Core Glossary
Core Glossary: Judges (English → Bengali)
| # | Term (English) | Hebrew (translit.) | LXX Greek (translit.) | Bengali Rendering | Transliteration | Risk | Doctrine | Chapters | Status | Notes / Rejected Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LORD (YHWH, covenant name) | יהוה (YHWH) | κύριος (kyrios) | সদাপ্রভু | Sadaprobhu | Critical | The Cycle of Sin, Judgment, and Deliverance; all doctrines | all | NEW | Must be kept fully distinct from the baseline’s প্রভু (reserved for κύριος as applied to Jesus’s exclusive Lordship, Romans 10:9). LXX collapses YHWH and adonai into one Greek word, but Bengali Bible tradition — and this curriculum — preserves the Hebrew’s distinction: সদাপ্রভু = the covenant name YHWH; প্রভু = generic “Lord” / NT title. Never interchange. |
| 2 | Lord (generic/Adonai) | אֲדֹנָי (Adonai) | κύριος | প্রভু | Provu | Critical | Lordship of Christ (cross-ref only) | — | REUSE | From baseline TM exactly; used only where the Hebrew has adonai/a generic honorific, not the Tetragrammaton. |
| 3 | God | אֱלֹהִים (Elohim) | θεός | ঈশ্বর | Ishshor | Critical | Deity/God | all | REUSE | Baseline TM exactly. |
| 4 | other gods / false gods | אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים | θεοὶ ἕτεροι | অন্য দেবতা(রা) | onyo debota | High | Apostasy and Covenant Unfaithfulness | 2, 6, 8, 10, 17, 18 | NEW | দেবতা deliberately reserved for FALSE gods only, to keep ঈশ্বর exclusive to the true God. Must never be used of YHWH. |
| 5 | idol / carved image / molten image | פֶּסֶל, מַסֵּכָה | γλυπτόν, χωνευτόν | মূর্তি / প্রতিমা | murti / protima | High | Apostasy and Covenant Unfaithfulness; Moral Decline | 17, 18 | NEW | Common Bengali Hindu devotional-image vocabulary; use consistently in explicitly condemnatory contexts, paired with contrastive ঈশ্বর language. |
| 6 | household gods / teraphim | תְּרָפִים | θεραφίν | তেরাফীম / গৃহদেবতা | teraphim / grihodebota | Medium-High | Apostasy and Covenant Unfaithfulness | 17, 18 | NEW | গৃহদেবতা directly names a living Bengali folk-Hindu domestic-deity practice; use with explicit teaching-note framing as a condemned syncretism, not a neutral parallel. |
| 7 | Baal / the Baals | בַּעַל / הַבְּעָלִים | Βααλ / Βααλίμ | বাল / বাল দেবতারা | Bal | Critical | Apostasy and Covenant Unfaithfulness | 2, 3, 6, 8, 10 | NEW | Transliterate as proper name; never translate the literal meaning (“lord/master”), which would collide with প্রভু. |
| 8 | Ashtaroth / Astarte | עַשְׁתָּרוֹת | Ἀσταρώθ | অষ্টারোৎ | Ostarot | Medium-High | Apostasy and Covenant Unfaithfulness | 2, 10 | NEW | Transliterate; no Bengali deity-name substitution. |
| 9 | Dagon | דָּגוֹן | Δαγών | দাগোন | Dagon | Medium | Apostasy and Covenant Unfaithfulness | 16 | NEW | Transliterate; Philistine national god, brief identifying note recommended. |
| 10 | altar | מִזְבֵּחַ | θυσιαστήριον | যজ্ঞবেদি (alt: বেদি) | joggobedi / bedi | Medium-High | Apostasy and Covenant Unfaithfulness | 2, 6 | NEW | যজ্ঞ carries strong Vedic fire-sacrifice associations; consider বেদি alone in idol-altar contexts for lower syncretism risk. Flag for native-speaker review. |
| 11 | Angel of the LORD | מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה | ἄγγελος κυρίου | সদাপ্রভুর দূত | Sadaprobhur doot | Medium-High | Covenant Unfaithfulness; Cycle doctrine | 2, 6, 13 | NEW | Not to be flattened to a generic angelic messenger; this figure speaks with YHWH’s own first-person authority. Translator note on identity recommended. |
| 12 | covenant | בְּרִית | διαθήκη | নিয়ম | niyom | High | Apostasy and Covenant Unfaithfulness | 2 | REUSE | Baseline TM exactly. |
| 13 | sin / evil (in the LORD’s sight) | רַע (בְּעֵינֵי יְהוָה) | πονηρόν (ἐνώπιον κυρίου) | মন্দ (সদাপ্রভুর দৃষ্টিতে) | mondo | High | Universal cycle-trigger; reuses baseline “sin” | 2, 3, 4, 6, 10, 13 | REUSE root term পাপ (baseline); NEW idiom | The recurring idiom “সদাপ্রভুর দৃষ্টিতে যা মন্দ তাই করত” must be rendered identically at every cycle-refrain occurrence. |
| 14 | forsake | עָזַב | ἐγκαταλείπω | পরিত্যাগ করা | porityag kora | High | Apostasy and Covenant Unfaithfulness | 2, 10 | NEW | Relational/marital-covenant abandonment sense; not a neutral “leave.” |
