06 Linguistic Gap Analysis — Acts (Apostelgeschichte)

0. Method and Scope

This analysis extends the baseline Romans translation_memory.json / bible_term_registry.json (the language authority for this pipeline) to the full book of Acts, chapters 1–28, with verse-level weighting on the core passage (Acts 2:1-41, Pentecost). It builds directly on 08_core_glossary.md and the Acts-extended bible_term_registry.json already produced. Its purpose is threefold, per the PRD Step 8 mandate:

1. Map each curriculum doctrine to the available German vocabulary, name the specific weakness of each candidate term, and recommend a translation strategy.
2. Distinguish missing vocabulary (concepts German has no ready lexical item for, requiring compounding/periphrasis) from crowded semantic neighborhoods (concepts where German has one word doing duty for several distinct source-text senses, requiring deliberate “fencing” so the senses are not silently merged).
3. Log transliteration-versus-paraphrase decisions and rank this letter’s highest-risk ambiguities for reviewer attention.

Every chapter of Acts (1–28) is accounted for in §5’s chapter coverage ledger; chapters contributing no new load-bearing vocabulary are explicitly marked “reviewed, no new terms” rather than silently omitted, per the full-book-coverage mandate.

Risk tiers match the baseline doctrine_risk_registry.json definitions exactly (Critical / High / Medium / Low), and all German renderings below are either [BASELINE REUSE] (fixed, non-negotiable) or [NEW] (proposed here and in the companion glossary, subject to theologian confirmation for Critical/High terms).

---

1. Doctrine Vocabulary Matrix

1.1 The Holy Spirit and Pentecost

Doctrine element	Available German term(s)	Weakness	Recommended strategy
Holy Spirit’s personal deity	Heiliger Geist [BASELINE]	None specific to Acts; Acts 5:3-4 (lying to the Spirit = lying to God) reinforces rather than strains the term	Reuse exactly; surface the 5:3-4 deity-confirmation explicitly in teaching notes
Miracle of real, intelligible foreign languages	”Zungenrede” (rejected) vs. “in anderen Sprachen” [NEW]	“Zungenrede” is the standard German word for glossolalia but carries an unavoidable, confessionally live association with the modern Pentecostal/charismatic movement (Pfingstbewegung) and its distinct, contested claim about unintelligible ecstatic speech — a different phenomenon than Acts 2 describes	Mandatory “in anderen Sprachen”; never “Zungenrede.” Flag every occurrence (2:4, 6, 8, 11) for theologian sign-off given the confessional stakes
Completed, historical Spirit-filling (empowerment for witness)	“erfüllt mit dem Heiligen Geist” [NEW, aorist] vs. Ephesians 5:18’s ongoing imperative [BASELINE]	Shared German root “erfüllen” cannot on its own signal the aspectual (one-time vs. repeated) difference the Greek marks grammatically	Keep the shared root for lexical/cross-reference consistency, but require an explicit teaching-material note on the tense distinction at every Acts occurrence (2:4; 4:8, 31; 9:17; 13:9)
Outpouring imagery	”ausgießen” [NEW]	None; well-established Lutherbibel liquid-metaphor verb	Render identically at 2:17, 18, 33
Inaugurated eschatology (“last days,” “day of the Lord”)	“in den letzten Tagen” / “Tag des Herrn” [NEW]	“Tag des Herrn” collides with the liturgical German phrase for the Christian Sunday; “letzte Tage” risks feeding popular Endzeit-Literatur speculation	Anchor explicitly to already-begun/not-yet-consummated eschatology; distinguish liturgical Sunday usage in teaching notes
Pentecost as festival and event	Pfingsten [NEW]	Fully secularized as a public holiday (Pfingstmontag); Jewish-festival background and theological content are not culturally recoverable, especially for konfessionslos and former-East-German readers	Retain “Pfingsten”; supply mandatory background exposition rather than a lexical fix
Gift of the Spirit himself	”die Gabe des Heiligen Geistes” [NEW]	Near-homograph with the already-fixed Ephesians 2:8 “Gottes Geschenk” (gift of salvation)	Keep the two phrases lexically distinct; note the shared root but different referent

