Semantic Analysis

Semantic Analysis — 1 Corinthians (Full Book)

Purpose and Method

This document analyzes every chapter of 1 Corinthians in the original Koine Greek, first to last, identifying every load-bearing theological term. The core passage, 1 Corinthians 15:1–11, receives full verse-by-verse treatment. Every other chapter receives chapter-level treatment of its load-bearing terms using the same fields:

Original (Greek word, script)
Transliteration
Literal meaning
Semantic range
English variants (how major English translations render it)
Contextual theological meaning (in 1 Corinthians)
Destination-language (Azerbaijani) rendering risk

Any term already recorded in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json must be reused exactly as recorded there; this document marks such terms “[Romans TM — reuse exactly]” and does not re-derive a new rendering. New terms proposed here are candidates for addition to translation memory in Step 8 (Core Glossary) and beyond.

PART A: Core Passage Verse-by-Verse — 1 Corinthians 15:1–11

15:1 — “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand”

gospel — εὐαγγέλιον (euangelion): literally “good message/announcement”; semantic range spans a herald’s public proclamation of victory/good tidings to the specific Christian message of salvation; English variants: “gospel,” “good news.” Contextual meaning: the fixed body of apostolic proclamation about Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection that Paul is about to summarize (vv. 3–5) — not a devotional feeling but a defined, transmissible content. [Romans TM — reuse exactly: Müjdə]. Risk unchanged from Romans baseline (High): keep distinct from bare İncil (the contested book).
preached — εὐηγγελισάμην (euēngelisamēn), verb form of the above: “I announced as good news.” Semantic range: to proclaim, herald, evangelize. English variants: “preached,” “proclaimed,” “announced.” Theological meaning: Paul’s original founding proclamation in Corinth. Rendering: müjdələdim / elan etdim (verb form of Müjdə). Risk: Medium — must keep verb cognate to the noun Müjdə so readers see the connection between “the gospel” and “preaching the gospel”; do not switch to a generic “danışdım” (I told/spoke), which loses the herald-proclamation force.
received — παρελάβετε (parelabete): “you took/received” (technical for receiving a tradition passed down). Semantic range: to accept a handed-down teaching, to take possession of something entrusted. English variants: “received,” “accepted.” Theological meaning: the gospel is a fixed tradition received, not individually invented. Rendering: qəbul etdiniz. Risk: Low — standard verb, but pair consistently with the same verb in v. 3 (παρέλαβον) so the chain of transmission (Paul received → Corinthians received) is visible in Azerbaijani.
stand — ἑστήκατε (hestēkate), perfect tense: “you have taken your stand and continue standing.” Semantic range: to stand firm, to have a settled position. English variants: “stand,” “now stand,” “are standing firm.” Theological meaning: the gospel is the immovable ground of the Corinthians’ present standing, foreshadowing the “stand firm” of 15:58 and 16:13. Rendering: üzərində dayanırsınız / sabit dayanırsınız. Risk: Low.

15:2 — “and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain”

being saved — σῴζεσθε (sōzesthe), present passive: “you are [continuously] being saved.” Semantic range: deliverance, rescue, healing, wholeness; in Paul, deliverance from sin’s guilt, power, and final judgment. English variants: “are saved,” “are being saved,” “are in the process of being saved.” Theological meaning: salvation as both a settled reality and an ongoing, Christ-sustained state — never a deferred hope contingent on future merit. [Romans TM — reuse exactly: Xilas] (verbal form: xilas olursunuz). Risk: Critical, per Romans baseline — must not be rendered so as to suggest salvation is uncertain or awaiting a future Imamate-style intercession; the present-passive tense here actually reinforces the Romans 8 assurance doctrine and must be preserved, not flattened into a bare future (“you will be saved”).
hold fast — κατέχετε (katechete): “you hold down/retain firmly.” Semantic range: to retain, keep possession of, hold in check. English variants: “hold fast,” “hold firmly,” “retain.” Theological meaning: continuing adherence to the apostolic gospel content as the mark of genuine faith. Rendering: möhkəm tutursunuz. Risk: Low.
believed in vain — εἰκῆ ἐπιστεύσατε (eikē episteusate): “you believed to no purpose / for nothing.” Semantic range: “in vain,” “without cause,” “purposelessly.” Theological meaning: Paul raises (rhetorically, not doctrinally undermining assurance) the possibility that a professed faith untethered from the historical resurrection is empty. Rendering: əbəs yerə iman etdiniz. Risk: Medium — must not be read as teaching that genuine faith can retroactively become invalid; the force is conditional/rhetorical, underscoring that the resurrection is the non-negotiable content of iman, not a threat to assurance itself. Pair with [Romans TM — İman] for “believed.”

15:3 — “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures”

delivered / received — παρέδωκα … παρέλαβον (paredōka … parelabon): technical rabbinic/apostolic vocabulary for handing down and receiving fixed tradition, like handing over a sealed deposit. Semantic range: to hand over, entrust, transmit; to take, accept, receive. English variants: “delivered/passed on” and “received.” Theological meaning: establishes that the resurrection account is not Paul’s private theory but a received, fixed, communal deposit traceable to eyewitnesses — critical for the Inspiration of Scripture and Fulfillment of Prophecy doctrines already flagged High in the Romans baseline. Rendering: ötürdüm … qəbul etdim. Risk: High — this pairing must be rendered so Azerbaijani readers, many of whom encounter Scripture as mediated through clergy rather than direct reading (cf. Romans doctrine registry note on tahrif/corruption belief), grasp that this is a verifiable chain of eyewitness transmission, not devotional legend.
of first importance — ἐν πρώτοις (en prōtois): “among the first things / of highest priority.” Semantic range: primacy in sequence or importance. English variants: “of first importance,” “as of first importance,” “most important of all.” Theological meaning: marks vv. 3–5 as the creedal core of the gospel — the doctrinal anchor of the entire book. Rendering: ən əsas məsələ olaraq / hər şeydən əvvəl. Risk: Low.
Christ died — Χριστὸς ἀπέθανεν (Christos apethanen): “Christ died.” [Romans TM — reuse exactly: Məsih]; verb “died” — öldü. Theological meaning: an unambiguous, real, historical death — the necessary premise for [Romans TM — Diriliş] (resurrection) in v. 4. Risk: Critical — per the Romans baseline forbidden-substitution list, Qur’an 4:157 denies Jesus actually died on the cross; this clause is the direct scriptural collision point and must be rendered with unqualified plainness (“Məsih öldü”), never softened toward an appearance-only or non-death reading.
for our sins — ὑπὲρ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν (hyper tōn hamartiōn hēmōn): “on behalf of / for the sake of our sins.” Semantic range: ὑπέρ = substitutionary/representative benefit (“on behalf of,” “for the sake of”); [Romans TM — reuse exactly: Günah] for sin. Theological meaning: substitutionary, atoning death — Christ’s death as the ground of [Romans TM — Salehlik / Saleh sayılma]. Rendering: günahlarımız üçün. Risk: High — the substitutionary “for” must not be flattened into a merely exemplary or educational death (Christ as moral example only), a common reduction that would blunt the atonement doctrine.
according to the Scriptures — κατὰ τὰς γραφάς (kata tas graphas): “in accordance with the writings [OT Scriptures].” Semantic range: conformity to, fulfillment of, agreement with a prior written text. English variants: “according to the Scriptures,” “as the Scriptures said,” “just as the Scriptures foretold.” Theological meaning: Christ’s death fulfills a converging pattern of OT prophecy (cf. Romans doctrine “Fulfillment of Prophecy,” High risk). Rendering: Müqəddəs Yazılara müvafiq olaraq / Yazılara görə. Risk: High — must be explicitly unpacked in teaching notes, since the Corinthian audience (like the Roman) needs OT narrative background that Islamic-influenced readers typically lack; do not let “according to the Scriptures” pass as a decorative formula.

