Core Glossary
Core Glossary: Colossians (English/Greek → French)
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, organized in two parts:
- Part A — Reused Baseline Terms: terms already established in the Romans Language Package for French. Renderings here are copied EXACTLY from
translation_memory.json/bible_term_registry.jsonand MUST NOT be altered. Colossians-specific occurrence notes are added but the core rendering, doctrine tag, and risk tier are inherited unchanged. - Part B — New Terms (Colossians): terms not present in the baseline registries, proposed here for registry extension ahead of Phase 2. Each entry follows the same field structure as the baseline for direct portability into an updated
translation_memory.json/bible_term_registry.json.
Risk tier definitions follow the baseline doctrine_risk_registry.json: Critical (mandatory theologian review, every occurrence), High (mandatory theologian review), Medium (native speaker review recommended), Low (automated review sufficient).
Part A — Reused Baseline Terms (Colossians Occurrences)
| Term (EN) | French Rendering | Risk Tier | Doctrine | Colossians Occurrences | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gospel | Évangile | Low | Gospel | 1:5, 1:23 | Word of truth received and bearing fruit worldwide. |
| grace | grâce | High | Grace | 1:2, 1:6, 3:16, 4:6, 4:18 | Reinforce unmerited-favor sense; note χαρίζομαι-family verbs (forgive) share the root. |
| faith | foi | Medium | Faith | 1:4, 1:23, 2:5, 2:7, 2:12 | Personal trust in Christ Jesus, explicit object in 1:4. |
| saints | saints | High | Sainthood | 1:2, 1:4, 1:12, 1:26 | Gloss “tous les croyants” required per baseline; corporate, not canonized-elite, sense. |
| holy | saint | Medium | Sanctification | 1:2, 1:22, 3:12 | Set-apart, morally pure status of all believers. |
| church | Église | High | Church as God’s People | 1:18, 1:24, 4:15, 4:16 | Distinguish body-of-Christ sense (1:18, 1:24) from local house-church/institutional sense (4:15-16). |
| kingdom of God | Royaume de Dieu | Medium | Kingdom Mission | 1:13 (“Royaume de son Fils bien-aimé”), 4:11 | Present, not merely future, reality; titled to the beloved Son here. |
| peace | paix | Low (base) / elevated to Medium in 1:20, 3:15 context | Peace with God | 1:2, 1:20, 3:15 | 1:20’s cosmic pacification sense exceeds the baseline’s relational-peace-with-God sense; teach both. |
| thanksgiving | action de grâce | Low | Thanksgiving | 1:3, 1:12, 2:7, 3:15, 3:17, 4:2 | Frequent, structurally significant refrain throughout the letter. |
| glory | gloire | Medium | Deity of Christ | 1:11, 1:27, 3:4 | ”Christ in you, the hope of glory” (1:27) ties directly to Union with Christ doctrine. |
| power of God | puissance de Dieu | Medium | Power of God for Salvation | 1:11, 1:29 | Paired uniquely with κράτος (“might”) at 1:11. |
| election | élection (root); élus (adjective/noun form) | High | Effectual Calling | 3:12 | ”Élus” inherits and sharpens the baseline’s political-election collision risk — “les élus” is itself the standard French term for elected officials. |
| resurrection | résurrection | Medium | Resurrection of Christ | 1:18, 2:12, 3:1 | 1:18’s “firstborn from the dead” and 2:12/3:1’s “raised with him” both depend on this term. |
| Lord | Seigneur | High | Lordship of Christ | 3:17, 3:18, 3:20, 3:22-24, 4:1, 4:7, 4:17 | Pervasive throughout the household code and closing greetings; exclusive, supreme sense must be retained even in routine address. |
| Jesus / Christ | Jésus / Christ | Low–Medium | Christology | throughout (over 25 occurrences) | Established, stable name-forms; “Christ” functions largely as part of the fixed name “Jésus-Christ” but retains titular “Anointed One” force, especially in 1:15-20, 2:9, 3:1. |
| God | Dieu | Critical | Deity of Christ / God the Father | throughout | Both “God the Father” address and, implicitly through 1:15/1:19/2:9, the ground of Christ’s own deity. |
| Holy Spirit | Esprit (Saint) | Medium | Sanctification | 1:8 | Ambiguous single occurrence (“love in the Spirit”); context favors the Holy Spirit as source/sphere. |
| Father | Père | Medium | Adoption into God’s Family | 1:2, 1:12, 3:17 | God as personal Father, ground of the “inheritance of the saints.” |
| exhort / encourage | exhorter / encourager | Low | Mutual Edification | 2:2 (παρακαλέω, “comforted/encouraged”), 4:8 | Context-sensitive per baseline note. |
| Gentiles / nations | païens / nations | Medium | Unity of Jews and Gentiles | 1:27 (“among the Gentiles”) | Prefer “les nations” in mission-emphasis contexts per baseline guidance. |
| mission | mission | Medium | Mission to the Nations | 4:3-4, 4:5-6 (implied: “door for the word,” “walk… toward outsiders”) | France’s colonial missionary history caution applies directly to 4:5’s “outsiders” language. |
Part B — New Terms (Colossians): Proposed Registry Extension
| Term (EN) | Original (Greek) | Transliteration | French Rendering | Risk Tier | Doctrine | Colossians Refs | Rationale / Rendering Risk Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| image | εἰκών | eikōn | image | Critical | Deity of Christ / Supremacy of Christ | 1:15, 3:10 | Christ as essential, not merely symbolic, manifestation of God’s nature; anchors humanity’s re-creation in 3:10. No lexical ambiguity in French; risk is purely catechetical (must not be read as “icon”/mere representation). |
| firstborn | πρωτότοκος | prōtotokos | premier-né | Critical | Supremacy of Christ over Creation / Deity of Christ | 1:15, 1:18 | Documented, live collision with francophone Jehovah’s Witness (“Témoins de Jéhovah”) reading of this verse as proof Christ is a created being. Must always be taught alongside 1:16-17. Mandatory theologian review every occurrence. |
| creation / creature | κτίσις | ktisis | création | High | Supremacy of Christ over Creation | 1:15, 1:16 (τὰ πάντα), 1:23 | Inherits firstborn ambiguity; must retain cosmic/collective sense, not “one creature among all creatures.” |
| thrones, dominions, principalities, powers | θρόνοι, κυριότητες, ἀρχαί, ἐξουσίαι | thronoi, kyriotētes, archai, exousiai | trônes, seigneuries (dominations), principautés, autorités | Medium | Supremacy of Christ over Creation | 1:16, 2:10, 2:15 | Overlaps with French Catholic angelology’s “chœurs des anges” vocabulary; steer toward total subordination to Christ, not veneration. |
| head | κεφαλή | kephalē | tête | High | Christ as Head of the Church | 1:18, 2:10, 2:19 | Retain “tête” (not “chef”) to preserve organic life-source-plus-authority sense; do not drift to bare organizational-leader reading. |
| body | σῶμα | sōma | corps | High | Christ as Head of the Church | 1:18, 1:24, 2:11, 2:17, 2:19, 3:15 | Direct collision with the fixed Catholic liturgical formula “Le Corps du Christ” (Eucharist); must distinguish ecclesial-body sense from sacramental-host sense in teaching material. |
