Core Glossary
Core Glossary — Acts (Handelingen) | English → Dutch
This glossary supports the semantic analysis in 07_semantic_analysis.md. It is organized in three parts:
- Reused Baseline Terms (from the Romans
translation_memory.json) that recur in Acts — renderings must match the baseline exactly, with Acts-specific usage notes added where relevant. - New Terms Introduced in Acts — proposed for translation memory entry, with full risk assessment.
- Proper Nouns and Place/Deity Names — lower-risk reference list for consistency.
Risk tiers and review routing follow the baseline doctrine_risk_registry.json definitions exactly: Critical/High → human theologian review; Medium → native speaker review; Low → automated review.
Part 1 — Reused Baseline Terms (Must Match Romans TM Exactly)
| Term (EN) | Dutch (TM) | Risk (baseline) | Acts usage / added note |
|---|---|---|---|
| gospel | evangelie | Low | Acts 13, 14, 15, 20:24; used identically to Romans usage. |
| grace | genade | High | Acts 4:33; 11:23; 13:43; 14:26; 15:11, 40; 18:27; 20:24, 32. Recurs heavily around Gentile inclusion and Paul’s ministry; contrast with law/works (ch.15) is doctrinally central. |
| faith | geloof | Medium | Acts 3:16; 6:5, 7; 11:24; 14:9, 22, 27; 15:9; 16:5; 26:18. |
| righteousness | gerechtigheid | Critical | Acts 24:25 (“righteousness, self-control, judgment to come”); must not collapse into generic virtue (deugd), per baseline. |
| justification | rechtvaardiging | Critical | Acts 13:39 — first explicit Acts statement of justification apart from Mosaic law; direct doctrinal bridge to Romans. |
| salvation | behoud | High | Acts 4:12; 13:26, 47; 16:17, 30–31; 28:28. NOTE: Acts 27 uses σωτηρία in a non-doctrinal, physical “rescue at sea” sense — do not force “behoud” register there; see 07 analysis, ch.27. |
| apostle | apostel | Low | Acts 1:2, 25–26; 2:37, 42–43; 4:33, 36–37; 5:2, 12, 18, 29, 34, 40; 6:6; 8:1, 14, 18; 9:27; 11:1; 14:4, 14; 15:2, 4, 6, 22–23, 33; 16:4. Central office throughout Acts 1–15. |
| called | geroepen | Medium | Acts 2:39; ties to effectual_calling, Critical. |
| calling | roeping | Medium | Less frequent noun form in Acts; concept present in election/calling passages (13:48; 22:14 implied). |
| holy | heilig | Medium | Acts 3:14 (“the Holy and Righteous One” — new compound title, see Part 2); 6:13; 7:33; 21:28. |
| saints | heiligen | High | Acts 9:13, 32, 41; 26:10. Consistent corporate-believer sense throughout, reinforcing baseline’s Catholic-canonized-saint disambiguation need. |
| sanctification | heiliging | Medium | Acts 26:18 combined uniquely with “by faith” — see Part 2 new-term entry sanctified by faith. |
| adoption | aanneming tot kinderen | Medium | Concept present in Acts 26:18’s “inheritance” language; no direct occurrence of the noun itself. |
| resurrection | opstanding | Medium | Acts 1:22; 2:24, 31–32; 4:2, 33; 17:18, 32; 23:6, 8; 24:15, 21; 26:23. One of the most frequent doctrinal nouns in Acts; central to nearly every apostolic sermon. |
| lord | Heer | Critical/High | Acts 2:21, 34–36; 4:29, 33; 9:5, 10–11, 15, 17; 10:36; 11:17, 20; 15:11, 26; 16:31; 20:24, 35; 28:31. Extremely frequent; the “Lord and Christ” double title at 2:36 requires the same fixed-rendering discipline as Romans 10:9. |
| son_of_god | Zoon van God | Critical | Acts 9:20; implied throughout deity-of-Christ passages. |
| incarnation | vleeswording | Medium | Background doctrine for 2:22–24, 30–31 (seed of David, flesh); no direct lexical occurrence in Acts but doctrinally presupposed. |
| peace | vrede | Low | Acts 9:31; 10:36; 15:33. |
| spiritual_gifts | genadegaven | Medium | Distinct from the “gift of the Holy Spirit” itself (see Part 2); charismata proper (tongues as sign-gift, prophecy) recur in 2:4, 17–18; 10:46; 19:6. |
| thanksgiving | dankzegging | Low | Less frequent explicit occurrence in Acts than Romans; concept present in table-fellowship contexts (2:46–47; 27:35). |
| fellowship | gemeenschap | Low/Medium | Acts 2:42, 44–46. Core to christian_fellowship/church_as_gods_people doctrine. |
| church | gemeente | High | Acts 2:47; 5:11; 8:1, 3; 9:31; 11:22, 26; 12:1, 5; 13:1; 14:23, 27; 15:3–4, 22, 41; 16:5; 18:22; 20:17, 28. Extremely frequent; the “gemeente” vs. “kerk” distinction is as load-bearing in Acts as in Romans, given Acts’ foundational narrative of the church’s formation. |
| kingdom_of_god | Koninkrijk van God | Medium | Acts 1:3, 6; 8:12; 14:22; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 31. Frames both the Ascension’s political misunderstanding (ch.1) and Acts’ closing summary (ch.28). |
| law | wet | High | Acts 6:13; 7:53; 13:39; 15:5, 24, 28–29; 18:13; 21:20–24; 23:29; 24:14; 25:8. Central to the Justification apart from the Law doctrine, especially chs. 13–15. |
| sin | zonde | High | Acts 2:38; 3:19; 5:31; 7:60 (implied); 10:43; 13:38; 22:16; 26:18. Frequent in forgiveness formulas; same colloquial “a pity/waste” drift risk as baseline documents for Romans. |
| gentiles | heidenen | Medium | Acts 9:15; 10:45; 11:1, 18; 13:46–48; 14:27; 15:3, 7, 12, 14, 19, 23; 18:6; 21:11, 19, 21, 25; 22:21; 26:17, 20, 23; 28:28. One of the most structurally important terms in the whole book. |
| glory | heerlijkheid | Medium | Acts 7:2, 55; 12:23 (contrast: Herod’s false glory struck down); 22:11. |
| obedience_of_faith | gehoorzaamheid van het geloof | High | Conceptually present in 6:7’s “the word of God increased… a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.” |
| power_of_god | kracht van God | Medium | Acts 1:8; 3:12; 4:7, 33; 6:8; 8:10; 10:38. Central to Apostolic Authority and Miracles doctrine. |
| messiah | Messias | Medium | Acts 2:31, 36 (as Χριστός/Christ used titularly); 3:18, 20; 17:3; 18:5, 28; 26:23. |
| prophet | profeet | Low | Acts 2:16, 30; 3:18, 21–25; 7:37, 42, 48, 52; 8:28, 30, 34; 10:43; 11:27; 13:1, 6, 20, 40; 15:32; 21:9–10; 24:14; 26:22, 27; 28:23, 25. Very frequent. |
| prophecy | profetie | Low | Acts 2:17–18 (Joel); 19:6; 21:9. |
| covenant | verbond | High | Acts 3:25 (“the covenant which God made with our fathers”); 7:8. Ties to Davidic and Abrahamic covenant background. |
| election | verkiezing | Critical | Acts 9:15 (“chosen vessel,” root ἐκλογή); 13:48; 22:14. See Part 2 for the compound phrase chosen vessel. |
| intercession | voorbede | Medium | Acts 12:5 (implied, “prayer was made”); less frequent explicit occurrence than Romans. |
| providence | voorzienigheid | Medium | Acts 2:23; 4:28; 17:26–28; 20:22. |
| mission | zending | Low | Acts 13:2–4 (Antioch commissioning); 22:21; central to the book’s entire structure. |
| david | David | Low | Acts 1:16; 2:25, 29, 34; 4:25; 7:45; 13:22, 34, 36; 15:16. |
| israel | Israël | Medium | Acts 1:6; 2:36; 3:12; 4:10, 27; 5:21, 31; 7:23, 37, 42; 9:15; 10:36; 13:16–17, 23–24; 21:28; 28:20. Frequent; same Christian-Zionism sensitivity as baseline note. |
| jesus | Jezus | Low | Passim throughout Acts. |
| god | God | Medium | Passim throughout Acts. |
| holy_spirit | Heilige Geest | Medium/Critical | Passim, especially chs. 1–2, 4–5, 8, 10, 13, 15, 19. The single most theologically central recurring term in the whole book. |
| father | Vader | Medium | Acts 1:4, 7; 2:33; 7:2 (of Abraham, distinct sense — flag context); 22:1 (rhetorical “fathers,” ethnic-ancestral sense, distinct from divine Fatherhood — disambiguate per occurrence). |
