Semantic Analysis: Acts 1–28 (English → Kashmiri)

Methodology and Scope

This document analyzes the Koine Greek text of Acts in its entirety, chapter 1 through chapter 28, per PRD Phase 1 Step 1. The core passage, Acts 2:1–41 (Pentecost and Peter’s sermon), receives full verse-by-verse treatment of every load-bearing term: original Greek word, transliteration, literal meaning, semantic range, English variants, contextual theological meaning in Acts, and destination-language (Kashmiri) rendering risk. Every subsequent chapter (3–28) is treated as a chapter-level section covering its own load-bearing theological vocabulary with the same fields. Chapter 1, which precedes the core passage narratively, is also treated at chapter level, positioned first below for canonical order, with cross-reference back to the core passage where its vocabulary anticipates Pentecost.

Governing rule: any term already recorded in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json for Kashmiri MUST be reused with its exact recorded rendering. This document flags such reuse explicitly at each occurrence rather than re-deriving a new rendering. New terms not present in the Romans baseline are analyzed fully and given a proposed Kashmiri rendering here, carried forward into 08_core_glossary.md and intended for formal entry into an updated translation memory in a subsequent step.

Kashmiri’s dual religious landscape addressed in the Romans baseline — a Sunni Muslim majority shaped by mainstream Tawhid doctrine and the indigenous Rishi Sufi order, and a smaller Kashmiri Pandit Hindu minority carrying Kashmir Shaivism (Trika) — governs all risk reasoning below. Acts introduces several NEW collision points beyond Romans: repentance/tawbah vocabulary, baptism vs. ritual ablution, idols/images (a live flashpoint for both Islamic iconoclasm and image-based devotional Hinduism, though Trika philosophy itself is non-iconic at its core), sorcery/magic vs. karamat, and the shahid/martyr resonance of “witness.”

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CORE PASSAGE: Acts 2:1–41 (Verse-by-Verse)

Acts 2:1

Greek: Καὶ ἐν τῷ συμπληροῦσθαι τὴν ἡμέραν τῆς πεντηκοστῆς ἦσαν πάντες ὁμοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό.

πεντηκοστή (Pentēkostē)

• Literal meaning: “fiftieth [day]”
• Semantic range: the Jewish harvest festival (Feast of Weeks/Shavuot) celebrated fifty days after Passover; by metonymy, the calendar day itself
• English variants: “Pentecost,” “the day of Pentecost,” “Feast of Weeks”
• Contextual theological meaning: the specific historical/redemptive-historical moment of the Spirit’s outpouring, fulfilling the Feast of Weeks’ agricultural first-fruits typology with a first-fruits harvest of souls; foundational to “The Holy Spirit and Pentecost” doctrine
• Kashmiri rendering risk: Medium/High (NEW). No existing Old Testament festival vocabulary is established in Kashmiri Christian usage. Proposed: transliterate as پنتِکوست (Pantikost), glossed on first use with a description of the Jewish feast, rather than substituting a term drawn from any regional festival (e.g., avoid any implied equivalence with Islamic or Hindu festival names). Risk is in readers assuming this is simply “a Christian holiday” without grasping its Old Testament fulfillment logic — teach explicitly.

ὁμοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό (“together, in the same place”)

• Contextual meaning: the gathered unity of the believing community awaiting the promise; low doctrinal risk, descriptive.
• Kashmiri rendering risk: Low. Render descriptively; no glossary entry required.

Acts 2:2

Greek: καὶ ἐγένετο ἄφνω ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἦχος ὥσπερ φερομένης πνοῆς βιαίας

πνοή (pnoē, “breath/wind”) + βιαία (“violent, forceful”)

• Literal meaning: “a rushing/violent breath/wind”
• Semantic range: shares the root of πνεῦμα (spirit/breath/wind); the same word-family used for the Spirit himself, making the wind a deliberate sensory sign of the Spirit’s arrival
• English variants: “rushing mighty wind,” “violent wind”
• Contextual theological meaning: an audible, physical, historically-datable sign accompanying the Spirit’s coming — not a metaphor, not an internal mystical experience alone
• Kashmiri rendering risk: Medium (NEW). Proposed: زبردست ہوا (zabardast havā, “forceful wind”). Risk: must not be rendered with vocabulary suggesting an impersonal cosmic energy/breath (echoing Trika’s prana/spanda categories of universal life-breath); this is a one-time, historically located sign, not an ongoing metaphysical principle. Should be footnoted at first use distinguishing it from such categories.

Acts 2:3

Greek: καὶ ὤφθησαν αὐτοῖς διαμεριζόμεναι γλῶσσαι ὡσεὶ πυρός, καὶ ἐκάθισεν ἐφ᾿ ἕνα ἕκαστον αὐτῶν

γλῶσσαι ὡσεὶ πυρός (“tongues as of fire”)

• Literal meaning: “tongues like fire,” i.e., flame-shaped visible forms
• Semantic range: γλῶσσα primarily means “tongue” (the organ) or “language”; here used for its visual shape (flame-like divided tongues), distinct from its later use in this same passage for “languages”
• Contextual theological meaning: a visible theophanic sign (echoing Sinai’s fire, Exodus 19) marking the Spirit’s personal, divine descent upon each individual believer
• Kashmiri rendering risk: High (NEW). Proposed: باہ ہنٛدی زبانہ (bāh handi zabāna, “tongues of fire”). Risk: readers must not conflate this fire-imagery with generic mystical illumination-by-fire imagery found in some Sufi devotional poetry (e.g., the “burning” of divine love, a live trope in Kashmiri Rishi/Sufi verse); the text specifies a historical, once-for-all, corporate sign at a fixed moment, not a repeatable interior mystical state.

Acts 2:4

Greek: καὶ ἐπλήσθησαν πάντες πνεύματος ἁγίου, καὶ ἤρξαντο λαλεῖν ἑτέραις γλώσσαις καθὼς τὸ πνεῦμα ἐδίδου ἀποφθέγγεσθαι αὐτοῖς

πλήσθησαν πνεύματος ἁγίου (“filled with the Holy Spirit”)

• Reuses baseline term holy_spirit (پاک روح, pāk rūḥ), Critical risk per Romans baseline. Reinforce here: this is the same divine Person indwelling believers, not the angel Gabriel (as مainstream Islamic exegesis identifies Ruh al-Qudus), and not an impersonal energy (Trika’s shakti).

ἑτέραις γλώσσαις (“other tongues/languages”)

• Literal meaning: “other tongues” — here, other human languages (confirmed by v.6, “each one heard them speaking in his own language”)
• Semantic range: γλῶσσα = tongue (organ), language, or (later in 1 Corinthians) ecstatic/unknown speech; Acts 2 specifically identifies these as real, existing human languages, not unintelligible ecstatic utterance
• English variants: “other tongues,” “other languages,” “foreign languages”
• Contextual theological meaning: a reversal-sign of Babel (Genesis 11) — God’s Spirit unites the nations in comprehensible praise rather than confusing their speech; foundational to “The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles” doctrine, showing the Gospel’s reach to “every nation under heaven” (v.5) from its very first hour
• Kashmiri rendering risk: High (NEW). Proposed: ٲنٛے زبانہ (anye zabāna, “other languages”). Must be rendered so as to clearly denote real foreign human languages, not glossolalia-as-ecstasy nor any trance-speech associated with Sufi dhikr practice or spirit-possession phenomena sometimes reported in regional folk religion. A translator’s note should state plainly: these were genuine, existing languages understood by hearers, per v.6–11.

ἀποφθέγγομαι (“to declare, utter with authority”)

• Literal meaning: “to speak out, declare forth” — a solemn, weighty utterance, used elsewhere of oracular/prophetic speech
• Contextual theological meaning: the Spirit gives not mere sound but authoritative, meaningful proclamation
• Kashmiri rendering risk: Low/Medium. Render descriptively as “spoke forth” (بولنہ لگیہ); no separate glossary entry needed beyond noting it intensifies “spoke.”

