Semantic Analysis

07 Semantic Analysis — Matthew 1–28 (Koine Greek → Arabic)

Purpose and Method

This document analyzes the full Gospel of Matthew in Koine Greek for load-bearing theological vocabulary, in preparation for Arabic translation of the Matthew curriculum. It builds on, and never contradicts, the baseline Romans Language Package (translation_memory.json, bible_term_registry.json, doctrine_risk_registry.json). Where a term already carries an established Arabic rendering from that baseline (e.g. الإنجيل, الإيمان, الرب, ابن الله, الروح القدس, الناموس, الخطية, المسيح, الرسول, العهد, نبي/نبوءة, الأمم, داود, إسرائيل, يسوع, الله, الآب, أبّا), that rendering is reused exactly and is not re-litigated here except to note Matthew-specific contextual nuance.

The core passage, Matthew 5:1–12 (the Beatitudes), receives full verse-by-verse treatment. Every other chapter (1–4, 6–28) is treated chapter-by-chapter, covering load-bearing terms not already fixed by the Romans baseline. Each term entry gives: original word, transliteration, literal meaning, semantic range, English variants, contextual theological meaning, and destination-language (Arabic) rendering and risk.

PART A — CORE PASSAGE: Matthew 5:1–12 (The Beatitudes), Verse-by-Verse

Matthew 5:1

Greek: Ἰδὼν δὲ τοὺς ὄχλους ἀνέβη εἰς τὸ ὄρος, καὶ καθίσαντος αὐτοῦ προσῆλθον αὐτῷ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ.

mountain — Gk. ὄρος (oros). Lit.: a mountain or hill. Semantic range: any elevated terrain, but in Jewish literary convention also evokes Sinai (law-giving) and eschatological “mountain of the Lord.” Variants: mountain, hillside, mount. Theological meaning: Jesus as the new Moses/greater-than-Moses lawgiver, seated (a posture of authoritative teaching, like a rabbi) to deliver the definitive kingdom ethic. Arabic: الجبل (al-jabal). Risk: Low. No collision; retain literal geographic sense, but translator notes may flag the Sinai typology for teaching material.
disciples — Gk. μαθηταί (mathētai), sing. μαθητής (mathētēs). Lit.: learners, students bound to a teacher. Semantic range: literal students; in the Gospels, the committed followers of Jesus, later the full company of believers (28:19). English variants: disciples, followers, students. Theological meaning: the primary audience of the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus’ committed followers, not the crowd generally — kingdom ethics are for kingdom citizens. Arabic: تلاميذ (talāmīdh), sing. تلميذ (talmīdh). Risk: Low-Medium. Standard, well-established Arabic Christian term; no direct Islamic-vocabulary collision, but must be kept distinct from عبد (slave/servant) or مريد (a Sufi disciple bound to a spiritual master/shaykh in a tariqa lineage) — مريد would wrongly import a master-disciple mystical initiation framework foreign to the text.

Matthew 5:2

Greek: καὶ ἀνοίξας τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ ἐδίδασκεν αὐτοὺς λέγων·

taught — Gk. διδάσκω (didaskō). Lit.: to teach, instruct. Semantic range: formal instruction, often with recognized authority (cf. 7:28-29, “he taught them as one having authority”). English variants: taught, instructed, was teaching. Theological meaning: introduces the doctrine of The Authority of Jesus’ Teaching — the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus’ inaugural, programmatic exercise of teaching authority, later made explicit with ἐξουσία in 7:29. Arabic: علّم / كان يعلّمهم (‘allama / kāna yu’allimuhum). Risk: Low on its own; High in combination with the authority theme it inaugurates (see ch. 7 below).

Matthew 5:3

Greek: Μακάριοι οἱ πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι, ὅτι αὐτῶν ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν.

blessed — Gk. μακάριος (makarios). Lit.: happy, fortunate, blessed. Semantic range: a state of divine favor and flourishing, not mere emotional happiness. English variants: blessed, happy, fortunate. Theological meaning: pronounces God’s favor on those the world does not consider fortunate — an eschatological reversal, not a promise of present ease. Arabic: طوبى لـ… (ṭūbā li-), the established Van Dyck/NAV formula (“Blessed/how blessed are…”). Risk: Low-Medium. طوبى also names a tree of Paradise in Islamic tradition (cf. Qur’an 13:29 and associated hadith), which is a mild positive resonance (blessedness/reward imagery) rather than a collision; retain the established formula.
poor in spirit — Gk. πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι (ptōchoi tō pneumati). Lit.: poor/destitute with respect to spirit. Semantic range: πτωχός = utterly poor, beggarly (stronger than πένης, merely needy); with τῷ πνεύματι, a spiritual, not merely economic, destitution — conscious dependence on God with nothing to offer. English variants: poor in spirit, spiritually poor, humble before God. Theological meaning: the entry posture into the Kingdom of Heaven is not merit or achievement but acknowledged spiritual bankruptcy — the opposite of self-sufficient righteousness. Arabic: المساكين بالروح (established Van Dyck rendering) or فقراء الروح (fuqarā’ al-rūḥ). Risk: High. مسكين (miskīn) is a specific, named category of zakat recipient in the Qur’an (9:60) — “the poor.” Without the qualifier بالروح firmly retained and taught, hearers may default to reading this as material poverty qualifying one for charity, rather than a spiritual disposition of humble dependence open to rich and poor alike. Always retain the full phrase and gloss it explicitly.
kingdom of heaven — Gk. βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν (basileia tōn ouranōn). See full treatment under “Kingdom of Heaven,” Part C new-term entries below (first formal occurrence). Arabic: ملكوت السماوات (malakūt al-samāwāt). Risk: High. See glossary entry.

Matthew 5:4

Greek: μακάριοι οἱ πενθοῦντες, ὅτι αὐτοὶ παρακληθήσονται.

those who mourn — Gk. πενθοῦντες (penthountes), from πενθέω. Lit.: to grieve, lament (often used of mourning the dead). Semantic range: grief over loss, sin, or the brokenness of the world. English variants: those who mourn, the grieving, the sorrowful. Theological meaning: godly grief — over personal sin and the fallenness of the world — that God himself will comfort, not merely endure. Arabic: الحزانى (al-ḥuzānā). Risk: Low.
comforted — Gk. παρακληθήσονται (paraklēthēsontai, future passive of παρακαλέω). Lit.: to call alongside, to comfort/console (the same root that yields παράκλητος, “Comforter/Advocate,” used of the Holy Spirit in John). Note: this is a distinct sense from the baseline’s “exhort” entry (يشجع/يعظ), which renders παρακαλέω in its encourage/urge sense; here the sense is consolation. English variants: comforted, consoled, encouraged. Theological meaning: divine consolation is guaranteed, future, and passive — received, not self-generated. Arabic: يتعزَّون (yuta’azzūna) — from عزاء (consolation), distinct from baseline’s يشجع. Risk: Low-Medium; flag for translators so this occurrence of the παρακαλέω root is not mechanically rendered with the baseline’s “exhort” term, which would sound like being urged rather than comforted.

Matthew 5:5

Greek: μακάριοι οἱ πραεῖς, ὅτι αὐτοὶ κληρονομήσουσι τὴν γῆν.

meek — Gk. πραεῖς (praeis), from πραΰς. Lit.: gentle, mild, not easily provoked. Semantic range: strength held under control, not weakness; used of Jesus himself (11:29, 21:5). English variants: meek, gentle, humble. Theological meaning: not passivity but power submitted to God, standing in contrast to worldly self-assertion. Arabic: الودعاء (al-wuda’ā’). Risk: Low-Medium. Partial positive overlap with the Islamic virtue of ḥilm (forbearance/self-restraint) may be used as a bridge, but note ḥilm is typically framed as a social virtue of the powerful restraining themselves, while πραΰς here is framed as a kingdom-inheriting disposition given to the powerless.
inherit the earth — Gk. κληρονομήσουσι τὴν γῆν (klēronomēsousi tēn gēn). Lit.: to receive as an heir; from κληρονόμος (heir, one who receives an inheritance/lot). Semantic range: legal/familial inheritance language, echoing Psalm 37:11. English variants: inherit the earth/land. Theological meaning: ties directly to the baseline’s Adoption doctrine (التبني) — believers are heirs with full inheritance rights, not a lesser status. Arabic: يرثون الأرض (yarithūna al-arḍ). Risk: Medium-High. Notably, Qur’an 21:105 quotes Psalm 37 nearly verbatim (“My righteous servants shall inherit the earth” — الأرض يرثها عبادي الصالحون), attributing inheritance to “My righteous servants” (al-ṣāliḥūn, a works-oriented category). This is a genuine textual bridge point but the reference point must be reframed: Matthew grounds inheritance in Kingdom-conferred sonship (see adoption doctrine), not independent moral achievement (al-ṣalāḥ).

