01 Executive Summary — Matthew 1–28 (English → Filipino)

Why it matters

Matthew is the most denominationally visible book yet processed by this pipeline for the Filipino destination. It sits at the intersection of a majority folk-Catholic culture, an established Protestant/evangelical minority, and two organized movements with significant Philippine presence (Iglesia ni Cristo, Jehovah’s Witnesses) whose distinctive teaching materials directly engage several of Matthew’s core passages. The core passage, Matthew 5:1–12 (the Beatitudes), anchors a curriculum whose full 28-chapter scope carries 30 named doctrines and 98 registry-tracked theological terms — nearly double the doctrinal density flagged in the Romans Language Package this pipeline extends.

Key findings

• Full-book coverage confirmed. All 28 chapters were reviewed against the nine curriculum doctrines; no chapter was silently omitted, including chapters (e.g., ch.14) that introduce no new vocabulary.
• 31 Romans-baseline terms carry forward unchanged into Matthew (Diyos, Jesus, Panginoon, Anak ng Diyos, Espiritu Santo, Kaharian ng Diyos, iglesia, kapangyarihan ng Diyos, and 23 others), preserving cross-curriculum consistency.
• 68 new terms are introduced, the largest new-term set in this Language Package to date, driven by Matthew’s distinctive vocabulary: Kaharian ng Langit, Anak ng Tao, awtoridad, mga susi ng kaharian/itali-kalagan, binyag, walang hanggang parusa/impiyerno, pantubos, Paskuwa, and the full Beatitudes vocabulary (Mapalad, mga dukha sa espiritu, mapagpakumbaba, etc.).
• The single highest-priority fencing decision in this curriculum is separating awtoridad (Jesus’ delegated teaching authority, exousia) from kapangyarihan ng Diyos (raw miraculous power, dynamis) — a distinction Greek makes but ordinary Filipino does not, and collapsing it would undermine the Authority of Jesus’ Teaching doctrine at its central proof text (7:28-29).
• Matthew 16:18–19 and 18:15–20 (church founding, keys, binding/loosing) are the single most theologically contested passages in the book across Filipino religious communities themselves — Catholic (Petrine primacy), Iglesia ni Cristo (distinctive ecclesiology), and mainstream Protestant/Orthodox readings all diverge. Translation renders literally; institutional neutrality is carried entirely by mandatory theologian teaching notes.

Risks

• 20 Critical-risk and 37 High-risk terms (57 of 98 total registry terms, 58%) require mandatory human theologian review at every occurrence — more than double the term-level burden of the Romans baseline.
• 27 of 30 doctrines (90%) route to mandatory human theologian review; only 3 (Fulfillment of OT Prophecy, Mercy and Compassion, Mission to the Gentiles and Unity) route to native-speaker-only review, and zero doctrines are automated-review-only — a materially heavier oversight load than the Romans package’s 15-of-24 theologian-routed doctrines.
• Folk-Catholic collision risk is pervasive and multi-pronged, not isolated to one or two terms: Kaharian ng Langit (afterlife-destination reduction), birhen (Marian devotional overshadowing), mga Mago (Tatlong Hari folk tradition), binyag (sacramental-mechanism confusion), mga susi ng kaharian/itali-kalagan (papal-keys iconography), impiyerno/walang hanggang parusa (purgatory-adjacent softening), and Paskuwa (collision with “Pasko”/Christmas) all require independent, non-overlapping mitigation.
• Sect-adjacent collision risk is newly acute: Jehovah’s Witnesses’ New World Translation and Iglesia ni Cristo teaching materials both engage Matthew 16:18, 28:19, and eschatological/Christological passages directly, requiring translators to recognize and avoid echoing either without characterizing their adherents dismissively.
• Idiom-domestication risk: “pasanin ang kanyang krus” already exists as a colloquial Filipino idiom for generic hardship, meaning a translation error here would “sound right” to native reviewers even as its doctrinal content silently drains away.

Opportunities

• Strong bridge images exist and should be used pastorally, not just fenced against: Filipino “tubos” (redeeming a pawned item) illuminates pantubos (ransom); the culturally well-understood adoption custom illuminates magmana (inherit) and the Adoption doctrine; the Laborers in the Vineyard parable (20:1–16) offers a narrative reinforcement of the Romans package’s grace-vs-utang-na-loob distinction already established.
• Low genuine denial-risk on core Christology: unlike some destination contexts in this Language Package, Filipino Catholic catechesis already affirms Christ’s deity, virgin birth, and resurrection; the translation task is chiefly devotional-focus correction (e.g., away from image/Marian overshadowing) rather than doctrinal introduction from zero.
• The Beatitudes’ grace-saturated logic (5:3–12) offers a natural teaching anchor for reinforcing, not just repeating, the Romans package’s grace-vs-merit distinction at the curriculum’s own theological center.

Recommended actions

1. Lock assets/translation_memory.json (v2) and assets/bible_term_registry.json before any Phase 2 segment translation begins; treat the 20 Critical and 37 High term entries as non-negotiable enforcement targets.
2. Pre-schedule human theologian review capacity for 27 of 30 doctrines, prioritizing the ranked ambiguity list in 06_linguistic_gap_analysis.md (§4) — awtoridad/kapangyarihan fencing, Kaharian ng Langit framing, and the 16:18–19 church-authority passages first.
3. Apply the mandatory contextual-framing-note pattern (not lexical substitution) at every Critical-risk occurrence, consistent with the Romans package’s precedent for kaligtasan/mga banal/pamamagitan, now extended to Kaharian ng Langit, binyag, Anak ng Tao, mga susi ng kaharian/itali-kalagan, walang hanggang parusa/impiyerno, pantubos, and the Lord’s Supper institution words.
4. Use NWT-Tagalog and Iglesia ni Cristo teaching materials strictly as negative references (per 05_translation_landscape.md Part 3) — never as a source for lexical or doctrinal decisions.
5. Render 16:18–19, 18:15–20, and 26:26–28 literally and institutionally neutral within the translation text itself, carrying all interpretive/denominational distinctions in teaching notes only.
6. Adopt YouVersion version ID 399 (MBB) and book code MAT as the locked reference standard for all Matthew hyperlinks going forward, per 05_translation_landscape.md Part 5–6.