3Beloved, while eagerly preparing to write to you about the salvation we share, I find it necessary to write and appeal to you to contend for the faith that was once and for all handed on to the saints.
Aari: “the day our Savior comes” (in Rom 13:11) (source: Loren Bliese)
in Mairasi its is translated as “life fruit” or “life fruit all mashed out.” Lloyd Peckham explains: “In secret stories, not knowable to women nor children, there was a magical fruit of life. If referred to vaguely, without specifying the specific ‘fruit,’ it can be an expression for eternity.” And for “all masked out” he explains: “Bark cloth required pounding. It got longer and wider as it got pounded. Similarly, life gets pounded or mashed to lengthen it into infinity. Tubers also get mashed into the standard way of serving the staple food, like the fufu of Uganda, or like poi of Hawaii. It spreads out into infinity.” (See also eternity / forever)
In Lisu a poetic construct is used for this term. Arrington (2020, p. 58f.) explains: “A four-word couplet uses Lisu poetic forms to bridge the abstract concrete divide, an essential divide to cross if Christian theology is to be understood by those with oral thought patterns. Each couplet uses three concrete nouns or verbs to express an abstract term. An example of this is the word for salvation, a quite abstract term essential to understanding Christian theology. To coin this new word, the missionary translators used a four-word couplet: ℲO., CYU. W: CYU (person … save … person … save). In this particular case, the word for person was not the ordinary word (ʁ) but rather the combination of ℲO., and W: used in oral poetry. The word for ‘save’ also had to be coined; in this case, it was borrowed from Chinese [from jiù / 救]. These aspects of Lisu poetry, originally based on animism, likely would have been lost as Lisu society encountered communism and modernization. Yet they are now codified in the Lisu Bible as well as the hymnbook.”
In the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) it is translated with chipulumutso which is used to refer to an act of helping someone who is in problems but cannot help him/herself come out of the problems because of weakness. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
The Greek that is translated as “saint” in English is rendered into Highland Puebla Nahuatl as “one with a clean hearts,” into Northwestern Dinka as “one with a white hearts,” and into Western Kanjobal as “person of prayer.” (Source: Nida 1952, p. 146)
Chichewa “(person with a) white heart” since “white” is the word that is used in Chichewa for the translation of “holy.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)
The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).
For this verse, translators typically select the inclusive form (“we share” in English) (including the reader).
Source: SIL International Translation Department (1999).
Following are a number of back-translations of Jude 1:3:
Uma: “Relatives whom I love! My purpose at first, I was going to write to you a letter, speaking of the goodness that we receive all-together from God. But now, I feel like there is something urging/forcing me to change my first purpose. For there are people in our midst who are bringing wrong teaching. That’s why I say/think I had better write you a letter to strengthen your hearts to oppose those who carry that false teaching. Because God announced/delivered the true teaching to all people whom he-has-made-his-portion so that we believe it, and that teaching must/may not be changed. Those people who carry false teaching, they have entered into our midst, they say they are our one-faith relatives. But actually they do not submit to God. They say that we may satisfy the evil desires of our hearts, because God is loving. That teaching of theirs is very evil, because they just turn-around/twist the teaching of the white insides [i.e., grace] of God, and they repudiate our one and only King and Lord, He is Yesus Kristus. Those false teachers will certainly be punished. From long ago, there were prophets who foretold the punishment that God made-certain for them.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “My friends whom I love, I really wanted to write to you about our (incl.) salvation that (we have) in common, but there is now something different that I should tell you. I should first write to you charging/instructing you amey-amey to really hold up (lit. stand up) the true teaching that you have believed-obeyed. These teachings God made known to us (incl.) his people and these teachings are complete already, they are not lacking anything.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Even though what I wanted to do at first was to make a letter to send to you there so that I might explain to you about God’s saving us, now it is very important that I write to you in order to advise you. It is necessary, brethren, that you strongly resist people who would like to change the true doctrine which God has given. As for that doctrine, he gave it to us (incl.) who belong to him and it’s necessary that no one add anything to it.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “My-much-loved friends, I would have written to you concerning the salvation of all of us believers, because that’s what I greatly-desired to tell-you -about. But I didn’t continue to write-about that, because I decided that I needed to advise you to put-forth your efforts (lit. ability) to follow and protect our faith that God has already entrusted to us who are his people so that it will not be added-to or changed.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Dear ones, what I really want to write to send to you is, concerning the salvation which is being graced to us who are believers. But what came into my mind/inner-being that I must write to send to you is, an injunction, that you must use- the true teaching which we believe -to-fight-with. This truth, it was caused by God to be comprehended by his people, and it/he will never ever change.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Listen, my dear brethren, I very much wanted to write a letter to you about all that is involved in the good that we received now that we are saved. But there is another message that compels me to write a letter to send to you. Don’t let anyone spoil the word we believe, that word which just one time for always God gave to all who are in his charge.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Translations of the Greek and Ge’ez that are typically translated as “faith” in English (itself deriving from Latin “fides,” meaning “trust, faith, confidence, reliance, credence”) and “believe” (from Old English belyfan: “to have faith or confidence in a person”) cover a wide range of approaches.
