Core Glossary
Core Glossary: Ecclesiastes (English → Bengali)
This glossary extends the baseline Romans translation_memory.json / bible_term_registry.json for the Ecclesiastes curriculum. Terms already present in the baseline are marked [BASELINE — reused exactly] and must not be altered. All other terms are new entries proposed for this curriculum, following the baseline’s risk-tier methodology.
Risk tiers follow the baseline’s doctrine_risk_registry.json definitions: Critical (human theologian review required, every occurrence), High (human theologian review required), Medium (native speaker review recommended), Low (automated review sufficient).
Reused Baseline Terms Occurring in Ecclesiastes
| Term | Bengali (reused exactly) | Risk | Chapters where load-bearing |
|---|---|---|---|
| god | ঈশ্বর | Critical | All chapters |
| holy | পবিত্র | High | 5:1 (house of God context) |
| holy_spirit | পবিত্র আত্মা | Critical | Not directly named in Ecclesiastes; retained only as the forbidden-collision reference point for রুয়াখ/আত্মা (see below) |
| sin | পাপ | High | Implicit throughout (2:26; 7:20, 26; 8:12) |
| righteousness / righteous (adj. extension) | ধার্মিকতা / ধার্মিক | Critical/High | 3:17; 7:15-16, 20; 8:14 |
| law | ব্যবস্থা | High | Distinguish from মিצְוֹת/আদেশ, ch.12; see new-term entry below |
| fellowship | সহভাগিতা | Low | 4:9-12 (companionship, softly resonant, non-technical use) |
| father | পিতা | Critical | Not directly invoked; reserved to avoid collision with সৃষ্টিকর্তা (Creator), see below |
New Terms Proposed for the Ecclesiastes Curriculum
| # | English term | Original (Hebrew / LXX Greek) | Transliteration | Bengali rendering | Bengali transliteration | Doctrine risk | Doctrine | Alternatives rejected | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vanity / Hevel | הֶבֶל / ματαιότης | hevel / mataiotēs | অসার (superlative: অসারের অসার) | ashar (asharer ashar) | Critical | The Fleeting Nature (“Hevel”) of Life Under the Sun | দুঃখ (too narrow — “sorrow”); নিরর্থক alone (too flatly nihilistic, loses the book’s constructive resolution); অলীক (too close to Hindu māyā/illusion metaphysics) | Anchor term for the whole book and the named curriculum doctrine. Must be used with total consistency (1:2; 1:14; 2:1, 11, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 26; 3:19; 4:4, 7-8, 16; 5:10; 6:2, 9, 11-12; 7:6, 15; 8:10, 14; 9:9; 11:8, 10; 12:8). Never render as অলীক (“illusory/unreal”), which would collapse the doctrine into Hindu māyā (the world as ultimately unreal illusion) — Ecclesiastes affirms the world is real but fleeting/insubstantial in its capacity to deliver ultimate meaning, a different claim entirely. |
| 2 | The Preacher / Qoheleth | קֹהֶלֶת / Ἐκκλησιαστής | Qoheleth / Ekklēsiastēs | উপদেশক | upodeshok | Medium | The book’s speaker; frames all doctrines | সাধু (rejected — see baseline’s identical rejection for “saints,” evokes Hindu/Jain ascetic); গুরু (rejected — evokes Hindu spiritual-guide role, echoing baseline’s apostleship caution against “guru”) | Also the established Bengali Bible title of the book itself. Do not confuse with মণ্ডলী despite the shared Greek root ἐκκλησία. |
| 3 | Wisdom | חָכְמָה / σοφία | chokmah / sophia | জ্ঞান | gyan | High | The Limits of Human Wisdom and Achievement | প্রজ্ঞা (rejected as primary — carries strong Buddhist prajñā/enlightenment-insight connotation); বিজ্ঞতা (rejected — overly abstract, rare in living Bengali Bible usage) | Risk: Hindu jñāna-mārga (“path of knowledge” toward liberation) and Buddhist prajñā both use cognate/related vocabulary for a soteriological insight leading to liberation from rebirth. Ecclesiastes’ chokmah is God-given, practical, creaturely skill for living well — not a path to enlightenment. Recommend qualifying phrase ঈশ্বরদত্ত জ্ঞান (“God-given wisdom”) in load-bearing doctrinal passages (1:13-18; 2:12-16; 7:11-12, 19; 9:13-18; 12:9). |
| 4 | Folly / Fool | סִכְלוּת, אִוֶּלֶת / כְּסִיל / ἀφροσύνη, μωρία / ἄφρων | sikluth, ivvelet / kesil | মূর্খতা / মূর্খ | murkhota / murkho | Medium | The Limits of Human Wisdom and Achievement | পাগল (rejected — implies clinical madness, too strong) | Standard contrast term to জ্ঞানী/wise. |
| 5 | Toil / Labor | עָמָל / μόχθος | amal / mochthos | পরিশ্রম (also কষ্ট for the grief-nuance) | poroshrom (koshto) | Medium | The Limits of Human Wisdom and Achievement | শ্রম alone (too neutral — loses the built-in “trouble/weariness” sense unique to amal) | Occurs pervasively (1:3; 2:10-24; 3:13; 4:4-9; 5:18-19; 6:7; 8:15; 9:9; 10:15). |
