Core Glossary
Core Glossary
translation_memory.json is the enforced glossary for every Phase 2 translation in this curriculum. This document summarizes its shape and the principles behind it; see the Glossary Risk Groups for the full per-term entries.
Composition
The glossary currently holds 47 terms spanning all four risk tiers, drawn from the doctrines identified in Doctrine Analysis and grounded in the cultural risks identified in Culture Analysis. Every term entry records:
- The approved Gujarati translation and transliteration
- The doctrine risk tier (Critical/High/Medium/Low)
- Explicitly rejected alternatives, with reasons — distinctively, Critical terms in this Language Package typically reject one Hindu-tradition alternative AND one Jain-tradition alternative, not just one
- Notes explaining any non-obvious translation choice
Governing principles
- Established usage over invention — where existing Gujarati Bible translation already has a settled rendering (પરમેશ્વર, ઈસુ, પ્રભુ, ખ્રિસ્ત), this glossary follows it rather than proposing an alternative.
- Explicit dual rejection, not silent avoidance — every Critical-risk term records why both the Hindu-tradition word and the Jain-tradition word are wrong (see
alternatives_rejected), so a translator or reviewer understands the reasoning for both risk axes rather than just the more commonly-discussed Hindu one. - Version-controlled and append-only in Phase 2 — if a new term is discovered during document translation, it is added to translation memory and the version number incremented, never silently improvised per-document (see the AI Translation Requirements’ Translation Memory Load and Enforcement Instructions).
Relationship to the Doctrine Risk Registry
Every glossary term’s doctrine field links back to an entry in doctrine_risk_registry.json, so a term’s risk tier is always traceable to the specific doctrine it protects — the glossary enforces vocabulary, the doctrine registry explains why that vocabulary matters.
Critical Risk Terms
Father
Approved rendering: પિતા
Transliteration: Pitā
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: સૃષ્ટિકર્તા
God as personal Father; avoid abstract creator-titles that lack relational warmth.
God
Approved rendering: પરમેશ્વર
Transliteration: Parmeśvar
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: ઈશ્વર, ભગવાન
CRITICAL: ભગવાન is extremely common colloquially in Gujarat for any Hindu deity, and among Jains is often applied to the Tirthankaras — perfected, liberated human teachers rather than an eternal creator. પરમેશ્વર is preferred for doctrinal precision to avoid both associations.
Grace
Approved rendering: કૃપા
Transliteration: kṛpā
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: મહેરબાની, કર્મફળ, પુણ્ય, નિર્જરા
CRITICAL: કૃપા is the standard Gujarati Christian term, but in Gujarat’s bhakti devotional speech it also names a guru’s or deity’s favor cultivated through devotion, and Jain merit-language has no concept of unearned favor at all. Every occurrence must make explicit that grace is unearned and comes through Christ alone. Never use નિર્જરા (the Jain technical term for shedding karmic matter through austerity) or પુણ્ય (accumulated merit).
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: પવિત્ર આત્મા
Transliteration: Pavitra Ātmā
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: પરમાત્મા, બ્રહ્મ
CRITICAL: never પરમાત્મા (Hindu Universal Self) or બ્રહ્મ (Brahman). પવિત્ર આત્મા is the personal Holy Spirit, third Person of the Trinity.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: આરોપિત ન્યાયીપણું
Transliteration: āropit nyāyīpaṇũ
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: સ્વ-પ્રયત્નથી મેળવેલ ન્યાયીપણું
Credited/attributed righteousness from God, NOT self-effort-earned righteousness — the rejected alternative names exactly the Jain path to purity, the effort of the individual soul alone.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: દેહધારણ
Transliteration: dehdhāraṇ
Doctrine: Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: અવતાર
CRITICAL: NEVER અવતાર — especially salient in Gujarat, home to Dwarka, Krishna’s Vaishnav capital, where avatar theology is an everyday devotional reference point. Jain hearers, by contrast, have no incarnation concept at all since Jainism admits no creator God, so the doctrine must be built from first principles for them rather than merely corrected.
