Core Glossary
08 Core Glossary — James
Per-Term Glossary with Translation Risk, Full Book Coverage
This glossary extends the baseline Romans translation_memory.json for the James curriculum. Terms marked [BASELINE — REUSE EXACT] already exist in the Language Package and must be used with their recorded rendering, unmodified. Terms marked [NEW] are proposed additions for James and must be added to translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json before Phase 2 processing begins, following the version-increment procedure in 12_ai_translation_requirements.md.
Baseline Terms Reused in James (no change to rendering)
| Term | Arabic | Risk (baseline) | Key James occurrences | James-specific note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Faith (πίστις) | الإيمان | High | 1:3,6; 2:1,5,14-26; 5:15 | James interrogates claimed faith without works; reinforce relational-trust sense, not creedal-assent-only (2:19 demons illustration strongly reinforces baseline’s caution about Islamic īmān as creedal assent). |
| Sin (ἁμαρτία) | الخطية | High | 1:15; 2:9; 4:17; 5:15-16,20 | Reused without modification; 4:17 (“knowing the good and not doing it is sin”) reinforces universal accountability doctrine. |
| Law (νόμος) | الناموس | Critical | 1:25; 2:8-12; 4:11 | NEVER الشريعة, even where James’s usage leans toward the ethical/love-command sense rather than cultic law. |
| Grace (χάρις) | النعمة | High | 4:6 | Direct quotation of Proverbs 3:34; contrast humility/pride. |
| Righteousness (δικαιοσύνη) | البر | Critical | 1:20; 2:23; 3:18 | Two senses appear: forensic-credited (2:23, “counted to him for righteousness”) and lived-fruit (3:18, “fruit of righteousness”); both use البر — disambiguate by context, never by word substitution. |
| Justification (δικαιόω, verb) | التبرير (root ب-ر-ر; verb تَبَرَّرَ/بُرِّرَ) | Critical | 2:21,24,25 | The book’s single highest-stakes term; see 07_semantic_analysis.md Part 1 for the mandatory Romans-harmonization note. |
| Salvation (σῴζω/σωτηρία) | الخلاص | Critical | 1:21; 2:14; 4:12; 5:15,20 | Includes a secondary “heal” sense at 5:15 running alongside σῴζω — disambiguate contextually without abandoning الخلاص’s theological weight where salvation, not merely physical healing, is in view. |
| Lord (κύριος) | الرب | Critical | 1:1(implied); 5:4,7-8,10-11,14-15 | Applied to God the Father (5:4, “Lord of Hosts”) and to Christ (5:7-8, “coming of the Lord”); same Critical weight applies to both referents. |
| God (θεός) | الله | Critical | throughout | No change. |
| Peace (εἰρήνη) | السلام | Medium | 2:16; 3:18 | 2:16 is the ordinary greeting sense, not the theological “peace with God” sense — flag explicitly to prevent doctrinal over-reading of a hollow platitude. |
| Kingdom of God (βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ) | ملكوت الله | Medium | 2:5 | ”Heirs of the kingdom” — cross-reference adoption doctrine. |
| Adoption (υἱοθεσία) — conceptual cross-reference only | التبني | Critical | 2:5 (κληρονόμος, “heir”) | James does not use υἱοθεσία directly, but κληρονόμος τῆς βασιλείας invokes the same full-inheritance theology; cross-reference required. |
| Father (πατήρ) | الآب | Critical | 1:17,27; 3:9 | ”Father of lights” (1:17); reinforces unchanging goodness against fatalistic-decree misreadings. |
| Church (ἐκκλησία) — conceptual cross-reference | الكنيسة | Medium | 5:14 (via πρεσβύτεροι, “elders of the church”) | James itself uses συναγωγή (2:2), not ἐκκλησία, for the gathering — see NEW term below. |
| Imputed righteousness (ἐλογίσθη…εἰς δικαιοσύνην) | البر المحسوب | Critical | 2:23 | Mandatory exact reuse — identical citation of Genesis 15:6 to Romans 4:3. |
| Devil (διάβολος) — conceptual; not previously a standalone baseline entry, treat per baseline Critical-adjacent cautions on spiritual-conflict vocabulary | الشيطان / إبليس | Medium | 4:7 | New standalone entry recommended (see NEW terms below) but conceptually continuous with baseline cautions on personal spiritual realities. |
New Terms Introduced by James (proposed additions to Language Package)
| Term | Original (Greek) | Transliteration | Arabic rendering | Risk | Doctrine | Key occurrences | Alternatives rejected | Risk rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Works | ἔργα | erga | الأعمال | Critical | Faith and Works | 1:25(implied);2:14-26 | العبادات (too narrow/ritual), الطاعة (too abstract) | الأعمال is the exact term for deeds weighed on the Islamic mīzān at Judgment. Must always be framed as fruit/evidence of genuine faith, never as the ground or means of justification, in direct continuity with the baseline’s Critical “justification” and “salvation” notes. |
| Servant/slave (of God/Christ) | δοῦλος | doulos | عبد | High | Christian Identity | 1:1 | خادم (too weak — loses total-belonging sense) | عبد Allāh is a common Islamic honorific self-designation; genuine bridge, but ground it in adoption/sonship, not submission-as-total-identity. |
| Dispersion | διασπορά | diaspora | الشتات | Medium | (historical/background) | 1:1 | — | Keep to historical Jewish-diaspora sense; avoid contemporary political overtones already flagged under baseline “israel.” |
| Trial / temptation | πειρασμός | peirasmos | تجربة | High | Trials and the Testing of Faith | 1:2-3,12-14; 5:10 | فتنة (rejected — carries sectarian-strife connotations in contemporary Arabic) | One root covers two senses (external testing vs. internal enticement to sin) that must be disambiguated by context; 1:13’s theodicy point (“God tempts no one”) is a necessary corrective to popular fatalistic qadar-framing. |
| Testing / proven genuineness | δοκίμιον | dokimion | اختبار / برهان الإيمان | Medium | Trials and the Testing of Faith | 1:3 | — | Refining-metal metaphor; low independent risk beyond context. |
| Endurance / steadfastness | ὑπομονή | hypomonē | الصبر | High | Trials and the Testing of Faith; Patience and the Lord’s Return | 1:3-4,12; 5:11 | المثابرة (weaker, less established in Christian Arabic usage) | Ṣabr is a celebrated Islamic virtue; must be explicitly grounded in Spirit-produced hope in Christ’s return, not stoic self-mastery or fatalistic qadar-acceptance. See also μακροθυμία below for the related but distinct ch. 5 term. |
| Perfect / mature / complete | τέλειος | teleios | كامل | High | (cross-cutting: maturity theme) | 1:4,17,25; 3:2 | تام (acceptable secondary option in non-anthropological contexts, e.g. “perfect gift”) | Avoid resonance with الإنسان الكامل (Sufi “Perfect/Complete Human” archetype); James’s sense is ethical-spiritual maturity through trial and obedience. |
