Core Glossary
Core Glossary: 3 John (English → Hebrew)
Curriculum: 3 John Destination language: Hebrew (Modern Israeli Hebrew, Messianic Jewish register) Baseline authority: Romans Language Package — terms marked “Reused from baseline” MUST be rendered exactly as recorded in translation_memory.json; no deviation permitted regardless of context in 3 John. Coverage: All load-bearing terms from 3 John 1:1–14 (the entire book — see 07_semantic_analysis.md for the full-book-coverage note).
Glossary Table
| # | English Term | Greek (translit.) | Hebrew Rendering | Transliteration | Doctrine Category | Risk Tier | Baseline Status | Notes / Translation Risk Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elder (title) | πρεσβύτερος (presbyteros) | הזקן | ha-zaken | Church Leadership and Pride | Medium | New term | Positive resonance with biblical/rabbinic council-of-elders; risk of being read as mere “old man” rather than a recognized office of apostolic-level authority. Gloss on first use. |
| 2 | Beloved | ἀγαπητός (agapetos) | אהוב | ahuv | Truth and Christian Fellowship | Low | New term | Standard, warm, low ambiguity; recurs 4× (vv.1,2,5,11) as the letter’s keynote address. |
| 3 | Love (verb/noun) | ἀγαπάω / ἀγάπη (agapaō / agapē) | אוהב / אהבה | ohev / ahavah | Truth and Christian Fellowship | Medium | New term | Strong OT resonance (Shema); must retain link to “in truth” qualifier so it is not read as generic sentiment. Not present in baseline TM — new entry for this package. |
| 4 | Truth | ἀλήθεια (alētheia) | אמת | emet | Truth and Christian Fellowship (all doctrines) | High | New term | HIGHEST-PRIORITY NEW TERM. Deep OT pedigree (אֵל אֱמֶת) is an asset, but collides with Modern Hebrew’s colloquial filler-word usage (“באמת” = “really?”). Must be anchored as the technical Johannine category (apostolic gospel truth) at first occurrence; 5 occurrences in this short letter (vv.1,3,4,8,12) demand consistent, deliberate handling. |
| 5 | Prosper / go well | εὐοδοῦσθαι (euodousthai) | להצליח | le’hatzlich | (supporting term, v.2) | Low | New term | Standard vocabulary, low risk. |
| 6 | Be in health | ὑγιαίνειν (hygiainein) | להיות בריא | lihyot bari | (supporting term, v.2) | Low | New term | Standard physical-health vocabulary. |
| 7 | Soul | ψυχή (psychē) | נפש | nefesh | (supporting term, v.2) | Medium | New term | Rich OT term for the whole living being; risk of imported Greek body/soul dualism if not clarified. |
| 8 | Joy / Rejoice | χαρά / χαίρω (chara / chairō) | שמחה / שמחתי | simchah / samachti | Truth and Christian Fellowship | Low | New term | Standard vocabulary; joy tied specifically to reports of doctrinal/moral faithfulness. |
| 9 | Brothers | ἀδελφοί (adelphoi) | אחים | achim | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | Medium | New term | Standard NT rendering for fellow believers/itinerant emissaries; context must prevent a literal-biological or purely ethnic misreading. |
| 10 | Testify / Witness (verb & noun) | μαρτυρέω / μαρτυρία (martyreō / martyria) | להעיד / עדות | le-ha’id / edut | Commendation of Faithful Witness | Medium | New term | Root ע-ו-ד; distinct from (and not to be confused with) עֵדָה (edah, “congregation” — a different root, forbidden substitute for “church” in baseline). Structural link between vv.3,6,12 (Gaius’s and Demetrius’s witness). |
| 11 | Walk (conduct of life) | περιπατέω (peripateō) | מתהלך | mithalech | Truth and Christian Fellowship | Low-Medium | New term | Strong OT idiom resonance (Enoch/Noah “walked with God”); denotes habitual conduct, not a single act. |
| 12 | Children (spiritual) | τέκνα (tekna) | בני / ילדי | banai / yeladai | (supporting term, v.4) | Medium | New term | Metaphorical spiritual fatherhood; risk of literal-biological misreading without context framing. |
