Core Glossary
Core Glossary — Colossians (English–Greek–Japanese)
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, drawn from every chapter of Colossians (1–4). Terms already governed by the baseline Romans Language Package are marked Reused and MUST be rendered exactly as recorded in translation_memory.json; deviation is not permitted. Terms newly required for Colossians are marked New and are proposed here for adoption into an extended translation memory in a subsequent Phase 1 step. Risk tiers follow the baseline’s four-tier convention (Critical / High / Medium / Low), per doctrine_risk_registry.json.
Reused Terms (Baseline Romans Translation Memory — Enforce Exactly)
| English | Greek | Japanese | Romaji | Risk | Colossians Locus | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gospel | εὐαγγέλιον | 福音 | fukuin | Medium | 1:5, 1:23, 4:3 | No change from baseline. |
| Grace | χάρις | 恵み | megumi | Critical | 1:2, 1:6, 3:16, 4:6, 4:18 | Non-transactional grace warning applies throughout; note the χαρίζομαι (“forgive,” 3:13) wordplay reinforces this. |
| Faith | πίστις | 信仰 | shinkou | High | 1:4, 1:23, 2:5, 2:7 | No change from baseline. |
| Holy / Saints | ἅγιος / ἅγιοι | 聖い / 聖徒 | kiyoi / seito | High | 1:2, 1:4, 1:22, 1:26, 3:12 | Corporate address to ordinary Colossian believers. |
| Sanctification | (concept, cf. ἁγιασμός family) | 聖化 | seika | High | background to 1:22, 3:1-17 | Underlies “putting off/putting on” teaching; see New term “old self/new self” below for the Colossians-specific vocabulary. |
| Church | ἐκκλησία | 教会 | kyoukai | Medium | 1:18, 1:24, 4:15-16 | Extended here explicitly to Christ’s headship (1:18) and to the house-church pattern (4:15). |
| Thanksgiving | εὐχαριστία | 感謝 | kansha | Low | 1:3, 1:12, 2:7, 3:15, 3:17, 4:2 | Frequent in Colossians; no change. |
| Fellowship | κοινωνία (implied) | 交わり | majiwari | Low | background to 4:7-17 | Minor use; no change. |
| Kingdom of God | βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ | 神の国 | Kami no Kuni | High | 1:13 (“kingdom of his beloved Son”), 4:11 | MUST still be anchored against pre-1945 State Shinto 神国日本 resonance per baseline; here additionally tied directly to Sonship of Christ. |
| Lord | κύριος | 主 | Shu | Critical | throughout, esp. 1:10, 2:6, 3:17, 3:23-24, 4:1, 4:7, 4:17 | CAUTION: Colossians 3:22-4:1 uses κύριος BOTH for Christ (render 主) AND for human household masters (render 主人 — see New term “master (human)” below, an explicit and intentional exception to the baseline’s general prohibition on 主人). |
| Son of God / Sonship of Christ | υἱός (τῆς ἀγάπης αὐτοῦ) | 神の子 | Kami no Ko | Critical | 1:13 | ”Son of his love” language; reinforces baseline Critical status. |
| Resurrection | ἀνάστασις (concept) / πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν | 復活 | fukkatsu | High | 1:18, 2:12, 3:1 | Must actively restore doctrinal weight against secular “comeback” dilution, per baseline. |
| Glory | δόξα | 栄光 | eikou | Medium | 1:11, 1:27, 3:4 | No change from baseline. |
| Sin | ἁμαρτία | 罪 | tsumi | High | 1:14 (with New term “forgiveness”), 2:11 (with New term “trespass”) | No change; paired with new Colossians-specific redemption vocabulary below. |
| Apostle | ἀπόστολος | 使徒 | shito | Low | 1:1 | No change. |
| Holy Spirit | πνεῦμα ἅγιον | 聖霊 | Seirei | Critical | 1:8 | Rare in Colossians (only 1:8, “your love in the Spirit”), but the CRITICAL homophone risk of στοιχεῖα renderings using 精霊 (see New term below) makes vigilant protection of 聖霊’s exclusive kanji form especially urgent in this book. |
| Father | πατήρ | 父 | chichi | Medium | 1:2, 1:3, 1:12, 3:17 | No change from baseline. |
| God | θεός | 神 | Kami | Critical | throughout | Baseline qualifier rule (唯一のまことの神 at first occurrence/doctrinal statements) applies with special force in 1:15-20 and 2:9. |
| Jesus | Ἰησοῦς | イエス | Iesu | Critical | 1:1, 1:3, 1:4, 3:17, 4:11 | No change. |
| Christ | Χριστός | キリスト | Kirisuto | Critical | throughout | No change; heavy explanatory teaching still required per baseline note. |
| Peace (relational, greeting) | εἰρήνη | 平安 | heian | Medium | 1:2, 3:15 | Applies to the epistolary greeting (1:2) and “the peace of Christ” ruling hearts (3:15) — the personal/communal sense. Contrast with New term “peace (cosmic, 1:20)” below, which uses 平和 instead. |
| Law (background) | νόμος (implied by δόγμασιν) | 律法 | ritsuhou | Medium | background to 2:14, 2:16-17 | Mosaic-law background to festival/food/Sabbath regulations; see New term “record of debt” and “shadow/substance” below. |
| Election (adjective form) | ἐκλεκτός | 選ばれた者 | erabareta mono | Medium | 3:12 | Adjectival use of the baseline’s 選び (erabi) concept; same competitive-selection-culture caution applies. |
| Exhort (near-synonym) | νουθετέω | 勧める (cf. 諫める) | susumeru | Low | 1:28, 3:16 | Baseline term reused loosely; Colossians’ νουθετέω carries a slightly more corrective nuance — see New Chapter 1 table entry. |
New Terms Required for Colossians (Proposed for Extended Translation Memory)
| English | Greek | Japanese | Romaji | Risk | Colossians Locus | Doctrine | Risk Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image (of God) | εἰκών | かたち | katachi | High | 1:15, 3:10 | Supremacy of Christ / Incarnation | Risk of an avatar-style, honji-suijaku-flavored “one manifested form among possible forms” misreading; must be taught as Christ’s essential, exact self-disclosure of God, not a mere outward form. |
| Firstborn | πρωτότοκος | 長子 / 最初に生まれた方 | chōshi | Critical | 1:15, 1:18 | Supremacy of Christ over Creation | Historic Arian proof-text; actively used today by Jehovah’s Witnesses (エホバの証人), an active minority religious group in Japan, to argue Christ is a created being. Must always be taught alongside πρὸ πάντων (1:17) as rank/priority, not creaturely origin. |
| All creation / creation | κτίσις | 造られたもの / 創造 | tsukurareta mono / souzou | Medium | 1:15, 1:16, 1:23 | Supremacy of Christ over Creation | Must not be read partitively (Christ as “one of” creation). |
| Thrones, dominions, rulers, authorities | θρόνοι, κυριότητες, ἀρχαί, ἐξουσίαι | 位・主権・支配・権威 | kurai, shuken, shihai, ken’i | High | 1:16, 2:10, 2:15 | Supremacy of Christ / Warning against Syncretism | Names exactly the category of unseen spiritual beings populating Japan’s animistic worldview (八百万の神, ancestor spirits, folk spirits); the doctrinal point that all are Christ’s subordinate creatures is a key apologetic resource, not merely a translation task. |
| Hold together / consist | συνίστημι | 成り立っている | naritatte iru | Medium | 1:17 | Supremacy of Christ over Creation | Avoid a rendering suggesting impersonal natural law; this is Christ’s personal, active sustaining. |
| Head (of the body/church) | κεφαλή | 頭 | kashira | High | 1:18, 2:10, 2:19 | Christ as Head of the Church | Must convey living, organic, governing headship, not a titular/figurehead role. |
| Body (church as Christ’s body) | σῶμα | 体 | karada | Medium | 1:18, 1:24, 2:19, 3:15 | Christ as Head of the Church | Metaphorical body-of-Christ sense must remain distinguishable from literal-body uses (σάρξ/σῶμα in 1:22, 2:11, 2:23). |
| Fullness | πλήρωμα | 満ち満ちたもの | michi michita mono | Critical | 1:19, 2:9-10 | Fullness of Deity in Christ Bodily | Anchors the doctrine; must render identically at every occurrence; no diminished (“a great fullness”) rendering permitted. |
