Core Glossary
08 Core Glossary — Ephesians (Full Book) for Arabic
Purpose and Usage
This glossary extends the baseline Romans translation_memory.json/bible_term_registry.json for the Ephesians curriculum. It is organized by curriculum doctrine. Every term already present in the baseline is marked [Baseline — Reused Exactly] and its Arabic rendering, risk tier, and rejected alternatives are unchanged; consult the baseline files for full detail. Every term newly introduced by Ephesians is marked [New — Ephesians] and is proposed for addition to translation memory as a new version increment. All Critical/High risk assignments below include a specific, grounded reason, per pipeline requirements.
Doctrine 1: Salvation by Grace through Faith
| Term | Greek (Translit.) | Arabic | Transliteration | Risk | Status | Key Passages | Grounded Reason for Risk Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| grace | χάρις (charis) | النعمة | al-ni’mah | High | [Baseline — Reused Exactly] | 1:6-7, 2:5, 2:7-8, 4:7 | Islamic fadl/rahmah function as merit-responsive favor; grace here must remain unearned. |
| faith | πίστις (pistis) | الإيمان | al-īmān | High | [Baseline — Reused Exactly] | 2:8, 3:12, 4:5, 6:16 | Islamic iman is primarily creedal assent; Pauline faith is personal trust in Christ specifically. |
| salvation / saved | σωτηρία / σῴζω | الخلاص / مُخلَّص | al-khalāṣ | Critical | [Baseline — Reused Exactly] | 2:5, 2:8, 6:17 | Mainstream Islamic soteriology has no assured salvation; a deeds-scale (mīzān) determines outcome at Judgment. Eph 2:5,8 declares salvation as a completed, present-tense reality. |
| gift | δῶρον (dōron) | عطية | ’aṭiyyah | Critical | [New — Ephesians] | 2:8 | Must not imply reciprocity, reward, or earned status; the entire “not of yourselves” clause of 2:8 hinges on this word carrying zero merit-connotation. |
| works | ἔργον (ergon) | أعمال | a’māl | Critical | [New — Ephesians] | 2:9 | Direct collision with Islamic mīzān (scale of deeds) soteriology; Eph 2:9 explicitly negates deeds as the basis of salvation, not merely as sufficient on their own. |
| good works | ἔργα ἀγαθά (erga agatha) | أعمال صالحة | a’māl ṣāliḥah | Critical | [New — Ephesians] | 2:10 | Identical vocabulary to Qur’an 2:177’s works-based righteousness checklist; must be taught as fruit, never ground, of salvation — the fulcrum verse of the whole doctrine. |
| workmanship | ποίημα (poiēma) | صنيعة | ṣanī’ah | Medium | [New — Ephesians] | 2:10 | Must be kept distinct from the “good works” that follow it, preserving Paul’s cause/fruit sequence. |
| trespasses | παράπτωμα (paraptōma) | الزلات | al-zallāt | Medium | [New — Ephesians] | 2:1, 2:5 | Must be paired with, not substituted for, الخطية (baseline “sin”) to preserve the state/act distinction. |
| sin | ἁμαρτία (hamartia) | الخطية | al-khaṭīyah | High | [Baseline — Reused Exactly] | 2:1 | Islamic fitrah doctrine denies inherited sinfulness; see baseline note. |
| dead (spiritually) | νεκρός (nekros) | أموات | amwāt | High | [New — Ephesians] | 2:1, 2:5 | Confronts fitrah doctrine’s assumption of innate spiritual neutrality/purity at birth. |
| children of wrath by nature | τέκνα φύσει ὀργῆς | أبناء الغضب بالطبيعة | abnā’ al-ghaḍab bi-l-ṭabī’ah | Critical | [New — Ephesians] | 2:3 | The sharpest direct claim of inherited guilt in the passage; must not be softened to “by their own choices.” |
Doctrine 2: Election and Predestination in Christ
| Term | Greek (Translit.) | Arabic | Transliteration | Risk | Status | Key Passages | Grounded Reason for Risk Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| election / chose | ἐκλέγομαι (eklegomai) | اختيار الله | ikhtiyār Allāh | High | [Baseline — Reused Exactly] | 1:4 | Must not collapse into folk qadar fatalism (per baseline note). |
| predestined | προορίζω (proorizō) | التعيين السابق / سبق فعيّن | al-ta’yīn al-sābiq | Critical | [New — Ephesians] | 1:5, 1:11 | Closely parallels al-Lawḥ al-Maḥfūẕ (Preserved Tablet) and qadar doctrine of pre-written fate; must be taught as God’s specific, gracious, Christ-centered redemptive choice, not exhaustive impersonal determinism. |
| calling | κλῆσις (klēsis) | الدعوة | al-da’wah | High | [Baseline — Reused Exactly] | 1:18, 4:1, 4:4 | Reverse direction from da’wah (human invitation to Islam); see baseline note. |
| prepared beforehand | προετοιμάζω (proetoimazō) | سبق فأعدّها | sabaqa fa-a’addahā | High | [New — Ephesians] | 2:10 | Shares the qadar-collision profile of “predestined” above; must convey purposeful divine planning tied to redemption in Christ. |
Doctrine 3: The Church as the Body of Christ
| Term | Greek (Translit.) | Arabic | Transliteration | Risk | Status | Key Passages | Grounded Reason for Risk Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| church | ἐκκλησία (ekklēsia) | الكنيسة | al-kanīsah | Medium | [Baseline — Reused Exactly] | 1:22, 3:10, 5:23-32 | Must convey the living, gathered people of God, not merely a building (per baseline note); never الأمة. |
| body (of Christ) | σῶμα (sōma) | جسد المسيح | jasad al-Masīḥ | High | [New — Ephesians] | 1:23, 4:12, 4:16 | Organic, Spirit-animated union with Christ; intensifies the corporate-but-non-institutional sense already established for الكنيسة. |
| head (headship) | κεφαλή (kephalē) | الرأس | al-ra’s | High | [New — Ephesians] | 1:22, 4:15, 5:23 | Must convey loving, life-giving, self-sacrificial authority (per 5:25’s pattern), not domination — consistency required across all three occurrences. |
| fullness | πλήρωμα (plērōma) | الملء | al-mil’ | Medium-High | [New — Ephesians] | 1:23, 3:19, 4:13 | Risk of misreading through Sufi fanā’ (mystical dissolution into the divine); this is relational/representational fullness, not ontological merger. |
| temple / dwelling place | ναός / κατοικητήριον | الهيكل / مسكن الله | al-haykal | Medium | [New — Ephesians] | 2:21-22 | Distinguish from a physical mosque/masjid building sense; a living, growing spiritual structure. |
| cornerstone | ἀκρογωνιαῖος (akrogōniaios) | حجر الزاوية | ḥajar al-zāwiyah | Low-Medium | [New — Ephesians] | 2:20 | Standard architectural metaphor; minimal collision. |
| saints | ἅγιοι (hagioi) | القديسون | al-qiddīsūn | High | [Baseline — Reused Exactly] | 1:1, 1:18, 6:18 | Avoid أولياء (Sufi venerated-saints class); per baseline. |
| gifts (spiritual gifts / ministry offices) | χαρίσματα / δόματα | المواهب الروحية | al-mawāhib al-rūḥiyyah | Medium | [Baseline — Reused Exactly] | 4:7-11 | Must retain الروحية qualifier so it is not read as natural talent. |
| evangelist | εὐαγγελιστής (euangelistēs) | مبشّر | mubashshir | Medium | [New — Ephesians] | 4:11 | Intersects with the baseline “evangelism” doctrine’s apostasy-context safety caution. |
| pastor (shepherd) | ποιμήν (poimēn) | راعٍ | rā’ī | Low-Medium | [New — Ephesians] | 4:11 | Broadly safe shared shepherd metaphor. |
| teacher | διδάσκαλος (didaskalos) | معلّم | mu’allim | Low | [New — Ephesians] | 4:11 | Low collision; standard vocabulary. |
