Core Glossary
Core Glossary — 3 John (Greek Destination Language)
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing term identified in analysis/07_semantic_analysis.md, drawn from the entire book of 3 John (a single chapter, fully covered). Terms already recorded in the baseline Romans/Galatians translation_memory.json are marked [BASELINE — reuse exactly] and are rendered identically to the recorded entry; no alternative rendering is permitted for these. New terms specific to 3 John are marked [NEW] and are proposed here for addition to translation memory, pending theologian review per the escalation rules in 12_ai_translation_requirements.md.
Glossary Table
| # | English Gloss | Koine Original | Transliteration | Destination Rendering (Modern Greek) | Risk | Doctrine | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | elder | πρεσβύτερος | presbyteros | πρεσβύτερος | Critical [NEW] | Church Leadership and Pride | Modern Greek = the ordained clerical rank “priest.” Mandatory note: author uses a general term of pastoral seniority, not the later developed sacramental priesthood. |
| 2 | beloved | ἀγαπητός | agapētos | αγαπητός / αγαπητέ | Low [NEW] | Truth and Christian Fellowship | Stable; standard formal letter address, asset. |
| 3 | love | ἀγάπη / ἀγαπῶ | agapē / agapō | αγάπη / αγαπώ | Medium [NEW] | Truth and Christian Fellowship | Modern range includes romantic love; context disambiguates but note breadth. |
| 4 | truth / in truth | ἀλήθεια | alētheia | αλήθεια | High [NEW] | Truth and Christian Fellowship | Structural keyword (5 occurrences). Risk of flattening to mere factual accuracy vs. Johannine Truth-as-gospel-reality. Anchor to John’s Gospel usage. |
| 5 | I wish / pray | εὔχομαι | euchomai | εύχομαι | Low [NEW] | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | Stable personal-wish verb. |
| 6 | prosper / go well | εὐοδοῦσθαι | euodousthai | ευοδούμαι / ευοδώνομαι | Medium [NEW] | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | Guard against a prosperity-only reading; pair with ψυχή in context. |
| 7 | be in health | ὑγιαίνειν | hygiainein | υγιαίνω | Low [NEW] | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | Stable, unambiguous. |
| 8 | soul | ψυχή | psychē | ψυχή | Medium [NEW] | Truth and Christian Fellowship | Common colloquial affectionate use risks losing holistic biblical-anthropological sense. |
| 9 | rejoice / joy | χαίρω / χαρά | chairō / chara | χαίρομαι / χαρά | Low [NEW] | Truth and Christian Fellowship | Stable; ensure pastoral-depth register, not casual pleasantry. |
| 10 | brother(s) | ἀδελφός / ἀδελφοί | adelphos / adelphoi | αδελφός / αδελφοί | Low [NEW] | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | Stable in both ordinary and ecclesial register. |
| 11 | testify / testimony | μαρτυρέω / μαρτυρία | martyreō / martyria | μαρτυρώ / μαρτυρία | High [NEW] | Commendation of Faithful Witness (Demetrius) | Shared root with μάρτυρας (“martyr”) risks importing martyrdom/suffering connotations from Greek Orthodox hagiographic culture into a simple character-testimony sense. Recurs vv. 3, 6, 12 (×3). |
| 12 | walk / conduct life | περιπατέω | peripateō | περπατώ (metaphorical: “ζω,” “συμπεριφέρομαι”) | Medium [NEW] | Truth and Christian Fellowship | Metaphorical “conduct of life” sense less automatic outside biblical register; gloss on first use. |
| 13 | children (spiritual) | τέκνα | tekna | τέκνα | Low-Medium [NEW] | Truth and Christian Fellowship | Formal/legal register in Modern Greek; appropriate to paternal-authoritative tone. |
| 14 | faithful (adj., of conduct) | πιστός | pistos | πιστός | Medium [NEW] | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | Must be distinguished from πίστη’s Critical soteriological “saving faith” sense (baseline); here it is ethical fidelity in hospitality. |
| 15 | strangers / guests | ξένος / ξένοι | xenos / xenoi | ξένοι | High [NEW] | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | Modern Greek ξένος is dominated by contemporary immigration/foreigner discourse; must be anchored to “traveling gospel workers,” not migrants generally. |
| 16 | church | ἐκκλησία | ekklēsia | εκκλησία | Medium [BASELINE — reuse exactly] | Church Leadership and Pride; Truth and Christian Fellowship | Reuse baseline entry verbatim; here denotes the local gathered congregation. |
| 17 | send on one’s way (equip for journey) | προπέμπω | propempō | προπέμπω (with gloss); alt. “εφοδιάζω και αποχαιρετώ” | High [NEW] | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | Technical missionary-support term, not a farewell; guard against the funeral-procession association of related “προπομπός.” |
| 18 | worthy of God (manner) | ἀξίως τοῦ Θεοῦ | axiōs tou Theou | με τρόπο άξιο του Θεού | Medium [NEW] | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | Guard against a merit-earning (“worthy of receiving from God”) misreading; it describes manner, not reward. |