| abba | Abba | Medium | Not directly occurring in Acts; retained here for cross-curriculum consistency awareness only. |
| exhort | vermanen | Low | Acts 2:40 (context favors “aansporen,” see 07 analysis); 11:23; 14:22; 15:32; 16:40; 20:1–2. Flag context-sensitive deviations per baseline’s own note on this term. |
| seed_of_david | nakomeling van David | Medium | Acts 2:30 (pattern-reused for ὀσφῦς, “loins/descendant”); 13:23. |
| imputed_righteousness | toegerekende gerechtigheid | Critical | Conceptually background to 13:39’s justification statement; no direct ἐλογίσθη occurrence in Acts, but doctrinally continuous. |
Part 2 — New Terms Introduced in Acts
| Term (EN) | Original (Greek) | Transliteration | Dutch rendering | Risk | Doctrine | Notes / rejected alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pentecost | Πεντηκοστή | Pentēkostē | Pinksteren | Medium | Holy Spirit and Pentecost | Secularized to a holiday weekend in modern Dutch culture; OT Feast-of-Weeks background must be supplied. |
| tongues (spoken languages) | γλῶσσαι, ἑτέραις γλώσσαις | glōssai, heterais glōssais | andere talen | High | Holy Spirit and Pentecost | Rejected: bare “tongen” alone (too easily read as ongoing charismatic glossolalia); Dutch Pentecostal/Reformed reading split is live and must not be resolved by word choice alone — let context (vv.6–11) disambiguate. |
| tongues (fire imagery) | γλῶσσαι ὡσεὶ πυρός | glōssai hōsei pyros | vlammen als van vuur / vurige tongen | Medium | Holy Spirit and Pentecost | Distinct visual phenomenon from spoken “tongues”; risk of conflation with the above. |
| ascension | ἀνελήμφθη | anelēmphthē | opgenomen (in de hemel) / Hemelvaart | Medium | Great Commission Fulfilled | ”Hemelvaartsdag” is a secularized holiday marker in modern Dutch culture, parallel to Pinksteren’s own secularization. |
| repentance / repent | μετάνοια / μετανοέω | metanoia / metanoeō | bekering / bekeer u | High | Repentance and Baptism | Rejected: “berouw” alone (too narrowly emotional/regretful, lacks the whole-person turning sense); must be distinguished from secular “bekeerd tot” (converted to a lifestyle/opinion) and from Catholic sacramental “biecht” structure. |
| baptism / be baptized | βάπτισμα / βαπτίζω | baptisma / baptizō | doop / gedoopt worden | Critical | Repentance and Baptism | The single most Dutch-denominationally-fraught new term in this curriculum: collides directly with the historic Doopsgezinden (Mennonite) believer’s-baptism tradition versus mainstream Reformed/Catholic infant baptism (kinderdoop). Every repentance-linked or household-linked occurrence (2:38; 8:36–38; 9:18; 10:47–48; 16:15, 33; 18:8; 19:3–5) requires human theologian review flagging. Do not let the curriculum silently resolve the paedobaptist/believer’s-baptism debate. |
| forgiveness / remission of sins | ἄφεσις τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν | aphesis tōn hamartiōn | vergeving van zonden | High | Repentance and Baptism; Justification apart from the Law | Must carry forensic-relational weight (real cancellation of guilt before God), not a merely therapeutic/interpersonal sense; parallels the baseline’s sin/“zonde” drift-to-pity warning. |
| gift of the Holy Spirit | δωρεὰ τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος | dōrea tou Hagiou Pneumatos | de gave van de Heilige Geest | High | Holy Spirit and Pentecost | Must be distinguished from spiritual_gifts/genadegaven (the charismata the Spirit distributes); this is the gift of the Spirit’s own indwelling presence. Recommend translator’s note at first occurrence. |
| the Way | ἡ ὁδός | hē hodos | de Weg | Medium | Conversion of Paul; Persecution and Bold Witness | Risk of reading as a generic ethical “path” (cf. secular “zijn eigen weg gaan”) rather than a designation rooted in Christ specifically; capitalize consistently. |
| chosen vessel | σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς | skeuos eklogēs | uitgekozen werktuig | Critical | Conversion of Paul; (ties to baseline election) | Inherits full Canons-of-Dort-adjacent weight of verkiezing; must not read as democratic selection or self-initiative. |
| Prince/Author of life | ἀρχηγὸς τῆς ζωῆς | archēgos tēs zōēs | Leidsman ten leven / Vorst des levens | Critical | Apostolic Authority and Miracles; (Christological title) | A Christological title of the same weight as son_of_god/lord; must not be flattened to generic “leader/founder.” |
| boldness | παρρησία | parrēsia | vrijmoedigheid | High | Persecution and Bold Witness | Rejected: “moed” alone (too generic, loses the specific rhetorical/proclamatory sense before hostile authority); must be anchored to its recurring persecution context (4:13, 29, 31; 9:27; 28:31). |
| witness(es) | μάρτυς / μάρτυρες | martys / martyres | getuige(n) | Medium | Apostolic Authority; Persecution and Bold Witness | Modern Dutch “getuige” is dominated by its courtroom register; must retain the personal, costly, gospel-testifying sense. Semantic development toward “martelaar” (martyr) begins within Acts itself (ch. 7) but should not be retroactively imported where the Greek still reads simply “witness.” |
| Christian | Χριστιανός | Christianos | christen | Low | The Church as Community | Stable, shared across all Dutch traditions. |
| laying on of hands | ἐπίθεσις τῶν χειρῶν | epithesis tōn cheirōn | handoplegging | High | Apostolic Authority and Miracles; Holy Spirit and Pentecost | Strong sacramental associations in Dutch Catholic practice (vormsel/confirmation, wijding/ordination) versus restrained, ordination-only Reformed usage; avoid implying a specific sacramental theology not present in the Acts narrative. |
| ministry / service (diaconal) | διακονία | diakonia | dienst / bediening; diaken (office) | Medium | The Church as Community | Direct biblical prototype of the concrete, still-active Dutch Reformed church office of “diaken”; distinguish narrative/informal sense from later formal office sense. |
| elders | πρεσβύτεροι | presbyteroi | ouderlingen | Medium | The Church as Community; Apostolic Authority | Concrete, still-active Dutch Reformed office name; avoid retrojecting the full later Reformed polity system onto the first-century text. |
| overseers / shepherd | ἐπίσκοποι / ποιμαίνειν | episkopoi / poimainein | opziener(s) / herder(en) | High | The Church as Community; Apostolic Authority | CRITICAL naming choice: do NOT render as “bisschop(pen)” (bishop), which would import the Catholic hierarchical-episcopal structure ἐπίσκοπος later developed into; Dutch Reformed tradition uses “opziener”/“ouderling” for a plural, non-hierarchical local eldership. |
| Sanhedrin / council | Συνέδριον | Synedrion | Sanhedrin | Low | Persecution and Bold Witness; Apostolic Authority | Do NOT render as “Hoge Raad,” the actual name of the Dutch Supreme Court — would create an anachronistic civil-institution collision. |
| sect | αἵρεσις | hairesis | sekte (flag) / richting (preferred in narration) | High | Persecution and Bold Witness | Modern Dutch “sekte” carries strong destructive-cult connotations absent from the comparatively neutral Koine term; reserve “sekte” only when quoting the accusers’ own hostile voice. |
