Core Glossary
Core Glossary: Micah — English → Arabic
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, across all seven chapters of Micah, with destination-language risk tiers assigned per the Romans baseline risk framework (Critical / High / Medium / Low). Terms already fixed in the baseline translation_memory.json are marked “Reuse (baseline)” and must not be re-derived. New terms specific to Micah are marked “New entry.” This glossary must be loaded alongside the baseline translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json before any Phase 2 Micah translation work begins; new entries below should be merged into translation memory following the versioning procedure in 12_ai_translation_requirements.md.
A. Terms Reused Exactly from the Romans Baseline
| Term (English) | Hebrew / Transliteration | Arabic Rendering | Risk | Doctrine Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Law / Torah | תּוֹרָה / torah | الناموس | Critical | Fulfillment of Prophecy; Law | Micah 4:2. Reuse exactly; never الشريعة/الشرع. |
| Sin | חַטָּאָה / chatta’ah | الخطية | High | Universal Human Accountability | Micah 1:5,13; 6:7; 7:19. Distinct from פֶּשַׁע (“transgression,” see Section B). |
| Lord | יְהוָה / YHWH | الرب | Critical | Lordship of Christ (OT root) | Used throughout; establishes continuity with Romans 10:9’s confession. |
| Israel / Jacob (people) | יִשְׂרָאֵל, יַעֲקֹב | إسرائيل / يعقوب | High | Unity of Jews and Gentiles (OT root) | Same contemporary-political-sensitivity caution as the Romans baseline entry applies throughout Micah. |
| Abraham | אַבְרָהָם | إبراهيم | Medium | Davidic/Abrahamic Covenant | Micah 7:20; direct continuity with Romans 4’s Abraham argument. |
| David | דָּוִד | داود | Medium | Davidic Covenant | Background figure for Bethlehem/ruler prophecy (ch. 5); reuse baseline caveat re: Quranic Dawud lacking covenant-king typology. |
| Prophet | נָבִיא / navi | نبي | High | Inspiration of Scripture | Micah 3:5-11 (true vs. false prophets). Reuse baseline caution re: khatam an-nabiyyin. |
| Kingdom of God (conceptual echo) | מַלְכוּת (implied, ch. 4) | ملكوت الله | Medium | Kingdom Mission | Micah 4:1-8’s vision of God’s reign over the nations; reuse baseline rendering. |
B. New Terms Introduced by Micah
| Term (English) | Hebrew / Transliteration | Literal / Semantic Range | Arabic Rendering | Risk | Doctrine Link | Chapter(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Word of the LORD | דְּבַר־יְהוָה / devar-YHWH | authoritative divine speech-act | كلمة الرب | High | Inspiration of Scripture | 1:1 | Distinguish from Islamic waḥy (verbatim dictation) and taḥrīf framing. |
| Vision | חָזוֹן / chazon | prophetic seeing | رؤيا | Medium | Inspiration of Scripture | 1:1 | Same inspiration caution. |
| Idols / carved images | פְּסִילִים, עֲצַבִּים / pesilim, atzabim | manufactured cult objects | الأصنام | Medium | (supports Judgment on Corrupt Leaders/Empty Ritual) | 1:7; 5:13 | Shared condemnation with Islamic tradition — usable bridge; supply historical specifics. |
| High places | בָּמוֹת / bamot | illicit hilltop worship sites | المرتفعات | Low-Medium | True Worship vs. Empty Ritual | 1:5 | Technical OT term; needs first-use gloss. |
| Transgression (pesha) | פֶּשַׁע / pesha | willful covenant rebellion | التعدي / المعصية | High | Universal Human Accountability | 1:5,13; 6:7; 7:18 | Distinct nuance from חַטָּאָה “sin” (الخطية) — do not conflate the two Arabic terms. |
| Jerusalem | יְרוּשָׁלַיִם / Yerushalayim | proper noun, capital of Judah | أورشليم | Medium | (contemporary sensitivity) | throughout | Never القدس — see baseline “Israel” caution for the same underlying risk pattern. |
| Woe | הוֹי / hoy | prophetic judgment cry | الويل | Low-Medium | Judgment on Corrupt Leaders | 2:1; 7:1 | Rhetorical bridge to Quranic wayl oracles against injustice. |
| Oppress / Covet | עָשַׁק, חָמַד / ashaq, chamad | exploit the powerless; illicit desire for others’ property | يظلمون / يطمعون | Low | Judgment on Corrupt Leaders | 2:2 | Strong shared ground (ẕulm is a major Islamic ethical category). |
| Inheritance | נַחֲלָה / nachalah | covenant land-allotment | الميراث / النصيب | Medium | (Land/Covenant) | 2:2 | Distinguish from Islamic fiqh mīrāth (estate law). |
| Remnant | שְׁאֵרִית / she’erit | the preserved surviving portion of God’s people | البقية | Medium | Hope of Restoration; Effectual Calling/Election | 2:12; 4:7; 5:7-8; 7:18 | Connects to Romans 11:5’s remnant/election theology. |
| The Breaker | הַפֹּרֵץ / ha-porets | one who breaks open a way | الكاسر / فارع الطريق | Medium-High | (possible messianic typology — teach cautiously) | 2:13 | Ambiguous figure; do not over-assert a firm messianic identification. |
| Rulers / Judges | רָאשִׁים, שֹׁפְטִים / rashim, shoftim | governing/judicial officeholders | الرؤساء / القضاة | Medium | Judgment on Corrupt Leaders | 3:1,9,11 | Central vocabulary for this doctrine. |
| Divination for money | קָסַם, נִחֵשׁ / qasam, nichesh | soothsaying-for-hire | يتكهنون بالفضة / العرافة | Medium | Judgment on Corrupt Leaders | 3:11 | Kihānah is condemned in Islamic tradition too — usable bridge. |
| Spirit of the LORD | רוּחַ יְהוָה / ruach YHWH | divine empowering presence | روح الرب | Critical | Judgment on Corrupt Leaders; (OT root of Holy Spirit doctrine) | 3:8 | Parallel collision risk to baseline’s الروح القدس (Quranic identification with Jibril); teach as continuous with, not identical in wording to, the NT Holy Spirit revelation. |
| Mountain of the house of the LORD | הַר בֵּית־יהוה / har beit-YHWH | Zion/Temple mount | جبل بيت الرب | High | Kingdom Mission; Judgment on Corrupt Leaders | 3:12; 4:1 | Acute contemporary political sensitivity (Jerusalem/Al-Aqsa/Temple Mount) — separate 8th-c. BC referent from present-day territorial claims. |
| Latter days | אַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים / acharit ha-yamim | eschatological future horizon | الأيام الأخيرة | High | Hope of Restoration | 4:1 | Competing, well-developed Islamic end-times narrative (ākhir al-zamān); anchor to Micah’s specific content, don’t leave generic. |
| Plowshares / Pruning hooks | אִתִּים, מַזְמְרוֹת / ittim, mazmerot | re-forged agricultural tools | سكك المحاريث / مناجل التقليم | Low | Hope of Restoration | 4:3 | Vivid peace imagery; source is biblical, note this against the secularized popular idiom. |