1.2 The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles

Doctrine element	Available German term(s)	Weakness	Recommended strategy
Jew/Gentile pairing generally	Juden und Heiden [BASELINE, High risk]	Already flagged in the baseline as requiring historical-sensitivity handling; Acts contains this pairing at a far higher density (chs. 10, 11, 13, 15, 21, 22, 26, 28) than any prior curriculum document	Apply the mandatory historical-sensitivity note at every occurrence, not only at doctrinally climactic ones; flag Acts as the single highest-density book for this pairing to date
Ritual purity extended to persons	”unrein / gemein” [NEW, extends Mark 7 doctrine]	German “gemein” (common/base/vulgar) is not the everyday word most readers would associate with ritual status; “unrein” alone loses the categorical (not merely hygienic) sense	Pair both words; connect explicitly and every time to the already-fixed Mark 7 “nothing outside defiles” doctrine
Impartiality of God across ethnic lines	”Gott sieht nicht auf die Person” [NEW]	None lexically — this is an established, recognizable Lutherbibel idiom	Retain exactly; connect explicitly to the baseline’s Unity of Jews and Gentiles doctrine
First use of “Christian” as a name	Christen [NEW]	None; fully stable modern term	Note the historical-first-usage significance only
Apologetic bridge to pagan religiosity	”der unbekannte Gott” [NEW]	Risk of being read as an endorsement of generic religious pluralism rather than Paul’s specific argument toward the God who raised Jesus	Always retain 17:24-31 as the interpretive frame; cross-reference the Colossians 2:8 anti-blanket-condemnation caution
Closing programmatic statement	”diese Rettung Gottes” (28:28) [BASELINE REUSE — Rettung]	Standard Heil/Rettung/Erlösung triad tension applies	Prefer “Rettung”; apply existing Heil sign-off rule if ever proposed as an alternative

1.3 Repentance and Baptism

Doctrine element	Available German term(s)	Weakness	Recommended strategy
Repentance	Buße [BASELINE REUSE, from Matthew package]	Reformation-era confessional dispute over sacramental-penitential vs. purely internal sense persists in German ecclesial memory	Continue existing caution; pair with “Umkehr” wherever Acts pairs μετανοέω with ἐπιστρέφω (3:19; 26:20)
Baptism (the act)	Taufe / taufen [NEW, Critical]	No prior Romans-baseline fixed term; German Kindertaufe (near-universal in Landeskirche and Catholic practice) vs. Gläubigentaufe (Baptist/Mennonite/Freikirche norm) is a live, unresolved confessional divide this book’s narrative directly touches (household baptisms)	Render plainly; never resolve the exegetical ambiguity via translation choice; mandatory theologian AND native-speaker review
Household baptism	Haus / Haushalt [NEW, Critical]	Directly cited by both sides of the Kindertaufe/Gläubigentaufe debate (Lydia 16:15; jailer 16:33; Crispus 18:8)	Present the household unit plainly and the ambiguity transparently; do not supply an implied headcount or age composition not in the text
Forgiveness tied to baptism	”Vergebung der Sünden” [BASELINE REUSE — Sünde]	The εἰς/“zur” preposition in 2:38 is genuinely ambiguous between instrumental-cause and sign-of-already-granted-forgiveness readings, mapping onto the same confessional divide as baptism itself	Preserve the ambiguity; do not silently resolve toward either reading
Threefold promise scope	”euch, euren Kindern und allen, die fern sind” (2:39) [NEW, High]	Historically cited on both sides of the infant-baptism argument	Render literally and transparently; flag for theologian review alongside household baptism
Conviction preceding repentance	”es traf sie mitten ins Herz” (2:37) [NEW]	Risk of flattening to a mild “sie waren betroffen”	Preserve the piercing intensity of κατανύσσομαι

1.4 The Church as Community

Doctrine element	Available German term(s)	Weakness	Recommended strategy
Gathered local/universal body	Gemeinde [BASELINE REUSE]	Already-documented Kirche/Gemeinde institutional-vs-gathered-body divide; Acts 20:28 (“shepherd the church of God”) is a load-bearing occurrence	Continue preferring “Gemeinde”; no new risk beyond baseline
Voluntary economic sharing	”sie hatten alles gemeinsam” [NEW, High]	Two live twentieth-century German collectivism associations: DDR-era compulsory collectivization and Nazi-era “Volksgemeinschaft” ideology (both already adjacent to the baseline’s “Gemeinschaft” caution, but sharper here because Acts describes actual shared property, not merely fellowship)	Frame explicitly as voluntary, love-motivated, and historically specific to the earliest Jerusalem church; escalate to theologian review if teaching material draws contemporary economic-policy applications
Reverential fear at divine holiness	”große Furcht” [NEW]	Colloquial “Angst” would wrongly suggest anxiety/dread rather than awe	Prefer “Furcht” over “Angst” throughout
Word-and-deed ministry / office of deacon	Dienst / Diakonie / Diakon [NEW, High]	Modern German “Diakonie” names one of the country’s largest Protestant social-welfare institutions (comparable to Catholic “Caritas”); risk of anachronistically importing that institutional scale onto Acts 6’s small, local, ad hoc appointment	Clarify explicitly in teaching material that Acts 6 is the New Testament origin-narrative, not a description of the modern institution
Local leadership title (elder)	Älteste [NEW, High]	German church-governance vocabulary is confessionally splintered: Reformed “Presbyterium/Ältestenkreis,” Lutheran “Kirchenvorstand,” no direct lay-elder equivalent in Catholic structure	Use the neutral “Älteste”; avoid importing any single tradition’s modern governance structure
Oversight title (bishop/overseer)	Aufseher / Hüter [NEW, Critical] — NEVER “Bischof” unqualified	”Bischof” carries the full institutional weight of the fully developed Catholic/Landeskirche episcopal office (Diözesanbischof, Landesbischof); Acts 20:17, 28 uses ἐπίσκοπος interchangeably with “elder” for the very same, still-fluid local leaders	Render “Aufseher/Hüter”; trace the term’s later development in teaching notes without adjudicating any later governance model; mandatory theologian review
Numeric incorporation into the community	”hinzugefügt werden” [NEW]	Risk of reading as abstract, “invisible church” membership rather than concrete incorporation into a bounded, gathered body	Read alongside “Gemeinde” explicitly