| 15 | play the harlot (spiritual) | זָנָה | ἐκπορνεύω | ব্যভিচার করা | bebhichar kora | High | Apostasy and Covenant Unfaithfulness | 2, 8 | NEW | Preserves the marriage-covenant infidelity metaphor; do not soften to “followed” or “went after.” |
| 16 | wrath / anger of the LORD | אַף / חָרוֹן | ὀργή / θυμός | ক্রোধ | krodh | High | Judgment stage of the Cycle | 2, 3, 10 | NEW | Personal, relational covenant-anger, not impersonal karmic reaction. |
| 17 | sold / gave into the hand of | מָכַר בְּיַד | παρέδωκεν/ἀπέδοτο εἰς χεῖρας | (শত্রুদের) হাতে সমর্পণ করা | shotrur hate shomorpon kora | Medium-High | Judgment stage of the Cycle | 2, 3, 4, 6, 10 | NEW | Prefer সমর্পণ করা (hand over) over literal “sold,” to avoid a jarring commercial-transaction misreading. |
| 18 | distress | צַר | θλῖψις | সংকট / দুর্দশা | shonkot | Low-Medium | Judgment stage of the Cycle | 2, 10 | NEW | Standard term, minor risk. |
| 19 | judge (office) | שֹׁפֵט | κριτής | বিচারকর্তা | bichar-korta | High | Divine Grace through Flawed Deliverers; Absence of a Righteous King | 2, 3-16 (throughout) | NEW | Established Bengali Bible term for the office (judicial + military-deliverer). Avoid শাসক (loses judicial nuance) or নেতা (too generic). |
| 20 | save / deliver (temporal) | יָשַׁע (הוֹשִׁיעַ) | σῴζω | উদ্ধার করা | uddhar kora | Critical | God’s Grace through Flawed Deliverers | 2, 3-16 | NEW | MUST be kept distinct from পরিত্রাণ (baseline, reserved for NT eternal soteriological salvation). Use উদ্ধার for every temporal/national deliverance in Judges; a translator note distinguishing the two, while affirming the typological link, is mandatory. |
| 21 | the LORD was with (him) | וַיהוה עִם | ἦν κύριος μετά | সদাপ্রভু (তাঁর) সাথে ছিলেন | Medium | God’s Grace through Flawed Deliverers | 2, throughout | NEW | Emphasize causal dependence on divine presence, not personal merit. | |
| 22 | relent / be moved to compassion | נִחַם | παρακαλέω/μετεμελήθη | করুণায় বিগলিত হওয়া | korunay bigolito howa | High | God’s Grace through Flawed Deliverers | 2, 10 | NEW | Use করুণা (compassion), not কৃপা or অনুগ্রহ (both reserved elsewhere in the baseline); a distinct relational-mercy term for this specific idiom. |
| 23 | groan | נְאָקָה | στεναγμός | আর্তনাদ | artonad | Low-Medium | Cycle doctrine; Exodus-echo | 2 | NEW | Echoes Exodus 2:24 groaning-under-bondage motif. |
| 24 | know (the LORD) — relational | יָדַע | γινώσκω | জানা (সদাপ্রভুকে) | jana | High | Covenant Unfaithfulness (generational forgetting) | 2 | NEW | Relational/experiential knowing, not mere cognitive fact; distinguish from Hindu jñāna-style gnosis. |
| 25 | inheritance / allotted portion | נַחֲלָה | κληρονομία | অধিকার / উত্তরাধিকার | odhikar | Medium | Covenant land-gift theology | 1, 2 | NEW | Covenant gift, not secular property; do not conflate with baseline’s দত্তকপুত্রতা (adoption/inheritance-rights doctrine), a related but distinct concept. |
| 26 | drive out / dispossess | הוֹרִישׁ | ἐξολεθρεύω | তাড়িয়ে দেওয়া / সম্পূর্ণরূপে দূর করা | High | seedbed for Apostasy doctrine | 1 | NEW | Preserve that the text records repeated FAILURE to do this. | |
| 27 | Spirit of the LORD (empowering) | רוּחַ יְהוָה | πνεῦμα κυρίου | সদাপ্রভুর আত্মা | Sadaprobhur Attha | Critical | The Spirit’s Empowering of Judges | 3, 6, 11, 13, 14, 15 | NEW | Same personal divine Spirit later titled পবিত্র আত্মা in the NT; never শক্তি (forbidden) or any impersonal-power gloss. Multiple distinct verb-images across chapters (came upon / clothed / rushed upon) should be preserved, not flattened. |
| 28 | cry out (to the LORD) | צָעַק | ἀναβοάω | (সদাপ্রভুর কাছে) কাঁদা / আর্তনাদ করা | Medium | Cycle doctrine | 3, 4, 6, 10 | NEW | Consistent with আর্তনাদ (groan) vocabulary at 2:18. | |
| 29 | land had rest | שָׁקְטָה הָאָרֶץ | ἀνεπαύσατο ἡ γῆ | দেশে শান্তি হল | Medium | Cycle doctrine (temporary resolution) | 3, 5, 8 | NEW | শান্তি here = temporal rest from war; MUST be distinguished via translator note from the baseline’s “Peace with God” doctrine (relational/eternal, Romans 5:1), which also uses শান্তি. | |
| 30 | prophetess | נְבִיאָה | προφῆτις | ভাববাদিনী | bhabbadini | Medium | God’s Grace through Flawed/Unlikely Deliverers | 4 | NEW | Feminine form of baseline’s ভাববাদী (prophet); same root, consistent usage. |