15:4 — “that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures”

buried — ἐτάφη (etaphē): “he was buried.” Semantic range: interment, burial. English variants: “buried,” “was buried.” Theological meaning: the second creedal fact, confirming the reality and finality of the death of v. 3 before the resurrection of v. 4b — burial is itself evidence against a no-death reading. Rendering: dəfn olundu. Risk: High — functions as doctrinal reinforcement of the “real death” requirement; do not omit even though it may seem a minor narrative detail.
raised — ἐγήγερται (egēgertai), perfect passive: “he has been raised [and remains in the raised state].” Semantic range: to raise up, awaken, cause to stand; the perfect tense signals a completed act with continuing effect — he remains risen. English variants: “was raised,” “has been raised,” “rose.” [Romans TM — reuse exactly: Diriliş] (noun); verb form dirildi or, to better capture the perfect passive’s ongoing-state force, dirildilmişdir (has been raised and remains so). Theological meaning: the central hinge doctrine of the whole book (1 Cor 15 exists to defend and explain it). Risk: Critical — per Romans baseline forbidden substitutions, never render with göyə qaldırılma (raised-to-heaven-without-dying); the Greek explicitly requires a prior death (v. 3) and burial (v. 4a), directly confronting Qur’an 4:157.
third day — τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρ�ᾳ (tē tritē hēmera): “on the third day.” Semantic range: a specific, historically anchored time reference, also echoing OT typological patterns (e.g., Jonah, Hosea 6:2). English variants: “the third day,” “on the third day.” Theological meaning: historicity and specificity of the resurrection, and its rootedness in prior Scripture. Rendering: üçüncü gündə. Risk: Medium — reinforces the historical-event framing against any tendency to read the resurrection as a timeless symbol rather than a dated occurrence.

15:5 — “and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve”

appeared — ὤφθη (ōphthē), passive of ὁράω (“to see”): “he was seen / he appeared [to].” Semantic range: to become visible, to be seen, often of a personal, objective visual encounter (used of theophanies in the LXX). English variants: “appeared,” “was seen by,” “showed himself to.” Theological meaning: bodily, visually verifiable appearances to named, identifiable witnesses — the evidentiary backbone of the chapter’s argument. Rendering: göründü. Risk: High — must not be rendered with a verb suggesting a vision, dream, or purely spiritual/mystical experience (e.g., avoid ruhani görüntü, “spiritual vision,” which would concede ground to a non-bodily reading); the term must retain its ordinary sense of visible, embodied appearance.
Cephas — Κηφᾷ (Kēpha), Aramaic for “rock,” = Peter. Rendering: Kefa (with gloss “Peter/Pyotr” in teaching notes, following the established Azerbaijani Bible form for Peter, Peter). Risk: Low — proper name; ensure consistency with whatever form the Gospels/Acts curriculum uses for Peter.
the twelve — τοῖς δώδεκα (tois dōdeka): “the Twelve,” a fixed technical title for Jesus’ twelve apostles even after Judas’s defection and replacement. Semantic range: a bounded, named, historically fixed group, not an open or ongoing office. English variants: “the Twelve,” “the twelve apostles.” Theological meaning: distinguishes a closed, foundational eyewitness college from any later, ongoing succession of authoritative figures. Rendering: On İki (Həvari). Risk: Medium — significant for the Apostleship doctrine (Romans baseline, Medium risk): “the Twelve” must be taught as a closed, non-repeatable eyewitness group, explicitly distinct from the Shia Twelve Imams (also a fixed group of twelve!) — a striking numerical coincidence that requires direct pastoral clarification to prevent readers from mentally substituting one closed group of twelve for the other.

15:6 — “Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep”

five hundred brothers — πεντακοσίοις ἀδελφοῖς (pentakosiois adelphois): a large group of named-in-principle, verifiable eyewitnesses. Theological meaning: multiplies and strengthens the evidentiary weight beyond a single or small group of witnesses. Rendering: beş yüzdən çox qardaş. Risk: Low.
fallen asleep — ἐκοιμήθησαν (ekoimēthēsan): literally “fell asleep,” a common NT euphemism for the death of believers, implying a temporary state pending resurrection (not annihilation, not reincarnation). Semantic range: to sleep; euphemistically, to die (specifically framed with resurrection hope). English variants: “fallen asleep,” “died,” “sleep.” Rendering: vəfat etdi / yuxuya getdi (öldü mənasında). Risk: Medium — “sleep” language must be taught explicitly as a resurrection-hope euphemism, not confused with any doctrine of soul-sleep as final state, nor with reincarnation-adjacent categories; pair explicitly with [Romans TM — Diriliş] in teaching notes.

15:7 — “Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles”

James — Ἰάκωβος (Iakōbos): the Lord’s brother, later leader of the Jerusalem church. Rendering: Yaqub. Risk: Low — proper name; note the shared root with the patriarch Yaqub (Jacob) already established in OT translation convention, distinct reference in this context.
all the apostles — πᾶσιν τοῖς ἀποστόλοις (pasin tois apostolois): a wider circle than “the Twelve,” including others recognized as apostles (e.g., Paul himself, v. 9). [Romans TM — reuse exactly: Həvari / Həvarilər]. Theological meaning: apostleship here is defined by having personally seen the risen Christ and being commissioned by him — not an inherited office. Risk: Medium, per Romans baseline “Apostleship” doctrine — again guard against a Shia Imamate-succession reading; apostleship in this chapter is explicitly tied to eyewitness resurrection testimony, a qualification that closed with this generation.

15:8 — “Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me”

untimely born — τῷ ἐκτρώματι (tō ektrōmati): literally “the miscarried/stillborn one” — a startling, self-deprecating image of an abnormal, premature, undeserved birth into apostleship. Semantic range: miscarriage, an untimely or abnormally born infant. English variants: “one born at the wrong time,” “one untimely born,” “a miscarriage” (literal), “the least expected.” Theological meaning: Paul underscores that his own apostolic calling was wholly unexpected, unearned, outside the normal course, and grace-given — not a status he grew into or merited. Rendering: vaxtsız doğulmuş biri kimi (descriptive; a single-word Azerbaijani equivalent with equal force does not exist). Risk: Medium — the image is easily lost or softened in translation; teaching notes must explain the graphic, humbling force of the metaphor rather than letting it read as a bland “unexpectedly.”

15:9 — “For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God”

least — ἐλάχιστος (elachistos), superlative of “small”: “the very least/smallest.” Rendering: ən kiçiyi / ən aşağısı. Risk: Low.
unworthy — οὐκ εἰμὶ ἱκανός (ouk eimi hikanos): “I am not sufficient/adequate/fit.” Semantic range: fitness, adequacy, worthiness for a task. Rendering: layiq deyiləm. Risk: Low.
persecuted — ἐδίωξα (ediōxa): “I pursued/hunted down/persecuted.” Rendering: təqib etdim. Risk: Low — historically anchors Paul’s pre-conversion opposition to the church, reinforcing that his apostleship is entirely of grace, not merit (connects directly to v. 10).
church of God — τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ θεοῦ (tēn ekklēsian tou theou). [Romans TM — reuse exactly: Kilsə] + [Romans TM — Allah]. Rendering: Allahın kilsəsi. Risk: Medium, per Romans baseline “Church as God’s People” doctrine.

