Jude 1:2 – TIPs

peace (inner peace)

The Hebrew and Greek that is usually translated into English as “peace,” when referring to one’s inner peace, is (back-) translated with a variety of idioms and phrases:

“a song in the body” (Baoulé — see also joy)
“heart coolness” (Eastern Maninkakan / Moronene) / “inner coolness” (Binumarien) (source for Moronene: David Andersen; Binumarien: Oates 1995, p. 249)
“coolness” (Pular / Kutu) (source for Kutu: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
“sit down in the heart” (South Bolivian Quechua) / “my heart sits down” (Northern Grebo)
“rest the heart” (Central Mazahua) / “rest within” (Lacandon) (source: Nida 1952, p. 40 and 128ff.) / “wait well in your heart” (Yatzachi Zapotec) (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
“quietness of heart” (Chol)
“kobe (= the abdominal region, including the heart) quiet” (Warao) (source: Henry Osborn in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 74ff. )
“have a quiet mind” (Ngäbere)
“heart will lie quietly” (Isthmus Zapotec)
“live quietly” (Central Tarahumara) (source for this and above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
“quiet goodness” (Kekchí)
“goodness of life” (Uma) (source: Uma Back Translation)
“strength of heart” (Highland Puebla Nahuatl)
“leaning on the liver” (Kare)
“sweet insides” (Shilluk)
“evenness” (Toraja-Sa’dan)
“having your hearts feel oneness for one another” (Tzeltal)
“have one heart” (Miskito)
“well-arranged soul” (Mashco Piro)
“completeness” (Highland Puebla Nahuatl) (source for this and two above: Nida 1952, p. 128ff.)
“stomach flat in” (“one’s stomach sticks out when one is upset”) (Kimyal) (source: Young 2022)
“joy in heart” (Eastern Highland Otomi) (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
“have security in your heart” (Highland Totonac) (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
“smooth interior” (Bariai) (source: Bariai Back Translation)
tangnefedd — “an internal condition that makes external peace (heddwch) possible” (Welsh) (source: Rosa Hunt in Journal of European Baptist Studies 1/23 (2023), p. 1ff. ) (source for all non-attributed translations: Bratcher / Nida)

In American Sign Language it is signed with a compound sign consisting of “become” and “silent.” (Source: Yates 2011, p. 52)

“Peace” in American Sign Language (source )

The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin terms that are typically translated as “mercy” (or “compassion” or “kindness”) in English are translated in various ways. Bratcher / Nida classify them in (1) those based on the quality of heart, or other psychological center, (2) those which introduce the concept of weeping or extreme sorrow, (3) those which involve willingness to look upon and recognize the condition of others, or (4) those which involve a variety of intense feelings.

While the English mercy originates from the Latin merces, originally “price paid,” Romance languages (Italian, Spanish, Corsican, Catalan, Friulian) and other Germanic languages (German, Swedish, Danish — Barmherzigkeit, barmhärtighet and barmhjertighed, respectively) tend to follow the Latin misericordia, lit. “misery-heart.”

Here are some other (back-) translations:

Ngäbere: “tender heart”
Mískito: “white heart”
Amganad Ifugao: “what arises from a kind heart”
Vai: “purity of heart”
Western Kanjobal: “his abdomen weeps”
Kipsigis: “cry inside”
Shilluk: “cry continually within”
Navajo (Dinė): “feel great sorrow” (“with the connotation of being about to cry”)
Kpelle: “see misery”
Toro So Dogon: “know misery”
Western Highland Purepecha: “be in pain for”
San Miguel El Grande Mixtec: “be very sorry for”
Mezquital Otomi: “have increasing love for”
Tepeuxila Cuicatec: “showing undeserved goodness” (“closely identified with grace”) (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
Yatzachi Zapotec: “pity-love”
Central Mazahua: “very much pity people”
Alekano: “help people who are suffering”
Guhu-Samane: “feeling sorry for men” (source for this and three above: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation July, 1967, p. 5ff.)
Warao: “kobe (= the abdominal region, including the heart) hurts” (source: Henry Osborn in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 74ff. )
Latvian: žēlastība, the same term that is also used for grace (source: Katie Roth)
Iloko: asi — also means “pity” and is used for a love of the poor and helpless (source: G. Henry Waterman in The Bible Translator 1960, p. 24ff. )
Bilua: “forgiving love” (source: Carl Gross)
Luang: “inside goodness” (source: Kathy and Mark Taber in Kroneman [2004], p. 533)
Mairasi: “have good intestines” (see Seat of the Mind) (source: Lloyd Peckham)
Bariai: “have a wounded interior” (source: Bariai Back Translation)

complete verse (Jude 1:2)

