personal God producing a permanently new identity, not a rebirth into another cycle of existence. NEW TERM, doctrinally parallel to the baseline’s Critical flag on “resurrection” (sự sống lại vs. luân hồi/đầu thai).
• γινώσκει (ginōskei) — present of γινώσκω, “knows.” Semantic range: relational, experiential knowing (Hebraic ידע) versus merely intellectual/informational knowing. English variants: “knows.” Contextual meaning: relational knowledge of God that is inseparable from a loving character — John is likely countering an early Gnostic-leaning claim to secret “knowledge” (gnōsis) detached from ethical love. VN rendering: “biết.” Risk: Medium — must be taught as relational knowing of a personal God, not abstract or esoteric knowledge acquired by a spiritual elite.

Verse 8

Greek: ὁ μὴ ἀγαπῶν οὐκ ἔγνω τὸν θεόν, ὅτι ὁ θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστίν.

• ἔγνω (egnō) — aorist of γινώσκω; see v.7. Here: “never knew,” summarizing a settled state.
• ὁ θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστίν (ho theos agapē estin) — “God is love.” Not a general description among several divine attributes but a predication of God’s essential nature. Contextual theological meaning: the ground of the entire passage — love is not merely something God does but what God is. VN rendering: “Đức Chúa Trời là sự yêu thương” — this exact clause is already a fixed, memorized phrase in Vietnamese Protestant tradition (BDTT). Risk: Critical — must never be softened to “Đức Chúa Trời có lòng yêu thương” (God has love, a quality) which would demote an essential-nature statement to a mere attribute; and must not be flattened toward an impersonal cosmic-benevolence idea (compare risk already flagged for “Đức Chúa Trời”/Ông Trời in baseline).

Verse 9

Greek: ἐν τούτῳ ἐφανερώθη ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν ἡμῖν, ὅτι τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ ἀπέσταλκεν ὁ θεὸς εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἵνα ζήσωμεν διʼ αὐτοῦ.

• ἐφανερώθη (ephanerōthē) — aorist passive of φανερόω, “was manifested/revealed.” Semantic range: to make visible what was previously hidden. Contextual meaning: God’s love is not abstract sentiment but a historical, visible act — the sending of the Son. VN rendering: “đã được tỏ ra.” Risk: Low.
• τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ (ton huion autou ton monogenē) — “his only-begotten Son” / “his one-and-only Son.” μονογενής: literal meaning “only one of its kind,” “unique,” from μόνος (only) + γένος (kind/offspring); NOT etymologically “only-born” but functions in Johannine usage (John 1:14, 18; 3:16; 1 John 4:9) to mark Christ’s unique, unrepeatable divine Sonship — there is no other of his kind. English variants: “only begotten,” “one and only,” “unique.” Contextual theological meaning: Christ’s Sonship is singular and unshared; this is the same Sonship the baseline package protects under son_of_god. VN rendering: “Con một (của Ngài)” used together with the baseline term Con Đức Chúa Trời. Risk: Critical — REUSE baseline doctrine (Sonship of Christ), extending it with the “Con một” modifier which must never be softened to imply Jesus is merely “a son” among many or an honorary title claimed by a deified ancestor/folk hero.
• ἀπέσταλκεν (apestalken) — perfect of ἀποστέλλω, “has sent” (with abiding result). Related to apostle/sứ đồ in baseline, but here of the Father sending the Son, not a human commissioned messenger. Contextual meaning: deliberate divine initiative and mission. VN rendering: “đã sai.” Risk: Medium.
• κόσμον (kosmon) — “world.” See full treatment under Chapter 2/4 below (World, kósmos). Here: the object of God’s saving initiative, not merely a hostile system (contrast with the more negative sense elsewhere in 1 John). VN rendering: “thế gian.” Risk: Medium.
• ζήσωμεν (zēsōmen) — aorist subjunctive of ζάω, “we might live.” Connects to eternal life (see 5:11-13 below). VN rendering: “chúng ta được sống.” Risk: Medium.

Verse 10

Greek: ἐν τούτῳ ἐστὶν ἡ ἀγάπη, οὐχ ὅτι ἡμεῖς ἠγαπήκαμεν τὸν θεόν, ἀλλʼ ὅτι αὐτὸς ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς καὶ ἀπέστειλεν τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἱλασμὸν περὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν.

