Semantic Analysis

07 Semantic Analysis — 1 Corinthians (Full Book) — English → Bengali

Scope and Method

This analysis follows the PRD Phase 1 Step 1 mandate: full-book coverage of 1 Corinthians in the original Koine Greek, chapter 1 through chapter 16, with the core passage (1 Corinthians 15:1-11) receiving verse-by-verse treatment. Every load-bearing theological term is analyzed with: original word, transliteration, literal meaning, semantic range, English variants, contextual theological meaning, and destination-language (Bengali) rendering risk.

Where a term is already established in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json / bible_term_registry.json, the recorded Bengali rendering is reused exactly, and this is noted as “(reused from Romans TM)” rather than re-argued. New terms unique to 1 Corinthians are analyzed in full and proposed for addition to translation memory in Phase 1 Step 8 (glossary) with Phase 2 sign-off required for Critical/High risk items.

PART 1 — Core Passage: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 (Verse-by-Verse)

This passage is the theological anchor of the curriculum: Paul’s transmitted creedal summary of the gospel, anchored in eyewitness testimony to the risen Christ. Every verse is treated in full.

Verse 1 — Γνωρίζω δὲ ὑμῖν, ἀδελφοί, τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ὃ εὐηγγελισάμην ὑμῖν, ὃ καὶ παρελάβετε, ἐν ᾧ καὶ ἑστήκατε

gospel — εὐαγγέλιον / euangelion — “good news, announcement” — the apostolic proclamation of Christ crucified and risen. English variants: gospel, good news. Reused from Romans TM: সুসমাচার (susomachar), High risk. Contextual meaning: Paul is about to restate the fixed, non-negotiable core content of what he originally preached — not a new teaching.
received — παρελάβετε / parelabete (παραλαμβάνω) — “to receive, take over (a tradition)” — technical term for receiving a fixed body of transmitted teaching, paired with v.3’s “delivered.” English variants: received, accepted. New term. Bengali: গ্রহণ করেছ (grohon koreccho). Risk: Medium-High. The receive/deliver pair (παραλαμβάνω / παραδίδωμι) functions like a formal transmission formula for a fixed creedal deposit. Must not be rendered so loosely that it suggests an evolving oral tradition; the content received is closed and unchanging.
stand — ἑστήκατε / hestēkate (ἵστημι) — “to stand, stand firm” — perfect tense, indicating a settled, present standing. English variants: stand, are standing, have your standing. New term. Bengali: স্থির থাকা / দাঁড়িয়ে আছ (sthir thaka). Risk: Medium. Denotes the gospel as the ground of the Corinthians’ present spiritual position, not a past event only.

Verse 2 — δι’ οὗ καὶ σώζεσθε, τίνι λόγῳ εὐηγγελισάμην ὑμῖν εἰ κατέχετε, ἐκτὸς εἰ μὴ μάτην ἐπιστεύσατε

saved — σώζεσθε / sōzesthe (σῴζω), present passive — “you are being saved” (ongoing/continuous aspect). Reused from Romans TM: পরিত্রাণ পাচ্ছ / পরিত্রাণ (poritran), Critical risk. Translator note required: the Greek present tense expresses an ongoing state, not only a completed past event; where natural, retain the continuous sense (“তোমরা পরিত্রাণ পাচ্ছ”) rather than collapsing to a simple past.
hold fast — κατέχετε / katechete (κατέχω) — “to hold firmly, retain” — New term. Bengali: ধরে রাখা (dhore rakha). Risk: Medium.
in vain — μάτην / matēn — “fruitlessly, to no purpose” — New term. Bengali: নিষ্ফলভাবে (nishfolvabe). Risk: High. This word anchors the whole chapter’s argument: if the resurrection is not real, believing is pointless. Must be rendered so as to carry the weight of “worthless, without effect,” not merely “mistaken.”
believed — ἐπιστεύσατε / episteusate (πιστεύω) — Reused from Romans TM: বিশ্বাস করা (bishwas kora), High risk (Faith doctrine).

Verse 3 — παρέδωκα γὰρ ὑμῖν ἐν πρώτοις, ὃ καὶ παρέλαβον, ὅτι Χριστὸς ἀπέθανεν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν κατὰ τὰς γραφάς

delivered — παρέδωκα / paredōka (παραδίδωμι) — “to hand over, pass down” — the counterpart to v.1’s “received.” New term. Bengali: সমর্পণ করলাম / হস্তান্তর করলাম (somorpon korlam). Risk: High. Note: this handing-down language could resonate positively with the Bengali concept of গুরু-পরম্পরা (guru-parampara, a teaching lineage passed from teacher to disciple), which may be a useful bridge illustration — but a translator note must clarify the crucial difference: Paul’s “delivered” content is a fixed, closed, unchanging apostolic deposit, not an evolving oral tradition that adapts across generations of teachers.
Christ died for our sins — Χριστὸς ἀπέθανεν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν — Christ (reused: খ্রীষ্ট, Critical), died (reused general term মৃত্যুবরণ করলেন), sins (reused: পাপ, High), for/on behalf of — ὑπέρ / hyper — “on behalf of, for the sake of” — substitutionary preposition. New term to flag. Bengali: জন্য / পক্ষে (jonyo/pokkhe) — must be rendered to preserve vicarious substitution (“Christ died in our place/for our sake”), not a merely causal “because of our sins.” Risk: Critical — this is the core kerygmatic statement of the atonement; the preposition’s substitutionary force must not be flattened.
according to the Scriptures — κατὰ τὰς γραφάς — reused from Romans doctrine registry, fulfillment_of_prophecy (ভাববাণীর পূর্ণতা) and inspiration_of_scripture (পবিত্রশাস্ত্রের প্রেরণা). Bengali: শাস্ত্র অনুসারে (shastro onushare). Risk: High. Anchors Christ’s death in linear historical fulfillment of the Old Testament, not cyclical cosmic ages.

