Core Glossary
Core Glossary — 1 Corinthians (Greek Destination Language Package)
This glossary lists every load-bearing theological term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, organized by first occurrence in the book. Terms marked [BASELINE] already exist in translation_memory.json/bible_term_registry.json from Romans/Galatians and must be reused exactly — no re-derivation is permitted. Terms marked [NEW] are proposed additions for Phase 1 Step 2 (translation memory update) and are not yet authoritative until formally added.
Risk tiers follow the baseline definitions: Critical (human theologian review, every occurrence) / High (human theologian review) / Medium (native speaker review) / Low (automated review).
Legend for columns
- Term: English key
- Greek rendering: destination-language form to be used in translation
- Translit.: transliteration
- Original: Koine Greek source word/phrase
- Risk: Critical / High / Medium / Low
- Doctrine: curriculum doctrine area
- Chs.: chapters where the term is load-bearing
- Status: BASELINE (reuse exactly) / NEW (propose for memory)
| Term | Greek rendering | Translit. | Original | Risk | Doctrine | Chs. | Status | Key translation risk note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gospel | ευαγγέλιο | evangélio | εὐαγγέλιον | High | Gospel / Resurrection | 1, 9, 15 | BASELINE | Distinguish from secular “good news”; core-passage anchor term (15:1). |
| grace | χάρη | chári | χάρις | Critical | Salvation / Resurrection | 1, 3, 15, 16 | BASELINE | Triple repetition at 15:10 is a key teaching point; never read as charm/pardon. |
| faith | πίστη | písti | πίστις | High | Faith / Resurrection | 1, 15 | BASELINE | 15:2, 15:11, 15:14 — faith’s content is the resurrection gospel itself. |
| salvation | σωτηρία | sotiría | σωτηρία | Critical | Salvation / Resurrection | 1, 15 | BASELINE | 15:2 present-tense σῴζεσθε; guard against theosis-only reading eclipsing the completed-gospel anchor. |
| apostle | απόστολος | apóstolos | ἀπόστολος | Low | Apostleship | 1, 4, 9, 12, 15 | BASELINE | Stable across the book. |
| called / calling | κλητός / κλήση | klitós / klísi | κλητός / κλῆσις | Critical | Divine Calling | 1, 7, 15 | BASELINE | 7:17-24 refrain; 1:1-2, 1:9, 1:24, 1:26; 15:9-10 (Paul’s own irregular calling). |
| holy / saints | άγιος / άγιοι | ágios / ágioi | ἅγιος / ἅγιοι | Critical | Sainthood | 1, 3, 6 | BASELINE | Same name-day collision as Romans 1:7. |
| sanctification | αγιασμός | agiasmós | ἁγιασμός | High | Church Discipline & Holiness | 1, 6 | BASELINE | 1:30, 6:11. |
| righteousness | δικαιοσύνη | dikaiosýni | δικαιοσύνη | Critical | Salvation | 1 | BASELINE | 1:30. |
| resurrection | ανάσταση | anástasi | ἀνάστασις | Critical | The Resurrection of Christ and Believers | 15 (whole ch.) | BASELINE | Central chapter; perfect-tense ἐγήγερται (15:4) preserved as continuing-effect nuance. |
| church | εκκλησία | ekklisía | ἐκκλησία | Medium | Christian Unity / Sainthood | 1, 5, 11, 12, 15 | BASELINE | 15:9 — object of Paul’s former persecution. |
| fellowship | κοινωνία | koinonía | κοινωνία | Medium | Lord’s Supper / Unity | 1, 10 | BASELINE | 1:9, 10:16 (“cup of κοινωνία”). |
| power of God | δύναμη Θεού | dýnami Theoú | δύναμις θεοῦ | Medium | The Cross as Wisdom and Power | 1, 2 | BASELINE | Paired with σοφία as content of the cross message. |
| redeem / redemption | λυτρώνω / απολύτρωση | lytróno / apolýtrosi | ἀπολύτρωσις / ἀγοράζω | Critical | Salvation / Holiness | 1, 6, 7 | BASELINE | 1:30, 6:20, 7:23; never render ἀγοράζω through a bare commercial sense without the redemption anchor. |
| leaven | ζύμη | zými | ζύμη | Low | Church Discipline and Holiness | 5 | BASELINE | Same proverb as Galatians 5:9. |
| anathema | ανάθεμα | anáthema | ἀνάθεμα | High | Sin / closing benediction | 16 | BASELINE | 16:22; guard against both trivialization and institutionalization. |
| revelation | αποκάλυψη | apokálypsi | ἀποκάλυψις | Medium | The Cross as Wisdom and Power | 2 | BASELINE | Restore divine-unveiling register against journalistic bleaching. |
| circumcision | περιτομή | peritomí | περιτομή | Low | Marriage and Singleness (calling-in-station) | 7 | BASELINE | 7:18-19. |
| flesh | σάρκα | sárka | σάρξ | Critical | Church Discipline and Holiness | 3, 5, 6 | BASELINE | 3:3 “σαρκικοί”; conceptual, not lexical, risk — guard against body/soul dualism reading. |
| spiritual gifts | πνευματικά χαρίσματα | pnevmatiká charísmata | χαρίσματα | Medium | Spiritual Gifts and the Body of Christ | 12, 14 | BASELINE | Central ch.12 doctrine; guard secular “natural talent” drift. |
| mission / evangelism | αποστολή / ευαγγελίζομαι | apostolí / evangelízomai | ἀποστολή / εὐαγγελίζομαι | Medium/High | The Cross as Wisdom and Power | 1, 9 | BASELINE | 9:16-18, 9:23. |
| certainly not | μη γένοιτο | mē genoito | μὴ γένοιτο | Low | (cross-reference asset) | — | BASELINE | Available if needed in teaching commentary; not directly quoted in 1 Corinthians but stable across corpus. |
| different gospel | έτερον ευαγγέλιο | héteron evangélio | ἕτερον εὐαγγέλιον | High | The Cross as Wisdom and Power / Unity | 15 | BASELINE | 15:11 — unanimity of apostolic proclamation; contrast concept, not directly quoted but doctrinally relevant. |
| schism / division | σχίσμα | schísma | σχίσμα | Medium | Christian Unity versus Factionalism | 1, 11, 12 | NEW | Leverage “Great Schism” historical association; keep referent congregational. |
| wisdom / folly | σοφία / μωρία | sofía / moría | σοφία / μωρία | High | The Cross as Wisdom and Power | 1, 2, 3 | NEW | Cultural prestige of σοφία risks domesticating the cross’s scandal for a Greek-heritage audience explicitly named in 1:22-23. |
| cross | σταυρός | stavrós | σταυρός | Critical | The Cross as Wisdom and Power | 1 | NEW | Ubiquitous cultic/idiomatic use (sign of the cross, “my cross to bear”) risks displacing Paul’s specific wisdom/power argument. |
| preaching / proclamation | κήρυγμα | kírygma | κήρυγμα | Medium | The Cross as Wisdom and Power | 1, 15 | NEW | 15:11’s κηρύσσομεν; keep authoritative-proclamation register. |
| mystery | μυστήριο | mystírio | μυστήριον | Critical | The Cross as Wisdom and Power / Spiritual Gifts | 2, 4, 15 | NEW | Collides with the technical term for the seven Sacraments (Τα Ιερά Μυστήρια); mandatory disambiguating note every occurrence. |
| natural (unspiritual) person | ψυχικός άνθρωπος | psychikós ánthropos | ψυχικὸς ἄνθρωπος | Critical | The Cross as Wisdom and Power | 2 | NEW | Forbidden inversion: Modern Greek ψυχικός = “emotional/kind-hearted,” nearly opposite Paul’s negative sense. |
| spiritual (person/gift) | πνευματικός | pnevmatikós | πνευματικός | High | The Cross as Wisdom and Power / Spiritual Gifts | 2, 12, 14 | NEW | Must stand in active contrast to ψυχικός above. |
| temple (of God/Spirit) | ναός | naós | ναός | Medium | Church Discipline and Holiness | 3, 6 | NEW | Same word as literal church building; disambiguate metaphor from architecture. |
| steward | οικονόμος | oikonómos | οἰκονόμος | Medium | The Cross as Wisdom and Power / ministry | 4 | NEW | Modern Greek gravitates to “economic manager”; anchor to “trustworthy custodian of revealed truth.” |
| sexual immorality | πορνεία | porneía | πορνεία | Medium | Church Discipline and Holiness | 5, 6, 7 | NEW | Modern narrowing toward “prostitution”; retain broad NT sense. |
| Passover | Πάσχα | Páscha | πάσχα | Critical | Church Discipline and Holiness / Resurrection | 5 | NEW | Modern Greek Πάσχα = Easter/Resurrection feast, opposite emotional register from the Exodus lamb-slaughter image Paul invokes at 5:7; mandatory Exodus 12 cross-reference note. |