| Reconcile (cosmic) | ἀποκαταλλάσσω | 和解させる | wakai saseru | Critical | 1:20, 1:22 | Reconciliation through the Cross | Modern Japanese 和解 is a fully secularized legal-settlement/dispute-resolution term; teaching must actively restore the cosmic, once-for-all, blood-bought scope against a “negotiated settlement” default reading. |
| Make peace (cosmic) | εἰρηνοποιέω | 平和を実現する | heiwa wo jitsugen suru | High | 1:20 | Reconciliation through the Cross | MUST be kept distinct from baseline’s 平安 (heian, personal/relational peace, Romans 5:1 sense reused at Col 1:2, 3:15). 平和 = cosmic reconciliation of all things (1:20); 平安 = the believer’s personal peace with God/communal peace. Do not interchange. |
| Redemption | ἀπολύτρωσις | 贖い | akanai | Critical | 1:14 | Reconciliation / Salvation | Core ransom/cost vocabulary; never replace with generic “rescue” language. |
| Forgiveness (of sins) | ἄφεσις (τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν) | 罪の赦し | tsumi no yurushi | High | 1:14 | Reconciliation / Salvation | Paired with 贖い as the twin content of Christ’s redemptive work. |
| Mystery | μυστήριον | 奥義 | ougi | Critical | 1:26-27, 2:2, 4:3 | Warning against False Teaching / Syncretism | 奥義 is also the standard Japanese term for a martial art’s or traditional art’s ultimate secret technique, transmitted only within an inner master-disciple (iemoto) circle. This creates a pointed irony: Paul insists God’s 奥義 is Christ, disclosed OPENLY to all believers, the structural opposite of Japan’s esoteric-transmission tradition. Teach the contrast explicitly. |
| Wisdom / Knowledge | σοφία / γνῶσις / ἐπίγνωσις | 知恵 / 知識 / 深い知識 | chie / chishiki | High | 1:9, 1:28, 2:3 | Warning against False Teaching / Sufficiency of Christ | 知恵 risks resonance with Buddhist prajñā-wisdom (般若); 知識 risks resonance with esoteric “true knowledge” claims of new religious movements. Both must be anchored to Christ alone, per 2:3. |
| Philosophy [false] | φιλοσοφία | 哲学 | tetsugaku | Medium | 2:8 | Warning against False Teaching | Modern Japanese 哲学 denotes the entire academic discipline; clarify Paul condemns a specific speculative religious system at Colossae, not reasoned inquiry generally. |
| Elemental spirits / elements of the world | στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου | [contested — see rationale] | — | Critical (highest risk in book) | 2:8, 2:20 | Warning against False Teaching / Syncretism | Genuinely ambiguous in the Greek (spirit-powers vs. elementary teachings). If rendered with 諸霊 (“various spirits”), a severe phonological hazard arises: 精霊 (seirei, nature/ancestral spirit) is a HOMOPHONE of 聖霊 (Seirei, Holy Spirit) — same pronunciation, different kanji. In spoken teaching or non-kanji contexts this is audibly indistinguishable from the Holy Spirit. Recommend a periphrastic rendering (この世を支配する諸々の力) or the “elementary teachings” reading (この世の基本的な教え); escalate every occurrence to human theologian review. |
| Deity / Godhead | θεότης | 神性 | kamisei | Critical | 2:9 | Fullness of Deity in Christ Bodily | Must be kept distinct from 神 (Kami, the person of God); 神性 names the abstract divine nature/essence, dwelling completely and bodily in Christ. The single most load-bearing new term for this doctrine. |
| Bodily | σωματικῶς | 体をもって | karada wo motte | Critical | 2:9 | Fullness of Deity in Christ Bodily / Incarnation | Anti-docetic; reinforces baseline’s incarnation warning against 化身/権化 (provisional, non-bodily-necessary manifestation). |
| Circumcision | περιτομή | 割礼 | katsurei | Medium | 2:11, 3:11 | Union with Christ / Unity of Jews and Gentiles | Requires OT covenant-background teaching for biblically illiterate readers. |
| Baptism / buried-with / raised-with | βάπτισμα / συνθάπτω / συνεγείρω | バプテスマ / ともに葬られる / ともに復活させられる | baputesuma / tomoni | Critical | 2:12, 3:1, 3:3 | Union with Christ | The ともに (“together with”) compounds must convey real organic union, not ritual symbol or moral imitation; distinguish baptism from Shinto ritual purification (misogi/harae). |
| Flesh | σάρξ | 肉 | niku | High | 1:22, 1:24, 2:1, 2:5, 2:11, 2:13, 2:18, 2:23, 3:22 | Union with Christ / Putting Off the Old Self | Ordinary Japanese 肉 = literal meat/body with no built-in moral sense; the Pauline “sinful nature” sense requires active explanation at each occurrence. |
| Trespass | παράπτωμα | 罪過 | tsumitoga | Medium | 2:13 | Reconciliation / Union with Christ | Near-synonym of, not opposed to, baseline’s 罪 (tsumi). |
| Record of debt | χειρόγραφον | 借用証書 | shakuyou shousho | Medium | 2:14 | Reconciliation through the Cross | Vivid legal-financial metaphor; Japan’s document-heavy contract culture is a strong potential bridge, but the “debt” must be taught as moral guilt before God, not literal finance. |
| Disarm / triumph | ἀπεκδύομαι / θριαμβεύω | 武装解除する / 勝利の行進をさせる | busou kaijo suru | Medium | 2:15 | Reconciliation through the Cross | Roman “triumph” custom is culturally foreign, requiring brief historical explanation; Japan’s martial/honor culture may serve as a partial bridge. |
| Shadow / substance | σκιά / σῶμα (as reality) | 影 / 本体 | kage / hontai | Medium | 2:17 | Warning against False Teaching (fulfillment) | Connects to baseline’s fulfillment-of-prophecy doctrine: OT observances anticipate, Christ fulfills. |
| Worship of angels | θρησκεία τῶν ἀγγέλων | 御使い礼拝 | mitsukai reihai | Critical | 2:18 | Warning against False Teaching / Syncretism | Directly, concretely relevant to Japan’s ancestor-spirit veneration (Obon), Shinto kami enshrinement, and household Buddhist-altar (butsudan) practice. Must be taught as a direct, pastorally sensitive address to categories of practice many readers’ families still observe. |
| Humility [dual sense] | ταπεινοφροσύνη | 謙遜 | kenson | Medium | 2:18, 2:23 (false); 3:12 (true) | Warning against False Teaching / Christian Fellowship | Same Japanese word covers both a false, self-glorifying ascetic “humility” and the genuine Spirit-produced virtue; context must carry the distinction since the vocabulary cannot. |
| Self-made religion | ἐθελοθρησκία | 自分で作り出した礼拝 | jibun de tsukuridashita reihai | High | 2:23 | Warning against False Teaching / Sufficiency of Christ | Directly extends baseline’s caution against 修行 (shugyō, ascetic spiritual training) under sanctification; names self-directed ascetic practice mistaken for genuine spirituality as worthless — a pastorally rich verse for Japan. |
| Severity to the body | ἀφειδία σώματος | 体を苦しめること | karada wo kurushimeru koto | Medium | 2:23 | Warning against False Teaching | Companion to 自己流の敬虔 above. |
| Idolatry | εἰδωλολατρία | 偶像礼拝 | guuzou reihai | Critical | 3:5 | Warning against Syncretism / Old Self | Japan’s visual religious-material culture (butsuzō statues, butsudan altars, shrine goshintai) makes “idol” immediately concrete; but Paul’s actual point (greed = idolatry, ultimate allegiance) must not be lost to a merely literal, physical-object reading. |
| Wrath of God | ὀργὴ τοῦ θεοῦ | 神の怒り | Kami no ikari | High | 3:6 | Old Self / Universal Human Accountability | A personally angry, holy God is countercultural against Japan’s harmony-culture (和) instincts and against loosely karmic, impersonal-consequence popular thought; must be taught as personal righteous judgment, not impersonal cause-and-effect. |