1.5 Apostolic Authority and Miracles

Doctrine element	Available German term(s)	Weakness	Recommended strategy
Delegated authority vs. raw capability	Vollmacht (ἐξουσία) / Kraft Gottes (δύναμις) [NEW/BASELINE]	German has two good words but they are not systematically kept apart in casual usage; Acts 1:7-8 depends on the distinction	Keep “Vollmacht” and “Kraft” strictly separated per Greek term throughout
Three-term miracle-authentication formula	”Wunder und Zeichen (mit Kraft-/Machttaten)” [NEW, High]	Casual collapse to a generic “Wunder” is the constant risk, losing the formula’s recognizability	Render all three terms consistently at every occurrence (2:22, 43; 4:30; 5:12; 6:8; 14:3; 15:12)
Judas’s forfeited apostolic office	Amt [NEW]	Risk of over-translating toward “Bischofsamt” prematurely	Reserve fuller episcopal-office discussion for the ch. 20 entry; keep 1:20 minimal
Commissioning/blessing gesture	Handauflegung [NEW, High]	Carries live sacramental-theology weight (Catholic Holy Orders vs. Protestant non-sacramental commissioning)	Distinguish per-occurrence function (commissioning/Spirit-reception/healing) without adjudicating the later sacramental dispute
Occult imitation of apostolic power	Zauberei / Simon der Zauberer [NEW]	None major; note the “Simonie” etymological legacy	Note explicitly for readers with church-historical background
Council decision-formula joining human and Spirit-authority	”es schien dem Heiligen Geist und uns gut” [NEW, High]	Touches unadjudicated German confessional debates on councils/magisterium/Spirit-guidance	Render literally; flag for theologian review without adjudicating

1.6 Persecution and Bold Witness

| Doctrine element | Available German term(s) | Weakness | Recommended strategy | |---|---al|---|---| | Eyewitness testimony vs. martyrdom | Zeuge/bezeugen vs. Märtyrer [NEW, High] | One Greek root (μάρτυς) must split into two German words as its narrative referent shifts (legal witness through ch. 6; death-for-testimony from ch. 7/Stephen onward) | Track and flag the shift explicitly per occurrence; never silently harmonize to one German word throughout | | Spirit-given fearless proclamation | Freimut / Freimütigkeit [NEW, Critical] | No single German word captures confident-speech-plus-fearlessness-under-pressure simultaneously; risk of reading as natural personality trait | Reinforce with fuller phrasing at 4:13, 29, 31; make the Spirit-filling causation explicit; mandatory theologian review | | Execution by stoning | steinigen [NEW] | None; concrete historical method | Handle with the curriculum’s standard historical-violence discipline | | Paul’s literal Roman legal status | römisches Bürgerrecht [NEW, Medium] | Identical German phrase to the already-fixed heavenly “Bürgerrecht” of Philippians 3:20, but an entirely different referent and theological weight | Explicitly distinguish the two uses in teaching notes wherever both could arise | | Legal appeal to the emperor | “ich berufe mich auf den Kaiser” [NEW, High] | This is literally the secular legal-appeal sense of “Berufung” the baseline already flagged as a homonym risk against the divine-calling doctrine — now concretely realized in-text | Flag explicitly at 25:11-12 so students do not conflate Paul’s legal appeal with “Berufung Gottes” |