| Zion / Daughter of Zion | צִיּוֹן, בַּת־צִיּוֹן / Tziyon, bat-Tziyon | personified Jerusalem/God’s people | صهيون / بنت صهيون | High | Hope of Restoration; Unity of Jews and Gentiles | 4:8,10 | Heavy contemporary political freight (Zionism) unrelated to OT theological sense — frame explicitly as covenantal/theological. |
| Redeem | גָּאַל / ga’al | kinsman-redemption; buy back from bondage | يفدي / الفادي | High | Salvation (OT root) | 4:10 | Conceptual root of Christ’s redemptive work — teach with kinsman-redeemer background. |
| Bethlehem Ephrathah | בֵּית־לֶחֶם אֶפְרָתָה | proper noun, David’s ancestral town | بيت لحم أفراتة | Critical | The Coming Ruler from Bethlehem; Messianic Promise | 5:2 | Direct fulfillment link to Matthew 2:6/Jesus’ birth — teach as literal historical fulfillment. |
| Ruler | מוֹשֵׁל / moshel | governing/reigning figure | المتسلط / الحاكم | Critical | The Coming Ruler from Bethlehem; Messiah; Lordship of Christ | 5:2 | Direct messianic title continuous with baseline Critical Messiah/Lord entries. |
| From everlasting / from ancient days | מִקֶּדֶם מִימֵי עוֹלָם | pre-temporal/eternal origin | منذ القدم، منذ أيام الأزل | Critical | Incarnation; Sonship of Christ (OT root) | 5:2 | OT root of Christ’s eternal preexistence; must not be flattened to “long ago in history.” |
| Shepherd | רָעָה / ra’ah | tending/leading a flock | الراعي | Medium | The Coming Ruler from Bethlehem | 5:4 | Compatible metaphor (cf. Islamic shepherd-leader hadith); connect forward to Christ as Good Shepherd. |
| Sorceries | כְּשָׁפִים / kesafim | occult divination | السحر | Low-Medium | Judgment on Corrupt Leaders/Idolatry | 5:12 | Shared condemnation. |
| Controversy / Lawsuit | רִיב / rib | formal covenant lawsuit | الخصومة / الدعوى | Medium | True Worship vs. Empty Ritual | 6:1-2 | Genre-marker; needs brief explanatory note. |
| Justice | מִשְׁפָּט / mishpat | active, restorative social justice; right communal order | العدل | High | Justice, Mercy, and Humility (core doctrine) | 6:8; also 3:1,8-9; 7:9 | Al-‘Adl collision (divine name); teach as restorative/others-oriented, not mere legal correctness. Van Dyck’s الحق remains an acceptable secondary variant; never الحكم alone. |
| Mercy / Lovingkindness | חֶסֶד / chesed | covenant loyalty, steadfast loyal-love | الرحمة | High | Justice, Mercy, and Humility (core doctrine) | 6:8; 7:18 | Established Van Dyck rendering, reused for consistency; collides with Ar-Rahman/Ar-Raheem — distinguish covenantal chesed from generic Islamic raḥmah. Do NOT also use for rachamim (below) — keep the two Hebrew roots distinct in Arabic. |
| Walk humbly | הַצְנֵעַ לֶכֶת / hatsnea lechet | deliberate, relational lifelong walk with God | التواضع / السلوك بتواضع | Medium | Justice, Mercy, and Humility (core doctrine) | 6:8 | Compatible with tawāḍuʿ; guard against Sufi fanā’ (self-annihilation) over-reading — keep relational, not mystical-dissolution. |
| Burnt offering | עוֹלָה / olah | whole-burnt Levitical sacrifice | المحرقة | Medium | True Worship vs. Empty Ritual | 6:6 | OT sacrificial term; distinct from Islamic qurbān/dhabīḥah; needs forward link to Christ’s atonement. |
| Firstborn | בְּכוֹר / bekor | first male child | البكر / الابن الأول | High | True Worship vs. Empty Ritual | 6:7 | Alludes to Molech child sacrifice; must not be conflated with Genesis 22 / Quran 37:102-107 substitution narratives. |
| What is good | טוֹב / tov | ethical/moral goodness | الصالح | Low | Justice, Mercy, and Humility | 6:8 | — |
| Dishonest scales | מֹאזְנֵי מִרְמָה / mo’zenei mirmah | deceptive commercial weights | ميزان الغش | Low | Judgment on Corrupt Leaders | 6:10-11 | Shared ground with Quranic condemnation of cheating in measures. |
| Statutes of Omri / House of Ahab | חֻקּוֹת עֻמְרִי / מַעֲשֵׂה בֵית־אַחְאָב | historical corrupt-dynasty reference | فرائض عمري / أعمال بيت أخآب | Low | Judgment on Corrupt Leaders | 6:16 | Proper-noun historical reinforcement. |
| Godly one (chasid) | חָסִיד / chasid | covenant-loyal person | الرجل التقي / الصالح | Medium | Hope of Restoration (by contrast) | 7:2 | Shares root with chesed; note the connection explicitly. |
| Pardon iniquity / Pass over transgression | נָשָׂא עָוֹן, עָבַר עַל־פֶּשַׁע | forensic removal of guilt | يصفح عن الإثم / يتجاوز عن التعدي | Critical | Hope of Restoration and Forgiveness; Salvation; Assurance of Salvation | 7:18 | OT root of Critical NT forgiveness/assurance doctrines; must not be reduced to Islamic ghafara’s contingent, non-substitutionary forgiveness. |
| Compassion (rachamim) | רַחֲמִים / rachamim | tender, womb-rooted compassion | الرأفة / الحنان | Critical | Hope of Restoration and Forgiveness | 7:19 | Exact Semitic cognate of Ar-Raḥmān/Ar-Raḥīm root; keep distinct from chesed’s الرحمة to avoid double-collision and to preserve the Hebrew text’s own distinction between the two roots. |
| Cast sins into the sea | וְתַשְׁלִיךְ בִּמְצֻלוֹת יָם | complete, irrecoverable removal of sin | يطرح خطاياهم في أعماق البحر | Medium-High | Assurance of Salvation | 7:19 | Preserve completeness/finality, not partial forgiveness. |
| Faithfulness / Oath to Abraham | אֱמֶת; הַשְּׁבוּעָה לַאֲבֹתֵינוּ | covenant faithfulness; the Abrahamic oath | الحق / الأمانة؛ القسم لإبراهيم | Medium | Hope of Restoration and Forgiveness | 7:20 | Continuity with Romans 4’s Abraham argument. |
| Who is like You (name-pun) | מִי־כָמֹכָה / mi-khamokhah | rhetorical incomparability formula, punning on “Micah” | مَن مثلك (يا الله) | Medium | Hope of Restoration and Forgiveness | 7:18 | Untranslatable name-pun; footnote required. Bridge to tawḥīd’s uniqueness claim, but content is specifically God’s uniquely forgiving/gracious character, not generic monotheism. |
C. Risk Summary
| Risk Tier | Count | Review Routing (per baseline convention) |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 9 | Human theologian |
| High | 12 | Human theologian |
| Medium | 17 | Native speaker review |
| Low | 8 | Automated review |
| Total terms (new + reused) | 46 |
Cross-cutting doctrinal flag (chapter-wide, not a single lexical entry): the general Arabic category العبادة (worship/ritual service) — Islam’s own foundational organizing term — must be handled with an explicit teaching note wherever “true worship” is discussed (see 07_semantic_analysis.md, Chapter 6 doctrinal flag). This is not assigned its own glossary row because it is a framing risk affecting the whole doctrine of “True Worship versus Empty Ritual” rather than a single Hebrew lexical item, but it must be carried into 11_doctrine_analysis.md and 12_ai_translation_requirements.md in Phase 1 Steps that follow.