| 31 | curse | קָלַל | ἐπικατάρατος | অভিশাপ (দেওয়া) | ovishap | Medium | Communal covenant accountability | 5, 9 | NEW | Solemn covenant-curse register, not casual insult. |
| 32 | king | מֶלֶךְ | βασιλεύς | রাজা | raja | High | Absence of a Righteous King; Need for a Righteous King | 8, 9, 17, 18, 21 | NEW | Doctrinally central: Gideon’s refusal (positive) vs. Abimelech’s usurpation (negative) frame the entire “need for a righteous king” argument; render consistently. |
| 33 | ”the LORD shall rule over you” | וַיהוה יִמְשֹׁל בָּכֶם | κύριος βασιλεύσει ἐν ὑμῖν | সদাপ্রভুই তোমাদের উপর রাজত্ব করবেন | High | Absence of a Righteous King | 8 | NEW | Load-bearing doctrinal clause; render identically wherever quoted in curriculum materials. | |
| 34 | ephod | אֵפוֹד | ἐφούδ | এফোদ | ephod | Medium | God’s Grace through Flawed Deliverers; Covenant Unfaithfulness | 8, 17, 18 | NEW | Transliterate; brief explanatory note needed (priestly object turned idolatrous snare). |
| 35 | parable / fable | מָשָׁל | παραβολή | দৃষ্টান্ত | drishtanto | Medium | Critique of illegitimate kingship | 9 | NEW | Reuse the established Bengali NT-parable term for cross-Testament consistency. |
| 36 | vow | נֶדֶר | εὐχή | মানত (alt. প্রতিজ্ঞা) | manot | High | God’s Grace through Flawed Deliverers | 11 | NEW | মানত is a live Bengali folk-Hindu/Muslim transactional-vow practice (bargain with a deity/pir/shrine); requires a translator note distinguishing Jephthah’s (cautionary, rash) vow to the one true God from folk-transactional vow-making. প্রতিজ্ঞা is a lower-risk alternative. |
| 37 | burnt offering | עֹלָה | ὁλοκαύτωμα | হোমবলি | homboli | Medium | (Sacrificial background) | 11 | NEW | Standard OT sacrificial term; disturbing narrative content requires careful handling. |
| 38 | Nazirite | נָזִיר | ναζιραῖος | নাসরীয় (ব্রতধারী) | nashoriyo | High | The Spirit’s Empowering of Judges; Flawed Deliverers | 13-16 | NEW | Must not be confused with “Nazarene” (নাসরতীয়, of Nazareth — unrelated NT term). God-initiated consecration, not a self-chosen merit-vow. |
| 39 | strength | כֹּחַ | ἰσχύς | সামর্থ্য / বল | shamorthyo / bol | Critical | The Spirit’s Empowering of Judges | 16 | NEW | NEVER শক্তি (forbidden per baseline; special danger here because Samson’s hair invites a “shakti-in-an-object” folk misreading). Mandatory note: power is Spirit-sourced, tied to consecration, not resident in the hair itself. |
| 40 | remember (prayer) | זָכַר | μνήσθητι | স্মরণ করা | shoron kora | Medium | Grace through Flawed Deliverers | 16 | NEW | Standard prayer term; flag as the narrative’s turning point toward dependence on God. |
| 41 | carved image / cast idol | פֶּסֶל / מַסֵּכָה | γλυπτόν / χωνευτόν | মূর্তি / প্রতিমা | murti | High | Moral Decline; Covenant Unfaithfulness | 17, 18 | REUSE (#5) | See entry 5. |
| 42 | ”everyone did what was right in his own eyes” | אִישׁ הַיָּשָׁר בְּעֵינָיו יַעֲשֶׂה | ἀνὴρ τὸ εὐθὲς ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς αὐτοῦ ἐποίει | প্রত্যেকে নিজের চোখে যা ভালো মনে করত তাই করত | High | Absence of a Righteous King; Moral Decline | 17, 21 | NEW | Structural inclusio (17:6 / 21:25); MUST be rendered identically at both occurrences across all curriculum materials — the single highest-priority consistency rule for this book. | |
| 43 | ”there was no king in Israel” | אֵין מֶלֶךְ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל | οὐκ ἦν βασιλεὺς ἐν Ἰσραήλ | সেইসময় ইস্রায়েলে কোনো রাজা ছিল না | High | Absence of a Righteous King | 18, 19 | NEW | Render identically at both occurrences (18:1; 19:1); the narrator’s explicit diagnosis for the moral chaos of the closing chapters. | |
| 44 | concubine | פִּילֶגֶש | παλλακή | উপপত্নী | uppotni | Medium | Moral Decline | 19 | NEW | Culturally sensitive; handle narrative content with care, without softening the text’s own moral horror. |
| 45 | assembly (national, OT) | קָהָל | ἐκκλησία / συναγωγή | সমাজ / সভা | shomaj / shobha | Medium | (Communal unity without righteous leadership) | 20 | NEW | Deliberately distinct from baseline’s মণ্ডলী (reserved for the NT Church doctrine); do not substitute. |
