Core Glossary
Core Glossary
translation_memory.json is the enforced glossary for every Phase 2 translation in this curriculum. This document summarizes its shape and the principles behind it; see the Glossary Risk Groups for the full per-term entries.
Composition
The glossary currently holds 47 terms spanning all four risk tiers, drawn from the doctrines identified in Doctrine Analysis and grounded in the cultural risks identified in Culture Analysis. Every term entry records:
- The approved Bengali translation and transliteration
- The doctrine risk tier (Critical/High/Medium/Low)
- Explicitly rejected alternatives, with reasons — including, where relevant, alternatives drawn from Hindu-devotional vocabulary and from Islamic-idiom vocabulary
- Notes explaining any non-obvious translation choice
Governing principles
- Established mainstream Christian usage over invention or over Muslim-idiom contextualization — where mainstream Bengali Bible translation already has a settled rendering (ঈশ্বর, যীশু, প্রভু, খ্রীষ্ট), this glossary follows it rather than proposing an alternative or adopting a Muslim-idiom equivalent, even where the latter might be more familiar to a Muslim-background reader.
- Explicit rejection, not silent avoidance — every Critical-risk term records why both a Hindu-tradition word and, where relevant, an Islamic-idiom word are wrong, so a translator or reviewer understands the reasoning on both fronts rather than just following a rule.
- Willingness to break from prior Bengali Bible precedent where that precedent was itself a risk — the সাধুগণ-for-saints case shows that “established usage” is not automatically the safest usage; this glossary corrects that historical choice.
- Version-controlled and append-only in Phase 2 — if a new term is discovered during document translation, it is added to translation memory and the version number incremented, never silently improvised per-document.
Relationship to the Doctrine Risk Registry
Every glossary term’s doctrine field links back to an entry in doctrine_risk_registry.json, so a term’s risk tier is always traceable to the specific doctrine it protects — the glossary enforces vocabulary, the doctrine registry explains why that vocabulary matters.
Critical Risk Terms
Father
Approved rendering: পিতা
Transliteration: Pita
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: ব্রহ্মা, সৃষ্টিকর্তা
God as personal Father. Never substitute Hindu creator-deity names such as ব্রহ্মা (Brahma).
God
Approved rendering: ঈশ্বর
Transliteration: Ishshor
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: ভগবান, আল্লাহ
ঈশ্বর is the settled Bengali Christian standard. ভগবান is heavily used in Bengali Hindu devotional address (“হে ভগবান”) and popular bhakti culture; আল্লাহ is the Islamic-idiom option. ঈশ্বর itself has roots in Hindu Vedantic philosophy (Ishvara), but long Bengali Bible translation history has stabilized it as the neutral, expected Christian term.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: পবিত্র আত্মা
Transliteration: Pobitro Attha
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: ব্রহ্ম, পরমাত্মা
CRITICAL: Never ব্রহ্ম (the impersonal Hindu Absolute) or পরমাত্মা (the universal Self). পবিত্র আত্মা is the personal Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: আরোপিত ধার্মিকতা
Transliteration: aropito dharmikota
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: অর্জিত ধার্মিকতা
Righteousness credited to the believer by God, NOT earned righteousness (অর্জিত ধার্মিকতা, explicitly rejected).
Incarnation
Approved rendering: দেহধারণ
Transliteration: dehodharon
Doctrine: Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: অবতার, দেহ প্রকাশ
CRITICAL: NEVER use অবতার (a Hindu deity’s temporary, repeatable descent). দেহধারণ conveys the eternal Son permanently and uniquely assuming human nature, once, not one of several divine appearances.
Jesus
Approved rendering: যীশু
Transliteration: Jishu
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: ঈসা
CRITICAL: Use the established Bengali Christian form যীশু. ঈসা is the Qur’anic name used by Bengali Muslims and by some Muslim-idiom contextualized translations; it carries a distinct Islamic Christology (a prophet, not the divine Son) and is not used in this mainstream Christian curriculum.
