Core Glossary
08 Core Glossary — James 1–5 (English/Koine Regarding → Bengali)
Purpose and Usage Notes
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing theological term identified in analysis/07_semantic_analysis.md, across all five chapters of James. It is organized by doctrinal category. Columns:
- Bengali term already fixed in the Romans baseline is marked “Reused (baseline).”
- New term coined for the James curriculum is marked “New (James).”
- Risk follows the baseline’s four-tier definitions (
doctrine_risk_registry.json): Critical, High, Medium, Low. - Chapters lists every chapter in James where the term is load-bearing.
This glossary must be merged into translation_memory.json (new terms added, version incremented) before any Phase 2 James segment translation begins, per the baseline’s Translation Memory Load and Enforcement Instructions.
1. Reused Baseline Terms (Romans Language Package) — Enforced Exactly, No Deviation
| Term (English) | Original Greek | Bengali Rendering | Risk | Doctrine | Chapters | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Faith | πίστις (pistis) | বিশ্বাস | High | Faith and Works | 1, 2 (core), 5 | Object of faith (God/Christ) must remain contextually clear; James 2:14-26 distinguishes living/genuine faith from merely-professed faith — same Bengali word, disambiguating context/notes required. |
| Grace | χάρις (charis) | অনুগ্রহ | High | Worldliness vs. Friendship with God | 4 | James 4:6 quotes Proverbs 3:34, “God gives grace to the humble” — reinforce grace-humility, not grace-merit. |
| Sin | ἁμαρτία (hamartia) | পাপ | High | Confession and Restoration; Faith and Works | 1, 2, 4, 5 | Consistent across all occurrences (temptation-to-sin chain in 1:14-15; sins forgiven/covered in 5:15,20). |
| Law | νόμος (nomos) | ব্যবস্থা | High | Wisdom from Above; Favoritism | 2, 4 | Used in compound phrases (“law of liberty,” “royal law,” “lawgiver”) — see Section 3 for required qualifying notes. |
| Righteousness | δικαιοσύνη (dikaiosynē) | ধার্মিকতা | Critical | Faith and Works | 2 (core), 3 | ”Fruit of righteousness” (3:18); “credited to him as righteousness” (2:23, quoting Genesis 15:6). |
| Justification (forensic sense) | δικαίωσις/δικαιοῦσθαι (dikaiōsis/dikaiousthai) | ধার্মিক বলে গণ্য হওয়া | Critical | Faith and Works | 2 (core) | See Section 2 below — James’s usage requires a mandatory disambiguating note distinguishing evidential/vindicating sense from Romans’ forensic-declaration sense, while using the SAME Bengali phrase for cross-document consistency. |
| Imputed righteousness | ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην (elogisthē autō eis dikaiosynēn) | আরোপিত ধার্মিকতা | Critical | Faith and Works | 2 (core) | James 2:23 quotes the identical Genesis 15:6 text Paul quotes in Romans 4:3 — must use verbatim-matching Bengali phrasing to that established for Romans 4:3. |
| Salvation | σωτηρία-family / σῴζω (sōzō, soteriological sense) | পরিত্রাণ | Critical | Faith and Works; Confession and Restoration | 2 (core), 5 | NEVER মুক্তি/মোক্ষ/নাজাত. Must be carefully distinguished from σῴζω’s physical-healing sense (see Section 2). |
| Lord | κύριος (kyrios) | প্রভু | Critical | Patience and the Lord’s Return | 1, 2, 4, 5 | ”Lord of glory” (2:1), “Lord of Sabaoth” (5:4), “the Lord’s coming” (5:7-8), “if the Lord wills” (4:15). |
| God | θεός (theos) | ঈশ্বর | Critical | (all doctrines) | 1–5 | Throughout; includes the monotheistic confession “God is one” (2:19). |
| Holy | ἅγιος-root (hagios) | পবিত্র | High | Sanctification/Wisdom from Above (implicit) | (background) | No explicit “holy” occurrence in the core passage; underlies “pure and undefiled religion” (1:27) framing. |
| Father | πατήρ (patēr) | পিতা | Critical | Faith and Works | 1, 2 (core) | “Abraham our father” (2:21) is a covenantal/patriarchal, not divine, use of πατήρ — context-sensitive; God as “Father of lights” (1:17) is the divine use. |
| Church | ἐκκλησία (ekklēsia) | মণ্ডলী | Medium | Prayer and Healing | 5 | ”Elders of the church” (5:14). |
| Kingdom of God | βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ (basileia tou theou) | ঈশ্বরের রাজ্য | Medium | Favoritism and the Poor | 2 | ”Heirs of the kingdom” (2:5). |
| Glory | δόξα (doxa) | মহিমা | High | Favoritism and the Poor | 2 | ”Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory” (2:1). |
| Called / Calling | κλητός/κλῆσις-family (klētos/klēsis); ἐκλήθη (eklēthē) | আহুত / আহ্বান | High | Faith and Works | 2 (core) | “He was called a friend of God” (2:23) — a divine designation, consistent with the baseline’s calling-family usage. |
| Abraham | Ἀβραάμ (Abraam) | অব্রাহাম | Medium | Faith and Works | 2 (core) | Established proper-name form per 12_ai_translation_requirements.md. |
| Jesus / Christ / Lord (compound) | Ἰησοῦς Χριστός (Iēsous Christos) | যীশু খ্রীষ্ট | Critical | Favoritism and the Poor | 2 | ”Our Lord Jesus Christ” (2:1). |
2. New Critical/High-Risk Terms — Require Theologian Review and Translation Memory Addition
| Term (English) | Original Greek | Bengali Rendering | Risk | Doctrine | Chapters | Collision / Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Works | ἔργα (erga) | কাজ | Critical | Faith and Works | 2 (core), 4 (implicit) | Reject কর্ম — collides with Hindu karma-merit doctrine (deeds accruing merit/demerit across rebirths), the theological inverse of James’s point that works are faith’s fruit, not its cause. |
| Justified (James’s evidential/vindicating sense) | ἐδικαιώθη/δικαιοῦται (edikaiōthē/dikaioutai) | ধার্মিক বলে গণ্য হওয়া (SAME as baseline, + mandatory note) | Critical | Faith and Works | 2 (core) | The book’s central doctrinal collision with Romans; the identical Bengali phrase must carry a standing theologian-reviewed note distinguishing “vindicated as righteous before people/evidentially” (James) from “declared righteous before God by faith alone” (Romans/baseline). Never render with a different Bengali phrase than Romans, or cross-document consistency breaks (per baseline’s Theological Consistency Rules). |
| Save / Heal (physical sense) | σῴζω, physical-healing occurrences (5:15) | সুস্থ করা / রক্ষা করা (explicitly NOT পরিত্রাণ) | Critical | Prayer and Healing | 5 | σῴζω spans both physical healing (5:15) and eternal salvation (2:14, 5:20) within this letter; conflating the two by defaulting to পরিত্রাণ throughout would wrongly equate physical healing with eternal salvation. |
| Wisdom | σοφία (sophia) | প্রজ্ঞা | High | Wisdom from Above | 1, 3 | Reject জ্ঞান — carries strong Hindu jñāna-mārga (“path of knowledge” to liberation) associations; প্রজ্ঞা better isolates biblical practical/relational wisdom. |