1.7 Conversion of Paul

Doctrine element	Available German term(s)	Weakness	Recommended strategy
Christ’s direct divine self-revelation to Paul	Herr [BASELINE REUSE] / Sohn Gottes [BASELINE REUSE]	Same “Herr”/“Mr.” flattening risk already documented; Paul’s immediate proclamation of Jesus as “Sohn Gottes” (9:20) requires full deity force	Reuse exactly; theologian review required
Sovereign election for mission	”auserwähltes Werkzeug” [NEW, High]	Directly invokes the baseline’s Election pastoral-care caution for a mixed Lutheran/Reformed audience	Present as narrative application, not systematic treatise
Early self-designation of the movement	”der Weg” [NEW, Medium]	Risk of silent conflation with John 14:6’s Christological “Ich bin der Weg,” a claim about Christ’s person, not the movement’s name	Keep grammatically and referentially distinct in teaching notes

1.8 Justification apart from the Law

Doctrine element	Available German term(s)	Weakness	Recommended strategy
Forensic righteousness/justification	Gerechtigkeit / Rechtfertigung [BASELINE REUSE, Critical]	Identical Luther-Turmerlebnis-freighted terms as Romans/Galatians; Acts 13:38-39 restates the same argument in missionary-sermon form	Same mandatory theologian-review tier as Romans 3-4 and Galatians 2:16; never let it drift toward an infused-grace-process reading
The Mosaic Law as such	Gesetz des Mose [BASELINE REUSE — Gesetz, High]	Same “Gesetz und Evangelium” hermeneutical weight already documented for Lutheran tradition	No new risk beyond baseline discipline
Burden of ceremonial law-keeping	Joch [NEW, Medium]	Collides with Matthew 11:29-30’s positive use of the identical German word (“mein Joch ist sanft”)	Explicitly distinguish the two uses; never let 15:10’s negative sense contaminate teaching of Matthew 11 or vice versa
Council ruling and grace-summary	Gnade [BASELINE REUSE, High]	Acts 15:11 is essentially the Jerusalem Council’s own summary of sola gratia	Preserve full unmerited, apart-from-works force

1.9 The Great Commission Fulfilled

Doctrine element	Available German term(s)	Weakness	Recommended strategy
Geographic mandate	”bis an die Grenzen der Erde” [NEW, Medium]	None lexically; risk is purely structural (missing the inclusio if rendered inconsistently)	Render identically at 1:8 and 13:47; flag the deliberate inclusio with 28:31
Kingdom of God as content of proclamation	Reich Gottes [BASELINE REUSE]	Structural inclusio (1:3, 6 / 28:23, 31) at risk if rendering varies	Keep identical throughout; distinguish from any political/territorial reading, especially given the disciples’ own corrected political misunderstanding at 1:6-8
Unhindered, open-ended conclusion	ungehindert [NEW, Medium]	Low lexical risk, high structural-doctrinal significance	Draw out the inclusio with 1:8 explicitly in teaching material

---

2. Missing Vocabulary vs. Crowded Semantic Neighborhoods

2.1 Missing Vocabulary (no ready German lexical item; requires compounding or periphrasis)

These concepts have no single existing German word that captures the source concept; German must construct a phrase, and that construction itself becomes a translation-memory-fixed decision.

Concept	Greek	Why no direct equivalent	Chosen German construction
παρρησία (bold, fearless, confident public speech as Spirit-fruit)	parrēsia	German splits this into separate words for “confidence” (Selbstvertrauen), “candor” (Offenheit), and “fearlessness” (Furchtlosigkeit); none combines all three with the specific spiritual-empowerment sense	Freimut / Freimütigkeit, reinforced by fuller phrasing at doctrinally central verses
ἀρχηγός (originator/founder + pioneering leader, simultaneously)	archēgos	German “Anführer” captures only “leader”; “Urheber”/“Ursprung” captures only “originator”; no single noun holds both	Context-sensitive: “der Urheber des Lebens” (3:15) vs. “der Fürst des Lebens” (5:31), selected per emphasis and flagged for theologian review
ἀποκατάστασις (the specific NT hope of eschatological “setting right,” distinct from the later technical theological term of the same root)	apokatastasis	German “Wiederherstellung” is accurate but does not itself warn readers away from the disputed later “Apokatastasis” (universal salvation) doctrine that shares the same Greek root	”Wiederherstellung aller Dinge,” with a mandatory disambiguating note distinguishing this narrower hope from the later technical/controversial doctrine
σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς (a “vessel of election” — object language for a person set apart for use)	skeuos eklogēs	German has no natural vessel-metaphor idiom for personal election parallel to the Greek	”Auserwähltes Werkzeug” (chosen instrument/tool) — close but loses the “vessel/container” imagery entirely; flagged as an acceptable but imperfect compromise
ἐπισκοπή (Judas’s forfeited “oversight,” pre-institutional)	episkopē	German’s available nouns (“Amt,” “Aufsicht,” “Bischofsamt”) either underspecify or overspecify the institutional development already present	”Amt” (minimal, deliberately underspecified at this early narrative point)
δωρεά τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος vs. θεοῦ τὸ δῶρον (two distinct “gift” phrases with overlapping roots but different referents — the Spirit himself vs. salvation itself)	dōrea / dōron	German “Geschenk”/“Gabe” do not map cleanly onto the Greek’s own root-distinction	Keep “die Gabe des Heiligen Geistes” and “Gottes Geschenk” lexically distinct despite the shared conceptual field