Bratcher and Nida say this (1961, p. 38) (click or tap here to read more):
“Since belief or faith is so essentially an intimate psychological experience, it is not strange that so many terms denoting faith should be highly figurative and represent an almost unlimited range of emotional ‘centers’ and descriptions of relationships, e.g. ‘steadfast his heart’ (Chol), ‘to arrive on the inside’ (Chicahuaxtla Triqui), ‘to conform with the heart’ (Uab Meto), ‘to join the word to the body’ (Uduk), ‘to hear in the insides’ (or ‘to hear within one’s self and not let go’ — Nida 1952) (Laka), ‘to make the mind big for something’ (Sapo), ‘to make the heart straight about’ (Mitla Zapotec), ‘to cause a word to enter the insides’ (Lacandon), ‘to leave one’s heart with’ (Baniwa), ‘to catch in the mind’ (Ngäbere), ‘that which one leans on’ (Vai), ‘to be strong on’ (Shipibo-Conibo), ‘to have no doubts’ (San Blas Kuna), ‘to hear and take into the insides’ (Kare), ‘to accept’ (Pamona).”
Following is a list of (back-) translations from other languages (click or tap here to read more):
Limos Kalinga: manuttuwa. Wiens (2013) explains: “It goes back to the word for ‘truth’ which is ‘tuttuwa.’ When used as a verb this term is commonly used to mean ‘believe’ as well as ‘obey.'”
Ngiemboon: “turn one’s back on someone” (and trusting one won’t be taken advantage of) (source: Stephen Anderson in Holzhausen 1991, p. 42)
Mwera uses the same word for “hope” and “faith”: ngulupai (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Yala: ɔtū che or “place heart” (in John 5:24; 5:45; 6:35; 6:47; 12:36; 14:1); other translations include chɛ̄ or “to agree/accept” and chɛ̄ku or “to agree with/accept with/take side with” (source: Linus Otronyi)
Matumbi: niu’bi’lyali or “believe / trust / rely (on)” and imani or “religious faith” (from Arabic īmān [إيما]) (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
Ebira: “place one’s liver on something” (source: Scholz /Scholz 2015, p. 60)
Barí: a word related to standing in a hammock. Bruce Olson (1972, p. 159f.) tells this story — click or tap here to read more)
One evening, though, Bobby began to ask questions. We were sitting around a fire. The light flickered over him. His face was serious.
‘How can I walk on Jesus’ trail?’ he asked. ‘No Motilone [speakers of Barí] has ever done it. It’s a new thing. There is no other Motilone to tell how to do it.’
I remembered the problems I had had as a boy, how it sometimes appeared impossible to keep on believing in Jesus when my family and friends were so opposed to my commitment. That was what Bobby was going through.
‘Bobby,’ I said, ‘do you remember my first Festival of the Arrows, the first time I had seen all the Motilones gathered to sing their song?’ The festival was the most important ceremony in the Motilone culture.
He nodded. The fire flared up momentarily and I could see his eyes, staring intently at me.