| 13 | Faithful | πιστός (pistos) | נאמן | ne’eman | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | Medium | New term | Shares root א-מ-נ with baseline אמונה (emunah, “faith,” High risk in Romans); positive cross-curriculum linkage. Must not imply hospitality itself earns righteousness. |
| 14 | Strangers / Guests | ξένος (xenos) | אורחים | orchim | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | Medium | New term | OT’s גֵּר (sojourner, Lev 19:34) is a rich conceptual asset but unsuitable as primary rendering (narrowed in Modern Hebrew to “religious convert”); אורחים avoids that narrowing. |
| 15 | Church / Congregation | ἐκκλησία (ekklēsia) | קהילה | kehilah | Church Leadership and Pride; Truth and Christian Fellowship | Critical | Reused from baseline (exact) | MUST reuse baseline rendering exactly. NEVER render as עדה (forbidden substitution per baseline system prompt). Occurs vv.6,9,10 — the local congregation caught between Gaius’s hospitality and Diotrephes’ abuse of authority. |
| 16 | Send on their way (provision for journey) | προπέμπω (propempō) | לשלח בדרכם / לוותם ולצייד לדרך | leshalach be-darkam / le-vatem u-le-tzayed la-derech | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | Medium | New term | Descriptive phrase required; denotes active material provisioning and escort, not mere polite farewell. |
| 17 | Worthy of God (manner) | ἀξίως τοῦ θεοῦ (axiōs tou theou) | בדרך הראויה לאלוהים | be-derech ha-re’uyah la-Elohim | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | Medium | Partial reuse (θεός) | אלוהים (God) reused from baseline (Critical); phrase as a whole needs care so it reads as genuine theological standard, not vague politeness. |
| 18 | The Name (absolute, = Christ’s name) | τὸ ὄνομα (to onoma) | שמו (של המשיח) / השם | shemo (shel ha-Mashiach) / HaShem | Commendation of Faithful Witness; Truth and Christian Fellowship | High | New term | CRITICAL COLLISION POINT: הַשֵּׁם is the standard Jewish spoken substitute for the Tetragrammaton. Recommend explicit “שמו של המשיח” rather than the bare absolute “השם” to avoid ambiguity/conflation with the divine Name substitute; parallels baseline’s Lord/Adonai handling. |
| 19 | Gentiles / Pagans (outsiders) | ἐθνικός (ethnikos) | הגויים | ha-goyim | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | High | Reused from baseline (with sense-shift flag) | Baseline גויים carries a mildly-to-strongly pejorative colloquial shade (per baseline notes); here ἐθνικός denotes “unconverted outsiders as declined source of support,” a distinct nuance from Romans’ ἔθνη (“the nations” as mission field) — translator’s note required to prevent cross-contamination of nuance between the two curricula. |
| 20 | Ought / Obligated | ὀφείλω (opheilō) | חייבים | chayavim | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | Low | New term | Standard moral-obligation vocabulary. |
| 21 | Support / Receive (materially) | ὑπολαμβάνω (hypolambanō) | לתמוך ולסייע | litmoch u-le’saye’a | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | Medium | New term | Must be distinguished from mere social welcome (see ἐπιδέχομαι below); carries a material/logistical-support sense. |
| 22 | Fellow workers | συνεργός (synergos) | שותפים | shutafim | Truth and Christian Fellowship; Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | Low-Medium | New term (shares root with baseline) | Shares root with baseline שותפות (shutafut, “fellowship,” Low risk); positive cross-curriculum continuity. Recommend “שותפים לאמת/בעבודת האמת.” |
| 23 | Loves to be first / Craves pre-eminence | φιλοπρωτεύω (philoprōteuō) | האוהב לעמוד בראש / השואף לראשות | ha-ohev la’amod ba-rosh / ha-sho’ef le-rashut | Church Leadership and Pride | High | New term | LINCHPIN TERM for this doctrine. No established Hebrew Bible-translation precedent exists; requires a freshly coined descriptive phrase that unambiguously reads as prideful self-elevation, not legitimate leadership ambition. Requires theologian review. |