| Wisdom | σοφία | sophia | الحكمة | High | Wisdom from Above | 1:5-8; 3:13-17 | الفهم (too narrow — “understanding” only) | Ḥikmah is a major Islamic theological category (divine name, scholarly virtue); anchor as a relational gift received through prayer from the Father, for holy/peaceable living — not philosophical acumen or Sufi gnosis. |
| Double-minded | δίψυχος | dipsychos | مضطرب النفس / متردد القلب | Medium | Faith | 1:8; 4:8 | — | Inner division/wavering trust; low independent risk. |
| Poor / rich | πτωχός / πλούσιος | ptōchos / plousios | الفقير / الغني | Medium | Favoritism and the Poor | 1:9-11,27; 2:2-6; 5:1-6 | — | Low word-level risk; doctrinal weight carried by προσωπολημψία (below) and surrounding social-justice context. |
| Crown of life | στέφανος τῆς ζωῆς | stephanos tēs zōēs | إكليل الحياة | Medium | Trials and the Testing of Faith | 1:12 | تاج الحياة (acceptable variant) | Pair with grace-not-merit framing to avoid a deeds-ledger reading of eschatological reward. |
| Desire / lust | ἐπιθυμία | epithymia | الشهوة | Medium-High | Universal Human Accountability | 1:14-15; 4:1-2 | — | Compatible shared vocabulary; reinforce internal, individual origin of sin against fiṭrah-based assumptions of natural purity. |
| Father of lights | Πατὴρ τῶν φώτων | Patēr tōn phōtōn | أبو الأنوار (qualifying الآب) | Critical | (Fatherhood of God) | 1:17 | — | Reinforces unchanging divine goodness; pairs with baseline Critical الآب note. |
| Firstfruits | ἀπαρχή | aparchē | الباكورة | Medium | (new creation, eschatology) | 1:18 | — | Standard; low independent risk. |
| Word (of truth) / implanted word | λόγος (ἀληθείας) | logos (alētheias) | الكلمة / كلمة الحق | High | Inspiration/Gospel (cross-reference) | 1:18,21-23 | — | Must be explicitly distinguished from any Christological “Logos” title; here it denotes the gospel message/Scripture. |
| Religion | θρησκεία | thrēskeia | الدين | Critical | (redefinition of “true religion”) | 1:26-27 | العبادة الحقة (recommended qualifying/alternative phrase) | الدين is Islam’s own core self-designation term; risk of implying James presents a comparable ritual-legal “religion” system, exactly inverting his point. Mandatory theologian review. |
| Orphans and widows | ὀρφανός / χήρα | orphanos / chēra | اليتامى والأرامل | Medium | Favoritism and the Poor | 1:27 | — | Positive convergence with zakāt ethics; note differing theological ground (grace vs. legal obligation). |
| World (ethical sense) | κόσμος | kosmos | العالم | Medium | Worldliness versus Friendship with God | 1:27; 4:4 | — | Disambiguate ethical/system sense from neutral created-order sense. |
| Bridle / tame (the tongue) | χαλιναγωγέω | chalinagōgeō | يُلجم / يضبط اللسان | Low-Medium | Taming the Tongue | 1:26; 3:2-3 | — | Metaphor; low independent risk. |
| Favoritism / partiality | προσωπολημψία | prosōpolēmpsia | المحاباة / محاباة الوجوه | High | Favoritism and the Poor | 2:1,9 | التمييز (too generic — “discrimination” broadly) | Confronts tribal/clan/sectarian honor-hierarchies with unusually strong social weight in Arab contexts. |
| Assembly / synagogue | συναγωγή | synagōgē | المجمع | Medium | (background: Jewish-Christian setting) | 2:2 | — | Do not render as “mosque”; distinct from الكنيسة. |
| Royal law / law of liberty | νόμος βασιλικός / νόμος τῆς ἐλευθερίας | nomos basilikos / nomos tēs eleutherias | الناموس الملوكي / ناموس الحرية | Critical | (Law, cross-reference) | 2:8,12; 1:25 | الشريعة (forbidden per baseline “law” entry) | Never الشريعة; must not read as commentary on or critique of Islamic sharīʿah as a legal-political system. |
| Mercy | ἔλεος | eleos | الرحمة | High | Favoritism and the Poor (2:13); Grace (cross-ref) | 2:13; 3:17; 5:11 | — | Raḥmah is a central divine attribute in Islam functioning as obedience-responsive favor; 2:13’s reciprocal-sounding structure needs the fruit/evidence framing, not a merit-salvation reading. |
| Friend of God | φίλος θεοῦ | philos theou | صديق الله | High | Faith and Works (Abraham) | 2:23 | خليل الله (rejected — imports the specific Qur’anic Ibrāhīm narrative/rationale) | Genuine convergence point (Abraham/Ibrāhīm as “friend of God” in both traditions) requiring explicit differentiation of theological ground. |
| Dead (of faith) | νεκρός/νεκρά | nekros/nekra | ميّت / ميتة | High | Faith and Works | 2:17,26 | — | Faith without works is not “weak” but categorically dead — was never alive, not killed by a later lack. |
| Tongue | γλῶσσα | glōssa | اللسان | Low-Medium | Taming the Tongue | 3:1-12 | — | Good cross-cultural bridge; minimal doctrinal risk. |
| Teacher | διδάσκαλος | didaskalos | معلّم | Low-Medium | Taming the Tongue | 3:1 | — | Accountability of teaching role. |
| Hell / Gehenna | γέεννα | geenna | جهنم | High | Taming the Tongue (eschatological background) | 3:6 | — | Same root as Qur’anic Jahannam but attached to divergent systematized doctrine; requires explicit distinguishing note, parallel to baseline’s Holy Spirit collision pattern. |
| Earthly/unspiritual/demonic wisdom | ἐπίγειος / ψυχική / δαιμονιώδης | epigeios / psychikē / daimoniōdēs | أرضية / نفسانية / شيطانية | Medium | Wisdom from Above | 3:15,17 | — | Contrast cluster with σοφία ἄνωθεν; low independent risk beyond the wisdom-doctrine framing above. |
| Fruit of righteousness | καρπὸς δικαιοσύνης | karpos dikaiosynēs | ثمر البر | High | Wisdom from Above; Faith and Works (cross-ref) | 3:18 | — | Lived-fruit sense of البر, distinct from but not contradicting the forensic sense (2:23); same disambiguation principle as δικαιόω. |
| Adulteresses (spiritual) | μοιχαλίδες | moichalides | (metaphorical rendering with required framing note) | Medium-High | Worldliness versus Friendship with God | 4:4 | — | OT covenant-unfaithfulness idiom; literal rendering risks severe honor-shame misreading without an explanatory note. |
| Friendship (with world) / enmity (with God) | φιλία / ἔχθρα | philia / echthra | الصداقة / العداوة | High | Worldliness versus Friendship with God | 4:4 | — | Deliberate contrast with φίλος θεοῦ (2:23); preserve the literary link in teaching notes. |
| Envy / jealousy (of the spirit, 4:5) | φθόνος | phthonos | الغيرة / الحسد | High | Worldliness (exegetically disputed verse) | 4:5 | — | Genuine textual ambiguity (referent of “spirit”); mandatory theologian review, record alternative reading per Ambiguity Handling protocol. |