15:10 — “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than all of them, though it was not by the grace of God that I—but the grace of God that is with me”

grace of God — χάριτι θεοῦ (chariti theou). [Romans TM — reuse exactly: Lütf]. Rendering: Allahın lütfü ilə. Theological meaning: the triple repetition of χάρις in this single verse makes it the densest concentration of grace-language outside Romans in Paul’s letters — Paul’s entire identity, ministry, and effectiveness are attributed to unearned favor, not to merit or effort accumulated on a moral ledger. Risk: High, per Romans baseline — this verse is a prime candidate for the “Grace ≠ merit” escalation rule; ensure the Azerbaijani rendering keeps grace as the cause of the labor described next, not a reward for it, guarding against a mərhəmət/kərəm-style reading where divine favor still responds to prior human effort.
not in vain — οὐ κενή (ou kenē): “not empty/without effect.” Rendering: əbəs olmadı / boşuna getmədi. Risk: Low.
worked harder — περισσότερον … ἐκοπίασα (perissoteron … ekopiasa): “I labored/toiled more abundantly.” Semantic range: to labor to the point of weariness, toil. Rendering: daha çox zəhmət çəkdim. Risk: Medium — must be framed (per the surrounding clause) as the fruit of grace poured out, not as the ground on which grace was given; this is the same grace-versus-merit distinction the Romans baseline flags for Romans 4:4–5 and 11:5–6, now recurring in 1 Corinthians and requiring identical vigilance.

15:11 — “Whether then it was I or they, so we preach, and so you believed”

preach — κηρύσσομεν (kēryssomen): “we proclaim [as a herald].” Semantic range: to announce publicly and authoritatively, herald-language distinct from private teaching. English variants: “preach,” “proclaim.” Rendering: elan edirik / vəz edirik. Risk: Medium, per Romans “Evangelism” doctrine (High risk, human theologian + pastoral/legal-safety review) — proclamation to outsiders is a legally regulated activity in Azerbaijan; teaching notes accompanying this verse should flag the same pastoral/legal-safety awareness the Romans baseline requires for Romans 10:14–15.
believed — ἐπιστεύσατε (episteusate). [Romans TM — reuse exactly: İman] (verb: iman etdiniz). Theological meaning: closes the unit by returning to v. 1’s “received” — the same content preached is the same content believed, forming a tight inclusio around the creedal core (vv. 3–5). Risk: High, per Romans baseline.

PART B: Chapter-by-Chapter Study — Whole Book, 1 Corinthians 1–16

Chapter 1 — Greeting, Thanksgiving, Divisions, the Cross as Wisdom

called — κλητός/κέκλησθε (klētos/keklēsthe), 1:1–2, 1:9, 1:24, 1:26. [Romans TM — reuse exactly: Çağırılmış/Çağırış]. Contextual meaning: Paul’s own apostolic calling (1:1) and the Corinthians’ calling to salvation/fellowship (1:9) and calling of the “foolish”/“weak” (1:26–27) as God’s sovereign, status-reversing choice. Risk: High, unchanged from Romans baseline; here additionally illustrates that God’s calling deliberately bypasses worldly wisdom/status categories.
saints / sanctified — ἡγιασμένοις … κλητοῖς ἁγίοις (hēgiasmenois … klētois hagiois), 1:2. [Romans TM — reuse exactly: Müqəddəslər / Təqdisetmə]. Risk: High, unchanged.
fellowship — κοινωνίαν (koinōnian), 1:9 (“fellowship of his Son”). [Romans TM — reuse exactly: Ünsiyyət]. Risk: Low, unchanged.
divisions / factions — σχίσματα (schismata), 1:10; also ἔριδες (erides, “quarrels/strife”) 1:11: literally “tears/rips/splits,” from σχίζω (“to split”). Semantic range: a tear in cloth (Mark 2:21), a literal split, metaphorically a faction or party division. English variants: “divisions,” “quarrels,” “schisms.” Theological meaning: the Corinthian church’s factional loyalty to different teachers (Paul, Apollos, Cephas, Christ, 1:12) as a direct contradiction of gospel unity — the launching problem of the whole letter and the doctrine “Christian Unity versus Factionalism.” Proposed rendering: parçalanmalar / bölünmələr (“splits/divisions”). Risk: Medium-High — Azerbaijani religious vocabulary distinguishes firqə (a sect/denomination, often used pejoratively of splinter Islamic groups) from bölünmə (a more neutral division); avoid firqə, which would cast Paul’s concern as a matter of forming rival “sects” in the Islamic legal-theological sense rather than relational factionalism within one body. Recommend bölünmələr or parçalanmalar, never firqələr.
wisdom — σοφία (sophia), 1:17–30 (dense concentration). Literal meaning: skill, insight, wisdom. Semantic range: from practical skill to divine wisdom to Greco-Roman rhetorical sophistication (the specific target of Paul’s critique here) to, in Jewish wisdom literature, an attribute/agent of God. English variants: “wisdom.” Theological meaning: contrasts worldly/rhetorical “wisdom” with the cross, which the world calls foolish but which is in fact God’s true wisdom and power (doctrine: “The Cross as Wisdom and Power”). Proposed rendering: hikmət. Risk: High — hikmət is a heavily loaded term in Azerbaijani religious culture, used both for Qur’anic/prophetic wisdom and for Sufi mystical wisdom literature (hikmət poetry, e.g. associated with figures like Yunus Emre in the wider Turkic Sufi tradition); readers may default to an esoteric-wisdom-tradition frame rather than grasping Paul’s specific, paradoxical claim that the cross — an object of shame — is itself God’s wisdom. Teaching notes must state this explicitly on first use.
foolishness — μωρία (mōria), 1:18, 1:21, 1:23, 1:25, 1:27. Literal meaning: folly, dullness. Semantic range: foolishness, absurdity, moral or intellectual deficiency. English variants: “folly,” “foolishness,” “absurdity.” Theological meaning: the cross appears foolish to those without faith but is the very locus of God’s saving wisdom and power — a deliberate, ironic reversal central to this chapter’s argument. Proposed rendering: səfehlik. Risk: High — must be paired tightly with hikmət so the deliberate paradox (“God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom,” 1:25) survives translation; a weak or disconnected rendering would flatten Paul’s rhetorical structure.
cross — σταυρός (stauros), 1:17–18 (“the cross of Christ,” “the message of the cross”). Literal meaning: an upright wooden stake/pole used for crucifixion. Semantic range: the physical instrument of execution; metonymically, Christ’s atoning death; further metonymically, the whole message/scandal of a crucified savior. English variants: “cross.” Proposed rendering: çarmıx (the term consistently used in the Azerbaijani Bible tradition for the crucifixion instrument, distinct from xaç, “cross” as a decorative/ethnic-religious symbol). Risk: High — flag deliberately: xaç in Azerbaijani public discourse carries strong associations with Armenian and Georgian Christian national-religious identity, a politically sensitive association given the historical Armenia–Azerbaijan conflict; çarmıx (the crucifixion stake/execution device) is the established, doctrinally appropriate Bible term and avoids importing that ethnic-political freight, but translators and teachers must remain alert that some readers will still associate any cross-symbol language with that geopolitical context. Never substitute a generic “suffering” euphemism that removes the specific, shameful mode of execution Paul insists on (1:23, “Christ crucified… a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles”).
power of God — δύναμις θεοῦ (dynamis theou), 1:18, 1:24. [Romans TM — reuse exactly: Allahın qüdrəti]. Risk: High, unchanged.
boasting — καυχάσηται (kauchasētai), 1:29, 1:31 (“let no one boast… let him boast in the Lord”). Literal meaning: to boast, glory in, take pride in. Semantic range: self-exaltation versus legitimate glorying in God. English variants: “boast,” “glory,” “take pride.” Proposed rendering: öyünmək (to boast) / fəxr etmək (to take pride). Risk: Low-Medium — ensure the contrast (self-boasting forbidden; boasting “in the Lord” commanded) is not flattened into a single undifferentiated verb; use öyünmək for the forbidden self-glorying and a clearly Lord-directed phrase (“Rəbdə fəxr etsin”) for the commanded form.
Lord Jesus Christ / grace / church of God — reuse [Romans TM — Rəbb / Lütf], [Romans TM — Kilsə]; [Romans TM — İsa] always paired with [Romans TM — Məsih] per Romans convention (1:2, 1:3, 1:7–10).