| equipping / building up | καταρτισμός / οἰκοδομή | تجهيز / بنيان | tajhīz / bunyān | Low | [Baseline — Reused Exactly, “mutual_edification”] | 4:12, 4:16, 4:29 | No significant doctrinal risk per baseline. |
Doctrine 4: Unity of Jews and Gentiles in One New Humanity
| Term | Greek (Translit.) | Arabic | Transliteration | Risk | Status | Key Passages | Grounded Reason for Risk Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gentiles | ἔθνη (ethnē) | الأمم | al-umam | Medium | [Baseline — Reused Exactly] | 2:11, 3:1, 3:6 | Never الكفار; per baseline. |
| circumcision / uncircumcision | περιτομή / ἀκροβυστία | الختان / عدم الختان | al-khitān | High | [New — Ephesians] | 2:11 | Khitan is a near-universal cultural/religious practice across Arab Muslim contexts; translation must not read as commentary on the practice itself, only on covenant-boundary status. |
| one new man | εἷς καινὸς ἄνθρωπος | الإنسان الواحد الجديد | al-insān al-wāḥid al-jadīd | High | [New — Ephesians] | 2:15 | Requires deliberate framing distinct from the contemporary political weight of “Isra’il” (per baseline “israel” note); this is a redemptive-historical, not political, unity claim. |
| dividing wall / hostility | μεσότοιχον τοῦ φραγμοῦ / ἔχθρα | الحائط الفاصل / العداوة | al-ḥā’iṭ al-fāṣil | High | [New — Ephesians] | 2:14 | Concrete historical image of a real, now-abolished barrier; must not be flattened into a vague metaphor for generic “differences.” |
| reconcile | ἀποκαταλλάσσω (apokatallassō) | المصالحة | al-muṣālaḥah | High | [New — Ephesians] | 2:16 | Ṣulḥa is a known Arab tribal reconciliation practice (genuine bridge concept), but must retain the dual vertical/horizontal reconciliation achieved exclusively through Christ’s cross. |
| covenant | διαθήκη (diathēkē) | العهد | al-‘ahd | Medium | [Baseline — Reused Exactly] | 2:12 | Relational, unilaterally-initiated sense retained per baseline. |
| Israel | Ἰσραήλ (Israēl, implied in 2:12 “commonwealth of Israel”) | إسرائيل | Isrā’īl | High | [Baseline — Reused Exactly] | 2:12 | Contemporary political weight in Arabic-speaking contexts; per baseline note. |
Doctrine 5: The Mystery of Christ Revealed
| Term | Greek (Translit.) | Arabic | Transliteration | Risk | Status | Key Passages | Grounded Reason for Risk Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mystery | μυστήριον (mystērion) | السر | al-sirr | Critical | [New — Ephesians] | 1:9, 3:3-9, 5:32, 6:19 | Must not be conflated with Qur’anic al-ghayb (the unseen, known only to Allah, Qur’an 27:65). Paul’s mystery is disclosed, not permanently hidden — the theological opposite of ghayb. This term recurs across the whole book and anchors an entire curriculum doctrine. |
| revelation | ἀποκάλυψις (apokalypsis) | إعلان | i’lān | Medium-High | [New — Ephesians] | 3:3, 3:5 | Prefer إعلان over وحي to avoid suggesting the Qur’an’s own claimed verbatim-dictation mode of revelation. |
| stewardship | οἰκονομία (oikonomia) | وكالة / تدبير | wakālah / tadbīr | Low | [New — Ephesians] | 3:2, 3:9 | Administrative metaphor; minor risk. |
Doctrine 6: Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God
| Term | Greek (Translit.) | Arabic | Transliteration | Risk | Status | Key Passages | Grounded Reason for Risk Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| the devil | διάβολος (diabolos) | إبليس / الشيطان | Iblīs / al-Shayṭān | High | [New — Ephesians] | 4:27, 6:11 | Iblīs is the Qur’an’s own proper name for Satan (2:34) — a genuinely shared referent, but the Qur’anic origin-narrative (refusal to bow before Adam) differs from the biblical fall account; a minor but worth-flagging narrative difference. |
| principalities and powers | ἀρχαί καὶ ἐξουσίαι (archai kai exousiai) | الرياسات والسلاطين | al-riyāsāt wa-l-sulṭānāt | High | [New — Ephesians] | 1:21, 3:10, 6:12 | Overlaps with popular Islamic jinn/shaytan cosmology, which is diffuse and largely amoral in folk usage; must be taught as real, personal, morally accountable, Christ-subordinated beings, not an occult-adjacent framework inviting ritual countermeasures. |
| armor of God | πανοπλία τοῦ θεοῦ (panoplia tou theou) | سلاح الله الكامل | silāḥ Allāh al-kāmil | Medium | [New — Ephesians] | 6:11, 6:13 | Given contested contemporary connotations of jihad/military vocabulary in Arabic religious discourse, the exclusively defensive, non-violent, spiritual sense must be reinforced explicitly. |
| word of God | ῥῆμα θεοῦ (rhēma theou) | كلمة الله | kalimat Allāh | Critical | [New — Ephesians] | 6:17 | Identical phrase is the Qur’an’s own title for Jesus himself (Qur’an 4:171). Must be clarified in context as referring to Scripture/God’s spoken message here, distinct from (though ultimately complementary to) Logos-Christology; readers must not be left to reconcile the apparent overlap unaided. |
| shield of faith / helmet of salvation / breastplate of righteousness / belt of truth / gospel of peace | θυρεὸς τῆς πίστεως / περικεφαλαία τοῦ σωτηρίου / θώραξ δικαιοσύνης / ζώνη ἀληθείας / εὐαγγέλιον εἰρήνης | ترس الإيمان / خوذة الخلاص / درع البر / حزام الحق / إنجيل السلام | — | Critical (cumulative) | [Baseline — Reused Exactly, component terms] | 6:14-17 | Every noun here (الإيمان, الخلاص, البر, الإنجيل, السلام) is an existing baseline Critical/High term; each must retain its full established doctrinal weight inside the armor metaphor, not be diluted to a merely poetic or psychological sense. |
Doctrine 7: Household Codes and Christ-Centered Relationships
| Term | Greek (Translit.) | Arabic | Transliteration | Risk | Status | Key Passages | Grounded Reason for Risk Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| submit / submission | ὑποτάσσω (hypotassō) | يخضع | yakhḍa’ | High | [New — Ephesians] | 5:21, 5:22, 5:24 | Must retain the mutual-submission frame of 5:21 as governing 5:22, so wives’ submission is not read as unilateral, detached female subordination. |
| head (of the wife) | κεφαλή (kephalē) | الرأس | al-ra’s | High | [New — Ephesians, reuses Doctrine 3 term] | 5:23 | Must be interpreted through the self-sacrificial pattern of 5:25, not as license for unqualified authority. |
| bondservant / master | δοῦλος / κύριος (doulos / kyrios) | عبد / سيد | ’abd / sayyid | Medium | [New — Ephesians] | 6:5-9 | Must be taught in its historical, redemptive-transformative NT context, not as endorsement of contemporary practice; Arabic’s سيد/الرب distinction (unlike English “lord/lords”) helpfully preserves the difference between human masters and Christ’s exclusive Lordship. |
| offering and sacrifice | προσφορὰ καὶ θυσία (prosphora kai thysia) | تقدمة وذبيحة | taqdimah wa-dhabīḥah | High | [New — Ephesians] | 5:2 | Atonement vocabulary the Qur’an (6:164) denies is possible; requires the same scaffolding as دم المسيح and الصليب. |
| great mystery (marriage) | τὸ μυστήριον τοῦτο μέγα | هذا السر عظيم | — | Critical | [New — Ephesians, reuses “mystery”] | 5:32 | Marriage as a disclosed illustration of Christ and the church, not an unknowable ghayb. |
Doctrine 8: Gifts for Building Up the Church
(See also Doctrine 3 table above for offices/gifts terms.)
