Core Glossary
08 Core Glossary — Matthew 1–28 (English → Arabic)
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing theological term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md across the whole book of Matthew. It is organized into three parts:
- Part 1 — New terms introduced by the Matthew curriculum, not present in the baseline Romans
translation_memory.json. These require new entries to be added to a Matthew-specific translation memory extension before Phase 2 begins. - Part 2 — Baseline terms from the Romans Language Package reused exactly in Matthew, with Matthew-specific occurrence notes.
- Part 3 — Matthew-specific forbidden substitutions, extending the baseline’s forbidden-substitution list.
All risk tiers follow the baseline’s definitions (Critical/High/Medium/Low) from doctrine_risk_registry.json.
Part 1 — New Terms Introduced in Matthew
| English Term | Greek (Transliteration) | Arabic Rendering | Risk | Curriculum Doctrine | Key Passages | Risk Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingdom of Heaven | βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν (basileia tōn ouranōn) | ملكوت السماوات (malakūt al-samāwāt) | High | The Kingdom of Heaven | 3:2; 4:17; 5:3,10; 13 (parables); throughout | Synonymous with baseline’s “kingdom of God” (ملكوت الله) — Matthew’s Jewish circumlocution avoiding the divine name, not two kingdoms. Must not be read as merely “the afterlife place” nor absorbed into Qur’anic seven-heavens cosmology (samāwāt). |
| Son of David | υἱὸς Δαυίδ (huios Dauid) | ابن داود (Ibn Dāwūd) | Critical | Jesus as the Promised Messiah and Son of David | 1:1; 9:27; 12:23; 15:22; 20:30-31; 21:9,15; 22:41-45 | Distinct from baseline’s “seed of David” (physical lineage only); here a fixed messianic title. “Ibn” + proper name again raises begetting-language sensitivity; must be clearly distinguished from “Son of God” in teaching notes. |
| Son of Man | υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου (huios tou anthrōpou) | ابن الإنسان (Ibn al-Insān) | Critical | Judgment and the End of the Age; Lordship of Christ | 8:20; 9:6; 12:8; 16:27-28; 24:30; 25:31; 26:64 | Surface meaning (“a human”) matches Islamic Christology’s “merely human prophet” view; the Daniel 7 exalted-judge freight must be taught explicitly, not assumed. |
| Authority | ἐξουσία (exousia) | سلطان (sulṭān) | High | The Authority of Jesus’ Teaching | 7:29; 9:6,8; 10:1; 21:23-27; 28:18 | Shares root with political “Sultan” and Islamist ḥākimiyyah discourse; risk of being heard as political/legal authority rather than Jesus’ inherent teaching/moral authority. |
| Fulfillment formula | ἵνα/ὅπως πληρωθῇ (hina/hopōs plērōthē) | لكي يتم ما قيل (li-yatimma mā qīl) | High | Fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecy | 1:22; 2:15,17,23; 4:14; 8:17; 12:17; 13:35; 21:4; 26:56; 27:9 | Must be taught as completion/confirmation of prior revelation, opposite of Islamic naskh (abrogation/supersession). |
| Fulfill (the Law) | πληρόω (plēroō), with νόμος reused | يتمّم (الناموس) | Critical | Fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecy; Authority of Jesus’ Teaching | 5:17 | Central flashpoint for naskh collision; “fulfill” ≠ “abolish” (explicitly denied by the text) and ≠ abrogation-supersession. |
| Repentance | μετάνοια / μετανοέω (metanoia/metanoeō) | التوبة (al-tawbah) | High | The Kingdom of Heaven | 3:2,8,11; 4:17; 11:20-21 | Islamic tawbah = private, repeatable, sin-by-sin turning; NT metanoia = total, kingdom-oriented, Christ-directed reorientation. |
| Baptism | βάπτισμα / βαπτίζω (baptisma/baptizō) | المعمودية / يعمّد (al-ma’mūdiyyah/yu’ammid) | High (Critical at 28:19) | The Great Commission | 3:6-16; 28:19 | Escalates to Critical when joined to the Trinitarian formula at 28:19. |
| Immanuel | Ἐμμανουήλ (Emmanouēl) | عمانوئيل / الله معنا (‘Imānū’īl/Allāhu ma’anā) | Critical | Jesus as the Promised Messiah; Incarnation (baseline) | 1:23; 28:20 | Direct incarnation claim; forms literary inclusio with 28:20. Apply baseline incarnation forbidden-substitution rules. |
| Virgin | παρθένος (parthenos) | عذراء (‘adhrā’) | Medium | Jesus as the Promised Messiah (Incarnation) | 1:23 | Genuine Qur’anic agreement point (19:20-21) but differing theological weight (sign of prophethood vs. sign of incarnation). |
| Magi | μάγοι (magoi) | المجوس (al-Majūs) | Low | Fulfillment of OT Prophecy | 2:1-12 | Established, safe historical-religious term. |
| Temptation/test | πειρασμός / πειράζω (peirasmos/peirazō) | التجربة / يُجرَّب (al-tajribah/yujarrab) | Medium | Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus | 4:1-11; 6:13; 26:41 | Distinguish from Islamic ibtilā’/fitnah (benevolent divine testing); agent here is the tempter, not God. |
| Devil/Satan | διάβολος (diabolos) | الشيطان (al-shayṭān) | Medium | Discipleship / Kingdom conflict | 4:1-11; 13:39 | Safe, shared, common-noun vocabulary; avoid the Qur’anic proper name إبليس as primary rendering. |
| Gehenna/Hell | γέεννα (geenna) | جهنم (Jahannam) | Critical | Judgment and the End of the Age | 5:22,29-30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15,33 | Exact shared Qur’anic term; word is safe, but the mīzān-based framework of who goes there must be actively re-taught, not assumed compatible. |
| Oath | ὅρκος / ὀμνύω (horkos/omnyō) | الحلف / القسم (al-ḥalaf/al-qasam) | Medium | Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees | 5:33-37 | Contrast with regulated Islamic oath practice; framing, not lexical, care needed. |
| Retaliation (lex talionis) | — (OT citation, Exodus 21:24) | العين بالعين والسن بالسن (descriptive, not قصاص) | High | Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees | 5:38-42 | Never use قصاص (the named Islamic retributive-justice legal category) for the OT citation being contrasted. |
| Love (agape) | ἀγάπη / ἀγαπάω (agapē/agapaō) | المحبة (al-maḥabbah) | Medium | Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees | 5:43-48; 22:37-39 | Standard, safe vocabulary. |
| Perfect | τέλειος (teleios) | كامل (kāmil) | High | Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees | 5:48 | Collision with Sufi al-insān al-kāmil (“the Perfect/Complete Man,” a mystical-attainment technical term); teach as impartial covenant love/wholeness, not mystical perfection. |
| Almsgiving | ἐλεημοσύνη (eleēmosynē) | الصدقة (al-ṣadaqah) — NOT الزكاة | High | Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees | 6:1-4 | Never render as zakāh (the obligatory Pillar-of-Islam almsgiving tax); ṣadaqah (voluntary charity) is the correct match. |
| Prayer | προσευχή / προσεύχομαι (proseuchē/proseuchomai) | الصلاة (al-ṣalāh) | High | Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees | 6:5-13 | No viable alternative word exists; contrast with ṣalāh’s fixed-liturgical-rite character must be taught, not avoided by word substitution. |
| Fasting | νηστεία (nēsteia) | الصوم (al-ṣawm) | Medium-High | Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees | 6:16-18 | Shared vocabulary with Ramadan ṣawm; contrast is in motive/secrecy, not the value of fasting itself. |
| Reward | μισθός (misthos) | أجر (ajr) | High | Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus | 5:12; 6:1-6,16-18; 10:41-42; 20:8 | Ajr is the load-bearing Islamic deeds-reward term (mīzān framework); teach reward as flowing from grace/kingdom belonging, not an independent merit ledger. |
| Scribes | γραμματεῖς (grammateis) | الكتبة (al-kataba) | Medium | Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees | 7:29; 23 (throughout) | Comparable to fuqahā’/ʿulamā’; avoid extending critique into a general polemic against religious scholarship. |
| Pharisee | Φαρισαῖος (Pharisaios) | فريسي / فريسيون (farīsī/farīsiyyūn) | Medium | Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees | throughout, esp. ch. 23 | See scribes note; keep critique text-bounded. |
| Hypocrite | ὑποκριτής (hypokritēs) | مرائي / الرياء (murā’ī/al-riyā’) | Medium | Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees | 6:2,5,16; 7:5; 15:7; 22:18; 23:13-29 | Positive bridge: riyā’ is an existing, named Islamic ethical vice (“minor shirk”); usable as common ground. |
| False prophet | ψευδοπροφήτης (pseudoprophētēs) | نبي كذاب (nabī kadhdhāb) | Medium-High | Fulfillment of OT Prophecy | 7:15; 24:11,24 | Pastoral/framing risk: keep criterion text-bounded (fruit/character, 7:16-20), avoid extending as a direct verdict on named figures outside the text. |
| Demon | δαιμόνιον (daimonion) | شياطين (shayāṭīn) — NOT جن | High | The Kingdom of Heaven (conflict with the demonic) | 8:16,28-34; 9:32-34; 12:22-28; 15:22; 17:18 | Jinn is a morally-mixed Islamic cosmological category; demons here are uniformly evil, Satan-aligned. |