| beginning | ἀρχή | archē | commencement | Medium | Christ as Head of the Church | 1:18 | Distinguish from ἀρχαί (“principautés”) in 1:16 — same root, different referent. |
| preeminence / supremacy | πρωτεύων | prōteuōn | primauté | Low | Supremacy of Christ over Creation | 1:18 | Stable, unambiguous term. |
| fullness | πλήρωμα | plērōma | plénitude | Critical | Fullness of Deity in Christ Bodily | 1:19, 2:9, 2:10 (implied) | Anti-Gnostic polemical background (technical “Pleroma” term) must be taught explicitly; correct lexical choice already established, risk is purely catechetical. Mandatory theologian review every occurrence. |
| reconcile / reconciliation | ἀποκαταλλάσσω | apokatallassō | réconcilier | Critical | Reconciliation through the Cross | 1:20, 1:21-22 | Must retain cosmic scope (“toutes choses”) without implying universalism; mandatory theologian review every occurrence. |
| blood of the cross | αἷμα τοῦ σταυροῦ | haima tou staurou | sang de sa croix | High | Reconciliation through the Cross | 1:20 | Guard against a non-bloody, purely symbolic or “moral influence” reading of the cross’s significance. |
| cross | σταυρός | stauros | croix | High | Reconciliation through the Cross | 1:20, 2:14 | Stable term; risk is theological (efficacy of the cross-event) not lexical. |
| mystery | μυστήριον | mystērion | mystère | High | Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism | 1:26, 1:27, 2:2, 4:3 | Distinguish Paul’s now-openly-revealed mystery from (a) Gnostic esoteric secret-knowledge and (b) Catholic devotional “mystère” usage (e.g. “mystères du Rosaire,” Eucharistic “mystère de la foi”). |
| dispensation / stewardship | οἰκονομία | oikonomia | charge (confiée par Dieu) | Medium | Christ-Centered Ministry | 1:25 | Note possible helpful overlap with Catholic/Orthodox “économie du salut” theological vocabulary; verify it clarifies rather than confuses. |
| knowledge (γνῶσις) | γνῶσις | gnōsis | connaissance (NOT “science”) | High | Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism | 2:3 | Modern French “science” denotes empirical science; forbidden substitution for this curriculum. |
| philosophy | φιλοσοφία | philosophia | philosophie | Medium | Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism | 2:8 | Clarify Paul condemns a specific syncretistic system, not rational inquiry generally, given France’s strong secular philosophical tradition. |
| tradition of men | παράδοσις τῶν ἀνθρώπων | paradosis tōn anthrōpōn | tradition des hommes / tradition humaine | High | Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism | 2:8 | Direct collision with Catholic theology’s capital-T Sacred Tradition (a co-authoritative source of revelation alongside Scripture); must clarify Paul targets merely-human, Christ-displacing teaching, not apostolic Tradition per se. |
| elemental spirits / basic principles | στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου | stoicheia tou kosmou | éléments du monde | Medium | Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism | 2:8, 2:20 | Genuinely obscure referent even in the source text; requires explanatory gloss regardless of target language. |
| fullness of deity bodily | πλήρωμα τῆς θεότητος σωματικῶς | plērōma tēs theotētos sōmatikōs | toute la plénitude de la divinité, corporellement | Critical | Fullness of Deity in Christ Bodily | 2:9 | The single most explicit incarnational statement in Colossians; mandatory theologian review every occurrence. |
| circumcision | περιτομή | peritomē | circoncision | Medium | Unity of Jews and Gentiles / Union with Christ | 2:11, 3:11, 4:11 | Reapplied typologically to union with Christ’s death (2:11), distinct from but related to the Romans discussion. |
| baptism | βάπτισμα / βαπτισμός | baptisma / baptismos | baptême | High | Union with Christ | 2:12 | Catholic sacramental/infant-baptismal-regeneration framing vs. baptism as sign of prior faith-union; not present in the baseline Romans registry — new Critical-adjacent flashpoint for this curriculum. |
| handwriting / certificate of debt | χειρόγραφον | cheirographon | acte (qui était contre nous) | Medium | Reconciliation through the Cross | 2:14 | Legal-debt metaphor; unique NT term. |
| ordinances / decrees | δόγματα | dogmata | prescriptions / règles (forbid “dogmes”) | High | Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism | 2:14, 2:20 | French “dogme” carries strong, specific Catholic doctrinal-authority connotation exactly opposite to Paul’s sense of legalistic rules now cancelled; forbidden substitution. |
| triumphing over | θριαμβεύσας | thriambeusas | triompher (d’eux) | Low | Supremacy and Sufficiency of Christ | 2:15 | Roman military-triumph imagery; low collision risk. |
| worship of angels | θρησκεία τῶν ἀγγέλων | thrēskeia tōn angelōn | culte des anges | High | Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism | 2:18 | Collision with French Catholic devotional veneration of angels/saints; must clarify Paul condemns displacement of Christ’s sole sufficiency, without casually delegitimizing all Catholic devotional practice — a sensitive, carefully-worded distinction. |
| voluntary humility (false) / humility (true) | ταπεινοφροσύνη | tapeinophrosynē | humilité (affectée, in 2:18/2:23) / humilité (vertu, in 3:12) | Medium | Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism / Putting On the New Self | 2:18, 2:23, 3:12 | Context-sensitive across two opposite evaluative senses — check which is active per occurrence, as with baseline’s called. |
| self-made religion / will-worship | ἐθελοθρησκία | ethelothrēskia | culte volontaire / religion à sa propre mesure | Low | Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism | 2:23 | Unique NT term; low collision risk. |
| shadow / substance | σκιά / σῶμα (typological sense) | skia / sōma | ombre / réalité | Medium | Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism | 2:17 | Distinguish this typological “σῶμα” (reality/substance) sense from the ecclesial-body sense of σῶμα elsewhere in the letter. |
| raised with Christ | συνηγέρθητε | synēgerthēte | ressuscités avec le Christ | Critical | Union with Christ (Died and Raised With Him) | 2:12, 3:1 | Foundational, already-accomplished positional reality underlying all subsequent ethical imperatives; mandatory theologian review every occurrence. |
| old self / new self | ὁ παλαιὸς ἄνθρωπος / ὁ νέος (καινός) ἄνθρωπος | ho palaios anthrōpos / ho neos (kainos) anthrōpos | le vieil homme / l’homme nouveau | High | Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New | 3:9-10 | Direct linguistic core of the named curriculum doctrine. |