Verse 4 — καὶ ὅτι ἐτάφη, καὶ ὅτι ἐγήγερται τῇ ἡμέρ᳁ τῇ τρίτῃ κατὰ τὰς γραφάς

buried — ἐτάφη / etaphē (θάπτω) — New term. Bengali: কবর দেওয়া হল (kobor dewa holo). Risk: High — though the word itself is simple, it establishes real, physical, bodily death (against any docetic reading and against the Islamic denial that Jesus actually died on the cross), a load-bearing apologetic detail in this passage.
raised — ἐγήγερται / egēgertai (ἐγείρω), perfect tense — “has been raised (and remains risen).” Reused from Romans TM: পুনরুত্থিত হলেন / পুনরুত্থান (punorutthan), Critical risk. NEVER পুনর্জন্ম.
third day — τῇ ἡμέρ᳁ τῇ τρίτῃ — তৃতীয় দিনে (tritiyo dine) — reused doctrinally under fulfillment_of_prophecy; specific historical time-marker, not mythic timelessness. Risk: Medium.

Verse 5 — καὶ ὅτι ὤφθη Κηφᾷ, εἶτα τοῖς δώδεκα

appeared — ὤφθη / ōphthē (ὁράω, passive) — “was seen, appeared (visibly, bodily)” — used five times in this passage (vv.5,6,7,8). New term — highest-priority flag in this passage. Bengali: দেখা দিলেন (dekha dilen). Risk: Critical. This is the technical verb for the objective, embodied, externally-visible resurrection appearances to named and numbered witnesses — the evidentiary backbone of the whole chapter’s argument. It must be rendered consistently across all five occurrences and must be distinguished, ideally with a translator note, from vocabulary for dreams, inner visions, or mystical experience (স্বপ্ন, দর্শন, অন্তর্দৃষ্টি). This distinction matters pastorally in Bengal, where traditions of guru/saint দর্শন (darshan), deity visions, and Sufi mystical states (elham/kashf) could cause “appeared” to be read as one more subjective mystical experience among many, rather than a unique, historically anchored, multiply-attested, bodily appearance.
Cephas — Κηφᾷ / Kēphā — Aramaic name for Peter. Proper name. Bengali: কৈফা (Koifa), with gloss (পিতর/Peter) recommended on first use for reader clarity. Risk: Medium (proper-name consistency with Gospels/Acts, where পিতর is standard).
the Twelve — τοῖς δώδεκα — বারোজন শিষ্য / দ্বাদশ প্রেরিত (baro-jon shishyo). Risk: Medium — title consistency across the whole NT curriculum.

Verse 6 — ἔπειτα ὤφθη ἐπάνω πεντακοσίοις ἀδελφοῖς ἐφάπαξ, ἐξ ὧν οἱ πλείονες μένουσιν ἕως ἄρτι, τινὲς δὲ ἐκοιμήθησαν

five hundred brothers — πεντακοσίοις ἀδελφοῖς — numeric evidentiary detail (πাঁচশতাধিক ভাই, panchoshotadhik bhai). Risk: Low-Medium. “Brothers” (ἀδελφοί) reused as church-family language.
fallen asleep — ἐκοιμήθησαν / ekoimēthēsan (κοιμάομαι) — euphemism for death used specifically of believers awaiting bodily resurrection, distinct from the ordinary verb “died” (ἀποθνήσκω). New term. Bengali: নিদ্রাগত হয়েছেন (nidragoto hoyechhen). Risk: Medium-High. Must preserve the resurrection-hope nuance (temporary sleep, not final end) without being misread through a folk-Hindu “sleep between rebirths” eschatological frame.

Verse 7 — ἔπειτα ὤφθη Ἰακώβῳ, εἶτα τοῖς ἀποστόλοις πᾶσιν

James — Ἰακώβῳ — established Bengali NT form: যাকোব (Jakob). Proper name, Low risk.
apostles — reused from Romans TM: প্রেরিত (prerito), Medium risk.

Verse 8 — ἔσχατον δὲ πάντων ὥσπερ τῷ ἐκτρώματι ὤφθη κἀμοί

as to one untimely born — ἐκτρώματι / ektrōmati — “a miscarried/stillborn child” — Paul’s vivid self-deprecating image of his abrupt, unexpected apostolic birth. New term. Bengali: অকালজাত সন্তানের মতো (okaljato sontaner moto). Risk: Medium — vivid, potentially jarring image; register must remain dignified while preserving the humility-force of the metaphor.

Verse 9 — ἐγὼ γάρ εἰμι ὁ ἐλάχιστος τῶν ἀποστόλων, ὃς οὐκ εἰμὶ ἵκανὸς καλεῖσθαι ἀπόστολος, διότι ἐδίωξα τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ θεοῦ

least — ἐλάχιστος — সবচেয়ে ক্ষুদ্র/ছোট (Low).
persecuted — ἐδίωξα / ediōxa (διώκω) — New term. Bengali: তাড়না করেছিলাম / অত্যাচার করেছিলাম (tarhona korechilam). Risk: Medium — ties Paul’s testimony of grace directly to his pre-conversion violence against the church; important for the grace-over-merit doctrine of this passage.
church of God — ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ θεοῦ — reused: মণ্ডলী (mondoli, Medium) + ঈশ্বর (Critical).

