Core Glossary
Numbers — Core Glossary
English → Bengali | Doctrine-Aware Term Reference, Full-Book Coverage
Curriculum: Numbers | Core passage: Numbers 21:4-9
Status: All entries marked “(baseline reuse)” MUST be rendered exactly per translation_memory.json (Romans Language Package). All other entries are new proposed terms for this curriculum, pending formal addition to translation memory before Phase 2 begins.
1. Terms Reused Exactly from the Romans Baseline (No Deviation Permitted)
| # | English Term | Bengali Rendering | Risk | Numbers Occurrences | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | sin | পাপ | High | 21:7; 15; 16; 25; throughout | Direct reuse; anchors “we have sinned” (21:7) |
| 2 | holy | পবিত্র | High | 6; 8; 16; 20:12-13 | Reuse for consecration and “uphold me as holy” |
| 3 | sanctification | পবিত্রীকরণ | High | 3-4; 8 | Reuse for Levitical consecration |
| 4 | faith / believe | বিশ্বাস | High | 14; 20:12 | Root for new term অবিশ্বাস (unbelief) |
| 5 | glory | মহিমা | High | 14:10; 16:19, 42; 20:6 | Reuse for the LORD’s glory appearing at rebellion scenes |
| 6 | covenant | নিয়ম | High | 18:19; 25:12-13 | Reuse for the “covenant of perpetual priesthood” (Phinehas) |
| 7 | intercession | মধ্যস্থতা | High (elevated from Medium in this curriculum) | 14:13-19; 21:7 | Core doctrine term; elevated risk given curriculum focus |
| 8 | providence | ঈশ্বরের পরিচালনা | High | 9-10 (cloud/fire); 21 (victories) | Reuse for guiding cloud/fire and continuing land-promise fulfillment |
| 9 | grace | অনুগ্রহ | High | (typological reference only, 21:8-9) | Used only in doctrinal commentary layer, not base narrative text |
| 10 | salvation | পরিত্রাণ | Critical | (typological reference only, 21:8-9) | NEVER substitute for “live” (חיה) in the base translation; reserve for commentary layer |
| 11 | prophet | ভাববাদী | Low (elevated to High in ch. 22-24 context) | 12; 22-24 | Reuse; elevated risk when applied to Balaam’s compelled oracles |
| 12 | Israel | ইস্রায়েল | Medium | throughout | Reuse |
| 13 | God | ঈশ্বর | Critical | throughout | Reuse |
| 14 | Lord (Adonai/Kyrios sense) | প্রভু | Critical | occasional (Adonai address) | Reuse only where the text uses Adonai/generic “lord,” NOT for YHWH (see সদাপ্রভু below) |
2. New Terms Proposed for Numbers Translation Memory
| # | English Term | Original (Heb./LXX) | Bengali Rendering | Transliteration | Risk | Doctrine | Alternatives Rejected | Grounded Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LORD (YHWH, the Tetragrammaton) | יהוה / κύριος | সদাপ্রভু | Shodaprobhu | Critical | Applies across all doctrines | প্রভু (reserved for NT κύριος/Adonai per baseline), ঈশ্বর (too generic, loses covenant-name specificity) | Extends, does not contradict, the baseline: the Romans package’s প্রভু entry covers NT κύριος applied to Christ; Numbers requires the distinct, established Bengali OT convention for the covenant name YHWH. Using প্রভু for both would blur an important OT/NT terminological distinction long fixed in Bengali Bible tradition. |
| 2 | bronze serpent | נְחַשׁ נְחֹשֶׁת / ὄφιν χαλκοῦν | পিতলের সাপ | pitoler shap | Critical | Bronze Serpent as a Type of Christ | মনসার সাপ (would invoke the Bengali folk-Hindu snake-goddess Manasha) | Bengal’s living folk tradition of Manasha-worship for protection from snakebite creates a direct, non-hypothetical collision risk with this exact narrative situation (snakebite + a serpent image + healing). Every occurrence requires a translator note distinguishing obedient looking to God’s appointed sign from any independent power in the object itself, and a cross-reference to the object’s later corruption into the idol Nehushtan (2 Kings 18:4). |
| 3 | fiery serpents (the judgment) | הַנְּחָשִׁים הַשְּׂרָפִים | জ্বলন্ত সাপ | jolonto shap | High | God’s Patience and Judgment; Bronze Serpent typology | বিষাক্ত সাপ (“venomous snake,” the LXX’s effect-based rendering) | Preserves the Hebrew’s sensory “burning” imagery and its wordplay with the people’s “burning” speech against God, and keeps a visible lexical contrast with পিতলের সাপ (the healing remedy), which the LXX’s effect-only rendering would flatten. |
| 4 | unbelief | (root אמן, negated) | অবিশ্বাস | obishwas | Critical | Unbelief and the Wilderness Generation | কোনো নতুন মূল শব্দ নেই (no viable alternative root) | Built directly on the baseline’s Critical term বিশ্বাস with standard negation, preserving full lexical continuity between Numbers’ central sin and Romans’ central virtue — essential for a curriculum studying both books’ doctrine of faith/unbelief together. |
| 5 | steadfast love / covenant loyalty (chesed) | חֶסֶד | অবিচল প্রেম | obicholo prem | High | Faithfulness of God’s Promises despite Human Failure; God’s Patience | কৃপা (baseline restricts to non-soteriological compassion), অনুগ্রহ (baseline’s specifically NT justification-grace term), দয়া (too generic, loses covenant-relational specificity) | Chesed is covenant-relational love presupposing an existing বond (নিয়ম); it is Moses’ entire argument in his great intercession (14:18) and the theological engine of God’s preserving the people through and after judgment. Distinct from both neighboring baseline terms; requires its own entry and standing translator note. |
| 6 | census / numbering | פְּקֻדִּים | গণনা | gonona | Medium-High | Census and the People of God | শুমারি (a viable, less-collision-prone modern-Bengali alternative, considered but not adopted because গণনা is the fixed, historically established title-term for the book itself in Bengali Bible tradition) | গণনা is the book’s own established Bengali title-term (গণনা পুস্তক) but is homonymous with the everyday Bengali word for astrological/fate calculation — the same word the Romans baseline rejected as an alternative for “prophecy.” Requires a disambiguating note at first use and deliberate thematic use of this exact tension at ch. 22-24 (Balaam’s false গণনা contrasted with God’s true numbering of his people). |
