Core Glossary
Core Glossary: James — Load-Bearing Terms for Javanese Translation
Curriculum: James | Destination: Javanese | Companion: Romans translation_memory.json / bible_term_registry.json (all baseline terms below are reused exactly; new terms are proposed for addition to translation memory pending Phase 2 theologian/native-speaker review)
Risk tiers follow the baseline definitions exactly:
- Critical — mistranslation destroys/alters essential doctrine; human theologian review required for every occurrence.
- High — mistranslation creates significant theological confusion or syncretism risk; human theologian review required.
- Medium — mistranslation reduces clarity but preserves essential meaning; native speaker review recommended.
- Low — minor imprecision risk; automated review sufficient.
A. Terms Reused Exactly from the Romans Baseline (no change; James introduces no new sense requiring deviation, except where a “James-specific note” is flagged)
| Term | Greek | Javanese (baseline) | Risk | James References | James-Specific Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| God | θεός | Gusti Allah | Critical | Throughout (1:1, 1:5, 1:13, 1:27, 2:19, 2:23, 4:4-8, etc.) | No deviation |
| Jesus | Ἰησοῦς | Gusti Yesus | Critical | 1:1, 2:1 | No deviation |
| Christ | Χριστός | Kristus | Critical | 1:1, 2:1 | Transliteration per AI requirements doc |
| Lord | κύριος | Gusti | Critical | 1:1, 2:1, 4:10, 4:15, 5:4, 5:7-8, 5:10-11, 5:14-15 | Very high frequency in James; every occurrence needs context establishing exclusive divine Lordship, not feudal/aristocratic deference |
| Holy Spirit | πνεῦμα ἅγιον / τὸ πνεῦμα (4:5) | Roh Suci | Critical | 4:5 | Must NOT be used for the anthropological πνεῦμα (life-breath) sense in 2:26 — see Part B |
| Father | πατήρ | Rama | High | 1:17, 1:27, 3:9 | Consistent with baseline caution against Leluhur (ancestor veneration) |
| Faith | πίστις | pitados | Medium (Critical in ch.2 justification context — see Part B) | 1:3, 1:6, 2:1, 2:5, 2:14-26, 5:15 | James’s dominant theme; object (Christ, 2:1) must stay explicit |
| Grace | χάρις | sih-rahmat | Critical | 4:6 | Reinforces baseline no-merit/no-debt teaching against kasekten/wahyu/utang budi |
| Righteousness | δικαιοσύνη | kabeneran | High | 1:20, 2:23, 3:18 | 1:20 carries an ethical nuance distinct from Romans’ forensic nuance — teaching note required |
| Justification (verb, “justified”) | δικαιόω | kaanggep bener (verb form) | Critical | 2:21, 2:24, 2:25 | See Part B — the book’s single highest-risk term |
| Salvation / save | σωτηρία / σῴζω | kaslametan / nylametaké | Critical | 1:21, 2:14, 4:12, 5:20 (soteriological); 5:15-16 (physical healing — see Part B for divergence) | Standing slametan-ritual translator note required at every soteriological occurrence |
| Law | νόμος | angger-anggering Toret | High | 1:25, 2:8-12, 4:11-12 | James’s “royal law” and “law of liberty” are new compound phrases — see Part B |
| Sin | ἁμαρτία | dosa | High | 1:15, 2:9, 4:17, 5:15-16, 5:20 | Consistent usage; shared Islamic-Javanese vocabulary, anchor to personal moral transgression |
| Glory | δόξα | kamulyan | High | 2:1 | Ascribed to Christ — reinforces deity of Christ |
| Kingdom of God | βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ | Kratoning Gusti Allah | Medium | 2:5 | ”Heirs of the kingdom” — ties to inheritance/adoption theme |
| Church | ἐκκλησία | pasamuwan | Medium | 5:14 | James also uses συναγωγή (2:2) for a Christian gathering — see Part B |
| Election (chose) | ἐκλέγομαι | pepilihanipun Gusti Allah (conceptual reuse) | High | 2:5 | God’s sovereign choice of the poor to be rich in faith |
| Prophet | προφήτης | nabi | Low | 5:10 | Standard; models patient suffering |
| Apostle-adjacent: “one sent” (messengers, human) | ἄγγελος | utusan (contextual reuse) | Medium | 2:25 | Human spies, not angels — disambiguate from angelology |
| Providence | (cf. Rom. framing) | pepesthenipun Gusti Allah kang kebak katresnan | High | 4:15, 5:11 | ”If the Lord wills”; Job’s “purpose of the Lord” |
| Peace | εἰρήνη | katentreman | Medium | 2:16, 3:18 | 2:16 ironic/hollow use; 3:18 positive fruit-bearing use |
| Servant (doulos, cf. apostleship framing) | δοῦλος | abdi | Medium | 1:1 | Positive Gusti/abdi dalem resonance; not a status/caste claim |
B. New Terms Introduced by James (proposed additions to translation memory)
B1. Faith and Works (core doctrine — James 2:14–26, 1:22-25)
| Term | Greek | Transliteration | Javanese Rendering | Risk | Rejected Alternatives | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Works/deeds | ἔργα | erga | pakaryan | High | — | Must be distinguished from “works of the law” (angger-anggering Toret) that Romans excludes as a ground of justification; James’s ἔργα are concrete deeds of love/obedience evidencing genuine faith |
| Justified (by works) | δικαιόω | dikaioō | kaanggep bener (verb form of baseline justification phrase) | Critical | A separate/new Javanese coinage avoiding “bener” | Must reuse the exact baseline root so cross-references to Romans render consistently; requires mandatory standing translator note distinguishing James’s vindication-sense from Paul’s forensic-declaration sense in every occurrence (2:21, 2:24, 2:25) |
| Faith worked together with (synergy) | συνεργέω | synergeō | nyengkuyung | High | ”nyambut damel bareng” (too casual/economic register) | Must not imply faith+works are co-equal meritorious causes of salvation; organic unity, not synergistic merit |
| Was perfected/completed (of faith, by works) | τελειόω | teleioō | digenepi | Critical | ”kasampurnakaken” (rejected — see τέλειος below) | Same kasampurnan ascetic-mysticism collision as teleios |
| Friend of God | φίλος θεοῦ | philos theou | mitra Gusti Allah | Critical | ”wali Gusti Allah” | Direct collision with Javanese Islamic wali (saint/friend of Allah, Wali Songo veneration tradition); parallel to baseline’s existing rejection of wali for “saints” |
| Dead (of faith) | νεκρά | nekra | pejah | Medium | — | Must not imply once-living saving faith can expire/be lost; the claim examined was never genuine |
| Useless/barren (of faith) | ἀργή | argē | tanpa damel | Medium | — | Full inertness, not mere deficiency |
| Doer of the word / hearer only | ποιητὴς λόγου / ἀκροατής | poiētēs logou / akroatēs | tiyang ingkang nglampahi pangandika / tiyang ingkang namung mirengaken | High | — | Foreshadows Faith and Works theme; obedience evidences, does not earn, right standing |
B2. Trials and the Testing of Faith (James 1:2-15)
| Term | Greek | Transliteration | Javanese Rendering | Risk | Rejected Alternatives | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trial/testing (external, positive/neutral) | πειρασμός | peirasmos | pacoban | High | Same word as temptation | Must be kept lexically distinct from πειράζω (below) or James 1:13’s denial that God tempts anyone collapses |
| Tempt/temptation (internal, toward sin) | πειράζω | peirazō | panggodha / nggodha | High | Same word as trial | See above; God never πειράζει (tempts) — this word must never be applied to God’s action toward humans |