• ἠγαπήκαμεν / ἠγάπησεν (ēgapēkamen / ēgapēsen) — perfect/aorist of ἀγαπάω; see v.7. Emphasizes God’s love is prior and originating, ours is responsive.
• ἱλασμὸν (hilasmon) — “propitiation,” “atoning sacrifice,” “means by which wrath is satisfied and sin is covered.” Literal meaning: from ἱλάσκομαι, to appease/make propitious, used in LXX of sacrificial atonement. Semantic range: the sacrifice itself, or the resulting satisfaction/appeasement of judgment. English variants: “propitiation” (ESV/KJV), “atoning sacrifice” (NIV), “sin offering.” Contextual theological meaning: Christ’s death/sending satisfies God’s righteous judgment against sin — this is a completed, sufficient, once-for-all sacrifice, not a repeated ritual. VN rendering: “của lễ chuộc tội” (BDTT rendering; “an offering that redeems/atones for sin”). Risk: Critical — NEW TERM requiring the same Critical handling given to Romans 3:25’s atonement language in the baseline escalation rules. Must be explicitly distinguished from: (1) repeated ritual offerings made to appease ancestor spirits or local deities (cúng tổ tiên, cúng cô hồn) — Christ’s offering is unrepeatable and fully sufficient; (2) Buddhist merit-transfer offerings (làm phước, hồi hướng công đức) intended to improve karmic outcome for oneself or the deceased — this is God’s own initiative to satisfy his own justice, not a human-initiated appeasement transaction.
• ἁμαρτιῶν (hamartiōn) — REUSE baseline sin = tội lỗi.

Verse 11

Greek: Ἀγαπητοί, εἰ οὕτως ὁ θεὸς ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς, καὶ ἡμεῖς ὀφείλομεν ἀλλήλους ἀγαπᾶν.

• ὀφείλομεν (opheilomen) — “we ought,” “we are obligated/indebted.” Literal meaning: to owe a debt. Semantic range: moral obligation flowing from a prior gift, not a commercial or reciprocal debt. Contextual theological meaning: love for one another is a fitting moral response to having received love, not a repayment that discharges a debt or purchases further favor. VN rendering: “chúng ta cũng nên yêu thương” or “chúng ta mắc nợ phải yêu thương.” Risk: High — the debt-language here creates a direct collision risk with Confucian ơn nghĩa (a favor that creates a reciprocal obligation to repay), the same collision already flagged for “grace” in the baseline. Translators must render ὀφείλομεν so it conveys a grateful moral “ought,” not a transactional repayment that, once made, discharges an obligation the way ơn nghĩa would. Recommend consistent rendering “nên/phải yêu thương nhau” over any phrase built on “nợ” (debt) that could reactivate the ơn nghĩa frame.

Verse 12

Greek: θεὸν οὐδεὶς πώποτε τεθέαται· ἐὰν ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους, ὁ θεὸς ἐν ἡμῖν μένει καὶ ἡ ἀγάπη αὐτοῦ ἐν ἡμῖν τετελειωμένη ἐστίν.

• τεθέαται (tetheatai) — perfect of θεάομαι, “has seen/beheld” (contemplative seeing). VN rendering: “đã thấy.” Risk: Low.
• μένει (menei) — present of μένω, “abides/remains.” Literal meaning: to stay, dwell, continue. Semantic range: physical remaining, relational continuance/indwelling (distinctive Johannine usage: mutual indwelling of God and believer). English variants: “abides,” “remains,” “dwells,” “continues.” Contextual theological meaning: an ongoing, living, mutual indwelling relationship between God and the believer, evidenced by love — this is the letter’s central relational-fellowship term (used ~24 times in 1 John). VN rendering: “ở trong” / “cứ ở trong.” Risk: High — NEW TERM. Vietnamese Buddhist vocabulary has a related concept, “an trú” (dwelling/abiding in mindfulness or meditative states), which is a self-achieved interior state. μένω in 1 John describes a relational, mutual, grace-grounded indwelling between two persons (God and the believer), not a self-cultivated meditative condition. Translators must keep the relational, mutual, other-initiated character clear in surrounding context.
• τετελειωμένη (teteleiōmenē) — perfect passive participle of τελειόω, “has been perfected/brought to completion/matured.” Literal meaning: to bring to its intended goal/end (τέλος). Semantic range: moral perfection, completion, maturity — NOT sinlessness. English variants: “perfected,” “made complete,” “matured.” Contextual theological meaning: love reaches its intended goal/maturity in the mutual-love relationship among believers, evidencing God’s own indwelling. VN rendering: “được trọn vẹn” / “nên trọn vẹn.” Risk: Medium — must be distinguished from Confucian self-cultivated moral perfection (tu thân) achieved through discipline and effort; here perfection/completion is a passive result of God’s love being received and expressed, not an achievement.

Verse 13

Greek: Ἐν τούτῳ γινώσκομεν ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ μένομεν καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν ἡμῖν, ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος αὐτοῦ δέδωκεν ἡμῖν.

• μένομεν (menomen) — see v.12.
• πνεύματος αὐτοῦ (pneumatos autou) — “his Spirit.” REUSE baseline holy_spirit = Đức Thánh Linh. Contextual note: the indwelling Spirit is the evidence/means of the mutual abiding just described — do not let “πνεῦμα” here drift toward the generic folk category of thần linh (already forbidden in baseline).
• δέδωκεν (dedōken) — perfect of δίδωμι, “has given.” VN rendering: “đã ban cho.” Risk: Low.