| Sword (division) | μάχαιρα (machaira) | سيف (sayf) | High | Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus | 10:34-37 | Framing risk given jihad-associated stereotypes; text itself clarifies metaphorical household-division sense (vv. 35-37). |
| Deny/Confess (Christ) | ἀρνέομαι / ὁμολογέω (arneomai/homologeō) | يُنكر / يعترف (yunkir/ya’tarif) | Medium-High | Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus | 10:32-33 | Real social/legal consequence of public confession in some contexts; see baseline “evangelism” doctrine note. |
| The Coming One | ὁ ἐρχόμενος (ho erchomenos) | الآتي (al-ātī) | Medium | Jesus as the Promised Messiah | 11:3 | Messianic title from OT expectation (Ps 118:26; Mal 3:1). |
| Yoke | ζυγός (zygos) | نير (nīr) | Medium | Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus | 11:29-30 | Light collision with polemical “yoke of sharia” framing; keep tied to its own rest-in-Christ context. |
| Blasphemy | βλασφημία (blasphēmia) | التجديف (al-tajdīf) — NOT الكفر | High | The Authority of Jesus’ Teaching | 12:31-32; 26:65 | Never use kufr (the major Islamic unbelief/apostasy category); tajdīf is the correct, narrower Christian Arabic term. |
| Sign of Jonah | σημεῖον Ἰωνᾶ (sēmeion Iōna) | آية يونان (āyat Yūnān) | Medium | Fulfillment of OT Prophecy | 12:39-41 | Yunus is a shared, positively-regarded Qur’anic prophet — genuine bridge figure. |
| Parable | παραβολή (parabolē) | مثل (mathal) | Low-Medium | The Kingdom of Heaven | 13 (throughout) | Safe, shared genre-term (Qur’an also uses mathal); teach specific content on its own terms. |
| Tradition (of the elders) | παράδοσις (paradosis) | تقليد الشيوخ (taqlīd al-shuyūkh) | Medium | Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees | 15:2-6 | Comparable to accumulated juristic tradition; keep critique narrow (elevating tradition above God’s command). |
| Defile/clean (heart vs. ritual) | κοινόω/κοινός vs. καθαρός (koinoō/koinos vs. katharos) | يُنجّس/نجس vs. نقي (yunajjis/najis vs. naqiyy) | Medium-High | Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees | 15:11,18-20 | Relocates defilement to the heart; parallels 5:8’s “pure in heart” (never طاهر). |
| Keys of the kingdom | κλεῖς τῆς βασιλείας (kleis tēs basileias) | مفاتيح الملكوت (mafātīḥ al-malakūt) | Medium | The Church and Church Discipline | 16:19 | Loose resonance with hadith “keys of Paradise” imagery; different underlying structure. |
| Bind and loose | δέω / λύω (deō/lyō) | الربط والحل (al-rabṭ wa-al-ḥall) | High | The Church and Church Discipline | 16:19; 18:18 | Functional parallel to halal/haram fatwā rulings; bound to church doctrine/discipline, not comprehensive sharīʿah-style jurisdiction. |
| Cross (discipleship) | σταυρός (stauros) | الصليب (al-ṣalīb) | Critical | Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus | 16:24 | Presupposes the historical crucifixion Qur’an 4:157 denies; requires same apologetic scaffolding as baseline’s “resurrection” entry. |
| Transfiguration | μεταμορφόω (metamorphoō) | تجلّى / التجلي (tajallā/al-tajallī) | Critical | Jesus as the Promised Messiah (deity disclosed) | 17:1-8 | Collides with Sufi al-tajalliyāt (divine self-disclosure/manifestation doctrine); bound to a real, historical, unique event, not an ongoing mystical pattern. |
| Cause to stumble | σκανδαλίζω (skandalizō) | يُعثر / عثرة (yu’thir/‘athrah) | Medium | The Church and Church Discipline | 18:6-9 | Standard metaphor. |
| Forgiveness | ἀφίημι / ἄφεσις (aphiēmi/aphesis) | يسامح / المغفرة (yusāmiḥ/al-maghfirah) | High | The Church and Church Discipline | 6:12; 18:21-35 | Parallels baseline “grace” caution; forgiveness received first as free gift, not earned by adequate repentance-works. |
| Divorce | ἀπολύω (apolyō) | الطلاق (al-ṭalāq) | High | Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees | 19:3-9 | No alternative word; classical ṭalāq law structure differs from Jesus’ permanence-plus-single-exception teaching — pastoral framing needed. |
| Sexual immorality | πορνεία (porneia) | الزنى (al-zinā) | Medium | Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees | 19:9 | Zinā is a specific, narrower Islamic legal category; NT usage is broader. |
| Eternal life | ζωὴ αἰώνιος (zōē aiōnios) | الحياة الأبدية (al-ḥayāh al-abadiyyah) | Critical | The Kingdom of Heaven; Judgment and the End of the Age | 19:16-29; 25:46 | Ties directly to baseline’s Salvation doctrine — assured, grace-received, not deeds-earned. |
| Ransom | λύτρον (lytron) | فدية (fidyah) | Critical | Judgment and the End of the Age (Atonement) | 20:28 | Genuine Qur’anic bridge term (2:196; 37:107) but Islamic fidyah is narrower/case-specific; NT sense is a universal, once-for-all atoning payment (cf. Isaiah 53), directly countering Qur’an 6:164’s denial of substitutionary sin-bearing. |
| Hosanna | Ὡσαννά (hōsanna) | أوشعنا (Awshaʿnā), transliterated | Low | Jesus as the Promised Messiah | 21:9,15 | Preserve transliteration per the baseline’s “Abba” pattern. |
| Tax (Caesar’s) | κῆνσος (kēnsos) | الضريبة (al-darībah) — NOT الجزية | High | (Cultural/Political framing) | 22:17-21 | Never use jizyah (the historical Islamic non-Muslim poll-tax); use the neutral generic tax term. |
| Judgment | κρίσις (krisis) | الدينونة / الحكم (al-dīnūnah/al-ḥukm) | High | Judgment and the End of the Age | 25:31-46 (implicit throughout) | Teach as Christ’s own personal judgment, not an impersonal cosmic weighing process. |
| Eternal punishment/fire | πῦρ αἰώνιον / κόλασις αἰώνιος (pyr aiōnion/kolasis aiōnios) | النار الأبدية / العقاب الأبدي (al-nār al-abadiyyah/al-‘iqāb al-abadī) | Critical | Judgment and the End of the Age | 25:41,46 | Directly juxtaposed with eternal life (25:46); preserve full force of fixed, two-destiny judgment. |
| Body and blood (of the covenant) | τὸ σῶμά μου / τὸ αἷμά μου τῆς διαθήκης | الجسد / الدم (مع العهد المعاد استخدامه) | Critical | Judgment and the End of the Age (Atonement) | 26:26-28 | No precise Islamic liturgical parallel; institutional anchor of substitutionary atonement; pairs with the ransom (fidyah) entry. |
| Crucify/Crucifixion | σταυρόω (stauroō) | يصلب / الصلب (yuṣlab/al-ṣalb) | Critical | Discipleship; Judgment and the End of the Age | 27:26-50 (throughout the Passion) | Highest-priority formal term: directly narrates the event Qur’an 4:157 denies. Requires full apologetic scaffolding before any resurrection claim can follow. |
| Parousia / Second Coming | παρουσία (parousia) | المجيء الثاني (al-majī’ al-thānī) | Critical | Judgment and the End of the Age | 24:3,27,37,39 | Bridge-and-risk simultaneously: shared Sunni expectation of ʿĪsā’s return (nuzūl ʿĪsā) but with sharply different content (not the incarnate divine Son returning in his own glory to judge). |
| End of the age | συντέλεια τοῦ αἰῶνος (synteleia tou aiōnos) | نهاية الزمان (nihāyat al-zamān) | Critical | Judgment and the End of the Age | 13:39-40,49; 24:3; 28:20 | Broadly compatible with al-sāʿah (“the Hour”) vocabulary; content of judgment basis must be actively taught. |
| False christs | ψευδόχριστοι (pseudochristoi) | مسحاء كذبة (masaḥā’ kadhabah) — NOT دجّال-based | Critical | Judgment and the End of the Age | 24:24 | Forbidden substitution: never use any Dajjāl-root compound, which names the specific Islamic Antichrist figure. |
| Make disciples | μαθητεύω (mathēteuō) | تلمذة الأمم / اجعلوا… تلاميذ (talmadhat al-umam) | High | The Great Commission | 28:19 | Founding mandate term; ties Kingdom, Church, and Mission doctrines together. |
| Trinitarian baptismal formula | εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος | باسم الآب والابن والروح القدس | Critical | The Great Commission | 28:19 | Single most concentrated Trinitarian statement in the curriculum; singular “name” (not “names”) implies unity of being; must never be diluted or reordered. |
| Disciple | μαθητής (mathētēs) | تلميذ / تلاميذ (talmīdh/talāmīdh) | Low-Medium | Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus | throughout | Must not be rendered مريد (Sufi master-disciple initiatory term). |
| Rock (Peter wordplay) | πέτρα (petra) | صخرة (ṣakhrah) | Medium | The Church and Church Discipline | 16:18 | Wordplay with Peter’s name (Πέτρος/Petros); low doctrinal risk, note for translators re: church-foundation debates. |
| Living God | τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος (tou Theou tou zōntos) | الله الحي (Allāh al-Ḥayy) | Medium | Jesus as the Promised Messiah | 16:16 | Positive bridge: Al-Ḥayy is one of the 99 names of Allah. |
Part 2 — Baseline Terms Reused Exactly from the Romans Language Package
The following baseline terms recur throughout Matthew and must be rendered exactly per translation_memory.json. Risk tiers and doctrinal notes are unchanged from baseline; only Matthew-specific occurrence notes are added.