| 46 | Israel | יִשְׂרָאֵל | Ἰσραήλ | ইস্রায়েল | Israel | Medium | Unity/covenant people | all | REUSE | Baseline TM exactly. |
| 47 | holy / set apart | קָדוֹשׁ | ἅγιος | পবিত্র | pobitro | High | (Cross-reference: Nazirite consecration) | 13 | REUSE | Baseline TM exactly; underlies the Nazirite concept of consecration. |
| 48 | glory | כָּבוֹד | δόξα | মহিমা | mohima | High | (Cross-reference: YHWH’s works, 2:7, 2:10) | 2 | REUSE | Baseline TM exactly. |
| 49 | power/capacity (of God, cross-ref) | — | δύναμις | সামর্থ্য | shamorthyo | High | Power of God (cross-ref to Samson’s strength) | 16 | REUSE | Baseline TM exactly; same avoidance of শক্তি applies. |
| 50 | providence / God’s governing | — | πρόνοια | ঈশ্বরের পরিচালনা | Ishshorer porichalona | High | (Cross-reference: God’s sovereign use of flawed deliverers) | 2, 6-16 | REUSE | Baseline TM exactly. |
Risk Summary (Judges-Specific New Terms)
| Risk Tier | Count (New) | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 5 (সদাপ্রভু, উদ্ধার করা, সদাপ্রভুর আত্মা, সামর্থ্য/বল for Samson, বাল) | Human theologian — every occurrence |
| High | 22 | Human theologian |
| Medium-High | 6 | Human theologian (native-speaker consult recommended) |
| Medium | 12 | Native speaker review |
| Low-Medium | 2 | Native speaker review |
| Low | 3 (reused baseline low-risk terms) | Automated review |
Action required before Phase 2: All entries marked NEW above must be appended to translation_memory.json (version increment to v2) and to bible_term_registry.json / doctrine_risk_registry.json equivalents for the Judges curriculum before any segment translation begins, per the Pre-flight Checklist in 12_ai_translation_requirements.md.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: ঈশ্বর
Transliteration: Ishshor
Doctrine: Deity/God
Rejected alternatives: ভগবান, আল্লাহ
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. In Judges, ঈশ্বর must remain reserved exclusively for the one true God and never bleed into দেবতা (reserved for false gods, see other_gods below).
Lord
Approved rendering: প্রভু
Transliteration: Provu
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ (cross-reference only in Judges)
Rejected alternatives: মালিক, ঈশ্বর
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. In Judges this rendering is reserved for the rare cases the Hebrew text has the generic honorific adonai rather than the covenant name YHWH. Must NEVER be interchanged with the new Critical-risk Judges term সদাপ্রভু (lord_yhwh, below), which the LXX collapses into the same Greek κύριος but which Bengali Bible tradition keeps distinct.
Salvation
Approved rendering: পরিত্রাণ
Transliteration: poritran
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: মুক্তি, মোক্ষ, নাজাত
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. CRITICAL for Judges: পরিত্রাণ is reserved exclusively for NT eternal soteriological salvation and must NEVER be used to render any judge’s temporal, national deliverance (see save_deliver_temporal / উদ্ধার করা below). Collapsing the two would teach that the judges accomplish eternal salvation, destroying the book’s own typological argument that Israel still needed a righteous king/ultimate Deliverer.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: পুনরুত্থান
Transliteration: punorutthan
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: পুনর্জন্ম, পুনর্জীবন
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Not directly narrated in Judges, but the forbidden-substitution rule (never পুনর্জন্ম) is carried forward as a language-wide standing rule and remains active anywhere Judges teaching material cross-references the resurrection hope.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: পবিত্র আত্মা
Transliteration: Pobitro Attha
Doctrine: Sanctification / Person of the Spirit
Rejected alternatives: ব্রহ্ম, পরমাত্মা
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Judges introduces the OT designation সদাপ্রভুর আত্মা (spirit_of_the_lord, below) for the same personal, divine Spirit; teaching material must affirm OT-NT continuity between the two Bengali phrases while keeping the phrases themselves distinct (one names the Spirit under the covenant name YHWH; one is the settled NT title).