| Term | Greek (Translit.) | Arabic | Transliteration | Risk | Status | Key Passages | Grounded Reason for Risk Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| the seven “ones” (unity confession) | ἕν σῶμα, ἕν πνεῦμα, μία ἐλπίς, εἷς κύριος, μία πίστις, ἕν βάπτισμα, εἷς θεός καὶ πατήρ | جسد واحد، روح واحد، رجاء واحد، رب واحد، إيمان واحد، معمودية واحدة، إله وآب واحد | — | Critical (cumulative) | mixed [Baseline reused + New] | 4:4-6 | High-value catechetical unit; each component term must be rendered identically and consistently wherever it recurs across the curriculum (per baseline’s cross-document consistency rule). |
| baptism | βάπτισμα (baptisma) | المعمودية | al-ma’mūdiyyah | Medium | [New — Ephesians] | 4:5 | Established Christian Arabic term; distinguish from Islamic ritual ablution (wuḍū’/ghusl) — a one-time initiatory rite, not repeated purification. |
| hope | ἐλπίς (elpis) | الرجاء | al-rajā’ | Medium | [New — Ephesians] | 1:18, 2:12, 4:4 | Islamic rajā’ is hope paired with uncertainty (khawf) pending Judgment; Pauline hope is confident expectation grounded in an already-accomplished fact. |
Doctrine 9: Walking in Newness of Life
| Term | Greek (Translit.) | Arabic | Transliteration | Risk | Status | Key Passages | Grounded Reason for Risk Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| walk (conduct) | περιπατέω (peripateō) | يسلك / سلك | yasluk | Medium | [New — Ephesians] | 2:2, 2:10, 4:1, 4:17, 5:2, 5:8, 5:15 | Governing metaphor of the whole letter; must be rendered consistently across all seven occurrences to preserve the before/after structure of the book. |
| old man / new man | παλαιὸς ἄνθρωπος / καινὸς ἄνθρωπος | الإنسان العتيق / الإنسان الجديد | al-insān al-‘atīq / al-jadīd | High | [New — Ephesians] | 4:22-24 | Must not be reduced to Islamic tawbah (behavioral reform of the same continuous self); this is a definitive change of identity/nature through union with Christ, paralleling the new-creation language of 2:10. |
| created (new creation) | κτίζω (ktizō) | مخلوقون | makhlūqūn | Medium | [New — Ephesians] | 2:10, 4:24 | Must read as re-creation in Christ, not the original creation of humanity generally. |
| imitators of God | μιμηταὶ τοῦ θεοῦ | مقتدون بالله | muqtadūn bi-Allāh | Critical | [New — Ephesians] | 5:1 | Direct collision with Islamic tanzīh (God’s transcendence making him non-imitable; only Muhammad is presented as the imitable model, Qur’an 33:21). Ephesians commands imitation of God himself, grounded in filial adoption identity. |
| be filled with the Spirit | πληρωθῆσθε ἐν πνεύματι | امتلئوا بالروح | imtali’ū bi-l-rūḥ | High | [New — Ephesians] | 5:18 | Must be taught as moral-relational Spirit-control, not an altered-consciousness/trance experience, given both Sufi dhikr practice and folk jinn-possession beliefs in the broader cultural context. |
| sanctification | ἁγιασμός (hagiasmos) / ἁγιάζω | التقديس | al-taqdīs | High | [Baseline — Reused Exactly] | 5:26 | Not ritual purification (wuḍū’/ghusl); per baseline note. |
| new creation frame (workmanship, good works) | see Doctrine 1 above | — | — | Critical | cross-reference | 2:10 | See Doctrine 1 table; this doctrine and Doctrine 1 share their theological hinge at Eph 2:10. |
General / Cross-Doctrine Baseline Terms Reused Exactly in Ephesians
The following baseline terms recur throughout Ephesians without new doctrinal complications beyond what the baseline already documents. Listed here for completeness of full-book coverage; consult baseline files for full notes.
| Term | Arabic | Risk | Key Passages |
|---|---|---|---|
| gospel | الإنجيل | High | 1:13, 3:6, 6:15, 6:19 |
| apostle | الرسول | High | 1:1, 2:20, 3:5, 4:11 |
| prophet | نبي | Low (High per doctrine registry re: inspiration) | 2:20, 3:5, 4:11 |
| holy | مقدس | Medium | 1:4, 5:27 |
| God | الله | Critical | throughout |
| Lord | الرب | Critical | 1:2-3, 4:1, 4:5, 6:1-9 |
| Jesus | يسوع | Critical | throughout |
| Holy Spirit | الروح القدس | Critical | 1:13, 2:18, 2:22, 4:30, 5:18, 6:17-18 |
| Father | الآب | Critical | 1:2-3, 2:18, 3:14-15, 4:6, 6:23 |
| glory | المجد | High | 1:6, 1:12, 1:14, 1:17-18, 3:13, 3:16, 3:21 |
| peace | السلام | Medium | 1:2, 2:14-17, 4:3, 6:15, 6:23 |
| law | الناموس | Critical | 2:15 |
| kingdom of God | ملكوت الله | Medium | 5:5 |
| power of God | قوة الله | Medium | 1:19, 3:16, 3:20, 6:10 |
| grace | النعمة | High | 1:6-7, 2:5-8, 4:7, 6:24 |
| resurrection | القيامة | Critical | 1:20, 2:6 |
| spiritual gifts | المواهب الروحية | Medium | 4:7-11 |
| church | الكنيسة | Medium | 1:22, 3:10, 3:21, 5:23-32 |
| saints | القديسون | High | 1:1, 1:18, 3:8, 3:18, 4:12, 5:3, 6:18 |
| Gentiles | الأمم | Medium | 2:11, 3:1, 3:6, 3:8, 4:17 |
| election | اختيار الله | High | 1:4, 1:11 |
| calling | الدعوة | High | 1:18, 4:1, 4:4 |
| adoption | التبني | Critical | 1:5 |
| sanctification | التقديس | High | 5:26 |
| covenant | العهد | Medium | 2:12 |
| Israel | إسرائيل | High | 2:12 |
| exhort (encourage) | يشجع / يعظ | Low | 4:1, 6:22 |
This glossary is a proposed extension to translation_memory.json. All [New — Ephesians] entries require formal addition (with incremented version number) before Phase 2 segment translation of Ephesians begins, per the Translation Memory Load and Enforcement Instructions in 12_ai_translation_requirements.md.