| 7 | congregation / assembly (of Israel) | עֵדָה | সমাজ | shomaj | Medium | Census and the People of God | মণ্ডলী (baseline reserves this for the NT ekklesia/Church) | Preserves an intentional continuity-with-distinction between the OT’s ethnic-national gathered people and the NT’s multi-ethnic Church, directly relevant to the Romans 9-11 discussion already in the baseline. |
| 8 | tent of meeting / tabernacle | אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד | সমাগম-তাঁবু | shomagom-tabu | Medium | Census and the People of God; God’s Patience | মন্দির (explicitly forbidden by the baseline for “church”/temple concepts) | A portable tent, not a fixed temple; theologically emphasizes God’s presence journeying with a pilgrim, imperfect people rather than a static shrine. |
| 9 | zeal (for God) | קִנְאָה | ঈশ্বরের প্রতি উদ্যম | Ishshorer proti udyom | High | Intercession (Phinehas) | ঈর্ষা (envy/jealousy — a vice in ordinary Bengali usage) | The same Hebrew root covers both sinful envy and righteous zeal; bare ঈর্ষা would misrepresent Phinehas’s decisive intercessory action as sinful covetousness rather than honorable zeal for God’s honor. |
| 10 | atonement / make atonement | כִּפֶּר | প্রায়শ্চিত্ত | prayashchitto | Critical | Intercession (Moses, Aaron, Phinehas); God’s Patience and Judgment | কাফফারা (Islamic-idiom legal-expiation term, not this curriculum’s register) | Established Bengali Bible term, but shares its form and root sense with the Hindu concept of self-directed karmic penance/expiation. Retained per the baseline’s own precedent for historically-rooted-but-doctrinally-stabilized terms (cf. ঈশ্বর), but every occurrence requires human theologian review and a standing note distinguishing God-provided atonement (received) from karmic self-atonement (earned). |
| 11 | divination / omen-reading | קֶסֶם | ভাগ্যগণনা | bhagyo-gonona | High | Balaam and God’s Sovereign Blessing | গণনা alone (too easily confused with the book’s census-term, entry #6 above), জ্যোতিষবিদ্যা (narrows too specifically to astrology alone, omitting other omen-practices covered by qesem) | Balaam is a practicing diviner whom God overrides; Bengal’s living folk-astrological and tantric-divination culture makes this collision non-hypothetical. Deliberately built on the same root as census-গণনা to preserve (with disambiguating modifiers) the text’s own ironic contrast between true and false “counting.” |
| 12 | Nazirite vow | נֶ֫דֶר נָזִיר | নাসরীয় প্রতিজ্ঞা | nasoriyo protijna | High | (background to Intercession/Separation doctrines) | নাসরীয় ব্রত (see entry #13, ব্রত risk) | Isolates the covenantal-promise dimension of the vow without importing Hindu ritual-vow (vrata) merit-earning associations. |
| 13 | vow (general) | נֶ֫דֶר | প্রতিজ্ঞা | protijna | High | (ch. 6, 30) | ব্রত (Hindu ritual-observance vow, e.g. শিবরাত্রি ব্রত), মানত (folk shrine-vow, transactional “vow-for-a-favor” common to Bengali Hindu and Muslim popular practice) | A solemn covenant promise to God, not a merit-earning ritual observance or a transactional bargain for a granted wish. |
| 14 | idol / image | פֶּסֶל / מַשְׂכִּית | মূর্তি | murti | High | (Baal-Peor, ch. 33) | প্রতিমা (specifically evokes Durga/Kali/Saraswati festival images central to Bengali Hindu religious life) | মূর্তি is the more generic, less festival-specific idol-term; প্রতিমা’s Durga Puja associations are too narrow and culturally loaded for general use across every idol-condemnation passage in Scripture. |
| 15 | clean / unclean (ceremonial, corpse-defilement) | טָהוֹר / טָמֵא | শুচি / অশুচি | shuchi / oshuchi | High | (Red Heifer, ch. 19) | পবিত্র/অপবিত্র for this specific ceremonial category (reserve পবিত্র exclusively for moral/relational holiness per baseline) | Numbers 19 describes genuine ceremonial defilement from death-contact, a real Mosaic-law category distinct from moral sin; শুচি/অশুচি — rejected by the baseline for holy — is the linguistically correct choice here specifically because this is ritual, not moral, impurity. Requires a clear side-by-side distinguishing note wherever this appears near পবিত্র-vocabulary. |
| 16 | grain/meal offering | מִנְחָה | (শস্য/ভক্ষ্য-)নৈবেদ্য | (shosyo/bhokkho-)noibeddo | High | (Offerings, ch. 7, 15, 28-29) | no viable alternative — established Bengali Bible term | নৈবেদ্য is also the standard Bengali word for food ritually offered to a Hindu deity in puja worship, the closest ritual-practice parallel of any term in this glossary. Requires a standing note in every offerings passage clarifying the offering is to সদাপ্রভু alone. |
| 17 | burnt offering | עוֹלָה | হোমবলি | homo-boli | High | (Offerings, ch. 7, 15, 28-29) | no viable alternative — established Bengali Bible term | হোম independently denotes the Hindu/Vedic fire-sacrifice ritual; retained per the baseline’s stabilized-term precedent, with translator awareness required. |
| 18 | census / covenant congregation cross-reference term: God’s patience | (compound theological concept, cf. אֶרֶך אַפַּיִם + חֶסֶד) | ঈশ্বরের ধৈর্য | Ishshorer dhoirjo | Medium | God’s Patience and Judgment | কোনো সরাসরি বিকল্প নেই | Straightforward, low-collision virtue-word (ধৈর্য); flagged Medium only to ensure it is not read as passive fatalistic endurance but as God’s active, purposive covenant patience — paired with অবিচল প্রেম (entry #5) and চেসেদ discussion for full doctrinal weight. |
| 19 | judgment / justice (mishpat, in judicial contexts) | מִשְׁפָּט | বিচার | bichar | Medium | God’s Patience and Judgment | ন্যায় (already flagged by the baseline as a rejected alternative for “righteousness”; retained here in its ordinary judicial sense only) | Standard legal-judicial term; care needed only to keep distinct from ধার্মিকতা (righteousness, the baseline’s forensic-standing term) in doctrinal contexts where both appear. |
| 20 | inheritance | נַחֲלָה | উত্তরাধিকার | uttorodhikar | Medium-High | Faithfulness of God’s Promises; Census and the People of God | অধিকার alone (too generic, loses the “passed-down/allotted” sense) | Directly resonant with the baseline’s দত্তকপুত্রতা (adoption/full inheritance rights) doctrine note; cross-reference recommended for teaching. |