| Testing/proven genuineness | δοκίμιον | dokimion | pandadaran | Medium | — | Refining-process metaphor |
| Steadfast endurance | ὑπομονή | hypomonē | katahanan | Medium | — | Must be distinguished from μακροθυμία (patience, ch.5) — two distinct Javanese words needed |
| Desire/lust (source of sin) | ἐπιθυμία | epithymia | hawa napsu | High | — | Shared Islamic-Javanese vocabulary (from Arabic nafs); anchor to James’s argument (desire conceives sin), not Islamic jurisprudential nafs-discipline framework |
| Perfect/mature/complete | τέλειος | teleios | diwasa / jangkep | Critical | ”sampurna”/“kasampurnan” | Direct collision with baseline’s rejected kasampurnan (Javanese ascetic-mystical attained perfection); recurring in 1:4, 1:17, 1:25, 2:22, 3:2 |
| Blessed (under trial) | μακάριος | makarios | rahayu | Medium | — | Note proximity to karahayon (rejected salvation alternative in baseline) — distinct grammatical category but needs a clarifying note |
B3. Wisdom from Above (James 1:5, 3:13-18)
| Term | Greek | Transliteration | Javanese Rendering | Risk | Rejected Alternatives | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wisdom | σοφία | sophia | kawicaksanan | High | — | Strong Javanese cultural resonance with royal/mystical/ngèlmu wisdom; must be anchored “saking Gusti Allah” every occurrence |
| Wisdom from above | σοφία ἄνωθεν | sophia anōthen | kawicaksanan saking nginggil | High | — | Close conceptual neighbor to kejawen ngèlmu laduni (mystically descended esoteric wisdom); anchor to heaven/God explicitly |
| Earthly/unspiritual/demonic (false wisdom) | ἐπίγειος, ψυχική, δαιμονιώδης | epigeios, psychikē, daimoniōdēs | kadonyan, kamanungsan kémawon, asalipun saking iblis | High | ”kados dhemit” for daimoniōdēs | Avoid folk-spirit (dhemit) taxonomy; anchor “demonic” to the devil (Iblis) as source |
| Bitter jealousy / selfish ambition | ζῆλος πικρός / ἐριθεία | zēlos pikros / eritheia | meri lan mentingaken awaké piyambak | Low-Medium | — | Marks of false wisdom |
| Hell/Gehenna | γέεννα | geenna | naraka | Medium | — | Shared Islamic-Javanese vocabulary; anchor to final divine judgment, distinct from generic underworld cosmology |
B4. Favoritism and the Poor (James 1:9-11, 2:1-13, 5:1-6)
| Term | Greek | Transliteration | Javanese Rendering | Risk | Rejected Alternatives | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Favoritism/partiality | προσωπολημψία | prosōpolēmpsia | pilih sih / mbédak-bédakaken tiyang | Medium-High | — | Must be distinguished from ordinary Javanese status-deference customs; James condemns favoritism specifically within the gathered community of faith |
| Poor | πτωχός | ptōchos | tiyang miskin | Low-Medium | — | Concrete economic referent |
| Rich | πλούσιος | plousios | tiyang sugih | Low-Medium | — | Concrete economic referent; ch.5 develops a prophetic-judgment register |
| Mercy | ἔλεος | eleos | kawelasan | Medium | — | Distinct from sih-rahmat (grace, God’s unmerited initiating favor); this is active compassion extended to others |
| Royal law | νόμος βασιλικός | nomos basilikos | angger-angger karajan | Medium | — | Neighbor-love as the law’s summit; ties to Kratoning Gusti Allah |
| Synagogue (Christian assembly) | συναγωγή | synagōgē | pakempalanipun pasamuwan | Medium | — | Unique NT use for a Christian gathering; reuse pasamuwan to avoid confusion with a separate Jewish institution |
| Lord of hosts/Sabaoth | Κύριος Σαβαώθ | Kyrios Sabaōth | Gusti Sabaot | Medium | — | Transliterated divine military-authority title; clarify as heavenly, not earthly, authority |
B5. Taming the Tongue (James 1:19, 1:26, 3:1-12)
| Term | Greek | Transliteration | Javanese Rendering | Risk | Rejected Alternatives | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tongue | γλῶσσα | glōssa | ilat | Low (literal); High (doctrinal weight) | — | Literal, but central to an entire doctrine; extended imagery (bridle, rudder, fire) uses natural low-risk Javanese vocabulary |
| Bridling (the tongue) | χαλιναγωγέω | chalinagōgeō | ngendhaleni | Medium | — | Horse-bridle metaphor for self-control |
| Religion (pure and undefiled) | θρησκεία | thrēskeia | agami | High | — | Collides with Indonesian state category of official recognized religion; anchor to ethical/heart-level piety, not institutional status |
| Likeness of God | ὁμοίωσις θεοῦ | homoiōsis theou | rupanipun Gusti Allah | Medium | — | Grounds human dignity theologically; basis for the wrongness of cursing others |
B6. Worldliness versus Friendship with God (James 1:27, 4:1-10)
| Term | Greek | Transliteration | Javanese Rendering | Risk | Rejected Alternatives | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World/world-system | κόσμος | kosmos | donya | High | — | Standard Islamic-Javanese dunya (paired with akhirat); James’s sense is relational allegiance opposed to God, not a temporal this-life/afterlife framework — teaching note required |
| Friendship with the world | φιλία τοῦ κόσμου | philia tou kosmou | pasedherekan kaliyan donya | High | — | Exclusive, either-or allegiance language central to the doctrine |
| Enmity with God | ἔχθρα τοῦ θεοῦ | echthra tou theou | mengsahan kaliyan Gusti Allah | Medium | — | No neutral middle ground |
| Humble/humility | ταπεινός | tapeinos | andhap asor | Medium | — | Deep native Javanese virtue term; must be taught as humility before God, not merely social deference within feudal hierarchy |
| Proud | ὑπερήφανος | hyperēphanos | gumunggung | Medium | — | Contrasted with grace-to-the-humble |
| Devil | διάβολος | diabolos | Iblis | Medium | — | Shared Islamic-Javanese-Christian loanword; anchor to the specific, personal, defeated NT enemy |
| Submit / resist | ὑποτάσσω / ἀνθίστημι | hypotassō / anthistēmi | sumuyud / nglawan | Medium | — | Practical response paired verbs |
| Lawgiver and judge | νομοθέτης καὶ κριτής | nomothetēs kai kritēs | ingkang paring angger-angger saha Hakim | Medium | — | God’s exclusive authority to judge |
B7. Prayer and Healing (James 5:13-18)
| Term | Greek | Transliteration | Javanese Rendering | Risk | Rejected Alternatives | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prayer/pray (general petition) | προσευχή / προσεύχομαι | proseuchē / proseuchomai | pandonga / ndedonga | Medium | — | Distinct from baseline’s pandonga tetulung tumrap wong liya (specifically intercession for others) |
| Elders (of the church) | πρεσβύτεροι (τῆς ἐκκλησίας) | presbyteroi | para pinituwaning pasamuwan | Medium | ”sesepuh desa” | Must be distinguished from village adat elders whose authority is customary/ancestral, not a spiritual church office |
| Anoint with oil | ἀλείφω … ἐλαίῳ | aleiphō … elaiō | njebadi kaliyan lenga | High | — | Collides with Javanese ritual-oil/kasekten practices (e.g., keris-oiling, dukun healing rites); must teach that the oil itself carries no inherent power |
| Prayer of faith (will save/heal) | εὐχὴ τῆς πίστεως … σῴζω | euchē tēs pisteōs … sōzō | pandonganipun tiyang ingkang pitados … marasaken | Critical | Using a slamet-root verb (“nylametaké”) for the healing sense | σῴζω here = physical healing, not eternal salvation; using the slamet-root verb would directly reinforce, rather than correct, the slametan-ritual association the baseline works to avoid. Use marasaken (from waras, healthy) for this specific healing sense |