Coverage confirmation: every chapter of Micah (1–7) is represented in Section B above; no chapter was silently omitted.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: الله
Transliteration: Allāh
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged: Allah is the Arabic word for God used by Arabic-speaking Christians for centuries before and after Islam; no viable alternative exists. Islamic tawhid’s strictly unitarian conception must be actively distinguished from the Trinitarian conception the word denotes here. Micah note: God is the plaintiff of the covenant lawsuit (rîb) throughout the book and the subject of the incomparability formula in 7:18 (מִי־כָמֹכָה, ‘who is like you’) — His uniqueness must be demonstrated by His specific forgiving, redeeming character, not treated as a bare monotheistic slogan compatible with tawhid alone.
Lord
Approved rendering: الرب
Transliteration: al-Rabb
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: السيد, المولى
Original: יְהוָה
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged: al-Rabb is a defining title of Allah in the Quran; applying it to Jesus (Romans 10:9) is the maximally confrontational but doctrinally exact claim of full deity. Micah note: here الرب renders יְהוָה (YHWH) throughout the book, and specifically the addressee of the rhetorical questions in Micah 6:6-7. Establish explicitly that this is the same Rabb later confessed of Jesus in Romans 10:9 — the God who alone may be worshipped — so the transactional-sacrifice premise of 6:6 is never mistaken for the text’s own view.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: الروح القدس
Transliteration: al-Rūḥ al-Qudus
Doctrine: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged: identical phrase appears in the Quran (2:87, 2:253) but mainstream tafsir identifies it there with the created angel Jibril, not a co-equal divine Person. Micah note: retained here as the NT-facing anchor term; see the new entry ‘spirit_of_the_lord’ (روح الرب) for Micah 3:8’s OT-root occurrence, which must be taught as continuous with, not verbally identical to, this fuller NT revelation — never assume shared referent with the Quranic phrase despite identical wording in either case.
Jesus
Approved rendering: يسوع
Transliteration: Yasū’
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: عيسى
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged: established Eastern Christian Arabic form predating Islam; عيسى is exclusively the Quranic name and is explicitly rejected as the primary rendering. Micah note: Matthew 2:6 directly quotes Micah 5:2 of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem — every teaching note connecting Micah 5:2 forward to the New Testament must use يسوع, never عيسى, to avoid importing the non-crucified, non-divine, prophet-only theology attached to that name.
Messiah
Approved rendering: المسيح
Transliteration: al-Masīh
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged: al-Masih is ‘Isa al-Masih’s own Quranic title, already loaded with a specific competing narrative (honored prophet, not divine, not crucified, not resurrected). Micah note: Micah 5:2-5 does not itself use a Hebrew cognate of ‘Messiah’ (it uses מוֹשֵׁל, moshel, ‘ruler’ — see the new entry ‘ruler’), but the passage is the OT seedbed of the messianic promise Romans/Matthew identify with al-Masih; teaching material connecting Micah 5 to the New Testament must actively correct the pre-loaded Quranic content, exactly as required at every occurrence of this term in Romans.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: ابن الله
Transliteration: Ibn Allāh
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: الحبيب من الله, الكلمة من الله (بدون ‘ابن’)
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged: the Quran twice denies Allah begets or is begotten (112:3; 19:35); ‘الحبيب من الله’ is explicitly rejected as a dilution. Micah note: Micah 5:2’s ‘from everlasting’ (see new entry ‘from_everlasting’) is the specific Old Testament clause that grounds this NT doctrine typologically; retain the full phrase ابن الله wherever Micah 5:2 is taught forward into Christology, never softening to a relational-only title.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: التجسد
Transliteration: al-tajassud
Doctrine: Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: الحلول, الظهور
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged: established pre-Islamic Christian Arabic term; الحلول (Sufi pantheistic indwelling) and الظهور (mere appearance, echoing the Quran’s crucifixion-denial language) are both explicitly rejected. Micah note: Micah 5:2’s assertion that the Ruler’s ‘goings-forth’ precede his Bethlehem birth is the OT seedbed of this doctrine; must not be reduced to a temporary or repeatable divine appearance.
Law
Approved rendering: الناموس
Transliteration: al-nāmūs
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: الشريعة, الشرع
Original: תּוֹרָה
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged: established Van Dyck tradition uses this Greek loanword rather than الشريعة, which today denotes the total Islamic religious-legal-political system. Micah note: Micah 4:2 pictures torah (instruction) going out to the nations from Zion, parallel to devar-YHWH in the same verse; rendering this as الشريعة would turn the nations’ pilgrimage to learn the LORD’s own instruction into an image of Islamic law’s global spread — never substitute.