| Humility | ταπεινόω / ταπείνωσις | tapeinoō / tapeinōsis | التواضع | Medium | Worldliness versus Friendship with God | 4:6,10 | — | Compatible virtue; ground in Fatherly-grace relationship, not stand-alone moral merit. |
| Submit (to God) | ὑποτάσσω | hypotassō | اخضعوا لله | Critical | Worldliness; Obedience of Faith (cross-ref) | 4:7 | استسلموا لله (FORBIDDEN — same root as “Islam”/“Muslim,” س-ل-م) | Direct collision with Islam’s own defining submission-vocabulary; must use خ-ض-ع root, framed as fruit of restored relationship, not ground of standing. Mandatory theologian review. |
| Devil | διάβολος | diabolos | الشيطان / إبليس | Medium | Worldliness versus Friendship with God | 4:7 | — | Broadly shared figure across traditions; minor note on differing narrative details, real personal defeated enemy in both. |
| Lawgiver and judge | νομοθέτης καὶ κριτής | nomothetēs kai kritēs | المُشرِّع والديّان | Medium | (God’s sovereignty; bridge point) | 4:12 | — | Positive convergence with tawḥīd; low independent risk. |
| Boasting / arrogance | καύχησις / ἀλαζονεία | kauchēsis / alazoneia | التفاخر / الغطرسة | Low-Medium | Worldliness versus Friendship with God | 4:16 | — | Standard; low risk. |
| Lord of Hosts / Sabaoth | Κύριος Σαβαώθ | Kyrios Sabaōth | رب الجنود | Critical | (Lordship, cross-ref) | 5:4 | — | Same Critical weight as baseline الرب entry, applied here to God the Father as vindicator of the oppressed. |
| Patience / longsuffering | μακροθυμία | makrothymia | طول الأناة / الصبر | High | Patience and the Lord’s Return | 5:7-8,10 | — | Distinct nuance from ὑπομονή (endurance under pressure); ground explicitly in hope of Christ’s return, not fatalistic resignation. |
| Coming of the Lord / Parousia | παρουσία | parousia | المجيء الثاني للرب / عودة الرب | Critical | Patience and the Lord’s Return | 5:7-8 | — | Directly competing, well-known Islamic nuzūl ʿĪsā narrative (subordinate ʿĪsā affirming Islam, later dying naturally); requires apologetic scaffolding analogous to baseline’s “resurrection” entry. Mandatory theologian review. |
| Oath / swear | ὅρκος / ὀμνύω | horkos / omnyō | القسم / الحلف بالله | Medium-High | (practical ethics) | 5:12 | — | Cultural sensitivity re: normalized daily oath-taking invoking God’s name; native-speaker pastoral review recommended. |
| Elders | πρεσβύτεροι | presbyteroi | شيوخ الكنيسة | Medium | Prayer and Healing; Church (cross-ref) | 5:14 | — | Standard church-office term. |
| Anoint with oil | ἀλείφω ἐλαίῳ | aleiphō elaiō | يدهنونه بزيت | High | Prayer and Healing | 5:14 | — | Distinguish from folk-Islamic ruqya/amulet healing practices; a faith-expressing act, not an independently efficacious ritual. |
| Forgive | ἀφίημι | aphiēmi | يُغفر له / المغفرة | High | Confession and Restoration | 5:15 | — | Shared vocabulary with Islamic maghfirah (divine names Al-Ghaffār/Al-Ghafūr); anchor explicitly in Christ’s atoning work, not a hoped-for favorable balance at Judgment. |
| Confess (to one another) | ἐξομολογέομαι | exomologeomai | اعترفوا (بخطاياكم) بعضكم لبعض | High | Confession and Restoration | 5:16 | — | Neither sacramental priestly confession nor private Islamic tawba-alone; a third category of mutual, communal, horizontal accountability requiring explicit framing. |
| Heal / healing | ἰάομαι | iaomai | الشفاء | Medium-High | Prayer and Healing | 5:16 | — | Shared vocabulary with Qur’anic shifāʾ and ruqya culture; anchor in prayer through Christ, not recitation/amulet practice. |
| Soul | ψυχή | psychē | النفس | Medium | (salvation, cross-ref) | 5:20 | — | Note differing connotation from Islamic anthropological “al-nafs al-ammārah bi-l-sūʾ”; keep sense positive/rescuable in context. |
| Turn back / cover (sins) | ἐπιστρέφω / καλύπτω | epistrephō / kalyptō | يرد (إلى الحق) / يستر (الخطايا) | Medium | Confession and Restoration | 5:19-20 | — | “Covering sin” has minor positive resonance with Islamic satr (covering/veiling of shame); usable as a minor bridge point. |
Doctrine-to-Term Cross-Reference Index
| Doctrine (per curriculum parameters) | Primary terms | Primary passages | Overall doctrine risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Faith and Works | πίστις/الإيمان, ἔργα/الأعمال, δικαιόω/التبرير, νεκρά/ميتة, φίλος θεοῦ/صديق الله | 2:14-26 | Critical |
| Trials and the Testing of Faith | πειρασμός/تجربة, δοκίμιον, ὑπομονή/الصبر, ἐπιθυμία/الشهوة | 1:2-15 | High |
| Wisdom from Above | σοφία/الحكمة, ἐπίγειος/ψυχική/δαιμονιώδης, καρπὸς δικαιοσύνης/ثمر البر | 1:5-8; 3:13-18 | High |
| Favoritism and the Poor | προσωπολημψία/المحاباة, πτωχός/πλούσιος, ἔλεος/الرحمة, νόμος βασιλικός | 2:1-13 | High |
| Taming the Tongue | γλῶσσα/اللسان, γέεννα/جهنم, χαλιναγωγέω | 3:1-12 | Medium-High (Gehenna component High) |
| Worldliness versus Friendship with God | κόσμος/العالم, μοιχαλίδες, φιλία/ἔχθρα, ὑποτάσσω/اخضعوا | 1:27; 4:1-12 | Critical (ὑποτάσσω component) |
| Prayer and Healing | προσευχή, ἰάομαι/الشفاء, ἀλείφω ἐλαίῳ | 5:13-18 | High |
| Patience and the Lord’s Return | μακροθυμία/طول الأناة, παρουσία/المجيء الثاني | 5:7-11 | Critical (παρουσία component) |
| Confession and Restoration | ἐξομολογέομαι/اعترفوا, ἀφίημι/يُغفر, ἐπιστρέφω | 5:16-20 | High |
Summary Risk Counts (James New Terms)
| Risk Tier | Count of new terms | Review routing |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 5 (ἔργα, θρησκεία, νόμος βασιλικός, ὑποτάσσω, παρουσία) | Human theologian — mandatory |
| High | 20 | Human theologian |
| Medium-High | 3 | Human theologian / native speaker (dual flag) |
| Medium | 13 | Native speaker review |
| Low-Medium | 4 | Native speaker / automated |
This glossary must be merged into translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json (with corresponding doctrine_risk_registry.json entries) before any Phase 2 segment translation of James 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: Favoritism and the Poor (conceptual cross-ref via James 2:5’s ‘heir’)
Rejected alternatives: الاستلحاق
Original: υἱοθεσία (conceptual; James uses κληρονόμος, ‘heir’)
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (exact reuse). James-specific usage: James does not use the word υἱοθεσία directly, but 2:5’s κληρονόμος (‘heir,’ وارث) draws on the identical full-inheritance theology this baseline entry protects against the Qur’an’s (33:4-5) denial of adopted sons’ true filial/inheritance status. Mandatory cross-reference note wherever ‘heir of the kingdom’ occurs.