Verse 14

Greek: καὶ ἡμεῖς τεθεάμεθα καὶ μαρτυροῦμεν ὅτι ὁ πατὴρ ἀπέσταλκεν τὸν υἱὸν σωτῆρα τοῦ κόσμου.

• μαρτυροῦμεν (martyroumen) — present of μαρτυρέω, “we testify/bear witness.” Semantic range: eyewitness legal/formal testimony, not mere opinion. English variants: “testify,” “bear witness,” “witness.” Contextual meaning: apostolic eyewitness testimony grounds the claims about Christ (echoes 1:1-3). VN rendering: “chúng tôi làm chứng.” Risk: Medium — must retain the weight of formal eyewitness testimony, not casual personal report.
• πατὴρ (patēr) — REUSE baseline father = Cha.
• σωτῆρα (sōtēra) — “Savior.” From σῴζω, root of salvation (REUSE baseline: σωτηρία = sự cứu rỗi). English variants: “Savior,” “Deliverer.” Contextual theological meaning: the one who accomplishes and applies salvation; here explicitly “Savior of the world” — universal scope, paralleling the baseline’s flagged “Universal Scope of the Gospel” doctrine. VN rendering: “Cứu Chúa.” Risk: High — NEW TERM built on the baseline salvation root; must retain universal scope (“of the world,” not of one ethnic or ancestral lineage group) and must not be confused with a generic “savior/rescuer” figure from folk narrative (e.g., a legendary hero-liberator).

Verse 15

Greek: ὃς ἂν ὁμολογήσῃ ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, ὁ θεὸς ἐν αὐτῷ μένει καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν τῷ θεῷ.

• ὁμολογήσῃ (homologēsē) — aorist subjunctive of ὁμολογέω, “confesses.” Literal meaning: to say the same thing (ὁμός + λέγω), i.e., to agree with and openly affirm. Semantic range: public affirmation/acknowledgment, legal admission, or (elsewhere in 1 John, e.g., 1:9) acknowledgment of sin to God. English variants: “confess,” “acknowledge,” “profess.” Contextual theological meaning (here): the open, personal affirmation that Jesus is the Son of God, which is the ground of mutual abiding with God. VN rendering: “xưng nhận” (for confession of Christ) — distinguished from “xưng tội” (confession of sin, 1:9, see Chapter 1 below). Risk: High — NEW TERM. In Vietnam’s religious landscape, “xưng tội” carries strong associations with the Catholic sacrament of confession performed through a priest in a confessional booth (tòa giải tội). 1 John’s ὁμολογέω, whether of sin (1:9) or of Christ (4:15), is a direct, unmediated act between the believer and God — no priestly intermediary is in view. Translators must ensure surrounding context makes this direct, unmediated sense clear rather than implying a sacramental, priest-mediated ritual.
• Ἰησοῦς…ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ — REUSE baseline jesus = Đức Chúa Giê-xu; son_of_god = Con Đức Chúa Trời. This confession is the letter’s counterpart to Romans 10:9’s “Jesus is Lord” confession, and should receive the same Critical-tier consistency treatment as that verse in the baseline’s cross-document consistency rules.

Verse 16

Greek: 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.

• πεπιστεύκαμεν (pepisteukamen) — perfect of πιστεύω, “have believed/come to trust.” REUSE baseline faith = đức tin (verb form “tin”). Contextual note: here belief and knowledge are fused (“we have known and believed”) — trust in God’s love is not separable from relational knowledge of him.
• ὁ θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστίν — repeated from v.8; same Critical risk and rendering apply, reinforcing the letter’s central identity-claim.
• μένων / μένει — see v.12-13.

Verse 17

Greek: Ἐν τούτῳ τετελείωται ἡ ἀγάπη μεθʼ ἡμῶν, ἵνα παρρησίαν ἔχωμεν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς κρίσεως, ὅτι καθὼς ἐκεῖνός ἐστιν καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐσμὲν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ τούτῳ.

• τετελείωται — see v.12.
• παρρησίαν (parrēsian) — “confidence,” “boldness,” “freedom of speech.” Literal meaning: openness in speech, originally political/civic (freedom to speak plainly in the assembly). Semantic range: boldness before God in prayer (Heb 4:16), boldness at the final judgment (here), fearless open speech generally. English variants: “confidence,” “boldness,” “assurance.” Contextual theological meaning: settled confidence before God at the final judgment, grounded in the completed work of love/Christ, not in one’s own performance record. VN rendering: “sự dạn dĩ.” Risk: High — NEW TERM, directly feeding the curriculum’s Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life doctrine. Must be grounded explicitly in Christ’s finished work and God’s love, never allowed to imply a self-generated confidence based on accumulated good deeds (which would collide with Buddhist merit-accumulation thinking, the same collision flagged for “grace” in the baseline) or an uncertain hope contingent on an ongoing karmic ledger.
• ἡμέρᾳ τῆς κρίσεως (hēmera tēs kriseōs) — “day of judgment.” REUSE baseline vocabulary conventions for eschatological judgment; no separate baseline term but consistent with “day of the Lord” concepts. VN rendering: “ngày phán xét.” Risk: Medium.
• κόσμῳ τούτῳ — see World, below.