Verse 10 — χάριτι δὲ θεοῦ εἰμι ὅ εἰμι, καὶ ἡ χάρις αὐτοῦ ἡ εἰς ἐμὲ οὐ κενὴ ἐγενήθη, ἀλλὰ περισσότερον αὐτῶν πάντων ἐκοπίασα, οὐκ ἐγὼ δὲ ἀλλὰ ἡ χάρις τοῦ θεοῦ σὺν ἐμοί

grace — χάρις / charis — Reused from Romans TM: অনুগ্রহ (anugroho), Critical/High risk. This verse is a grace-versus-merit passage on par with Romans 4:4-5 and 11:5-6 and must be flagged with the same escalation rule: Paul’s entire identity and ministry are grace-based, explicitly not self-achieved (“not I, but the grace of God with me”).
not in vain — οὐ κενή — reuses v.2’s “in vain” term (নিষ্ফল); consistency required.
labored — ἐκοπίασα / ekopiasa (κοπιάω) — New term. Bengali: পরিশ্রম করেছি (porishrom korechi). Risk: Low-Medium — important nuance: grace produces effort, it does not preclude it (guards against both legalism and passive quietism).

Verse 11 — εἴτε οὖν ἐγὼ εἴτε ἐκεῖνοι, οὕτως κηρύσσομεν καὶ οὕτως ἐπιστεύσατε

preach — κηρύσσομεν / kēryssomen (κηρύσσω) — “to proclaim, herald.” New term. Bengali: প্রচার করি (prochar kori). Risk: Medium. Verb form of the established mission doctrine term (সুসমাচার প্রচার). Emphasizes that the apostolic message is uniform regardless of the human messenger.
believed — ἐπιστεύσατε — reused (বিশ্বাস করেছ).

PART 2 — Chapter-by-Chapter Analysis of the Whole Book

Chapter 1 — Salutation, Factionalism, the Cross

New load-bearing terms:

cross — σταυρός / stauros — “cross, stake of execution” — English: cross. Contextual: “the message of the cross” (1:18) is the content the world calls foolish but is God’s saving power. Bengali: ক্রুশ (krush) — established Bengali Christian term. Risk: High. Not primarily a cultural-collision risk (no direct competing referent), but a doctrine-weight risk: this is the central content of “Cross as Wisdom and Power,” the curriculum’s core theological antithesis, and must never be softened into a generic “suffering” or “sacrifice” term.
wisdom — σοφία / sophia — “wisdom, skill in living” — Contextual: contrasted repeatedly with the world’s wisdom, which God has made foolish (1:19-25). Bengali: প্রজ্ঞা (prajna). Risk: High. Alternatives rejected: জ্ঞান (rejected here specifically for wisdom, reserved instead for γνῶσις “knowledge” in ch.8 — see below) because জ্ঞান/জ্ঞানমার্গ carries strong association with the Hindu/Vedantic “path of knowledge” (jnana marga) toward liberation, which could recast Paul’s contrast of divine vs. worldly wisdom as a contrast between two paths to moksha rather than between human intellectual pride and the revealed wisdom of the cross.
foolishness — μωρία / mōria — “folly, foolishness” — Bengali: মূর্খতা (murkhota). Risk: Medium.
schism/division — σχίσμα / schisma — “tear, split, faction” (1:10) — Bengali: বিভেদ (bibhed). Risk: High. Doctrine: Christian Unity versus Factionalism. Note: distinct from ordinary disagreement; conveys a fracturing of the one body.
strife/quarreling — ἔρις / eris — “contention, quarrel” (1:11) — Bengali: কলহ (koloho). Risk: Medium.
boast — καυχάομαι / kauchaomai — “to boast, take pride in” (1:29,31) — Bengali: গর্ব করা (gorbo kora). Risk: Medium. Contextual: “let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord” — a redirected, not eliminated, boasting; care needed not to imply all self-confidence is forbidden, only boasting apart from Christ.
baptism — βάπτισμα/βαπτίζω / baptisma/baptizō — “immersion, baptism” (1:13-17) — Bengali: বাপ্তিস্ম (baptisyo) — established Bengali Christian loanword-transliteration. Risk: High. No direct Hindu/Muslim ritual-collision (unlike some South Asian languages), but doctrinally high because Paul’s point — that baptism must never become a source of factional pride (“I baptized in my own name”) — bears directly on the Christian Unity doctrine of this chapter, and because βάπτισμα recurs with distinct doctrinal weight in chs. 10, 12, and 15.

Reused from Romans TM without change: gospel (সুসমাচার), grace (অনুগ্রহ), called/calling (আহুত/আহ্বান — 1:1-2 apostolic calling, 1:9 calling to fellowship), holy/saints (পবিত্র/পবিত্র লোক — 1:2), sanctification (reused conceptually, 1:2 “sanctified in Christ Jesus”), fellowship (সহভাগিতা — 1:9), church (মণ্ডলী — 1:2), thanksgiving (ধন্যবাদ — 1:4), spiritual gifts (আত্মিক বর — 1:7, first occurrence of χάρισμα in this book), power of God (ঈশ্বরের সামর্থ্য — 1:18,24 — NEVER শক্তি), Lord Jesus Christ (প্রভু যীশু খ্রীষ্ট), God (ঈশ্বর), wisdom-of-God contrast doctrine reinforces cross_as_wisdom_and_power as a new doctrine category for this curriculum.