| Term | Baseline Arabic | Baseline Risk | Key Matthew Passages | Matthew-Specific Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| gospel | الإنجيل | High | 4:23; 24:14; 26:13 | Reuse exactly; “gospel of the kingdom” (4:23) ties directly to Kingdom of Heaven doctrine. |
| faith | الإيمان | High | 8:10; 9:22; 15:28; 17:20; 21:21 | Reuse exactly; Gentile faith examples (centurion, Canaanite woman) develop Jew-Gentile unity. |
| grace | النعمة | High | (implicit in parables of undeserved favor, e.g. workers in the vineyard, 20:1-16) | Matthew does not use χάρις as frequently as Paul; grace-logic is taught narratively through parables. |
| righteousness | البر | Critical | 3:15; 5:6,10,20; 6:1,33; 21:32 | Central to “Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees” doctrine; reuse exactly, reinforce apart-from-works sense throughout Sermon on the Mount. |
| law | الناموس | Critical | 5:17-18; 7:12; 22:36-40; 23:23 | Never الشريعة, per baseline; central to Fulfillment doctrine (5:17). |
| sin | الخطية | High | 1:21; 9:2-6; 26:28 | ”Save his people from their sins” (1:21) is programmatic for the whole Gospel. |
| salvation | الخلاص | Critical | 1:21; 10:22; 19:25; 24:13 | Reuse exactly with full baseline weight against mīzān-based probabilistic salvation. |
| messiah | المسيح | Critical | 1:1,16,17,18; 2:4; 11:2; 16:16,20; 22:42; 24:5,23-24; 26:63,68; 27:17,22 | Highest-frequency Critical term in Matthew; every occurrence must actively correct the Qur’anic ʿĪsā al-Masīḥ’s pre-loaded non-divine, non-crucified, non-resurrected narrative. |
| son_of_god | ابن الله | Critical | 2:15 (implicit); 3:17; 4:3,6; 8:29; 14:33; 16:16; 17:5; 26:63; 27:40,43,54 | Reuse exactly; distinguish consistently from “Son of David” and plural “sons of God” (5:9). |
| lord | الرب | Critical | 7:21-22; 8:2,6,8,21,25; 9:28; 12:8; 14:28,30; 15:22,25,27; 20:30-31,33; 21:3; 22:43-45; 25:37,44 | Very high frequency; includes Jesus’ own Ps 110 argument (22:41-45) for a Lord greater than David. |
| resurrection | القيامة | Critical | 22:23-33 (Sadducees’ question); 27:53; 28:1-10 | Requires full apologetic scaffolding paired with the new “crucifixion” (الصلب) entry above. |
| holy_spirit | الروح القدس | Critical | 1:18,20; 3:11,16; 12:31-32; 28:19 | Reuse exactly; ch. 12’s blasphemy-against-the-Spirit passage and ch. 28’s baptismal formula are peak-risk occurrences. |
| father | الآب | Critical | 5:16,45,48; 6:1-18 (Lord’s Prayer); 7:11,21; 11:27; 28:19 | Reuse exactly; Sermon on the Mount’s repeated “your Father in heaven” is a major teaching vein. |
| kingdom_of_god | ملكوت الله | Medium | 12:28; 19:24; 21:31,43 | Synonymous with the new “kingdom_of_heaven” entry (see Part 1); Matthew alternates the two phrases interchangeably. |
| apostle | الرسول | High | 10:2 | Reuse exactly; baseline caution re: Rasūl Allāh applies identically. |
| gentiles | الأمم | Medium | 4:15; 10:5,18; 12:18,21; 24:14; 28:19 | Reuse exactly; culminates in the Great Commission’s universal scope. |
| glory | المجد | High | 6:29; 16:27; 19:28; 24:30; 25:31 | Reuse exactly; associated with Son of Man’s eschatological appearing. |
| covenant | العهد | Medium | 26:28 | Reuse exactly; institutes the new covenant at the Last Supper. |
| prophet/prophecy | نبي / نبوءة | Low-High (context-dependent) | throughout, esp. 1-2; 5:12,17; 13:57; 21:11,46; 23:29-37 | Reuse exactly; central to Fulfillment of OT Prophecy doctrine. |
| david | داود | Medium | 1:1,6,17,20; 9:27; 12:3,23; 15:22; 20:30-31; 21:9,15; 22:42-45 | Reuse exactly; foundational to Son of David title (Part 1). |
| israel | إسرائيل | High | 2:6,20-21; 8:10; 9:33; 10:6,23; 15:24,31; 19:28; 27:9,42 | Reuse exactly; retain baseline’s contemporary-political-sensitivity caution, especially in 10:6/15:24’s “lost sheep of Israel” and any teaching on Israel’s future role. |
| jesus | يسوع | Critical | throughout | Reuse exactly; never عيسى. |
| god | الله | Critical | throughout | Reuse exactly. |
| church | الكنيسة | Medium | 16:18; 18:17 | Reuse exactly; foundational texts for The Church and Church Discipline doctrine. |
| exhort | يشجع / يعظ | Low | (general teaching contexts) | See core-passage note distinguishing this from the distinct “comforted” (يتعزَّون) sense in 5:4. |
Part 3 — Matthew-Specific Forbidden Substitutions
Extending the baseline’s forbidden-substitution list, the following must never be used in the Matthew curriculum:
| Concept | Forbidden Arabic Term | Reason | Correct Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Almsgiving (ἐλεημοσύνη) | الزكاة (al-zakāh) | Names the specific, obligatory Pillar-of-Islam almsgiving tax | الصدقة (al-ṣadaqah) |
| Demons (δαιμόνιον) | جن (jinn) | Names a morally-mixed Islamic cosmological category, not uniformly evil | شياطين (shayāṭīn) |
| Blasphemy (βλασφημία) | الكفر (al-kufr) | Names the major Islamic unbelief/apostasy legal-theological category | التجديف (al-tajdīf) |
| Caesar’s tax (κῆνσος) | الجزية (al-jizyah) | Names the historical Islamic non-Muslim poll-tax; anachronistic and loaded | الضريبة (al-darībah) |
| False christs (ψευδόχριστοι) | Any دجّال (Dajjāl)-root compound | Names the specific Islamic Antichrist figure (al-Masīḥ al-Dajjāl) | مسحاء كذبة (masaḥā’ kadhabah) |
| Retaliation citation (Exodus 21:24 quoted in 5:38) | قصاص (qiṣāṣ) | Names the specific Islamic retributive-justice legal category | العين بالعين والسن بالسن (descriptive) |
| Disciple (μαθητής) | مريد (murīd) | Imports the Sufi master-disciple mystical-initiation framework | تلميذ (talmīdh) |
| Pure in heart / clean (καθαρός, 5:8; 15:11-20) | طاهر (ṭāhir) | Imports ritual-purity (wuḍū’-style) connotation, contradicting the text’s own inward/outward argument | نقي (naqiyy) |
| Transfiguration (μεταμορφόω) — use with caution, not forbidden but flagged | (none forbidden; caution on التجلي) | Collides with Sufi al-tajalliyāt doctrine of ongoing divine self-manifestation | Retain التجلي but bound explicitly to a unique, historical, bodily event |
This glossary, together with 07_semantic_analysis.md, extends the baseline Romans Language Package for the Matthew curriculum. All new terms in Part 1 must be added to a Matthew-specific translation memory extension, versioned and loaded before any Phase 2 segment translation begins, per the enforcement procedure in 12_ai_translation_requirements.md.
Critical Risk Terms
Adoption
Approved rendering: التبني
Transliteration: al-tabannī
Doctrine: Adoption: Believers as Sons of God
Rejected alternatives: الاستلحاق
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Directly underlies Matthew 5:9’s plural ‘sons of God’ (see new term ‘sons_of_god_plural’); the Qur’an’s denial of full filial/inheritance status to adopted children (33:4-5) makes this doctrine a deliberate correction, not a neutral restatement.
Body And Blood Covenant
Approved rendering: الجسد / الدم (مع العهد)
Transliteration: al-jasad / al-dam (ma’a al-‘ahd)
Doctrine: Atonement and the New Covenant
Original: τὸ σῶμά μου / τὸ αἷμά μου τῆς διαθήκης
Category: Salvation
NEW. Institution of the Lord’s Supper (26:26-28), interpreting Christ’s death as a new-covenant, sin-atoning sacrifice. No precise Islamic liturgical parallel exists; pairs with ‘ransom’ for full doctrinal scaffolding against Qur’an 6:164’s denial of substitutionary sin-bearing.