Matthew 5:6

Greek: μακάριοι οἱ πεινῶντες καὶ διψῶντες τὴν δικαιοσύνην, ὅτι αὐτοὶ χορτασθήσονται.

hunger and thirst for righteousness — Gk. πεινῶντες καὶ διψῶντες τὴν δικαιοσύνην. δικαιοσύνη = righteousness, the baseline Critical term (البر, al-birr). Semantic range and risk as established in baseline: must never collapse into the Qur’anic al-birr “checklist” sense (2:177). Theological meaning here: an appetite, not a completed achievement — the posture of one who does not yet possess full righteousness but craves it as a gift. This directly anticipates Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees (5:20), a curriculum doctrine. Arabic: reuse baseline البر exactly. Risk: Critical (reused from baseline). Translator note: pairing “hunger/thirst” with البر actually helps guard against the works-checklist misreading, since hunger implies lack, not accomplishment — this nuance should be preserved, not smoothed over.
satisfied — Gk. χορτασθήσονται (chortasthēsontai), lit. to be fed/filled (originally of feeding animals fodder, χόρτος). English variants: filled, satisfied. Theological meaning: God himself supplies the righteousness that is craved (cf. Romans’ imputed righteousness, البر المحسوب). Arabic: يُشبَعون (yushba’ūna). Risk: Low.

Matthew 5:7

Greek: μακάριοι οἱ ἐλεήμονες, ὅτι αὐτοὶ ἐλεηθήσονται.

merciful / shown mercy — Gk. ἐλεήμονες (eleēmones), ἐλεηθήσονται (eleēthēsontai), root ἔλεος (mercy). Lit.: showing compassionate mercy in action, not mere feeling. Semantic range: active compassion, especially toward those in distress or under obligation to oneself. English variants: merciful, compassionate; shown mercy, receive mercy. Theological meaning: genuine mercy shown to others as fruit of a heart already recipient of God’s mercy — not a merit transaction. Arabic: الرحماء (al-ruḥamā’) / يُرحمون (yurḥamūn). Risk: Medium-High. Unlike النعمة (grace), رحمة (mercy) is a genuinely appropriate lexical match here — Ar-Raḥmān and Ar-Raḥīm are foremost among Allah’s names, and mercy-as-virtue is deeply Islamic. The risk is not the word but the logical structure of the verse: “blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy” can be heard as straightforward reciprocity (mercy earns mercy), reinforcing the Islamic deeds-for-mercy framework the baseline’s “grace” entry already flags. Teaching material must clarify that human mercy here is the fruit of having already received God’s mercy in Christ, not its cause.

Matthew 5:8

Greek: μακάριοι οἱ καθαροὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ, ὅτι αὐτοὶ τὸν Θεὸν ὄψονται.

pure in heart — Gk. καθαροὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ (katharoi tē kardia), from καθαρός (clean, pure). Semantic range: can denote either ritual cleanliness or inward moral purity; Matthew 15:1-20 makes explicit that Jesus locates true purity in the heart, not handwashing rites. English variants: pure in heart, clean of heart. Theological meaning: this Beatitude anticipates that later controversy — inward moral integrity, not external ritual observance, is what God requires. Arabic: أنقياء القلب (anqiyā’ al-qalb) — from نقي (naqiyy). Risk: High. Following the baseline’s precedent on “holy” (مقدس preferred over طاهر precisely to avoid ritual-purity/wuḍū’ connotations), translators must use نقي القلب, never طاهر القلب — the latter would pull the verse toward the very external-ritual-purity framework Jesus rejects three chapters later (15:1-20).
see God — Gk. τὸν Θεὸν ὄψονται (ton Theon opsontai). Semantic range: direct beholding, unmediated vision. Theological meaning: eschatological, face-to-face communion with God, granted as reward for inward transformation Christ himself supplies. Arabic: يرون الله (yarawna Allāh). Risk: Medium-High. The “vision of God” (ru’yat Allāh) is itself a live, contested question within Islamic theology: mainstream Sunni (Ashʿari) orthodoxy affirms believers will see Allah in Paradise (based on hadith), while other streams (much rationalist Muʿtazili theology, and strands of Shia theology) deny visual beholding as incompatible with divine transcendence. Depending on audience background, this phrase may either resonate as familiar hadith-based hope or trigger theological controversy; teaching material should note this variance rather than assume either reaction.

Matthew 5:9

Greek: μακάριοι οἱ εἰρηνοποιοί, ὅτι αὐτοὶ υἱοὶ Θεοῦ κληθήσονται.

peacemakers — Gk. εἰρηνοποιοί (eirēnopoioi), compound of εἰρήνη (peace, baseline term السلام) + ποιέω (to make/do). Theological meaning: active reconcilers, not merely peace-loving or conflict-avoidant people. Arabic: صانعو السلام (ṣāni’ū al-salām). Risk: Medium, following baseline “peace” (السلام) risk profile — this is relational reconciliation, not the political/social order sense of السلام, nor the Sufi tuma’ninah (inner tranquility) sense.
sons of God — Gk. υἱοὶ Θεοῦ (huioi Theou), plural. Disambiguation required: this is not the baseline’s Critical Christological title “Son of God” (ابن الله, singular, referring to Christ’s unique eternal Sonship). Here the plural refers to believers granted filial status. Semantic range: adoptive, relational sonship conferred on disciples — directly related to the baseline’s Adoption doctrine (التبني). English variants: sons of God, children of God. Arabic: أبناء الله or, to visually distinguish from the singular Christological title, يُدعَون أبناءً لله (they will be called sons/children of God). Risk: High. Because Arabic ابن (son) is the same word used in the maximally sensitive Critical term ابن الله, translators must ensure context and grammatical number (plural أبناء vs. singular ابن الله) unmistakably signal that this is adoptive sonship of believers, not a claim of multiple co-divine sons alongside Christ. Cross-reference the baseline’s “father”/“son_of_god” Critical notes.

Matthew 5:10

Greek: μακάριοι οἱ δεδιωγμένοι ἕνεκεν δικαιοσύνης, ὅτι αὐτῶν ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν.

persecuted for righteousness — Gk. δεδιωγμένοι ἕνεκεν δικαιοσύνης. δικαιοσύνη reused (البر, Critical). Theological meaning: suffering incurred specifically because of righteous, kingdom-aligned living — introduces Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus as a curriculum doctrine, expanded through the whole Gospel (10:16-39; 16:24-25). Arabic: reuse البر; “persecuted” المطرودون / المضطهَدون (al-muḍṭahadūn). Risk: High (compounded from البر’s baseline Critical status plus the discipleship-cost doctrine).
kingdom of heaven repeats — bracketing device (vv. 3, 10) framing the whole Beatitudes series as a description of Kingdom citizens.

Matthew 5:11–12

Greek: μακάριοί ἐστε ὅταν ὀνειδίσωσιν ὑμᾶς καὶ διώξωσιν καὶ εἴπωσιν πᾶν πονηρὸν καθ᾿ ὑμῶν ψευδόμενοι ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ. χαίρετε καὶ ἀγαλλιᾶσθε, ὅτι ὁ μισθὸς ὑμῶν πολὺς ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς· οὕτως γὰρ ἐδίωξαν τοὺς προφήτας τοὺς πρὸ ὑμῶν.

for my sake / on account of me — Gk. ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ (heneken emou). Theological meaning: the shift from “for righteousness” (v.10) to “for my sake” (v.11) identifies righteousness with allegiance to Christ personally — a Christological center to what could otherwise sound like generic virtue-persecution. Arabic: من أجلي (min ajlī). Risk: Low structurally, but High in doctrinal weight — must not be smoothed into a generic “for the sake of goodness.”
rejoice and be glad — Gk. χαίρετε καὶ ἀγαλλιᾶσθε. Lit.: rejoice, exult. Theological meaning: the appropriate response to persecution is joy, grounded in eschatological reward, not resignation. Arabic: افرحوا وتهللوا (ifraḥū wa-tahallalū). Risk: Low.
reward — Gk. μισθός (misthos). Lit.: wages, payment for labor or service. Semantic range: can denote earned wages (a hired laborer’s pay) or, as here, a gracious eschatological gift. English variants: reward, wage, recompense. Theological meaning: the reward is “in heaven,” future and God-given, not a present transactional wage. Arabic: أجر (ajr). Risk: High. Ajr is the standard, load-bearing Islamic term for the heavenly recompense earned through good deeds within the deeds-weighing (mīzān) framework the baseline’s “salvation” entry already flags as incompatible with assured grace-based salvation. Every occurrence of μισθός across Matthew (5:12; 6:1-6,16-18; 10:41-42; 20:8) needs the same care: reward here flows from kingdom belonging and grace, not an independent merit ledger.
the prophets who were before you — Gk. τοὺς προφήτας τοὺς πρὸ ὑμῶν. Reuse baseline “prophet” (نبي, نبوءة). Theological meaning: situates disciples in continuity with the persecuted-prophet line of the Old Testament, reinforcing Fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecy as a structural theme of the whole Gospel (see Part C, “fulfillment formula”).