Verse 18

Greek: φόβος οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ, ἀλλʼ ἡ τελεία ἀγάπη ἔξω βάλλει τὸν φόβον, ὅτι ὁ φόβος κόλασιν ἔχει, ὁ δὲ φοβούμενος οὐ τετελείωται ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ.

• φόβος (phobos) — “fear,” “dread.” Semantic range: reverent awe (elsewhere positive, e.g., “fear of the Lord”) or here, servile dread/torment before a judge. English variants: “fear,” “dread,” “terror.” Contextual theological meaning: the anxious dread of condemnation that mature, settled love displaces — not reverence for God generally, which Scripture elsewhere commends. VN rendering: “sự sợ hãi.” Risk: Medium — NEW TERM; translators should ensure this specific “fear of punishment” sense is not confused with the positive “kính sợ Đức Chúa Trời” (reverent fear of God) found elsewhere in Scripture; the two must remain distinguishable in Vietnamese.
• τελεία ἀγάπη (teleia agapē) — “perfect/mature love”; see τελειόω above.
• ἔξω βάλλει (exō ballei) — “casts out.” VN rendering: “cast bỏ ra ngoài” / “trừ bỏ.” Risk: Low.
• κόλασιν (kolasin) — “punishment,” “torment.” VN rendering: “sự hình phạt.” Risk: Medium — retain forensic/judicial sense (punishment from a judge), not vague misfortune.

Verse 19

Greek: ἡμεῖς ἀγαπῶμεν, ὅτι αὐτὸς πρῶτος ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς.

• πρῶτος (prōtos) — “first.” Contextual theological meaning: the priority/originating character of God’s love — the ground for all human love in response. VN rendering: “trước.” Risk: Low, but doctrinally load-bearing: guards against any reading in which human love toward God precedes or earns God’s love (parallels the baseline’s grace-not-merit rule).

Verse 20

Greek: 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.

• μισῇ (misē) — present subjunctive of μισέω, “hates.” VN rendering: “ghét.” Risk: Low.
• ψεύστης (pseustēs) — “liar.” Contextual meaning: a strong forensic term — claiming love for God while hating a brother is not merely inconsistent but false testimony. VN rendering: “kẻ nói dối.” Risk: Medium — retain the strength of the accusation; do not soften to “mistaken” or “inconsistent.”
• ἀδελφὸν (adelphon) — “brother.” Semantic range: biological brother, fellow Israelite, or (dominant NT/Johannine usage) fellow believer in the Christian community. English variants: “brother,” “fellow believer.” Contextual theological meaning: love for the brethren is the concrete, visible, testable proof of love for the invisible God — this is the letter’s core ethical-doctrinal test (see curriculum doctrine “Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth”). VN rendering: “anh em.” Risk: High — NEW TERM. In a culture where family/lineage bonds (huyết thống, dòng họ) carry very strong obligation, “anh em” must be taught as the new covenant family bond among all believers in Christ, not limited to blood relatives or clan members, while not erasing the real weight Vietnamese culture places on family loyalty — the doctrine should be framed as an extension/fulfillment of family-bond language to the whole household of faith, not a replacement that dishonors biological family loyalty.

Verse 21

Greek: καὶ ταύτην τὴν ἐντολὴν ἔχομεν ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ, ἵνα ὁ ἀγαπῶν τὸν θεὸν ἀγαπᾷ καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ.

• ἐντολὴν (entolēn) — “commandment.” Semantic range: a formal directive from one in authority. English variants: “commandment,” “command,” “instruction.” Contextual theological meaning: love for God and love for the brother are bound together in a single divine command, not two separable options. VN rendering: “điều răn.” Risk: Low-Medium — standard established Vietnamese Bible vocabulary (as in “Mười Điều Răn,” the Ten Commandments); low collision risk but should not be reduced to a mere ethical suggestion.

---

PART B — CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER STUDY OF THE WHOLE BOOK

Chapter 1 (1:1-10) — The Word of Life; Fellowship; Light and Darkness; Confession and Cleansing

