Core Glossary
Core Glossary
translation_memory.json is the enforced glossary for every Phase 2 translation in this curriculum. This document summarizes its shape and the principles behind it; see the Glossary Risk Groups for the full per-term entries.
Composition
The glossary currently holds 47 terms spanning all four risk tiers, drawn from the doctrines identified in Doctrine Analysis and grounded in the cultural and theological risks identified in Culture Analysis and Comparative Theology. Every term entry records:
- The approved Azerbaijani translation and a phonetic pronunciation guide
- The doctrine risk tier (Critical/High/Medium/Low)
- Explicitly rejected alternatives, with reasons, including where a term is shared with but narrower than its Shia or broader Islamic theological usage
- Notes explaining any non-obvious translation choice
Governing principles
- Established usage over invention — where the IBT Müqəddəs Kitab already has a settled rendering (Allah, İsa Məsih, Rəbb, Müqəddəs Ruh), this glossary follows it rather than proposing an alternative.
- Explicit naming, not silent avoidance — every Critical-risk term records the specific Islamic or Shia theological claim it stands in tension with (see
alternatives_rejectedandnotes), so a translator or reviewer understands why softening the term would misrepresent the source text. - Version-controlled and append-only in Phase 2 — if a new term is discovered during document translation, it is added to translation memory and the version number incremented, never silently improvised per-document (see the AI Translation Requirements’ Translation Memory Load and Enforcement Instructions).
Relationship to the Doctrine Risk Registry
Every glossary term’s doctrine field links back to an entry in doctrine_risk_registry.json, so a term’s risk tier is always traceable to the specific doctrine it protects — the glossary enforces vocabulary, the doctrine registry explains why that vocabulary matters, including the Shia-specific Imamate-intercession risk that distinguishes this Language Package from Sunni-context Turkic packages.
Critical Risk Terms
Father
Approved rendering: Ata
Transliteration: ah-TAH
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: Yaradan (Creator, as a substitute to avoid relational language)
CRITICAL: Calling God ‘Father’ can register as implying literal offspring, which tawhid forbids, making Ata one of the most relationally rich but potentially jarring terms in this package. Teach the relational, adoptive sense directly rather than retreating to the flatter Yaradan.
God
Approved rendering: Allah
Transliteration: ahl-LAHKH
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Tanrı (understood, but a Turkish convention rather than the settled Azerbaijani IBT usage)
Unlike the Turkish Language Package’s use of Tanrı, the Azerbaijani IBT Bible consistently uses Allah as the ordinary, settled word for God across all Azerbaijani speakers regardless of religion; this Language Package follows that established convention rather than importing the Turkish pattern.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Müqəddəs Ruh
Transliteration: myoo-kad-DASS ROOKH
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: Cəbrail (the archangel Gabriel)
CRITICAL: ‘Ruh əl-Qüds,’ the same phrase, is widely explained in Islamic commentary (Sunni and Shia alike) as referring to the archangel Cəbrail assisting Jesus, not a co-equal divine Person. This curriculum must explicitly teach the Holy Spirit as God himself, the third Person of the Trinity, wherever the term first appears in a lesson.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: Hesaba alınan salehlik
Transliteration: heh-sah-BAH ah-luh-NAHN sah-lehk-LEEK
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: qazanılmış salehlik (earned righteousness)
Righteousness credited to a believer’s account by faith, not achieved through saleh əməllər (righteous deeds). Qazanılmış salehlik (‘earned righteousness’) is explicitly rejected, since it reintroduces the deeds-ledger framework Paul argues against.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: Bədən alma
Transliteration: bah-DAN ahl-MAH
Doctrine: Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: Allahın insan qiyafəsinə girməsi (God disguising himself in human form)
CRITICAL: The eternal Son permanently, not temporarily, taking on true human nature. Avoid any phrasing implying disguise or mere appearance, which would understate the doctrine rather than confront it honestly.