| Confess (sins, to one another) | ἐξομολογέω | exomologeō | ngakeni dosa | High | — | Must be framed as mutual, horizontal confession among believers for restoration/prayer support — not sacramental confession to a religious specialist, nor a substitute for once-for-all justification through Christ |
| Healed (physical) | ἰάομαι | iaomai | waras (adj.) / marasaken (verb) | Medium | — | Same slametan-collision caution as above applies if a slamet-root term is substituted |
| Prayer of a righteous person (powerful) | δέησις δικαίου ἐνεργουμένη | deēsis dikaiou energoumenē | pandonganipun tiyang ingkang bener | Medium | — | Reuses baseline kabeneran; power flows from relationship with God, not technique |
B8. Patience and the Lord’s Return (James 5:7-11)
| Term | Greek | Transliteration | Javanese Rendering | Risk | Rejected Alternatives | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Be patient/long-suffering | μακροθυμέω | makrothymeō | sabar | Medium | — | Distinct from katahanan (ὑπομονή, ch.1); two related-but-distinct Javanese words needed to preserve James’s own two-term vocabulary |
| Coming/return of the Lord | παρουσία | parousia | Rawuhipun Gusti Yesus | High | — | Singular, future, bodily historical event; must not be read through any cyclical-return or recurring-manifestation lens |
| Purpose/outcome of the Lord | τέλος κυρίου | telos kyriou | ancasipun Gusti | Medium | — | God’s compassionate providential outcome, seen through Job’s story |
| Compassionate and merciful (of God) | πολύσπλαγχνος καὶ οἰκτίρμων | polysplanchnos kai oiktirmōn | kebak welas asih saha kawelasan | Medium | — | Reinforces God’s personal, relational care (parallel to baseline Providence caution against impersonal fate) |
| Swear (an oath) | ὀμνύω | omnyō | sumpah | Low | — | Christian truthfulness should make oaths unnecessary |
B9. Confession and Restoration (James 5:19-20)
| Term | Greek | Transliteration | Javanese Rendering | Risk | Rejected Alternatives | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wanders from the truth | πλανάομαι | planaomai | kesasar saking kayektosan | Medium | — | Doctrinal/moral straying from gospel truth |
| Turn back / restore | ἐπιστρέφω | epistrephō | mbekta wangsul | Medium | — | Loving restoration of a straying believer |
| Save his soul from death | σῴζω ψυχὴν … ἐκ θανάτου | sōzō psychēn … ek thanatou | nylametaken nyawanipun saking pati | Critical | — | This IS the soteriological sense of σῴζω (contrast with 5:15’s physical-healing sense) — standing slametan-ritual translator note required; must be distinguished in context from the healing sense two verses earlier |
| Cover a multitude of sins | καλύπτω πλῆθος ἁμαρτιῶν | kalyptō plēthos hamartiōn | nutupi kathahing dosa | Medium | — | Restoration results in extensive forgiveness, not that sin was never real |
B10. Anthropology / Miscellaneous (disambiguation entries)
| Term | Greek | Transliteration | Javanese Rendering | Risk | Rejected Alternatives | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spirit (life-breath of the body, James 2:26) | πνεῦμα | pneuma | nyawa | High | ”Roh Suci” | Anthropological sense (body’s animating life-principle), NOT the Holy Spirit — must not use Roh Suci, reserved exclusively for the third Person of the Trinity |
| Demons | δαιμόνια | daimonia | para roh awon / para setan | High | ”para dhemit” / “lelembut” | Avoid Javanese folk-spirit taxonomy (place-spirits, ancestor spirits); these are moral rebels against God, a distinct biblical category |
| Prostitute (Rahab) | πόρνη | pornē | tiyang sundel | Medium | — | Register sensitivity in formal krama Scripture text; sober historical-descriptive use only |
| Dispersion | διασπορά | diaspora | tiyang ingkang buyar wonten ing pundi-pundi | Low | — | Descriptive rendering of the original historical-geographic referent |
Summary Risk Counts (James-specific new terms, Part B only)
| Risk Tier | Count | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 6 | Human theologian review mandatory: δικαιόω (justify/2.21,24,25), τελειόω/τέλειος family, φίλος θεοῦ, σῴζω-as-healing (5:15-16), σῴζω-as-salvation (5:20) |
| High | 15 | Human theologian review required |
| Medium | 24 | Native speaker review recommended |
| Low | 6 | Automated review sufficient |
This glossary extends, and must never contradict, the baseline Romans translation_memory.json. All Part A terms are enforced exactly as recorded there. All Part B terms are proposed for formal addition to translation memory in Phase 2, pending the same theologian/native-speaker review routing used for Romans.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: Gusti Allah
Transliteration: Gusti Allah
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Gusti (alone)
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. CRITICAL: Never shorten to bare Gusti, which is also the ordinary address for any feudal lord or palace master. James usage: throughout the letter (1:1, 1:5, 1:13, 1:27, 2:19, 2:23, 4:4-8, 5:4, 5:10-11) — very high frequency; full compound required at every occurrence.
Jesus
Approved rendering: Gusti Yesus
Transliteration: Gusti Yesus
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Nabi Isa
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. CRITICAL: Never use Nabi Isa (Islamic prophetic framing). James usage: 1:1, 2:1 (compound ‘Gusti Yesus Kristus’), and by extension 5:7-8’s parousia references (Rawuhipun Gusti Yesus).
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Roh Suci
Transliteration: Roh Suci
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: dhemit, lelembut
Original: τὸ πνεῦμα (James 4:5)
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. James usage: 4:5 only (the Spirit God caused to dwell in believers). CRITICAL EXTENSION: this term must NEVER be used for the anthropological πνεῦμα (life-breath) of James 2:26 — see spirit_anthropological below.
Grace
Approved rendering: sih-rahmat
Transliteration: sih-rahmat
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: kasekten, wahyu, utang budi
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. James usage: 4:6, citing Proverbs 3:34, ‘God gives grace to the humble.’ This verse pairs grace directly with andhap asor (humility) — must be taught as humility before God, not a meritorious posture that earns favor, or the no-merit/no-debt distinction collapses at the very verse meant to illustrate it.
Salvation
Approved rendering: kaslametan
Transliteration: kaslametan
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: karahayon
Inherited from Romans package. James usage (soteriological sense only): 1:21, 2:14, 4:12, 5:20. Standing slametan-ritual translator note required at every soteriological occurrence. CRITICAL EXTENSION: James 5:15-16 uses the same Greek verb (σῴζω) for physical healing — do NOT use this term or its verb form there; use marasaken instead (see salvation_save and prayer_of_faith_heal).
