Core Glossary
08 Core Glossary — 2 John
Terms are grouped by their location in the letter (Salutation 1:1–3 → Core Passage 1:4–11 → Closing 1:12–13), matching the full-book coverage in 07_semantic_analysis.md. Risk tiers and review routing follow the same framework as the baseline doctrine_risk_registry.json.
A. Salutation Terms (2 John 1:1–3)
| # | English Term | Greek | Transliteration | Vietnamese Rendering | Risk Tier | Status | Doctrine | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | elder | πρεσβύτερος | presbyteros | Trưởng lão | Medium | NEW | Apostleship / Church Office | Collision risk with Buddhist monastic “trưởng lão” title for senior monks; context should disambiguate, brief note recommended. |
| 2 | elect lady | ἐκλεκτῇ κυρίᾳ | eklektē kyria | bà được chọn | Medium | NEW | Election | Referent (individual woman vs. personified church) is ambiguous in Greek; flag, do not resolve. “Được chọn” mirrors grammatical pattern of baseline “được kêu gọi” (called). |
| 3 | lady (address) | κυρία | kyria | bà | Medium | NEW | — | Must be visually/doctrinally distinguished from Chúa (baseline “Lord,” κύριος, Critical). Shares Greek root; no shared meaning. |
| 4 | truth | ἀλήθεια | alētheia | lẽ thật | High | NEW | Walking in Truth and Love | Use established Protestant “lẽ thật” (cf. John 14:6). NEVER “chân lý” (Buddhist philosophical/Dharma-truth connotation) or bare “sự thật” (secular fact, loses covenantal weight). |
| 5 | children | τέκνα | tekna | các con | Low | NEW | — | Same referent ambiguity as κυρία (literal vs. spiritual children). |
| 6 | known (perfect: “have come to know”) | γινώσκω / ἐγνωκότες | ginōskō / egnōkotes | biết / đã biết | Low | NEW | Faith | Standard epistemic verb; low ambiguity. |
| 7 | abide/remain | μένω | menō | ở lại / ở trong | High | NEW | Perseverance in the Teaching of Christ | Key recurring Johannine verb (1:2, 1:9 x2); render consistently across the letter. |
| 8 | forever | αἰών | aiōn | đời đời | Low | NEW | — | Standard established NT idiom. |
| 9 | grace | χάρις | charis | ân điển | High | REUSE (baseline) | Grace | Exact baseline rendering; no deviation permitted. |
| 10 | mercy | ἔλεος | eleos | sự thương xót | Medium-High | NEW | — | NEVER “lòng từ bi” (Buddhist bodhisattva compassion, an impersonal, universally-extended enlightenment-virtue, not the personal covenant mercy of God toward specific sinners). |
| 11 | peace | εἰρήνη | eirēnē | sự bình an | Medium | REUSE (baseline) | Peace with God | Exact baseline rendering; no deviation permitted. |
| 12 | God the Father | θεός πατήρ | theos patēr | Đức Chúa Trời, Cha | Critical | REUSE (baseline) | Deity of Christ / Fatherhood | Exact baseline renderings; no deviation permitted. |
| 13 | Jesus Christ | Ἰησοῦς Χριστός | Iēsous Christos | Đức Chúa Giê-xu Christ | Critical | REUSE (baseline) + NEW addition | Lordship / Deity of Christ | ”Jesus” = baseline exact; “Christ” = “Đấng Christ” per doc 12 transliteration standard — add “Đấng Christ” to TM as formal new entry for this curriculum. |
| 14 | Son of the Father | υἱὸς τοῦ πατρός | huios tou patros | Con của Cha | Critical | NEW (linked to baseline “son_of_god”) | Sonship of Christ / Deity of Christ | A variant construction of baseline’s Critical “Con Đức Chúa Trời” doctrine; theologian review required to confirm equivalence taught, not a lesser sonship category. |
| 15 | love (noun) | ἀγάπη | agapē | sự yêu thương | High | NEW | Walking in Truth and Love | Must be anchored to obedient, willed love per Christ’s commandments (vv.5–6), not reduced to romantic love (“tình yêu”), generic affection, or Confucian filial sentiment (hiếu). |
B. Core Passage Terms (2 John 1:4–11)
| # | English Term | Greek | Transliteration | Vietnamese Rendering | Risk Tier | Status | Doctrine | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | walk (habitual conduct) | περιπατέω | peripateō | bước đi / sống theo | Medium | NEW | Walking in Truth and Love | Governing metaphor of the letter (vv.4, 6 x2); ongoing lifestyle, not a single act. |
| 17 | commandment | ἐντολή | entolē | điều truyền dạy / mạng lệnh | Medium | NEW | Obedience flowing from relationship | Register-match baseline’s “sự vâng phục của đức tin” pattern: obedience from relationship with the Father, not Confucian hierarchical duty (đạo hiếu). |
| 18 | Father | πατήρ | patēr | Cha | High | REUSE (baseline) | Adoption / Fatherhood | Exact baseline rendering. |
| 19 | new commandment | ἐντολὴ καινή | entolē kainē | điều truyền mới | Low-Medium | NEW | — | Straightforward once “commandment” fixed. |
| 20 | beginning | ἀρχή | archē | từ ban đầu | Low | NEW | — | Standard idiom; roots the ethic in apostolic foundation. |