| 24 | Does not receive / welcome (reject authority) | ἐπιδέχομαι (epidechomai) | לא מקבל / לא מכיר בסמכות | lo mekabel / lo makir bi-smachut | Church Leadership and Pride | High | New term | Double sense (social non-welcome + rejection of apostolic authority) must both be preserved; deliberate ironic contrast with Gaius’s hospitality (vv.5–8). |
| 25 | Remind / Bring to remembrance | ὑπομιμνήσκω (hypomimnēskō) | אזכיר | azkir | Church Leadership and Pride | Low | New term | Standard vocabulary for formal pastoral confrontation. |
| 26 | Talk wicked nonsense / Slander | φλυαρέω (phlyareō) | מדבר עלינו דברים רעים | medaber aleinu devarim ra’im | Church Leadership and Pride | High | New term | Rare, vivid term for reckless slanderous speech. לָשׁוֹן הָרָע (lashon hara) is a genuine positive Jewish-ethics teaching resource but must not dilute the specific point: malicious accusation against apostolic emissaries, not generic gossip. |
| 27 | Hinder / Forbid (suppress others) | κωλύω (kōlyō) | מונע | mone’a | Church Leadership and Pride | Medium | New term | Denotes active suppression of others’ initiative, an abuse of positional influence — not mere personal abstention. |
| 28 | Cast out / Expel (from church) | ἐκβάλλω (ekballō) | מגרש (מן הקהילה) | megaresh (min ha-kehilah) | Church Leadership and Pride | High | Partial reuse (ἐκκλησία) | Must be framed as an unjust, illegitimate expulsion of the faithful (an abuse of authority), not a model of legitimate church discipline. |
| 29 | Imitate | μιμέομαι (mimeomai) | חַקֵּה (imperative) | chakeh | Imitating Good rather than Evil | Low-Medium | New term | Core term for this doctrine; must retain imperative/decisive force. |
| 30 | Evil (moral) | κακός / κακοποιέω (kakos / kakopoieō) | רע / עושה רע | ra / oseh ra | Imitating Good rather than Evil | Low | New term | Standard OT/NT vocabulary; connects conceptually to baseline’s sin/yetzer hara discussion. |
| 31 | Good (moral) | ἀγαθός / ἀγαθοποιέω (agathos / agathopoieō) | טוב / עושה טוב | tov / oseh tov | Imitating Good rather than Evil | Low | New term | Standard vocabulary; strong OT creation-refrain resonance. |
| 32 | Has not seen God (relational idiom) | οὐχ ἑώρακεν τὸν θεόν (ouch heōraken ton theon) | לא ראה את האלוהים | lo ra’ah et ha-Elohim | Imitating Good rather than Evil | Medium | Partial reuse (θεός) | Johannine idiom for relational/experiential knowledge of God, not literal ocular sight; risk of wooden literal misreading. |
| 33 | Personified Truth (“the truth itself testifies”) | ὑπὸ τῆς ἀληθείας αὐτῆς (hypo tēs alētheias autēs) | על ידי האמת עצמה | al yedei ha-emet atzmah | Commendation of Faithful Witness | High | New term (uses אמת) | Unusual rhetorical personification; render so it reads as heightened commendation, not literal personhood of an abstraction. |
| 34 | Peace (greeting/blessing) | εἰρήνη (eirēnē) | שלום | shalom | Truth and Christian Fellowship (closing benediction) | Medium | Reused from baseline (exact) | Baseline’s dilution-through-ubiquity risk is heightened here, since this occurrence doubles as an ordinary closing greeting; harder to isolate theological weight than in Romans 5:1. |
| 35 | Friends (closing circle) | φίλος (philos) | ידידים | yedidim | Truth and Christian Fellowship | Medium | New term | Must be kept distinct from אחים (used for ἀδελφοί elsewhere) to preserve the Greek’s own deliberate terminological shift in v.14. |
| 36 | God | θεός (theos) | אלוהים | Elohim | (cross-cutting: Church Leadership, Imitating Good, Hospitality) | Critical | Reused from baseline (exact) | No deviation permitted; occurs vv.6,11 (2x). |
| 37 | Gaius (proper name) | Γάϊος (Gaios) | גיוס | Gaius | — | Low | New term (proper name) | Delitzsch-tradition transliteration; ensure consistent spelling. |
| 38 | Diotrephes (proper name) | Διοτρεφής (Diotrephēs) | דיוטרפס | Diotrephes | Church Leadership and Pride | Low | New term (proper name) | Standard transliteration; consistent spelling throughout. |
