Core Glossary
Core Glossary: Song of Solomon
Bengali Language Package — Per-Term Risk Table
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, citing terms from every chapter of Song of Solomon (1–8). Terms marked “Reused from baseline” MUST use the Romans translation_memory.json rendering exactly, with no deviation. New terms proposed here are candidates for addition to translation memory as new entries prior to Phase 2.
| # | Term (English) | Original (Hebrew, translit.) | Bengali rendering | Risk tier | Chapters | Alternatives rejected | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Love | אַהֲבָה ahavah | প্রেম (prem) | Critical | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 | ভালোবাসা (too casual for register), কামনা/বাসনা (too narrowly carnal), অনুরাগ (not established) | Collides with Bengali Vaishnava prema-bhakti (Radha-Krishna) devotional tradition, whose paradigm love is celebrated as parakīyā (extramarital) — the opposite of this book’s exclusive-marital doctrine. Must always be framed within covenant marriage in teaching materials. See §3 of 07_semantic_analysis.md. |
| 2 | Jealousy / covenant zeal | קִנְאָה qin’ah | ঈর্ষা (irsha) | Critical | 8 | (no viable single-word alternative; multi-word paraphrases lose the term’s link to divine jealousy elsewhere in the OT) | Everyday Bengali usage reads ঈর্ষা as sinful envy. Mandatory translator note required distinguishing covenant-protective ardor (as used of God himself, Exodus 20:5) from sinful envy. |
| 3 | Flame of Yah / mighty flame | שַׁלְהֶבֶתְיָה shalhevetyah | (a) সদাপ্রভুর শিখা or (b) প্রচণ্ড শিখা | Critical | 8 | plain “শিখা” alone (loses intensifying/possible divine-name force entirely) | Disputed whether -yah is the divine name YHWH or a superlative suffix. One reading must be selected by theologian review and applied consistently everywhere 8:6 is cited. |
| 4 | YHWH / the LORD (OT covenant name) | יהוה / -יָה (Yah) | সদাপ্রভু (Shadaprobhu) | Critical | 8 (conditionally, per term 3) | প্রভু alone (flattens OT covenant-name register into generic “lord/master” or NT κύριος usage) | New term for this package; distinct from but coordinated with baseline’s প্রভু (reused from Romans TM for κύριος/Christ’s Lordship). |
| 5 | Sheol / the grave | שְׁאוֹל she’ol | কবর (kobor) | High | 8 | পাতাল (NEVER — invokes the Hindu Puranic netherworld cosmology of Nāgas and multi-tiered cosmic geography) | Requires translator note: she’ol denotes the shadowy realm of the dead generally, broader than a single burial plot. |
| 6 | Desire | תְּשׁוּקָה teshuqah | আকাঙ্ক্ষা (akangkha) | High | 7 | বাসনা (carries stronger carnal/lust connotation in isolation) | This rare word occurs only at Genesis 3:16, Genesis 4:7, and Song 7:10 — the last showing desire restored to its good, mutual, God-designed form within marriage. Requires a cross-reference teaching note to Genesis 3:16. |
| 7 | Covenant-mutuality refrain (“I am my beloved’s, and he is mine”) | אֲנִי לְדוֹדִי וְדוֹדִי לִי / וְעָלַי תְּשׁוּקָתוֹ | আমি আমার প্রিয়তমের, ও তিনি আমার (variant with 7:10: …এবং তাঁর আকাঙ্ক্ষা আমার প্রতি) | High | 2, 6, 7 | any paraphrase that varies wording between occurrences | Must be rendered identically (or with only the Hebrew’s own minimal variation) at 2:16, 6:3, 7:10 — refrain-level consistency requirement. |
| 8 | Beloved (masc., “my beloved”) | דוֹדִי dodi | প্রিয়তম (priyotomo) | High | 1–8 (recurring) | প্রিয় (too weak/generic) | The book’s principal address-term for the male figure; consistency required at every occurrence; maps to Christ in the allegorical layer. |
| 9 | ”The only one” / exclusivity declaration | אַחַת הִיא achat hi | তিনিই একমাত্র | High | 6 | ”সে বিশেষ” (loses the explicit numerical exclusivity claim) | Set against “queens and concubines” (6:8-9); must preserve the force of the contrast, not soften it. |
| 10 | Garden enclosed / sealed spring | גַּן נָעוּל / מַעְיָן חָתוּם gan na’ul / ma’yan chatum | বদ্ধ উদ্যান / রুদ্ধ উৎস | High | 4 | vague “সুন্দর বাগান” (loses exclusivity claim entirely); explicit anatomical language (breaks poetic register) | Central exclusivity image outside 8:6; must neither be euphemized away nor coarsened. |
| 11 | Beloved (fem., “my darling/companion”) | רַעְיָתִי ra’yati | প্রিয়া (priya) | Medium | 1–8 (recurring) | বান্ধবী (too casual, loses intimacy register) | Consistency required; maps to the Church in the allegorical layer. |
| 12 | ”You are all fair…no spot in you” | כֻּלָּךְ יָפָה…וּמוּם אֵין בָּךְ | তুমি সম্পূর্ণ সুন্দরী…তোমার মধ্যে কোনো খুঁত নেই | Medium-High | 4 | — | Resonance with Ephesians 5:27’s bridal-purity language for the Church; preserve for the allegorical layer without overstating as direct quotation. |