| 19 | the Name (= Christ) | ὄνομα (absolute) | onoma | το Όνομα (with capital/gloss) | Medium-High [NEW] | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | Absolute technical usage = Christ and his cause; distinguish sharply from the mundane “by name” sense at v. 14 (#38 below). |
| 20 | Gentiles / pagans / unbelievers | ἐθνικός / ἐθνικῶν | ethnikos / ethnikōn | (avoid bare “εθνικοί”; prefer “μη πιστοί” / “εθνικοί” + mandatory note) | Critical [NEW] | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | FORBIDDEN BARE SUBSTITUTION: Modern Greek εθνικός overwhelmingly means “national” (national anthem, national team, National Parliament) — the most severe secular-bleaching risk in the letter. Mandatory explanatory note on every occurrence; consider periphrasis over the bare cognate. |
| 21 | we ought / are obligated | ὀφείλω | opheilō | οφείλουμε | Medium [NEW] | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | Financial-debt sense in Modern Greek risks an unintended irony given the verse concerns material support; clarify moral-obligation sense. |
| 22 | receive / welcome / support | ἀπολαμβάνω | apolambanō | (avoid bare “απολαμβάνω”; prefer “υποδέχομαι” / “φιλοξενώ”) | Critical [NEW] | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION: Modern Greek απολαμβάνω means “to enjoy” (a vacation, a drink). Mechanical rendering inverts an other-directed hospitality duty into a self-serving pleasure statement. |
| 23 | fellow worker | συνεργός | synergos | συνεργάτης (preferred) / συνεργός (+ note) | High [NEW] | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | Modern συνεργός carries a strong secondary “accomplice (in crime)” sense; prefer συνεργάτης or gloss. |
| 24 | one who loves to be first / self-promoting | φιλοπρωτεύω | philoprōteuō | (periphrastic gloss required; e.g. “αγαπά να πρωτοστατεί για δικό του όφελος”) | Critical [NEW] | Church Leadership and Pride | FORBIDDEN INVERSION: modern πρωτεύω = “to graduate top of class / excel,” a positive sense. Literal rendering risks sounding like a compliment, inverting John’s negative judgment on Diotrephes. Mandatory gloss, never render as unqualified “excels.” |
| 25 | accept / acknowledge (authority) | ἐπιδέχομαι | epidechomai | επιδέχομαι | Medium [NEW] | Church Leadership and Pride | Preserve the deliberate lexical contrast with ἀπολαμβάνω/welcome (v. 8) vs. refusal to accept (vv. 9-10). |
| 26 | I will bring up / expose | ὑπομιμνήσκω | hypomimnēskō | θα υπενθυμίσω / θα εκθέσω | Medium [NEW] | Church Leadership and Pride | Guard against softening to a mild, casual “reminder”; context is confrontational calling-to-account. |
| 27 | evil / wicked (of words) | πονηρός | ponēros | πονηρός | Medium [NEW] | Church Leadership and Pride; Imitating Good rather than Evil | Colloquial Modern Greek softens toward “sly/cunning”; here denotes serious malicious slander. |
| 28 | talk malicious nonsense / slander | φλυαρέω | phlyareō | φλυαρεί (+ gloss “με κακόβουλες κατηγορίες”) | High [NEW] | Church Leadership and Pride | Modern φλυαρώ = mild “chatter too much”; the text charges hostile, malicious false accusation — must not be minimized. |
| 29 | be content / satisfied | ἀρκέομαι | arkeomai | αρκούμαι | Low [NEW] | Church Leadership and Pride | Stable. |
| 30 | hinder / forbid | κωλύω | kōlyō | κωλύει | Low-Medium [NEW] | Church Leadership and Pride | Slightly formal/legal Modern Greek register; conceptually clear. |
| 31 | cast out / expel | ἐκβάλλω | ekballō | εκβάλλει (+ ecclesial context anchor); alt. “διώχνει” | Medium [NEW] | Church Leadership and Pride | Dominant modern sense is geographic (a river “εκβάλλει” into the sea); anchor firmly to ἐκκλησία context. |
| 32 | imitate | μιμέομαι | mimeomai | μη μιμείσαι / μιμούμαι | Medium [NEW] | Imitating Good rather than Evil | Modern association with theatrical mimicry (μίμος); anchor to serious moral-discipleship sense. |
| 33 | good / evil | ἀγαθός / κακός | agathos / kakos | αγαθό / κακό | Low [NEW] | Imitating Good rather than Evil | Stable, immediately intelligible. |
| 34 | doing good / doing evil | ἀγαθοποιέω / κακοποιέω | agathopoieō / kakopoieō | αγαθοποιών / κακοποιών | Low [NEW] | Imitating Good rather than Evil | Transparent compounds, stable across Koine and Modern Greek. |
| 35 | has [not] seen (= known) God | ὁράω (ἑώρακεν) | horaō (heōraken) | δεν έχει δει τον Θεό (idiomatic: “δεν γνωρίζει αληθινά τον Θεό”) | Medium [NEW] | Imitating Good rather than Evil | Johannine idiom for relational knowledge, not literal eyesight; gloss required to avoid a wooden literal reading. |
| 36 | true / truthful | ἀληθής | alēthēs | αληθής / αληθινή | Low-Medium [NEW] | Commendation of Faithful Witness (Demetrius) | Render consistently within the ἀλήθεια word-family for thematic unity. |
| 37 | hope | ἐλπίζω | elpizō | ελπίζω | Low-Medium [NEW] | Truth and Christian Fellowship | Ordinary, non-technical use here (a travel plan); distinguish from full theological Hope elsewhere in NT. |