Cross Discipleship
Approved rendering: الصليب
Transliteration: al-ṣalīb
Doctrine: Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus
Original: σταυρός
Category: Discipleship
NEW. ‘Take up his cross and follow me’ (16:24). Even used metaphorically, presupposes crucifixion as a real, known historical event — directly intersects Qur’an 4:157’s crucifixion denial. Requires the same apologetic scaffolding as the baseline’s resurrection entry before this discipleship application can be taught.
Crucifixion
Approved rendering: يصلب / الصلب
Transliteration: yuṣlab / al-ṣalb
Doctrine: Crucifixion Historicity
Original: σταυρόω
Category: Christology
NEW. Highest-priority formal term in the Passion narrative (chs. 26-27). Directly narrates the event Qur’an 4:157 denies outright. Every occurrence must carry full apologetic scaffolding — named witnesses, officials, dateable trial, guarded/sealed tomb — establishing the historical crucifixion as fact before any resurrection claim can follow.
End Of The Age
Approved rendering: نهاية الزمان
Transliteration: nihāyat al-zamān
Doctrine: Judgment and the End of the Age
Original: συντέλεια τοῦ αἰῶνος
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Consummation of history at Christ’s return (13:39-40,49; 24:3; 28:20). Broadly compatible with Islamic al-sa’ah (‘the Hour’) vocabulary, but the content of what happens — judgment on the basis Christ himself established, not the mizan — must be actively taught.
Eternal Life
Approved rendering: الحياة الأبدية
Transliteration: al-ḥayāh al-abadiyyah
Doctrine: Eternal Life and Assurance
Original: ζωὴ αἰώνιος
Category: Salvation
NEW. Sought by the rich young ruler (19:16-29) and set in final contrast with eternal punishment (25:46). The ruler’s own deeds-based framework is explicitly rejected by Jesus (19:25-26) — a built-in teaching resource against the mizan default.
Eternal Punishment
Approved rendering: النار الأبدية / العقاب الأبدي
Transliteration: al-nār al-abadiyyah / al-‘iqāb al-abadī
Doctrine: Eternal Punishment and Hell
Original: πῦρ αἰώνιον / κόλασις αἰώνιος
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Fixed, final destiny of the unrighteous, set directly against eternal life in a single verse (25:41,46). This direct juxtaposition must be preserved with full force, not softened toward a probationary or purificatory reading.
False Christs
Approved rendering: مسحاء كذبة
Transliteration: masaḥā’ kadhabah
Doctrine: False Christs and False Prophets
Rejected alternatives: دجّال, المسيح الدجّال
Original: ψευδόχριστοι
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Deceptive figures falsely claiming to be the Messiah (24:24). Forbidden-substitution flag: never use any Dajjal-root compound, since al-Masih al-Dajjal is the specific proper name of the Islamic Antichrist figure in mainstream Sunni eschatology.
Father
Approved rendering: الآب
Transliteration: al-Āb
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ / Adoption
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Repeated ‘your Father in heaven’ across the Sermon on the Mount (5:16,45,48; 6:1-18; 7:11,21) and the Lord’s Prayer is a major teaching vein; final occurrence anchors the Trinitarian formula (28:19).
Fulfill The Law
Approved rendering: يتمّم الناموس
Transliteration: yutammim al-nāmūs
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: نسخ الناموس, إبطال الناموس
Original: πληρόω (with νόμος)
Category: Covenant
NEW. Matthew 5:17, ‘I have not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets but to fulfill them.’ Single sharpest naskh flashpoint in the curriculum; ‘fulfill’ must never be taught as equivalent to abolition (explicitly denied by the text) nor to naskh-style replacement, but as completion toward Christ as the Law’s intended goal. Never pair with شريعة.
Gehenna
Approved rendering: جهنم
Transliteration: Jahannam
Doctrine: Eternal Punishment and Hell
Original: γέεννα
Category: Eschatology
NEW. First occurrences 5:22,29-30; recurs 10:28; 18:9; 23:15,33. Exact shared Qur’anic term for hell — the word itself is safe, but the surrounding Islamic mizan (deeds-scale) framework of who goes there must be actively re-taught, not assumed compatible with Christ-secured assurance.
God
Approved rendering: الله
Transliteration: Allāh
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. The Trinitarian conception this word denotes must be actively distinguished from Islamic tawhid’s strictly unitarian conception, especially at the Trinitarian baptismal formula (28:19).
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: الروح القدس
Transliteration: al-Rūḥ al-Qudus
Doctrine: Deity of Christ / Trinitarian Baptismal Formula
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Active at Jesus’ conception (1:18,20), baptism (3:11,16), the unforgivable-blasphemy warning (12:31-32), and the baptismal formula (28:19). Chapter 12 and chapter 28 are peak-risk occurrences requiring the baseline’s Jibril-distinction note every time.
Immanuel
Approved rendering: عمانوئيل / الله معنا
Transliteration: ‘Imānū’īl / Allāhu ma’anā
Doctrine: Incarnation and Virgin Birth
Original: Ἐμμανουήλ
Category: Christology
NEW. Matthew’s most direct incarnation claim (1:23, citing Isaiah 7:14), forming a literary inclusio with 28:20’s ‘I am with you always.’ Apply the baseline incarnation (التجسد) framework and forbidden-substitution rules; never gloss with الحلول or الظهور.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: البر المحسوب
Transliteration: al-birr al-mahsūb
Doctrine: Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees
Rejected alternatives: البر المكتسب
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Directly relevant to Matthew 19:16-29’s contrast between the rich young ruler’s achieved-righteousness framework and grace-received righteousness; never render as ‘earned righteousness.‘
Incarnation
Approved rendering: التجسد
Transliteration: al-tajassud
Doctrine: Incarnation and Virgin Birth
Rejected alternatives: الحلول, الظهور
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Applied directly to Matthew’s ‘Immanuel’ (1:23) and the incarnation framework underlying the whole Gospel; never gloss with الحلول (Sufi pantheistic indwelling) or الظهور (mere appearance, echoing Qur’an 4:157’s crucifixion-denial language).
Jesus
Approved rendering: يسوع
Transliteration: Yasū’
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: عيسى
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Never عيسى, the Quranic form, anywhere in the Matthew curriculum, including the genealogy and Passion narrative.
Law
Approved rendering: الناموس
Transliteration: al-nāmūs
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: الشريعة, الشرع
Original: νόμος
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Central to Matthew 5:17-18’s fulfillment claim and 7:12; 22:36-40; 23:23. Never substitute الشريعة, which would make Jesus’ fulfillment claim sound like a direct statement on Islamic religious law specifically.
Lord
Approved rendering: الرب
Transliteration: al-Rabb
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: السيد, المولى
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew intensifies the claim beyond Romans via ‘Lord of the Sabbath’ (12:8) and the Psalm 110 argument (22:41-45); very high frequency throughout (7:21-22; 8:2,6,8; 9:28; 14:28,30; 15:22,25,27; 20:30-33; 21:3; 25:37,44). Never softened to ‘master’ or ‘teacher.‘
Messiah
Approved rendering: المسيح
Transliteration: al-Masīh
Doctrine: Jesus as the Promised Messiah and Son of David
Original: Χριστός
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew’s highest-frequency Critical term (1:1,16-18; 2:4; 11:2; 16:16,20; 22:42; 24:5,23-24; 26:63,68; 27:17,22); every occurrence must actively correct the Qur’anic ‘Isa al-Masih’s pre-loaded non-divine, non-crucified, non-resurrected narrative.
Parousia
Approved rendering: المجيء الثاني
Transliteration: al-majī’ al-thānī
Doctrine: The Second Coming of Christ
Original: παρουσία
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Christ’s visible, glorious return (24:3,27,37,39). Bridge-and-risk simultaneously: mainstream Sunni hadith affirms a future ‘descent of Jesus’ (nuzul ‘Isa) — a genuine shared expectation — but with sharply different Christological content (righteous non-crucified prophet, not the incarnate divine Son returning in his own glory as Daniel 7’s Son of Man).
Rabbi Title
Approved rendering: يا معلّم
Transliteration: yā mu’allim
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: ربّي (transliterated Rabbi — FORBIDDEN)
NEW FINDING — URGENT. Occurs 23:7-8; 26:25,49. A transliterated ‘Rabbi’ produces Arabic script ربّي, identical to the possessive form of الرب (‘my Lord’), the Critical Lordship-of-Christ term. At 23:8 Jesus forbids disciples from being called ‘Rabbi’; transliterating would make the text read as forbidding disciples from being called ‘my Lord,’ inverting the passage’s meaning and creating collateral confusion around Lordship-of-Christ elsewhere. Render as يا معلّم (‘Teacher’) throughout; never transliterate as ربّي.
