Core Glossary
Core Glossary — Acts 1–28 (English → Hebrew)
Purpose and Reuse Policy
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing theological term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md across the entire book of Acts. Per the mandate, all terms already present in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json are reused exactly as recorded — no alternative renderings are introduced for those terms. New terms specific to Acts receive full risk assessment here for the first time and, upon approval, are intended for addition to the shared translation memory (version increment) before Phase 2 processing begins.
Risk tiers follow the baseline’s doctrine_risk_registry.json definitions exactly:
- Critical — mistranslation destroys/alters essential doctrine; theologian review required for every occurrence.
- High — significant theological confusion/syncretism risk; theologian review required.
- Medium — reduces clarity but preserves essential meaning; native speaker review recommended.
- Low — minor imprecision risk; automated review sufficient.
Table 1 — Baseline Romans Terms Reused in Acts (No Change to Rendering)
| Term | Hebrew (reused exactly) | Risk (baseline) | Acts occurrences (representative) | Acts-specific note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| gospel | הבשורה | Medium | 1:8; 8:25; 13:32; 14:7; 15:7; 20:24 | Same qualification rule applies: must not stand as generic “good news.” |
| grace | חסד | High | 4:33; 11:23; 13:43; 14:26; 15:11; 18:27; 20:24,32 | 15:11’s “saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus” is the Jerusalem Council’s own grace/law summary statement. |
| faith | אמונה | High | 3:16; 6:5,7; 11:24; 13:8; 14:9,22,27; 16:5,31; 20:21; 26:18 | Object of faith (Jesus specifically) must remain recoverable in every instance, per baseline note. |
| righteousness | צדק | Critical | 10:35; 13:10; 17:31; 24:25 | Never rendered צדקה outside a direct Genesis 15:6-style citation (none occurs in Acts). |
| justification | ההצדקה | Critical | 13:39 | Must retain “by faith” (על ידי אמונה) qualifier per baseline rule; anchor text for “Justification apart from the Law” doctrine. |
| salvation | ישועה | Critical | 2:21; 2:40; 4:12; 11:14; 13:26,47; 15:1,11; 16:17,30-31; 27:34; 28:28 | Repeated confession-pattern across the book (2:21, 2:38, 4:12, 16:30-31) requires cross-document rendering consistency. |
| apostle | שליח | Medium | 1:2,25-26; 2:37,42-43; 4:33,35-37; 5:2,12,18,29,34,40; 6:6; 8:1,14,18; 9:27; 11:1; 14:4,14; 15:2,4,6,22-23,33; 16:4 | Central office-term for “Apostolic Authority and Miracles” doctrine. |
| called / calling | קרוא / קריאה | High | 1:17 (“apostleship” root); 2:21,39; 13:2; 16:10 | Context-sensitive across senses (apostolic office, salvation-call). |
| holy | קדוש | Medium | throughout (e.g. 3:14; 9:13; 21:28) | See also new term “Holy and Righteous One” below. |
| saints | קדושים | Medium | 9:13,32,41; 26:10 | Applied specifically to the believing community, consistent with baseline scope caution. |
| sanctification | התקדשות | High | 20:32; 26:18 | 26:18 ties sanctification directly to faith in Christ; see baseline note on object-specificity. |
| resurrection | תחיית המתים | Critical | 1:22; 2:24,31-32; 4:2,33; 17:18,32; 23:6,8; 24:15,21; 26:8,23 | Ch. 23’s Pharisee-Sadducee dispute is a positive teaching asset (resurrection itself is not foreign to first-century Judaism). |
| lord | אדון | Critical | 2:21,36; 4:24,29,33; 9:5,17; 10:36; 11:16-17,20-21; 16:31; etc. | 2:36’s “Lord and Christ” is the climactic Christological confession of the core passage. |
| son of God | בן האלוהים | Critical | 9:20 | Paul’s earliest post-conversion synagogue preaching. |
| peace | שלום | Medium | 9:31; 10:36; 15:33; 16:36 | No new risk beyond baseline. |
| spiritual gifts | מתנות רוחניות | Medium | (conceptually, 2:38’s singular “gift of the Spirit” is distinct — see new term below) | Distinguish from the new term “gift of the Holy Spirit” (singular, person-indwelling). |
| thanksgiving | הודיה | Low | 27:35; 28:15 | 27:35’s shipwreck meal has a minor eucharistic-echo ambiguity worth a translator’s note only. |
| fellowship | שותפות | Low | 2:42 | No new risk. |
| church | קהילה | Critical | 5:11; 8:1,3; 9:31; 11:22,26; 12:1,5; 13:1; 14:23,27; 15:3-4,22,41; 16:5; 18:22; 20:17,28 | Never rendered with עדה; must never imply replacement of Israel, per baseline. |
| kingdom of God | מלכות האלוהים | High | 1:3,6; 8:12; 14:22; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23,31 | 1:6 raises the Israel-restoration question explicitly — see Chapter 1 glossary entry below. |
| law | תורה | Critical | 13:39; 15:5; 21:20-24; 22:3; 23:29; 24:14; 25:8; 28:23 | Framing caution (never anti-Torah polemic) applies with special force to Ch.13, 15, 21. |
| sin | חטא | High | 2:38; 3:19; 22:16; 26:18 | Consistently tied to “forgiveness” cluster; see new term below. |
| gentiles | גויים | High | 9:15; 10:45; 11:1,18; 13:46-48; 14:27; 15:3,7,12,14,19,23; 18:6; 21:11,19,21,25; 22:21; 26:17,20,23; 28:28 | Central to “Gospel to Jews and Gentiles” curriculum doctrine throughout the book. |
| glory | כבוד | Medium | 7:2,55; 12:23; 22:11 | No new risk; 12:23’s Herod episode is a judgment narrative, not a Christological glory text. |
| power of God | כוח האלוהים | Medium | 1:8; 3:12; 4:7,33; 6:8; 8:10,13,19; 10:38; 19:11 | Never rendered גבורה (Kabbalistic sefirah risk), per baseline forbidden substitution. |
| messiah | משיח | Critical | 2:31,36,38; 3:18,20; 4:26; 5:42; 8:5,12,37; 9:22,34; 10:36,48; 11:17,26; 15:11,26; 16:18,31; 17:3; 18:5,28; 19:4,17; 20:21,24,28; 24:24; 26:23; 28:23,31 | The single most frequent Critical term in Acts; consistency across every occurrence is essential. |
| prophet | נביא | Medium | 2:16,30; 3:18,21-25; 7:37,42,48,52; 8:28,30,34; 10:43; 11:27; 13:1,6,15,20,27,40; 15:15,32; 21:9-10; 24:14; 26:22,27; 28:23 | Very high-frequency term throughout; no new risk beyond baseline note on contested prooftexts. |
| prophecy | נבואה | Low | 2:17-18; 19:6; 21:9-11 | No new risk. |
| covenant | ברית | High | 3:25; 7:8 | Ties to new term “circumcision”/ברית מילה below — the two share the root ברית and reinforce each other contextually. |
| election | בחירה | High | 9:15; 13:48; 15:7 | Applied narratively to individual calling (Paul) and to Gentile inclusion (13:48) — see new-term notes below. |
| intercession | הפגעה | High | (thematically, via Isaiah 53 citations at 8:32-33) | See Isaiah-servant note under Chapter 3 and Chapter 8 glossary entries below. |
| providence | השגחה פרטית | Medium | 2:23; 17:26-28; 20:27 | Never rendered bare השגחה, per baseline forbidden substitution. |
| mission | שליחות | Medium | 13:2-4; 22:21 | Distinguish from secular Jewish-Agency shlichut usage, per baseline note. |
| david | דוד | Low | 1:16; 2:25,29,34; 4:25; 7:45; 13:22,34,36; 15:16 | No new risk. |
| israel | ישראל | Critical | 1:6; 2:22,36; 3:12; 4:8,10,27; 5:21,31,35; 7:23,37,42; 9:15; 10:36; 13:16,17,23,24; 21:28; 28:20 | 1:6’s restoration question and 28:26-27’s Isaiah 6 quotation are the two highest-stakes occurrences in the book. |
| jesus | ישוע | Critical | throughout (over 60 occurrences) | Always spelled ישוע with final ayin; never ישו. |
| god | אלוהים | Critical | throughout | No new risk beyond baseline. |
| holy spirit | רוח הקודש | Critical | throughout (over 50 occurrences) | The single most theologically load-bearing recurring term in Acts; central to “The Holy Spirit and Pentecost” curriculum doctrine. |
| father | אבינו | Medium | 3:13,25; 5:30; 7:2,11-12,15,19,32,38-39,44-45; 13:17,32; 15:10; 22:1,14; 24:14; 28:25 | No new risk. |
| exhort | לעודד / להוכיח | Low | 2:40; 11:23; 14:22; 15:32; 16:40; 20:1-2 | No new risk. |
| seed of David | זרע דוד | High | 2:30; 13:23 | No new risk beyond baseline. |
| imputed righteousness | נחשבת לו לצדקה | Critical | (not directly cited in Acts) | No occurrence; retained here for cross-document consistency awareness only. |
Table 2 — New Terms Introduced in Acts (Full Risk Assessment)
Organized by the curriculum’s nine doctrine categories. Full field detail (literal meaning, semantic range, English variants, theological meaning) is documented in 07_semantic_analysis.md; this table records the authoritative Hebrew rendering, transliteration, risk tier, and grounded rationale for Phase 2 enforcement.