Intercession
Approved rendering: Vasitəçilik
Transliteration: vah-see-tah-chee-LEEK
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Rejected alternatives: şəfaət (Shia doctrine of Imam intercession), təvəssül (seeking mediated access to God through a saint or Imam)
CRITICAL: Shia Islam, dominant in Azerbaijan, places heavy doctrinal and devotional weight on şəfaət — the intercession of the Twelve Imams, especially at Karbala-linked shrines — and on təvəssül, seeking God’s favor through a saintly mediator. Christ’s unique, sufficient intercession (Romans 8:34) must be clearly distinguished from this Imamate-intercession framework, not presented as filling the same devotional role.
Jesus
Approved rendering: İsa
Transliteration: ee-SAH
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: bare ‘İsa Peyğəmbər’ (Prophet Jesus, without Məsih)
CRITICAL: İsa is the shared Azerbaijani/Qur’anic name for Jesus and alone signals only the Qur’anic prophet-Jesus to most readers. This curriculum consistently pairs İsa with Məsih (İsa Məsih) rather than using İsa alone, to keep the fuller Christian identity in view.
Justification
Approved rendering: Saleh sayılma
Transliteration: sah-LEHKH sah-yuhl-MAH
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: günahların bağışlanması (forgiveness of sins, alone)
A forensic declaration (‘being counted/reckoned righteous’), not merely forgiveness. Bağışlanma (forgiveness) alone loses the positive legal-declaration sense Paul intends; the full phrase must be used, not abbreviated.
Lord
Approved rendering: Rəbb
Transliteration: RAHBB
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: ağa (master, non-divine)
Established Azerbaijani Bible term. In Romans 10:9 the confession ‘Jesus is Lord’ = İsa Rəbdir. Ağa denotes a human master and must not substitute; it removes the exclusive divine claim of the confession.
Messiah
Approved rendering: Məsih
Transliteration: mah-SEEKH
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Rejected alternatives: sadəcə bir peyğəmbər (merely a prophet)
CRITICAL: Məsih is shared with the Qur’anic al-Masih title given to Isa, but the Qur’an empties it of Old Testament content. Every use of Məsih in this curriculum must carry the full Davidic-covenant, atoning-savior content Paul assumes, not stand as a bare familiar label.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: Diriliş
Transliteration: dee-ree-LEESH
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: göyə qaldırılma (being raised to heaven, without dying)
CRITICAL: Must affirm real bodily death followed by bodily resurrection. Qur’an 4:157 (widely taught in both Sunni and Shia tradition) denies Jesus actually died; göyə qaldırılma describes the no-death-ascension reading and must never substitute for diriliş, which requires a prior death.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: Salehlik
Transliteration: sah-lehk-LEEK
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: saleh əməllər (righteous deeds, as the ground itself)
CRITICAL: Never present as equivalent to saleh əməllər (righteous deeds), the works-ledger category central to Islamic judgment theology. Salehlik in Romans is a right standing granted through faith, not a deeds-based classification.
Salvation
Approved rendering: Xilas
Transliteration: khee-LAHS
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: nicat (Persian-influenced, common in eschatological/Judgment-Day framing tied to Imamate intercession), cənnətə girmək (entering paradise)
CRITICAL: Xilas is the settled IBT term for deliverance through Christ’s death and resurrection, received now. Nicat is common in Azerbaijani religious speech but is frequently bound up with hope for the Twelfth Imam’s intercession at the end of time; cənnətə girmək reduces salvation to a deferred, uncertain outcome rather than a present reality grounded in Christ’s finished work.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: Allahın Oğlu
Transliteration: ahl-lah-HUHN oh-loo
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Allahın sevimli qulu (God’s beloved servant)
CRITICAL: Full phrase required, never softened to a servant euphemism. Qur’an 112:3 (‘He neither begets nor is begotten’) makes this the sharpest point of confrontation with tawhid in the whole curriculum; preserve the doctrinal content and handle pastoral framing in surrounding teaching material.