| Perfect / Complete / Mature | τέλειος (teleios) | পরিপূর্ণ | High | Faith and Works; Wisdom from Above | 1, 2 (core), 3 | Reject সিদ্ধ — a major Bengali Hindu/yogic term for a spiritually perfected “siddha” being with supernatural attainment; পরিপূর্ণ (“complete/full-grown”) conveys maturity without this collision. |
| Friend of God | φίλος θεοῦ (philos theou) | ঈশ্বরের মিত্র | High | Faith and Works | 2 (core) | Collides with the Sufi Islamic concept of wali Allah (“friend/intimate of God” — Bengali আল্লাহর ওলি/আল্লাহর বন্ধু), a specially sanctified saintly class; James intends this status as available to every believer who lives out genuine faith, with no separate intercessory-saint class implied. Mandatory translator note required regardless of final word choice. |
| Demon(s) | δαιμόνιον/δαιμόνια (daimonion/daimonia) | ভূত | High | Faith and Works; Wisdom from Above | 2 (core), 3 | Reject জিন (Islamic-idiom term for spirits of ambiguous, sometimes pious, moral status — undermines James’s point that these spirits are wholly malevolent) and অপদেবতা (risks placing them within a Hindu pantheon of minor deities). ভূত matches established Bengali Gospel usage for demon-possession narratives. |
| Hell / Gehenna | γέεννα (geenna) | নরক (retained, with mandatory note) | Critical | Taming the Tongue | 3 | No superior established alternative exists in Bengali Bible tradition, but নরক is also the standard term for Hindu Naraka (temporary, karma-exhausting punishment before rebirth); mandatory note distinguishing biblical hell (final, non-cyclical) from Naraka, parallel to the baseline’s resurrection/reincarnation distinction. |
| Likeness of God | καθ’ ὁμοίωσιν θεοῦ (kath’ homoiōsin theou) | ঈশ্বরের সাদৃশ্যে | High | Taming the Tongue | 3 | Reject প্রতিমূর্তি/প্রতিমা — প্রতিমা is the standard Bengali term for a Hindu deity’s ritual idol/statue (central to Durga Puja); সাদৃশ্য (“resemblance”) avoids implying humans are physical idol-representations of God. |
| Favoritism / Partiality | προσωπολημψία (prosōpolēmpsia) | পক্षপাতিত্ব | High | Favoritism and the Poor | 2 | Directly confronts social-status hierarchy; intersects with residual caste-consciousness (Hindu-background) and communal/class distinctions (Bangladeshi social context), paralleling the baseline’s universal_scope_of_gospel risk profile. |
| World / Worldliness | κόσμος (kosmos) | জগৎ | High | Worldliness vs. Friendship with God | 1, 4 | Reject সংসার — denotes ordinary householder/domestic life and, in Hindu religious usage, the cycle of worldly existence ascetics (sannyasis) renounce for moksha; জগৎ avoids implying believers must renounce ordinary family/social life itself. |
| Friendship with the world / Enmity with God | φιλία τοῦ κόσμου / ἔχθρα τοῦ θεοῦ (philia tou kosmou / echthra tou theou) | জগতের সাথে মিত্রতা / ঈশ্বরের সাথে শত্রুতা | High | Worldliness vs. Friendship with God | 4 | Must share the μιত্র/মিত্রতা root with “friend of God” (2:23) to preserve James’s deliberate literary antithesis between the two “friendships.” |
| Anointing with oil | ἀλείφω ἐλαίῳ (aleiphō elaiō) | তেল মাখানো (explicitly NOT অভিষেক as primary rendering) | High | Prayer and Healing | 5 | Reject অভিষেক as the default — standard Bengali term for Hindu ritual deity-anointing (Durga Puja register) and messianic/royal anointing; risks a magical/sacramental reading of a simple faith-accompanying pastoral act. Mandatory note: healing is attributed to “the prayer of faith,” not the oil. |
| The Lord’s coming (Parousia) | παρουσία τοῦ κυρίου (parousia tou kyriou) | প্রভুর পুনরাগমন | Critical | Patience and the Lord’s Return | 5 | Must never be softened into a vague spiritual “presence”; a genuine future, personal, visible return, distinct from any Hindu cyclical-time framework or the Islamic eschatological expectation of Isa’s return (which denies his prior death/resurrection). |
3. New Medium/Low-Risk Terms — Native Speaker or Automated Review
| Term (English) | Original Greek | Bengali Rendering | Risk | Doctrine | Chapters | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trial (testing) | πειρασμός (peirasmos, trial sense) | পরীক্ষা | High | Trials and the Testing of Faith | 1 | Same Greek lemma as “temptation” below — contextual disambiguation mandatory, not merely preferred. |
| Temptation | πειρασμός (peirasmos, temptation sense) | প্রলোভন | Critical | Trials and the Testing of Faith | 1 | Must never render as পরীক্ষা in the 1:13-14 sense — collapses James’s point that God tempts no one to sin. |
| Testing / genuineness | δοκίμιον (dokimion) | পরীক্ষিত বিশ্বাস | Medium | Trials and the Testing of Faith | 1 | |
| Endurance / steadfastness | ὑπομονή (hypomonē) | সহিষ্णুতা | High | Trials and the Testing of Faith | 1, 5 | Distinguish from ধৈর্য (see “Patience” below); reused with Job (5:11). |
| Patience | μακροθυμία (makrothymia) | ধৈর্য | High | Patience and the Lord’s Return | 5 | Distinct nuance from সহিষ্णুতা (endurance under pressure) — ধৈর্য is patient, expectant waiting (agricultural metaphor). |
| Doubt / waver | διακρίνομαι (diakrinomai) | দ্বিধা করা / সন্দেহ করা | Medium | Trials and the Testing of Faith | 1 | |
| Double-minded | δίψυχος (dipsychos) | দ্বিমনা | Medium | Trials and the Testing of Faith; Worldliness vs. Friendship with God | 1, 4 | Avoid a literal “double-souled” rendering implying two literal souls. |
| Desire / lust (sinful) | ἐπιθυμία (epithymia) | কুবাসনা / মন্দ অভিলাষ | High | Trials and the Testing of Faith | 1 | Qualify with কু-/মন্দ to avoid resonance with the Hindu Kāma (legitimate desire/pleasure, one of the four puruṣārthas). |
| Gift | δόσις/δώρημα (dosis/dōrēma) | দান / উপহার | Low | Trials and the Testing of Faith | 1 | |
| Father of lights | Πατὴρ τῶν φώτων (Patēr tōn phōtōn) | জ্যোতির্গণের পিতা | High | Trials and the Testing of Faith | 1 | Revives the baseline’s glory/light-deity collision risk (cf. baseline’s glory entry, রেজেক্টেড তেজ/জ্যোতি) in a different construction; note God is Creator/source of light, not a radiant light-deity. |
| Word of truth / Implanted word | λόγος ἀληθείας / ἔμφυτος λόγος (logos alētheias / emphytos logos) | সত্যের বচন / অন্তরে রোপিত বচন | Medium | Trials and the Testing of Faith | 1 | |
| Religion (external practice) | θρησκεία (thrēskeia) | ধর্ম (contextually correct exception) | Critical | Trials and the Testing of Faith | 1 | The ONE place in this curriculum where ধর্ম is the correct, not the forbidden, rendering — mandatory note clarifying this does not countermand the baseline’s righteousness/ধর্ম prohibition, since θρησκεία genuinely means “religious observance,” unlike δικαιοσύνη. |
| Orphans and widows | ὀρφανοὺς καὶ χήρας (orphanous kai chēras) | অনাথ ও বিধবা | Low | Favoritism and the Poor | 1 | |
| Assembly / gathering | συναγωγή (synagōgē) | সভা / সমাবেশ | Medium | Favoritism and the Poor | 2 | Avoid implying a literal Jewish synagogue building; note James’s Jewish-Christian original audience. |