| 21 | one another | ἀλλήλους | allēlous | lẫn nhau | Low | NEW | Mutual Edification (cf. baseline) | Standard reciprocal pronoun. |
| 22 | deceivers | πλάνος (pl. πλάνοι) | planos (planoi) | kẻ lừa dối | High | NEW | Warning against Deceivers Denying the Incarnation | Specifically doctrinal false teachers denying the incarnation, not generic liars. |
| 23 | went out | ἐξέρχομαι | exerchomai | đã ra đi | Low-Medium | NEW | — | Echoes 1 John 2:19’s departure-from-fellowship idiom. |
| 24 | world | κόσμος | kosmos | thế gian | Medium | NEW | — | Standard established Bible term for the fallen human order. |
| 25 | confess/confessing | ὁμολογέω | homologeō | xưng nhận | High | NEW | Christian confession (cf. baseline Lordship pattern) | Echoes “xưng” root in baseline’s “sự xưng công bình” (justification); public, verbal affirmation, not private belief. |
| 26 | coming in the flesh | ἐρχόμενον ἐν σαρκί | erchomenon en sarki | đã đến trong xác thịt | CRITICAL | NEW — directly linked to baseline “incarnation” Critical doctrine | Incarnation | Must use “xác thịt” per baseline; the exact target of the forbidden-substitution rule against bare “hóa thân” (Buddhist bodhisattva/deity temporary manifestation). Human theologian review required, every occurrence. |
| 27 | the deceiver | ὁ πλάνος | ho planos | kẻ lừa dối | High | NEW | (see #22) | Singular title applied to the incarnation-denier specifically. |
| 28 | the antichrist | ὁ ἀντίχριστος | ho antichristos | kẻ địch lại Đấng Christ | CRITICAL | NEW | Warning against Deceivers Denying the Incarnation | Established Vietnamese Protestant rendering (parallel 1 John 2:18, 2:22, 4:3). Never softened to a generic “enemy/opponent.” Human theologian review required. |
| 29 | watch yourselves | βλέπετε ἑαυτούς | blepete heautous | hãy tự giữ mình / hãy coi chừng | Medium | NEW | Perseverance in the Teaching of Christ | Standard vigilance idiom. |
| 30 | lose (forfeit) | ἀπόλλυμι | apollymi | mất | Low | NEW | — | Standard. |
| 31 | worked for (labor) | ἐργάζομαι | ergazomai | công khó đã làm | Low-Medium | NEW | — | Apostolic ministry investment, not merit-earning. |
| 32 | full reward | μισθὸς πλήρης | misthos plērēs | phần thưởng đầy đủ / trọn vẹn | Medium-High | NEW | Distinguish from merit-based salvation | Must not be rendered with any term implying merit toward salvation itself (cf. baseline’s rejection of “công đức” for grace); this is a ministry-service reward category, separate from justification by grace. |
| 33 | goes beyond/transgresses | προάγω | proagō | vượt quá / bỏ qua sự dạy dỗ | High | NEW | Perseverance in the Teaching of Christ | Must not read as commendable “spiritual progress”; the false teachers likely claimed advancement while actually apostatizing (proto-Gnostic overtones). Translator note required. |
| 34 | teaching/doctrine (of Christ) | διδαχή (τοῦ Χριστοῦ) | didachē (tou Christou) | sự dạy dỗ của Đấng Christ | CRITICAL | NEW | Perseverance in the Teaching of Christ | NEVER render as “đạο Đấng Christ” — “đạο” is Vietnam’s generic word for “religion/way” (đạo Phật, đạo Cao Đài, đạo Nho, colloquial đạo Tin Lành), and would frame Christ’s singular authoritative teaching as one equally-valid religious path among many. Human theologian review required, every occurrence. |
| 35 | has God / has the Father and the Son | θεὸν ἔχει / πατέρα καὶ υἱὸν ἔχει | theon echei / patera kai huion echei | có Đức Chúa Trời / có Cha và Con | Critical | REUSE (baseline God/Father) + NEW (Son in context) | Deity of Christ / Sonship of Christ | Binary, exclusive claim: right doctrine about Christ inseparable from genuine relationship with God. |
| 36 | does not bring this teaching | διδαχὴν οὐ φέρει | didachēn ou pherei | không mang theo sự dạy dỗ này | High | NEW | (see #34) | Consistent with διδαχή rendering. |
| 37 | receive into house | λαμβάνειν εἰς οἰκίαν | lambanein eis oikian | tiếp người ấy vào nhà | HIGH — cultural collision | NEW | Hospitality and Doctrinal Discernment | Sharp countercultural collision with Vietnamese hospitality norms (guest-honoring proverbs, family honor). Requires theologian AND native-speaker review with explicit teaching notes distinguishing this from a general hospitality prohibition. |
| 38 | say “Greetings” (χαίρειν formula) | χαίρειν λέγειν | chairein legein | chào (chúc phước cho) | High | NEW | Hospitality and Doctrinal Discernment | Withheld formal blessing/endorsement-greeting, not a license for general rudeness; distinguish from ordinary politeness norms Vietnamese culture highly values. |
| 39 | shares/partakes (in evil) | κοινωνέω (negative sense) | koinōneō | dự phần vào | HIGH — forbidden-substitution rule | NEW | Hospitality and Doctrinal Discernment | CRITICAL DISTINCTION: never render with baseline’s positive fellowship term “sự thông công” (reserved for shared participation in Christ among believers). New forbidden-substitution rule for this curriculum: κοινωνέω negative context → “dự phần,” never “thông công.” |