| Old self / new self | παλαιὸς ἄνθρωπος / νέος ἄνθρωπος | 古い人 / 新しい人 | furui hito / atarashii hito | Critical (doctrinal center) | 3:9-10 | Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New | Must be distinguished from Japan’s mainstream self-improvement culture (自分磨き, “self-polishing”) and from popular Buddhist-adjacent “letting go of attachment” (執着を捨てる) language. This is a decisive, Christ-accomplished identity exchange in union with Christ, not a self-directed reinvention or an ego-dissolution technique. |
| Renewed | ἀνακαινόω | 新しくされていく | atarashiku sarete iku | Medium | 3:10 | Putting Off the Old Self / Sanctification | Passive voice (done TO the believer by the Spirit) must be preserved against a self-directed-renewal misreading. |
| Social-category dissolution list | Ἕλλην, Ἰουδαῖος, περιτομή, ἀκροβυστία, βάρβαρος, Σκύθης, δοῦλος, ἐλεύθερος | ギリシャ人・ユダヤ人・割礼・無割礼・未開の人・奴隷・自由人 | — | High | 3:11 | Unity of Jews and Gentiles (extended) | Directly relevant to the baseline’s uchi-soto (内・外) caution; every social/status dividing line, not only ethnic ones, is dissolved “in Christ.” |
| Forgive (grace-rooted) | χαρίζομαι | 赦し合う | yurushi au | High | 3:13 | Grace / Christian Fellowship | Built on the χάρις (grace) root; models interpersonal forgiveness as a free grace-gift, reinforcing the baseline’s non-transactional-grace warning (contrast on-giri repayment logic). |
| Bond of unity (love) | σύνδεσμος τῆς τελειότητος | 完全に結び合わせる帯 | kanzen ni musubi awaseru obi | Medium | 3:14 | Christian Fellowship / Putting On the New | Love as the organic ligament of the whole virtue-list and community. |
| Love | ἀγάπη | 愛 | ai | Medium | 1:4, 1:8, 2:2, 3:14, 3:19 | Putting On the New / Household Codes | Modern Japanese 愛 is heavily saturated with secular romantic pop-culture usage; agapē must be actively taught as unconditional, self-giving, God-directed love. New addition to the shared curriculum glossary. |
| Hope | ἐλπίς | 希望 | kibou | Medium | 1:5, 1:23, 1:27 | Gospel / Supremacy of Christ | Secular Japanese 希望 commonly denotes uncertain wishful optimism; biblical hope is certainty grounded in Christ’s resurrection and future glory. New addition to the shared curriculum glossary. |
| Domain of darkness | ἐξουσία τοῦ σκότους | 闇の力 / 闇の支配 | yami no shihai | High | 1:13 | Reconciliation / Supremacy of Christ | Intersects with the same spirit-world sensitivity as θρόνοι/ἀρχαί/ἐξουσίαι; teach as a personal moral realm of rebellion, not a folk-horror “dark spirit realm.” |
| Filling up what is lacking [in Christ’s afflictions] | ἀνταναπληρῶ τὰ ὑστερήματα τῶν θλίψεων τοῦ Χριστοῦ | キリストの苦しみのまだ満たされていない分を満たす | — | Critical | 1:24 | Sufficiency of Christ (safeguard) | Easily misread as implying the atonement was insufficient. MUST be taught as referring to the church’s/apostle’s ongoing corporate afflictions in history, never to the sufficiency of the cross (1:20, 2:14). Requires theologian-reviewed clarifying note at every occurrence. |
| Mature / complete | τέλειος | 成熟した / 全き | seijuku shita | Medium | 1:28, 4:12 | Sufficiency of Christ / Sanctification | Distinguish from Buddhist enlightenment/perfection ideals (悟り); maturity here is Christ-given growth in union with Christ. |
| Submit (wives) | ὑποτάσσω | 従う | shitagau | Critical (doctrinal center of household codes) | 3:18 | Household Codes | Japan’s hierarchical culture (家 patriarchy, corporate seniority, Bushido loyalty ethics) makes a default culturally-hierarchical-compliance misreading highly likely if 3:18 is taught apart from its “in the Lord” qualifier and the immediately paired command that husbands love sacrificially (3:19). Teach as a single mutually-qualified unit. |
| Love (husbands) / do not be embittered | ἀγαπᾶτε / μὴ πικραίνεσθε | 愛する / 苦々しくしない | aisuru | Medium | 3:19 | Household Codes | The necessary other half of the household code’s mutuality; must not be separated from 3:18 in teaching. |
| Obey (children) | ὑπακούω | 従う / 聞き従う | shitagau / kikishitagau | High | 3:20 | Household Codes | Distinguish from generic senpai-kohai deference or “reading the air” (空気を読む) social conformity per baseline’s law entry. |
| Do not provoke [children] | ἐρεθίζω…ἵνα μὴ ἀθυμῶσιν | いらだたせない…気落ちさせない | — | Medium | 3:21 | Household Codes | A corrective restraint on paternal authority; relevant to baseline’s note on Japan’s distant-father cultural trope — addresses father-child relational harm directly. |
| Master (human) | κύριος (of a human master) | 主人 | shujin | High (explicit exception to baseline rule) | 3:22-4:1 | Household Codes | Baseline instructs 主人 be avoided when rendering κύριος = “the Lord.” Colossians 3:22-4:1 is the deliberate exception: κύριος here genuinely refers to the human master, and 主人 is correct for THAT referent, while 主 (Shu) is reserved exclusively for Christ’s Lordship within the SAME passage. This dual usage requires an explicit Phase 2 disambiguation instruction. |
| Slave / bondservant | δοῦλος | 奴隷 | dorei | High | 3:22, 4:1 | Household Codes | No direct Japanese cultural memory of chattel slavery; feudal servant/vassal concepts (奉公人, 家来) offer partial explanatory bridges. Requires historical explanation, not moral endorsement of the institution. |
| Eye-service / people-pleasers | ὀφθαλμοδουλία / ἀνθρωπάρεσκοι | 人によく見せるためだけの仕え方 / 人にへつらう者 | — | Medium | 3:22 | Household Codes | Warns against performative obedience aimed at human approval — relevant to any performance-visible-duty culture. |
| Reward of inheritance | ἀνταπόδοσις τῆς κληρονομίας | 相続の報い | souzoku no mukui | Medium | 3:24 | Household Codes / Adoption (bridge) | Echoes the baseline’s positive adoption bridge (養子縁組, heir-adoption custom) — even a slave is promised full inheritance from the Lord. |
| No partiality | προσωπολημψία | 人を偏り見ることをなさらない | hito wo katayori miru koto | Medium | 3:25 | Household Codes / Universal Human Accountability | God judges master and slave by an identical standard; reinforces ch.3’s dissolution of status-based distinctions “in Christ.” |
| Those outside / outsiders | οἱ ἔξω | 外部の人々 | gaibu no hitobito | Medium | 4:5 | Mission / Evangelism | Real believer/non-believer boundary term; teach as positive outward engagement, resisting reinforcement of uchi-soto (内・外) in-group hostility, per baseline’s universal_scope_of_gospel caution. |
| Door for the word | θύρα τοῦ λόγου | 御言葉の門（機会） | mikotoba no mon | Low | 4:3 | Mission / Evangelism | Straightforward evangelistic-opportunity metaphor. |
| Redeeming the time | τὸν καιρὸν ἐξαγοραζόμενοι | 機会を十分に活用する | kikai wo katsuyou suru | Low | 4:5 | Mission / Evangelism | Straightforward. |
| Letter / epistle | ἐπιστολή | 手紙 | tegami | Low | 4:16 | Church as God’s People (canon-consciousness) | Straightforward; notes early canon-consciousness. |
| Chains / bonds | δεσμά | 鎖 | kusari | Low | 4:18 | Christ-Centered Ministry | Grounds the letter’s authority in real apostolic suffering; connects to 1:24. |
| Compassion, kindness, meekness, patience [virtue list] | σπλάγχνα οἰκτιρμοῦ, χρηστότης, πραΰτης, μακροθυμία | 憐れみの心、親切、柔和、寛容 | — | Low | 3:12 | Putting On the New / Fellowship | Grace-responsive fruit, not self-earned righteousness; low collision risk with baseline’s Critical 義 (righteousness) entry since framed explicitly as response to grace. |
Cross-Reference Notes for Phase 2
- 和解 (wakai, “reconcile”) vs. baseline 平安 (heian) vs. new 平和 (heiwa): Three distinct Japanese terms now govern three distinct but related concepts — 和解 (cosmic/relational reconciliation, the act), 平和 (the cosmic peace that results, Col 1:20), and 平安 (the believer’s personal relational peace with God, Romans 5:1 / Col 1:2, 3:15). Do not interchange.