Father Of Lights
Approved rendering: أبو الأنوار
Transliteration: Abū al-Anwār
Doctrine: Sovereign and Unchanging Goodness of God
Original: Πατὴρ τῶν φώτων
Category: God
NEW compound title, built on the baseline’s Critical الآب entry. James 1:17. Reinforces God’s unchanging goodness as a corrective against any fatalistic framing (qadar) that would make God the author of temptation or evil (1:13). No existing fixed Arabic Christian title; compound is transparent and safe.
Father
Approved rendering: الآب
Transliteration: al-Āb
Doctrine: Sovereign and Unchanging Goodness of God
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package (exact reuse). James-specific usage: 1:17’s ‘Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change’ (see ‘father_of_lights’ compound entry) is a direct theodicy statement that must be preserved forcefully as a corrective against fatalistic qadar-framing that could conflate God’s decree with directly willing evil enticement (1:13). Also 3:9, blessing/cursing from the same mouth toward the Father.
God
Approved rendering: الله
Transliteration: Allāh
Doctrine: Deity of Christ (cross-ref); Divine Sovereignty as Lawgiver and Judge
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package (exact reuse). James-specific usage: James’s repeated emphasis on God’s singular, undivided sovereignty (2:19; 4:12) is a genuine convergence point with Islamic tawḥīd and may be affirmed as far as it goes, while the book’s Christological claims (2:1; 5:7-8) still require the full Trinitarian distinction the baseline entry establishes.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: الروح القدس
Transliteration: al-Rūḥ al-Qudus
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God (disputed reference, James 4:5)
Original: πνεῦμα (disputed reference, 4:5)
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package (exact reuse), applied ONLY IF the Holy-Spirit reading of James 4:5’s disputed ‘the spirit he caused to dwell in us’ is adopted for the primary text. Do not silently resolve this exegetically disputed verse; record the alternative human-spirit reading per the Ambiguity Handling protocol and route for mandatory theologian review regardless of which reading is chosen, since the baseline’s identical-phrase collision with the Qur’anic Ruh al-Qudus/Jibril applies fully if the Holy-Spirit reading is adopted.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: البر المحسوب
Transliteration: al-birr al-maḥsūb
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: البر المكتسب
Original: ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (exact reuse, MANDATORY). James-specific usage: 2:23 cites the identical Genesis 15:6 text Paul cites in Romans 4:3 (‘it was credited to him as righteousness’). This is the clearest proof-text that James does not contradict Romans: Abraham’s righteous standing was credited by faith BEFORE the sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22, James 2:21) ever occurred. NEVER render as earned (البر المكتسب remains forbidden).
Jesus
Approved rendering: يسوع
Transliteration: Yasū’
Doctrine: Deity and Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: عيسى
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package (exact reuse). James names Jesus at 1:1 and 2:1; never render as عيسى under any circumstance, consistent across both curricula.
Justification
Approved rendering: التبرير
Transliteration: al-tabrīr
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: التزكية, الحكم بالبراءة
Original: δικαιόω
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (exact reuse of root ب-ر-ر; NEVER switch roots). James-specific usage: 2:21,24,25 use δικαιόω to mean ‘shown/vindicated as genuinely righteous by the fruit of faith,’ answering a different question than Romans’ forensic once-for-all declaration. Mandatory theologian harmonization note required at every occurrence in 2:14-26 distinguishing these two senses of the same root; collapsing them into ‘justified by deeds performed’ reads as near-verbatim Islamic mīzān soteriology.
Law
Approved rendering: الناموس
Transliteration: al-nāmūs
Doctrine: Law / Royal Law (Fulfillment of Prophecy cross-ref)
Rejected alternatives: الشريعة, الشرع
Original: νόμος
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package (exact reuse). NEVER الشريعة. James-specific usage: 1:25, 2:8-12’s ‘royal law/law of liberty’ leans toward the ethical/love-command intent of the Law rather than the cultic system, but the absolute prohibition on الشريعة still applies without exception — see ‘royal_law’ entry below for the compound rendering.
Lord Of Hosts
Approved rendering: رب الجنود
Transliteration: Rabb al-Junūd
Doctrine: Deity and Lordship of Christ
Original: Κύριος Σαβαώθ
Category: God
NEW compound, built on the baseline’s Critical الرب entry. James 5:4, ‘the cries [of defrauded laborers] have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.’ Same Critical weight as the baseline ‘lord’ entry, applied here to God the Father as vindicator of the oppressed.
Lord
Approved rendering: الرب
Transliteration: al-Rabb
Doctrine: Deity and Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: السيد, المولى
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package (exact reuse). James-specific usage: applied both to God the Father (5:4, ‘Lord of Hosts’ — see ‘lord_of_hosts’) and directly to Jesus Christ (2:1, ‘our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory’; 5:7-8,14-15). Never softened to ‘master/teacher’ at any occurrence, whichever referent is in view.
Messiah
Approved rendering: المسيح
Transliteration: al-Masīh
Doctrine: Deity and Lordship of Christ
Original: Χριστός
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package (exact reuse). James-specific usage: 2:1 pairs المسيح directly with الرب and المجد in a single verse — every occurrence must actively correct the pre-loaded Qur’anic ‘Isa al-Masih narrative (honored prophet, not divine, not crucified, not risen).
Parousia
Approved rendering: المجيء الثاني للرب / عودة الرب
Transliteration: al-majīʾ al-thānī li-l-Rabb / ʿawdat al-Rabb
Doctrine: Patience and the Lord’s Return
Original: παρουσία
Category: Patience and the Lord’s Return
NEW. James 5:7-8, the technical NT term for Christ’s promised return in glory as Judge and King. Mainstream Islamic eschatology contains its own well-known, starkly different narrative of ‘the return of ʿĪsā’ (nuzūl ʿĪsā), in which Jesus returns as a subordinate figure who defeats al-Dajjāl, affirms Islam explicitly, and eventually dies naturally to be buried at Medina. This directly competing eschatological expectation is structurally identical in risk profile to the baseline’s Critical ‘resurrection’ entry: without apologetic scaffolding distinguishing Christ’s unshared divine authority as final Judge and eternal King, the term has no safe, unambiguous referent. Mandatory human theologian review at every occurrence.