| 38 | by name (individually) | κατ᾿ ὄνομα | kat’ onoma | κατ᾿ όνομα / έναν προς έναν | Low [NEW] | Truth and Christian Fellowship | Distinct mundane sense of ὄνομα; contrast explicitly with “the Name” (#19) at v. 7. |
| 39 | face to face (mouth to mouth) | στόμα πρὸς στόμα | stoma pros stoma | πρόσωπο με πρόσωπο (preferred); “στόμα με στόμα” only with gloss | High [NEW] | Truth and Christian Fellowship | Literal Modern Greek rendering collides with the CPR idiom “τεχνητή αναπνοή στόμα με στόμα.” Prefer the natural equivalent. |
| 40 | peace | εἰρήνη | eirēnē | ειρήνη | Medium [BASELINE — reuse exactly] | Truth and Christian Fellowship | Standard epistolary benediction; distinguish from the Hesychast contemplative-stillness sense per baseline note. |
| 41 | friend(s) | φίλος / φίλοι | philos / philoi | φίλος / φίλοι | High [NEW] | Truth and Christian Fellowship | Ordinary, casual Modern Greek word; anchor to Johannine “friends of God/Christ” theology (John 15:14-15) so it is not read as merely social. |
| 42 | greet / send greetings | ἀσπάζομαι | aspazomai | ασπάζονται / ασπάζου (+ gloss) | High [NEW] | Truth and Christian Fellowship | Modern Orthodox liturgical usage = venerating (kissing) an icon; clarify this is the standard NT epistolary greeting formula, not liturgical veneration. |
| 43 | fellowship (doctrine-concept term; not a literal 3 John term) | κοινωνία | koinōnia | κοινωνία | Medium [BASELINE — reuse exactly] | Truth and Christian Fellowship | Not present lexically in 3 John’s Greek text; included because it names the curriculum doctrine. The letter enacts fellowship (hospitality, shared witness, partnership in truth) without using this specific noun; reuse baseline rendering and risk profile if the curriculum introduces the word “fellowship” in teaching material. |
| 44 | Gaius (proper name) | Γάϊος | Gaios | Γάϊος | Low [NEW] | — | Stable proper name; letter’s addressee. |
| 45 | Diotrephes (proper name) | Διοτρεφής | Diotrephēs | Διοτρεφής | Low [NEW] | Church Leadership and Pride | Stable proper name; carries no independent secular/patristic accretion risk, but is now permanently associated in Christian teaching with self-promoting leadership — an intended, not accidental, association. |
| 46 | Demetrius (proper name) | Δημήτριος | Dēmētrios | Δημήτριος | Low [NEW] | Commendation of Faithful Witness (Demetrius) | Extremely common Modern Greek name, associated with Άγιος Δημήτριος (patron saint of Thessaloniki) — a positive cultural resonance, not a corrective risk; note for pastoral teaching use. |
Risk Summary
| Risk Tier | Count | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 4 (elder/πρεσβύτερος; Gentiles/ἐθνικός; receive-support/ἀπολαμβάνω; loves-to-be-first/φιλοπρωτεύω) | Human theologian, mandatory, every occurrence |
| High | 9 (truth/ἀλήθεια; testify/μαρτυρέω; strangers/ξένος; send-on-journey/προπέμπω; fellow worker/συνεργός; slander/φλυαρέω; face-to-face idiom; friends/φίλος; greet/ἀσπάζομαι) | Human theologian review required |
| Medium | 17 | Native speaker review recommended |
| Low | 16 | Automated review sufficient |
| Total terms | 46 | — |
Notes for Phase 2 Handoff
- Four Critical-risk terms in this book exceed the severity of most baseline Romans/Galatians entries precisely because 3 John’s short, personal, situational style concentrates several of the destination language’s most acute secular-bleaching and ecclesiastical-accretion risks (πρεσβύτερος→priest; ἐθνικός→national; ἀπολαμβάνω→enjoy; φιλοπρωτεύω→excel) into a single fourteen-verse letter. Phase 2 processing should treat this as a high-density-risk book despite its brevity.
- The Gentiles/ἐθνικός (#20) and receive-support/ἀπολαμβάνω (#22) entries are forbidden bare-substitution terms on the same model as the baseline’s δωρεάν, εξαγοράζω, παιδαγωγός, στοιχεῖα, μορφωθῇ, and φαρμακεία entries in the Galatians extension, and should be added to that same forbidden-substitution list in any updated
12_ai_translation_requirements.mdfor this curriculum. - Proper names (Gaius, Diotrephes, Demetrius) carry Low lexical risk but should be retained in teaching material with their established narrative-theological associations intact (negative example / positive example), since the curriculum’s doctrines are structured around these three figures.
- This glossary should be merged into
translation_memory.jsonas new entries under a"curriculum": "3 John"block, incrementing the version number per the Translation Memory Load and Enforcement Instructions in12_ai_translation_requirements.md, with all four Critical entries flagged for theologian review before Phase 2 segment translation begins.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: Θεός
Transliteration: Theós
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Inherited from Romans package (copied exactly). Used at 3 John 1:11 (‘ὁ κακοποιῶν οὐχ ἑώρακεν τὸν Θεόν,’ ‘whoever does evil has not seen God’), a Johannine idiom for experiential, relational knowledge of God, not a claim about literal eyesight — see the new ‘seen_god’ entry below.