| 13 | Adjuration refrain (“do not stir up/awaken love”) | הִשְׁבַּעְתִּי…אִם־תָּעִירוּ אֶת־הָאַהֲבָה | আমি তোমাদের অনুরোধ করি…প্রেমকে জাগ্রত করো না যে পর্যন্ত তার ইচ্ছা না হয় | Medium | 2, 3, 8 | — | Three occurrences (2:7; 3:5; 8:4) must be rendered identically; supports Doctrine 3 (rightly-timed desire). |
| 14 | Kiss(es) | נְשִׁיקָה neshiqah | চুম্বন (chumbon) | Medium | 1 | ইঙ্গিতমূলক প্রকাশ (euphemistic paraphrase — rejected, loses frankness) | Cultural modesty pressure may cause softening; doctrine requires preserving frankness in a non-vulgar poetic register. |
| 15 | Wall and door (chastity metaphor) | חוֹמָה / פֶּתַח chomah / petach | প্রাচীর / দ্বার | Medium | 8 | purely literal architectural rendering (loses the protection/virtue metaphor) | Must be rendered as a guardedness/exclusivity metaphor, consistent with the “sealed garden” image of ch.4. |
| 16 | Banner (of love) | דֶּגֶל degel | পতাকা / বিজয়ধ্বজা | Medium | 2 | সাধারণ চিহ্ন (too generic, loses claiming/military-standard sense) | Public claiming-symbol, thematically continuous with the seal-imagery of 8:6. |
| 17 | Frankincense | לְבוֹנָה levonah | কুন্দুরু (kunduru) | Medium | 3, 4 | ধুনা (carries active Hindu/Buddhist household-puja ritual-incense association) | Also echoes the Magi’s gift in Matthew 2:11, reinforcing allegorical resonance. |
| 18 | Veil / covering | צַמָּה tsammah | আবরণ (generic covering) | Medium | 4 | বোরকা (too specific/anachronistic — a distinctly Muslim garment term, not the intended sense) | Use a generic covering-term to avoid importing a specific contemporary religious-dress association. |
| 19 | Seal | חוֹתָם chotam | সীলমোহর (silmohor) | Medium | 8 | মুদ্রা (more coin/currency-associated in modern usage) | ANE personal-signet custom requires an explanatory translator/teaching note; term itself is not doctrinally risky. |
| 20 | Litter / palanquin (wedding procession) | מִטָּה / אַפִּרְיוֹן mittah / appiryon | পালকি (palki) | Low-Medium | 3 | সাধারণ শয্যা/গাড়ি (loses ceremonial-procession specificity) | Culturally apt Bengali wedding-procession term; verify no comic/outdated connotation before final adoption. |
| 21 | Vineyard | כֶּרֶם kerem | দ্রাক্ষাক্ষেত্র (drakkhakkhetro) | Low-Medium | 1, 8 | — | Established OT term; figurative “self/self-possession” sense (1:6; 8:12) must be clear from context. |
| 22 | Flame / flashes of fire | רֶשֶׁף resheph | শিখা (shikha) | Medium | 8 | অগ্নি (Agni — the Vedic fire-deity name; avoid) | Cultural fire-deity collision distinct from the ANE Resheph-deity consideration in the source text. |
| 23 | Coals/fire (general) | אֵשׁ esh | আগুন (agun) | Low | 8 | — | Ordinary term; low risk. |
| 24 | Heart | לֵב lev | হৃদয় (hridoy) | Low | 8 (and passim) | — | Standard term. |
| 25 | Arm | זְרוֹעַ zeroa | বাহু (bahu) | Low | 8 | — | Standard term. |
| 26 | Many waters / floods | מַיִם רַבִּים / נָהָר mayim rabbim / nahar | বহু জলরাশি / নদীর প্রবাহ | Low | 8 | — | Stock OT chaos-imagery, declared powerless against love. |
| 27 | Wealth / substance | הוֹן hon | সম্পদ (shompod) | Low | 8 | — | Standard term. |
| 28 | Contempt / utter scorn | בּוּז buz | সম্পূর্ণভাবে ঘৃণার পাত্র হওয়া | Low-Medium | 8 | মৃদু অবহেলা (too weak — loses the Hebrew’s emphatic cognate-accusative intensification) | Must preserve emphatic force (“utterly,” not “somewhat”). |
| 29 | Crown | עֲטָרָה atarah | মুকুট (mukut) | Low | 3 | — | Royal-wedding imagery; low risk. |
| 30 | Myrrh | מוֹר mor | গন্ধরস (gondhoros) | Low-Medium | 1, 3, 4, 5 | — | Echoes Magi gift-giving (Matthew 2:11); low doctrinal risk, moderate cross-reference value. |
| 31 | Mandrakes | דּוּדָאִים dudaim | দুদাইম / প্রেমফল (descriptive gloss) | Low | 7 | — | Minor fertility/romance imagery. |
| 32 | Gazelle / young stag | צְבִי / עֹפֶר tsvi / ofer | হরিণ / হরিণশিশু | Low | 2, 8 | — | Beauty/vitality simile, low risk. |
| 33 | Daughters of Jerusalem | בְּנוֹת יְרוּשָׁלַיִם | যিরূশালেমের কন্যাগণ | Low | 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 | — | Structural refrain-audience; keep consistent form. |
| 34 | Solomon (proper name) | שְׁלֹמֹה Shlomo | শলোমন (Sholomon) | Low | 1, 3, 8 | — | Established OT Bengali proper-name form. |
| 35 | Shulammite (proper name/gentilic) | הַשּׁוּלַמִּית | শূলম্মীয়া (Shulammiya) | Low | 6 | — | Proper name; keep transliteration consistent. |
Terms Reused Exactly from Baseline (Romans translation_memory.json)
The following terms are invoked only in the doctrinal-application/allegorical layer (Doctrine 4) of the curriculum, never inserted into the OT translation itself. They MUST match the baseline exactly with no deviation:
| Term | Bengali (reused) | Risk tier (per baseline) | Usage context in this curriculum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christ | খ্রীষ্ট | Critical | Typological referent for the Bridegroom (Eph 5:25-32) |
| Church | মণ্ডলী | Medium | Typological referent for the Bride (Rev 19:7-9; 21:2, 9) |
| Lord | প্রভু | Critical | Christ’s NT Lordship title, distinguished from OT সদাপ্রভু (new term #4 above) |
| Holy | পবিত্র | High | If teaching material describes the marriage bed/covenant as set apart/consecrated |
| God | ঈশ্বর | Critical | General theological framing statements in commentary |
Risk Summary
| Risk tier | Count | Review routing (per baseline convention) |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 4 | Human theologian review, every occurrence |
| High | 6 | Human theologian review |
| Medium-High | 2 | Human theologian review |
| Medium | 9 | Native speaker review |
| Low-Medium | 6 | Native speaker review recommended |
| Low | 13 | Automated review sufficient |
| Total terms cataloged | 35 (+ 5 reused baseline terms) |
This glossary must be loaded alongside the baseline translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json before Phase 2 segment translation begins. New terms marked Critical/High above (items 1–13) require theologian sign-off and formal addition to translation memory prior to any segment processing.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: ঈশ্বর
Transliteration: Ishshor
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: ভগবান, আল্লাহ
Original: θεός / אֱלֹהִים
Category: God
ঈশ্বর is the settled Bengali Christian standard; ভগবান is heavily used in Bengali Hindu bhakti devotional address, and আল্লাহ is the Islamic-idiom option. [Inherited from Romans package. In this curriculum used only in general theological framing statements in commentary, e.g. when teaching Song of Solomon’s Divine Origin of Love and Traditional Allegorical Reading doctrines; never inserted into the Old Testament translation itself.]
Jesus
Approved rendering: যীশু
Transliteration: Jishu
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: ঈসা
CRITICAL: Use the established Bengali Christian form যীশু, never ঈসা (Qur’anic/Muslim-idiom name). [Inherited from Romans package. Used only in curriculum commentary drawing the Christ-Church allegorical layer (e.g. Ephesians 5:25-32 cross-reference material); never inserted into the Song of Solomon OT translation itself.]
Lord
Approved rendering: প্রভু
Transliteration: provu
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: মালিক, ঈশ্বর
Established Bengali Christian term for NT κύριος/Christ’s exclusive Lordship. [Inherited from Romans package. In this curriculum MUST be kept visibly distinct from সদাপ্রভু (see ‘yhwh’ entry below), the OT covenant-name term used only if the divine-name reading of Song 8:6’s shalhevetyah is adopted. Never conflate the two in teaching material.]
Messiah
Approved rendering: খ্রীষ্ট
Transliteration: Khrishto
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Rejected alternatives: মশীহ, অবতার পুরুষ
CRITICAL: Use the established NT rendering খ্রীষ্ট; reserve মশীহ, with explanatory qualification, only for Muslim-background outreach material. [Inherited from Romans package. In this curriculum, the required typological referent for the Song’s bridegroom figure (paired with the new term ‘bridegroom_typological’ below) — used only in commentary, never inserted into the OT translation itself.]
Incarnation
Approved rendering: দেহধারণ
Transliteration: dehodharon
Doctrine: Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: অবতার, দেহ প্রকাশ
CRITICAL: NEVER use অবতার (a Hindu deity’s temporary, repeatable descent). [Inherited from Romans package. Especially load-bearing in this curriculum’s Traditional Allegorical Reading doctrine: the Chaitanya Vaishnava Krishna-avatar devotional pattern is the single closest cultural analogue to the Bridegroom-Christ typology, so commentary must repeatedly anchor Christ’s incarnation as eternal, unique, and once-for-all using দেহধারণ, never অবতার.]
Son Of God
Approved rendering: ঈশ্বরের পুত্র
Transliteration: Ishshorer Putro
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: দেবপুত্র, ঈশ্বরের অংশ
CRITICAL: Full phrase required; never দেবপুত্র. [Inherited from Romans package. Relevant to this curriculum’s Traditional Allegorical Reading doctrine whenever commentary discusses the Bridegroom-Christ’s identity; a translator note clarifying relational/eternal, not biological, sonship is required wherever the allegory is taught to a Muslim-background-inclusive audience, per baseline convention.]