- 神 (Kami) vs. 神性 (kamisei): 神 names the person of God; 神性 (new for Colossians) names the abstract divine nature/essence. Both are required, precisely distinguished, for the Fullness-of-Deity doctrine (2:9).
- 聖霊 (Seirei) vs. any 諸霊/精霊 rendering of στοιχεῖα: The homophone collision between 精霊 (seirei, nature/ancestral spirit) and 聖霊 (Seirei, Holy Spirit) is the single most severe phonological risk identified in this glossary. Escalate every στοιχεῖα occurrence (2:8, 2:20) to human theologian review before finalizing a rendering.
- 主 (Shu) vs. 主人 (shujin): Reserved exclusively for Christ vs. the explicit, intentional exception permitting 主人 for human masters in the household code (3:22-4:1). Both senses of κύριος occur within the same short passage and must not be confused or collapsed.
- かたち (katachi) for εἰκών: Used consistently at 1:15 (Christ as the image of God) and 3:10 (believers renewed after the Creator’s image) — the deliberate intertextual echo must be preserved by using the identical Japanese term at both loci.
This glossary extends, and does not contradict, the baseline Romans Language Package (translation_memory.json, bible_term_registry.json). All Reused terms above must match the baseline exactly. All New terms are proposed for formal adoption into an extended Colossians translation memory and doctrine risk registry in the next Phase 1 step.
Critical Risk Terms
Grace
Approved rendering: 恵み
Transliteration: megumi
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: 恩返しが要る恵み, 功徳
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Colossians 3:13’s χαρίζομαι (‘forgive,’ built on this root) extends the non-transactional warning into interpersonal forgiveness: forgiveness modeled on Christ is a free gift, not an on-giri repayment-creating favor.
Lord
Approved rendering: 主
Transliteration: shu
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 主君, ご主人様
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Reserved exclusively for Christ throughout Colossians (1:10, 2:6, 3:17, 3:23-24, 4:1, 4:7, 4:17). CRITICAL DISAMBIGUATION: Colossians 3:22-4:1 also uses the same Greek word κύριος for human household masters, rendered separately as 主人 (see human_master entry) — never allow 主人 to be used for Christ within the same passage, and never allow 主 to drift to the human-master referent.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: 神の子
Transliteration: Kami no Ko
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 現人神, 神の化身
Original: υἱὸς (τῆς ἀγάπης αὐτοῦ)
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Colossians 1:13’s ‘Son of his love’ reinforces the baseline’s Critical prohibition on 現人神 (arahitogami) framing.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: 聖霊
Transliteration: Seirei
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: 霊, 幽霊, 精霊, 諸霊
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Rare in Colossians (only 1:8), but requires exceptional vigilance here: the CRITICAL homophone risk between 聖霊 (Seirei) and 精霊 (seirei, folk nature/ancestral spirit) is directly activated if στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου (2:8, 2:20) is ever rendered with 諸霊/精霊 vocabulary — the two become audibly indistinguishable in speech. See elemental_spirits entry.
God
Approved rendering: 神
Transliteration: Kami
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 八百万の神の一柱としての神, 神様
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. The baseline qualifier rule (唯一のまことの神 at first occurrence/doctrinal statements) applies with special force at Colossians 1:15 (‘the image of the invisible God’) and 2:9 (fullness of Deity dwelling in Christ). Must be kept strictly distinct from the new term 神性 (deity_godhead) — 神 names the person of God, 神性 names his abstract nature.
Jesus
Approved rendering: イエス
Transliteration: Iesu
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: ゼズス
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Colossians 1:1, 1:3, 1:4, 3:17, 4:11. Use イエス exclusively.
Messiah
Approved rendering: キリスト
Transliteration: Kirisuto
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Rejected alternatives: 救世主
Original: Χριστός
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Occurs throughout Colossians; heavy explanatory teaching still required for secular readers who know ‘Kirisuto’ only as a foreign cultural brand.
Firstborn
Approved rendering: 長子
Transliteration: chōshi
Doctrine: Supremacy and Sufficiency of Christ over Creation
Rejected alternatives: 最初に造られたもの, 最初に生まれた方（単独使用）
Original: πρωτότοκος
Category: Christology
New for Colossians. Colossians 1:15, 1:18. This is the historic Arian proof-text and the verse most frequently cited today by Jehovah’s Witnesses (エホバの証人), an active minority religious group in Japan, to argue Christ is a created being. MANDATORY: never render or teach standalone; always pair with 1:17’s πρὸ πάντων (すべてのものより先に, ‘before all things’) to establish rank/priority-in-heirship, not creaturely origin.
Fullness
Approved rendering: 満ち満ちたもの
Transliteration: michi michita mono
Doctrine: Fullness of Deity in Christ Bodily
Rejected alternatives: 大きな満ち, 神の多くの部分
Original: πλήρωμα
Category: Christology
New for Colossians. Col 1:19, 2:9. Anchors the whole Fullness-of-Deity doctrine and must be rendered byte-for-byte identically at every occurrence. No diminished rendering (‘a great fullness,’ ‘much of God’) is permitted — this compromises total-deity Christology.
Reconciliation
Approved rendering: 和解させる
Transliteration: wakai saseru
Doctrine: Reconciliation through the Cross
Original: ἀποκαταλλάσσω
Category: Salvation
New for Colossians. Col 1:20, 1:22. Modern Japanese 和解 is a fully secularized legal-settlement term (out-of-court settlements, divorce mediation, business disputes) — a dilution risk parallel to the baseline’s 契約/covenant caution. Teaching must actively restore the cosmic, once-for-all, blood-bought scope against a default ‘negotiated settlement between equal parties’ reading. No viable alternative Japanese word exists; the risk must be managed through teaching, not lexical substitution.
Redemption
Approved rendering: 贖い
Transliteration: akanai
Doctrine: Redemption and Forgiveness of Sins
Rejected alternatives: 救出, 解放（単独使用）
Original: ἀπολύτρωσις
Category: Salvation
New for Colossians. Col 1:14 (ἀπολύτρωσις). Core ransom/cost vocabulary; never replace with generic ‘rescue’ language that loses the ransom-price dimension.
Mystery Of Christ
Approved rendering: 奥義
Transliteration: ougi
Doctrine: The Mystery of Christ Openly Revealed
Original: μυστήριον
Category: Warning against False Teaching
New for Colossians. Col 1:26-27, 2:2, 4:3. 奥義 is Shinkaiyaku-standard and doctrinally accurate, but is also the exact standard Japanese word for the ultimate secret technique transmitted only within an inner master-disciple (iemoto) circle in Japanese martial arts, tea ceremony, and calligraphy. Teach the contrast explicitly at every occurrence: God’s 奥義 is Christ, disclosed OPENLY to all believers — the structural opposite of Japan’s esoteric, initiation-gated transmission tradition. Do not paraphrase away; exploit the irony as a teaching point.