Lord Yhwh
Approved rendering: সদাপ্রভু
Transliteration: Sadaprobhu
Doctrine: The Cycle of Sin, Judgment, and Deliverance; all doctrines
Rejected alternatives: প্রভু (reserved for adonai/NT usage), ঈশ্বর (too generic)
NEW. The personal covenant name YHWH. The LXX collapses YHWH and adonai into one Greek word (κύριος), but Bengali Bible tradition preserves the Hebrew’s distinction: সদাপ্রভু = the covenant name YHWH; প্রভু = generic ‘lord’/NT title. Never interchange. Used throughout Judges (all chapters) as the primary divine designation.
Baal
Approved rendering: বাল
Transliteration: Bal
Doctrine: Apostasy and Covenant Unfaithfulness; Baal and Ashtaroth Worship
Rejected alternatives: translating the literal meaning ‘lord/master’
NEW. CRITICAL: transliterate as proper name only; never translate the literal meaning (‘lord/master’), which would collide directly with প্রভু and could imply Israel worshipped a form of the true Lord. Central rival cult across chapters 2, 3, 6, 8, 10.
Save Deliver Temporal
Approved rendering: উদ্ধার করা
Transliteration: uddhar kora
Doctrine: God’s Grace through Flawed Deliverers; Temporal Deliverance vs. Eternal Salvation
Rejected alternatives: পরিত্রাণ (reserved for NT eternal salvation)
NEW. CRITICAL: must be kept distinct from পরিত্রাণ. A mandatory translator note distinguishing temporal উদ্ধার (Judges) from eternal পরিত্রাণ (Romans) is required at every occurrence, while affirming the typological link for teaching purposes. Chapters 2, 3-16 throughout.
Strength Koach
Approved rendering: সামর্থ্য / বল
Transliteration: shamorthyo / bol
Doctrine: The Source of Samson’s Strength; The Spirit’s Empowering of Judges
Rejected alternatives: শক্তি (forbidden — Shakta-Hindu goddess-power/talisman association, especially acute given Samson’s hair)
NEW. CRITICAL: NEVER শক্তি. Mandatory translator/teaching note at every occurrence: Samson’s power came from সদাপ্রভুর আত্মা in connection with his covenant consecration, not from his hair as a magical object (16:20). Chapter 16.
Spirit Of The Lord
Approved rendering: সদাপ্রভুর আত্মা
Transliteration: Sadaprobhur Attha
Doctrine: The Spirit’s Empowering of Judges
Rejected alternatives: শক্তি (forbidden), any impersonal-force or ātman/paramātman-style gloss
NEW. The same personal divine Spirit later titled পবিত্র আত্মা in the NT. Distinct Hebrew verb-images across chapters (came upon, 3:10; clothed, 6:34; rushed upon, 14:6/15:14) must be preserved as distinct Bengali verbs, not flattened into one phrase. Chapters 3, 6, 11, 13, 14, 15.
High Risk Terms
Grace
Approved rendering: অনুগ্রহ
Transliteration: anugroho
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: কৃপা, পুণ্য, ভাগ্য
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Reserved for the NT unmerited-favor soteriological doctrine; must NEVER be substituted into Judges narrative material. The related but distinct Judges concept of God’s compassionate response to a suffering, sinning people is instead carried by the new term relent_be_moved_to_compassion (করুণা), which must stay lexically separate from অনুগ্রহ even though both are grace-adjacent.
Holy
Approved rendering: পবিত্র
Transliteration: pobitro
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: শুচি, নির্মল
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. In Judges this underlies the theological background of Nazirite consecration (ch. 13) — set apart for God, not ritual purity in the Hindu shuddhi sense — and must be used consistently with the new term nazirite below.
Sin
Approved rendering: পাপ
Transliteration: pap
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: অধর্ম, অশুচিতা
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Judges reuses this root concept inside the fixed cycle-refrain idiom সদাপ্রভুর দৃষ্টিতে যা মন্দ তাই করত (see sin_evil_in_the_lords_sight below); the refrain must not be compressed to a bare ‘তারা পাপ করল,’ which would lose the idiom’s evaluative, covenantal framing.
Covenant
Approved rendering: নিয়ম
Transliteration: niyom
Doctrine: Apostasy and Covenant Unfaithfulness
Rejected alternatives: চুক্তি, অঙ্গীকার
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. The Mosaic covenant Israel is repeatedly charged with breaking throughout Judges (2:1-3, 2:20, etc.).
Glory
Approved rendering: মহিমা
Transliteration: mohima
Doctrine: Deity of Christ / God’s Mighty Works
Rejected alternatives: জ্যোতি, তেজ
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Cross-referenced at Judges 2:7, 2:10 regarding the great works of YHWH the eyewitness generation saw.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: ঈশ্বরের সামর্থ্য
Transliteration: Ishshorer shamorthyo
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Rejected alternatives: শক্তি
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Same avoidance of শক্তি applies directly to Judges’ strength_koach entry below (Samson); this baseline entry is the cross-reference anchor for that avoidance rule.
Providence
Approved rendering: ঈশ্বরের পরিচালনা
Transliteration: Ishshorer porichalona
Doctrine: Providence
Rejected alternatives: ভাগ্য, নিয়তি
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. God’s personal, purposive governance behind the raising and use of flawed deliverers throughout Judges; never fate (ভাগ্য) or impersonal destiny (নিয়তি).
