Core Glossary
Core Glossary — James (English → Greek)
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing theological term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, across all five chapters of James, including the core passage (James 2:14-26). Where a term is already recorded in the baseline Romans/Galatians translation_memory.json, the baseline rendering is reused exactly and marked “Baseline reuse” in the Notes column; risk tiers for reused terms match the baseline unless James’s specific context elevates the practical risk, which is noted explicitly. New terms specific to James are assigned risk tiers using the same Critical/High/Medium/Low framework as the baseline doctrine_risk_registry.json.
| # | English Term | Greek Rendering | Transliteration | Koine Original | Risk | Doctrine Category | Chapter(s) | Notes / Key Rendering Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | trial / temptation | δοκιμασία / πειρασμός | dokimasia / peirasmos | πειρασμός | Critical | Trials and the Testing of Faith | 1:2, 1:12-14 | Single Koine word covers both “trial” (positive testing) and “temptation” (negative enticement); James exploits this ambiguity. God ordains trials (1:2) but never tempts to sin (1:13). Mandatory translator’s note at both senses. |
| 2 | testing / genuineness | δοκίμιο (της πίστης) | dokimion | δοκίμιον | Medium | Trials and the Testing of Faith | 1:3 | Metallurgical refining metaphor; low secular drift beyond generic “test/trial run” sense. |
| 3 | endurance / steadfastness | υπομονή | hypomonē | ὑπομονή | Medium | Trials and the Testing of Faith | 1:3-4, 12; 5:11 | Distinguish from μακροθυμία (patience toward people/circumstances, ch.5). |
| 4 | wisdom | σοφία | sophia | σοφία | High | Wisdom from Above | 1:5; 3:13-17 | Greek’s own classical-philosophical heritage (Sophists, Aristotle) gives σοφία a native secular-intellectual resonance; James’s wisdom is prayed-for, God-given, morally fruitful — not an achievement of reasoning. |
| 5 | double-minded | δίψυχος | dipsychos | δίψυχος | Low | Faith and Works / Trials | 1:6-8; 4:8 | Rare, transparent compound (δις + ψυχή); stable, minimal drift. |
| 6 | desire / lust | επιθυμία | epithymia | ἐπιθυμία | Medium | Trials and the Testing of Faith / Worldliness | 1:14-15; 4:1-2 | Distinguish from the technical Hesychast/ascetic πάθη framework; keep register plain and universally applicable, not monastically technical. |
| 7 | sin | αμαρτία | hamartia | ἁμαρτία | Medium | (multiple) | 1:15; 2:9; 4:17; 5:15-16, 20 | Baseline reuse exactly. Moral transgression before a personal God; guard against the colloquial weakened “what a shame” idiom bleeding into teaching register. |
| 8 | Father of lights | Πατέρας των φώτων | Patēr tōn phōtōn | πατὴρ τῶν φώτων | Low | Wisdom from Above | 1:17 | Head noun Πατέρας reuses baseline “father” (Critical); the fuller title itself is a low-risk, vivid, stable image. |
| 9 | firstfruits | απαρχή | aparchē | ἀπαρχή | Low | Faith and Works | 1:18 | Stable agricultural/eschatological term. |
| 10 | implanted word | ο εμφυτευμένος λόγος | ho emphytos logos | λόγος ἔμφυτος | Medium | Faith and Works | 1:21-22 | Modern εμφυτεύω primarily denotes medical implants; gloss to the sower/seed image needed. |
| 11 | religion (true/pure) | θρησκεία | thrēskeia | θρησκεία | High | Favoritism and the Poor / Faith and Works | 1:26-27 | Modern Greek θρησκεία defaults to institutional/national-religious identity; James’s ethical redefinition risks sounding anti-institutional if not carefully scoped as a critique of ritual-without-ethics. |
| 12 | orphans and widows | ορφανοί και χήρες | orphanoi kai chērai | ὀρφανοὶ καὶ χῆραι | Low | Favoritism and the Poor | 1:27 | Stable, immediately intelligible. |
| 13 | unstained by the world | αμόλυντος από τον κόσμο | aspilos apo tou kosmou | ἄσπιλος ἀπὸ τοῦ κόσμου | Medium | Worldliness versus Friendship with God | 1:27 | κόσμος requires the same value-system (not physical-world) handling as in ch.4. |
| 14 | law of liberty | νόμος της ελευθερίας | nomos tēs eleutherias | νόμος (τῆς) ἐλευθερίας | Critical | Faith and Works | 1:25; 2:12 | Combines two baseline Critical/High terms (νόμος, ελευθερία — the Greek national word). Cross-reference the Galatians “freedom_in_christ” doctrine entry; mandatory theologian review. |
| 15 | favoritism / partiality | προσωποληψία | prosōpolēpsia | προσωποληψία | High | Favoritism and the Poor | 2:1-9 | Precise but formal/legal-register term, rare in everyday speech; pair with a plain-language gloss (μεροληψία). |
| 16 | poor | πτωχός | ptōchos | πτωχός | Medium | Favoritism and the Poor | 2:2-6; 5:1-6 | Stable; formal register πτωχός preferred over demotic φτωχός for this curriculum. |
| 17 | rich | πλούσιος | plousios | πλούσιος | Medium | Favoritism and the Poor | 2:2-6; 5:1-6 | Stable; low drift. |
| 18 | royal law | βασιλικός νόμος | nomos basilikos | νόμος βασιλικός | Medium | Favoritism and the Poor / Faith and Works | 2:8 | νόμος reuses baseline (High); βασιλικός carries a faint political-monarchical resonance in a republic — brief note that this is God’s kingship, not earthly monarchy. |
| 19 | mercy | έλεος | eleos | ἔλεος | Medium | Favoritism and the Poor | 2:13 | Strong liturgical asset (Kyrie eleison); risk that extreme familiarity reduces it to ritual refrain rather than James’s call to concrete compassion. |
| 20 | judgment | κρίση / κρίμα | krisis | κρίσις | Medium | Favoritism and the Poor / Patience and the Lord’s Return | 2:12-13; 5:9 | Modern Greek κρίση overwhelmingly defaults to “(economic) crisis”; anchor to the judicial/eschatological sense in context. |
| 21 | works | έργα | erga | ἔργα | Critical | Faith and Works | 2:14-26 (core) | Modern έργα defaults to construction/artistic works. Acute doctrinal risk: must be distinguished from Paul’s “works of the law” (baseline High) — different questions (ground of justification vs. evidence of genuine faith), not competing answers. |
| 22 | faith | πίστη | pistis | πίστις | High | Faith and Works | 2:14-26 (core); throughout | Baseline reuse exactly. Same word used positively (Romans/Galatians) now tested for authenticity, not redefined. |
| 23 | to save | σώσει / σώσαι | sōsai | σῴζω | Critical | Faith and Works / Prayer and Healing | 2:14; 5:15, 20 | Baseline reuse exactly (σωτηρία root). Dead “faith” under discussion was never saving faith; not a statement that works are added to faith for salvation. |
| 24 | dead (faith) | νεκρή | nekra | νεκρά | High | Faith and Works | 2:17, 20, 26 | Zero lexical gap; resist theological softening toward “immature/weak” faith — James’s force is categorical. |
| 25 | demons | δαιμόνια | daimonia | δαιμόνια | High | Faith and Works | 2:19 | Modern colloquial δαιμόνιο can mean “cleverness/spark of genius”; must keep the malevolent, theologically serious sense primary. |
| 26 | justified / justification | δικαιώθηκε / δικαιώνεται | edikaiōthē / dikaioutai | δικαιόω | Critical | Faith and Works | 2:21, 24, 25 | Baseline reuse of root (δικαίωση). Highest-stakes rendering decision in the book: James uses the demonstrative/vindication sense (faith shown genuine by works), Paul uses the forensic sense (declared righteous by faith alone) — same verb, two distinct questions. Mandatory theologian review at every occurrence. |