Chapter 2 — The Spirit, Hidden Wisdom, the Natural and Spiritual Man

mystery — μυστήριον / mystērion — “hidden thing now revealed” (2:1,7) — Bengali: নিগূঢ়তত্ত্ব (nigurhotattwo), a compound emphasizing “deep/hidden truth [now revealed].” Risk: High. Alternatives rejected: bare রহস্য (rohosyo, “secret/mystery”) alone, because in general Bengali usage রহস্য carries strong associations with occult and tantric secret knowledge (তান্ত্রিক রহস্য); the biblical μυστήριον is a truth once hidden in God’s plan and now openly disclosed in the gospel, not an esoteric secret reserved for initiates.
natural man / soulish — ψυχικός / psychikos — “of the soul/natural life, without the Spirit” (2:14) — Bengali: প্রাণিক মানুষ (pranik manush). Risk: Critical collision flag. Alternatives rejected: প্রাকৃতিক মানুষ (prakritik manush, “natural man”), the most intuitive-sounding Bengali rendering, is explicitly rejected because প্রাকৃতিক is the direct cognate of প্রকৃতি (prakriti), the technical term in Samkhya/Hindu philosophy for primal material Nature as opposed to Puruṣa (Spirit/Self). Using প্রাকৃতিক here would risk recasting Paul’s soul/Spirit contrast as the Samkhya prakriti/purusha dualism — a fundamentally different philosophical framework. প্রাণিক (from প্রাণ, “life-breath/soul”) avoids this collision while preserving “one who has only natural human life, without the Spirit.”
spiritual man — πνευματικός / pneumatikos — “belonging to the Spirit” (2:15) — Bengali: আত্মিক মানুষ (attik manush), reusing the established আত্মিক adjective (as in আত্মিক বর, spiritual gifts). Risk: Medium.
mind of Christ — νοῦς Χριστοῦ / nous Christou (2:16) — Bengali: খ্রীষ্টের মন/চিন্তাধারা (Khrishtoer mon). Risk: Low.

Reused: Spirit/Holy Spirit (পবিত্র আত্মা, Critical), glory (মহিমা — 2:7-8), power of God (ঈশ্বরের সামর্থ্য — 2:5), Lord of glory (প্রভু, মহিমা — 2:8).

Chapter 3 — God’s Temple, Milk and Solid Food, God’s Fellow Workers

temple of God — ναός θεοῦ / naos theou — “sanctuary, dwelling-place of God” (3:16-17; recurs 6:19) — Bengali: মন্দির (mondir), with mandatory translator note. Risk: Critical. This is the single most delicate architectural-metaphor decision in the book. Baseline Romans TM forbids মন্দির for the doctrinal Church (ekklēsia) specifically because মন্দির denotes a Hindu temple/shrine. Here, however, Paul is using ναός (temple/sanctuary), a genuinely different concept, to say believers themselves — individually (6:19) and corporately (3:16-17) — are God’s dwelling place. There is no true synonym in Bengali that avoids মন্দির without losing the sacred-dwelling force of the image. A translator note is required at first occurrence clarifying that Paul’s point is the opposite of the ordinary meaning of মন্দির in Bengali religious life: not a fixed shrine one visits to encounter a deity housed in an image, but the paradox that the Spirit-indwelt believer/community is itself the dwelling of the living God — no building or image required.
steward — οἰκονόμος / oikonomos — “household manager, steward” (4:1-2, introduced conceptually in ch.3’s “fellow workers”) — Bengali: ভাণ্ডারী / তত্ত্বাবধায়ক (bhandari/tattyabodhayok). Risk: Medium.
milk / solid food — γάλα / βρῶμα (3:2) — Bengali: দুধ / কঠিন খাদ্য. Risk: Low. Pastoral maturity metaphor.
fire (testing of works) — πῦρ / pyr (3:13,15) — Bengali: আগুন. Risk: Low-Medium; judgment-testing imagery, not purgatorial merit-accounting.

Reused: church (মণ্ডলী), Holy Spirit (পবিত্র আত্মা), wisdom of this age (প্রজ্ঞা), foolishness (মূর্খতা), boast (গর্ব করা — 3:21).

Chapter 4 — Apostolic Stewardship, Judgment, the Kingdom

kingdom of God — βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ (4:20) — Reused from Romans TM: ঈশ্বরের রাজ্য (Ishshorer Rajyo), Medium risk.
judge — κρίνω / krinō (4:3-5) — Bengali: বিচার করা (bichar kora). Risk: Medium — contextual sense of premature human judgment versus the Lord’s final judgment; must not be confused with condemnation-only usage.

Reused: steward (ভাণ্ডারী, expanded from ch.3), apostle (প্রেরিত), gospel (সুসমাচার — 4:15), power of God (ঈশ্বরের সামর্থ্য — 4:19-20).

Chapter 5 — Church Discipline, Leaven, Christ Our Passover

sexual immorality — πορνεία / porneia (5:1) — Bengali: যৌন অনৈতিকতা (jouno onoitikota), with ব্যভিচার (bebhichar) as an acceptable narrower synonym where the context is clearly adultery. Risk: High. Doctrine: Church Discipline and Holiness. Must be broad enough to cover the incest case in view (5:1) and the general category in chs. 6–7, not narrowed only to adultery.
leaven / unleavened — ζύμη / ἄζυμος (5:6-8) — Bengali: খামির / খামিরবিহীন (khamir/khamirbihin). Risk: Medium. Metaphor for corrupting influence requiring removal.
Passover — πάσχα / pascha (5:7, “Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed”) — Bengali: নিস্তারপর্ব (nistarparbo), the established OT festival term. Risk: High. This typological identification of Christ as the Passover lamb is a load-bearing atonement image; the rendering must preserve the sacrificial-substitution and deliverance sense of নিস্তারপর্ব (“the passing-over”), not merely a generic festival name.
hand over to Satan — παραδοῦναι τῷ Σατανᾷ (5:5) — Satan reused as established (শয়তান). Risk: Medium — disciplinary, not merely punitive, intent must be preserved.