Elder
Approved rendering: πρεσβύτερος
Transliteration: presbyteros
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Rejected alternatives: γέροντας (γενική έννοια ηλικιωμένου, χωρίς ποιμαντικό περιεχόμενο), ιερέας / παπάς (η μεταγενέστερη χειροτονημένη ιερατική τάξη)
Original: πρεσβύτερος
Category: Church Leadership
CRITICAL: identical to the NT’s own self-designation of the author (traditionally the Apostle John in old age), but in Modern Greek πρεσβύτερος is the specific, technical ordination title for an Orthodox priest — the second of the three holy orders (deacon, πρεσβύτερος, bishop). A Modern Greek reader will almost automatically hear ‘priest’ at the very first word of the letter. Mandatory translator note required at 3 John 1:1 clarifying that the author claims general pastoral seniority current in the earliest church, not the later developed sacramental priesthood. Note also: this same bare word is separately vulnerable to being claimed by Jehovah’s Witnesses’ non-clerical congregational-elder polity (see 05_translation_landscape.md §4); the note must state positively what the term means, not merely what it excludes, so it cannot be claimed by either external system.
Ethnikoi
Approved rendering: εθνικοί (με υποχρεωτική επεξήγηση) / μη πιστοί
Transliteration: ethnikoi / ethnikōn
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: εθνικοί χωρίς επεξήγηση, αφημένοι να ερμηνευθούν με τη σύγχρονη έννοια της εθνικής/πατριωτικής ταυτότητας (εθνικός ύμνος, εθνική ομάδα, Εθνικό Κοινοβούλιο)
FORBIDDEN BARE SUBSTITUTION — the single most severe secular-bleaching risk in this letter. Non-believing outsiders/pagans, from whom the traveling gospel workers accepted no material support (1:7), underlining that their ministry was not commercial. Modern Greek εθνικός overwhelmingly means ‘national’ in everyday usage. An unglossed rendering (‘accepting nothing from the εθνικούς’) risks a nonsensical or politically charged reading disconnected from the NT sense. Mandatory translator note at every occurrence; strongly consider periphrasis (‘από τους μη πιστούς’) over the bare cognate. Distinct entry from the baseline’s ‘gentiles’ (ἔθνη) — do not conflate; this term carries a strictly higher risk tier.
Receive Support
Approved rendering: υποδέχομαι / φιλοξενώ
Transliteration: apolambanein
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: απολαμβάνω με τη σύγχρονη κυρίαρχη έννοια του ‘χαίρομαι/ευχαριστιέμαι’ (to enjoy)
Original: ἀπολαμβάνειν
Category: Hospitality
FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION, directly parallel to the baseline’s redeem/εξαγοράζω entry: to welcome, host, and materially support traveling gospel workers (1:8), thereby becoming a genuine partner in the truth. Modern Greek ἀπολαμβάνω has shifted almost entirely to mean ‘to enjoy’ (a vacation, a drink). A mechanical rendering produces ‘we ought to enjoy such people,’ inverting an other-directed hospitality obligation into a self-serving pleasure statement. Must be rendered with υποδέχομαι or φιλοξενώ; any occurrence of the bare cognate must be flagged for mandatory review.
Loves To Be First
Approved rendering: αγαπά να πρωτοστατεί για δικό του όφελος (με υποχρεωτική επεξήγηση)
Transliteration: philoprōteuōn
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Rejected alternatives: φιλοπρωτεύων αποδοσμένο ως απλή αριστεία/επίδοση (π.χ. ‘πρωτεύει’, ‘είναι ο πρώτος’), χωρίς αρνητική αξιολογική χροιά
Original: φιλοπρωτεύων
Category: Church Leadership
FORBIDDEN INVERSION, structurally analogous to the baseline’s παιδαγωγός entry: a NT hapax legomenon (1:9) denoting ambition for pre-eminence and domineering self-promotion — Diotrephes’ defining fault, not admirable excellence. The verb root πρωτεύω survives vigorously and POSITIVELY in Modern Greek (‘πρώτευσε στις εξετάσεις,’ ‘topped the exams’). A transparent literal rendering risks reading as an unintended compliment, precisely inverting John’s condemnation. Must never be rendered so as to suggest admirable achievement; mandatory periphrastic gloss required.
High Risk Terms
Faith
Approved rendering: πίστη
Transliteration: písti
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: πίστη με τη γενική έννοια της αφοσίωσης σε οποιαδήποτε ιδέα ή πρόσωπο
Inherited from Romans package (copied exactly). The noun πίστη itself does not occur in 3 John’s Greek text, but its adjective πιστός occurs at 1:5 describing Gaius’s hospitality as ‘a faithful thing.’ Translators MUST distinguish πιστός-as-ethical-fidelity-in-hospitality (see new entry ‘faithful_conduct’ below) from this baseline entry’s soteriological ‘saving faith’ sense, to avoid importing forensic-salvation weight into what 3 John intends as an ethical commendation.
Truth
Approved rendering: αλήθεια
Transliteration: alētheia
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: αλήθεια αποκλειστικά με τη σύγχρονη υποκειμενική έννοια του ‘ζω την αλήθεια μου’ (living your truth)
Original: ἀλήθεια
Category: Truth
The letter’s structural keyword (1:1, 3, 4, 8, 12). Ἀλήθεια is a fully live, extremely common Modern Greek word (‘η αλήθεια,’ ‘λέω την αλήθεια’), and this very vitality is the risk: it readily flattens to mere factual/propositional accuracy and loses the Johannine theological weight of Truth as gospel-reality identified with Christ (John 14:6). Requires an anchoring note at first occurrence (1:1) and must be rendered consistently across all five occurrences.