| 27 | worked together with | συνεργούσε | synērgei | συνήργει | High | Faith and Works | 2:22 | Risk of over-identification with the technical Orthodox synergeia (grace/free-will cooperation) doctrine; James’s point is narrower — faith and one’s own subsequent actions. |
| 28 | was perfected / completed | τελειώθηκε / ολοκληρώθηκε | eteleiōthē | ἐτελειώθη | High | Faith and Works | 2:22 | Avoid any rendering implying moral perfectionism/sinlessness; prefer ολοκληρώθηκε. |
| 29 | credited / reckoned | λογίστηκε | elogisthē | ἐλογίσθη | Critical | Faith and Works | 2:23 | Baseline reuse exactly (credited / imputed_righteousness). Direct quotation of Genesis 15:6 LXX, identical to Paul’s own citation — the anchor verse resolving the Faith-and-Works tension. Mandatory theologian review. |
| 30 | friend of God | φίλος του Θεού | philos theou | φίλος θεοῦ | Medium | Faith and Works | 2:23 | Stable, warm; note connection to (without collapsing into) the baseline “adoption” (υιοθεσία) doctrine. |
| 31 | body without spirit/breath | σώμα χωρίς πνεύμα | sōma chōris pneumatos | σῶμα χωρὶς πνεύματος | High | Faith and Works | 2:26 | πνεῦμα here = life-breath, not the Holy Spirit (Άγιο Πνεύμα, baseline Critical) — disambiguate by lowercase/register, not word substitution. |
| 32 | tongue | γλώσσα | glōssa | γλῶσσα | Medium | Taming the Tongue | 3:1-12 | Modern Greek γλώσσα equally means “language”; context needed to keep the embodied moral-agency sense primary. |
| 33 | bridle / control | χαλιναγωγώ | chalinagōgeō | χαλιναγωγέω | Medium | Taming the Tongue | 1:26; 3:2-3 | Vivid, stable equestrian metaphor; low drift. |
| 34 | rudder | πηδάλιο | pēdalion | πηδάλιον | Low | Taming the Tongue | 3:4 | Stable, everyday nautical term. |
| 35 | fire / hell (Gehenna) | πυρ / γέεννα | pyr / geenna | πῦρ / γέεννα | High | Taming the Tongue | 3:5-6 | γέεννα has no secular competing sense but risks under-translation of its severity without a historical gloss (Valley of Hinnom). |
| 36 | jealousy / selfish ambition | ζήλος / έριδα | zēlos / eritheia | ζῆλος / ἐριθεία | Medium | Taming the Tongue / Wisdom from Above | 3:14-16 | ζῆλος ranges positive-negative depending on object; context (paired with ἐριθεία) confirms the negative sense here. |
| 37 | wisdom from above | η άνωθεν σοφία | sophia anōthen | σοφία ἄνωθεν | High | Wisdom from Above | 3:15, 17 | Builds on #4; ἄνωθεν echoes John 3:3 (“born from above”) — a usable positive teaching bridge. |
| 38 | earthly / unspiritual / demonic (wisdom) | επίγεια, ψυχική, δαιμονιώδης | epigeios, psychikē, daimoniōdēs | ἐπίγειος, ψυχική, δαιμονιώδης | High | Wisdom from Above | 3:15 | δαιμονιώδης shares the δαιμόνια cleverness-drift risk; ψυχική risks confusion with modern clinical “psychological/mental health” sense. |
| 39 | fruit of righteousness | καρπός δικαιοσύνης | karpos dikaiosynēs | καρπὸς δικαιοσύνης | Medium | Wisdom from Above | 3:18 | Baseline reuse of καρπός and δικαιοσύνη; keep the ethical/practical sense distinct from, not contradictory to, Romans’s forensic δικαιοσύνη. |
| 40 | friendship with the world | φιλία με τον κόσμο | philia tou kosmou | φιλία τοῦ κόσμου | High | Worldliness versus Friendship with God | 4:4 | κόσμος = God-opposed value-system here, not the created world or ordinary social engagement; do not under-weight the “enmity with God” consequence. |
| 41 | adulteresses (spiritual) | μοιχαλίδες | moichalides | μοιχαλίδες | High | Worldliness versus Friendship with God | 4:4 | OT covenant-unfaithfulness metaphor (Hosea, Jeremiah); requires explicit note or the vocative reads as a harsh non-sequitur. |
| 42 | grace | χάρη | charis | χάρις | Critical | Worldliness versus Friendship with God | 4:6 | Baseline reuse exactly. Direct LXX quotation (Proverbs 3:34) — same grace/merit contrast as Romans/Galatians, applied to humility rather than justification. |
| 43 | proud / humble | υπερήφανος / ταπεινός | hyperēphanos / tapeinos | ὑπερήφανος / ταπεινός | Medium | Worldliness versus Friendship with God | 4:6, 10 | Modern υπερήφανος has a positive secondary sense (legitimate pride); anchor to the negative, God-opposing sense James intends. |
| 44 | resist the devil | αντισταθείτε στον διάβολο | antistēte tō diabolō | ἀντίστητε τῷ διαβόλῳ | High | Worldliness versus Friendship with God | 4:7 | διάβολος lexically stable; present as a genuinely personal spiritual adversary, not metaphor or folk-superstition. |
| 45 | purify your hearts | αγνίσατε τις καρδιές | hagnisate kardias | ἁγνίσατε καρδίας | Medium | Worldliness versus Friendship with God | 4:8 | Keep ἁγν- (purify/chaste) lexically distinct from ἁγι- (holy/saints, baseline Critical), though thematically related. |
| 46 | speak against / judge (a brother) | κακολογείτε / κρίνετε | katalalein / krinein | καταλαλεῖν / κρίνειν | Medium | Taming the Tongue | 4:11-12 | κρίνω shares root with κρίσις (see #20) but the verbal form is less affected by the “crisis” drift. |
| 47 | if the Lord wills | εάν θέλει ο Κύριος | ean ho Kyrios thelēsē | Ἐὰν ὁ Κύριος θελήσῃ | High | Patience and the Lord’s Return | 4:15 | Baseline reuse of Κύριος (Critical). Living Modern Greek idiom asset (“άμα θέλει ο Θεός”); ensure full divine-Lordship weight is retained, not flattened to casual idiom. |
| 48 | riches (corrupted) | πλούτος | ploutos | πλοῦτος | Low | Favoritism and the Poor | 5:1-3 | Stable. |
| 49 | wages | μισθός | misthos | μισθός | Medium | Favoritism and the Poor | 5:4 | Employer-wage sense and divine-reward sense both active and mutually reinforcing here. |
| 50 | Lord of hosts | Κύριος Σαβαώθ | Kyrios Sabaōth | Κύριος Σαβαώθ | High | Favoritism and the Poor | 5:4 | Baseline reuse of Κύριος + retained transliteration Σαβαώθ (cf. Αββά convention); liturgical asset via the Sanctus. |
| 51 | be patient | μακροθυμήσατε | makrothymēsate | μακροθυμήσατε | Medium | Patience and the Lord’s Return | 5:7-8, 10 | Distinguish clearly from ὑπομονή (#3) — patience toward what is awaited/endured relationally vs. endurance under pressure. |
| 52 | coming (of the Lord) / Parousia | παρουσία (του Κυρίου) | parousia | παρουσία | Critical | Patience and the Lord’s Return | 5:7-8 | Dominant Modern Greek sense is mundane “attendance.” Major cultural asset available via the fixed liturgical phrase “Δευτέρα Παρουσία” (universally known fresco theme) — use the fuller phrase, not bare παρουσία. |
| 53 | judge | κριτής | kritēs | κριτής | Low | Patience and the Lord’s Return | 5:9 | Stable judicial term, largely unaffected by the κρίσις “crisis” drift. |
| 54 | do not swear (oaths) | μην κάνετε όρκο | mē omnyete | μὴ ὀμνύετε | Medium | Patience and the Lord’s Return / Taming the Tongue | 5:12 | Distinguish formal verifying oaths (the target) from casual idiomatic God-invoking exclamations in everyday Greek speech. |