| Poor / Rich | πτωχός / πλούσιος (ptōchos / plousios) | দরিদ্র / ধনী | Medium | Favoritism and the Poor | 1, 2, 5 | Reused consistently across all three chapters. |
| Law of liberty / Royal law | νόμος ἐλευθερίας / νόμος βασιλικός (nomos eleutherias / nomos basilikos) | স্বাধীনতার ব্যবস্থা / রাজকীয় ব্যবস্থা | High | Favoritism and the Poor | 2 | Note distinguishing this moral-law-fulfilled-in-love sense from the Mosaic ceremonial-code sense of ব্যবস্থা elsewhere. |
| Mercy | ἔλεος (eleos) | দয়া | Medium | Favoritism and the Poor | 2 | Distinct from baseline’s অনুগ্রহ (grace, unmerited favor toward the guilty); দয়া is compassion toward the suffering/needy. |
| Tongue | γλῶσσα (glōssa) | জিহ্বা | High | Taming the Tongue | 3 | Consistency required throughout ch.3; do not vary with ভাষা (“language/speech”). |
| Wisdom from above / earthly / soulish / demonic | σοφία ἄνωθεν / ἐπίγειος / ψυχική / δαιμονιώδης | ঊর্ধ্ব থেকে আসা প্রজ্ঞা / পার্থিব / প্রাণিক (স্বাভাবিক) / ভূতুড়ে-শয়তানি প্রকৃতির | High | Wisdom from Above | 3 | ψυχική (“soulish/natural”) has no settled Bengali Bible precedent; likely requires an explanatory gloss rather than a single word. |
| Jealousy / Selfish ambition | ζῆλος / ἐριθεία (zēlos / eritheia) | ঈর্ষা / স্বार্থপরতা | Medium | Wisdom from Above | 3 | |
| Peacemakers | εἰρηνοποιῶν (eirēnopoiōn) | শান্তি স্থাপনকারী | Low | Wisdom from Above | 3 | Reuses baseline শান্তি. |
| Pleasure (self-indulgent) | ἡδονή (hēdonē) | ভোগবিলাসের কামনা / সুখাভিলাষ | Medium | Worldliness vs. Friendship with God | 4 | Loose resonance with the puruṣārtha of kāma; context must mark this as disordered pleasure-seeking. |
| Adulterous (spiritual metaphor) | μοιχαλίς (moichalis) | ব্যভিচারিণী | Medium | Worldliness vs. Friendship with God | 4 | Requires a note clarifying this is OT-prophetic covenant-unfaithfulness imagery, not a literal accusation. |
| Submit (to God) | ὑποτάγητε (hypotagēte) | বশীভূত হও / অধীন হও | Medium-High | Worldliness vs. Friendship with God | 4 | Semantic proximity to the root meaning of “Islam” (submission); theologically compatible but requires native-speaker framing judgment. |
| Devil | διάβολος (diabolos) | শয়তান | Medium | Worldliness vs. Friendship with God | 4 | Broadly shared, compatible usage across Bengali Hindu, Muslim, and Christian registers. |
| Lawgiver | νομοθέτης (nomothetēs) | ব্যবস্থাদাতা | Medium | Worldliness vs. Friendship with God | 4 | Reuses baseline ব্যবস্থা. |
| The Lord’s will (contingency formula) | θέλημα τοῦ κυρίου / Ἐὰν ὁ Κύριος θελήσῃ | প্রভুর ইচ্ছা | Medium | Patience and the Lord’s Return | 4 | Structurally close to Bengali Islamic “ইনশাআল্লাহ”; theologically compatible content, phrasing needs native-speaker judgment. |
| Lord of Sabaoth / Lord of hosts | Κύριος Σαβαώθ (Kyrios Sabaōth) | বাহিনীগণের প্রভু / সর্বশক্তিমান প্রভু | Medium-High | Favoritism and the Poor (social justice for laborers) | 5 | Avoid শক্তি-root compounds for “hosts/might” per baseline’s power-of-God convention. |
| Elders (of the church) | πρεσβύτεροι (presbyteroi) | মণ্ডলীর প্রাচীনগণ | Medium | Prayer and Healing | 5 | Distinguish from generic old age (বৃদ্ধ) and from shrine-based folk healing specialists (pir, Hindu holy man). |
| Prayer of faith | εὐχὴ τῆς πίστεως (euchē tēs pisteōs) | বিশ্বাসের প্রার্থনা | High | Prayer and Healing | 5 | The faith, not the oil or ritual, is the efficacious element — must be preserved in translation and notes. |
| The Lord will raise him up (healing sense) | ἐγερεῖ αὐτὸν ὁ κύριος (egerei auton ho kyrios) | সুস্থ করে উঠাবেন | High | Prayer and Healing | 5 | Must not be rendered with পুনরুত্থান (baseline’s resurrection term) — this is recovery from illness, not resurrection. |
| Forgiveness of specific sins | ἀφεθήσεται αὐτῷ (aphethēsetai autō) | ক্ষমা করা হবে | Medium | Confession and Restoration | 5 | Correctly and sufficiently rendered ক্ষমা here (unlike the baseline’s “justification” abbreviation warning) — different doctrinal referent. |
| Confess sins to one another | ἐξομολογεῖσθε ἀλλήλοις τὰς ἁμαρτίας | পরস্পর পাপ স্বীকার করা | Medium-High | Confession and Restoration | 5 | Note distinguishing mutual/horizontal believer-to-believer confession from sacramental auricular confession and from Islamic tawbah. |
| Effective/powerful prayer | ἰσχύει (ischyei) | ফলপ্রসূ / সামর্থ্যবান (NOT শক্তি-root) | Medium-High | Confession and Restoration | 5 | Applies the baseline’s power-of-God শক্তি-avoidance convention by analogy. |
| Turn back / restore a wanderer | ἐπιστρέψῃ (epistrepsē) | ফিরিয়ে আনা | Medium | Confession and Restoration | 5 | Preserve restorative, not punitive, tone. |
| Cover a multitude of sins | καλύψει πλῆθος ἁμαρτιῶν (kalypsei plēthos hamartiōn) | পাপের বাহুল্য ঢেকে দেবে | Medium | Confession and Restoration | 5 | Note family resemblance to, without conflating with, Christ-alone atonement doctrine (Romans 3:25 in the baseline). |
| Job (proper name) | Ἰώβ (Iōb) | ইয়োব | Low | Patience and the Lord’s Return | 5 | Established Bengali Bible proper name form. |
| Elijah (proper name) | Ἠλίας (Ēlias) | এলিয় | Low | Confession and Restoration | 5 | Established Bengali Bible proper name form; presumes OT literacy the target audience generally lacks — background note recommended. |
4. Chapter Coverage Confirmation
| Chapter | New Load-Bearing Terms Introduced | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | πειρασμός (dual sense), δοκίμιον, ὑπομονή, τέλειος, σοφία, διακρίνομαι, δίψυχος, ἐπιθυμία, δόσις/δώρημα, Πατὴρ τῶν φώτων, λόγος ἀληθείας, ἔμφυτος λόγος, θρησκεία, ὀρφανοὺς καὶ χήρας, κόσμος | Fully analyzed above. |
| 2 (vv.1-13) | προσωπολημψία, συναγωγή, νόμος ἐλευθερίας/βασιλικός, ἔλεος, κληρονόμους τῆς βασιλείας | Fully analyzed above. |
| 2 (vv.14-26, core passage) | ἔργα, σῴζω, νεκρά, δεῖξόν, δαιμόνια, ἐδικαιώθη/δικαιοῦται, συνήργει, ἐτελειώθη, ἐλογίσθη…εἰς δικαιοσύνην, φίλος θεοῦ, πόρνη, ἄγγελοι (contextual), πνεῦμα (anthropological sense) | Fully analyzed verse-by-verse above; highest doctrinal-risk unit in the book. |
| 3 | γλῶσσα, γέεννα, καθ’ ὁμοίωσιν θεοῦ, σοφία ἄνωθεν/ἐπίγειος/ψυχική/δαιμονιώδης, ζῆλος/ἐριθεία, εἰρηνοποιῶν | Fully analyzed above. |
| 4 | φιλία τοῦ κόσμου, ἔχθρα τοῦ θεοῦ, ἡδονή, μοιχαλίς, ὑποτάγητε, διάβολος, νομοθέτης, θέλημα τοῦ κυρίου | Fully analyzed above. |
| 5 | Κύριος Σαβαώθ, μακροθυμία, παρουσία τοῦ κυρίου, κριτής, ἀσθενεῖ, πρεσβύτεροι, ἀλείφω ἐλαίῳ, εὐχὴ τῆς πίστεως, ἐξομολογέομαι, ἐπιστρέφω, καλύψει πλῆθος ἁμαρτιῶν | Fully analyzed above. |
No chapter of James is without load-bearing theological vocabulary; all five chapters, and the full core passage (2:14-26) within chapter 2, are covered above with no gaps.