Reused: church (মণ্ডলী), holy/sanctification (পবিত্র/পবিত্রীকরণ), judge (বিচার করা, expanded — “judging those inside”).

Chapter 6 — Lawsuits, the Body as Temple, Redemption

go to law / lawsuits — κρίνεσθαι/κριτηρίων (6:1-8) — Bengali: মামলা করা (mamla kora, “to file a lawsuit”). Risk: Medium — cultural note: litigation between believers before secular courts is the specific concern; must not be softened to generic “conflict.”
redeemed / bought with a price — ἀγοράζω / agorazō (6:20; also 7:23) — Bengali: মূল্য দিয়ে ক্রয় করা হয়েছ (mullo diye kroy kora hoyechho, “you have been bought with a price”). Risk: High. New doctrine term (redemption is not separately covered in the Romans baseline). Marketplace/manumission imagery: believers are no longer their own. Note: Bengali historical associations with bonded labor and enslavement can either sharpen or distract from the image; a brief gloss on the ownership-and-belonging sense (not merely a financial transaction) is advisable.
one flesh — μία σάρξ (6:16) — Bengali: এক দেহ (ek deho). Risk: Medium. Marriage-union doctrine background for ch.7.
washed, sanctified, justified — ἀπολούω / ἁγιάζω / δικαιόω (6:11) — All three reused exactly from Romans TM: washed (নতুন term, ধোয়া হয়েছ, Low), sanctification (পবিত্রীকরণ, High), justification (ধার্মিক বলে গণ্য হওয়া, Critical). This triad must retain the distinct forensic force of justification (declared righteous) alongside, not merged into, cleansing and holiness.
temple of the Holy Spirit — reuses ch.3’s মন্দির term and its mandatory translator note, now applied to the individual body (6:19).

Chapter 7 — Marriage, Singleness, Calling

marriage — γάμος / gamos — Bengali: বিবাহ (bibaho). Risk: Low-Medium — culturally significant institution; ensure Paul’s counsel is not read through the lens of Bengali arranged-marriage custom as prescriptive social advice rather than pastoral wisdom for a specific situation.
virgin — παρθένος / parthenos (7:25ff) — Bengali: কুমারী (kumari). Risk: Medium. Note: কুমারী is also the term used for the “Kumari” — a young unmarried girl venerated as a living goddess-incarnation in regional Hindu Kumari Puja traditions (most prominent in Nepal, also present in parts of Bengal). Context in 1 Corinthians 7 (marital status, not divine incarnation) makes practical confusion unlikely, but translators should be aware of the term’s other cultural register.
unmarried — ἄγαμος (7:8,11,32) — Bengali: অবিবাহিত. Risk: Low.
widow — χήρα / chēra (7:8,39-40) — Bengali: বিধবা (bidhoba). Risk: Medium — culturally loaded. Paul’s permissive counsel that a widow “is free to marry whom she wishes” (7:39) sits against a historic and still-present Bengali (especially Hindu) social taboo against widow remarriage; this passage may need pastoral framing sensitivity in teaching notes, without altering the text’s plain meaning.
called — reused (আহুত/আহ্বান) — 7:15,17-24, the “as God has called each” refrain; consistent with the established context-sensitive calling doctrine.

Reused: spiritual gifts (আত্মিক বর — 7:7 “each has his own gift from God”), circumcision (minor, no dedicated baseline term; render দেশাচার-নিরপেক্ষ পরিচয়ের চিহ্ন contextually or simply transliterate as established elsewhere — Low risk, non-doctrinally load-bearing here), peace (শান্তি — 7:15).

Chapter 8 — Conscience, Idols, Knowledge and Love

idol — εἴδωλον / eidōlon — Bengali: প্রতিমা (protima). Risk: High. Alternatives considered: মূর্তি (murti, also common for “idol/image”) — either is defensible, but প্রতিমা is selected as the primary term because it is the term most consistently used across Bengali Bible tradition for OT “graven images,” keeping continuity. Both terms carry the unavoidable reality that they name the very objects venerated in living Hindu practice (Durga মূর্তি/প্রতিমা, etc.); this is doctrinally correct — Paul is addressing exactly this practice — but pastorally requires care in tone.
food offered to idols — εἰδωλόθυτον / eidōlothyton — Bengali: প্রতিমার উদ্দেশ্যে উৎসর্গীকৃত খাদ্য (compound phrase, no single word suffices). Risk: High.
conscience — συνείδησις / syneidēsis — Bengali: বিবেক (bibek). Risk: Medium. Standard ethical-faculty term in Bengali; low collision risk, but note the concept of a Spirit-informed conscience that can nonetheless be “weak” (8:7,10,12) needs contextual framing since বিবেক alone in general usage implies an innate, self-sufficient moral sense.
knowledge — γνῶσις / gnōsis — Bengali: জ্ঞান (gyan). Risk: High. Note the deliberate distinction from ch.1’s σοφία (প্রজ্ঞা, “wisdom”): here Paul specifically critiques “knowledge” that “puffs up” versus “love” that “builds up” (8:1). জ্ঞান is retained here (unlike for σοφία) because it is the more natural Bengali word for propositional/factual knowledge, but the translator must flag the same jnana-marga collision risk noted in ch.1 — Bengali readers may hear an echo of the “path of knowledge” toward liberation, which is precisely the kind of self-sufficient religious knowledge Paul is warning against, making the passage’s critique still land, but requiring care that the critique of pride in knowledge is not mistaken for a critique of all learning.
stumbling block — σκάνδαλον / πρόσκομμα — Bengali: বিঘ্ন (bighno). Risk: High. Doctrine: Christian Liberty and Idol Meat — a brother’s faith must not be wounded by another’s exercise of freedom.