Salvation
Approved rendering: الخلاص
Transliteration: al-khalāṣ
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: النجاة, الفوز بالجنة
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged: mainstream Islamic soteriology weighs deeds on a scale (mizan) with no assured outcome, and the Quran explicitly denies substitutionary bearing of sin (6:164). Micah note: Micah 7:18-20’s confession of God pardoning iniquity and casting sin into the sea (see new entries ‘pardon_iniquity’, ‘cast_sins_into_sea’) is the OT theological root of this Critical doctrine — must be taught as anticipating the assured, substitutionary, once-for-all salvation secured in Christ, not a present possibility pending a future deeds-weighing.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: البر
Transliteration: al-birr
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: الصلاح, العدل
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged: al-birr appears in the Quran (2:177) as a checklist of pious deeds. IMPORTANT MICAH-SPECIFIC CROSS-TERM NOTE: العدل is listed here as a rejected alternative for righteousness (dikaiosyne/birr), but is the established, correct primary rendering of a different Hebrew word, מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat, ‘justice’), in the new entry ‘justice’ below. These are two distinct terms serving two distinct doctrines; translators must not confuse the rejection of العدל as a substitute for البر with any suggestion that العدل is unsuitable for mishpat. Micah 6:6-8’s escalating sacrifice list must never be taught as if it were building toward al-birr’s works-checklist answer — 6:8 explicitly redirects away from ritual performance.
Justification
Approved rendering: التبرير
Transliteration: al-tabrīr
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: التزكية, الحكم بالبراءة
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged: التزكية is a Quranic term for self-purification through deeds and is explicitly rejected. Micah note: the forensic pardon described in Micah 7:18-19 (see ‘pardon_iniquity’) is the OT root image of this NT doctrine — God’s one-time verdict removing guilt, not a self-achieved purification process; teach the two passages together.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: البر المحسوب
Transliteration: al-birr al-mahsūb
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: البر المكتسب
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged: البر المكتسب (‘earned righteousness’) is explicitly rejected. Micah note: Micah 7:18-19’s forensic pardon anticipates this doctrine’s ‘credited, not earned’ logic; the compound phrase ‘يصفح عن الإثم’ (see ‘pardon_iniquity’) must likewise never be replaced by a single verb suggesting an achievement on the sinner’s part.
Spirit Of The Lord
Approved rendering: روح الرب
Transliteration: ruach YHWH
Doctrine: The Spirit of the LORD’s Empowerment (OT Root of Holy Spirit Doctrine)
Original: רוּחַ יְהוָה
Category: God
New term. Micah 3:8, Micah’s Spirit-empowered contrast with money-driven false prophets. CRITICAL parallel to الروح القدس: mainstream tafsir identifies the Quran’s own ‘holy spirit’ phrase (2:87, 2:253) with the created angel Jibril, not a co-equal divine Person. Must be taught as continuous with, and anticipating, the NT’s fuller revelation of the Spirit as a divine Person — never assumed to share a referent with the Quranic phrase despite identical wording.
Bethlehem Ephrathah
Approved rendering: بيت لحم أفراتة
Transliteration: Beit-Lechem Efratah
Doctrine: The Coming Ruler from Bethlehem
Original: בֵּית־לֶחֶם אֶפְרָתָה
Category: Christology
New term. Micah 5:2, David’s small ancestral town, named as the promised Ruler’s birthplace — directly quoted in Matthew 2:6 of Jesus’ birth. The single most direct verbal link in Micah to the baseline’s Messiah/Christ doctrine cluster; must be taught as literal, historical, fulfilled prophecy, not a vague ‘someone important will come from a small town’ generality.
Ruler
Approved rendering: المتسلط / الحاكم
Transliteration: moshel
Doctrine: The Coming Ruler from Bethlehem
Original: מוֹשֵׁל
Category: Christology
New term. Micah 5:2, the promised governing figure proceeding from Bethlehem. Direct messianic title; must be taught in continuity with the baseline’s Critical ‘messiah,’ ‘lord,’ and ‘kingdom_of_god’ entries — always in direct textual proximity to the Bethlehem/David/‘from everlasting’ cluster so readers connect it to full deity and lordship, not a merely political appointment.
From Everlasting
Approved rendering: منذ القدم، منذ أيام الأزل / الأبدية
Transliteration: miqedem mi’ymei olam
Doctrine: Eternal Preexistence of the Ruler
Original: מִקֶּדֶם מִימֵי עוֹלָם
Category: Christology
New term. Micah 5:2, asserting the Ruler’s origin precedes his Bethlehem birth. The OT seedbed of the Incarnation/Sonship-of-Christ Critical doctrines. Must not be flattened to mean merely ‘since ancient historical times’ (reducing the Ruler to a long-expected but ordinary human figure); retain the doubled phrase, since no single Arabic word carries both ‘ancient historical’ and ‘eternal’ senses simultaneously, and the redundancy is theologically load-bearing. Directly opposed by Quran 112:3 and 19:35’s denial of divine begetting.
Pardon Iniquity
Approved rendering: يصفح عن الإثم / يتجاوز عن التعدي
Transliteration: nasa avon / avar al-pesha
Doctrine: Hope of Restoration and Forgiveness
Rejected alternatives: يغفر (as a bare single-verb substitute)
Original: נָשָׂא עָוֹן / עָבַר עַל־פֶּשַׁע
Category: Salvation
New term. Micah 7:18, the book’s climactic confession of God’s unique forgiving character. Mainstream Islamic theology holds Allah may forgive (ghafara) as a sovereign, unilateral, contingent act of will, explicitly denying one party bearing another’s sin (Quran 6:164). Must be taught as anticipating the substitutionary, once-for-all forgiveness secured in Christ, not a mere possibility pending a final deeds-weighing. Retain the compound phrase; a single Arabic verb would collapse this into the ghafara framework.
Compassion Rachamim
Approved rendering: الرأفة / الحنان
Transliteration: rachamim
Doctrine: Hope of Restoration and Forgiveness
Rejected alternatives: الرحمة (reserved exclusively for chesed)
Original: רַחֲמִים
Category: Salvation
New term. Micah 7:19, God’s tender, womb-rooted compassion toward His repentant people. This Hebrew root (ר-ח-ם) is the exact Semitic cognate of Arabic ر-ح-م, the root of Allah’s names Ar-Rahman and Ar-Raheem. Using الرحمة (already assigned to chesed, see ‘mercy_chesed’) for rachamim as well would erase a real distinction in the Hebrew text and double the collision with the two Divine Names simultaneously — use الرأفة or الحنان specifically, with an explicit teaching note that this compassion culminates, per Christian doctrine, in Christ’s atoning work, not in a bare declaration of attribute.