| circumcision | περιτομή | peritomē | besnijdenis | High | Justification apart from the Law | Load-bearing for the Jerusalem Council controversy; frame as the specific historical debate resolved by grace-through-faith, not general commentary on Jewish practice. |
| yoke (of the law) | ζυγός | zygos | juk | High | Justification apart from the Law | The law-as-unbearable-yoke vs. grace-as-freedom contrast must not be softened. |
| sanctified by faith | ἡγιασμένοις πίστει | hēgiasmenois pistei | geheiligd door het geloof | High | Justification apart from the Law; (ties to baseline sanctification) | Must not imply a separate works-based sanctification track alongside faith-based justification. |
| unknown god | ἀγνώστῳ Θεῷ | agnōstō Theō | aan een onbekende god | High | The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles (apologetic bridge) | Connects to the well-documented Dutch sociological “ietsisme” phenomenon (vague, undefined spirituality); render plainly without importing the modern sociological term into the translation itself. |
| clean / unclean | κοινός / ἀκάθαρτος | koinos / akathartos | onrein / rein | High | The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | Reversal of Torah purity-boundary logic pictures the Jew-Gentile inclusion boundary; must not be flattened to a dietary footnote. |
| respecter of persons | προσωπολήμπτης | prosōpolēmptēs | (God) ziet niemand naar het aanzien van zijn persoon | High | The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | Doctrinal turning-point verse (10:34); must retain unqualified impartiality, no ethnic exception. |
| determinate counsel and foreknowledge | ὡρισμένη βουλή καὶ πρόγνωσις | hōrismenē boulē kai prognōsis | het bepaalde raadsbesluit en de voorkennis van God | Critical | Persecution and Bold Witness; (ties to baseline election/providence) | Holds divine sovereignty and full human culpability together in one sentence; the Canons-of-Dort-adjacent tension must not be resolved toward either fatalism or bare human freedom. |
| Hades / realm of the dead | ᾍδης | Hadēs | het rijk van de dood / het dodenrijk | High | Holy Spirit and Pentecost (resurrection argument) | Do NOT render as modern Dutch “hel” (which defaults to eternal-fire judgment imagery foreign to the Psalm 16 Sheol background being quoted). |
| exalted / right hand of God | ὑψωθείς / δεξιὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ | hypsōtheis / dexia tou Theou | verhoogd / de rechterhand van God | Critical | (ties to baseline lordship_of_christ/deity_of_christ) | Must read as enthronement to supreme divine authority; guard against literal/spatial misreading by biblically illiterate readers. |
| Lord and Christ | Κύριον καὶ Χριστόν | Kyrion kai Christon | Heer en Christus | Critical | (ties to baseline lord, messiah) | Sermon’s climactic double confession (2:36); requires the same fixed cross-curriculum rendering discipline as Romans 10:9’s “Jezus is Heer.” |
| times of refreshing | καιροὶ ἀναψύξεως | kairoi anapsyxeōs | tijden van verkwikking | Medium | Repentance and Baptism (eschatological horizon) | Low prophetic-literacy audiences need brief framing. |
| restoration (of all things) | ἀποκατάστασις | apokatastasis | herstel van alle dingen | High | The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles; (ties to baseline israel) | Real risk of conflation with modern political restoration-of-Israel readings in Dutch orthodox Reformed Christian-Zionist circles; keep cosmic/eschatological, not geopolitical. |
| household salvation | σωθήσῃ σὺ καὶ ὁ οἶκός σου | sōthēsē sy kai ho oikos sou | gij zult behouden worden, gij en uw huis | High | Repentance and Baptism; Church as Community | Ties into the baptism-controversy fault line (see baptism above) via household-baptism narrative pattern; flag for the same review routing. |
| all the counsel of God | πᾶσαν τὴν βουλὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ | pasan tēn boulēn tou Theou | de gehele raad van God | High | Apostolic Authority and Miracles; (ties to baseline providence) | Same sovereignty-vocabulary family as the Critical term at 2:23, here describing the full scope of apostolic teaching. |
| unhindered / no man forbidding him | ἀκωλύτως | akōlytōs | onbelemmerd / zonder verhindering | Medium | Great Commission Fulfilled | Acts’ deliberately open-ended closing word; must retain triumphant, doctrine-bearing force (unstoppable gospel advance), not merely administrative “no legal obstacles.” |
Part 3 — Proper Nouns and Place/Deity Names (Reference List, Low Risk Unless Noted)
| English | Greek | Dutch rendering | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pentecost (feast) | Πεντηκοστή | Pinksteren | See Part 2. |
| Jerusalem | Ἱεροσόλυμα | Jeruzalem | Standard. |
| Samaria / Samaritans | Σαμάρεια / Σαμαρῖται | Samaria / Samaritanen | Medium — requires Jewish-Samaritan animosity background framing for doctrinal payoff. |
| Antioch | Ἀντιόχεια | Antiochië | Standard; note two distinct Antiochs in Acts (Syrian, ch.11–15; Pisidian, ch.13) — disambiguate in teaching notes. |
| Damascus | Δαμασκός | Damascus | Standard. |
| Athens / Areopagus | Ἀθῆναι / Ἄρειος Πάγος | Athene / Areopagus | Standard transliteration for Areopagus (also known as “Mars Hill” in some English traditions — do not substitute a Dutch “Marsheuvel,” which is non-standard). |
| Ephesus | Ἔφεσος | Efeze | Standard. |
| Corinth | Κόρινθος | Korinthe | Standard. |
| Malta | Μελίτη | Malta | Standard. |
| Rome | Ῥώμη | Rome | Standard; final geographic goal of the Great Commission Fulfilled doctrine. |
| Caesar | Καῖσαρ | keizer | See Part 2 note on imperial-authority theme. |
| Zeus | Ζεύς | Zeus | Do not substitute Latin “Jupiter.” |
| Hermes | Ἑρμῆς | Hermes | Do not substitute Latin “Mercurius.” |
| Artemis (Diana) | Ἄρτεμις | Artemis | Prefer Greek form over Latin “Diana” for setting consistency. |
| Gamaliel | Γαμαλιήλ | Gamaliël | Standard. |
| Cornelius | Κορνήλιος | Cornelius | Standard. |
| Simon (Magus) | Σίμων | Simon (de tovenaar) | Qualifier recommended to distinguish from Simon Peter. |
| Ananias (two distinct figures: ch.5, ch.9) | Ἀνανίας | Ananias | Flag in teaching material: two unrelated figures share this name (Ananias husband of Sapphira, ch.5; Ananias of Damascus, ch.9) — do not conflate. |
| Stephen | Στέφανος | Stefanus | Standard. |
| Philip | Φίλιππος | Filippus | Standard; distinguish from the apostle Philip. |
| Barnabas | Βαρνάβας | Barnabas | Standard. |
| Timothy | Τιμόθεος | Timotheüs | Standard. |
| Lydia | Λυδία | Lydia | Standard. |
| Aquila / Priscilla | Ἀκύλας / Πρίσκιλλα | Aquila / Priscilla | Standard. |
| Apollos | Ἀπολλῶς | Apollos | Standard. |
| Felix / Festus / Agrippa | Φῆλιξ / Φῆστος / Ἀγρίππας | Felix / Festus / Agrippa | Standard historical-figure names. |
Cross-reference: 07_semantic_analysis.md for full contextual reasoning behind each entry. Per the baseline’s Translation Memory Load and Enforcement Instructions, all Part 1 terms must be enforced exactly from translation_memory.json; all Part 2 terms are staged for formal translation-memory entry (with risk tier and doctrine tag) in the next Phase 1 step, following the same versioning and theologian-review escalation rules already defined in the baseline 12_ai_translation_requirements.md.