2.2 Crowded Semantic Neighborhoods (one German word serving several distinct source senses; requires deliberate fencing)

These are the inverse problem: German already has a single, well-worn word that Acts’ narrative asks to carry multiple, distinguishable senses, risking silent conflation unless explicitly fenced apart in teaching material and translator notes.

German word	Colliding senses present in Acts	Fencing strategy
Herr	(a) exclusive divine Lordship of the risen Christ (2:36; 9:20 and throughout); (b) the ordinary honorific “Mr.”	Continue the baseline’s existing discipline; Acts 2:36 and the Joel citation at 2:21 require the same mandatory-theologian-review tier as Romans 10:9
Berufung / berufen	(a) God’s sovereign, effectual calling to salvation/ministry (1:1 baseline sense; 2:39); (b) the everyday career-vocation sense (already documented in the baseline); (c) NOW ALSO the secular legal-appeal sense, concretely realized in the same book at 25:11-12 (“ich berufe mich auf den Kaiser”)	This is the single most acute new instance of the baseline’s pre-existing homonym caution. Explicitly flag any teaching material that discusses both Paul’s Roman legal appeal and any doctrine of divine calling in proximity
Zunge/Zungen	(a) the literal flame-shaped visual phenomenon (2:3, “Zungen wie von Feuer”); (b) the miracle of speaking in real, known human languages (2:4, “andere Sprachen” — deliberately NOT rendered “Zungen” here to avoid the Zungenrede collision)	The English and Greek text puns on one word (tongues) across vv. 3-4; German cannot reproduce this pun without triggering the Zungenrede confessional collision. Render v. 3’s visual phenomenon literally (“Zungen wie von Feuer”) but v. 4’s linguistic miracle as “andere Sprachen,” and flag the resulting loss of wordplay explicitly for translators and teachers
Gemeinschaft / gemeinsam	(a) ordinary Christian fellowship (baseline sense); (b) Acts 2:44-45’s literal, voluntary common ownership of property — a stronger claim than mere fellowship	Fence against both the baseline’s already-documented Volksgemeinschaft echo and the newly relevant DDR-era compulsory-collectivization echo; frame explicitly as voluntary and historically local
Heilig(e) / Heiligung	(a) corporate designation of all believers (Acts 9:13, 32, 41; 26:10); (b) Catholic canonized-saint sense	Continue the baseline’s existing gloss discipline (“alle Gläubigen”)
Bischof (available but rejected) / Ältester / Presbyter	Acts 20:17, 28 uses ἐπίσκοπος and πρεσβύτερος interchangeably for the same office at the same fluid, pre-institutional stage; German’s available words (Bischof, Presbyter, Ältester, Kirchenvorstand-Mitglied) each import a specific, later, and confessionally distinct governance structure	Use “Aufseher/Hüter” for ἐπίσκοπος (never “Bischof” unqualified) and “Älteste” for πρεσβύτερος (never “Presbyter,” which imports Reformed governance structure); make the terms’ interchangeability in the source text explicit rather than resolving it toward either later office
Diakon / Diakonie	(a) the ad hoc appointment of seven men for a specific first-century need (Acts 6:1-6); (b) modern Germany’s major, large-scale Protestant social-welfare institution	Explicit teaching-material disclaimer distinguishing the narrative origin from the modern institutional scale
Joch	(a) Acts 15:10’s negative image of unbearable legal burden; (b) Matthew 11:29-30’s positive “mein Joch ist sanft”	Explicit cross-reference note at both occurrences preventing contamination in either direction
Bürgerrecht	(a) Philippians 3:20’s heavenly citizenship (already fixed, theologically weighted); (b) Acts 16:37; 22:25-29’s literal, legally verifiable Roman civic status (narrative-level, not theological)	Explicit note distinguishing referent and theological weight at every Acts occurrence
Weg (der)	(a) John 14:6’s Christological “Ich bin der Weg” (a claim about Christ’s person); (b) Acts’s early movement self-designation “die Anhänger des Weges” (9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22)	Keep referentially distinct; note the resonance without conflating the claims
Hölle vs. Hades/Totenreich	(a) German folk-piety “Hölle” (place of torment/damnation); (b) OT Sheol/Hades sense in Acts 2:27, 31 (the realm/state of death generally, morally neutral)	NEVER render Hades as “Hölle”; use “Hades” (transliterated) or “Totenreich,” with explicit note distinguishing from Gehenna/lake-of-fire torment texts elsewhere in the NT
Tag des Herrn	(a) OT/apocalyptic Day-of-the-Lord judgment (Acts 2:20); (b) liturgical German usage for the Christian Sunday	Distinguish explicitly in teaching notes
Weissagung / Wahrsagung-adjacent vocabulary	(a) legitimate Spirit-given prophecy (Agabus, Philip’s daughters; baseline “Weissagung”); (b) pagan divinatory “spirit of Python” (16:16-18)	Render the pagan sense as “Wahrsagergeist,” never touching “Weissagung,” and draw the contrast explicitly
Rettung / Erlösung / Heil	The baseline’s existing triad tension recurs at unusually high density across Acts’ sermon summaries (4:12; 28:28) and its programmatic thesis statements	Continue existing discipline; no Acts-specific change to the baseline rule, but flag the increased frequency for reviewer workload planning