PART B — CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER STUDY, MATTHEW 1–28

Baseline-established terms (gospel, faith, grace, righteousness, salvation, church, law, sin, kingdom_of_god, messiah, prophet, holy_spirit, father, son_of_god, lord, resurrection, jesus, god, israel, david, gentiles, apostle, covenant, glory, etc.) are reused exactly per translation_memory.json throughout and are not re-argued below except where Matthew supplies new contextual nuance. Only new or newly-nuanced load-bearing terms are listed per chapter.

Chapter 1 — Genealogy, Virgin Birth, Immanuel

genealogy/origin — Gk. γένεσις/γενεαλογία (genesis/genealogia, 1:1,18). Lit.: origin, birth-record. Theological meaning: frames the whole Gospel as rooted in real, verifiable OT covenant history. Arabic: نسب / كتاب ميلاد (nasab/kitāb mīlād). Risk: Low.
Son of David — Gk. υἱὸς Δαυίδ (huios Dauid, 1:1). First formal occurrence; distinct from baseline “seed of David” (نسل داود, physical lineage only). Lit.: son of David. Semantic range: in Matthew, a fixed messianic title invoked by petitioners recognizing Jesus’ identity (9:27; 12:23; 15:22; 20:30-31; 21:9,15), not merely a genealogical fact. English variants: Son of David, David’s son/heir. Theological meaning: Jesus as the Promised Messiah and Son of David — the Davidic-covenant heir who fulfills 2 Samuel 7. Arabic: ابن داود (Ibn Dāwūd). Risk: Critical. Structurally parallel to the baseline’s ابن الله caution: “Ibn” + proper name applied as a title to Jesus again raises the begetting-language sensitivity the Qur’an addresses (112:3, 19:35), even though “son of David” itself is a human-lineage claim, not a divinity claim. Must be taught with the distinction explicit: “Son of David” = messianic royal heir (fully consistent with, even required by, Jesus’ full humanity); “Son of God” = unique eternal divine Sonship. Conflating or confusing the two titles in translation notes would blunt both doctrines.
Immanuel — Gk. Ἐμμανουήλ (Emmanouēl, 1:23, citing Isaiah 7:14), Heb. עִמָּנוּ אֵל. Lit.: “God with us.” Theological meaning: names the Incarnation doctrine directly — God himself personally present in Jesus — and forms a literary bookend with 28:20 (“I am with you always”). Arabic: عمانوئيل (transliterated), glossed الله معنا (Allāhu ma’anā). Risk: Critical. This is arguably Matthew’s most direct incarnation claim; reuse baseline’s “incarnation” (التجسد) framework and forbidden-substitution rules (never الحلول or الظهور) when explaining it.
virgin — Gk. παρθένος (parthenos, 1:23). Lit.: virgin, unmarried young woman. Theological meaning: the miraculous, Spirit-wrought conception validating the Incarnation. Arabic: عذراء (‘adhrā’). Risk: Medium, with a genuine apologetic bridge: the Qur’an itself affirms Mary’s virginity and Jesus’ virgin birth (19:20-21) as a divine sign. This is a rare point of shared ground — but the theological weight differs sharply: in Matthew it signals incarnation and divine Sonship; in the Qur’an it signals a miraculous sign attesting prophethood without implying divine Sonship. Use the agreement as a bridge, but do not assume shared theological conclusion.
angel — Gk. ἄγγελος (angelos, 1:20,24). Arabic: ملاك (malāk). Risk: Low. Shared, safe vocabulary across both traditions.

Chapter 2 — Magi, Fulfillment Formula

magi — Gk. μάγοι (magoi, 2:1). Lit.: originally Persian/Zoroastrian priest-astrologers. Arabic: المجوس (al-Majūs), the established Arabic Bible rendering. Risk: Low. Al-Majūs is a recognized historical-religious category in Arabic (Zoroastrians), safely distinct from any polemical modern usage.
fulfillment formula — Gk. ἵνα/ὅπως πληρωθῇ (hina/hopōs plērōthē, “that it might be fulfilled,” 2:15,17,23, and 9 further occurrences through the Gospel: 1:22; 4:14; 8:17; 12:17; 13:35; 21:4; 26:56; 27:9). First formal cluster here. Semantic range: πληρόω = to fill up, complete, bring to full expression — not merely “predict-then-happen” but bringing the OT text to its intended fullness. Theological meaning: the structural backbone of Fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecy across the whole Gospel. Arabic: لكي يتم ما قيل (li-yatimma mā qīl) / تحقيقاً لما تكلم به (taḥqīqan li-mā takallama bihi). Risk: High. Reuse baseline’s doctrine-risk note on “fulfillment_of_prophecy”: Islamic naskh (abrogation) treats later revelation as superseding, replacing, and correcting earlier revelation. Matthew’s fulfillment formula must be taught as the opposite movement — Christ completing and confirming what was already true in the Hebrew Scriptures, not abrogating or replacing a prior, now-superseded text.

Chapter 3 — Repentance, Baptism, Kingdom of Heaven (introduced), Sonship declared

kingdom of heaven — Gk. βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν (basileia tōn ouranōn, 3:2, John the Baptist’s preaching). First occurrence in the Gospel. Full entry under Part C.
repentance — Gk. μετάνοια (metanoia), μετανοέω (metanoeō, 3:2,8,11). Lit.: a change of mind, a turning. Semantic range: total reorientation of mind and life, not mere regret. English variants: repent, repentance, turn/turning. Theological meaning: the necessary human response to the in-breaking Kingdom, preparing for and inseparable from faith in the coming Messiah. Arabic: التوبة (al-tawbah), يتوبون (yatūbūna). Risk: High. Tawbah is a major, well-developed Islamic theological category — sincere turning from a specific sin, seeking Allah’s forgiveness, generally without a mediating atonement, and repeatable case-by-case. NT μετάνοια in Matthew is total, kingdom-oriented reorientation tied inseparably to trusting the person of the coming/present Messiah, not a private transaction between the individual and God renewed after each sin. Teaching material must make the Christ-directed, kingdom-oriented character of repentance explicit.
baptism — Gk. βάπτισμα (baptisma), βαπτίζω (baptizō, 3:6,7,11,13-16). Lit.: to dip, immerse. Semantic range: John’s baptism of repentance vs. later Christian baptism (28:19) in the triune name — Matthew signals continuity and escalation (“I baptize with water… he will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire,” 3:11). English variants: baptize, baptism, immersion. Theological meaning: a decisive, once-for-all initiatory act publicly marking repentance and, later, incorporation into Christ and the triune name. Arabic: المعمودية (al-ma’mūdiyyah), يعمّد (yu’ammid). Risk: High on its own (a new sacramental term with no baseline precedent); escalates to Critical at 28:19 where it is joined to the Trinitarian formula (see ch. 28 below).
“This is my beloved Son” (3:17) — reuse baseline’s ابن الله / الآب Critical entries. First of three Matthean instances of the Father’s voice publicly identifying Jesus as Son (see also 17:5). Arabic: reuse exactly. Risk: Critical (reused).