Other Gods
Approved rendering: অন্য দেবতা
Transliteration: onyo debota
Doctrine: Apostasy and Covenant Unfaithfulness
NEW. দেবতা (a common Bengali word for Hindu/folk deities) is deliberately reserved for FALSE gods only, to keep ঈশ্বর exclusive to the true God; must always appear with অন্য and must never be used of YHWH. Chapters 2, 6, 8, 10, 17, 18.
Idol Carved Or Cast Image
Approved rendering: মূর্তি / প্রতিমা
Transliteration: murti / protima
Doctrine: Moral Decline; Apostasy and Covenant Unfaithfulness
NEW. Common Bengali Hindu devotional-image vocabulary; must always appear in explicitly condemnatory narrative co-text (Micah’s shrine ch.17, the Danite theft ch.18), paired with contrastive ঈশ্বর language, never left as a neutral descriptive term.
Household Gods Teraphim
Approved rendering: তেরাফীম / গৃহদেবতা
Transliteration: teraphim / grihodebota
Doctrine: Apostasy and Covenant Unfaithfulness; Household Idolatry and Syncretism
NEW. গৃহদেবতা directly names a still-living Bengali folk-Hindu domestic-deity practice; mandatory teaching note required at every occurrence explicitly framing this as a condemned syncretism parallel, never a neutral ethnographic aside. Chapters 17-18.
Ashtaroth
Approved rendering: অষ্টারোৎ
Transliteration: Ostarot
Doctrine: Apostasy and Covenant Unfaithfulness; Baal and Ashtaroth Worship
Rejected alternatives: দেবী (goddess, generic)
NEW. Transliterate as a foreign proper name only; never substitute a Bengali goddess name or generic দেবী, which would import unrelated Hindu associations. Chapters 2, 10.
Altar
Approved rendering: যজ্ঞবেদি (alt. বেদি)
Transliteration: joggobedi / bedi
Doctrine: Apostasy and Covenant Unfaithfulness
NEW. যজ্ঞ carries strong Vedic/Hindu fire-sacrifice associations; consider বেদি alone (dropping যজ্ঞ) in idol-altar contexts to reduce syncretism risk. Flagged for native-speaker review before Phase 2. Chapters 2, 6.
Angel Of The Lord
Approved rendering: সদাপ্রভুর দূত
Transliteration: Sadaprobhur doot
Doctrine: The Identity of the Angel of the LORD
Rejected alternatives: দেবদূত (generic angel, flattens identity-ambiguity)
NEW. This figure speaks in the first person as YHWH himself (2:1; 6:11-24; 13:3-21); must not be flattened to a generic angelic messenger without an identity-ambiguity translator note. Chapters 2, 6, 13.
Sin Evil In The Lords Sight
Approved rendering: সদাপ্রভুর দৃষ্টিতে যা মন্দ তাই করত
Transliteration: -
Doctrine: The Cycle of Sin, Judgment, and Deliverance
Rejected alternatives: a bare ‘তারা পাপ করল’ (loses evaluative/covenantal framing)
NEW. Fixed cycle-opening refrain (3:7, 3:12, 4:1, 6:1, 10:6, 13:1); must be rendered identically at every occurrence, not compressed.
Forsake
Approved rendering: পরিত্যাগ করা
Transliteration: porityag kora
Doctrine: Apostasy and Covenant Unfaithfulness
Rejected alternatives: a neutral legal ‘leave’
NEW. Relational/marital-covenant abandonment sense, not a neutral bureaucratic breach-of-terms. Chapters 2, 10.
Play The Harlot Spiritually
Approved rendering: ব্যভিচার করা
Transliteration: bebhichar kora
Doctrine: Apostasy and Covenant Unfaithfulness
Rejected alternatives: তাদের অনুসরণ করল (followed them — flattens the marital-infidelity metaphor)
NEW. Preserves the marriage-covenant infidelity metaphor central to the book’s Apostasy doctrine; must not be softened. Chapters 2, 8.
Wrath Of The Lord
Approved rendering: ক্রোধ
Transliteration: krodh
Doctrine: Divine Judgment through Covenant Wrath
Rejected alternatives: mere ‘displeasure’ (loses covenantal force)
NEW. Personal, relational covenant-anger, not an impersonal karmic reaction. Chapters 2, 3, 10.
Sold Gave Into The Hand Of
Approved rendering: (শত্রুদের) হাতে সমর্পণ করা
Transliteration: shotrur hate shomorpon kora
Doctrine: The Cycle of Sin, Judgment, and Deliverance
Rejected alternatives: বিক্রি করলেন (literal ‘sold’ — jarring commercial misreading)
NEW. Judicial abandonment executed through, not despite, God’s sovereignty. Chapters 2, 3, 4, 6, 10.
Judge Office
Approved rendering: বিচারকর্তা
Transliteration: bichar-korta
Doctrine: God’s Grace through Flawed Deliverers; Absence of a Righteous King
Rejected alternatives: শাসক (loses judicial nuance), নেতা (too generic/secular)
NEW. Established Bengali Bible term for the combined judicial + military-deliverer office. Used throughout chapters 2-16.