Chapter 9 — Apostolic Rights, the Race, Contextualized Ministry

crown — στέφανος / stephanos (9:25) — Bengali: মুকুট (mukut). Risk: Low-Medium. Note: মুকুট is also standard iconographic vocabulary for the crowns worn by Hindu deities (e.g., Durga’s মুকুট); the athletic/imperishable-prize sense in context (a runner’s wreath, not a royal/divine crown) keeps the risk low, but a translator may add “অক্ষয় মুকুট” (imperishable crown) to sharpen the contrast with a perishable athletic prize.
run the race — τρέχω/ἀγωνίζομαι (9:24-27) — Bengali: দৌড় (athletic imagery). Risk: Low.

Reused: gospel/preach the gospel (সুসমাচার প্রচার করা — 9:16-18), liberty concept anticipates ch.10 (formal term introduced there).

Chapter 10 — Idolatry, the Lord’s Table, Warning from Israel’s History

idolatry — εἰδωλολατρία / eidōlolatria — Bengali: প্রতিমাপূজা (protima puja). Risk: Critical. This compound deliberately uses পূজা (puja), the central Bengali term for Hindu ritual worship (as in Durga Puja), paired with প্রতিমা (idol). This is precise and doctrinally necessary — Paul is naming exactly the category of religious devotion Bengali Hindu tradition calls পূজা, when directed at an image rather than the true God. This reinforces rather than contradicts existing Bengali Christian usage, which already reserves উপাসনা (upasona, “worship”) for worship of God and পূজা for image-directed ritual worship — a distinction this passage makes doctrinally explicit and load-bearing.
demons — δαιμόνιον / daimonion (10:20-21) — Bengali: মন্দ আত্মা (mondo attha, “evil spirit”). Risk: High. Alternatives rejected: ভূত (bhoot, “ghost”), the common Bengali folk word, is rejected because it carries deep folk-Hindu and folk-Muslim connotations of wandering ghosts/ancestor-spirits/poltergeists rather than the biblical category of malevolent spiritual beings who stand behind idol worship. মন্দ আত্মা preserves the moral-spiritual (not folkloric-supernatural) sense.
table of the Lord / table of demons — τράπεζα κυρίου/δαιμονίων (10:21) — Bengali: প্রভুর মেজ / মন্দ আত্মাদের মেজ. Risk: High — mutual-exclusivity argument (cannot partake of both) is doctrinally central and must not be softened.
cup of blessing / one bread, one body (10:16-17) — introduces the Lord’s Supper vocabulary developed fully in ch.11: cup (ποτήριον, পানপাত্র, Medium), bread (ἄρτος, reused generic রুটি, Low), body (σῶμα, শরীর, flagged Critical — see ch.11).
baptized into Moses — reused baptism term (বাপ্তিস্ম) applied typologically (10:2). Risk: High — typological, not sacramentally identical, application; translator note recommended.

Chapter 11 — Head Covering, the Lord’s Supper Instituted

head / headship — κεφαλή / kephalē — Bengali: মাথা / মস্তক (matha/mostok). Risk: High. Doctrine: Order in Worship. The metaphorical use (“the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband,” 11:3) is theologically and culturally sensitive; the translation must preserve Paul’s argument accurately without importing either a softened egalitarian gloss or an exaggerated hierarchical gloss not present in the Greek structure itself.
head covering — κατακαλύπτω / katakalyptō (11:4-7) — Bengali: মাথা ঢাকা (matha dhaka). Risk: Critical. This intersects directly with live, religiously-coded dress practices in the destination culture: covering the head with an আঁচল (sari-end) or ওড়না is a marker in some Hindu devotional/social contexts, while covering the head or face is a marker of religious modesty in many Muslim contexts (hijab/burqa). Translators must render Paul’s instruction precisely as a first-century Corinthian cultural-and-theological argument about honor and headship, without implying either an endorsement or a rejection of any specific contemporary Bengali religious head-covering practice.
authority (symbol of) — ἐξουσία / exousia (11:10) — Bengali: ক্ষমতার চিহ্ন (kkhomotar chihno). Risk: High.
Lord’s Supper — κυριακὸν δεῖπνον (11:20) — Bengali: প্রভুর ভোজ (provur bhoj). Risk: Critical.
body (in institution words) — σῶμα / sōma (11:24, “this is my body”) — Bengali: শরীর (shorir). Risk: Critical. Distinguish carefully from the ecclesial “body of Christ” sense introduced in ch.12 (same Bengali word, different referent within the same letter — both must be handled with equal doctrinal care but are not to be conflated in translator notes).
blood / new covenant — αἷμα / καινὴ διαθήκη (11:25) — Bengali: রক্ত / নতুন নিয়ম, reusing established নিয়ম (covenant, High) with নতুন. Risk: Critical.
remembrance — ἀνάμνησις (11:24-25) — Bengali: স্মরণ (sriron). Risk: Medium.
unworthy manner — ἀναξίως / anaxiōs (11:27) — Bengali: অযোগ্যভাবে (oyogyovabe). Risk: High.
examine (oneself) — δοκιμάζω (11:28) — Bengali: পরীক্ষা করা (porikkha kora). Risk: High — self-examination before communion, not merit-earning ritual purification.
discern the body — διακρίνων τὸ σῶμα (11:29) — Bengali: শরীর নির্ণয় করা / চিনে নেওয়া (shorir nirnoy kora). Risk: High — a genuinely difficult interpretive phrase (recognizing Christ’s body / recognizing the church as Christ’s body) requiring a translator note flagging the ambiguity for reviewer attention.