Religion
Approved rendering: الدين
Transliteration: al-dīn
Doctrine: True Religion Defined
Original: θρησκεία
Category: Ethics and Sanctification
NEW. James 1:26-27. الدين is Islam’s own central self-designation term (dīn Allāh, dīn al-Islām, dīn al-ḥaqq). Rendering θρησκεία as bare الدين risks implying James presents Christianity as a comparable ritual-legal ‘religion’ system — exactly inverting his redefinition of religion toward compassion (orphans/widows) and personal moral purity. MANDATORY: pair with a qualifying phrase (العبادة الحقة / الديانة النقية) rather than the bare term at every occurrence; mandatory human theologian review.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: البر
Transliteration: al-birr
Doctrine: Faith and Works / Wisdom from Above
Rejected alternatives: الصلاح, العدل
Original: δικαιοσύνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (exact reuse). James-specific usage: TWO senses appear on the same root and must be disambiguated by context, never by switching Arabic words — (1) forensic-credited righteousness (2:23, identical citation to Romans 4:3) and (2) lived-fruit righteousness (1:20; 3:18, ‘fruit of righteousness’). Both are true; neither replaces the other.
Royal Law
Approved rendering: الناموس الملوكي / ناموس الحرية
Transliteration: al-nāmūs al-malūkī / nāmūs al-ḥurriyyah
Doctrine: Law / Royal Law
Rejected alternatives: الشريعة
Original: νόμος βασιλικός / νόμος τῆς ἐλευθερίας
Category: Covenant
NEW compound, built on the baseline’s Critical الناموس entry (never الشريعة). James 1:25; 2:8,12. The love-command as the summarizing intent of the Law, liberating rather than enslaving. Explicit note required: this is NOT commentary on or comparison to Islamic sharī’ah as a comprehensive legal-political system.
Salvation
Approved rendering: الخلاص
Transliteration: al-khalāṣ
Doctrine: Salvation (cross-ref); Faith and Works; Confession and Restoration
Rejected alternatives: النجاة, الفوز بالجنة
Original: σῴζω / σωτηρία
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (exact reuse). James-specific usage: carries a secondary ‘heal/rescue from physical death’ sense at 5:15,20 alongside the primary eternal-salvation sense at 1:21, 2:14, 4:12; disambiguate contextually without diluting theological weight where eternal salvation, not merely physical healing, is in view.
Submit To God
Approved rendering: اخضعوا لله
Transliteration: ikhḍaʿū li-llāh
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Rejected alternatives: استسلموا لله
Original: ὑποτάσσω
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
NEW — the single most collision-prone verb in the whole book. James 4:7. This is the direct semantic territory of the word ‘Islam’ itself (root س-ل-م, submission/surrender). استسلموا لله is FORBIDDEN without exception (same root as Islam/Muslim); use اخضعوا لله (root خ-ض-ع) instead. Frame explicitly as fruit of a restored relationship with God as Father following repentance (4:8), never as the ground of right standing before Him — the baseline’s Critical ‘Obedience of Faith’ doctrine note applies directly. Mandatory human theologian review at every occurrence.
Works
Approved rendering: الأعمال
Transliteration: al-a’māl
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: العبادات, الطاعة
Original: ἔργα
Category: Faith and Works
NEW — the single highest-stakes new term introduced by James. الأعمال is the exact term for deeds weighed on the Islamic mīzān (scale) at Judgment, the very mechanism the baseline’s التبرير and الخلاص entries were built to resist. Every occurrence in 2:14-26 must be anchored by explicit framing: works are the fruit and evidence of a real, already-present saving faith, never the basis or means of being declared righteous before God. العبادات rejected as too narrow/ritual; الطاعة rejected as too abstract, losing James’s concrete emphasis on visible action.
High Risk Terms
Anoint With Oil
Approved rendering: يدهنونه بزيت
Transliteration: yadhunūnahu bi-zayt
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Original: ἀλείφω ἐλαίῳ
Category: Prayer and Healing
NEW. James 5:14, ‘anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.’ Must be explicitly distinguished from folk-Islamic ruqya (Qur’anic-recitation healing rites) and amulet/talisman practices widely present in the region — this is a simple, faith-expressing prayer-act in Christ’s name, not a ritual formula with independent efficacy. Also flag: Catholic/Orthodox ‘anointing of the sick’ (مسحة المرضى) sacramental-efficacy framing is a legitimate tradition-internal reading elsewhere but must not be imported as the default reading for this curriculum’s Protestant-tradition register.
Confess
Approved rendering: اعترفوا (بخطاياكم) بعضكم لبعض
Transliteration: iʿtarifū (bi-khaṭāyākum) baʿḍukum li-baʿḍ
Doctrine: Confession and Restoration
Original: ἐξομολογέομαι
Category: Confession and Restoration
NEW. James 5:16, ‘confess your sins to one another.’ Neither the Catholic/Orthodox sacramental confession-to-a-priest model (though the same root اعتراف is used in Arabic Christian tradition for that rite, requiring disambiguation) nor the Islamic model of private tawba directed to Allāh alone without a human intermediary. James commands a third category — mutual, horizontal transparency and accountability among believers for healing and restoration — that must be explicitly distinguished from both defaults in teaching material.
Dead Faith
Approved rendering: ميّت / ميتة
Transliteration: mayyit / mayyitah
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Original: νεκρός / νεκρά
Category: Faith and Works
NEW. James 2:17,26. Faith without works is not ‘weak’ or ‘incomplete’ but categorically dead — it was never alive, not killed by a later lack of works. ميّت/ميتة carries the same forcefulness as the Greek nekra; risk is under-explaining the point, not the word choice itself.
Endurance
Approved rendering: الصبر
Transliteration: al-ṣabr
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith; Patience and the Lord’s Return
Rejected alternatives: المثابرة
Original: ὑπομονή
Category: Trials and the Testing of Faith
NEW. James 1:3-4,12; 5:11 (Job). الصبر is one of the most celebrated virtues in Islamic ethics, paired with shukr. Must be explicitly grounded as Spirit-produced endurance rooted in hope of Christ’s return and God’s unchanging good character (1:17; 5:7-8), never stoic self-mastery or fatalistic resignation to qadar. المثابرة rejected as weaker and less established in Christian Arabic usage.
Envy Spirit
Approved rendering: الغيرة / الحسد
Transliteration: al-ghayrah / al-ḥasad
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Original: φθόνος (4:5)
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
NEW. James 4:5, a notoriously ambiguous verse regarding whether the ‘spirit’ that envies/yearns is the human spirit or God’s Spirit. Genuine textual/exegetical ambiguity. MANDATORY human theologian review; the Arabic rendering must commit to one reading and record the alternative per the Ambiguity Handling protocol (see also ‘holy_spirit’ entry).