| 40 | evil works | ἔργα πονηρά | erga ponēra | những việc ác | Medium | NEW | Sin (cf. baseline) | Standard; connects to baseline’s “tội lỗi” as morally serious, not neutral disagreement. |
C. Closing Terms (2 John 1:12–13)
| # | English Term | Greek | Transliteration | Vietnamese Rendering | Risk Tier | Status | Doctrine | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41 | hope | ἐλπίζω | elpizō | hy vọng | Low | NEW | — | Standard, confident expectation. |
| 42 | face to face (mouth to mouth) | στόμα πρὸς στόμα | stoma pros stoma | mặt đối mặt / trực tiếp | Low | NEW | — | Idiom; do not translate literally (“miệng đối miệng” is unnatural/comic in Vietnamese). |
| 43 | joy | χαρά | chara | sự vui mừng | Low | NEW | — | Shares Greek root with χαίρειν (#38) but distinct sense; render with visibly different Vietnamese words to avoid apparent self-contradiction in the letter. |
| 44 | fulfilled/made full | πληρόω | plēroō | được đầy dẫy / trọn vẹn | Low | NEW | — | Standard completeness term. |
| 45 | greets (epistolary) | ἀσπάζομαι | aspazomai | gửi lời chào / kính chào | Low | NEW | — | Distinct Greek word/function from χαίρειν (#38); render distinctly so readers do not think ordinary greetings are forbidden. |
| 46 | sister | ἀδελφή | adelphē | em/chị | Medium | NEW | — | Referent ambiguity (literal sister vs. sister church), same pattern as κυρία (#3); flag, do not resolve. |
| 47 | elect (repeated) | ἐκλεκτή | eklektē | được chọn | Medium | NEW | Election | Consistent with #2; brackets the whole letter in election language. |
Risk Summary
| Risk Tier | Count | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 5 | Human theologian (mandatory, every occurrence) |
| High | 14 | Human theologian |
| Medium | 17 | Native speaker review |
| Low | 11 | Automated review sufficient |
| Total new terms to add to translation memory | 38 | — |
| Total terms reused exactly from baseline | 9 | Đức Chúa Trời, Cha, Đức Chúa Giê-xu, Chúa (contrast reference), ân điển, sự bình an, sự thông công (contrast reference), sự lựa chọn (conceptual link), Con Đức Chúa Trời (conceptual link) |
Highest-Priority Forbidden-Substitution Additions (extending baseline’s list)
- διδαχή τοῦ Χριστοῦ (teaching of Christ) — NEVER “đạο Đấng Christ” → always “sự dạy dỗ của Đấng Christ”
- κοινωνέω in negative context (2 John 11) — NEVER “thông công” → always “dự phần”
- ἀλήθεια (truth) — NEVER “chân lý” (Buddhist philosophical truth) → always “lẽ thật”
- ἔλεος (mercy) — NEVER “lòng từ bi” (bodhisattva compassion) → always “sự thương xót”
- ἐρχόμενον ἐν σαρκί (coming in the flesh) — inherits baseline’s incarnation forbidden-substitution rule in full: NEVER bare “hóa thân” → always retain “xác thịt” in the rendering.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: Đức Chúa Trời
Transliteration: Duc Chua Troi
Doctrine: Deity and Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Ông Trời
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, no deviation. In 2 John 1:9 (‘does not have God’) this term carries the letter’s binary salvation-relationship claim: right belief about Christ’s incarnation determines whether one ‘has’ the personal, covenant-making God named here, not the impersonal Ông Trời of folk speech.
Jesus
Approved rendering: Đức Chúa Giê-xu
Transliteration: Duc Chua Gie-xu
Doctrine: Deity and Sonship of Christ
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package, no deviation. Appears in 2 John 1:3 and 1:7 as the exclusive object of the required confession (1:7). Combine with ‘Đấng Christ’ (see new term below) to render the full proper name ‘Đức Chúa Giê-xu Christ.‘
Lord
Approved rendering: Chúa
Transliteration: Chua
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Inherited from Romans package, no deviation. Not used directly in 2 John’s text but retained here as a mandatory contrast/false-friend reference: κυρία (‘lady,’ 2 John 1:5) shares a Greek root with κύριος but must render as plain ‘bà,’ never anything that could be back-translated as ‘Chúa.’ Flag any segment where ‘bà’ and ‘Chúa’ appear to converge in meaning.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: Con Đức Chúa Trời
Transliteration: Con Duc Chua Troi
Doctrine: Deity and Sonship of Christ
Inherited from Romans package, no deviation. The anchoring doctrinal category for 2 John’s variant construction ‘Con của Cha’ (Son of the Father, 1:3) and the bare ‘Con’ of 1:9 (‘has both the Father and the Son’) — both must be taught as identical in force to this Critical baseline doctrine, never as a lesser or honorary sonship.