Ransom
Approved rendering: فدية
Transliteration: fidyah
Doctrine: Atonement and the New Covenant
Original: λύτρον
Category: Salvation
NEW. ‘To give his life as a ransom for many’ (20:28). Genuine Qur’anic bridge term (2:196; 37:107) but Islamic fidyah is typically narrower/case-specific compensation, not a universal, once-for-all atoning payment (echoing Isaiah 53); teach the scope/finality difference explicitly, directly countering Qur’an 6:164.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: القيامة
Transliteration: al-qiyāmah
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Original: ἀνάστασις
Category: Eschatology
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Requires the historical crucifixion (see new term ‘crucifixion’) established first. Matthew’s unique guards’-report/bribery account (28:11-15) is a built-in apologetic resource answering the ‘stolen body’ objection structurally parallel to the Qur’an’s shubbiha lahum logic.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: البر
Transliteration: al-birr
Doctrine: Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees
Rejected alternatives: الصلاح, العدل
Original: δικαιοσύνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. CRITICAL in Matthew: 5:20’s explicit call to ‘exceed’ the Pharisees’ righteousness heightens the risk of a stricter-deeds-checklist misreading, precisely inverting the Sermon on the Mount’s inward, Christ-supplied righteousness (5:6,8,10; 6:1,33; 21:32).
Salvation
Approved rendering: الخلاص
Transliteration: al-khalāṣ
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: النجاة, الفوز بالجنة
Original: σωτηρία
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Named programmatically at 1:21 and referenced at 10:22; 19:25; 24:13; retains full Critical weight against mainstream Islamic soteriology’s mīzān-based probabilistic outcome.
Son Of David
Approved rendering: ابن داود
Transliteration: Ibn Dāwūd
Doctrine: Jesus as the Promised Messiah and Son of David
Original: υἱὸς Δαυίδ
Category: Christology
NEW. Fixed messianic title (1:1; 9:27; 12:23; 15:22; 20:30-31; 21:9,15; 22:41-45), distinct from ‘seed_of_david’ (lineage only). ‘Ibn’ + proper name triggers the begetting-language sensitivity of Qur’an 112:3/19:35 even though it denotes human royal descent, not divine sonship. Must be explicitly distinguished from ابن الله in every co-occurrence, especially 22:41-45.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: ابن الله
Transliteration: Ibn Allāh
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: الحبيب من الله, الكلمة من الله (بدون ‘ابن’)
Original: υἱὸς θεοῦ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Affirmed by the Father’s voice (3:17; 17:5) and Jesus’ own trial testimony (26:63-64); must be consistently distinguished from ‘Son of David’ (human royal lineage, ابن داود) and the plural ‘sons of God’ applied to believers (5:9, أبناء الله).
Son Of Man
Approved rendering: ابن الإنسان
Transliteration: Ibn al-Insān
Doctrine: Son of Man and His Authority
Original: υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου
Category: Christology
NEW. Jesus’ preferred self-designation (8:20; 9:6; 12:8; 16:27-28; 24:30; 25:31; 26:64), drawing on Daniel 7:13-14’s exalted judgment-wielding heavenly figure. Surface meaning (‘a human being’) matches Islamic Christology’s merely-human ‘Isa exactly; the Daniel 7 exalted-judge content must be supplied every occurrence, or the title functions as a doctrinal downgrade rather than an elevation.
Transfiguration
Approved rendering: تجلّى / التجلي
Transliteration: tajallā / al-tajallī
Doctrine: Transfiguration and Revealed Glory
Original: μεταμορφόω
Category: Christology
NEW. Temporary unveiling of Christ’s inherent divine glory before Peter, James, and John (17:1-8). التجلي is also the central Sufi metaphysical term (al-tajalliyat, Ibn ‘Arabi) for God’s ongoing self-disclosure; must be explicitly bounded as a unique, historical, bodily event, not an available mystical pattern.
Trinitarian Baptismal Formula
Approved rendering: باسم الآب والابن والروح القدس
Transliteration: bi-ismi al-Āb wa-al-Ibn wa-al-Rūḥ al-Qudus
Doctrine: The Trinitarian Baptismal Formula
Original: εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος
Category: God
NEW. The single most concentrated Trinitarian statement in the curriculum (28:19). The singular ‘name’ (not ‘names’) implies unity of being across the three Persons — a subtlety easily lost in translation. Must never be diluted (e.g. reducing ‘Son’ to an honorific) or reordered to obscure the implied triadic unity.
High Risk Terms
Almsgiving
Approved rendering: الصدقة
Transliteration: al-ṣadaqah
Doctrine: Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving as Kingdom Piety
Rejected alternatives: الزكاة
Original: ἐλεημοσύνη
Category: Ethics
NEW. Voluntary, secret charitable giving (6:1-4). Forbidden substitution: never render as الزكاة, the obligatory, calculated Pillar-of-Islam almsgiving tax; الصدقة (voluntary charity) is the correct match, though even it carries positive Islamic religious weight.
Apostle
Approved rendering: الرسول
Transliteration: al-rasūl
Doctrine: The Great Commission
Rejected alternatives: المبعوث, التلميذ المرسل
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Applied to the Twelve at their commissioning (10:2); baseline caution regarding Rasūl Allāh (Muhammad’s own defining title) applies identically.
Authority
Approved rendering: سلطان
Transliteration: sulṭān
Doctrine: The Authority of Jesus’ Teaching
Original: ἐξουσία
Category: Authority
NEW. First formal occurrence 7:29; recurs 9:6,8; 10:1; 21:23-27; 28:18. Shares its root with the political title ‘Sultan’ and modern Islamist hakimiyyah discourse; risk of being heard as a political-rule claim rather than Jesus’ inherent teaching/moral authority as Son, which he explicitly refuses to exercise politically (4:8-10).
Baptism
Approved rendering: المعمودية
Transliteration: al-ma’mūdiyyah
Doctrine: Baptism
Original: βάπτισμα / βαπτίζω
Category: Church
NEW. A new sacramental term with no Islamic ritual parallel and no baseline precedent (3:6-16); escalates to Critical when joined to the Trinitarian formula at 28:19. Distinguish John’s baptism of repentance from Christian baptism into the triune name as continuity-with-escalation (3:11), not conflation.
Bind And Loose
Approved rendering: الربط والحل
Transliteration: al-rabṭ wa-al-ḥall
Doctrine: The Church and Church Discipline
Original: δέω / λύω
Category: Church
NEW. Rabbinic idiom for authoritative rulings given to Peter (16:19) and the local church (18:18). Structurally similar to halal/haram fatwa rulings — a usable bridge, but must be bounded to Spirit-guided doctrinal/disciplinary authority, never comprehensive shari’ah-style jurisdiction.
Blasphemy
Approved rendering: التجديف
Transliteration: al-tajdīf
Doctrine: Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit
Rejected alternatives: الكفر
Original: βλασφημία
Category: Sin
NEW. Injurious speech against God, especially the unforgivable blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (12:31-32) and the charge at Jesus’ trial (26:65). Forbidden substitution: never use الكفر, the major Islamic unbelief/apostasy legal category.
Blessed
Approved rendering: طوبى
Transliteration: ṭūbā
Doctrine: The Kingdom of Heaven
Rejected alternatives: مبارك
NEW — CORE PASSAGE TERM (5:3-11). Established Van Dyck/NAV rendering; retain, do not innovate. Also Qur’anic vocabulary (13:29, ‘tuba lahum’), where blessedness attaches to deeds-based Paradise entry. Every Beatitude must be taught as a present, kingdom-inaugurated status pronounced by Christ, not a future reward contingent on a deeds-balance. مبارك rejected as too generic/circumstantial, losing the pronouncement-of-favored-status force.
Defile Clean
Approved rendering: ينجّس/نجس مقابل نقي
Transliteration: yunajjis/najis muqābil naqiyy
Doctrine: Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees
Rejected alternatives: طاهر
Original: κοινόω/κοινός vs. καθαρός
Category: Sanctification
NEW. Jesus relocates true defilement from external contact to the heart (15:11,18-20), paralleling 5:8’s ‘pure in heart.’ نجس carries strong ritual-impurity resonance in Islamic legal categories; never use طاهر for the ‘clean’ pole — consistent with ‘pure_in_heart.‘
Demon
Approved rendering: شياطين
Transliteration: shayāṭīn
Doctrine: Kingdom Conflict with the Demonic
Rejected alternatives: جن
Original: δαιμόνιον
Category: Spiritual Conflict
NEW. Uniformly evil, Satan-aligned spirits (8:16,28-34; 9:32-34; 12:22-28; 15:22; 17:18). Forbidden substitution: never render as جن (jinn), a morally mixed Islamic cosmological category (Qur’an 72) including believing jinn.
Deny Confess Christ
Approved rendering: ينكر / يعترف
Transliteration: yunkir / ya’tarif
Doctrine: Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus
Original: ἀρνέομαι / ὁμολογέω
Category: Discipleship
NEW. Public denial or confession of Christ with eternal consequence (10:32-33). Carries real, non-hypothetical social/legal consequence in some Arabic-speaking contexts, consistent with the baseline’s evangelism-safety note.
Divorce
Approved rendering: الطلاق
Transliteration: al-ṭalāq
Doctrine: Marriage and Divorce
Original: ἀπολύω
Category: Ethics
NEW. Marriage’s original permanence, with porneia as the sole exception (19:3-9). No alternative Arabic word exists; classical fiqh talaq’s unilateral-repudiation structure differs sharply — requires pastoral, not lexical, framing.