| 21 | cities of refuge | עָרֵי מִקְלָט | আশ্রয় নগর | ashroy nogor | Medium | (ch. 35, background to Intercession/mercy themes) | কোনো নতুন ঝুঁকি নেই | Established, low-collision term; rich typological teaching value beyond this curriculum’s core doctrine list. |
| 22 | deliberate/defiant sin (“high-handed”) | בְּיָד רָמָה | ইচ্ছাকৃত অবাধ্যতা / দুঃসাহসে করা পাপ | ichchakrito obaddhota | High | God’s Patience and Judgment; Bronze Serpent (explains the severity of 21:4-9) | সাধারণ পাপ (generic “sin,” loses the defiance distinction) | Explains why some sins in Numbers meet instant severe judgment (Korah, ch. 21’s serpents) while others meet patient sacrificial provision (ch. 15’s inadvertent-sin category) — the theological hinge of the whole Patience-and-Judgment doctrine. |
3. Established Proper Names (Reused per Bengali Bible / Romans Baseline Transliteration Standard)
| English | Bengali | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|
| Moses | মোশি | Moshi |
| Aaron | হারোণ | Haron |
| Israel | ইস্রায়েল | Israel |
| Egypt | মিসর | Misor |
| Canaan | কনান | Konan |
| Balaam | বালাম | Balam |
| Balak | বালাক | Balak |
| Phinehas | পীনহাস | Pinhas |
| Joshua | যিহোশূয় | Jihoshuyo |
| Caleb | কালেব | Kaleb |
| Korah | কোরহ | Korho |
| Miriam | মরিয়ম | Moriyom |
| Zelophehad | সলফাদ | Solfad |
| Edom | ইদোম | Idom |
| Sihon | সীহোন | Sihon |
| Og | ওগ | Og |
| Midian | মিদিয়ন | Midion |
4. Risk Summary
| Risk Tier | Count (new terms) | Count (baseline reuse) | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Critical | 4 (সদাপ্রভু, পিতলের সাপ, অবিশ্বাস, প্রায়শ্চিত্ত) | 2 (ঈশ্বর, পরিত্রাণ) | Human theologian, every occurrence |
| High | 13 | 5 | Human theologian |
| Medium | 5 | — | Native speaker review |
| Low | — | 2 | Automated review |
Note for Phase 2: All 22 new terms in Section 2, plus the সদাপ্রভু/YHWH convention, must be formally added to a numbers_translation_memory.json extension file (version-controlled alongside the Romans baseline) before any Phase 2 segment translation begins, per the Translation Memory Load and Enforcement Instructions in 12_ai_translation_requirements.md.
This glossary must be loaded alongside 07_semantic_analysis.md before Phase 2 segment translation of Numbers. It extends but never contradicts the Romans-baseline translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json.
Critical Risk Terms
Salvation
Approved rendering: পরিত্রাণ
Transliteration: poritran
Doctrine: The Bronze Serpent as a Type of Christ (typological commentary layer only)
Rejected alternatives: মুক্তি, মোক্ষ, নাজাত
Original: σωτηρία (typological reference)
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. NEVER substitute for חיה/live (Numbers 21:8-9) in the base narrative translation; that would collapse the OT type into its NT referent. Reserve strictly for the commentary layer.
God
Approved rendering: ঈশ্বর
Transliteration: Ishshor
Doctrine: Unbelief and the Wilderness Generation; multiple doctrines throughout
Rejected alternatives: ভগবান, আল্লাহ
Original: אֱלֹהִים / θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Appears as the object of the people’s speech against God, alongside সদাপ্রভু, at Numbers 21:5.
Lord Adonai Generic
Approved rendering: প্রভু
Transliteration: provu
Doctrine: Lordship (generic/honorific address, distinct from the covenant name)
Rejected alternatives: মালিক, ঈশ্বর
Original: אֲדֹנָי / κύριος (generic/honorific ‘lord’)
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Reserve প্রভু only where the Hebrew text uses Adonai/a generic honorific ‘lord’; NEVER as a substitute for the covenant name YHWH (see the_lord_yhwh below, a Numbers-specific extension).
Messiah
Approved rendering: খ্রীষ্ট
Transliteration: Khrishto
Doctrine: Balaam and God’s Sovereign Blessing (typological commentary layer — ‘star out of Jacob,’ 24:17)
Rejected alternatives: মশীহ, অবতার পুরুষ
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Used only in the doctrinal-commentary layer cross-referencing Balaam’s messianic-resonant oracle (Numbers 24:17) to its Christian fulfillment; do not prematurely harmonize the base narrative translation of ch. 24 with NT fulfillment language before the typological teaching point is made explicit in commentary.
Jesus
Approved rendering: যীশু
Transliteration: Jishu
Doctrine: The Bronze Serpent as a Type of Christ (typological commentary layer — John 3:14-15)
Rejected alternatives: ঈসা
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Used only in the doctrinal-commentary layer cross-referencing the bronze serpent’s fulfillment in John 3:14-15; never inserted into the base narrative translation of Numbers 21:4-9.
The Lord Yhwh
Approved rendering: সদাপ্রভু
Transliteration: Shodaprobhu
Doctrine: Applies across all doctrines — the personal covenant name of God
Rejected alternatives: প্রভু (baseline reserves for NT κύριος/Adonai), ঈশ্বর (too generic, loses covenant-name specificity)
Original: יהוה / κύριος
Category: God
NEW Numbers-specific extension term. Extends, does not contradict, the Romans baseline: the baseline’s প্রভু entry covers NT κύριος applied to Christ; Numbers requires the distinct, established Bengali OT convention for the Tetragrammaton יהוה. Must be used consistently throughout Numbers, e.g. Numbers 21:6-7. Using generic ঈশ্বর or প্রভু instead would blur the covenant-name-specific force of the text.
Bronze Serpent
Approved rendering: পিতলের সাপ
Transliteration: pitoler shap
Doctrine: The Bronze Serpent as a Type of Christ
Rejected alternatives: মনসার সাপ (would invoke the Bengali folk-Hindu snake-goddess Manasha)
Original: נְחַשׁ נְחֹשֶׁת / ὄφιν χαλκοῦν
Category: Christology
GROUNDED COLLISION: Bengal’s living folk-Hindu tradition of Manasha (মনসা) worship — a snake goddess widely invoked for protection from and healing of snakebite — creates a direct, non-hypothetical collision with this exact narrative situation (Numbers 21:8-9). Every occurrence requires a translator note distinguishing obedient looking to God’s own appointed sign from any independent power in the object itself, plus a cross-reference to the object’s later corruption into the idol Nehushtan (2 Kings 18:4). Flag for human theologian review every occurrence.