High Risk Terms
Israel
Approved rendering: إسرائيل
Transliteration: Isrā’īl
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Original: יִשְׂרָאֵל / יַעֲקֹב
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged: in contemporary spoken Arabic overwhelmingly associated with the modern nation-state and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Micah note: Micah addresses Israel (Samaria) and Judah (Jerusalem) throughout in judgment and restoration oracles (chs. 1-7); every occurrence needs the same deliberate pastoral framing the baseline requires, separating the 8th-century BC covenant argument from present-day political readings — this risk compounds with the new ‘zion’ and ‘jerusalem’ entries below.
Sin
Approved rendering: الخطية
Transliteration: al-khaṭīyah
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: الذنب, الإثم
Original: חַטָּאָה
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged: Islamic fitrah doctrine denies inherited sin. Micah note: renders חַטָּאָה (chatta’ah) at 1:5,13; 6:7; 7:19. Must be kept lexically distinct from the new entry ‘transgression’ (פֶּשַׁע/pesha, rendered التعدي/المعصية) — Hebrew distinguishes ordinary moral failure from willful covenant rebellion; do not conflate the two Arabic renderings.
Prophet
Approved rendering: نبي
Transliteration: nabī
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Original: נָבִיא
Category: Revelation
Inherited from Romans package (already High risk there). Micah note: risk is structurally elevated in this book specifically because Micah 3:5-11 makes true-vs-false prophetic authority itself the load-bearing argument (money-driven diviners contrasted with Micah’s own Spirit-empowered word, 3:8) — not incidental vocabulary as in most Romans occurrences. Must be paired with the criterion Micah 3 itself supplies (Spirit-empowerment + moral content, not novelty or finality) so readers do not apply khatam an-nabiyyin (‘seal of the prophets’) logic to displace Micah’s own authority.
Election
Approved rendering: اختيار الله
Transliteration: ikhtiyār Allāh
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: القدر
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Micah note: grounds the new entry ‘remnant’ (البقية), Micah’s recurring promise (2:12-13; 4:6-7; 5:7-8; 7:18) that judgment will not be total. Must be taught as God’s sovereign, specific, redemptive preserving purpose — not folk qadar fatalism (‘it is written’) detached from redemptive intent, and not mere statistical survival.
Grace
Approved rendering: النعمة
Transliteration: al-ni’mah
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: الفضل, الرحمة
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged: الفضل and الرحمة both function in Islamic theology as favor responsive to obedience. IMPORTANT MICAH-SPECIFIC CROSS-TERM NOTE: الرحمة is listed here as a rejected alternative for grace/charis, but is simultaneously the established, correct rendering of a different Hebrew word, חֶסֶד (chesed, ‘covenant loyalty’), in the new entry ‘mercy_chesed’ below. This is not a contradiction — chesed’s الرحمة is covenant loyalty commanded of humans toward one another and modeled by God, distinct from unmerited saving favor — but translators must hold both facts simultaneously and never collapse Micah 6:8’s chesed into the NT doctrine of grace without this distinction stated.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: نسل داود
Transliteration: nasl Dāwūd
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Micah note: Micah 5:2’s naming of Bethlehem, David’s ancestral town, is the direct OT anchor for this NT phrase (Romans 1:3); teach the two passages as one unbroken lineage argument.
Word Of The Lord
Approved rendering: كلمة الرب
Transliteration: devar-YHWH
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture (OT Root)
Original: דְּבַר־יְהוָה
Category: Revelation
New term. Micah 1:1’s opening formula, establishing prophetic authority. Must be taught as God moving a human prophet to speak faithfully in his own voice exactly what God intended, not verbatim angelic dictation (Islamic waḥy, the Quran’s own claimed mode of revelation), and must not concede any taḥrif (‘corruption of prior scripture’) framing.
Bow Down Prostrate
Approved rendering: أنحني / أسجد
Transliteration: ekkaf
Doctrine: True Worship versus Empty Ritual
Original: אֶכַּף
Category: Worship
New term. Micah 6:6. أسجد shares root س-ج-د with Islamic salah’s defining sujūd posture. Prefer أنحني as primary; if أسجد is used for poetic parallelism it must carry an explicit note that this posture, however correct, is declared insufficient apart from justice/mercy/humility — a direct challenge to ritual-posture-as-sufficient-worship, never an endorsement of prostration as the answer.
Justice
Approved rendering: العدل
Transliteration: mishpat
Doctrine: Justice, Mercy, and Humility
Rejected alternatives: الحكم
Original: מִשְׁפָּט
Category: Ethics
New term, core-passage anchor (Micah 6:8). العدل corresponds to Al-‘Adl, one of the 99 names of Allah, and a major sharia jurisprudence category — risks being heard as courtroom impartiality alone. Mishpat in Micah is restorative and covenantal: defending the powerless, correcting exploitative rulers (chs. 2-3), not merely applying law evenly. Van Dyck’s historic الحق remains an acceptable secondary variant; الحكم alone is rejected as it narrows to ‘verdict’ and loses the ethical breadth. See the cross-term note under ‘righteousness’ above — do not confuse this term’s use of العدل with that entry’s rejection of العدل for a different Hebrew/Greek word.
Mercy Chesed
Approved rendering: الرحمة
Transliteration: chesed
Doctrine: Justice, Mercy, and Humility
Original: חֶסֶד
Category: Ethics
New term, core-passage anchor (Micah 6:8; also 7:18). Established Van Dyck/NAV rendering of chesed, reused for consistency with historic Arabic Bible tradition. الرحمة is directly cognate with Ar-Rahman/Ar-Raheem, inviting the Islamic sense of sovereign discretionary divine favor; chesed is covenant loyalty commanded of humans toward one another and modeled by God’s own covenant faithfulness. Must NOT also be used for rachamim (see ‘compassion_rachamim’ below) — the two Hebrew roots must be kept distinct in Arabic. See also the cross-term note under ‘grace’ above.
Transgression
Approved rendering: التعدي / المعصية
Transliteration: pesha
Doctrine: Judgment on Corrupt Leaders; True Worship versus Empty Ritual
Original: פֶּשַׁע
Category: Sin
New term. Micah 1:5,13; 6:7; 7:18. Willful rebellion against covenant relationship, a stronger term than ordinary sin. Must be kept lexically distinct from ‘sin’ (חַטָּאָה, الخطية) above — do not conflate the two Arabic renderings; the Hebrew text itself distinguishes willful revolt from general moral failure.