Testify
Approved rendering: μαρτυρώ / μαρτυρία
Transliteration: martyreō / martyria
Doctrine: Commendation of Faithful Witness (Demetrius)
Rejected alternatives: μαρτυρία αποκλειστικά ή κατά προτεραιότητα με την έννοια του μαρτυρίου/θανάτου για την πίστη
Original: μαρτυρέω / μαρτυρία
Category: Witness
To give personal, authoritative report vouching for someone’s truth-consistent character; a technical Johannine term, occurring six times across fourteen verses (1:3, 6, 12 [x3]). The shared root with μάρτυρας/μαρτύριο (‘martyr’/‘martyrdom’) is a live Greek-Orthodox-cultural risk — Greek culture venerates martyrs extensively (Άγιοι Μάρτυρες), so a modern reader may unconsciously import suffering/death connotations into a term that here simply means giving a favorable personal report. Mandatory note distinguishing ordinary character-testimony from martyrdom.
Strangers
Approved rendering: ξένοι
Transliteration: xenos / xenoi
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: ξένοι με τη σύγχρονη κυρίαρχη έννοια των μεταναστών/αλλοδαπών, χωρίς αναφορά σε περιοδεύοντες ιεραποστόλους
Original: ξένος / ξένοι
Category: Hospitality
Traveling gospel workers personally unknown to Gaius (1:5), whom the NT hospitality ethic obligates believers to welcome (cf. Matthew 25:35, 43). Ξένος is dominated in contemporary Modern Greek usage by ‘foreigner’ in political/immigration discourse, a topic of real cultural sensitivity in Greece and Cyprus. Mandatory translator note anchoring ξένοι here to traveling Christian ministers, not migrants generally.
Send On Journey
Approved rendering: προπέμπω (με επεξήγηση) / εφοδιάζω και αποχαιρετώ
Transliteration: propempō
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: προπέμπω με τη σύγχρονη νεκρική/κηδειακή συνειρμική έννοια (προπομπή)
Original: προπέμπω
Category: Hospitality
A technical NT missionary term meaning to equip and send off a traveler with provisions for the journey (1:6; cf. Acts 15:3, Titus 3:13) — substantially more than a farewell. Largely obsolete in ordinary Modern Greek speech; the surviving cognate ‘προπομπός/προπομπή’ carries funeral-procession associations. Requires a note or the paraphrase ‘εφοδιάζω και αποχαιρετώ.‘
Fellow Worker
Approved rendering: συνεργάτης (προτεινόμενο) / συνεργός (+ επεξήγηση)
Transliteration: synergoi
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: συνεργός χωρίς επεξήγηση, αφημένος να ερμηνευθεί με τη νομική/εγκληματολογική έννοια του ‘συνενόχου’
Original: συνεργοί
Category: Hospitality
Material supporters of traveling ministers are credited as genuine co-laborers in gospel work, not merely passive donors (1:8). Συνεργός carries a strong secondary legal-criminal sense — ‘accomplice’ (συνεργός σε έγκλημα). Prefer συνεργάτης (the neutral, positive cognate) or supply a clarifying note, to avoid an inadvertent ‘accomplice’ reading in a verse commending, not indicting, Gaius’s support.
Slander
Approved rendering: φλυαρεί (+ επεξήγηση: με κακόβουλες κατηγορίες)
Transliteration: phlyarōn
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Rejected alternatives: φλυαρώ με τη σύγχρονη ήπια έννοια του ‘μιλάω πολύ/κουβεντιάζω άσκοπα’
Original: φλυαρῶν
Category: Sin
Baseless, hostile, malicious accusation-mongering against the elder, a rare NT word (1:10). Modern Greek φλυαρώ commonly and mildly means simply ‘to chatter/talk too much’ — a considerably softer sense than the text’s charge. Mandatory gloss required to prevent minimizing Diotrephes’ offense to mere garrulousness.
Face To Face
Approved rendering: πρόσωπο με πρόσωπο (προτεινόμενο) / στόμα με στόμα (μόνο με επεξήγηση)
Transliteration: stoma pros stoma
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: στόμα με στόμα αποδοσμένο κατά γράμμα, χωρίς επεξήγηση
Original: στόμα πρὸς στόμα
Category: Fellowship
A Hebraic/Septuagintal idiom (cf. Numbers 12:8 LXX) for direct, personal, unmediated communication, preferred by John over written correspondence (1:14; cf. 2 John 12). A literal rendering of ‘στόμα με στόμα’ in contemporary Greek collides with the CPR idiom ‘τεχνητή αναπνοή στόμα με στόμα’ (mouth-to-mouth resuscitation). Prefer ‘πρόσωπο με πρόσωπο’; retain the literal phrase only with a footnote for those studying the original text.
Friends
Approved rendering: φίλος / φίλοι
Transliteration: philos / philoi
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: φίλοι αποκλειστικά με την καθημερινή, κοινωνική έννοια, χωρίς αναφορά στη Ιωάννεια θεολογία της φιλίας με τον Χριστό
Original: φίλοι
Category: Fellowship
In Johannine literature an elevated theological category — Jesus calls disciples ‘friends,’ not merely servants (John 15:14-15) — used of the wider circle of believers in the closing greeting (1:14). Φίλος is the ordinary, everyday Modern Greek word for ‘friend’ with no inherent theological register; without a note connecting it to Johannine ‘friends of God/Christ’ theology, it risks reading as a merely casual social nicety.
Greet
Approved rendering: ασπάζονται / ασπάζου (+ επεξήγηση)
Transliteration: aspazomai
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: ασπάζομαι αποκλειστικά με τη λειτουργική έννοια του ασπασμού εικόνας/λειψάνου
Original: ἀσπάζονται / ἀσπάζου
Category: Fellowship
The standard Hellenistic epistolary greeting-formula verb, closing the letter with greetings sent and requested (1:14). In Modern Greek Orthodox liturgical usage, ἀσπάζομαι is the specific technical verb for venerating (kissing) an icon or relic (‘ασπάζομαι την εικόνα’). A note clarifying this is the standard NT epistolary convention, not liturgical veneration, is required.