| mortify / put to death | νεκρώσατε | nekrōsate | faites mourir | Medium | Putting Off the Old Self | 3:5 | Decisive, active sense; avoid passive “laisser mourir.” |
| put off / put on | ἀποθέσθε / ἐνδύσασθε | apothesthe / endysasthe | dépouillez-vous… revêtez-vous | Medium | Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New | 3:8-9, 3:12, 3:14 | Clothing metaphor; consistent verb pairing throughout ch.3. |
| inheritance | κληρονομία | klēronomia | héritage | Medium | Adoption into God’s Family | 1:12, 3:24 | Connects to baseline adoption concept though not itself in the baseline registry. |
| redemption | ἀπολύτρωσις | apolytrōsis | rédemption | High | Reconciliation through the Cross | 1:14 | Complete, once-for-all liberation; guard against a Catholic penitential-system reading implying an ongoing debt requiring further payment. |
| what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions | τὰ ὑστερήματα τῶν θλίψεων τοῦ Χριστοῦ | ta hysterēmata tōn thlipseōn tou Christou | ce qui manque aux souffrances du Christ | High | Christ-Centered Ministry | 1:24 | Direct collision risk with Catholic devotional/theological use of this verse for “offering up” suffering in a redemptive-participatory sense; must clarify Paul’s own apostolic suffering adds nothing to Christ’s finished atoning work. |
| minister / deacon | διάκονος | diakonos | ministre | Medium | Christ-Centered Ministry | 1:7, 1:23, 1:25, 4:7 | French “diacre” denotes an ordained clerical office in Catholic practice; “ministre” avoids this but has its own government-minister/Protestant-pastor ambiguity — context-dependent. |
| household code: submit | ὑποτάσσεσθε | hypotassesthe | soyez soumises | High | Household Codes | 3:18 | Contemporary French secular/feminist discourse renders “soumission” a heavily loaded, negatively-charged term; must be taught within the passage’s own Christ-modeled, mutual framework, not as unilateral subjugation. |
| household code: obey | ὑπακούετε | hypakouete | obéissez | Medium | Household Codes | 3:20, 3:22 | Distinct from baseline’s obedience_of_faith (faith-flowing obedience); this is household-role obedience. |
| household code: masters/slaves | κύριοι / δοῦλοι | kyrioi / douloi | maîtres / esclaves (or serviteurs, with explanatory note) | High | Household Codes | 3:22–4:1 | France’s own documented history of colonial chattel slavery (the Code Noir, abolition 1848, ongoing national memorial discourse) makes this term acutely sensitive; must clarify the NT household context neither is nor was intended as an endorsement of chattel slavery. |
| no respect of persons | οὐκ ἔστιν προσωπολημψία | ouk estin prosōpolēmpsia | il n’y a pas de favoritisme | Medium | Household Codes | 3:25 | Relativizes/undermines the surrounding social hierarchy through impartial divine judgment. |
| psalms, hymns, spiritual songs | ψαλμοῖς καὶ ὕμνοις καὶ ᾠδαῖς πνευματικαῖς | psalmois kai hymnois kai ōdais pneumatikais | psaumes, hymnes et cantiques spirituels | Low | Mutual Edification | 3:16 | Standard threefold worship-vocabulary; low collision risk. |
| hope | ἐλπίς | elpis | espérance | Medium | Union with Christ / Assurance | 1:5, 1:23, 1:27 | Prefer “espérance” (secure, Christ-grounded theological hope) over “espoir” (a weaker, wishful everyday hope); usefully parallels the Catholic theological-virtues framework (Foi, Espérance, Charité). |
| light / darkness | φῶς / σκότος | phōs / skotos | lumière / ténèbres | Medium | Christian Identity in Christ | 1:12-13 | Guard against both a Gnostic dualistic-cosmology reading and a flattened secular “positive thinking” reading. |
| perfect / mature | τέλειος | teleios | parfait / accompli (en Christ) | Medium | Christian Identity in Christ | 1:28 | French “parfait” carries a secular flawlessness sense; clarify Pauline maturity/completeness-in-Christ sense. |
Cross-Reference Notes for Registry Integration
- All Part A terms should be written back into the shared
translation_memory.jsonandbible_term_registry.jsonwith an added"curricula": ["Romans", "Colossians"]field (or equivalent) to record cross-curriculum reuse, without altering any existing field values. - All Part B terms are new candidate entries. Per the baseline’s Translation Memory Load and Enforcement Instructions, each must be: (a) assigned a risk level using the same framework demonstrated above, (b) recorded in
translation_memory.jsonbefore Phase 2 segment translation begins, and (c) flagged for theologian review if Critical or High. - Terms tagged Critical in this glossary (image, premier-né, plénitude / plénitude de la divinité, réconcilier, ressuscités avec le Christ) should be added to the “escalation rules for human review” list in a Colossians-specific extension of
12_ai_translation_requirements.md, alongside the existing baseline Critical/High escalation list. - Chapters reviewed with no new theological vocabulary beyond what is tabled above: none — every chapter of Colossians (1–4) contributed at least one new load-bearing term, reflecting the letter’s dense, concentrated Christological and polemical content relative to its short length.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: Dieu
Transliteration: Dieu
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: θεός
Category: God
Secularization risk: casual interjection use and deist-abstraction risk in academic French. Inherited from Romans package; risk elevated to Critical for this curriculum because Colossians directly loads this term into the deity-of-Christ argument at 1:19 and 2:9, where the fullness of God’s own being is said to dwell in Christ bodily.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: Fils de Dieu
Transliteration: Fils de Dieu
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: envoyé de Dieu, homme divin
CRITICAL: full phrase required, conveying eternal, unique Sonship. Inherited from Romans package. Colossians does not use the exact phrase ‘Fils de Dieu’ but the doctrine is directly present at 1:13 (‘Royaume de son Fils bien-aimé’) and underlies 1:15’s ‘image du Dieu invisible’; French readers must not read ‘Fils’ here as honorary or adoptive sonship parallel to believers’ own ‘adoption filiale.‘
Image
Approved rendering: image
Transliteration: eikōn
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: icône (mere symbolic representation), reflet (weak reflection sense)
Original: εἰκών
Category: Christology
NEW TERM. Christ as the essential, exact manifestation of the invisible God’s own being (Col 1:15), not a mere symbolic likeness as an icon represents a saint. No lexical ambiguity in French; risk is purely catechetical. Must always be taught alongside 2:9’s ‘plénitude de la divinité’ to preclude an Arian-adjacent ‘divinely-inspired-man’ reading. Recurs at 3:10 regarding humanity renewed ‘after the image of him that created him.’ Mandatory theologian review every occurrence.