This glossary must be merged into translation_memory.json (incrementing its version number, per the baseline’s Translation Memory Load and Enforcement Instructions) before Phase 2 segment translation of any James material begins. All Critical- and High-risk new terms above require human theologian sign-off before first use; all Medium-risk new terms require native speaker review; Low-risk terms may proceed with automated review per the baseline’s risk_definitions.
Critical Risk Terms
Dead Faith
Approved rendering: মৃত
Transliteration: mrito
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Must recur identically at James 2:17, 2:20, and 2:26 to preserve the passage’s structural inclusio (paralleled with the body/spirit analogy in 2:26). A stark, total metaphor for counterfeit/self-professed faith — must never be read as teaching that true, Spirit-given faith can perish.
Faith Alone Phrase Harmonizing Note
Approved rendering: (see faith_alone_phrase)
Doctrine: Justification: Evidential Vindication (James) vs. Forensic Declaration (Romans)
Placeholder cross-reference entry retained for Phase 2 tooling; see faith_alone_phrase for the canonical rendering and required note.
Faith Alone Phrase
Approved rendering: কেবল বিশ্বাস দ্বারা
Transliteration: kebol bishwas dara
Doctrine: Justification: Evidential Vindication (James) vs. Forensic Declaration (Romans)
James 2:24’s rejected phrase: the bare, unaccompanied, works-less profession James rejects, NOT the Reformation solifidian doctrine that faith alone is the sole instrument of a sinner’s initial justification. Never publish without its harmonizing note in the same visual unit.
Father
Approved rendering: পিতা
Transliteration: Pita
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: ব্রহ্মা, সৃষ্টিকর্তা
Inherited from Romans package. Context-sensitive in James: God’s Fatherhood (1:17, divine) vs. Abraham’s fatherhood (2:21, patriarchal/covenantal) are distinct referents of the same Bengali word.
God
Approved rendering: ঈশ্বর
Transliteration: Ishshor
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: ভগবান, আল্লাহ
Inherited from Romans package. Includes the bare monotheistic confession ‘God is one’ (James 2:19) — see one_god_confession entry.
Hell Gehenna
Approved rendering: নরক
Transliteration: norok
Doctrine: Taming the Tongue
Rejected alternatives: গেহেন্না (transliteration)
James 3:6’s γέεννα. Established Bengali Bible tradition uses নরক, and no clearly superior alternative exists — but নরক is also the standard term for the Hindu Naraka, a temporary, karma-exhausting punishment before rebirth. Retained for lack of a better established option; MANDATORY per-occurrence note distinguishing biblical hell’s final, non-cyclical nature is required, parallel to the baseline’s resurrection/reincarnation distinction. Flag every occurrence for human theologian review.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: পবিত্র আত্মা
Transliteration: Pobitro Attha
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: ব্রহ্ম, পরমাত্মা
Inherited from Romans package. Must be kept distinct from James 2:26’s anthropological πνεῦμα (human life-breath, rendered plain আত্মা without the পবিত্র qualifier — see spirit_anthropological entry); also relevant to the textually disputed James 4:5.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: আরোপিত ধার্মিকতা
Transliteration: aropito dharmikota
Doctrine: Justification: Evidential Vindication (James) vs. Forensic Declaration (Romans)
Rejected alternatives: অর্জিত ধার্মিকতা
Inherited from Romans package verbatim. James 2:23 quotes the identical Genesis 15:6 text Paul quotes in Romans 4:3 — must use verbatim-matching Bengali phrasing to the established Romans 4:3 rendering; the load-bearing textual anchor resolving the James/Romans surface tension.
Jesus
Approved rendering: যীশু
Transliteration: Jishu
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Rejected alternatives: ঈসা
Inherited from Romans package. ‘Our Lord Jesus Christ’ (James 2:1).
Justification
Approved rendering: ধার্মিক বলে গণ্য হওয়া
Transliteration: dharmik bole gonyo howa
Doctrine: Justification: Evidential Vindication (James) vs. Forensic Declaration (Romans)
Rejected alternatives: ক্ষমা পাওয়া, পুণ্য লাভ করা
Inherited from Romans package verbatim. James 2:21, 24, 25 reuse this identical phrase in an evidential/vindicating sense distinct from Romans’ forensic-declarative sense — see justified_by_works for the mandatory disambiguation requirement.
Justified By Works
Approved rendering: ধার্মিক বলে গণ্য হওয়া
Transliteration: dharmik bole gonyo howa
Doctrine: Justification: Evidential Vindication (James) vs. Forensic Declaration (Romans)
The single highest-stakes disambiguation requirement in the curriculum. Uses the IDENTICAL baseline phrase for James 2:21, 24, 25’s evidential/vindicating sense (‘shown/proven righteous before people, by the fruit that proves a living faith’), never a different Bengali phrase than Romans’ forensic sense (‘declared righteous before God by faith alone, apart from works’). Mandatory human-theologian-approved standing note required at every occurrence.
Lord Of Glory
Approved rendering: মহিমার প্রভু
Transliteration: Mohimar Provu
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Rejected alternatives: সম্মানিত নবী ঈসা মসিহ (Muslim-idiom stripping of deity/Lordship)
James 2:1’s compound title for Christ. Combines the baseline’s প্রভু and মহিমা exactly; must preserve full deity and Lordship intact. Any rendering stripping Lordship/deity (as in Muslim-idiom contextualized translations) must never be echoed.
Lord
Approved rendering: প্রভু
Transliteration: provu
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: মালিক, ঈশ্বর
Inherited from Romans package. James 2:1 ‘Lord of glory,’ 5:4 ‘Lord of Sabaoth,’ 5:7-8 ‘the Lord’s coming,’ 4:15 ‘if the Lord wills.‘
Messiah Christ
Approved rendering: খ্রীষ্ট
Transliteration: Khrishto
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Rejected alternatives: মশীহ, অবতার পুরুষ
Inherited from Romans package. ‘Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory’ (James 2:1).
Parousia
Approved rendering: প্রভুর পুনরাগমন
Transliteration: Provur Punoragomon
Doctrine: Patience and the Lord’s Return
Rejected alternatives: প্যারুসিয়া (transliteration), প্রভুর উপস্থিতি (vague presence)
James 5:7-8’s παρουσία τοῦ κυρίου. Must never be softened into a vague spiritual ‘presence’; a genuine future, personal, visible return, distinct from any Hindu cyclical-time framework (Kalki-avatar renewal) and the Islamic eschatological expectation of Isa’s return (which denies his prior death and resurrection). Flag for theologian review at every occurrence, parallel to the baseline’s resurrection-of-Christ handling.
Physical Healing Save
Approved rendering: সুস্থ করা
Transliteration: sustho kora
Doctrine: Physical Healing versus Eternal Salvation
Rejected alternatives: পরিত্রাণ
James 5:15’s σῴζω in its physical-healing sense. NEVER পরিত্রাণ — would wrongly imply physical healing is equivalent to, or guarantees, eternal salvation. Mandatory theologian review whenever σῴζω occurs in James, given the same verb spans both senses within eleven verses of chapter 5.