Faith
Approved rendering: الإيمان
Transliteration: al-īmān
Doctrine: Faith and Works (cross-ref: Faith, Romans baseline)
Rejected alternatives: الاعتقاد, الثقة
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package (exact reuse). James-specific usage: 2:14-26 interrogates a merely verbal faith-claim (‘says he has faith’); 2:19’s demons illustration (correct belief plus terror, no trust) sharply reinforces the baseline’s caution that Islamic iman is primarily creedal assent — reinforce relational-trust sense, not mere assent, at every occurrence in James.
Favoritism
Approved rendering: المحاباة / محاباة الوجوه
Transliteration: al-muḥābāh / muḥābāt al-wujūh
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Rejected alternatives: التمييز
Original: προσωπολημψία
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
NEW. James 2:1,9. Beyond the word itself, the doctrine directly confronts tribal (qabīlah), clan, and sectarian (Sunni/Shia) honor-hierarchies carrying unusually strong social weight in many Arab contexts. التمييز rejected as too generic (‘discrimination’ broadly).
Forgive
Approved rendering: يُغفر له / المغفرة
Transliteration: yughfar lahu / al-maghfirah
Doctrine: Confession and Restoration
Original: ἀφίημι
Category: Confession and Restoration
NEW. James 5:15, ‘if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.’ Maghfirah/ghafara is deeply shared vocabulary (Al-Ghaffār, Al-Ghafūr are central divine names in Islam) — broadly compatible concept of divine forgiveness, but Islamic maghfirah is contingent on Allah’s discretionary mercy weighed against deeds without a substitutionary atonement basis. Anchor biblical forgiveness explicitly in Christ’s finished atoning work (already established via البر المحسوب/التبرير), not a hoped-for favorable balance at Judgment.
Friend Of God
Approved rendering: صديق الله
Transliteration: ṣadīq Allāh
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: خليل الله
Original: φίλος θεοῦ
Category: Faith and Works
NEW. James 2:23, Abraham’s honorific title. Do NOT borrow the Qur’anic خليل الله (Khalīl Allāh, Qur’an 4:125), which would import the Qur’anic narrative and rationale (Ibrahim’s exemplary submission and monotheism) wholesale. صديق الله retains the ‘friend’ sense with ordinary, non-loaded vocabulary; use the genuine convergence as a teaching bridge while making explicit that Abraham is God’s friend because his God-given, credited righteousness expressed itself in trusting obedience — not because of a status earned by exemplary submission.
Friendship World Enmity God
Approved rendering: الصداقة / العداوة
Transliteration: al-ṣadāqah / al-ʿadāwah
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Original: φιλία (τοῦ κόσμου) / ἔχθρα (τοῦ θεοῦ)
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
NEW. James 4:4. Mutually exclusive relational allegiances, deliberately echoing φίλος θεοῦ (‘friend of God,’ Abraham, 2:23) with φιλία/ἔχθρα. This literary contrast with 2:23’s صديق الله must be preserved and noted explicitly in study materials — one cannot hold both friendships at once.
Fruit Of Righteousness
Approved rendering: ثمر البر
Transliteration: thamar al-birr
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above / Faith and Works
Original: καρπὸς δικαιοσύνης
Category: Wisdom from Above
NEW. James 3:18. Reuses the baseline’s Critical البر root in its lived-fruit sense (character/outcome), distinct from but not contradicting the forensic-credited sense in 2:23. Requires the same disambiguation note as the core passage’s δικαιόω: same root, two true senses, neither replacing the other.
Glory
Approved rendering: المجد
Transliteration: al-majd
Doctrine: Deity and Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: النور الإلهي
Original: δόξα
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package (exact reuse). James-specific usage: 2:1’s ‘our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory’ applies المجد directly and undilutedly to Jesus in the same breath as الرب — a direct, non-negotiable deity claim; avoid light-metaphor renderings that could evoke Sufi illumination (ishraq) mysticism.
Grace
Approved rendering: النعمة
Transliteration: al-ni’mah
Doctrine: Grace (cross-ref)
Rejected alternatives: الفضل, الرحمة
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (exact reuse). James-specific usage: 4:6 quotes Proverbs 3:34 (‘God gives grace to the humble’); humility is the posture that receives grace, never its price — must not be read as favor earned through the meritorious act of humbling oneself.
Hell Gehenna
Approved rendering: جهنم
Transliteration: Jahannam
Doctrine: Taming the Tongue
Original: γέεννα
Category: Taming the Tongue
NEW. James 3:6, ‘the tongue is set on fire by Gehenna.’ جهنم is the standard, explicit Qur’anic term for hellfire, described there in extensive systematized detail (levels, specific torments, avoidance through deeds/intercession) — identical word, structurally parallel to the baseline’s Holy Spirit collision pattern. Mandatory note: James’s use here is imagistic (the tongue’s destructive spiritual source), not a full systematic eschatology statement — see ‘parousia’ for the letter’s actual eschatological material.
Mercy
Approved rendering: الرحمة
Transliteration: al-raḥmah
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Original: ἔλεος
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
NEW. James 2:13; 3:17; 5:11. Raḥmah is one of the most central divine attributes in Islam (Ar-Raḥmān, Ar-Raḥīm) — broadly compatible vocabulary, but per the baseline’s caution under ‘grace,’ Islamic raḥmah functions as favor responsive to obedience. 2:13’s reciprocal-sounding structure (‘judgment without mercy to one who has shown no mercy’) is at real risk of confirming exactly that merit-based framework unless paired with the fruit/evidence theological note applied throughout 2:14-26.
Patience Longsuffering
Approved rendering: طول الأناة / الصبر
Transliteration: ṭūl al-anāh / al-ṣabr
Doctrine: Patience and the Lord’s Return
Original: μακροθυμία
Category: Patience and the Lord’s Return
NEW. James 5:7-8,10 (makrothymia — patient forbearance toward people/circumstances while awaiting an outcome, distinct in nuance from hypomonē’s endurance under pressure, see ‘endurance’). Ground explicitly in the certain hope of Christ’s return and God’s character (5:7-8), not stoic resignation or fatalistic qadar-acceptance.
Perfect Mature
Approved rendering: كامل
Transliteration: kāmil
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above (cross-cutting maturity theme)
Original: τέλειος
Category: Ethics and Sanctification
NEW. James’s teleios (1:4,17,25; 3:2) is ethical-spiritual maturity/wholeness through trial and obedience, not sinless perfection. Avoid resonance with الإنسان الكامل, a specific Sufi mystical anthropological category often applied archetypally to Muhammad. تام is an acceptable secondary option in non-anthropological contexts (e.g. ‘the perfect gift,’ 1:17).
Servant
Approved rendering: عبد
Transliteration: ‘abd
Doctrine: Servanthood and Christian Identity
Rejected alternatives: خادم
Original: δοῦλος
Category: Christian Identity
NEW. James’s self-designation (1:1), ‘a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.’ عبد Allāh is one of the most common honorific self-designations in Islam, expressing total submission as a title of honor — a genuine convergence point, but James’s δοῦλος-identity flows from prior adoption/sonship (see التبني, Critical), not a legal-submission identity that constitutes the whole of one’s religious standing. خادم rejected as too weak, losing the total-belonging sense.