Firstborn
Approved rendering: premier-né
Transliteration: prōtotokos
Doctrine: The Supremacy and Sufficiency of Christ over Creation
Rejected alternatives: premier créé (created-being reading), chef suprême (loses OT rank/inheritance background)
Original: πρωτότοκος
Category: Christology
NEW TERM, France-specific CRITICAL flashpoint. Title of supreme rank and inheritance rights (cf. Psalm 89:27 LXX), NOT chronological first-createdness. ‘Premier-né’ is the exact phrase francophone Jehovah’s Witnesses (Traduction du Monde Nouveau) cite from Col 1:15/1:18 to argue Christ is a created being (Michael the archangel), a documented, live denominational dispute in France, not a hypothetical risk. Must always be taught alongside 1:16-17 (‘il est avant toutes choses,’ ‘tout a été créé par lui’) to foreclose the created-being reading. Do not abandon the standard rendering (all mainstream French Bibles use it); the countermeasure is mandatory teaching context, not a different word. Mandatory theologian review every occurrence.
Fullness
Approved rendering: plénitude
Transliteration: plērōma
Doctrine: Fullness of Deity in Christ Bodily
Rejected alternatives: une partie de la plénitude divine (partial-emanation reading)
Original: πλήρωμα
Category: Christology
NEW TERM. The complete totality of God’s own being and attributes, permanently resident in Christ alone (Col 1:19, 2:9-10). ‘Plénitude’ is lexically exact; the risk is entirely catechetical: this was the technical term for the graded hierarchy of divine emanations (‘Pleroma’) in the incipient Gnostic-adjacent syncretism Paul confronts. Must always be taught alongside 2:9-10 to establish ALL of God’s being — not a devotional-sounding fraction — resides in Christ. Mandatory theologian review every occurrence.
Fullness Of Deity Bodily
Approved rendering: toute la plénitude de la divinité, corporellement
Transliteration: plērōma tēs theotētos sōmatikōs
Doctrine: Fullness of Deity in Christ Bodily
Rejected alternatives: qualité divine (TMN’s periphrastic softening, avoids asserting full Godhood)
Original: πλήρωμα τῆς θεότητος σωματικῶς
Category: Christology
NEW TERM. The single most explicit incarnational statement in the letter (Col 2:9) — the direct doctrinal payoff of 1:19. Must retain ‘divinité’ (not a periphrastic ‘qualité divine,’ the documented Traduction du Monde Nouveau softening consistent with Watchtower denial of Christ’s full deity) and ‘corporellement’ to insist on physical, historical embodiment against any temporary or partial-visitation reading. Mandatory theologian review every occurrence.
Reconciliation
Approved rendering: réconcilier
Transliteration: apokatallaxai
Doctrine: Reconciliation through the Cross
Rejected alternatives: réconciliation universelle sans condition (implies unconditional universalism)
Original: ἀποκαταλλάσσω / ἀποκαταλλάξαι
Category: Salvation
NEW TERM. God’s decisive act, through Christ’s cross, of restoring all things — including hostile spiritual powers and believers — to right relationship with himself (Col 1:20-22). Must preserve the totalizing scope ‘toutes choses’ without implying indiscriminate universal salvation; teaching must explicitly distinguish cosmic pacification/subjugation of hostile powers from the personal reconciliation of believers by faith. Mandatory theologian review every occurrence.
Raised With Christ
Approved rendering: ressuscités avec le Christ
Transliteration: synēgerthēte
Doctrine: Union with Christ (Died and Raised With Him)
Rejected alternatives: renouvelés / renaître (metaphorical-only reading)
Original: συνηγέρθητε
Category: Union with Christ
NEW TERM. Believers’ already-accomplished, shared resurrection-union with Christ, the positional basis for all subsequent ethical imperatives (Col 2:12, 3:1). Must retain the past, completed-action sense; this is the load-bearing grammatical foundation of the entire chapter 3 ethical section. Mandatory theologian review every occurrence.
High Risk Terms
Grace
Approved rendering: grâce
Transliteration: grâce
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: faveur, mérite
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Same word used by Catholic and Protestant traditions, but the theology differs: Catholic catechesis ties grâce to sacramental mediation; Reformed/Segond tradition insists on grâce apart from any ecclesial mediation. Inherited from Romans package. Colossians occurrences: 1:2, 1:6, 3:16, 4:6, 4:18; the cognate verb χαρίζομαι (‘forgave/graciously granted’) at 2:13 reinforces the unmerited, freely-given sense against a sacramentally-mediated reading.
Saints
Approved rendering: saints
Transliteration: les saints
Doctrine: Sainthood
Original: ἅγιοι
Category: Church
HIGH RISK: ‘les saints’ overwhelmingly evokes canonized intercessors in ordinary and Catholic French usage, not Paul’s corporate believer sense. Must add clarifying gloss (‘tous les croyants’). Inherited from Romans package. Colossians occurrences: 1:2, 1:4, 1:12, 1:26 — risk intensified at 1:26, where an unglossed rendering could suggest the mystery is revealed only to a venerated few rather than the whole church.
Church
Approved rendering: Église
Transliteration: Église
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: temple (building only)
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Capitalized ‘l’Église’ strongly denotes the institutional Catholic Church in ordinary usage; clarify the body-of-Christ sense distinct from institution or building. Inherited from Romans package. Colossians occurrences: 1:18, 1:24 (body-of-Christ sense), 4:15-16 (local house-church sense) — both senses must be distinguished from ‘l’Église’ as institution.
Election
Approved rendering: élection
Transliteration: élection
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: chance, destin
Original: ἐκλεκτοί
Category: Salvation
HIGH RISK, distinctly French: ‘élection’ is the everyday word for political/democratic elections. Inherited from Romans package. In Colossians the related adjectival/nominal form ‘élus’ surfaces at 3:12 (see the separate ‘elect’ entry below for its own heightened collision risk).
Lord
Approved rendering: Seigneur
Transliteration: Seigneur
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: maître, patron
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
‘Seigneur’ carries feudal-historical resonance risking a distant, archaic-title reading rather than a living confession of exclusive Lordship. Inherited from Romans package. Colossians occurrences are pervasive throughout the household code and closing greetings (3:17, 3:18, 3:20, 3:22-24, 4:1, 4:7, 4:17); the exclusive, supreme sense must be retained even in these routine, formulaic address contexts.
Creation
Approved rendering: création
Transliteration: ktisis
Doctrine: The Supremacy and Sufficiency of Christ over Creation
Rejected alternatives: toute créature (partitive misreading: ‘one creature among all creatures’)
Original: κτίσις
Category: Christology
NEW TERM. Denotes the totality of the created cosmic order (Col 1:15-16, 1:23). Inherits the firstborn ambiguity; ‘de toute la création’ must retain the collective, cosmic-order sense. TMN’s French edition interpolates ‘[autres]’ before ‘choses’ at 1:16 with no manuscript basis to support created-being christology — never echo this interpolation.