Jesus
Approved rendering: ઈસુ
Transliteration: Īsu
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: ઈસા
ઈસુ is the Gujarati Christian standard; ઈસા is associated with Muslim/Urdu usage.
Justification
Approved rendering: ન્યાયી ઠરાવવું
Transliteration: nyāyī ṭharāvavũ
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: માફી મળવી, પુણ્ય કમાવું
Compound phrase required; a forensic declaration, not a felt experience of forgiveness or merit accumulated (પુણ્ય કમાવું).
Lord
Approved rendering: પ્રભુ
Transliteration: prabhu
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: સ્વામી, તીર્થંકર
CRITICAL: must convey a living, presently reigning sovereign. Distinguish sharply from a Jain Tirthankara, a liberated teacher permanently withdrawn to the top of the universe (siddha-loka) in total non-interaction with the world — Christ’s Lordship is active and ongoing, not a completed departure.
Messiah
Approved rendering: મસીહા
Transliteration: Masīhā
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Rejected alternatives: અવતારી પુરુષ
CRITICAL: transliterated term; the unique OT-promised deliverer, not one of many avatar-descents.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: પુનરુત્થાન
Transliteration: punarutthān
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: પુનર્જન્મ, ફરી અવતરવું
CRITICAL: NEVER પુનર્જન્મ. Distinguish from both Hindu rebirth and the Jain soul’s mechanical transmigration between bodies according to accumulated karma-particles; resurrection is a one-time bodily event ending death, not another turn of a cycle.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: ન્યાયીપણું
Transliteration: nyāyīpaṇũ
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: ધર્મ, પુણ્ય, સમ્યક્ ચારિત્ર્ય
CRITICAL: never ધર્મ. In Jain usage ‘right conduct’ is સમ્યક્ ચારિત્ર્ય, one of the Three Jewels attained by the soul’s own ascetic effort. ન્યાયીપણું must be taught as right standing granted by God through faith, not conduct achieved by the practitioner.
Salvation
Approved rendering: ઉદ્ધાર
Transliteration: uddhār
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: મોક્ષ, મુક્તિ, કેવલજ્ઞાન, સિદ્ધત્વ
CRITICAL: NEVER મોક્ષ or મુક્તિ (Hindu liberation from samsara). Also never કેવલજ્ઞાન or સિદ્ધત્વ, the Jain terms for the soul’s own attainment of omniscient, liberated status through self-effort with no role for any savior. ઉદ્ધાર = deliverance given by God through Christ.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: પરમેશ્વરનો પુત્ર
Transliteration: Parmeśvarno Putra
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: દેવપુરુષ, અવતારી પુરુષ
CRITICAL: full phrase required; conveys eternal, unique Sonship, not a divinely-favored human or one of many avatar-figures.
High Risk Terms
Abba
Approved rendering: અબ્બા
Transliteration: Abbā
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Aramaic term of intimacy preserved in Romans 8:15; kept as transliteration alongside પિતા.
Adoption
Approved rendering: દત્તકપણું
Transliteration: dattakpaṇũ
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: દત્તક લેવું
Emphasizes full son-status and inheritance; the colloquial verb phrase ‘to take in adoption’ can imply reduced or provisional status.
Called
Approved rendering: તેડાયેલા
Transliteration: tedāyelā
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: આમંત્રિત
Context-sensitive: in 1:1 = called to apostleship; in 1:7 = called to be saints; in 8:28-30 = effectual calling to salvation.
Calling
Approved rendering: તેડું
Transliteration: teḍũ
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: આહ્વાન
Noun form for the act/state of being called; pair with તેડાયેલા for the participle.
Covenant
Approved rendering: કરાર
Transliteration: karār
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: સમજૂતી
કરાર is an established Gujarati word for a binding relational agreement, used in both Bible translation and everyday legal speech; સમજૂતી (mutual understanding) is too weak for a divinely-initiated covenant.