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 (copied exactly). In 3 John 1:6 denotes the local congregation before whom the traveling brothers testified to Gaius’s love; in 1:9-10 it is the local assembly from which Diotrephes expels dissenters. Keep the baseline’s caution against collapsing into either the institutional national-Church sense or the physical-building sense.
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: Fellowship
Inherited from Romans package (copied exactly). Used at 3 John 1:14 as the letter’s closing epistolary benediction (‘Ειρήνη σοι’). Retain the baseline’s caution against a Hesychast mystical-contemplative reading (ἡσυχία); here it is a warm, relational farewell blessing, not a technical contemplative state.
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 (doctrine-concept term)
Category: Fellowship
Inherited from Romans package (copied exactly). Not a literal lexical item anywhere in 3 John’s Greek text, but names the curriculum’s fifth doctrine, ‘Truth and Christian Fellowship,’ which the letter enacts through hospitality, shared testimony, and mutual greeting rather than through this specific noun. Use if the curriculum’s teaching material introduces the word ‘fellowship’ directly; retain the baseline’s disambiguation from both ‘society’ and ‘Holy Communion.‘
Gentiles
Approved rendering: έθνη
Transliteration: éthni
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: εθνικοί με σύγχρονη εθνικιστική χροιά
Original: ἐθνικοί / ἐθνικῶν
Category: Hospitality
Inherited from Romans package (copied exactly). This is the baseline’s NOUN ἔθνη (‘nations/peoples’), NOT the distinct ADJECTIVE ἐθνικῶν that 3 John 1:7 actually uses. 3 John’s own term carries a substantially more severe Critical risk in Modern Greek (default sense ‘national/patriotic,’ e.g. εθνικός ύμνος) than this baseline noun. See the new ‘ethnikoi’ entry below for the 3-John-specific term; do not conflate the two entries or assume this baseline entry’s Medium risk rating applies to 3 John 1:7.
Love
Approved rendering: αγάπη / αγαπώ
Transliteration: agapē / agapō
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: αγάπη αποκλειστικά με τη σύγχρονη ρομαντική έννοια
Original: ἀγάπη / ἀγαπῶ
Category: Fellowship
Fully alive in Modern Greek but its range has broadened to include ordinary romantic love (‘είμαι ερωτευμένος’). Context in this pastoral, non-romantic letter (1:1, love ‘in truth’) sufficiently disambiguates, but teaching material should note the term’s breadth so learners do not import an unintended romantic connotation.
Prosper
Approved rendering: ευοδούμαι / ευοδώνομαι
Transliteration: euodousthai
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: ευοδώνομαι αποκλειστικά με την έννοια της υλικής/οικονομικής επιτυχίας (prosperity-gospel reading)
Original: εὐοδοῦσθαι
Category: Hospitality
Survives in Modern Greek chiefly in elevated/church register (‘να ευοδωθεί το έργο σου’). Risk of a prosperity-gospel misreading if isolated from its explicit pairing with ὑγιαίνειν (bodily health) and ψυχή (soul) in the same verse (1:2) — the note must stress the holistic, not purely material, sense.
Soul
Approved rendering: ψυχή
Transliteration: psychē
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: ψυχή αποκλειστικά με την καθημερινή συναισθηματική έννοια (‘ψυχή μου’)
Original: ψυχή
Category: Fellowship
Extremely common in Modern Greek, used both in weighty contexts and casual affectionate idiom (‘ψυχή μου’). Risk that the term registers only as ‘heart/feelings’ rather than the holistic biblical-anthropological sense of the whole inner person before God (1:2); brief note warranted at first occurrence.
Walk Conduct
Approved rendering: περπατώ (μεταφορικά: ζω, συμπεριφέρομαι)
Transliteration: peripateō
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: περπατώ αποκλειστικά με τη κυριολεκτική έννοια της φυσικής μετακίνησης
Original: περιπατέω
Category: Sanctification
A Hebraic-Greek idiom for the ongoing, settled pattern of one’s life (1:3-4), not a one-time act. Περπατώ is the ordinary Modern Greek verb for literal walking; the metaphorical ‘conduct of life’ sense survives chiefly in biblical/liturgical register and should be glossed on first occurrence.
Spiritual Children
Approved rendering: τέκνα
Transliteration: tekna
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: τέκνα
Category: Church Leadership
Those John has discipled, regarded with the same paternal affection as biological offspring (1:4). Τέκνο/τέκνα carries a somewhat formal/legal register in Modern Greek (used in official documents for ‘offspring’) rather than everyday ‘παιδιά’; this formality intensifies rather than diminishes the affectionate claim and should not be mistaken for coldness.
Faithful Conduct
Approved rendering: πιστός
Transliteration: pistos
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: πιστός συγχεόμενος με την σωτηριολογική πίστη (justifying faith)
Original: πιστός
Category: Hospitality
An ethical-relational adjective describing Gaius’s loyal, dependable hospitality (1:5), not the noun πίστη’s soteriological sense. Stable in Modern Greek (‘πιστός φίλος’), but translators must actively distinguish this ethical-fidelity sense from the baseline ‘faith’ entry’s Critical/High soteriological weight.