Love
Approved rendering: প্রেম
Transliteration: prem
Doctrine: The Goodness of Marital Love and Intimacy; Exclusive and Covenantal Love
Rejected alternatives: ভালোবাসা (too casual for the elevated poetic register), কামনা/বাসনা (too narrowly carnal, loses covenantal-relational dimension), অনুরাগ (not the established Bengali Christian term)
Original: אַהֲבָה
Category: Marital Love and Intimacy
The book’s single most frequent load-bearing term (every chapter), reaching maximum doctrinal weight at 8:6-7. প্রেম is the established Bengali Christian rendering for covenantal/agape-type love (cf. baseline usage ‘ঈশ্বর প্রেম,’ 1 John 4:8). CRITICAL COLLISION: প্রেম is also the technical term of Bengali Vaishnava bhakti theology (prema-bhakti), whose paradigm romantic-devotional relationship (Radha-Krishna) is explicitly parakīyā (celebrated love OUTSIDE marriage) — the theological inverse of this book’s exclusive-marital-covenant claim. Every doctrinal use of প্রেম in this curriculum must be explicitly and repeatedly anchored to exclusive marital covenant; teaching commentary should proactively name and set aside the parakīyā association rather than assume readers will not notice it.
Jealousy
Approved rendering: ঈর্ষা
Transliteration: irsha
Doctrine: Exclusive and Covenantal Love
Rejected alternatives: no viable single-word alternative exists; multi-word paraphrases lose the term’s link to divine jealousy elsewhere in the OT (Exodus 20:5, 34:14)
Original: קִנְאָה
Category: Exclusive and Covenantal Love
Song 8:6: ‘jealousy is fierce as the grave.’ Everyday Bengali usage reads ঈর্ষা as petty, sinful envy. Rendered unglossed, a Bengali reader will almost certainly hear this verse as commending a vice rather than covenant-protecting ardor (the same word used of the LORD’s own covenant jealousy for Israel). MANDATORY translator/teaching note required at every doctrinal occurrence distinguishing covenant-protective ardor from ordinary sinful envy. Additional risk: Radha’s own celebrated jealousy-poems (māna) in Vaishnava bhakti poetry are aesthetically prized but not morally weighted the way Exodus 20:5 weighs qin’ah; do not let ঈর্ষা float into that association unglossed.
Flame Of Yah
Approved rendering: OPTION A (divine-name reading): সদাপ্রভুর শিখা / OPTION B (superlative reading): প্রচণ্ড শিখা — THEOLOGIAN SIGN-OFF REQUIRED BEFORE PHASE 2
Transliteration: shalhevetyah
Doctrine: Divine Origin of Love (Flame of Yah)
Rejected alternatives: plain শিখা alone (loses the intensifying/possible divine-name force entirely)
Original: שַׁלְהֶבֶתְיָה
Category: Traditional Allegorical Reading
Song 8:6f, the single most exegetically debated word in the book. The Hebrew -yah suffix is read either as an embedded form of the divine name YHWH (‘flame of Yah’) or as a Hebrew intensifying/superlative suffix (‘a supremely great/raging flame’). This is a genuinely disputed scholarly question, not a settled term. Whichever reading is selected by human theologian review MUST be applied identically at every citation of 8:6 across all curriculum documents, mirroring the baseline’s fixed, non-negotiable treatment of Romans 1:16-17 and 8:28. Do not process any Phase 2 segment containing Song 8:6 until this decision is recorded.
Yhwh
Approved rendering: সদাপ্রভু
Transliteration: Shadaprobhu
Doctrine: Divine Origin of Love (Flame of Yah)
Rejected alternatives: প্রভু alone (flattens the OT covenant-name-specific claim into a generic ‘lord/master’ honorific or NT κύριος register)
Original: יהוה / -יָה (Yah)
Category: God
NEW TERM for this Language Package, distinct from but coordinated with the baseline’s প্রভু (reserved for generic ‘lord/master’ and NT κύριος addressed to Christ). This is the long-established Bangladesh Bible Society / Bible Society of India convention for the tetragrammaton YHWH. Used only conditionally at Song 8:6, and only if the divine-name reading of ‘flame_of_yah’ above is adopted by theologian review. Must never be confused with or substituted for প্রভু in teaching material; keep the two terms visibly distinct.
High Risk Terms
Holy
Approved rendering: পবিত্র
Transliteration: pobitro
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: শুচি, নির্মল
Original: ἅγιος / קָדוֹשׁ
Category: Traditional Allegorical Reading
Set apart for God and morally pure; not ritual-purity শুচি. [Inherited from Romans package. Relevant to this curriculum where teaching commentary describes the marriage covenant or marriage bed as set apart/consecrated before God, and for the Bridal Purity typological anchor (Song 4:7 / Ephesians 5:27 resonance); avoid any reading through a Hindu shuddhi or Islamic taharah ritual-purity lens.]