Christ
Approved rendering: Đấng Christ
Transliteration: Dang Christ
Doctrine: Deity and Sonship of Christ
Original: Χριστός
Category: Christology
NEW. The standard running-text title form (per doc 12’s established transliteration standard) used when ‘Christ’ stands alone, e.g. ‘sự dạy dỗ của Đấng Christ’ (1:9), ‘kẻ địch lại Đấng Christ’ (1:7). Combine with ‘Đức Chúa Giê-xu’ for the full proper name in 1:3, 1:7. Distinct in function from baseline’s ‘Đấng Mê-si-a’ (reserved for explicit OT fulfillment-promise contexts); do not interchange the two.
Son Of The Father
Approved rendering: Con của Cha
Transliteration: Con cua Cha
Doctrine: Deity and Sonship of Christ
Original: υἱὸς τοῦ πατρός
Category: Christology
NEW, directly linked to baseline’s Critical ‘son_of_god’ doctrine. Christ’s eternal, unique, co-equal divine Sonship, specified relationally to the Father (1:3). Supply anchoring context (‘Đấng Christ, Con của Đức Chúa Trời’) so this reads as identical in force to baseline’s Sonship/Deity of Christ doctrine, never as an honorary, adoptive, or hierarchically subordinate son-title (risk of collision with Confucian hiếu framing or folk ancestor-deification patterns).
Has God Has Father And Son
Approved rendering: có Đức Chúa Trời / có Cha và Con
Transliteration: co Duc Chua Troi / co Cha va Con
Doctrine: Deity and Sonship of Christ
NEW. 2 John 1:9’s binary, exclusive claim: right doctrine about Christ’s person is inseparable from genuine relationship with God — one cannot ‘have’ the Father while rejecting the Son’s true incarnation. ‘Có’ denotes genuine, saving relationship, not mere possession of an object. Reuses baseline’s ‘Đức Chúa Trời’ and ‘Cha’ exactly; ‘Con’ here must carry the same anchoring as ‘son_of_the_father’ above.
Incarnation Coming In Flesh
Approved rendering: đã đến trong xác thịt
Transliteration: da den trong xac thit
Doctrine: Warning against Deceivers Denying the Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: hóa thân
Original: ἐρχόμενον ἐν σαρκί
Category: Christology
NEW, directly linked to baseline’s Critical ‘incarnation’ doctrine (‘Ngôi Lời trở nên xác thịt’). The confession that the eternal Son has genuinely, permanently assumed human nature (1:7); denial of this is the letter’s doctrinal center and the mark of the deceiver/antichrist. Inherits baseline’s forbidden-substitution rule in full: NEVER bare ‘hóa thân’ (a bodhisattva’s/deity’s temporary, repeatable manifestation into a body). Human theologian review required on every occurrence.
Antichrist
Approved rendering: kẻ địch lại Đấng Christ
Transliteration: ke dich lai Dang Christ
Doctrine: Antichrist and False Teachers
Rejected alternatives: kẻ thù
Original: ἀντίχριστος
Category: False Teaching
NEW. ἀντίχριστος (1:7) — the title for anyone who denies Christ’s true, permanent, bodily incarnation, identifying incarnation-denial as the defining mark of antichrist. Established Vietnamese Protestant rendering paralleling 1 John 2:18, 2:22, 4:3. Never softened to a vague ‘kẻ thù’ (generic enemy), which would strip the term of its specific Christological referent. Human theologian review required on every occurrence.
Teaching Of Christ
Approved rendering: sự dạy dỗ của Đấng Christ
Transliteration: su day do cua Dang Christ
Doctrine: Perseverance in the Teaching of Christ
Rejected alternatives: đạo Đấng Christ, đạo
Original: διδαχὴ τοῦ Χριστοῦ
Category: Doctrine
NEW. διδαχή τοῦ Χριστοῦ (1:9, 1:10) — the specific, defined body of apostolic teaching about Christ’s person (esp. incarnation) and ethic (love/obedience), the boundary marker of authentic faith. NEVER render διδαχή as ‘đạο’ (Vietnam’s generic word for ‘religion/way’: đạo Phật, đạο Cao Đài, đạο Nho, colloquial đạο Tin Lành) — doing so would place Christ’s singular, authoritative teaching alongside other equally-valid religious paths, the precise syncretism this doctrine guards against. Human theologian review required on every occurrence. This is the single highest-priority new forbidden-substitution rule this curriculum adds.