Critical Risk Terms
Righteousness
Approved rendering: gerechtigheid
Transliteration: gerechtigheid
Doctrine: Justification Apart from the Law
Rejected alternatives: deugd
Original: δικαιοσύνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Acts 24:25 pairs it with self-control and coming judgment before Felix; must not collapse into ‘deugd’ (virtue).
Justification
Approved rendering: rechtvaardiging
Transliteration: rechtvaardiging
Doctrine: Justification Apart from the Law
Rejected alternatives: vrijspraak (too narrow alone)
Original: δικαίωσις / δικαιοῦται
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Acts 13:39 is Acts’ first explicit statement of this doctrine and a direct doctrinal bridge into Romans; NBV21’s ‘vrijgesproken’ rejected as too narrow (courtroom acquittal only, lacks positive crediting of righteousness per Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 60).
Lord
Approved rendering: Heer
Transliteration: Heer
Doctrine: Deity and Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: meester
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package exactly, risk raised to Critical for Acts. Acts 2:36’s ‘Heer en Christus’ double title requires the same fixed, unqualified rendering discipline the baseline mandates for Romans 10:9; extremely frequent throughout Acts (2:21,34-36; 9:5; 10:36; 16:31; 20:24,35; 28:31). Never soften or qualify; never allow a ‘Jehovah’-distinguishing sectarian reading (cf. NWT).
Son Of God
Approved rendering: Zoon van God
Transliteration: Zoon van God
Doctrine: Deity and Lordship of Christ
Original: υἱὸς θεοῦ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Acts 9:20 is Paul’s first post-conversion preaching; must not read as adoptive or honorary sonship.
Election
Approved rendering: verkiezing
Transliteration: verkiezing
Doctrine: Effectual Calling and Election
Original: ἐκλογή
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Acts 9:15 (‘chosen vessel’) and 13:48 (‘ordained to eternal life’) are among the most direct election-vocabulary passages outside Romans 9-11, engaging the same Canons-of-Dort-adjacent weight and democratic-vote misreading risk.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Heilige Geest
Transliteration: Heilige Geest
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit’s Personal Deity
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package exactly but risk raised to Critical for Acts: 5:3,9’s ‘lying to/tempting the Holy Spirit’ makes the Spirit’s full personal deity explicit in a way not paralleled in Romans; single most theologically central recurring term across Acts 1-2,4-5,8,10,13,15,19. Always use the full fixed compound; never render bare ‘Geest’ in doctrinal statements to avoid ietsistic ‘energie/kracht’ drift.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: toegerekende gerechtigheid
Transliteration: toegerekende gerechtigheid
Doctrine: Justification Apart from the Law
Rejected alternatives: verdiende gerechtigheid
Original: (conceptual background to Acts 13:39)
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package exactly. No direct ‘elogisthe’ occurrence in Acts, but doctrinally continuous with 13:39’s justification statement; must guard against ‘verdiende gerechtigheid’ exactly as baseline forbids.
Baptism
Approved rendering: doop
Transliteration: doop
Doctrine: Repentance and Baptism
Rejected alternatives: onderdompeling (generic secular)
Original: βάπτισμα / βαπτίζω
Category: Repentance and Baptism
New Acts term. THE single most Dutch-denominationally-fraught term in this curriculum: collides directly with the historic Doopsgezinden (Mennonite) believer’s-baptism tradition versus mainstream Reformed/Catholic infant baptism (kinderdoop). Every repentance-linked or household-linked occurrence (2:38; 8:36-38; 9:18; 10:47-48; 16:15,33; 18:8; 19:3-5) requires human theologian review. Do not let the curriculum silently resolve the paedobaptist/believer’s-baptism debate; retain the ambiguity-preserving ‘tot vergeving van zonden’ at 2:38 rather than NBV21’s more resolved ‘om… te krijgen’.
Chosen Vessel
Approved rendering: uitgekozen werktuig
Transliteration: uitgekozen werktuig
Doctrine: Conversion of Paul
Rejected alternatives: uitverkoren vat (SV, archaic)
Original: σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς
Category: Conversion of Paul
New Acts term. Directly reuses the root of ‘verkiezing’ (election); inherits the full Canons-of-Dort-adjacent weight and must not read as democratic selection or Paul’s own initiative (9:15).
Prince Of Life
Approved rendering: Leidsman ten leven
Transliteration: Leidsman ten leven
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Rejected alternatives: Vorst des levens, leider (generic, too weak)
Original: ἀρχηγὸς τῆς ζωῆς
Category: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
New Acts term. A Christological title of the same weight as ‘Zoon van God’/‘Heer’ (3:15); must not be flattened to a generic ‘leader’ or ‘founder’ figure despite limited available Dutch renderings.
Determinate Counsel
Approved rendering: het bepaalde raadsbesluit en de voorkennis van God
Transliteration: het bepaalde raadsbesluit en de voorkennis van God
Doctrine: Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility
Original: ὡρισμένη βουλὴ καὶ πρόγνωσις τοῦ Θεοῦ
Category: Persecution and Bold Witness
New Acts term. Holds divine sovereignty over the cross together with full human culpability in one sentence (2:23) — precisely the tension the Canons of Dort tradition addresses; must not be smoothed toward fatalism or bare human freedom.