| body | σώμα | sóma | σῶμα | High | Church Discipline / Lord’s Supper / Spiritual Gifts / Resurrection | 6, 11, 12, 15 | NEW | Polysemous across the book (physical, corporate, resurrection); track sense per occurrence; guard against dualism. |
| lawsuit / court | δικαστήριο | dikastírio | δικαστήριον | Low | Church Discipline and Holiness | 6 | NEW | Stable, transparent modern legal term. |
| marriage | γάμος | gámos | γάμος | Low | Marriage and Singleness | 7 | NEW | Stable, everyday term. |
| virgin / unmarried | παρθένος | parthénos | παρθένος | Medium | Marriage and Singleness | 7 | NEW | Risk of unintended Marian-title resonance (“Παναγία η Παρθένος”); disambiguating note advised. |
| self-control | εγκράτεια | egkráteia | ἐγκράτεια | Medium | Marriage and Singleness | 7, 9 | NEW | Ascetic/monastic coloring risks narrowing to a specialized virtue rather than a universal expectation. |
| divorce / separation | χωρίζω | chorízo | χωρίζω | Low-Medium | Marriage and Singleness | 7 | NEW | Lexically stable; pastoral sensitivity, not translation risk. |
| slave / bondservant | δούλος | doúlos | δοῦλος | Medium | Marriage and Singleness | 7 | NEW | Distinguish literal first-century social referent from “slave of Christ” metaphor used elsewhere in Paul. |
| idol / food offered to idols | είδωλο / ειδωλόθυτο | eídolo / eidolóthyto | εἴδωλον / εἰδωλόθυτον | Medium | Christian Liberty and Idol Meat | 8, 10 | NEW | Lexically stable; main risk is bridging to contemporary application, since active idol worship is not a live cultural threat. |
| conscience | συνείδηση | synídisi | συνείδησις | High | Christian Liberty and Idol Meat | 8, 10 | NEW | Must retain God-oriented, communally-responsible sense against generic secular individualist “follow your conscience.” |
| right / authority (personal liberty) | εξουσία | exousía | ἐξουσία | High | Christian Liberty and Idol Meat | 8, 9 | NEW | Modern default = political power/“the authorities”; keep distinct from ελευθερία (baseline Critical) and from political-power sense. |
| knowledge | γνώση | gnósi | γνῶσις | Medium | Christian Liberty and Idol Meat / Love | 8, 13, 14 | NEW | Sets up ch.13’s love-over-knowledge argument; avoid anti-intellectualist misreading. |
| crown (of victory) | στέφανος | stéfanos | στέφανος | Medium | Christian Liberty and Idol Meat (self-discipline) | 9 | NEW | Wedding-crown (στέφανα) association risks importing marriage resonance into the athletic metaphor. |
| compete / contest | αγωνίζομαι | agonízomai | ἀγωνίζομαι | Low | Christian Liberty and Idol Meat | 9 | NEW | Living athletic metaphor; asset. |
| type / example (typology) | τύπος | týpos | τύπος | Medium | Christian Liberty and Idol Meat | 10 | NEW | Enormous secular polysemy (“guy,” “kind of,” printed form); anchor to typological sense. |
| demon | δαιμόνιο | daimónio | δαιμόνιον | Medium | Christian Liberty and Idol Meat | 10 | NEW | Secular idiom “genius/talented” parallel to χάρισμα drift; context in ch.10 is clear but flag for surrounding prose. |
| head (headship) | κεφαλή | kefalí | κεφαλή | Critical | The Lord’s Supper / Order in Worship | 11 | NEW | Gender-sensitive, doctrinally contested; modern political “head of state” sense risks importing hierarchical-authoritarian coloring; teaching notes must not silently resolve the complementarian/egalitarian debate. |
| covering / veil | κάλυμμα | kálymma | κάλυμμα | Medium | Order in Worship | 11 | NEW | Declining contemporary practice outside monastic/traditional contexts; application-bridging risk, not lexical. |
| Lord’s Supper | Κυριακό Δείπνο | Kyriakó Deípno | Κυριακὸν δεῖπνον | Critical | The Lord’s Supper | 11 | NEW | Institution narrative quoted verbatim in the Divine Liturgy; must preserve Paul’s own unity/self-examination argument alongside sacramental resonance. |
| body and blood | σώμα και αίμα | sóma kai aíma | σῶμα καὶ αἷμα | Critical | The Lord’s Supper | 11 | NEW | Directly Eucharistic; maximal doctrinal weight. |
| remembrance | ανάμνηση | anámnisi | ἀνάμνησις | High | The Lord’s Supper | 11 | NEW | Liturgically verbatim phrase (“εις ανάμνησίν μου”); unpack covenantal-memorial depth beyond bare recollection. |
| unworthy (manner) | ανάξιος | anáxios | ἀνάξιος | Medium | The Lord’s Supper | 11 | NEW | Clarify “unworthy manner of participation,” not “unworthy person,” to avoid inducing scrupulous anxiety. |
| member (of the body) | μέλος | mélos | μέλος | Medium | Spiritual Gifts and the Body of Christ | 12 | NEW | Modern “club member” sense risks flattening the organic-body metaphor. |
| division / variety (positive) | διαίρεση | diaíresi | διαίρεσις | Low-Medium | Spiritual Gifts and the Body of Christ | 12 | NEW | Distinguish from the negative σχίσμα (ch.1). |
| baptism | βάπτισμα | váptisma | βάπτισμα | Critical | Spiritual Gifts and the Body of Christ / Unity | 1, 12 | NEW | Preserve Paul’s unity/anti-factionalism argument (1:13-17, 12:13) alongside standard sacramental doctrine. |
| love | αγάπη | agápi | ἀγάπη | Critical | Love as the Greater Way | 13 | NEW | Modern αγάπη covers romantic love too; contrast explicitly with ἔρως/φιλία/στοργή; anchor to 13:4-7’s specific behavioral description. |
| friendship-love | φιλώ / φιλία | filó / filía | φιλέω / φιλία | Low | Love as the Greater Way (contrast term) | 13, 16 | NEW | Reference term for the ἀγάπη/φιλέω distinction (16:22). |
| tongues | γλώσσα / γλώσσες | glóssa / glósses | γλῶσσα / γλῶσσαι | High | Order in Worship | 12, 14 | NEW | No dedicated technical vocabulary in Greek; relies entirely on context; underlying interpretive debate (known language vs. ecstatic utterance) independent of the language-specific risk. |
| interpretation | ερμηνεία | ermineía | ἑρμηνεία | Low | Order in Worship | 14 | NEW | Stable, transparent. |
| order | τάξη | táxi | τάξις | Low-Medium | Order in Worship | 14 | NEW | Minor unrelated senses (classroom, social class) unlikely to cause confusion here. |
| spiritual body | πνευματικό σώμα | pnevmatikó sóma | σῶμα πνευματικόν | High | The Resurrection of Christ and Believers | 15 | NEW | Guard against a disembodied-spirit misreading; distinguish from, but do not contradict, theosis “glorified body” language. |
| perishable / imperishable | φθαρτό / άφθαρτο | fthartó / áfthaarto | φθαρτός / ἄφθαρτος | Low-Medium | The Resurrection of Christ and Believers | 15 | NEW | Stable philosophical-theological pair. |
| image (resurrection likeness) | εικόνα | eikóna | εἰκών | High | The Resurrection of Christ and Believers | 15 | NEW | Collides with the technical term for a venerated religious icon; disambiguating note required. |
| victory | νίκη | níki | νίκη | Low-Medium | The Resurrection of Christ and Believers | 15 | NEW | Mild sports-secular association; largely harmless. |
| sting | κέντρον | kéntron | κέντρον | Critical | The Resurrection of Christ and Believers | 15 | NEW | Forbidden-substitution class: modern κέντρο = “center,” not “sting”; correct sense preserved only in the verbatim Paschal Canon liturgical quotation — mandatory note every occurrence. |
| collection (offering) | συλλογή / έρανος | syllogí / éranos | λογία | Low | (closing instructions) | 16 | NEW | Archaic Koine term; low doctrinal weight. |
| Maranatha | Μαράν αθά | Marán athá | Μαρὰν ἀθά | Low-Medium | (closing invocation) | 16 | NEW | Aramaic transliteration retained untranslated, structurally parallel to baseline Αββά. |
Cross-Reference Notes for Phase 2 Preparation
- Terms requiring mandatory human theologian review on every occurrence (Critical tier, new + reused): χάρη, σωτηρία, ανάσταση, κλητός/κλήση, άγιος/άγιοι, δικαιοσύνη, σάρκα, απολύτρωση/λυτρώνω, μυστήριο, ψυχικός άνθρωπος, σταυρός, Πάσχα (5:7), κεφαλή, Κυριακό Δείπνο, σώμα και αίμα, βάπτισμα, αγάπη, κέντρον (15:55).