| 55 | prayer of faith | η ευχή/προσευχή της πίστης | euchē tēs pisteōs | εὐχὴ τῆς πίστεως | High | Prayer and Healing | 5:15 | Root of Ευχέλαιο (see #57); the operative instrument is prayer offered in faith, not the oil or office as such. |
| 56 | elders of the church | οι πρεσβύτεροι της εκκλησίας | presbyteroi tēs ekklēsias | πρεσβύτεροι τῆς ἐκκλησίας | High | Prayer and Healing | 5:14 | πρεσβύτερος is the standard Modern Greek clergy-rank title (ordained priest) — strong lexical continuity; frame alongside baseline “church” (εκκλησία, Medium). |
| 57 | anointing with oil | αλείψαντάς [τον] με λάδι | aleipsantes elaiō | ἀλείψαντες ἐλαίῳ | Critical | Prayer and Healing | 5:14 | Doctrinal-practice anchor: the literal institution-text for the Sacrament of Holy Unction (Ευχέλαιο, εὐχή+ἔλαιον). Affirm elders’ prayer-and-anointing for healing without narrowing to only the formal priestly rite as the sole valid obedience, nor treating it as a dead symbol. Mandatory theologian review every occurrence. |
| 58 | confess your sins to one another | εξομολογείστε ο ένας στον άλλον τις αμαρτίες | exomologeisthe allēlois tas hamartias | ἐξομολογεῖσθε ἀλλήλοις τὰς ἁμαρτίας | Critical | Confession and Restoration | 5:16 | Doctrinal-practice anchor, highest-sensitivity term in the book: ἐξομολόγηση = the sacrament of Confession in living Modern Greek. James’s ἀλλήλοις (reciprocal, congregation-wide) must not be silently overridden into an exclusively priest-mediated reading. Mandatory theologian review every occurrence. |
| 59 | the prayer of a righteous person | η δέησις του δικαίου | deēsis dikaiou | δέησις δικαίου | Medium | Prayer and Healing | 5:16 | Stable, liturgically active term (Orthodox litanies); low secular drift. |
| 60 | Elijah | Ηλίας | Ēlias | Ἠλίας | Low | Prayer and Healing | 5:17-18 | Established Greek Bible form; strong cultural asset (common given name; nationwide Προφήτης Ηλίας feast day). |
| 61 | turns back a sinner (from error) | επιστρέψει έναν αμαρτωλό | epistrepsē hamartōlon | ἐπιστρέψῃ ἁμαρτωλὸν | Medium | Confession and Restoration | 5:19-20 | Keep the restorative, within-community sense distinct from first-time evangelistic conversion. |
| 62 | will save a soul from death | θα σώσει μια ψυχή από τον θάνατο | sōsei psychēn ek thanatou | σώσει ψυχὴν ἐκ θανάτου | High | Confession and Restoration | 5:20 | Baseline reuse of σωτηρία root. ψυχή’s full theological weight (eternal well-being) must be preserved against colloquial “spirit/vitality” drift. |
Risk Summary
| Risk Tier | Count | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 10 | Human theologian (mandatory, every occurrence) |
| High | 18 | Human theologian |
| Medium | 24 | Native speaker review |
| Low | 10 | Automated review |
| Total terms cataloged | 62 |
Terms requiring mandatory human theologian review at every occurrence (Critical tier, per James-specific analysis): law of liberty (νόμος της ελευθερίας); works (έργα); to save/σώζω in the Faith-and-Works context; justified/δικαιόω (2:21, 24, 25); credited/ἐλογίσθη (2:23); grace/χάρη (4:6); coming/παρουσία (5:7-8); anointing with oil (5:14); confess your sins to one another (5:16); will save a soul from death (5:20, where it summarizes the whole letter’s Critical-tier salvation vocabulary).
Cross-reference note: This glossary must be loaded and enforced alongside, never in place of, the baseline translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json established for Romans/Galatians. Every term marked “Baseline reuse” above is governed first by its original baseline entry; the notes here add James-specific contextual risk only and introduce no new rendering for those terms.
Critical Risk Terms
Grace
Approved rendering: χάρη
Transliteration: chári
Doctrine: Grace / Grace Given to the Humble
Rejected alternatives: χάρη με την καθημερινή έννοια της γοητείας ή ομορφιάς, χάρη ως νομική/προεδρική χάρη (απονομή χάριτος)
Inherited from Romans package, exact rendering. James 4:6 quotes Proverbs 3:34 LXX verbatim (‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble’) — the same grace/merit contrast central to Romans/Galatians, now applied to interpersonal humility rather than justification. Anchor against the same secular senses (charm, legal pardon) in this new context.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: δικαιοσύνη
Transliteration: dikaiosýni
Doctrine: Salvation / Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: δικαιοσύνη αποκλειστικά με τη σύγχρονη έννοια της νομικής ή κοινωνικής δικαιοσύνης
Inherited from Romans package, exact rendering. Appears in James at 2:23 (Genesis 15:6 LXX quotation, ἐλογίσθη…εἰς δικαιοσύνην) and 3:18 (καρπὸς δικαιοσύνης, ‘fruit of righteousness’). At 3:18 keep the ethical/practical outworking sense distinct from, but not contradictory to, Romans’s forensic sense.
Justification
Approved rendering: δικαίωση
Transliteration: dikaíosi
Doctrine: Salvation / Justification Vindicated by Works
Rejected alternatives: δικαίωση με τη σύγχρονη καθημερινή έννοια του ‘να αποδειχθεί κανείς σωστός’ (προσωπική δικαίωση)
Inherited from Romans package (root δικαιόω). CRITICAL JAMES-SPECIFIC NOTE: the baseline flagged Modern Greek δικαιώνομαι’s colloquial ‘personal vindication’ sense as a risk at Romans 3-5. In James 2:21, 24, 25, that same colloquial sense is UNUSUALLY CLOSE to James’s own intended meaning (public demonstration/vindication of an already-possessed righteousness), whereas Paul’s use of the identical verb elsewhere is forensic (declared righteous before God). This coincidence is both a teaching asset and a trap: every occurrence in James 2:21-25 requires a mandatory translator’s note explicitly distinguishing the two questions the same verb answers in the two authors. See also ‘justified’ (Section B) for the James-specific entry documenting the verb forms used.
Salvation
Approved rendering: σωτηρία
Transliteration: sotiría
Doctrine: Salvation / Faith and Works / Confession and Restoration
Inherited from Romans package, exact rendering. James uses the verbal root σῴζω extensively (2:14, 5:15, 5:20) rather than the noun σωτηρία itself; see ‘save’ (Section B) for the verb-form entry. The baseline’s theosis-accretion risk note applies identically in James: guard against σωτηρία/σῴζω being read as either earned by works or collapsed entirely into gradual participatory transformation, at the expense of James’s own logical point that a workless ‘faith’ was never saving faith to begin with.
Freedom
Approved rendering: ελευθερία
Transliteration: eleutheria
Doctrine: The Law of Liberty
Rejected alternatives: ελευθερία αποκλειστικά με την εθνικοπολιτική έννοια της εθνικής ανεξαρτησίας, ελευθερία ως ασυδοσία/άνομη ζωή
Inherited from Galatians extension of the baseline package, exact rendering. James’s νόμος τῆς ἐλευθερίας (1:25; 2:12) combines this term with νόμος, compounding two of the highest-risk terms in the whole Language Package. Mandatory cross-reference with the baseline Galatians ‘freedom_in_christ’ doctrine entry to keep ελευθερία’s maximal national-political resonance (the motto ‘Ελευθερία ή Θάνατος,’ the national anthem) fenced consistently across both curricula.