Religion True
Approved rendering: ধর্ম
Transliteration: dhormo
Doctrine: True Religion and the Law of Liberty
Rejected alternatives: দ্বীন
James 1:26-27’s θρησκεία — the ONE deliberate exception in this curriculum where ধর্ম is the correct, not the forbidden, rendering, because θρησκεία genuinely denotes ‘religious observance/practice,’ a different question than δικαιοσύνη’s ‘right standing before God.’ MANDATORY note at every occurrence stating this does not countermand the baseline’s righteousness/ধর্ম prohibition. Reject দ্বীন, the Islamic total-way-of-life-under-Sharia term, which imports a legal-submission framework foreign to James’s sense.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: পুনরুত্থান
Transliteration: punorutthan
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Rejected alternatives: পুনর্জন্ম, পুনর্জীবন
Inherited from Romans package. Must NEVER be used for James 5:15’s ‘the Lord will raise him up’ (recovery from illness, not resurrection from death) — see raise_up_healing entry for the required contrasting term.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: ধার্মিকতা
Transliteration: dharmikota
Doctrine: Justification: Evidential Vindication (James) vs. Forensic Declaration (Romans)
Rejected alternatives: ধর্ম, পুণ্য, ন্যায়
Inherited from Romans package. NEVER ধর্ম, except the single deliberate exception scoped to θρησκεία/‘religion’ (see religion_true entry), which does not countermand this rule.
Salvation Soul From Death
Approved rendering: পরিত্রাণ দেবে
Transliteration: poritran debe
Doctrine: Physical Healing versus Eternal Salvation
James 5:20’s fully soteriological σῴζω (‘will save his soul from death’), reinstating the পরিত্রাণ family after 5:15’s physical-healing sense. Both occurrences within the same chapter must be flagged together in a single consolidated theologian-reviewed note.
Salvation
Approved rendering: পরিত্রাণ
Transliteration: poritran
Doctrine: Physical Healing versus Eternal Salvation
Rejected alternatives: মুক্তি, মোক্ষ, নাজাত
Inherited from Romans package. Must be carefully distinguished from James 5:15’s physical-healing sense of σῴζω — see physical_healing_save and save_soul_from_death entries.
Temptation
Approved rendering: প্রলোভন
Transliteration: prolobhon
Doctrine: Temptation and the Source of Sin
Rejected alternatives: পরীক্ষা (in this sense)
James 1:13-14. Must NEVER be rendered পরীক্ষা (the trial sense of the identical Greek lemma used three verses earlier) — doing so would collapse James’s careful point that God tempts no one to sin. Mandatory translator note distinguishing the two Bengali words for one Greek lemma.
Works
Approved rendering: কাজ
Transliteration: kaj
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: কর্ম
NEVER কর্ম — saturated with the Hindu karma doctrine of deeds accruing merit/demerit across rebirths, the theological inverse of James’s fruit-not-cause argument (works are the necessary fruit of genuine faith, not a means of earning standing). Mandatory translator note tying কাজ back to বিশ্বাস as fruit-to-root at every occurrence in James 2.
High Risk Terms
Anointing With Oil
Approved rendering: তেল মাখানো
Transliteration: tel makhano
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Rejected alternatives: অভিষেক (as primary rendering)
James 5:14’s ἀλείψαντες αὐτὸν ἐλαίῳ. Explicitly reject অভিষেক as the default — the standard Bengali term for Hindu ritual deity-anointing (Durga Puja register) and for messianic/royal anointing, risking a magical or sacramental reading. Use the plain descriptive phrase, with a mandatory note that healing is attributed to ‘the prayer of faith’ (v.15), not the oil.
Called
Approved rendering: আহুত
Transliteration: ahuto
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: আমন্ত্রিত, নিমন্ত্রিত
Inherited from Romans package. James 2:23’s ‘he was called a friend of God’ is a divine designation-by-calling, consistent with the baseline’s context-sensitivity note for this word-family.
Calling
Approved rendering: আহ্বান
Transliteration: ahban
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Inherited from Romans package. Retained for cross-document consistency of the calling word-family; less prominent in James’s own text than in Romans.
Completed By Works
Approved rendering: পরিপূর্ণ হয়েছিল
Transliteration: poripurno hoyechilo
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: সিদ্ধ হয়েছিল
James 2:22’s ἐτελειώθη. Reject সিদ্ধ throughout the τέλειος word-family — a major Bengali Hindu/yogic term for a spiritually perfected ‘siddha’ being with supernatural attainment. Faith’s maturity, not existence, is completed by works.
Confess Sins To One Another
Approved rendering: পরস্পর পাপ স্বীকার করা
Transliteration: porospor pap shikar kora
Doctrine: Confession and Restoration
James 5:16’s ἐξομολογεῖσθε ἀλλήλοις τὰς ἁμαρτίας. Requires a note distinguishing mutual, horizontal believer-to-believer confession from sacramental auricular confession to a priest (Catholic/Orthodox) and from Islamic tawbah (repentance directed to Allah alone, without a horizontal-confession structure).
Cooperated With Works
Approved rendering: একসাথে কাজ করেছিল
Transliteration: eksathe kaj korechilo
Doctrine: Faith and Works
James 2:22’s συνήργει. Must not imply works causally contribute to the initial forensic justification (would contradict the Romans baseline’s grace-not-merit doctrine); the cooperative sense is fruit displaying root, not partial-payment soteriology.
Demonic Wisdom
Approved rendering: ভূতুড়ে প্রকৃতির
Transliteration: bhuture prokritir
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
Rejected alternatives: জিন-প্রকৃতির, অপদেবতা-প্রকৃতির
James 3:15’s δαιμονιώδης, the most severe qualifier for false wisdom. Reuses the ভূত root with the same collision considerations as the demons entry (rejecting জিন’s ambiguous morality and অপদেবতা’s pantheon implication).
Demons
Approved rendering: ভূত
Transliteration: bhoot
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: জিন, অপদেবতা
Reject জিন (Islamic-idiom term for spirits of ambiguous, sometimes pious, moral status — blunts James’s point they are wholly malevolent and condemned) and অপদেবতা (risks a Hindu minor-pantheon placement). ভূত matches established Bengali Gospel demon-possession usage.
Desire Lust
Approved rendering: কুবাসনা
Transliteration: kubasona
Doctrine: Temptation and the Source of Sin
Rejected alternatives: কামনা (bare, unqualified)
James 1:14-15’s ἐπιθυμία. Plain কামনা risks resonance with the Hindu Kāma (legitimate desire/pleasure, one of the four puruṣārthas, and the god Kāmadeva); a qualifier (কু-/মন্দ) must always accompany this noun in the sinful sense.
Endurance
Approved rendering: সহিষ্ণুতা
Transliteration: sohishnuta
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
James 1:3-4, 1:12; 5:11 (Job)‘s ὑπομονή. Must be kept lexically distinct from μακροθυμία (‘patience,’ James 5:7-8, 10 — see patience_makrothymia); সহিষ্ণুতা is reserved for active endurance under pressure.
Enmity With God
Approved rendering: ঈশ্বরের সাথে শত্রুতা
Transliteration: Ishshorer shathe shotruta
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
James 4:4’s ἔχθρα τοῦ θεοῦ — active hostility toward God, the consequence of worldly friendship. Must not be softened to mere ‘distance from God.‘
Faith
Approved rendering: বিশ্বাস
Transliteration: bishwas
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: ঈমান, শ্রদ্ধা
Inherited from Romans package. In James 2:14-26 the identical Bengali word must carry both a counterfeit/inert professed faith and genuine living faith — disambiguated by context and mandatory translator notes, never by a different noun.
Father Of Lights
Approved rendering: জ্যোতির্গণের পিতা
Transliteration: Jyotirganer Pita
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Rejected alternatives: আলোর দেবতা
James 1:17. Revives the Romans baseline’s glory/light-deity collision risk (তেজ/জ্যোতি rejected for δόξα on Shakta-Hindu divine-radiance grounds) in a new compound. Must never be rendered as a light-deity (আলোর দেবতা); note that God is Creator/source of light, not a radiant light-deity himself.