Acts 2:5–6

Greek: Ἦσαν δὲ εἰς Ἰερουσαλὴμ κατοικοῦντες Ἰουδαῖοι, ἄνδρες εὐλαβεῖς ἀπὸ παντὸς ἔθνους τῶν ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανόν… ἤκουον εἷς ἕκαστος τῇ ἰδίᾳ διαλέκτῳ λαλούντων αὐτῶν

ἔθνος (ethnos, plural ἔθνη) — reuses baseline term gentiles (غیر-قوم, ghair-qaum) where it means “non-Jewish nation,” but here (v.5) it means “nation” generically (Jews from every nation), a broader sense; context must distinguish “nations” (geographic dispersion of Jews) from the Romans-baseline sense of “Gentiles” (non-Jews as a category). Kashmiri rendering risk: Medium. Use قوم (qaum, “nation/people”) alone here rather than غیر-قوم, since these are diaspora Jews, not Gentiles; reserve غیر-قوم for its established sense once Gentile inclusion becomes explicit (Acts 10 onward).

διάλεκτος (dialektos, “language/dialect”)

• Literal meaning: one’s own native tongue/dialect
• Contextual theological meaning: reinforces that the miracle was comprehensible, particular, and dignifying of each hearer’s own mother tongue — the Gospel addresses people in their own language, not a single sacred liturgical tongue
• Kashmiri rendering risk: Low/Medium (NEW). Render زبان (zabān, “language/tongue”). Minor theological resonance: some Islamic tradition privileges Arabic as revelation’s sole legitimate vehicle; this verse’s affirmation of every mother tongue is a point of contact worth surfacing pastorally, not a translation risk per se.

Acts 2:7–11

Descriptive list of nations; προσήλυτοι (proselytes, converts to Judaism) appears in v.10 — a NEW term.

προσήλυτος (prosēlytos, “proselyte, convert”)

• Literal meaning: “one who has come over/approached” — a Gentile convert to Judaism
• Contextual theological meaning: shows the mixed Jewish/convert audience already present at Pentecost before the Gospel formally reaches Gentiles in Acts 10, a bridge population
• Kashmiri rendering risk: Low (NEW). Descriptive rendering: یہودیت منز شامل غیر-قوم (a Gentile who has joined Judaism); no risk of confusion if kept descriptive; do not create a single fixed loanword.

Acts 2:12–13

διαπορέω / διαχλευάζω (“perplexed” / “mocked, said they are full of new wine” — γλεῦκος, “sweet new wine”)

• Contextual meaning: establishes unbelieving mockery as a real response to the Spirit’s work from the very first instance — relevant background for “Persecution and Bold Witness” doctrine, which begins even before formal persecution as scoffing.
• Kashmiri rendering risk: Low. Standard vocabulary; γλεῦκος (new wine) render صاف ترین رس/نوی مے (new wine) descriptively; no glossary entry needed.

Acts 2:14–15

Peter’s sermon begins. ἀνὴρ Ἰουδαῖος (“Judean men”), Peter “standing with the eleven” (τοῖς ἕνδεκα) — reuses baseline apostle (رسول) concept implicitly; the Eleven are the apostolic nucleus. No new term; note explicitly that رسول must again carry its Romans-baseline caution: distinct from Muhammad’s specific title, a point equally relevant throughout Acts given how frequently “the apostles” (οἱ ἀπόστολοι) recurs as a corporate body through the whole book.

Acts 2:16–21 (quoting Joel 2:28–32)

προφητεύσουσιν (“they shall prophesy”) — reuses baseline prophecy/prophet terms (پیشن گوئی / پیغمبر). Kashmiri risk: Medium, per Romans baseline notes — must not be assumed to fit a Quranic prophetology (a single new revealed book each generation); here it is the Spirit-enabled proclamation available now to “all flesh,” sons and daughters, young and old, male and female, slave and free — a genuinely universal, non-hierarchical outpouring.

πᾶσα σάρξ (“all flesh”)

• Contextual theological meaning: universality of the Spirit’s outpouring across age, sex, and social status — directly supports “The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles” and the Great Commission’s eventual “to the ends of the earth” trajectory (Acts 1:8)
• Kashmiri rendering risk: High. Must retain full universal scope (سٲری اِنسان, “all humankind/all flesh”) without softening; parallels the Romans-baseline “Universal Scope of the Gospel” risk entry and must be handled with the same non-negotiable inclusiveness across both Muslim-majority and Pandit-minority audiences.

τέρατα καὶ σημεῖα (“wonders and signs”) — see full treatment under v.22/v.43 below; first appearance here, Joel quotation.

ᾅδης (Hadēs, v.27, 31 within quoted Psalm 16) — the realm of the dead

• Kashmiri rendering risk: Medium (NEW). Distinct from a general word for “grave” (قبر, qabr); render as a term for the abode/realm of the dead, e.g. عالمِ اموات (‘ālam-i-amwāt) or transliterate ہادِیس with a footnote; avoid equating with Islamic برزخ (barzakh, the intermediate state), a related but distinct theological category that should be flagged rather than silently substituted.

Acts 2:22

Greek: ἄνδρα ἀποδεδειγμένον ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ εἰς ὑμᾶς δυνάμεσι καὶ τέρασι καὶ σημείοις οἷς ἐποίησεν δι᾿ αὐτοῦ ὁ θεός

δυνάμεσι καὶ τέρασι καὶ σημείοις (“mighty works, wonders, and signs”)

• Literal meaning: δύναμις = power/miracle; τέρας = wonder/portent; σημεῖον = sign/attesting mark
• Semantic range: together this triad is Luke’s standard formula (also Acts 2:43; 4:30; 5:12; 14:3; 15:12) for God’s authenticating, attesting miraculous activity through his authorized agents
• Contextual theological meaning: God himself attests Jesus (and later the apostles) through miracles that function as evidence, not magic; central to “Apostolic Authority and Miracles” doctrine
• Kashmiri rendering risk: High (NEW). Proposed: قوت، عجائبات تہٕ نِشانہ (quwwat, ajā’ibāt, nishānah). Must be sharply distinguished from کرامت (karamat), the miraculous charism attributed to a wali (Sufi saint) in the Kashmiri Rishi tradition — per the Romans-baseline caution on spiritual_gifts, apostolic signs authenticate God’s redemptive message about Christ, they are not marks of individual personal sanctity to be venerated at a shrine. Also distinguish from any occult/magical power (μαγεία, treated at Acts 8 and 19 below).

Acts 2:23

Greek: τοῦτον τῇ ὡρισμένῃ βουλῇ καὶ προγνώσει τοῦ θεοῦ ἔκδοτον διὰ χειρὸς ἀνόμων προσπήξαντες ἀνείλατε

ὡρισμένη βουλὴ καὶ πρόγνωσις τοῦ θεοῦ (“God’s determined plan and foreknowledge”)

• Literal meaning: ὁρίζω = to determine/fix a boundary; βουλή = counsel/plan/purpose; πρόγνωσις = foreknowledge
• Contextual theological meaning: the crucifixion, though committed by lawless human hands, occurred within God’s sovereign, purposive plan — holds together genuine human moral responsibility (“you… crucified”) with divine sovereignty
• Kashmiri rendering risk: High (NEW, related to baseline providence term). Proposed: خُدایُک مقررٕ منصوبہ تہٕ اڳم زانٕن (Khudāyuk muqarrar mansooba tih agam zānun), built to parallel the existing baseline providence rendering (خُدایُک انتظام). As with providence in Romans, this must not be flattened into قسمت/تقدیر (qismat/taqdir, impersonal fatalism); Peter’s point is that a personal God purposively planned a specific redemptive act, while those who carried it out remain fully, morally accountable — a distinction requiring explicit teaching for a Muslim-background audience already familiar with strong predestination (al-qadar) categories.

προσπήξαντες ἀνείλατε (“having nailed [him] to a cross, you put him to death”) — the crucifixion stated as historical fact.

• Kashmiri rendering risk: Critical. This must be stated as an unambiguous historical event, exactly as flagged for the Romans baseline’s resurrection entry: mainstream Sunni interpretation of Quran 4:157 denies Jesus was actually crucified. Acts 2:23, 2:36, and 4:10 all repeat this claim and must be rendered plainly each time, not softened into “he suffered” or “he was taken.”

Acts 2:24

Greek: ὃν ὁ θεὸς ἀνέστησεν, λύσας τὰς ὠδῖνας τοῦ θανάτου

ἀνέστησεν (from ἀνίστημι, cognate with ἀνάστασις) — reuses baseline resurrection term (مُردٕن پؠٹھ زندٕ تھِیُن, murdan pyeṭh zinda thyun), Critical per Romans baseline. Restated three times in this sermon alone (v.24, 31, 32) — the resurrection is the sermon’s central proof, and each occurrence must carry the full Critical-risk historical-bodily framing established in the baseline, addressing the Quran 4:157 denial directly rather than assuming it uncontested.