| 6 | Under the sun | תַּחַת הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ / ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον | tachat ha-shemesh | সূর্যের নীচে | shurjer nichey | Medium | The Fleeting Nature of Life Under the Sun | এই জগতে (rejected as default substitute — too generic; loses the deliberate horizontal/earth-bound structural refrain) | Structural refrain, ~29 occurrences; render identically every time for learner recognition. |
| 7 | Time / Season | עֵת / καιρός | et / kairos | কাল / সময় | kal / shomoy | Medium | Contentment amid Life’s Uncertainty | ভাগ্যের সময় (rejected — imports fatalism) | Ch.3’s structuring term; connects to baseline’s providence doctrine (ঈশ্বরের পরিচালনা) without direct baseline term overlap. |
| 8 | Eternity | עוֹלָם / αἰών | olam | অনন্তকাল | anontokal | High | The Fleeting Nature of Life / The Limits of Human Wisdom | যুগ (rejected — evokes Hindu cyclical cosmological ages, yuga cycles); কল্প (rejected — Hindu cosmological aeon) | 3:11. Must convey linear, unending time and an innate human intuition of transcendence, not a repeating cosmic cycle. |
| 9 | Judgment | מִשְׁפָּט / κρίσις | mishpat / krisis | বিচার | bichar | High | Mortality and Divine Judgment | কর্মফল (rejected — impersonal karma-fruit mechanism); আখেরাতের হিসাব (rejected — the Islamic-idiom weighed-deeds final-reckoning framework) | 3:17; 11:9; 12:14. Recommend qualifying ঈশ্বরের বিচার (“God’s judgment”) in doctrinally load-bearing occurrences to keep the personal, forensic sense clear against both collision frameworks. |
| 10 | Deed / Work | מַעֲשֶׂה / ποίημα | ma’aseh / poiēma | কাজ | kaj | Critical | Mortality and Divine Judgment | কর্ম (forbidden — the standard Bengali/Sanskrit term for karma, the cosmic action-consequence-rebirth mechanism; a direct doctrinal collision with 12:14’s personal, one-time divine judgment) | Add to the forbidden-substitution list for this curriculum, parallel to the baseline’s শক্তি/পুনর্জন্ম/অবতার prohibitions: NEVER use কর্ম for “deed” in judgment contexts (12:14; 3:17; 9:1); always use কাজ. |
| 11 | Sheol / the realm of the dead | שְׁאוֹל / ᾍδης | She’ol / Hadēs | পাতাল (alternative: মৃতদের জগৎ) | patal (mrittoder jogot) | Critical | Mortality and Divine Judgment | কবর alone (too narrow — “grave” specifically, loses the broader “realm of the dead” sense); নরক (rejected — imports the NT/later concept of a place of conscious punishment, which Sheol as used in Ecclesiastes does not denote) | 9:10. পাতাল collides with the Hindu Pātāla-loka cosmology (a mythological multi-tiered serpent-inhabited underworld). Mandatory translator note required at first occurrence distinguishing biblical Sheol (the general realm/state of the dead) from Hindu Pātāla-loka. Where feasible, prefer the periphrasis মৃতদের জগৎ to avoid the collision outright; flag either choice for human theologian review. |
| 12 | Spirit (human breath of life) | רוּחַ / πνεῦμα | ruach / pneuma | আত্মা | attha | High | Mortality and Divine Judgment | পুনর্জন্মের আত্মা (rejected — would import reincarnation, already forbidden in the baseline for অন্য reasons) | 3:19-21; 12:7. Mandatory disambiguation from baseline’s পবিত্র আত্মা (Holy Spirit, Critical): never prefix পবিত্র before আত্মা in these Ecclesiastes contexts; this is the individual human life-breath returning to its Giver, not the third Person of the Trinity. |
| 13 | Fear of God | יִרְאַת אֱלֹהִים / φόβος τοῦ θεοῦ | yirat Elohim | ঈশ্বর-ভয় (verb form: ঈশ্বরকে ভয় করা) | Ishshor-bhoy (Ishshorke bhoy kora) | High | The Fear of God as Life’s Foundation | সম্মান alone (too weak — loses reverential-awe weight); ঈশ্বরকে সমীহ করা (regional/less standard) | 5:7; 8:12-13; 12:13. Established Bengali Bible idiom (cf. Proverbs 1:7); requires a translator note distinguishing reverential awe/submission from mere terror-fear at first occurrence in any Ecclesiastes lesson. This is the curriculum’s climactic doctrinal resolution term. |
| 14 | Commandments | מִצְוֹת / ἐντολαί | mitzvoth | আদেশ / আজ্ঞা | adesh / agya | Medium | The Fear of God as Life’s Foundation | ব্যবস্থা (context-dependent — reserve for the Mosaic Law as a whole covenantal system per baseline; use আদেশ/আজ্ঞা for the general, timeless call to obey God’s will in 12:13) | 12:13. Distinguish carefully from the baseline’s ব্যবস্থা (Law) entry — same general domain, narrower/broader scope depending on context. |
| 15 | Portion / Share | חֵלֶק / μερίς | cheleq / meris | ভাগ | bhag | Medium | Contentment amid Life’s Uncertainty / Enjoying Life as a Gift from God | ভাগ্য (forbidden — already flagged in baseline’s election/providence entries as the fatalistic “fate/destiny” term; a direct collision since cheleq is a personally, relationally allotted gift from God, not impersonal fate) | 2:10; 3:22; 5:18-19; 9:9. Recommend qualifying ঈশ্বরদত্ত ভাগ in doctrinally load-bearing occurrences. |