- Terms requiring native speaker review at minimum (High tier): ευαγγέλιο, πίστη, αγιασμός, δύναμη Θεού, ανάθεμα, σοφία/μωρία, πνευματικός, σώμα (general), συνείδηση, εξουσία, γλώσσα(ι), πνευματικό σώμα, εικόνα, ανάμνηση.
- Forbidden-substitution / forbidden-inversion class requiring explicit negative guardrails in the Phase 2 system prompt: ψυχικός άνθρωπος (never “emotionally rich person”), κέντρον at 15:55 (never “center”), Πάσχα at 5:7 (never read as the Resurrection feast without the Exodus-lamb note), εἰκῆ at 15:2 (never δωρεάν, consistent with the existing Galatians 2:21 guardrail).
- Terms this Language Package uniquely benefits from due to Greek’s Koine continuity: ἐγγήγερται (perfect-tense resurrection, 15:4), ὤφθη (consistent resurrection-appearance verb, 15:5-8), εἰς ἀνάμνησίν μου / Λάβετε φάγετε (11:24, verbatim Divine Liturgy quotation), Ποῦ σου, θάνατε, τὸ κέντρον; (15:55, verbatim Paschal Canon quotation), ἐκοιμήθησαν (15:6, living funeral-liturgy euphemism for a believer’s death).
- All terms already present in
translation_memory.jsonare reused with zero deviation; none of the new terms above may be finalized until formally added to translation memory in Phase 1 Step 2, with risk tiers ratified againstdoctrine_risk_registry.jsonconventions.
Critical Risk Terms
Grace
Approved rendering: χάρη
Transliteration: chári
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: χάρη με την καθημερινή έννοια της γοητείας ή ομορφιάς, χάρη ως νομική/προεδρική χάρη (απονομή χάριτος)
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). 1 Corinthians 15:10 repeats χάρις three times in a single verse — the density itself is the teaching point (Paul’s entire identity and labor rest on unmerited favor) and must survive translation as density, not be smoothed into one mention. Never read through ‘charm’ or ‘legal pardon’ senses.
Justification
Approved rendering: δικαίωση
Transliteration: dikaíosi
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: δικαίωση με τη σύγχρονη καθημερινή έννοια του ‘να αποδειχθεί κανείς σωστός’ (προσωπική δικαίωση)
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). Relevant at 1 Corinthians 6:11 (‘but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified — ἐδικαιώθητε’), part of a three-verb identity statement; guard against the colloquial ‘proven right’ sense displacing the forensic, before-God declaration.
Salvation
Approved rendering: σωτηρία
Transliteration: sotiría
Doctrine: Salvation
Original: σωτηρία
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). 1 Corinthians 15:2’s present-tense σῴζεσθε (‘you are being saved’) must not be read as contradicting a decisive reception by faith, nor collapsed entirely into an Orthodox theosis-only ‘ongoing becoming’ without the anchor of the completed gospel event in 15:3-4.
Called
Approved rendering: κλητός
Transliteration: klitós
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Original: κλητός
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package; risk tier elevated to Critical for this curriculum (baseline Romans risk was High) because 1 Corinthians 7:17-24 repeats the calling refrain across an entire chapter, multiplying the secular-bleaching exposure well beyond a single verse. 1:1-2 (Paul’s own calling, the Corinthians’ calling).
Calling
Approved rendering: κλήση
Transliteration: klísi
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: κλήση με την καθημερινή έννοια μιας τηλεφωνικής κλήσης ή δικαστικής κλήσης/κλήσης τροχαίας
Original: κλῆσις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). 1 Corinthians 7:17, 20, 24’s repeated refrain (‘as God has called each one’) applies the Critical secular-bleaching guard to marriage, singleness, and social status alike — flag every occurrence in ch.7 individually.
Holy
Approved rendering: άγιος
Transliteration: ágios
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). Applied to believers’ bodies (6:19) and to the church corporately (3:17); same name-day/canonized-sainthood collision as Romans 1:7.
Saints
Approved rendering: άγιοι
Transliteration: ágioi
Doctrine: Sainthood
Rejected alternatives: Άγιοι αποκλειστικά ως αγιοποιημένα, τιμώμενα πρόσωπα με ονομαστική εορτή
Original: ἅγιοι
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). 1 Corinthians 1:2’s ‘called to be saints, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ’ must not default to canonized, name-day sainthood.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: δικαιοσύνη
Transliteration: dikaiosýni
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: δικαιοσύνη αποκλειστικά με τη σύγχρονη έννοια της νομικής ή κοινωνικής δικαιοσύνης
Original: δικαιοσύνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). 1 Corinthians 1:30 — right standing before God that Christ himself became for believers. Guard against the modern civic/legal-justice default reading.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: ανάσταση
Transliteration: anástasi
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Original: ἀνάστασις
Category: Eschatology
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). The book’s central doctrine (all of ch.15). Perfect-tense ἐγήγερται (15:4) carries continuing-effect nuance that must not be flattened even where flowing prose uses the traditional liturgical aorist ‘ανέστη.’ Ανάσταση is maximally resonant via Πάσχα; the task here is doctrinal precision (bodily, historical, once-for-all, extended by necessity to believers), not persuasion.
Redeem
Approved rendering: λυτρώνω / απολύτρωση
Transliteration: exagorazō / apolytrōsis
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: εξαγοράζω με τη σύγχρονη έννοια της δωροδοκίας (‘εξαγόρασε τη σιωπή του’), εξαγοράζω ως εταιρική εξαγορά (corporate buyout)
Original: ἀπολύτρωσις / ἀγοράζω
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). Relevant at 1:30 (redemption named alongside wisdom, righteousness, sanctification), 6:20 and 7:23 (‘you were bought with a price,’ ἀγοράζω). Guard against ἀγοράζω’s plain commercial sense flattening the theological point into a bare transaction devoid of grace.
Flesh
Approved rendering: σάρκα
Transliteration: sarx
Doctrine: Sin
Rejected alternatives: σάρκα αποκλειστικά με τη φιλοσοφική δυϊστική έννοια σώματος εναντίον ψυχής
Original: σάρξ
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). 1 Corinthians 3:1-3’s ‘σαρκικοί’ (fleshly) names jealousy and strife — relational/attitudinal sins, not bodily ones. The risk is conceptual: Greek philosophical body/soul dualism must not be imported to read σάρκα here as merely ‘the physical body.‘
Father
Approved rendering: Πατέρας
Transliteration: Patéras
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). 8:6 (the one Father from whom all things come); 15:24 (the one to whom the Son finally delivers the kingdom).