Justification
Approved rendering: ধার্মিক বলে গণ্য হওয়া
Transliteration: dharmik bole gonyo howa
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: ক্ষমা পাওয়া, পুণ্য লাভ করা
Compound phrase required; no single Bengali word carries the forensic “declared righteous” sense. Never abbreviate to just ক্ষমা (forgiveness), which loses the legal-declaration dimension.
Lord
Approved rendering: প্রভু
Transliteration: provu
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: মালিক, ঈশ্বর
Established Bengali Christian term. Romans 10:9’s confession “Jesus is Lord” = যীশু প্রভু। Must convey exclusive, supreme Lordship, not one honorific among several.
Messiah
Approved rendering: খ্রীষ্ট
Transliteration: Khrishto
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Rejected alternatives: মশীহ, অবতার পুরুষ
CRITICAL: Use খ্রীষ্ট, the established NT rendering. মশীহ is the transliteration shared with Bengali Muslim usage (ঈসা মসীহ); Islamic theology denies Christ’s divinity, crucifixion, and resurrection, so retaining মশীহ without extensive qualification would imply a shared theology that does not exist. Reserve মশীহ, with an explanatory note, only for outreach materials addressed specifically to Muslim-background readers.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: পুনরুত্থান
Transliteration: punorutthan
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: পুনর্জন্ম, পুনর্জীবন
CRITICAL: NEVER use পুনর্জন্ম (reincarnation into a new body within the samsara cycle). পুনরুত্থান is bodily, historical, once-for-all resurrection. Always distinguish the two terms in a translator note when the passage is doctrinally load-bearing.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: ধার্মিকতা
Transliteration: dharmikota
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: ধর্ম, পুণ্য, ন্যায়
CRITICAL: NEVER use ধর্ম. In everyday Bengali ধর্ম means both Hindu cosmic duty AND “religion” itself (হিন্দু ধর্ম, খ্রীষ্টান ধর্ম, ইসলাম ধর্ম), so using it for righteousness would confuse right-standing-before-God with simply belonging to a religion. ধার্মিকতা is right standing before God received through faith, not a duty performed or a religious identity held.
Salvation
Approved rendering: পরিত্রাণ
Transliteration: poritran
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: মুক্তি, মোক্ষ, নাজাত
CRITICAL: NEVER use মুক্তি or মোক্ষ — these carry the Hindu sense of liberation from the cycle of rebirth. Also reject নাজাত, the Islamic-idiom term (deliverance earned through submission and weighed good deeds at judgment) used in some Muslim-contextualized Bengali translations; this curriculum uses the established Christian term পরিত্রাণ, deliverance by God’s grace through Christ.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: ঈশ্বরের পুত্র
Transliteration: Ishshorer Putro
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: দেবপুত্র, ঈশ্বরের অংশ
CRITICAL: Full phrase required. দেবপুত্র (“son of a deva”) wrongly places Christ within a Hindu pantheon of lesser divine beings rather than as the eternal, unique Son within the Godhead.
High Risk Terms
Adoption
Approved rendering: দত্তকপুত্রতা
Transliteration: dattaka-putrota
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: দত্তক নেওয়া
দত্তক নেওয়া (the common word for adopting a child) can carry a sense of reduced or provisional status in Bengali family custom; দত্তকপুত্রতা emphasizes full son-status with complete inheritance rights.
Called
Approved rendering: আহুত
Transliteration: ahuto
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: আমন্ত্রিত, নিমন্ত্রিত
Context-sensitive: Romans 1:1 = called to apostleship; 1:7 = called to be saints; 8:28-30 = effectual calling to salvation. আমন্ত্রিত/নিমন্ত্রিত imply a mere invitation that can be declined, understating the effectual force of God’s call in 8:28-30.
Calling
Approved rendering: আহ্বান
Transliteration: ahban
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Noun form for the act or state of being called by God. Use আহ্বান for the noun; আহুত for the adjective/participle.