‘Do you remember that I was afraid to climb in the high hammocks to sing, for fear that the rope would break? And I told you that I would sing only if I could have one foot in the hammock and one foot on the ground?’
‘Yes, Bruchko.’
‘And what did you say to me?’
He laughed. ‘I told you you had to have both feet in the hammock. ‘You have to be suspended,’ I said.’
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘You have to be suspended. That is how it is when you follow Jesus, Bobby. No man can tell you how to walk His trail. Only Jesus can. But to find out you have to tie your hammock strings into Him, and be suspended in God.’
Bobby said nothing. The fire danced in his eyes. Then he stood up and walked off into the darkness.
The next day he came to me. ‘Bruchko,’ he said, ‘I want to tie my hammock strings into Jesus Christ. But how can I? I can’t see Him or touch Him.’
‘You have talked to spirits, haven’t you?’
‘Oh,’ he said. ‘I see now.’
The next day he had a big grin on his face. ‘Bruchko, I’ve tied my hammock strings into Jesus. Now I speak a new language.’
I didn’t understand what he meant. ‘Have you learned some of the Spanish I speak?’
He laughed, a clean, sweet laugh. ‘No, Bruchko, I speak a new language.’
Then I understood. To a Motilone, language is life. If Bobby had a new life, he had a new way of speaking. His speech would be Christ-oriented.
Awabakal: ngurruliko: “to know, to perceive by the ear” (as distinct from knowing by sight or by touch — source: Lake, p. 70) (click or tap here to read more)
“[The missionary translator] Lancelot Threlkeld learned that Awabakal, like many Australian languages, made no distinction between knowing and believing. Of course the distinction only needs to be made where there are rival systems of knowing. The Awabakal language expressed a seamless world. But as the stress on ‘belief’ itself suggests, Christianity has always existed in pluralist settings. Conversion involves deep conviction, not just intellectual assent or understanding. (…) Translating such texts posed a great challenge in Australia. Threlkeld and [his indigenous colleague] Biraban debated the possibilities at length. In the end they opted not to introduce a new term for belief, but to use the Awabakal ngurruliko, meaning ‘to know, to perceive by the ear,’ as distinct from knowing by sight or by touch.”
Language in southern Nigeria: a word based on the idiom “lose feathers.” Randy Groff in Wycliffe Bible Translators 2016, p. 65 explains (click or tap here to read more):
What does losing feathers have to do with faith? [The translator] explained that there is a species of bird in his area that, upon hatching its eggs, loses its feathers. During this molting phase, the mother bird is no longer able to fly away from the nest and look for food for her hungry hatchlings. She has to remain in the nest where she and her babies are completely dependent upon the male bird to bring them food. Without the diligent, dependable work of the male bird, the mother and babies would all die. This scenario was the basis for the word for faith in his language.
Teribe: mär: “pick one thing and one thing only” (source: Andy Keener)
Tiv: na jighjigh: “give trust” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
Luba-Katanga: Twi tabilo: “echo” (click or tap here to read more)
“Luba-Katanga word for ‘Faith’ in its New Testament connotation is Twi tabilo. This word means ‘echo,’ and the way in which it came to be adapted to the New Testament meaning gives a very good idea of the way in which the translator goes to work. One day a missionary was on a journey through wild and mountainous country. At midday he called his African porters to halt, and as they lay resting in the shade from the merciless heat of the sun. an African picked up a stone and sent it ricocheting down the mountain-side into the ravine below. After some seconds the hollow silence was broken by a plunging, splashing sound from the depths of the dark river-bed. As the echo died away the African said in a wondering whisper ‘Twi tabilo, listen to it.’ So was a precious word captured for the service of the Gospel in its Luba Christian form. Twi tabilo — ‘faith which is the echo of God’s voice in the depths of human sinful hearts, awakened by God Himself, the answer to his own importunate call.’ The faith that is called into being by the divine initiative, God’s own gift to the responsive heart! (Source: Wilfred Bradnock in The Bible Translator 1953, p. 49ff. )
J.A. van Roy (in The Bible Translator 1972, p. 418ff. ) discusses how a translation of “faith” in a an earlier translation into Venda created difficult perceptions of the concept of faith (click or tap here):
The Venda term u tenda, lutendo. This term corresponds to the terms ho dumela (Southern Sotho), and ku pfumela (Tsonga) that have been used in these translations of the Bible, and means “to assent,” “to agree to a suggestion.” It is important to understand this term in the context of the character of the people who use it.