Faith
Approved rendering: الإيمان
Transliteration: al-īmān
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: الاعتقاد, الثقة
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew’s Gentile-faith examples (centurion 8:10; Canaanite woman 15:28) reinforce the relational-trust sense over Islamic iman’s primarily creedal-assent sense and develop Unity of Jews and Gentiles.
False Prophet
Approved rendering: نبي كذاب
Transliteration: nabī kadhdhāb
Doctrine: False Christs and False Prophets
Original: ψευδοπροφήτης
Category: Prophecy
NEW. Identified by fruit of character, not claims alone (7:15; 24:11,24). Pastoral/framing risk: keep the criterion bounded to the text’s own test (7:16-20), not extended as a verdict on named figures outside the text’s scope.
Fasting
Approved rendering: الصوم
Transliteration: al-ṣawm
Doctrine: Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving as Kingdom Piety
Original: νηστεία
Category: Worship
NEW. Voluntary, secret self-denial (6:16-18). الصوم is the Qur’anic term for Ramadan’s communal, public fast (2:183); Jesus’ concern is secrecy/motive versus public display, not a devaluation of fasting’s worth.
Forgiveness
Approved rendering: يسامح / المغفرة
Transliteration: yusāmiḥ / al-maghfirah
Doctrine: Forgiveness
Original: ἀφίημι / ἄφεσις
Category: Church
NEW. Modeled on God’s prior, disproportionate forgiveness (6:12; 18:21-35). المغفرة is the central Islamic category of Allah’s forgiveness, generally responsive to tawbah within the mizan framework; the unforgiving-servant parable collapses into a merit-transaction reading unless grace-first forgiveness is taught explicitly.
Fulfillment Formula
Approved rendering: لكي يتم ما قيل
Transliteration: li-yatimma mā qīl
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecy
Original: ἵνα/ὅπως πληρωθῇ
Category: Prophecy
NEW. Matthew’s recurring citation-introduction formula (1:22; 2:15,17,23; 4:14; 8:17; 12:17; 13:35; 21:4; 26:56; 27:9). Must be taught as completion/confirmation of prior revelation, the opposite movement from Islamic naskh (abrogation), at first occurrence and reinforced at every recurrence.
Glory
Approved rendering: المجد
Transliteration: al-majd
Doctrine: Deity of Christ / Judgment and the End of the Age
Rejected alternatives: النور الإلهي
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Associated with the Son of Man’s eschatological appearing (16:27; 19:28; 24:30; 25:31); avoid light-metaphor renderings that could conflate with Sufi illumination (ishraq) mysticism.
Gospel
Approved rendering: الإنجيل
Transliteration: al-Injīl
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: البشارة, الخبر السار
Original: εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. In Matthew, ‘gospel of the kingdom’ (4:23; 24:14; 26:13) ties this term directly to The Kingdom of Heaven doctrine; must convey an authoritative announcement of the NT record itself, not a corrupted successor to a lost original per tahrif doctrine.
Grace
Approved rendering: النعمة
Transliteration: al-ni’mah
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: الفضل, الرحمة
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew teaches grace-logic narratively through parables (e.g. workers in the vineyard, 20:1-16) more than through direct vocabulary; reinforce the unmerited-favor sense wherever such parables occur.
Inherit The Earth
Approved rendering: يرثون الأرض
Transliteration: yarithūna al-arḍ
Doctrine: Adoption: Believers as Sons of God
NEW — CORE PASSAGE TERM (5:5). Ties directly to the baseline’s Adoption doctrine (full inheritance rights). Qur’an 21:105 quotes Psalm 37 nearly verbatim, attributing inheritance to ‘My righteous servants’ (al-salihun, a works-oriented category) — a genuine textual bridge that must be reframed: inheritance grounded in Kingdom-conferred sonship, not independent moral achievement.
Israel
Approved rendering: إسرائيل
Transliteration: Isrā’īl
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Original: יִשְׂרָאֵל
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Retain the baseline’s contemporary-political-sensitivity caution, especially at 10:6/15:24’s ‘lost sheep of Israel’ and any teaching on Israel’s future role (19:28).
Judgment
Approved rendering: الدينونة
Transliteration: al-dīnūnah
Doctrine: Judgment and the End of the Age
Original: κρίσις
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Final divine judgment, culminating in the sheep-and-goats scene (25:31-46). Must be taught as Christ’s own personal judgment (25:31-32), not an impersonal cosmic deeds-weighing process resembling the mizan.
Kingdom Of Heaven
Approved rendering: ملكوت السماوات
Transliteration: malakūt al-samāwāt
Doctrine: The Kingdom of Heaven
Rejected alternatives: مملكة السماوات
Original: βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν
Category: Kingdom
NEW. Matthew’s Jewish circumlocution avoiding the divine name, synonymous with ملكوت الله, not a second kingdom. السماوات (plural) risks absorption into Qur’anic seven-heavens cosmology (al-samāwāt al-sab’) or reduction to ‘the afterlife place’; reinforce the present in-breaking reign alongside future consummation (3:2; 4:17; 5:3,10; 13; 18:1-4; 19:14; 25).
Make Disciples
Approved rendering: تلمذة الأمم
Transliteration: talmadhat al-umam
Doctrine: The Great Commission
Original: μαθητεύω
Category: Mission
NEW. The Great Commission’s mandate (28:19). Founding mandate term tying Kingdom, Church, and Mission (الإرسالية) doctrines together; ensure تلميذ (never مريد) is used in any expansion of this verbal form.
Merciful
Approved rendering: الرحماء
Transliteration: al-ruḥamā’
Doctrine: The Kingdom of Heaven
NEW — CORE PASSAGE TERM (5:7). Genuine positive lexical match (root shared with Ar-Rahman/Ar-Rahim), but the verse’s logical structure (‘merciful… shown mercy’) can be heard as straightforward deeds-earn-mercy reciprocity. Teach human mercy here as the fruit of having already received God’s mercy in Christ, not its cause — distinct sense from the baseline’s grace caution against الرحمة.
Perfect
Approved rendering: كامل
Transliteration: kāmil
Doctrine: Perfection and Covenant Love
Original: τέλειος
Category: Ethics
NEW. ‘Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect’ (5:48). الإنسان الكامل (‘the Perfect/Complete Man’) is a major Sufi metaphysical term (Ibn ‘Arabi) for mystical attainment; teach τέλειος here as impartial, Father-like covenant love and wholeness of devotion, not mystically achieved perfection.
Persecution For Righteousness
Approved rendering: المطرودون / المضطهَدون من أجل البر
Transliteration: al-muḍṭahadūn min ajl al-birr
Doctrine: Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus
NEW — CORE PASSAGE TERM (5:10-12). Ties البر (Critical) directly to real social/legal risk of persecution for public Christian identity, echoing the baseline’s evangelism safety caution. ‘For my sake’ (v.11) identifies this righteousness-persecution explicitly with allegiance to Christ personally, not generic virtue-persecution.
Poor In Spirit
Approved rendering: المساكين بالروح
Transliteration: al-masākīn bi-al-rūḥ
Doctrine: The Kingdom of Heaven
NEW — CORE PASSAGE TERM (5:3). مسكين is a named, specific zakat-recipient category (Qur’an 9:60); without بالروح firmly retained and explained, hearers may default to a socioeconomic reading (literal poverty as virtue). Must be taught as humble, God-dependent spiritual poverty, open to rich and poor alike, never a deficiency or lack of piety.
Prayer
Approved rendering: الصلاة
Transliteration: al-ṣalāh
Doctrine: Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving as Kingdom Piety
Original: προσευχή / προσεύχομαι
Category: Worship
NEW. Free, secret, relational address to the Father (6:5-13, the Lord’s Prayer). No viable alternative Arabic word exists; الصلاة is also the second Pillar of Islam (fixed, five-times-daily, ritually-prescribed). The contrast (relational address vs. fixed liturgical rite) must be taught explicitly, not avoided through word substitution.
Pure In Heart
Approved rendering: نقيّو القلب
Transliteration: naqiyyū al-qalb
Doctrine: Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees
Rejected alternatives: طاهر القلب
NEW — CORE PASSAGE TERM (5:8). Forbidden substitution: never use طاهر, which carries wudu-style ritual-purity connotation and would pull the verse toward the external-ritual-purity framework Jesus rejects three chapters later (15:1-20). Use نقي exclusively, consistent with ‘defile_clean.‘
Repentance
Approved rendering: التوبة
Transliteration: al-tawbah
Doctrine: Repentance
Original: μετάνοια / μετανοέω
Category: Salvation
NEW. First occurs 3:2,8,11; continues 4:17; 11:20-21. Islamic tawbah is a private, repeatable, sin-by-sin turning generally without a mediating atonement; Matthew’s repentance is total, kingdom-oriented, and inseparable from trust in the person of the Messiah — this Christ-directed character must be made explicit at first use.
Retaliation
Approved rendering: العين بالعين والسن بالسن
Transliteration: al-‘ayn bi-l-‘ayn wa-l-sinn bi-l-sinn
Doctrine: Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees
Rejected alternatives: قصاص
Original: (OT citation, Exodus 21:24, quoted at 5:38)
Category: Ethics
NEW. The lex talionis citation Jesus quotes then deepens (5:38-42). Forbidden substitution: never render with قصاص, the technical Islamic retributive-justice legal category (Qur’an 5:45), which would make Jesus sound as if directly overturning a named Islamic legal category rather than quoting Exodus 21:24.