Critical Risk Terms
Adoption
Approved rendering: التبني
Transliteration: al-tabannī
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: الاستلحاق
Original: υἱοθεσία
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Quran 33:4-5 explicitly denies adopted sons true filial/inheritance status. Ephesians usage: 1:5 — predestined adoption grounding full son-status and full inheritance, directly against the Islamic legal default.
Blood Of Christ
Approved rendering: دم المسيح
Transliteration: dam al-Masīḥ
Doctrine: Christology
Original: αἷμα Χριστοῦ
Category: Christology
New term introduced by Ephesians (1:7, 2:13). Directly tied to substitutionary atonement, which Quran 6:164 denies is possible; requires the same apologetic scaffolding as resurrection/crucifixion entries — the historical death of Christ must be affirmed as real, not apparent.
Children Of Wrath By Nature
Approved rendering: أبناء الغضب بالطبيعة
Transliteration: abnā’ al-ghaḍab bi-l-ṭabī’ah
Doctrine: Sin
Rejected alternatives: أبناء الغضب بسبب أعمالنا
Original: τέκνα φύσει ὀργῆς
Category: Sin
New term introduced by Ephesians (2:3). The sharpest possible collision with fitrah doctrine, which holds each soul born pure and bears no inherited guilt from Adam. ‘By nature’ (بالطبيعة) must never be softened to ‘because of their own deeds’ — a divergence found circulating in some contemporary market renderings that must not be echoed in this curriculum.
Father
Approved rendering: الآب
Transliteration: al-Āb
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Paired risk with Son of God — no safe substitute for the relationship category. Ephesians usage: 1:2-3, 2:18, 3:14-15, 4:6, 6:23.
Gift
Approved rendering: عطية
Transliteration: ‘aṭiyyah
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: هبة, منحة
Original: δῶρον
Category: Salvation
New term introduced by Ephesians (2:8). Must not imply reciprocity, reward, or earned status; هبة and منحة carry patron-client favor connotations expecting eventual loyalty or service in return, closer to fadl than to a no-strings gift. The entire ‘not of yourselves’ clause of 2:8 hinges on this word carrying zero merit-connotation. Parallels the baseline caution against ‘earned’ language in imputed_righteousness.
God
Approved rendering: الله
Transliteration: Allāh
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. No viable alternative word exists; risk is entirely in content — Islamic tawhid’s strictly unitarian conception must be actively distinguished from the Trinitarian conception. Ephesians usage: throughout.
Good Works
Approved rendering: أعمال صالحة
Transliteration: a’māl ṣāliḥah
Doctrine: Salvation
Original: ἔργα ἀγαθά
Category: Salvation
New term introduced by Ephesians (2:10). Identical vocabulary to Quran 2:177’s works-based righteousness checklist. Must be taught as sequentially and causally downstream of grace-given salvation (2:8-9), never its precondition — the fulcrum verse of the whole letter’s soteriology.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: الروح القدس
Transliteration: al-Rūḥ al-Qudus
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Mainstream tafsir identifies the identical Quranic phrase with the angel Jibril, a created being. Ephesians usage: 1:13, 2:18, 2:22, 4:30 (‘do not grieve the Holy Spirit’ — especially reinforces the Spirit’s personal, relational nature), 5:18, 6:17-18.
Imitators Of God
Approved rendering: مقتدون بالله
Transliteration: muqtadūn bi-Allāh
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: الاقتداء بيسوع فقط (narrowing to imitation of Jesus only, avoiding the direct God-imitation claim)
Original: μιμηταὶ τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Sanctification
New term introduced by Ephesians (5:1). Directly collides with Islamic tanzīh (God’s absolute transcendence, making direct imitation of God unthinkable; only Muhammad is presented as the imitable model, uswa ḥasanah, Quran 33:21). Must not be narrowed to ‘imitate Christ’s example’ alone as a way of avoiding the confrontation; grounded in the filial ‘beloved children’ adoption identity (1:5) — always retain the grounding clause.
Jesus
Approved rendering: يسوع
Transliteration: Yasū’
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: عيسى
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Never use عيسى, the Quranic form. Ephesians usage: throughout.
Law
Approved rendering: الناموس
Transliteration: al-nāmūs
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: الشريعة, الشرع
Original: νόμος
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Never substitute shari’a vocabulary; would make Paul’s argument sound like an attack on Islamic law specifically. Ephesians usage: 2:15 — the Mosaic law’s ceremonial ordinances abolished as a Jew-Gentile covenant-boundary marker; stakes intensified given this passage’s explicit discussion of the law’s abolishing function in Christ.
Lord
Approved rendering: الرب
Transliteration: al-Rabb
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: السيد, المولى
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. al-Rabb is a defining title of Allah; applying it to Jesus is the claim of full deity that must never be softened. Ephesians usage: 1:2-3, 4:1, 4:5, 6:1-9 — must remain visibly distinct from the human سيد applied to household masters in 6:5-9.
Messiah
Approved rendering: المسيح
Transliteration: al-Masīh
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Original: Χριστός
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Already loaded with a competing Quranic narrative (‘Isa al-Masih — honored prophet, not divine, not crucified, not risen). Ephesians usage: throughout — every occurrence must actively correct this pre-loaded content.
Mystery
Approved rendering: السر
Transliteration: al-sirr
Doctrine: Mystery
Original: μυστήριον
Category: Mystery
New term introduced by Ephesians (1:9, 3:3-9, 5:32, 6:19). Must not be conflated with Quranic al-ghayb (the unseen, known only to Allah, Quran 27:65) or Sufi ‘ilm al-bāṭin (esoteric knowledge for initiates). Paul’s mystery is the theological opposite: fully and publicly disclosed to all in the gospel. Never place غ-ي-ب root vocabulary near this term; always pair with disclosure vocabulary (إعلان, كُشف, أُعلن) within the same clause.
Predestined
Approved rendering: التعيين السابق
Transliteration: al-ta’yīn al-sābiq
Doctrine: Election
Rejected alternatives: القدر, مكتوب
Original: προορίζω
Category: Election
New term introduced by Ephesians (1:5, 1:11). Closely parallels al-Lawḥ al-Maḥfūẕ (the Preserved Tablet) and qadar, one of Islam’s six articles of faith. Never gloss with القدر or مكتوب vocabulary. Must always be anchored to its specific object — ‘predestined to adoption in Christ’ — never left as a bare abstract term, since the specificity of the object is the load-bearing disambiguator.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: القيامة
Transliteration: al-qiyāmah
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Original: ἀνάστασις / ἐγείρω
Category: Eschatology
Inherited from Romans package. Requires apologetic scaffolding establishing the historical crucifixion first (Quran 4:157 denies it occurred). Ephesians usage: 1:20 (Christ’s resurrection), 2:6 (believers raised and seated with him — union with Christ’s own resurrection).