The way in which the Venda use this term reveals much about the priority of interpersonal relationships among them. They place a much higher priority on responding in the way they think they are expected to respond than on telling the truth. Smooth interpersonal relationships, especially with a dominant individual or group, take precedence over everything else.
It is therefore regarded as bad form to refuse directly when asked for something one does not in fact intend to give. The correct way is to agree, u tenda, and then forget about it or find some excuse for not keeping to the agreement. Thus u tenda does not necessarily convey the information that one means what one says. One can tenda verbally while heartily disagreeing with the statement made or having no intention whatsoever to carry out what one has just promised to do. This is not regarded as dishonesty, but is a matter of politeness.
The term u sokou tenda, “to consent reluctantly,” is often used for expressing the fatalistic attitude of the Venda in the face of misfortune or force which he is unable to resist.
The form lutendo was introduced by missionaries to express “faith.”
According to the rules of derivations and their meanings in the lu-class, it should mean “the habit of readily consenting to everything.” But since it is a coined word which does not have a clearly defined set of meanings in everyday speech, it has acquired in church language a meaning of “steadfastness in the Christian life.” Una lutendo means something like “he is steadfast in the face of persecution.” It is quite clear that the term u tenda has no element of “trust” in it. (…)
In “The Christian Minister” of July 1969 we find the following statement about faith by Albert N. Martin: “We must never forget that one of the great issues which the Reformers brought into focus was that faith was something more than an ‘assensus,’ a mere nodding of the head to the body of truth presented by the church as ‘the faith.’ The Reformers set forth the biblical concept that faith was ‘fiducia.’ They made plain that saving faith involved trust, commitment, a trust and commitment involving the whole man with the truth which was believed and with the Christ who was the focus of that truth. The time has come when we need to spell this out clearly in categorical statements so that people will realize that a mere nodding of assent to the doctrines that they are exposed to is not the essence of saving faith. They need to be brought to the understanding that saving faith involves the commitment of the whole man to the whole Christ, as Prophet, Priest and King as he is set forth in the gospel.”
We quote at length from this article because what Martin says of the current concept of faith in the Church is even to a greater extent true of the Venda Church, and because the terms used for communicating that concept in the Venda Bible cannot be expected to communicate anything more than “a mere nodding of assent”. I have during many years of evangelistic work hardly ever come across a Venda who, when confronted with the gospel, would not say, Ndi khou tenda, “I admit the truth of what you say.” What they really mean when saying this amounts to, “I believe that God exists, and I have no objection to the fact that he exists. I suppose that the rest of what you are talking about is also true.” They would often add, Ndi sa tendi hani-hani? “Just imagine my not believing such an obvious fact!” To the experienced evangelist this is a clear indication that his message is rejected in so far as it has been understood at all! To get a negative answer, one would have to press on for a promise that the “convert” will attend the baptism class and come to church on Sundays, and even then he will most probably just tenda in order to get rid of the evangelist, whether he intends to come or not. Isn’t that what u tenda means? So when an inexperienced and gullible white man ventures out on an evangelistic campaign with great enthusiasm, and with great rejoicing returns with a list of hundreds of names of persons who “believed”, he should not afterwards blame the Venda when only one tenth of those who were supposed to be converts actually turn up for baptismal instruction.
Moreover, it is not surprising at all that one often comes across church members of many years’ standing who do not have any assurance of their salvation or even realise that it is possible to have that assurance. They are vhatendi, “consenters.” They have consented to a new way of life, to abandoning (some of) the old customs. Lutendo means to them at most some steadfastness in that new way of life.
The concept of faith in religion is strange to Africa. It is an essential part of a religion of revelation such as Christianity or Islam, but not of a naturalistic religion such as Venda religion, in which not faith and belief are important, but ritual, and not so much the content of the word as the power of it.