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit and Pentecost
| Term | Greek | Hebrew | Transliteration | Risk | Rationale (grounded reason) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pentecost | πεντηκοστή | חג השבועות | Chag HaShavuot | Critical | Names the actual Jewish festival (Shavuot); not a false-friend but the literal historical referent, carrying a real Sinai/Torah-giving typological resonance with the giving of the Spirit that must be taught explicitly. |
| other tongues (Acts 2) | ἑτέραι γλῶσσαι | לשונות אחרות | leshonot acherot | Medium | Must be anchored as intelligible human foreign languages (per Acts 2:6,8), not left ambiguous with later, distinct NT “tongues” phenomena. |
| filled with the Holy Spirit | ἐπλήσθησαν πνεύματος ἁγίου | התמלאו ברוח הקודש | hitmal’u be-Ruach HaKodesh | Critical | Inherits baseline holy_spirit Critical risk; the repeated-filling pattern (2:4; 4:8,31; 9:17; 13:9) must be taught alongside, not against, Romans 8’s once-for-all indwelling. |
| pour out [my Spirit] | ἐκχεῶ | אשפוך את רוחי | eshpokh et ruchi | High | Direct citation of Joel 3:1 MT; must align to the existing Masoretic wording, not paraphrase. |
| last days | ἔσχαται ἡμέραι | אחרית הימים | acharit ha-yamim | Medium | Rabbinic usage treats this as wholly future; Peter’s “already begun” claim requires explicit inaugurated-eschatology teaching. |
| day of the Lord | ἡμέρα Κυρίου | יום ה׳ | Yom Hashem | Medium | Direct Joel citation where “Lord” = the Tetragrammaton itself; sets up the Critical seam with v.36’s application of “Lord” to Jesus. |
| call on the name of the Lord | ἐπικαλέσηται τὸ ὄνομα Κυρίου | הקורא בשם ה׳ | ha-qore be-shem Hashem | Critical | Same verse Paul cites in Romans 10:13; the whole speech’s argument depends on this YHWH-directed formula being rightly applied to Jesus (v.36). |
| gift of the Holy Spirit (singular, person) | δωρεὰ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος | מתת רוח הקודש | matat Ruach HaKodesh | High | Must be distinguished from the baseline’s plural spiritual_gifts (matanot ruchaniyot) — this is the initial gift of the Spirit’s person, not subsequent enablements. |
| signs and wonders / mighty works | δυνάμεις, τέρατα, σημεῖα | אותות ומופתים (וגבורות) | otot u-mofetim (u-gevurot) | Medium | Strong positive Tanakh resource, but Deuteronomy 13:1-3 also warns signs can accompany false prophets — must be taught as authenticating, not self-validating. |
| determined plan and foreknowledge | βουλὴ καὶ πρόγνωσις | עצתו הנחרצת ודעתו מראש | atzato ha-necheretzet ve-da’ato me-rosh | High | Must hold divine sovereignty and human moral responsibility together in the same sentence (2:23) without collapsing either. |
Doctrine: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
| Term | Greek | Hebrew | Transliteration | Risk | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| clean / unclean (food) | κοινός / ἀκάθαρτον | טהור / טמא | tahor / tamei | Critical | Precise Levitical kashrut categories; Peter’s vision (Acts 10) directly reinterprets them to authorize Jew-Gentile table fellowship — must be taught as boundary-marker relativization for that specific purpose, never as blanket Torah abrogation. |
| God-fearer | φοβούμενος τὸν θεόν | ירא אלוהים | yerei Elohim | Medium | Existing positive category, but risks being read as generic piety rather than Luke’s specific technical sense (uncircumcised, synagogue-adjacent Gentile). |
| God shows no partiality | οὐ προσωπολήμπτης | אינו נושא פנים | eino nosei panim | Low-Medium | Strong positive existing biblical idiom (Deuteronomy 10:17); low collision risk. |
| light for the Gentiles | φῶς ἐθνῶν | אור לגויים | or la-goyim | Medium | Genuine Isaiah 49:6 resource, but also a well-known secular/Zionist civic phrase in Modern Hebrew; the specific missiological-christological point must be framed distinctly from that national-destiny reading. |
| Isaiah 6 hardening quotation | (Acts 28:26-27) | (reuse נביא/נבואה) | — | Critical | Must be taught as partial, remnant-preserving hardening (Romans 11:25 framework), never as total or final rejection of Israel. |
| times of ignorance / appointed judgment day | τῆς ἀγνοίας / ὥρισεν ἡμέραν | ימי הבורות / קבע יום | yemei ha-borut / kava yom | Medium | Extends universal_human_accountability (baseline High) to a Gentile pagan-philosophical audience specifically. |
Doctrine: Repentance and Baptism
| Term | Greek | Hebrew | Transliteration | Risk | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| repent | μετανοέω | תשובה / השבו | teshuvah / hishavu | High/Critical | Teshuvah is a cherished, genuinely positive Jewish category, but is typically self-effected without a mediator; must be taught as continuous with, yet specifically Messianically fulfilled beyond, that framework. |
| baptize / baptism | βαπτίζω / βάπτισμα | טבילה (הטבל) | tevilah (hitavel) | Critical | Tevilah’s existing associations (ritual purification; proselyte conversion-immersion) risk two distinct misreadings — mere washing, or ethnic “conversion out of” Jewishness — both must be explicitly guarded against. |
| forgiveness of sins | ἄφεσις ἁμαρτιῶν | סליחת החטאים | selichat ha-chata’im | Medium | Strong positive resource (Yom Kippur selichot liturgy); the new element is the specific mechanism — through Jesus’ name, not the ritual cycle alone. |
| baptism with the Holy Spirit vs. water | (Acts 1:5) | טבילה ברוח הקודש / טבילת מים | tevilah be-Ruach HaKodesh / tevilat mayim | High | The John/Jesus contrast is foundational to this curriculum doctrine and must be rendered so the two are unmistakably distinct. |
Doctrine: The Church as Community
| Term | Greek | Hebrew | Transliteration | Risk | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| one heart and soul / all things common | μία καρδία καὶ ψυχή / ἅπαντα κοινά | לב אחד ונפש אחת | lev echad ve-nefesh echad | Low | Foundational descriptive vocabulary; no collision. |
| table service (proto-deacon) | διακονία | שרות השולחנות | sherut ha-shulchanot | Medium | No fixed one-word Hebrew equivalent; descriptive phrase preferred over transliteration. |
| Hellenists / Hebrews | Ἑλληνισταί / Ἑβραῖοι | יהודים דוברי יוונית / יהודים דוברי עברית וארמית | Yehudim dovrei Yavanit / Yehudim dovrei Ivrit va-Aramit | Low-Medium | Important internal-diversity context, not itself a doctrinal collision. |
| Christians | Χριστιανοί | משיחיים (preferred) / נוצרים (flagged) | Meshichi’im / Notzrim | Critical | Notzrim carries heavy historical baggage in Jewish usage; Meshichi’im preserves continuity with Jewish identity for this Language Package’s Messianic Jewish audience. Requires theologian sign-off and consistent application. |
| elders / overseers / shepherd | πρεσβύτεροι / ἐπίσκοποι / ποιμαίνειν | זקנים / (לרעות) | zekenim / lir’ot | Medium | Positive continuity with existing Jewish eldership structures; must clarify this is a distinct ecclesial office, not simple identity with synagogue/Sanhedrin eldership. |
| wolves (false teachers) | λύκοι | זאבים | ze’evim | Low | Standard metaphor; no collision. |