High Risk Terms
Father
Approved rendering: Cha
Transliteration: Cha
Doctrine: Obedience Flowing from Love, Not Duty
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, no deviation. Grounds the commandment to love in 2 John 1:4 (‘commandment from the Father’) and names the Father jointly with Jesus Christ as source of grace, mercy, and peace (1:3). Continue baseline’s teaching emphasis on grace and intimacy over Confucian filial-duty (đạo hiếu) hierarchy, especially since ‘commandment’ language tied to a father-figure is the culturally dominant trigger for defaulting to đạo hiếu.
Grace
Approved rendering: ân điển
Transliteration: an dien
Doctrine: Apostolic Blessing: Grace, Mercy, and Peace
Rejected alternatives: phước đức, công đức, ơn nghĩa
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, no deviation. Opens the triadic apostolic blessing of 2 John 1:3 (‘grace, mercy, peace’), a fuller triad than Paul’s usual pairing. Never phước đức/công đức (Buddhist merit) or ơn nghĩa (Confucian reciprocal-debt favor).
Obedience Of Faith
Approved rendering: sự vâng phục của đức tin
Transliteration: su vang phuc cua duc tin
Doctrine: Obedience Flowing from Love, Not Duty
Rejected alternatives: đạo hiếu
Inherited from Romans package, no deviation. Cited here as the register-model for 2 John’s ‘commandment’ vocabulary (1:4-6): obedience must be read as flowing from relationship with the Father, exactly as baseline established for Romans, not as đạo hiếu (Confucian filial duty owed by hierarchical role).
Messiah
Approved rendering: Đấng Mê-si-a
Transliteration: Dang Me-si-a
Doctrine: Deity and Sonship of Christ (contrast reference)
Inherited from Romans package, no deviation. Retained solely as a contrast reference: ‘Đấng Mê-si-a’ is reserved for explicit Old Testament fulfillment-promise contexts and must never be interchanged with this curriculum’s new running-text title ‘Đấng Christ’ (see below).
Truth
Approved rendering: lẽ thật
Transliteration: le that
Doctrine: Walking in Truth and Love
Rejected alternatives: chân lý, sự thật
Original: ἀλήθεια
Category: Truth
NEW. The letter’s governing theme (5 occurrences in 13 verses: 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4). Use the established 1926 Protestant term (cf. John 14:6). NEVER ‘chân lý’ (Buddhist philosophical/Dharma-truth, Tứ Diệu Đế); never bare ‘sự thật’ (secular fact, loses covenantal-relational weight).
Love
Approved rendering: sự yêu thương
Transliteration: su yeu thuong
Doctrine: Walking in Truth and Love / Obedience Flowing from Love, Not Duty
Rejected alternatives: tình yêu, tình cảm, hiếu
Original: ἀγάπη / ἀγαπάω
Category: Love
NEW. Defined behaviorally in 2 John 1:6 (‘this is love, that we walk according to his commandments’) — an action, not a feeling. Never ‘tình yêu’ (romantic love), ‘tình cảm’ (mere sentiment), or ‘hiếu’ (Confucian filial affection/duty). The definitional clause in 1:6 is doctrinally load-bearing and must retain the obedience linkage in every rendering.
Abide
Approved rendering: ở lại / ở trong
Transliteration: o lai / o trong
Doctrine: Perseverance in the Teaching of Christ
Original: μένω
Category: Perseverance
NEW. Key recurring Johannine verb (μένω, 1:2, 1:9 x2) naming perseverance in apostolic teaching as the mark of authentic relationship with God. Render consistently across every occurrence in the letter so learners recognize the recurring theme.
Mercy
Approved rendering: sự thương xót
Transliteration: su thuong xot
Doctrine: Apostolic Blessing: Grace, Mercy, and Peace
Rejected alternatives: lòng từ bi
Original: ἔλεος
Category: Salvation
NEW. The personal covenant mercy of God toward specific sinners, named alongside grace and peace in 1:3’s triad. NEVER ‘lòng từ bi,’ the standard Vietnamese Buddhist term for a bodhisattva’s compassion (esp. Quán Thế Âm Bồ Tát/Avalokiteśvara) — impersonal compassion flowing from enlightenment and extended universally, not the personal mercy of a covenant God toward particular sinners.
Deceiver
Approved rendering: kẻ lừa dối
Transliteration: ke lua doi
Doctrine: Warning against Deceivers Denying the Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: người gian dối
Original: πλάνος
Category: False Teaching
NEW. πλάνος (1:7) — specifically a doctrinal false teacher who denies Christ’s incarnation and leads others astray, not a generic dishonest person or petty con-artist, which would trivialize the doctrinal stakes.
Confess
Approved rendering: xưng nhận
Transliteration: xung nhan
Doctrine: Confession of Christ’s Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: tin (alone), xưng tội
Original: ὁμολογέω
Category: Faith
NEW. ὁμολογέω (1:7) — public, verbal affirmation of Christ’s true incarnation, the litmus test of authentic faith, echoing Romans 10:9’s confession pattern. Echoes the ‘xưng’ root already established in baseline’s ‘sự xưng công bình’ (justification). Must not be weakened into private, internal ‘tin’ (believe) alone; must also be visually distinguished from the Catholic sacrament of confession ‘xưng tội’ given Vietnam’s substantial Catholic population and shared vocabulary roots.