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: kabeneran kang kaanggep saking Gusti Allah
Transliteration: kabeneran kang kaanggep saking Gusti Allah
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: kasampurnan kang digayuh
Inherited from Romans package and reused EXACTLY. James usage: 2:23, citing the identical Genesis 15:6 text Paul cites in Romans 4:3. Must be rendered identically here and in Romans, with a note that James cites the same verse to show that the faith already credited as righteousness (Genesis 15) is the same faith that later produced visible obedience (Genesis 22) — one continuous, genuine faith, not two separate bases of acceptance.
Christ
Approved rendering: Kristus
Transliteration: Kristus
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Original: Χριστός
Category: Christology
New term for the James package; not a separate entry in the Romans baseline TM (Romans used the compound Gusti Yesus alone). James usage: 1:1, 2:1, in the compound salutation ‘Gusti Yesus Kristus.’ Transliterated title retained per established AI translation requirements; must never be replaced by any title drawn from the Jayabaya prophetic tradition (Satrio Piningit) or read as one prophet among others.
Justification Works
Approved rendering: kaanggep bener (verb form of kaanggep bener dening Gusti Allah)
Transliteration: kaanggep bener
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: a separate/new Javanese coinage avoiding ‘bener’
Original: δικαιόω
Category: Salvation
The single highest-risk term in the James package. James 2:21, 2:24, 2:25 use the exact Greek verb (δικαιόω) whose Javanese rendering is already fixed in the Romans baseline for forensic justification by faith alone. Every occurrence requires a mandatory standing translator note: James describes the vindication of a faith already reckoned righteous (Genesis 15:6, cited 2:23), answering ‘what faith saves?’; Romans answers ‘on what basis is a sinner declared righteous?’ Faith alone justifies before God; genuine faith is never alone but always produces works that vindicate it before others. Human theologian review mandatory for every occurrence.
Salvation Save
Approved rendering: kaslametan / nylametaké (soteriological); marasaken (physical healing)
Transliteration: kaslametan / nylametaké / marasaken
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: nylametaké applied to the physical-healing sense of 5:15-16
Original: σωτηρία / σῴζω
Category: Salvation
James uses σῴζω/σωτηρία for eternal salvation (1:21, 2:14, 4:12, 5:20) and, distinctly, for physical healing (5:15-16). Reserve kaslametan/nylametaké strictly for the soteriological sense with the standing slametan-ritual translator note; use marasaken (from waras, ‘healthy’) for the healing sense. Mandatory theologian review at every occurrence given the proximity of both senses within the same chapter (ch. 5).
Perfected Teleioo
Approved rendering: digenepi
Transliteration: digenepi
Doctrine: Sanctification and Spiritual Maturity
Rejected alternatives: kasampurnakaken
Original: τελειόω
Category: Sanctification
James 2:22, ‘faith was perfected/completed by works’ (τελειόω) — faith reaching its designed, mature fruition through obedient action, not a deficiency being fixed. REJECT any cognate of sampurna/kasampurnan (Javanese ascetic-mystical attained perfection via tapa/tirakat). Human theologian review mandatory for every occurrence.
Friend Of God
Approved rendering: mitra Gusti Allah
Transliteration: mitra Gusti Allah
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: wali Gusti Allah
Original: φίλος θεοῦ
Category: Covenant
Abraham’s title of intimate covenant relationship (2:23, φίλος θεοῦ). Direct collision with Javanese Islamic wali (Arabic walī Allāh, literally ‘friend of God’), the term for the venerated Wali Songo saints whose graves are visited for blessing. NEVER render as wali Gusti Allah. Use mitra (ordinary relational register, no shrine/intercession connotation). Human theologian review mandatory.
Perfect Teleios
Approved rendering: diwasa / jangkep
Transliteration: diwasa / jangkep
Doctrine: Sanctification and Spiritual Maturity
Rejected alternatives: sampurna, kasampurnan
Original: τέλειος
Category: Sanctification
Recurs five times across three chapters (1:4, 1:17, 1:25, 2:22, 3:2). REJECT sampurna/kasampurnan throughout the whole book — the baseline already forbids this cognate for righteousness because of its Javanese ascetic-mysticism association (perfection attained through tapa/tirakat). Use diwasa (mature) or jangkep (complete/whole) consistently, with a standing translator note at every occurrence. Human theologian review mandatory.
Friendship With World
Approved rendering: pasedherekan kaliyan donya
Transliteration: pasedherekan kaliyan donya
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Original: φιλία τοῦ κόσμου
Category: Worldliness
Central term for the doctrine (4:4). Combines the High-risk kosmos/donya collision with an absolute exclusivity claim (‘whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God’) that must never be softened into a matter of degree. Human theologian review mandatory.
Prayer Of Faith Heal
Approved rendering: marasaken
Transliteration: marasaken
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Rejected alternatives: nylametaké
Original: ἡ εὐχὴ τῆς πίστεως σώσει τὸν κάμνοντα
Category: Prayer
‘The prayer of faith will save/heal the one who is sick’ (5:15) — σῴζω here means physical healing, not eternal salvation. Using a slamet-root verb would directly reinforce, rather than correct, the slametan ritual-meal association the baseline works to distinguish from salvation. Mandatory theologian review with a standing note explaining the 5:15 vs. 5:20 distinction.
Save Soul From Death
Approved rendering: nylametaken nyawanipun saking pati
Transliteration: nylametaken nyawanipun saking pati
Doctrine: Confession and Restoration
Original: σώσει ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἐκ θανάτου
Category: Confession
‘Will save his soul from death’ (5:20) — the letter’s closing statement, returning σῴζω to its full spiritual sense, closing the bracket opened at 2:14. This IS the soteriological sense, in contrast to 5:15’s physical-healing sense; requires the standing slametan-ritual translator note PLUS an explicit note distinguishing it from 5:15. Mandatory theologian review.
High Risk Terms
Lord
Approved rendering: Gusti
Transliteration: Gusti
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: ndara
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. James uses this title with unusually high per-chapter frequency (1:1, 2:1, 4:10, 4:15, 5:4, 5:7-8, 5:10-11, 5:14-15); every occurrence requires context establishing exclusive, supreme divine Lordship rather than keraton-style social deference.
Father
Approved rendering: Rama
Transliteration: Rama
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: Leluhur
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. James usage: 1:17 (Father of lights), 1:27 (pure religion before God the Father), 3:9 (we bless the Lord and Father). Never substitute Leluhur (venerated ancestral forebear) — especially important at 1:27, where care for orphans/widows could otherwise be misread through an ancestor-veneration lens.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: kabeneran
Transliteration: kabeneran
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: kasampurnan
Original: δικαιοσύνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. James usage: 1:20 (ethical-behavioral sense — human anger does not produce the righteous life God requires; teaching note required to keep this distinct from Paul’s forensic sense), 2:23 (forensic/credited sense, Genesis 15:6 citation — see imputed_righteousness), 3:18 (fruit of righteousness).
Justification
Approved rendering: kaanggep bener dening Gusti Allah
Transliteration: kaanggep bener dening Gusti Allah
Doctrine: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package as the forensic-declaration phrase (Paul’s sense). James introduces a distinct verb-usage of the same root for the evidentiary/vindication sense in 2:21, 2:24, 2:25 — see justification_works, which escalates to Critical risk and requires a mandatory standing translator note in every occurrence.