Head
Approved rendering: tête
Transliteration: kephalē
Doctrine: Christ as Head of the Church
Rejected alternatives: chef (loses the vital, life-giving-source dimension)
Original: κεφαλή
Category: Christology
NEW TERM. Christ’s authority over and life-giving source for the church (Col 1:18, 2:10, 2:19), as a head governs and gives coordinated life to a body. ‘Tête’ is the established French Bible rendering; ‘chef’ (leader/boss) would strip the organic dimension and must never be substituted, even though it may feel more natural for bare authority.
Body
Approved rendering: corps
Transliteration: sōma
Doctrine: Christ as Head of the Church
Original: σῶμα
Category: Church
NEW TERM. The church as Christ’s own organic, corporate body (Col 1:18, 1:24, 2:19, 3:15). Direct collision with the fixed French Catholic liturgical formula spoken at Communion, ‘Le Corps du Christ,’ which refers to the Eucharistic host. Teaching material must distinguish the ecclesial-body referent from the sacramental-host referent without denying the latter’s own legitimacy. Note: 2:17 uses σῶμα in a distinct typological sense (‘réalité/substance’ — see shadow_and_substance entry), not the ecclesial-body sense.
Cross
Approved rendering: croix
Transliteration: stauros
Doctrine: Reconciliation through the Cross
Original: σταυρός
Category: Salvation
NEW TERM. The instrument of Christ’s execution, transformed into the means of cosmic reconciliation and victory (Col 1:20, 2:14). Lexically stable in French; risk is theological — secular/philosophically-formed readers may substitute a symbolic or moral-exemplar reading of the cross-event.
Blood Of The Cross
Approved rendering: sang de sa croix
Transliteration: haima tou staurou
Doctrine: Reconciliation through the Cross
Rejected alternatives: par la croix (bare, non-sacrificial reading, without ‘sang’)
Original: αἷμα τοῦ σταυροῦ
Category: Salvation
NEW TERM. Christ’s sacrificial, bloody death as the specific and sole means of cosmic reconciliation (Col 1:20). Retain ‘sang,’ not merely ‘croix,’ to guard against a non-bloody, purely symbolic account of the cross’s significance.
Old Self New Self
Approved rendering: le vieil homme / l’homme nouveau
Transliteration: ho palaios anthrōpos / ho neos anthrōpos
Doctrine: Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New
Rejected alternatives: ancienne nature / nouvelle nature (implies two co-equal ongoing natures in struggle)
Original: ὁ παλαιὸς ἄνθρωπος / ὁ νέος (καινός) ἄνθρωπος
Category: Sanctification
NEW TERM. The former unregenerate identity, decisively put off, versus the new, Christ-conformed identity, put on (Col 3:9-10). French readers may hear an ongoing, evenly-matched internal struggle rather than Paul’s decisive once-for-all status change worked out progressively; teaching must clarify the already/still-becoming structure explicitly.
Baptism
Approved rendering: baptême
Transliteration: baptisma / baptismos
Doctrine: Union with Christ (Died and Raised With Him)
Original: βάπτισμα / βαπτισμός
Category: Union with Christ
NEW TERM, not present in the baseline Romans registry — a new flashpoint for this curriculum. Union with Christ’s death and resurrection is the reality baptism signifies (Col 2:12). French Catholic sacramental theology’s close association of (especially infant) baptism with automatic regenerative effect risks obscuring Colossians’ framing of baptism as the sign of a prior, faith-grounded union rather than its efficient cause in this text.
Mystery
Approved rendering: mystère
Transliteration: mystērion
Doctrine: Mystery of Christ Revealed
Rejected alternatives: secret ésotérique (Gnostic-adjacent reading)
Original: μυστήριον
Category: Revelation
NEW TERM. God’s plan, formerly hidden, now openly disclosed in Christ (Col 1:26-27, 2:2, 4:3). French ‘mystère’ risks two distinct collisions: the Gnostic-adjacent esoteric secret-knowledge framework of Paul’s own opponents, and the Catholic devotional sense of perpetually-contemplated ‘mystère’ (Rosary mysteries, Eucharistic ‘mystère de la foi’). Teaching must clarify full, open disclosure to the whole church, not perpetual contemplation reserved to initiates.
Knowledge
Approved rendering: connaissance
Transliteration: gnōsis
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Rejected alternatives: science (empirical/academic science false friend)
Original: γνῶσις
Category: False Teaching
NEW TERM. The rival ‘special knowledge’ claimed by the Colossian false teachers, contrasted with the true, complete knowledge found only in Christ (Col 2:3). FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION: never render as ‘science.’ This is the etymological root of ‘Gnosticism,’ the heresy-family Colossians confronts.
Tradition Of Men
Approved rendering: tradition des hommes
Transliteration: paradosis tōn anthrōpōn
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Original: παράδοσις τῶν ἀνθρώπων
Category: False Teaching
NEW TERM. Merely-human, Christ-displacing teaching (Col 2:8). Direct collision with Catholic theology’s capital-T Sacred Tradition, a co-authoritative source of revelation alongside Scripture; teaching must clarify Paul targets human-invented, Christ-displacing teaching specifically, not apostolic Tradition as such, to avoid appearing to relitigate the Reformation controversy inside a Colossians lesson.
Worship Of Angels
Approved rendering: culte des anges
Transliteration: thrēskeia tōn angelōn
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Original: θρησκεία τῶν ἀγγέλων
Category: False Teaching
NEW TERM. The false teachers’ practice of venerating angelic powers, displacing sole allegiance to Christ (Col 2:18). Collision risk with legitimate French Catholic devotional veneration of angels (Saint Michel, guardian angels); teaching must carefully distinguish Paul’s condemnation of angel-worship displacing Christ’s sufficiency from Catholic devotional practice, which Catholic theology itself distinguishes in kind from worship reserved to God.
Ordinances
Approved rendering: prescriptions
Transliteration: dogmata
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Rejected alternatives: dogmes (inverts Paul’s meaning; FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION)
Original: δόγματα
Category: False Teaching
NEW TERM. The legalistic requirements/decrees cancelled at the cross (Col 2:14, 2:20). FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION: never render as ‘dogmes’ — French ‘dogme’ carries a strong, specific connotation of official, binding Catholic Church doctrine, precisely the opposite of Paul’s sense (a legalistic rule-system now cancelled).
Redemption
Approved rendering: rédemption
Transliteration: apolytrōsis
Doctrine: Redemption and Forgiveness
Original: ἀπολύτρωσις
Category: Salvation
NEW TERM. Complete, once-for-all liberation, paired with forgiveness of sins as an already-accomplished reality (Col 1:14). French ‘rédemption’ risks being read through the lens of the Catholic penitential system (confession, absolution, penance as an ongoing process); teaching must clarify Colossians 1:14 presents redemption as fully and immediately accomplished, no further payment implied.