| 39 | Demetrius (proper name) | Δημήτριος (Dēmētrios) | דמטריוס | Demetrius | Commendation of Faithful Witness | Low | New term (proper name) | Standard transliteration. |
Risk Tier Summary for 3 John Package
| Risk Tier | Count | Terms |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 2 | Church (ἐκκλησία→קהילה), God (θεός→אלוהים) — both reused exactly from baseline |
| High | 10 | Truth (ἀλήθεια), The Name (τὸ ὄνομα), Gentiles/Pagans (ἐθνικός), Loves to be first (φιλοπρωτεύω), Does not receive/reject authority (ἐπιδέχομαι), Talk wicked nonsense (φλυαρέω), Cast out (ἐκβάλλω), Personified Truth (ἀληθείας αὐτῆς), plus the two per-verse repetitions of ἀλήθεια tracked in 07 |
| Medium | 15 | Elder, Love, Soul, Brothers, Testify/Witness, Children, Faithful, Strangers/Guests, Send on their way, Worthy of God, Support/Receive, Fellow workers, Hinder, Has not seen God, Peace, Friends |
| Low | 12 | Prosper, Be in health, Joy/Rejoice, Walk, Ought, Remind, Evil, Good, Imitate, plus proper names Gaius, Diotrephes, Demetrius |
Terms requiring human theologian review (Critical + High): Church, God, Truth (all 5 occurrences), The Name, Gentiles/Pagans, Loves to be first, Does not receive/reject authority, Talk wicked nonsense, Cast out, Personified Truth.
Terms requiring native speaker review (Medium): Elder, Love, Soul, Brothers, Testify/Witness, Children, Faithful, Strangers/Guests, Send on their way, Worthy of God, Support/Receive, Fellow workers, Hinder, Has not seen God, Peace, Friends.
Terms sufficient with automated review (Low): Prosper, Be in health, Joy/Rejoice, Walk, Ought, Remind, Evil, Good, Imitate, and all proper names.
This glossary extends, and in all overlapping cases exactly reuses, the baseline Romans translation_memory.json. New entries introduced here (ἀλήθεια/emet, φιλοπρωτεύω, τὸ ὄνομα, etc.) should be added to translation_memory.json as new terms per the Phase 1 → Phase 2 handoff procedure, with version increment, before Phase 2 segment translation of 3 John begins.
Critical Risk Terms
Church
Approved rendering: קהילה
Transliteration: kehilah
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride; Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: עדה
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE, UNCHANGED. NEVER render as עדה (the Torah’s term for the assembled congregation of Israel) — forbidden substitution. In 3 John (vv.6,9,10) additionally requires care that Diotrephes’ abuse of the congregation never be read as implying the congregation’s own illegitimacy, nor as a model of legitimate discipline when he expels the faithful (v.10).
God
Approved rendering: אלוהים
Transliteration: Elohim
Doctrine: Deity of Christ (cross-cutting in 3 John: Imitating Good rather than Evil, Hospitality)
Original: θεός
Category: God
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE, UNCHANGED. Occurs in 3 John vv.6 and 11 (2x). No deviation permitted.
Jesus
Approved rendering: ישוע
Transliteration: Yeshua
Doctrine: Gospel Ministry for the Name’s Sake
Rejected alternatives: ישו, יהושוע, יהושע (Sacred Name Movement forms)
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE, UNCHANGED. Must always be spelled ישוע with the final ayin; never ישו. Also reject Sacred Name Movement over-Hebraized forms (‘Yahushua/Yahshua’-type spellings) which circulate in fringe Hebrew NT editions — see 05_translation_landscape.md §1.4. Though 3 John’s Greek text does not name Jesus directly, this term governs all cross-reference and teaching material for this curriculum, and underlies the referent of ‘the Name’ in 1:7 and ‘the Messiah’ in supplementary phrasing.
Messiah
Approved rendering: משיח
Transliteration: mashiach
Doctrine: Gospel Ministry for the Name’s Sake
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE, UNCHANGED. Used in this package’s required disambiguating rendering of τὸ ὄνομα (‘the Name,’ 3 John 1:7) as שמו של המשיח, precisely to avoid a bare, unscaffolded הַשֵּׁם collision with the traditional spoken Tetragrammaton substitute.