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Άγιο Πνεύμα
Transliteration: Ágio Pnévma
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). Central across 1 Corinthians 2, 3, 6, 12, 14: the indwelling occupant of the believer’s body-as-temple (6:19) and the distributor of spiritual gifts (12:4-11). Must not be rendered with a term for an impersonal universal spirit or life-force.
God
Approved rendering: Θεός
Transliteration: Theós
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). The one true God whose wisdom and power the cross reveals (1:18-25) and to whom the kingdom is finally delivered (15:24-28).
Lord
Approved rendering: Κύριος
Transliteration: Kýrios
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Κύριος με την καθημερινή έννοια της ευγενικής προσφώνησης ‘κύριε’ (αντίστοιχο του ‘Mr.’)
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). Invoked in the church’s identity (‘those who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,’ 1:2), central to the Lord’s Supper (11:20, 23-27), and the closing invocation (16:22). Must never register with the flatness of the everyday honorific; anchor to the Septuagint/YHWH background. Never reinsert ‘Ιεχωβά’ in place of Κύριος — see the forbidden cult-rendering guard in 12_ai_translation_requirements.md.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: Υιός του Θεού
Transliteration: Yiós tou Theoú
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Υιός του Θεού με τη γενική έννοια που αποδίδεται σε κάθε πιστό
Original: υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). 15:28’s voluntary, functional subjection of the Son to the Father at the consummation must not be read as denying co-equal divine nature; keep distinct from believers’ adoptive sonship language.
Messiah
Approved rendering: Χριστός (προτιμώμενο) / Μεσσίας
Transliteration: Christos / Messías
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Original: Χριστός
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). ‘Χριστός’ is Paul’s default, overwhelming title for Jesus throughout 1 Corinthians, especially as the crucified-and-risen subject of the gospel deposit (15:3-4); reserve ‘Μεσσίας’ for contexts specifically invoking the Hebrew messianic-promise background, per baseline convention.
Freedom
Approved rendering: ελευθερία
Transliteration: eleutheria
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: ελευθερία αποκλειστικά με την εθνικοπολιτική έννοια της εθνικής ανεξαρτησίας, ελευθερία ως ασυδοσία/άνομη ζωή
Original: ἐλευθερία
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans/Galatians package (identical entry, unchanged). Paul’s apostolic freedom, voluntarily limited for the gospel’s sake (9:1, 19); a believer’s freedom of conscience, bounded by concern for the weak (10:29). Fence against both the national-political reading and libertine license; must be kept lexically distinct from ἐξουσία (personal right).
Greek Gentile
Approved rendering: Έλληνας (= εθνικός, μη Ιουδαίος)
Transliteration: Héllin
Doctrine: Church
Rejected alternatives: Έλληνας με τη σύγχρονη εθνική/πολιτισμική έννοια της ελληνικότητας
Inherited from Galatians package (identical entry) and elevated in relevance and risk for this curriculum: 1 Corinthians 1:22-24 explicitly names ‘Ἕλληνες’ as the audience for whom the cross is folly — this curriculum’s own readers are historically the direct addressees of this verse. Also relevant at 10:32, 12:13. Mandatory explanatory note every occurrence: Paul’s ethnic-religious sense (non-Jew) must never be read as a statement about modern Greek nationality or the reader’s own identity being condemned as foolish.
Cross
Approved rendering: σταυρός
Transliteration: stavrós
Doctrine: The Cross as Wisdom and Power
Rejected alternatives: ξύλο βασανισμού (η απόδοση των Μαρτύρων του Ιεχωβά)
Original: σταυρός
Category: Salvation
NEW. 1:17-18, 1:23 — the instrument of Christ’s death, presented as God’s paradoxical wisdom and power. Maximally alive devotionally and idiomatically in Modern Greek (sign of the cross, crucifix jewelry, ‘ο σταυρός μου’ = ‘my cross to bear’); mandatory explanatory note distinguishing Paul’s specific argument from devotional-object and generic-suffering associations. FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION: never render as ‘ξύλο βασανισμού’ (‘torture stake’), the Jehovah’s Witness New World Translation rendering that denies the traditional cross-shape and minimizes Christ’s identity.
Mystery
Approved rendering: μυστήριο
Transliteration: mystírio
Doctrine: The Cross as Wisdom and Power
Original: μυστήριον
Category: Salvation
NEW. 2:1, 2:7, 4:1 — God’s hidden wisdom/plan, once concealed, now disclosed in Christ; also the content stewards of God are entrusted with. Modern Greek ‘Μυστήριο’ is the standing technical name for the seven Sacraments (Τα Ιερά Μυστήρια). Mandatory disambiguating note every occurrence: ‘God’s previously hidden plan, now revealed in the gospel’ — never left unglossed, never silently displaced by the sacramental sense.
Natural Person
Approved rendering: ψυχικός άνθρωπος
Transliteration: psychikos anthrōpos
Doctrine: The Cross as Wisdom and Power
Rejected alternatives: ψυχικός άνθρωπος αποδιδόμενος ως ‘άνθρωπος με πλούσια συναισθηματική/ψυχολογική ζωή’
Original: ψυχικὸς ἄνθρωπος
Category: Sin
NEW, FORBIDDEN-INVERSION CLASS. 2:14 — the person governed by the natural life-principle alone, without the Spirit, who cannot accept or discern spiritual things. Modern Greek ψυχικός/ψυχολογικός overwhelmingly means ‘emotional/kind-hearted’ (‘καλή ψυχή’ is high praise) — nearly the opposite valence Paul intends. Never gloss as emotionally/psychologically rich; must always be presented in active contrast with πνευματικός.
Passover
Approved rendering: Πάσχα
Transliteration: Pascha
Doctrine: Church Discipline and Holiness
Original: πάσχα
Category: Salvation
NEW, MAJOR GREEK-SPECIFIC COLLISION. 5:7-8 — Christ as the sacrificed Passover lamb, grounding the call to purge the ‘old leaven.’ In Modern Greek, ‘Πάσχα’ is overwhelmingly and near-exclusively Greek Orthodox Easter, the joyful resurrection feast — nearly the opposite emotional register from the somber, substitutionary Exodus 12 lamb-slaughter Paul actually invokes. Mandatory Exodus 12 cross-reference note every occurrence; human theologian review required; never let this verse be read as a general festive Easter reference.
Headship
Approved rendering: κεφαλή
Transliteration: kefalí
Doctrine: The Lord’s Supper
Original: κεφαλή
Category: The Lord’s Supper
NEW. 11:3 — ‘the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.’ Modern Greek κεφαλή/κεφάλι metaphorically defaults readily to ‘leader/chief’ in a hierarchical-political sense (head of state, head of a company), risking an authoritarian-command connotation into a relationship Paul explicitly qualifies with mutual interdependence (11:11-12). Doctrinally contested, gender-sensitive; render literally without resolving the complementarian/egalitarian debate through word choice. Human theologian review mandatory for every occurrence.
Lords Supper
Approved rendering: Κυριακό Δείπνο
Transliteration: Kyriakó Deípno
Doctrine: The Lord’s Supper
Original: Κυριακὸν δεῖπνον
Category: The Lord’s Supper
NEW, MAJOR SACRAMENTAL COLLISION — the single highest-stakes destination-specific doctrine in the curriculum. 11:20, 23-26 — the shared covenant meal instituted by Christ. Paul’s institution narrative is quoted nearly verbatim in the anaphora of the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, heard weekly by Greek Orthodox worshippers. Preserve Paul’s own socio-ethical argument (unity, self-examination, discerning the body, rebuke of excluding the poor, 11:17-22, 27-34) explicitly alongside, never displaced by, the sacramental resonance. Human theologian review mandatory.