| 16 | Gift | מַתָּת / δῶρον | mattath / dōron | দান | dan | Medium | Enjoying Life as a Gift from God | অনুগ্রহ (rejected as default substitute — baseline reserves this specifically for soteriological saving grace; risk of doctrinal conflation if used interchangeably) | 2:24; 3:13; 5:19. Distinct register from অনুগ্রহ though thematically related (both: unearned goodness from God). |
| 17 | Joy / Pleasure / Enjoyment | שִׁמְחָה / εὐφροσύνη, χαρά | simchah | আনন্দ | anondo | Medium | Enjoying Life as a Gift from God | সুখ (rejected as primary — leans toward circumstantial comfort/ease rather than the deeper, God-oriented gladness in view at 2:24-26; 3:12-13; 9:7) | 2:1-2, 10, 24-26; 3:12-13, 22; 5:18-20; 8:15; 9:7; 11:8-9. Context must distinguish pleasure-pursued-as-ultimate-meaning (critiqued) from enjoyment-received-as-God’s-gift (affirmed). |
| 18 | House of God (OT Temple sense) | בֵּית הָאֱלֹהִים / οἶκος τοῦ θεοῦ | beit ha-Elohim | ঈশ্বরের গৃহ (Temple building sense: মন্দির) | Ishshorer griho (mondir) | Medium | The Fear of God as Life’s Foundation | — | 5:1. Important note: baseline’s rejection of মন্দির applies only to the NT ἐκκλησία/church doctrine (মণ্ডলী); it is the correct, established Bengali OT term for the literal historical Jerusalem Temple building and may be used here without contradicting the baseline. |
| 19 | Vow | נֶדֶר / εὐχή | neder / euchē | প্রতিজ্ঞা | protigya | Medium | The Fear of God as Life’s Foundation | শপথ (acceptable secondary term for “oath” specifically, if distinguished from a general vow) | 5:4-6. |
| 20 | Righteous / Wicked (adjectival persons) | צַדִּיק / רָשָׁע / δίκαιος / ἀσεβής | tsaddiq / rasha | ধার্মিক / দুষ্ট | dharmik / dushto | High | Mortality and Divine Judgment | অধার্মিক (acceptable secondary for “wicked” if দুষ্ট feels too strong in a given passage) | 3:17; 7:15-16, 20; 8:14; 9:2. ধার্মিক directly extends the baseline’s Critical ধার্মিকতা entry; never allow ধর্ম-based substitutes here either. |
| 21 | Creator | בּוֹרֵא / κτίστης | bore / ktistēs | সৃষ্টিকর্তা | srishtikorta | Medium | The Fear of God as Life’s Foundation / Mortality | ব্রহ্মা (forbidden — per baseline’s identical prohibition for “Father”); পিতা (rejected here — 12:1 addresses God specifically as Maker, not in the relational-Father register; conflating the two register would blur a distinct Ecclesiastes emphasis) | 12:1. Clarify in teaching notes that this is a distinct title from baseline’s পিতা (Father) — related but not interchangeable; সৃষ্টিকর্তা itself was rejected in the baseline only as a substitute for পিতা, not as an independent, valid title for God as Maker, which is its correct use here. |
| 22 | Death | מָוֶת / θάνατος | maveth / thanatos | মৃত্যু | mrittu | High | Mortality and Divine Judgment | — | 2:16; 3:19-20; 7:1-2, 26; 8:8; 9:3-10; 12:1-7. Standard term; risk is Medium-High only in combination with Sheol/spirit-return language, not in isolation. |
| 23 | Eternal home (euphemism for the grave) | בֵּית עוֹלָם / οἶκος τοῦ αἰῶνος | beit olam | অনন্ত নিবাস (or plain: কবর) | anonto nibash (kobor) | Medium | Mortality and Divine Judgment | স্বর্গীয় বাসস্থান (rejected — wrongly implies the pleasant NT heavenly hope, absent from this OT euphemism for the grave) | 12:5. Requires note distinguishing this somber OT death-euphemism from the fuller NT resurrection hope. |
| 24 | One Shepherd | רֹעֶה אֶחָד / ποιμήν εἷς | ro’eh echad | এক পালক | ek paloক | Medium | The Limits of Human Wisdom and Achievement | — | 12:11. পালক also = “pastor” in contemporary Bengali church usage; theologically apt resonance (single divine source of wisdom) but flag to avoid over-reading as an explicit NT Good-Shepherd citation within this OT wisdom-book context. |
| 25 | Secret thing / Hidden thing | נֶעְלָם / κρυπτόν | ne’lam / krypton | গোপন বিষয় | gopon bishoy | Low-Medium | Mortality and Divine Judgment | — | 12:14. |
| 26 | Good and Evil | טוֹב וָרָע / ἀγαθὸν καὶ κακόν | tov va-ra | ভালো ও মন্দ | bhalo o mondo | Low | Mortality and Divine Judgment | — | 12:14; also 2:26; 7:20, 26 as morally broader category, distinct from but proximate to বাসেলাইন’s পাপ (sin, the specific theological subset of transgression against God). |
| 27 | Chasing wind / Vexation of spirit | רְעוּת רוּחַ / προαίρεσις πνεύματος | re’ut ruach | বায়ু ধরার চেষ্টা / মনের অস্থিরতা | bayu dhorar cheshta / moner osthirota | Medium | The Limits of Human Wisdom and Achievement | — | 1:14, 17; 2:11, 17, 26; 4:4, 6, 16; 6:9. Choose sense (grasping-at-wind vs. inner unrest) per context; do not force a single literal rendering across all occurrences. |