Worthy Of God
Approved rendering: με τρόπο άξιο του Θεού
Transliteration: axiōs tou Theou
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: άξιος του Θεού με την έννοια της αξιοσύνης που εξασφαλίζει ανταμοιβή (merit-earning reading)
Original: ἀξίως τοῦ Θεοῦ
Category: Hospitality
An idiomatic standard-of-conduct phrase (1:6; cf. Colossians 1:10) describing the manner of action fitting for God’s own character, not a claim that one thereby earns a reward from God. Guard against a merit-earning misreading, paralleling the baseline’s caution about χάρη/grace.
Obligated
Approved rendering: οφείλουμε
Transliteration: opheilomen
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: οφείλω αποκλειστικά με τη χρηματοπιστωτική έννοια του χρέους
Original: ὀφείλομεν
Category: Hospitality
Moral/relational obligation, not literal financial debt: supporting gospel workers is a binding duty flowing from shared gospel identity (1:8; cf. Romans 1:14). Given that 1:8 is literally about material support of missionaries, there is a mild risk of an unintentionally ironic financial-transactional reading; note the moral-obligation sense.
Accept Acknowledge
Approved rendering: επιδέχομαι
Transliteration: epidechetai
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Original: ἐπιδέχεται
Category: Church Leadership
To receive a person or authority as legitimate; used negatively of Diotrephes’ refusal to acknowledge the elder’s authority or emissaries (1:9-10). Preserve the deliberate rhetorical contrast with ἀπολαμβάνειν/‘welcome’ commended in Gaius (1:8) — the two men are structured as opposite hospitality-models and the lexical parallel should remain visible.
Expose Conduct
Approved rendering: θα υπενθυμίσω / θα εκθέσω
Transliteration: hypomnēsō
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Rejected alternatives: υπενθυμίζω με τη σύγχρονη ήπια/ουδέτερη έννοια μιας απλής υπόμνησης
Original: ὑπομνήσω
Category: Church Leadership
A stronger sense of formal exposure/calling-to-account, almost a public rebuke, given the confrontational context of John’s intended visit (1:10). Modern Greek υπομιμνήσκω/υπενθυμίζω is a neutral, mild ‘remind’ verb; the confrontational force should be preserved by context/register.
Wicked Words
Approved rendering: λόγοι πονηροί
Transliteration: logois ponērois
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Rejected alternatives: πονηρός με την καθημερινή, ελαφρυμένη έννοια του ‘πονηρός/έξυπνος’ (sly, sometimes affectionate)
Original: λόγοις πονηροῖς
Category: Sin
Words of moral evil and malicious intent describing Diotrephes’ slanderous speech (1:10). Colloquial Modern Greek softens πονηρός toward ‘sly/crafty,’ sometimes even affectionately (of a clever child); the text intends a serious moral charge.
Cast Out
Approved rendering: εκβάλλει (+ αγκύρωση στο εκκλησιαστικό πλαίσιο) / διώχνει
Transliteration: ekballei
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Rejected alternatives: εκβάλλω με τη σύγχρονη κυρίαρχη γεωγραφική έννοια (‘ο ποταμός εκβάλλει στη θάλασσα’)
Original: ἐκβάλλει
Category: Church Leadership
Expulsion of faithful believers from the local congregation by Diotrephes (1:10). Modern Greek εκβάλλω is literary/formal, and its most common modern usage is geographic (a river ‘empties/flows into’ the sea) — entirely disconnected from ecclesial expulsion. Anchor firmly to the ἐκκλησία context; a more colloquial ‘διώχνει’ may be used alongside the formal term.
Imitate
Approved rendering: μη μιμείσαι / μιμούμαι
Transliteration: mimou
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Rejected alternatives: μιμούμαι αποκλειστικά με τη σύγχρονη θεατρική/επιδειξιακή έννοια της μίμησης-παράστασης (μίμος)
Original: μιμοῦ
Category: Sanctification
The central term of John’s exhortation to pattern one’s conduct after moral examples rather than superficial performance-mimicry (1:11). Μιμούμαι/μίμηση is common in Modern Greek but strongly associated with artistic/theatrical mimicry (μίμος, ‘mime performer’); anchor to serious moral-discipleship sense.
Seen God
Approved rendering: δεν έχει δει τον Θεό (ιδιωματικά: δεν γνωρίζει αληθινά τον Θεό)
Transliteration: heōraken ton Theon
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Rejected alternatives: ἑώρακεν τὸν Θεόν αποδοσμένο κατά γράμμα ως ισχυρισμός περί φυσικής όρασης
Original: ἑώρακεν τὸν Θεόν
Category: God
A Johannine idiom for experiential, relational knowledge of God, not literal visual perception (1:11; cf. 1 John 3:6). A literal rendering risks being read as a nonsensical claim about physical eyesight; note connecting to the wider Johannine ‘knowing God’ theme required.
Low Risk Terms
Beloved
Approved rendering: αγαπητός / αγαπητέ
Transliteration: agapētos
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: ἀγαπητός
Category: Fellowship
Stable and immediately recognizable in Modern Greek; ‘αγαπητέ’ is the standard formal letter-opening address (‘Dear ___’), a genuine asset. Repeated of Gaius at 1:1, 1:2, 1:5, 1:11.
Prayer Wish
Approved rendering: εύχομαι
Transliteration: euchomai
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: εὔχομαι
Category: Fellowship
A personal wish or prayer addressed to God on Gaius’s behalf, opening the letter’s body (1:2). Stable in Modern Greek (‘σου εύχομαι υγεία’; noun ‘ευχή’); no significant drift.