Covenant
Approved rendering: নিয়ম
Transliteration: niyom
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: চুক্তি, অঙ্গীকার
Relational covenant bond, more than a legal contract (চুক্তি). [Inherited from Romans package. In this curriculum extended to describe marriage itself as a relational covenant bond undergirding the Exclusive and Covenantal Love doctrine; useful cross-reference term when commentary discusses Song of Solomon’s marriage covenant alongside biblical covenant theology generally.]
Sheol
Approved rendering: কবর
Transliteration: kobor
Doctrine: Love’s Strength Against Death and the Grave
Rejected alternatives: পাতাল (NEVER — the named netherworld of Hindu Puranic cosmology, home of the Nāgas, part of a tri-level cosmic geography; would import an entire foreign cosmology into the text)
Original: שְׁאוֹל
Category: Faithfulness and Longing
Song 8:6: ‘jealousy is fierce as the grave (Sheol).’ কবর under-translates she’ol’s broader ‘shadowy realm of the dead generally’ sense — modern Bengali readers hear কবর primarily as an individual burial plot. MANDATORY translator note required at every occurrence clarifying that she’ol denotes the shadowy dead-realm generally, not a single grave. Guard against a translator substituting the more ‘poetic-sounding’ পাতাল for stylistic reasons in Phase 2 review.
Desire
Approved rendering: আকাঙ্ক্ষা
Transliteration: akangkha
Doctrine: Beauty and Desire within God’s Design
Rejected alternatives: বাসনা (carries a stronger isolated carnal/lust connotation, loses the covenantal-relational dimension)
Original: תְּשׁוּקָה
Category: Beauty and Desire
Song 7:10. This rare Hebrew word (teshuqah) occurs only three times in the Hebrew Bible: Genesis 3:16 (the woman’s desire toward her husband, under the Fall’s curse), Genesis 4:7 (sin’s desire to master Cain), and Song 7:10 (the husband’s desire for his wife, with no trace of the curse’s distortion). A MANDATORY teaching note connecting this occurrence to Genesis 3:16 is required so the doctrinal point — desire itself is not the Fall’s corruption; disordered desire is — is not lost. Bengali ascetic-renunciate currents (Hindu sannyasa, Sufi-inflected withdrawal) predispose readers to hear any praise of desire as spiritually inferior if this cross-reference is dropped.
Mutual Belonging Formula
Approved rendering: আমি আমার প্রিয়তমের, ও তিনি আমার
Transliteration: ami amar priyotomer, o tini amar
Doctrine: Exclusive and Covenantal Love; Mutual Belonging Formula
Rejected alternatives: any paraphrase that varies the wording between occurrences
Original: אֲנִי לְדוֹדִי וְדוֹדִי לִי
Category: Exclusive and Covenantal Love
“I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine” — the book’s core mutual-belonging refrain (2:16; 6:3; 7:10, with minor variation at 7:10 pairing with ‘desire’). Structurally parallel to OT covenant-formula language (‘I will be your God, and you will be my people’). MUST be rendered identically (or with only the minimal grammatical variation the Hebrew itself requires) at every occurrence, matching the baseline’s precedent for Romans 1:16-17, 8:28, and 10:9-10 consistency. At 7:10 the variant clause ‘এবং তাঁর আকাঙ্ক্ষা আমার প্রতি’ is appended; coordinate with the ‘desire’ entry above.
Beloved Masculine
Approved rendering: প্রিয়তম
Transliteration: priyotomo
Doctrine: The Traditional Allegorical Reading (Christ and the Church); Faithfulness and Longing
Rejected alternatives: প্রিয় (too weak/generic)
Original: דוֹדִי
Category: Traditional Allegorical Reading
“My beloved” (dodi) — the bride’s characteristic, recurring OT-narrative-level address for the groom throughout the book. Must be rendered identically at every occurrence (refrain-level consistency). In the allegorical layer this term’s referent maps onto the Church’s address to Christ, so instability here would weaken both the plain-sense narrative and the typological teaching layer. Keep strictly distinct from the NT-typological title ‘bridegroom_typological’ (বর), which belongs only in commentary.
The Only One
Approved rendering: তিনিই একমাত্র
Transliteration: tini-i ekmatro
Doctrine: Exclusivity Set Against Polygamous Court Norms
Rejected alternatives: সে বিশেষ (loses the explicit numerical exclusivity claim, softens into vague uniqueness)
Original: אַחַת הִיא
Category: Exclusive and Covenantal Love
Song 6:8-9: an explicit exclusivity declaration set against a backdrop of sixty queens, eighty concubines, and maidens without number. Must preserve the force of the contrast with the surrounding polygamous-court imagery; do not soften into generic praise.
Garden Enclosed
Approved rendering: বদ্ধ উদ্যান / রুদ্ধ উৎস
Transliteration: boddho uddan / ruddho utsho
Doctrine: Exclusive and Covenantal Love
Rejected alternatives: সুন্দর বাগান (vague, loses exclusivity claim entirely), explicit anatomical language (coarsens the poetic register)
Original: גַּן נָעוּל / מַעְיָן חָתוּם
Category: Exclusive and Covenantal Love
Song 4:12: ‘a garden locked/enclosed…a spring/fountain sealed.’ The strongest textual support for exclusive covenantal love outside 8:6 — the bride pictured as a private garden accessible only to her husband. Must neither be euphemized away nor coarsened.