Sin
Approved rendering: dosa
Transliteration: dosa
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: cemer
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package. James usage: 1:15, 2:9, 4:17, 5:15-16, 5:20. James 5:15 must not be read as implying all sickness is direct divine punishment for a specific sin; 5:20’s use closes the letter’s soteriological bracket opened at 2:14.
Glory
Approved rendering: kamulyan
Transliteration: kamulyan
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: wahyu, kasekten
Original: δόξα
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. James usage: 2:1, ‘our glorious Lord Jesus Christ’ — reinforces the deity of Christ at the head of the favoritism argument.
Election
Approved rendering: pepilihanipun Gusti Allah
Transliteration: pepilihanipun Gusti Allah
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: wahyu
Inherited from Romans package. James usage: 2:5, ‘Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith?’ (ἐκλέγομαι). Never use wahyu, the impersonal mystical mandate believed to legitimize a ruler’s claim; God’s choice of the poor is a personal, relational act.
Providence
Approved rendering: pepesthenipun Gusti Allah kang kebak katresnan
Transliteration: pepesthenipun Gusti Allah kang kebak katresnan
Doctrine: Providence
Rejected alternatives: pesthi, nrimo ing pandum
Original: τέλος κυρίου / ἐὰν ὁ κύριος θελήσῃ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. James usage: 4:15 (‘if the Lord wills’ — see if_the_lord_wills) and 5:11 (‘the purpose of the Lord’ — see purpose_of_the_lord). Never bare pesthi or the passive nrimo ing pandum ethic; James 4:13-16 explicitly rebukes presumptuous planning that ignores a personal, willing Lord.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: pensucen
Transliteration: pensucen
Doctrine: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package. Provides the doctrinal frame for James’s Sanctification and Spiritual Maturity doctrine (1:4, 1:17, 1:25, 2:22, 3:2), which is carried lexically by the τέλειος word family — see perfect_teleios and perfected_teleioo. The Spirit’s ongoing work of maturing believers, distinct from ascetic self-perfection.
Works Erga
Approved rendering: pakaryan
Transliteration: pakaryan
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Original: ἔργα
Category: Works
James’s ἔργα (2:14-26, 1:22-25) are concrete deeds of love and mercy (e.g., 2:15-16) evidencing genuine faith, NOT the ‘works of the [Mosaic] law’ Paul excludes as a ground of justification. Keep lexically separate from angger-anggering Toret in all contexts; standing translator note required to prevent readers from concluding Paul and James contradict one another.
Synergy Faith Works
Approved rendering: nyengkuyung
Transliteration: nyengkuyung
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: nyambut damel bareng
Original: συνεργέω
Category: Works
James 2:22, ‘faith worked together with his works’ (συνεργέω) — organic cooperation in a genuine believer’s life, not faith-plus-works as co-equal instrumental causes of salvation (synergism). Requires teaching note distinguishing organic unity/evidence from joint meritorious causation.
Doer Hearer
Approved rendering: tiyang ingkang nglampahi pangandika / tiyang ingkang namung mirengaken
Transliteration: tiyang ingkang nglampahi pangandika / tiyang ingkang namung mirengaken
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Original: ποιητὴς λόγου / ἀκροατής
Category: Works
‘Doer of the word’ vs. ‘hearer only’ (1:22-25). Foreshadows the faith-works argument of ch.2; must not create a ‘salvation by obedience’ reading — obedience evidences, rather than earns, a right relationship with God.
Trial Peirasmos
Approved rendering: pacoban
Transliteration: pacoban
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Original: πειρασμός
Category: Trials
External hardship/adversity sent for testing (1:2-4, 1:12). Must be kept lexically distinct from panggodha/nggodha (temptation, below), or James’s claim that God tempts no one (1:13) collapses.
Temptation Peirazo
Approved rendering: panggodha / nggodha
Transliteration: panggodha / nggodha
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Original: πειράζω
Category: Trials
Internal enticement toward sin, arising from one’s own disordered desire, never from God (1:13-14). Must never be applied to God’s action toward humans; must remain lexically distinct from pacoban.
Desire Epithymia
Approved rendering: hawa napsu
Transliteration: hawa napsu
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Original: ἐπιθυμία
Category: Sin
Disordered desire that conceives sin and brings forth death (1:14-15). Shared Islamic-Javanese loanword (from Arabic nafs); must be anchored to James’s specific argument, not imported into an Islamic jurisprudential nafs-discipline framework.
Law Of Liberty
Approved rendering: angger-anggering Toret ingkang njalari kamardikan
Transliteration: angger-anggering Toret ingkang njalari kamardikan
Doctrine: Sanctification and Spiritual Maturity
Rejected alternatives: hukum agami
James’s compound phrase νόμος τέλειος ὁ τῆς ἐλευθερίας (‘the perfect law of liberty,’ 1:25, 2:12). Compounds two risks: must retain the Toret anchor (never generic hukum agami) so the Mosaic/gospel covenant background is not lost, AND inherits the τέλειος (‘perfect’) collision — never render the ‘perfect’ component with sampurna. Kamardikan (liberty) must be distinguished from license or legal deregulation.
Wisdom Sophia
Approved rendering: kawicaksanan
Transliteration: kawicaksanan
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
Original: σοφία
Category: Wisdom
Practical, God-given skill for righteous living (1:5, 3:13-17). Carries strong Javanese cultural connotations of royal/mystical/kejawen ngèlmu wisdom (attained through ascetic practice or lineage transmission). Must be anchored with ‘saking Gusti Allah’/‘saking nginggil’ at every occurrence.
Wisdom From Above
Approved rendering: kawicaksanan saking nginggil
Transliteration: kawicaksanan saking nginggil
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
Original: σοφία ἄνωθεν
Category: Wisdom
Wisdom whose source is heaven/God (3:17), contrasted with earthly, unspiritual, and demonic wisdom. Close conceptual neighbor to kejawen ngèlmu laduni (esoteric wisdom believed to descend mystically upon an ascetic or gifted person). Must be clearly anchored (‘saking Gusti Allah wonten ing swarga’).
False Wisdom Sources
Approved rendering: kadonyan; kamanungsan kémawon; asalipun saking iblis
Transliteration: kadonyan; kamanungsan kémawon; asalipun saking iblis
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
Rejected alternatives: kados dhemit
Original: ἐπίγειος, ψυχική, δαιμονιώδης
Category: Wisdom
Three-fold description of counterfeit wisdom’s origin (3:15): earthly, merely human/unspiritual, demonically inspired. The third term must avoid dhemit-cognate vocabulary; render ‘demonic’ by reference to Iblis (the devil) as source, not folk-spirit taxonomy.
Favoritism Prosopolempsia
Approved rendering: pilih sih / mbédak-bédakaken tiyang
Transliteration: pilih sih / mbédak-bédakaken tiyang
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Original: προσωπολημψία
Category: Favoritism
Judging/valuing people by external status (2:1, 2:9). Must be clearly distinguished from ordinary Javanese social deference (respecting elders, priyayi, or guests according to status), a valued cultural norm; James condemns favoritism specifically within the gathered community of faith.
Religion Threskeia
Approved rendering: agami
Transliteration: agami
Doctrine: Pure and Undefiled Religion
Original: θρησκεία
Category: Ethics
Outward religious devotion/observance (1:26-27). Agami is the Indonesian state-recognized official-religion category; James’s ethical, heart-level point (pure religion = caring for orphans/widows + moral purity) risks flattening into a claim about institutional religious status. Teaching note required.