| 28 | Generation | דּוֹר / γενεά | dor / genea | প্রজন্ম | projonmo | Low | The Fleeting Nature of Life Under the Sun | পুরুষ (rejected — ambiguous with “man/male” in modern Bengali) | 1:4. |
| 29 | Book | סֵפֶר / βιβλίον | sepher / biblion | পুস্তক / গ্রন্থ | pustok / grontho | Low | The Limits of Human Wisdom and Achievement | — | 12:12. |
| 30 | Almond tree (aging imagery) | שָׁקֵד / ἀμύγδαλον | shaqed / amygdalon | বাদাম গাছ | badam gachh | Low | Mortality and Divine Judgment | — | 12:5. Translator note required explaining the white-blossom/white-hair metaphor, unfamiliar without explanation to most Bengali readers. |
| 31 | Silver cord / Golden bowl / Pitcher / Cistern wheel (death imagery) | חֶבֶל הַכֶּסֶף / גֻּלַּת הַזָּהָב / כַּד / גַּלְגַּל | — | রূপার তার / সোনার বাটি / কলসি / কুয়োর চাকা | rupar tar / shonar bati / kolshi / kuyor chaka | Low-Medium | Mortality and Divine Judgment | — | 12:6. Everyday rural Bengali well/pitcher imagery aids comprehension; translator note still recommended clarifying these describe the body’s fragility, not literal household items. |
| 32 | End of the matter (climactic resolution formula) | סוֹף דָּבָר / τέλος λόγου | sof davar | কথার শেষ / চূড়ান্ত সিদ্ধান্ত | kothar shesh / churanto siddhanto | Low | The Fear of God as Life’s Foundation | — | 12:13. |
| 33 | Whole duty of man | זֶה כָּל־הָאָדָם | zeh kol ha-adam | মানুষের সমস্ত কর্তব্য | manusher shomosto kortobyo | Medium | The Fear of God as Life’s Foundation | ধর্মীয় কর্তব্য (rejected — parallels baseline’s obedience_of_faith rejection of merit-earning religious duty language) | 12:13. Must convey comprehensive life-purpose flowing from reverence, not a merit-earning checklist. |
Risk Summary for This Glossary
| Risk Tier | Count (new terms) | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 4 (hevel, ma’aseh/deed, She’ol, [reused righteousness/salvation etc. from baseline]) | Human theologian, every occurrence |
| High | 8 (chokmah, olam, mishpat, ruach/spirit, yirat Elohim, death, righteous/wicked persons) | Human theologian |
| Medium | 16 | Native speaker review |
| Low | 9 | Automated review |
Cross-cutting mandatory translator notes for this curriculum (parallel to the baseline’s forbidden-substitution list):
- NEVER use কর্ম for “deed” (ma’aseh) in judgment contexts — always কাজ. (Critical)
- পাতাল (Sheol) requires a mandatory disambiguating note distinguishing it from Hindu Pātāla-loka cosmology, or should be replaced with মৃতদের জগৎ. (Critical)
- আত্মা for the human spirit/breath (ruach) must never be prefixed with পবিত্র in these contexts, to avoid confusion with the baseline’s পবিত্র আত্মা (Holy Spirit). (High)
- অসার (hevel) must never be rendered as অলীক (which would import Hindu māyā/illusion metaphysics). (Critical)
- জ্ঞান (wisdom) should be qualified as ঈশ্বরদত্ত জ্ঞান in doctrinally load-bearing passages to avoid the Hindu jñāna-mārga / Buddhist prajñā collision. (High)
- ভাগ (portion, cheleq) must never be confused with the already-forbidden ভাগ্য (fate), per the baseline’s existing election/providence prohibitions. (Medium)
This glossary extends translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json for the Ecclesiastes curriculum. All new entries require formal addition to those JSON files in a subsequent Phase 1 step before Phase 2 segment translation begins.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: ঈশ্বর
Transliteration: Ishshor
Doctrine: God as Creator and Judge
Rejected alternatives: ভগবান, আল্লাহ
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. The one true, personal God addressed throughout Ecclesiastes as Creator (12:1), Giver of every good gift (2:24; 5:19), and Judge (3:17; 12:14).
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: পবিত্র আত্মা
Transliteration: Pobitro Attha
Doctrine: The Return of the Spirit to God (contrast term)
Rejected alternatives: ব্রহ্ম, পরমাত্মা
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Not directly named in Ecclesiastes, but retained here as the mandatory disambiguation anchor: Ecclesiastes’ human-spirit term আত্মা (see human_spirit entry below) must NEVER be prefixed পবিত্র, which would wrongly identify the human life-breath of 3:19-21 and 12:7 with the third Person of the Trinity.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: ধার্মিকতা
Transliteration: dharmikota
Doctrine: Mortality and Divine Judgment
Rejected alternatives: ধর্ম, পুণ্য, ন্যায়
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. NEVER ধর্ম. Presupposed background for the righteous/wicked contrast in Ecclesiastes 3:17; 7:15-20; 8:14; 9:2. See righteous_wicked entry for the adjectival extension.