Righteousness
Approved rendering: البر
Transliteration: al-birr
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: الصلاح, العدل
Original: δικαιοσύνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. al-birr appears in Quran 2:177 as a checklist of pious deeds achieving standing before God. Ephesians usage: 4:24 (the new man created in righteousness), 6:14 (breastplate of righteousness) — must never collapse into the works-checklist sense.
Salvation
Approved rendering: الخلاص
Transliteration: al-khalāṣ
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: النجاة, الفوز بالجنة
Original: σωτηρία / σῴζω
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Mainstream Islamic soteriology has no assured salvation prior to the deeds-weighing mīzān. Ephesians usage: 2:5, 2:8 (perfect tense — already saved, present-tense assurance), 6:17 (helmet of salvation, retaining the same assured sense inside the armor metaphor).
Sevenfold Unity Confession
Approved rendering: جسد واحد، روح واحد، رجاء واحد، رب واحد، إيمان واحد، معمودية واحدة، إله وآب واحد
Transliteration: jasad wāḥid, rūḥ wāḥid, rajā’ wāḥid, rabb wāḥid, īmān wāḥid, ma’mūdiyyah wāḥidah, ilāh wa āb wāḥid
Doctrine: Church
New fixed catechetical unit introduced by Ephesians (4:4-6). Each component term individually reuses established baseline/Ephesians renderings, but the cumulative sevenfold structure is a high-value catechetical unit that must be locked and rendered identically every time it recurs anywhere in the curriculum — especially ‘one Lord’ (رب واحد) applied to Christ and ‘one God and Father’ (إله وآب واحد) naming Father and Son together. Never re-translate this string independently in a later lesson.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: ابن الله
Transliteration: Ibn Allāh
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: الحبيب من الله, الكلمة من الله (بدون ‘ابن’)
Original: υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Quran 112:3 and 19:35 deny Allah begets or has a son. Ephesians usage: 1:6 (‘his beloved Son’), 4:13 (‘knowledge of the Son of God’).
The Cross
Approved rendering: الصليب
Transliteration: al-ṣalīb
Doctrine: Christology
Original: σταυρός
Category: Christology
New term introduced by Ephesians (2:16). Presupposes the historical crucifixion, which mainstream Islamic doctrine (Quran 4:157) denies. Requires the same apologetic scaffolding as the baseline resurrection entry before this term can carry its full meaning.
Word Of God
Approved rendering: كلمة الله
Transliteration: kalimat Allāh
Doctrine: Spiritual Warfare
Original: ῥῆμα θεοῦ
Category: Spiritual Warfare
New term introduced by Ephesians (6:17). Identical phrase is the Qur’an’s own title for Jesus himself (Quran 4:171, kalimatuhu). Must be clarified in context as referring here to Scripture/God’s spoken message (a specific utterance, ῥῆμα), distinct from — though ultimately complementary to — Logos-Christology; readers must not be left to reconcile the overlap unaided.
Works
Approved rendering: أعمال
Transliteration: a’māl
Doctrine: Salvation
Original: ἔργον
Category: Salvation
New term introduced by Ephesians (2:9). The sharpest collision point in the curriculum with mainstream Islamic soteriology, in which a’māl are literally weighed on the mīzān at Judgment. This is a direct negation of deeds-based salvation as such, not merely a caution against excessive self-reliance on works.
High Risk Terms
Abba
Approved rendering: أبّا
Transliteration: Abbā
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Inherited from Romans package. Aramaic intimacy-term preserved untranslated in Romans 8:15; contrasts with Islamic tanzih’s emphasis on transcendence over intimate approachability. Ephesians usage: not directly present in the Ephesians text itself, but relevant cross-reference support for Ephesians 1:5’s adoption doctrine in teaching materials; retain the transliteration exactly as in the Romans package if quoted.
Access
Approved rendering: الدخول
Transliteration: al-dukhūl
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: التقرب
Original: προσαγωγή / παρρησία
Category: Faith
New term introduced by Ephesians (2:18, 3:12). Runs against a mediated-access default assumption in much popular Islamic piety (approach via prescribed ritual or prophetic intercession); connects to the baseline intercession note on exclusivity of access through Christ.
Apostle
Approved rendering: الرسول
Transliteration: al-rasūl
Doctrine: Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: المبعوث, التلميذ المرسل
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. الرسول is Muhammad’s own defining title (Rasul Allah); applying it to Paul requires explicit distinction from the Islamic prophetic office and its finality claim. Ephesians usage: 1:1, 2:20, 3:5, 4:11.
Body Of Christ
Approved rendering: جسد المسيح
Transliteration: jasad al-Masīḥ
Doctrine: Church
Rejected alternatives: الأمة
Original: σῶμα
Category: Church
New term introduced by Ephesians (1:23, 4:4, 4:12, 4:16, 5:23-30). Central to the Church as the Body of Christ doctrine; must convey organic, Spirit-animated union with Christ, distinct from the baseline caution against borrowing الأمة for ‘church.‘
Called
Approved rendering: المدعوون
Transliteration: al-mad’uwwūn
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: المُنتخَبون
Original: κλητός / κλῆσις
Category: Election
Inherited from Romans package. Context-sensitive across ministry-calling, sainthood, and salvation senses. Ephesians usage: 4:1, 4:4 — the effectual summons underlying Christian unity.
Calling
Approved rendering: الدعوة
Transliteration: al-da’wah
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Original: κλῆσις
Category: Election
Inherited from Romans package. Da’wah is the standard Islamic term for human missionary invitation to Islam; here it denotes the reverse direction — God’s own sovereign summons. Ephesians usage: 1:18, 4:1, 4:4.
Circumcision
Approved rendering: الختان
Transliteration: al-khitān
Doctrine: Unity
Original: περιτομή / ἀκροβυστία
Category: Unity
New term introduced by Ephesians (2:11). Khitan is a near-universal cultural/religious practice across Arab Muslim and many Arab Christian contexts. Paul’s point is narrowly that this marker no longer functions as a covenant boundary in Christ; must not be read as commentary on the practice itself.
Dead Spiritually
Approved rendering: أموات
Transliteration: amwāt
Doctrine: Sin
Rejected alternatives: بعيدين عن الله, ضالّين
Original: νεκρός
Category: Sin
New term introduced by Ephesians (2:1, 2:5). Confronts Islamic fitrah doctrine’s assumption of innate spiritual purity/neutrality at birth. Must retain full force; do not substitute ‘astray’ or ‘far,’ which are compatible with self-correction and undercut the passage’s argument that rescue must be a unilateral divine act.
Dividing Wall
Approved rendering: الحائط الفاصل
Transliteration: al-ḥā’iṭ al-fāṣil
Doctrine: Unity
Rejected alternatives: الحواجز بينهم
Original: μεσότοιχον τοῦ φραγμοῦ / ἔχθρα
Category: Unity
New term introduced by Ephesians (2:14). A concrete, historically-rooted image (likely alluding to the Jerusalem temple’s dividing barricade). Rejected alternative ‘the barriers between them’ generalizes into a vague metaphor that invites contemporary political re-application; must retain the concrete historical referent.