• ὁ λόγος τῆς ζωῆς (ho logos tēs zōēs) — “the Word of Life” (1:1). Literal meaning: λόγος = word/message/reason; ζωή = life. Semantic range: here, personal — the eternal, pre-existent Christ himself, echoing John 1:1,14. Contextual theological meaning: the same Logos-Incarnation doctrine anchored in the baseline’s incarnation entry. VN rendering: REUSE baseline concept — “Ngôi Lời”, extended here as “Ngôi Lời của sự sống” / “Lời của sự sống.” Risk: Critical — same doctrine as baseline incarnation (Ngôi Lời trở nên xác thịt); 1 John 1:1-3 is the letter’s own incarnation-and-eyewitness prologue and must use identical Christological vocabulary to Romans and the Gospel tradition already fixed in translation memory.
• κοινωνία (koinōnia), “fellowship” (1:3, 6, 7) — REUSE baseline fellowship = sự thông công. Contextual expansion: 1 John grounds fellowship with one another explicitly in shared fellowship with the Father and the Son (1:3) — this is the letter’s programmatic statement for the curriculum doctrine “Fellowship with God and One Another.” Risk: Medium (per baseline), but flag this passage specifically for the theological point that horizontal fellowship (with other believers) is only possible on the basis of vertical fellowship (with God) — must not be flattened into generic social community-building language.
• φῶς (phōs), “light” (1:5,7) — “God is light and in him is no darkness at all.” Literal meaning: physical light; metaphorical: moral purity, truth, revelation. English variants: “light.” Contextual theological meaning: an essential-nature statement parallel to “God is love” (4:8,16) — God’s absolute moral purity and self-revealing truthfulness. VN rendering: “sự sáng.” Risk: High — NEW TERM. “Sự sáng” collides conceptually with Buddhist “ánh sáng giác ngộ” (the light of enlightenment attained through practice and insight) and with folk/esoteric traditions using light-imagery for spiritual attainment. Must be taught as describing God’s own unchanging moral nature revealed to humanity, not an inner enlightenment state a person achieves.
• σκοτία / σκότος (skotia/skotos), “darkness” (1:5,6) — the moral/relational opposite of φῶς: sin, falsehood, separation from God. VN rendering: “sự tối tăm.” Risk: Medium.
• ἁμαρτία (hamartia), “sin” — REUSE baseline sin = tội lỗi.
• ὁμολογῶμεν (homologōmen), “confess” (1:9) — see full treatment at 4:15 above; here specifically confession of sin to God: “ἐὰν ὁμολογῶμεν τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν.” VN rendering: “xưng tội (mình ra)” — established BDTT phrase. Risk: High — same Catholic-sacrament collision risk flagged at 4:15; must be taught as direct, unmediated confession to God, with no human priestly intermediary required, and as an ongoing practice of the Christian life, not a one-time initiation rite.
• ἀφῇ (aphē) / related to ἀφίημι, “forgive” (1:9, “ἵνα ἀφῇ ἡμῖν τὰς ἁμαρτίας”) — Literal meaning: to release, let go, send away (a debt). Semantic range: forgiveness of sin/debt, release from obligation. English variants: “forgive,” “pardon.” Contextual theological meaning: God’s judicial release of the believer’s sin-debt upon confession, grounded in his faithfulness and righteousness (1:9b) and Christ’s atoning work (2:2), not upon merit or ritual performance. VN rendering: “tha thứ” / “được tha.” Risk: Medium — NEW TERM; should be kept distinct from a merit-offsetting transaction and tied explicitly to God’s character (“faithful and just,” 1:9) and Christ’s propitiatory work (see ἱλασμός above), not to human effort.
• καθαρίσῃ (katharisē), “cleanse” (1:9, “καθαρίσῃ ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ πάσης ἀδικίας”) — Literal meaning: to make clean, purify. Semantic range: ritual purification (OT sacrificial contexts) or moral/spiritual cleansing (here). VN rendering: “làm cho sạch.” Risk: Medium — NEW TERM; must be distinguished from ritual/ceremonial purification practices (e.g., folk rites of tẩy uế, spiritual cleansing rituals performed by a medium or at a shrine); this cleansing is accomplished by God on the basis of Christ’s blood, received by confession, not achieved through a ritual act performed by the believer.
• αἷμα (haima), “blood” (1:7, “τὸ αἷμα Ἰησοῦ”) — Literal meaning: blood. Semantic range: sacrificial, atoning blood (OT sacrificial system background) versus mere biological substance. Contextual theological meaning: Christ’s sacrificial death is the objective ground of ongoing cleansing and fellowship. VN rendering: “huyết.” Risk: High — NEW TERM; the established Vietnamese Bible term “huyết” (rather than the more clinical “máu”) already carries sacrificial connotation in Protestant usage and should be retained, but teaching must make explicit that this is a once-for-all atoning sacrifice, not an ongoing ritual blood-offering paralleling ancestral or folk sacrificial practice.
• περιπατῶμεν (peripatōmen), “walk” (1:6,7) — Literal meaning: to walk (feet); figurative: to conduct one’s life/lifestyle. VN rendering: “đi” / “bước đi” / “ăn ở.” Risk: Low.