Exalted Right Hand
Approved rendering: verhoogd / de rechterhand van God
Transliteration: verhoogd / de rechterhand van God
Doctrine: Deity and Lordship of Christ
Original: ὑψωθείς / δεξιὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ
Category: Christology
New Acts term. Must read as enthronement to supreme divine authority, not mere honor (2:33), and must not be read spatially/literally by biblically illiterate readers who might take ‘rechterhand’ as a physical location.
Lord And Christ
Approved rendering: Heer en Christus
Transliteration: Heer en Christus
Doctrine: Deity and Lordship of Christ
Original: Κύριον καὶ Χριστόν
Category: Christology
New Acts term. Acts 2:36’s climactic double confession requires the same fixed cross-curriculum rendering discipline the baseline mandates for Romans 10:9’s ‘Jezus is Heer’; both titles must appear together, unqualified. Never adopt a sectarian (NWT-style) ‘Jehovah’-distinguishing OT quotation elsewhere in the sermon that would blunt this identification.
Ordained To Eternal Life
Approved rendering: bestemd tot het eeuwige leven
Transliteration: bestemd tot het eeuwige leven
Doctrine: Effectual Calling and Election
Original: τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον
Category: Justification apart from the Law
New Acts term. Inherits the full Canons-of-Dort-adjacent sensitivity of ‘verkiezing’; Acts 13:48 parallels the Canons’ unconditional-election language almost verbatim; must not be read as a democratic or self-determined outcome.
High Risk Terms
Grace
Approved rendering: genade
Transliteration: genade
Doctrine: Grace Versus Law and Merit
Rejected alternatives: gunst
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Acts 15:11’s Jerusalem Council summary directly parallels the Synod of Dordrecht’s sovereign-grace doctrine formulated against the Dutch Remonstrants; must sustain the contrast with besnijdenis/wet exactly as baseline mandates for Romans 3-4.
Salvation
Approved rendering: behoud
Transliteration: behoud
Doctrine: Repentance and Baptism
Rejected alternatives: verlossing, zaligheid, redding/gered worden (physical-rescue register)
Original: σωτηρία
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package exactly; register fixed as ‘behoud’. ACTS-SPECIFIC: Acts 27:20,31,34 uses the same Greek word for ordinary physical rescue from shipwreck — do NOT force ‘behoud’ there; reserve ‘gered/redding’ strictly for that genuinely physical-danger narrative sense.
Saints
Approved rendering: heiligen
Transliteration: heiligen
Doctrine: Sainthood and Holiness of All Believers
Original: ἅγιοι
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Acts 9:13,32,41; 26:10 use it consistently in the corporate sense; Acts sharpens the baseline’s Catholic-canonized-saint vs. Reformed-corporate-believer fault line because it narrates the historical origin of the designation for the first Jerusalem believers. Gloss with ‘alle gelovigen’ at first occurrence.
Church
Approved rendering: gemeente
Transliteration: gemeente
Doctrine: The Church as Community
Rejected alternatives: kerk (institution-default)
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Extremely frequent throughout Acts, which narrates the church’s actual formation; ‘gemeente’ vs. ‘kerk’ distinction is if anything more load-bearing here than in Romans, since Acts is the foundational-narrative book Dutch Reformed ecclesiology draws on directly.
Law
Approved rendering: wet
Transliteration: wet
Doctrine: Justification Apart from the Law
Original: νόμος
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Central to the Justification apart from the Law controversy in Acts 13-15; capitalize as ‘de Wet’ when referent is Mosaic law.
Sin
Approved rendering: zonde
Transliteration: zonde
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Frequent in forgiveness formulas (2:38; 3:19; 5:31; 10:43; 13:38; 26:18); documented drift toward casual ‘a pity/waste’ is compounded because forgiveness-of-sins is the climactic promise of nearly every apostolic sermon in the book.
Obedience Of Faith
Approved rendering: gehoorzaamheid van het geloof
Transliteration: gehoorzaamheid van het geloof
Doctrine: Justification Apart from the Law
Original: ὑπακοὴ πίστεως (conceptually, Acts 6:7)
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Acts 6:7’s ‘obedient to the faith’ reinforces the faith-not-works logic; must resist collapsing into generic dutiful compliance.
Covenant
Approved rendering: verbond
Transliteration: verbond
Doctrine: Covenant Continuity: Abrahamic and Davidic
Original: διαθήκη
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Acts 3:25 and 7:8 ground the Abrahamic/Davidic covenant background essential to the Justification-apart-from-Law argument of chs.13-15; Dutch ‘verbondsleer’ gives this unusual dogmatic weight.
Tongues Spoken
Approved rendering: andere talen
Transliteration: andere talen
Doctrine: Speaking in Tongues
Rejected alternatives: tongen (bare, too easily read as ongoing charismatic glossolalia), vreemde talen (NBV21, over-resolves toward known-language reading)
Original: ἑτέραις γλώσσαις
Category: Holy Spirit and Pentecost
New Acts term. Dutch church culture has a live, sometimes divisive split between Pentecostal/charismatic congregations (Pinkstergemeenten) reading ongoing ecstatic ‘tongentaal’ and mainstream Reformed reading Acts 2 as miraculous known-language speech; word choice must not resolve the debate — let vv.6-11 disambiguate contextually.
Repentance
Approved rendering: bekering
Transliteration: bekering
Doctrine: Repentance and Baptism
Rejected alternatives: berouw (too narrowly emotional/regretful)
Original: μετάνοια / μετανοέω
Category: Repentance and Baptism
New Acts term. Everyday Dutch usage drifts toward one-time emotional/ideological ‘conversion’ (e.g., ‘bekeerd tot het vegetarisme’); must be distinguished from Catholic sacramental ‘biecht’ structure absent from this text’s grace-and-Spirit logic.
Forgiveness Of Sins
Approved rendering: vergeving van zonden
Transliteration: vergeving van zonden
Doctrine: Repentance and Baptism
Original: ἄφεσις τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν
Category: Repentance and Baptism
New Acts term. Must carry forensic-relational weight (real cancellation of guilt before God), not a merely therapeutic/interpersonal sense, paralleling the baseline’s ‘zonde’/pity-drift warning; recurs as the climactic promise of nearly every apostolic sermon (2:38; 3:19; 5:31; 10:43; 13:38; 26:18).
Gift Of Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: de gave van de Heilige Geest
Transliteration: de gave van de Heilige Geest
Doctrine: The Gift of the Spirit versus Spiritual Gifts
Original: δωρεὰ τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος
Category: Holy Spirit and Pentecost
New Acts term. Distinct from ‘genadegaven’ (spiritual_gifts, the charismata distributed); this is the gift of the Spirit’s own indwelling presence. Simon Magus’s attempted purchase (8:18-20) underscores it cannot be bought or merited. Recommend translator’s note at first occurrence (2:38).
Boldness
Approved rendering: vrijmoedigheid
Transliteration: vrijmoedigheid
Doctrine: Persecution and Bold Witness
Rejected alternatives: moed (too generic)
Original: παρρησία
Category: Persecution and Bold Witness
New Acts term. Established Reformed devotional vocabulary risks being read as generic social confidence/assertiveness rather than Spirit-given courage specifically under threat of persecution; anchor to recurring context (4:13,29,31; 9:27; 28:31).