Lord
Approved rendering: Κύριος
Transliteration: Kýrios
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ / Patience and the Lord’s Return / Wealth, Injustice, and Coming Judgment
Rejected alternatives: Κύριος με την καθημερινή έννοια της ευγενικής προσφώνησης ‘κύριε’ (αντίστοιχο του ‘Mr.’)
Inherited from Romans package, exact rendering. In James, occurs in ‘Lord Jesus Christ of glory’ (2:1), ‘if the Lord wills’ (4:15), ‘Lord of hosts/Sabaoth’ (5:4), ‘the coming of the Lord’ (5:7-8), and the elders praying ‘in the name of the Lord’ (5:14). Every occurrence must retain full exclusive-divine-Lordship weight, never the flattened everyday honorific, including within the living popular idiom ‘άμα θέλει ο Θεός’ that 4:15 evokes.
God
Approved rendering: Θεός
Transliteration: Theós
Doctrine: God / Temptation and God’s Character
Inherited from Romans package, exact rendering. Central to James 1:13’s careful denial that God tempts anyone to sin — a claim that must remain unambiguous even though the same chapter affirms God ordains/permits trials (1:2-4).
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Άγιο Πνεύμα
Transliteration: Ágio Pnévma
Doctrine: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package, exact rendering. Relevant to James 2:26’s ‘body without πνεῦμα’ (breath/life-spirit) analogy: the lowercase, non-Trinitarian πνεῦμα at 2:26 must be kept lexically and typographically distinct from this entry’s capitalized Άγιο Πνεύμα, since the identical Greek word otherwise serves both senses.
Father
Approved rendering: Πατέρας
Transliteration: Patéras
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family / Wisdom from Above
Inherited from Romans package, exact rendering. Head noun of James’s ‘Father of lights’ title (πατὴρ τῶν φώτων, 1:17); see ‘father_of_lights’ (Section B) for the fuller title.
Credited
Approved rendering: λογίστηκε
Transliteration: elogisthē
Doctrine: Salvation / Justification Vindicated by Works
Rejected alternatives: δικαιοσύνη ως αποκλειστικά εσωτερική μεταμόρφωση μέσω της θέωσης, χωρίς καμία δικανική διάσταση
Original: ἐλογίσθη
Category: Faith and Works
Inherited from the Galatians extension of the baseline package, exact rendering. James 2:23 quotes Genesis 15:6 LXX in the IDENTICAL wording Paul cites in Romans 4:3 and Galatians 3:6 — the anchor verse resolving the entire Faith-and-Works tension: James confirms rather than contradicts that righteousness was credited to Abraham by faith at Genesis 15:6, prior to and independent of the Isaac-offering at Genesis 22 (James 2:21). Mandatory human theologian review at this occurrence.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: λογιζόμενη δικαιοσύνη
Transliteration: logizómeni dikaiosýni
Doctrine: Justification by Faith / Justification Vindicated by Works
Rejected alternatives: δικαιοσύνη ως αποκλειστικά εσωτερική μεταμόρφωση μέσω της θέωσης, χωρίς καμία δικανική διάσταση
Inherited from the Galatians extension of the baseline package. The doctrinal category anchoring James 2:23’s ἐλογίσθη citation; teaching material should present James 2:14-26 as presupposing, not contradicting, this baseline doctrine.
Jesus
Approved rendering: Ιησούς
Transliteration: Iisoús
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Inherited from Romans package, exact rendering. Appears in James at 1:1 and 2:1 (‘our Lord Jesus Christ of glory’).
Trial Temptation
Approved rendering: πειρασμός / δοκιμασία
Transliteration: peirasmós / dokimasía
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith / Temptation and God’s Character
Rejected alternatives: χρήση ενός μόνο όρου σε όλο το κεφάλαιο 1, εξαλείφοντας το εσκεμμένο λογοπαίγνιο του Ιακώβου
Original: πειρασμός
Category: Trials and the Testing of Faith
James deliberately exploits the single Koine word’s double sense: positive testing (1:2-4, producing endurance) and negative enticement to sin (1:13-14, explicitly excluded from God’s causation). Render δοκιμασία at 1:2-3 and πειρασμός at 1:13-14, with a mandatory translator’s note preserving James’s own distinction — God ordains trials but never tempts to sin. Modern Greek πειρασμός retains both senses colloquially (an ordeal; a tempting dessert), making the ambiguity live rather than archaic.
Law Of Liberty
Approved rendering: νόμος της ελευθερίας
Transliteration: nómos tēs eleutherías
Doctrine: The Law of Liberty
Original: νόμος (τῆς) ἐλευθερίας
Category: Faith and Works
James 1:25; 2:12. Compounds two of the Language Package’s highest-risk terms (see ‘law’ and ‘freedom’ above). Risks either sounding like an internal contradiction the text does not intend, or importing ελευθερία’s maximal national-political resonance into a phrase about personal ethical liberation in Christ. Mandatory cross-reference with the baseline Galatians ‘freedom_in_christ’ doctrine entry; mandatory theologian-reviewed framing at both occurrences.
Works
Approved rendering: έργα
Transliteration: érga
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: έργα αποκλειστικά με τη σύγχρονη έννοια των δημόσιων/κατασκευαστικών έργων ή καλλιτεχνικών έργων
Original: ἔργα
Category: Faith and Works
James 2:14-26. Zero lexical gap (same word as the NT’s own), but Modern Greek έργα defaults to construction/public-works (δημόσια έργα) or artistic/literary works. The acute risk is doctrinal: this term sits in maximal tension with ‘works_of_the_law’ above. Mandatory translator’s note at every occurrence distinguishing James’s ἔργα (necessary, faith-evidencing fruit) from Paul’s ἔργα νόμου (Mosaic law-observance as justification-ground, rejected) — different questions, not competing answers.
Save
Approved rendering: σώσει / σώσαι
Transliteration: sṛsei / sṛsai
Doctrine: Faith and Works / Prayer and Healing / Confession and Restoration
Original: σῴζω
Category: Faith and Works
Inherited from Romans package (σωτηρία root, verb form σῴζω). James 2:14, 5:15, 5:20. At 2:14 the rhetorical question assumes genuine faith does save, exposing that the workless kind under discussion was never saving faith at all — must never be read as suggesting salvation is earned by adding works to faith.
Justified
Approved rendering: δικαιώθηκε / δικαιώνεται
Transliteration: edikaiṛthē / dikaioutai
Doctrine: Justification Vindicated by Works
Rejected alternatives: δικαιώθηκε αποκλειστικά με τη δικανική έννοια του Παύλου, αγνοώντας το αποδεικτικό/επιδεικτικό νόημα του Ιακώβου
Original: δικαιόω
Category: Faith and Works
James 2:21, 24, 25. THE single highest-stakes rendering decision in the James curriculum. Uses the same verb (δικαιόω, inherited root from ‘justification’ above) but answers a different question than Paul: James asks how a professed faith is shown to be the real, living kind (public demonstration/vindication); Paul asks on what ground God declares a sinner righteous (forensic declaration, faith alone). Modern colloquial δικαιώνομαι (‘I was proven right in the end’) is unusually close to James’s own sense here — a teaching asset and a trap simultaneously. Mandatory human theologian review at every occurrence, with an explicit note distinguishing the two questions.
