The Greek in Jude 1:10 that is translated as “by instinct” in English is translated in Elhomwe as “wisdom by birth.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
complete verse (Jude 1:10)
Following are a number of back-translations of Jude 1:10:
- Uma: “Yet those false teachers [emphatic], they disparage powerful things/beings that they do not know. What they know, [is] any-old-kind-of behavior, like animals that do not think. And because of that behavior of theirs they will end up being punished.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “But these people I talked about, they talk-bad-about/insult what they don’t understand. They are like animals, (who/they) cannot think but do whatever they/their bodies wish and this is what will destroy them.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “However, as for those people by contrast who teach lies, they speak in rejection against what they do not understand. They are like wild animals who cannot think. For the behaviour which their bodies desire is what they do, and that is what destroys them.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “But these people, they speak-evil-of whatever they don’t understand. They are like animals who aren’t thinking/reflective, because what they understand, it is the feelings/urges of their bodies and that very thing (lit. such also) is what will destroy/ruin them.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “But as for these people, they insult/belittle whatever they don’t understand. And those things they do know, the inborn/instinctive desires which are indulged in like what is done by animals which have no mind/inner-being, that’s what will lead to their destruction.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
- Tenango Otomi: “But these men I am speaking about now speak evil of those who have authority and do not understand about them. Like the animals who do not have understanding, who do what comes to mind, so do these about whom I am speaking, these things causing them to perish.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Translation commentary on Jude 1:10
Continuing the theme of “reviling” and going back to the same people, Jude now mentions the consequences of their acts, namely, their own destruction. These men is equivalent to the same expression in verse 8 and refers back to the godless people. The word for revile is once again “blaspheme,” the same word used in verse 8 and in verse 9 (“a reviling judgment”). Here it has the primary meaning of “insult,” hence Good News Translation “attack with insults.” We may also say “say bad words against” or “use abusive language against.”
There is some difficulty in determining what the expression whatever they do not understand means. This goes back to verse 8 and refers to their attitude toward angels and God’s authority, or in other words, to the spiritual world in general, and so to the Christian message itself in particular. These people claim spiritual superiority, but Jude now asserts that in actual fact they know little if anything of the spiritual world that they despise and abhor. In fact, the opposite is true: they are experts in things that they know by instinct. Instinct translates a Greek word that means “naturally” as opposed to something learned or developed, and hence the use of natural or instinctive powers as opposed to the use of developed reason or acquired knowledge. Included in this are impulses of appetite, sensual pleasure, sexual desire, and perhaps evil violence and rebellion.
There is definitely a sense of sarcasm here; these godless people are denounced for claiming that they know everything about the spiritual world, when in fact what is true is the opposite—all their knowledge is based on raw and uninformed instinct. Translators will do well to capture this sense of sarcasm in the translation.
In simply following their instincts, these people are compared to irrational animals. Irrational translates a Greek word that can literally mean “without reason,” “unreasoning,” “unreasonable,” but when used with animals it can mean “wild” (as in Good News Translation). In this sense irrational animals will be expressed in many languages as “forest animals” or “jungle animals.”
It is the things that they only know by instinct that bring about the destruction of these people. However, it is not the knowing of these things that leads to their destruction, but doing them and acting by them. The expression by instinct means negatively “without using reason (or, logic).” Destruction here refers not primarily to physical sickness or death, or even to moral and spiritual decay, but to God’s judgment and punishment, perhaps at the end time.
An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• But those godless people (or, people who do not worship God) use abusive language (or, bad words) to attack anything that they do not understand; and when they act like wild animals and do these things that they know without thinking (or, without using human reason), they will suffer God’s punishment (or, God will punish them).