High Risk Terms
Gentiles
Approved rendering: גויים
Transliteration: goyim
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: עמים
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE (same Hebrew rendering), WITH A SENSE-SHIFT FLAG SPECIFIC TO 3 JOHN 1:7. In Romans, ἔθνη denotes ‘the nations’ as mission field. In 3 John 1:7, ἐθνικός denotes unconverted outsiders whose material support the traveling missionaries deliberately declined, a distinct sense. The baseline’s already-documented mildly-to-strongly pejorative colloquial shade is compounded by this declined-support context. A translator’s note is REQUIRED at 3 John 1:7 distinguishing this sense from the Romans usage, to prevent readers importing the wrong nuance across curricula.
Truth
Approved rendering: אמת
Transliteration: emet
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: ἀλήθεια
Category: Truth
NEW TERM — HIGHEST-PRIORITY TERM IN THIS PACKAGE. Occurs 5x (vv.1,3,4,8,12) as the letter’s fixed Johannine technical category for the apostolic gospel/doctrine of Christ, not mere sincerity. Deep OT pedigree (אֵל אֱמֶת, Psalm 31:6) is a genuine asset, but Modern Hebrew’s ubiquitous colloquial ‘באמת’ (filler/intensifier, ‘really?’) risks flattening every occurrence into a casual aside. MUST be anchored at first occurrence (v.1) with an explicit gloss identifying it as the apostolic gospel category; every subsequent occurrence must be checked against this anchor for document-level consistency, not translated verse-by-verse in isolation.
The Name
Approved rendering: שמו (של המשיח)
Transliteration: shemo (shel ha-Mashiach)
Doctrine: Gospel Ministry for the Name’s Sake
Rejected alternatives: השם (bare), יהוה / Tetragrammaton forms
Original: τὸ ὄνομα
Category: Witness
NEW TERM — CRITICAL COLLISION POINT. הַשֵּׁם is the standard traditional Jewish spoken substitute for the unpronounced Tetragrammaton. τὸ ὄνομα (3 John 1:7) is an absolute, fixed early-Christian idiom for the name of Jesus Christ. A bare ‘השם’ risks either an unscaffolded equation with the divine Name substitute, or ambiguity as to whether Christ or the Father is meant. MUST render as the explicit possessive ‘שמו של המשיח,’ never the bare absolute. Mirrors the baseline’s Lord/Adonai handling (Romans 10:9) but is more dangerous here because it sits in a single easily-skimmed clause rather than a marked doctrinal statement. Excludes Sacred Name Movement / Jehovah’s Witnesses NWT renderings that use Tetragrammaton-coded readings — see 05_translation_landscape.md §1.4.
Loves To Be First
Approved rendering: האוהב לעמוד בראש
Transliteration: ha-ohev la’amod ba-rosh
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Rejected alternatives: השואף לראשות, יוהרה, התנשאות, רדיפת כבוד
Original: φιλοπρωτεύω
Category: Church Leadership
NEW TERM — LINCHPIN TERM, NO ESTABLISHED HEBREW BIBLE-TRANSLATION PRECEDENT. φιλοπρωτεύω (v.9) is a rare compound (φιλέω ‘to love’ + πρῶτος ‘first’); the coined phrase must preserve the disordered-LOVE component (motive), not merely neutral ambition. ‘השואף לראשות’ was considered but rejected as primary rendering because שואף (‘aspires’) loses the φιλέω ‘loves’ component. MANDATORY THEOLOGIAN SIGN-OFF required before Phase 2 lock-in, given the absence of any fallback precedent.
Does Not Receive Reject Authority
Approved rendering: לא מקבל / לא מכיר בסמכות
Transliteration: lo mekabel / lo makir bi-smachut
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Original: ἐπιδέχομαι
Category: Church Leadership
NEW TERM. ἐπιδέχομαι (vv.9,10) carries a double sense — social non-welcome AND rejection of apostolic authority — both of which must be conveyed at each occurrence, in deliberate ironic contrast with Gaius’s hospitality (vv.5-8).