Coming Parousia
Approved rendering: παρουσία (του Κυρίου) / η Δευτέρα Παρουσία του Κυρίου
Transliteration: parousía
Doctrine: Patience and the Lord’s Return
Rejected alternatives: παρουσία χωρίς συμπλήρωμα, αφημένη στη σύγχρονη καθημερινή έννοια της ‘παρουσίας/απουσίας’ (π.χ. βιβλίο παρουσιών)
Original: παρουσία
Category: Patience and the Lord’s Return
James 5:7-8. The dominant everyday Modern Greek sense is mundane ‘attendance’ (a school attendance register is literally a βιβλίο παρουσιών) — the most severe secular-bleaching case newly introduced by James. Counter-asset: ‘Δευτέρα Παρουσία’ is a universally recognized fixed liturgical phrase and fresco theme (the Last Judgment, painted on the west wall of virtually every traditional Greek Orthodox church). Never use bare παρουσία; use the fuller phrase to draw on this asset.
Anointing With Oil
Approved rendering: αλείψαντάς [τον] με λάδι
Transliteration: aleípsantes elaíō
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Rejected alternatives: αντικατάσταση με το όνομα του Μυστηρίου ‘Ευχέλαιο’ μέσα στο ίδιο το μεταφρασμένο βιβλικό κείμενο
Original: ἀλείψαντες ἐλαίῳ
Category: Prayer and Healing
James 5:14. THE single most direct doctrinal-practice anchor in the entire James curriculum: the literal institution-text for the Orthodox Sacrament of Holy Unction, Το Ευχέλαιο (εὐχή + ἔλαιον — James’s own two key nouns). Render James’s own descriptive action (elders praying, accompanied by anointing) rather than substituting the later sacrament’s technical name into the primary translated text. Affirm what James actually says without narrowing obedience to only the formal priestly liturgical rite, nor treating the anointing as an empty symbol. Mandatory human theologian review at every occurrence.
Confess Sins To One Another
Approved rendering: εξομολογείστε ο ένας στον άλλον τις αμαρτίες [σας]
Transliteration: exomologeísthe allḥlois tas hamartías
Doctrine: Confession and Restoration
Rejected alternatives: εξομολογηθείτε στον ιερέα (υπονόηση αποκλειστικά ιερατικής διαμεσολάβησης, αγνοώντας τη γραμματική ‘αλλήλοις’)
Original: ἐξομολογεῖσθε ἀλλήλοις τὰς ἁμαρτίας
Category: Confession and Restoration
James 5:16. The single most sensitive rendering decision for a Greek Orthodox audience in the whole letter: ἐξομολόγηση in living Modern Greek denotes almost exclusively the priest-heard Sacrament of Confession, while James’s grammar (ἀλλήλοις, reciprocal, ‘to one another’) describes a mutual practice among believers generally. Render and teach the reciprocal grammar with its full force (‘ο ένας στον άλλον,’ not ‘στον ιερέα’); do not deny the value of sacramental confession, and do not allow the plain congregational grammar to be silently overridden. Mandatory human theologian review at every occurrence.
High Risk Terms
Faith
Approved rendering: πίστη
Transliteration: písti
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: πίστη με τη γενική έννοια της αφοσίωσης σε οποιαδήποτε ιδέα ή πρόσωπο
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith and Works
Inherited from Romans package, exact rendering. In James 2:14-26 this is the SAME word used positively throughout Romans/Galatians, now tested for authenticity rather than redefined — the bare, unaccompanied intellectual assent James critiques (2:14, 19) is not a different kind of ‘faith’ lexically, only a counterfeit instance of it.
Law
Approved rendering: νόμος
Transliteration: nómos
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy / The Royal Law of Love / The Law of Liberty
Inherited from Romans package, exact rendering. In James, appears as the ‘royal law’ (νόμος βασιλικός, 2:8) and the ‘law of liberty’ (νόμος τῆς ἐλευθερίας, 1:25; 2:12). Modern Greek νόμος defaults to civil legislation; James’s ethical-love-command sense must stay distinct from both Paul’s ἔργα νόμου foil and generic modern legislation.
Works Of The Law
Approved rendering: έργα του νόμου
Transliteration: erga nomou
Doctrine: Covenant / Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: έργα νόμου γενικευμένα ως οποιαδήποτε καλά έργα, αποσυνδεδεμένα από τον Μωσαϊκό Νόμο
Inherited from the Galatians extension of the baseline package, exact rendering. THE controlling contrast-term for James’s core passage: James’s ἔργα (2:14-26) must never be silently merged with this term. Paul’s ἔργα νόμου (Mosaic law-observance as justification-ground, rejected) and James’s ἔργα (faith-evidencing fruit, affirmed) answer different questions. Mandatory translator’s note wherever both terms could be confused.
Wisdom
Approved rendering: σοφία
Transliteration: sophía
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
Rejected alternatives: σοφία αποκλειστικά ως φιλοσοφική/διανοητική επίτευξη
Original: σοφία
Category: Wisdom from Above
James 1:5; 3:13-17. Uniquely for this Language Package among most languages in this pipeline, σοφία carries a NATIVE (not imported) secular-intellectual resonance from Greek’s own classical philosophical heritage (Socrates, the Sophists, Aristotle’s sophia as intellectual virtue), directly legible to a Modern Greek reader without translation. James’s wisdom is a prayed-for divine gift evidenced by peaceable moral fruit, not an achievement of reasoning or education. Requires explicit contrast-framing at both occurrences.
Religion
Approved rendering: θρησκεία
Transliteration: thrēskeía
Doctrine: Pure and Undefiled Religion
Rejected alternatives: θρησκεία αποκλειστικά ως τελετουργική/θεσμική ορθοδοξία
Original: θρησκεία
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
James 1:26-27. Modern Greek θρησκεία defaults to institutional/national-religious identity (θρησκευτικά as a school subject; Orthodoxy as ‘η θρησκεία του γένους’). James’s ethical redefinition — pure religion as concrete care for the vulnerable, not ritual correctness — must be framed as a critique of ritual-without-ethics, never as an attack on liturgical or institutional life as such.
Favoritism
Approved rendering: προσωποληψία
Transliteration: prosōpolēpsía
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Original: προσωποληψία
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
James 2:1-9. Precise, transparent compound but formal/legal register, rare in everyday speech; pair with the plain-language gloss μεροληψία at first occurrence while retaining the technical term for precision thereafter.
Dead Faith
Approved rendering: νεκρή
Transliteration: nekrá
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: ασθενής/ανώριμη πίστη αντί για ‘νεκρή’ (μαλάκωμα της δογματικής έντασης)
Original: νεκρά
Category: Faith and Works
James 2:17, 20, 26. Zero lexical gap; the word is stable and vivid. Resist any temptation in teaching prose to soften the force toward ‘incomplete’ or ‘immature’ faith to ease the apparent tension with Paul — James’s categorical claim (a corpse, not a weak living thing) must be preserved.
Demons
Approved rendering: δαιμόνια
Transliteration: daimónia
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: δαιμόνιο με τη σύγχρονη λαϊκή έννοια της εξυπνάδας/του κεφιού (‘έχει δαιμόνιο’)
Original: δαιμόνια
Category: Faith and Works
James 2:19. Real, personal, malevolent spiritual beings whose orthodox belief and dread shame complacent professed faith without works. The colloquial secular sense of δαιμόνιο (‘spark of genius,’ wit) must not soften the verse’s intended horror.
Worked Together
Approved rendering: συνεργούσε
Transliteration: synḥrgei
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: συνεργούσε ταυτισμένο πλήρως με τη πατερική/μοναστική έννοια της συνέργειας (θεία χάρη + ανθρώπινη βούληση)
Original: συνήργει
Category: Faith and Works
James 2:22. Faith and works as a single organic cooperating partnership. Risk of careless over-identification with the technical Orthodox patristic/monastic doctrine of synergeia (grace-and-will cooperation in theosis); James’s point is narrower — an individual’s existing faith cooperating with their own subsequent actions. A clarifying note preventing over-identification is advisable, though the resonance may be a legitimate teaching asset if properly scoped.