Favoritism
Approved rendering: পক্ষপাতিত্ব
Transliteration: pokkhopatittwo
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
James 2:1-9’s προσωπολημψία. Directly confronts residual caste-consciousness among Hindu-background believers and communal/class distinctions in Bangladeshi society, paralleling the Romans baseline’s universal_scope_of_gospel and unity_of_jews_and_gentiles risk profile. Route through human theologian review.
Friend Of God
Approved rendering: ঈশ্বরের মিত্র
Transliteration: Ishshorer mitro
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: ঈশ্বরের বন্ধু, আল্লাহর ওলি
James 2:23’s φίλος θεοῦ, Abraham’s unique honorific. Both মিত্র and বন্ধু risk collision with the Sufi Islamic wali Allah concept (a specially sanctified saintly-intercessor class); মিত্র (formal ‘ally/confidant’) is chosen to reduce overlap, but a mandatory translator/theologian note is required regardless of final word choice, clarifying every believer — not a separate saintly class — may attain this status.
Friendship With World
Approved rendering: জগতের সাথে মিত্রতা
Transliteration: jagoter shathe mitrota
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
James 4:4’s φιλία τοῦ κόσμου, a deliberate structural echo of and antithesis to φίλος θεοῦ (‘friend of God,’ 2:23). Must share the মিত্র/মিত্রতা root with friend_of_god so Bengali readers perceive the literary antithesis.
Glory
Approved rendering: মহিমা
Transliteration: mohima
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Rejected alternatives: জ্যোতি, তেজ
Inherited from Romans package. ‘Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory’ (James 2:1) — see lord_of_glory compound entry.
Grace
Approved rendering: অনুগ্রহ
Transliteration: anugroho
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Rejected alternatives: কৃপা, পুণ্য, ভাগ্য
Inherited from Romans package. James 4:6 quotes Proverbs 3:34, ‘God gives grace to the humble’ — reinforces grace-humility, not grace-merit.
Holy
Approved rendering: পবিত্র
Transliteration: pobitro
Doctrine: True Religion and the Law of Liberty
Rejected alternatives: শুচি, নির্মল
Inherited from Romans package. Underlies James 1:27’s ‘pure and undefiled religion’ framing; no standalone ‘holy’ occurrence in the core passage.
Law Of Liberty
Approved rendering: স্বাধীনতার ব্যবস্থা
Transliteration: shadhinotar bebostha
Doctrine: True Religion and the Law of Liberty
Rejected alternatives: রাজকীয় ব্যবস্থা (secondary, acceptable for νόμος βασιλικός)
James 1:25; 2:8, 12’s νόμος ἐλευθερίας/βασιλικός. Combines the baseline’s ব্যবস্থা with a qualifying phrase; mandatory note distinguishing this Spirit-empowered-love sense from the ceremonial/Mosaic legal-code sense of ব্যবস্থা elsewhere, to prevent readers concluding James reintroduces law-keeping as the ground of salvation.
Law
Approved rendering: ব্যবস্থা
Transliteration: bebostha
Doctrine: True Religion and the Law of Liberty
Rejected alternatives: ধর্ম, শরিয়ত, নিয়ম
Inherited from Romans package. Used in James in compound phrases (‘law of liberty,’ ‘royal law,’ ‘lawgiver’) requiring qualifying notes — see law_of_liberty and lawgiver entries.
Likeness Of God
Approved rendering: ঈশ্বরের সাদৃশ্যে
Transliteration: Ishshorer sadrishye
Doctrine: Taming the Tongue
Rejected alternatives: প্রতিমা, প্রতিমূর্তি
James 3:9’s καθ’ ὁμοίωσιν θεοῦ, grounding the prohibition on cursing others. Reject প্রতিমা/প্রতিমূর্তি — the standard Bengali terms for a Hindu deity’s ritual idol/statue (central to Durga Puja worship). সাদৃশ্য (‘resemblance’) avoids implying humans are idol-representations of God.
Lord Of Hosts
Approved rendering: বাহিনীগণের প্রভু
Transliteration: Bahiniganer Provu
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Rejected alternatives: সর্বশক্তিমান প্রভু (secondary, acceptable), শক্তি-root compounds
James 5:4’s Κύριος Σαβαώθ. Must avoid শক্তি-based renderings of ‘hosts/might’ per the baseline’s power-of-God convention, given Bengal’s Shakta Hindu goddess-power associations; বাহিনীগণের প্রভু is the primary recommended rendering.
One God Confession
Approved rendering: ঈশ্বর একজন
Transliteration: Ishshor ekjon
Doctrine: Faith and Works
James 2:19’s εἷς θεός, held up as necessary but wholly insufficient since even demons hold it. Closely parallels the Islamic tawhid confession; mandatory note that correct monotheistic belief without transforming trust and obedience is spiritually worthless, independently reinforcing the baseline’s rejection of ঈমান for ‘faith.‘
Patience Makrothymia
Approved rendering: ধৈর্য
Transliteration: dhoirjo
Doctrine: Patience and the Lord’s Return
James 5:7-8, 10’s μακροθυμία — patient, expectant waiting (agricultural harvest metaphor). Must be kept lexically distinct from ὑπομονή/সহিষ্ণুতা (active endurance under pressure).
Perfect Mature
Approved rendering: পরিপূর্ণ
Transliteration: poripurno
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Rejected alternatives: সিদ্ধ
James 1:4, 1:17, 1:25, 3:2’s τέλειος. Reject সিদ্ধ — a major Bengali Hindu/yogic term for a spiritually perfected ‘siddha’ being with supernatural attainment. পরিপূর্ণ conveys maturity/completeness, not sinless or supernatural perfection.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: ঈশ্বরের সামর্থ্য
Transliteration: Ishshorer shamorthyo
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Rejected alternatives: শক্তি
Inherited from Romans package. Its শক্তি-avoidance convention is extended by analogy to James’s ‘Lord of hosts’ (5:4) and ‘effective prayer’ (5:16) — see lord_of_hosts and effective_prayer entries.
Prayer Of Faith
Approved rendering: বিশ্বাসের প্রার্থনা
Transliteration: bishwasher prarthona
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
James 5:15’s εὐχὴ τῆς πίστεως. Reuses baseline বিশ্বাস. Faith, not the oil or ritual, must remain explicitly the efficacious element.
Providence
Approved rendering: ঈশ্বরের পরিচালনা
Transliteration: Ishshorer porichalona
Doctrine: Patience and the Lord’s Return
Rejected alternatives: ভাগ্য, নিয়তি
Inherited from Romans package. Underlies James 4:15’s contingency formula, though James’s own text is rendered with the shorter প্রভুর ইচ্ছা phrase — see lords_will entry.
Raise Up Healing
Approved rendering: সুস্থ করে উঠাবেন
Transliteration: sustho kore uthaben
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Rejected alternatives: পুনরুত্থান
James 5:15’s ἐγερεῖ αὐτὸν ὁ κύριος — restoration to bodily strength, NOT resurrection from death. Must never substitute the baseline’s Critical resurrection term পুনরুত্থান.
Sin
Approved rendering: পাপ
Transliteration: pap
Doctrine: Temptation and the Source of Sin
Rejected alternatives: অধর্ম, অশুচিতা
Inherited from Romans package. Consistent across James 1:14-15’s temptation-desire-sin chain and 5:15-16, 20’s confession/forgiveness passages.
Soulish Wisdom
Approved rendering: প্রাণিক
Transliteration: pranik
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
James 3:15’s ψυχική. No settled Bengali Bible precedent — a genuine missing-vocabulary gap. Requires a mandatory explanatory gloss at every occurrence: ‘প্রাণিক (অর্থাৎ কেবল মানবিক প্রকৃতি থেকে উৎপন্ন, আত্মিক নয়)’ — never a bare single word.