Unbelief
Approved rendering: অবিশ্বাস
Transliteration: obishwas
Doctrine: Unbelief and the Wilderness Generation
Original: לֹא הֶאֱמִינוּ / לֹא הֶאֱמַנְתֶּם בִּי (negated root אמן)
Category: Faith
Built directly on the baseline Critical term বিশ্বাস with the standard Bengali negating prefix অ-, preserving total lexical continuity with Romans’ doctrine of Faith. Flag every occurrence for human theologian review. Applies at 14:11 and — pointedly — at 20:12, even of Moses and Aaron. Pastoral care required: a specific, real lapse, not a wholesale collapse of a lifetime of faithfulness.
Atonement
Approved rendering: প্রায়শ্চিত্ত
Transliteration: prayashchitto
Doctrine: Atonement and Priestly Mediation; Intercession (Moses, Aaron, Phinehas)
Rejected alternatives: কাফফারা (Islamic-idiom legal-expiation term, not this curriculum’s register)
Original: כִּפֶּר (kipper)
Category: Salvation
GROUNDED COLLISION: প্রায়শ্চিত্ত is also the standard Bengali Hindu term for self-directed penance/expiation offsetting accumulated karma — a merit-earning act. Retained per the baseline’s own precedent for historically-rooted-but-doctrinally-stabilized terms (cf. ঈশ্বর). Every occurrence (16:46-48; 25:13; the offering calendar, ch. 28-29; Day of Atonement) requires human theologian review and a standing note distinguishing God-provided/received atonement from Hindu karmic self-atonement.
Day Of Atonement
Approved rendering: প্রায়শ্চিত্তের দিন
Transliteration: prayashchitter din
Doctrine: Atonement and Priestly Mediation
Original: יוֹם הַכִּפֻּרִים (yom hakippurim)
Category: Cultic Law
Reuses the atonement entry (Numbers 29). SAME collision profile and human-theologian review requirement as প্রায়শ্চিত্ত above.
High Risk Terms
Sin
Approved rendering: পাপ
Transliteration: pap
Doctrine: Sin and Moral Accountability within the Covenant Community
Rejected alternatives: অধর্ম, অশুচিতা
Original: חַטָּאָה / חָטָא (chata) / ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly, no deviation. Anchors Numbers 21:7’s confession ‘আমরা পাপ করেছি’ (we have sinned), the direct trigger for Moses’ intercession. Also load-bearing at ch. 15, 16, 25.
Holy
Approved rendering: পবিত্র
Transliteration: pobitro
Doctrine: Sanctification and the Holiness Standard for Leaders; Separation unto God’s Service
Rejected alternatives: শুচি, নির্মল
Original: קָדוֹשׁ / ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Applies to Levitical consecration (ch. 3-4, 8) and to God’s own holiness, which Numbers 20:12 says Moses and Aaron failed ‘to uphold… as holy.’ Must be kept visibly distinct from শুচি/অশুচি (ceremonial purity, ch. 5, 19), a different, non-moral category.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: পবিত্রীকরণ
Transliteration: pobitrikoron
Doctrine: Separation unto God’s Service
Rejected alternatives: শুদ্ধিকরণ
Original: קִדֵּש / ἁγιάζω
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Applies to the Levites’ ordination to sacred service (ch. 3-4, 8).
Faith
Approved rendering: বিশ্বাস
Transliteration: bishwas
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: ঈমান, শ্রদ্ধা
Original: אָמַן / πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Serves as the root for the new Critical Numbers term অবিশ্বাস (unbelief), Numbers’ central diagnosis of the wilderness generation.
Glory
Approved rendering: মহিমা
Transliteration: mohima
Doctrine: God’s Patience and Judgment (manifestation at rebellion scenes)
Rejected alternatives: জ্যোতি, তেজ
Original: כָּבוֹד / δόξα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Reused for the LORD’s glory appearing at rebellion scenes (14:10; 16:19, 42; 20:6).
Covenant
Approved rendering: নিয়ম
Transliteration: niyom
Doctrine: Faithfulness of God’s Promises despite Human Failure; God’s Covenant Faithfulness (Chesed) as Basis of Intercession
Rejected alternatives: চুক্তি, অঙ্গীকার
Original: בְּרִית / διαθήκη
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Reused for the ‘covenant of perpetual priesthood’ given to Phinehas (25:12-13) and the Levites’ covenant service (18:19).
Intercession
Approved rendering: মধ্যস্থতা
Transliteration: moddhosthota
Doctrine: Intercession (Moses, Aaron, Phinehas)
Rejected alternatives: সুপারিশ
Original: הִתְפַּלֵּל / εὔχομαι / כִּפֶּר
Category: Intercession
Inherited from Romans package (Medium there); risk ELEVATED to High for this curriculum, since Intercession is a named curriculum doctrine with three distinct load-bearing narrative embodiments: Moses’ prayer (14:13-19; 21:7), Aaron’s incense (16:46-48), and Phinehas’s decisive action (25:6-13). Flag every occurrence for human theologian review.
Providence
Approved rendering: ঈশ্বরের পরিচালনা
Transliteration: Ishshorer porichalona
Doctrine: God’s Guiding Presence among an Unfaithful People; Faithfulness of God’s Promises
Rejected alternatives: ভাগ্য, নিয়তি
Original: (guiding cloud/fire; theological concept, cf. עָנָן / אֵש)
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Reused for the guiding cloud/fire (ch. 9-10) and for the continuing fulfillment of the land-promise (ch. 21’s victories over Sihon and Og).
Grace
Approved rendering: অনুগ্রহ
Transliteration: anugroho
Doctrine: The Bronze Serpent as a Type of Christ (typological commentary layer only)
Rejected alternatives: কৃপা, পুণ্য, ভাগ্য
Original: χάρις (typological reference)
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Reserved strictly for the doctrinal-commentary layer connecting the bronze serpent typology to the gospel. Do NOT insert into the base narrative translation of Numbers 21:8-9.