The terms employed in the Venda Bible for this vital Christian concept have done nothing to effect a change in the approach of the Venda to religion.
It is a pity that not only in the Venda translation has this been the case, but in all the other Southern Bantu languages. In the Nguni languages the term ukukholwa, “to believe a fact,” has been used for pisteuo, and ukholo, the deverbative of ukukholwa, for pistis. In some of the older Protestant translations in Zulu, but not in the new translation, the term ithemba, “trust”, has been used.
Some languages, including Santali, have two terms — like English (see above) — to differentiate a noun from a verb form. Biswạs is used for “faith,” whereas pạtiạu for “believe.” R.M. Macphail (in The Bible Translator 1961, p. 36ff. ) explains this choice: “While there is little difference between the meaning and use of the two in everyday Santali, in which any word may be used as a verb, we felt that in this way we enriched the translation while making a useful distinction, roughly corresponding to that between ‘faith’ and ‘to believe’ in English.”
Likewise, in Noongar, koort-karni or “heart truth” is used for the noun (“faith”) and djinang-karni or “see true” for the verb (“believe”) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
In Hungarian Sign Language “faith” is translated with a sign that refers to the gesture of clinging to God, which expresses a certainty in things unseen (see Hebrews 11:1). (Source: Jenjelvi Biblia and HSL Bible Translation Group)
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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).
This verse can be interpreted in at least two ways:
1. Jude was engaged in writing a general letter about our common salvation, when something happened that made him abandon this project and write at once in order to deal with the emergency situation. Good News Translation leans toward this interpretation, and so also does the New English Bible [New English Bible] “I was fully engaged in writing to you about our salvation … when it became urgently necessary to write at once….” This means that the letter that we have is not the letter that Jude originally planned to write; and there is no way of knowing whether such a letter was ever written.
Arguments for this interpretation include the following: Firstly, there is a difference of tense between the two infinitives “to write”; the first is present, which can mean that the action was not completed, while the second is aorist, which can refer to a completed act. This seems to make a distinction between an intention and an action that was carried through. Secondly, the structure of the verse seems to suggest a sharp contrast between a general letter or essay on the Christian faith and a letter written for the particular purpose of encouraging people to defend their faith. Thirdly, the shortness of the letter and the problems that it deals with tend to favor the position that this is indeed a letter dealing with particular problems rather than a general letter.
2. Jude had planned to write, and in fact was in the process of writing, when an emergency situation arose in the Christian communities to whom he was writing. Because of this he was compelled to carry out his plan much more quickly. This seems to be the position taken by Revised Standard Version (so also the translation by Knox, “As one who is ever ready to write to you … I am compelled to send you this letter…”). This means that the letter we have is identical with the general letter that Jude initially wanted to write.
Arguments put forward in support of this position include the following: Firstly, the expression our common salvation in the first part of the verse seems to mean the same thing as the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints in the second part. If this is so, then the two parts of the verse are parallel to each other. Then secondly, the second part of the verse can be understood simply as an action to carry out the intention expressed in the first part. Jude had a real desire to write to his readers, and because of special circumstances he has written faster than he originally intended.
Both interpretations are equally valid and translators may choose either one. But in either case, adjustments will have to be made in the translation to give clear expression to that interpretation. As noted above, Good News Translation as it now stands leans toward the first interpretation, although it can still be taken as agreeing with the second. On the other hand, Revised Standard Version leans toward the second interpretation, but again it can also be taken as agreeing with the first.
Beloved is a word that is frequently used by New Testament writers to address their readers. As a form of address it expresses the writer’s feeling of endearment toward his readers, hence Good News Translation “My dear friends.” Jude also uses it here as a signal to his readers that this is the beginning of the body of his letter. In some languages Beloved will be rendered “My dear fellow Christians.” In other languages this word will be expressed idiomatically; for example, “My dear elders and youngers.”
Being very eager is a Greek expression that can mean either “to be very eager to” or “to make every effort to,” that is, “to try as hard as one can.” The first of these focuses on Jude’s intention, while the second makes it possible to understand that Jude was already engaged in writing. Here again, the choice out of the two possibilities discussed above will determine the meaning that is chosen for this expression.