Chapter 4 — Temptation, the Devil, Inaugural Kingdom Proclamation

temptation/test — Gk. πειρασμός (peirasmos), πειράζω (peirazō, 4:1,3,7). Lit.: a trial, test, temptation. Semantic range: can mean a neutral test of character or an enticement to sin, depending on the agent and intent. English variants: tempt, test, try. Theological meaning: Jesus’ wilderness temptation as the second Adam / true Israel, resisting where humanity failed, using Scripture (the Law) rightly against the tempter’s misuse of it. Arabic: التجربة / يُجرَّب (al-tajribah/yujarrab). Risk: Medium. Distinguish from the Islamic theological category of ibtilā’/fitnah (Allah’s testing of believers, always from a benevolent divine hand with no internal solicitation to sin) — here the agent enticing to sin is explicitly the devil, not God; Matthew 6:13 (“lead us not into temptation”) must not be read as God himself sourcing temptation to sin (cf. James 1:13 register, consistent with Matthew’s own theology).
the devil — Gk. διάβολος (diabolos, 4:1,5,8,11), also ὁ πειράζων (“the tempter,” 4:3), and generally ὁ Σατανᾶς elsewhere. Lit.: slanderer, accuser. Arabic: الشيطان (al-shayṭān). Risk: Low-Medium. Established, safe shared vocabulary; avoid the Qur’an’s proper name إبليس (Iblīs) as the primary rendering, since that name carries the specific, distinct Qur’anic narrative of a jinn who refused to bow to Adam (Qur’an 7:11-12) — a different origin-story than the NT’s fallen-angelic tempter. الشيطان as a common noun is the standing Arabic Bible term and should be retained.
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (4:17) — Jesus’ own inaugural proclamation, echoing John (3:2). Confirms kingdom_of_heaven and repentance as the twin opening notes of Jesus’ public ministry.

Chapter 5 (non-core verses, 5:13–48) — Fulfilling the Law, Authority Formula, Gehenna, Oaths, Enemy-Love, Perfection

(vv. 1–12 treated fully above as the core passage.)

salt / light — Gk. ἅλας/φῶς (5:13-16). Low risk; standard metaphor for visible influence.
fulfill (the Law) — Gk. πληρόω (plēroō, 5:17, “I have not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets but to fulfill them”). νόμος reused exactly (الناموس, Critical, never الشريعة). Theological meaning: the single most important verse for Fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecy and The Authority of Jesus’ Teaching together — Jesus claims to bring the Law to its intended completion, not to cancel it. Arabic: reuse الناموس; “fulfill” يتمّم (yutammim). Risk: Critical. This verse is the natural flashpoint for the naskh (abrogation) collision already flagged in the baseline; must be taught with maximal care that “fulfill” ≠ “abolish/replace” (Jesus explicitly denies this) and ≠ naskh-style supersession, but also is not mere legal continuation — it is completion toward Christ himself as the Law’s intended goal (cf. Romans 10:4 in the baseline curriculum).
“But I say to you” (authority formula) — Gk. ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν (5:22,28,32,34,39,44). Theological meaning: Jesus repeatedly sets his own authoritative word alongside, and in each case deepening, Moses’ Law — a direct enactment of “The Authority of Jesus’ Teaching” doctrine. Arabic: وأما أنا فأقول لكم (established Van Dyck phrasing). Risk: High. This formula makes an implicit claim to an authority equal to or exceeding the Torah’s own divine authority — must not be softened into a merely rhetorical “but I would add.”
Gehenna/hell — Gk. γέεννα (geenna, 5:22,29,30 — first occurrences; recurs 10:28; 18:9; 23:15,33). Lit.: the Valley of Hinnom, a historical site south of Jerusalem associated with judgment (Jer. 7:31), used metaphorically for final judgment/hell. Arabic: جهنم (Jahannam). Risk: Critical. Jahannam is the exact Qur’anic term for hell (used dozens of times, e.g. Qur’an 2:206) — genuinely shared vocabulary, but the Islamic doctrine of Jahannam is tied to the mīzān (deeds-scale) framework the baseline’s “salvation” entry already flags as incompatible with the NT’s Christ-secured assurance. The word is safe and standard; the surrounding soteriological framework of who goes there and on what basis must be actively taught, not assumed compatible.
oath — Gk. ὅρκος/ὀμνύω (horkos/omnyō, 5:33-37). Theological meaning: Jesus forbids oath-taking as a guarantee of truthfulness, calling instead for total integrity (“let your yes be yes”). Arabic: الحلف / القسم (al-ḥalaf/al-qasam). Risk: Medium. Oath-taking by Allah’s name is a significant, regulated category in Islamic law and practice; note the contrast without implying Jesus is issuing a legal ruling on Islamic oath practice specifically.
retaliation (“eye for eye”) — 5:38-42. Risk: High, primarily a framing risk rather than a word-choice risk: avoid rendering the OT citation with the technical Islamic legal term قصاص (qiṣāṣ, retributive-justice law, cf. Qur’an 5:45), which would make Jesus sound as if he is directly overturning a named Islamic legal category rather than the OT lex talionis principle he is actually quoting (Exodus 21:24). Prefer a plain descriptive rendering (“العين بالعين والسن بالسن”).
love your enemies — Gk. ἀγαπᾶτε τοὺς ἐχθρούς (5:44). ἀγάπη (agapē, love) as a new standalone term. Arabic: المحبة (al-maḥabbah). Risk: Medium. Standard, safe vocabulary; the ethical demand itself (loving enemies, not merely tolerating them) is the doctrinal weight, not the word.
perfect — Gk. τέλειος (teleios, 5:48, “be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect”). Lit.: complete, whole, mature, having reached its intended end (τέλος). Semantic range: wholeness/completeness of character (impartial covenant love mirroring God’s own), not flawless sinlessness achieved by effort. Arabic: كامل (kāmil). Risk: High. الإنسان الكامل (“the Perfect/Complete Man”) is a major technical term in Sufi metaphysics (associated with Ibn ʿArabī), denoting a spiritually realized human who has attained mystical union/complete manifestation of divine attributes — an esoteric attainment through spiritual discipline. Using كامل here risks importing that mystical-attainment framework. Teaching material must clarify τέλειος here means impartial, Father-like covenant love and wholeness of devotion, not a mystical state of perfected being reached through spiritual exercises.

Chapter 6 — Almsgiving, Prayer, Fasting, the Lord’s Prayer

almsgiving — Gk. ἐλεημοσύνη (eleēmosynē, 6:1-4). Lit.: mercy-deed, charitable giving. Arabic: الصدقة (al-ṣadaqah). Risk: High. Must never be rendered الزكاة (al-zakāh), the specific, obligatory, calculated Pillar-of-Islam almsgiving tax (Qur’an 2:43 and throughout) — that would import a fixed legal-religious obligation category foreign to the text’s voluntary, secret-from-others giving. الصدقة (voluntary charitable giving) is the correct, safer match, though even it carries positive Islamic religious weight (ṣadaqah is a recognized virtue) — a broadly safe overlap here, unlike zakāh.
prayer — Gk. προσευχή/προσεύχομαι (proseuchē/proseuchomai, 6:5-13). Arabic: الصلاة (al-ṣalāh), يصلّي (yuṣallī). Risk: High. Ṣalāh is the second Pillar of Islam: a fixed, five-times-daily, ritually-prescribed liturgical performance (specific postures, Arabic recitation, ritual purity precondition). Jesus’ teaching here — pray in secret, in your own words, addressing “our Father” — while using the same standard Arabic word (there is no viable alternative; الصلاة is the established Christian Arabic term for prayer generally), must be taught with explicit contrast: this is relational, free address to a Father, not a fixed liturgical rite with ritual preconditions.
fasting — Gk. νηστεία (nēsteia, 6:16-18). Arabic: الصوم (al-ṣawm). Risk: Medium-High. Ṣawm is the Qur’anic term for the fast of Ramadan (2:183), a Pillar of Islam performed communally and publicly (albeit involving personal restraint). Jesus’ specific concern here — secrecy and inward sincerity versus public display for human approval — must be taught as a contrast in motive and audience (God alone vs. human observers), not as a contrast in the value of fasting itself, which the text does not deny.
Lord’s Prayer terms (6:9-13): “Our Father in heaven” (reuse الآب); “hallowed be your name” (reuse مقدس); “daily bread” — Gk. ἐπιούσιος (epiousios, a rare word meaning roughly “for today/for the coming day”) — Arabic خبزنا كفافنا (established rendering), Low risk; “forgive us our debts” — Gk. ὀφειλήματα (opheilēmata, debts/trespasses) — see “forgiveness” entry, ch. 18 below; “lead us not into temptation” reuse πειρασμός note (ch. 4); “deliver us from the evil one” — Gk. τοῦ πονηροῦ (tou ponērou) — Arabic الشرير (al-sharīr), Low-Medium risk.
mammon — Gk. μαμωνᾶς (mamōnas, 6:24), an Aramaic loanword for wealth/riches personified. Arabic: مامون (transliterated) or المال (wealth). Risk: Low.