No Spot In You
Approved rendering: তুমি সম্পূর্ণ সুন্দরী…তোমার মধ্যে কোনো খুঁত নেই
Transliteration: tumi shompurno shundori…tomar moddhe kono khut nei
Doctrine: Bridal Purity (Typological Anchor)
Original: כֻּלָּךְ יָפָה…וּמוּם אֵין בָּךְ
Category: Traditional Allegorical Reading
Song 4:7. Echoes Ephesians 5:27’s bridal-purity language for the Church. Preserve as a resonance for the allegorical teaching layer without overstating it as a direct NT quotation, and without ‘no blemish’ being misread through a Hindu ritual-purity (shuddhi) or Islamic ritual-cleanliness (taharah) lens rather than the intended moral/relational sense.
Bridegroom Typological
Approved rendering: বর
Transliteration: bôr
Doctrine: The Traditional Allegorical Reading (Christ and the Church)
Original: νυμφίος (NT cross-reference, e.g. Matthew 9:15, Ephesians 5:25-32)
Category: Traditional Allegorical Reading
The typological title applied to Christ in curriculum commentary, drawing on Song of Solomon’s bridegroom figure as an anticipation of Christ’s relationship to the Church (cf. Ephesians 5:25-32). Used ONLY in the doctrinal-application/allegorical layer, never inserted into the Old Testament translation itself. Must always be paired contextually with খ্রীষ্ট (the inherited ‘messiah’ entry above) on first use in a lesson, so readers do not mistake the typological title for a claim within the OT text.
Bride Typological
Approved rendering: কনে/বধূ
Transliteration: kône/bôdhu
Doctrine: The Traditional Allegorical Reading (Christ and the Church)
Original: νύμφη (NT cross-reference, e.g. Revelation 19:7-9, 21:2, 9)
Category: Traditional Allegorical Reading
The typological title applied to the Church in curriculum commentary, drawing on Song of Solomon’s bride figure as an anticipation of the Church’s relationship to Christ (cf. Revelation 19:7-9; 21:2, 9). Used ONLY in the doctrinal-application/allegorical layer, never inserted into the Old Testament translation itself. Must always be paired contextually with মণ্ডলী (the inherited ‘church’ entry above).
Medium Risk Terms
Church
Approved rendering: মণ্ডলী
Transliteration: mondoli
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: মন্দির, গির্জা
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Traditional Allegorical Reading
Established term for the doctrinal Church; never মন্দির (Hindu temple). [Inherited from Romans package. In this curriculum, the required typological referent for the Song’s bride figure (paired with the new term ‘bride_typological’ below) — used only in commentary, never inserted into the OT translation itself.]
Beloved Feminine
Approved rendering: প্রিয়া
Transliteration: priya
Doctrine: The Goodness of Marital Love and Intimacy
Rejected alternatives: বান্ধবী (too casual, loses intimacy register)
Original: רַעְיָתִי
Category: Marital Love and Intimacy
“My companion/darling” (ra’yati) — a term of intimate equality, not mere physical attraction, used by the groom to address the bride. Consistency required at every occurrence. In the allegorical layer this term’s referent maps onto the Church.
Adjuration Refrain
Approved rendering: আমি তোমাদের অনুরোধ করি…যে পর্যন্ত তার ইচ্ছা না হয়, প্রেমকে জাগ্রত করো না
Transliteration: ami tomader onurodh kori…je porjonto tar iccha na hoy, premke jagroto koro na
Doctrine: Rightly Ordered and Timed Desire
Rejected alternatives: a generic ‘be patient’ platitude (loses the solemn-oath/adjuration force of the Hebrew)
Original: הִשְׁבַּעְתִּי…אִם־תָּעִירוּ / תְּעוֹרְרוּ אֶת־הָאַהֲבָה
Category: Faithfulness and Longing
“I adjure/solemnly charge you…do not stir up or awaken love” — a refrain repeated at 2:7, 3:5, and 8:4. MUST be rendered identically at all three occurrences.
Kiss
Approved rendering: চুম্বন
Transliteration: chumbon
Doctrine: The Goodness of Marital Love and Intimacy
Rejected alternatives: ইঙ্গিতমূলক প্রকাশ (euphemistic paraphrase — rejected, loses frankness)
Original: נְשִׁיקָה
Category: Marital Love and Intimacy
Song 1:2, the opening line. Sets the book’s frank register immediately: physical desire between spouses is a legitimate subject for sacred literature. Cultural modesty norms shared across Bengali Hindu and Muslim expectation of religious-text reticence about sexuality create pressure to soften; doctrine requires preserving frankness in a non-vulgar, elevated poetic register.