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
| Term | Greek | Hebrew | Transliteration | Risk | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| witness(es) | μάρτυς / μάρτυρες | עד / עדים | ed / edim | Medium | Strong existing legal-forensic resource (Deuteronomy 19:15); the semantic extension toward “martyr” (testifying at the cost of life, realized in Stephen) must be taught, since bare עד does not carry that weight natively. |
| laying on of hands | ἐπίθεσις τῶν χειρῶν | סמיכת ידיים | semichat yadayim | Medium | Genuine positive resource (Rabbinic semichah ordination-chain, Numbers 27:18-23); NT usage parallels but is not identical to that legal-authority-transmission sense. |
| Holy and Righteous One | ὁ ἅγιος καὶ ὁ δίκαιος | הקדוש והצדיק | ha-Kadosh ve-ha-Tzadik | Critical | ”HaKadosh” echoes “HaKadosh Baruch Hu,” a common Jewish name for God himself; applying it directly to Jesus is doctrinally exact but requires the same care as the baseline lord/deity_of_christ entries. |
| Author/Prince of Life | ἀρχηγὸς τῆς ζωῆς | שר החיים | Sar ha-Chayim | Medium | No fixed precedent; a deliberate translator’s-choice rendering requiring theologian sign-off. |
| cornerstone | κεφαλὴ γωνίας | ראש פינה | rosh pinah | Medium | Existing Psalm 118:22 wording; contested messianic prooftext. |
| gift of God (re: purchasing spiritual power) | ἡ δωρεὰ τοῦ θεοῦ | מתת האלוהים | matat ha-Elohim | Medium | Warns against a transactional view of grace/Spirit-gifting; reinforces baseline grace entry. |
Doctrine: Persecution and Bold Witness
| Term | Greek | Hebrew | Transliteration | Risk | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| boldness | παρρησία | עֹז | oz | Medium | Central recurring term (4:13,29,31; 28:31); colloquial chutzpah alternative carries a genuine but too-casual positive resonance (“holy chutzpah”) — retained as a translator’s note only, not the primary rendering. |
| persecution | διωγμός | רדיפה | redifah | Medium | Standard term; central to this doctrine and to the Paul conversion narrative. |
| suffering shame for the Name | ὑπὲρ τοῦ ὀνόματος | בעבור השם / לשם | ba’avur ha-Shem / le-shem | High | ”HaShem” is itself the standard reverential Jewish substitute-address for God; context must disambiguate that the referent here is specifically Jesus’ name. |
| crucified/killed by lawless men | ἀνείλατε διὰ χειρὸς ἀνόμων | הרגתם בידי אנשים מופקרים | haragtem bi-yedei anashim mufkarim | High | Historically weaponized as a collective “deicide” charge; must be taught as a prophetic indictment of a specific generation/leadership, not timeless collective guilt. |
| stoning | λιθοβολέω | סקילה | sekilah | Low | Precise existing halakhic term; historically accurate, no collision. |
| fell asleep (death euphemism) | ἐκοιμήθη | נאסף אל אבותיו | ne’esaf el avotav | Low | Positive existing biblical idiom. |
Doctrine: Conversion of Paul
| Term | Greek | Hebrew | Transliteration | Risk | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| chosen instrument | σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς | כלי נבחר | kli nivchar | High | Applies baseline election (already High for its individual/corporate scope tension) specifically and narratively to Paul’s personal calling. |
| zealous for God | ζηλωτὴς τοῦ θεοῦ | קנאי לאלוהים | kana’i le-Elohim | Medium | Existing category (Phinehas-type zeal; the historical Zealot movement) with both positive and negative resonance; must be framed as sincere but misdirected zeal, later reoriented. |
| power of Satan | ἐξουσία τοῦ Σατανᾶ | כוח השטן | koach ha-Satan | Medium | Tanakh’s ha-Satan is a more limited accusing/prosecutorial figure than the fully personalized NT cosmic adversary; the intensified conception is a development requiring explicit teaching. |
| heavenly vision | οὐράνιος ὀπτασία | חזון מן השמים | chazon min ha-shamayim | Low | Standard vocabulary; no collision. |
Doctrine: Justification apart from the Law
| Term | Greek | Hebrew | Transliteration | Risk | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| circumcision / Brit Milah | περιτομή | מילה / ברית מילה | milah / brit milah | Critical | One of Judaism’s most central covenant-markers (Genesis 17); the council’s ruling concerns Gentile inclusion requirements, never Jewish believers’ own covenant sign — the grafting-in (not replacement) framing is mandatory. |
| Nazirite vow | (Acts 21:23-26 context) | נדר נזיר | neder nazir | Medium | Paul’s own participation in Temple purification rites is a key corrective against an antinomian misreading of the justification-apart-from-law-works doctrine. |
| the Way | ἡ ὁδός | הדרך | ha-derekh | Medium-High | Genuine historical self-designation of the earliest Jewish followers of Yeshua (a positive asset); risk is contemporary dilution into generic “spiritual path” language — must anchor to the specific proclamation about Yeshua. |
| sect (hostile label for the Way) | αἵρεσις | כת | kat | Medium | Carries a strong pejorative “cult” connotation in Modern Hebrew; preserve deliberately as the accuser’s hostile framing (Tertullus, 24:5), not as the movement’s own self-understanding. |
| tabernacle/tent of David | σκηνὴ Δαυίδ | סוכת דוד | sukkat David | Medium | Direct Amos 9:11 MT citation; applies Davidic-restoration language to justify Gentile inclusion without requiring circumcision. |
Doctrine: The Great Commission Fulfilled
| Term | Greek | Hebrew | Transliteration | Risk | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ascension | ἀνάλημψις / ἀνελήφθη | עלייתו השמימה | aliyato ha-shamaymah | High | Modern Hebrew aliyah is overwhelmingly associated with Jewish immigration to Israel; the qualifier “heavenward” (השמימה) must always be retained to disambiguate registers. |
| restore the kingdom to Israel | ἀποκαταστάνεις τὴν βασιλείαν τῷ Ἰσραήλ | להשיב את המלכות לישראל | le-hashiv et ha-malchut le-Yisra’el | High | Ties directly to the ongoing, culturally live question of Israel’s national restoration; requires careful, non-date-setting framing. |
| restore all things (eschatological) | ἀποκατάστασις πάντων | השבת הכל לקדמותו | hashavat ha-kol le-kadmuto | High/Critical — forbidden substitution | Must never be rendered “תיקון עולם” (tikkun olam), which would trivialize cosmic eschatological restoration into a this-worldly social-activist program. |
| unhindered [preaching] | ἀκωλύτως | ללא מפריע / בלי מעצור | le-lo mafri’a / bli ma’atzor | Low | Programmatically significant closing term for the book’s missionary-fulfillment claim; low lexical risk. |
| light for the Gentiles | (see Gospel to Jews and Gentiles above) | אור לגויים | or la-goyim | Medium | Cross-listed; central to this doctrine’s missionary-fulfillment argument (13:47). |
Forbidden Substitutions — New (Acts-Specific) Additions
In addition to the baseline’s existing forbidden-substitution list (ישו, bare צדקה, קידוש, עדה, bare השגחה, גבורה), the following are added for Acts:
- Restoration of all things (Acts 3:21): NEVER use תיקון עולם — always use השבת הכל לקדמותו.