Relent Be Moved To Compassion
Approved rendering: করুণায় বিগলিত হওয়া
Transliteration: korunay bigolito howa
Doctrine: God’s Grace through Flawed Deliverers; Exodus Echo and Divine Compassion
Rejected alternatives: কৃপা (reserved, non-soteriological only), অনুগ্রহ (reserved for NT unmerited-favor doctrine)
NEW. করুণা (compassion) is used specifically to keep this relational-mercy sense distinct from both other baseline-reserved terms while still signaling grace-adjacent mercy. Chapters 2, 10.
Know The Lord Relational
Approved rendering: জানা (সদাপ্রভুকে)
Transliteration: jana
Doctrine: Generational Covenant Amnesia
NEW. Relational, experiential knowing, not mere cognitive/factual awareness; distinguish via translator note from Hindu jñāna-style mystical gnosis. Chapter 2 (root cause of the whole Cycle).
Drive Out Dispossess
Approved rendering: তাড়িয়ে দেওয়া / সম্পূর্ণরূপে দূর করা
Transliteration: -
Doctrine: Incomplete Conquest and Partial Obedience
NEW. Must preserve that the text records repeated FAILURE (‘did not drive out’) rather than success; this is the causal seedbed for chapter 2’s apostasy. Chapter 1.
King
Approved rendering: রাজা
Transliteration: raja
Doctrine: The Absence of a Righteous King; Illegitimate Kingship (Abimelech)
NEW. Lexically simple but doctrinally central; Gideon’s refusal (positive, ch.8) versus Abimelech’s usurpation (negative, ch.9) frame the entire argument for the eventual need of a righteous king. Every teaching use should be anchored back to the theocratic clause lord_shall_rule_over_you below. Chapters 8, 9, 17, 18, 21.
Lord Shall Rule Over You
Approved rendering: সদাপ্রভুই তোমাদের উপর রাজত্ব করবেন
Transliteration: -
Doctrine: The Absence of a Righteous King
Rejected alternatives: softening into mere personal modesty on Gideon’s part
NEW. Gideon’s refusal of kingship (8:23); the book’s clearest positive theocratic statement. Must be rendered identically wherever quoted in curriculum materials.
Vow
Approved rendering: মানত (alt. প্রতিজ্ঞা)
Transliteration: manot
Doctrine: Vow-Making and Rash Devotion (Jephthah)
NEW. মানত is a live Bengali folk-Hindu/folk-Muslim transactional-vow practice; mandatory teaching note required distinguishing Jephthah’s rash, theologically uninformed vow to the one true God from folk bargain-vow practice. প্রতিজ্ঞা offered as a lower-risk alternative where context warrants. Chapter 11.
Nazirite
Approved rendering: নাসরীয় (ব্রতধারী)
Transliteration: nashoriyo
Doctrine: Nazirite Consecration
Rejected alternatives: ব্রত alone (implies self-chosen merit-vow)
NEW. Two distinct dangers: (1) confusion with ‘Nazarene’ (নাসরতীয়, unrelated NT geographic term, visually/phonetically similar), (2) assimilation into the Hindu/folk vrat concept. Mandatory note: God-initiated, pre-birth consecration, not self-earned. Chapters 13-16.
Everyone Did Right In Own Eyes
Approved rendering: প্রত্যেকে নিজের চোখে যা ভালো মনে করত তাই করত
Transliteration: -
Doctrine: The Absence of a Righteous King; Moral Decline and the Need for a Righteous King
NEW. Structural inclusio (17:6; 21:25) — MUST be rendered IDENTICALLY at both occurrences across all curriculum materials; the single highest-priority consistency requirement in the whole book.
No King In Israel
Approved rendering: সেইসময় ইস্রায়েলে কোনো রাজা ছিল না
Transliteration: -
Doctrine: The Absence of a Righteous King; Moral Decline
NEW. Render identically at both occurrences (18:1; 19:1); the narrator’s explicit diagnosis for the moral chaos of the closing chapters.
Medium Risk Terms
Israel
Approved rendering: ইস্রায়েল
Transliteration: Israel
Doctrine: Covenant People
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. The collective subject of the Cycle throughout Judges.
Peace
Approved rendering: শান্তি
Transliteration: shanti
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: সুখ, স্বস্তি
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. CRITICAL CROSS-REFERENCE: Judges’ own new term land_had_rest (দেশে শান্তি হল, below) reuses this same Bengali word শান্তি but for a wholly different, temporal/military sense. A mandatory disambiguating translator note is required wherever both senses could appear in the same teaching unit; this baseline entry remains reserved for the relational, eternal ‘peace with God’ doctrine (Romans 5:1) only.
Dagon
Approved rendering: দাগোন
Transliteration: Dagon
Doctrine: Apostasy and Covenant Unfaithfulness
NEW. Transliterate; Philistine national god, site of Samson’s death (ch. 16). No Bengali cultural equivalent, so a brief identifying note suffices.