Chapter 7 — Authority (formal term), Judging, False Prophets, “Lord, Lord”

authority — Gk. ἐξουσία (exousia, 7:29, “he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes”). First formal, explicit occurrence of the term underlying The Authority of Jesus’ Teaching doctrine (inaugurated narratively at 5:1-7:27; recurs 9:6,8; 10:1; 21:23-27; 28:18). Lit.: the right/power to act, delegated or inherent authority. Semantic range: legal/political authority, delegated permission, or (as with Jesus) inherent, self-evident authority requiring no external validation. English variants: authority, power, right. Arabic: سلطان (sulṭān). Risk: High. سلطان shares its root with the political title “Sultan” and functions broadly in Arabic religio-political discourse (including modern Islamist political theology’s concept of ḥākimiyyah, ultimate sovereign authority belonging to God alone, exercised through Islamic law and rulers). Two distinct risks: (1) readers may hear a political authority claim rather than the text’s teaching/moral authority claim; (2) in a milieu where “supreme authority belongs to God alone” is a load-bearing tawḥīd principle, ascribing سلطان to Jesus without qualification edges toward the same deity-claim sensitivity as لرب (Lord). Context must make clear this is the authority of one who teaches with unmediated divine insight, tied to his identity as Son (cf. 5:1-2, 7:29 contrasted with “their scribes”), not a claim to political rule (which Jesus explicitly declines throughout the Gospel, e.g. 4:8-10; John 6:15 parallel).
scribes — Gk. γραμματεῖς (grammateis, 7:29 and throughout). Lit.: professional copyists/legal experts of the Torah. Arabic: الكتبة (al-kataba), sing. كاتب. Risk: Medium. Functionally comparable to religious legal scholars (fuqahā’/ʿulamā’) in an Islamic frame; teaching material should note the comparison carefully so critique of 1st-century scribal legalism is not heard as a broad polemic against religious scholarship as such.
false prophet — Gk. ψευδοπροφήτης (pseudoprophētēs, 7:15). Reuse نبي (baseline); new compound نبي كذاب (nabī kadhdhāb). Risk: Medium-High, primarily pastoral/framing risk: this category (identifying false claimants to prophetic authority “by their fruits”) has sometimes been misapplied polemically in interreligious contexts; teaching material should keep the focus on the text’s own criterion (fruit/character, 7:16-20) rather than extending it as a direct verdict on specific named figures outside the text’s own scope.
“Lord, Lord” — Gk. Κύριε, Κύριε (7:21-23). Reuse baseline κύριος (الرب, Critical). Theological meaning: warns that verbal confession of Jesus’ Lordship without obedient fruit is insufficient — ties Lordship of Christ to Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus.

Chapter 8 — Healing, Faith, Demons, Son of Man (introduced)

Son of Man — Gk. υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου (huios tou anthrōpou, 8:20, “the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” — first occurrence; recurs 26 times through the Gospel, e.g. 9:6; 12:8; 16:27-28; 24:30; 26:64). Lit.: son of man/a human. Semantic range: (1) a generic Semitic idiom for “a human being”; (2) Jesus’ preferred self-designation, drawing specifically on Daniel 7:13-14’s exalted, judgment-wielding, worshiped heavenly figure “coming with the clouds of heaven” who receives an everlasting kingdom. English variants: Son of Man, the Human One. Theological meaning: a deliberately ambiguous self-title that lets Jesus claim, on his own terms, both full humanity and the Daniel 7 apocalyptic authority to judge and reign — central to Kingdom of Heaven, Judgment and the End of the Age, and Lordship of Christ doctrines together. Arabic: ابن الإنسان (Ibn al-Insān). Risk: Critical. The surface meaning (“a human being”) is exactly what Islamic Christology already affirms about ‘Isa (a human prophet, not divine) — there is a serious risk that hearers stop at the “merely human” sense and miss the Daniel 7 exalted-judge freight the title actually carries in context (esp. 24:30; 25:31; 26:64). Every occurrence needs contextual notes pointing back to Daniel 7, not just correct vocabulary.
demon — Gk. δαιμόνιον (daimonion, 8:16,28-34, and frequently thereafter: 9:32-34; 12:22-28; 15:22; 17:18). Arabic: شياطين (shayāṭīn, pl.), sing. شيطان. Risk: High. Must never be rendered جن (jinn) — jinn is a distinct, religiously legitimate category in Islamic cosmology (Qur’an 72, “Surat al-Jinn”): a class of created beings that includes both believing/righteous jinn and disbelieving/evil jinn, not a uniformly evil category. Rendering δαιμόνιον as جن would wrongly suggest these NT beings are a morally mixed natural category rather than uniformly malevolent, Satan-aligned spirits opposed to God and to the Kingdom Jesus is inaugurating.
faith (of the centurion, 8:10) — reuse baseline الإيمان exactly; note Matthew’s Gentile-faith examples (centurion here; Canaanite woman, 15:28) as early instances of Unity of Jews and Gentiles (baseline doctrine), extended in Matthew’s own Great Commission.

Chapter 9 — Authority to Forgive Sins, Tax Collectors

“authority to forgive sins” (9:6) reuses both ἐξουσία (سلطان) and the forgiveness theme developed fully in ch. 18. Theological meaning: the Son of Man’s authority (ch. 7-8 term) is now shown to extend even to forgiving sins — a divine prerogative — deepening the convergence of Authority + Son of Man + implicit deity claims.
tax collector — Gk. τελώνης (telōnēs, 9:9-11, Matthew’s own calling). Low risk; social-outcast designation, not a theological term requiring glossary treatment beyond standard translation.

Chapter 10 — Sending the Twelve, Sword of Division, Denial/Confession

apostle (10:2, listing the Twelve) — reuse baseline الرسول exactly; note all baseline cautions re: Muhammad’s Rasūl Allāh title apply identically here.
“not peace but a sword” — Gk. μάχαιρα (machaira, 10:34). Lit.: a short sword or dagger. Theological meaning: a metaphor for the household division caused by exclusive allegiance to Christ (10:35-37), not a call to physical violence. Arabic: سيف (sayf). Risk: High — a framing/apologetic risk rather than a lexical one: given contemporary sword/jihad-associated stereotypes in interreligious discourse, this verse requires explicit teaching-note scaffolding clarifying the metaphorical, relational-division sense (confirmed by the immediate context, vv. 35-37, which speaks of father against son, not literal combat) so it is not misheard as endorsing or describing religiously-motivated violence.
deny/confess (Christ) — Gk. ἀρνέομαι/ὁμολογέω (arneomai/homologeō, 10:32-33). Theological meaning: Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus — public confession or denial of Christ has eternal consequence. Arabic: يعترف / ينكر (ya’tarif/yunkir). Risk: Medium-High, given real social/legal consequences of public confession of Christ in some Arabic-speaking contexts (cf. baseline’s “evangelism” doctrine note on apostasy-norm sensitivity).

Chapter 11 — The Coming One, the Easy Yoke

“the one who is to come” — Gk. ὁ ἐρχόμενος (ho erchomenos, 11:3, John’s question “are you the one who is to come?”). A messianic title drawn from OT expectation (cf. Psalm 118:26; Malachi 3:1). Arabic: الآتي (al-ātī). Risk: Medium; reinforces Fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecy and Jesus as the Promised Messiah.
yoke — Gk. ζυγός (zygos, 11:29-30, “my yoke is easy”). Lit.: a wooden crossbar binding draft animals for shared labor; rabbinic idiom “yoke of the Torah” for the discipline of Law-observance. Arabic: نير (nīr). Risk: Medium. Light collision potential with polemical “yoke of shariah/religious law” framing found in some interreligious rhetoric; keep the metaphor tied to its own context (rest found in submission to Jesus specifically, contrasted with the burden of merit-based religious performance), not a direct commentary on Islamic law.