Chapter 2 (2:1-29) — Advocate; Commandments; Love of the World; Antichrist; Anointing

• παράκλητος (paraklētos), “advocate” (2:1, of Christ before the Father) — Literal meaning: one called alongside (to help), legal advocate/counselor. Semantic range: legal defender, comforter, helper — used of both Christ (2:1) and the Holy Spirit (John 14-16, not in 1 John but same word family). Contextual theological meaning: Christ’s ongoing advocacy/intercession before the Father on behalf of the believer who sins, grounded in his own righteousness. VN rendering: REUSE baseline intercession concept — “Đấng cầu thay” (consistent with intercession = sự cầu thay). Risk: Critical — carries forward the baseline’s Critical flag exactly: Christ’s present advocacy/intercession before the Father must never be modeled on cầu xin tổ tiên (petitioning a deceased ancestor for blessing/protection at the family altar). Every occurrence needs a teaching note distinguishing Christ’s finished-work-based advocacy from ancestor petition.
• ἐντολή (entolē), “commandment” — see 4:21 above; recurring keyword (2:3,4,7,8; 3:22-24).
• κόσμος (kosmos), “world” (2:15-17) — Literal meaning: order, arrangement, the created/inhabited world. Semantic range in John/1 John: (a) the created physical world; (b) humanity in general as objects of God’s love (John 3:16; 1 John 4:9,14); (c) the organized system of life and values in rebellion against God and opposed to the Father (dominant sense in 2:15-17, 4:4-5, 5:19). English variants: “world,” “the world,” “worldly system.” Contextual theological meaning: believers must not love the “world” in sense (c) — the value-system of “lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life” — while God himself loves the “world” in sense (b) as the object of salvation. VN rendering: “thế gian.” Risk: Medium-High — NEW TERM; a single Vietnamese word must carry two distinct senses that the reader must learn to distinguish by context; teaching notes should flag this ambiguity at every occurrence, since collapsing both senses into one undifferentiated “world” risks either an anti-cosmic asceticism (rejecting all creation) or an uncritical worldliness.
• ἐπιθυμία τῆς σαρκός / τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν, ἀλαζονεία τοῦ βίου (epithymia tēs sarkos/tōn ophthalmōn, alazoneia tou biou), “lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life/possessions” (2:16) — VN rendering: “sự mê tham của xác thịt,” “sự mê tham của mắt,” “sự kiêu ngạo về đời (của cải).” Risk: Medium — descriptive triad of worldly desire, low direct syncretism risk but should retain the moral-desire (not merely sensory) sense of ἐπιθυμία.
• ἀντίχριστος (antichristos), “antichrist” (2:18,22; 4:3) — Literal meaning: ἀντί (against/instead of) + Χριστός (Christ/Messiah) — one who opposes or counterfeits Christ. Semantic range: both a future singular eschatological figure (implied) and, in 1 John’s present application, “many antichrists” — anyone/any teaching that denies the Father and the Son (2:22) or denies Jesus Christ came in the flesh (4:2-3; 2 John 7). English variants: “antichrist,” “the antichrist,” “the man of lawlessness” (2 Thess., related concept). Contextual theological meaning: doctrinal denial of Christ’s true identity (Messiah, Son, incarnate) is itself the mark of antichrist — a present, ongoing danger, not only a future one. VN rendering: “kẻ địch lại Đấng Christ” (established BDTT descriptive phrase). Risk: Critical — NEW TERM. Must not be flattened into a generic “evil spirit/demon” (ma quỷ) or a mythological demon-king figure from folk cosmology; the doctrinal content — denial that Jesus is the Christ/Son of God come in the flesh — must remain explicit at every occurrence, feeding directly into the curriculum doctrine “The Incarnation and Antichrist.”
• χρῖσμα (chrisma), “anointing” (2:20, 27) — Literal meaning: an anointing, the oil/act of anointing. Semantic range: literal olive-oil anointing (OT priestly/royal/prophetic consecration); here, metaphorical — the Holy Spirit’s teaching presence given to every believer (“you have an anointing from the Holy One… and you all have knowledge,” 2:20). English variants: “anointing,” “unction” (KJV). Contextual theological meaning: every believer, not a special priestly or prophetic class, has received the Spirit’s anointing and need for no secret gnosis beyond what has been taught. VN rendering: “sự xức dầu.” Risk: High — NEW TERM. Vietnamese charismatic/Pentecostal usage sometimes applies “được xức dầu” to a special class of especially gifted or authoritative leaders; 1 John’s usage is the opposite — a universal possession of every believer via the Spirit, not a mark of a spiritual elite. Also distinguish from any folk-ritual anointing performed by a medium/shaman as part of a spirit-consultation rite.
• δίκαιος (dikaios), “righteous” (2:29, “he is righteous”; also 3:7) — REUSE baseline righteousness = sự công bình (adjectival form “công bình”).