---

3. Transliteration vs. Paraphrase Decision Log

Term	Decision	Rationale
Πεντηκοστή	Transliterate/loan-adopt: Pfingsten	Fully naturalized, centuries-old German loan-translation; the only viable choice, but requires paired exposition (not translation) of its Jewish-festival background
γλῶσσαι (Pentecost miracle)	Paraphrase: in anderen Sprachen, NOT transliterate/borrow “Zungenrede”	Avoids importing the modern Pentecostal/charismatic-movement-specific sense; prioritizes doctrinal accuracy over lexical economy
ᾍδης	Transliterate: Hades, alternatively periphrase Totenreich; NEVER paraphrase as “Hölle”	Preserves the OT Sheol’s morally neutral “realm of the dead” sense against German “Hölle“‘s torment connotation
Ἄρτεμις, Ζεύς, Ἑρμῆς	Transliterate (Greek forms): Artemis, Zeus, Hermes	Aligns with the Greek source and modern German Bible convention (not the Latin “Diana”); minimal contemporary collision risk
Χριστιανός	Paraphrase into the fully naturalized: Christen	No transliteration needed; term is already maximally stable in German
ἐπίσκοπος	Paraphrase (deliberately avoiding the available loanword): Aufseher / Hüter, NOT “Bischof”	The available German loanword “Bischof” over-specifies a later institutional office not yet present in the text; paraphrase preserves functional ambiguity
πρεσβύτερος	Paraphrase: Älteste, NOT the available loanword “Presbyter"	"Presbyter” imports a specific (Reformed) modern governance connotation; the plain German word is confessionally neutral
σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς	Paraphrase: auserwähltes Werkzeug	No transliteration option exists (not a proper noun/technical term); the vessel-metaphor is not recoverable in natural German and is deliberately traded for clarity
ἀρχηγός	Paraphrase, context-dependent: der Urheber des Lebens / der Fürst des Lebens	No transliteration option; German requires choosing an emphasis per occurrence rather than one fixed compound
ἀποκατάστασις	Paraphrase: Wiederherstellung (aller Dinge), with disambiguating note	Transliterating as “Apokatastasis” would actually increase risk by directly inviting confusion with the later controversial theological term of the same name
κλῆρος (casting lots)	Paraphrase: Los	Fully naturalized; only the etymological note to “Klerus/clergy” is retained as background
ζυγός	Paraphrase: Joch	Fully naturalized; risk is cross-reference collision (§2.2), not translation choice
ὁδός (the Way, self-designation)	Paraphrase: der Weg	No transliteration option; risk is referential collision with John 14:6 (§2.2), not the choice itself

General principle applied throughout: transliteration is reserved for proper nouns (deities, places, named individuals) and a small set of already-naturalized loanwords (Pentecost/Pfingsten, Amen, Halleluja, Abba, per the baseline). Doctrinal and office vocabulary is paraphrased, even where a German loanword exists (Bischof, Presbyter, Apokatastasis), whenever that loanword would import more theological/institutional specificity than the first-century source text itself carries.

---

4. Ranked List of Highest-Risk Ambiguities in Acts

Ranked by combined doctrinal weight, confessional-divide acuteness, and likelihood of silent mistranslation.