Elemental Spirits
Approved rendering: この世を支配する諸々の力
Transliteration: kono yo wo shihai suru moromo no chikara
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Rejected alternatives: 諸霊, 精霊, この世の霊力
Original: στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου
Category: Warning against False Teaching
New for Colossians. Col 2:8, 2:20 (στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου). HIGHEST PHONOLOGICAL RISK TERM IN THE ENTIRE CURRICULUM. NEVER use 諸霊 or 精霊: 精霊 (seirei, folk nature/ancestral spirit, used for Obon ancestor-spirits) is an exact HOMOPHONE of 聖霊 (Seirei, Holy Spirit) — identical pronunciation, differing kanji (精 vs. 聖) — audibly indistinguishable in speech, audio content, or furigana-less text. Use ONLY the periphrastic rendering above, or the alternate exegetical reading この世の基本的な教え (‘this world’s elementary teachings’) where context favors it. Escalate every occurrence to mandatory human theologian review before finalizing.
Deity Godhead
Approved rendering: 神性
Transliteration: kamisei
Doctrine: Fullness of Deity in Christ Bodily
Original: θεότης
Category: Christology
New for Colossians (coined term). Col 2:9 (θεότης). Must be kept strictly distinct from the baseline term 神 (Kami, the person of God) at every occurrence — 神性 names the abstract, essential divine nature dwelling completely and bodily in Christ. The single most load-bearing new coinage in the letter; requires precise, identical definition every time it appears.
Bodily
Approved rendering: 体をもって
Transliteration: karada wo motte
Doctrine: Fullness of Deity in Christ Bodily
Rejected alternatives: 化身として, 権化として
Original: σωματικῶς
Category: Christology
New for Colossians. Col 2:9 (σωματικῶς). Explicitly anti-docetic; directly reinforces the baseline’s incarnation warning against 化身/権化 (a kami’s or bodhisattva’s provisional, non-bodily-necessary manifestation per honji suijaku theology). Insists on real, permanent embodiment — the opposite of a provisional manifestation-form.
Union With Christ Burial Resurrection
Approved rendering: ともに葬られ、ともに復活させられた
Transliteration: tomoni haburarare, tomoni fukkatsu saserareta
Doctrine: Union with Christ
Original: συνθάπτω / συνεγείρω
Category: Salvation
New for Colossians. Col 2:12, 3:1, 3:3 (συνθάπτω/συνεγείρω). The ともに (‘together with’) compounds must convey real organic spiritual union, not a ritual symbol or moral example to imitate. This is the doctrinal center of Union with Christ; reuses baseline 復活 (fukkatsu) with its pop-culture-dilution caution intensified here since it is applied to believers’ present, already-accomplished union, not only Christ’s own resurrection.
Worship Of Angels
Approved rendering: 御使い礼拝
Transliteration: mitsukai reihai
Doctrine: Improper Veneration of Created Spiritual Beings
Original: θρησκεία τῶν ἀγγέλων
Category: Warning against False Teaching
New for Colossians. Col 2:18 (θρησκεία τῶν ἀγγέλων). Directly, concretely relevant: Japan’s religious culture includes ancestor spirits honored at Obon, kami enshrined at Shinto shrines, and household Buddhist-altar (butsudan) ancestor veneration — categories of created-being veneration many Japanese readers’ extended families still observe. Teach with pastoral sensitivity, distinguishing honoring the memory of the deceased from religious veneration of any created spirit.
Idolatry
Approved rendering: 偶像礼拝
Transliteration: guuzou reihai
Doctrine: Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New
Original: εἰδωλολατρία
Category: Sin
New for Colossians. Col 3:5 (εἰδωλολατρία, greed named as idolatry). Japan’s religious-material culture (Buddhist statues 仏像, household altars 仏壇, Shinto shrine objects 御神体) makes 偶像 an immediately concrete category — a double-edged risk: the literal reading is easy to grasp, but Paul’s actual point (greed = idolatry, a matter of ultimate allegiance, not a physical statue) risks being missed. Teach both dimensions explicitly.
Old Self New Self
Approved rendering: 古い人・新しい人
Transliteration: furui hito / atarashii hito
Doctrine: Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New
Rejected alternatives: 自分磨きされた新しい自分, 執着を捨てた新しい自分
Original: παλαιὸς ἄνθρωπος / νέος ἄνθρωπος
Category: Sanctification
New for Colossians (doctrinal center of this curriculum unit). Col 3:9-10 (παλαιὸς ἄνθρωπος/νέος ἄνθρωπος). Modern Japanese consumer culture markets ‘self-renewal’ heavily (自分磨き, jibun migaki) and popular Buddhist-adjacent ‘letting go of attachment’ (執着を捨てる) language circulates widely; both are explicitly rejected as false equivalents. Teach as a decisive, Christ-accomplished identity exchange in union with Christ, not self-directed reinvention or an ego-dissolution technique. Must be paired consistently with union-with-Christ language (3:1, 3:3).
Filling Up Christs Afflictions
Approved rendering: キリストの苦しみのまだ満たされていない分を満たす
Transliteration: Kirisuto no kurushimi no mada mitasarete inai bun wo mitasu
Doctrine: Sufficiency of Christ
Original: ἀνταναπληρῶ τὰ ὑστερήματα τῶν θλίψεων τοῦ Χριστοῦ
Category: Sufficiency of Christ
New for Colossians. Col 1:24 (ἀνταναπληρῶ τὰ ὑστερήματα τῶν θλίψεων τοῦ Χριστοῦ). Easily misread, in any language, as implying the atonement was insufficient. MUST be taught as referring to Paul’s/the church’s ongoing corporate sufferings in history, NEVER to the once-for-all sufficiency of the cross (1:20, 2:14). Mandatory theologian-reviewed clarifying note at every occurrence; render as a full explanatory sentence, never a compact coinage.
Wives Submit
Approved rendering: 従う
Transliteration: shitagau
Doctrine: Household Codes
Original: ὑποτάσσω
Category: Household Codes
New for Colossians (doctrinal center of the household-codes unit). Col 3:18 (ὑποτάσσω). Japan’s 家 patriarchal family system, corporate seniority culture, and historic Bushido loyalty-to-superior ethics make a default culturally-hierarchical-compliance reading highly likely if taught apart from its ‘in the Lord’ qualifier and the immediately paired command that husbands love sacrificially (3:19). NEVER teach 3:18 as a stand-alone verse; always as a single, mutually-qualified unit with 3:19.
High Risk Terms
Faith
Approved rendering: 信仰
Transliteration: shinkou
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: 信心, 宗教心
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Colossians 1:4, 1:23, 2:5, 2:7 root the Colossians’ stability against false teachers explicitly in personal trust, not syncretistic religious sentiment (Japan’s shrine-and-temple do-both pattern).
Saints
Approved rendering: 聖徒
Transliteration: seito
Doctrine: Sainthood
Rejected alternatives: 聖者, 菩薩
Original: ἅγιοι
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Colossians 1:2, 1:4, 1:26 address ordinary Colossian believers corporately; never 菩薩 or 聖者.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: 聖化
Transliteration: seika
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: 修行, 悟り
Original: ἁγιασμός (concept)
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package. Underlies Colossians 3:1-17’s ‘putting off/putting on’ teaching; distinguish from 修行 and 悟り, sharpened by 2:23’s explicit warning against self-directed asceticism (ἐθελοθρησκία).
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: 神の国
Transliteration: Kami no Kuni
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Rejected alternatives: 神国日本
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ / τοῦ υἱοῦ τῆς ἀγάπης αὐτοῦ
Category: Kingdom
Inherited from Romans package. Colossians 1:13 (‘kingdom of his beloved Son’) and 4:11 intensify the baseline anchoring requirement against pre-1945 State Shinto ultranationalist resonance (神国日本) by tying the term directly to the Son’s identity.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: 復活
Transliteration: fukkatsu
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 輪廻転生, カムバック
Original: ἀνάστασις (concept) / πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν
Category: Eschatology
Inherited from Romans package. Colossians uniquely applies this to believers’ present union with Christ (2:12 ‘raised with him,’ 3:1), not only to Christ’s own resurrection (1:18) — requires active restoration of doctrinal weight against pop-culture ‘comeback’ dilution at every occurrence, and explicit marking of the ‘already’ (もう) temporal sense.