Chapter 3 (3:1-24) — Children of God; Seed of God; Lawlessness; the Devil; Love in Deed and Truth

• τέκνα θεοῦ (tekna theou), “children of God” (3:1,2,10) — Literal meaning: τέκνον = child (born one), emphasizing the organic, birth-based relationship, distinct from the legal/adoptive emphasis of υἱοθεσία (adoption) used in Romans. Semantic range: those begotten of God (see γεννάω, above) as members of his family by new birth. Contextual theological meaning: complements, rather than contradicts, the baseline’s adoption doctrine (sự làm con nuôi) — 1 John emphasizes the organic new-birth basis of sonship, Romans emphasizes its full legal standing and inheritance rights; both truths must be taught together, not collapsed into one. VN rendering: “con cái Đức Chúa Trời.” Risk: Medium — NEW TERM; ensure teaching notes connect this to, without conflating it with, the baseline’s adoption entry.
• σπέρμα αὐτοῦ (sperma autou), “his seed” (3:9, “his seed/nature abides in him”) — Literal meaning: seed, in agricultural sense, or offspring/descendants (compare baseline’s “seed_of_david” = dòng dõi Đa-vít, referring to physical lineage). Semantic range here: figurative — the generative divine nature/principle implanted in the believer at new birth, causing a settled inability to continue in habitual sin. VN rendering: “hạt giống của Ngài (ở trong người).” Risk: Medium — must be distinguished from the baseline’s “seed of David” (dòng dõi Đa-vít, physical lineage); this is the divine generative nature implanted at spiritual birth, not a bloodline claim.
• ἀνομία (anomia), “lawlessness” (3:4, “sin is lawlessness”) — Literal meaning: ἀ- (without) + νόμος (law) — being without law, transgression of law. Related to baseline law = luật pháp but here the general moral order rather than specifically the Mosaic Law. VN rendering: “sự trái luật pháp” / “sự phạm luật.” Risk: Medium.
• διάβολος (diabolos), “the devil” (3:8,10) — Literal meaning: slanderer, accuser. Semantic range: the personal, singular adversary (Satan) as source of sin, distinct from a general category of spirits. VN rendering: “ma quỷ.” Risk: Medium — must be taught as a singular personal adversary opposed to God, not folded into the broad Vietnamese folk taxonomy of many spirit-types (thần linh, ma, hồn) that may be locally benign, malicious, or ancestral; this is the one who opposes God himself.
• ἐν ἔργῳ καὶ ἀληθείᾳ (en ergō kai alētheia), “in deed and in truth” (3:18, “let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth”) — a defining qualifier on ἀγάπη requiring concrete, truthful action, not mere verbal profession. VN rendering: “bằng việc làm và lẽ thật.” Risk: Low-Medium, but doctrinally important: guards against reducing love to sentiment or speech.
• παρρησία (parrēsia), “confidence” (3:21) — see full treatment at 4:17 above; recurs here regarding confidence before God in prayer, grounded in a clear conscience.
• πιστεύω (pisteuō) — REUSE baseline faith = đức tin; recurs at 3:23, “believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ.”

Chapter 4, verses 1-6 — Testing the Spirits, Spirit of Truth and Error

(Note: 4:7-21, the core passage, is treated verse-by-verse in Part A above.)

• δοκιμάζετε τὰ πνεύματα (dokimazete ta pneumata), “test the spirits” (4:1) — Literal meaning: δοκιμάζω = to test, examine, prove genuine (as testing metal for purity). Semantic range: careful, criterion-based examination for authenticity, as opposed to blind acceptance or superstitious consultation. Contextual theological meaning: believers must evaluate teachers/teachings against a fixed doctrinal criterion — confession that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh (4:2-3) — rather than accepting every spiritual claim. VN rendering: “hãy thử cho biết các thần” (established BDTT phrasing) / “hãy thử nghiệm các thần đó.” Risk: Critical — NEW TERM. This instruction has a direct and serious collision risk with Vietnamese folk-religious practice of consulting spirits through mediums (đồng bóng, hầu đồng) or “calling” ancestral/other spirits (gọi hồn, cầu cơ) to learn hidden truths. 1 John’s “testing the spirits” is the opposite of these practices: it is a doctrinal, Scripture- and confession-based discernment exercise performed by the ordinary believer, not a ritual consultation performed by or through a spirit-medium. This must be flagged for human theologian review at every occurrence.
• πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας / τῆς πλάνης (pneuma tēs alētheias / tēs planēs), “spirit of truth / spirit of error” (4:6) — Literal meaning: πλάνη = wandering, error, deception. Semantic range: personal spiritual influence/source behind true or false teaching (not necessarily two named entities but a way of categorizing spiritual origin). VN rendering: “Thần Lẽ Thật” / “thần sai lạc” (or “thần lừa dối”). Risk: High — NEW TERM; must be kept distinct from the general folk category of thần linh (already forbidden bare for Holy Spirit in baseline); “spirit of truth” here functions closely with, but is not simply identical in this context to, the Holy Spirit named elsewhere — teaching notes should clarify the relationship without collapsing them into folk spirit-taxonomy.
• ἀντίχριστος (antichristos) — recurs at 4:3; see Chapter 2 above.
• νικάω (nikaō), “overcome” (4:4, “you have overcome them”) — see full treatment under Chapter 5 below, where it becomes a major keyword.