- Christians (Acts 11:26): default to משיחיים; if נוצרים is used for platform-consistency reasons, it must carry an explanatory note every first occurrence per document.
- Baptism (throughout): NEVER let טבילה stand unqualified in a way that reads as ordinary mikveh purification or proselyte conversion-immersion without the accompanying “in the name of Jesus/the Messiah” (בשם ישוע/המשיח) qualifier.
- Clean/unclean food categories (Acts 10-11, 15): NEVER generalize טהור/טמא language into a claim that Torah’s dietary law is abolished outright; always scope the statement to Jew-Gentile table fellowship as the narrative itself does.
Cross-Reference to Existing Baseline Doctrine Registry
The following baseline doctrine_risk_registry.json entries are directly reinforced and extended by Acts and require no new doctrine entry, only new primary-passage citations:
salvation— add Acts 2:21, 2:38, 4:12, 16:30-31messianic_promise— add Acts 2:29-36, 13:32-37resurrection_of_christ— add Acts 2:24-32, 17:31-32lordship_of_christ— add Acts 2:36, 10:36unity_of_jews_and_gentiles— add Acts 10-11, 15, 28:26-28church_as_gods_people— add Acts 2:42-47, 11:26, 15:1-29separation_unto_gods_service— add Acts 13:2election— add Acts 9:15, 13:48providence— add Acts 2:23, 17:26-28
New doctrine categories introduced by this curriculum (Holy Spirit and Pentecost as a distinct standalone doctrine; Repentance and Baptism; Apostolic Authority and Miracles; Persecution and Bold Witness; Conversion of Paul; Justification apart from the Law as a narrative-anchored doctrine; The Great Commission Fulfilled) should be added as new entries to an Acts-specific extension of doctrine_risk_registry.json in a subsequent Phase 1 step, using the risk tiers and rationale established in this glossary.
This glossary, together with 07_semantic_analysis.md, constitutes the complete Step 1 deliverable for the Acts curriculum and is intended to seed the version-incremented translation_memory.json update prior to Phase 2 processing.
Critical Risk Terms
Righteousness
Approved rendering: צדק
Transliteration: tzedek
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: צדקה
Original: δικαιοσύνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. No Genesis 15:6-style direct citation occurs in Acts, so צֶדֶק (never צדקה) applies without exception at 10:35; 13:10; 17:31; 24:25.
Justification
Approved rendering: ההצדקה
Transliteration: ha-hatzdakah
Doctrine: Salvation
Original: δικαίωσις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Acts 13:39 is the narrative anchor text for ‘Justification apart from the Law’; must retain the qualifying phrase על ידי אמונה so it reads as forensic verdict, not self-justifying rationale.
Salvation
Approved rendering: ישועה
Transliteration: yeshu’ah
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: גאולה
Original: σωτηρία
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Acts contains a repeated confession-pattern (2:21, 2:38, 4:12, 16:30-31) requiring exact cross-document rendering consistency; the etymological link to Yeshua’s own name is a teaching asset reinforced throughout Acts.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: תחיית המתים
Transliteration: techiyat hametim
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Original: ἀνάστασις
Category: Eschatology
Inherited from Romans package. Acts 23:6-9’s Pharisee-Sadducee dispute is a positive teaching asset showing resurrection itself was not foreign to first-century Judaism; distinguish from Tabitha’s temporary restoration (9:40-41, a foretaste sign-miracle, not this doctrine).
Lord
Approved rendering: אדון
Transliteration: Adon
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Acts 2:36’s ‘Lord and Christ’ is the climactic Christological confession of the core passage, moving hearers from Joel’s YHWH-directed ‘day of the LORD’ language (2:20-21) to applying Adon-level lordship to Jesus.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: בן האלוהים
Transliteration: ben ha-Elohim
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Original: υἱὸς θεοῦ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Acts 9:20 is Paul’s earliest post-conversion synagogue preaching of this title; the Tanakh’s existing ‘sons of God’ categories (angelic beings, Israel corporately) must still be explicitly set aside.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: התגלמות
Transliteration: hitgalmut
Doctrine: Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: הגשמה
Original: ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Not directly re-narrated in Acts but underlies all Christological claims in the book; retained for cross-document consistency.
Church
Approved rendering: קהילה
Transliteration: kehilah
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: עדה
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Never rendered עדה. Occurs at every major structural moment in Acts (5:11; 8:1; 11:22,26; 15:3-4,22,41). The Jerusalem church’s Jewish-majority composition through much of Acts further reinforces that this must never be framed as replacing Israel.
Law
Approved rendering: תורה
Transliteration: Torah
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Original: νόμος
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Framing caution (never anti-Torah polemic) applies with special force at Acts 13:39, 15:5, 21:20-24 (Paul’s own continued observance is a key corrective), and 22:3.
Messiah
Approved rendering: משיח
Transliteration: mashiach
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Original: Χριστός / מָשִׁיחַ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. The single most frequent Critical term in Acts (over 25 occurrences); consistency across every occurrence is essential, especially at the climactic 2:36 ‘Lord and Christ’ confession.
Israel
Approved rendering: ישראל
Transliteration: Yisra’el
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Original: יִשְׂרָאֵל
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Acts 1:6’s restoration question and 28:26-27’s Isaiah 6 quotation are the two highest-stakes occurrences in the book for a Hebrew-speaking reader specifically, given the name’s live political and personal resonance.
Jesus
Approved rendering: ישוע
Transliteration: Yeshua
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: ישו
Original: Ἰησοῦς / יֵשׁוּעַ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Always spelled ישוע with the final ayin; never ישו. Occurs over 60 times across Acts.
God
Approved rendering: אלוהים
Transliteration: Elohim
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: θεός / אֱלֹהִים / יהוה
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Acts 5:3-4’s explicit identification of the Holy Spirit with God himself is a key supporting text for this term’s Trinitarian implications.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: רוח הקודש
Transliteration: Ruach HaKodesh
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. The single most theologically load-bearing recurring term in Acts (over 50 occurrences); central to ‘The Holy Spirit and Pentecost.’ Acts 5:3-4’s identification of lying to the Spirit as lying to God directly reinforces the baseline’s concern for the Spirit’s full personhood and deity, against the mainstream Rabbinic view that Ruach HaKodesh is impersonal and departed since the last prophets (Yoma 9b).
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: נחשבת לו לצדקה
Transliteration: nechshevet lo li-tzedakah
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: צדק מוענק
Original: ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. No direct Genesis 15:6 citation occurs in Acts; retained here for cross-document consistency awareness only.
Pentecost
Approved rendering: חג השבועות
Transliteration: Chag HaShavuot
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Rejected alternatives: פנטקוסט (transliterated loanword)
Original: πεντηκοστή
Category: Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Names the actual Jewish festival of Shavuot; not a false-friend but the literal historical referent. Must be taught with its Sinai/Torah-giving typological resonance (a deliberate new-covenant counterpart: Torah given at Sinai, Spirit given at Zion) rather than left as incidental scheduling detail. Acts 2:1, 20:16.
Filled With Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: התמלאו ברוח הקודש
Transliteration: hitmal’u be-Ruach HaKodesh
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Original: ἐπλήσθησαν πνεύματος ἁγίου
Category: Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Inherits the Critical risk of רוח הקודש. The repeated-filling pattern (2:4; 4:8,31; 9:17; 13:9) is distinct from, though not contradictory to, Romans 8’s permanent once-for-all indwelling; both categories must be taught together.
Call On Name Of Lord
Approved rendering: הקורא בשם ה׳
Transliteration: ha-qore be-shem Hashem
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: ἐπικαλέσηται τὸ ὄνομα Κυρίου
Category: Holy Spirit and Pentecost
The same verse Paul cites in Romans 10:13. Acts 2’s entire homiletical argument depends on this originally-YHWH-directed formula (Joel 3:5 MT) being rightly applied to Jesus per Acts 2:36.