Chapter 2 — The Spirit and True Wisdom

mystery — μυστήριον (mystērion), 2:1, 2:7. Literal meaning: a secret thing, something requiring initiation to know. Semantic range: in Hellenistic religion, the secret rites of mystery cults; in Paul, God’s previously hidden redemptive plan, now revealed in Christ to all believers (not an ongoing secret reserved for an inner elite). English variants: “mystery,” “secret,” “hidden wisdom.” Proposed rendering: sirr. Risk: High — sirr carries strong esoteric connotations in Azerbaijani Shia and Sufi religious culture, where hidden divine knowledge (sirr) is often understood as accessible only to Imams, saints, or spiritually advanced initiates (bātinī/esoteric traditions). Teaching notes must explicitly clarify that Paul’s “mystery” was hidden in the past but is now openly proclaimed to all believers through the gospel — the opposite trajectory of esoteric sirr, which remains restricted. Never let mystery-language imply a two-tier body of believers (initiated elite vs. ordinary believers).
natural person / spiritual person — ψυχικὸς ἄνθρωπος / πνευματικὸς (psychikos anthrōpos / pneumatikos), 2:14–15. Literal meaning: ψυχικός from ψυχή (“soul/life”), = one who operates by unaided human capacity; πνευματικός from πνεῦμα (“spirit”), = one indwelt/enabled by the Holy Spirit. Semantic range: not a body/soul-vs-spirit anthropological dualism, but a contrast between spiritually unregenerate and Spirit-enabled discernment. English variants: “natural person,” “unspiritual person” / “spiritual person.” Proposed rendering: cismani insan (unregenerate/“soulish” person, careful not to render as merely “physical”) / ruhani insan. Risk: Medium-High — risk of being misread through an Islamic body/soul/spirit tripartite framework (rūh, nafs, jism) that does not map cleanly onto Paul’s contrast; teaching notes should clarify this is about Spirit-enabled versus Spirit-absent discernment of God’s truth, not a philosophical anthropology lesson.
discern — ἀνακρίνεται (anakrinetai), 2:14–15. Literal meaning: to examine, judge, evaluate (a judicial term). Rendering: qiymətləndirmək / ayırd etmək. Risk: Low.
Holy Spirit / Spirit of God — 2:10–14. [Romans TM — reuse exactly: Müqəddəs Ruh]. Risk: Critical, unchanged — this chapter’s dense pneumatology (the Spirit as the one who “searches all things, even the depths of God,” 2:10) reinforces the need for the explicit Trinity-Person teaching the Romans baseline requires on first use.

Chapter 3 — Divisions Continued; the Church as God’s Temple

temple — ναός (naos), 3:16–17 (“you are God’s temple… God’s Spirit dwells in you”). Literal meaning: the inner sanctuary of a temple, the dwelling place of a deity (distinct from ἱερόν, the wider temple precinct). Semantic range: the sacred inner shrine, metaphorically applied to the church corporately (here) and later to the individual body (6:19). English variants: “temple,” “sanctuary.” Proposed rendering: məbəd. Risk: Medium-High — məbəd is a religiously neutral-enough word (used for temples generally, including ancient pagan and Zoroastrian temples, and by extension for churches in some usages), clearly distinct from məscid (mosque), which is good; but the concept that God’s own Spirit indwells a corporate group of people (here) and later an individual body (ch. 6) has no clean parallel in Islamic theology, where God’s transcendence (tanzih) generally precludes any created thing being a literal “dwelling place” for the divine. Teaching notes must address this directly rather than let məbəd pass as a merely architectural metaphor.
wisdom/foolishness of the world — reuse ch. 1 terms (hikmət / səfehlik); 3:18–20 repeats the paradox.
fire / testing of works — πυρός (pyros), 3:13, 3:15: “fire will test what sort of work each has done.” Proposed rendering: od. Risk: Low — standard word; teaching notes should clarify this is a purifying-testing image for ministry-quality evaluation, not a purgatorial doctrine.
reward — μισθόν (misthon), 3:8, 3:14. Literal meaning: wages, payment for labor. Semantic range: earned wages in ordinary usage, but in Paul, a grace-enabled commendation for faithful service, not merit earning salvation itself. Proposed rendering: mükafat. Risk: Medium — must be kept distinct from the earned-standing category the Romans baseline forbids for justification/righteousness (never implying mükafat = xilas-üçün-şərt, “reward as a condition for salvation”); this is post-salvation ministry commendation.

Chapter 4 — Apostolic Stewardship and Fatherly Authority

stewards of the mysteries of God — οἰκονόμους μυστηρίων θεοῦ (oikonomous mystēriōn theou), 4:1. οἰκονόμος: literally “household manager,” one entrusted with managing another’s estate. Proposed rendering: Allahın sirlərinin idarəçiləri / xidmətçiləri. Risk: Medium — reuse sirr (mystery, flagged above) with the same esoteric-tradition caution; “steward” (idarəçi) should be kept administrative/entrusted in sense, not elevated toward a priestly-mediator role that could echo clerical mediation models (mullahs as gatekeepers of religious knowledge) — Paul’s point is faithful accountability, not exclusive access.
judge / judgment — κρίνω / ἀνακρίνω (krinō/anakrinō), 4:3–5. Proposed rendering: hökm etmək / mühakimə etmək. Risk: Low — links forward to the final, Lord-alone judgment (4:5), reinforcing that human factional judgments (ch. 1–4’s underlying problem) are premature and improper.
apostles — 4:9. [Romans TM — reuse exactly: Həvari]. Risk: Medium, unchanged.

Chapter 5 — Church Discipline and Holiness

sexual immorality — πορνεία (porneia), 5:1. Literal meaning: illicit sexual activity broadly (root sense related to πόρνη, “prostitute”). Semantic range: fornication, sexual immorality in general, incest (the specific case in 5:1), adultery in some contexts. English variants: “sexual immorality,” “fornication,” “sexual sin.” Proposed rendering: əxlaqsızlıq (general immorality) or zina (the standard Azerbaijani/Islamic legal-cultural term for illicit sexual relations). Risk: High — zina is a term embedded in Islamic legal categories (a ḥadd offense with specified punishments under şəriət); using it risks importing an Islamic criminal-legal framework into what is, in this chapter, a matter of church discipline and communal holiness, not state-enforced criminal law. Recommend əxlaqsızlıq (immorality) as the general term with cinsi əxlaqsızlıq (sexual immorality) as the more specific compound, reserving explanatory teaching notes to address the zina-association readers will likely bring regardless of the term chosen.
hand over to Satan / church discipline — παραδοῦναι τῷ Σατανᾷ (paradounai tō Satana), 5:5. Literal meaning: “to hand over/deliver to Satan.” Semantic range: a formal act of communal exclusion removing a persistently unrepentant member from the church’s protective fellowship, for the purpose of eventual restoration, not vindictive punishment. Proposed rendering: Şeytana təslim etmək (descriptive). Risk: High — must be carefully framed in teaching notes as restorative church discipline aimed at repentance (5:5’s “so that his spirit may be saved”), not a curse-pronouncement or excommunication-as-damnation; also connect to “Church Discipline and Holiness” as a named curriculum doctrine requiring careful pastoral framing given how seriously communal shame/expulsion is felt in Azerbaijani honor-shame social structures.
leaven — ζύμη (zymē), 5:6–8 (“a little leaven leavens the whole lump… let us celebrate… with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth”). Literal meaning: yeast/leaven. Semantic range: literal fermenting agent; metaphorically, a corrupting influence that spreads through a community (echoing the Passover unleavened-bread imagery). Proposed rendering: maya (leaven/yeast). Risk: Medium — the Passover background is unfamiliar to readers without OT literacy (as with the Romans baseline’s general note on OT-narrative gaps); teaching notes should briefly supply the Passover context so the metaphor is not merely a cooking image.