Chapter 12 — Sabbath, Blasphemy Against the Spirit, Sign of Jonah

Sabbath / “Lord of the Sabbath” — Gk. σάββατον (sabbaton, 12:1-14), κύριος τοῦ σαββάτου (12:8). Reuse baseline κύριος (الرب, Critical) — this is a direct Lordship-of-Christ claim over a core Mosaic institution. Arabic for Sabbath: السبت (al-sabt), shared vocabulary with Judaism, Low risk on its own; High in combination with the Lord claim.
blasphemy (against the Holy Spirit) — Gk. βλασφημία (blasphēmia, 12:31-32). Lit.: injurious/defamatory speech against God. Arabic: التجديف (al-tajdīf). Risk: High. Must never be rendered with الكفر (al-kufr), the major, technically precise Islamic category of unbelief/rejection of Islam (with serious associated social, legal, and eschatological consequences in Islamic legal-theological tradition) — that substitution would import an entirely different, religion-specific legal category. التجديف is the correct, narrower, established Christian Arabic term for blasphemy specifically.
sign of Jonah — Gk. σημεῖον Ἰωνᾶ (sēmeion Iōna, 12:39-40). Arabic: آية يونان (āyat Yūnān). Risk: Medium. Yunus/Jonah is a shared, positively-regarded Qur’anic prophet (Surah 10, “Yunus,” and 37:139-148) — a genuine bridge figure — but note that آية is also the standard Arabic term for a verse/unit of the Qur’an; its use here for “sign” is nonetheless standard, established Arabic Bible usage (not a novel risk) and should be retained, simply flagged for translator awareness.

Chapter 13 — Parables of the Kingdom

parable — Gk. παραβολή (parabolē, 13:3 and throughout). Arabic: مثل (mathal), pl. أمثال. Risk: Low-Medium. Safe, shared vocabulary — mathal is also the Qur’an’s own term for its parables/similitudes (e.g., Qur’an 2:26); the shared genre-word is a positive bridge, provided the specific kingdom content of each parable is taught on its own terms.
Sower, weeds/tares, mustard seed, hidden treasure, pearl, net — all standard agricultural/commercial metaphors, Low risk; each illustrates an aspect of the Kingdom of Heaven doctrine (already fully treated) — no new glossary terms required beyond noting these parables as the doctrine’s primary teaching vehicle.

Chapter 14 — Feeding the Five Thousand, Walking on Water

No new theological vocabulary; reuses ch. 1-13 terms (power of God — قوة الله, baseline; faith — الإيمان, baseline). John the Baptist’s execution narrated; no new glossary entries required.

Chapter 15 — Tradition of the Elders, Defilement, Canaanite Woman’s Faith

tradition (of the elders) — Gk. παράδοσις (paradosis, 15:2-6). Lit.: that which is handed down. Arabic: تقليد الشيوخ (taqlīd al-shuyūkh). Risk: Medium. Functionally comparable to accumulated juristic tradition in Islamic legal reasoning; frame Jesus’ critique narrowly (elevating human tradition above God’s own command, 15:3-6), not as a general critique of religious tradition-keeping as such.
defile/clean — Gk. κοινόω/κοινός (“common/defiled”) vs. καθαρός (koinoō/koinos vs. katharos, 15:11,18-20). Theological meaning: relocates defilement from external (handwashing, food) to internal (the heart) — directly develops the “pure in heart” Beatitude (5:8). Arabic: يُنجّس / نجس (yunajjis/najis) vs. نقي (naqiyy, consistent with the ch. 5 choice). Risk: Medium-High. نجس carries strong ritual-impurity resonance in Islamic legal categories (substances/states requiring purification); Jesus’ point that internal moral corruption, not external/ritual contact, truly defiles must be made explicit, paralleling the باطن/ظاهر (inward/outward) distinction familiar in some Islamic ethical-mystical discourse as a possible bridge.
“Son of David, have mercy” (15:22, the Canaanite woman) — reuse ابن داود (Critical, established ch. 1); notable as a Gentile’s recognition of the Messianic title, developing Unity of Jews and Gentiles.

Chapter 16 — Peter’s Confession, Keys, Binding/Loosing, the Church, the Cross

Peter’s confession (16:16) — “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” — Σὺ εἶ ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος. Reuse المسيح (Critical) and ابن الله (Critical) simultaneously — the Gospel’s single densest convergence of Critical Christological terms. Living God — Gk. τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος — Arabic: الله الحي (Allāh al-Ḥayy). Risk: Medium, with genuine positive resonance — Al-Ḥayy (“The Living”) is one of the 99 names of Allah — a real bridge point, contrasting the living God with the lifeless idols the phrase originally opposed (cf. OT usage); retain and use the resonance pastorally.
church (16:18, “I will build my church”) — first NT occurrence of ἐκκλησία (ekklēsia). Reuse baseline الكنيسة exactly; this is the founding text for the whole Church and Church Discipline curriculum doctrine.
keys of the kingdom — Gk. κλεῖς τῆς βασιλείας (kleis tēs basileias, 16:19). Arabic: مفاتيح الملكوت (mafātīḥ al-malakūt). Risk: Medium. Note the loose resonance with Islamic hadith imagery of “keys to Paradise” tied to specific pious formulas or figures (e.g., traditions about the shahādah as a “key to Paradise,” or the historic Meccan keyholders of the Kaʿbah, Banū Shaybah) — a surface parallel with a very different underlying structure (authority delegated to the apostolic/church office to open Kingdom access through gospel proclamation and discipline, not a ritual formula or hereditary custodianship).
bind and loose — Gk. δέω/λύω (deō/lyō, 16:19; repeated 18:18). Rabbinic halakhic idiom for authoritative rulings on what is permitted/forbidden or included/excluded from the community. Arabic: الربط والحل (al-rabṭ wa-al-ḥall). Risk: High. Structurally similar to the halal/haram (permitted/forbidden) determinations issued by Islamic religious scholars (fatwā practice) — a real functional parallel (an authoritative body making binding doctrinal/disciplinary determinations) that can be used as an explanatory bridge, but must be clearly bounded: this is the apostolic/church community’s Spirit-guided authority over doctrine and discipline within the church (developed fully in ch. 18), not a claim to comprehensive legal-religious jurisdiction over civil or personal life akin to sharīʿah rulings.
cross (discipleship) — Gk. σταυρός (stauros, 16:24, “take up his cross and follow me”). Arabic: الصليب (al-ṣalīb). Risk: Critical. Directly intersects the baseline’s flagged crucifixion-denial issue (Qur’an 4:157): even used metaphorically for costly discipleship, “take up his cross” presupposes crucifixion as a real, known historical mode of execution and suffering. This metaphor requires the same apologetic scaffolding as the baseline’s “resurrection” entry — establishing that the crucifixion actually happened — before its discipleship application can be meaningfully taught. Directly develops Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus.

Chapter 17 — Transfiguration

transfiguration/transformed — Gk. μεταμορφόω (metamorphoō, 17:2, “he was transfigured before them”). Lit.: to change form/appearance. Theological meaning: a temporary unveiling of Christ’s inherent divine glory (δόξα, reuse baseline المجد), confirmed by the Father’s voice repeating “This is my beloved Son” (17:5, reuse ابن الله/الآب). Arabic: تجلّى (tajallā), noun التجلي (al-tajallī) — the established Arabic Bible rendering. Risk: Critical. الـتجلي is also the central technical term in Sufi metaphysics (especially Ibn ʿArabī’s doctrine of al-tajalliyāt, God’s self-disclosures/manifestations in creation), a framework in which the divine/human boundary is understood very differently (often verging on pantheistic self-manifestation rather than a bounded historical event revealing an already-incarnate, unique divine Son). While التجلي remains the standard, unavoidable Arabic Bible term here, teaching material must explicitly bound its meaning: a real, historical, bounded unveiling of the glory of the one eternal, uniquely incarnate Son — not an ongoing mystical self-disclosure pattern available to other spiritually advanced humans.

Chapter 18 — Church Discipline, Forgiveness

church (discipline procedure) — 18:15-17, “tell it to the church.” Reuse الكنيسة; formal textual basis, alongside 16:18, for the Church and Church Discipline doctrine. Also reuse bind and loose (18:18, الربط والحل, High) — its second and clarifying occurrence, now explicitly in a local-congregation disciplinary context rather than Peter’s unique foundational role.
cause to stumble — Gk. σκανδαλίζω (skandalizō, 18:6-9). Lit.: to trip, cause to fall into a trap. Arabic: يُعثر / عثرة (yu’thir/‘athrah, “a stumbling-block”). Risk: Medium. Standard metaphor; ensure it is not confused with the distinct, more famous NT σκάνδαλον (“stumbling block”) applied to the cross itself elsewhere (not in Matthew directly, but worth a translator cross-reference note).
forgiveness — Gk. ἀφίημι/ἄφεσις (aphiēmi/aphesis, 18:21-35, the parable of the unforgiving servant; cf. 6:12, “forgive us our debts”). Lit.: to release, let go, send away (a debt or offense). Arabic: يسامح / المسامحة (yusāmiḥ/al-musāmaḥah) or الغفران/المغفرة (al-ghufrān/al-maghfirah). Risk: High. المغفرة (maghfirah) is the central Islamic category of Allah’s forgiveness of sins, generally understood as responsive to sincere repentance (tawbah) and good deeds, weighed within the mīzān framework — structurally parallel to the baseline’s “grace” caution. The parable’s own logic (a servant forgiven an unpayable debt must forgive others) must be taught with the forgiveness received first as a free, disproportionate gift secured through Christ, not a reward for adequate repentance-works, or the parable’s central point collapses into a merit-transaction reading.