Chapter 5 (5:1-21) — New Birth and Faith; Overcoming the World; the Three Witnesses; Eternal Life; Sin unto Death; Idols

• γεγέννηται ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ / γεννηθεὶς ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ (gegennētai ek tou theou), “born of God” — recurs heavily in ch. 5 (5:1,4,18) alongside faith: “everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God” (5:1) and “whatever is born of God overcomes the world” (5:4). See full treatment at 4:7 above. Here explicitly linked to faith and to overcoming — new birth is the root, faith is its exercise, and victory over the world is its fruit.
• νικάω (nikaō), “overcome/conquer” (5:4-5; also 2:13-14, 4:4) — Literal meaning: to win a victory, prevail (athletic/military imagery). Semantic range: decisive victory in conflict/contest. English variants: “overcome,” “conquer,” “have victory over.” Contextual theological meaning: the believer’s decisive, faith-grounded victory over “the world” (kósmos in its opposing-system sense) — a victory already accomplished in principle through new birth and exercised through ongoing faith. VN rendering: “thắng” / “sự đắc thắng” / “chiến thắng.” Risk: Medium — NEW TERM; keep the sense of a real, decisive victory grounded in faith and new birth (not human willpower or self-effort), feeding directly into the curriculum doctrine “Overcoming the World.”
• τὸ πνεῦμα, τὸ ὕδωρ, καὶ τὸ αἷμα (to pneuma, to hydōr, kai to haima), “the Spirit, the water, and the blood” (5:6-8), the three witnesses — Literal meaning: Spirit (see Holy Spirit, baseline), water (likely Jesus’s baptism/public inauguration of ministry, or alternatively his physical humanity), blood (his sacrificial death, see αἷμα above). Contextual theological meaning: multiple, converging lines of testimony to the true, fully human and fully divine identity of Jesus Christ against docetic-leaning denial. VN rendering: “Thánh Linh,” “nước,” “huyết.” Risk: High — this triad must not be reinterpreted through a sacramental-ritual lens (as though “water” and “blood” name later church rites primarily) without also preserving the historical, Christ-identity-testifying function John intends; recommend a teaching note at first occurrence.
• μαρτυρία (martyria), “testimony/witness” (5:9-11) — see μαρτυρέω above (4:14); recurs as a major structural keyword in 5:6-12 (God’s own testimony concerning his Son). VN rendering: “sự chứng cớ” / “lời chứng.” Risk: Medium.
• ζωὴ αἰώνιος (zōē aiōnios), “eternal life” (5:11-13,20; also 2:25, 3:15) — Literal meaning: ζωή = life (as opposed to βίος, mere biological existence); αἰώνιος = age-long, belonging to the coming age, without end. Semantic range: qualitative (a new, God-given kind of life, beginning now) and quantitative (unending) — both senses are present in Johannine usage. English variants: “eternal life,” “everlasting life.” Contextual theological meaning: eternal life is a present possession of everyone who believes in the Son, guaranteeing final assurance — directly grounding the curriculum doctrine “Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life.” VN rendering: “sự sống đời đời” (established, standard Vietnamese Bible term). Risk: High — must be carefully distinguished from two Buddhist-adjacent misreadings: (1) an unending cycle of rebirths (the opposite of what a Buddhist practitioner ultimately hopes to escape, via nirvana/giải thoát — already forbidden for “salvation” in baseline); and (2) a vague, generic hope for a better afterlife destination earned by merit. Eternal life in 1 John is a present, personal, relational possession — “he who has the Son has life” (5:12) — received now by faith in Christ, not a future reward accumulated through practice.
• ἁμαρτία πρὸς θάνατον (hamartia pros thanaton), “sin unto/leading to death” (5:16-17) — a distinction between sin generally and a particular, unspecified category of sin “leading to death,” for which John does not instruct believers to pray. VN rendering: “tội đến nỗi chết.” Risk: Medium — this is a genuinely difficult, debated phrase; flag for native speaker/theologian review with a note that multiple interpretive options exist (e.g., a settled, final apostasy) and should not be resolved by the translator inventing a more specific doctrine than the text itself states.
• εἴδωλα (eidōla), “idols” (5:21, closing exhortation: “keep yourselves from idols”) — Literal meaning: images, likenesses; in biblical usage, images/objects of false worship. English variants: “idols,” “images.” Contextual theological meaning: a closing summary warning against any rival object of worship/devotion that would compete with fellowship with the true God and his Son just described throughout the letter. VN rendering: “hình tượng.” Risk: High — NEW TERM. This word must be handled with pastoral sensitivity in the Vietnamese context: many households maintain ancestor altars (bàn thờ gia tiên) with ancestor tablets/images and incense, understood by families as honoring deceased parents/ancestors rather than as “worship” of a rival god in the same sense as image-worship of a pagan deity. The doctrinal content of “keep yourselves from idols” must be preserved without the translation team unilaterally deciding, inside a lexical gloss, whether or how this applies to ancestor veneration practice — that is a pastoral/theological application question requiring human theologian input, not a translation-memory decision. Flag every occurrence for human theologian review.

---

Summary of New Terms Requiring Translation Memory Additions

See analysis/08_core_glossary.md for the full structured glossary table covering both new 1 John terms and baseline terms reused from Romans.