Acts 2:25–28, 2:29–31 (Psalm 16 and Davidic argument)

Δαυίδ — reuses baseline david (داؤد). The argument that David, though a prophet, remains dead and buried (“his tomb is with us to this day,” v.29) while prophesying of another’s resurrection is a load-bearing apologetic move; reuses baseline davidic_covenant and seed_of_david framing from Romans (داؤدَس نسلہ منٛز), extended here to Christ’s resurrection rather than his human descent alone. Kashmiri rendering risk: High, consistent with Romans baseline — requires explicit Old Testament background teaching since the Quranic Dawud narrative carries no comparable messianic-resurrection argument.

Acts 2:32–33

Greek: τοῦτον τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἀνέστησεν ὁ θεός, οὗ πάντες ἡμεῖς ἐσμεν μάρτυρες. τῇ δεξιᾷ οὖν τοῦ θεοῦ ὑψωθεὶς…

μάρτυς (martys, “witness”)

• Literal meaning: one who testifies to what he has personally seen/experienced; legal/courtroom origin
• Semantic range: eyewitness testimony (its dominant NT sense in Acts); by the second century the word had also begun to acquire its later sense of one who testifies even unto death (“martyr”) — that later sense is not yet primary in Acts, though Stephen (ch.7) and James (ch.12) both embody it
• English variants: “witness,” “eyewitness”; later, “martyr”
• Contextual theological meaning: the apostles’ authority rests on personal, verifiable eyewitness testimony to the resurrection, foundational to Acts’ overall structure (1:8, “you will be my witnesses”) and to “Persecution and Bold Witness” doctrine
• Kashmiri rendering risk: High (NEW). Proposed: گواہ (gawāh, “witness,” standard legal/testimonial term). Must be distinguished carefully from شہید (shaheed), the specific and highly weighted Islamic category of a martyr who dies in the path of God — a term with strong devotional and even political resonance in the Kashmir region’s own recent history. In Acts 1:8 and 2:32, μάρτυς means eyewitness-testifier; by Acts 22:20 (Stephen’s death recalled) the sense shifts toward willing death for testimony. Both senses must be kept distinguishable in the glossary and never silently collapsed into شہید, which would import unwanted political/religious freight specific to the regional conflict.

τῇ δεξιᾷ τοῦ θεοῦ ὑψωθείς (“exalted to/by the right hand of God”)

• Literal meaning: raised up/elevated to God’s right hand — the position of supreme honor and co-regency
• Contextual theological meaning: Christ’s exaltation and enthronement, the capstone of the apostolic kerygma alongside the resurrection; directly undergirds “Lord and Christ” in v.36
• Kashmiri rendering risk: Critical (NEW, tightly linked to baseline lordship_of_christ and deity_of_christ). Proposed: خُدایُک ساڑس ست عزت سٟتی اُوچھ کرنہ گیہ (Khudāyuk sāṛas sath ‘izzat saeti ūch karnah gyi, “raised up in honor to God’s right side/hand”). This directly contradicts mainstream Islamic Tawhid theology’s insistence that no created being shares God’s throne or unique majesty; must be taught plainly, following the Romans baseline’s rule for Critical Christological terms — never softened to avoid offense.

Acts 2:34–35

Quotation of Psalm 110:1, “The Lord said to my Lord…” — reuses baseline lord (خُداوند, Khudāwand), Critical. This is the same double-Lord argument later made explicit for Jesus’s identity; consistent rendering required throughout Acts wherever this Psalm is echoed (e.g., implicitly behind 2:36).

Acts 2:36

Greek: ἀσφαλῶς οὖν γινωσκέτω πᾶς οἶκος Ἰσραὴλ ὅτι καὶ κύριον αὐτὸν καὶ χριστὸν ἐποίησεν ὁ θεός, τοῦτον τὸν Ἰησοῦν ὃν ὑμεῖς ἐσταυρώσατε.

This is the sermon’s climactic thesis verse, tightly parallel in theological weight to Romans 10:9 (per the baseline’s “Same rendering… across all documents” consistency rule for major thesis verses). Terms:

• κύριος (Lord) — reuse baseline خُداوند, Critical.
• χριστός (Christ/Messiah) — reuse baseline مسیح, Critical, per the Romans baseline’s messiah entry: shared Quranic vocabulary for Isa, but with sharply different content that must be taught explicitly.
• ἐσταυρώσατε (“you crucified”) — Critical historical claim, as at v.23; must never be softened.
• Kashmiri rendering risk overall: Critical. This verse should be fixed as a memorized-consistency verse across the whole Acts curriculum, exactly as Romans 10:9 was fixed in the baseline, since it performs the identical theological function (the identity-and-lordship confession) at the center of Acts’ first sermon.

Acts 2:37

Greek: ἀκούσαντες δὲ κατενύγησαν τὴν καρδίαν

κατανύσσομαι (katanyssomai, “to be pierced/cut to the heart”)

• Literal meaning: to be pierced or stabbed, used metaphorically of deep emotional/spiritual conviction
• Contextual theological meaning: the Spirit-empowered conviction of sin that precedes genuine repentance — the internal correlate of what Romans terms conviction under the law (though Acts does not use νόμος here)
• Kashmiri rendering risk: Medium (NEW). Proposed: دِلَس منز چھِد لگُن (dilas manz chhid lagun, “to feel pierced/struck in the heart”) — a natural Kashmiri idiom for deep emotional conviction should be sourced from native speakers rather than a literal calque; flag for native speaker review per the idiom-handling rule in the AI Translation Requirements.

Acts 2:38

Greek: Πέτρος δὲ πρὸς αὐτούς· μετανοήσατε, καὶ βαπτισθήτω ἕκαστος ὑμῶν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς ἄφεσιν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ὑμῶν, καὶ λήμψεσθε τὴν δωρεὰν τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος.

This is the single most theologically load-bearing verse in the core passage, anchoring three of the nine curriculum doctrines at once (Repentance and Baptism; Justification apart from the Law by implication; The Holy Spirit and Pentecost).

μετανοέω / μετάνοια (metanoeō/metanoia, “repent/repentance”)

• Literal meaning: “to change one’s mind,” a change of the νοῦς (mind/inner disposition), entailing a reorientation of the whole person
• Semantic range: turning from sin toward God; distinct from mere regret (μεταμέλομαι) or ritual atonement acts
• English variants: “repent,” “turn,” “change one’s mind”
• Contextual theological meaning: the necessary human response to the Gospel proclamation, always paired in Acts with faith/turning to God (cf. 3:19; 17:30; 26:20) and, here, immediately followed by baptism and forgiveness
• Kashmiri rendering risk: Critical (NEW). Proposed: توبہ (tawbah). This is a direct, high-stakes vocabulary collision: توبہ is itself a major and technically precise term within mainstream Islamic theology, denoting turning back to Allah in sincere regret combined with a resolve to obey — closely tied to the deeds-weighing soteriology already flagged as a Critical risk in the baseline’s grace and salvation entries. This curriculum must state explicitly that biblical μετάνοια, while genuinely including sorrow over sin and a turning of the whole person, is not one more meritorious deed added to a ledger of good works weighed against bad; it is the God-given human response that receives, rather than earns, forgiveness and the Spirit (compare Romans 2:4, “God’s kindness leads you to repentance,” and the baseline’s grace entry). An alternative rendering, پچھتاوٕ (pachhtāv, “regret/contrition”), was considered but rejected as too weak, lacking توبہ’s sense of decisive reorientation; توبہ is retained as the primary term but requires the explicit theological framing above at every occurrence, flagged for human theologian review.