Full Reward
Approved rendering: phần thưởng đầy đủ
Transliteration: phan thuong day du
Doctrine: Eschatological Reward for Faithful Ministry
Rejected alternatives: công đức, phước đức
Original: μισθὸς πλήρης
Category: Reward
NEW. μισθὸς πλήρης (1:8) — an eschatological ministry/service reward, distinct from justification/salvation. Must never be rendered with any term suggesting merit-accumulation toward salvation itself (cf. baseline’s rejection of ‘công đức’ for grace/righteousness); this is a ministry-fruitfulness reward category, kept distinct from justification by grace alone. Pair with a mandatory translator note distinguishing it from công đức/phước đức.
Goes Beyond
Approved rendering: vượt quá sự dạy dỗ
Transliteration: vuot qua su day do
Doctrine: Perseverance in the Teaching of Christ
Rejected alternatives: tiến bộ (unqualified)
Original: προάγω
Category: False Teaching
NEW. προάγω (1:9) — the false teachers’ claimed ‘advancement’ beyond apostolic teaching, actually a departure from it; likely a proto-Gnostic claim to superior spiritual insight. Must not be rendered so as to read as commendable spiritual progress; requires a mandatory translator note clarifying that this describes doctrinal abandonment framed as advancement, not genuine growth.
Does Not Bring Teaching
Approved rendering: không mang theo sự dạy dỗ này
Transliteration: khong mang theo su day do nay
Doctrine: Hospitality and Doctrinal Discernment
NEW. ταύτην τὴν διδαχὴν οὐ φέρει (1:10) — the visiting teacher’s doctrine about Christ’s incarnation is the test for hospitality, not personal charisma or social status. Consistent with ‘teaching_of_christ’ rendering above.
Receive Into House
Approved rendering: tiếp người ấy vào nhà
Transliteration: tiep nguoi ay vao nha
Doctrine: Hospitality and Doctrinal Discernment
Original: λαμβάνειν εἰς οἰκίαν
Category: Hospitality
NEW — CULTURAL COLLISION. λαμβάνειν εἰς οἰκίαν (1:10) — the concrete instruction to withhold hospitality that would enable a false teacher to spread doctrine further. Vietnamese culture places extraordinarily high value on hospitality toward guests, elders, and religious teachers (cf. ‘khách đến nhà, chẳng gà thì vịt’). Requires human theologian AND native-speaker cultural review with mandatory teaching notes: (1) targets one specific incarnation-denying itinerant teacher, not general hospitality; (2) the point is refusing a platform for false doctrine, not licensing rudeness or violating Vietnamese hospitality norms.
Greeting Formula
Approved rendering: chúc phước cho
Transliteration: chuc phuoc cho
Doctrine: Hospitality and Doctrinal Discernment
Rejected alternatives: chào (as mere politeness)
Original: χαίρειν (λέγειν)
Category: Hospitality
NEW. χαίρειν (λέγειν) (1:10-11) — a fixed epistolary greeting-blessing formula functioning as endorsement, withheld from an incarnation-denying teacher. Must be taught as withholding a specific formal blessing/endorsement, not licensing rudeness or dismissiveness — important given the weight Vietnamese culture places on respectful greeting of elders/guests. Must be visibly distinguished from the ordinary epistolary greeting ‘ἀσπάζομαι’ (1:13) and from ‘joy’ (χαρά, 1:12), which share a Greek root but not a Vietnamese rendering.
Partake In Evil
Approved rendering: dự phần vào
Transliteration: du phan vao
Doctrine: Complicity in Evil through False Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: sự thông công
Original: κοινωνέω (negative sense)
Category: Fellowship
NEW — HIGHEST-PRIORITY FORBIDDEN-SUBSTITUTION ADDITION. κοινωνέω used negatively (1:11) — to become morally complicit in a false teacher’s evil work by extending endorsement/hospitality. MUST NOT use baseline’s positive fellowship term ‘sự thông công’ (see that entry above), which is reserved for shared participation in Christ among believers. New forbidden-substitution rule for this curriculum: κοινωνέω in a negative context (2 John 1:11) → ‘dự phần,’ never ‘thông công.‘
Medium Risk Terms
Peace
Approved rendering: sự bình an
Transliteration: su binh an
Doctrine: Apostolic Blessing: Grace, Mercy, and Peace
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, no deviation. Closes the triadic blessing of 2 John 1:3, named as flowing jointly from the Father and Jesus Christ.
Election
Approved rendering: sự lựa chọn
Transliteration: su lua chon
Doctrine: Election (the Elect Lady and Her Children)
Rejected alternatives: số mệnh
Original: ἐκλεκτή / ἐκλεκτός
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, no deviation. Underlies the letter’s bracketing election language: ‘elect lady’ (1:1, được chọn) and ‘elect sister’ (1:13, được chọn). Never số mệnh (impersonal fixed fate/destiny).