Prophet
Approved rendering: ভাববাদী
Transliteration: bhabbadi
Doctrine: Balaam and God’s Sovereign Blessing
Rejected alternatives: জ্যোতিষী
Original: נָבִיא / προφήτης
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package (Low there); risk ELEVATED to High for this curriculum because of the doctrinally complex application to Balaam (ch. 22-24), a pagan diviner through whom God nonetheless spoke true prophecy. Also applies to Moses (12:6-8, ‘face to face’), the standard against which Balaam’s compelled oracles are measured. Requires a translator note distinguishing the two.
Fiery Serpents
Approved rendering: জ্বলন্ত সাপ
Transliteration: jolonto shap
Doctrine: God’s Patience and Judgment; The Bronze Serpent as a Type of Christ
Rejected alternatives: বিষাক্ত সাপ (the LXX’s effect-based rendering, loses the burning wordplay)
Original: הַנְּחָשִׁים הַשְּׂרָפִים
Category: Judgment
Preserves the Hebrew’s sensory ‘burning’ imagery (שָׂרָף, same root as ‘seraphim’) and its wordplay with the people’s ‘burning’ speech against God (Numbers 21:5-6). Keep lexically distinct from পিতলের সাপ (the healing remedy) so the judgment/remedy contrast stays visible in translation.
Steadfast Love Chesed
Approved rendering: অবিচল প্রেম
Transliteration: obicholo prem
Doctrine: Faithfulness of God’s Promises despite Human Failure; God’s Covenant Faithfulness (Chesed) as Basis of Intercession
Rejected alternatives: কৃপা (baseline restricts to non-soteriological compassion), অনুগ্রহ (baseline’s specifically NT justification-grace term), দয়া (too generic, loses covenant-relational specificity)
Original: חֶסֶד (chesed)
Category: God
Chesed is covenant-relational love presupposing an existing bond (নিয়ম); it is the entire basis of Moses’ great intercessory argument (Numbers 14:18). Requires a dedicated standing translator note at every occurrence distinguishing it from both neighboring terms. Flag for human theologian review.
Census Numbering
Approved rendering: গণনা
Transliteration: gonona
Doctrine: Census and the People of God
Rejected alternatives: শুমারি (considered as a lower-collision alternative, not adopted — গণনা is the fixed, established Bengali title-term for the book itself, গণনা পুস্তক)
Original: פְּקֻדִּים (pequdim)
Category: Census
Homonymous with the everyday Bengali word for astrological/fate calculation (ভাগ্য গণনা) — the same collision the Romans baseline documented in rejecting গণনা as an alternative for ‘prophecy.’ Requires a disambiguating translator note at first use (ch. 1) and deliberate thematic use of the tension at ch. 22-24 (Balaam’s false গণনা/divination contrasted with God’s true numbering of his people).
Deliberate Defiant Sin
Approved rendering: ইচ্ছাকৃত অবাধ্যতা
Transliteration: ichchakrito obaddhota
Doctrine: God’s Patience and Judgment; Justice and Mercy Built into the Law
Rejected alternatives: দুঃসাহসে করা পাপ (viable secondary rendering), সাধারণ পাপ (generic ‘sin,’ loses the deliberate/defiant distinction)
Original: בְּיָד רָמָה (beyad ramah)
Category: Sin
From בְּיָד רָמָה (‘with a high hand,’ Numbers 15:30-31). This category is the theological hinge explaining why Numbers 21:4-9’s judgment is immediate and severe rather than answered by the ordinary sacrificial system. Never collapse into generic পাপ.
Zeal For God
Approved rendering: ঈশ্বরের প্রতি উদ্যম
Transliteration: Ishshorer proti udyom
Doctrine: Intercession (Phinehas)
Rejected alternatives: ঈর্ষা (envy/jealousy — a vice in ordinary Bengali usage)
Original: קִנְאָה (qinah)
Category: Intercession
The same Hebrew root (קִנְאָה) covers both sinful envy and righteous zeal; bare ঈর্ষা would misrepresent Phinehas’s decisive intercessory action (Numbers 25:11-13) as sinful covetousness rather than honorable zeal for God’s honor. Flag for human theologian review whenever ‘zeal’ appears.
Divination
Approved rendering: ভাগ্যগণনা
Transliteration: bhagyo-gonona
Doctrine: Balaam and God’s Sovereign Blessing
Rejected alternatives: গণনা alone (too easily confused with the book’s own census-term), জ্যোতিষবিদ্যা (narrows too specifically to astrology, omitting other omen-practices covered by qesem)
Original: קֶסֶם (qesem)
Category: Divination
Balaam is explicitly a practitioner of this condemned art (קֶסֶם; cf. Joshua 13:22, ‘the diviner’), overridden by God’s sovereign purposes. Deliberately shares its root with census-গণনা to preserve, with disambiguating modifiers, the text’s own ironic contrast between true and false ‘counting.’ High risk given Bengal’s living folk-astrological and tantric-divination culture.
Nazirite Vow
Approved rendering: নাসরীয় প্রতিজ্ঞা
Transliteration: nasoriyo protijna
Doctrine: Separation unto God’s Service; Vows and the Integrity of Speech before God
Rejected alternatives: নাসরীয় ব্রত (ব্রত carries strong Hindu ritual-vow/merit-earning associations, e.g. শিবরাত্রি ব্রত)
Original: נֶ֫דֶר נָזִיר (neder nazir)
Category: Vows
Isolates the covenantal-promise dimension of the vow (Numbers 6) without importing Hindu vrata merit-earning associations. This is a voluntary, exceptional consecration and must not be generalized as a model of super-holiness expected of every believer.
Vow General
Approved rendering: প্রতিজ্ঞা
Transliteration: protijna
Doctrine: Vows and the Integrity of Speech before God
Rejected alternatives: ব্রত (Hindu ritual-observance vow), মানত (the common Bengali word, used by both Hindus and Muslims, for a folk shrine-vow made at a pir’s tomb or before a deity in hope of a granted wish)
Original: נֶ֫דֶר (neder)
Category: Vows
A solemn covenant promise to God (Numbers 6; 30), not a merit-earning ritual observance or a transactional bargain for a granted favor.
Idol
Approved rendering: মূর্তি
Transliteration: murti
Doctrine: Idolatry and Syncretism at Baal-Peor
Rejected alternatives: প্রতিমা (specifically evokes the crafted festival images of Durga, Kali, and Saraswati central to Bengali Hindu religious life)
Original: פֶּסֶל / מַשְׂכִּית (pesel / masekit)
Category: Sin
Condemned throughout the Mosaic law (Numbers 25; 33:52). মূর্তি is the more generic, less festival-specific idol-term and is the safer choice throughout Scripture translation.