βαπτίζω / βάπτισμα (baptizō/baptisma, “baptize/baptism”)

• Literal meaning: “to dip, immerse, plunge”
• Semantic range: ritual immersion; in the NT, a once-for-all initiatory rite marking union with Christ’s death and resurrection (cf. Romans 6:3-4) and public identification with the believing community
• English variants: “baptize,” “baptism,” “immerse”
• Contextual theological meaning: here, baptism “in the name of Jesus Christ” (ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ) for “the forgiveness of your sins” — a public, Christ-specific, once-for-all rite, not a repeatable purification ritual
• Kashmiri rendering risk: Critical (NEW). Proposed: بپتِسمہ (baptismah), transliterated, following established regional Christian Bible-translation convention (parallel to how مسیح and انجیل are handled as distinct loanwords rather than descriptive coinages). Must be sharply distinguished from غسل (ghusl, ritual purification bath after major impurity) and وضو (wudu, ritual ablution before Islamic prayer) — both repeatable Islamic ritual-purity practices that would wrongly assimilate baptism into a system of ongoing ritual maintenance rather than a once-for-all identification with Christ’s death and resurrection. This exact distinction was already flagged in the Romans baseline for پاک (holy) vs. صاف (ritually clean); the same caution applies here with even higher stakes, since baptism is itself the ritual act in question. Flag every occurrence for human theologian review.

ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ (“in/on the name of Jesus Christ”)

• Contextual theological meaning: baptism performed under Christ’s specific authority and identity, not a generic religious washing; reuses baseline jesus (یِسوع) and messiah (مسیح) terms, both Critical
• Kashmiri rendering risk: Critical, carried from the underlying name terms above; the phrase must retain the specificity of Christ’s name as the authorizing basis, not merely “in God’s name” generically (which would blur the Trinitarian specificity central to Acts’ Christology).

ἄφεσις τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν (“forgiveness of sins”)

• Literal meaning: ἄφεσις = release, sending away, cancellation (of a debt); ἁμαρτία reuses baseline sin (گناہ)
• Semantic range: full release/cancellation of the debt/guilt of sin, judicial in force
• Contextual theological meaning: this is the immediate blessing tied to repentance-and-baptism in Acts 2:38; distinct from, but closely related to, the Romans-baseline’s forensic justification (راستباز ٹھہرایہ گیہ), which additionally supplies positive righteousness, not merely the removal of guilt
• Kashmiri rendering risk: High (NEW). Proposed: گناہن ہنٛز معافی (gunāhan hanz mu’āfī). Must not be taught as equivalent to Islamic mainstream forgiveness-through-weighed-mercy (already flagged for grace and salvation in the Romans baseline); Acts 2:38 ties forgiveness directly and exclusively to repentance and baptism “in the name of Jesus Christ,” not to a cumulative balance of good deeds. This term should always be taught alongside, and clearly distinguished from, the fuller forensic justification concept, so learners do not conclude “forgiveness” is the whole of salvation’s legal dimension.

δωρεὰ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος (“the gift of the Holy Spirit”)

• δωρεά = free gift (cognate with the baseline’s grace/φαξ’l reasoning: a gift given, not earned)
• Reuses baseline holy_spirit (پاک روح), Critical
• Contextual theological meaning: the Spirit himself, not merely his gifts (contrast with spiritual_gifts/روحانی نعمتہ from the Romans baseline, which are the Spirit’s enablements for ministry); here the Spirit’s personal indwelling is itself the promised gift
• Kashmiri rendering risk: Critical, inherited fully from the baseline پاک روح entry; must never default to Ruh al-Qudus-as-Gabriel exegesis.

Acts 2:39

Greek: ὑμῖν γάρ ἐστιν ἡ ἐπαγγελία καὶ τοῖς τέκνοις ὑμῶν καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς εἰς μακράν, ὅσους ἂν προσκαλέσηται κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν.

ἐπαγγελία (epangelia, “promise”)

• Literal meaning: an announced pledge/promise
• Semantic range: covenant promise, here specifically the promised Spirit of v.33/38, extended across generations (“you and your children”) and geography (“all who are far off”)
• Contextual theological meaning: ties Pentecost directly to Israel’s covenant promises while explicitly widening the promise’s scope to the Gentile mission still to unfold (foreshadowing Acts 10 and the whole “Gospel to Jews and Gentiles” doctrine)
• Kashmiri rendering risk: High (NEW, covenant-adjacent). Proposed: وعدہ (‘wa’dah), consistent with the covenant/promise vocabulary already used in the Romans baseline’s seed_of_david and covenant entries (عہد, ‘ahd). Must retain the “far off” (Gentile) scope explicitly rather than allowing it to be read as limited to ethnic Israel alone.

πᾶσι τοῖς εἰς μακράν (“all who are far off”) — see universal_scope note at v.17 above; same High-risk universality principle applies.

ὅσους ἂν προσκαλέσηται κύριος ὁ θεός (“as many as the Lord our God calls”)

• Reuses baseline called/calling (سَدہ گیہ / سَدنُک), High risk per Romans baseline, here in its effectual-calling-to-salvation sense (parallel to Romans 8:28-30), extended for the first time in Acts explicitly to “all who are far off” — a strong textual anchor for both “The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles” and “The Great Commission Fulfilled” doctrines.

Acts 2:40

Greek: ἑτέροις τε λόγοις πλείοσιν διεμαρτύρατο καὶ παρεκάλει αὐτοὺς λέγων· σώθητε ἀπὸ τῆς γενεᾶς τῆς σκολιᾶς ταύτης.

διαμαρτύρομαι (“to solemnly testify/witness”) — intensified cognate of μάρτυς (witness); High risk consistent with the v.32 entry above.

σῴζω (“be saved”) — reuses baseline salvation (نجات), Critical. Peter’s imperative “be saved” (σώθητε) frames salvation here as a decisive present appeal with a real, offered rescue “from this crooked generation” — must retain the Romans baseline’s full Critical-risk framing: not a deeds-weighing paradise-entry calculation, and not an epistemic self-recognition (Trika’s pratyabhijna), but a real rescue offered now, appropriated through the repentance-baptism-forgiveness sequence just described.

Acts 2:41

Greek: οἱ μὲν οὖν ἀποδεξάμενοι τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ ἐβαπτίσθησαν, καὶ προσετέθησαν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ψυχαὶ ὡσεὶ τρισχίλιαι.

ἐβαπτίσθησαν (“were baptized”) — reuses the v.38 baptism entry above, Critical.

προσετέθησαν (“were added”)

• Literal meaning: to be added to, joined to a number/group
• Contextual theological meaning: the first recorded instance of numerical church growth, establishing baptism as the recognized rite of incorporation into the visible believing community — directly relevant to “The Church as Community” doctrine
• Kashmiri rendering risk: Medium (NEW). Proposed: مِلاوُن/شامل کرنہ گیہ (shāmil karnah gyi, “were added/included”). Low-to-medium theological risk on its own, but its pairing with baptism reinforces baptism’s role as the boundary-marking entry rite into the visible church (کلیسیا, reusing the Romans baseline term), a concept worth flagging alongside the church entry.

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CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER STUDY OF THE WHOLE BOOK

Chapter 1 (precedes the core passage; foundational vocabulary)

βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ (“kingdom of God,” v.3) — reuses baseline kingdom_of_god (خُدایُک بادشاہت), Medium risk. Acts 1:3 and 1:6 immediately raise the disciples’ mistaken territorial-political expectation (“will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”), which Jesus redirects toward the Spirit’s mission rather than a political restoration — a passage of particular sensitivity given the Kashmir region’s own contested-sovereignty history, exactly as flagged in the Romans baseline.

μάρτυς (“witnesses,” v.8) — first occurrence of the term fully analyzed at Acts 2:32 above; Acts 1:8 (“you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth”) is the programmatic verse for the entire book’s geographic structure and for “The Great Commission Fulfilled” doctrine. High risk, consistent framing required throughout.

ἀνάλημψις / ἀναλαμβάνω (“ascension/taken up,” v.2, 9-11) — NEW term.

• Literal meaning: to be taken up/lifted up
• Contextual theological meaning: Christ’s bodily, visible, historical ascension to heaven, the completion of his resurrection appearances and the basis for his heavenly session (cf. 2:33’s “right hand” language)
• Kashmiri rendering risk: Critical (NEW). Proposed: آسمانَس منز اُوچھ کرنہ گیہ (āsmānas manz ūch karnah gyi, “was lifted up into heaven”), a descriptive phrase paralleling the baseline’s descriptive-compound pattern for resurrection and incarnation. Risk: mainstream Islamic theology (Quran 4:158) affirms God “raised Isa to Himself,” which superficially resembles the ascension but occurs within a framework that denies the prior crucifixion and bodily resurrection; this curriculum must state that the ascension in Acts presupposes and completes the bodily resurrection already established, not substitutes for it, avoiding a reading where “ascension” is quietly used to concede the Quranic account’s rejection of the cross.