Afflictions Of Christ
Approved rendering: ce qui manque aux souffrances du Christ
Transliteration: ta hysterēmata tōn thlipseōn tou Christou
Doctrine: Christ-Centered Ministry
Original: τὰ ὑστερήματα τῶν θλίψεων τοῦ Χριστοῦ
Category: Ministry
NEW TERM. Paul’s own apostolic sufferings, endured for the church’s sake, which advance gospel proclamation but add nothing to Christ’s finished atoning work (Col 1:24). Direct collision risk with a devotional strand in French Catholic piety of ‘offrir ses souffrances’ in redemptive participation with Christ’s Passion (e.g. popularized via Thérèse of Lisieux); teaching must clarify Paul’s suffering serves gospel ministry to the church, not Christ’s finished, sufficient atoning sacrifice.
Household Submission
Approved rendering: soyez soumises
Transliteration: hypotassesthe
Doctrine: Household Codes
Original: ὑποτάσσεσθε
Category: Household Codes
NEW TERM. The wife’s relational posture within the household code, modeled on willing, Christ-shaped ordering, not coerced subjugation (Col 3:18). Contemporary French secular/feminist public discourse renders ‘soumission’ a heavily loaded, negatively-charged term frequently invoked in debates about domestic abuse and religious conservatism; teaching must situate the term within the passage’s own mutual, Christ-modeled framework (paired with 3:19’s ‘aimez vos femmes’) and never present it as unilateral subjugation.
Household Masters Slaves
Approved rendering: maîtres / esclaves
Transliteration: kyrioi / douloi
Doctrine: Household Codes
Rejected alternatives: serviteurs (bare euphemistic substitution without explanatory note)
Original: κύριοι / δοῦλοι
Category: Household Codes
NEW TERM. The first-century household master-servant relationship addressed pastorally within the existing social structure (Col 3:22-4:1). France’s own documented history of colonial chattel slavery (the Code Noir of 1685, abolition only in 1848, ongoing national memorial and reparations discourse) makes this vocabulary acutely sensitive; teaching must clarify Paul addresses a first-century household-bondservice structure pastorally, without endorsing chattel slavery, and the text must never be invoked to justify or minimize France’s own slave-trade history.
Elect
Approved rendering: élus
Transliteration: eklektoi
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: chance, destin
NEW TERM, related to but distinct from the baseline ‘election’/‘élection’ entry. Believers’ identity as God’s sovereignly, graciously chosen people (Col 3:12). ‘Élus’ inherits and sharpens the baseline’s political-election collision risk, since ‘les élus’ is itself the standard French term for elected officials; must be read as God’s sovereign, gracious choice, not a competitive or democratic process.
Medium Risk Terms
Faith
Approved rendering: foi
Transliteration: foi
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: croyance, religion
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
In secular French, ‘la foi’ can drift toward generic religiosity. Must specify personal trust in Christ. Inherited from Romans package. Colossians occurrences: 1:4, 1:23, 2:5, 2:7, 2:12 — personal trust in Christ Jesus, explicit object at 1:4.
Holy
Approved rendering: saint
Transliteration: saint
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: pur
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
Set apart for God and morally pure; ‘pur’ alone loses the set-apart sense. Inherited from Romans package. Colossians occurrences: 1:2, 1:22, 3:12.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: Royaume de Dieu
Transliteration: Royaume de Dieu
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ υἱοῦ τῆς ἀγάπης αὐτοῦ
Category: Kingdom
God’s sovereign reign, distinguished from any political kingdom association. Inherited from Romans package. Colossians 1:13 titles the kingdom specifically to the Son (‘Royaume de son Fils bien-aimé’), reinforcing Christ’s own sovereign headship over the kingdom category; also 4:11.
Glory
Approved rendering: gloire
Transliteration: gloire
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
God’s radiant honor and presence, not secular triumphalist glory. Inherited from Romans package. Colossians occurrences: 1:11, 1:27 (‘Christ en vous, l’espérance de la gloire’ — ties directly to Union with Christ), 3:4.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: puissance de Dieu
Transliteration: puissance de Dieu
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Rejected alternatives: force
‘Puissance’ conveys sovereign capability; ‘force’ is too generic. Inherited from Romans package. Colossians 1:11 pairs ‘puissance’ with a second Greek noun for might (κράτος) — render to preserve both terms, e.g. ‘puissance… selon sa force glorieuse’; also 1:29.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: résurrection
Transliteration: résurrection
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: renaissance
Original: ἀνάστασις (implied via πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, συνηγέρθητε)
Category: Christology
Chief risk is secular naturalism flattening ‘résurrection’ into a metaphor. Inherited from Romans package. Colossians occurrences: 1:18, 2:12, 3:1 — ties into 1:18’s ‘firstborn from the dead’ and 2:12/3:1’s ‘raised with him’; stakes are heightened because the same verb (συνηγέρθητε) applies to believers’ own status, not only Christ’s.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Esprit Saint
Transliteration: Esprit Saint
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: πνεῦμα (ἅγιον, implied)
Category: God
Segond tradition uses ‘Saint-Esprit’; keep consistent within this curriculum. Inherited from Romans package. Colossians 1:8’s single occurrence (‘votre amour dans l’Esprit’) is contextually ambiguous but favors the Holy Spirit as source/sphere of the church’s love.
Father
Approved rendering: Père
Transliteration: Père
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
God as personal Father; no competing deity-name risk in French. Inherited from Romans package. Colossians occurrences: 1:2, 1:12, 3:17 — God as personal Father, ground of the saints’ inheritance.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: païens
Transliteration: païens
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: étrangers
Original: ἔθνη
Category: Church
Carries a pejorative connotation in modern French; prefer ‘les nations’ in mission-emphasis contexts. Inherited from Romans package. Colossians 1:27 (‘parmi les nations/païens’).
Mission
Approved rendering: mission
Transliteration: mission
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
Original: ἀποστολή / πέμπω (implied)
Category: Church
France’s colonial missionary history carries live postcolonial critique; frame as gospel proclamation, not cultural conquest. Inherited from Romans package. Colossians occurrences: 4:3-4 (‘porte pour la Parole’), 4:5-6 (‘marcher avec sagesse envers ceux du dehors’) — the ‘outsiders’ language at 4:5 directly engages this caution.
Sin
Approved rendering: péché
Transliteration: péché
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Original: ἁμαρτία (implied via ἄφεσις τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν)
Category: Sin
Colloquial French trivializes ‘péché’ (‘péché mignon’); guard against softening. Inherited from Romans package. Colossians occurrences: 1:14 (‘pardon des péchés’), 2:13 — the weight of what is fully and freely forgiven at the cross must not be flattened.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: incarnation
Transliteration: incarnation
Doctrine: Incarnation
Original: ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο (theological name, cf. Col 1:19, 2:9)
Category: Christology
Risk is secular flattening via ‘incarner’ (to play/embody a role). Inherited from Romans package. Colossians 2:9 (‘toute la plénitude de la divinité habite en lui corporellement’) is among the NT’s most explicit incarnational texts, reinforcing the baseline caution against a temporary-role reading.