Wall And Door
Approved rendering: প্রাচীর / দ্বার
Transliteration: prachir / dwar
Doctrine: Rightly Ordered and Timed Desire
Rejected alternatives: purely literal architectural rendering (loses the protection/virtue metaphor)
Original: חוֹמָה / פֶּתַח
Category: Faithfulness and Longing
Song 8:8-10: ‘a wall’ (protected, chaste) versus ‘a door’ (open, unguarded) as metaphors for a young woman’s guarded or unguarded virtue before marriage. Must retain the protective/guardedness metaphor, consistent with the sealed-garden image of chapter 4. Compounded by honor/shame sensitivities in both Bengali Hindu and Muslim communal contexts; requires native-speaker cultural review.
Banner
Approved rendering: পতাকা
Transliteration: pataka
Doctrine: Exclusive and Covenantal Love
Rejected alternatives: সাধারণ চিহ্ন (too generic, loses the military-standard, claiming sense)
Original: דֶּגֶל
Category: Exclusive and Covenantal Love
Song 2:4: ‘his banner over me was love.’ A military/tribal standard raised over a camp to mark ownership/allegiance — a public claiming-symbol, thematically continuous with the seal-imagery of 8:6.
Frankincense
Approved rendering: কুন্দুরু
Transliteration: kunduru
Doctrine: Beauty and Desire within God’s Design
Rejected alternatives: ধুনা (NEVER in devotional contexts — the everyday Bengali Hindu/Buddhist term for ritual incense burned in household and temple puja)
Original: לְבוֹנָה
Category: Beauty and Desire
An aromatic resin used in perfume and desirability imagery (Song 3:6; 4:6, 14). Also echoes the Magi’s gift-giving to the infant Christ (Matthew 2:11), reinforcing allegorical resonance.
Veil
Approved rendering: আবরণ
Transliteration: aborон
Doctrine: Beauty and Desire within God’s Design
Rejected alternatives: বোরকা (anachronistic — a distinctly contemporary Muslim garment term, not the intended ancient sense)
Original: צַמָּה
Category: Beauty and Desire
A generic covering worn by the bride, mentioned in the wasf (praise-poem) descriptions of chapter 4 (tsammah). Use a generic covering-term to avoid importing a specific contemporary religious-dress association.
Seal
Approved rendering: সীলমোহর
Transliteration: silmohor
Doctrine: Exclusive and Covenantal Love
Rejected alternatives: মুদ্রা (more coin/currency-associated in modern usage)
Original: חוֹתָם
Category: Exclusive and Covenantal Love
Song 8:6: ‘Set me as a seal upon your heart…upon your arm.’ A fully naturalized Bengali term for an official/personal seal, with no rival-religion doctrinal collision. The risk is cultural-explanatory rather than doctrinal: modern Bengali readers associate seals mainly with bureaucratic stamps, not personal identity-marks worn on the body, so the ANE personal-signet custom requires an explanatory translator/teaching note.
Flame Flashes Of Fire
Approved rendering: শিখা
Transliteration: shikha
Doctrine: Exclusive and Covenantal Love
Rejected alternatives: অগ্নি (NEVER — the proper name of the Vedic fire-deity Agni, central to Hindu yajna fire-sacrifice ritual)
Original: רֶשֶׁף
Category: Exclusive and Covenantal Love
Song 8:6: ‘its flashes are flashes of fire’ (resheph). The same Hebrew word also names a Northwest Semitic/Canaanite deity of plague and fire, a deity-name consideration in the source culture paralleled by the Bengali অগ্নি collision. শিখা conveys love’s sudden, consuming intensity without invoking a deity name.
Beautiful Fair
Approved rendering: সুন্দর / সুন্দরী
Transliteration: shundor / shundori
Doctrine: Beauty and Desire within God’s Design
Original: יָפֶה / יָפָה
Category: Beauty and Desire
The recurring descriptive term (yafeh/yafah) applied to both bride and groom throughout the wasf (praise-poem) passages (1:15-16; 4:1, 7; 6:4, 10; 7:1, 6). Directly supports the doctrine that beauty is part of God’s good design; must retain a warm, admiring register, not a purely clinical physical-description term.
Low Risk Terms
Litter Palanquin
Approved rendering: পালকি
Transliteration: palki
Doctrine: Royal Bridegroom Imagery
Rejected alternatives: সাধারণ শয্যা/গাড়ি (loses ceremonial-procession specificity)
Original: מִטָּה / אַפִּרְיוֹן
Category: Traditional Allegorical Reading
A curtained carrying-couch used in Solomon’s royal wedding procession (Song 3:6-11). A well-established Bengali cultural/wedding term for a ceremonial carried litter, immediately understood in Bengali wedding tradition. Verify before final Phase 2 adoption that it carries no comic/outdated connotation in contemporary usage.
Vineyard
Approved rendering: দ্রাক্ষাক্ষেত্র
Transliteration: drakkhakkhetro
Doctrine: Self-Possession and the Freely-Given Gift of Love
Original: כֶּרֶם
Category: Marital Love and Intimacy
Literal vineyard; figuratively, the woman’s own person/self-possession (‘my own vineyard I have not kept,’ 1:6), bracketing the whole book at 8:12. Established OT Bengali term; ensure the figurative ‘self’ sense is clear from context at both occurrences.