High Risk Terms
Abba
Approved rendering: Abba
Transliteration: AH-bah
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Aramaic term of intimacy preserved untranslated in Romans 8:15. Retain the transliteration; it conveys a childlike intimacy that formal Ata alone may not fully carry.
Adoption
Approved rendering: Övladlığa götürülmə
Transliteration: ohv-lahd-luh-AH gur-tuh-ryool-MAY
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: övladlıq (bare, without doctrinal qualifier)
Full legal-standing sonship with inheritance rights. Teaching material must clarify this describes believers’ new status, not a claim that God has literal offspring, which tawhid forbids.
Called
Approved rendering: Çağırılmış
Transliteration: chah-guh-ruhl-MUSH
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: dəvət olunmuş (invited)
Context-sensitive: in 1:1 = called to apostleship; in 1:7 = called to be saints; in 8:28-30 = effectual calling to salvation. Dəvət olunmuş (‘invited’) understates the sovereign, purposeful weight of God’s call.
Calling
Approved rendering: Çağırış
Transliteration: chah-guh-RUHSH
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: dəvət
Noun form for the act/state of being called by God. Dəvət (invitation) does not carry the effectual weight of a sovereign summons.
Election
Approved rendering: Seçilmə
Transliteration: say-cheel-MAY
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: qismət (fate/fortune), yazı (what is ‘written’, fatalistic decree)
God’s sovereign, personal choosing for salvation. Qismət and yazı both carry strong fatalistic-decree connotations common in Azerbaijani folk religious speech; seçilmə preserves the relational, purposive sense Romans intends.
Faith
Approved rendering: İman
Transliteration: ee-MAHN
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: etiqad (doctrinal conviction/creed)
İman is shared with Islamic vocabulary, where in Shia usage it includes assent to the Imamate alongside the standard pillars. Romans’ iman is personal trust in İsa Məsih specifically; etiqad reads more as intellectual assent to a creed than relational trust, and should not substitute for the personal-trust sense.
Glory
Approved rendering: Ehtişam
Transliteration: eh-htee-SHAHM
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: nur (divine light, heavily associated in Shia devotional tradition with the pre-existent ‘Light of the Imams’/Nur-i Məhəmmədi)
God’s radiant honor and majesty. Avoid nur, which in Azerbaijani Shia devotional literature specifically evokes the pre-existent light passed down through Muhammad and the Twelve Imams — a competing pre-existence and glory claim.
Gospel
Approved rendering: Müjdə
Transliteration: myuzh-DAH
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: İncil (bare, unqualified), yaxşı xəbər (generic good news)
Müjdə (‘glad tidings’) is the Institute for Bible Translation (IBT) Azerbaijani term for the living proclamation. Bare İncil primarily names the book, which Islamic doctrine treats as an originally-revealed-but-now-corrupted text; keep the proclaimed message distinct from that contested-book association.
Grace
Approved rendering: Lütf
Transliteration: LYUTF
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: mərhəmət (mercy), kərəm (Persian-influenced ‘divine generosity’, often devotional/mystical)
Lütf conveys unearned favor apart from merit. Mərhəmət (mercy) and kərəm (generosity, common in Sufi-influenced devotional poetry popular in Azerbaijani religious culture) both operate within a framework where deeds still matter for final judgment; grace as the sole ground of standing must be taught as a distinct claim.
Holy
Approved rendering: Müqəddəs
Transliteration: myoo-kad-DASS
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: təmiz (ritually clean)
Müqəddəs = set apart for God, morally pure; the established term across Azerbaijani religious registers, shared with but not exclusive to Islamic usage. Təmiz carries ritual-cleanliness connotations closer to wudu-adjacent purity.