Talk Wicked Nonsense Slander
Approved rendering: מדבר עלינו דברים רעים
Transliteration: medaber aleinu devarim ra’im
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Rejected alternatives: לשון הרע (as primary rendering)
Original: φλυαρέω
Category: Church Leadership
NEW TERM. φλυαρέω (v.10) is a rare, vivid NT term for reckless slanderous speech aimed specifically at apostolic emissaries. לָשׁוֹן הָרָע is a genuine, well-developed Jewish ethical category and may be cited as a supplementary teaching bridge, but must NOT be the primary rendering, since it is broader (generic gossip) than the specific doctrinal charge here (resistance to apostolic truth via malicious accusation).
Cast Out Expel
Approved rendering: מגרש (מן הקהילה)
Transliteration: megaresh (min ha-kehilah)
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Original: ἐκβάλλω
Category: Church Leadership
NEW TERM (partial reuse of Critical-risk קהילה). ἐκβάλλω (v.10) describes Diotrephes’ unjust expulsion of faithful believers. MUST be framed unambiguously as an illegitimate abuse of authority, never as a model of legitimate church discipline — a sensitivity compounding the baseline’s own warning about supersessionist misreadings attaching to careless קהילה language.
Personified Truth
Approved rendering: על ידי האמת עצמה
Transliteration: al yedei ha-emet atzmah
Doctrine: Commendation of Faithful Witness
Original: ὑπὸ τῆς ἀληθείας αὐτῆς
Category: Witness
NEW TERM (uses High-risk אמת). Unusual rhetorical personification (v.12, ‘the truth itself testifies’); must be rendered so readers recognize heightened commendation, not literal personhood of an abstraction independent of God.
Medium Risk Terms
Peace
Approved rendering: שלום
Transliteration: shalom
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship (closing benediction)
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Fellowship
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE, UNCHANGED. In 3 John 1:14 this occurrence doubles as an ordinary epistolary closing greeting, heightening (relative to Romans 5:1’s clearly doctrinal context) the baseline’s already-noted dilution-through-ubiquity risk. Do not add qualifying language not present in the source to artificially ‘re-theologize’ the greeting.
Apostle
Approved rendering: שליח
Transliteration: shaliach
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride (contrastive background for ‘Elder’)
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE, UNCHANGED. Not a rendering used directly in 3 John’s text, but retained here because ‘the Elder’ (הזקן, 3 John 1:1) carries apostolic-level authority of the same delegated-authority character the baseline documents for shaliach; the two entries should be taught together. Diotrephes’ offense (v.9) is precisely a refusal to honor this kind of delegated authority.
Elder Title
Approved rendering: הזקן
Transliteration: ha-zaken
Doctrine: Pastoral Care and Spiritual Fatherhood; Church Leadership and Pride
NEW TERM. The author’s self-designation (3 John 1:1), denoting recognized pastoral/apostolic-level authority to instruct and correct, not merely advanced age. Positive resonance with the biblical/rabbinic council of elders (zekenim) is a genuine asset. Risk: may be read as simply ‘an old man.’ Gloss on first occurrence recommended, e.g. ‘הזקן [= בעל סמכות שליחותית]’.
Love Verb Noun
Approved rendering: אוהב / אהבה
Transliteration: ohev / ahavah
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
NEW TERM. Strong OT resonance with the Shema’s ve-ahavta is an asset, but the qualifying phrase ‘in truth’ (v.1) must always be retained so this is not read as generic sentiment divorced from apostolic doctrine. The opening clause ‘whom I love in truth’ (1:1) is the single most consequential sentence in the letter for calibrating register; treat as requiring theologian review at first occurrence.
Soul
Approved rendering: נפש
Transliteration: nefesh
Doctrine: Pastoral Care and Spiritual Fatherhood
Original: ψυχή
Category: Pastoral Care
NEW TERM. Rich OT term for the whole living being (3 John 1:2); risk that readers import a Greek-style body/soul dualism foreign to both the OT and Johannine thought. A translator’s note clarifying ‘soul prospering’ as the whole inner spiritual life, held together with (not above) bodily health, is recommended.
Brothers
Approved rendering: אחים
Transliteration: achim
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: ἀδελφοί
Category: Hospitality
NEW TERM. Standard NT rendering for fellow believers/itinerant emissaries (vv.3,5,10). Context must prevent a literal-biological misreading or a narrowing to ‘fellow Jews,’ a connotation אחים can carry in Israeli usage. Must be kept distinct from ידידים (φίλος, v.14) to preserve the Greek’s own deliberate terminological shift in the closing.