Chapter 19 — Marriage and Divorce, Eternal Life

divorce — Gk. ἀπολύω (apolyō, 19:3-9). Arabic: الطلاق (al-ṭalāq). Risk: High. Ṭalāq is a well-developed, distinctively structured Islamic legal category (including unilateral male-initiated repudiation formulas in classical fiqh). Jesus’ teaching — marriage’s original permanence, with only πορνεία (sexual immorality) as exception — contrasts in structure and grounds with classical ṭalāq law; this requires pastoral, not lexical, framing, since ṭalāq remains the only natural Arabic word for “divorce.”
sexual immorality — Gk. πορνεία (porneia, 19:9). Arabic: الزنى (al-zinā). Risk: Medium. Zinā is also a specific, serious Islamic legal category (with defined evidentiary and penal requirements in classical fiqh); the NT’s usage is broader (covering a range of sexual sin) — note the scope difference for translators.
eternal life — Gk. ζωὴ αἰώνιος (zōē aiōnios, 19:16-29, the rich young ruler’s question; recurs 25:46). Lit.: unending life; αἰώνιος = pertaining to the age (to come), everlasting. Arabic: الحياة الأبدية (al-ḥayāh al-abadiyyah). Risk: Critical. Directly develops the baseline’s Salvation doctrine (الخلاص) with its full weight: assured, Christ-secured, entered by grace through faith (cf. 19:25-26, “with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible”) rather than achieved by sufficient good deeds, which is precisely the young ruler’s own (rejected) framework in the passage itself — a built-in teaching opportunity against the deeds-weighing (mīzān) default.

Chapter 20 — Ransom, Sons of Zebedee

ransom — Gk. λύτρον (lytron, 20:28, “to give his life as a ransom [λύτρον] for many”). Lit.: the price paid to redeem a slave or captive. Theological meaning: names the substitutionary, self-giving nature of Christ’s coming death — foundational to the Atonement (developed further at 26:26-28). Arabic: فدية (fidyah). Risk: Critical, with a notable partial bridge: fidyah is itself a genuine Qur’anic term (2:196; 37:107, where Ishmael/Isaac is “ransomed” — fadaynāhu — with a substitute sacrifice) denoting a substitutionary ransom/compensation. This is real shared vocabulary and a rare structural parallel (substitution for a life). The risk is that Islamic fidyah is typically a specific, limited legal compensation (e.g., for a missed religious obligation, or the Abrahamic ram substituting for a son) rather than a once-for-all, universal atoning payment for the sin of “many” (πολλῶν, echoing Isaiah 53) offered by God’s own Son. Use the bridge deliberately, but teach the scope and finality difference explicitly — this directly reinforces the baseline’s flagged Quran 6:164 “no bearer of burdens shall bear another’s burden” tension already noted under “salvation.”

Chapter 21 — Triumphal Entry, Hosanna, Wicked Tenants

“Hosanna to the Son of David” (21:9,15) — reuse ابن داود (Critical). Hosanna — Heb./Aramaic transliteration, Gk. Ὡσαννά (hōsanna, “save now/save, we pray”). Arabic: أوشعنا (Awshaʿnā), transliterated, following established Arabic Bible convention (parallel treatment to the baseline’s preserved “Abba”). Risk: Low as a word; High in combination with the Son of David title it accompanies — a crowd’s public messianic acclamation.
Wicked tenants parable and temple cleansing: reuse Kingdom of Heaven, Israel (baseline, with its contemporary political-sensitivity caution retained), no new terms.

Chapter 22 — Caesar’s Tax, Greatest Commandment, David Calls Him Lord

tax (to Caesar) — Gk. κῆνσος (kēnsos, 22:17-21, a Latin loanword for the Roman census-tax). Arabic: الضريبة (al-darībah, generic “tax”). Risk: High — a forbidden-substitution flag: never render as الجزية (al-jizyah), the specific historical Islamic poll-tax levied on non-Muslim subjects (Qur’an 9:29) under Islamic rule — that substitution would import an entirely anachronistic and loaded legal-political category into a Roman civil-tax context and could be heard as a commentary on jizyah itself. Use الضريبة, the neutral generic term.
greatest commandment (22:37-40) — love God and neighbor (ἀγαπήσεις, reuse المحبة, ch. 5). No new term; reinforces continuity between OT Law and Jesus’ ethic (Fulfillment of Prophecy doctrine).
“how can David call him Lord?” (22:41-45, citing Psalm 110:1) — reuse الرب (Critical), المسيح (Critical), ابن داود (Critical) together in Jesus’ own scriptural argument for a Messiah who is simultaneously David’s son and David’s Lord — an explicit, self-conscious deity-claim argument from Jesus himself. High-value teaching passage; no new vocabulary, but flag as a peak convergence point of three baseline/new Critical terms simultaneously.

Chapter 23 — Woes on Scribes and Pharisees, Hypocrisy

hypocrite — Gk. ὑποκριτής (hypokritēs, 23:13-29 and throughout the Gospel, e.g. 6:2,5,16; 7:5; 15:7; 22:18). Lit.: a stage actor, one who plays a role/wears a mask. Semantic range: outward religious performance concealing inward reality. Arabic: مرائي (murā’ī), noun الرياء (al-riyā’). Risk: Medium, with a genuine positive bridge: riyā’ (“showing off” in worship/religious practice, done to be seen by others rather than sincerely for God) is itself a recognized, named vice in Islamic ethical-hadith tradition (sometimes called “minor shirk”). This is a strong, natural bridge concept — Jesus’ critique of religious performance for human approval maps closely onto an already-existing Islamic ethical category, and can be used pastorally as common ground, while still applying its edge to the text’s specific targets (scribes and Pharisees) rather than generalizing.
Pharisee/scribe (reuse from ch. 7 note). Chapter 23’s extended “woes” are the Gospel’s most concentrated critique of these figures — teaching material should reinforce the ch. 7 caution against over-mapping this onto contemporary religious scholars generally.

Chapter 24 — Olivet Discourse: Parousia, End of the Age, False Christs

coming (parousia) — Gk. παρουσία (parousia, 24:3,27,37,39). Lit.: presence, arrival (often of a royal or imperial visit). Theological meaning: Judgment and the End of the Age — Christ’s visible, glorious, unmistakable return to judge and consummate the Kingdom. Arabic: المجيء الثاني (al-majī’ al-thānī, “the Second Coming”) or مجيء ابن الإنسان (majī’ Ibn al-Insān). Risk: Critical, with an unusually significant bridge-and-risk profile simultaneously: mainstream Sunni eschatology (built on extensive hadith tradition, though the Qur’an itself does not explicitly narrate it) affirms a future nuzūl ʿĪsā (“the descent of Jesus”) before the Day of Judgment — a genuine point of shared expectation that Jesus will return. However, that narrative differs sharply: in the Islamic version, ʿĪsā returns as a righteous Muslim figure who did not previously die by crucifixion, who prays behind or alongside a Muslim leader (in various traditions, the Mahdi), defeats the Antichrist figure (al-Dajjāl), and eventually dies a natural death — explicitly not as the incarnate divine Son returning in his own inherent glory to judge as the Daniel 7 Son of Man. Teaching material must use the shared expectation of Christ’s return as a genuine bridge while carefully distinguishing Matthew’s own Christological content of that return.
end of the age — Gk. συντέλεια τοῦ αἰῶνος (synteleia tou aiōnos, 24:3; recurs 13:39-40,49; 28:20). Arabic: نهاية الزمان (nihāyat al-zamān) or انقضاء العالم (inqiḍā’ al-ʿālam). Risk: Critical. Standard eschatological vocabulary broadly compatible with Islamic end-times expectation (al-sāʿah, “the Hour”), but the content of what happens at that end (final judgment on the basis Christ himself established, not the mīzān) must be actively taught.
false christs / false prophets — Gk. ψευδόχριστοι καὶ ψευδοπροφῆται (pseudochristoi kai pseudoprophētai, 24:24). Arabic: مسحاء كذبة وأنبياء كذبة (masaḥā’ kadhabah wa-anbiyā’ kadhabah). Risk: Critical — specific forbidden-substitution flag. Never render ψευδόχριστος using any compound built on دجّال (dajjāl, “deceiver/impostor”) as a standalone descriptor here, because المسيح الدجّال (al-Masīḥ al-Dajjāl) is the specific proper name of the Islamic Antichrist/deceiver figure in mainstream Sunni eschatology (extensively developed in hadith, though again not named as such in the Qur’an). Using dajjāl-based vocabulary for Matthew’s generic “false messiahs” would directly and specifically invoke that named end-times figure and could confuse Matthew’s warning about many deceivers with a single, specific figure from a different eschatological narrative. Use كذبة (liars/impostors) as the qualifying term instead of any dajjāl-root word.