World Kosmos
Approved rendering: donya
Transliteration: donya
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Original: κόσμος
Category: Worldliness
The God-opposed social-spiritual value-system competing for believers’ allegiance (1:27, 3:6, 4:4). Donya sits inside the dominant Islamic dunya-akhirat two-age dualism; James’s actual framework is relational allegiance, not a temporal this-life/afterlife contrast. Teaching note required at every occurrence.
Anoint With Oil
Approved rendering: njebadi kaliyan lenga
Transliteration: njebadi kaliyan lenga
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Original: ἀλείφω … ἐλαίῳ
Category: Prayer
Anointing the sick with oil while praying (5:14) — a tangible accompaniment to prayer, not the source of healing power. Collides with Javanese ritual-oil/kasekten practices (e.g., keris-oiling, dukun healing rites). Must be explicitly taught that the oil carries no inherent power; healing comes from the Lord in answer to the prayer of faith.
Confess Sins
Approved rendering: ngakeni dosa
Transliteration: ngakeni dosa
Doctrine: Confession and Restoration
Original: ἐξομολογέω
Category: Confession
‘Confess your sins to one another’ (5:16) — mutual, horizontal confession among believers, not sacramental confession to a priestly mediator. Must be framed as confession for restoration and prayer support, not confession to a religious specialist (priest, kyai, or dukun) for ritual cleansing; also distinct from private confession directly to God for justification, which remains once-for-all through Christ.
Parousia Return
Approved rendering: Rawuhipun Gusti Yesus
Transliteration: Rawuhipun Gusti Yesus
Doctrine: Patience and the Lord’s Return
Original: παρουσία
Category: Eschatology
The future, personal, historical Second Coming of Christ (5:7-8), the eschatological hope grounding patient endurance. Must be taught as a singular, future, bodily return — never a cyclical-return or recurring-manifestation lens, extending the baseline’s titisan caution from resurrection to the second coming.
Demons Daimonia
Approved rendering: para roh awon / para setan
Transliteration: para roh awon / para setan
Doctrine: Demonology and Spiritual Opposition
Rejected alternatives: para dhemit, lelembut
Original: τὰ δαιμόνια
Category: Demonology
Evil spirit-beings opposed to God, who hold correct theology (‘God is one’) yet shudder in terror (2:19); the source-category behind ‘demonic’ wisdom (3:15). Never use dhemit/lelembut (Javanese folk-spirit categories tied to place-spirits and ancestor spirits). Human theologian review required.
Spirit Anthropological
Approved rendering: nyawa
Transliteration: nyawa
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: Roh Suci
Original: πνεῦμα (James 2:26)
Category: Anthropology
The body’s animating life-breath/life-principle (2:26, ‘the body without the spirit is dead’) — an anthropological sense of πνεῦμα distinct from the Holy Spirit. Must NOT be rendered Roh Suci, reserved exclusively for the third Person of the Trinity; using Roh Suci here would falsely imply a corpse specifically lacks the Holy Spirit.
Unstained From World
Approved rendering: tanpa cemer saking donya
Transliteration: tanpa cemer saking donya
Doctrine: Pure and Undefiled Religion
‘Keeping oneself unstained from the world’ (1:27) — morally unspotted, kept free from corrupting worldly influence. Inherits the world_kosmos/donya collision; requires the same dunya-akhirat fencing note.
Medium Risk Terms
Faith
Approved rendering: pitados
Transliteration: pitados (krama); pracaya (ngoko)
Doctrine: Faith
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. James usage: 1:3, 1:6, 2:1, 2:5, 2:14-26, 5:15. Risk escalates to Critical specifically within the 2:14-26 justification argument (see justification_works below); elsewhere the baseline Medium rating applies provided the object of faith (Christ) remains explicit in context.
Law
Approved rendering: angger-anggering Toret
Transliteration: angger-anggering Toret
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: hukum agami
Original: νόμος
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. James usage: 1:25 and 2:12 (‘the perfect law of liberty’ — see law_of_liberty), 2:8-11 (‘the royal law’ — see royal_law), 4:11-12. Must retain the Toret anchor rather than drifting to the generic hukum agami so the Mosaic/gospel covenant background is not lost.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: Kratoning Gusti Allah
Transliteration: Kratoning Gusti Allah
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Kingdom
Inherited from Romans package. James usage: 2:5, ‘heirs of the kingdom’ — ties naturally to existing adoption/inheritance vocabulary.
Church
Approved rendering: pasamuwan
Transliteration: pasamuwan
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: punden
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. James usage: 5:14, ‘elders of the church.’ James also uses συναγωγή (2:2) for a Christian gathering — see synagogue, which reuses this root rather than introducing a separate institution.
Apostle
Approved rendering: utusan
Transliteration: utusan
Doctrine: Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: rasul
Inherited from Romans package. Retained for cross-curriculum consistency; the concept underlies James’s self-designation as a doulos (see servant_doulos) and the related human-messenger disambiguation at 2:25 (see messenger_human), though ‘apostle’ itself is not a term James applies to himself.
Peace
Approved rendering: katentreman
Transliteration: katentreman
Doctrine: Peace with God
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. James usage: 2:16 (ironic/hollow ‘go in peace’ spoken to a needy person given no material help — must read as hollow piety, not genuine blessing) and 3:18 (positive fruit-bearing sense, harvest sown by peacemakers).
Intercession
Approved rendering: pandonga tetulung tumrap wong liya
Transliteration: pandonga tetulung tumrap wong liya
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Rejected alternatives: nyuwun berkah ing kuburan
Inherited from Romans package. James usage: 5:14-16, elders praying over the sick and believers praying for one another. Distinguish from prayer_general (personal petition addressed directly to God) below; also never nyuwun berkah ing kuburan (seeking blessing at a grave), a live Wali Songo pilgrimage practice.
Dead Faith
Approved rendering: pejah
Transliteration: pejah
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Original: νεκρά
Category: Faith
‘Faith, if it does not have works, is dead’ (2:17, 2:26, νεκρά). Must be taught so hearers do not conclude genuine faith can die and be lost (contradicting assurance of salvation); the point is that the claim examined was never living faith.
Useless Faith
Approved rendering: tanpa damel
Transliteration: tanpa damel
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Original: ἀργή
Category: Faith
‘Faith without works is useless/barren’ (2:20, ἀργή) — total inertness, not mere deficiency. Must not be softened to ‘incomplete.‘
Testing Dokimion
Approved rendering: pandadaran
Transliteration: pandadaran
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Original: δοκίμιον
Category: Trials
The proving/refining process that demonstrates genuineness (1:3), a metallurgical-refining metaphor paralleling the faith-works evidentiary logic of chapter 2.
Endurance Hypomone
Approved rendering: katahanan
Transliteration: katahanan
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Original: ὑπομονή
Category: Trials
Steadfast endurance under pressure (1:3-4, 5:11). Must be lexically distinguished from sabar (patience_makrothymeo, ch.5) — two distinct Javanese words needed to preserve James’s own two-term vocabulary of patience.
Blessed Makarios
Approved rendering: rahayu
Transliteration: rahayu
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Original: μακάριος
Category: Faith
A state of divine favor/commendation for the one who endures trial (1:12) or acts on the word (1:25). Note proximity to karahayon, already rejected in the baseline as too close to a this-worldly safety/well-being concept for ‘salvation’; distinct grammatical category, but needs a clarifying note so translators do not conflate this beatitude-word with kaslametan.