Testify Witness
Approved rendering: להעיד / עדות
Transliteration: le-ha’id / edut
Doctrine: Commendation of Faithful Witness
Original: μαρτυρέω / μαρτυρία
Category: Witness
NEW TERM. Root ע-ו-ד; the structural link between Gaius’s (vv.3,6) and Demetrius’s (v.12) commendation. Near-homograph, but NOT etymologically related, to עֵדָה (edah, ‘congregation,’ the forbidden substitute for ‘church’ in the baseline) — translators must not confuse the two roots in drafting.
Walk Conduct
Approved rendering: מתהלך
Transliteration: mithalech
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: περιπατέω
Category: Truth
NEW TERM. Strong OT idiom resonance (Enoch/Noah ‘walked with/before God,’ Gen 5:22, 6:9) is a genuine asset for the NT idiom of habitual conduct (‘walking in the truth,’ vv.3-4). Denotes an entire manner of life, not a single act.
Children Spiritual
Approved rendering: בני / ילדי
Transliteration: banai / yeladai
Doctrine: Pastoral Care and Spiritual Fatherhood
Original: τέκνα
Category: Pastoral Care
NEW TERM. Believers under the Elder’s pastoral care (v.4), addressed as spiritual, not biological, offspring. Risk of literal-biological misreading unless clearly framed; an individual-level analogue to the baseline’s Avinu/Father corporate-scope note.
Faithful
Approved rendering: נאמן
Transliteration: ne’eman
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: πιστός
Category: Hospitality
NEW TERM. Describes Gaius’s hospitable action (v.5) as itself an act of faithfulness. Shares root א-מ-נ with baseline’s High-risk אמונה (emunah, ‘faith’); positive cross-curriculum linkage, but must not imply that hospitality itself earns righteousness apart from grace.
Strangers Guests
Approved rendering: אורחים
Transliteration: orchim
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: גֵּר
Original: ξένος
Category: Hospitality
NEW TERM. The OT’s גֵּר (sojourner, Lev 19:34) is a genuine conceptual asset for teaching but is REJECTED as the primary rendering because it has narrowed in Modern Hebrew and Rabbinic usage to mean specifically ‘a convert to Judaism.’ אורחים avoids that narrowing while גר theology may be cited only as supplementary teaching background.
Send On Their Way
Approved rendering: לשלח בדרכם / לוותם ולצייד לדרך
Transliteration: leshalach be-darkam / le-vatem u-le-tzayed la-derech
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: προπέμπω
Category: Hospitality
NEW TERM. No single Hebrew word captures προπέμπω’s sense of active material provisioning and escort for onward travel (v.6); a descriptive phrase is required. A translator’s note clarifying this denotes concrete logistical support, not a mere polite farewell, is required.
Worthy Of God
Approved rendering: בדרך הראויה לאלוהים
Transliteration: be-derech ha-re’uyah la-Elohim
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: ἀξίως τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Hospitality
NEW TERM (partial reuse of אלוהים, Critical). The full phrase must be retained (never abbreviated to a generic ‘the decent thing to do’); must read as a genuine theological standard, not a politeness formula.
Support Receive
Approved rendering: לתמוך ולסייע
Transliteration: litmoch u-le’saye’a
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: ὑπολαμβάνω
Category: Hospitality
NEW TERM. ὑπολαμβάνω’s active, material/logistical support sense (v.8), deliberately fenced apart from the weaker social-welcome sense of ἐπιδέχομαι (vv.9-10), even though both would default to the same Hebrew root ק-ב-ל without careful phrase-level distinction.
Fellow Workers
Approved rendering: שותפים
Transliteration: shutafim
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship; Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: συνεργός
Category: Fellowship
NEW TERM. Shares root with baseline’s שותפות (shutafut, ‘fellowship,’ Low risk in Romans) — positive cross-curriculum continuity. Recommend ‘שותפים לאמת’ or ‘שותפים בעבודת האמת’ (v.8) to keep the truth-referent explicit.