Beginning
Approved rendering: commencement
Transliteration: archē
Doctrine: Christ as Head of the Church
Rejected alternatives: principauté (conflates with ἀρχαί, a distinct referent)
Original: ἀρχή
Category: Christology
NEW TERM. Christ as originating source and founder of the new resurrection order (Col 1:18). Same Greek root as ἀρχαί (‘principautés,’ 1:16) but a distinct referent (Christ’s own title of primacy, not a class of subordinate powers); teaching must distinguish ‘le commencement’ from ‘les principautés.‘
Christ
Approved rendering: Christ
Transliteration: Christos
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Messie (reserve for explicit messianic-title contexts per baseline convention)
Original: Χριστός
Category: Christology
NEW TERM. The Anointed One; in Colossians used both as part of the fixed proper name ‘Jésus-Christ’ and, in titular contexts (1:24, 1:27, 2:8, 2:11, 2:17, 3:1, 3:11), retaining its ‘Anointed One’ force. Distinct from the baseline ‘messiah’ entry; render ‘Christ,’ not ‘Messie,’ matching established French Bible-name convention.
Put Off Put On
Approved rendering: dépouillez-vous… revêtez-vous
Transliteration: apothesthe / endysasthe
Doctrine: Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New
Rejected alternatives: améliorer / abandonner (gradual self-improvement reading)
Original: ἀποθέσθε / ἐνδύσασθε
Category: Sanctification
NEW TERM. Clothing metaphor for decisively exchanging old-self practices for new-self practices (Col 3:8-9, 3:12, 3:14). Idiomatic and natural in French; ensure the decisive, active sense is retained.
Put To Death
Approved rendering: faites mourir
Transliteration: nekrōsate
Doctrine: Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New
Rejected alternatives: laisser mourir (passive, gradual-fading reading)
Original: νεκρώσατε
Category: Sanctification
NEW TERM. Active, decisive putting-to-death of named sinful practices (Col 3:5). Avoid a passive French construction that would suggest gradual fading rather than deliberate action.
Humility
Approved rendering: humilité
Transliteration: tapeinophrosynē
Doctrine: Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New
Original: ταπεινοφροσύνη
Category: Sanctification
NEW TERM, context-sensitive like the baseline’s ‘appelé.’ False, performative self-abasement used as a badge of spiritual superiority (2:18, 2:23) versus a genuine Christian virtue to be put on (3:12). Same French word serves both senses; flag which sense is active per occurrence.
Impartiality
Approved rendering: il n’y a pas de favoritisme
Transliteration: prosōpolēmpsia (negated)
Doctrine: Impartiality of God
Original: προσωπολημψία (negated)
Category: Household Codes
NEW TERM. God’s impartial judgment, without regard to social rank, relativizing the master-slave hierarchy just described (Col 3:25). Clear in French with no lexical collision; must be highlighted pedagogically as undermining, not endorsing, the surrounding social hierarchy.
Maturity
Approved rendering: parfait / accompli (en Christ)
Transliteration: teleios
Doctrine: Christian Identity in Christ
Rejected alternatives: parfait (unqualified, secular flawlessness reading)
Original: τέλειος
Category: Christian Identity
NEW TERM. Completeness/maturity in Christ, the goal of Paul’s teaching ministry (Col 1:28, 4:12). French ‘parfait’ carries a strong secular perfectionism connotation; clarify the Pauline maturity/completeness sense, not sinless moral perfection.
Circumcision
Approved rendering: circoncision
Transliteration: peritomē
Doctrine: Union with Christ (Died and Raised With Him)
Original: περιτομή
Category: Covenant
NEW TERM. Physical Jewish covenant sign, reapplied typologically by Paul to union with Christ’s death and burial (Col 2:11, 3:11, 4:11). Lexically stable; the risk is exclusively theological — teaching must clarify Paul’s typological reapplication, not the physical rite itself, and handle with historical sensitivity given France’s significant Jewish community.
Hope
Approved rendering: espérance
Transliteration: elpis
Doctrine: Hope and Assurance
Rejected alternatives: espoir (weaker, wishful everyday hope)
Original: ἐλπίς
Category: Assurance
NEW TERM. Confident, Christ-secured expectation of future inheritance and glory (Col 1:5, 1:23, 1:27). Prefer ‘espérance,’ usefully paralleling the Catholic theological-virtues framework (Foi, Espérance, Charité), over the weaker everyday ‘espoir.‘
Wisdom
Approved rendering: sagesse
Transliteration: sophia
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Original: σοφία
Category: False Teaching
NEW TERM. True wisdom located exhaustively in Christ, contrasted with the false teachers’ rival wisdom-system (Col 1:9, 1:28, 2:3, 2:23). ‘Sagesse’ is stable; ensure teaching consistently locates wisdom in Christ alone against a generic self-help or philosophical-inquiry drift.
Philosophy
Approved rendering: philosophie
Transliteration: philosophia
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Original: φιλοσοφία
Category: False Teaching
NEW TERM. The specific syncretistic system threatening the Colossian church, not philosophical/rational inquiry as such (Col 2:8). Given France’s strong secular philosophical self-identity (Descartes, the Lumières, the baccalauréat philosophy exam), teaching must clarify Paul targets this specific deceptive system, not reason generally.
Elemental Spirits
Approved rendering: éléments du monde
Transliteration: stoicheia tou kosmou
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Original: στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου
Category: False Teaching
NEW TERM. The rudimentary religious/cosmic principles or powers the false teachers still submitted to (Col 2:8, 2:20). Genuinely obscure referent even in the Greek source text; requires an explanatory gloss and should avoid suggesting the modern chemistry sense of ‘éléments.‘
Shadow And Substance
Approved rendering: ombre / réalité
Transliteration: skia / sōma
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Original: σκιά / σῶμα
Category: False Teaching
NEW TERM. OT ritual observances as provisional foreshadowings (‘shadow’), now fulfilled in the solid reality (‘substance’) of Christ (Col 2:17). This typological use of σῶμα (‘réalité’) is distinct from the letter’s dominant ecclesial-body use of the same Greek word elsewhere; teaching must distinguish ‘ombre / réalité’ here from ‘corps’ (the church).
Certificate Of Debt
Approved rendering: acte (qui était contre nous)
Transliteration: cheirographon
Doctrine: Reconciliation through the Cross
Original: χειρόγραφον
Category: Salvation
NEW TERM. The legal record of humanity’s debt/obligation, cancelled by being nailed to the cross (Col 2:14). Unique NT legal-metaphor term; no specific additional French collision risk beyond retaining the legal-document sense explicitly.