Father
Approved rendering: পিতা
Transliteration: Pita
Doctrine: Creation and the Creator (contrast term)
Rejected alternatives: ব্রহ্মা, সৃষ্টিকর্তা
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Not directly invoked in Ecclesiastes; retained to make explicit that সৃষ্টিকর্তা (Creator, Ecclesiastes 12:1) is a related but non-interchangeable title from পিতা’s relational-Father register.
Salvation
Approved rendering: পরিত্রাণ
Transliteration: poritran
Doctrine: Mortality and Divine Judgment (contrast term)
Rejected alternatives: মুক্তি, মোক্ষ, নাজাত
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Not directly used in Ecclesiastes’ vocabulary, but its forbidden-substitution list (NEVER মুক্তি or মোক্ষ, the Hindu liberation-from-rebirth terms) is directly relevant background for Ecclesiastes’ own Sheol and judgment terminology, which faces the identical collision risk.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: পুনরুত্থান
Transliteration: punorutthan
Doctrine: The Return of the Spirit to God (contrast term)
Rejected alternatives: পুনর্জন্ম, পুনর্জীবন
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. NEVER পুনর্জন্ম (reincarnation). Retained as the direct precedent for Ecclesiastes 12:7’s human_spirit entry, which must equally avoid any rendering implying পুনর্জন্ম when describing the spirit’s one-time return to God.
Hevel
Approved rendering: অসার
Transliteration: ashar
Doctrine: The Fleeting Nature (“Hevel”) of Life Under the Sun
Rejected alternatives: অলীক, নিরর্থক, দুঃখ
Superlative form for 1:2 and 12:8: অসারের অসার, সবই অসার. The book’s frame term and the curriculum’s namesake doctrine. NEVER অলীক (imports Hindu māyā/illusion metaphysics, denying the world’s reality). NEVER a term implying total nihilistic despair, which erases the book’s constructive resolution toward fearing God. Occurs ~30+ times; render with total consistency (1:2, 14; 2:1, 11, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 26; 3:19; 4:4, 7-8, 16; 5:10; 6:2, 9, 11-12; 7:6, 15; 8:10, 14; 9:9; 11:8, 10; 12:8).
Deed
Approved rendering: কাজ
Transliteration: kaj
Doctrine: Mortality and Divine Judgment
Rejected alternatives: কর্ম
CRITICAL: NEVER কর্ম — the standard Bengali/Sanskrit term for karma, the cosmic action-and-consequence-rebirth mechanism. Ecclesiastes 12:14 teaches a one-time, personal, forensic divine reckoning, categorically different from karmic ripening across future lives. Add to this curriculum’s forbidden-substitution list, parallel to the baseline’s শক্তি/পুনর্জন্ম/অবতার prohibitions. Also relevant at 2:4-11 (Qoheleth’s building/planting projects) and 3:17; 9:1.
Sheol
Approved rendering: পাতাল
Transliteration: patal
Doctrine: Sheol and the State of the Dead
Rejected alternatives: কবর (alone, too narrow), নরক
Ecclesiastes 9:10. CRITICAL COLLISION: পাতাল is also a specific tier of Hindu Puranic cosmology (Pātāla-loka), a mythological multi-layered subterranean realm inhabited by Nāgas — entirely distinct from the Hebrew concept of the general realm/state of the dead. Mandatory translator note required at first occurrence. Where feasible, prefer the periphrasis মৃতদের জগৎ to avoid the collision outright. NEVER নরক (imports a later concept of conscious punishment absent from Ecclesiastes’ Sheol).
High Risk Terms
Holy
Approved rendering: পবিত্র
Transliteration: pobitro
Doctrine: Reverence in Worship and Vows
Rejected alternatives: শুচি, নির্মল
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Relevant to the house of God / vow context in Ecclesiastes 5:1-7.
Sin
Approved rendering: পাপ
Transliteration: pap
Doctrine: Mortality and Divine Judgment
Rejected alternatives: অধর্ম, অশুচিতা
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Implicit throughout Ecclesiastes’ moral observations (2:26; 7:20, 26; 8:12); distinct from the broader category good_and_evil (ভালো ও মন্দ), the wider moral category of which পাপ is the narrower theological subset (transgression against God).
Law
Approved rendering: ব্যবস্থা
Transliteration: bebostha
Doctrine: The Fear of God as Life’s Foundation (contrast term)
Rejected alternatives: ধর্ম, শরিয়ত, নিয়ম
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Reserve for the whole Mosaic covenantal-legal system; must be kept distinct from the narrower commandments entry (আদেশ/আজ্ঞা) used for Ecclesiastes 12:13’s more general, timeless call to obey God.
Grace
Approved rendering: অনুগ্রহ
Transliteration: anugroho
Doctrine: Enjoying Life as a Gift from God (contrast term)
Rejected alternatives: কৃপা, পুণ্য, ভাগ্য
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Retained here to fence Ecclesiastes’ this-life gift term দান (mattath) from the baseline’s soteriological saving-grace category; the two share the principle of unmerited divine goodness but must not be used interchangeably.
Wisdom
Approved rendering: জ্ঞান
Transliteration: gyan
Doctrine: The Limits of Human Wisdom and Achievement
Rejected alternatives: প্রজ্ঞা, বিজ্ঞতা
Covers both חָכְמָה (chokmah) and דַּעַת (da’ath). NEVER default to প্রজ্ঞা (saturated with Buddhist liberating-insight/nirvana connotation). Mandatory qualifying phrase ঈশ্বরদত্ত জ্ঞান (“God-given wisdom”) required in load-bearing passages (1:13-18; 2:12-16; 7:11-12, 19; 9:13-18; 12:9-10) to keep the concept anchored in practical, creaturely, God-given insight rather than a path to enlightenment or liberation from rebirth.