Covenant
Approved rendering: নিয়ম
Transliteration: niyom
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: চুক্তি, অঙ্গীকার
Relational covenant bond, more than a legal contract (চুক্তি). Established in Bengali Bible usage (e.g. পুরাতন নিয়ম, “Old Testament/Old Covenant”).
Election
Approved rendering: ঈশ্বরের মনোনয়ন
Transliteration: Ishshorer monownoyon
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: ভাগ্য, নিয়তি, কর্মফল
God’s sovereign, personal choice; not karma-determined fate (ভাগ্য/নিয়তি/কর্মফল).
Faith
Approved rendering: বিশ্বাস
Transliteration: bishwas
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: ঈমান, শ্রদ্ধা
Personal trust in Christ specifically. ঈমান is the Islamic term for creedal submission to the oneness of God (tawhid) and is never used for trust in Christ’s atoning work. শ্রদ্ধা carries Hindu devotional-reverence connotations. Always specify the object of বিশ্বাস in context.
Glory
Approved rendering: মহিমা
Transliteration: mohima
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: জ্যোতি, তেজ
God’s radiant honor and presence. তেজ (radiance/fiery splendor) risks being read through Hindu divine-light and deity-aura imagery; মহিমা is the safer, established term.
Gospel
Approved rendering: সুসমাচার
Transliteration: susomachar
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: খুশ খবর, ইঞ্জিল
Established Bengali Christian term (“good news”). ইঞ্জিল is the Qur’anic/Muslim-idiom term for a presumed lost scripture given to Isa; it does not denote the apostolic proclamation of Christ crucified and risen, so it is rejected for this curriculum’s mainstream Christian register.
Grace
Approved rendering: অনুগ্রহ
Transliteration: anugroho
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: কৃপা, পুণ্য, ভাগ্য
Unmerited favor from God, apart from human merit. পুণ্য (accumulated religious merit) directly contradicts this. কৃপা may be used for general compassion/mercy in non-soteriological contexts only.
Holy
Approved rendering: পবিত্র
Transliteration: pobitro
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: শুচি, নির্মল
Set apart for God and morally pure. শুচি carries ritual-purity connotations closer to Hindu shuddhi. Use পবিত্র consistently across all doctrinal contexts.
Law
Approved rendering: ব্যবস্থা
Transliteration: bebostha
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: ধর্ম, শরিয়ত, নিয়ম
The Mosaic law. NEVER use ধর্ম (dharma/religion) or শরিয়ত (the Islamic legal-idiom term). ব্যবস্থা is the established Bengali Bible rendering.
Obedience Of Faith
Approved rendering: বিশ্বাসের বাধ্যতা
Transliteration: bishwasher baddhota
Doctrine: Obedience of Faith
Rejected alternatives: ধর্মীয় কর্তব্য পালন
Romans 1:5 and 16:26. Obedience that flows from faith, not works-based religious duty (ধর্মীয় কর্তব্য) that earns standing.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: ঈশ্বরের সামর্থ্য
Transliteration: Ishshorer shamorthyo
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Rejected alternatives: শক্তি
NEVER শক্তি. Bengal is the historic heartland of Shaktism (Durga and Kali worship centered in Kolkata and across the region), so শক্তি carries an unusually strong goddess-power association here, stronger than in most other Indian languages. সামর্থ্য (capacity/ability) avoids that association entirely.
Providence
Approved rendering: ঈশ্বরের পরিচালনা
Transliteration: Ishshorer porichalona
Doctrine: Providence
Rejected alternatives: ভাগ্য, নিয়তি
God’s personal, purposive governance of all things; never fate (ভাগ্য) or impersonal destiny (নিয়তি).
Saints
Approved rendering: পবিত্র লোক
Transliteration: pobitro lok
Doctrine: Sainthood
Rejected alternatives: সাধু, সাধুগণ
Older Bengali Bible translations rendered “saints” as সাধুগণ; this curriculum breaks from that precedent because সাধু is a specific, culturally vivid image of a Hindu or Jain wandering ascetic renunciate in Bengal. Paul addresses every ordinary believer in Rome as পবিত্র লোক, not an ascetic elite.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: পবিত্রীকরণ
Transliteration: pobitrikoron
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: শুদ্ধিকরণ
The Spirit’s ongoing work of making believers holy; distinct from Hindu ritual purification (shuddhi).