Good Health
Approved rendering: υγιαίνω
Transliteration: hygiainein
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: ὑγιαίνειν
Category: Hospitality
Physical bodily health, wished for Gaius alongside his spiritual prosperity (1:2). Stable and unambiguous in Modern Greek.
Rejoice
Approved rendering: χαίρομαι / χαρά
Transliteration: echarēn / chara
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: ἐχάρην / χαρά
Category: Fellowship
John’s specifically pastoral joy over Gaius’s faithful conduct (1:3-4). Fully alive and unambiguous in Modern Greek; ensure register conveys deep pastoral gladness rather than casual pleasantry.
Brothers
Approved rendering: αδελφός / αδελφοί
Transliteration: adelphos / adelphoi
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: ἀδελφός / ἀδελφοί
Category: Church Leadership
The traveling Christians whom Gaius hosted (1:3, 5-6, 10). Stable in both ordinary and ecclesial Modern Greek register (‘αδελφοί εν Χριστώ’ is established).
Content
Approved rendering: αρκούμαι
Transliteration: arkoumenos
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Original: ἀρκούμενος
Category: Sin
Being satisfied; Diotrephes is ‘not content’ with slander alone but escalates further (1:10). Stable in Modern Greek.
Hinder
Approved rendering: κωλύει
Transliteration: kōlyei
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Original: κωλύει
Category: Church Leadership
To prevent others from welcoming the traveling brothers (1:10). Stable but somewhat formal/legal register in Modern Greek (κώλυμα, ‘legal impediment’); conceptually clear.
Good And Evil
Approved rendering: κακό / αγαθό
Transliteration: kakon / agathon
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Original: κακόν / ἀγαθόν
Category: Sin
Moral evil/harm and inherent moral goodness, contrasted directly in John’s exhortation (1:11). Stable and immediately intelligible in Modern Greek.
Doing Good Doing Evil
Approved rendering: αγαθοποιών / κακοποιών
Transliteration: agathopoiōn / kakopoiōn
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Original: ἀγαθοποιῶν / κακοποιῶν
Category: Sin
Transparent compounds meaning ‘the one doing good’ and ‘the one doing evil’ (1:11). Rare but transparent in both Koine and Modern Greek; no special gloss needed.
True
Approved rendering: αληθής / αληθινή
Transliteration: alēthēs
Doctrine: Commendation of Faithful Witness (Demetrius)
Original: ἀληθής
Category: Truth
Used of the elder’s own testimony concerning Demetrius (1:12). Stable in Modern Greek; render consistently within the ἀλήθεια word-family for thematic unity.
Hope
Approved rendering: ελπίζω
Transliteration: elpizō
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: ελπίζω αποκλειστικά με το πλήρες εσχατολογικό θεολογικό περιεχόμενο της Ελπίδας
Original: ἐλπίζω
Category: Fellowship
An everyday practical hope/expectation of an upcoming visit (1:14), not the full theological virtue of eschatological Hope found elsewhere in the NT. Brief note prevents over-theologizing a simple travel remark.
By Name
Approved rendering: κατ᾿ όνομα / έναν προς έναν
Transliteration: kat’ onoma
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: κατ᾿ ὄνομα
Category: Fellowship
‘By name,’ ‘individually’ (1:14) — a mundane sense of ὄνομα distinct from the theologically weighted absolute ‘the Name’ (= Christ) at 1:7. Should be explicitly contrasted with the ‘the_name’ entry so learners do not conflate the two senses of the same Greek word within one short letter.
Gaius
Approved rendering: Γάϊος
Transliteration: Gaios
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: Γάϊος
Category: Church
The letter’s addressee, commended for faithful hospitality to traveling ministers (1:1, 5). Stable proper name; no theological drift risk.
Diotrephes
Approved rendering: Διοτρεφής
Transliteration: Diotrephēs
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Original: Διοτρεφής
Category: Church Leadership
The self-promoting figure who rejects apostolic authority, slanders the elder, refuses hospitality, and expels dissenters (1:9-10). Stable proper name; permanently and intentionally associated in Christian teaching with self-promoting leadership.
Demetrius
Approved rendering: Δημήτριος
Transliteration: Dēmētrios
Doctrine: Commendation of Faithful Witness (Demetrius)
Original: Δημήτριος
Category: Witness
The well-attested, truth-consistent believer commended in direct contrast to Diotrephes (1:12). Extremely common Modern Greek name, strongly associated with Άγιος Δημήτριος (patron saint of Thessaloniki) — a genuine positive cultural resonance, a pastoral asset worth a light contextual note, not a corrective one.
Medium-High Risk Terms
The Name
Approved rendering: το Όνομα (με επεξήγηση)
Transliteration: onoma (absolute use)
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: το όνομα αφημένο χωρίς επεξήγηση (γραμματικό κενό: ‘το όνομα’ — ποιανού;)
Original: ὄνομα (absolute use)
Category: Christology
An absolute, unqualified early Christian technical shorthand for the name of Jesus Christ and the cause it represents (1:7; cf. Acts 5:41), for which the traveling missionaries set out. ‘Το όνομα’ unglossed reads as grammatically incomplete to a modern reader (‘the name’ — whose?). Mandatory note specifying ‘the Name’ = Christ and his cause; must be sharply distinguished from the unrelated mundane sense of ὄνομα at 1:14 (‘κατ᾿ ὄνομα,’ ‘by name’ — see ‘by_name’ entry below).