Sin
Approved rendering: الخطية
Transliteration: al-khaṭīyah
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: الذنب, الإثم
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package (exact reuse). James-specific usage: 1:14-15 traces sin’s origin to inward desire (epithymia), and 4:17 states that knowing the good and not doing it is itself sin — both claims run directly against Islamic fiṭrah doctrine of innate natural purity at birth and must be taught explicitly, not assumed as shared ground.
Trial
Approved rendering: تجربة
Transliteration: tajribah
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Rejected alternatives: فتنة
Original: πειρασμός
Category: Trials and the Testing of Faith
NEW. One Greek root (peirasmos) covers two distinct senses in James that must be disambiguated by context: (a) external testing circumstances producing endurance (1:2,12; 5:10-11); (b) internal enticement to sin, never originating from God (1:13-14). فتنة is rejected — in contemporary Arabic it carries strong sectarian-strife/sedition connotations unrelated to James’s sense. 1:13’s theodicy point (‘God tempts no one with evil’) is a necessary corrective to popular fatalistic qadar-framing.
Wisdom
Approved rendering: الحكمة
Transliteration: al-ḥikmah
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
Rejected alternatives: الفهم
Original: σοφία
Category: Wisdom from Above
NEW. James 1:5-8; 3:13-17. الحكمة is a major Islamic theological category (a divine name, Al-Ḥakīm; also a scholarly/philosophical virtue). Must be anchored as a relational gift received through believing prayer from the Father of lights, for holy and peaceable living — never philosophical acumen, legal scholarship, or Sufi mystical gnosis. الفهم rejected as too narrow, ‘understanding’ only.
Word Of Truth
Approved rendering: الكلمة / كلمة الحق
Transliteration: al-kalimah / kalimat al-ḥaqq
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture (cross-ref)
Original: λόγος (ἀληθείας) / ἔμφυτος λόγος
Category: Inspiration of Scripture
NEW. James 1:18,21-23. The gospel message/Scripture, received and taking root, ‘able to save your souls.’ MUST include an explicit note distinguishing this from any Christological ‘Logos’ title (John 1:1), since James does not otherwise present a Christ-as-Word doctrine — here it denotes the gospel message and Scripture, not a divine-person title.
Medium Risk Terms
Assembly Synagogue
Approved rendering: المجمع
Transliteration: al-majmaʿ
Doctrine: (Church background; distinct from الكنيسة)
Original: συναγωγή
Category: Church
NEW. James 2:2. Synagōgē — the very early, Jewish-Christian gathering term. Do NOT render as ‘mosque.’ Distinct from ἐκκλησία (baseline الكنيسة); retain the historical Jewish-Christian assembly sense.
Bridle Tongue
Approved rendering: يُلجم / يضبط اللسان
Transliteration: yuljim / yaḍbiṭ al-lisān
Doctrine: Taming the Tongue
Original: χαλιναγωγέω
Category: Taming the Tongue
NEW. James 1:26; 3:2-3. Bridle/horse-control metaphor for self-control of speech. Transparent in Arabic; low independent risk beyond the full Taming the Tongue doctrine context.
Church
Approved rendering: الكنيسة
Transliteration: al-kanīsah
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing; Confession and Restoration
Rejected alternatives: الجماعة, الأمة
Original: ἐκκλησία (conceptual; James uses συναγωγή and πρεσβύτεροι, ‘elders of the church’)
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package (exact reuse). James-specific usage: reserved for 5:14’s ‘elders of the church’ (شيوخ الكنيسة). James’s own term for the gathered assembly, συναγωγή (2:2), is a distinct, earlier-register word — render as المجمع, never as الكنيسة and never as ‘mosque’ (see ‘assembly_synagogue’ entry).
Crown Of Life
Approved rendering: إكليل الحياة
Transliteration: iklīl al-ḥayāh
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Original: στέφανος τῆς ζωῆς
Category: Trials and the Testing of Faith
NEW. James 1:12, the eschatological reward promised to the one who endures trial out of love for God. Pair with the baseline’s grace-versus-merit framing (النعمة, High) so the crown is not read as payment for endurance under a deeds-ledger framework. تاج الحياة is an acceptable variant rendering.
Desire Lust
Approved rendering: الشهوة
Transliteration: al-shahwah
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Original: ἐπιθυμία
Category: Sin
NEW. James 1:14-15; 4:1-2. Compatible shared vocabulary (shahwah is standard in Islamic ethics too for base appetite), but must reinforce that sin’s origin here is the individual’s own inward desire, not merely an external decree — directly relevant to the fiṭrah collision flagged under ‘sin.‘
Devil
Approved rendering: الشيطان / إبليس
Transliteration: al-Shayṭān / Iblīs
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Original: διάβολος
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
NEW. James 4:7, ‘resist the devil, and he will flee from you.’ Broadly shared figure across both traditions (Shaytan/Iblīs is a Qur’anic figure too); minor note that the devil is a real, personal, defeated enemy in both — general compatibility, though specific narrative details differ and need not be reconciled.
Dispersion
Approved rendering: الشتات
Transliteration: al-shatāt
Doctrine: Servanthood and Christian Identity (historical background)
Original: διασπορά
Category: Church
NEW. James 1:1’s original addressees — the scattered Jewish-Christian exile communities. Keep to the historical-diaspora sense; avoid importing the contemporary political overtones already flagged under the baseline’s إسرائيل entry.
Double Minded
Approved rendering: مضطرب النفس / متردد القلب
Transliteration: muḍṭarib al-nafs / mutaraddid al-qalb
Doctrine: Faith and Works (cross-ref, faith without settled trust)
Original: δίψυχος
Category: Faith
NEW. James 1:8; 4:8. Dipsychos, ‘two-souled’ inner division and lack of settled trust. Low independent doctrinal risk beyond context.
Earthly Wisdom
Approved rendering: أرضية / نفسانية / شيطانية
Transliteration: arḍiyyah / nafsāniyyah / shayṭāniyyah
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
Original: ἐπίγειος / ψυχική / δαιμονιώδης
Category: Wisdom from Above
NEW. James 3:15,17, the three-fold negative description contrasted with wisdom from above. Standard contrast vocabulary; low independent risk beyond the wisdom-doctrine framing.
Elders
Approved rendering: شيوخ الكنيسة
Transliteration: shuyūkh al-kanīsah
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Original: πρεσβύτεροι
Category: Church
NEW. James 5:14, ‘let him call for the elders of the church.’ Connects to the baseline’s Medium ‘Church as God’s People’ doctrine; standard rendering.
Firstfruits
Approved rendering: الباكورة
Transliteration: al-bākūrah
Doctrine: (New Creation, background to Church doctrine)
Original: ἀπαρχή
Category: Church
NEW. James 1:18. Believers as a ‘kind of firstfruits’ of God’s new creation. Standard rendering; low independent risk.