Eternity
Approved rendering: অনন্তকাল
Transliteration: anontokal
Doctrine: Eternity in the Human Heart
Rejected alternatives: যুগ, কল্প
Ecclesiastes 3:11, “he has put eternity into man’s heart.” NEVER যুগ or কল্প (both evoke Hindu cyclical cosmological ages, yuga/kalpa cycles). Must convey linear, unending time and an innate human intuition of transcendence implanted by a personal Creator, not a repeating cosmic cycle.
Judgment
Approved rendering: বিচার
Transliteration: bichar
Doctrine: Mortality and Divine Judgment
Rejected alternatives: কর্মফল, আখেরাতের হিসাব
Ecclesiastes 3:17; 8:11-13; 11:9; 12:14. Never কর্মফল (impersonal karma-fruit mechanism) or আখেরাতের হিসাব (the Islamic-idiom weighed-deeds final-reckoning framework). Recommend qualifying phrase ঈশ্বরের বিচার (“God’s judgment”) in doctrinally load-bearing occurrences to keep the personal, forensic sense clear.
Human Spirit
Approved rendering: আত্মা
Transliteration: attha
Doctrine: The Return of the Spirit to God
Rejected alternatives: পুনর্জন্মের আত্মা
Ecclesiastes 3:19-21; 12:7. MANDATORY DISAMBIGUATION: never prefix পবিত্র before আত্মা in these contexts (would confuse the human spirit with the baseline’s Critical পবিত্র আত্মা, Holy Spirit). Also must not be rendered so as to imply পুনর্জন্ম (reincarnation) — this is a one-time return to God, not entry into a new body in a cycle.
Fear Of God
Approved rendering: ঈশ্বর-ভয়
Transliteration: Ishshor-bhoy
Doctrine: The Fear of God as Life’s Foundation
Rejected alternatives: সম্মান (alone, too weak), ঈশ্বরকে সমীহ করা
Verb form: ঈশ্বরকে ভয় করা. Ecclesiastes 5:7; 8:12-13; 12:13 — the book’s climactic doctrinal resolution. Established Bengali Bible idiom (cf. Proverbs 1:7). ভয় alone in everyday Bengali usually signals dread/terror; a mandatory translator note distinguishing reverential awe from mere terror-fear is required at first occurrence in any lesson using this term. Do not weaken to সম্মান nor strengthen into servile terror.
Righteous Wicked
Approved rendering: ধার্মিক / দুষ্ট
Transliteration: dharmik / dushto
Doctrine: Mortality and Divine Judgment
Rejected alternatives: অধার্মিক (acceptable secondary for “wicked”)
Ecclesiastes 3:17; 7:15-16, 20; 8:14; 9:2. ধার্মিক directly extends the baseline’s Critical ধার্মিকতা (righteousness) entry — reuse consistently. Never allow ধর্ম-based substitutes here either; designates moral/relational standing evaluated by God, not membership in a religious community.
Death
Approved rendering: মৃত্যু
Transliteration: mrittu
Doctrine: Mortality and Divine Judgment
Ecclesiastes 2:16; 3:19-20; 7:1-2, 26; 8:8; 9:3-10; 12:1-7. Standard term; risk rises to High specifically in combination with Sheol/spirit-return language, where the Hindu/karmic-rebirth collision risk becomes acute.
Medium Risk Terms
Creator
Approved rendering: সৃষ্টিকর্তা
Transliteration: srishtikorta
Doctrine: Creation and the Creator
Rejected alternatives: ব্রহ্মা, পিতা (as substitute)
Ecclesiastes 12:1, “remember your Creator.” The baseline rejects সৃষ্টিকর্তা only as a substitute for পিতা (Father); as an independent title for God’s creative role it is the correct, safe term here. Never ব্রহ্মা (Hindu creator-deity).
Qoheleth
Approved rendering: উপদেশক
Transliteration: upodeshok
Doctrine: The book’s speaker; frames all doctrines
Rejected alternatives: সাধু, গুরু, কোহেলেৎ (bare transliteration)
The established Bengali Bible title of the book itself; used consistently for the speaker/persona. Do not confuse with মণ্ডলী (NT church) despite the shared Greek root ἐκκλησία/Ἐκκλησιαστής. Never গুরু (evokes a Hindu spiritual-guide role) or সাধু (evokes a Hindu/Jain ascetic, per the baseline’s identical rejection for “saints”).
Folly
Approved rendering: মূর্খতা / মূর্খ
Transliteration: murkhota / murkho
Doctrine: The Limits of Human Wisdom and Achievement
Rejected alternatives: পাগল
Standard contrast term to জ্ঞানী (wise). Avoid পাগল (“madness,” clinically too strong). জ্ঞানী inherits the same jñāna-mārga collision risk flagged for জ্ঞান; qualify lightly in teaching contexts tying wisdom to the fear of God (12:13).
Toil
Approved rendering: পরিশ্রম
Transliteration: poroshrom
Doctrine: The Limits of Human Wisdom and Achievement
Rejected alternatives: শ্রম (alone)
কষ্ট available where the grief-dimension is foregrounded (e.g. 2:22-23). Avoid শ্রম alone, too neutral, losing amal’s built-in trouble/weariness sense. Occurs pervasively: 1:3; 2:10-24; 3:13; 4:4-9; 5:18-19; 6:7; 8:15; 9:9; 10:15.