Following are a number of back-translations of Jude 1:2:

Uma: “I hope/trust that God gives you more-and-more blessing, goodness of life and his love.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “I ask God that his mercy and his love to you may increase and that he may cause it to be more peaceful in your livers.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “May God show you mercy, make you peaceful, and show you kindness.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “May you increasingly experience the grace/mercy/favor, peace, and love that comes-from God.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “I pray that hopefully very plentiful there with you is the pitying help and valuing by God, and peace/protection of mind/inner-being which he gives.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “I want that God will be more merciful to you and that he will give you more peace of heart, and that he will love you more.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Jude 1:2

After the brief description of his readers, Jude now conveys his greetings to them. The greeting formula that he uses varies somewhat from the traditional greeting in the New Testament; instead of the usual three elements of grace, mercy, and peace, Jude has mercy, peace, and love. Mercy is God’s compassion and kindness, of which his saving action through Jesus Christ is the best example. Peace is a popular word of greeting among Jews and denotes the total well-being that results from a close relationship with God. In many languages peace will be rendered idiomatically; for example, “have coolness and peacefulness.” Love may be interpreted as God’s love for all people which is made known through Jesus Christ, or as the love and concern of Christians for one another. It is quite tempting to take these terms in their fullest theological meaning; it must be remembered, however, that they are used here as elements of a greeting formula and must be translated to fit their function within such a formula.

Be multiplied to you is similar to the expression found in 1 Peter 1.2 and is a distinctive feature of Jewish prayers (compare Dan 4.1; 6.25). It conveys the hope that mercy, peace, and love will be bestowed to them continually and in abundance. (Note Phillips “May you ever experience more and more of mercy, peace and love!”)

Alternative translation models for this verse are as follows:

• May you ever experience more and more mercy, peace, and love from God.

Or:

• I pray that God will continue to be good to you, so that your well-being will increase, and that your love for one another will continue to grow.

Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Letter from Jude. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator's Notes on Jude 1:2

Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you: This is a typical blessing at the beginning of a Greek letter. It is like a prayer that God will provide the readers with mercy, peace, and love. Languages have different ways to express this type of prayer. For example:

I pray that God will greatly bless you with kindness, peace, and love! (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
May you receive more and more of God’s mercy, peace, and love. (New Living Translation (2004 Revision))

Mercy: In this context Mercy refers to the compassion and kindness that God shows toward those who need help. It also implies that he gives them the help that they need.

peace: The word peace in both Greek and English can refer to two different ideas:

(a) It can indicate an inner contentment and serenity. In this context, Jude’s readers could have peace because they knew that God had saved them and that he loved them.

(b) It can indicate peaceful relations with other people or with God.

Here Jude probably intended the first of these, inner peace.

love: This is the same kind of love as was mentioned in the note above at 1e.

be multiplied to you: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally here as be multiplied to you may be expressed in English as:

abundantly
-or-
greatly
-or-
richly
-or-
more and more

Here are some options for translating this idea in the context of the whole verse:

• You may be able to translate “mercy,” “peace,” and “love” as nouns in your language. For example:

May mercy, peace and love from God be yours abundantly.
-or-
I pray that you will experience more and more of God’s mercy, peace and love.

• You may need to express “mercy,” “peace,” and “love” as verbal ideas. For example:

I pray that more and more God will be merciful to you, make you increasingly peaceful, and cause you to experience more deeply that he loves you.

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Sung version of Jude

Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).

For more information, see here .

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Verse: Jude 1:2