Chapter 25 — Judgment Parables: Talents, Virgins, Sheep and Goats

judgment — Gk. κρίσις (krisis, implicit throughout ch. 25’s parables; explicit at 25:31-46, the sheep and goats). Reuse baseline’s judgment-adjacent vocabulary; no separate baseline entry exists yet, so treat as new: Arabic الدينونة (al-dīnūnah) or الحكم (al-ḥukm). Risk: High, tied to Judgment and the End of the Age doctrine — must be taught as Christ’s own personal judgment (25:31-32, “the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne”), not an impersonal cosmic weighing process.
eternal fire / eternal punishment — Gk. πῦρ αἰώνιον / κόλασιν αἰώνιον (25:41,46), contrasted directly with ζωὴ αἰώνιος (eternal life, 25:46, reuse ch. 19 term). Arabic: النار الأبدية / العقاب الأبدي (al-nār al-abadiyyah/al-‘iqāb al-abadī). Risk: Critical. The direct juxtaposition of eternal life and eternal punishment in a single verse (25:46) is Matthew’s starkest statement of final, fixed, two-destiny judgment — this must be preserved with its full force, not softened toward a probationary or purificatory reading.

Chapter 26 — Last Supper (Body/Blood/Covenant), Gethsemane, Trial

body and blood (covenant) — Gk. τὸ σῶμά μου / τὸ αἷμά μου τῆς διαθήκης (to sōma mou / to haima mou tēs diathēkēs, 26:26-28, “This is my body… this is my blood of the covenant, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins”). Reuse covenant (العهد, baseline) and forgiveness (ch. 18 note). New terms: body — Gk. σῶμα, Arabic الجسد; blood — Gk. αἷμα, Arabic الدم. Theological meaning: institutes the Lord’s Supper, directly interpreting Christ’s imminent death as a new-covenant, sin-atoning sacrifice — the fullest statement in Matthew of the atonement the ransom-saying (20:28) anticipated. Risk: Critical. Sacrificial body/blood-of-the-covenant language has no precise Islamic liturgical parallel and intersects two separate sensitivities: (1) blood-consumption imagery can register as unexpectedly visceral or even food-law-adjacent to hearers attentive to Islamic dietary blood-prohibition categories (though the text is symbolic/sacramental, not literal), and (2) it is the concrete institutional anchor of substitutionary atonement, the doctrine the baseline already flags as directly contradicted by Qur’an 6:164’s denial of one person bearing another’s sin-burden. Requires the fullest available doctrinal scaffolding, paired with the ransom (fidyah) entry at ch. 20.
“Are you the Christ, the Son of God?” (26:63) — the high priest’s trial question, and Jesus’ affirmative answer (26:64, “You have said so… you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power”) — reuse المسيح/ابن الله/ابن الإنسان (all Critical) in direct convergence, followed immediately by the charge of blasphemy (26:65, βλασφημία, reuse ch. 12 term — note the narrative irony that Jesus is condemned for the very truth the Gospel affirms).

Chapter 27 — Crucifixion, Death, Burial

crucify/crucifixion — Gk. σταυρόω (stauroō, 27:26,31,35,38, etc.), noun σταυρός already introduced metaphorically at 16:24 but now narrated as historical event. Arabic: يصلب / الصلب (yuṣlab/al-ṣalb). Risk: Critical — the single highest-priority formal term for the whole Passion narrative. This is the direct, repeated historical narration of the event Qur’an 4:157 denies (“they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but it was made to appear so to them” — wa-mā qatalūhu wa-mā ṣalabūhu wa-lākin shubbiha lahum). Matthew 26–27 is the fullest first-hand narrative claim in the curriculum that this event actually, historically happened (named witnesses, named officials, a dateable trial, a guarded and sealed tomb in ch. 27’s closing verses). Every occurrence of الصلب in Matthew 27 must carry the apologetic scaffolding the baseline’s “resurrection” entry already calls for — establishing the historical crucifixion as fact before any resurrection claim can follow, since Matthew’s own narrative logic depends on that sequence (27:62-66’s guard, 28:11-15’s bribery account, both explicitly answering the “someone must have taken the body” objection Matthew anticipates from within his own text).
“Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani” (27:46) — Aramaic preserved untranslated by Matthew himself (as with “Abba,” a baseline-noted pattern), then glossed in Greek (“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). Arabic: preserve the Aramaic transliteration إيلي إيلي لما شبقتني, with the Arabic gloss إلهي إلهي لماذا تركتني. Risk: Medium; note the same “preserve the original utterance, then gloss” pattern the baseline applies to Abba (8:15) should be applied here for consistency and impact.
temple veil torn (27:51) — low-medium risk symbolic detail; may be footnoted as signifying open access to God through Christ’s death (ties forward to Hebrews-style teaching outside Matthew’s own text; handle lightly here).

Chapter 28 — Resurrection, Great Commission, Trinitarian Formula

resurrection — reuse baseline القيامة (Critical) with full apologetic weight, now narratively supplied with the empty tomb, angelic testimony (28:2-7), the women’s eyewitness report, and — distinctively in Matthew alone among the Gospels — the guards’ report and the priests’ bribery scheme to spread a “stolen body” counter-narrative (28:11-15), which Matthew explicitly rebuts as still circulating “to this day” (28:15). This is the Gospel’s own built-in apologetic engagement with the very objection (someone removed/substituted the body) structurally similar to the shubbiha lahum (“made to appear so”) logic behind the Qur’an’s crucifixion denial — a valuable, text-internal resource for the required apologetic scaffolding.
“all authority in heaven and on earth” (28:18) — reuse ἐξουσία/سلطان (High, ch. 7), now stated in its fullest, most universal, most explicitly divine-scope form, directly preparing the Great Commission mandate.
make disciples — Gk. μαθητεύω (mathēteuō, 28:19, “go therefore and make disciples of all nations”). Reuse μαθητής root (تلميذ, ch. 1); new verbal form Arabic: تلمذة الأمم (talmadhat al-umam) or اجعلوا… تلاميذ (ij’alū… talāmīdh). Reuse “nations/Gentiles” (الأمم, baseline). Theological meaning: the founding mandate for The Great Commission doctrine, universal in scope, tying together Kingdom of Heaven, Church, and Mission (baseline الإرسالية) doctrines.
Trinitarian baptismal formula — Gk. βαπτίζοντες αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος (28:19). Arabic: يعمّدونهم باسم الآب والابن والروح القدس (reusing baseline الآب, and, for “the Son,” the same ابن الله framework, and الروح القدس exactly). Risk: Critical — the single most concentrated Trinitarian statement in the curriculum. This formula names Father, Son, and Holy Spirit together, in a single “name” (singular ὄνομα, not “names,” in the Greek — a further, easily-missed subtlety implying unity of being across the three), as the identity into which believers are baptized. This is the direct, maximal collision point with tawḥīd’s strict, undivided unitarian conception of God the baseline’s “god,” “father,” “son_of_god,” and “holy_spirit” entries each already flag individually — here fused into one baptismal act. Requires the combined weight of all four baseline Critical-term notes simultaneously; must never be diluted (e.g., by reducing “Son” to an honorific or reordering to obscure the triadic unity implied by the singular “name”).
“I am with you always, to the end of the age” (28:20) — closes the Gospel’s Immanuel inclusio begun at 1:23 (reuse عمانوئيل/الله معنا) and reuses συντέλεια τοῦ αἰῶνος (نهاية الزمان, ch. 24, Critical). A deliberate literary bracket: the Gospel opens and closes on the same incarnational promise of God’s abiding presence.

This document, together with 08_core_glossary.md, extends the baseline Romans Language Package for the Matthew curriculum. All baseline term renderings are reused exactly; no baseline entry is contradicted. New terms identified here must be added to a Matthew-specific translation memory extension before Phase 2 segment translation begins.

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