ἐπαγγελία (“the promise,” v.4) — reuses the promise entry from Acts 2:39 above; here it is “the promise of the Father,” i.e., the Spirit, tying chapters 1 and 2 together.

κλῆρος (“lot,” v.17, 26, of Judas’s “share/lot” in the ministry, and the casting of lots for Matthias)

• Contextual theological meaning: the replacement of Judas maintains the number and authority of “the Twelve” as a foundational apostolic body; distinguish from fatalistic divination
• Kashmiri rendering risk: Medium (NEW). Render قرعہ (qur’ah, “lot/drawing”), a shared Islamic-Arabic term for casting lots; low risk since the practice itself (not a doctrine) is described, but flag that this is not the same as consulting fortune or omens (a live folk-practice risk in the region), since it is bounded here by prior prayer to God who “knows all hearts” (v.24).

ἐπισκοπή (“office/position,” v.20, quoting Psalm 109) — NEW, minor; render as “office/ministry-position” (خدمت/عہدہ), Low risk, foundational vocabulary for later overseer term at Acts 20.

Reused without new risk: apostle (رسول, Critical, reinforced throughout ch.1 as the constituting moment of “the Twelve”), holy_spirit (پاک روح, Critical).

Chapter 2

Fully treated above as the Core Passage (vv.1–41); vv.42-47 (fellowship, breaking of bread, having all things in common) are treated together with Chapter 4’s parallel material below, since they share vocabulary.

κοινωνία (v.42, “fellowship”) — reuses baseline fellowship (رفاقت), Low risk, here specifically naming the gathered community’s shared life, directly founding “The Church as Community” doctrine.

κλάσις τοῦ ἄρτου (“the breaking of bread,” v.42, 46) — NEW term.

• Literal meaning: the breaking of bread, a shared meal practice, with clear eucharistic resonance from the Last Supper
• Contextual theological meaning: a regular, communal, sacred meal practice marking ongoing fellowship and remembrance
• Kashmiri rendering risk: Medium/High (NEW). Proposed: روٹی ٹُکُر کرُن (roṭī ṭukur karun, “breaking of bread”), descriptive rather than a fixed technical term, since Acts does not yet formalize a single liturgical term. Should be distinguished from ordinary shared meals (a live and important hospitality custom in Kashmiri culture generally) by contextual framing pointing to its remembrance of Christ, without over-specifying sacramental theology beyond what Acts itself states.

κοινά (“held all things in common,” v.44-45; reiterated ch.4:32-35) — NEW term.

• Contextual theological meaning: voluntary, Spirit-motivated economic sharing within the believing community, not a coerced or comprehensive economic system
• Kashmiri rendering risk: Medium (NEW). Render descriptively: سٲری شے مِلی برَابر ہاوُن (sāri shay milī barābar hāwun, “having everything together in common”); risk is low doctrinally but should avoid language suggesting an enforced communal-property mandate for the church in every era; Acts presents this as the Spirit’s voluntary fruit in that specific moment.

Chapter 3

ἀρχηγὸς τῆς ζωῆς (“the Author/Prince of life,” v.15) — NEW, Critical.

• Literal meaning: ἀρχηγός = originator, founder, pioneer, leader; combined with ζωή (life)
• Semantic range: one who originates and leads others into a reality he himself first possesses/secures
• Contextual theological meaning: a striking, exalted Christological title — the one who was killed is paradoxically the source and founder of life itself, directly following the resurrection claim of v.15’s first half (“whom God raised from the dead”)
• Kashmiri rendering risk: Critical (NEW). Proposed: زِندگیہ ہنٛدِس بانی (Zindagyi handis bānī, “the Founder/Originator of life”). This title implies Christ’s unique divine authority over life and death itself, adjacent to but distinct from lord and son_of_god; it should be taught alongside those existing Critical baseline terms rather than treated as a lesser or merely honorary title, since mainstream Islamic theology would readily accept “a great prophet who was killed” but not one who is himself the source of life.

καιροὶ ἀναψύξεως (“times of refreshing,” v.19) and ἀποκατάστασις πάντων (“the restoration of all things,” v.21) — NEW, eschatological terms.

• Kashmiri rendering risk: Medium/High (NEW). Descriptive rendering recommended (تازگیہ ہنٛز وقت / سٲری چیزَن ہنٛز بحالی); risk is that “restoration of all things” could be misheard through a Trika lens as return to an undivided cosmic consciousness rather than the biblical hope of a renewed created order under Christ’s personal reign; flag for theologian review when eschatological material appears at scale (see also chapter 17 below on resurrection-mockery).

Reused: prophet/prophecy (پیغمبر/پیشن گوئی, “a prophet like me” quoting Deuteronomy 18, v.22-23), repentance (توبہ, v.19, Critical, per Acts 2:38 entry), name of Jesus invocation (v.16, Critical).

Chapter 4

παρρησία (“boldness,” v.13, 29, 31) — NEW term, central to “Persecution and Bold Witness” doctrine.

• Literal meaning: freedom/openness of speech, frankness, fearlessness in speaking
• Semantic range: courageous, unashamed public proclamation, often specifically in the face of opposition or authority
• Contextual theological meaning: the apostles’ Spirit-given boldness before the Sanhedrin, explicitly tied to having “been with Jesus” (v.13) and to Spirit-filling (v.31)
• Kashmiri rendering risk: High (NEW). Proposed: دلیری (dilērī, “boldness/courage”) or بے دھڑک بولُن (be-dhaṛak bolun, “speaking without fear”). Given the region’s decades-long conflict and the real danger historically associated with open religious speech across communal lines, this term must be handled with the same sensitivity the baseline requires for “peace” and “kingdom” — teaching Spirit-given boldness as trust in God’s sovereign purpose, not political defiance or provocation.

σωτηρία ἐν ἄλλῳ οὐδενί (“salvation in no one else,” v.12) — reuses baseline salvation (نجات) and jesus/lord naming, Critical; this verse is Acts’ sharpest exclusivity claim and should receive the same non-negotiable-universality-of-offer-but-exclusivity-of-basis handling as Romans 10:9-13 in the baseline, fixed for cross-document consistency.

ὁμοθυμαδόν (“with one accord/mind,” v.24, and recurring through Acts, e.g. 1:14; 2:46; 5:12) — NEW, Low/Medium. Descriptive: اکھ دِلا سٟتی (akh dilā saeti, “with one heart”); supports “The Church as Community” doctrine; low doctrinal risk.

Reused: grace (فضل, v.33, Critical), holy_spirit (پاک روح, Critical), apostle (رسول, Critical).

Chapter 5

No major new theological terms; primarily narrative (Ananias and Sapphira; apostolic imprisonment and release; Gamaliel’s counsel).

ψεύδομαι τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον (“lied to/against the Holy Spirit,” v.3-4) — reuses baseline holy_spirit (پاک روح), Critical, here uniquely underscoring the Spirit’s full personal deity: lying to the Spirit is equated with lying “not to man but to God” (v.4), a direct, explicit Trinitarian identity-statement worth flagging for theologian review alongside the baseline’s existing Ruh al-Qudus caution.

Chapter otherwise reuses: apostle (رسول), fear (φόβος, ordinary vocabulary, Low risk).

Chapter 6

διακονία (“service/ministry,” v.1, 4) — NEW term, foundational for later church-office vocabulary (cf. ch.20’s overseer).

• Contextual theological meaning: practical service (distribution to widows) distinguished from, yet held alongside, “the ministry of the word and prayer” — an early differentiation of church roles without hierarchy of spiritual value
• Kashmiri rendering risk: Medium (NEW). Render خدمت (khidmat, “service”), a term already broadly shared and positively weighted in both Islamic and general Kashmiri usage (khidmat-e-khalq, “service to creation,” a valued ethical category in regional Islam) — a genuine point of contact, not a collision; note this positively rather than flagging as risk.

πλήρης πίστεως καὶ πνεύματος ἁγίου (“full of faith and the Holy Spirit,” v.5, of Stephen) — reuses baseline faith (ایمان) and holy_spirit (پاک روح), both Critical; no new risk beyond the existing baseline notes.

Chapter 7

Stephen’s speech; extensive Old Testament survey reusing baseline-adjacent proper names and covenant vocabulary (Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David not yet introduced by name in Romans baseline but conceptually parallel — treat consistently with seed_of_david/covenant patterns already established).