Laying On Of Hands
Approved rendering: handoplegging
Transliteration: handoplegging
Doctrine: Laying On of Hands and Spirit Reception
Original: ἐπίθεσις τῶν χειρῶν
Category: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
New Acts term. Strong sacramental associations in Dutch Catholic practice (vormsel/confirmation, priestly wijding/ordination) versus restrained, largely ordination-only Reformed usage; avoid implying a specific sacramental theology not present in the Acts narrative itself (8:17; 19:6).
Overseers Shepherd
Approved rendering: opziener(s) / herder(en)
Transliteration: opziener
Doctrine: The Church as Community
Rejected alternatives: bisschop(pen) — FORBIDDEN, imports Catholic hierarchical episcopal structure
Original: ἐπίσκοποι / ποιμαίνειν
Category: Church as Community
New Acts term. A genuine Dutch denominational fault line: Catholic ‘bisschop’ derives directly from episkopos and denotes a distinct hierarchical office; Dutch Reformed tradition uses ‘opziener’/‘ouderling’ for a plural, non-hierarchical local eldership. NEVER render as ‘bisschop(pen)’ (20:17,28).
Sect
Approved rendering: sekte (quoted hostile speech only) / richting (narration)
Transliteration: sekte
Doctrine: ‘Sect’ and Outsider Perception of the Church
Original: αἵρεσις
Category: Persecution and Bold Witness
New Acts term. Modern Dutch ‘sekte’ carries strongly negative destructive-cult connotations absent from the comparatively neutral Koine hairesis; reserve ‘sekte’ strictly for direct quotation of hostile voices (24:5,14; 28:22), prefer ‘richting’ in narration.
Circumcision
Approved rendering: besnijdenis
Transliteration: besnijdenis
Doctrine: Justification Apart from the Law
Original: περιτομή
Category: Justification apart from the Law
New Acts term. Directly load-bearing for the Jerusalem Council controversy (ch.15); frame as the specific historical debate resolved by grace-through-faith, not general commentary on Jewish ritual practice, given Dutch sensitivities around Jewish religious identity.
Yoke Of Law
Approved rendering: juk
Transliteration: juk
Doctrine: Justification Apart from the Law
Original: ζυγός
Category: Justification apart from the Law
New Acts term. The law-as-unbearable-yoke vs. grace-as-freedom contrast (15:10) is Critical-adjacent doctrinal territory tied to the baseline’s Romans 3-4/11:5-6 grace-merit rule; must not be softened.
Sanctified By Faith
Approved rendering: geheiligd door het geloof
Transliteration: geheiligd door het geloof
Doctrine: Sanctification by Faith
Original: ἡγιασμένοις πίστει
Category: Justification apart from the Law
New Acts term. Unique Acts combination (26:18) reinforcing the justification-apart-from-the-law logic extended into ongoing Christian identity; must not imply a separate works-based sanctification track alongside faith-based justification.
Unknown God
Approved rendering: aan een onbekende god
Transliteration: aan een onbekende god
Doctrine: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Original: ἀγνώστῳ Θεῷ
Category: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
New Acts term. Connects strikingly to the Dutch sociological phenomenon of ‘ietsisme’ (vague, undefined ‘something-ism’ spirituality); render the altar inscription plainly (17:23) without importing this modern sociological term into the translated text itself — reserve for teaching notes only.
Clean Unclean
Approved rendering: onrein / rein
Transliteration: onrein / rein
Doctrine: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Original: κοινός / ἀκάθαρτος
Category: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
New Acts term. Ties to baseline ‘wet’ (law); the reversal of the Torah food-purity boundary at 10:14-15,28 pictures the ethnic-inclusion boundary — must not be flattened to a dietary footnote.
Respecter Of Persons
Approved rendering: (God) ziet niemand naar het aanzien van zijn persoon
Transliteration: God ziet niemand naar het aanzien van zijn persoon
Doctrine: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: onpartijdig (single adjective, under-carries doctrinal weight)
Original: προσωπολήμπτης
Category: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
New Acts term. No single Dutch noun exists for this Greek compound; the doctrinal turning-point verse (10:34) must retain unqualified impartiality with no ethnic exception.
Hades
Approved rendering: het rijk van de dood / het dodenrijk
Transliteration: Hades
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ (Acts emphasis)
Rejected alternatives: hel — FORBIDDEN for this specific quotation, imports later eternal-punishment imagery
Original: ᾍδης
Category: Holy Spirit and Pentecost
New Acts term. Do NOT render as modern Dutch ‘hel,’ which defaults to eternal-fire judgment imagery foreign to the Psalm 16 Sheol background Peter quotes (2:25-28).
Restoration Of All Things
Approved rendering: herstel van alle dingen
Transliteration: herstel van alle dingen
Doctrine: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Original: ἀποκατάστασις
Category: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
New Acts term. Real risk of conflation with modern political restoration-of-Israel readings in Dutch orthodox Reformed Christian-Zionist circles; keep referent cosmic/eschatological, not geopolitical (3:21).
Household Salvation
Approved rendering: gij zult behouden worden, gij en uw huis
Transliteration: gij zult behouden worden, gij en uw huis
Doctrine: Household Salvation and Baptism
Original: σωθήσῃ σὺ καὶ ὁ οἶκός σου
Category: Repentance and Baptism
New Acts term. Ties directly into the baptism-controversy fault line via household-baptism narrative pattern (16:15,31-33; 18:8); flag for the same theologian review routing as ‘doop’ itself, handled even-handedly across the paedobaptist/believer’s-baptism divide.
All The Counsel Of God
Approved rendering: de gehele raad van God
Transliteration: de gehele raad van God
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Original: πᾶσαν τὴν βουλὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ
Category: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
New Acts term. Same sovereignty-vocabulary family as ‘determinate_counsel’ (2:23), here applied to the full scope of apostolic teaching (20:27); must retain the weight of divine authorship behind apostolic doctrine, not mere personal opinion.
Throne Of David
Approved rendering: de troon van David
Transliteration: de troon van David
Doctrine: Covenant Continuity: Abrahamic and Davidic
Original: θρόνος Δαυίδ
Category: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
New Acts term. Must be read as fulfilled messianic kingship in Christ (2:30-31), not merely a future restored ethnic-national monarchy, a live reading in some Dutch orthodox Reformed Christian-Zionist circles.
Why Persecute Me
Approved rendering: Waarom vervolgt gij Mij?
Transliteration: Waarom vervolgt gij Mij?
Doctrine: Conversion of Paul
Rejected alternatives: waarom vervolgt u mijn volgelingen (diluted paraphrase, rejected)
Original: Τί με διώκεις;
Category: Conversion of Paul
New Acts term. Must preserve the startling first-person identification of the risen Christ with his suffering church (9:4; 22:7; 26:14), not diluted into ‘why do you persecute my followers’.
Medium Risk Terms
Faith
Approved rendering: geloof
Transliteration: geloof
Doctrine: Faith
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Object of faith must remain recoverable from context (Acts 3:16; 16:31); secularized Dutch readers may otherwise read ‘geloof’ as generic pluralistic religiosity.