Chapter 6 — Lawsuits, Sexual Purity, and the Body as Temple

members / joined — μέλη (melē), 6:15 (“your bodies are members of Christ”); κολλώμενος (kollōmenos), 6:16–17 (“joined to a prostitute… joined to the Lord”). Literal meaning: μέλη = bodily limbs/parts; κολλάω = to glue/join firmly together. Proposed rendering: üzvlər (members) / birləşmək (to be joined/united). Risk: Medium — sets up the “Spiritual Gifts and the Body of Christ” doctrine’s central body-metaphor (fully developed in ch. 12) at its first, more intimate/individual level (union with Christ versus sexual union); ensure consistency of üzv across chs. 6 and 12.
temple of the Holy Spirit — ναὸς τοῦ ἐν ὑμῖν ἁγίου πνεύματος (naos tou en hymin hagiou pneumatos), 6:19. Reuse məbəd (ch. 3) + [Romans TM — Müqəddəs Ruh]. Risk: High, per ch. 3 note — now applied to the individual believer’s body, sharpening the tanzih-related teaching need even further: the individual physical body as the literal dwelling of God’s own Spirit is a claim with no comfortable Islamic parallel and must be taught directly, not softened into a vague “God cares about your body” statement.
bought with a price — ἠγοράσθητε γὰρ τιμῆς (ēgorasthēte gar timēs), 6:20. Literal meaning: “you were bought/purchased for a price.” Semantic range: commercial redemption-purchase language, likely drawing on the slave-market redemption image (cf. Romans’ “redemption” concept, though “redemption” itself is not in the Romans baseline glossary). Proposed rendering: bir qiymətlə satın alındınız. Risk: High — introduces the redemption-purchase motif (grounding sanctified bodily living in the fact of having been bought by Christ’s atoning death); flag for consistency with any future “redemption” glossary entry, and note that this reinforces rather than competes with [Romans TM — Salehlik/Xilas].
glorify God — δοξάσατε τὸν θεόν (doxasate ton theon), 6:20. Reuse [Romans TM — Ehtişam] (glory). Risk: High, unchanged.

Chapter 7 — Marriage, Singleness, and Calling

marriage — γάμος (gamos), throughout ch. 7. Proposed rendering: nikah (the standard, widely used Azerbaijani word for marriage, including in civil/legal contexts, not exclusively religious). Risk: Medium — while nikah is the ordinary word and unavoidable, it is also the specific term for the Islamic marriage contract (with associated legal categories such as mahr/bride-gift and specific dissolution procedures); teaching notes should clarify that Paul’s marriage theology (mutual self-giving, one-flesh union, no polygamy assumed, mutual authority over each other’s bodies in 7:4) diverges at points from the Islamic legal-contractual marriage framework the term may evoke.
virgin — παρθένος (parthenos), 7:25 ff. Proposed rendering: bakirə. Risk: Low — standard term, though note Paul’s usage includes never-married persons generally, not only strict virginity in the narrow sense; teaching notes should clarify the broader “unmarried” application in 7:25–38.
called — κέκληκεν (keklēken), 7:15, 7:17–24 (the calling-in-your-present-state refrain: “let each person lead the life that God has called him to”). [Romans TM — reuse exactly: Çağırılmış/Çağırış]. Risk: High, unchanged — here extended to cover the calling to remain in one’s present life-situation (married, single, believing spouse of an unbeliever) as itself a sphere of God’s calling, not merely a call to salvation in the abstract.
gift — χάρισμα (charisma), 7:7 (“each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another” — referring to singleness/marriage as gifts). [Romans TM — reuse exactly: Ruhani hədiyyələr] conceptually related, though here χάρισμα is used of a life-state rather than a ministry-function gift; render as hədiyyə (gift) qualified as Allahdan gələn hədiyyə. Risk: Medium — clarify in teaching notes that this is the same root word (χάρισμα) as the ch. 12 spiritual gifts, extending the “Spirit/God gives gifts suited to each person” principle to marital status as well as ministry function.
sanctified (unbelieving spouse) — ἡγίασται (hēgiastai), 7:14. Reuse [Romans TM — Təqdisetmə/Müqəddəs]. Risk: High, unchanged — but flag specifically here: this is a distinct, narrower sense (a household/relational “set-apartness” through a believing spouse) from personal salvation and must not be taught as implying the unbelieving spouse or children are thereby saved; a genuine risk of confusion given “Müqəddəs” being used across such different senses (compare 1:2’s corporate holiness) within the same book.

Chapter 8 — Christian Liberty and Idol Meat

idol — εἴδωλον (eidōlon), 8:4, 8:7, 8:10. Literal meaning: an image, likeness, or representation, especially of a false god. Proposed rendering: büt. Risk: Low-Medium — büt is the standard, well-understood Azerbaijani/Islamic term for idol and is a genuine point of resonance (Islamic tradition, like the OT, strongly condemns idolatry — e.g., the Ibrahim/Abraham idol-breaking narrative is well known); the low risk here is an opportunity for common ground, though care is needed that “there is no such thing as an idol” (8:4) is understood as a statement about the idol’s non-reality/powerlessness, not as license toward the food itself.
food offered to idols — εἰδωλόθυτον (eidōlothyton), 8:1, 8:4, 8:7, 8:10. Literal meaning: “sacrificed-to-idols [thing],” a compound of εἴδωλον + θύω (“to sacrifice”). Proposed rendering (descriptive, no single Azerbaijani word exists): bütlərə qurban kəsilmiş ət/yemək. Risk: High — Azerbaijani readers, formed by an Islamic halal/haram dietary framework, will likely default to reading this passage through halal/haram legal categories (is this food ritually permissible or forbidden?) rather than through Paul’s actual argument, which is about conscience, love, and not causing a weaker believer to stumble — not a fixed legal food-purity rule. Teaching notes must explicitly redirect from a halal/haram legal-question frame to the conscience-and-love frame Paul intends.
knowledge — γνῶσις (gnōsis), 8:1, 8:7, 8:10–11. Literal meaning: knowledge, understanding. Semantic range: intellectual knowledge; in this context, correct theological understanding that idols are nothing — contrasted with love, which builds up (8:1, “knowledge puffs up, but love builds up”). Proposed rendering: bilik. Risk: Medium — should be kept distinct from hikmət (ch. 1’s wisdom); this is a different Greek word and a different point (correct doctrine without love is inadequate), and conflating the two Azerbaijani terms would blur Paul’s distinct argument here from his ch. 1–2 wisdom argument.
conscience — συνείδησις (syneidēsis), 8:7, 8:10, 8:12. Literal meaning: co-knowledge, moral self-awareness. Proposed rendering: vicdan. Risk: Low — standard, well-understood term; genuinely resonant across both traditions as inner moral awareness, though note that a “weak conscience” (8:7) as a category needing protective accommodation is a distinctly Pauline pastoral-ethical move worth explaining.
stumbling block — πρόσκομμα (proskomma), 8:9, 8:13. Literal meaning: an obstacle one strikes one’s foot against. Proposed rendering: büdrəmə səbəbi / maneə. Risk: Medium — key term for the “Christian Liberty and Idol Meat” doctrine; ensure it is rendered consistently with ch. 10’s parallel usage.

Chapter 9 — Apostolic Rights Surrendered for the Gospel

apostleship / rights — ἐξουσίαν (exousian), 9:4–6, 9:12, 9:18 (“right/authority”). Literal meaning: authority, right, power to act. Proposed rendering: haqq / ixtiyar. Risk: Low-Medium — distinguish from [Romans TM — Allahın qüdrəti] (dynamis/power of God); this is a different Greek word (right/authority to receive support, not divine power).
gospel / preach the gospel — reuse [Romans TM — Müjdə], 9:12, 9:16–18, 9:23. Risk: High, unchanged.
run the race / crown — τρέχω / στέφανον (trechō/stephanon), 9:24–25. Literal meaning: to run [in a race]; a victor’s wreath/crown (not a royal crown — a perishable athletic garland, contrasted with an imperishable one). Proposed rendering: qaçmaq (yarışda) / çələng (tac deyil). Risk: Low — athletic metaphor, low doctrinal collision risk, mainly a cultural-familiarity note (ancient Greek games imagery may need brief explanatory context for readers).