Clean Unclean
Approved rendering: טהור / טמא
Transliteration: tahor / tamei
Doctrine: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Original: κοινός / ἀκάθαρτον
Category: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Precise Levitical kashrut categories; Peter’s vision (Acts 10) directly reinterprets them to authorize Jew-Gentile table fellowship. Must be scoped explicitly to this purpose and never generalized into a claim that Torah’s dietary law is abolished outright (per Acts 10:28 and the narrower Acts 15 ruling).
Baptize
Approved rendering: טבילה (הטבל)
Transliteration: tevilah (hitavel)
Doctrine: Repentance and Baptism
Original: βαπτίζω / βάπτισμα
Category: Repentance and Baptism
Tevilah’s existing associations (mikveh ritual purification; proselyte conversion-immersion) risk two misreadings: mere ceremonial washing, or ethnic ‘conversion out of’ Jewishness. Never leave the bare noun unqualified; always attach ‘בשם ישוע/המשיח.‘
Christians
Approved rendering: משיחיים
Transliteration: Meshichi’im
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: נוצרים
Original: Χριστιανοί
Category: The Church as Community
נוצרים carries heavy historical baggage in Jewish usage (Gentile Christendom, historically distinct from and at times antagonistic toward Jewish identity). Given this package’s Messianic Jewish audience, משיחיים preserves continuity with Jewish identity (Acts 11:26). Requires theologian sign-off and consistent application; if נוצרים is ever used for platform-consistency reasons, a mandatory explanatory note is required at first occurrence per document.
Holy And Righteous One
Approved rendering: הקדוש והצדיק
Transliteration: ha-Kadosh ve-ha-Tzadik
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Original: ὁ ἅγιος καὶ ὁ δίκαιος
Category: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
הקדוש echoes ‘HaKadosh Baruch Hu,’ a common Jewish reverential name for God himself. Applying it directly to Jesus (Acts 3:14) is doctrinally exact but requires the same care as the deity_of_christ Critical entry; flag every occurrence for theologian review.
Circumcision
Approved rendering: מילה / ברית מילה
Transliteration: milah / brit milah
Doctrine: Justification apart from the Law
Original: περιτομή
Category: Justification apart from the Law
One of Judaism’s most central covenant-markers (Genesis 17). The Jerusalem Council’s ruling (Acts 15:1,5) concerns requirements for Gentile inclusion only, never abrogating the sign’s meaning for Jewish believers themselves — reinforced narratively at 16:3 and 21:20-26. The grafting-in, not-replacement framing is mandatory.
Restore All Things
Approved rendering: השבת הכל לקדמותו
Transliteration: hashavat ha-kol le-kadmuto
Doctrine: The Great Commission Fulfilled
Rejected alternatives: תיקון עולם
Original: ἀποκατάστασις πάντων
Category: The Great Commission Fulfilled
FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION: never render as תיקון עולם, the Lurianic-Kabbalistic and contemporary social-justice-activism phrase; using it here (Acts 3:21) would trivialize Christ’s cosmic eschatological restoration into a this-worldly activist program.
Hardening Of Israel
Approved rendering: (שימוש בישעיהו ו — נביא / נבואה)
Transliteration: —
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Original: (Isaiah 6:9-10 quotation, Acts 28:26-27)
Category: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
The judicial-hardening motif applied to unbelieving Israel at the book’s close (Isaiah 6:9-10 quotation, Acts 28:26-27) has a long history of supersessionist misuse; per the Romans 11:25 grafting-in/remnant framework, must be taught as partial and remnant-preserving, never as total or final rejection of Israel.
High Risk Terms
Grace
Approved rendering: חסד
Transliteration: chesed
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: חן
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Acts 15:11 (‘we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they are’) is the Jerusalem Council’s own grace/law summary statement and must not be softened to imply grace plus Torah-observance as a joint requirement, nor read as anti-Torah polemic.
Faith
Approved rendering: אמונה
Transliteration: emunah
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: ביטחון
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. The object of faith (Yeshua specifically) must remain recoverable in every Acts occurrence (3:16; 11:24; 13:8; 16:31; 20:21; 26:18), not implicitly bundled with continued Torah-observance as its necessary expression.
Called
Approved rendering: קרוא
Transliteration: karu
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Original: κλητός
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Acts 1:17’s ‘share/lot in this ministry’ and 13:2’s commissioning both reuse this root; sense must be checked per occurrence.
Calling
Approved rendering: קריאה
Transliteration: keri’ah
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Original: κλῆσις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Acts 2:39’s ‘everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself’ extends this term’s scope to Gentiles without displacing its address to ‘you and your children’ first.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: התקדשות
Transliteration: hitkadshut
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: קידוש
Original: ἁγιασμός
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package. Acts 26:18 ties sanctification directly to faith ‘in me’ (Christ), reinforcing the baseline’s object-specificity requirement. Never rendered קידוש.
Adoption
Approved rendering: אימוץ
Transliteration: imutz
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: υἱοθεσία
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Not directly re-narrated in Acts; retained for cross-document consistency with Romans materials.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: מלכות האלוהים
Transliteration: malchut ha-Elohim
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Kingdom
Inherited from Romans package. Acts 1:3,6 raises the disciples’ Israel-restoration question explicitly, and 28:31 closes the book on this term, bracketing the whole narrative between an unanswered political-national question and an unhindered proclamation.
Sin
Approved rendering: חטא
Transliteration: chet
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package. Consistently paired with ‘forgiveness’ vocabulary in Acts (2:38; 3:19; 22:16; 26:18).
Gentiles
Approved rendering: גויים
Transliteration: goyim
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: עמים
Original: ἔθνη
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Central to ‘The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles,’ with especially high theological density in Acts 10-11, 13:46-48, and 15.
Covenant
Approved rendering: ברית
Transliteration: brit
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: διαθήκη
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Shares its root with the new term circumcision/ברית מילה, which reinforces and complicates this term’s application to Gentile inclusion in Acts 15.
Election
Approved rendering: בחירה
Transliteration: bechirah
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Original: ἐκλογή
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Applied narratively in Acts both to individual calling (9:15, Paul as ‘chosen instrument’) and to Gentile inclusion (13:48, 15:7) — concrete narrative precedent for the corporate-to-individual scope-shift the baseline flags for Romans 9.
Intercession
Approved rendering: הפגעה
Transliteration: hafga’ah
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Original: ὑπερεντυγχάνει (Rom 8:26) / ἔντευξις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Thematically present via the Isaiah 53 citation Philip expounds (8:32-33), carrying the baseline’s caution about the contested individual-Messiah vs. collective-Israel reading of the Suffering Servant.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: זרע דוד
Transliteration: zera David
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: σπέρμα Δαυίδ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Occurs at Acts 2:30 and 13:23, both key texts for Peter’s and Paul’s respective Davidic-covenant arguments.
Pour Out Spirit
Approved rendering: אשפוך את רוחי
Transliteration: eshpokh et ruchi
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Original: ἐκχεῶ
Category: Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Direct citation of Joel 3:1 MT (Acts 2:17); must align to the existing Masoretic wording exactly, never a paraphrase, per the baseline’s Genesis-15:6-style direct-citation rule.
Gift Of Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: מתת רוח הקודש
Transliteration: matat Ruach HaKodesh
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Rejected alternatives: מתנת רוח הקודש (everyday-register noun)
Original: δωρεὰ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος
Category: Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Uses the elevated biblical-register noun מתת rather than the everyday מתנה, and must be distinguished from spiritual_gifts (plural matanot ruchaniyot) so readers do not conflate the initial indwelling (Acts 2:38) with subsequent particular enablements.
Determined Plan And Foreknowledge
Approved rendering: עצתו הנחרצת ודעתו מראש
Transliteration: atzato ha-necheretzet ve-da’ato me-rosh
Doctrine: Providence
Original: τῇ ὡρισμένῃ βουλῇ καὶ προγνώσει τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Must hold divine sovereignty over the crucifixion together with genuine human moral responsibility (‘you crucified,’ Acts 2:23, same verse) without collapsing either into fatalism or denial of God’s plan.