As noted above, to write is a present infinitive and suggests a more leisurely style, as contrasted with the aorist in the second part of the verse, which suggests urgency.
Our common salvation (Good News Translation “we share in common”) means the salvation that is held in common by both Jude and his readers, or the salvation that is experienced by all Christians, including Jude and his readers. Our should therefore be taken as inclusive in languages that make a distinction between the exclusive and the inclusive first person plural pronoun—that is, Jude together with his readers, as contrasted to exclusive, which would be Jude only and not including his readers.
The term salvation has both its negative and positive aspects. Negatively it refers to being rescued from a bad or disadvantageous situation. Positively it is the gift of new life or new possibilities.
In the Gospels “salvation” primarily means being rescued from sickness and being given new health and wholeness. (The word for “heal” is the same word as that for “save.”) In the rest of the New Testament, however, “salvation” refers to being rescued from the power of sin and being given new life, that is, a life that is in accord with what God has promised. This new life is something Christians experience at present, although they do not yet experience it in its completeness. It is in the end time when this experience of the new life will be full and complete through Jesus Christ. Theologically speaking, this salvation or new life has both a present and a future reference: it is a present experience, but it remains to be completed in the future, at the end of time. This latter interpretation may be a possibility in this letter, and especially in 2 Peter, considering its focus on the end times. However, considering the situation of the intended readers of these letters, who have to contend with a pagan environment, and who are clearly a very small segment of the population, it is perhaps better to understand the positive aspect of salvation as the power to live in accordance with God’s will in the midst of all the temptations and trials arising out of a pagan or non-Christian environment.
Another possibility is to understand salvation as a technical term referring to the Christian faith or the Christian religion. This is the position of some commentaries and is reflected in some translations; for example, Barclay [Barclay] has “the faith which we all share.” It is much more likely, however, that salvation here refers to the gift of new life through Jesus Christ. If this is so, other translation models for the phrase our common salvation are “the new life God has given to all of us through Jesus Christ” or “the new life we all share that comes from God through Jesus Christ.”
The word for necessary includes the components of necessity and compulsion. Jude seems to suggest that he is rather hesitant to write, but because of necessity he must now write at once. This understanding is echoed in some translations; for example, Moffat [Moffatt] “I am forced to write.” The verb here is in the aorist tense, which contrasts with the present participle “being very eager.” This tends to favor the interpretation that Jude had a change of plans. (See discussion at the beginning of this verse.)
The purpose of Jude writing immediately is to appeal to them to contend for the faith. The word translated appeal can also mean “exhort,” “encourage,” “admonish,” or in a stronger sense, “urge.” This may be expressed idiomatically as, for example, “give strength to your hearts.” To contend translates a word that also means “to fight,” “to defend,” “to strive urgently,” “to struggle for,” “to uphold.” The verb is found only here in the New Testament and comes originally from the athletic arena. Whether it is used as a metaphor here cannot now be determined. What is clear though is that it is used here not in a passive but in a very active sense: Jude is exhorting his readers not simply to defend the faith, but to fight for it and to actively promote it, not only with words but also in action. In the latter part of his letter he will give particular ways in which his readers should fight for the faith (verses 20-23).
What does faith mean in this case? This word is rich in meaning and is used in a variety of ways in the New Testament. Among its meanings are the following:
1. trust in and commitment to someone (usually a person’s trust in Christ or in God);
2. believing something as true or valid;
3. a body of teaching, or doctrine;
4. a religious movement (such as the Christian faith, which is essentially the same as “the Christian religion”);
5. a Christian virtue, that is, a trait or ability that a Christian receives as a result of his trust in Christ; and
6. conviction or certainty.
It seems that of the above, meanings 1, 3, and 4 fit the context best. If faith refers to “the Christian faith” or “the Christian religion,” it may mean the same as “salvation” in the first part of the verse. On the other hand, it may refer to a body of doctrine that is understood as embodying the main tenets of Christian teaching and is therefore regarded by the Christian community as authoritative. Most commentaries favor this second interpretation.