Was Perfected
Approved rendering: τελειώθηκε / ολοκληρώθηκε
Transliteration: eteleiṛthē
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: τελειοποιήθηκε (υπονοώντας ηθική αναμαρτησία/τελειότητα)
Original: ἐτελειώθη
Category: Faith and Works
James 2:22. Faith reaching its intended, mature expression through works — not moral perfectionism or merit-creation. Prefer ολοκληρώθηκε (‘was completed/brought to fullness’) to reduce ambiguity with τέλειος-as-flawless.
Body Without Spirit
Approved rendering: σώμα χωρίς πνεύμα
Transliteration: sṛma chōrís pnévmatos
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: Πνεύμα με κεφαλαίο, υπονοώντας αναφορά στο Άγιο Πνεύμα
Original: σῶμα χωρὶς πνεύματος
Category: Faith and Works
James 2:26. The closing analogy: works stand to faith as breath stands to the body. πνεῦμα here means ordinary life-breath, NOT the Holy Spirit (Άγιο Πνεύμα, inherited entry above, Critical). Disambiguate by lowercase and register/gloss, not by word substitution, since the identical Greek word serves both senses.
Fire Hell
Approved rendering: πυρ / γέεννα
Transliteration: pyr / géenna
Doctrine: Taming the Tongue
Rejected alternatives: γέεννα αποδοσμένη απλά ως ‘κόλαση’ χωρίς ιστορική επεξήγηση
Original: πῦρ / γέεννα
Category: Taming the Tongue
James 3:6. γέεννα has no secular competing sense but risks under-translation of its severity without a brief historical gloss (the Valley of Hinnom). Retain the transliterated NT form; do not paraphrase away the specific referent.
Wisdom From Above
Approved rendering: η άνωθεν σοφία
Transliteration: sophía ánōthen
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
Original: σοφία ἄνωθεν
Category: Wisdom from Above
James 3:15, 17. Builds on ‘wisdom’ above. ἄνωθεν itself is stable and offers a positive teaching bridge to John 3:3’s ‘born from above’ (identical word) if the curriculum deliberately draws that connection.
Earthly Unspiritual Demonic
Approved rendering: επίγεια, ψυχική, δαιμονιώδης
Transliteration: epígeios, psychikḥ, daimoniṛdēs
Doctrine: Worldly Wisdom and the Source of Conflict
Rejected alternatives: ψυχική αποδοσμένη ως ‘ψυχολογική/πνευματική υγεία’ με τη σύγχρονη κλινική έννοια
Original: ἐπίγειος, ψυχική, δαιμονιώδης
Category: Wisdom from Above
James 3:15. A three-fold escalating description of counterfeit wisdom’s source. δαιμονιώδης shares the δαιμόνια colloquial-cleverness drift risk; ψυχική risks confusion with the modern clinical ‘mental health’ sense rather than the Pauline ‘of the natural human soul, apart from the Spirit’ sense — a gloss is required for both.
Friendship With World
Approved rendering: φιλία με τον κόσμο
Transliteration: philía toú kósmou
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Rejected alternatives: φιλία με τον κόσμο ερμηνευμένη ως καταδίκη της κοινωνικότητας ή της κοσμικής δημιουργίας γενικά
Original: φιλία τοῦ κόσμου
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
James 4:4. κόσμος must consistently mean the God-opposed value-system, never the created physical world or ordinary social engagement. Do not under-weight the severity of the following ‘enmity with God’ clause by treating worldliness as a mild character flaw.
Adulteresses
Approved rendering: μοιχαλίδες
Transliteration: moichalídes
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Rejected alternatives: απόδοση πιο ‘ήπια’ όπως ‘άπιστοι’ που χάνει τον σκόπιμα σοκαριστικό, προφητικό τόνο
Original: μοιχαλίδες
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
James 4:4. Old Testament prophetic covenant-unfaithfulness metaphor (Hosea, Jeremiah, Ezekiel). Mandatory explanatory note connecting to this background; without it, the vocative reads as a jarring non-sequitur rather than the deliberate prophetic echo it is.
Resist The Devil
Approved rendering: αντισταθείτε στον διάβολο
Transliteration: antístētē tṛ diávolo
Doctrine: Submission to God and Resisting the Devil
Rejected alternatives: διάβολος αποδοσμένος με λαογραφική/δεισιδαιμονική χροιά
Original: ἀντίστητε τῷ διαβόλῳ
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
James 4:7. διάβολος is lexically stable; present as a genuinely personal spiritual adversary consistent with New Testament demonology, never reduced to metaphor for impersonal temptation or folk-superstition.
If The Lord Wills
Approved rendering: εάν θέλει ο Κύριος
Transliteration: eán thélei ho Kýrios
Doctrine: Providence and Human Planning
Rejected alternatives: αντικατάσταση του Κύριος με τη λαϊκή έκφραση ‘άμα θέλει ο Θεός’ ως πρωτεύουσα μετάφραση
Original: Ἐὰν ὁ Κύριος θελήσῃ
Category: Patience and the Lord’s Return
James 4:13-17. Reuses the inherited ‘lord’ entry exactly. The living popular idiom ‘άμα θέλει ο Θεός’ is a genuine cultural asset but risks Κύριος being heard with casual-idiom flatness; retain the fuller Κύριος phrasing to preserve full divine-Lordship weight while remaining immediately recognizable.
Lord Of Hosts
Approved rendering: Κύριος Σαβαώθ
Transliteration: Kýrios Sabaṛth
Doctrine: Wealth, Injustice, and Coming Judgment
Rejected alternatives: Κύριος των στρατευμάτων (μετάφραση αντί για διατήρηση της μεταγραφής Σαβαώθ), ‘Ιεχωβά των στρατευμάτων’ ή παρόμοια ανακατασκευασμένη μορφή του θείου ονόματος (μοτίβο αιρετικής μετάφρασης — ΑΠΑΓΟΡΕΥΕΤΑΙ)
Original: Κύριος Σαβαώθ
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
James 5:4. Combines the inherited ‘lord’ entry with the retained transliteration Σαβαώθ (per the established Αββά/γέεννα convention). A brief gloss explaining the military-title sense should accompany it; also a strong liturgical asset via the Orthodox Sanctus (‘Άγιος, άγιος, άγιος Κύριος Σαβαώθ’).
Prayer Of Faith
Approved rendering: η ευχή/προσευχή της πίστης
Transliteration: euchḥ tḥs pístes
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Original: εὐχὴ τῆς πίστεως
Category: Prayer and Healing
James 5:15. εὐχή is the root of Ευχέλαιο (Holy Unction); this phrase sits at the center of the chapter’s doctrinal-practice anchor risk. Teach the prayer of faith as the operative instrument, not the oil or priestly office mechanically, without minimizing the Orthodox sacramental practice this verse historically grounds.
Elders Of The Church
Approved rendering: οι πρεσβύτεροι της εκκλησίας
Transliteration: presbýteroi tḥs ekklēsías
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Original: πρεσβύτεροι τῆς ἐκκλησίας
Category: Prayer and Healing
James 5:14. πρεσβύτερος is the standard Modern Greek title for an ordained parish priest — a near-total identity between James’s term and contemporary clerical address, a genuine asset for continuity. Affirm the natural reading (calling one’s parish priest) without narrowing James’s own broader sense of recognized congregational leadership. Frame alongside the (non-inherited, doctrine-category) understanding of εκκλησία as the local gathered congregation.