Body And Blood
Approved rendering: σώμα και αίμα
Transliteration: sóma kai aíma
Doctrine: The Lord’s Supper
Original: σῶμα καὶ αἷμα
Category: The Lord’s Supper
NEW. 11:24-27 — the elements of the Lord’s Supper, identified with Christ’s own body and blood. Directly Eucharistic; render exactly, no paraphrase permitted, given the maximal doctrinal weight of existing Orthodox sacramental theology.
Baptism
Approved rendering: βάπτισμα
Transliteration: váptisma
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts and the Body of Christ
Original: βάπτισμα
Category: Spiritual Gifts and the Body of Christ
NEW. 12:13 (‘by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body’); cf. 1:13-17 (baptism explicitly de-centered from personal allegiance to any minister). Orthodox sacramental theology holds a strong doctrine of baptismal regeneration; present Paul’s own unity/anti-factionalism argument without contradicting or being silently absorbed into the fuller sacramental doctrine. Human theologian review mandatory.
Love
Approved rendering: αγάπη
Transliteration: agápi
Doctrine: Love as the Greater Way
Rejected alternatives: αγάπη αποδιδόμενη ως γενική θερμή αίσθηση χωρίς τη συγκεκριμένη συμπεριφορική περιγραφή του 13:4-7, αγάπη με αποκλειστική ρομαντική/ερωτική χροιά
Original: ἀγάπη
Category: Love as the Greater Way
NEW, ONE OF THE MOST CONSEQUENTIAL TERMS IN THE BOOK. 13:1-13 — the selfless, giving, patient, non-self-seeking love that is greater than any spiritual gift and ‘never fails.’ Modern Greek ἀγάπη is the single all-purpose everyday word for love, fully including romantic force (‘σ’ αγαπώ’). Mandatory explanatory note contrasting Paul’s ἀγάπη with ἔρως/φιλία/στοργή — all independently available in Greek’s own classical vocabulary — anchored to the concrete behavioral list of 13:4-7.
Sting
Approved rendering: κέντρον
Transliteration: kéntron
Doctrine: The Resurrection of Christ and Believers
Rejected alternatives: κέντρο αποδιδόμενο με τη σύγχρονη κυρίαρχη έννοια του ‘κέντρου’ (κέντρο πόλης, κέντρο διασκέδασης, γεωμετρικό κέντρο)
Original: κέντρον
Category: The Resurrection of Christ and Believers
NEW, FORBIDDEN-SUBSTITUTION CLASS. 15:55, quoting Hosea 13:14 (‘Ποῦ σου, θάνατε, τὸ κέντρον;’). In Modern Greek, ‘κέντρο’ overwhelmingly means ‘center’; a flat rendering risks nonsense or unintended humor. The correct ‘sting’ sense survives only in the verbatim Paschal Canon of St. John of Damascus, sung at the Greek Orthodox midnight Resurrection service. Never allow ‘κέντρο’ to be read/glossed as ‘center’ here; mandatory explanatory note every occurrence; human theologian review mandatory.
High Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: ευαγγέλιο
Transliteration: evangélio
Doctrine: Gospel
Original: εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). In 1 Corinthians 15:1 this is the fixed, apostolically-defined content Paul ‘received’ and ‘delivered’ (15:3-5) — a closed creedal deposit, not an evolving message. Guard against the modern secular ‘good news’ register at every occurrence in 1:17-23, 9:14-23, 15:1-11.
Faith
Approved rendering: πίστη
Transliteration: písti
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: πίστη με τη γενική έννοια της αφοσίωσης σε οποιαδήποτε ιδέα ή πρόσωπο
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). In 1 Corinthians 15:2, 11, 14, 17, faith’s validity is made explicitly contingent on the resurrection’s historicity — trust anchored to a verifiable event, not autonomous conviction.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: αγιασμός
Transliteration: agiasmós
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: ἁγιασμός
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). Named alongside righteousness and redemption as what Christ became for believers (1:30), and part of the washed/sanctified/justified identity statement (6:11). Distinguish from the Epiphany water-blessing rite.
Anathema
Approved rendering: ανάθεμα
Transliteration: anathema
Doctrine: Sin
Rejected alternatives: ανάθεμα με την καθημερινή έννοια της τετριμμένης κατάρας, ανάθεμα αποκλειστικά ως επίσημη συνοδική διαδικασία αφορισμού
Original: ἀνάθεμα
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). Relevant at 1 Corinthians 16:22, the closing benediction’s pronounced curse on anyone who does not love the Lord. Guard against both trivialization (casual imprecation) and institutionalization (conciliar excommunication procedure).
Mission
Approved rendering: αποστολή / ευαγγελίζομαι
Transliteration: apostolē / euangelizomai
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
Original: εὐαγγελίζομαι / ἀποστολή
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package (root reused). 1 Corinthians 9:16-18, 23 — Paul’s compulsion to preach the gospel, grounding his voluntary forgoing of apostolic rights. In an Orthodox-majority culture, be sensitive to the proselytism connotation ‘ευαγγελισμός’ can carry; proclamation/sending language is safer.
Different Gospel
Approved rendering: έτερον ευαγγέλιο
Transliteration: héteron evangélio
Doctrine: Gospel
Original: ἕτερον εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans/Galatians package (identical entry, unchanged). Contrast concept underlying 1 Corinthians 15:11 (‘whether I or they, so we preach’) — the unity-of-apostolic-proclamation counterpart to the Galatians polemic against a rival gospel.
Covenant
Approved rendering: διαθήκη
Transliteration: diathíki
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: διαθήκη με τη σύγχρονη κυρίαρχη έννοια της κληρονομικής διαθήκης (legal will)
Original: διαθήκη
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). 1 Corinthians 11:25 — the ‘new covenant’ instituted in Christ’s blood at the Lord’s Supper. Unusually, the liturgical quotation of this exact clause in the Divine Liturgy reinforces the covenantal sense here, unlike Romans/Galatians where διαθήκη competes unaided against the ‘last will’ sense.
Law
Approved rendering: νόμος
Transliteration: nomos
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Original: νόμος
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans/Galatians package (identical entry, unchanged). 9:8-9 (precedent for supporting gospel workers), 14:34, 14:21 (conduct expectations), 9:20. Modern νόμος defaults to civil law; keep Paul’s specific Torah appeals distinct from general legal reasoning.
Election
Approved rendering: εκλογή
Transliteration: eklogí
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: εκλογή με τη σύγχρονη κυρίαρχη πολιτική έννοια (πολιτικές εκλογές, ψηφοφορία)
Original: ἐξελέξατο (root ἐκλογή)
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (root reused, ἐξελέξατο). 1:27-28 — God’s sovereign choice of ‘what is foolish… weak… low and despised’ to shame worldly wisdom, directly reinforcing the ch.1 wisdom/power argument. Must not default to the political-election/voting sense.
Wisdom And Folly
Approved rendering: σοφία / μωρία
Transliteration: sophia / mōria
Doctrine: The Cross as Wisdom and Power
Original: σοφία / μωρία
Category: Salvation
NEW. 1:18-25, 3:18-19 — the world’s autonomous wisdom, which God has made foolish, versus God’s own cross-centered wisdom, which the world calls foolishness. σοφία carries maximal positive cultural prestige in Greek (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle); guard against both an anti-intellectualist misreading and a domestication of the cross’s scandal into ‘the best philosophy.’ 1:22-23 explicitly names ‘Ἕλληνες’ as this doctrine’s addressee.
Spiritual Person
Approved rendering: πνευματικός
Transliteration: pnevmatikós
Doctrine: The Cross as Wisdom and Power
Original: πνευματικός
Category: Sanctification
NEW. 2:13, 2:15; extended to gifts and persons in chs.12-14. One who possesses and discerns by the Spirit, in direct contrast to ψυχικὸς ἄνθρωπος. The doctrinal point depends on the contrast being visible; do not translate independently in isolated segments away from its contrast term.
Temple
Approved rendering: ναός
Transliteration: naós
Doctrine: Church Discipline and Holiness
Original: ναός
Category: Sanctification
NEW. 3:16-17 (the corporate church) and 6:19 (the individual believer’s body) as God’s dwelling place by the Spirit. Modern Greek ‘ναός’ remains the standard word for a physical church building (ο Ναός του Αγίου Γεωργίου); mandatory note distinguishing the metaphorical sense from architecture at both occurrences.