Under The Sun
Approved rendering: সূর্যের নীচে
Transliteration: shurjer nichey
Doctrine: The Fleeting Nature (“Hevel”) of Life Under the Sun
Rejected alternatives: এই জগতে
Structural refrain, ~29 occurrences. Render identically at every occurrence for learner recognition. Never soften into the generic এই জগতে, which loses the deliberate horizontal, earth-bound framing that builds toward the climax of ch.12.
Time Season
Approved rendering: কাল / সময়
Transliteration: kal / shomoy
Doctrine: Contentment amid Life’s Uncertainty
Rejected alternatives: ভাগ্যের সময়
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8’s structuring term (עֵת/et). Never ভাগ্যের সময় (imports fatalism). Connects to, but is textually distinct from, the baseline’s providence term ঈশ্বরের পরিচালনা.
Commandments
Approved rendering: আদেশ / আজ্ঞা
Transliteration: adesh / agya
Doctrine: The Fear of God as Life’s Foundation
Rejected alternatives: ব্যবস্থা (as default substitute)
Ecclesiastes 12:13’s general, timeless call to obey God’s revealed will. Must not be collapsed into ব্যবস্থা (the baseline’s fixed term for the whole Mosaic covenantal-legal system) when this broader sense is intended; context determines which term is appropriate.
Portion
Approved rendering: ভাগ
Transliteration: bhag
Doctrine: Enjoying Life as a Gift from God / Contentment amid Life’s Uncertainty
Rejected alternatives: ভাগ্য
Ecclesiastes 2:10; 3:22; 5:18-19; 9:9. NEVER ভাগ্য (“fate/destiny,” already forbidden in the baseline’s election/providence entries). ভাগ is a personally, relationally allotted gift from God, not impersonal fate. Recommend the qualifying phrase ঈশ্বরদত্ত ভাগ in load-bearing occurrences to visually and doctrinally separate ভাগ from the near-homonym ভাগ্য.
Gift
Approved rendering: দান
Transliteration: dan
Doctrine: Enjoying Life as a Gift from God
Rejected alternatives: অনুগ্রহ (as default substitute)
Ecclesiastes 2:24; 3:13; 5:19. The ability to enjoy one’s toil and its fruit is itself a gift from God. Must be kept distinct from the baseline’s অনুগ্রহ (grace, soteriological unmerited favor for salvation); this is a this-life, provisional gift of enjoyment, not the salvation category, though both share the principle of unmerited divine goodness.
Joy
Approved rendering: আনন্দ
Transliteration: anondo
Doctrine: Enjoying Life as a Gift from God
Rejected alternatives: সুখ (as primary)
Ecclesiastes 2:1-2, 10, 24-26; 3:12-13, 22; 5:18-20; 8:15; 9:7; 11:8-9. Must be distinguished across occurrences by context: pleasure pursued as ultimate meaning (critiqued as hevel) versus enjoyment received as God’s gift (affirmed). Avoid সুখ as the primary rendering, which leans toward mere circumstantial comfort.
House Of God
Approved rendering: ঈশ্বরের গৃহ / মন্দির
Transliteration: Ishshorer griho / mondir
Doctrine: Reverence in Worship and Vows
Ecclesiastes 5:1. মন্দির is acceptable specifically for the historical Jerusalem Temple building. IMPORTANT: the baseline’s rejection of মন্দির applies only to the NT ἐκκλησία/church doctrine (মণ্ডলী), a different referent; it does not forbid মন্দির for this literal OT sanctuary structure. Do not mechanically transfer the NT prohibition here.
Vow
Approved rendering: প্রতিজ্ঞা
Transliteration: protigya
Doctrine: Reverence in Worship and Vows
Ecclesiastes 5:4-6. শপথ acceptable as a secondary term specifically for “oath” if distinguished from a general vow. Anchors the doctrine that vows made to God must be kept, because he is to be feared/revered.
Eternal Home
Approved rendering: অনন্ত নিবাস
Transliteration: anonto nibash
Doctrine: Mortality and Divine Judgment
Rejected alternatives: স্বর্গীয় বাসস্থান
Ecclesiastes 12:5, euphemism for the grave. Plain alternative: কবর. Must not be rendered to imply a pleasant afterlife dwelling (স্বর্গীয় বাসস্থান, rejected), which would wrongly import the fuller NT resurrection hope into this somber OT death-euphemism.
One Shepherd
Approved rendering: এক পালক
Transliteration: ek palok
Doctrine: The Limits of Human Wisdom and Achievement
Ecclesiastes 12:11. পালক is also the standard modern Bengali Christian term for a congregation’s pastor; theologically apt resonance here (wisdom flows from one divine source), but flag to avoid over-reading as an explicit NT Good-Shepherd citation within this OT wisdom-book context — route to human theologian review.
Chasing Wind
Approved rendering: বায়ু ধরার চেষ্টা / মনের অস্থিরতা
Transliteration: bayu dhorar cheshta / moner osthirota
Doctrine: The Limits of Human Wisdom and Achievement
Occurs 1:14, 17; 2:11, 17, 26; 4:4, 6, 16; 6:9. Two distinct nuances (grasping-at-wind futility vs. inner unrest/vexation); choose per-occurrence based on context. Do not force a single literal rendering across all occurrences.