Chapter 10 — Warnings from Israel’s History; Idolatry and the Table of the Lord

idolatry — εἰδωλολατρία (eidōlolatria), 10:14 (“flee from idolatry”). Reuse büt root + latreia (worship/service). Proposed rendering: bütpərəstlik. Risk: Medium — note the baseline Romans TM explicitly rejected “bütpərəstlər” (idolaters) as an archaic alternative for “gentiles,” but here the term is doctrinally correct and necessary since the passage is genuinely about idol-worship itself, not an ethnic category; do not confuse this legitimate usage with the rejected Romans usage.
table of the Lord / table of demons — τραπέζης κυρίου / τραπέζης δαιμονίων (trapezēs kyriou/daimoniōn), 10:21. Proposed rendering: Rəbbin süfrəsi / cinlərin süfrəsi. Risk: High — anticipates ch. 11’s Lord’s Supper terminology; ensure consistency between “table” language here and the fuller Lord’s Supper term established in ch. 11.
cup of blessing / participation — ποτήριον τῆς εὐλογίας … κοινωνία (potērion tēs eulogias … koinōnia), 10:16. [Romans TM — reuse exactly: Ünsiyyət] for κοινωνία, here meaning sacramental participation/communion in Christ’s body and blood, a richer sense than the Romans baseline’s general “fellowship” usage. Proposed rendering for the fuller sacramental sense: iştirak / paylaşma may be needed alongside Ünsiyyət in teaching notes to capture the participatory-communion nuance. Risk: High — flag for the “Lord’s Supper” doctrine; do not let Ünsiyyət alone carry the full sacramental weight without explanatory teaching notes distinguishing ordinary fellowship from this specific participatory act.
testing / temptation — πειρασμός (peirasmos), 10:13. Proposed rendering: sınaq. Risk: Low.

Chapter 11 — Head Coverings, the Lord’s Supper

head — κεφαλή (kephalē), 11:3 (“the head of Christ is God, the head of man is Christ, the head of woman is man”). Literal meaning: physical head; metaphorically, source/authority. Proposed rendering: baş. Risk: Medium — the head-metaphor itself resonates with existing patriarchal social structures in Azerbaijani culture (family headship norms), which risks readers assuming a straightforward hierarchical-authority reading without also grasping the mutuality Paul affirms elsewhere in the same passage (11:11–12, “woman is not independent of man nor man of woman… in the Lord”); teaching notes must present both halves of Paul’s argument together.
head covering — κατακαλύπτεσθαι / ἀκατακαλύπτῳ (katakalyptesthai/akatakalyptō), 11:4–7, 11:13. Literal meaning: to cover down over, to veil. Proposed rendering: baş örtüyü (ilə örtünmə). Risk: Critical for cultural sensitivity — head-covering/veiling (hijab, örtük) is a live, socially and politically contested practice in contemporary Azerbaijan (a constitutionally secular state with historical restrictions on hijab in schools and public institutions, alongside a significant population for whom hijab is an important marker of Islamic religious identity). Readers will almost inevitably map this passage onto the contemporary hijab debate. This requires explicit, careful human-theologian-reviewed teaching notes distinguishing Paul’s first-century Corinthian cultural-symbolic argument (propriety, creation order, avoiding scandal in worship gatherings) from the modern Azerbaijani hijab controversy, and from any implication that the passage legislates a universal, timeless dress code identical to contemporary religious veiling practice. Do not present this passage in curriculum materials without such framing.
Lord’s Supper — κυριακὸν δεῖπνον (kyriakon deipnon), 11:20. Literal meaning: “the Lord’s dinner/supper.” Proposed rendering: Rəbbin Süfrəsi (established convention analogous to “Lord’s table,” consistent with ch. 10’s table language) or Rəbbin Şam yeməyi. Risk: Critical — flag directly: Shia Islamic devotional culture in Azerbaijan includes prominent food-offering and communal-meal commemorative practices (nəzir — food distributed in the name of and for blessing associated with saints, Imams, or Ashura/Karbala remembrance). There is a real risk that the Lord’s Supper will be assimilated into this nəzir framework — a memorial food-offering that transfers blessing through distribution — rather than understood as a Christ-instituted, once-for-all-death-commemorating ordinance pointing to a finished, unrepeatable atonement. Teaching notes must explicitly distinguish the Lord’s Supper from nəzir-style commemorative food practices.
body and blood (of the Lord) — σῶμα καὶ αἷμα (τοῦ κυρίου) (sōma kai haima), 11:24–27. Reuse bədən (body) + qan (blood). [Romans TM — reuse exactly: Rəbb] for “the Lord.” Risk: Critical — the doctrinal weight of the Lord’s Supper doctrine rests directly on this phrase; render literally and plainly (bədən… qan), preserving Christ’s own words of institution without paraphrase, while ensuring accompanying teaching material clarifies the symbolic-memorial meaning (11:24–25, “do this in remembrance of me”) intended within the Reformed-evangelical tradition this curriculum assumes, distinct both from a literalistic misunderstanding and from Karbala-associated blood-ritual/mourning practices (e.g., matam, self-mortification during Ashura) that are culturally prominent and could otherwise color a reader’s felt-associations with “blood” in a religious-commemorative context.
remembrance — ἀνάμνησιν (anamnēsin), 11:24–25. Proposed rendering: xatirə / xatirələmə. Risk: Medium.
new covenant — καινὴ διαθήκη (kainē diathēkē), 11:25. [Romans TM — reuse exactly: Əhd] + qualifier. Proposed rendering: yeni əhd. Risk: Medium, per Romans baseline covenant note.
discern the body — διακρίνων τὸ σῶμα (diakrinōn to sōma), 11:29. Literal meaning: “distinguishing/discerning the body [rightly].” Proposed rendering: bədəni düzgün ayırd etmək / dərk etmək. Risk: High — must be taught as recognizing the Supper’s unique significance (and one’s own spiritual condition and unity with the body of believers) before partaking, not a call to literal physical examination; connects forward to the ch. 12 “body of Christ” doctrine.
unworthy manner / judgment — ἀναξίως / κρίμα (anaxiōs/krima), 11:27, 11:29, 11:34. Proposed rendering: layiqsiz şəkildə / hökm. Risk: Medium — teach as corrective church discipline consequence for careless participation, not damnation-level condemnation, consistent with the pastoral (not punitive-final) framing established in ch. 5’s discipline doctrine.
image and glory of God (of man) — εἰκὼν καὶ δόξα θεοῦ (eikōn kai doxa theou), 11:7. Reuse [Romans TM — Ehtişam] (glory); “image” = surət. Risk: Medium-High — “image of God” language applied to a human being can raise tanzih (divine transcendence/anti-anthropomorphism) concerns in Islamic theological instinct; teaching notes should clarify this is about derivative honor/representation, not physical resemblance to God’s essence.