Called
Approved rendering: geroepen
Transliteration: geroepen
Doctrine: Effectual Calling and Election
Original: κλητός
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Acts 2:39 (‘as many as the Lord our God shall call’) ties directly to effectual calling; context must disambiguate from the everyday career-vocation sense of ‘roeping’.
Calling
Approved rendering: roeping
Transliteration: roeping
Doctrine: Effectual Calling and Election
Original: κλῆσις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Less frequent noun form in Acts; conceptually present in 13:48 and 22:14.
Holy
Approved rendering: heilig
Transliteration: heilig
Doctrine: Sainthood and Holiness of All Believers
Rejected alternatives: rein
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Acts 3:14 (‘the Holy and Righteous One’) applies this title Christologically to Jesus himself, raising its weight above ordinary sanctification usage in that verse.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: heiliging
Transliteration: heiliging
Doctrine: Sanctification by Faith
Original: ἁγιασμός / ἡγιασμένοις
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Acts 26:18 uniquely combines this with ‘by faith’ (pistei) — must not imply a separate works-based sanctification track alongside faith-based justification.
Adoption
Approved rendering: aanneming tot kinderen
Transliteration: aanneming tot kinderen
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: adoptie (bare, legal-procedural)
Original: υἱοθεσία
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Concept present in Acts 26:18’s inheritance (‘kleronomia’) language; no direct noun occurrence in Acts.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: opstanding
Transliteration: opstanding
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Original: ἀνάστασις
Category: Eschatology
Inherited from Romans package exactly. One of the most frequent doctrinal nouns in Acts (1:22; 2:24,31-32; 4:2,33; 17:18,32; 23:6,8; 24:15,21; 26:23), forming the centerpiece of nearly every apostolic sermon; Athenian mockery (17:32) mirrors ongoing secular Dutch naturalist resistance.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: vleeswording
Transliteration: vleeswording
Doctrine: Deity and Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: incarnatie
Original: ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο (background to Acts 2:22-24,30-31)
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Doctrinally presupposed by seed-of-David/flesh language in Peter’s Pentecost sermon (2:22-24,30-31); no direct lexical occurrence in Acts, register remains ‘vleeswording’ per baseline’s Reformed preference.
Spiritual Gifts
Approved rendering: genadegaven
Transliteration: genadegaven
Doctrine: The Gift of the Spirit versus Spiritual Gifts
Rejected alternatives: geestelijke gaven (looser)
Original: χαρίσματα
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Must be kept distinct in Acts from ‘de gave van de Heilige Geest’ (the Spirit’s own indwelling); charismata proper recur at 2:4,17-18; 10:46; 19:6.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: Koninkrijk van God
Transliteration: Koninkrijk van God
Doctrine: Kingdom of God and Political Misreading
Rejected alternatives: Koninkrijk Gods (archaic genitive)
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Kingdom
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Acts 1:6’s disciples’ question about restoring ‘the kingdom to Israel’ enacts a nationalist-political misreading Jesus corrects (1:7-8), directly relevant to Dutch Christian-Zionist sensitivity.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: heidenen
Transliteration: heidenen
Doctrine: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Original: ἔθνη
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package exactly. One of the most structurally important terms in Acts, tracking the gospel’s expansion from Jerusalem to ‘the ends of the earth’; retains the same pejorative-connotation risk noted in the baseline.
Glory
Approved rendering: heerlijkheid
Transliteration: heerlijkheid
Doctrine: Glory and Divine Judgment
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Acts 12:23 (Herod struck down for taking glory due to God alone) is a stark contrast case reinforcing doctrinal weight beyond a general term for honor.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: kracht van God
Transliteration: kracht van God
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Original: δύναμις θεοῦ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Central to the Apostolic Authority doctrine (1:8; 3:12; 4:33; 10:38); must read as divine self-authentication, not folklore, for secular Dutch readers defaulting to legend categories.
Messiah
Approved rendering: Messias
Transliteration: Messias
Doctrine: Deity and Lordship of Christ
Original: Χριστός / מָשִׁיחַ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Acts uses Christos titularly at 2:31,36; 3:18,20; 17:3; 18:5,28; must not be flattened to a generic religious teacher.
Intercession
Approved rendering: voorbede
Transliteration: voorbede
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Original: ὑπερεντυγχάνει / ἔντευξις (implied, Acts 12:5)
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Less explicit occurrence than Romans but present in ‘prayer was made… for him’ (12:5).
Providence
Approved rendering: voorzienigheid
Transliteration: voorzienigheid
Doctrine: Providence and God’s Purposeful Governance
Original: πρόνοια (cf. Acts 17:26-28)
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Acts 17:26-28’s Areopagus speech addresses providence to a pagan philosophical audience, a distinct apologetic register from Romans 8:28’s pastoral context.
Israel
Approved rendering: Israël
Transliteration: Israël
Doctrine: Kingdom of God and Political Misreading
Original: Ἰσραήλ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Acts 1:6’s ‘restore the kingdom to Israel’ is precisely the nationalist misreading requiring the same Christian-Zionism sensitivity the baseline flags; frequent throughout the book.
God
Approved rendering: God
Transliteration: God
Doctrine: Providence and God’s Purposeful Governance
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Passim throughout Acts; same secularization-of-reference risk the baseline documents.
Father
Approved rendering: Vader
Transliteration: Vader
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Acts 7:2 and 22:1 use ‘fathers’ in the rhetorical-ancestral sense distinct from divine Fatherhood (1:4,7; 2:33); each occurrence must be disambiguated by context, a risk more pronounced in Acts than Romans.
Abba
Approved rendering: Abba
Transliteration: Abba
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: אַבָּא
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Not directly occurring in Acts; retained for cross-curriculum consistency awareness only.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: nakomeling van David
Transliteration: nakomeling van David
Doctrine: Covenant Continuity: Abrahamic and Davidic
Rejected alternatives: uit het zaad Davids (archaic)
Original: ὀσφῦς (Acts 2:30)
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Acts 2:30 and 13:23 both use this covenant pattern; the modern rendering avoids the archaic literal ‘lendenen’.
Pentecost
Approved rendering: Pinksteren
Transliteration: Pinksteren
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Original: Πεντηκοστή
Category: Holy Spirit and Pentecost
New Acts term. In secularized Netherlands, ‘Pinksteren’ is chiefly known as a long spring holiday weekend, largely emptied of feast-content; the OT firstfruits-harvest (Shavuot) background must be supplied explicitly at first occurrence (2:1).
Tongues Fire
Approved rendering: vlammen als van vuur
Transliteration: vlammen als van vuur
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Rejected alternatives: vurige tongen (risks conflation with spoken tongues)
Original: γλῶσσαι ὡσεὶ πυρός
Category: Holy Spirit and Pentecost
New Acts term. Distinct visual theophanic phenomenon from the spoken ‘tongues’ of v.4; keep lexically distinct to prevent readers merging two separate signs into one.
Ascension
Approved rendering: Hemelvaart
Transliteration: Hemelvaart
Doctrine: The Great Commission Fulfilled
Original: ἀνελήμφθη
Category: Great Commission Fulfilled
New Acts term. ‘Hemelvaartsdag’ is a secularized long-weekend holiday marker in modern Dutch culture, parallel to Pinksteren’s own secularization; requires explicit theological re-grounding (bodily, historical, visible departure) at first occurrence (1:9-11).