Repent
Approved rendering: תשובה / השבו
Transliteration: teshuvah / hishavu
Doctrine: Repentance and Baptism
Original: μετανοέω
Category: Repentance and Baptism
Teshuvah is a cherished, self-effected Jewish category (Yom Kippur liturgy, Rambam’s Hilchot Teshuvah); Peter’s call (2:38; 3:19) links repentance explicitly and necessarily to baptism in Jesus’ name for forgiveness — must be taught as continuous with, not a replacement of, teshuvah, while making its specific Messianic content unmistakable.
Baptism Spirit Vs Water
Approved rendering: טבילה ברוח הקודש / טבילת מים
Transliteration: tevilah be-Ruach HaKodesh / tevilat mayim
Doctrine: Repentance and Baptism
Original: βαπτισθήσεσθε ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ
Category: Repentance and Baptism
Foundational to the John/Jesus baptism contrast (1:5; 11:16; 19:1-6); must be rendered so the water/Spirit distinction is unmistakable, especially where Acts 19 shows progressive instruction rather than wholesale correction of prior faith.
Suffering For The Name
Approved rendering: בעבור השם / לשם
Transliteration: ba’avur ha-Shem / le-shem
Doctrine: Persecution and Bold Witness
Original: ὑπὲρ τοῦ ὀνόματος
Category: Persecution and Bold Witness
‘HaShem’ (הַשֵּׁם) is the standard reverential Jewish substitute-address for God, avoiding the Tetragrammaton. Applying it here to Jesus’ name (Acts 5:41) carries real theological weight but risks being misheard as a generic pious God-reference; context must disambiguate every time.
Crucified By Lawless Men
Approved rendering: הרגתם בידי אנשים מופקרים
Transliteration: haragtem bi-yedei anashim mufkarim
Doctrine: Persecution and Bold Witness
Original: διὰ χειρὸς ἀνόμων ἀνείλατε
Category: Persecution and Bold Witness
Historically weaponized as a collective ‘deicide’ charge against the Jewish people. Peter — a Jew addressing fellow Jews in the register of an OT prophet indicting a specific generation and leadership (Acts 2:23) — must never be taught as imputing timeless collective guilt.
Chosen Instrument
Approved rendering: כלי נבחר
Transliteration: kli nivchar
Doctrine: Conversion of Paul
Original: σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς
Category: Conversion of Paul
Applies the baseline election entry’s individual/corporate scope tension directly and narratively to Paul’s personal apostolic calling (Acts 9:15) — a key text for teaching that individual election has real narrative precedent in Acts itself.
The Way
Approved rendering: הדרך
Transliteration: ha-derekh
Doctrine: Justification apart from the Law
Original: ἡ ὁδός
Category: Justification apart from the Law
Genuine historical self-designation of the earliest Jewish followers of Yeshua (9:2; 18:25-26; 19:9,23; 22:4; 24:14,22), a positive asset still used by some Messianic Jewish congregations today. Risk is contemporary dilution into generic ‘spiritual path’ language or confusion with the unrelated idiom derekh eretz; must anchor explicitly to proclamation about Yeshua.
Ascension
Approved rendering: עלייתו השמימה
Transliteration: aliyato ha-shamaymah
Doctrine: The Great Commission Fulfilled
Rejected alternatives: עלייה (unqualified)
Original: ἀνελήφθη / ἀνάλημψις
Category: The Great Commission Fulfilled
Modern Hebrew עלייה (aliyah) is overwhelmingly associated with Jewish immigration to Israel; the qualifier השמימה (‘heavenward’) must always be retained (Acts 1:2,9-11) to disambiguate registers and avoid trivialization.
Restore Kingdom To Israel
Approved rendering: להשיב את המלכות לישראל
Transliteration: le-hashiv et ha-malchut le-Yisra’el
Doctrine: The Great Commission Fulfilled
Original: ἀποκαταστάνεις τὴν βασιλείαν τῷ Ἰσραήλ
Category: The Great Commission Fulfilled
Ties to the ongoing, culturally live question of Israel’s national restoration (Acts 1:6). Jesus’ deferral neither confirms nor denies a future national dimension but redirects toward mission; over-eager date-setting or contemporary political mapping is a misapplication risk.
Medium Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: הבשורה
Transliteration: ha-besorah
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: חדשות טובות
Original: εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. In Acts occurs at pivotal missionary-expansion moments (1:8; 8:25; 13:32; 14:7; 15:7; 20:24); the qualifying context (proclamation about Yeshua specifically) must remain recoverable in each occurrence, not left to stand as generic good news.
Apostle
Approved rendering: שליח
Transliteration: shaliach
Doctrine: Apostleship
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Central office-term for ‘Apostolic Authority and Miracles,’ occurring at foundational structural moments (1:2,25-26; 15:2-23). Modern secular overlay (Jewish Agency emissary) must be disambiguated by context as in the baseline.
Holy
Approved rendering: קדוש
Transliteration: kadosh
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package. See the new compound term ‘holy_and_righteous_one’ (Acts 3:14), which intensifies this word’s risk profile when applied directly to Jesus.
Saints
Approved rendering: קדושים
Transliteration: kedoshim
Doctrine: Sainthood
Original: ἅγιοι
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Applied in Acts to the believing community generally (9:13,32,41; 26:10), consistent with the baseline’s caution against an elite-class reading.
Peace
Approved rendering: שלום
Transliteration: shalom
Doctrine: Peace with God
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. No new risk in Acts occurrences (9:31; 10:36; 15:33; 16:36).
Spiritual Gifts
Approved rendering: מתנות רוחניות
Transliteration: matanot ruchaniyot
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts
Rejected alternatives: מתנות
Original: χαρίσματα
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Must be kept distinct from the new singular term gift_of_holy_spirit (Acts 2:38), which denotes the initial reception of the Spirit’s person, not subsequent particular enablements.
Glory
Approved rendering: כבוד
Transliteration: kavod
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Acts 12:23’s Herod episode is a judgment narrative (glory wrongly claimed/withheld), not a direct Christological glory text; no new risk beyond the baseline note.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: כוח האלוהים
Transliteration: koach ha-Elohim
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Rejected alternatives: גבורת האל
Original: δύναμις θεοῦ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Never rendered גבורה. Frequent in Acts as the source of apostolic miracle-working (1:8; 3:12; 4:7,33; 6:8; 10:38; 19:11).
Prophet
Approved rendering: נביא
Transliteration: navi
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Original: προφήτης
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Very high-frequency term throughout Acts; Deuteronomy 18:15’s ‘prophet like Moses’ (cited at 3:22, 7:37) remains a contested messianic prooftext and should not be treated as self-evidently settling messianic identity.
Providence
Approved rendering: השגחה פרטית
Transliteration: hashgachah pratit
Doctrine: Providence
Rejected alternatives: השגחה
Original: πρόνοια
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Never rendered bare השגחה. Occurs at 2:23 (crucifixion’s determined plan), 17:26-28 (Areopagus speech), and 20:27 (‘the whole counsel of God’).
Mission
Approved rendering: שליחות
Transliteration: shlichut
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
Original: ἀποστολή / πέμπω
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Distinguish from the secular Israeli usage of shlichut as Jewish Agency emissary work, especially at Acts 13:2-4 and 22:21.
Father
Approved rendering: אבינו
Transliteration: Avinu
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. No new risk in Acts occurrences (3:13,25; 5:30; 7:2,11-12,15,19,32,38-39,44-45; 13:17,32; 15:10; 22:1,14; 24:14; 28:25).
Other Tongues
Approved rendering: לשונות אחרות
Transliteration: leshonot acherot
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Original: ἑτέραι γλῶσσαι
Category: Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Must be anchored as actual known human languages per Acts 2:6,8’s own narrative definition, not left ambiguous with later, distinct NT tongues-phenomena debates.