Will Save Soul From Death
Approved rendering: θα σώσει μια ψυχή από τον θάνατο
Transliteration: sṛsei psychḥn ek thanátou
Doctrine: Confession and Restoration
Rejected alternatives: ψυχή αποδοσμένη με την καθημερινή έννοια του ‘κεφιού/της ζωντάνιας’ (‘έχει ψυχή’)
Original: σώσει ψυχὴν ἐκ θανάτου
Category: Confession and Restoration
James 5:20. Reuses the inherited σωτηρία root. ψυχή’s full theological weight (a person’s eternal well-being) must be preserved against the colloquial ‘spirit/vitality’ drift; this is the letter’s closing promise, echoing 1:15 and the core passage.
Medium Risk Terms
Sin
Approved rendering: αμαρτία
Transliteration: amartía
Doctrine: Sin / Temptation and God’s Character
Rejected alternatives: αμαρτία με την καθημερινή, εξασθενημένη έννοια του ‘κρίμα’ (π.χ. ‘τι αμαρτία να πεταχτεί το φαγητό’)
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package, exact rendering. In James, the offspring of ἐπιθυμία (1:15) leading to θάνατος, and the specific named failures throughout the letter (2:9; 4:17; 5:15-16, 20). Guard against the colloquial weakened ‘what a shame’ idiom bleeding into James’s serious moral-accountability register, especially at 4:17 (‘whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin’).
Abba
Approved rendering: Αββά
Transliteration: Avvá
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Inherited from Romans package. Not used directly in James; retained here for cross-curriculum consistency should teaching material cross-reference Romans 8:15 alongside James’s Father-of-lights and friend-of-God relational language.
Fruit Of The Spirit
Approved rendering: ο καρπός του Πνεύματος
Transliteration: karpos tou Pneumatos
Doctrine: Sanctification / Wisdom from Above
Inherited from the Galatians extension of the baseline package. Structurally relevant to James 3:18’s καρπὸς δικαιοσύνης (‘fruit of righteousness’) — keep καρπός singular in both cases, denoting one integrated outcome rather than a checklist of separate achievements.
Adoption
Approved rendering: υιοθεσία
Transliteration: yiothesía
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Inherited from Romans package, exact rendering. James’s φίλος θεοῦ (‘friend of God,’ 2:23) is a relational title that anticipates, without collapsing into, this fuller New Testament adoption/sonship category available to all believers; note the distinction explicitly rather than treating the terms as synonyms.
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)
Inherited from Romans package, exact rendering. James 2:1’s ‘our Lord Jesus Christ of glory’ (τῆς δόξης) opens the favoritism section with a high-Christological anchor; must retain full theological weight, not the secular ‘fame/acclaim’ sense, especially since this is the verse governing the whole favoritism argument.
Providence
Approved rendering: πρόνοια
Transliteration: prónoia
Doctrine: Providence and Human Planning
Rejected alternatives: πρόνοια με τη σύγχρονη έννοια της κοινωνικής πρόνοιας (social welfare)
Inherited from Romans package, exact rendering. The doctrinal category underlying James 4:13-17’s correction of presumptuous planning (‘if the Lord wills’); Modern Greek πρόνοια’s dominant secular sense (state welfare) should not crowd out the theological governance sense here, exactly as in the baseline.
Peace
Approved rendering: ειρήνη
Transliteration: eiríni
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: ειρήνη με την ησυχαστική έννοια της εσωτερικής ή νοερής ησυχίας (μυστικιστική παράδοση)
Inherited from Romans package, exact rendering. James 2:16’s hollow dismissal ‘go in peace’ (ὑπάγετε ἐν εἰρήνῃ) uses this term ironically — James condemns costless piety-language substituting for concrete material help. Framing must clarify the irony, not present the phrase as a model blessing.
Testing Genuineness
Approved rendering: δοκίμιο (της πίστης) / η δοκιμή της πίστης
Transliteration: dokímion
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Original: δοκίμιον
Category: Trials and the Testing of Faith
James 1:3. Metallurgical refining metaphor. Modern Greek δοκιμή commonly means an ordinary test/trial run (e.g. a driving test); anchor to James’s specific proving/refining sense.
Endurance
Approved rendering: υπομονή
Transliteration: hypomoní
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Original: ὑπομονή
Category: Trials and the Testing of Faith
James 1:3-4, 12; 5:11. Distinguish clearly from μακροθυμία (patience toward people/circumstances awaited, ch.5); colloquial ‘κάνε υπομονή’ can flatten the theological weight if not anchored to the trial context.
Desire Lust
Approved rendering: επιθυμία
Transliteration: epithymía
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith / Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Original: ἐπιθυμία
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
James 1:14-15; 4:1-2. Keep register plain and universally applicable to every believer; do not import the technical Hesychast/ascetic πάθη (passions) framework, which risks making James’s plain pastoral warning sound like it requires specialized monastic spiritual direction.
Implanted Word
Approved rendering: ο εμφυτευμένος λόγος
Transliteration: ho emphytos lógos
Doctrine: Hearing and Doing the Word
Original: λόγος ἔμφυτος
Category: Faith and Works
James 1:21-22. Modern εμφυτεύω is now primarily a medical-implant term; a brief gloss connecting the phrase to the sower-and-seed background image is required to avoid a clinical misreading.
Unstained By World
Approved rendering: αμόλυντος από τον κόσμο
Transliteration: amólyntos apó ton kósmo
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
James 1:27. κόσμος here requires the same value-system (not physical-world) handling required throughout chapter 4.
Poor
Approved rendering: πτωχός
Transliteration: ptōchós
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Rejected alternatives: αποκλειστική χρήση της δημοτικής ‘φτωχός’ αντί της επίσημης ‘πτωχός’
Original: πτωχός
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
James 2:2-6; 5:1-6. Use the formal register πτωχός consistently, matching this curriculum’s overall register, rather than the demotic φτωχός.
Rich
Approved rendering: πλούσιος
Transliteration: ploúsios
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Original: πλούσιος
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
James 2:2-6; 5:1-6. Stable; low drift risk.
Royal Law
Approved rendering: βασιλικός νόμος
Transliteration: nómos basilikós
Doctrine: The Royal Law of Love
Original: νόμος βασιλικός
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
James 2:8. βασιλικός carries a faint political-monarchical resonance in a modern republic that abolished its monarchy in 1974; anchor explicitly to God’s own kingship, not earthly/historical monarchy.
Mercy
Approved rendering: έλεος
Transliteration: éleos
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Original: ἔλεος
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
James 2:13. Deeply embedded in the Greek liturgical soundscape (Κύριε, ελέησον — the most frequently repeated phrase in Orthodox liturgy), a strong devotional asset; the modest risk is extreme familiarity reducing it to a ritual refrain rather than James’s call to concrete, costly compassion. Pair at least once with a concrete-action gloss.
Judgment
Approved rendering: κρίση / κρίμα
Transliteration: krísi / kríma
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor / Patience and the Lord’s Return
Original: κρίσις
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
James 2:12-13; 5:9. Modern Greek κρίση overwhelmingly and primarily means ‘(economic) crisis,’ an especially loaded association in recent Greek social history. Use κρίμα preferentially where the judicial/eschatological sense must be unambiguous; where κρίση is used, always pair with an explanatory clause.
Friend Of God
Approved rendering: φίλος του Θεού
Transliteration: phílos toú Theoú
Doctrine: Justification Vindicated by Works
Original: φίλος θεοῦ
Category: Faith and Works
James 2:23. Stable, warm, intimate covenantal title given to Abraham. Note the connection to, without collapsing into, the inherited ‘adoption’ (υιοθεσία) category applied to all believers in the New Testament.
Tongue
Approved rendering: γλώσσα
Transliteration: glṛssa
Doctrine: Taming the Tongue
Original: γλῶσσα
Category: Taming the Tongue
James 1:26; 3:1-12; 4:11-12. Modern Greek γλώσσα equally and very commonly means ‘language.’ Context (bridle/fire/small-member imagery) must keep James’s embodied moral-agency sense primary.