Election
Approved rendering: اختيار الله
Transliteration: ikhtiyār Allāh
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: القدر
Original: ἐκλέγομαι
Category: Election
Inherited from Romans package. Must not collapse into generic fatalistic qadar. Ephesians usage: 1:4, 1:11 — God’s specific choice ‘in him,’ never detached from its Christ-centered basis.
Faith
Approved rendering: الإيمان
Transliteration: al-īmān
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: الاعتقاد, الثقة
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Iman is primarily creedal assent paired with practice in Islam; Pauline faith is personal trust/reliance in Christ’s finished work. Ephesians usage: 2:8, 3:12, 3:17, 4:5, 4:13, 6:16 — the channel of receiving grace in the core passage and the sixth element of the 4:4-6 unity confession.
Filled With The Spirit
Approved rendering: الامتلاء بالروح
Transliteration: al-imtilā’ bi-l-rūḥ
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: πληρόω (πληρωθῆσθε ἐν πνεύματι)
Category: Sanctification
New term introduced by Ephesians (5:18). Must be taught as moral-relational Spirit-control of a surrendered will, contrasted explicitly with drunkenness (already present in the verse) and reinforced with the sober ethical fruit that follows (5:19-21) — not an altered-consciousness or ecstatic-trance experience, given both Sufi dhikr practice and folk jinn-possession beliefs in the broader cultural context.
Forgiveness
Approved rendering: المغفرة
Transliteration: al-maghfirah
Doctrine: Salvation
Original: ἄφεσις
Category: Salvation
New term introduced by Ephesians (1:7). Al-maghfirah is the standard Islamic term but remains conditional and outcome-uncertain until Judgment in mainstream theology; here forgiveness is secured now, completely, through the cross.
Fullness
Approved rendering: الملء
Transliteration: al-mil’
Doctrine: Church
Rejected alternatives: انسحاق, ذوبان, اتحاد
Original: πλήρωμα
Category: Church
New term introduced by Ephesians (1:23, 3:19, 4:13). Rejected alternatives all evoke Sufi fanā’ (mystical dissolution/annihilation into the divine). Must be kept strictly paired with its stated content (Christ’s own fullness given to and expressed through the church) — relational and representational, never ontological merger.
Glory
Approved rendering: المجد
Transliteration: al-majd
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: النور الإلهي
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Avoid light-based renderings evoking Sufi ishraq illumination mysticism. Ephesians usage: 1:6, 1:12, 1:14, 1:17-18, 3:13, 3:16, 3:21.
Gospel
Approved rendering: الإنجيل
Transliteration: al-Injīl
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: البشارة, الخبر السار
Original: εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Established term shared with Quranic usage (Injil = the revelation given to ‘Isa). Risk is not word-choice but background assumption: mainstream Islamic doctrine holds the Injil in circulation today is corrupted (tahrif) from an original lost revelation. Segments must not concede this framing; al-Injil here means the NT record itself, not a lost predecessor text. Ephesians usage: 1:13, 3:6, 6:15, 6:19 — tied to the mystery of Gentile inclusion and the ‘gospel of peace’ in the armor metaphor.
Grace
Approved rendering: النعمة
Transliteration: al-ni’mah
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: الفضل, الرحمة
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. الفضل and الرحمة both function in Islamic theology as favor responsive to obedience, not favor totally apart from merit. النعمة must always be qualified in context as unearned. Ephesians usage: 1:6-7, 2:5, 2:7-8, 4:7, 6:24 — grace as sovereignly, unequally, but always freely distributed favor grounding the core passage’s salvation argument.
Head Headship
Approved rendering: الرأس
Transliteration: al-ra’s
Doctrine: Church
Rejected alternatives: رئيس, زعيم, قائد
Original: κεφαλή
Category: Church
New term introduced by Ephesians (1:22, 4:15, 5:23). Rejected alternatives are exclusively organizational/hierarchical with no organic, life-source connotation. Must convey loving, life-giving, self-sacrificial authority per the pattern of 5:25, never domination; consistency required across all three occurrences so the household usage (5:23) is never read apart from its Christological model (1:22, 4:15).
Inheritance
Approved rendering: الميراث
Transliteration: al-mīrāth
Doctrine: Salvation
Original: κληρονομία
Category: Salvation
New term introduced by Ephesians (1:11, 1:14, 1:18, 3:6). Mīrāth is heavily codified in Islamic law with fixed, gender-differentiated shares (Quran 4:11-12). The NT inheritance is an unearned, equal, full inheritance secured by adoption for all ‘sons,’ not a formula-calculated legal portion.
Intercession
Approved rendering: الشفاعة
Transliteration: al-shafā’ah
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Original: δέησις / προσευχή (Eph 6:18)
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Shafa’ah is a live, contested Islamic category. Ephesians usage: 6:18 (‘supplication for all the saints’) — mutual believer intercession, distinct and complementary to Christ’s own exclusive, once-for-all intercession.
Israel
Approved rendering: إسرائيل
Transliteration: Isrā’īl
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Original: Ἰσραήλ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Contemporary spoken Arabic overwhelmingly associates this word with the modern nation-state. Ephesians usage: 2:12 (‘commonwealth of Israel’) — requires deliberate pastoral framing separate from the present political conflict.
New Man
Approved rendering: الإنسان الجديد
Transliteration: al-insān al-jadīd
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: καινὸς ἄνθρωπος
Category: Sanctification
New term introduced by Ephesians (4:24; cf. 2:15’s ‘one new man’). Must be taught as a definitive change of identity/nature through union with Christ, paralleling the new-creation language of 2:10, not merely moral improvement of the old self.
Offering And Sacrifice
Approved rendering: تقدمة وذبيحة
Transliteration: taqdimah wa-dhabīḥah
Doctrine: Christology
Original: προσφορὰ καὶ θυσία
Category: Christology
New term introduced by Ephesians (5:2). Sacrificial/atonement vocabulary tied to the blood_of_christ and the_cross cautions; Quran 6:164 denies substitutionary atoning death is possible, requiring the same apologetic scaffolding.
Old Man
Approved rendering: الإنسان العتيق
Transliteration: al-insān al-‘atīq
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: παλαιὸς ἄνθρωπος
Category: Sanctification
New term introduced by Ephesians (4:22). Must not be reduced to Islamic tawbah (behavioral reform of a continuously pure self); names a discarded former identity, not a self undergoing gradual repair.
One New Man
Approved rendering: الإنسان الواحد الجديد
Transliteration: al-insān al-wāḥid al-jadīd
Doctrine: Unity
Original: εἷς καινὸς ἄνθρωπος
Category: Unity
New term introduced by Ephesians (2:15). Core term for the Unity of Jews and Gentiles doctrine. Requires deliberate framing distinct from the contemporary political weight of ‘Isra’il’; this is a redemptive-historical, not political, unity claim.
