Linguistic Gap Analysis — Ephesians (German)

Continuing the Romans and Galatians baselines’ finding: German’s native compounding ability again serves this curriculum well — Waffenrüstung, Miterben, Mitglieder, Mitteilhaber are all precise, transparent compounds. Ephesians introduces one genuine linguistic asset (the “mit-”/σύν- prefix correspondence) and confirms the recurring sensitivity-gap and associative-overload categories already identified in Galatians, applied to new material.

Terms requiring careful qualification

• Works, ground versus fruit (Werke, 2:9 vs. gute Werke, 2:10): no vocabulary gap, but a structural clarity gap — German (like the underlying Greek) can state both halves precisely, but the two statements sit close enough together that translators must ensure the ground/fruit distinction is explicit rather than assumed self-evident.
• Mystery (Geheimnis, μυστήριον): a partial associative gap — the German word is adequate but defaults toward a lighter “secret” sense in everyday usage; requires qualification on first use, the same category of gap already identified for Freiheit in the Galatians package, though lower in stakes.
• Submission (sich unterordnen, ὑποτάσσεσθε): no vocabulary gap, but the sensitivity-gap category identified in the Romans/Galatians baselines (Juden/Heiden) recurs here in a new, contemporary-legal-culture form specific to Ephesians: the word itself is adequate, but its application in 5:22-24 requires the framing discipline documented in 02_cultural_context.md.

Terms requiring sensitivity notes rather than compounding

• Slaves and masters (Sklaven/Herren, δοῦλοι/κύριοι): linguistically adequate, but carries the German colonial-era historical resonance discussed in 02_cultural_context.md — a sensitivity gap, not a vocabulary gap, of the same category as the Galatians package’s circumcision note.

Terms with no gap at all — and one genuine asset

• Miterben, Mitglieder desselben Leibes, Mitteilhaber (fellow heirs, fellow body-members, fellow partakers, 3:6): German’s productive “mit-” prefix mirrors the Greek σύν- compound pattern unusually closely here, arguably more transparently than in Romans or Galatians — a genuine linguistic asset rather than merely an adequate rendering.
• Waffenrüstung Gottes, Haupt, versiegelt: all precise, well-established compounds or transparent metaphors requiring no gap-filling strategy.

Gap-filling strategy

Where Ephesians presents an associative-overload risk (Geheimnis) or a sensitivity-application risk (submission, slavery), this Language Package documents the framing requirement explicitly in translation_memory.json and 02_cultural_context.md, following the same contextual-containment strategy established for Freiheit in the Galatians package, rather than substituting a narrower synonym that would sacrifice theological precision.

Coverage confirmation

Covers linguistic-gap material relevant across chapters 2, 3, 5, and 6; chapters 1 and 4 introduce no new gap beyond what is already addressed under the doctrine and sensitivity notes elsewhere in this package.