YUD 1:2 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 1–2: Jude greeted his readers

In New Testament times the common way to begin a letter was to put the writer’s name first, then to mention something about the people who would receive the letter. After that, the writer included a prayer or blessing for their well-being. Jude followed this pattern.

Although Jude did not say where his readers lived, he did say three things about them. These three things are true of all believers:

God had called them,
God the Father loved them,
God would keep them safe for the time when Jesus Christ would return.

In these two verses Jude identified himself as the author of the letter and identified his readers by some of the things that God had done for them. Then he prayed that God would bless them. Jude chose a blessing which related well to the rest of the letter.

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Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

May mercy, peace, and love from God be yours^(plur) abundantly.
I pray that God will be very merciful to you,^(plur) fill you^(plur) with peace, and cause you^(plur) to experience his love for you^(plur) more and more.

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! (CEV)

May you receive more and more of God’s mercy, peace, and love. (NLT)

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. See Mercy, Meaning 1, in the Glossary.

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

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.
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. See love, Meaning 1, in the Glossary.

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

abundantly

greatly

richly

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.
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.

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: translate-blessing

ἔλεος ὑμῖν, καὶ εἰρήνη, καὶ ἀγάπη πληθυνθείη.

mercy ˱to˲_you_all (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἔλεος ὑμῖν καί εἰρήνη καί ἀγάπη πληθυνθείη)

In this culture, letter writers would offer a good wish for the recipient before introducing the main business of the letter. Use a form in your language that makes it clear that this is a greeting and blessing. Alternate translation: [May God increase his mercy and peace and love to you]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

ἔλεος ὑμῖν, καὶ εἰρήνη, καὶ ἀγάπη πληθυνθείη

mercy ˱to˲_you_all (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἔλεος ὑμῖν καί εἰρήνη καί ἀγάπη πληθυνθείη)

If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the abstract nouns mercy, peace, and love by stating the ideas behind them with equivalent expressions. Alternate translation: [May God multiply his merciful acts to you and give you a more peaceful spirit and love you more and more]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

ἔλεος & καὶ εἰρήνη, καὶ ἀγάπη πληθυνθείη.

mercy & (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἔλεος ὑμῖν καί εἰρήνη καί ἀγάπη πληθυνθείη)

Jude speaks of mercy and peace and love as if they were objects that could increase in size or numbers. If this is confusing in your language, you can use a different metaphor that means that these things will increase, or use plain language. Alternate translation: [May God increase his mercy and peace and love]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / you

ὑμῖν

˱to˲_you_all

The word you in this letter refers to the Christians to whom Jude was writing and is always plural.

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.

OET interlinear YUD (JUD) 1:2

SR Greek word order

Section 1–2: Jude greeted his readers

2

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)