Ceremonial Purity
Approved rendering: শুচি / অশুচি
Transliteration: shuchi / oshuchi
Doctrine: Ceremonial Purity Distinguished from Moral Holiness
Rejected alternatives: পবিত্র/অপবিত্র for this specific ceremonial category (reserve পবিত্র exclusively for moral/relational holiness per baseline)
Original: טָהוֹר / טָמֵא (tahor / tame)
Category: Purity
Numbers 5 and 19 describe genuine ceremonial defilement from death-contact or suspected unfaithfulness, a real Mosaic-law category distinct from moral sin. শুচি/অশুচি — rejected by the Romans baseline as a rendering for holy — is the linguistically correct choice HERE specifically. Requires a standing side-by-side translator note distinguishing পবিত্র (moral holiness, always correct there) from অশুচি (ceremonial impurity, correct only here) wherever both vocabularies appear near each other.
Inheritance
Approved rendering: উত্তরাধিকার
Transliteration: uttorodhikar
Doctrine: Faithfulness of God’s Promises despite Human Failure; Inheritance and Provision for the Otherwise-Excluded
Rejected alternatives: অধিকার alone (too generic, loses the passed-down/allotted-by-God sense)
Original: נַחֲלָה (nachalah)
Category: Covenant
Directly resonant with the baseline’s দত্তকপুত্রতা (adoption/full inheritance rights) doctrine note. Numbers 27 and 36 (Zelophehad’s daughters) establish that God’s inheritance-promises reach even those whom custom might otherwise exclude, foreshadowing full New Testament inclusion.
Burnt Offering
Approved rendering: হোমবলি
Transliteration: homo-boli
Doctrine: Priesthood and Levitical Service; Atonement and Priestly Mediation
Original: עוֹלָה (olah)
Category: Cultic Law
Established Bengali Bible term (ch. 7, 15, 28-29). Collision note: হোম independently denotes the Hindu/Vedic fire-sacrifice ritual (হোমযজ্ঞ); retained per the same historically-rooted-but-doctrinally-stabilized pattern as ঈশ্বর/সদাপ্রভু/প্রায়শ্চিত্ত, with translator awareness required.
Grain Offering
Approved rendering: (শস্য/ভক্ষ্য-)নৈবেদ্য
Transliteration: (shosyo/bhokkho-)noibeddo
Doctrine: Priesthood and Levitical Service
Original: מִנְחָה (minchah)
Category: Cultic Law
GROUNDED COLLISION: নৈবেদ্য is the standard Bengali word for food ritually offered to a Hindu deity in puja worship — one of the highest-collision cultic-vocabulary terms in the whole book. Retained as the established Bengali Bible term (no clean alternative exists); requires a standing translator note in every offerings-law passage (ch. 7, 15, 28-29) clarifying that this offering is presented to সদাপ্রভু, the one true covenant God, not as devotional food for one deity among many.
Devote To Destruction Cherem
Approved rendering: সম্পূর্ণ বিনাশের জন্য উৎসর্গ করা
Transliteration: shompurno binasher jonno utshargo kora
Doctrine: Holy War and Divine Judgment on Entrenched Rebellion
Rejected alternatives: বিনাশ করা alone (a bare ‘destroy,’ losing the dedicatory-to-God dimension)
Original: חֵרֶם (cherem)
Category: Judgment
Total destruction dedicated to God as an act of holy-war judgment (Numbers 21:1-3; 31), distinct from ordinary warfare or personal vengeance. Requires careful framing to avoid presenting this as generic violence; flag for native speaker/theologian review given real cultural sensitivity of holy-war texts.
Redemption Of Firstborn
Approved rendering: উদ্ধার করা
Transliteration: uddhar kora
Doctrine: Priesthood and Levitical Service
Rejected alternatives: মুক্ত/মুক্তি (forbidden by the baseline for ‘salvation,’ carrying the Hindu rebirth-liberation sense)
Original: פָּדָה / λυτρόω
Category: Salvation
A legal-cultic transaction substituting the Levites and a shekel payment for Israel’s firstborn sons, who technically belong to God (Numbers 3; 18). মুক্তিপণ (‘ransom price’) is a defensible compound for the payment itself but should be flagged for reviewer awareness given the shared root with the forbidden মুক্তি.
Passover
Approved rendering: নিস্তারপর্ব
Transliteration: nistarparbo
Doctrine: Priesthood and Levitical Service (background typology)
Original: פֶּסַח / πάσχα
Category: Salvation
The annual memorial of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, observed in the wilderness (Numbers 9). Flag for human theologian review whenever taught alongside the Bronze Serpent typology, since both are OT types of Christ’s saving work easily conflated by students without careful distinction.
Look See
Approved rendering: দেখা
Transliteration: dekha
Doctrine: The Bronze Serpent as a Type of Christ
Rejected alternatives: বিশ্বাস করা (‘believe’ — FORBIDDEN substitution in the base narrative text)
Original: רָאָה / ἐπιβλέψῃ
Category: Faith
Ordinary sight (רָאָה), functioning in Numbers 21:8-9 as the sole condition for healing. Do NOT substitute বিশ্বাস করা in the base translation; preserve the text’s own simple verb, and carry the faith-typology connection only in a translator/study note, so the Numbers text is not silently harmonized with John 3.
The Spirit Ot Empowering
Approved rendering: আত্মা
Transliteration: attha
Doctrine: God’s Guiding Presence among an Unfaithful People (background; progressive revelation)
Original: רוּח (ruach)
Category: God
God’s empowering presence given temporarily to specific individuals for a specific task — the seventy elders’ prophesying (Numbers 11:25-29). Render আত্মা with a clarifying note distinguishing this OT, task-specific, temporary empowering from the baseline’s Critical term পবিত্র আত্মা, the permanent, personal, indwelling Holy Spirit of the New Covenant. Do not silently equate the two without a progressive-revelation note.
Rebellion
Approved rendering: বিদ্রোহ
Transliteration: bidroho
Doctrine: Sin and Moral Accountability within the Covenant Community
Original: מָרַד (marad)
Category: Sin
Organized, deliberate uprising against God-appointed leadership (Korah, Numbers 16); escalates the Unbelief and the Wilderness Generation doctrine from grumbling to organized insurrection against divinely appointed structure.