λιθοβολέω (“to stone,” v.58-59) — NEW, narrative-descriptive, Low/Medium risk; render سنگسار کرُن (sangsār karun), a term with unfortunate live resonance in some regional and Islamic legal-punishment contexts (stoning as a hadd punishment); flag for native speaker sensitivity review so the historical martyrdom narrative is not inadvertently read as endorsing or normalizing the punishment-practice itself.

Stephen’s death is Acts’ first fulfillment of the μάρτυς-as-martyr sense anticipated at Acts 2:32 above (his final words, v.59-60, echo Jesus’s own words from the cross) — flag this chapter as the pivot point where “witness” begins to acquire its later “martyr” freight; High risk, human theologian review recommended for how this transition is taught.

Chapter 8

μαγεία / μάγος (“sorcery/magician,” of Simon, v.9, 11) — NEW term.

• Contextual theological meaning: Simon’s occult practices are explicitly contrasted with, and shown powerless before, the genuine power of God at work through the apostles (cf. the δύναμις/σημεῖα triad from Acts 2:22)
• Kashmiri rendering risk: Medium/High (NEW). Render جادو (jādū, “magic/sorcery”). Must be distinguished from both legitimate apostolic signs (see Acts 2:22 entry) and from کرامت (karamat, a Sufi saint’s charism, already flagged in the baseline) — Simon’s error (attempting to purchase the Spirit’s power, v.18-19, giving rise to the historical term “simony”) is a live cautionary example relevant to any regional practice of paying for blessing, healing, or spiritual favor from a religious figure.

δωρεὰ τοῦ θεοῦ (“the gift of God,” v.20) — reuses the grace/gift framing already established (φαξ’l, and δωρεά from Acts 2:38); Peter’s rebuke (“your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money”) is a sharp, teachable contrast with any transactional view of grace — reinforces the Romans baseline’s Critical grace entry.

εὐνοῦχος (“eunuch,” of the Ethiopian official, v.27) — NEW, Low risk; render خواجہ سرا / ہِجڑا with sensitivity, or simply transliterate/describe as “a court official”; primary theological point is Gentile-adjacent (an African God-fearer reading Isaiah) inclusion, not the term itself; flag doctrinally under “Gospel to Jews and Gentiles,” not under gender-terminology risk.

Reused: baptism (بپتِسمہ, Critical, v.36-38), holy_spirit (پاک روح, Critical), prophet (پیغمبر, Isaiah quotation, v.30-35).

Chapter 9

Conversion of Paul (Saul).

διώκω / διωγμός (“persecute/persecution,” v.4-5, and recurring, e.g. 9:1) — NEW term, foundational to “Conversion of Paul” and “Persecution and Bold Witness” doctrines.

• Kashmiri rendering risk: High (NEW). Render ظلم (ẓulm, “oppression/persecution”) or ایذا رسانی (īzā rasānī, “causing harm/persecution”). ظلم is a heavily weighted term in Islamic ethical vocabulary (denoting grave injustice); this is a genuine point of contact (persecution of believers is rightly named as ظلم) rather than a collision, but should be taught with awareness that Kashmiri readers may immediately map this vocabulary onto the region’s own recent communal history, requiring careful, non-partisan framing per the baseline’s sensitivity rule for politically loaded language.

σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς (“a chosen instrument,” v.15) — reuses baseline election (خُدایُک چُنٲوُن), High risk; here applied specifically and dramatically to Paul, the former persecutor, reinforcing the baseline’s caution that election is personal and relational, not impersonal fate (قسمت/taqdir) — Paul’s radical reversal is a strong teaching example against a fatalistic misreading.

φῶς ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ (“a light from heaven,” v.3) — descriptive, Low/Medium risk; a theophanic sign parallel to the Pentecost fire-imagery (Acts 2:3); no separate glossary entry needed beyond noting the parallel.

Reused: baptism (بپتِسمہ, v.18, Critical), holy_spirit (پاک روح, v.17, Critical), apostle (رسول, Paul’s apostleship becomes a running theme from here forward, Critical, requiring the baseline’s Muhammad-distinction caution at every occurrence).

Chapter 10

Cornelius and the Gentile Pentecost — the pivotal chapter for “The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles.”

καθαρίζω (“to cleanse/make clean,” v.15, “what God has made clean, do not call common”) — NEW term.

• Contextual theological meaning: God’s declaration that the Mosaic food-purity distinctions are abolished, symbolically announcing the abolition of the Jew-Gentile purity barrier itself
• Kashmiri rendering risk: High (NEW). Render صاف کرنہ (sāf karnah). Must be carefully distinguished from the baseline’s established caution around صاف as ritual/ablution-adjacent cleanliness (reserved from پاک/holy in the Romans baseline) — here the text is specifically overturning a ritual-purity distinction, so صاف is contextually correct, but the teaching point (God himself abolishes a ritual-purity code) should be flagged, since it runs directly against regional Islamic dietary-law observance (halal/haram categories) as a live parallel system; teach the redemptive-historical logic (fulfillment in Christ, not disrespect for the underlying Mosaic law) explicitly.

προσωπολήμπτης / οὐκ ἔστιν προσωπολήμπτης ὁ θεός (“God shows no partiality,” v.34) — NEW term.

• Contextual theological meaning: foundational statement of the Gospel’s ethnic impartiality, the theological hinge of the whole chapter
• Kashmiri rendering risk: High (NEW). Render خُدا کہین سٟتی طرفداری نہٕ کران (Khudā kahin saeti tarafdārī nah karan, “God shows partiality to no one”). This must retain full, unqualified force across both the Muslim-majority and Pandit-minority audiences — directly reinforces the Romans baseline’s “Unity of Jews and Gentiles” and “Universal Scope of the Gospel” High-risk doctrines, now demonstrated narratively rather than argued propositionally.

Reused: holy_spirit (پاک روح, poured out on Gentiles exactly as at Pentecost, v.44-47 — flag this explicitly as “the Gentile Pentecost,” reinforcing Acts 2’s events as paradigmatic, not unique to Jewish believers), baptism (بپتِسمہ, Critical), gentiles (غیر-قوم, now in its full baseline sense for the first time as recipients of the Spirit, Medium risk per baseline).

Chapter 11

Χριστιανός (“Christian,” v.26) — NEW term, first occurrence of this designation in Acts (at Antioch).

• Kashmiri rendering risk: Medium (NEW). Render مسیحی (Masīḥī), built transparently on the existing baseline messiah/مسیح root — a natural, low-risk derivation. Should be introduced with a brief note that this is the historic self-designation of Christ’s followers, not a modern ethnic or political-communal category (relevant given how religious-community labels function in regional discourse).

Reused: grace (فضل, v.23, Critical), holy_spirit (پاک روح, v.24, Critical), gentiles (غیر-قوم, Medium), church (کلیسیا, v.26, Medium).

Chapter 12

ἄγγελος (“angel,” v.7-11, 15, 23) — NEW term.

• Kashmiri rendering risk: Medium (NEW). Render فرشتہ (frishtah), a term shared extensively across Islamic and general Persian-influenced Kashmiri religious vocabulary (e.g., Jibril/Gabriel, Mika’il/Michael are familiar figures). Genuine point of contact, not primarily a collision risk; note however that Acts’ angel is God’s messenger/agent, not to be confused with the Islamic identification of “the Holy Spirit” with the angel Gabriel (an existing Critical caution already flagged in the baseline’s holy_spirit entry) — keep these two categories, ordinary angelic messengers and the divine Holy Spirit, clearly distinct in this curriculum.

James’s martyrdom (v.2) and Herod’s death (v.23, “eaten by worms because he did not give God the glory,” reusing baseline glory/جلال, High risk) round out the chapter; no additional new terms.

Chapter 13

Paul’s first missionary sermon (Pisidian Antioch) — reuses extensively.

δικαιόω / δικαίωσις (“justified/justification,” v.38-39, “everyone who believes is justified from everything from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses”) — reuses baseline justification (راستباز ٹھہرایہ گیہ) and law (شریعت), both Critical/High. This is Acts’ single clearest statement of “Justification apart from the Law” as a named curriculum doctrine, and per the baseline’s cross-reference consistency rule, must use the identical compound phrase recorded in translation memory, with the identical Critical-risk framing: a genuinely new, forensic category with no ready parallel in either Islamic deeds-weighing soteriology or Trika’s self-recognition framework.