Sin
Approved rendering: 罪
Transliteration: tsumi
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: 恥, 迷惑をかけること
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package. Colossians 1:14 pairs this with redemption/forgiveness vocabulary; teach as guilt before a holy God, not social shame (恥) or 迷惑.
Image Of God
Approved rendering: かたち
Transliteration: katachi
Doctrine: Supremacy and Sufficiency of Christ over Creation
Rejected alternatives: 化身, 権化, 似姿（単独使用）
Original: εἰκών
Category: Christology
New for Colossians. Established Shinkaiyaku rendering of Genesis 1:27’s ‘image of God,’ reused identically at Col 1:15 and 3:10 to preserve the intertextual echo. Risk: honji-suijaku-flavored avatar misreading (one manifested ‘form’ among possible forms). Must be taught as Christ’s essential, exact self-disclosure of God, never a mere outward shape.
Cosmic Powers
Approved rendering: 位・主権・支配・権威
Transliteration: kurai, shuken, shihai, ken’i
Doctrine: Improper Veneration of Created Spiritual Beings
Original: θρόνοι, κυριότητες, ἀρχαί, ἐξουσίαι
Category: Christology
New for Colossians. Col 1:16, 2:10, 2:15. Names exactly the category of unseen spiritual beings most densely populated in Japan’s animistic worldview (八百万の神, ancestor spirits, folk 妖怪). Doctrinal point — all such beings, however ranked, are Christ’s created and subordinate creatures — must be taught explicitly as a direct apologetic resource, not merely translated.
Head Of Church
Approved rendering: 頭
Transliteration: kashira
Doctrine: Christ as Head of the Church
Original: κεφαλή
Category: Church
New for Colossians. Col 1:18, 2:19. Must convey living, organic, governing headship, not a titular/figurehead role — a risk sharpened by Japan’s post-1946 symbolic-emperor (象徴天皇) concept. Always pair with 体 (body) in the same sentence or adjacent teaching.
Make Peace Cosmic
Approved rendering: 平和を実現する
Transliteration: heiwa wo jitsugen suru
Doctrine: Reconciliation through the Cross
Original: εἰρηνοποιέω
Category: Salvation
New for Colossians. Col 1:20 only (εἰρηνοποιέω). 平和 (heiwa) is reserved exclusively for this cosmic, universal peace-making sense. MUST NOT be interchanged with the baseline term 平安 (heian), which governs the believer’s personal/relational peace with God (Rom 5:1; Col 1:2, 3:15). This is a genuine lexical gap resolved by reserving a dedicated word.
Forgiveness Of Sins
Approved rendering: 罪の赦し
Transliteration: tsumi no yurushi
Doctrine: Redemption and Forgiveness of Sins
Original: ἄφεσις (τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν)
Category: Salvation
New for Colossians. Col 1:14 (ἄφεσις τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν). Paired with 贖い as twin content of Christ’s redemptive work; reuses baseline 罪 (tsumi).
Wisdom
Approved rendering: 知恵
Transliteration: chie
Doctrine: Wisdom and Knowledge Hidden in Christ Alone
Original: σοφία
Category: Warning against False Teaching
New for Colossians. Col 1:9, 1:28, 2:3 (σοφία). Risks resonance with Buddhist prajñā-wisdom (般若, hannya) attained through practice; must be anchored explicitly to Christ alone as its sole locus at every occurrence.
Knowledge
Approved rendering: 知識
Transliteration: chishiki
Doctrine: Wisdom and Knowledge Hidden in Christ Alone
Original: γνῶσις / ἐπίγνωσις
Category: Warning against False Teaching
New for Colossians. Col 1:9, 2:3 (γνῶσις/ἐπίγνωσις). Risks resonance with esoteric ‘true knowledge’ claims of new religious movements active in Japan; must not collapse into Buddhist enlightenment vocabulary (悟り), per baseline sanctification warning.
Baptism
Approved rendering: バプテスマ
Transliteration: baputesuma
Doctrine: Union with Christ
Rejected alternatives: 洗礼（単独使用の際は注意）, 禊, 祓い
Original: βάπτισμα
Category: Sanctification
New for Colossians. Col 2:12. Established evangelical transliteration; must be distinguished from Shinto ritual purification (misogi/harae, addressing ceremonial pollution rather than union with Christ’s death/resurrection), per the baseline’s parallel caution under ‘holy.‘
Flesh
Approved rendering: 肉
Transliteration: niku
Doctrine: Union with Christ
Original: σάρξ
Category: Sin
New for Colossians. Col 1:22, 1:24, 2:1, 2:5, 2:11, 2:13, 2:18, 2:23, 3:22 (σάρξ). Ordinary Japanese 肉 primarily denotes literal meat/the physical body with no built-in moral connotation; the Pauline ‘sinful nature’ sense is a biblical-illiteracy risk, not a false-concept collision, and requires active explanation at each doctrinally weighted occurrence. Same kanji is also used at 3:22 in a neutral/literal sense (human masters) — fence by context, flag for native speaker review.
Self Made Religion
Approved rendering: 自分で作り出した礼拝
Transliteration: jibun de tsukuridashita reihai
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Original: ἐθελοθρησκία
Category: Warning against False Teaching
New for Colossians. Col 2:23 (ἐθελοθρησκία). Directly extends the baseline’s caution against 修行 (shugyō, ascetic spiritual training) under sanctification — names exactly this pattern as spiritually worthless, a pastorally rich verse for the Japanese context.
Wrath Of God
Approved rendering: 神の怒り
Transliteration: Kami no ikari
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Original: ὀργὴ τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Sin
New for Colossians. Col 3:6 (ὀργὴ τοῦ θεοῦ). Japan’s harmony-culture (和, wa) and loosely karmic, impersonal-consequence popular thought both make a personally angry, holy God countercultural; must be taught as personal righteous judgment, not impersonal karma.
Social Category Dissolution
Approved rendering: ギリシャ人・ユダヤ人・割礼・無割礼・未開の人・奴隷・自由人
Transliteration: Girisha-jin, Yudaya-jin, katsurei, mukatsurei, mikai no hito, dorei, jiyuujin
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles, Extended to Every Social Category
Original: Ἕλλην, Ἰουδαῖος, περιτομή, ἀκροβυστία, βάρβαρος, Σκύθης, δοῦλος, ἐλεύθερος
Category: Church
New for Colossians. Col 3:11. Directly relevant to the baseline’s uchi-soto (内・外) caution; dissolves every social/status dividing line, including seniority/rank distinctions still culturally resonant in Japan — teach explicitly, not as merely historical.
Mutual Forgiveness
Approved rendering: 赦し合う
Transliteration: yurushi au
Doctrine: Grace
Original: χαρίζομαι
Category: Salvation
New for Colossians. Col 3:13 (χαρίζομαι, built on the χάρις root). Reinforces the baseline’s core warning that grace-modeled forgiveness is a free gift, not a favor creating an 恩 (on) repayment-debt in the one forgiven.
Domain Of Darkness
Approved rendering: 闇の力
Transliteration: yami no shihai
Doctrine: Reconciliation through the Cross
Original: ἐξουσία τοῦ σκότους
Category: Salvation
New for Colossians. Col 1:13 (ἐξουσία τοῦ σκότους). Intersects with the same spirit-world sensitivity as cosmic_powers; teach as a personal, moral realm of rebellion against God, not a folk-horror ‘dark spirit realm’ (妖怪/幽霊 genre) association.