Body
Approved rendering: σώμα
Transliteration: sōma
Doctrine: Church Discipline and Holiness
Original: σῶμα
Category: Sanctification
NEW. Polysemous across the letter: the physical body (6:13-20), the corporate body of Christ (12:12-27), and the future resurrection body (15:35-44). Track the contextual sense per occurrence so none is flattened into another; guard against Greek philosophical body/soul dualism undercutting the claim that bodily conduct matters eternally (6:13-20) and that resurrection is genuinely bodily (15:35-54).
Conscience
Approved rendering: συνείδηση
Transliteration: synídisi
Doctrine: Christian Liberty and Idol Meat
Original: συνείδησις
Category: Christian Liberty and Idol Meat
NEW. 8:7, 10, 12; 10:28-29 — the weaker believer’s God-oriented moral awareness, which the stronger believer’s liberty must not wound. Modern Greek συνείδηση functions identically in ordinary ethical speech, risking flattening into a generic, secular, individualist ‘follow your own conscience’ rather than Paul’s relational, communally-responsible category.
Authority Right
Approved rendering: εξουσία
Transliteration: exousía
Doctrine: Christian Liberty and Idol Meat
Rejected alternatives: εξουσία αποδιδόμενη ως ‘η κυβέρνηση/οι αρχές’ σε θεολογικά συμφραζόμενα προσωπικού δικαιώματος
Original: ἐξουσία
Category: Christian Liberty and Idol Meat
NEW, distinct from the baseline Critical ‘ελευθερία.’ 8:9; 9:4-6, 12, 18 — a personal right or permission to act freely in a matter of liberty, and Paul’s own apostolic right to material support, voluntarily forgone. Modern Greek εξουσία is dominated by its political sense (‘η εξουσία’ = the government); must not default to this sense and must be kept lexically distinct from ελευθερία.
Remembrance
Approved rendering: ανάμνηση
Transliteration: anámnisi
Doctrine: The Lord’s Supper
Original: ἀνάμνησις
Category: The Lord’s Supper
NEW. 11:24-25 — ‘εἰς τὴν ἐμὴν ἀνάμνησιν,’ spoken verbatim in every Divine Liturgy. Unpack the rich covenantal-memorial depth (closer to the OT Passover memorial than bare psychological recollection) without importing later sacrificial-repetition debates foreign to Paul’s own text.
Tongues
Approved rendering: γλώσσα / γλώσσες
Transliteration: glóssa / glósses
Doctrine: Order in Worship
Original: γλῶσσαι
Category: Order in Worship
NEW. 12:10, 28-30; 14:2-28 — the Spirit-given gift of tongues-speech, requiring interpretation for corporate edification. γλῶσσα is the completely ordinary Modern Greek word for both the body part ‘tongue’ and ‘language,’ so the technical charismatic-gift sense carries no dedicated vocabulary and depends entirely on context. The underlying interpretive debate (known human languages vs. ecstatic Spirit-given utterance) is independently contested and must be flagged for theological review regardless of this language-specific risk.
Spiritual Body
Approved rendering: πνευματικό σώμα
Transliteration: pnevmatikó sóma
Doctrine: The Resurrection of Christ and Believers
Rejected alternatives: πνευματικό σώμα αποδιδόμενο ως ασώματη, καθαρά πνευματική ύπαρξη (η ανάγνωση των Μαρτύρων του Ιεχωβά)
Original: σῶμα πνευματικόν
Category: The Resurrection of Christ and Believers
NEW. 15:44-46 — the Spirit-suited, transformed, still-bodily mode of resurrection existence. Greek philosophical dualism could read this phrase as a contradiction resolved by silently dropping ‘σώμα,’ favoring a disembodied afterlife — exactly the docetic-adjacent error the phrase is constructed to prevent. Present as consonant with, but distinct from, Orthodox theosis language of the ‘glorified body.’ FORBIDDEN reading: never as evidence of a non-bodily resurrection (the Jehovah’s Witness position).
Image Likeness
Approved rendering: εικόνα
Transliteration: eikóna
Doctrine: The Resurrection of Christ and Believers
Original: εἰκών
Category: The Resurrection of Christ and Believers
NEW. 15:49 (‘we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man’). Modern Greek ‘εικόνα’ is the standing technical term for a venerated religious icon (Christ, the Theotokos, the saints). Mandatory note distinguishing ‘bearing Christ’s resurrection likeness/nature’ from ‘a venerated icon-image.‘
In Vain Believed
Approved rendering: χωρίς λόγο / άδικα
Transliteration: eikē
Doctrine: Faith Grounded in the Historical Resurrection
Rejected alternatives: εἰκῆ αποδιδόμενο ως ‘δωρεάν’ (free of charge)
Original: εἰκῆ
Category: Faith
NEW, FORBIDDEN-SUBSTITUTION CLASS parallel to the baseline Galatians δωρεάν trap, though a different Koine word. 15:2 — the warning that belief could be ‘without effect/for nothing’ if the gospel deposit is not held fast. εἰκῆ is archaic and largely absent from ordinary Modern Greek; render with χωρίς λόγο or άδικα. Never render with δωρεάν, which would ironically suggest belief was cheaply/commercially acquired.
Medium Risk Terms
Church
Approved rendering: εκκλησία
Transliteration: ekklisía
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: Εκκλησία αποκλειστικά ως ο θεσμός/η ιεραρχική Ορθόδοξη Εκκλησία, ή αποκλειστικά το κτίριο
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). Distinguish from the institutional national-Church sense and the physical-building sense throughout 1:2, 5:12-13, 11:18, 12:28, 14:4-5, 14:33-35, and specifically as the object of Paul’s former persecution at 15:9.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: κοινωνία
Transliteration: koinonía
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: κοινωνία αποκλειστικά ως λήψη της Θείας Κοινωνίας (Ευχαριστίας), κοινωνία με τη σύγχρονη έννοια της κοινωνίας/κοινωνικού συνόλου
Original: κοινωνία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). Relevant at 1:9 (general participatory fellowship) and 10:16 (‘the cup of κοινωνία’), directly beside the Lord’s Supper doctrine — must not default exclusively to the sacramental sense at 10:16 to the exclusion of the general sense Paul also intends.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: δύναμη Θεού
Transliteration: dýnami Theoú
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Original: δύναμις θεοῦ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). Paired with σοφία as the twin content of ‘Christ crucified’ for believers (1:18, 24).
Revelation
Approved rendering: αποκάλυψη
Transliteration: apokalypsis
Doctrine: God
Original: ἀποκάλυψις
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). 1 Corinthians 2:10 — the Spirit’s unveiling of God’s hidden wisdom/mystery to believers. Restore the divine-unveiling register against journalistic ‘exposé’ bleaching; keep distinct from, though related to, μυστήριο.
Spiritual Gifts
Approved rendering: πνευματικά χαρίσματα
Transliteration: pnevmatiká charísmata
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts
Original: χαρίσματα
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). Central to 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 (12:4-11, 28-31; 14:1, 12). Guard against secular χάρισμα drift toward ‘natural talent/personal charisma.‘
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: βασιλεία του Θεού
Transliteration: vasileía tou Theoú
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Kingdom
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). 1 Corinthians 4:20 (a matter of power, not talk), 6:9-10 (inherited only by the transformed), and climactically 15:24 (Christ delivering the kingdom to the Father) — must not be read as diminishing Christ but as the culmination of his mediatorial reign.
Glory
Approved rendering: δόξα
Transliteration: dóxa
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: δόξα με τη σύγχρονη έννοια της φήμης ή επιτυχίας (π.χ. αθλητική δόξα)
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). 10:31 (God’s honor as the goal of ordinary conduct); 15:40-43’s differentiated ‘glory’ of heavenly bodies, illustrating resurrection-body variety — δόξα here denotes radiant splendor/quality, not celebrity.