Chapter 12 — Spiritual Gifts and the Body of Christ

anathema/accursed — ἀνάθεμα / anathema (12:3, “no one speaking by the Spirit says ‘Jesus is accursed’”) — Bengali: অভিশপ্ত (obhishopto). Risk: Critical. This stands in direct antithesis to Romans 10:9’s confession “Jesus is Lord” (যীশু প্রভু) already flagged Critical in the baseline; the two confessions (“Jesus is Lord” / “Jesus is accursed”) must be rendered as exact opposites with no ambiguity, since this is the Spirit-discernment test Paul gives.
manifestation of the Spirit — φανέρωσις / phanerōsis (12:7) — Bengali: আত্মার প্রকাশ (atthar prokash). Risk: Medium.
body of Christ — σῶμα Χριστοῦ (12:27) — Bengali: খ্রীষ্টের শরীর (Khrishtoer shorir), reusing শরীর but in its distinct ecclesial-corporate sense (see ch.11 note on avoiding conflation). Risk: High.
members — μέλη / melē (12:12-27) — Bengali: অঙ্গপ্রত্যঙ্গ / সদস্য (ongo-protyongo, “bodily members” preferred over সদস্য “member” to preserve the organic-body metaphor). Risk: Medium.
healing — ἴαμα / iama (12:9,28,30) — Bengali: আরোগ্য / সুস্থতা (arogyo/susthota). Risk: Medium — Spirit-given gift, not merit-earned or occult healing power.
discerning of spirits — διάκρισις πνευμάτων (12:10) — Bengali: আত্মা পরীক্ষা করার ক্ষমতা (attha porikkha korar kkhomota, “the ability to test/discern spirits”). Risk: High — relevant given the prevalence of spirit-possession phenomena in Bengali folk-Hindu and folk-Islamic practice (deity-possession trance, jinn-possession); this gift must be understood as Spirit-given discernment, not itself a possession-trance state.
speaking in tongues — γλῶσσα/γλῶσσαι / glōssa (12:10,28,30) — Bengali: ভাষায় কথা বলা (bhashay kotha bola). Risk: High. Must be distinguished from ecstatic/possession-trance utterance found in folk-Hindu deity-possession rites and Sufi dhikr states; this is Spirit-given prayer/utterance directed to God (14:2), not human loss of self-control.

Chapter 13 — Love as the Greater Way

love — ἀγάπη / agapē — Bengali: প্রেম (prem). Risk: Critical. This is the single highest-stakes new term in the entire book. Alternatives rejected: ভালোবাসা (bhalobasha) — the everyday word for love/affection, too broad and can denote merely emotional or romantic attachment; কাম (kam) — explicitly rejected, denotes desire/lust. প্রেম is retained as the established Bengali Christian rendering (matching Bangladesh Bible Society / Bible Society of India usage in 1 Corinthians 13), but translators must be aware that প্রেম is also the central term of Bengali Vaishnava bhakti devotional literature and of Rabindranath Tagore’s poetry, where it frequently carries romantic-devotional and even erotic-mystical connotations (রাধা-কৃষ্ণ প্রেম). A translator note at 13:1 is recommended clarifying that Paul’s ἀγάπη is a self-giving, others-oriented, covenantal love modeled on Christ, not romantic or devotional-erotic love.
patience — μακροθυμία (13:4) — Bengali: ধৈর্য (dhoirjo). Risk: Low.
kindness — χρηστεύεται (13:4) — Bengali: দয়া (doya). Risk: Low — note দয়া overlaps with the baseline’s rejected soteriological alternative for “grace” (কৃপা/দয়া family); here it is being used correctly as an ethical virtue, not as a substitute for অনুগ্রহ (grace), and this distinction should be flagged for consistency.
envy — ζηλόω (13:4) — Bengali: ঈর্ষা (irsha). Risk: Low.
boast/arrogant — reused from ch.1 (গর্ব করা), 13:4.

Chapter 14 — Prophecy, Tongues, Order in Worship

edification — οἰκοδομή / oikodomē (14:3-5,12,26) — Bengali: গড়ে তোলা / উন্নতিসাধন (gore tola/unnotishadhon). Risk: Medium. Reuses the noun form implied by the Romans doctrine registry’s mutual_edification (পরস্পর উন্নতিসাধন).
interpretation (of tongues) — ἑρμηνεία / hermēneia (14:13,26-28) — Bengali: অনুবাদ / ব্যাখ্যা (anubad/bebkhya). Risk: Medium.
order — τάξις / taxis (14:40, “decently and in order”) — Bengali: শৃঙ্খলা (shrinkhola). Risk: Medium.
silence — σιγάω / sigaō (14:28,30,34) — Bengali: নীরব থাকা (nirobo thaka). Risk: High. Doctrine: Order in Worship. This is a contemporary flashpoint passage (14:34-35); the translation must render the text accurately and without an interpretive gloss smoothing over the passage’s genuine exegetical difficulty; flag for human theologian and native-speaker joint review given the passage’s high sensitivity in both complementarian and egalitarian Bengali church contexts.

Reused: prophecy/prophesy (ভাববাণী/ভাববাদী), tongues (ভাষায় কথা বলা, from ch.12), church (মণ্ডলী), Spirit (পবিত্র আত্মা).