1. Acts 2:38, “εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν” (repent, be baptized… for/unto the forgiveness of sins) — Critical. The εἰς/“zur” preposition is genuinely ambiguous between causal and evidential readings, mapping directly onto Germany’s live Kindertaufe/Gläubigentaufe confessional divide. Must not be silently resolved in translation.
2. Acts 2:4, 6, 8, 11, ἑτέραις γλώσσαις (miracle of tongues/languages) — Critical. “Zungenrede” collision with the modern Pentecostal/charismatic movement is the single highest-density confessional trap term newly introduced by this book.
3. Acts 16:15, 33; 18:8, οἶκος (household baptism) — Critical. Directly and repeatedly cited on both sides of the infant-baptism debate; any translation choice implying household composition or age not present in the Greek risks tipping the exegetical scale.
4. Acts 2:36, κύριον καὶ Χριστόν (“Lord and Christ”) — Critical. Carries the full weight of the Romans 10:9 “Herr”/“Mr.” flattening risk at the climax of the core passage itself; must render with matching gravity.
5. Acts 20:17, 28, ἐπίσκοπος/πρεσβύτερος interchangeability — Critical. “Bischof” is available in German but anachronistic; the temptation to reach for the familiar loanword is high, and the doctrinal cost of doing so (importing a fully developed monepiscopal office) is severe.
6. Acts 4:12, “salvation in no other name” — Critical. Exclusivity claim requiring the same pastoral/interfaith sensitivity framing as John 14:6, in a religiously plural contemporary Germany.
7. Acts 13:38-39, δικαιωθῆναι (justification apart from the law, missionary-sermon form) — Critical. Identical doctrinal stakes to Romans 3-4/Galatians 2:16 but delivered in narrative rather than epistolary form, raising the risk that translators treat it as lower-stakes simply because it is “just narrative.”
8. Acts 25:11-12, ἐπικαλέομαι Καίσαρα (“Berufung” homonym realized in-text) — High. The baseline’s pre-existing theoretical homonym caution (career/legal-appeal/divine-calling) becomes a concrete textual collision within the same book; high risk of unflagged confusion in teaching material that discusses both Paul’s legal strategy and his divine calling.
9. Acts 10:34, “Gott sieht nicht auf die Person”; and the Acts 10-15/28 Juden-und-Heiden density generally — High. This book contains the highest concentration of the Jew/Gentile pairing in the curriculum to date; historical-sensitivity fatigue is a real production risk if reviewers treat repeated occurrences as lower-priority than the “first” one.
10. Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-35, ἅπαντα κοινά (“all things in common”) — High. Doubled German-specific risk (DDR collectivization + Volksgemeinschaft) not present in most other languages in this pipeline; teaching material drawing contemporary economic applications must be separately escalated.
11. Acts 2:23, ὥρισμένῃ βουλῇ καὶ προγνώσει (determined plan and foreknowledge) — High. Requires the same paired sovereignty/responsibility framing as Romans 8:28-30, but here directly addressed to the audience implicated in the crucifixion — an antisemitism-adjacent sensitivity parallel to the already-fixed Matthew 27:25 caution.
12. Acts 4:13, 29, 31, παρρησία (boldness) — Critical. No single German word suffices; risk of the rendering reading as natural personality trait rather than explicit Spirit-fruit.
13. Acts 2:39, “to you, your children, and all who are far off” — High. Same confessional stakes as items #1 and #3; must not be resolved by translation choice.
14. Acts 6:1-6, διακονία/διάκονος (service/deacon) — High. Modern “Diakonie” institutional-scale anachronism risk is subtle and easy to miss precisely because the German word feels unremarkable.
15. Acts 3:21, ἀποκατάστασις (restoration of all things) — Medium-High. Risk of confusion with the later, disputed technical “Apokatastasis” doctrine sharing the same root, a trap specific to readers with some theological education (seminary-adjacent lay leaders, pastors) rather than general readers.
16. Acts 8:9-24, μαγεία / Σίμων ὁ μάγος (Simon Magus) — Medium. Lower doctrinal stakes but a real German church-historical-literacy opportunity/risk (“Simonie”) that teaching material should not miss.
17. Acts 3:15; 5:31, ἀρχηγός (Author/Prince of life) — High. No single German word carries both senses; context-dependent selection introduces translator discretion that must be flagged and reviewed rather than left to individual judgment.
18. Acts 15:10, ζυγός (“yoke”) vs. Matthew 11:29-30 — Medium. Lower stakes than the items above but a genuine cross-reference contamination risk given how frequently both texts are taught in sequence.
19. Acts 16:37; 22:25-29, πολιτεία (literal Roman citizenship) vs. Philippians 3:20 — Medium. Narrative-level rather than directly doctrinal, but the identical German phrase for two very different referents invites confusion in any lesson that treats both texts.
20. Acts 2:3-4, tongues-of-fire/language wordplay loss — Medium. Purely a translator/teacher-awareness issue (German cannot reproduce the Greek pun), not a doctrinal error risk, but worth surfacing so continuity across vv. 3-4 and 2:11 is not silently lost.