Distress Under Oppression
Approved rendering: সংকট / দুর্দশা
Transliteration: shonkot / durdosha
Doctrine: The Cycle of Sin, Judgment, and Deliverance
NEW. Standard term for the felt weight of covenant judgment; low syncretism risk. Chapters 2, 10.
The Lord Was With Him
Approved rendering: সদাপ্রভু (তাঁর) সাথে ছিলেন
Transliteration: -
Doctrine: God’s Grace through Flawed Deliverers
NEW. Emphasizes causal dependence on divine presence, not the judge’s personal merit. Chapter 2 and throughout.
Groan Under Oppression
Approved rendering: আর্তনাদ
Transliteration: artonad
Doctrine: Exodus Echo and Divine Compassion
NEW. Echoes Exodus 2:24’s bondage-and-deliverance pattern; keep consistent with any Exodus material elsewhere in the wider curriculum. Chapter 2.
Cry Out To The Lord
Approved rendering: (সদাপ্রভুর কাছে) কাঁদা / আর্তনাদ করা
Transliteration: -
Doctrine: The Cycle of Sin, Judgment, and Deliverance
NEW. Keep vocabulary consistent with আর্তনাদ (groan) at 2:18 so the recurring cycle reads as one coherent pattern. Chapters 3, 4, 6, 10.
Land Had Rest
Approved rendering: দেশে শান্তি হল
Transliteration: -
Doctrine: The Cycle of Sin, Judgment, and Deliverance (temporary resolution)
NEW. IMPORTANT: this শান্তি is temporal rest from war, NOT the baseline’s ‘Peace with God’ doctrine (see peace entry above); a mandatory disambiguating translator note is required wherever both senses could appear in the same unit. Chapters 3, 5, 8.
Inheritance Allotted Portion
Approved rendering: অধিকার / উত্তরাধিকার
Transliteration: odhikar / uttoradhikar
Doctrine: Incomplete Conquest and Partial Obedience
NEW. Covenant-gift land theology; do not conflate in teaching notes with the baseline’s দত্তকপুত্রতা (NT adoption/inheritance-rights doctrine), a related but distinct concept. Chapters 1, 2.
Prophetess
Approved rendering: ভাববাদিনী
Transliteration: bhabbadini
Doctrine: Unlikely Deliverers: Deborah and Jael
NEW. Feminine form of the baseline’s ভাববাদী; must not imply a lesser or unofficial office relative to the masculine form. Chapter 4 (Deborah).
Curse Covenant
Approved rendering: অভিশাপ
Transliteration: ovishap
Doctrine: Covenant Curse and Communal Accountability
NEW. Must retain solemn covenant-curse register, not a casual insult; covenant participation is communal, not merely individual. Chapters 5, 21.
Ephod
Approved rendering: এফোদ
Transliteration: ephod
Doctrine: God’s Grace through Flawed Deliverers; Household Idolatry and Syncretism
NEW. Transliterate; a brief explanatory note is needed (priestly garment/object turned idolatrous snare). Chapters 8, 17, 18.
Parable Mashal
Approved rendering: দৃষ্টান্ত
Transliteration: drishtanto
Doctrine: Illegitimate Kingship (Abimelech)
NEW. Reuses the established Bengali NT-parable term for cross-Testament consistency; Jotham’s parable of the trees (9:7-15).
Burnt Offering
Approved rendering: হোমবলি
Transliteration: homboli
Doctrine: Vow-Making and Rash Devotion (Jephthah)
NEW. Established sacrificial term; flag for careful, non-sensationalized handling given the disturbing narrative content. Chapter 11.
Remember Prayer
Approved rendering: স্মরণ করা
Transliteration: shoron kora
Doctrine: God’s Grace through Flawed Deliverers
NEW. Samson’s final prayer (‘O LORD, remember me,’ 16:28); flag pedagogically as the narrative’s turning point toward dependence on God. Chapter 16.
Concubine
Approved rendering: উপপত্নী
Transliteration: uppotni
Doctrine: Moral and Sexual Chaos at Gibeah
NEW. Culturally sensitive content requiring careful, non-sensationalized, non-euphemistic rendering; the narrator’s own horror (not endorsement) is the deliberate rhetorical point. Chapter 19.
Assembly National
Approved rendering: সমাজ / সভা
Transliteration: shomaj / shobha
Doctrine: Civil War and Communal Breakdown
Rejected alternatives: মণ্ডলী (reserved for the baseline’s NT Church doctrine)
NEW. Israel’s OT national assembly; deliberately distinct from মণ্ডলী and must never be substituted with it. Chapter 20.
Low Risk Terms
Prophet
Approved rendering: ভাববাদী
Transliteration: bhabbadi
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: জ্যোতিষী
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Root form for the new Judges feminine term prophetess (ভাববাদিনী, below); reuse the same root for consistency across genders.
Canaanites
Approved rendering: কেনানীয়
Transliteration: Kena’ani
Doctrine: Incomplete Conquest and Partial Obedience
NEW. Proper ethnonym; transliterate consistently. No significant doctrinal collision. Chapter 1.
Referenced passages