Last Days
Approved rendering: אחרית הימים
Transliteration: acharit ha-yamim
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Original: ἐν ταῖς ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις
Category: Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Rabbinic usage treats this as a wholly future messianic age; Peter’s claim (Acts 2:17) that this age has already been inaugurated, though not consummated, requires explicit ‘already/not yet’ teaching.
Day Of The Lord
Approved rendering: יום ה׳
Transliteration: Yom Hashem
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Original: ἡμέρα Κυρίου
Category: Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Direct Joel 3:4 MT citation where ‘Lord’ is the Tetragrammaton itself; sets up the Critical seam with Acts 2:36’s application of ‘Lord’ language to Jesus.
Signs And Wonders
Approved rendering: אותות ומופתים (וגבורות)
Transliteration: otot u-mofetim (u-gevurot)
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Original: δυνάμεις καὶ τέρατα καὶ σημεῖα
Category: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Strong positive Tanakh resource (Exodus plague-narrative vocabulary), but Deuteronomy 13:1-3 also warns signs can accompany a false prophet; must be taught as authenticating, not self-validating, evidence (2:22,43; 4:30; 5:12; 14:3; 15:12).
God Fearer
Approved rendering: ירא אלוהים
Transliteration: yerei Elohim
Doctrine: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Original: φοβούμενος τὸν θεόν
Category: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Existing positive category, but risks being read as generic piety rather than Luke’s specific technical sense (an uncircumcised, synagogue-adjacent Gentile), the sociological hinge of the Cornelius narrative (10:2,22,35).
Light For Gentiles
Approved rendering: אור לגויים
Transliteration: or la-goyim
Doctrine: The Great Commission Fulfilled
Original: φῶς ἐθνῶν
Category: The Great Commission Fulfilled
Genuine Isaiah 49:6 resource, but also a well-known secular/Zionist civic phrase in Modern Hebrew (‘light unto the nations’ as Israel’s self-described national mission). The missiological-christological point (Acts 13:47) must be framed distinctly from that national-destiny reading at every occurrence.
Times Of Ignorance
Approved rendering: ימי הבורות / קבע יום
Transliteration: yemei ha-borut / kava yom
Doctrine: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Original: τῆς ἀγνοίας / ὥρισεν ἡμέραν
Category: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Paul’s Areopagus statement (17:30-31) extends universal_human_accountability to a Gentile, pagan-philosophical audience specifically, a distinct application context from Romans’ Jewish-Gentile mixed audience.
Forgiveness Of Sins
Approved rendering: סליחת החטאים
Transliteration: selichat ha-chata’im
Doctrine: Repentance and Baptism
Original: ἄφεσις ἁμαρτιῶν
Category: Repentance and Baptism
Strong positive resource (Yom Kippur selichot liturgy); the new element requiring emphasis is the specific mechanism — through Jesus’ name (2:38; 3:19; 10:43; 26:18), not the ritual cycle alone.
Table Service
Approved rendering: שרות השולחנות
Transliteration: sherut ha-shulchanot
Doctrine: The Church as Community
Rejected alternatives: דיאקוניה (anachronistic loanword)
Original: διακονία
Category: The Church as Community
No fixed one-word Hebrew equivalent for the proto-deacon office (Acts 6:1-2); descriptive phrase preferred over transliteration or an anachronistic loanword.
Hellenists Hebrews
Approved rendering: יהודים דוברי יוונית / יהודים דוברי עברית וארמית
Transliteration: Yehudim dovrei Yavanit / Yehudim dovrei Ivrit va-Aramit
Doctrine: The Church as Community
Original: Ἑλληνισταί / Ἑβραῖοι
Category: The Church as Community
Important internal-diversity context for the earliest community (Acts 6:1), not itself a doctrinal collision term, but must be rendered precisely to avoid implying an ethnic rather than linguistic division within the earliest Jewish believing community.
Elders Overseers Shepherd
Approved rendering: זקנים / לרעות
Transliteration: zekenim / lir’ot
Doctrine: The Church as Community
Original: πρεσβύτεροι / ἐπίσκοποι / ποιμαίνειν
Category: The Church as Community
Positive continuity with existing Jewish eldership structures (synagogue and Sanhedrin), but must clarify this is a distinct new ecclesial office (Luke equates elders/overseers at 20:17,28); לרעות echoes the strong positive Ezekiel 34/Psalm 23 shepherd resource.
Witness
Approved rendering: עד / עדים
Transliteration: ed / edim
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Original: μάρτυς / μάρτυρες
Category: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Strong existing legal-forensic resource (Deuteronomy 19:15, the two-witness requirement); the semantic extension toward ‘testifying at the cost of life’ (fully realized in Stephen, ch.7 — the source of English ‘martyr’) must be taught explicitly, since bare עד does not natively carry that weight (1:8; 2:32).
Laying On Of Hands
Approved rendering: סמיכת ידיים
Transliteration: semichat yadayim
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Original: ἐπίθεσις τῶν χειρῶν
Category: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Genuine positive resource: semichah is the traditional Rabbinic ordination-transmission concept (Numbers 27:18-23). The NT practice (6:6; 13:3; 8:17-19; 19:6) parallels but is not identical to that legal-authority-transmission sense; teach overlap and difference together.
Author Of Life
Approved rendering: שר החיים
Transliteration: Sar ha-Chayim
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Original: ἀρχηγὸς τῆς ζωῆς
Category: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
No fixed prior Hebrew Bible-translation precedent for this title (Acts 3:15); a deliberate translator’s-choice rendering requiring theologian sign-off before consistent adoption.
Cornerstone
Approved rendering: ראש פינה
Transliteration: rosh pinah
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Original: κεφαλὴ γωνίας
Category: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Existing exact Psalm 118:22 wording (Acts 4:11); a contested messianic prooftext with a long history of divergent Jewish and Christian exegesis.
Gift Of God Purchasable
Approved rendering: מתת האלוהים
Transliteration: matat ha-Elohim
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Original: ἡ δωρεὰ τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Peter’s rebuke of Simon Magus’s attempt to purchase the Spirit’s power with money (Acts 8:20); reinforces the baseline grace entry that grace and its effects are never purchasable.
Boldness
Approved rendering: עֹז
Transliteration: oz
Doctrine: Persecution and Bold Witness
Rejected alternatives: חוצפה
Original: παρρησία
Category: Persecution and Bold Witness
Central recurring term for this doctrine (4:13,29,31; 28:31). חוצפה carries genuine positive Jewish resonance (‘holy chutzpah’) but is too casual a register for formal Bible translation; retained only as a translator’s aside, never in text.
Persecution
Approved rendering: רדיפה
Transliteration: redifah
Doctrine: Persecution and Bold Witness
Original: διωγμός / διώκω
Category: Persecution and Bold Witness
Standard term; central to both ‘Persecution and Bold Witness’ and ‘Conversion of Paul’ (8:1; 9:4-5; 12).
Zealous For God
Approved rendering: קנאי לאלוהים
Transliteration: kana’i le-Elohim
Doctrine: Conversion of Paul
Original: ζηλωτὴς ὑπάρχων τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Conversion of Paul
Existing category (Phinehas-type zeal, Numbers 25; the historical Zealot movement) with both positive and negative resonance; must be framed as sincere but misdirected zeal, later reoriented (Acts 22:3) — not endorsed as a model.
Power Of Satan
Approved rendering: כוח השטן
Transliteration: koach ha-Satan
Doctrine: Conversion of Paul
Original: ἐξουσία τοῦ Σατανᾶ
Category: Conversion of Paul
Tanakh’s ha-Satan (Job 1-2; Zechariah 3:1-2) is a more limited accusing/prosecutorial figure than the fully personalized NT cosmic adversary assumed at Acts 26:18; teach as a genuine conceptual development, not assumed continuous.
Nazirite Vow
Approved rendering: נדר נזיר
Transliteration: neder nazir
Doctrine: Justification apart from the Law
Original: (ἁγνισμός context, Acts 21:23-26)
Category: Justification apart from the Law
Paul’s own participation in Temple purification rites (Acts 21:23-26) is a key corrective against an antinomian misreading: justification apart from law-works does not entail personal abandonment of Jewish observance.
