The phrase in Jude 1:19 that is translated as “worldly people” or “people who are controlled by their natural desires” in English versions is translated into Kahua with the idiom that says “people who follow their noses.”
complete verse (Jude 1:19)
Following are a number of back-translations of Jude 1:19:
- Uma: “It is people like that who make divisions among others. They are not controlled by the Holy Spirit, they are just controlled by their desires of their own hearts.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “These people cause divisions among the followers/disciples of Isa. That is what they follow, their bodies’ desires. God’s Spirit is not there with them.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And as for those people whom they prophesied about, they are the ones who cause divisions among you believers. The only thing they think about is what they want here on the earth, and the Holy Spirit is not in them.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “It is they who repeatedly-divide-you -in-half. They follow their human (connotes limited, sinful humanity) minds, because God’s Spirit (Ispirito) is not in/with them.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “As for these people, they are where originates what can destroy your unity and fellowship. For the truth is, they really are slaves to the will of the body. They really are not indwelled by the Espiritu Santo.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
- Tenango Otomi: “They are men who will split the people. The way they live is that which takes over their thoughts. They do not live according to the way the Holy Spirit directs.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Spirit
See Holy Spirit.
Translation commentary on Jude 1:19
The scoffers are further described in three ways: they set up divisions, they are worldly people, and they are devoid of the Spirit.
The expression set up divisions translates a rare Greek word that is used only here in the New Testament. There are two possible senses in which Jude uses it.
1. The word can mean “to define,” or “to make a distinction.” In this sense Jude may have meant that these scoffers make distinctions within the Christian community. Some scholars suggest that the people referred to are Gnostics and regard themselves as spiritual and therefore superior to other Christians, who are regarded as worldly and carnal.
2. The word can also mean “to divide,” “to separate,” and therefore to cause divisions within the Christian community. The scoffers create and cause divisions and factions within the church because of their teaching and their attitude toward others. By classifying people into spiritual and carnal, they have created a group within the church who consider themselves spiritually superior to others.
It is also possible that these people have actually separated themselves from other Christians. It is, however, preferable to understand that they have not actually started a separate group, but that they have created or caused the creation of factions and cliques within the Christian community. In certain languages we may translate set up divisions as “cause a strong difference of opinion among people,” “a strong difference between groups of people,” “cause separations” (Thai), or “cause the believers to separate into groups.”
The term translated worldly people is a Greek word that can be translated literally as “natural” or “pertaining to the soul (or, life).” In the New Testament it is used of people who put emphasis on the physical rather than on the spiritual, and who depend on their natural instincts rather than on the help of God’s Spirit. This distinction is found in Paul’s letters; for example, in 1 Cor 2.14 this word is used to refer to people who “do not have the Spirit (or, are unspiritual).” Perhaps in this context it means “people … who are controlled by their natural desires” (see Good News Translation) or “whose natural evil desires control them.” Apparently these people considered themselves spiritual and other Christians as non-spiritual or natural, but here Jude turns what they say around and applies to them the same negative term that they have applied to others.
Finally the godless people are described as devoid of the Spirit, literally “not having the Spirit.” This is directly related to the term we have just discussed. Worldly people are also devoid of the Spirit because they depend solely on their own strength and not on the power of the Spirit. The Spirit here refers to the Spirit of God. Here again Jude turns the arguments around. While these people declare themselves to be spiritual, Jude asserts the opposite: they do not have the Spirit of God, nor are they guided by the Spirit. In languages that do not use capital letters, it will be helpful to state that this is the Spirit of God.
An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• These are the people who cause the believers to divide into separate groups. Their evil natural desires control them, and they do not have the Spirit of God.
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 1:19
19a
These are: Jude referred again here to the fake Christians whom he mentioned frequently throughout his letter (Jude’s use of the word These to refer to the fake Christians is a characteristic of the central section of his letter (verses 5–19), the section containing every midrash he used. Jude 19 is the last verse of this section, and it is also the last time that Jude specifically used These as a way to introduce the application part of a text-application pair in a midrash.) (4, 8a, 10–13, 14b, 16a). Here he stated that they fulfilled the prophecy in 18b–d. You may need to make this connection clear in your translation. For example:
Now they are here, and they are the ones who… (New Living Translation (2004 Revision))
-or-
And now these people are already making you turn against each other. (Contemporary English Version)
the ones who cause divisions: The true believers to whom Jude was writing were supposed to be united. The fake Christians, through their sinful behavior and false teaching, were causing these believers to divide into opposing groups/factions. Other ways to translate this include:
the people who are causing divisions among you
-or-
the ones who are causing you not to be united.
-or-
the people who are creating factions
19b
who are worldly: The Berean Standard Bible clause, who are worldly, translates one word in Greek. This word may be translated literally as “natural.” In this context its meaning (Jude used other phrases with a similar meaning. For example, “follow their own desires” (verse 16 in God’s Word) and “who…follow after their own ungodly desires” (verse 18 in Berean Standard Bible).) is similar to the expression “instinctively” in 10c. In that verse these fake Christians were described as being like unreasoning animals. They did what seemed right to them naturally, as determined by their own sinful natures.
These people were not motivated by love for the Lord or led by the Holy Spirit (19c). Instead, they were controlled by their own natural desires. Other ways to translate this include:
who are controlled by their natural desires (Good News Translation)
-or-
whose thoughts are only of this world (New Century Version)
-or-
who follow mere natural instincts (New International Version (2011 Revision))
19c
and devoid of the Spirit: The fake Christians only cared about their natural desires. They did not have the Spirit to show them a better way to think and live. (In verse 19 Jude ended his description of the people against whom he wrote so strongly from verse 4 through verse 19. As he closed the portion of his letter dealing with these people, he left no doubt that they were not true Christians. Even though these people had infiltrated the church and mixed with the true believers, they did not really love God or desire to submit to him. They did not really believe in Jesus Christ or trust him to save them. They did not have the Holy Spirit. For this reason, these Notes have referred to them as fake Christians.)
Here, the Spirit refers to the Holy Spirit. In some languages, it may be necessary to make this explicit. For example:
the Holy Spirit
-or-
God’s Spirit
If you make this explicit, it is recommended that you use your key term for the Holy Spirit. This will match 20c, where Jude referred to the Spirit as “the Holy Spirit.”
Ways to translate 19c include:
they do not have the Holy Spirit.
-or-
the Holy Spirit does not live in them.
-or-
the Holy Spirit does not guide them.
© 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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