Prepared Beforehand
Approved rendering: الإعداد المسبق
Transliteration: al-i’dād al-musbaq
Doctrine: Election
Original: προετοιμάζω
Category: Election
New term introduced by Ephesians (2:10). Shares the qadar-collision profile of ‘predestined’; must convey specific, purposeful divine planning tied to redemption in Christ, not generic impersonal fatalism.
Principalities And Powers
Approved rendering: الرياسات والسلاطين
Transliteration: al-riyāsāt wa-l-sulṭānāt
Doctrine: Spiritual Warfare
Rejected alternatives: الرؤساء والسلاطين (SVD market variant, retained only for cross-document consistency discussion, not preferred)
Original: ἀρχαί καὶ ἐξουσίαι
Category: Spiritual Warfare
New term introduced by Ephesians (1:21, 3:10, 6:12). Overlaps with popular Islamic jinn/shaytan cosmology, which is diffuse and largely amoral in folk usage. Must be taught as real, personal, morally accountable, Christ-subordinated beings — always pair with subordination language (‘خاضعة للمسيح,’ per 1:21-22) — not an occult-adjacent framework inviting ritual countermeasures.
Prophet
Approved rendering: نبي
Transliteration: nabī
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Original: προφήτης
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Risk of readers stopping at ‘prophet’ the way khatam an-nabiyyin treats Muhammad as superseding all prior revelation. Ephesians usage: 2:20, 3:5, 4:11 — must be paired with fuller Christological titles.
Reconcile
Approved rendering: المصالحة
Transliteration: al-muṣālaḥah
Doctrine: Unity
Original: ἀποκαταλλάσσω
Category: Unity
New term introduced by Ephesians (2:16). Ṣulḥa (tribal reconciliation) is a genuine Arab cultural bridge concept, but must retain the dual vertical (with God) and horizontal (Jew-Gentile) reconciliation achieved exclusively through Christ’s cross, not a human-brokered settlement.
Redemption
Approved rendering: الفداء
Transliteration: al-fidā’
Doctrine: Salvation
Original: ἀπολύτρωσις
Category: Salvation
New term introduced by Ephesians (1:7, 1:14, 4:30). Fidā’ is a Quranically attested category (2:196), a usable bridge concept, but Quran 6:164 explicitly denies one person’s death can bear another’s guilt. The price must be specified as Christ’s own substitutionary blood, directly against that denial.
Revelation
Approved rendering: إعلان
Transliteration: i’lān
Doctrine: Mystery
Rejected alternatives: وحي
Original: ἀποκάλυψις
Category: Mystery
New term introduced by Ephesians (3:3, 3:5). Every mainstream circulating Arabic Bible version uses وحي (waḥy) here, but waḥy carries strong, unavoidable association with the Qur’an’s own claimed verbatim-dictation revelation mode. This curriculum deliberately departs from market practice: use إعلان, never وحي, and supply a translator’s note distinguishing Paul’s mode of receiving revealed truth from Quranic dictation.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: التقديس
Transliteration: al-taqdīs
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: التطهير
Original: ἁγιασμός / ἁγιάζω
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package. The Spirit’s ongoing work of making believers holy, not ritual purification. Ephesians usage: 5:26 — tied explicitly to the word, not wuḍū’/ghusl-style washing.
Sin
Approved rendering: الخطية
Transliteration: al-khaṭīyah
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: الذنب, الإثم
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package. Islamic fitrah doctrine denies inherited sin. Ephesians usage: 2:1 (‘dead in trespasses and sins’) — intensifies the same collision already logged in the baseline.
Submission
Approved rendering: الخضوع
Transliteration: al-khuḍū’
Doctrine: Household
Original: ὑποτάσσω
Category: Household
New term introduced by Ephesians (5:21, 5:22, 5:24). Sits in a crowded semantic neighborhood with الإسلام itself (submission to Allah as the religion’s defining category); the risk is frame-collision, not word-collision. The mutual-submission frame of 5:21 must be retained as governing the wife-specific instruction of 5:22 in every presentation — the Greek has no independent verb at 5:22, which depends grammatically on 5:21. Never excerpt 5:22-24 without 5:21.
The Devil
Approved rendering: إبليس / الشيطان
Transliteration: Iblīs / al-Shayṭān
Doctrine: Spiritual Warfare
Original: διάβολος
Category: Spiritual Warfare
New term introduced by Ephesians (4:27, 6:11). Iblīs is the Quran’s own proper name for Satan (2:34) — a genuinely shared, safe referent for a personal fallen spiritual enemy. The Qur’anic origin-narrative (refusal to bow before Adam) differs from the biblical fall account; a minor narrative difference worth flagging for teaching, not a doctrinal collision.
Medium Risk Terms
Armor Of God
Approved rendering: سلاح الله الكامل
Transliteration: silāḥ Allāh al-kāmil
Doctrine: Spiritual Warfare
Original: πανοπλία τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Spiritual Warfare
New term introduced by Ephesians (6:11, 6:13). Given contested contemporary connotations of jihad/military vocabulary in Arabic religious discourse, the exclusively defensive, non-violent, spiritual sense must be reinforced explicitly. Never supply ritual-countermeasure vocabulary (رقية, تحصين, تمائم/حجاب) near this term.
Baptism
Approved rendering: المعمودية
Transliteration: al-ma’mūdiyyah
Doctrine: Church
Original: βάπτισμα
Category: Church
New term introduced by Ephesians (4:5). Established Christian Arabic term. Distinguish from Islamic ritual ablution (wuḍū’/ghusl), a repeatable purification rite; Christian baptism is a single, unrepeated initiatory rite.
Bondservant
Approved rendering: عبد
Transliteration: ‘abd
Doctrine: Household
Original: δοῦλος
Category: Household
New term introduced by Ephesians (6:5-8). Must be taught in its historical, redemptive-transformative NT context, not as endorsement of any contemporary practice, including regional domestic-worker sponsorship systems.
Church
Approved rendering: الكنيسة
Transliteration: al-kanīsah
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: الجماعة, الأمة
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. الأمة is the pan-Islamic community term and must never be borrowed for ‘church’; reinforce the living, gathered people of God, not merely a building. Ephesians usage: 1:22, 3:10, 3:21, 5:23-32.
Covenant
Approved rendering: العهد
Transliteration: al-‘ahd
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: الميثاق
Original: διαθήκη
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Retain the relational, unilaterally-initiated biblical covenant sense. Ephesians usage: 2:12 (‘covenants of promise’).
Evangelist
Approved rendering: مبشّر
Transliteration: mubashshir
Doctrine: Church
Rejected alternatives: مرسل
Original: εὐαγγελιστής
Category: Church
New term introduced by Ephesians (4:11). مرسل blurs the office toward apostle in some circulating editions and should be avoided for consistency. Intersects with the baseline evangelism doctrine’s apostasy-context safety caution regarding open gospel proclamation.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: الشركة
Transliteration: al-sharikah
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: الزمالة, الجماعة
Original: κοινωνία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Shares its ش-ر-ك root with shirk; unrelated in sense but avoid pairing with vocabulary suggesting ‘partnership with God’ in that sense. Ephesians usage: 3:9 (‘fellowship of the mystery’).