Fire General
Approved rendering: আগুন
Transliteration: agun
Doctrine: Love’s Strength Against Death and the Grave
Original: אֵשׁ
Category: Exclusive and Covenantal Love
Ordinary fire (esh), paired with resheph in Song 8:6’s description of love’s flashing intensity. Standard, unambiguous term; no collision risk.
Heart
Approved rendering: হৃদয়
Transliteration: hridoy
Doctrine: Exclusive and Covenantal Love
Original: לֵב
Category: Marital Love and Intimacy
Song 8:6. Standard term; no collision risk.
Arm
Approved rendering: বাহু
Transliteration: bahu
Doctrine: Exclusive and Covenantal Love
Original: זְרוֹעַ
Category: Marital Love and Intimacy
Song 8:6, paired with ‘heart’ so love’s seal claims both inward affection and outward, visible loyalty. Standard term; no collision risk.
Many Waters
Approved rendering: বহু জলরাশি / নদীর প্রবাহ
Transliteration: bohu jolrashi / nodir probaho
Doctrine: Love’s Strength Against Death and the Grave
Original: מַיִם רַבִּים / נָהָר
Category: Faithfulness and Longing
Stock OT chaos-imagery (Song 8:7), declared powerless to quench or sweep away love. No doctrinal-collision risk; ensure register matches the passage’s elevated poetic tone.
Wealth
Approved rendering: সম্পদ
Transliteration: shompod
Doctrine: Love Cannot Be Bought
Original: הוֹן
Category: Exclusive and Covenantal Love
Song 8:7. Standard term; no collision risk.
Contempt Scorn
Approved rendering: সম্পূর্ণভাবে ঘৃণার পাত্র হওয়া
Transliteration: shompurnovabe ghrinar patro howa
Doctrine: Love Cannot Be Bought
Rejected alternatives: মৃদু অবহেলা (too weak — loses the Hebrew’s emphatic cognate-accusative intensification)
Original: בּוּז
Category: Exclusive and Covenantal Love
Song 8:7. The Hebrew intensifies with a cognate-accusative construction (‘scorn they will utterly scorn’); must preserve emphatic force, real pastoral relevance given dowry/bride-price customs still present in parts of Bengali culture.
Crown
Approved rendering: মুকুট
Transliteration: mukut
Doctrine: Royal Bridegroom Imagery
Original: עֲטָרָה
Category: Traditional Allegorical Reading
Song 3:11, a wedding crown worn by the groom. Reinforces the royal-bridegroom motif later echoed in NT Bridegroom-King typology; low risk on its own.
Myrrh
Approved rendering: গন্ধরস
Transliteration: gondhoros
Doctrine: Beauty and Desire within God’s Design
Original: מוֹר
Category: Beauty and Desire
Occurs at 1:13; 3:6; 4:6, 14; 5:1, 5, 13. Already used in Bengali Nativity-narrative translation (Matthew 2:11); low independent doctrinal risk, moderate cross-reference value.
Mandrakes
Approved rendering: দুদাইম / প্রেমফল
Transliteration: dudaim
Doctrine: Beauty and Desire within God’s Design
Original: דּוּדָאִים
Category: Beauty and Desire
Song 7:13. Minor fertility/romance imagery, not independently doctrinal. No native Bengali fruit corresponds; pair the transliteration with the descriptive gloss প্রেমফল (‘love-fruit’) on first use.
Gazelle
Approved rendering: হরিণ / হরিণশিশু
Transliteration: horin / horinshishu
Doctrine: Beauty and Desire within God’s Design
Original: צְבִי / עֹפֶר הָאַיָּלִים
Category: Beauty and Desire
Song 2:9, 17; 8:14. Beauty/vitality simile; no doctrinal collision risk.
Daughters Of Jerusalem
Approved rendering: যিরূশালেমের কন্যাগণ
Transliteration: jirushalemer konnagon
Doctrine: Structural Refrains and Audience Address
Original: בְּנוֹת יְרוּשָׁלַיִם
Category: Literary Structure
The recurring female chorus/audience addressed by the bride (1:5; 2:7; 3:5, 10-11; 5:8, 16; 8:4). Structural refrain-device; keep consistent form across all occurrences.
Solomon
Approved rendering: শলোমন
Transliteration: Sholomon
Doctrine: Royal Bridegroom Imagery
Original: שְׁלֹמֹה
Category: Proper Names
Established OT Bengali proper-name form; keep consistent with existing Bengali Bible tradition.
Shulammite
Approved rendering: শূলম্মীয়া
Transliteration: Shulammiya
Doctrine: Structural Refrains and Audience Address
Original: הַשּׁוּלַמִּית
Category: Proper Names
A gentilic/proper name for the bride (Song 6:13), likely linked to Shunem or to Solomon’s own name. Proper name; keep the established transliteration form consistent throughout.
Song Of Songs Title
Approved rendering: পরমগীত
Transliteration: Poromgeet
Doctrine: Structural Refrains and Audience Address
Original: שִׁיר הַשִּׁירִים
Category: Literary Structure
The book’s Hebrew title (Shir HaShirim), a superlative construction meaning ‘the finest/greatest of songs.’ Established Bengali Bible book-title convention (Bangladesh Bible Society / Bible Society of India usage); use consistently in all citations and headers.
Referenced passages