Humility
Approved rendering: التواضع
Transliteration: al-tawāḍuʿ
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Original: ταπεινόω / ταπείνωσις
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
NEW. James 4:6,10. Compatible Islamic ethical virtue (tawāḍuʿ), but ground differs: here humility is the posture of a child receiving grace from a Father (see Adoption/Father doctrines), not merely a stand-alone moral virtue valued for its own sake.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: ملكوت الله
Transliteration: malakūt Allāh
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Rejected alternatives: مملكة الله
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Kingdom
Inherited from Romans package (exact reuse). James-specific usage: 2:5 names the poor as heirs of the kingdom promised to those who love God — cross-references the baseline’s Critical adoption doctrine (التبني) via the inheritance/heir language of the same verse (see ‘kingdom_heir’ cross-reference in doctrine notes).
Lawgiver Judge
Approved rendering: المُشرِّع والديّان
Transliteration: al-Musharriʿ wa-l-Dayyān
Doctrine: Divine Sovereignty as Lawgiver and Judge
Original: νομοθέτης καὶ κριτής
Category: God
NEW. James 4:12, ‘there is one lawgiver and judge.’ Genuine positive convergence point with Islamic tawḥīd (God’s absolute, undivided sovereignty as sole lawgiver/judge); usable as a bridge in teaching material with minimal doctrinal risk. Avoid over-reading this convergence as implying the whole book’s Christology is equally compatible with tawḥīd.
Oath
Approved rendering: القسم / الحلف بالله
Transliteration: al-qasam / al-ḥalaf bi-llāh
Doctrine: Truthful Speech and Oaths
Original: ὅρκος / ὀμνύω
Category: Ethics and Sanctification
NEW. James 5:12, ‘do not swear… let your yes be yes.’ Invoking God’s name in casual daily oaths (‘wa-llāhi’) is deeply normalized in everyday Arabic speech across religious communities; James’s command has strong, directly applicable, and potentially culturally uncomfortable practical force. Flag for native-speaker pastoral sensitivity in teaching material, not doctrinal correction.
Orphans Widows
Approved rendering: اليتامى والأرامل
Transliteration: al-yatāmā wa-l-armal
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Original: ὀρφανός / χήρα
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
NEW. James 1:27, the concrete ethical content of ‘pure religion.’ Positive convergence with zakāt recipients in Islamic law, but theological ground differs: grace-motivated compassion flowing from God’s Fatherly character, not a legally mandated almsgiving quota; note the distinction pastorally without diminishing the shared ethical value.
Peace
Approved rendering: السلام
Transliteration: al-salām
Doctrine: Peace with God (cross-ref); Wisdom from Above
Rejected alternatives: الأمان, الطمأنينة
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (exact reuse). James-specific usage: 2:16 uses the term in its ordinary, lower-stakes conventional-greeting register (‘go in peace’), NOT the baseline’s theological ‘peace with God’ sense — flag explicitly so the hollow, ironic use (a verbal blessing substituting for real provision) is not mistaken for a doctrinal statement. 3:18 uses the relational-fruit sense compatible with the baseline entry.
Poor Rich
Approved rendering: الفقير / الغني
Transliteration: al-faqīr / al-ghanī
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Original: πτωχός / πλούσιος
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
NEW. James 1:9-11,27; 2:2-6; 5:1-6. Low word-level risk; doctrinal weight is carried by favoritism/mercy vocabulary and surrounding social-justice context, not by these nouns themselves.
Prayer
Approved rendering: الصلاة
Transliteration: al-ṣalāh
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Original: προσευχή / εὔχομαι
Category: Prayer and Healing
NEW. James 5:13-18 (prayer in suffering, prayer for the sick, the effective prayer of a righteous person, Elijah’s prayer). Standard, broadly shared vocabulary of address to God (duʿāʾ/ṣalāh both have Islamic parallels); doctrinal weight lies in the object and mediation of the prayer (through Christ, per the baseline’s ‘intercession’ entry) rather than the term itself. Native speaker review recommended for tone.
Soul
Approved rendering: النفس
Transliteration: al-nafs
Doctrine: Confession and Restoration (cross-ref: Salvation)
Original: ψυχή
Category: Salvation
NEW. James 5:20, ‘save a soul from death.’ Nafs carries specific connotations in Islamic anthropology (e.g. ‘al-nafs al-ammārah bi-l-sūʾ,’ the soul inclined to evil) that could color the term with an unintended negative valence; context should keep the sense positive/rescuable, connecting to the baseline’s Critical الخلاص entry.
Testing Genuineness
Approved rendering: اختبار / برهان الإيمان
Transliteration: ikhtibār / burhān al-īmān
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Original: δοκίμιον
Category: Trials and the Testing of Faith
NEW. James 1:3’s dokimion — the refining-metal metaphor for the proof of genuine faith produced through trial. Low independent risk beyond the surrounding trial-doctrine context.
Tongue
Approved rendering: اللسان
Transliteration: al-lisān
Doctrine: Taming the Tongue
Original: γλῶσσα
Category: Taming the Tongue
NEW. James 3:1-12. Positive convergence with Islamic speech-ethics (backbiting/ghībah, lying, false witness are major categories in Islamic ethics too); good bridge-point, minimal doctrinal risk beyond the Gehenna reference at 3:6.
Turn Back Cover Sins
Approved rendering: يرد (إلى الحق) / يستر (الخطايا)
Transliteration: yaruddu (ilā al-ḥaqq) / yastur (al-khaṭāyā)
Doctrine: Confession and Restoration
Original: ἐπιστρέφω / καλύπτω
Category: Confession and Restoration
NEW. James 5:19-20, the letter’s closing exhortation. Restoration of one who has strayed, and covering/atoning imagery for sin (echoing Psalm 32:1, Proverbs 10:12). ‘Covering sin’ language has some resonance with the Islamic concept of Allah’s satr (veiling/covering of sin or shame) — usable as a minor bridge point with low independent doctrinal risk.
World Kosmos
Approved rendering: العالم
Transliteration: al-ʿālam
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Original: κόσμος
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
NEW. James 1:27; 4:4. Kosmos here is the dominant ethical/God-opposed-system sense, not the neutral created-physical-world sense. Must be flagged as the ethical-system sense at each occurrence.
Low Risk Terms
Boasting
Approved rendering: التفاخر / الغطرسة
Transliteration: al-tafākhur / al-ghaṭrasah
Doctrine: Presumption and God’s Will
Original: καύχησις / ἀλαζονεία
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
NEW. James 4:13-16, presumptuous planning about the future apart from God’s will. Broadly compatible with common Arabic religious speech patterns (e.g. ‘in shā’ Allāh’); low independent doctrinal risk. Ensure ‘the Lord’ retains its Christian referent (الرب), not a generic devotional formula stripped of Christ-centered content.
Teacher
Approved rendering: معلّم
Transliteration: muʿallim
Doctrine: Taming the Tongue
Original: διδάσκαλος
Category: Church
NEW. James 3:1, ‘not many of you should become teachers.’ Standard rendering; low doctrinal risk, but heightened accountability of the teaching role must be preserved rhetorically.
Referenced passages