Chapter 15 — The Resurrection of Christ and Believers

Verses 1-11 receive full verse-by-verse treatment in Part 1 above. The remainder of the chapter (15:12-58) continues and extends the resurrection doctrine with the following new load-bearing terms:

firstfruits — ἀπαρχή / aparchē (15:20,23) — Bengali: প্রথমফল (prothomfol), the established OT agricultural-offering term. Risk: High. Christ’s resurrection as “firstfruits” guarantees and previews the believer’s own bodily resurrection; low risk of direct religious collision (the underlying agricultural harvest-offering concept is not deity-specific), but doctrinally weighty as the chapter’s central logical argument.
Adam (first/last) — Ἀδάμ (15:22,45) — Bengali: আদম (Adam). Risk: Medium. Note: Adam is a figure recognized in both Hindu-influenced Bengali culture (via missionary-era translation) and Bengali Muslim tradition (আদম (আঃ), a prophet). The typological “federal headship” function Paul gives Adam (representative head of humanity in death, contrasted with Christ as representative head of resurrection life) is theologically distinct from either tradition’s account of Adam and should be clarified in teaching notes, though the name itself carries low collision risk.
spiritual body / natural body — σῶμα πνευματικόν / σῶμα ψυχικόν (15:44) — reuses and extends the ψυχικός/πνευματικός distinction from ch.2 (Critical collision flag retained: avoid প্রাকৃতিক for ψυχικός here as well, for the same prakriti-collision reason).
imperishable/incorruptible — ἄφθαρτος / aphthartos (15:42,50,52-54) — Bengali: অক্ষয় (okkhoy). Risk: Medium. Note: অক্ষয় (“imperishable/undecaying”) appears in Hindu festival vocabulary (e.g., অক্ষয় তৃতীয়া, Akshaya Tritiya, associated with imperishable merit); low practical collision here since the concept (a body that will never decay) is compatible, but a translator note distinguishing bodily resurrection permanence from merit-based “imperishability” is prudent.
mortal / immortality — θνητός / ἀθανασία (15:53-54) — Bengali: মরণশীল / অমরত্ব (moronshil/omorotwo). Risk: High. অমরত্ব (“immortality”) must be clarified as a future gift of bodily resurrection given by God, not an inherent property of the soul achieved through spiritual attainment (a common motif in Hindu moksha traditions, where the soul’s underlying immortality is uncovered rather than newly granted).
victory — νῖκος / nikos (15:54,57) — Bengali: জয়/বিজয় (joy/bijoy). Risk: Low.
sting (of death) — κέντρον / kentron (15:55) — Bengali: দংশন (dongshon). Risk: Low.
witness — μάρτυς / martys (15:15, “we would be even found to be false witnesses about God”) — Bengali: সাক্ষী (sakkhi). Risk: Medium.
image (heavenly) — εἰκών / eikōn (15:49) — Bengali: প্রতিরূপ (protirup). Risk: Medium. Deliberately distinct from প্রতিমা (idol, ch.8) despite superficial similarity in English (“image”); translators must never use প্রতিমা for εἰκών, to avoid conflating “bearing the image of the heavenly man” with idol-imagery language.
trumpet — σάλπιγξ / salpinx (15:52) — Bengali: তূরী/শিঙা. Risk: Low-Medium. Note: shares imaginative territory with the trumpet of the Last Day (Sur, blown by the angel Israfil) in Islamic eschatology — a potential bridge point for Muslim-background readers rather than a collision risk.
mystery — reused from ch.2 (নিগূঢ়তত্ত্ব), 15:51.
in vain — reused from 15:2,10 (নিষ্ফল).
baptized for the dead — βαπτιζόμενοι ὑπὲρ τῶν νεκρῶν (15:29) — reuses baptism term; flagged High as a genuinely difficult, exegetically disputed verse; render descriptively and flag for theologian review rather than resolving the ambiguity in translation.

Chapter 16 — Collection, Final Greetings, Maranatha

collection (for the saints) — λογία / logia (16:1-2) — Bengali: দান সংগ্রহ (dan songroho). Risk: Low. “Saints” reused exactly (পবিত্র লোক).
Maranatha — Μαρὰν ἀθά / maran atha (16:22) — Aramaic, preserved untransliterated as with আব্বা (Abba) in the Romans baseline. Bengali: মারান আথা, with gloss “প্রভু, আসুন” (Lord, come). Risk: Medium — preserve the transliteration per the established Aramaic-retention pattern (Abba precedent), with the meaning supplied in a note rather than substituted in the main text.
anathema/accursed — reused from 12:3 (অভিশপ্ত), applied here to “anyone who has no love for the Lord” (16:22). Risk Critical — consistency with ch.12 usage required.
holy kiss — φίλημα ἅγιον (16:20) — Bengali: পবিত্র চুম্বন (pobitro chumbon). Risk: Medium. Cultural note: physical kissing as a greeting is not customary in Bengali social practice (across both Hindu and Muslim contexts); teaching materials should note that the literal instruction reflects the customary Mediterranean greeting of the era and is typically contextualized today as a warm, holy greeting/embrace rather than requiring literal replication.
grace of the Lord Jesus — reused exactly (অনুগ্রহ, 16:23).

This document, together with analysis/08_core_glossary.md, forms the Phase 1 Step 1 semantic foundation for the 1 Corinthians curriculum. All new terms identified here are candidates for formal addition to translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json in subsequent Phase 1 steps, subject to human theologian review for every Critical and High risk item per the doctrine risk registry conventions established in the Romans baseline.

Library content is free and openly licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 — share and adapt it for non-commercial use, with attribution to tri-bible.ai.