Reward
Approved rendering: أجر
Transliteration: ajr
Doctrine: Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus
Original: μισθός
Category: Discipleship
NEW. Occurs 5:12; 6:1-6,16-18; 10:41-42; 20:8. أجر is the standard, load-bearing Islamic term for deeds-earned heavenly recompense within the mizan framework; every occurrence must teach reward as flowing from grace/kingdom belonging, not an independent merit ledger — especially inside grace-teaching parables like 20:1-16.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: نسل داود
Transliteration: nasl Dāwūd
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Distinct from the new Matthew-specific ‘son_of_david’ title (ابن داود): this term denotes physical lineage only, while son_of_david is a fixed messianic title; keep the two clearly distinguished in teaching notes.
Sin
Approved rendering: الخطية
Transliteration: al-khaṭīyah
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: الذنب, الإثم
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew 1:21 (‘he will save his people from their sins’) is programmatic for the whole Gospel and must be taught against Islamic fitrah doctrine’s denial of inherited/universal guilt.
Sons Of God Plural
Approved rendering: أبناء الله
Transliteration: abnā’ Allāh
Doctrine: Adoption: Believers as Sons of God
NEW — CORE PASSAGE TERM (5:9). Plural, adoptive sonship of peacemakers, NOT the baseline’s Critical singular ابن الله (Christ’s unique eternal Sonship). Grammatical number (plural أبناء vs. singular ابن الله) and context must unmistakably signal adoptive sonship, never a claim of multiple co-divine sons alongside Christ. Ties directly to the baseline’s Adoption doctrine, which the Qur’an’s denial of adoptive inheritance rights (33:4-5) already flags as High risk.
Sword Division
Approved rendering: سيف
Transliteration: sayf
Doctrine: Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus
Original: μάχαιρα
Category: Discipleship
NEW. ‘Not peace but a sword’ (10:34-37), a metaphor for household division, not physical violence. Framing risk given jihad-associated stereotypes; requires explicit scaffolding tying the metaphor to the text’s own clarifying context (vv. 35-37).
Tax Caesars
Approved rendering: الضريبة
Transliteration: al-darībah
Doctrine: Civil Authority and Taxation
Rejected alternatives: الجزية
Original: κῆνσος
Category: Culture
NEW. The Roman census-tax at the center of ‘render to Caesar’ (22:17-21). Forbidden substitution: never render as الجزية, the historical Islamic non-Muslim poll-tax — an anachronistic, loaded import into a Roman civil-tax question.
Vision Of God
Approved rendering: يرون الله
Transliteration: yarawna Allāh
Doctrine: The Kingdom of Heaven
NEW — CORE PASSAGE TERM (5:8). ‘They shall see God.’ Ru’yat Allah (the vision of God) is itself a live, contested Islamic theological question — mainstream Sunni (Ashari) orthodoxy affirms it in Paradise via hadith, while rationalist/Mu’tazili and some Shia strands deny visual beholding as incompatible with divine transcendence. Teaching material should note this variance rather than assume either reaction.
Medium Risk Terms
Cause To Stumble
Approved rendering: يُعثر / عثرة
Transliteration: yu’thir / ‘athrah
Doctrine: The Church and Church Discipline
Original: σκανδαλίζω
Category: Church
NEW. To cause another, especially ‘little ones,’ to fall into sin (18:6-9). Standard metaphor; distinguish from the separate NT ‘stumbling block’ applied to the cross itself elsewhere.
Church
Approved rendering: الكنيسة
Transliteration: al-kanīsah
Doctrine: The Church and Church Discipline
Rejected alternatives: الجماعة, الأمة
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Founding texts at 16:18 and 18:17; reinforce the living, gathered-people sense over the building/minority-enclave sense common in everyday Arabic usage.
Covenant
Approved rendering: العهد
Transliteration: al-‘ahd
Doctrine: Atonement and the New Covenant
Rejected alternatives: الميثاق
Original: διαθήκη
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Instituted anew at the Last Supper (26:28), pairing directly with the new term ‘body_and_blood_covenant.‘
David
Approved rendering: داود
Transliteration: Dāwūd
Doctrine: Jesus as the Promised Messiah and Son of David
Original: Δαβίδ / דָּוִד
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Foundational to Matthew’s genealogy (1:1-17) and the new ‘son_of_david’ title; the Qur’anic Dawud carries less of the covenant-king typology and this background must be supplied explicitly.
Devil
Approved rendering: الشيطان
Transliteration: al-shayṭān
Doctrine: Kingdom Conflict with the Demonic
Rejected alternatives: إبليس
Original: διάβολος
Category: Spiritual Conflict
NEW. The tempter and adversary (4:1-11; 13:39). Safe, shared common-noun vocabulary; avoid the Qur’anic proper name إبليس, which carries a distinct origin-narrative (a jinn who refused to bow to Adam, Qur’an 7:11-12).
Disciple
Approved rendering: تلميذ / تلاميذ
Transliteration: talmīdh / talāmīdh
Doctrine: Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus
Rejected alternatives: مريد
Original: μαθητής
Category: Church
NEW. A committed follower/learner bound to Jesus (throughout, first at 5:1). Forbidden substitution: never use مريد, the Sufi disciple bound to a spiritual master (shaykh) in a tariqa lineage, which would import a mystical master-disciple initiation framework.
Eli Eli Lama Sabachthani
Approved rendering: إيلي إيلي لما شبقتني (glossed: إلهي إلهي لماذا تركتني)
Transliteration: Īlī Īlī lammā shabaqtanī
Doctrine: Crucifixion Historicity
NEW. Aramaic cry from the cross preserved untranslated by Matthew himself (27:46), then glossed in Greek. Preserve the Aramaic transliteration followed by the Arabic gloss, per the same ‘preserve the original utterance, then gloss’ pattern the baseline applies to Abba.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: الأمم
Transliteration: al-umam
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: الكفار
Original: ἔθνη
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Prominent in Matthew’s Gentile-inclusion emphasis (4:15; 10:5,18; 12:18,21; 24:14) culminating in the Great Commission’s universal scope (28:19).
Holy
Approved rendering: مقدس
Transliteration: muqaddas
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: طاهر
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Used at ‘hallowed be your name’ in the Lord’s Prayer (6:9); avoid طاهر’s ritual-purity connotation, consistent with the same caution applied to ‘pure in heart’ (5:8) and ‘defile/clean’ (15:11-20).
Hypocrite
Approved rendering: مرائي / الرياء
Transliteration: murā’ī / al-riyā’
Doctrine: Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees
Original: ὑποκριτής
Category: Ethics
NEW. Outward religious performance for human approval (6:2,5,16; 7:5; 15:7; 22:18; 23:13-29). Positive bridge: al-riya’ is a recognized Islamic ethical vice (‘minor shirk’); usable as pastoral common ground while keeping the critique bounded to its textual targets.
Keys Of The Kingdom
Approved rendering: مفاتيح الملكوت
Transliteration: mafātīḥ al-malakūt
Doctrine: Keys of the Kingdom and Bind/Loose Authority
Original: κλεῖς τῆς βασιλείας
Category: Church
NEW. Given to Peter (16:19). Loose resonance with hadith ‘keys to Paradise’ imagery tied to formulas or figures; a different underlying structure — delegated apostolic/church authority through gospel proclamation, not ritual formula or hereditary custodianship.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: ملكوت الله
Transliteration: malakūt Allāh
Doctrine: The Kingdom of Heaven
Rejected alternatives: مملكة الله
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Kingdom
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Synonymous with the new Matthew-specific term ‘kingdom_of_heaven’ (ملكوت السماوات); Matthew alternates the two phrases interchangeably (12:28; 19:24; 21:31,43) — not two kingdoms.
Living God
Approved rendering: الله الحي
Transliteration: Allāh al-Ḥayy
Doctrine: Jesus as the Promised Messiah and Son of David
Original: τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος
Category: God
NEW. God described as living, within Peter’s confession (16:16). Positive bridge: Al-Hayy is one of the 99 names of Allah; use the resonance pastorally while retaining the confession’s full Christological context.
Love Agape
Approved rendering: المحبة
Transliteration: al-maḥabbah
Doctrine: Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees
Original: ἀγάπη / ἀγαπάω
Category: Ethics
NEW. Self-giving, covenantal love extended even to enemies (5:43-48) and named the greatest commandment together with love of neighbor (22:37-39). Standard, safe vocabulary; doctrinal weight is in the ethical demand, not the word.
Meek
Approved rendering: الودعاء
Transliteration: al-wuda’ā’
Doctrine: The Kingdom of Heaven
NEW — CORE PASSAGE TERM (5:5). Strength held under control, not passivity or weakness. Partial positive overlap with the Islamic virtue of hilm (dignified self-restraint), usable as a bridge, but note hilm is typically framed as a social virtue of the powerful restraining themselves, while this Beatitude is a kingdom-inheriting disposition given to the powerless.
Mission
Approved rendering: الإرسالية
Transliteration: al-irsāliyyah
Doctrine: The Great Commission
Rejected alternatives: الرسالة
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Prefer الإرسالية over الرسالة (Muhammad’s own prophetic-commission term, risalah) throughout Great Commission teaching (28:16-20).