Election
Approved rendering: પરમેશ્વરની પસંદગી
Transliteration: Parmeśvarnī Pasandagī
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: નસીબ, નિયતિ, કર્મ-ફળ
God’s sovereign personal choice, not નસીબ/નિયતિ (fate/destiny) or the impersonal, mechanical cause-and-effect of Jain karma theory, which allows no place for a personal chooser at all.
Faith
Approved rendering: વિશ્વાસ
Transliteration: viśvāsa
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: શ્રદ્ધા, ભક્તિ
Personal trust in Christ; શ્રદ્ધા and ભક્તિ both carry devotional-reverence connotations from Gujarat’s strong bhakti (Swaminarayan, Vaishnav) tradition that do not require the specific object of trust that વિશ્વાસ requires.
Glory
Approved rendering: મહિમા
Transliteration: mahimā
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: તેજ, પ્રકાશ
God’s radiant honor; avoid light-only imagery that could merge with Hindu divine-light or Jain kevala-jnana (‘infinite light of omniscience’) associations.
Gospel
Approved rendering: સુવાર્તા
Transliteration: suvārtā
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: ખબર, શુભ સંદેશ
Established Gujarati Christian term (su- ‘good’ + vārtā ‘news’). Avoid generic ખબર (news), which lacks the technical sense of the single saving proclamation.
Holy
Approved rendering: પવિત્ર
Transliteration: pavitra
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: શુદ્ધ
Set apart for God and morally pure; શુદ્ધ leans toward ritual or ascetic purity (relevant given Jain purity practices) rather than relational holiness.
Law
Approved rendering: નિયમશાસ્ત્ર
Transliteration: niyamśāstra
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: ધર્મ, શરિયત
Torah/Mosaic law. NEVER ધર્મ — in Jain cosmology ધર્મ (dharmāstikāya) is a technical metaphysical substance, the medium enabling motion through the universe, a completely different prior meaning beyond the more familiar Hindu ‘duty’ sense.
Obedience Of Faith
Approved rendering: વિશ્વાસનું આજ્ઞાપાલન
Transliteration: viśvāsnũ āgnāpālan
Doctrine: Obedience of Faith
Rejected alternatives: ધાર્મિક ફરજ
Romans 1:5 and 16:26. Obedience that flows from faith already granted, not ધાર્મિક ફરજ (religious duty), which reads as a merit-earning obligation close to both Hindu dharma and Jain vrata (vow-keeping) frameworks.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: પરમેશ્વરનું સામર્થ્ય
Transliteration: Parmeśvarnũ Sāmarthya
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Rejected alternatives: શક્તિ
Use સામર્થ્ય; never શક્તિ — Gujarat’s strong Shakti/mother-goddess devotional tradition (e.g. Ambaji, one of the state’s major pilgrimage sites) makes શક્તિ read as a distinct divine-feminine power rather than the one God’s saving power.
Providence
Approved rendering: પરમેશ્વરનું વિધાન
Transliteration: Parmeśvarnũ Vidhān
Doctrine: Providence
Rejected alternatives: નસીબ, કર્મનો નિયમ
God’s personal, purposive governance. Romans 8:28 is especially vulnerable to being read through કર્મનો નિયમ (the impersonal law of karma) rather than a personal God’s care.
Saints
Approved rendering: પવિત્ર જનો
Transliteration: pavitra jano
Doctrine: Sainthood
Rejected alternatives: સંતો, મુનિ
સંતો and મુનિ both denote an ascetic elite in Gujarati religious usage (Jain munis practice extreme renunciation; Gujarat’s bhakti-sant poetic tradition, e.g. Narsinh Mehta, reserves સંત for exceptional devotees). પવિત્ર જનો keeps sainthood as the status of all believers.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: પવિત્રીકરણ
Transliteration: pavitrikaraṇ
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: શુદ્ધિકરણ, તપ દ્વારા શુદ્ધિ
Spirit-worked holiness, not ritual purification or તપ (ascetic austerity) — the Jain path to purifying the soul is precisely self-imposed austerity, the opposite mechanism from sanctification by the Spirit.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: દાઉદના વંશમાંથી
Transliteration: Dāūdnā Vanśmāṅthī
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Romans 1:3; conveys physical lineage and OT covenant fulfillment.