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 1:10
10
In this verse, there is a contrast between 10a and 10b–c. (In the Greek text of this verse, there is a men–de relationship between 10a and 10b–c. In English, men–de is often defined as “on the one hand”…“on the other hand.” None of the English versions make this explicit in their translation. This form, when used in English, usually marks some kind of contrast. In this verse, however, both the men and the de reinforce Jude’s point, that is, the sinfulness of the fake Christians. The contrast relates to their response to what (men) they do not understand (10a) and to what (de) they do understand (10b–c). In both cases they act sinfully.) This contrast is between the response of the fake Christians to what they did not understand and their response to what they did understand. Be sure to express this contrast clearly in your translation.
10a
These men, however: The Greek pronoun that the Berean Standard Bible translates as These men refers here to the fake Christians whom Jude mentioned in verses 4 and 8a. This pronoun did not necessarily refer only to males. Many English versions use a more general expression. For example:
But these people… (Good News Translation)
For another note that talks about this matter, see “certain men” in 4a.
however: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as however indicates a contrast between this verse and verse 9. In this verse, Jude contrasted the sinful ways of the fake Christians with Michael (verse 9), who respected the Lord. Jude described these people as being like unthinking animals.
slander: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as slander is literally “blaspheme.” Forms of this word were also used in 8d and 9c, where the Berean Standard Bible translates them as “slander” and “slanderous.” Here in verse 10, the word is used in a general way. It should be translated with a general expression that could apply to either God or people. (In English, “blaspheme” would generally apply to a deity, and “slander” to other personal beings, such as angels, human beings, and possibly Jesus according to his human nature.) For example:
speak against
-or-
speak disrespectfully about
-or-
slight
what they do not understand: Jude was probably not referring here to any one thing in particular that these people did not understand. (English versions that support this interpretation include: Berean Standard Bible, God’s Word, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, New American Standard Bible, New International Version (2011 Revision), New Jerusalem Bible, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation.) The people spoke against anything that they did not understand. (The Contemporary English Version disagrees. It seems to say that Jude was speaking specifically about the insulting of angels (see also verse 8 in the Contemporary English Version, specifically 8d). Here in 10a, the Contemporary English Version says: “But these people insult powers they don’t know anything about.”) For example, they did not understand the Lord, the gospel message, divine authority, morality, and many other things. (The fake Christians probably claimed to have special knowledge, perhaps from their dreams. Here and later in this verse, Jude disagreed with their claim to have special understanding.) Ways to translate this include:
But these people abuse anything they do not understand (New Jerusalem Bible).
-or-
But these people mock and curse the things they do not understand (New Living Translation (2004 Revision)).
-or-
These people, however, speak disrespectfully against whatever and whomever they do not understand.
10b
like irrational animals: In general, animals do not reason or think about most things. They follow their natural desires. If they are hungry, they eat. If they are tired, they sleep. If it is time to mate, then they mate. Jude was implying that some of the desires that these people followed were sinful desires. They followed these desires without thinking about the consequences of their actions. The note on 10c discusses this further.
Other ways to say this are:
like senseless animals (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
like animals that do not reason
10c
they will be destroyed by the things they do instinctively: Jude indicates that these fake Christians were destroying themselves by doing the things that they knew by instinct. They probably did this by following their instincts in sinful ways, such as by committing sexual sins or gluttony. By such actions, they would cause the Lord to destroy them.
they will be destroyed: There is implied information here about the way that these people would be destroyed. Their sinful actions would cause the Lord to judge and punish them. The destruction would not be only the natural results of their actions, such as troubles or disease. In some languages it may be necessary to make the Lord’s role explicit. For example:
10b–cand when like animals they act on what they do understand by instinct, they cause the Lord to destroy them.
the things they do instinctively: Although there are many things that the fake Christians did not understand (10a), Jude said that they did understand some things. They understood these things instinctively. The things people do instinctively include natural urges like eating, sleeping, and having sexual relations.
instinctively: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as instinctively refers to what people naturally know to do. They understand these things, because doing them is according to their nature.
Some languages may not have a single word for instinctively. If this is true in your language, you may be able to say something like:
without thinking
-or-
according to their natural way(s)
Animals live instinctively, so Jude compared what these fake Christians do to animals, as described in the next note.
© 2007 by SIL International®
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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.
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