Firstborn
Approved rendering: البكر / الابن الأول
Transliteration: bekor
Doctrine: True Worship versus Empty Ritual
Original: בְּכוֹר
Category: Worship
New term. Micah 6:7, the sacrificial bidding’s escalation to the unthinkable. Alludes to real ancient Near Eastern child sacrifice (Molech worship, cf. 2 Kings 3:27), explicitly forbidden in Israel’s Law. Must make clear Israel’s God never required this, and must not be conflated with Genesis 22 (Abraham/Isaac) or its Quranic parallel (Ibrahim/Ismail, Surah 37:102-107), both of which end in substitution, not completion, of child sacrifice.
Remnant
Approved rendering: البقية
Transliteration: she’erit
Doctrine: Remnant and Election
Original: שְׁאֵרִית
Category: Salvation
New term. Micah 2:12; 4:7; 5:7-8; 7:18, the recurring promise that judgment will not be total. Connects to the baseline’s High-risk ‘election’ doctrine (Romans 11:5’s remnant); teach as God’s sovereign preserving purpose, not statistical survival or folk qadar fatalism.
Mountain Of The House Of The Lord
Approved rendering: جبل بيت الرب
Transliteration: har beit-YHWH
Doctrine: Zion and the Unity of God’s People (Contemporary Political Sensitivity)
Original: הַר בֵּית־יהוה
Category: Kingdom
New term. Micah 3:12 (desolate, judgment) and 4:1 (exalted, hope) — the identical phrase used for both. Render identically in both verses to preserve the judgment-to-reversal rhetorical structure. Carries acute contemporary political sensitivity (Jerusalem/Al-Aqsa/Temple Mount); separate the 8th-century BC referent from any present-day territorial claim.
Latter Days
Approved rendering: الأيام الأخيرة
Transliteration: acharit ha-yamim
Doctrine: Eschatological Kingdom and the Nations
Original: אַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים
Category: Kingdom
New term. Micah 4:1, introducing the vision of nations streaming to God’s mountain. Islamic eschatology (akhir al-zaman: Mahdi, Dajjal, a subordinate returning ‘Isa) is a fully developed, competing narrative; anchor every occurrence to Micah’s specific content (torah/word from Zion, swords to plowshares, universal worship of the one true God) rather than leaving it as a generic placeholder.
Zion
Approved rendering: صهيون / بنت صهيون
Transliteration: Tziyon / bat-Tziyon
Doctrine: Zion and the Unity of God’s People (Contemporary Political Sensitivity)
Original: צִיּוֹן / בַּת־צִיּוֹן
Category: Kingdom
New term. Micah 4:8,10, personified Jerusalem/God’s covenant people in travail awaiting deliverance. Heavy contemporary political freight (Zionism) entirely disconnected from the OT theological sense; every occurrence needs explicit covenantal/theological framing, never left to imply endorsement or critique of a modern political program.
Redeem
Approved rendering: يفدي / الفادي
Transliteration: ga’al
Doctrine: Redemption and Deliverance (OT Root of Salvation)
Original: גָּאַל
Category: Salvation
New term. Micah 4:10, God will redeem Zion from her enemies and exile. Connects directly to the baseline’s Critical ‘salvation’ doctrine — must be taught with its full OT kinsman-redeemer background as the conceptual root of Christ’s redemptive work, not a generic ‘rescue.‘
Cast Sins Into Sea
Approved rendering: يطرح خطاياهم في أعماق البحر
Transliteration: ve-tashlich…bi-metzulot yam
Doctrine: Hope of Restoration and Forgiveness
Original: וְתַשְׁלִיךְ…בִּמְצֻלוֹת יָם
Category: Salvation
New term. Micah 7:19, vivid image of total, final removal of sin. Connects to the baseline’s Critical ‘Assurance of Salvation’ doctrine — must preserve the sense of complete, final removal, not partial or provisional forgiveness pending future judgment.
Medium Risk Terms
David
Approved rendering: داود
Transliteration: Dāwūd
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: דָּוִד
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Micah note: David’s ancestral town, Bethlehem Ephrathah, is named directly in Micah 5:2 as the origin point of the promised Ruler; the Quranic Dawud is a shared, positively-regarded prophet-king but carries none of the covenant-king typology pointing forward to a promised messianic heir — this background must be taught explicitly, not assumed to transfer.
Covenant
Approved rendering: العهد
Transliteration: al-‘ahd
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: الميثاق
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Micah note: the underlying relational, unilaterally-initiated covenant bond between the LORD and His people is presupposed by the rîb (covenant lawsuit) genre opening Micah 6:1-2, where the mountains are summoned as witnesses; retain the relational biblical sense, not a mutual bilateral contract.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: ملكوت الله
Transliteration: malakūt Allāh
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Rejected alternatives: مملكة الله
Original: מַלְכוּת (implied, ch. 4)
Category: Kingdom
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Micah note: Micah 4:1-8 envisions the nations streaming to God’s mountain to be taught His ways — an OT anticipation of this doctrine. Distinguish God’s present/future spiritual reign from a political theocratic state, and avoid resonance with khilafah (caliphate) framing found in Islamist political movements, exactly as the baseline requires.
Peace
Approved rendering: السلام
Transliteration: al-salām
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: الأمان, الطمأنينة
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Micah note: Micah 4:3’s iconic image of swords beaten into plowshares (see ‘plowshares_pruning_hooks’) pictures the eschatological peace this doctrine anticipates; avoid الطمأنينة’s Sufi/Quranic sense of subjective heart-tranquility, retaining instead the relational, covenantal, God-secured sense.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: الأمم
Transliteration: al-umam
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: الكفار
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged: الكفار is a loaded Islamic religious-judgment term and must never be used. Micah note: Micah 4:1-8 pictures ‘many nations’ (الأمم) streaming to Zion to be taught the LORD’s ways — an OT vision of the doctrine Romans develops; never borrow الأمة (the specific pan-Islamic Ummah) for this plural generic sense.
Vision
Approved rendering: رؤيا
Transliteration: chazon
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture (OT Root)
Original: חָזוֹן
Category: Revelation
New term. Micah 1:1, ‘the word…which he saw.’ Prophetic seeing/revelatory perception; same inspiration caution as word_of_the_lord — avoid implying dictation or a later-corrupted source text.
Come Before The Lord
Approved rendering: بماذا أتقدم
Transliteration: bammah aqaddem
Doctrine: True Worship versus Empty Ritual
Original: בַּמָּה אֲקַדֵּם
Category: Worship
New term. Micah 6:6’s opening rhetorical question. Must not read as a legitimate liturgical question the text endorses — it is the wrong transactional premise the whole unit (6:6-8) exposes and corrects, not the passage’s own answer.