φῶς ἐθνῶν (“a light for the Gentiles,” v.47, quoting Isaiah 49:6) — reuses baseline gentiles (غیر-قوم), Medium, here as the explicit missionary-mandate proof-text for turning to the Gentiles, tightly linked to “The Great Commission Fulfilled.”

Reused without new risk: david (داؤد, v.22, 34-36, Low), prophet/prophecy (پیغمبر/پیشن گوئی, Medium), resurrection (مُردٕن پؠٹھ زندٕ تھِیُن, v.30-37, Critical), grace (فضل, v.43, Critical).

Chapter 14

Lystra: Paul and Barnabas mistaken for Zeus and Hermes.

θεοί (“gods,” plural, v.11, “the gods have come down to us in the likeness of men”) — NEW contextual risk, though the underlying Greek word is simply the plural of θεός.

• Contextual theological meaning: a direct narrative collision between biblical monotheism and Greco-Roman polytheistic categories (Zeus/Δίος, Hermes/Ἑρμῆς); Paul and Barnabas’s response (v.15, “we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God”) is a paradigm for confronting polytheistic and idolatrous assumptions
• Kashmiri rendering risk: High (NEW). Render دیوتا (dēvtā, “deity/god” in the plural-polytheistic sense), a term with direct and unavoidable resonance for Kashmiri Pandit readers, whose devotional Hindu practice (distinct from Trika’s own philosophically monistic core, but present in popular regional religious life) includes multiple named deities. This must be handled with particular care: the narrative critiques ancient Greco-Roman polytheism specifically, not a blanket dismissal of the Kashmiri Pandit tradition, and the curriculum should avoid implying that Trika’s own philosophical monism (Shiva-consciousness as sole undivided reality) is the same error as Lystra’s crowd-polytheism — these are different targets requiring different, precise responses, exactly as the baseline’s incarnation entry already distinguishes Trika’s spanda from both Vaishnava avatara and pagan polytheism.

Persecution intensifies (Paul stoned, v.19) — reuses persecution/ظلم from Acts 9, High risk.

Chapter 15

The Jerusalem Council — central to “Justification apart from the Law.”

περιτομή (“circumcision,” v.1, 5) — NEW term, Critical.

• Literal meaning: the Mosaic covenant sign of circumcision
• Contextual theological meaning: the specific practice at issue in the Council’s ruling that Gentile believers need not be circumcised or keep the full Mosaic law to be saved — the narrative embodiment of “Justification apart from the Law”
• Kashmiri rendering risk: Critical (NEW). Render ختنہ (khatnah), the standard shared term, since circumcision is also a near-universal practice among Kashmiri Muslims (though for different theological reasons, as a sunnah practice rather than a covenant-salvation marker). This shared vocabulary must be handled with precision equal to the baseline’s مسیح/انجیل cautions: the text does not evaluate the physical practice of circumcision itself (which the Council does not forbid, cf. v.28-29’s more modest requirements) but specifically rejects circumcision-plus-law-keeping as necessary for salvation — a fine distinction requiring explicit teaching so that Muslim-background readers do not conclude the passage is a blanket judgment on the practice of circumcision as such.

ζυγός (“yoke,” v.10, “a yoke that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear”) — NEW, Medium/High.

• Kashmiri rendering risk: Render جوا (juā) or بار (bār, “burden”); the metaphor of an unbearable law-yoke, now lifted through grace, should be linked explicitly to the Romans baseline’s grace entry and to the parallel Galatians-adjacent “yoke of slavery” concept, reinforcing (not duplicating) the justification-apart-from-law doctrine.

Reused: grace (فضل, v.11, Critical, “we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will”), law (شریعت, Critical/High), gentiles (غیر-قوم, Medium), holy_spirit (پاک روح, v.28, “it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us,” Critical — a striking early ecclesial-authority statement worth flagging for “Apostolic Authority” teaching).

Chapter 16

Philippi: Lydia, the slave girl, and the jailer.

πνεῦμα πύθωνα (“a spirit of divination,” literally “a python spirit,” v.16) — NEW term.

• Kashmiri rendering risk: Medium/High (NEW). Render فالگیری ہنٛز روح (fālgirī hanz rūḥ, “spirit of fortune-telling/divination”) or descriptively. Must be distinguished from the Holy Spirit (پاک روح) with maximal clarity — the shared word “spirit” (πνεῦμα/روح) across an evil divining spirit and the divine Holy Spirit is a genuine translation hazard requiring a clear qualifying term every time, paralleling the baseline’s caution about روح القدس/Gabriel confusion but now on the opposite flank (an unclean spirit rather than an angel).

τί με δεῖ ποιεῖν ἵνα σωθῶ (“What must I do to be saved?” v.30) — reuses baseline salvation (نجات) and faith (ایمان, v.31, “believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved”), both Critical; this exchange is Acts’ most direct salvation-formula parallel to Romans 10:9-10 and should be fixed for cross-document consistency alongside that verse and Acts 2:38/2:36, per the baseline’s thesis-verse consistency rule.

Reused: baptism (بپتِسمہ, v.15, 33, Critical), church/کلیسیا (implicit, gathering in Lydia’s house).

Chapter 17

Athens — the Areopagus address, central to cross-cultural apologetics.

Ἄρειος Πάγος (“Areopagus,” v.19, 22) — proper noun, Low risk; transliterate.

ἄγνωστος θεός (“an unknown god,” v.23, the altar inscription) — NEW term, central to contextualization method.

• Contextual theological meaning: Paul uses an existing pagan altar as a bridge to proclaim the true, previously unknown God who “made the world and everything in it” — a model of respectful engagement with, yet clear correction of, prevailing religious assumptions
• Kashmiri rendering risk: High (NEW). Render نامعلوم خُدا (nāma’lūm Khudā). This passage offers a valuable teaching model for cross-tradition engagement (with both Islamic and Kashmir Shaivite audiences) but must not be misapplied to suggest that Islam’s خُدا or Trika’s Shiva-consciousness are simply unrecognized versions of the biblical God awaiting a name; Paul’s address (v.24-31) moves immediately and firmly to particulars — a personal Creator distinct from his creation (v.24-25, a direct challenge to any non-dualist collapse of Creator and creation, relevant to Trika) and to the specific, named, resurrected “man he has appointed” as coming Judge (v.31, reusing baseline resurrection, Critical), provoking the same mockery risk flagged below.

ἀνάστασις (“resurrection,” v.18, 32, mocked by the Athenian philosophers, “some mocked, but others said, ‘We will hear you again about this’”) — reuses baseline resurrection (مُردٕن پؠٹھ زندٕ تھِیُن), Critical; note this is the first explicit narrative instance of resurrection preaching being mocked as inherently implausible on philosophical (not specifically Quranic) grounds, a useful pairing with the Quran 4:157 caution already established, showing two distinct kinds of resurrection-resistance the curriculum may need to address (philosophical impossibility vs. denial that the crucifixion-death occurred at all).

Reused: repentance (توبہ, v.30, Critical), idol — see εἴδωλον note below.

εἴδωλον / κατείδωλος (“idol/full of idols,” v.16) — NEW term, Critical collision point.

• Kashmiri rendering risk: Critical (NEW). Render بُت (but), the standard shared Arabic/Persian-derived term for idol, heavily weighted in Islamic theology (idolatry, shirk, is the gravest sin in mainstream Islamic doctrine) and also historically resonant in Kashmir’s specific religious history (but also denotes, colloquially, “Buddha” in some regional etymologies, and Kashmiri Islamic identity has historically defined itself partly against image-worship). This term requires careful, explicit handling for the Kashmiri Pandit audience as well: while popular Hindu devotional practice elsewhere in India centers on murti (image) veneration, Kashmir Shaivism’s own philosophical core (Trika) is non-dualist and does not, at the philosophical level, teach that the divine is contained in or identical to a crafted image — it holds all reality as already Shiva-consciousness. This curriculum must not imply that Trika philosophy itself is “idolatry” in the biblical sense addressed here (Paul is responding to the city’s crafted cult images, not to a philosophical claim about the nature of reality); flag for human theologian review to ensure precision rather than a blanket application to either audience.

Chapter 18

Corinth; Aquila and Priscilla; Gallio’s tribunal. No major new theological terms.