Children Obey
Approved rendering: 従う／聞き従う
Transliteration: shitagau / kikishitagau
Doctrine: Household Codes
Original: ὑπακούω
Category: Household Codes
New for Colossians. Col 3:20 (ὑπακούω). Must be distinguished from generic senpai-kohai deference or ‘reading the air’ (空気を読む) social conformity, per baseline’s law entry; anchor explicitly to ‘pleasing to the Lord.‘
Human Master
Approved rendering: 主人
Transliteration: shujin
Doctrine: Household Codes
Original: κύριος (of a human master)
Category: Household Codes
New for Colossians — EXPLICIT, DOCUMENTED EXCEPTION to the baseline rule prohibiting 主人 for κύριος. Col 3:22, 4:1. The baseline instructs 主人 be avoided entirely when rendering κύριος = ‘the Lord’ (Christ). Colossians 3:22-4:1 is the deliberate exception: here κύριος genuinely refers to the human household master, and 主人 is correct for THAT referent, while 主 (Shu) remains reserved exclusively for Christ’s Lordship within the SAME passage (3:23-24). Phase 2 translators must apply this explicit disambiguation rule; the two senses must never be confused or collapsed.
Slave
Approved rendering: 奴隷
Transliteration: dorei
Doctrine: Household Codes
Rejected alternatives: 奉公人, 家来
Original: δοῦλος
Category: Household Codes
New for Colossians. Col 3:22, 4:1 (δοῦλος). Japan has no direct cultural memory of chattel slavery; feudal servant/vassal concepts (奉公人, hōkōnin; 家来, kerai) are explicitly rejected as euphemizing substitutes that would soften the institution’s severity. Retain 奴隷 with brief historical framing; do not imply moral endorsement of the institution.
Medium Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: 福音
Transliteration: fukuin
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: いい知らせ, グッドニュース
Original: εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Colossians 1:5-6, 1:23, 4:3 additionally tie the gospel to its universal, unchanging reach (‘bearing fruit in all the world,’ 1:6); reinforce against biblical-illiteracy blankness.
Holy
Approved rendering: 聖い
Transliteration: kiyoi
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: 清らか, 穢れがない
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package. Applied at Colossians 1:22 and 3:12 to ordinary believers; distinguish from Shinto ritual-purity (kegare/harae) associations.
Church
Approved rendering: 教会
Transliteration: kyoukai
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: 寺, 神社
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Colossians 1:18 uniquely fuses this with σῶμα (body) under Christ’s headship; 4:15 attests the house-church form. Never 寺 or 神社.
Law
Approved rendering: 律法
Transliteration: ritsuhou
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: 空気を読むこと, 法律
Original: νόμος (implied by δόγμασιν)
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Background to Colossians 2:14, 2:16-17’s ‘shadow’ language (festivals, food, Sabbath). Never 法律 or 空気を読むこと.
Glory
Approved rendering: 栄光
Transliteration: eikou
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 名誉
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Colossians 1:27’s ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory’ and 3:4’s future ‘appear with him in glory’ extend the term; avoid 名誉.
Father
Approved rendering: 父
Transliteration: chichi
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: 家長
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Colossians 1:2, 1:3, 1:12, 3:17. Note the letter’s own household-code instruction to fathers (3:21, ‘do not provoke your children’) is a natural teaching bridge against Japan’s distant-salaryman-father trope.
Peace
Approved rendering: 平安
Transliteration: heian
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: 安心, 癒し
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, with a mandatory Colossians-specific extension: 平安 governs the epistolary greeting (1:2) and ‘the peace of Christ’ ruling hearts (3:15) — personal/communal peace only. MUST NOT be interchanged with the new term 平和 (make_peace_cosmic), which is reserved exclusively for the cosmic reconciliation-peace of 1:20.
Election
Approved rendering: 選ばれた者
Transliteration: erabareta mono
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: 合格, 選抜
Original: ἐκλεκτός
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (adjectival form of baseline 選び/erabi). Colossians 3:12’s ‘God’s chosen ones’ must not be read through Japan’s competitive-selection exam/hiring culture (受験, 選抜) as an earned outcome.
Creation
Approved rendering: 造られたもの
Transliteration: tsukurareta mono
Doctrine: Supremacy and Sufficiency of Christ over Creation
Original: κτίσις
Category: Creation
New for Colossians. Col 1:15-16, 1:23. Must not be read partitively (Christ as ‘one of’ 造られたもの) — syntax must keep Christ as agent/goal (によって, のために), never as a listed member.
Sustains Creation
Approved rendering: 成り立っている
Transliteration: naritatte iru
Doctrine: Supremacy and Sufficiency of Christ over Creation
Original: συνίστημι
Category: Creation
New for Colossians. Col 1:17 (συνίστημι). Must not be rendered with a term suggesting a passive, impersonal natural law — this is Christ’s personal, active, ongoing sustaining of the cosmos.
Body Of Christ
Approved rendering: 体
Transliteration: karada
Doctrine: Christ as Head of the Church
Original: σῶμα (ἐκκλησία)
Category: Church
New for Colossians. Col 1:18, 1:24, 2:19, 3:15. Ecclesial sense of 体 must remain distinguishable, by context, from the literal-body uses at 1:22, 2:11, 2:23; flag doctrinally weighted verses for native speaker review.
Philosophy False
Approved rendering: 哲学
Transliteration: tetsugaku
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Original: φιλοσοφία
Category: Warning against False Teaching
New for Colossians. Col 2:8 (φιλοσοφία). Modern 哲学 (Meiji-era coinage) denotes the entire academic discipline; must always be qualified as the specific religious-philosophical system at Colossae, never as a condemnation of reasoned inquiry generally. Render with an explicit qualifying phrase, e.g. コロサイで教えられていた特定の思想.
Circumcision
Approved rendering: 割礼
Transliteration: katsurei
Doctrine: Union with Christ
Original: περιτομή
Category: Covenant
New for Colossians. Col 2:11, 3:11. Requires OT covenant-background teaching for biblically illiterate readers, similar to the baseline’s Davidic covenant caution.
Trespass
Approved rendering: 罪過
Transliteration: tsumitoga
Doctrine: Reconciliation through the Cross
Original: παράπτωμα
Category: Sin
New for Colossians. Col 2:13 (παράπτωμα). Near-synonym of, not opposed to, baseline 罪 (tsumi); both name real moral guilt before God.
Record Of Debt
Approved rendering: 借用証書
Transliteration: shakuyou shousho
Doctrine: Redemption and Forgiveness of Sins
Original: χειρόγραφον
Category: Salvation
New for Colossians. Col 2:14 (χειρόγραφον). Japan’s meticulous, document-heavy business/contract culture (per the baseline’s covenant note) is a strong potential bridge image, but teaching must clarify the ‘debt’ is moral guilt before God, not literal finance.
Disarm Triumph
Approved rendering: 武装解除する／勝利の行進をさせる
Transliteration: busou kaijo suru / shouri no koushin wo saseru
Doctrine: Reconciliation through the Cross
Original: ἀπεκδύομαι / θριαμβεύω
Category: Reconciliation
New for Colossians. Col 2:15 (ἀπεκδύομαι/θριαμβεύω). The Roman ‘triumph’ (captured-enemy public victory parade) custom is culturally foreign and requires brief historical explanation; Japan’s martial/samurai victory-and-honor culture may serve as a partial, non-equivalent bridge, used with care.
Shadow Substance
Approved rendering: 影・本体
Transliteration: kage / hontai
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Original: σκιά / σῶμα (as reality)
Category: Covenant
New for Colossians. Col 2:17 (σκιά/σῶμα). OT festivals/food laws/Sabbath as shadow anticipating Christ, the substance/reality; connects to the baseline’s fulfillment-of-prophecy doctrine.
Humility Dual Sense
Approved rendering: 謙遜
Transliteration: kenson
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Original: ταπεινοφροσύνη
Category: Warning against False Teaching
New for Colossians. Col 2:18, 2:23 (false, self-glorifying ascetic humility) vs. 3:12 (genuine Spirit-produced virtue) — identical Japanese word covers both senses. No lexical distinction exists; fence by context/teaching only at each occurrence.
Severity To Body
Approved rendering: 体を苦しめること
Transliteration: karada wo kurushimeru koto
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Original: ἀφειδία σώματος
Category: Warning against False Teaching
New for Colossians. Col 2:23 (ἀφειδία σώματος). Companion term to self_made_religion; part of the same false ascetic-regulation complex.