It is very important that in translating faith here, it must be distinguished from “faith” that means trust in and commitment to God or Jesus Christ. Faith as Jude uses it here refers not to a person’s response, but primarily to the content of what is believed, that is, Christian doctrine or teaching, or to the Christian faith as a religious movement. If we follow this interpretation, in many languages the phrase contend for the faith may be translated as “defend the Christian religion” or “strive hard to uphold the Christian doctrine (or, teaching).”
This faith is described as once for all delivered to the saints. The word for delivered means to “hand down,” “pass on,” “transmit,” and is used in the handing down or transmitting of tradition or religious teaching from one generation to the next. The subject or doer is not named in the text; it is suggested that the agent here is either God or the apostles. Once for all emphasizes that this faith was given only once, and that when it was handed down, it was complete, and therefore it should be handed down to future generations without any change whatsoever. Another way of saying this is “one time for all times.”
The saints is literally “the holy ones.” The focus here is not on moral holiness, but on relationship with God; people are described as “holy” because they are called by God and are consecrated, or dedicated, to him. It is in this sense that “holy ones” is used as a term for God’s people. In Jude, as well as in other parts of the New Testament, the term saints has become another name for Christians, that is, people who are called to trust in Christ and are dedicated to him. (See, for example, Acts 9.13, 32, 42; Rom 12.13; Heb 6.10.) That is why in Good News Translationsaints when used in this way is usually translated as “God’s people.”
As is the case in verses 1 and 2, it may be necessary in some cases to divide this long sentence into two or more sentences. Alternative translation models for this verse are:
• My dear fellow believers, I was making every effort (or, doing my best) to write to you about the new life we all share which comes from God through Jesus Christ, when I felt the urgent need to write to you at once. I wanted to encourage you to try even harder to uphold the things we believe as Christians. It is this faith which, once and for all (or, one time for all times), God has given to his people, and which cannot be changed.
Or:
• My dear fellow believers, I have been always ready to write to you about the new life we all share that comes from God through Jesus Christ. But now I feel compelled to write to you and encourage….
• My dear fellow believers, I was making every effort to write to you about the new life we all share that comes from God through Jesus Christ. But now I feel urged to encourage you through this letter, so that you will try even harder to uphold the Christian faith. God has given this faith once and for all to his people, and it cannot be changed.
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 .
Jude urged believers to defend the true teaching that they believed
In this section Jude expressed his reason for writing this particular letter. Because ungodly people had come into their church, the Christians to whom Jude was writing had to defend what they believed. These ungodly people were especially dangerous because the true believers had not recognized that the ungodly people were not really Christians. They were “fake” Christians.
3a
Beloved: Jude used this word to address his readers whom he loved. He used it in this way three times—in 3a, 17a and 20a. (Most recent English versions translate it as something similar to “Dear friends.” (New International Version (2011 Revision), Contemporary English Version, God’s Word, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, New Century Version, New English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New Living Translation (2004 Revision), Revised English Bible, Good News Translation).)
Languages may have different types of direct address that would be natural in this context. For example:
Dearly loved friends (New Living Translation (2004 Revision))
Look for the most natural way in your language to express the idea.
Languages differ in the most natural placement for a direct address. In some languages it may be most natural to begin the sentence with a direct address like this. In other languages, it is natural to put the direct address after the verb. In your translation, look for the position that is most natural for your language.
3b
I made every effort to write to you: This clause probably indicates that Jude had been planning to write another letter, but that he had not yet started it. (The Good News Translation seems to favor the interpretation that Jude had actually started writing the other letter, but then he changed his mind and wrote this letter instead.) Some ways to say this are:
I very much wanted to write to you.
-or-
I had been eagerly planning to write to you.
-or-
I earnestly intended to write to you.
3c
about the salvation we share: The Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates as about the salvation we share is literally, “about our common salvation.” Jude’s readers had salvation in common, that is, each person had experienced the same salvation. Jude implied that he could have written a letter about the way that God had saved them and what this salvation meant for them.