Reused: christian/مسیحی (implicit continuation from ch.11), synagogue (συναγωγή, a NEW but Low-risk descriptive term, render عبادت خانہ / کنیسہ or transliterate; standard Jewish assembly-place, distinct from کلیسیا/church and مسجد/mosque, per the baseline’s church entry cautions), gentiles/غیر-قوم (Medium).

Chapter 19

Ephesus: disciples of John; Spirit given upon proper baptism; magic books burned; the riot of Demetrius and Artemis.

Ἄρτεμις (“Artemis/Diana of the Ephesians,” v.24-41) — proper noun/idol-cult name, reuses the εἴδωλον/idol risk framework from chapter 17 (Critical, per that entry); render transliterated as آرتِمِس with a note identifying her as a specific pagan temple-goddess of Ephesus, not a category to be casually mapped onto any regional deity name.

τὰ περίεργα (“magic books/arts,” v.19, “a number of those who practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them”) — reuses the μαγεία/جادو entry from chapter 8, Medium/High; a strong narrative model for renouncing occult practice upon conversion, relevant to any regional folk-magic or amulet practices that may be present among prospective readers from either audience.

Reused: baptism (بپتِسمہ, v.1-7, distinguishing “John’s baptism” of repentance from Christian baptism “in the name of the Lord Jesus” — an important internal distinction requiring careful handling so that باپتِسمہ is not read as a single undifferentiated ritual across the whole book; flag for theologian review), holy_spirit (پاک روح, Critical), kingdom_of_god (خُدایُک بادشاہت, v.8, Medium).

Chapter 20

Paul’s farewell address at Miletus — central to “Apostolic Authority.”

ἐπίσκοπος (“overseer,” v.28) and πρεσβύτεροι (“elders,” v.17) — NEW terms, describing the same office from two angles (elder = the man’s dignity/seniority; overseer = his function).

• Kashmiri rendering risk: Medium (NEW). Render بزرگ (buzurg, “elder,” a term also carrying respectful weight in regional Islamic and Sufi usage for a venerated senior figure) for πρεσβύτερος, and نگہبان (nigahbān, “guardian/overseer”) for ἐπίσκοπος. Flag that بزرگ’s Sufi-devotional resonance (elders/pirs venerated within the Rishi tradition) should not be allowed to imply that a church elder holds the mediating, shrine-associated status of a pir or wali (already cautioned in the baseline’s saints entry); the New Testament elder is a functional shepherd-overseer of a local congregation, not an object of personal veneration.

ποιμαίνειν τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ θεοῦ (“shepherd the church of God,” v.28) — reuses baseline church (کلیسیا), Medium; shepherd-imagery (ποιμήν) is NEW but Low/Medium risk, render as چوپان/گاڈی (chopān, “shepherd”), a positive, non-collision pastoral metaphor already present in regional agrarian life.

Reused: holy_spirit (پاک روح, v.28, “the Holy Spirit has made you overseers,” Critical), grace (فضل, v.24, 32, Critical), blood (αἷμα, v.28, “the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood” — reuses atonement-adjacent vocabulary; render خون, flag High risk as an implicit atonement statement parallel to Romans 3:25’s propitiation language, requiring the same theologian-review escalation the baseline mandates for atonement/propitiation passages).

Chapter 21

Paul’s arrest in Jerusalem; the Nazirite vow.

εὐχή (“vow,” v.23, of the Nazirite vow) — NEW, Low/Medium.

• Kashmiri rendering risk: Render نذر (nazr), a term shared with Islamic vow-vocabulary (a positive, low-risk point of contact, not a collision, since vow-making is a recognized pious practice in both traditions); note the historical-cultural (not salvific) nature of Paul’s participation in Jewish ritual practice here, to avoid implying works-righteousness is being reintroduced after the “Justification apart from the Law” teaching of chapters 13-15 — flag for a brief clarifying note.

Reused: prophet/prophecy (پیغمبر/پیشن گوئی, Agabus, v.10-11, Medium), law (شریعت, v.20-24, High, in its continuing cultural/ethnic rather than salvific sense for Jewish believers, an important nuance following directly from the Jerusalem Council’s ruling).

Chapter 22

Paul’s testimony before the Jerusalem crowd — a retelling of his conversion (ch.9); no new theological terms; reuses persecution/ظلم, holy_spirit/پاک روح, baptism/بپتِسمہ, all previously analyzed, each Critical/High per prior entries. Chapter noted explicitly as reviewed: no new vocabulary, full reuse of chapters 9 and 16 terms.

Chapter 23

The Sanhedrin; Pharisees and Sadducees dispute over the resurrection (v.6-9).

Reuses baseline resurrection (مُردٕن پؠٹھ زندٕ تھِیُن), Critical, here shown as a live first-century Jewish theological controversy (Sadducees denied it, Pharisees affirmed it) rather than solely a Christian-vs-Islamic-theology flashpoint — useful context showing the resurrection debate predates and is broader than the later Quranic denial, which may help de-personalize the doctrine’s defense for sensitive audiences. No other new terms; chapter otherwise narrative (conspiracy, transfer to Caesarea).

Chapter 24

Paul before Felix.

δικαιοσύνη (“righteousness,” v.25, “as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment”) — reuses baseline righteousness (راستبازی), Critical; here Paul preaches ethical/forensic righteousness directly to a Roman governor, useful as a model of gospel proclamation to civil authority; reinforces rather than alters the baseline’s existing Critical framing (distinct from تقویٰ, disciplined pious self-effort).

No other new terms.

Chapter 25

Paul before Festus; the appeal to Caesar.

Καῖσαρ (“Caesar,” v.11-12, 21, 25) — NEW, proper noun, Low risk. Transliterate قیصر (Qaiṣar), an already-familiar historical/political title in regional usage; no theological collision, purely a legal-appeal narrative device; note in passing its relevance to “Apostolic Authority” as Paul’s exercise of legitimate civil rights in defense of his gospel mission, a model distinguishing legitimate legal recourse from political agitation — relevant given the region’s sensitivity around religious speech and authority (per the baseline’s government/authority flagging rule for Romans 13:1-7-type material).

Chapter 26

Paul’s defense before Agrippa; his conversion retold a third time.

No new theological terms; reuses repentance (توبہ, v.20, “that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance” — note carefully: “deeds in keeping with repentance” must be taught as the fruit of genuine repentance, not a meritorious addition earning forgiveness, reinforcing rather than undercutting the Critical caution already established at Acts 2:38), resurrection (مُردٕن پؠٹھ زندٕ تھِیُن, v.8, 23, Critical), gentiles (غیر-قوم, v.17-18, 20, Medium), light and darkness (φῶς/σκότος, v.18, “to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light” — standard descriptive imagery, Low risk).

Chapter 27

The shipwreck voyage to Rome. No new theological terms requiring glossary entries; this chapter is noted explicitly as reviewed: it contributes narrative material (Paul’s calm confidence, an angelic reassurance echoing chapter 12’s ἄγγελος term, and implicit divine providential care echoing the Romans baseline’s providence/خُدایُک انتظام entry) but no new load-bearing theological vocabulary beyond terms already fully analyzed above.

Chapter 28

Paul in Malta and Rome; the book’s closing scene of unhindered kingdom proclamation.

ἀκωλύτως (“without hindrance/unhindered,” the book’s final word, v.31) — NEW term, of significant structural importance as Acts’ deliberately open-ended closing note.

• Kashmiri rendering risk: Medium/High (NEW). Render بغٲیر رُکاوَٹہٕ (baghair rukāwath, “without hindrance/obstruction”). This final verse (“proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance”) deliberately closes the book on an open, ongoing-mission note, tying directly back to Acts 1:8’s programmatic “to the end of the earth” and to “The Great Commission Fulfilled” doctrine; the curriculum should note that Acts itself narrates the Gospel reaching “the end of the earth” as then understood (Rome, the empire’s center) while leaving the mission’s completion still unfolding — relevant framing for the Kashmiri context as a still-unreached and sensitive mission field in its own right, handled with the same evangelism-as-gentle-proclamation-not-confrontation sensitivity the baseline requires throughout.

Reused in this chapter: kingdom_of_god (خُدایُک بادشاہت, Medium), lord (خُداوند, Critical), christ/مسیح (Critical), boldness (دلیری/παρρησία, High, per Acts 4 entry — the term reappears here at the book’s very close, forming an inclusio with chapter 4).

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End of semantic analysis. Proceed to 08_core_glossary.md for the consolidated per-term glossary table covering every chapter above.