Spirit Anthropological
Approved rendering: আত্মা
Transliteration: attha
Doctrine: Faith and Works
James 2:26’s πνεῦμα — the human life-breath/animating spirit, a natural-anthropological sense, NOT the Holy Spirit. Bengali আত্মা shares the same root as the baseline’s পবিত্র আত্মা (Holy Spirit); mandatory note preventing a reader from conflating ‘the Holy Spirit leaving a body’ with ‘the life-breath leaving a body.‘
Tongue
Approved rendering: জিহ্বা
Transliteration: jihba
Doctrine: Taming the Tongue
Rejected alternatives: ভাষা (as a substitute mid-chapter)
James 3’s γλῶσσα, the chapter’s central image. Must not vary between জিহ্বা and ভাষা (‘language/speech’) within chapter 3 — consistency is the primary risk, not lexical ambiguity.
Trial
Approved rendering: পরীক্ষা
Transliteration: porikkha
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Rejected alternatives: প্রলোভন (in this sense)
James 1:2, 1:12. Same Greek lemma as ‘temptation’ (1:13-14) with opposite moral valence three verses later; consistent contextual disambiguation into two different Bengali words is essential, not merely preferred.
Wisdom From Above
Approved rendering: ঊর্ধ্ব থেকে আসা প্রজ্ঞা
Transliteration: urdhho theke asha progya
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
James 3:15, 17’s σοφία ἄνωθεν, positive counterpart to earthly/demonic wisdom. Reuses প্রজ্ঞা.
Wisdom
Approved rendering: প্রজ্ঞা
Transliteration: progya
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
Rejected alternatives: জ্ঞান
James 1:5’s σοφία. Reject জ্ঞান — carries strong Hindu jñāna-mārga (‘path of knowledge’ toward liberation/moksha) associations. প্রজ্ঞা isolates biblical practical, relational, God-given discernment without importing a liberation-through-knowledge soteriology; always framed as given (1:5, ‘ask God’), never self-attained.
World
Approved rendering: জগৎ
Transliteration: jagat
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Rejected alternatives: সংসার
Book-wide standard for κόσμος (James 1:27; 4:4). Reject সংসার — denotes ordinary householder/domestic life and, in Hindu religious usage, the cycle of worldly existence ascetics renounce for moksha; জগৎ avoids implying believers must renounce ordinary family/social life itself.
Medium Risk Terms
Abraham
Approved rendering: অব্রাহাম
Transliteration: Abraham
Doctrine: Faith and Works
James 2:21-23’s Ἀβραάμ. Established Bengali Bible proper-name form. Requires a study note explaining the two-episode chronology (Genesis 15 vs. Genesis 22) so readers do not conclude James and Paul cite contradictory events.
Adulterous Spiritual
Approved rendering: ব্যভিচারিণী
Transliteration: bebhicharini
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
James 4:4’s μοιχαλίδες, an OT-prophetic metaphor for spiritual unfaithfulness. Requires a note clarifying this is a spiritual metaphor, not a literal accusation, given generally low OT-narrative literacy in the target audience.
Altar
Approved rendering: বেদি
Transliteration: bedi
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: যজ্ঞবেদি
James 2:21’s θυσιαστήριον, the Isaac-binding altar. Prefer plain established বেদি; reject the যজ্ঞ- prefix, a specifically Vedic Hindu sacrificial-ritual term.
Assembly Synagogue
Approved rendering: সভা
Transliteration: shobha
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Rejected alternatives: সিনাগগ (transliteration), উপাসনালয়
James 2:2’s συναγωγή — an unusually Jewish-flavored word for the Christian congregation, reflecting the letter’s Jewish-Christian original readership. Avoid implying a literal, distinct Jewish synagogue building.
Bridle Control
Approved rendering: নিয়ন্ত্রণ করা
Transliteration: niyontron kora
Doctrine: Taming the Tongue
James 1:26; 3:2-3’s χαλιναγωγέω — to restrain/govern, as with a horse’s bit.
Church
Approved rendering: মণ্ডলী
Transliteration: mondoli
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Rejected alternatives: মন্দির, গির্জা
Inherited from Romans package. ‘Elders of the church’ (James 5:14).
Cover Multitude Of Sins
Approved rendering: পাপের বাহুল্য ঢেকে দেবে
Transliteration: paper bahulyo dheke debe
Doctrine: Confession and Restoration
James 5:20’s καλύψει πλῆθος ἁμαρτιῶν. Family resemblance to, without identity with, Christ-alone atonement/propitiation (Romans 3:25 baseline); note required preventing the implication that restoring a sinner itself accomplishes atonement.
Devil
Approved rendering: শয়তান
Transliteration: shoytan
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
James 4:7’s διάβολος. A term shared across Bengali Hindu, Muslim, and Christian usage in broadly compatible ways; comparatively low collision risk.
Doer Of The Word
Approved rendering: বচন পালনকারী
Transliteration: bochon palonkari
Doctrine: True Religion and the Law of Liberty
James 1:22-25’s ποιητὴς λόγου, contrasted with a hearer only — foreshadows the faith-and-works argument of 2:14-26.
Earthly Wisdom
Approved rendering: পার্থিব
Transliteration: parthibo
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
James 3:15’s ἐπίγειος — belonging to this world/order, opposed to heavenly wisdom.
Effective Prayer
Approved rendering: ফলপ্রসূ
Transliteration: folprosu
Doctrine: Effective Prayer of the Righteous
Rejected alternatives: শক্তিশালী, প্রভাবশালী (শক্তি-root)
James 5:16’s ἰσχύει. Applies the baseline’s power-of-God শক্তি-avoidance convention by analogy: use ফলপ্রসূ/সামর্থ্যবান, never a শক্তি-based compound.
Elders
Approved rendering: মণ্ডলীর প্রাচীনগণ
Transliteration: Mondolir prachingon
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Rejected alternatives: বৃদ্ধ (generic old age)
James 5:14’s πρεσβύτεροι τῆς ἐκκλησίας — recognized church officeholders, not merely elderly persons. Must be distinguished from shrine-based folk healing specialists (a pir’s tomb or a Hindu holy man), per the Romans baseline’s prayer_and_intercession doctrine.
Forgiveness Specific Sins
Approved rendering: ক্ষমা করা হবে
Transliteration: khoma kora hobe
Doctrine: Confession and Restoration
James 5:15’s ἀφεθήσεται αὐτῷ. Correctly and sufficiently rendered ক্ষমা alone here (unlike the baseline’s warning against abbreviating ‘justification’ to bare ক্ষমা) since this concerns ordinary forgiveness of particular sins, not forensic justification.
Fulfilled Scripture Character Sense
Approved rendering: শাস্ত্র পূর্ণ হল
Transliteration: shastro purno holo
Doctrine: Faith and Works
James 2:23’s ἐπληρώθη ἡ γραφή — a prior scriptural statement fulfilled by character-consistency, not predictive prophecy. Requires a note distinguishing this from the Romans baseline’s fulfillment_of_prophecy doctrine (messianic OT promise fulfilled in Christ).
Heirs Of Kingdom
Approved rendering: রাজ্যের উত্তরাধিকারী
Transliteration: rajyer uttoradhikari
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
James 2:5’s κληρονόμους τῆς βασιλείας. Echoes the Romans baseline’s adoption/inheritance-rights emphasis (দত্তকপুত্রতা entry) — full, not lesser, heirship for the poor.
Implanted Word
Approved rendering: অন্তরে রোপিত বচন
Transliteration: ontore ropito bochon
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
James 1:21’s ἔμφυτος λόγος — the gospel word received in humility, taking root within a believer, with power to save the soul.
Jealousy Selfish Ambition
Approved rendering: ঈর্ষা
Transliteration: irsha
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
James 3:14, 16’s ζῆλος/ἐριθεία — envy and self-promoting strife, the fruit of earthly/demonic wisdom.
Judge
Approved rendering: বিচারক
Transliteration: bicharok
Doctrine: Patience and the Lord’s Return
James 5:9’s κριτής — ‘the Judge is standing at the door,’ imminent eschatological accountability. Eschatological weight should not be lost in translation.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: ঈশ্বরের রাজ্য
Transliteration: Ishshorer Rajyo
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Rejected alternatives: ঈশ্বরের দেশ
Inherited from Romans package. ‘Heirs of the kingdom’ (James 2:5).