The Way
Approved rendering: de Weg
Transliteration: de Weg
Doctrine: ‘The Way’ as Christian Identity
Original: ἡ ὁδός
Category: Conversion of Paul
New Acts term. Risks being read as a generic ethical ‘path’ (cf. secular Dutch ‘zijn eigen weg gaan’) rather than a designation rooted specifically in Christ; capitalize consistently (9:2; 19:9,23; 22:4; 24:14,22).
Witness
Approved rendering: getuige(n)
Transliteration: getuige
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Rejected alternatives: martelaar (premature, only valid from ch.7 onward)
Original: μάρτυς / μάρτυρες
Category: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
New Acts term. Modern Dutch ‘getuige’ is dominated by courtroom register; retain the personal, costly, gospel-testifying sense. Semantic development toward ‘martelaar’ (martyr) becomes visible within Acts itself (ch.7) but must not be retroactively imported earlier.
Ministry Service
Approved rendering: dienst / bediening
Transliteration: dienst / bediening
Doctrine: The Church as Community
Original: διακονία
Category: Church as Community
New Acts term. Direct biblical prototype of the concrete, still-active Dutch Reformed office of ‘diaken’; use ‘dienst/bediening’ for the narrative’s informal sense, reserve ‘diaken’ as a technical office label only where the text clearly signals an appointed office (6:1-6).
Elders
Approved rendering: ouderlingen
Transliteration: ouderlingen
Doctrine: Apostleship and Church Office
Original: πρεσβύτεροι
Category: Church as Community
New Acts term. Concrete, still-active Dutch Reformed office name; ensure the term is read as the office’s biblical prototype (14:23), not a retrojection of the fully developed later Reformed polity system.
Times Of Refreshing
Approved rendering: tijden van verkwikking
Transliteration: tijden van verkwikking
Doctrine: Repentance and Baptism
Rejected alternatives: verlichting (relief, loses eschatological horizon)
Original: καιροὶ ἀναψύξεως
Category: Repentance and Baptism
New Acts term. Low OT/prophetic literacy among Dutch readers requires brief framing to prevent the phrase from being read as merely psychological relief (3:19-20).
Unhindered
Approved rendering: onbelemmerd / zonder verhindering
Transliteration: onbelemmerd
Doctrine: The Great Commission Fulfilled
Original: ἀκωλύτως
Category: Great Commission Fulfilled
New Acts term. Acts’ deliberately open-ended closing word (28:31); must retain triumphant, doctrine-bearing force (unstoppable gospel advance), not merely administrative ‘no legal obstacles’.
Signs Wonders Miracles
Approved rendering: krachten, wonderen en tekenen
Transliteration: krachten, wonderen en tekenen
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Original: δυνάμεσι καὶ τέρασι καὶ σημείοις
Category: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
New Acts term. Threefold authenticating vocabulary (2:22); must read as divine self-authentication, not folklore, given Dutch scientific-naturalist public discourse’s default legend/superstition framing.
Casting Lots
Approved rendering: het lot werpen
Transliteration: het lot werpen
Doctrine: Providence and God’s Purposeful Governance
Original: κλῆρος
Category: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
New Acts term. Modern Dutch ‘lot’ (fate/lottery) risks a chance-based reading; the text frames this (1:26) as discerning God’s already-made sovereign choice, not randomness — a nuance easily lost given Dutch ‘loterij’ culture.
Pierced To Heart
Approved rendering: diep in het hart getroffen
Transliteration: diep in het hart getroffen
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: spijt (regret, too casual)
Original: κατανύσσομαι
Category: Repentance and Baptism
New Acts term. Must convey Spirit-wrought conviction of sin (2:37), guarding against the same drift the baseline flags for ‘zonde’ collapsing into casual regret.
Low Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: evangelie
Transliteration: evangelie
Doctrine: Gospel Proclamation
Original: εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package exactly. In Acts this recurs across many first-encounter preaching scenes (8:25,35,40; 14:7,21; 20:24); Netherlands’ secularization means content behind the word cannot be assumed known.
Apostle
Approved rendering: apostel
Transliteration: apostel
Doctrine: Apostleship and Church Office
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Central recurring office throughout Acts 1-15.
Peace
Approved rendering: vrede
Transliteration: vrede
Doctrine: Peace with God
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Acts 9:31; 10:36; 15:33 — stable, low risk.
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: dankzegging
Transliteration: dankzegging
Doctrine: Thanksgiving and Table Fellowship
Original: εὐχαριστία
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Less frequent explicit occurrence in Acts than Romans; present in table-fellowship contexts (2:46-47; 27:35).
Fellowship
Approved rendering: gemeenschap
Transliteration: gemeenschap
Doctrine: Fellowship and Koinonia Life
Original: κοινωνία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Acts 2:42-46 is the foundational NT description of this fellowship in communal, table, and property-sharing terms; risks a generic secular-community reading absent explicit koinonia-in-Christ framing.
Prophet
Approved rendering: profeet
Transliteration: profeet
Doctrine: Inspiration and Fulfillment of Prophecy
Original: προφήτης
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Very frequent throughout Acts’ sermons (Peter, Stephen, Paul).
Prophecy
Approved rendering: profetie
Transliteration: profetie
Doctrine: Inspiration and Fulfillment of Prophecy
Original: προφητεία
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Acts 2:17-18’s Joel citation is doctrinally central to Pentecost’s fulfillment claim.
Mission
Approved rendering: zending
Transliteration: zending
Doctrine: The Great Commission Fulfilled
Rejected alternatives: missie (broader/secular)
Original: ἀποστολή / πέμπω
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Central to Acts’ entire structure (13:2-4 Antioch commissioning); same Dutch East Indies colonial-missionary undertone as the baseline notes.
David
Approved rendering: David
Transliteration: David
Doctrine: Covenant Continuity: Abrahamic and Davidic
Original: Δαβίδ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Frequent throughout apostolic preaching (1:16; 2:25,29,34; 4:25; 7:45; 13:22,34,36; 15:16).
Jesus
Approved rendering: Jezus
Transliteration: Jezus
Doctrine: Deity and Lordship of Christ
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Passim throughout Acts; stable.
Exhort
Approved rendering: vermanen
Transliteration: vermanen
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Original: παρακαλέω
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Acts 2:40’s sense leans toward urgent evangelistic pleading (‘aansporen’) rather than the baseline’s default ‘vermanen’ gloss — flag this deviation per baseline’s own context-sensitivity note.
Christian
Approved rendering: christen
Transliteration: christen
Doctrine: The Church as Community
Original: Χριστιανός
Category: Church as Community
New Acts term. Stable, universally shared term across all Dutch traditions (11:26; 26:28).
Sanhedrin
Approved rendering: Sanhedrin
Transliteration: Sanhedrin
Doctrine: Persecution and Bold Witness
Rejected alternatives: Hoge Raad — FORBIDDEN, anachronistic collision with the actual Dutch Supreme Court
Original: Συνέδριον
Category: Persecution and Bold Witness
New Acts term. Transliterated per established Dutch Bible convention; must NOT be rendered ‘Hoge Raad,’ the actual name of the Dutch Supreme Court (Hoge Raad der Nederlanden).
Referenced passages