Bridle
Approved rendering: χαλιναγωγώ
Transliteration: chalinagṛgeō
Doctrine: Taming the Tongue
Original: χαλιναγωγέω
Category: Taming the Tongue
James 1:26; 3:2-3. Vivid, stable equestrian metaphor still transparent in Modern Greek (χαλινός, ‘bridle/bit,’ remains a living word).
Jealousy Selfish Ambition
Approved rendering: ζήλος / έριδα (φιλονικία)
Transliteration: zḥlos / eritheía
Doctrine: Worldly Wisdom and the Source of Conflict
Original: ζῆλος / ἐριθεία
Category: Taming the Tongue
James 3:14-16; 4:1-2. ζῆλος ranges from commendable zeal to destructive envy; the negative sense here is confirmed by pairing with ἐριθεία. Do not cross-reference the inherited ‘zealot’ entry’s more neutral-to-positive Pauline sense without a disambiguating note.
Fruit Of Righteousness
Approved rendering: καρπός δικαιοσύνης
Transliteration: karpós dikaiosýnēs
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
Original: καρπὸς δικαιοσύνης
Category: Wisdom from Above
James 3:18. Reuses the inherited ‘fruit_of_the_spirit’ (καρπός, keep singular) and ‘righteousness’ entries; keep δικαιοσύνη here in its ethical/practical outworking sense, complementary to but distinct from the forensic sense central to Romans.
Proud Humble
Approved rendering: υπερήφανος / ταπεινός
Transliteration: hyperḥphanos / tapeinós
Doctrine: Grace Given to the Humble
Original: ὑπερήφανος / ταπεινός
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
James 4:6, 10. Modern Greek υπερήφανος carries a strong positive secondary sense (legitimate self-respect/national pride), unlike the uniformly negative Koine ὑπερήφανος. Anchor explicitly to the negative, God-opposing sense James intends.
Purify Hearts
Approved rendering: αγνίσατε τις καρδιές σας
Transliteration: hagnísate kardías
Doctrine: Submission to God and Resisting the Devil
Original: ἁγνίσατε καρδίας
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
James 4:8. Keep the root ἁγν- (purify/chaste) lexically distinct from ἁγι- (holy/sanctify, inherited Critical-risk category), even though thematically related; addressed to the δίψυχοι (double-minded).
Speak Against Judge
Approved rendering: κακολογείτε / κρίνετε
Transliteration: katalaleín / krínein
Doctrine: Taming the Tongue
Original: καταλαλεῖν / κρίνειν τὸν ἀδελφόν
Category: Taming the Tongue
James 4:11-12. Shares a root with κρίσις (see ‘judgment’ above) but the verbal ‘to judge/condemn’ form is comparatively less affected by the ‘economic crisis’ secular drift than the abstract noun.
Wages
Approved rendering: μισθός
Transliteration: misthós
Doctrine: Wealth, Injustice, and Coming Judgment
Original: μισθός
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
James 5:4. Withheld laborers’ wages cry out to the Lord of hosts. Both the employment-wage sense and the divine-reward sense are active and mutually reinforcing here; watch consistency elsewhere in the curriculum.
Be Patient
Approved rendering: μακροθυμήσατε
Transliteration: makrothymḥsate
Doctrine: Patience and the Lord’s Return
Original: μακροθυμήσατε
Category: Patience and the Lord’s Return
James 5:7-8, 10. Distinguish clearly from the inherited-context ‘endurance’ (ὑπομονή) — μακροθυμία is patience toward what is awaited/endured relationally, not endurance under pressure; both terms occur within a few verses of each other.
Do Not Swear
Approved rendering: μην κάνετε όρκο
Transliteration: mḥ omnýete
Doctrine: Oaths and Truthful Speech
Original: μὴ ὀμνύετε
Category: Patience and the Lord’s Return
James 5:12. Distinguish formal, verifying oaths (the target) from casual idiomatic God-invoking exclamations in everyday Greek speech (e.g. ‘μα τον Θεό’); a contextual note prevents mechanical over-application.
Prayer Of Righteous Person
Approved rendering: η δέησις του δικαίου
Transliteration: déēsis dikaíou
Doctrine: The Power of Righteous Prayer
Original: δέησις δικαίου
Category: Prayer and Healing
James 5:16b. δέησις is a stable, liturgically active term (used throughout Orthodox litanies), giving strong devotional resonance and low secular drift.
Turns Back Sinner
Approved rendering: επιστρέψει έναν αμαρτωλό
Transliteration: epistrépsē hamartṛlon
Doctrine: Confession and Restoration
Original: ἐπιστρέψῃ ἁμαρτωλὸν
Category: Confession and Restoration
James 5:19-20. ἐπιστρέφω is the standard Greek word for both literal ‘return’ and religious ‘conversion’; keep the restorative, within-community sense (an existing believer who has wandered) distinct from first-time evangelistic conversion.
Low Risk Terms
Zealot
Approved rendering: ζηλωτής
Transliteration: zēlōtēs
Doctrine: Sin
Inherited from the Galatians extension of the baseline package. James’s ζῆλος at 3:14-16 and 4:2 is consistently negative (paired with ἐριθεία, ‘selfish ambition’); do not cross-reference this baseline entry’s more neutral-to-positive Pauline autobiographical sense (Galatians 1:14) without a disambiguating note, since James’s ζῆλος/ζηλωτής-root vocabulary here denotes destructive envy, not commendable zeal.
Double Minded
Approved rendering: δίψυχος
Transliteration: dípsychos
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Original: δίψυχος
Category: Trials and the Testing of Faith
James 1:6-8; 4:8. Rare but transparent compound (δις + ψυχή); stable, minimal drift.
Father Of Lights
Approved rendering: Πατέρας των φώτων
Transliteration: Patéras tōn phṓtōn
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
Original: πατὴρ τῶν φώτων
Category: Wisdom from Above
James 1:17. Head noun reuses the inherited ‘father’ entry (Critical); the fuller title contrasts God’s constancy with the variation of created light-sources (eclipses, phases) — vivid and stable.
Firstfruits
Approved rendering: απαρχή
Transliteration: aparchí
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Original: ἀπαρχή
Category: Faith and Works
James 1:18. Stable, agriculturally rooted term still transparent in Modern Greek.
Orphans And Widows
Approved rendering: ορφανοί και χήρες
Transliteration: orphanoí kai chḥres
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Original: ὀρφανοὶ καὶ χῆραι
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
James 1:27. Stable and immediately intelligible; the concrete ethical content of pure religion.
Rudder
Approved rendering: πηδάλιο
Transliteration: pēdálio
Doctrine: Taming the Tongue
Original: πηδάλιον
Category: Taming the Tongue
James 3:4. Stable, everyday nautical term, fittingly vivid for a maritime culture.
Riches
Approved rendering: πλούτος
Transliteration: ploútos
Doctrine: Wealth, Injustice, and Coming Judgment
Original: πλοῦτος
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
James 5:1-3. Stable, well understood; hoarded, unjustly-gained wealth condemned as ‘rotting.‘
Judge
Approved rendering: κριτής
Transliteration: kritḥs
Doctrine: Patience and the Lord’s Return
Original: κριτής
Category: Patience and the Lord’s Return
James 5:9. Stable judicial term, comparatively resistant to the κρίση ‘economic crisis’ drift affecting the abstract noun.
Elijah
Approved rendering: Ηλίας
Transliteration: Ēlías
Doctrine: The Power of Righteous Prayer
Original: Ἠλίας
Category: Prayer and Healing
James 5:17-18. Established Greek Bible form; strong cultural asset (common given name; nationwide Προφήτης Ηλίας feast day, 20 July, celebrated on mountaintops throughout Greece).
Referenced passages