Mourn Comforted
Approved rendering: الحزانى / يتعزَّون
Transliteration: al-ḥuzānā / yuta’azzūna
Doctrine: The Kingdom of Heaven
NEW — CORE PASSAGE TERM (5:4). ‘Comforted’ (يتعزَّون, from consolation) is a distinct sense of paraklaleo from the baseline’s ‘exhort’ (يشجع/يعظ) and must not be mechanically conflated with it; this is passive, guaranteed, future divine consolation.
Oath
Approved rendering: الحلف / القسم
Transliteration: al-ḥalaf / al-qasam
Doctrine: Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees
Original: ὅρκος / ὀμνύω
Category: Ethics
NEW. Jesus’ prohibition of oath-taking as a guarantee of truthfulness (5:33-37). Contrast with regulated Islamic oath practice by Allah’s name; frame as ethical demand, not a ruling on Islamic oath practice specifically.
Peace
Approved rendering: السلام
Transliteration: al-salām
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: الأمان, الطمأنينة
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. In Matthew 5:9’s ‘peacemakers’ (see new term ‘peacemakers’), this baseline forensic/relational sense of peace-with-God must be distinguished from the horizontal, human peace-making sense of that verse.
Peacemakers
Approved rendering: صانعو السلام
Transliteration: ṣāni’ū al-salām
Doctrine: The Kingdom of Heaven
NEW — CORE PASSAGE TERM (5:9). Active reconcilers, not merely peace-loving or conflict-avoidant people. Distinguish from baseline السلام’s forensic/relational ‘peace with God’ sense — this is horizontal peace-making among people; do not flatten the two senses of السلام together.
Pharisee
Approved rendering: فريسي / فريسيون
Transliteration: farīsī / farīsiyyūn
Doctrine: Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees
Original: Φαρισαῖος
Category: Culture
NEW. A Jewish religious-legal movement in frequent conflict with Jesus, especially ch. 23’s seven woes. Keep critique bounded to the text’s own targets, not extended as a general critique of religious observance.
Rock Petra
Approved rendering: صخرة
Transliteration: ṣakhrah
Doctrine: The Church and Church Discipline
Original: πέτρα
Category: Church
NEW. The ‘rock’ on which Christ builds his church, wordplay with Peter’s name (16:18). Low-medium doctrinal risk from an Islamic-collision standpoint; note the ongoing church-foundation interpretive debate for translators, but no religious-vocabulary collision.
Scribes
Approved rendering: الكتبة
Transliteration: al-kataba
Doctrine: Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees
Original: γραμματεῖς
Category: Culture
NEW. Professional Torah legal experts (7:29; 23 throughout). Functionally comparable to fuqaha’/‘ulama’; keep critique of first-century scribal legalism text-bounded, not a general polemic against religious scholarship.
Sexual Immorality
Approved rendering: الزنى
Transliteration: al-zinā
Doctrine: Marriage and Divorce
Original: πορνεία
Category: Ethics
NEW. The sole named exception permitting divorce (19:9). Zina is a specific, narrower Islamic legal category with defined evidentiary/penal requirements; NT usage is broader — note the scope difference.
Sign Of Jonah
Approved rendering: آية يونان
Transliteration: āyat Yūnān
Doctrine: Sign of Jonah and Prophetic Authentication
Original: σημεῖον Ἰωνᾶ
Category: Prophecy
NEW. Jesus’ comparison of his death/resurrection to Jonah’s three days (12:38-41; 16:1-4). Yunus is a shared, positively-regarded Qur’anic prophet — genuine bridge figure. آية’s established Arabic Bible use for ‘sign’ is standard usage, not a novel risk.
Temptation
Approved rendering: التجربة
Transliteration: al-tajribah
Doctrine: Kingdom Conflict with the Demonic
Original: πειρασμός / πειράζω
Category: Discipleship
NEW. Jesus’ wilderness testing by the devil (4:1-11; also 6:13; 26:41). Distinguish from Islamic ibtila’/fitnah (Allah’s benevolent testing, with no internal solicitation to sin); here the enticing agent is explicitly the devil, not God.
The Coming One
Approved rendering: الآتي
Transliteration: al-ātī
Doctrine: Jesus as the Promised Messiah and Son of David
Original: ὁ ἐρχόμενος
Category: Christology
NEW. Messianic title from OT expectation (Ps 118:26; Mal 3:1), used in John the Baptist’s question (11:3). No independent collision risk beyond standard messianic-title care.
Tradition Of Elders
Approved rendering: تقليد الشيوخ
Transliteration: taqlīd al-shuyūkh
Doctrine: Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees
Original: παράδοσις
Category: Ethics
NEW. Human religious tradition elevated above God’s command (15:2-6). Functionally comparable to accumulated juristic tradition in Islamic legal reasoning; keep the critique narrow (elevating tradition above God’s own command).
Virgin Birth
Approved rendering: عذراء
Transliteration: ‘adhrā’
Doctrine: Incarnation and Virgin Birth
Original: παρθένος
Category: Christology
NEW. Genuine Qur’anic agreement point (19:20-21 affirms Mary’s virginity and the virgin birth as a divine sign, 1:18-23), but the theological weight differs: in Matthew it signals incarnation and divine Sonship; in the Qur’an it signals a miraculous sign attesting prophethood without implying divine Sonship. Use as a bridge; do not assume a shared conclusion.
Yoke
Approved rendering: نير
Transliteration: nīr
Doctrine: Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus
Original: ζυγός
Category: Discipleship
NEW. ‘My yoke is easy’ (11:29-30). Light collision potential with polemical ‘yoke of sharia’ framing in some interreligious rhetoric; keep tied to its own rest-in-Christ context, not a commentary on Islamic law.
Low Risk Terms
Angel
Approved rendering: ملاك
Transliteration: malāk
Doctrine: Incarnation and Virgin Birth
NEW. Appears to Joseph and the shepherds/magi context (1:20,24) and at the empty tomb (28:2-7). Shared, safe vocabulary across both traditions.
Barabbas
Approved rendering: بارأباس
Transliteration: Bārābās
Doctrine: Crucifixion Historicity
NEW. Transliterated proper name (27:16-21), the prisoner released in Jesus’ place. Established form; supports the historical particularity of the Passion narrative.
Exhort
Approved rendering: يشجع / يعظ
Transliteration: yushajji’ / ya’iẓ
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Original: παρακαλέω
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Note the distinct ‘comforted’ sense (يتعزَّون) at Matthew 5:4, which must NOT be mechanically rendered with this term’s baseline ‘exhort’ sense — see new term ‘mourn_comforted.‘
Genealogy
Approved rendering: نسب
Transliteration: nasab
Doctrine: Genealogy and Covenant Continuity
NEW. Matthew’s opening ‘book of the genealogy’ (1:1-17), rooting the whole Gospel in verifiable OT covenant history. Low collision risk; ensure ‘son of Abraham’ (ابن إبراهيم) reads as lineage only, consistent with the Son of David distinction.
Gethsemane
Approved rendering: جثسيماني
Transliteration: Jathsīmānī
Doctrine: Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus
NEW. Transliterated place name (26:36), the garden of Jesus’ agony before his arrest. Established form; proper place-name, no doctrinal content to paraphrase.
Golgotha
Approved rendering: الجلجثة
Transliteration: al-Juljuthah
Doctrine: Crucifixion Historicity
NEW. Transliterated place name (27:33), with the text’s own gloss ‘place of the skull’ (موضع الجمجمة). Established Van Dyck/NAV form; no doctrinal content beyond its role in the crucifixion’s historical scaffolding.
Hosanna
Approved rendering: أوشعنا
Transliteration: Awshaʿnā
Doctrine: Jesus as the Promised Messiah and Son of David
Original: Ὡσαννά
Category: Christology
NEW. Crowd’s messianic acclamation at the triumphal entry (21:9,15). Preserve as transliteration per the baseline’s ‘Abba’ preservation pattern; low risk as a word, though it accompanies the Critical ‘Son of David’ title.
Magi
Approved rendering: المجوس
Transliteration: al-Majūs
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecy
Original: μάγοι
Category: Prophecy
NEW. Persian/Zoroastrian priest-astrologers (2:1-12); established, safe historical-religious category in Arabic, no collision risk.
Parable
Approved rendering: مثل
Transliteration: mathal
Doctrine: Parable as Kingdom Teaching Method
Original: παραβολή
Category: Kingdom
NEW. Jesus’ characteristic Kingdom-teaching form (13:1-52 and throughout). Safe, shared genre-word — mathal is also the Qur’an’s own term for its parables/similitudes; teach each parable’s specific content on its own terms.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: نبوءة
Transliteration: nubū’ah
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecy
Original: προφητεία
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Central to the fulfillment-formula doctrine (1:22-23; 2:15,17,23 and throughout).
Prophet
Approved rendering: نبي
Transliteration: nabī
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecy
Original: προφήτης
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Recurring category throughout Matthew including Jesus’ own rejection as a prophet in his hometown (13:57) and the persecuted-prophet lineage (23:29-37); must be paired with fuller Christological titles given khatam an-nabiyyin sensitivities.
Referenced passages