God On High
Approved rendering: الله العلي / الإله العلي
Transliteration: elohei marom
Doctrine: True Worship versus Empty Ritual
Original: אֱלֹהֵי מָרוֹם
Category: God
New term. Micah 6:6. العلي corresponds to Al-‘Aliyy, one of the 99 names of Allah — broadly compatible shared attribute of transcendence, but must not suggest a distant, unapproachable deity; Micah 6:8 insists this transcendent God still desires a relational ‘walk’ with His people.
Burnt Offering
Approved rendering: المحرقة
Transliteration: olah
Doctrine: True Worship versus Empty Ritual
Rejected alternatives: قربان, ذبيحة
Original: עוֹלָה
Category: Worship
New term. Micah 6:6, the default ‘acceptable’ worship gesture proposed and found insufficient alone. Established OT sacrificial term, not to be confused with the Arabic-Islamic qurban/dhabihah of Eid al-Adha. Requires a footnote connecting the OT sacrificial system to its fulfillment in Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice, so it is not left standing as a self-sufficient ritual answer.
High Places
Approved rendering: المرتفعات
Transliteration: bamot
Doctrine: Idolatry and False Worship
Original: בָּמוֹת
Category: Worship
New term. Micah 1:5. Illicit hilltop worship sites, sometimes syncretistic, sometimes nominally to YHWH but outside the sanctioned Temple. No exact Islamic-cultural parallel; needs a brief explanatory gloss on first use.
Idols
Approved rendering: الأصنام
Transliteration: pesilim / atzabim
Doctrine: Idolatry and False Worship
Original: פְּסִילִים / עֲצַבִּים
Category: Worship
New term. Micah 1:7; 5:13. Genuine shared ground: Islam (echoing the Quran’s own Abraham narratives) strongly condemns idol-worship; usable as a bridge, but must supply concrete historical referents (Baal, Asherah, calf worship) rather than leaving the term vague.
Divination For Money
Approved rendering: يتكهنون بالفضة / العرافة
Transliteration: qasam / nichesh (be-khesef)
Doctrine: Judgment on False Prophets
Original: קָסַם / נִחֵשׁ (בְּכֶסֶף)
Category: Worship
New term. Micah 3:11, corrupt prophets selling false reassurance for pay. Kihanah (soothsaying-for-hire) is condemned in Islamic tradition too (hadith against consulting kāhins); usable as a genuine bridge, no fencing required.
Walk Humbly
Approved rendering: التواضع / السلوك بتواضع مع إلهك
Transliteration: hatsnea lechet
Doctrine: Justice, Mercy, and Humility
Original: הַצְנֵעַ לֶכֶת
Category: Ethics
New term, core-passage anchor (Micah 6:8). Tawadu’ is a well-regarded Islamic virtue (genuine overlap), but ‘walk humbly’ is a lifelong relational accompaniment (‘with your God’), not a static virtue-trait. Render as a verbal phrase, never a bare noun, to block a Sufi fana’ (self-annihilation before God) over-reading.
Rulers Judges
Approved rendering: الرؤساء / القضاة
Transliteration: rashim / shoftim
Doctrine: Judgment on Corrupt Leaders
Original: רָאשִׁים / שֹׁפְטִים
Category: Ethics
New term. Micah 3:1-3,9,11. Central vocabulary for this doctrine; retain the pair distinctly (رؤساء for tribal/political heads, قضاة for judicial officeholders) matching the Hebrew’s own distinction, rather than collapsing to one generic word.
Controversy Lawsuit
Approved rendering: الخصومة / الدعوى
Transliteration: rib
Doctrine: Covenant Lawsuit and Divine Judgment
Original: רִיב
Category: Covenant
New term. Micah 6:1-2, the formal covenant-lawsuit genre marker (God as plaintiff against His own people). Requires a brief explanatory note on the rib form so the passage is not misread as a private grievance.
Jerusalem
Approved rendering: أورشليم
Transliteration: Yerushalayim
Doctrine: Zion and the Unity of God’s People (Contemporary Political Sensitivity)
Rejected alternatives: القدس
Original: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם
Category: Covenant
New term. Capital of Judah, twin object of judgment (with Samaria) and later of hope, throughout Micah. Use the established Christian Arabic Bible form أورشليم; القدس (the Islamic/contemporary political name) would import present-day political and religious associations foreign to the 8th-century BC oracle.
Inheritance
Approved rendering: الميراث / النصيب
Transliteration: nachalah
Doctrine: Social Justice and Economic Ethics
Original: נַחֲלָה
Category: Covenant
New term. Micah 2:2, covenant land-inheritance being stolen from its rightful holders by corrupt elites. Distinguish from Islamic fiqh mirath (estate-division law); here it is covenantal land-gift theology, not inheritance jurisprudence.
The Breaker
Approved rendering: الكاسر / فارع الطريق
Transliteration: ha-porets
Doctrine: Remnant and Election
Original: הַפֹּרֵץ
Category: Christology
New term. Micah 2:13, an enigmatic leader-figure who breaks open a way, possibly the LORD Himself. Genuinely ambiguous in the Hebrew itself; teach cautiously, presenting interpretive options rather than asserting a firm messianic identification the immediate context does not clearly support.
Shepherd
Approved rendering: الراعي
Transliteration: ra’ah
Doctrine: Messianic Shepherd-King
Original: רָעָה
Category: Christology
New term. Micah 5:4, the Ruler’s governance described as shepherding, not mere political rule. Broadly compatible leadership metaphor (also used of Muslim rulers via hadith), but must be tied forward to Christ’s own self-designation as ‘the Good Shepherd’ (John 10) rather than left as generic pastoral-leadership language.
Godly One Chasid
Approved rendering: الرجل التقي / الصالح
Transliteration: chasid
Doctrine: Hope of Restoration and Forgiveness
Original: חָסִיד
Category: Ethics
New term. Micah 7:2, Micah laments that no chasid remains in the land. Shares its root with chesed (‘mercy,’ 6:8); note the connection explicitly — a chasid both receives and practices covenant chesed, not merely a ‘good person’ in a generic ethical sense.
Faithfulness Oath To Abraham
Approved rendering: الحق / الأمانة؛ القسم لإبراهيم
Transliteration: emet / ha-shevu’ah…la-avoteinu
Doctrine: Hope of Restoration and Forgiveness
Original: אֱמֶת / הַשְּׁבוּעָה אֲשֶׁר־נִשְׁבַּעְתָּ לַאֲבֹתֵינוּ
Category: Covenant
New term. Micah 7:20, God’s covenant faithfulness in keeping His ancient oath to Abraham, grounding the whole book’s hope. Good continuity point with the established إبراهيم (Abraham, see new entry below); reinforce as the same covenant thread Romans 4 draws on.