Peace
Approved rendering: ειρήνη
Transliteration: eiríni
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: ειρήνη με την ησυχαστική έννοια της εσωτερικής ή νοερής ησυχίας (μυστικιστική παράδοση)
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). 14:33 (‘a God of peace, not of confusion,’ governing orderly worship) and 7:15 (peace in mixed-marriage situations) — relational/ecclesial or marital peace, not the Hesychast mystical-contemplative sense.
Sin
Approved rendering: αμαρτία
Transliteration: amartía
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: αμαρτία με την καθημερινή, εξασθενημένη έννοια του ‘κρίμα’
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). Relevant throughout: 6:18, 7:28, 15:3 (‘died for our sins’), 15:17, 15:56 (‘the sting of death is sin’). Guard against the idiomatic weakened ‘what a shame’ register bleeding into translated teaching material.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: έθνη
Transliteration: éthni
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: εθνικοί με σύγχρονη εθνικιστική χροιά
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). 1:23 (‘to Gentiles folly’), 5:1, 10:20, 12:2. Keep the NT’s ethnic-religious sense distinct from modern nation-state connotations; see also ‘greek_gentile’ below for the specific Ἕλλην collision unique to this letter.
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: ευχαριστία
Transliteration: efcharistía
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Rejected alternatives: Θεία Ευχαριστία αποκλειστικά (η Ευχαριστία ως Μυστήριο)
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). Relevant to 1 Corinthians’ surrounding gratitude vocabulary (1:4, 1:14, 10:30, 11:24 ‘ευχαρίστησε’/gave thanks at the institution of the Supper) — same word root as the Eucharist itself; distinguish the general grateful-acknowledgment sense from the specific sacramental reference, especially at 11:24.
Traditions
Approved rendering: παραδόσεις
Transliteration: paradoseis
Doctrine: Church
Inherited from Romans/Galatians package (identical entry, unchanged). Directly relevant at 11:2 (‘maintain the traditions just as I delivered them to you’) and shares vocabulary with 15:1-3’s παραλαμβάνω/παραδίδωμι transmission formula. παράδοση is a maximally positive word in Greek culture; keep Paul’s sense scoped to his own apostolic instruction, not open-ended extra-biblical tradition generally.
Schism
Approved rendering: σχίσμα
Transliteration: schísma
Doctrine: Christian Unity versus Factionalism
Original: σχίσμα
Category: Church
NEW. 1:10-13 (‘I follow Paul… Apollos… Cephas’); cf. 11:18, 12:25. Modern Greek σχίσμα retains the ‘split’ sense clearly, most famously in ‘το Σχίσμα του 1054’ (the Great East-West Schism) — a genuine teaching asset, but keep the referent scoped to congregational personality-cult factionalism, not the historical ecclesiastical rupture. Must be kept lexically distinct from the positive ‘διαίρεση’ (varieties, ch.12).
Preaching
Approved rendering: κήρυγμα
Transliteration: kírygma
Doctrine: The Cross as Wisdom and Power
Original: κήρυγμα
Category: Salvation
NEW. 1:21, 1:23; cf. 15:11’s κηρύσσομεν. The specific content proclaimed — Christ crucified — through which God saves those who believe. Retain the authoritative-proclamation register against secular ‘sermon’/‘propaganda’ bleaching.
Steward
Approved rendering: οικονόμος
Transliteration: oikonomos
Doctrine: The Cross as Wisdom and Power
Original: οἰκονόμος
Category: Church
NEW. 4:1-2 — apostles as trustworthy custodians entrusted with God’s mysteries (μυστήρια). Modern Greek οικονόμος/οικονομία gravitates toward ‘economy/financial management’ (η εθνική οικονομία); anchor to ‘trustworthy custodian of revealed truth,’ not financial administration.
Sexual Immorality
Approved rendering: πορνεία
Transliteration: porneia
Doctrine: Church Discipline and Holiness
Original: πορνεία
Category: Sin
NEW. 5:1, 6:9, 6:18, 7:2 — sexual sin broadly, including the specific incestuous case of ch.5 and the general warnings of chs.6-7. Modern Greek πορνεία has narrowed somewhat toward ‘prostitution’ specifically; retain the broader NT sense.
Virgin
Approved rendering: παρθένος
Transliteration: parthénos
Doctrine: Marriage and Singleness
Original: παρθένος
Category: Marriage and Singleness
NEW. 7:25-38 — an unmarried, sexually chaste believer, addressed in Paul’s practical pastoral counsel. The constant liturgical title ‘Η Παναγία η Παρθένος’ risks unintended Marian resonance when applied to ordinary unmarried believers; disambiguating note advised, and avoid capitalizing or otherwise elevating the term.
Self Control
Approved rendering: εγκράτεια
Transliteration: egkráteia
Doctrine: Marriage and Singleness
Original: ἐγκράτεια
Category: Marriage and Singleness
NEW. 7:5, 9 (marital relations) and 9:25 (disciplined ministry). Modern Greek εγκράτεια carries ascetic/monastic coloring; note that this is a universal expectation for every believer, not a specialized monastic virtue.
Slave
Approved rendering: δούλος
Transliteration: doúlos
Doctrine: Marriage and Singleness
Original: δοῦλος
Category: Marriage and Singleness
NEW. 7:21-23 — the literal first-century social status, addressed within Paul’s calling-in-one’s-station argument. Distinguish from the positive theological metaphor ‘slave of Christ’ used elsewhere in Paul; colloquial Modern Greek prefers σκλάβος for literal historical slavery, making δούλος read more literary/theological today.
Idol Food
Approved rendering: είδωλο / ειδωλόθυτο
Transliteration: eídolo / eidolóthyto
Doctrine: Christian Liberty and Idol Meat
Original: εἴδωλον / εἰδωλόθυτον
Category: Christian Liberty and Idol Meat
NEW. 8:1, 4, 7, 10; 10:19, 28 — a false-god image and food offered to it. Lexically stable; the principal risk is bridging to contemporary application, since literal idol worship is not a live cultural threat for a contemporary Greek reader.
Knowledge
Approved rendering: γνώση
Transliteration: gnósi
Doctrine: Christian Liberty and Idol Meat
Original: γνῶσις
Category: Christian Liberty and Idol Meat
NEW. 8:1-2 (‘knowledge puffs up, but love builds up’); subordinated to love at 13:2, 8-9. Stable modern word; risk is mainly doctrinal-application (avoiding an anti-intellectualist misreading), not lexical.
Crown
Approved rendering: στέφανος
Transliteration: stéfanos
Doctrine: Christian Liberty and Idol Meat
Original: στέφανος
Category: Christian Liberty and Idol Meat
NEW. 9:24-25 — the imperishable crown of the Christian race, contrasted with the athlete’s perishable victory-wreath. Modern Greek wedding crowns (στέφανα) risk importing an unintended marriage association into this athletic-competition metaphor; anchor explicitly to the games context.
Typology
Approved rendering: τύπος
Transliteration: týpos
Doctrine: Christian Liberty and Idol Meat
Original: τύπος
Category: Christian Liberty and Idol Meat
NEW. 10:6, 11 — OT wilderness events presented as warning examples/patterns for the church. Modern Greek ‘τύπος’ has enormous everyday polysemy (‘a guy/character,’ a printed form); anchor explicitly to the typological-theological sense.
Demon
Approved rendering: δαιμόνιο
Transliteration: daimónio
Doctrine: Christian Liberty and Idol Meat
Original: δαιμόνιον
Category: Christian Liberty and Idol Meat
NEW. 10:20-21 — malevolent spiritual beings behind idol-feast tables, contrasted with the Lord’s table. Modern Greek δαιμόνιο also carries the secular idiom ‘genius/brilliant talent’ (‘τι δαιμόνιο!’); context here is unambiguous but flag surrounding prose for accidental idiomatic collision. Never render as an impersonal ‘force,’ consistent with the personal-Spirit guard elsewhere in this letter.
Covering
Approved rendering: κάλυμμα
Transliteration: kálymma
Doctrine: Order in Worship
Original: κάλυμμα
Category: Order in Worship
NEW. 11:4-15 — the head-covering practice in worship, addressed by Paul as an honor/order sign. Contemporary Greek church practice has substantially declined outside traditional/monastic contexts; risk is primarily application-bridging (contemporary relevance), not lexical ambiguity.