Law
Approved rendering: Qanun
Transliteration: kah-NOON
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: şəriət (Islamic religious law)
Refers to the Mosaic law. NEVER use şəriət, which names the comprehensive Islamic legal-religious system and would import an entirely different law-and-society framework into Paul’s argument.
Obedience Of Faith
Approved rendering: İmanın gətirdiyi itaət
Transliteration: ee-mah-NUHN gah-teer-dee-YEE ee-tah-AHT
Doctrine: Obedience of Faith
Rejected alternatives: dini vəzifələrə əməl etmə (performing religious duties)
Romans 1:5 and 16:26. The obedience must be taught as the fruit of a faith relationship already secured by grace, not as dini vəzifə (religious duty-performance) that itself earns standing before God.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: Allahın qüdrəti
Transliteration: ahl-lah-HUHN kewd-rah-TEE
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Rejected alternatives: Allahın qəzəbi (God’s wrath, a different concept sometimes conflated in folk usage)
Qüdrət is the plain, doctrinally clean term for God’s power, distinct from qəzəb (wrath) or generic omnipotence-and-fate framing common in folk religious speech.
Prophet
Approved rendering: Peyğəmbər
Transliteration: pay-gam-BAIR
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: falçı (fortune-teller)
Peyğəmbər is the standard shared Islamic-Azerbaijani term, and precisely the (exclusive) category Islamic theology places Jesus into. When used of OT prophets pointing to Christ, ensure the text distinguishes their role from Christ’s own identity as more than prophetic.
Providence
Approved rendering: Allahın tədbiri
Transliteration: ahl-lah-HUHN tad-bee-REE
Doctrine: Providence
Rejected alternatives: qismət, alın yazısı (fate written on the forehead)
God’s personal, purposive governance, especially Romans 8:28. Qismət and alın yazısı carry strong fatalistic connotations of an impersonal, unknowable decree; providence in Romans is the personal care of a Father working all things for good.
Saints
Approved rendering: Müqəddəslər
Transliteration: myoo-kad-dass-LAIR
Doctrine: Sainthood
Rejected alternatives: övliyalar (venerated holy figures, often linked to shrines and ziyarat pilgrimage in Azerbaijani folk religion)
Müqəddəslər = all believers corporately, set apart in Christ. Övliyalar carries strong associations with venerated holy figures whose tombs (pirs, ocaqlar) receive pilgrimage visits in Azerbaijani folk Islam; this is a specially graced elite category, not the ordinary corporate sainthood of Romans 1:7.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: Təqdisetmə
Transliteration: tag-dees-et-MAY
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: paklanma (ritual purification)
The Spirit’s ongoing work of making believers holy. Paklanma leans toward ceremonial/ritual purification; təqdisetmə keeps the moral-relational, Spirit-worked sense.
Sin
Approved rendering: Günah
Transliteration: goo-NAHKH
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: xəta (mistake/error)
Günah is the standard shared term, but Islamic anthropology (fitrə, humans born sinless) resists inherited universal sinfulness; Romans 5:12-19’s doctrine of inherited sin needs explicit teaching support rather than assuming günah alone conveys it.
Medium Risk Terms
Apostle
Approved rendering: Həvari
Transliteration: heh-vah-REE
Doctrine: Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: peyğəmbər (prophet-messenger), imam (in the Shia sense of an infallible spiritual-political successor)
Həvari is the established Christian term (also used for Jesus’ twelve). Guard specifically against imam-shaped associations: unlike the Twelve Imams of Shia doctrine, apostles are commissioned eyewitnesses to the risen Christ, not an infallible successive spiritual authority line.
Church
Approved rendering: Kilsə
Transliteration: keel-SAY
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: məscid-vari icma (mosque-like religious community, an unhelpful borrowed frame)
Kilsə is the established, unambiguous Azerbaijani word for the Christian church, distinct from məscid (mosque) and its associated communal structures.