Lawgiver
Approved rendering: ব্যবস্থাদাতা
Transliteration: bebosthadata
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
James 4:11-12’s νομοθέτης — God alone, as sole lawgiver and judge, reserves the right to judge. Reuses the baseline’s ব্যবস্থা root.
Lords Will
Approved rendering: প্রভুর ইচ্ছা
Transliteration: Provur Iccha
Doctrine: Patience and the Lord’s Return
Rejected alternatives: আল্লাহর ইচ্ছায়
James 4:15’s ‘if the Lord wills.’ Structurally close to the Bengali Muslim devotional expression ইনশাআল্লাহ; theologically compatible content (creaturely submission to divine sovereignty), but requires native-speaker judgment on phrasing so it reads as James’s own idiom, not an unframed borrowing of Islamic devotional convention.
Mercy
Approved rendering: দয়া
Transliteration: doya
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Rejected alternatives: কৃপা
James 2:13’s ἔλεος. Kept distinct from the baseline’s অনুগ্রহ (grace, unmerited favor toward the guilty); দয়া (a more common, less loaded term than কৃপা) denotes compassion toward the suffering/needy, avoiding inadvertent triggering of soteriological grace-vs-merit warnings.
Messengers Spies
Approved rendering: গুপ্তচর
Transliteration: guptochor
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: দূত
James 2:25’s τοὺς ἀγγέλους — the two human Israelite spies (Joshua 2), NOT heavenly angels. দূত overwhelmingly signals a heavenly angelic messenger in established Bengali Bible usage and risks implying Rahab sheltered angels.
Oaths
Approved rendering: শপথ করা
Transliteration: shopoth kora
Doctrine: Truthful Speech and Oaths
James 5:12’s ὀμνύναι, echoing Matthew 5:33-37. Cross-check against any Gospels curriculum material for consistency; sits in tension with Bengali social/legal oath-taking custom (court oaths, marriage vows), requiring pastoral framing rather than a lexical fix.
Peace
Approved rendering: শান্তি
Transliteration: shanti
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
Rejected alternatives: সুখ, স্বস্তি
Inherited from Romans package. James 2:15-16 (‘go in peace,’ used ironically) and 3:18 (‘peacemakers’ — see peacemakers entry).
Pleasure
Approved rendering: ভোগবিলাসের কামনা
Transliteration: vogobilasher kamona
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
James 4:1, 3’s ἡδονή. Loose resonance with the Hindu puruṣārtha of kāma (legitimate pleasure-seeking); the qualifier ভোগবিলাসের marks this as disordered, self-consuming pleasure-seeking.
Poor Rich
Approved rendering: দরিদ্র / ধনী
Transliteration: doridro / dhoni
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
James 1:9-11; 2:1-6; 5:1-6’s πτωχός/πλούσιος. Socially loaded; must be rendered consistently across chapters 1, 2, and 5.
Prostitute
Approved rendering: বেশ্যা
Transliteration: besh’ya
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: সেই নারী (euphemism)
James 2:25’s πόρνη. Blunt, established Bengali Bible term. No euphemism should soften the deliberate social provocation of pairing a revered patriarch with a socially marginal Gentile prostitute — the point about universal accessibility of grace depends on it.
Rahab
Approved rendering: রাহাব
Transliteration: Rahab
Doctrine: Faith and Works
James 2:25’s Ῥαάβ, the Gentile woman who sheltered Israelite spies (Joshua 2), deliberately paired with Abraham as James’s second faith-and-works example.
Show Prove
Approved rendering: প্রমাণ কর
Transliteration: proman koro
Doctrine: Faith and Works
James 2:18’s governing verb δείκνυμι. Prefer প্রমাণ কর (‘prove’) over a purely visual ‘show’ verb, retaining the evidentiary/legal-proof nuance paralleling ধার্মিক বলে গণ্য হওয়া’s forensic register.
Sick Illness
Approved rendering: অসুস্থ
Transliteration: ashustho
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
James 5:14’s ἀσθενεῖ — the occasion for the anointing/prayer instruction, foundational for the whole pericope.
Submit To God
Approved rendering: বশীভূত হও
Transliteration: bashibhuto hou
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
James 4:7’s ὑποτάγητε (τῷ θεῷ). The semantic core closely parallels the root sense of ‘Islam’ (submission, from aslama) — a genuine, theologically compatible point of contact, not a collision to fence away. Flag for native-speaker review of connotation/framing rather than silently smoothing it over.
Testing Genuineness
Approved rendering: পরীক্ষিত বিশ্বাস
Transliteration: porikkhito bishwas
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
James 1:3’s δοκίμιον — the process/product of trials proving faith authentic, like refined metal.
Turn Back Restore
Approved rendering: ফিরিয়ে আনা
Transliteration: firiye ana
Doctrine: Confession and Restoration
James 5:19-20’s πλανηθῇ/ἐπιστρέψῃ. Pastoral-restoration emphasis must not be lost to a purely disciplinary/punitive tone.
Word Of Truth
Approved rendering: সত্যের বচন
Transliteration: shotyer bochon
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
James 1:18’s λόγος ἀληθείας — the gospel by which believers were ‘brought forth,’ echoing new-birth imagery.
Low Risk Terms
Benefit Profit
Approved rendering: লাভ
Transliteration: labh
Doctrine: Faith and Works
James 2:14, 16’s ὄφελος. Purely rhetorical opening term, no doctrinal collision.
Body Anthropological
Approved rendering: শরীর
Transliteration: sharir
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: দেহ
James 2:26’s σῶμα, paralleled with ‘works’ in the body/spirit analogy for dead faith.
Elijah
Approved rendering: এলিয়
Transliteration: Eliyo
Doctrine: Effective Prayer of the Righteous
James 5:17-18’s Ἠλίας. Established Bengali Bible proper-name form; presumes OT literacy generally lacking in the target audience.
Example Job
Approved rendering: উদাহরণ / ইয়োব
Transliteration: udahoron / Iyob
Doctrine: Patience and the Lord’s Return
James 5:10-11’s ὑπόδειγμα and Job’s proper name. Established Bengali Bible proper-name form ইয়োব; presumes OT narrative literacy the target audience generally lacks — background note recommended.
Gift
Approved rendering: দান
Transliteration: dan
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Rejected alternatives: উপহার
James 1:17’s δόσις/δώρημα — every good/perfect gift from God’s generous character.
James Book Title
Approved rendering: যাকোব
Transliteration: Jakob
Doctrine: (book title / citation convention)
Rejected alternatives: জাকোব
Established Bengali Bible form for the author/book name James, used in citation prose (e.g., যাকোব ২:১৪-২৬). See analysis/12_ai_translation_requirements.md for full citation conventions.
Orphans Widows
Approved rendering: অনাথ ও বিধবা
Transliteration: anath o bidhoba
Doctrine: True Religion and the Law of Liberty
James 1:27’s ὀρφανοὺς καὶ χήρας — the concrete definition of pure religion.
Peacemakers
Approved rendering: শান্তি স্থাপনকারী
Transliteration: shanti sthaponkari
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
James 3:18’s εἰρηνοποιῶν. Reuses the baseline’s শান্তি.
Prophet
Approved rendering: ভাববাদী
Transliteration: bhabbadi
Doctrine: Patience and the Lord’s Return
Rejected alternatives: জ্যোতিষী
Inherited from Romans package. ‘The prophets’ as examples of patient suffering (James 5:10).
Teacher
Approved rendering: শিক্ষক
Transliteration: shikkhok
Doctrine: Truthful Speech and Oaths
James 3:1’s διδάσκαλος — one who instructs authoritatively within the church, subject to heightened accountability.
Referenced passages