Gehenna Hell
Approved rendering: naraka
Transliteration: naraka
Doctrine: Taming the Tongue
Original: γέεννα
Category: Eschatology
The place/state of final divine judgment; the tongue’s evil is ‘set on fire by hell’ (3:6). Shared Islamic-Javanese vocabulary (neraka); anchor to biblical final judgment under God’s authority, not generic underworld/spirit-realm cosmology.
Poor Ptochos
Approved rendering: tiyang miskin
Transliteration: tiyang miskin
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Original: πτωχός
Category: Favoritism
The economically poor, whom God has chosen to be rich in faith (2:2-6) and who are exploited by the unjust rich (5:1-6). Concrete economic referent.
Rich Plousios
Approved rendering: tiyang sugih
Transliteration: tiyang sugih
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Original: πλούσιος
Category: Favoritism
The economically rich; 1:9-11 and 2:2-6 a test case for the community’s values, 5:1-6 the object of prophetic judgment for exploiting laborers. Render 5:1-6 with corresponding prophetic gravity.
Mercy Eleos
Approved rendering: kawelasan
Transliteration: kawelasan
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Original: ἔλεος
Category: Favoritism
Active compassion shown to those in need or under judgment (2:13, ‘mercy triumphs over judgment’). Distinct from sih-rahmat (grace, God’s unmerited initiating favor toward sinners); this is the active compassion believers extend to others.
Royal Law
Approved rendering: angger-angger karajan
Transliteration: angger-angger karajan
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Original: νόμος βασιλικός
Category: Covenant
The supreme law summarized as neighbor-love, Leviticus 19:18 (2:8). Built on the baseline law and kingdom roots; ties naturally to Kratoning Gusti Allah’s royal-kingdom vocabulary.
Synagogue
Approved rendering: pakempalanipun pasamuwan
Transliteration: pakempalanipun pasamuwan
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Original: συναγωγή
Category: Church
James uniquely in the NT applies συναγωγή to a Christian gathering (2:2). Reuses pasamuwan (baseline church term) to avoid confusion with a separate Jewish institution, marking the letter’s early Jewish-Christian setting.
Lord Of Hosts
Approved rendering: Gusti Sabaot
Transliteration: Gusti Sabaot
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Original: Κύριος Σαβαώθ
Category: God
OT divine military title (5:4); God hears the exploited laborers’ cries with heaven’s full authority. Transliterated per the baseline’s convention for proper divine titles; must be clarified as heavenly, not earthly, military/political authority.
Tongue Glossa
Approved rendering: ilat
Transliteration: ilat
Doctrine: Taming the Tongue
Original: γλῶσσα
Category: Speech
The organ of speech, by metonymy speech itself (1:26, 3:1-12). Literal vocabulary is low risk but doctrinal weight is high as the central image of an entire curriculum doctrine. Extended imagery (bit/bridle, ship’s rudder, forest fire) uses natural, concrete Javanese equivalents.
Bridling Tongue
Approved rendering: ngendhaleni
Transliteration: ngendhaleni
Doctrine: Taming the Tongue
Original: χαλιναγωγέω
Category: Speech
Controlling/restraining speech, horse-bridle metaphor (1:26, 3:2-3). Concrete agricultural/equestrian metaphor familiar in Javanese culture; low syncretism risk.
Likeness Of God
Approved rendering: rupanipun Gusti Allah
Transliteration: rupanipun Gusti Allah
Doctrine: Taming the Tongue
Original: ὁμοίωσις θεοῦ
Category: Anthropology
The divine image/likeness in which humanity was made (Genesis 1:26), grounding the wrongness of cursing others (3:9). Requires brief OT background for readers with low OT literacy.
Enmity With God
Approved rendering: mengsahan kaliyan Gusti Allah
Transliteration: mengsahan kaliyan Gusti Allah
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Original: ἔχθρα τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Worldliness
Active hostility toward God, not mere distance (4:4). Retain the stark either-or force of the passage — no neutral middle ground.
Humility Tapeinos
Approved rendering: andhap asor
Transliteration: andhap asor
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Original: ταπεινός
Category: Worldliness
The posture to which grace flows (4:6, echoing 1:9-11). A deeply positive native Javanese ethical value, culturally resonant, but must be taught as humility before God, not merely correct social deference within the feudal/priyayi hierarchy.
Pride Hyperephanos
Approved rendering: gumunggung
Transliteration: gumunggung
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Original: ὑπερήφανος
Category: Worldliness
Pride/arrogance, which God actively opposes (4:6). The negative counterpart to grace-for-the-humble; contrast must be preserved.
Devil Diabolos
Approved rendering: Iblis
Transliteration: Iblis
Doctrine: Demonology and Spiritual Opposition
Original: διάβολος
Category: Demonology
The devil, whom believers resist after submitting to God (4:7). Shared Islamic-Javanese-Christian loanword (parallel to dosa); acceptable shared vocabulary, but must be anchored to the specific, personal, defeated NT enemy under Christ’s authority.
Submit Resist
Approved rendering: sumuyud / nglawan
Transliteration: sumuyud / nglawan
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Original: ὑποτάσσω / ἀνθίστημι
Category: Worldliness
Submit to God’s authority; actively resist the devil (4:7). Practical response pair; clear active/relational sense in Javanese.
Lawgiver Judge
Approved rendering: ingkang paring angger-angger saha Hakim
Transliteration: ingkang paring angger-angger saha Hakim
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Original: νομοθέτης καὶ κριτής
Category: God
God’s unique authority to establish and enforce moral law; only God, not fellow believers, has ultimate authority to judge (4:12).
Prayer General
Approved rendering: pandonga / ndedonga
Transliteration: pandonga / ndedonga
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Original: προσευχή / προσεύχομαι
Category: Prayer
Ordinary petitionary prayer addressed directly to God (5:13-18; also the wisdom-prayer of 1:5-6). Distinct from intercession (pandonga tetulung tumrap wong liya), which covers prayer specifically on behalf of others.
Elders Church
Approved rendering: para pinituwaning pasamuwan
Transliteration: para pinituwaning pasamuwan
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Rejected alternatives: sesepuh desa
Original: πρεσβύτεροι τῆς ἐκκλησίας
Category: Church
Recognized spiritual leaders/overseers of the local congregation, called to pray over the sick (5:14). Must be distinguished from sesepuh desa (village adat elders), whose authority is customary/ancestral rather than a spiritual church office.
Healed Iaomai
Approved rendering: waras (adj.) / marasaken (verb)
Transliteration: waras / marasaken
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Original: ἰάομαι
Category: Prayer
Physical healing connected to confession and mutual prayer (5:16). Same slametan-collision caution as prayer_of_faith_heal applies if a slamet-root term is substituted.
Prayer Of Righteous
Approved rendering: pandonganipun tiyang ingkang bener
Transliteration: pandonganipun tiyang ingkang bener
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Original: δέησις δικαίου ἐνεργουμένη
Category: Prayer
‘The prayer of a righteous person … has great power’ (5:16), illustrated by Elijah (5:17-18). Reuses the baseline kabeneran root; prayer’s power flows from the praying person’s relationship with God, not technique or ritual formula.