Chapter 12 — Spiritual Gifts and the Body of Christ

spiritual gifts / gifts — χαρισμάτων / πνευματικῶν (charismatōn/pneumatikōn), 12:1, 12:4, 12:9, 12:28, 12:31. [Romans TM — reuse exactly: Ruhani hədiyyələr]. Risk: Medium, unchanged — this chapter is the doctrinal home base for the term; ensure the Romans-established rejection of kəramət (Shia/Sufi saint-or-Imam miraculous endowment) is applied with equal force here, since 1 Corinthians 12 is precisely the passage most likely to be read through a kəramət-adjacent lens (miraculous individual empowerment) rather than Paul’s actual emphasis on gifts given for the common good of the whole body (12:7).
manifestation of the Spirit — φανέρωσις τοῦ Πνεύματος (phanerōsis tou Pneumatos), 12:7. Literal meaning: a making-visible, a disclosure. Proposed rendering: Ruhun zühuru — REJECTED. Risk: Critical — zühur must never be used here: in Azerbaijani Shia devotional and eschatological vocabulary, zühur is the specific technical term for the awaited eschatological reappearance (“manifestation”) of the Twelfth Imam (Imam Mahdi’s zühur), a doctrine with intense devotional and political weight. Using zühur for the Spirit’s ordinary, ongoing gift-manifestation in the church would import Mahdist eschatological associations entirely foreign to Paul’s meaning. Recommend instead Ruhun aşkar olması or Ruhun təzahürü (təzahür being a more generic, less exclusively-Mahdist “manifestation/expression” term, though still requiring a brief clarifying gloss on first use), with Ruhun aşkar olması (the Spirit’s becoming evident/visible) as the safer preferred option.
body of Christ — σῶμα Χριστοῦ (sōma Christou), 12:12–27 (the chapter’s central metaphor). Reuse bədən (body, established in chs. 6, 11) + [Romans TM — Məsih]. Proposed rendering: Məsihin bədəni. Risk: High — this is the doctrinal anchor for “Spiritual Gifts and the Body of Christ.” The organic, interdependent-members metaphor (12:14–26, “if one member suffers, all suffer together”) must be taught as distinct from the Islamic ummah concept, which binds a religious community together primarily through shared submission to a common law and creed rather than through organic, Spirit-given, differentiated interdependence within a living body; the risk is that readers assimilate “body of Christ” into an ummah-shaped mental model and miss Paul’s distinct point about differentiated function within organic unity.
baptized (into one body) — ἐβαπτίσθημεν (ebaptisthēmen), 12:13. Proposed rendering: vəftiz olduq. Risk: Medium — vəftiz is the settled, distinctively Christian Azerbaijani term for baptism (not previously listed in the Romans baseline glossary but consistent with established Azerbaijani Bible translation usage); flag as a new term to add to translation memory. Ensure it is not confused with Islamic ritual washing/ablution (dəstəmaz, ğüsl), which is a preparatory ritual-purity practice, whereas Christian baptism signifies incorporation into Christ’s body and is administered once.
tongues — γλῶσσαι (glōssai), 12:10, 12:28, 12:30. Literal meaning: tongues/languages. Semantic range: ordinary human languages; in this context, a Spirit-given gift of speaking in languages unknown to the speaker (further discussed in ch. 14). Proposed rendering: dillər (qualified as ruhani dillər or naməlum dillər where distinguishing from ordinary language ability). Risk: Medium — no direct Islamic doctrinal parallel exists for glossolalia (a novelty risk rather than a collision risk), but care is needed that readers do not confuse this gift with either ordinary multilingual ability or with ecstatic/trance phenomena from folk-religious or Sufi practice (e.g., zikr-related ecstatic states); teaching notes should clarify the gift’s purpose (edification, sign) per ch. 14.
interpretation — ἑρμηνεία (hermēneia), 12:10. Proposed rendering: tərcümə / şərh. Risk: Low-Medium.
healing / miracles — ἰαμάτων / δυνάμεων (iamatōn/dynameōn), 12:9–10, 12:28. Proposed rendering: şəfa (bəxş etmə) / möcüzələr. Risk: Medium — şəfa carries strong folk-religious associations with shrine-based healing practices (ziyarat, seeking healing at a pir/ocaq shrine); teaching notes should clarify this is a Spirit-given gift operating within the church for the church’s benefit, not a shrine-mediated or saint-mediated healing practice.
discerning of spirits — διακρίσεις πνευμάτων (diakriseis pneumatōn), 12:10. Proposed rendering: ruhları ayırd etmə. Risk: Medium.

Chapter 13 — Love as the Greater Way

love — ἀγάπη (agapē), throughout ch. 13 (the doctrine “Love as the Greater Way”). Literal meaning: selfless, willed, other-directed love/affection, distinct in NT usage from ἔρως (romantic/desiring love) and φιλία (friendship affection). Semantic range: covenantal, self-giving love; God’s own character (cf. 1 John 4:8); the defining mark of Christian community and the “greatest” of the triad faith-hope-love (13:13). English variants: “love,” “charity” (older translations, from Latin caritas). Proposed rendering: məhəbbət. Risk: High — this is one of the most culturally loaded terms in the entire curriculum for an Azerbaijani destination language: məhəbbət (and its poetic register eşq) is the central term of the celebrated Azerbaijani/Persianate Sufi literary-mystical tradition (Nizami Gəncəvi, Füzuli), where divine love (ilahi məhəbbət) is typically understood as an ecstatic, often erotically-coded, mystical union between the soul and the divine, frequently mediated through longing, suffering, and a beloved-lover metaphor. Paul’s ἀγάπη in 1 Corinthians 13 is a strikingly unromantic, unsentimental, behaviorally defined love (“is patient, is kind… does not insist on its own way,” 13:4–7) — a matter of concrete action and character, not mystical ecstasy. Teaching notes accompanying every use of məhəbbət in this chapter must explicitly distinguish Paul’s agapē from the Sufi eşq/məhəbbət literary-devotional tradition, to prevent the chapter being absorbed into a familiar but doctrinally different frame.
faith, hope, love — πίστις, ἐλπίς, ἀγάπη (pistis, elpis, agapē), 13:13. [Romans TM — reuse exactly: İman] for faith; new term ümid for hope (Literal meaning: hope, expectation; Semantic range: confident forward-looking trust, distinct from the more uncertain, often fatalistic “hope” of folk usage; Proposed rendering: ümid; Risk: Low-Medium, since Islamic theology generally frames ultimate hope as contingent hope pending divine mercy at Judgment, whereas Christian ümid in Paul carries a more settled, resurrection-grounded confidence — worth a brief teaching note connecting to the Romans “Assurance of Salvation” doctrine).
edification via love — reuse inkişaf etdirmək / bina etmək (build up), first flagged fully in ch. 14 below; 13:1–3’s negative framing (“if I have not love, I am nothing”) sets up the necessity of love as the animating force behind all gifts discussed in ch. 12 and ch. 14.

Chapter 14 — Order in Worship: Prophecy, Tongues, and Edification

edification / build up — οἰκοδομή / οἰκοδομεῖ (oikodomē/oikodomei), 14:3–5, 14:12, 14:17, 14:26. Literal meaning: building, construction; metaphorically, spiritual strengthening of the community. Proposed rendering: inkişaf etdirmək / bina etmək, consistent with the Romans baseline doctrine “Mutual Edification” (“Qarşılıqlı inkişaf,” Low risk). Risk: Low — reuse the established Romans-adjacent conceptual pairing; this chapter’s repeated emphasis (prophecy is preferred over uninterpreted tongues precisely because it edifies the whole church, 14:4–5) makes edification the chapter’s organizing value.
prophecy / tongues / interpretation — reuse ch. 12 terms (Peyğəmbərlik sözü [Romans TM], dillər, tərcümə/şərh); this chapter regulates their exercise in corporate worship. Risk: Medium-High, per ch. 12 notes, now compounded by the “Order in Worship” doctrine’s practical regulatory concerns (14:26–33, 14:40: “let all things be done decently and in order”).
order — τάξιν / εὐσχημόνως (taxin/euschēmonōs), 14:40 (“all things should be done decently and in order”). Proposed rendering: nizam (order/discipline) — deliberately distinct from [Romans TM — Qanun] (law, the Mosaic Law term) to avoid any confusion between worship-order guidance and the Mosaic Law doctrine. Risk: Low, provided this distinction from Qanun is maintained.
women in the assembly — γυναῖκες … σιγάτωσαν (gynaikes … sigatōsan), 14:34–35 (“women should keep silent in the churches”). This is a contextually and text-critically complex passage (some manuscripts place these verses after v. 40; interpreters disagree on scope — universal prohibition vs. situational correction of specific disruptive behavior). Risk: High, requiring human theologian review specifically for pastoral framing — Azerbaijani readers bring pre-existing cultural assumptions about women’s more limited public role in religious contexts (e.g., typical mosque gender-segregation and predominantly male-led public religious leadership) that could cause this passage to be read as simply confirming familiar patriarchal norms without the interpretive nuance careful biblical scholarship requires, or conversely could be weaponized against women’s legitimate participation described positively elsewhere in the same letter (11:5, women praying/prophesying). Teaching notes must address this directly rather than let the passage stand without comment.