Sin
Approved rendering: પાપ
Transliteration: pāp
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: અધર્મ
Moral transgression against a personal God who judges and forgives. In Jain doctrine, papa is impersonal karmic matter (karma-pudgala) that adheres to the soul automatically through any activity, intentional or not, removed by austerity (tapa) rather than confession and grace — this mechanical, impersonal picture must be explicitly distinguished.
Medium Risk Terms
Apostle
Approved rendering: પ્રેરિત
Transliteration: prerit
Doctrine: Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: ગુરુ, સંદેશવાહક
Avoid ગુરુ, which in both Hindu bhakti and Jain ascetic-teacher contexts implies self-attained spiritual authority rather than a delegated, sent commission.
Church
Approved rendering: મંડળી
Transliteration: maṇḍaḷī
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: મંદિર, દેરાસર
Established Gujarati Christian term for the congregation. Never મંદિર (Hindu temple) or દેરાસર (Jain temple) — both are common, visible religious-building words in Gujarat and must not be confused with the church as a people.
David
Approved rendering: દાઉદ
Transliteration: Dāūd
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Established proper name form.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: અન્ય પ્રજાઓ
Transliteration: anya prajāo
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: વિદેશીઓ
Non-Jewish peoples; વિદેશીઓ (foreigners) is too narrowly national.
Intercession
Approved rendering: મધ્યસ્થતા
Transliteration: madhyasthatā
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Prayer on behalf of others; standard term.
Israel
Approved rendering: ઇઝરાયલ
Transliteration: Izrāyal
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Proper name; established form.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: પરમેશ્વરનું રાજ્ય
Transliteration: Parmeśvarnũ Rājya
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Rejected alternatives: ઈશ્વરનું રાષ્ટ્ર
God’s sovereign reign, not a territorial or political kingdom.
Mission
Approved rendering: મિશન / સુવાર્તા પ્રચાર
Transliteration: miśan / suvārtā prachār
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
સુવાર્તા પ્રચાર is the descriptive Gujarati phrase; મિશન is retained with awareness of its colonial-era connotation.
Peace
Approved rendering: શાંતિ
Transliteration: śānti
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: મનની શાંતિ
Relational peace with God through justification, not the inner tranquility sought through Jain ahimsa-based self-discipline or meditation, both highly salient in Gujarati culture.
Spiritual Gifts
Approved rendering: આત્મિક કૃપાદાન
Transliteration: ātmik kṛpādān
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts
Rejected alternatives: વરદાન, સિદ્ધિ
Always use the compound; વરદાન alone (a deity’s boon) and સિદ્ધિ (a Jain/yogic attained supernatural power) both wrongly suggest the gift is granted for merit or self-attained.
Low Risk Terms
Exhort
Approved rendering: પ્રોત્સાહન આપવું
Transliteration: protsāhan āpavũ
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Context-sensitive: use વિનંતી for entreaty; પ્રોત્સાહન for encouragement/building up.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: સંગત
Transliteration: saṅgat
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: મિત્રતા
Shared participation in Christ, not merely social friendship (મિત્રતા).
Prophecy
Approved rendering: ભવિષ્યવાણી
Transliteration: bhaviṣyavāṇī
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: ભવિષ્યફળ
God-inspired declaration, distinct from astrological forecasting (ભવિષ્યફળ).
Prophet
Approved rendering: ભવિષ્યવક્તા
Transliteration: bhaviṣyavaktā
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: જ્યોતિષી
God’s spokesperson, not a fortune-teller/astrologer (જ્યોતિષી), a common professional role in Gujarati culture.
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: આભારસ્તુતિ
Transliteration: ābhārstuti
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Standard term. No significant risk.
Referenced passages