Despise Spurn
Approved rendering: অগ্রাহ্য করা
Transliteration: ograhho kora
Doctrine: Unbelief and the Wilderness Generation
Rejected alternatives: অবজ্ঞা করা (viable secondary rendering)
Original: נָאַץ (na’ats)
Category: Sin
נָאַץ, active, contemptuous rejection, stronger than passive doubt; paired with unbelief at Numbers 14:11. Must preserve the active, contemptuous force — do not soften to a neutral ‘doubted.‘
Complain Grumble
Approved rendering: অভিযোগ করা
Transliteration: obhiyog kora
Doctrine: Unbelief and the Wilderness Generation
Original: תְּלוּנָה / לוּן (telunah / lun)
Category: Sin
תְּלוּנָה/לוּן. Render consistently across every complaint episode (ch. 11, 14, 16, 20, 21) so Bengali readers can trace the Hebrew text’s own repeated-vocabulary pattern — directly relevant to the recurring pattern-sin doctrine.
Test God
Approved rendering: পরীক্ষা করা
Transliteration: porikkha kora
Doctrine: Unbelief and the Wilderness Generation; God’s Patience and Judgment
Original: נָסָה (nasah)
Category: Faith
נָסָה, an illegitimate demand that God re-prove himself despite repeated, sufficient prior evidence of his character (Numbers 14:22, ‘tested me now these ten times’). Distinguish in teaching notes from legitimate personal testing of one’s own faith.
Prophecy Oracle
Approved rendering: ভাববাণী
Transliteration: bhabbani
Doctrine: Balaam and God’s Sovereign Blessing
Original: נְאֻם / מָשָׁל (ne’um / mashal)
Category: Covenant
Baseline reuse of ভাববাণী (Low risk in Romans register), but risk ELEVATED to High given the doctrinally complex application to Balaam’s compelled true oracles delivered against his own commercial interest (ch. 23-24). Requires a translator note distinguishing ‘the true oracle God put in Balaam’s mouth’ (ভাববাণী) from ‘the divination Balaam attempted to practice’ (ভাগ্যগণনা).
Medium Risk Terms
Israel
Approved rendering: ইস্রায়েল
Transliteration: Israel
Doctrine: Census and the People of God
Original: יִשְׂרָאֵל / Ἰσραήλ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly.
Peace
Approved rendering: শান্তি
Transliteration: shanti
Doctrine: Communal Worship in Response to God’s Provision (Aaronic Blessing)
Rejected alternatives: সুখ, স্বস্তি
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Used in the Aaronic Blessing (Numbers 6:24-26), ’…ও তোমাকে শান্তি দিন’ — an OT anticipation of the same relational, covenantal peace Romans 5:1 grounds in justification.
Congregation Assembly
Approved rendering: সমাজ
Transliteration: shomaj
Doctrine: Census and the People of God
Rejected alternatives: মণ্ডলী (baseline reserves this for the NT ekklesia/Church)
Original: עֵדָה / συναγωγή
Category: Church
Preserves an intentional continuity-with-distinction: Numbers’ সমাজ is the ethnic-national old-covenant assembly, while মণ্ডলী is the multi-ethnic new-covenant body — directly relevant to Romans 9-11’s Israel/Church discussion, already flagged High risk in the baseline.
Tent Of Meeting
Approved rendering: সমাগম-তাঁবু
Transliteration: shomagom-tabu
Doctrine: Census and the People of God; God’s Guiding Presence among an Unfaithful People
Rejected alternatives: মন্দির (explicitly forbidden by the baseline for church/temple concepts)
Original: אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד / σκηνὴ τοῦ μαρτυρίου
Category: Church
A portable tent, not a fixed temple; theologically emphasizes God’s presence journeying with a pilgrim, still-imperfect people, not a static shrine.
Unintentional Sin
Approved rendering: অজ্ঞানে করা পাপ
Transliteration: ojnane kora pap
Doctrine: Justice and Mercy Built into the Law
Rejected alternatives: ভুলবশত পাপ
Original: בִּשְׁגָגָה (bishegagah)
Category: Sin
Contrast term to deliberate_defiant_sin (Numbers 15:22-29); demonstrates God’s patience built into the legal structure itself.
Water Of Purification
Approved rendering: শুচিকরণ জল
Transliteration: shuchikoron jol
Doctrine: Ceremonial Purity Distinguished from Moral Holiness
Original: מֵי נִדָּה (mei niddah)
Category: Purity
The ash-and-water mixture used to cleanse corpse-contact defilement (Numbers 19). Hebrews 9:13-14 draws on this rite for Christ’s superior cleansing — worth a cross-reference note though not itself a named curriculum doctrine.
Cities Of Refuge
Approved rendering: আশ্রয় নগর
Transliteration: ashroy nogor
Doctrine: Justice and Mercy Built into the Law
Original: עָרֵי מִקְלָט (arei miqlat)
Category: Covenant
Designated cities providing legal protection from immediate retributive killing for one who kills unintentionally, pending a fair hearing (Numbers 35). Established, low-collision term; rich typological teaching value (refuge fulfilled in Christ) beyond this curriculum’s core doctrine list.
Avenger Of Blood
Approved rendering: রক্তের প্রতিশোধ গ্রহণকারী
Transliteration: rokter protishodh grohonkari
Doctrine: Justice and Mercy Built into the Law
Original: גֹּאֵל הַדָּם (go’el ha-dam)
Category: Covenant
The victim’s near relative with the legal right to execute a murderer, but bounded by due process through the refuge-city hearing (Numbers 35). Native speaker review recommended given parallels to contemporary South Asian kinship-based retribution discourse.
Peace Fellowship Offering
Approved rendering: মঙ্গলার্থক বলি
Transliteration: mongolarthok boli
Doctrine: Priesthood and Levitical Service
Original: שֶׁלֶם (shelem)
Category: Cultic Law
A well-being/fellowship offering, part of which was eaten in communal celebration (שֶׁלֶם). Moderate risk given general বলি/Hindu-sacrifice-practice overlap, but lower than নৈবেদ্য since Bengali animal-sacrifice practice (also called বলি in Kali/Durga worship contexts) is structurally closer to the biblical concept than food-offering.
Guilt Restitution Offering
Approved rendering: ক্ষতিপূরণ
Transliteration: khotipuron
Doctrine: Justice and Mercy Built into the Law
Original: אָשָׁם (asham)
Category: Cultic Law
For the restitution dimension of אָשָׁם (Numbers 5); pair with প্রায়শ্চিত্ত (with its standing caution note) for the cultic-offering dimension.