Chapter 15 — The Resurrection of Christ and Believers (vv. 12–58; vv. 1–11 treated above)

(1 Corinthians 15:1–11 is the core passage and is treated verse-by-verse in Part A above. The remainder of the chapter continues the same doctrinal cluster — “The Resurrection of Christ and Believers” — with additional load-bearing terms below.)

resurrection of the dead — ἀνάστασις νεκρῶν (anastasis nekrōn), 15:12–13, 15:21, 15:42. [Romans TM — reuse exactly: Diriliş]. Risk: Critical, unchanged — now extended from Christ’s individual resurrection (vv. 1–11) to the general future resurrection of all believers, the chapter’s larger argument (if Christ was not raised, believers have no hope; because Christ was raised, believers will be raised).
firstfruits — ἀπαρχή (aparchē), 15:20, 15:23. Literal meaning: the first portion of a harvest, offered to God, guaranteeing and representing the whole harvest to follow. Proposed rendering: ilk bar / nübar (descriptive; no single common Azerbaijani religious-technical term exists). Risk: Medium — requires OT/agricultural-offering background explanation; the underlying logic (Christ’s resurrection guarantees and previews believers’ future resurrection, as the firstfruits guarantee the harvest) is doctrinally important for “The Resurrection of Christ and Believers” and must not be lost to an unfamiliar image.
last Adam / in Adam — ἔσχατος Ἀδάμ / ἐν τῷ Ἀδάμ (eschatos Adam/en tō Adam), 15:22, 15:45. Proposed rendering: axırıncı Adəm / Adəmdə. Risk: High — Adəm is a shared figure with Islamic tradition (Adəm peyğəmbər, a prophet), but the Pauline first-Adam/last-Adam federal-headship typology (all humanity represented and affected by one man’s act; all believers represented and made alive by Christ’s act) has no Islamic theological parallel and requires explicit teaching; do not assume the shared name signals shared doctrine.
spiritual body / natural body — σῶμα πνευματικόν / σῶμα ψυχικόν (sōma pneumatikon/sōma psychikon), 15:44. Proposed rendering: ruhani bədən / cismani (təbii) bədən. Risk: High — must be taught carefully as a real, transformed, still-bodily existence (not a disembodied spirit-only afterlife); this is subtly complicated because Islamic eschatology also affirms a bodily resurrection at Qiyamah (Judgment Day), so the risk is not “no bodily resurrection concept exists” but rather that readers may import their own (different) framework for what a resurrected body is and does, or may misread “spiritual body” as “non-physical,” missing Paul’s point that it is a transformed physical body, imperishable and Spirit-empowered.
perishable / imperishable — φθαρτόν / ἄφθαρτον (phtharton/aphtharton), 15:42, 15:50, 15:53–54. Proposed rendering: puç olan / puç olmayan (ölməz). Risk: Medium.
mortal / immortality — θνητόν / ἀθανασίαν (thnēton/athanasian), 15:53–54. Proposed rendering: ölümlü / ölməzlik. Risk: Medium.
sting of death / victory — κέντρον τοῦ θανάτου / νῖκος (kentron tou thanatou/nikos), 15:55–56. Proposed rendering: ölümün iynəsi/acısı / qələbə. Risk: Low-Medium — rhetorical climax of the chapter; reuse [Romans TM — Qanun] for the passing mention of “the law” (νόμος) in 15:56 (“the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law”) — ensure Qanun, not şəriət, per the Romans forbidden-substitution rule, remains firmly in force here as well.
mystery — μυστήριον (mystērion), 15:51 (“Behold, I tell you a mystery”). Reuse ch. 2 term and risk note (sirr, High risk, avoid esoteric-elite overtones) — here applied to the future transformation of living believers at Christ’s return, a truth now disclosed to all, not restricted to an initiated few.
not in vain / labor — οὐκ ἔσται κενὸς … κόπος (ouk estai kenos … kopos), 15:58. Reuse v. 10’s əbəs olmadı (not in vain) and zəhmət (labor); closes the chapter’s argument by grounding present Christian labor in the certainty of future resurrection.

Chapter 16 — Closing Instructions: Collection, Greetings, Benediction

collection for the saints — λογείαν εἰς τοὺς ἁγίους (logeian eis tous hagious), 16:1. [Romans TM — reuse exactly: Müqəddəslər]. Risk: High, unchanged.
stand firm / be strong — στήκετε … κραταιοῦσθε (stēkete … krataiousthe), 16:13. Reuse dayanmaq (stand, cf. 15:1) + güclü olmaq (be strong). Risk: Low — deliberately echoes 15:1’s “you stand,” bracketing the letter’s resurrection-grounded confidence.
do everything in love — πάντα … ἐν ἀγάπῃ γινέσθω (panta … en agapē ginesthō), 16:14. Reuse ch. 13’s məhəbbət with the same Sufi-tradition caution noted there.
grace of the Lord Jesus — ἡ χάρις τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ (hē charis tou kyriou Iēsou), 16:23. [Romans TM — reuse exactly: Lütf, Rəbb, İsa (paired with Məsih)]. Risk: High, unchanged.
holy kiss — φιλήματι ἁγίῳ (philēmati hagiō), 16:20. Proposed rendering: müqəddəs salamlaşma (descriptive; a literal “holy kiss” as a greeting gesture requires cultural adaptation notes, since cheek-kiss greetings carry different gender/social propriety norms in contemporary Azerbaijani culture than in the first-century Mediterranean context). Risk: Low-Medium — primarily a cultural-adaptation note for teaching material (how to render/practice the greeting today), not a doctrinal collision.
accursed / anathema — ἀνάθεμα (anathema), 16:22 (“if anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed”). Literal meaning: a thing devoted/set apart for destruction, hence a formal curse. Semantic range: a solemn curse-formula, the opposite pole from “blessing.” Proposed rendering: lənətlənmiş olsun. Risk: Medium-High — Azerbaijani religious speech has a robust vocabulary of curse/curse-formula (lənət, cognate with Islamic la’nat, e.g. “Allahın lənəti”) which makes the concept itself very recognizable (a point of resonance), but the specific object of the curse here — failure to love the Lord — must be clearly tied to love for Christ specifically (not a generic moral or ritual failing), preserving Paul’s sharp, love-centered closing warning rather than letting it dissolve into a generic curse-formula.
Maranatha — Μαρανα θα (Marana tha), 16:22, an Aramaic phrase (“Our Lord, come!”) preserved untranslated in the Greek text itself. Proposed rendering: Marana ta (retain untranslated/transliterated, following the same principle the Romans baseline applies to [Romans TM — Abba]). Risk: Low — retain the transliteration; briefly gloss its meaning (“Rəbbimiz, gəl!”) in teaching notes rather than replacing the phrase itself in the text.
ministry / service — διακονίαν (diakonian), 16:15. Reuse xidmət, consistent with the Romans baseline’s “mission” and “Christ-Centered Ministry” doctrine vocabulary (Müjdə yayma xidməti, Məsih-mərkəzli xidmət). Risk: Low, unchanged.

Summary Note on Coverage

Every chapter of 1 Corinthians (1–16) has been reviewed. Chapters 1–16 each contribute load-bearing theological vocabulary; none is a “no new terms” chapter in this book, though several chapters (7, 9, 16) contribute lower-risk terms than the doctrinally dense chapters (1, 5, 8, 11, 12, 13, 15). The core passage, 1 Corinthians 15:1–11, has received full verse-by-verse treatment above and anchors — without limiting — the full-book analysis required for Phase 1 Step 1.

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