Sin
Approved rendering: tội lỗi
Transliteration: toi loi
Doctrine: Complicity in Evil through False Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: nghiệp xấu
Inherited from Romans package, no deviation. Provides the doctrinal category behind 2 John 1:11’s ‘evil works’ (những việc ác) — moral transgression against a personal God, not nghiệp xấu (impersonal bad karma).
Commandment
Approved rendering: điều truyền dạy
Transliteration: dieu truyen day
Doctrine: Obedience Flowing from Love, Not Duty
Rejected alternatives: đạo hiếu
Original: ἐντολή
Category: Obedience
NEW. Grounds ‘walking in truth’ in a directive received FROM the Father (1:4-6), not self-generated ethics. Register-matched to baseline’s ‘sự vâng phục của đức tin’ pattern; must not default to đạo hiếu-style hierarchical duty.
New Commandment
Approved rendering: điều truyền mới
Transliteration: dieu truyen moi
Doctrine: Obedience Flowing from Love, Not Duty
Original: ἐντολὴ καινή
Category: Obedience
NEW. 2 John 1:5 explicitly denies novelty: the command to love is ancient, apostolic, dominical, not an evolving innovation. Straightforward once ‘commandment’ is fixed.
Walking
Approved rendering: bước đi / sống theo
Transliteration: buoc di / song theo
Doctrine: Walking in Truth and Love
Original: περιπατέω
Category: Christian Living
NEW. The letter’s governing metaphor (1:4, 1:6 x2) for an ongoing, visible, habitual pattern of life consistent with truth. Consistent with the established Vietnamese Bible idiom ‘bước đi trong lẽ thật.’ Must not be flattened to a single, one-time act of believing.
Elder
Approved rendering: Trưởng lão
Transliteration: Truong lao
Doctrine: Church Eldership and Apostolic Authority
Original: πρεσβύτερος
Category: Church
NEW. The author’s self-designation of pastoral, apostolic authority (1:1). Collision risk: ‘Trưởng lão’ also names a specific ordained senior-monastic rank (thera) in Vietnamese Theravada Buddhism. Epistolary context should disambiguate; a brief explanatory note is recommended at first occurrence.
Elect Lady
Approved rendering: bà được chọn
Transliteration: ba duoc chon
Doctrine: Election (the Elect Lady and Her Children)
Original: ἐκλεκτῇ κυρίᾳ
Category: Election
NEW. The letter’s addressee (1:1) — either an individual chosen Christian woman or a personification of a local church. ‘Được chọn’ mirrors baseline’s ‘được kêu gọi’ (called) grammatical pattern and links to baseline’s ‘sự lựa chọn’ (election). The referent ambiguity is genuine in the Greek and must be preserved, not resolved, in translation.
Lady
Approved rendering: bà
Transliteration: ba
Doctrine: Address (contrast with Lordship of Christ)
Original: κυρία
Category: Address
NEW. A respectful form of address (1:5, κυρία), feminine of κύριος but carrying no divine title sense. Must be visually and doctrinally distinguished from baseline’s ‘Chúa’ (Lord, Critical). Flag for back-translation QA specifically because the Greek roots are cognate even though the Vietnamese renderings are not.
Went Out
Approved rendering: đã ra đi
Transliteration: da ra di
Doctrine: Warning against Deceivers Denying the Incarnation
Original: ἐξέρχομαι
Category: Church
NEW. ἐξέρχομαι (1:7), echoing 1 John 2:19’s departure-from-fellowship idiom; the deceivers were once within or near the community and departed doctrinally and/or physically.
World
Approved rendering: thế gian
Transliteration: the gian
Doctrine: Warning against Deceivers Denying the Incarnation
Original: κόσμος
Category: World
NEW. κόσμος (1:7), the fallen human order into which the deceivers have spread. Standard established Vietnamese Bible term, consistent with Johannine usage elsewhere.
Watch Yourselves
Approved rendering: hãy tự giữ mình
Transliteration: hay tu giu minh
Doctrine: Eschatological Reward for Faithful Ministry
Original: βλέπετε ἑαυτούς
Category: Perseverance
NEW. βλέπετε ἑαυτούς (1:8) — a direct pastoral warning to vigilant self-examination in light of the danger of doctrinal deception. Standard warning idiom.
Evil Works
Approved rendering: những việc ác
Transliteration: nhung viec ac
Doctrine: Complicity in Evil through False Fellowship
Original: ἔργα πονηρά
Category: Sin
NEW. ἔργα πονηρά (1:11) — the false teacher’s doctrinal deception, characterized as morally evil deeds, not a neutral intellectual error. Connects to baseline’s ‘sin’ doctrine (tội lỗi).
Sister
Approved rendering: em/chị
Transliteration: em/chi
Doctrine: Election (the Elect Lady and Her Children)
Original: ἀδελφή
Category: Church
NEW. ἀδελφή (1:13) — either the addressee’s literal sister or, if κυρία personifies a church, a ‘sister church.’ Mirrors the referent ambiguity of κυρία/ἐκλεκτή in 1:1; flag, do not resolve.