Abraham
Approved rendering: إبراهيم
Transliteration: Avraham
Doctrine: Hope of Restoration and Forgiveness
Original: אַבְרָהָם
Category: Covenant
New term (not present in the Romans baseline translation_memory.json, though implicit throughout Romans 4). Patriarch to whom God swore the ancient oath grounding Micah’s closing hope (7:20). Direct continuity with Romans 4’s Abraham argument; use the established Christian Arabic Bible form إبراهيم, matching Van Dyck/NAV convention.
Who Is Like You
Approved rendering: مَن مثلك (يا الله)
Transliteration: mi-khamokhah
Doctrine: God’s Uniqueness and Incomparability
Original: מִי־כָמֹכָה
Category: God
New term. Micah 7:18, a rhetorical incomparability formula punning on the prophet’s own name Mikhah (‘Who is like Yahweh?’). The Hebrew name-pun is untranslatable and must be footnoted for teaching purposes; a genuine point of contact with Islamic tawhid’s insistence on God’s uniqueness, but the specific content — uniqueness demonstrated by pardoning iniquity and casting sin into the sea — must not be reduced to a bare monotheistic slogan.
Man Mankind
Approved rendering: يا ابن آدم / يا الإنسان
Transliteration: adam
Doctrine: Justice, Mercy, and Humility
Original: אָדָם
Category: Ethics
New term. Micah 6:8, universalizing God’s requirement to humanity generally, not merely cultic Israel. Generic ‘humankind’ sense, not exclusively the patriarch Adam; clarify to avoid narrowing the universal force of the verse.
With Your God
Approved rendering: مع إلهك
Transliteration: im-Eloheicha
Doctrine: Justice, Mercy, and Humility
Original: עִם־אֱלֹהֶיךָ
Category: Ethics
New term. Micah 6:8, locating the three-part requirement inside an ongoing personal covenant relationship. Preserve the possessive, relational ‘your God,’ not a generic, depersonalized ‘with God.‘
Will The Lord Be Pleased
Approved rendering: هل يُسَرّ الرب
Transliteration: ha-yirtzeh
Doctrine: True Worship versus Empty Ritual
Original: הֲיִרְצֶה
Category: Worship
New term. Micah 6:7, continuing the rhetorical escalation of quantity-of-sacrifice bidding. Must retain the rhetorical negative force; the expected answer, as the passage builds toward 6:8, is no.
Low Risk Terms
Prophecy
Approved rendering: نبوءة
Transliteration: nubū’ah
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Micah note: Micah 5:2’s ruler-from-Bethlehem prophecy is directly and specifically fulfilled in Matthew 2:6 — a falsifiable, historical fulfillment claim, not a generic type; teaching material should state this fulfillment explicitly rather than leaving ‘prophecy’ as an abstract category.
Sorceries
Approved rendering: السحر
Transliteration: kesafim
Doctrine: Idolatry and False Worship
Original: כְּשָׁפִים
Category: Worship
New term. Micah 5:12, among idolatrous practices God will purge from His restored people. Shared strong condemnation in Islamic tradition as well; low collision risk.
What Is Good
Approved rendering: ما هو الصالح
Transliteration: tov
Doctrine: Justice, Mercy, and Humility
Original: מַה־טּוֹב
Category: Ethics
New term. Micah 6:8, the moral content of a right relationship with God, contrasted with mere ritual performance. Low collision risk.
Woe
Approved rendering: الويل
Transliteration: hoy
Doctrine: Judgment on Corrupt Leaders
Original: הוֹי
Category: Ethics
New term. Micah 2:1; 7:1, opening formal judgment oracles. Quranic wayl oracles (e.g. Surah al-Mutaffifin) use the same rhetorical form against social injustice — a strong, usable rhetorical bridge.
Oppress Covet
Approved rendering: يظلمون / يطمعون
Transliteration: ashaq / chamad
Doctrine: Judgment on Corrupt Leaders
Original: עָשַׁק / חָמַד
Category: Ethics
New term. Micah 2:2, corrupt elites seizing fields and houses by force. Zulm (oppression/injustice) is itself a major Islamic ethical-legal category, making this strong shared ground for teaching against injustice.
Dishonest Scales
Approved rendering: ميزان الغش
Transliteration: mo’zenei mirmah
Doctrine: Social Justice and Economic Ethics
Original: מֹאזְנֵי מִרְמָה
Category: Ethics
New term. Micah 6:10-11, dishonest commercial weights condemned alongside empty ritual. Strong shared ground; the Quran explicitly condemns cheating in weights and measures (Surah al-Mutaffifin).
Statutes Of Omri
Approved rendering: فرائض عمري / أعمال بيت أخآب
Transliteration: chukkot Omri / ma’aseh beit-Achav
Doctrine: Judgment on Corrupt Leaders
Original: חֻקּוֹת עֻמְרִי / מַעֲשֵׂה בֵית־אַחְאָב
Category: Ethics
New term. Micah 6:16, specific historical reference to the corrupt Northern-kingdom dynasty Judah is now imitating. Proper-noun historical reinforcement; low independent risk.
Plowshares Pruning Hooks
Approved rendering: سكك المحاريث / مناجل التقليم
Transliteration: ittim / mazmerot
Doctrine: Eschatological Kingdom and the Nations
Original: אִתִּים / מַזְמְרוֹת
Category: Kingdom
New term. Micah 4:3, iconic image of God-given peace replacing warfare. Vivid, well-known image, also echoed in the secularized modern idiom ‘swords to plowshares’ — note the source is biblical, not merely proverbial.
Rams And Oil Hyperbole
Approved rendering: آلاف الكباش / أنهار من الزيت
Transliteration: alphei eilim / ribevot nachalei-shamen
Doctrine: True Worship versus Empty Ritual
New term. Micah 6:7, hyperbolic escalation (thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil) exposing the futility of a quantity-based approach to God. Keep the poetic exaggeration rather than flattening it to a plain quantity statement.
Calves A Year Old
Approved rendering: عجول حولية
Transliteration: agalim benei shanah
Doctrine: True Worship versus Empty Ritual
New term. Micah 6:6, the choicest possible animal offering, escalating the rhetorical bid. Literal agricultural/sacrificial term; low risk.
Referenced passages