Patience Makrothymeo
Approved rendering: sabar
Transliteration: sabar
Doctrine: Patience and the Lord’s Return
Original: μακροθυμέω
Category: Patience
Patient forbearance while awaiting an outcome (5:7-8, 5:10). Shared Islamic-Javanese ethical vocabulary (often paired with tawakal); must be anchored explicitly to the imminent Parousia hope (5:8), not left as a free-standing generic virtue. Must stay lexically distinct from katahanan (endurance_hypomone, ch.1).
Compassionate Merciful God
Approved rendering: kebak welas asih saha kawelasan
Transliteration: kebak welas asih saha kawelasan
Doctrine: Patience and the Lord’s Return
Original: πολύσπλαγχνος καὶ οἰκτίρμων
Category: God
God’s tender, personal compassion, illustrated through Job’s story (5:11). Reinforces God’s personal, relational care, consistent with the baseline’s providence caution against impersonal fate language.
Wander From Truth
Approved rendering: kesasar saking kayektosan
Transliteration: kesasar saking kayektosan
Doctrine: Confession and Restoration
Original: πλανάομαι
Category: Confession
Doctrinal or moral straying from gospel truth (5:19). Sets up the restoration doctrine of 5:19-20.
Turn Back Restore
Approved rendering: mbekta wangsul
Transliteration: mbekta wangsul
Doctrine: Confession and Restoration
Original: ἐπιστρέφω
Category: Confession
Loving restoration of a straying believer through intervention (5:19-20). Retain the relational, communal-care sense rather than a purely institutional-discipline sense.
Cover Sins
Approved rendering: nutupi kathahing dosa
Transliteration: nutupi kathahing dosa
Doctrine: Confession and Restoration
Original: καλύπτω πλῆθος ἁμαρτιῶν
Category: Confession
‘Will cover a multitude of sins’ (5:20) — restoration results in extensive forgiveness. Must not imply the sin was never real or serious.
Prostitute Rahab
Approved rendering: tiyang sundel
Transliteration: tiyang sundel
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Original: ἡ πόρνη
Category: Ethics
Rahab, described by her former occupation, cited alongside Abraham as an example of faith vindicated by works (2:25). Register sensitivity required in formal krama Scripture text; use descriptively/historically, matching the sober register of established Javanese Bible translations of Joshua 2 and Hebrews 11:31.
Servant Doulos
Approved rendering: abdi
Transliteration: abdi
Doctrine: Apostleship
Original: δοῦλος
Category: Church
James identifies himself as a bondservant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ (1:1). Rendered abdi, drawing positive resonance with abdi dalem (a palace servant devoted to a Gusti); must not be read as implying literal palace employment or caste status.
Messenger Human
Approved rendering: para utusan
Transliteration: para utusan
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Original: ἄγγελος
Category: Church
In James 2:25, the human spies Rahab received and helped escape, not heavenly angels (ἄγγελος). Reuses the baseline apostle-adjacent term utusan contextually; must be clearly marked in context as human envoys to avoid confusion with angelology.
Double Minded
Approved rendering: ati mangro-mangro
Transliteration: ati mangro-mangro
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
δίψυχος (1:8) — internally divided, wavering commitment. The doubter’s unstable, divided loyalty, contrasted with settled trust in God when asking for wisdom (1:5-8).
Father Of Lights
Approved rendering: Rama ingkang nitahaken pepadhang
Transliteration: Rama ingkang nitahaken pepadhang
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
God as source of all good gifts, creator of heavenly luminaries (1:17), contrasted with the shifting shadows of created lights. Reuses baseline Rama for Father.
Word Of Truth Implanted
Approved rendering: pangandika ingkang yekti / pangandika ingkang katanem
Transliteration: pangandika ingkang yekti / pangandika ingkang katanem
Doctrine: Faith and Works
The gospel message (1:18) and the word rooted/planted within believers (1:21), which believers must receive and obey — sets up the doer/hearer contrast of 1:22-25.
Pleasures Hedone
Approved rendering: kasenengan kadagingan
Transliteration: kasenengan kadagingan
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Self-indulgent cravings (4:1, 4:3) — the internal, disordered source of conflict and wrongly motivated prayer.
Spiritual Adultery
Approved rendering: tiyang ingkang ora setya
Transliteration: tiyang ingkang ora setya
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
μοιχαλίδες, ‘adulteresses’ (4:4) — covenant-unfaithfulness imagery (OT prophetic idiom), spiritual rather than literal infidelity to God through worldly attachment.
If The Lord Wills
Approved rendering: manawi dados kersanipun Gusti
Transliteration: manawi dados kersanipun Gusti
Doctrine: Providence and the Sovereign Will of God
Conditional submission of human plans to divine sovereignty (4:15), practical outworking of trust in God’s personal providence. Must retain the sense of a personal, loving Lord’s will, not impersonal fate (pesthi).
Purpose Of The Lord
Approved rendering: ancasipun Gusti
Transliteration: ancasipun Gusti
Doctrine: Providence and the Sovereign Will of God
God’s ultimate compassionate purpose, seen in how Job’s story concluded (5:11, τέλος κυρίου). God’s providence has a compassionate, purposeful outcome even through suffering.
Low Risk Terms
Prophet
Approved rendering: nabi
Transliteration: nabi
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: dhukun
Original: προφήτης
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. James usage: 5:10, the prophets as an example of suffering and patience.
Oath Swear
Approved rendering: sumpah
Transliteration: sumpah
Doctrine: Truthful Speech and Oaths
Original: ὀμνύω
Category: Speech
Swearing an oath (5:12); James forbids it in favor of simple truthfulness. Standard vocabulary; minor risk only.
Dispersion Diaspora
Approved rendering: tiyang ingkang buyar wonten ing pundi-pundi
Transliteration: tiyang ingkang buyar wonten ing pundi-pundi
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Original: διασπορά
Category: Church
Jewish communities scattered outside the land of Israel, the original addressees of the letter (1:1). Descriptive rendering of the historical-geographic referent; not a fixed technical term.
Crown Of Life
Approved rendering: makuthaning gesang
Transliteration: makuthaning gesang
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
The eschatological reward (1:12, στέφανος τῆς ζωῆς) for enduring trial faithfully. Victor’s-wreath imagery; low ambiguity.
Orphans And Widows
Approved rendering: lare yatim lan randha
Transliteration: lare yatim lan randha
Doctrine: Pure and Undefiled Religion
The socially vulnerable, paradigmatic objects of covenant mercy (1:27) — the concrete ethical content of pure religion.
Quarrels Conflicts
Approved rendering: paperangan lan pasulayan
Transliteration: paperangan lan pasulayan
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Community conflicts/quarrels (4:1) traced to internal, disordered desire — sets up the friendship-with-the-world argument.
Draw Near To God
Approved rendering: nyedhaki Gusti Allah
Transliteration: nyedhaki Gusti Allah
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Relational approach/intimacy with God (4:8), God responding to the seeker.
Judge At The Door
Approved rendering: Sang Hakim sampun jumeneng wonten ing gapura
Transliteration: Sang Hakim sampun jumeneng wonten ing gapura
Doctrine: Patience and the Lord’s Return
Vivid imminence-of-judgment imagery (5:9), warning against grumbling in light of imminent divine judgment.
Example Of Patience
Approved rendering: tuladha ing kasangsaran saha kasabaran
Transliteration: tuladha ing kasangsaran saha kasabaran
Doctrine: Patience and the Lord’s Return
The prophets as models of endurance under hardship (5:10), connecting back to μακροθυμία and ὑπομονή.
Referenced passages