Hinder Forbid
Approved rendering: מונע
Transliteration: mone’a
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Original: κωλύω
Category: Church Leadership
NEW TERM. κωλύω (v.10) denotes active suppression of others’ initiative — an abuse of positional influence, not mere personal abstention; contextual framing must preserve this.
Imitate
Approved rendering: חַקֵּה
Transliteration: chakeh
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Original: μιμέομαι
Category: Ethics
NEW TERM. Core imperative term for this doctrine (v.11); must retain decisive, directive force rather than softening into passive admiration (‘be inspired by’).
Has Not Seen God
Approved rendering: לא ראה את האלוהים
Transliteration: lo ra’ah et ha-Elohim
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Original: οὐχ ἑώρακεν τὸν θεόν
Category: Ethics
NEW TERM (partial reuse of Critical-risk אלוהים). Johannine idiom (v.11) for relational/experiential knowledge of God, not literal ocular vision. Must be anchored to the same idiom’s use elsewhere in the Johannine corpus (1 John 3:6, 3:10) to avoid a wooden literal misreading.
Friends
Approved rendering: ידידים
Transliteration: yedidim
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: אחים (as substitute)
Original: φίλος
Category: Fellowship
NEW TERM. φίλος (v.14) must be kept terminologically distinct from ἀδελφοί (rendered אחים elsewhere in the letter) to preserve the Greek’s own deliberate shift in the closing greetings; never collapse both into אחים.
Low Risk Terms
Beloved
Approved rendering: אהוב
Transliteration: ahuv
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: ἀγαπητός
Category: Fellowship
NEW TERM. The letter’s characteristic term of address, recurring 4x (vv.1,2,5,11). Standard, warm vocabulary; no baseline collision.
Prosper
Approved rendering: להצליח
Transliteration: le’hatzlich
Doctrine: Pastoral Care and Spiritual Fatherhood
Original: εὐοδοῦσθαι
Category: Pastoral Care
NEW TERM. Standard vocabulary (3 John 1:2). No prosperity-gospel framing should be introduced in surrounding teaching material.
Health
Approved rendering: להיות בריא
Transliteration: lihyot bari
Doctrine: Pastoral Care and Spiritual Fatherhood
Original: ὑγιαίνειν
Category: Pastoral Care
NEW TERM. Standard physical-health vocabulary (3 John 1:2).
Joy Rejoice
Approved rendering: שמחה / שמחתי
Transliteration: simchah / samachti
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
NEW TERM. Standard vocabulary; joy tied specifically to reports of doctrinal/moral faithfulness (3 John 1:3-4).
Ought Obligated
Approved rendering: חייבים
Transliteration: chayavim
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: ὀφείλω
Category: Hospitality
NEW TERM. Standard moral-obligation vocabulary (v.8), framing hospitality as duty flowing from shared mission.
Remind
Approved rendering: אזכיר
Transliteration: azkir
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Original: ὑπομιμνήσκω
Category: Church Leadership
NEW TERM. Standard vocabulary describing the Elder’s promised formal pastoral confrontation (v.10).
Evil Moral
Approved rendering: רע / עושה רע
Transliteration: ra / oseh ra
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Original: κακός / κακοποιέω
Category: Ethics
NEW TERM. Standard OT/NT vocabulary (v.11); connects conceptually to the baseline’s sin/yetzer hara discussion.
Good Moral
Approved rendering: טוב / עושה טוב
Transliteration: tov / oseh tov
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Original: ἀγαθός / ἀγαθοποιέω
Category: Ethics
NEW TERM. Standard vocabulary (v.11); strong OT creation-refrain resonance (Genesis 1).
Gaius
Approved rendering: גיוס
Transliteration: Gaius
Doctrine: Proper Names
Original: Γάϊος
Category: Proper Names
NEW TERM (proper name). Delitzsch-tradition transliteration (cf. Romans 16:23); ensure consistent spelling throughout.
Diotrephes
Approved rendering: דיוטרפס
Transliteration: Diotrephes
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Original: Διοτρεφής
Category: Proper Names
NEW TERM (proper name). Standard transliteration; consistent spelling throughout.
Demetrius
Approved rendering: דמטריוס
Transliteration: Demetrius
Doctrine: Commendation of Faithful Witness
Original: Δημήτριος
Category: Proper Names
NEW TERM (proper name). Standard transliteration.