Spiritual Powers
Approved rendering: trônes, seigneuries, principautés, autorités
Transliteration: thronoi, kyriotētes, archai, exousiai
Doctrine: Spiritual Powers Subordinate to Christ
Original: θρόνοι, κυριότητες, ἀρχαί, ἐξουσίαι
Category: Christology
NEW TERM. A fourfold category of ranked angelic/cosmic authorities, entirely created by and subordinated to Christ (Col 1:16, 2:10, 2:15). French Catholic angelology’s traditional ‘neuf chœurs des anges’ includes cognate categories (‘Trônes,’ ‘Dominations’); this overlap can aid comprehension but must be steered toward total subordination to Christ, not veneration of the ranks — the error condemned at 2:18.
Minister
Approved rendering: ministre
Transliteration: diakonos
Doctrine: Christ-Centered Ministry
Rejected alternatives: diacre (over-specifies an ordained clerical office)
Original: διάκονος
Category: Church
NEW TERM. A servant/minister of the gospel — Epaphras, Paul, Tychicus (Col 1:7, 1:23, 1:25, 4:7). French ‘diacre’ denotes a specific ordained office in Catholic (and some Protestant) church structure; ‘ministre’ avoids over-specifying but carries its own government-minister/Protestant-pastor ambiguity — context must clarify the gospel-service sense.
Inheritance
Approved rendering: héritage
Transliteration: klēronomia
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: κληρονομία
Category: Adoption
NEW TERM. Believers’ certain share in the saints’ allotted inheritance ‘in light’ (Col 1:12), and the reward promised to faithful household servants (3:24). Connects to but is distinct from the baseline ‘adoption’ concept; the theological, not merely material/legal, sense must be taught.
Stewardship
Approved rendering: charge (confiée par Dieu)
Transliteration: oikonomia
Doctrine: Christ-Centered Ministry
Rejected alternatives: économie (false friend: modern French financial/economic systems)
Original: οἰκονομία
Category: Ministry
NEW TERM. Paul’s divinely-assigned responsibility to make the word of God fully known (Col 1:25). Note the helpful (not misleading) theological overlap with Catholic/Orthodox ‘économie du salut’ vocabulary, which can be leveraged in teaching rather than avoided.
Light And Darkness
Approved rendering: lumière / ténèbres
Transliteration: phōs / skotos
Doctrine: Christian Identity in Christ
Original: φῶς / σκότος
Category: Christian Identity
NEW TERM. The decisive transfer of believers from Satan’s domain of darkness into Christ’s kingdom of light (Col 1:12-13). Must be guarded against both a Gnostic-adjacent dualistic light/darkness cosmology (the very worldview the letter opposes) and a flattened secular ‘positive thinking’ reading common in contemporary self-help discourse.
Household Obedience
Approved rendering: obéissez
Transliteration: hypakouete
Doctrine: Household Codes
Original: ὑπακούετε
Category: Household Codes
NEW TERM. The obedience owed by children and household servants within their household roles, done ‘as to the Lord’ (Col 3:20, 3:22). Distinct from the baseline ‘obedience of faith’ concept (obedience flowing from faith); this is role-specific household obedience.
Low Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: Évangile
Transliteration: Évangile
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: bonne nouvelle (informal only)
Shared, stable term across Catholic and Protestant French Bibles (Segond, TOB, Bible de Jérusalem). Low risk; ‘bonne nouvelle’ is acceptable as a plain-language gloss but not a substitute in doctrinal text. Inherited from Romans package. Colossians occurrences: 1:5, 1:23 — the word of truth received and bearing fruit worldwide.
Peace
Approved rendering: paix
Transliteration: paix
Doctrine: Peace with God
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Relational peace with God through justification, not merely psychological calm. Inherited from Romans package. Colossians 1:20’s cosmic pacification of hostile powers and 3:15’s internal communal-ruling-principle sense both exceed the baseline’s Romans 5:1 relational-peace sense and must be taught in addition to it, not as a replacement; treat as Medium risk in these two Colossians contexts specifically.
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: action de grâce
Transliteration: action de grâce
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Original: εὐχαριστία
Category: Faith
Minor overlap with the Eucharistic ‘action de grâce’ in Catholic liturgy; context distinguishes. Inherited from Romans package. Colossians occurrences: 1:3, 1:12, 2:7, 3:15, 3:17, 4:2 — a structurally recurring refrain throughout the letter.
Jesus
Approved rendering: Jésus
Transliteration: Jésus
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
Stable across all French traditions. Inherited from Romans package. Used throughout Colossians, chiefly as part of the fixed compound name ‘Jésus-Christ.‘
Exhort
Approved rendering: exhorter
Transliteration: exhorter
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Original: παρακαλέω
Category: Faith
Context-sensitive between beseeching and building up. Inherited from Romans package. Colossians occurrences: 2:2 (παρακαλέω, ‘comforted/encouraged’), 4:8.
Apostle
Approved rendering: apôtre
Transliteration: apôtre
Doctrine: Apostleship
Stable, shared term across all French Bible traditions. Inherited from Romans package. Colossians 1:1 (‘Paul, apôtre de Jésus-Christ’).
Preeminence
Approved rendering: primauté
Transliteration: prōteuōn
Doctrine: The Supremacy and Sufficiency of Christ over Creation
Original: πρωτεύων
Category: Christology
NEW TERM. Christ’s supreme first-rank status in every category — creation, church, and resurrection alike (Col 1:18). Stable, unambiguous French term.
Self Made Religion
Approved rendering: culte volontaire
Transliteration: ethelothrēskia
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Original: ἐθελοθρησκία
Category: False Teaching
NEW TERM. Human-invented ascetic religious observance with no genuine power over sinful impulses (Col 2:23). Unique NT compound word; low collision risk in French.
Psalms Hymns Songs
Approved rendering: psaumes, hymnes et cantiques spirituels
Transliteration: psalmois kai hymnois kai ōdais pneumatikais
Doctrine: Mutual Edification and Worship
Original: ψαλμοῖς καὶ ὕμνοις καὶ ᾠδαῖς πνευματικαῖς
Category: Church
NEW TERM. A threefold description of corporate, Spirit-filled sung worship as a vehicle of mutual teaching (Col 3:16). Standard, low-risk worship vocabulary in French Bible tradition.
Triumph
Approved rendering: triompher (d’eux)
Transliteration: thriambeusas
Doctrine: The Supremacy and Sufficiency of Christ over Creation
Original: θριαμβεύσας
Category: Christology
NEW TERM. Christ’s public defeat and disarming of the hostile spiritual powers, imaged as a Roman military triumphal procession (Col 2:15). Roman military-triumph imagery translates transparently into French; low collision risk.
Love
Approved rendering: amour
Transliteration: agapē
Doctrine: Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New
Original: ἀγάπη
Category: Christian Virtue
NEW TERM. Selfless, others-directed love, both among believers and as the unifying, perfecting virtue (Col 1:4, 1:8, 3:14). Stable French rendering; no significant collision risk beyond ensuring the theological, covenantal sense is not flattened to mere sentiment.
Referenced passages