---

5. Chapter Coverage Ledger (Full-Book Confirmation)

Per the full-book-coverage mandate, every chapter of Acts is accounted for below. Chapters contributing no new load-bearing vocabulary beyond what is already captured above are explicitly marked “reviewed, no new terms” rather than omitted.

Chapter	Coverage status
1	Covered — end of the earth, authority/exousia, casting lots, office/episkopē (§1.5, §1.9)
2	Covered — core passage; Pentecost, tongues, filling, Lord and Christ, baptism, repentance, forgiveness (§1.1, §1.3) — highest term density in the book
3	Covered — Holy and Righteous One, Author of Life, restoration of all things (§1.7-adjacent Christological titles, §2.1)
4	Covered — boldness/parrhesia, no other name, all things in common begins (§1.5, §1.6, §1.4)
5	Covered — lying to the Holy Spirit, great fear, continued common-ownership narrative (§1.1, §1.4)
6	Covered — service/ministry/deacon, laying on of hands (§1.4, §1.5)
7	Covered — witness/martyr semantic shift begins (Stephen); stoning (§1.6). Reviewed for new terms beyond these: none additional.
8	Covered — sorcery/Simon Magus, eunuch, Gospel to Gentiles/Samaritans groundwork (§1.5, §1.2)
9	Covered — Conversion of Paul, chosen instrument, Son of God proclamation, “the Way” (§1.7)
10	Covered — common/unclean, God shows no partiality — the chapter’s central doctrinal hinge (§1.2)
11	Covered — Christians (first usage), extension of ch. 10’s doctrine to Antioch. Reviewed for additional new terms: none beyond baseline reuse.
12	Covered — fervent prayer/intercession (§1.6-adjacent)
13	Covered — justification apart from the law, law of Moses, Messiah/Christ debate register (§1.8, §1.2)
14	Covered — Zeus/Hermes, elders (first appointment), stoning attempt (§1.4, §1.5, §1.6)
15	Covered — Jerusalem Council: yoke, “it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us,” grace-summary (§1.8, §1.5)
16	Covered — household baptism (Lydia, jailer), spirit of divination, Roman citizenship (§1.3, §1.5, §1.6)
17	Covered — unknown god, Areopagus apologetics register, resurrection mocked (§1.2, baseline resurrection doctrine)
18	Covered — household baptism (Crispus) continues; the Way. Reviewed for additional new terms: none beyond §1.3, §1.7.
19	Covered — Artemis/Ephesian riot, laying on of hands (Spirit-reception sense), “the Way” continued (§1.5, §1.7)
20	Covered — elders/overseers interchangeability, shepherd the church — one of the book’s highest-stakes office-vocabulary passages (§1.4, §1.5)
21	Covered — prophecy (Agabus), elders continued. Reviewed for additional new terms: none beyond baseline prophecy/elder entries.
22	Covered — Roman citizenship (legal proceedings), the Way, Paul’s persecution narrative retold (§1.6, §1.7)
23	Covered — resurrection dispute (Pharisee/Sadducee), continuing baseline resurrection doctrine. Reviewed: no new terms beyond baseline reuse.
24	Covered — self-control (Felix), righteousness/justice register continues (§1.5-adjacent, baseline reuse)
25	Covered — appeal to Caesar — the concrete realization of the “Berufung” homonym collision (§1.6, §2.2 top-priority item)
26	Covered — repentance, witness/testimony register, Paul’s defense recapitulates the conversion and mission narrative. Reviewed for additional new terms: none beyond §1.6-1.7 entries already logged.
27	Covered — providence/God’s governance implicit throughout the voyage narrative (baseline Vorsehung doctrine, no new lexical items required)
28	Covered — this salvation of God to the Gentiles, unhindered — the book’s closing doctrinal and structural statements (§1.2, §1.9)

---

6. Summary Recommendations for Phase 2 Handoff

1. Load this document alongside 08_core_glossary.md and the Acts-extended bible_term_registry.json before any Phase 2 segment translation.
2. Treat §4’s ranked list as the priority order for reviewer time allocation, not merely a risk catalogue — items 1–7 should never be batch-approved without individual theologian sign-off, regardless of translator confidence.
3. The §2.2 “crowded neighborhood” table should be distributed to reviewers as a standing checklist; several of its collisions (Berufung, Bischof, Joch, Bürgerrecht, Hölle/Hades) are easy to miss precisely because the German word in question feels unremarkable in isolation.
4. No chapter of Acts may be treated as doctrinally inert for review-routing purposes; even chapters marked “reviewed, no new terms” above carry forward Critical/High baseline terms (Gemeinde, Heiliger Geist, Heiden, Gesetz, Gnade, Herr) that remain live throughout.