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: দায়ূদের বংশ
Transliteration: Dayuder bongsho
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Romans 1:3; conveys physical lineage and fulfillment of the Old Testament covenant promise to David.
Sin
Approved rendering: পাপ
Transliteration: pap
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: অধর্ম, অশুচিতা
Moral transgression before a personal God, distinct from ritual impurity (অশুচিতা) or accumulated bad karma.
Medium Risk Terms
Abba
Approved rendering: আব্বা
Transliteration: Abba
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Preserve the Aramaic transliteration in Romans 8:15. Unlike in many target languages, আব্বা is also the everyday Bengali Muslim word for “father,” so for readers from that background this term lands with immediate warmth and familiarity rather than needing to be explained as foreign.
Apostle
Approved rendering: প্রেরিত
Transliteration: prerito
Doctrine: Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: দূত, বার্তাবাহক
Established Bengali Christian term: an authorized, sent-out messenger with delegated apostolic authority, not a generic messenger.
Church
Approved rendering: মণ্ডলী
Transliteration: mondoli
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: মন্দির, গির্জা
মণ্ডলী (assembly/congregation) is the established term for the doctrinal Church. গির্জা is acceptable for the physical building. Never use মন্দির (Hindu temple).
David
Approved rendering: দায়ূদ
Transliteration: Dayud
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Established Bengali Bible proper-name form.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: পরজাতি
Transliteration: porojati
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: বিদেশী
Non-Jewish peoples generally; established Bengali Bible term. বিদেশী (foreigner) is too narrowly nationality-based.
Intercession
Approved rendering: মধ্যস্থতা
Transliteration: moddhosthota
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Rejected alternatives: সুপারিশ
Prayer on behalf of others before God. সুপারিশ (recommendation/favor-seeking) is too transactional for the doctrinal sense.
Israel
Approved rendering: ইস্রায়েল
Transliteration: Israel
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Established proper-name form.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: ঈশ্বরের রাজ্য
Transliteration: Ishshorer Rajyo
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Rejected alternatives: ঈশ্বরের দেশ
God’s sovereign reign, not a territorial or political kingdom.
Mission
Approved rendering: সুসমাচার প্রচার
Transliteration: susomachar prochar
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
“Proclamation of the gospel” is the natural Bengali description; use contextually alongside মিশন where a loanword is appropriate.
Peace
Approved rendering: শান্তি
Transliteration: shanti
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: সুখ, স্বস্তি
In Romans 5:1, relational peace with God secured through justification, not merely psychological calm or contentment.
Spiritual Gifts
Approved rendering: আত্মিক বর
Transliteration: attik bor
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts
Rejected alternatives: বর, আশীর্বাদ
বর alone means “boon,” familiar from Bengali folk-Hindu stories of a deity granting a boon to a devotee. Always pair with আত্মিক (Spirit-given) to keep the enablement Spirit-sourced rather than merit- or favor-earned.
Low Risk Terms
Exhort
Approved rendering: উৎসাহিত করা
Transliteration: utshahito kora
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Context-sensitive: বিনতি (entreaty) for beseeching; উৎসাহিত করা (encourage) for building up.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: সহভাগিতা
Transliteration: shohobhagita
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: বন্ধুত্ব
Shared participation in Christ and his body; বন্ধুত্ব (friendship) is too casual/social for the doctrinal sense.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: ভাববাণী
Transliteration: bhabbani
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: গণনা
God-inspired declaration, distinct from astrological prediction (গণনা).
Prophet
Approved rendering: ভাববাদী
Transliteration: bhabbadi
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: জ্যোতিষী
God’s spokesperson; established Bengali Christian term. Do not confuse with জ্যোতিষী (astrologer/fortune-teller).
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: ধন্যবাদ
Transliteration: dhonnobad
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Standard term. No significant doctrinal risk.
Referenced passages