Gentiles
Approved rendering: الأمم
Transliteration: al-umam
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: الكفار
Original: ἔθνη
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. الكفار must never be used for the ethnic-neutral sense of ‘Gentiles.’ Ephesians usage: 2:11, 3:1, 3:6, 3:8, 4:17.
Holy
Approved rendering: مقدس
Transliteration: muqaddas
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: طاهر
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package. طاهر carries ritual-purity connotation and is avoided in favor of the relational, set-apart-for-God sense. Ephesians usage: 1:4, 5:27.
Hope
Approved rendering: الرجاء
Transliteration: al-rajā’
Doctrine: Faith
Original: ἐλπίς
Category: Faith
New term introduced by Ephesians (1:18, 2:12, 4:4). Islamic rajā’ habitually pairs with khawf (fear) as a matched devotional pair before an uncertain Judgment outcome. Never pair الرجاء with خوف in Ephesians contexts; reinforce with already-accomplished-fact vocabulary.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: ملكوت الله
Transliteration: malakūt Allāh
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Rejected alternatives: مملكة الله
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ / τοῦ Χριστοῦ
Category: Kingdom
Inherited from Romans package. Distinguish God’s present spiritual reign from a future political state; avoid khilafah resonance. Ephesians usage: 5:5.
Love
Approved rendering: المحبة
Transliteration: al-maḥabbah
Doctrine: Faith
Original: ἀγάπη
Category: Faith
New term introduced by Ephesians (1:4-5, 2:4, 3:17-19, 5:2, 5:25, 5:28). Broadly shared vocabulary (maḥabbah is standard in both Christian and Islamic devotional Arabic); context must reinforce the specifically self-giving, covenantal agapē sense over a generic affectionate or romantic register.
Master Human
Approved rendering: سيد
Transliteration: sayyid
Doctrine: Household
Original: κύριος (used of human masters)
Category: Household
New term introduced by Ephesians (6:5, 6:9). Arabic’s available distinction between سيد (human master) and الرب (the Lord, reserved for God/Christ) preserves the theological distinction more clearly than English’s shared ‘lord/lords,’ since both English uses share one Greek root κύριος. Never allow سيد to be confused with or substituted for الرب.
New Creation
Approved rendering: خليقة جديدة
Transliteration: khalīqah jadīdah
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: κτίζω / κτίσις
Category: Sanctification
New term introduced by Ephesians (2:10, 4:24). Must read as re-creation in Christ, not the general creation of humanity already covered by Genesis; ties directly to the old_man/new_man contrast.
Peace
Approved rendering: السلام
Transliteration: al-salām
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: الأمان, الطمأنينة
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Relational and legal peace secured through justification, not the greeting-word sense nor Sufi tuma’ninah. Ephesians usage: 1:2, 2:14-17 (Christ himself identified as ‘our peace’ — a strong personal claim), 4:3, 6:15, 6:23.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: قوة الله
Transliteration: quwwat Allāh
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Original: δύναμις θεοῦ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Broadly compatible with Al-Qawiyy, one of Allah’s names. Ephesians usage: 1:19, 3:16, 3:20, 6:10.
Saints
Approved rendering: القديسون
Transliteration: al-qiddīsūn
Doctrine: Sainthood
Rejected alternatives: الأولياء
Original: ἅγιοι
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. الأولياء carries strong Sufi devotional-veneration connotations foreign to the corporate, non-hierarchical NT sense. Ephesians usage: 1:1, 1:18, 3:8, 3:18, 4:12, 5:3, 6:18.
Seal
Approved rendering: الختم
Transliteration: al-khatm
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: σφραγίζω / σφραγίς
Category: Sanctification
New term introduced by Ephesians (1:13-14, 4:30). Shares root خ-ت-م with khātam al-nabiyyīn (Seal of the Prophets, Muhammad’s title, Quran 33:40); root-level resonance only, unrelated in sense, but flagged so readers do not import an unintended finality association.
Spiritual Gifts
Approved rendering: المواهب الروحية
Transliteration: al-mawāhib al-rūḥiyyah
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts
Rejected alternatives: المواهب
Original: χαρίσματα / δόματα
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Always pair with الروحية; المواهب alone reads as natural talent. Ephesians usage: 4:7-11.
Temple Dwelling Place
Approved rendering: الهيكل
Transliteration: al-haykal
Doctrine: Church
Original: ναός / κατοικητήριον
Category: Church
New term introduced by Ephesians (2:21-22). Must be distinguished from a physical mosque/masjid building sense; a living, organic, growing structure, not a static edifice.
Trespasses
Approved rendering: الزلات
Transliteration: al-zallāt
Doctrine: Sin
Rejected alternatives: التعديات
Original: παράπτωμα
Category: Sin
New term introduced by Ephesians (2:1, 2:5). Must be paired with, not substituted for, الخطية (baseline ‘sin’) to preserve Paul’s state/act distinction between sinful condition and sinful acts.
Walk Conduct
Approved rendering: السلوك
Transliteration: al-sulūk
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: περιπατέω
Category: Sanctification
New term introduced by Ephesians (2:2, 2:10, 4:1, 4:17, 5:2, 5:8, 5:15). Governing metaphor of the whole letter; must be rendered consistently across all seven occurrences to preserve the before/after structure central to the Walking in Newness of Life doctrine. The word itself is religiously neutral and safe in everyday Arabic; the risk is entirely doctrinal-background (Islamic tawbah’s behavior-reform default), not lexical.
Workmanship
Approved rendering: صنيعة
Transliteration: ṣanī’ah
Doctrine: Salvation
Original: ποίημα
Category: Salvation
New term introduced by Ephesians (2:10). Must be kept distinct from the ‘good works’ that follow it, preserving Paul’s cause/fruit sequence: the believer is God’s handiwork first, and good works are its result.
Low Risk Terms
Cornerstone
Approved rendering: حجر الزاوية
Transliteration: ḥajar al-zāwiyah
Doctrine: Church
Original: ἀκρογωνιαῖος
Category: Church
New term introduced by Ephesians (2:20). Standard architectural metaphor; minimal collision.
Exhort
Approved rendering: يشجع / يعظ
Transliteration: yushajji’ / ya’iẓ
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Inherited from Romans package. Context-sensitive between admonition and encouragement. Ephesians usage: 4:1, 6:22.
Pastor
Approved rendering: راعٍ
Transliteration: rā’ī
Doctrine: Church
Original: ποιμήν
Category: Church
New term introduced by Ephesians (4:11). Broadly safe, shared shepherd metaphor.
Stewardship
Approved rendering: وكالة
Transliteration: wakālah
Doctrine: Mystery
Rejected alternatives: تدبير
Original: οἰκονομία
Category: Mystery
New term introduced by Ephesians (3:2, 3:9). Administrative metaphor for Paul’s entrusted task of making the mystery known; minor doctrinal risk.
Teacher
Approved rendering: معلّم
Transliteration: mu’allim
Doctrine: Church
Original: διδάσκαλος
Category: Church
New term introduced by Ephesians (4:11). Low collision risk; standard vocabulary.
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: الشكر
Transliteration: al-shukr
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Original: εὐχαριστία
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Shukr is also a major Islamic virtue; broadly compatible, low risk. Ephesians usage: 1:16, 5:4, 5:20.
Referenced passages