Service Ministry
Approved rendering: সেবাকাজ
Transliteration: sebakaj
Doctrine: Priesthood and Levitical Service
Original: עֲבֹדָה / λειτουργία
Category: Church
Labor or work performed in devoted cultic service to God (עֲבֹדָה); consistent with Romans-package ministry vocabulary. An OT template for the New Testament’s Christ-Centered Ministry doctrine.
Servant Of The Lord
Approved rendering: দাস
Transliteration: das
Doctrine: Sanctification and the Holiness Standard for Leaders
Original: עֶ֑בֶד (eved)
Category: Church
Standard established Bengali Bible usage for this honorific title (Numbers 12:7, ‘ঈশ্বরের দাস মোশি’). দাস can carry a servile/slave connotation in ordinary Bengali usage, so its honorific force here should be reinforced in teaching notes, not altered in the base translation.
Commissioning Lay Hands
Approved rendering: হাত রাখা
Transliteration: hat rakha
Doctrine: Leadership Succession and Public Commissioning
Original: סָמַך (samak)
Category: Church
A public, physical act of transferring authority — Joshua’s commissioning by Moses (Numbers 27:18-23). Standard, established liturgical-practice term; the OT template behind the NT practice (e.g., 1 Timothy 4:14).
Pardon Forgive
Approved rendering: ক্ষমা করা
Transliteration: khoma kora
Doctrine: God’s Patience and Judgment; Intercession (Moses, Aaron, Phinehas)
Original: סָלַח (salach)
Category: Salvation
God’s act of not holding a sin’s guilt against the offender, granted within an ongoing covenant relationship (Numbers 14:19-20). Distinct from the fuller forensic ধার্মিক বলে গণ্য হওয়া (justification, baseline Critical term) — Numbers 14 shows mercy extended within an ongoing relationship, not a once-for-all declared-righteous verdict.
Pole Standard
Approved rendering: দণ্ড
Transliteration: dondo
Doctrine: The Bronze Serpent as a Type of Christ
Rejected alternatives: পতাকা (flag/banner, over-specifies toward a national/military symbol)
Original: נֵס (nes)
Category: Christology
נֵס, a pole or standard raised up to be seen from a distance by the whole camp (Numbers 21:8). Recommend a translator note cross-referencing John ৩:১৪, where ‘lifted up’ (ঊর্ধ্বে উন্নত করা) is used of Christ, since base Numbers vocabulary differs from Johannine vocabulary and must not be silently harmonized.
Live Survive
Approved rendering: বাঁচবে / জীবিত থাকবে
Transliteration: bachbe / jibito thakbe
Doctrine: The Bronze Serpent as a Type of Christ
Rejected alternatives: পরিত্রাণ পাবে (‘will receive salvation’ — FORBIDDEN substitution in the base narrative text)
Original: חָיָה / ζήσεται
Category: Salvation
Physical survival from a fatal snakebite (חָיָה), Numbers 21:8-9, typologically pointing to the greater deliverance from death. Do NOT substitute পরিত্রাণ পাবে in the base narrative text — that collapses type into fulfillment. Reserve পরিত্রাণ-language for the doctrinal commentary layer.
Cloud And Fire
Approved rendering: মেঘ / আগুন
Transliteration: megh / agun
Doctrine: God’s Guiding Presence among an Unfaithful People
Rejected alternatives: অগ্নি (the Sanskrit-tatsama term with strong independent associations to the Vedic fire-deity Agni)
Original: עָנָן / אֵש (anan / esh)
Category: God
The visible manifestation of God’s guiding presence leading Israel through the wilderness (ch. 9-10). Use আগুন, not অগ্নি, to keep the description of God’s guiding presence free of unintended Hindu-deity resonance.
Gods Patience
Approved rendering: ঈশ্বরের ধৈর্য
Transliteration: Ishshorer dhoirjo
Doctrine: God’s Patience and Judgment
Original: (compound theological concept, cf. אֶרֶך אַפַּיִם + חֶסֶד)
Category: God
God’s active, purposive covenant patience, extended through repeated provocation (Numbers 11; 14; 16; 21). Ensure it is not read as passive fatalistic endurance; always pair conceptually with অবিচল প্রেম (chesed) for full doctrinal weight.
Wrath Of God
Approved rendering: ক্রোধ
Transliteration: krodh
Doctrine: God’s Patience and Judgment
Original: קֶצֶף (qetseph)
Category: God
God’s righteous, judicial anger (קֶצֶף) in response to persistent covenant violation (Numbers 16), distinguished from capricious human rage or appeasement-transactional deity-anger.
Judgment Justice
Approved rendering: বিচার
Transliteration: bichar
Doctrine: Justice and Mercy Built into the Law
Rejected alternatives: ন্যায় (already flagged by the baseline as a rejected alternative for ‘righteousness’; retain here strictly in its ordinary judicial sense only if used)
Original: מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat)
Category: God
מִשְׁפָּט, ordinary judicial term (ch. 15, 35). Care needed to keep distinct from ধার্মিকতা (righteousness, the baseline’s forensic-standing term) in doctrinal contexts where both appear.
Craving
Approved rendering: প্রবল আকাঙ্ক্ষা
Transliteration: probol akankha
Doctrine: Unbelief and the Wilderness Generation
Rejected alternatives: কামনা (carries strong sensual-desire connotations in Bengali devotional/literary usage, contrasted with bhakti-devotion in Vaishnava literature)
Original: תַּאֲוָה (ta’avah)
Category: Sin
תַּאֲוָה, appetite or strong desire overriding trust in God’s provision (source of the place-name Kibroth-hattaavah, Numbers 11).
Bless Curse
Approved rendering: আশীর্বাদ / অভিশাপ
Transliteration: ashirbad / obhishap
Doctrine: Balaam and God’s Sovereign Blessing
Original: בָּרַך / אָרַר (barak / arar)
Category: Blessing
בָּרַך/אָרַר. আশীর্বাদ must be understood as sovereign covenant-blessing pronounced by God’s own authority (Numbers 23:8), never a Hindu-devotional ‘boon’ (বর) granted by a deity in transactional exchange for devotion or payment — Balak’s entire scheme is exactly the logic the text itself mocks.
Low Risk Terms
Feast Of Tabernacles
Approved rendering: কুটিরবাস পর্ব
Transliteration: kutirbash porbo
Doctrine: Priesthood and Levitical Service (offering calendar)
Rejected alternatives: তাঁবু-পর্ব
Original: סֻכּוֹת (sukkot)
Category: Cultic Law
Established Bengali Bible term (סֻכּוֹת, Numbers 29), low collision risk.
Referenced passages