Low Risk Terms
Fellowship
Approved rendering: sự thông công
Transliteration: su thong cong
Doctrine: Complicity in Evil through False Fellowship (contrast reference)
Original: κοινωνία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package, no deviation. Retained ONLY as the reserved positive term for shared participation in Christ among believers. CRITICAL FORBIDDEN USE: never render κοινωνέω in its negative sense (2 John 1:11, ‘shares/partakes in his evil works’) with this term — see the new entry ‘partake_in_evil’ below. Using ‘sự thông công’ for 2 John 1:11 would teach that authentic Christian fellowship itself can mean partnership in sin.
Children
Approved rendering: các con
Transliteration: cac con
Doctrine: Election (the Elect Lady and Her Children)
Original: τέκνα
Category: Church
NEW. Either the addressee’s literal children or, if the addressee personifies a church, its members (1:1, 1:4). Same referent ambiguity as ‘elect_lady’; low doctrinal risk.
Known Truth
Approved rendering: biết / đã biết
Transliteration: biet / da biet
Doctrine: Faith
NEW. γινώσκω/ἐγνωκότες, ‘those having come to know the truth’ (1:1) — a settled, completed state of shared, corporately recognized knowledge, not a private possession of the author. Standard epistemic verb; low ambiguity.
Forever
Approved rendering: đời đời
Transliteration: doi doi
Doctrine: Walking in Truth and Love
Original: εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα
Category: God
NEW. Truth’s abiding permanence within believers (1:2), contrasted implicitly with the transience of the deceivers’ error. Standard established Bible idiom for eternity.
Lose
Approved rendering: mất
Transliteration: mat
Doctrine: Eschatological Reward for Faithful Ministry
Original: ἀπόλλυμι
Category: Perseverance
NEW. ἀπόλλυμι (1:8) — to forfeit what has been worked for through doctrinal compromise. Standard term.
Labor
Approved rendering: công khó đã làm
Transliteration: cong kho da lam
Doctrine: Eschatological Reward for Faithful Ministry
Original: ἐργάζομαι
Category: Ministry
NEW. ἐργάζομαι (1:8) — the apostolic investment of teaching and pastoral care, at risk of being undone. Ministry investment, not merit-earning.
Hope
Approved rendering: hy vọng
Transliteration: hy vong
Doctrine: Joy in Christian Fellowship
Original: ἐλπίζω
Category: Faith
NEW. ἐλπίζω (1:12) — confident expectation of a future in-person visit; ordinary epistolary usage, low doctrinal weight.
Face To Face
Approved rendering: mặt đối mặt / trực tiếp
Transliteration: mat doi mat / truc tiep
Doctrine: Joy in Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: miệng đối miệng
Original: στόμα πρὸς στόμα
Category: Fellowship
NEW. στόμα πρὸς στόμα (1:12), a Hebraic idiom (cf. Numbers 12:8 LXX) for direct, personal, unmediated communication. Idiomatic substitution required; a literal calque (‘miệng đối miệng’) produces an unintended, mildly comic physical image in Vietnamese.
Joy
Approved rendering: sự vui mừng
Transliteration: su vui mung
Doctrine: Joy in Christian Fellowship
Original: χαρά
Category: Fellowship
NEW. χαρά (1:12) — deep gladness anticipated from face-to-face fellowship. Shares a Greek root with χαίρειν (the withheld greeting-formula of 1:10-11, rendered ‘chúc phước cho’) but must use visibly distinct Vietnamese vocabulary so readers do not perceive the letter as self-contradictory.
Fulfilled
Approved rendering: được trọn vẹn
Transliteration: duoc tron ven
Doctrine: Joy in Christian Fellowship
Original: πληρόω
Category: Fellowship
NEW. πληρόω (1:12) — completeness/fullness of mutual joy through direct fellowship. Standard completeness term.
Greets Epistolary
Approved rendering: gửi lời chào
Transliteration: gui loi chao
Doctrine: Joy in Christian Fellowship
Original: ἀσπάζομαι
Category: Fellowship
NEW. ἀσπάζομαι (1:13) — the standard ancient epistolary closing-greeting verb, distinct in Greek and function from the withheld χαίρειν formula of 1:10-11. Render with visibly different Vietnamese phrasing so readers do not conclude ordinary greetings are forbidden altogether.
Beginning
Approved rendering: từ ban đầu
Transliteration: tu ban dau
Doctrine: Obedience Flowing from Love, Not Duty
Original: ἀρχή
Category: Doctrine
NEW. ἀρχή (1:5, 1:6) — roots the ethic of love in apostolic, foundational teaching, not evolving novelty. Standard established Bible idiom.
One Another
Approved rendering: lẫn nhau
Transliteration: lan nhau
Doctrine: Obedience Flowing from Love, Not Duty
Original: ἀλλήλους
Category: Church
NEW. ἀλλήλους (1:5) — the reciprocal, horizontal dimension of the command to love. Standard reciprocal pronoun.
Referenced passages