Death Imagery Cluster
Approved rendering: রূপার তার / সোনার বাটি / কলসি / কুয়োর চাকা
Transliteration: rupar tar / shonar bati / kolshi / kuyor chaka
Doctrine: Bodily Decline and the Mortality Allegory
Ecclesiastes 12:6, silver cord / golden bowl / pitcher / cistern wheel — four vessel/mechanism metaphors for the body’s fragility, breaking irreversibly at death. Maps naturally onto everyday rural Bengali well/pitcher culture; a translator note is still recommended clarifying that these describe the body, not literal household objects.
Whole Duty Of Man
Approved rendering: মানুষের সমস্ত কর্তব্য
Transliteration: manusher shomosto kortobyo
Doctrine: The Fear of God as Life’s Foundation
Rejected alternatives: ধর্মীয় কর্তব্য
Ecclesiastes 12:13. Must not imply a merit-earning religious obligation (ধর্মীয় কর্তব্য, rejected, paralleling the baseline’s obedience_of_faith rejection of works-based duty language); the sense is comprehensive life-purpose flowing from reverence, not a checklist earning standing before God.
Evil Days
Approved rendering: দুঃখের দিন
Transliteration: dukkher din
Doctrine: Youthful Vitality and Future Accountability
Rejected alternatives: পাপের দিন
Ecclesiastes 12:1. NEVER পাপের দিন, which would wrongly imply old age itself is morally sinful; this is the hardship/calamity of old age, not moral evil.
Soul Appetite
Approved rendering: প্রাণ / আকাঙ্ক্ষা
Transliteration: pran / akankha
Doctrine: Wealth and Its Limits
Ecclesiastes 6:2-3, 7, 9. Depending on whether the life-force sense or appetite sense is foregrounded; prefer আকাঙ্ক্ষা as default given প্রাণ’s adjacency to yogic prāṇa physiology in living Bengali usage. Must not be confused with the baseline’s পবিত্র আত্মা.
Low Risk Terms
Fellowship
Approved rendering: সহভাগিতা
Transliteration: shohobhagita
Doctrine: Companionship and Community
Rejected alternatives: বন্ধুত্ব
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Fits the non-technical companionship sense of Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 without doctrinal strain.
Secret Thing
Approved rendering: গোপন বিষয়
Transliteration: gopon bishoy
Doctrine: Mortality and Divine Judgment
Ecclesiastes 12:14. A hidden matter or deed brought into God’s judgment along with the obvious.
Good And Evil
Approved rendering: ভালো ও মন্দ
Transliteration: bhalo o mondo
Doctrine: Mortality and Divine Judgment
Ecclesiastes 12:14; also 2:26; 7:20, 26. The broader moral category of good and bad deeds subject to God’s judgment, conceptually proximate to but formally distinct from পাপ (sin, the narrower theological subset of transgression against God).
Generation
Approved rendering: প্রজন্ম
Transliteration: projonmo
Doctrine: The Fleeting Nature (“Hevel”) of Life Under the Sun
Rejected alternatives: পুরুষ
Ecclesiastes 1:4. Avoid পুরুষ, ambiguous with “man/male” in modern Bengali.
Book
Approved rendering: পুস্তক / গ্রন্থ
Transliteration: pustok / grontho
Doctrine: The Limits of Human Wisdom and Achievement
Ecclesiastes 12:12, the caution against limitless production of and study of books.
Proverb
Approved rendering: প্রবাদ / নীতিবচন
Transliteration: probad / nitibochon
Doctrine: The Limits of Human Wisdom and Achievement
Ecclesiastes 12:9, Qoheleth’s weighing and arranging of many proverbs.
Almond Tree
Approved rendering: বাদাম গাছ
Transliteration: badam gachh
Doctrine: Bodily Decline and the Mortality Allegory
Ecclesiastes 12:5, white-blossom/white-hair metaphor for old age. Translator note required explaining the metaphor, unfamiliar without explanation to most Bengali readers.
End Of Matter
Approved rendering: কথার শেষ
Transliteration: kothar shesh
Doctrine: The Fear of God as Life’s Foundation
Rejected alternatives: চূড়ান্ত সিদ্ধান্ত (acceptable secondary)
Ecclesiastes 12:13, the book’s climactic resolution formula.
Dust
Approved rendering: ধূলা
Transliteration: dhula
Doctrine: The Return of the Spirit to God
Ecclesiastes 12:7, echoing Genesis 2:7 and 3:19 — the material substance of the human body, returning to the earth at death.
Remember
Approved rendering: স্মরণ করা
Transliteration: sroron kora
Doctrine: Creation and the Creator
Ecclesiastes 12:1. Covenantal remembrance that shapes present action, not mere mental recollection.
Darkened
Approved rendering: অন্ধকার হওয়া
Transliteration: ondhokar howa
Doctrine: Bodily Decline and the Mortality Allegory
Ecclesiastes 12:2. Translator note recommended flagging the allusive link to prophetic “day of the LORD” darkness imagery elsewhere in Scripture, so the verse is not read as merely describing bad weather.
Desire Fails
Approved rendering: ইচ্ছা
Transliteration: ichcha
Doctrine: Bodily Decline and the Mortality Allegory
Ecclesiastes 12:5, caper-berry euphemism for appetite/desire failing in old age. Plain-sense rendering; translator note recommended noting the botanical euphemism is lost in translation.
Referenced passages