Unworthy Manner
Approved rendering: ανάξιος / αναξίως
Transliteration: anaxios / anaxiōs
Doctrine: The Lord’s Supper
Original: ἀναξίως
Category: The Lord’s Supper
NEW. 11:27, 29 — eating and drinking ‘in an unworthy manner,’ the ground of Paul’s call to self-examination (11:28). Ensure this is understood as manner of participation (irreverence, factionalism, disregard for the poor), never ‘an unworthy person,’ to avoid inducing scrupulous anxiety contrary to Paul’s pastoral intent.
Member
Approved rendering: μέλος
Transliteration: mélos
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts and the Body of Christ
Original: μέλος
Category: Spiritual Gifts and the Body of Christ
NEW. 12:12-27 (repeated extensively) — an individual part of the body of Christ, each necessary and honored. Modern Greek μέλος is the standard word for ‘member of an organization’ (μέλος συλλόγου), risking flattening Paul’s vivid organic-body metaphor into administrative ‘club membership’; always pair with σώμα in context.
Division Variety
Approved rendering: διαίρεση
Transliteration: diaíresi
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts and the Body of Christ
Original: διαίρεσις
Category: Spiritual Gifts and the Body of Christ
NEW. 12:4-6 (διαιρέσεις χαρισμάτων) — the positive, Spirit-ordered varieties of gifts, service, and activity. Must be kept lexically distinct from the negative σχίσμα of ch.1 — ordered diversity, not factional rupture.
Deliver To Satan
Approved rendering: παραδίδω στον Σατανά
Transliteration: paradidōmi Satana
Doctrine: Church Discipline and Holiness
Original: παραδίδωμι Σατανᾷ
Category: Church Discipline and Holiness
NEW. 5:5 — the formal church-discipline formula of handing an unrepentant member over to Satan’s sphere, for the restorative goal of ultimate salvation. Must preserve the disciplinary-yet-restorative, not merely punitive, intent (‘that his spirit may be saved’) within the same sentence, never separated.
Low Risk Terms
Apostle
Approved rendering: απόστολος
Transliteration: apóstolos
Doctrine: Apostleship
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). Stable throughout: 1:1, 4:9, 9:1-2, 12:28-29, 15:7-9 (Paul’s own inclusion as the last, least-worthy resurrection witness).
Leaven
Approved rendering: ζύμη
Transliteration: zymē
Doctrine: Church Discipline and Holiness
Original: ζύμη
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged; originally logged for Galatians 5:9). Applied in 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 to unaddressed sin corrupting the whole congregation — same proverb, new application. Proverbially alive in Modern Greek (προζύμι), an asset.
Circumcision
Approved rendering: περιτομή
Transliteration: peritomē
Doctrine: Covenant
Original: περιτομή
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). 1 Corinthians 7:18-19, cited as irrelevant to one’s calling-in-Christ status. Technical and stable.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: προφητεία
Transliteration: profiteía
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Original: προφητεία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). A Spirit-given gift of intelligible, edifying speech, ranked above uninterpreted tongues (12:10, 14:1-5, 14:39). Do not confuse with astrological prediction.
Israel
Approved rendering: Ισραήλ
Transliteration: Israíl
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Original: Ἰσραήλ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). 10:18 — ‘Israel according to the flesh,’ cited as a warning example from the wilderness generation; purely historical referent here, not the modern nation-state.
Prophet
Approved rendering: προφήτης
Transliteration: profítis
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). Relevant at 12:28-29, 14:29, 32, 37 — the ranked, ordered gift of prophecy within corporate worship.
Exhort
Approved rendering: προτρέπω / παρακαλώ
Transliteration: protrépo / parakaló
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Inherited from Romans package (identical entry, unchanged). 1:10 (‘παρακαλῶ δὲ ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοί’ — ‘I appeal to you, brothers’); context determines whether the everyday ‘please’ register or the formal apostolic-appeal register is active.
Boast In The Cross
Approved rendering: καυχώμαι στον σταυρό / καυχώμαι εν Κυρίω
Transliteration: kauchaomai
Doctrine: Salvation
Inherited from Galatians package (identical entry). Relevant at 1:29, 31 (‘let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord’), 3:21, 4:7. Alive in church register; ‘το καύχημά μου ο σταυρός’ is idiomatic.
Certainly Not
Approved rendering: μη γένοιτο
Transliteration: mē genoito
Doctrine: Faith
Inherited from Galatians package (identical entry). Not directly quoted within 1 Corinthians itself but available as a stable cross-reference asset in teaching commentary discussing Pauline rhetorical denial; retained here for corpus-wide consistency.
Lawsuit
Approved rendering: δικαστήριο
Transliteration: dikastírio
Doctrine: Church Discipline and Holiness
Original: δικαστήριον
Category: Church
NEW. 6:1-8 — civil litigation between believers, rebuked in favor of internal church resolution. Stable, transparent modern legal vocabulary.
Marriage
Approved rendering: γάμος
Transliteration: gámos
Doctrine: Marriage and Singleness
Original: γάμος
Category: Marriage and Singleness
NEW. 7:2, 9, 38-39 — the marital union, one legitimate calling among others. Stable, everyday word with no significant secular drift.
Compete
Approved rendering: αγωνίζομαι / αγών
Transliteration: agonízomai / agón
Doctrine: Christian Liberty and Idol Meat
Original: ἀγωνίζομαι / ἀγών
Category: Christian Liberty and Idol Meat
NEW. 9:24-27 — disciplined athletic striving as a metaphor for the Christian life. Living, transparent athletic vocabulary (cf. modern ‘αγώνας,’ a match/game); a genuine teaching asset.
Friendship Love
Approved rendering: φιλώ / φιλία
Transliteration: filó / filía
Doctrine: Love as the Greater Way
Original: φιλέω
Category: Love as the Greater Way
NEW. Reference/contrast term for the ἀγάπη discussion; reused at 16:22 (‘if anyone does not love [φιλεῖ] the Lord’), Paul’s deliberate word choice distinct from ἀγαπάω, reinforcing the ch.13 contrast pedagogically.
Interpretation
Approved rendering: ερμηνεία
Transliteration: ermineía
Doctrine: Order in Worship
Original: ἑρμηνεία / διερμηνεύω
Category: Order in Worship
NEW. 14:5, 13, 26-28 — the necessary companion gift to tongues, enabling corporate understanding. Stable, transparent modern term (also the root of ‘hermeneutics’).
Order
Approved rendering: τάξη
Transliteration: táxi
Doctrine: Order in Worship
Original: τάξις
Category: Order in Worship
NEW. 14:40 (‘let all things be done decently and in order’) — the governing standard for worship practice. Minor unrelated modern senses (classroom, social class) are unlikely to cause confusion here.
Perishable Imperishable
Approved rendering: φθαρτό / άφθαρτο
Transliteration: fthartó / áfthaarto
Doctrine: The Resurrection of Christ and Believers
Original: φθαρτός / ἄφθαρτος
Category: The Resurrection of Christ and Believers
NEW. 15:42, 50-54 — the perishable present body sown, the imperishable resurrection body raised. Stable philosophical-theological vocabulary; low secular drift.
Victory
Approved rendering: νίκη
Transliteration: níki
Doctrine: The Resurrection of Christ and Believers
Original: νίκη
Category: The Resurrection of Christ and Believers
NEW. 15:54-57 (‘death is swallowed up in victory’). Stable; also a common sports term, a mild secular-sports association that adds vividness rather than distorting sense.
Edification
Approved rendering: οικοδομή
Transliteration: oikodomí
Doctrine: Order in Worship
Original: οἰκοδομή
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package (mutual_edification, identical entry). Central controlling principle of 1 Corinthians 14 (14:3-5, 12, 26): all worship practices are to be evaluated by whether they build up the church. Also relevant at 3:9-14 in the church-as-building metaphor.
Referenced passages