Covenant
Approved rendering: Əhd
Transliteration: AKHD
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: müqavilə (bare commercial contract)
Əhd (also used in Əhdi-Ətiq/Əhdi-Cədid, Old/New Testament) is the established relational-covenant term. Müqavilə reads as a bare commercial agreement and loses the relational-promise dimension.
David
Approved rendering: Davud
Transliteration: dah-VOOD
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Established Azerbaijani Bible proper name, recognizable from the Qur’anic Davud, though the Qur’an presents him as a prophet-king without the messianic covenant content Romans assumes.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: Millətlər
Transliteration: mil-lat-LAIR
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: kafirlər (unbelievers/infidels, an Islamic religious-legal category), bütpərəstlər (idolaters, archaic)
Millətlər (‘nations,’ i.e. non-Jews) is the ethnically neutral Bible term. Kafirlər would import an entirely different, religiously charged Islamic boundary line rather than Paul’s Jew/Gentile distinction.
Israel
Approved rendering: İsrail
Transliteration: ees-rah-EEL
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Proper name; established Azerbaijani Bible form. Azerbaijan maintains diplomatic ties with the modern state of the same name, which is a distinct, non-doctrinal association worth noting for teaching context.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: Allahın Padşahlığı
Transliteration: ahl-lah-HUHN pahd-shah-luh-UH
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Rejected alternatives: Allahın dövləti (God’s state/nation)
God’s sovereign reign, not a literal state. Dövlət (‘state’) would suggest a political nation-state, which is a loaded category in a country with a secular constitutional tradition inherited from the Soviet and post-Soviet periods.
Mission
Approved rendering: Müjdə yayma xidməti
Transliteration: myuzh-DAH yai-MAH khee-dmah-TEE
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
Rejected alternatives: təbliğ (Islamic da’wah-style proselytizing, a loaded term in Azerbaijani religious-legal discourse)
Müjdə yayma xidməti (‘service of spreading good news’) avoids təbliğ, which in Azerbaijani law and public discourse specifically denotes regulated religious propaganda and can carry legal sensitivity.
Peace
Approved rendering: Sülh
Transliteration: SYULKH
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: rahatlıq (inner calm/comfort)
In Romans 5:1, sülh is relational peace with God through justification, not psychological comfort (rahatlıq) or the cessation of political conflict, its more common everyday usage.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: Peyğəmbərlik sözü
Transliteration: pay-gam-bair-LEEK suh-ZEW
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: falçılıq (divination/fortune-telling)
God-inspired declaration pointing to Christ. Falçılıq carries occult/divination connotations and must be avoided.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: Davudun nəslindən
Transliteration: dah-voo-DOON nas-leen-DAHN
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Romans 1:3; conveys physical lineage and fulfillment of the Davidic covenant promise, a background largely unfamiliar to readers without OT exposure.
Spiritual Gifts
Approved rendering: Ruhani hədiyyələr
Transliteration: roo-hah-NEE hah-dee-YAY-lair
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts
Rejected alternatives: kəramət (a miraculous sign associated with a saint or Imam in Shia and Sufi tradition)
Always pair ruhani with hədiyyə; kəramət specifically denotes a miraculous endowment attributed to saints or Imams in Shia devotional tradition and must not be used.
Low Risk Terms
Exhort
Approved rendering: Nəsihət vermək
Transliteration: nah-see-HAHT ver-MAKH
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Context-sensitive: use yalvarmaq (entreat/beseech) for pleading; nəsihət vermək (advise/encourage) for building up.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: Ünsiyyət
Transliteration: ewn-see-YAHT
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: qardaşlıq (brotherhood, generic/civic)
Shared participation in Christ. Qardaşlıq is common in secular civic and pan-Turkic nationalist rhetoric and risks importing those associations instead of a specifically Christ-centered sense.
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: Şükran
Transliteration: shook-RAHN
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Standard term shared with the everyday Islamic-influenced şükür vocabulary. Low doctrinal risk; a genuine point of resonance.
Referenced passages