Sect
Approved rendering: כת
Transliteration: kat
Doctrine: Justification apart from the Law
Original: αἵρεσις
Category: Justification apart from the Law
Carries a strong pejorative ‘cult’ connotation in Modern Hebrew; preserve deliberately as Tertullus’s hostile framing of the Way (Acts 24:5,14), never as the movement’s own self-understanding.
Tabernacle Of David
Approved rendering: סוכת דוד
Transliteration: sukkat David
Doctrine: Justification apart from the Law
Original: σκηνὴ Δαυίδ
Category: Justification apart from the Law
Direct Amos 9:11 MT citation (Acts 15:16); applies Davidic-restoration language to justify Gentile inclusion without requiring circumcision.
Hades Sheol
Approved rendering: שאול
Transliteration: she’ol
Doctrine: Eschatology
Original: ᾅδης
Category: Eschatology
Existing Tanakh term for the realm of the dead, quoted from Psalm 16:10 MT in Peter’s speech (Acts 2:27,31); as a direct citation must follow the Psalm’s own wording, not a paraphrase.
Temple Made With Hands
Approved rendering: מעשה ידי אדם
Transliteration: ma’aseh yedei adam
Doctrine: The Church as Community
Original: χειροποίητος
Category: The Church as Community
Stephen’s description of the Temple, echoing Isaiah 66:1-2 and Solomon’s own prayer (1 Kings 8:27) at Acts 7:48; a scriptural, prophetic argument, not an attack on the Temple’s legitimacy per se — the risk is entirely in framing, not vocabulary.
Low Risk Terms
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: הודיה
Transliteration: hodayah
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Original: εὐχαριστία
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Acts 27:35’s shipwreck meal has a minor eucharistic-echo ambiguity worth a brief translator’s note only; it is a literal meal for sustenance, not a liturgical rite.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: שותפות
Transliteration: shutafut
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: קהילה
Original: κοινωνία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Acts 2:42 pairs it with ‘breaking of bread’; must remain distinct from קהילה (church) per the baseline’s rule.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: נבואה
Transliteration: nevu’ah
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Original: προφητεία
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Occurs at 2:17-18 (Joel citation), 19:6, 21:9-11.
David
Approved rendering: דוד
Transliteration: David
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: דָּוִד
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Frequent throughout Acts (1:16; 2:25,29,34; 4:25; 7:45; 13:22,34,36; 15:16).
Exhort
Approved rendering: לעודד
Transliteration: le’oded
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Original: παρακαλέω
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Context-sensitive across Acts occurrences (2:40; 11:23; 14:22; 15:32; 16:40; 20:1-2); להוכיח for beseeching, לעודד for building up.
God Shows No Partiality
Approved rendering: אינו נושא פנים
Transliteration: eino nosei panim
Doctrine: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Original: οὐ προσωπολήμπτης
Category: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Strong positive existing biblical idiom (Deuteronomy 10:17); low collision risk (Acts 10:34).
One Heart And Soul
Approved rendering: לב אחד ונפש אחת
Transliteration: lev echad ve-nefesh echad
Doctrine: The Church as Community
Original: μία καρδία καὶ ψυχή / ἅπαντα κοινά
Category: The Church as Community
Foundational descriptive vocabulary for the early community’s unity and shared possessions (Acts 4:32); no collision risk.
Wolves
Approved rendering: זאבים
Transliteration: ze’evim
Doctrine: The Church as Community
Original: λύκοι
Category: The Church as Community
Standard metaphor for false teachers (Acts 20:29); no collision risk.
Stoning
Approved rendering: סקילה
Transliteration: sekilah
Doctrine: Persecution and Bold Witness
Original: λιθοβολέω
Category: Persecution and Bold Witness
Precise existing halakhic term for Stephen’s execution method (7:58-59); historically accurate, no collision, though the narrative irony (a Jewish court applying this method to Stephen) is worth a contextual note.
Fell Asleep
Approved rendering: נאסף אל אבותיו
Transliteration: ne’esaf el avotav
Doctrine: Persecution and Bold Witness
Original: ἐκοιμήθη
Category: Persecution and Bold Witness
Positive existing biblical death-euphemism idiom (e.g. Genesis 25:8), applied to Stephen (7:60).
Heavenly Vision
Approved rendering: חזון מן השמים
Transliteration: chazon min ha-shamayim
Doctrine: Conversion of Paul
Original: οὐράνιος ὀπτασία
Category: Conversion of Paul
Standard vocabulary (Acts 26:19); no collision risk.
Unhindered
Approved rendering: ללא מפריע / בלי מעצור
Transliteration: le-lo mafri’a / bli ma’atzor
Doctrine: The Great Commission Fulfilled
Original: ἀκωλύτως
Category: The Great Commission Fulfilled
Programmatically significant closing term (Acts 28:31) for the book’s missionary-fulfillment claim; low lexical risk.
Patriarch
Approved rendering: אבי המשפחה דוד
Transliteration: avi ha-mishpachah David
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: הפטריארך דוד (transliteration)
Original: πατριάρχης
Category: Covenant
In Jewish usage the title ‘patriarch’ is normally reserved for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; its extension to David (Acts 2:29) is a minor, not doctrinally problematic, honorific usage worth a translator’s note.
Eunuch
Approved rendering: סריס
Transliteration: saris
Doctrine: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Original: εὐνοῦχος
Category: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
The Ethiopian court official converted through Philip’s ministry (Acts 8:27). A genuine positive resource: Isaiah 56:3-5 promises eunuchs full inclusion in the future community of God’s people — a teaching asset, not merely a neutral proper term.
Sorcery
Approved rendering: כישוף
Transliteration: kishuf
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Original: μαγεία
Category: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Existing halakhic prohibition category (Exodus 22:18; Deuteronomy 18:10), Simon Magus’s occult practice contrasted with the Spirit’s power (Acts 8:9,11); appropriately negative existing resource, no collision.
Angel Of The Lord
Approved rendering: מלאך ה׳
Transliteration: malach Hashem
Doctrine: God
Original: ἄγγελος Κυρίου
Category: God
Existing rich Tanakh term (Exodus 3:2; Judges 6:11); no new doctrinal risk in Acts 12:7,23’s rescuing/judging angel narrative context.
Sanhedrin
Approved rendering: סנהדרין
Transliteration: Sanhedrin
Doctrine: Historical/Institutional
Original: Συνέδριον
Category: Historical/Institutional
Existing precise historical/halakhic institutional term (the Jewish high court before which apostles and Paul are repeatedly tried); direct, accurate reuse, no collision.
Idols
Approved rendering: אלילים
Transliteration: elilim
Doctrine: Sin
Original: εἴδωλα
Category: Sin
Existing negative-connotation term for pagan objects of worship (e.g. Lystra and Athens, Acts 14:11-13; 17:16); no collision risk.
Living God
Approved rendering: אלוהים חיים
Transliteration: Elohim chayim
Doctrine: God
Original: ζῶντι θεῷ
Category: God
Existing rich Tanakh term (Jeremiah 10:10), contrasted with lifeless idols (Acts 14:15); strong positive resource, no collision.
Spirit Of Divination
Approved rendering: רוח קסמים
Transliteration: ruach ksamim
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Original: πνεῦμα Πύθωνα
Category: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Falls within an existing, appropriately negative Torah category of forbidden divination (Leviticus 19:31; Deuteronomy 18:10-11); the divining spirit cast out by Paul at Philippi (Acts 16:16); no collision since already condemned in the reader’s own tradition.
Whole Counsel Of God
Approved rendering: כל עצת האלוהים
Transliteration: kol atzat ha-Elohim
Doctrine: Providence
Original: πᾶσαν τὴν βουλὴν τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Echoes the ‘determined plan’ (βουλή) vocabulary of Acts 2:23; Paul’s summary of his complete teaching ministry (Acts 20:27), tying into the providence doctrine’s fuller-phrase requirement.
Referenced passages