In some languages it may not be natural to say that people share something like salvation. If that is true in your language, it may be helpful to express this idea in a different way. For example:
about what we(incl) have in common, which is that God saved us(incl)
-or-
about the salvation that unites us(incl)
salvation: Through the sacrifice of his son, Jesus Christ (25a, 25c), God had saved Jude and his readers from sin and death and had given them new life.
3d
I felt it necessary to write: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as I felt it necessary to is literally, “I had a necessity to.” Jude felt that he must write a different letter than he had first planned to write (3b–c). Some ways to translate this phrase are:
I felt compelled to write
-or-
I realized that I must write
-or-
I realized that it was/is necessary for me to write
3e
and urge you to contend earnestly for the faith: Jude encouraged his readers to contend…for the faith. The word faith here does not refer to the act of believing, but to what Jude and his readers believed. Jude meant that they were to struggle hard to defend from error the true Christian teaching that they had been taught and had believed. He also meant they were to promote the faith by living according to what it taught them (see verses 20–23).
urge you: Jude told the readers what he wanted them to do in a polite way. He was encouraging them to follow his advice. For example:
to encourage you (New Century Version)
-or-
encouraging you (New Jerusalem Bible)
You may be able to translate this as a request. For example:
and ask you (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
to appeal to you
you: In Greek there is no pronoun (you) after the verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates here in 3e as “urge.” In the Greek text, the pronoun (literally “to you”) occurs after the verb “write” in 3d. Literally, it is “write to you.” However, the Berean Standard Bible chose to place the pronoun after the verb “urge” in 3e. You should place the pronoun where it is most natural in your language. It may be necessary to use a pronoun with both “write” and “urge.”
to contend earnestly: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as to contend is translated by many English versions as “fight.” (Modern English versions with a form of “fight” are God’s Word, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, New Century Version, New Jerusalem Bible, and Good News Translation.) For example:
to fight hard (New Jerusalem Bible)
However, Jude did not mean that his readers should fight physically. He was urging them to use all their strength and ability to resist, counteract, and defeat false teaching. Specifically, Jude wanted them to resist the false teaching of the ungodly people whom he would write about in verse 4. He did not want his readers to be harmed by participating in the sinful actions of those ungodly people.
the faith: Here Jude referred to the true Christian teaching as the faith. He called it the faith, because it is what Jude and his readers believed.
3f
entrusted once for all to the saints: This part of the verse further describes the “faith,” which Jude mentioned in 3e.
once for all: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as once for all may also be translated as “one time for all times” (see Jude 1:3 in UBS Handbook). It indicates that “the faith” is unique and that it does not change. (Someone might try to change the faith, the true teaching. The Contemporary English Version and New Living Translation (2004 Revision) imply this when they use “to defend” to translate the Greek word which the Berean Standard Bible translates as “contend.” (See the note above for “contend.”) ) No one is allowed to change it.
To translate once for all, you may be able to find a word or phrase that communicates the three parts of its meaning:
(a) God only had to give this faith to the believers one time.
(b) Its teachings would never change throughout the rest of time.
(c) They were adequate for all times.
Other ways to say this are:
once to last forever
-or-
unique and unchangeable throughout all time
entrusted: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible (Other versions that translate this as “entrusted” are New International Version (2011 Revision), God’s Word, NET Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New Revised Standard Version and Revised English Bible.) translates as entrusted can also be translated as:
delivered (Revised Standard Version)
committed (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
given (Good News Translation)
The verb implies that the first Christians received the true teachings, and they had the responsibility pass these true teachings faithfully to other people. The text does not say who entrusted the teachings to the first Christians. It could have been God or Jesus or the apostles. If you need to specify who entrusted the teachings to the Christians, it is recommended that you say God.
the saints: The Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the saints is literally “the holy (ones)” and means “the holy people.” This expression was used by many New Testament authors to refer to Christians, the people who believe in Jesus Christ. When used in this way, it refers to all Christians, including Jude and his readers. Some ways to translate this phrase are:
God’s holy people.
-or-
those who believe/trust in Jesus Christ.
-or-
people dedicated to God.
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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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