Renewed
Approved rendering: 新しくされていく
Transliteration: atarashiku sarete iku
Doctrine: Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New
Rejected alternatives: 自分を新しくしていく
Original: ἀνακαινόω
Category: Sanctification
New for Colossians. Col 3:10 (ἀνακαινόω). The passive-continuous form (されていく) must be preserved to signal Spirit-agency, not self-agency; echoes the εἰκών of 1:15 (かたち).
Bond Of Love
Approved rendering: 完全に結び合わせる帯
Transliteration: kanzen ni musubi awaseru obi
Doctrine: Christian Love as the Bond of Unity
Original: σύνδεσμος τῆς τελειότητος
Category: Church
New for Colossians. Col 3:14 (σύνδεσμος τῆς τελειότητος). Love as the organic ligament binding the whole virtue-list and community; vivid athletic/anatomical metaphor requiring brief explanation.
Love
Approved rendering: 愛
Transliteration: ai
Doctrine: Christian Love as the Bond of Unity
Original: ἀγάπη
Category: Faith
New addition to the shared curriculum glossary (not previously in the baseline Romans package). Col 1:4, 1:8, 2:2, 3:14, 3:19 (ἀγάπη). Modern Japanese 愛 is heavily saturated by secular romantic pop-culture usage; must be actively taught as unconditional, self-giving, God-directed love.
Hope
Approved rendering: 希望
Transliteration: kibou
Doctrine: Hope
Original: ἐλπίς
Category: Faith
New addition to the shared curriculum glossary (not previously in the baseline Romans package). Col 1:5, 1:23, 1:27 (ἐλπίς). Secular Japanese 希望 commonly denotes uncertain wishful optimism; biblical hope must be taught as objective certainty grounded in Christ’s resurrection and future glory.
Maturity Completeness
Approved rendering: 成熟した
Transliteration: seijuku shita
Doctrine: Sufficiency of Christ
Original: τέλειος
Category: Sufficiency of Christ
New for Colossians. Col 1:28, 4:12 (τέλειος). Must be distinguished from Buddhist enlightenment/perfection ideals (悟り); maturity here is Christ-given growth in union with Christ. Anchor with ‘キリストにあって’ at every occurrence.
Husbands Love
Approved rendering: 愛する（苦々しくしない）
Transliteration: aisuru (nigunigushiku shinai)
Doctrine: Household Codes
Original: ἀγαπᾶτε τὰς γυναῖκας, μὴ πικραίνεσθε
Category: Household Codes
New for Colossians. Col 3:19 (ἀγαπᾶτε τὰς γυναῖκας, μὴ πικραίνεσθε). The necessary other half of the household code’s mutuality; must never receive lesser teaching weight than 3:18.
Fathers Do Not Provoke
Approved rendering: いらだたせない
Transliteration: iradataseinai
Doctrine: Household Codes
Original: ἐρεθίζω…ἵνα μὴ ἀθυμῶσιν
Category: Household Codes
New for Colossians. Col 3:21 (ἐρεθίζω…ἵνα μὴ ἀθυμῶσιν). A restraint on paternal authority; valuable corrective given Japan’s distant-salaryman-father cultural trope flagged under 父. Foreground as a relational-repair teaching opportunity.
Eye Service
Approved rendering: 人によく見せるためだけの仕え方
Transliteration: hito ni yoku miseru tame dake no tsukae kata
Doctrine: Household Codes
Original: ὀφθαλμοδουλία / ἀνθρωπάρεσκοι
Category: Household Codes
New for Colossians. Col 3:22 (ὀφθαλμοδουλία/ἀνθρωπάρεσκοι). Warns against performative obedience aimed at human approval, relevant to any performance-visible-duty culture.
Reward Of Inheritance
Approved rendering: 相続の報い
Transliteration: souzoku no mukui
Doctrine: Household Codes
Original: ἀνταπόδοσις τῆς κληρονομίας
Category: Household Codes
New for Colossians. Col 3:24 (ἀνταπόδοσις τῆς κληρονομίας). Echoes the baseline’s positive adoption bridge (養子縁組, Japan’s heir-adoption custom conferring full inheritance rights) — profoundly dignifying for one with no legal inheritance standing.
No Partiality
Approved rendering: 人を偏り見ることをなさらない
Transliteration: hito wo katayori miru koto wo nasaranai
Doctrine: Household Codes
Original: προσωπολημψία
Category: Household Codes
New for Colossians. Col 3:25 (προσωπολημψία). God judges master and slave by an identical standard; reinforces ch. 3’s dissolution of social-status distinctions ‘in Christ.‘
Outsiders
Approved rendering: 外部の人々
Transliteration: gaibu no hitobito
Doctrine: Mission and Evangelism
Rejected alternatives: 外人
Original: οἱ ἔξω
Category: Mission
New for Colossians. Col 4:5 (οἱ ἔξω). Real believer/non-believer boundary term; must be taught as positive outward engagement, resisting Japan’s uchi-soto (内・外) instinct as in-group hostility, per baseline’s universal_scope_of_gospel caution.
Low Risk Terms
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: 感謝
Transliteration: kansha
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Original: εὐχαριστία
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Unusually frequent in Colossians (1:3, 1:12, 2:7, 3:15, 3:17, 4:2).
Fellowship
Approved rendering: 交わり
Transliteration: majiwari
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: 仲間意識
Original: κοινωνία (implied)
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Background to the ministry-partnership language of Colossians 4:7-17.
Apostle
Approved rendering: 使徒
Transliteration: shito
Doctrine: Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: 教祖
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Colossians 1:1; Paul’s delegated authority to a church he did not found. Avoid 教祖.
Exhort
Approved rendering: 勧める
Transliteration: susumeru
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Original: νουθετέω
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Colossians 1:28, 3:16 (νουθετέω) carry a slightly more corrective nuance than the baseline’s Romans usage; render with 勧める, optionally 諫める in explicitly corrective contexts.
Door For The Word
Approved rendering: 御言葉の門
Transliteration: mikotoba no mon
Doctrine: Mission and Evangelism
Original: θύρα τοῦ λόγου
Category: Mission
New for Colossians. Col 4:3 (θύρα τοῦ λόγου). Straightforward evangelistic-opportunity metaphor.
Redeeming The Time
Approved rendering: 機会を十分に活用する
Transliteration: kikai wo juubun ni katsuyou suru
Doctrine: Mission and Evangelism
Original: τὸν καιρὸν ἐξαγοραζόμενοι
Category: Mission
New for Colossians. Col 4:5 (τὸν καιρὸν ἐξαγοραζόμενοι). Straightforward; low ambiguity.
Letter Epistle
Approved rendering: 手紙
Transliteration: tegami
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Original: ἐπιστολή
Category: Church
New for Colossians. Col 4:16 (ἐπιστολή). Early canon-consciousness (public reading, exchange with Laodicea); straightforward.
Chains
Approved rendering: 鎖
Transliteration: kusari
Doctrine: Sufficiency of Christ
Original: δεσμά
Category: Christ-Centered Ministry
New for Colossians. Col 4:18 (δεσμά). Grounds the letter’s authority in real apostolic suffering; connects to the 1:24 filling_up_christs_afflictions entry.
Grace Response Virtues
Approved rendering: 憐れみの心、親切、柔和、寛容
Transliteration: awaremi no kokoro, shinsetsu, nyuuwa, kan’you
Doctrine: Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New
Original: σπλάγχνα οἰκτιρμοῦ, χρηστότης, πραΰτης, μακροθυμία
Category: Sanctification
New for Colossians. Col 3:12 (σπλάγχνα οἰκτιρμοῦ, χρηστότης, πραΰτης, μακροθυμία). Some overlap with Confucian/Bushido cultivated-virtue vocabulary is low-risk here since explicitly framed as grace-responsive fruit, not self-earned righteousness, distinct from the baseline’s Critical 義 (righteousness) entry.
Referenced passages