Core Glossary
Core Glossary — The Gospel of John (English → Konkani)
How to Use This Glossary
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing theological term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, across all 21 chapters of John. It is organized in two parts:
- Part A lists terms already established in the Romans baseline
translation_memory.jsonthat John’s text reuses. These renderings are non-negotiable and must be reused exactly, with a note only where John’s usage adds a nuance requiring translator awareness. - Part B lists new terms introduced by John’s distinctive vocabulary, proposed here for addition to translation memory in Phase 1 Step 2. Each entry gives the Konkani rendering, risk tier, doctrine, key passages, rejected alternatives, and grounded risk notes.
All renderings are in formal, modern Devanagari-script Konkani, consistent with the Goa Official Language Act standard and the Bible Society of India’s Konkani translation tradition, per the baseline Language Package.
Part A — Romans-Baseline Terms Reused in John (Sample of Highest-Frequency Reuse)
| Term | Konkani (unchanged) | Risk | Key John passages | Note on John’s usage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| god | देव | Critical | throughout | Every load-bearing occurrence must still carry an exclusivity marker (e.g. 20:28’s confession itself functions as one) |
| jesus | येशू | Critical | throughout | Unchanged |
| father | पिता | Critical | throughout, esp. chs. 14-17 | John’s “Father” language is exceptionally dense; warmth register applies per baseline tone rules |
| holy_spirit | पवित्र आत्मा | Critical | 1:32-33; 3:5-8,34; 14:26; 20:22 | Also appears as bare आत्मो in the wind/spirit pun of 3:8 — flag for translator note |
| son_of_god | देवाचो पुत्र | Critical | 1:34,49; 3:18; 5:25; 9:35; 10:36; 11:4,27; 19:7; 20:31 | Complementary to the new NEW term “Son of Man” (मनशाचो पुत्र) — both titles must be kept distinct |
| lord | प्रभू | Critical | 20:28 and throughout post-resurrection narrative | Climactic use in 20:28’s “My Lord and my God” |
| resurrection | पुनरुत्थान | Critical | 2:22; 5:29; 6:39-40,44,54; 11:24-25; 20:9 | Forbidden substitution (पुनर्जन्म) rule applies identically |
| glory | गौरव | High | 1:14; 2:11; 11:4,40; 12:23,41; 17:5,22,24 | Never रendered with तेज-based light imagery, per baseline rationale |
| sin | पाप | High | 1:29; 8:21,24,34,46; 9:41; 15:22-24; 16:8-9; 19:11 | Reused without change |
| law | नियमशास्त्र | High | 1:17,45; 7:19,23,49,51; 8:5,17; 10:34; 15:25; 19:7 | Reused without change |
| grace | कृपा | High | 1:14,16-17 | Paired with सत्य in John’s “grace and truth” phrase |
| faith | विश्वास | High | pervasive; ~98 uses of the verb πιστεύω in the book | John’s characteristic verb-form usage (“believe”) slightly outweighs Paul’s noun-form usage; same term family applies |
| holy | पवित्र | High | 10:36; 17:11,17,19 | Reused without change |
| sanctification | पवित्रीकरण | High | 17:17,19 | Reused without change |
| church | मंडळी | Medium | not used by this term in John’s own text, but doctrinally relevant background (10:16 “one flock”) | Reused for cross-document consistency where curriculum notes refer to “the church” |
| kingdom_of_god | देवाचें राज्य | Medium | 3:3,5 | Only two occurrences in the whole Gospel — both in the Core Passage |
| israel | इस्राएल | Medium | 1:31,47,49; 3:10; 12:13 | Reused without change |
| messiah | मसीहा | Critical | 1:20,25,41; 4:25-26,29; 7:26-27,31,41-42; 9:22; 10:24; 11:27; 20:31 | Reused without change; John’s Gospel uses this term more frequently than Romans |
| gentiles | परराष्ट्रीय | Medium | 7:35 (implicit, “the Dispersion among the Greeks”); 12:20-21 | Low-frequency but present |
| salvation | तारण | Critical | 3:17; 4:22; 5:34; 10:9; 12:47 | Forbidden substitutions (मुक्ती/मोक्ष) rule applies identically |
| power_of_god | देवाचें सामर्थ्य | High | implicit in “signs” passages (2:11; 11:40) | Reused where explicit “power of God” language appears |
| david | दावीद | Low | 7:42 | Reused without change |
| prophet | संदेष्टा | Low | 1:21,25; 4:19,44; 6:14; 7:40,52; 9:17 | Reused without change |
| covenant | करार | High | background to 1:17 (“law was given through Moses”) | Implicit background term |
| calling / called | बोलावणें / बोलावलेले | High | 1:39,43 (“Come and see,” “Follow me” — implicit calling language) | Applied to Jesus’s call to discipleship |
| peace | शांती | Medium | 14:27; 16:33; 20:19,21,26 | John’s usage adds “not as the world gives” contrast — see Part B “overcome the world” |
| exhort | उत्तेजन देणें | Low | implicit in Upper Room discourse (chs.14-16) | Reused for encouragement passages |
(Additional Romans-baseline terms — apostle, adoption, obedience_of_faith, election, intercession, providence, mission, seed_of_david, imputed_righteousness, thanksgiving, fellowship, spiritual_gifts, abba — appear rarely or not at all in John’s own text but remain reserved unchanged for cross-curriculum consistency wherever discussed in supporting materials.)
Part B — New Terms Introduced by the Gospel of John
| # | Term (English) | Konkani | Transliteration | Risk | Doctrine | Key Passages | Alternatives Rejected | Grounded Risk Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Word (Logos) | शब्द | śabda | Critical | Deity and Pre-existence of Christ | 1:1,14 | अवतार-adjacent renderings; भाषण (mere speech) | Goa’s Saraswat Brahmin Vedantic heritage includes a śabda/nāda-brahma concept treating “word/sound” as an impersonal manifestation of ultimate reality. शब्द must be explicitly taught as the personal, eternal, distinct-yet-one-with-God Son, never an impersonal cosmic vibration or symbolic principle |
| 2 | Only Son / Only-begotten | एकुलतो पुत्र | ekulto putra | Critical | Sonship and Deity of Christ | 1:14,18; 3:16,18 | अंश (partial manifestation) | Must not imply the Son was created or “made” at a point in time; conveys unique, eternal, unrepeatable Sonship, consistent with देवाचो पुत्र already in Romans TM |
| 3 | Tabernacled/dwelt among us | वस्ती केली | vastī kelī | High | Incarnation | 1:14 | राहिलो (merely “stayed,” too weak) | Must be paired with देहधारण; recovers OT tabernacle/Shekinah background for low-OT-literacy readers |
| 4 | Truth | सत्य | satya | High | Deity of Christ / I Am Statements | 1:14,17; 8:32; 14:6; 17:17 | खरेपण (used only for minor contexts) | Must retain exclusivity where John claims it (14:6); not to be flattened into “one truth among many” |
| 5 | Children of God | देवाचीं भुरगीं | devācī bhurgī | High | New Birth | 1:12; 11:52 | Confusion with दत्तक पुत्र करून घेणें (Romans’ legal-adoption metaphor) | Distinct soteriological image (birth-metaphor) from Paul’s adoption-metaphor; do not conflate or interchange the two phrases |
| 6 | Born of God | देवा पासून जल्मले | devā pāsun jalmale | Critical | New Birth and Regeneration | 1:13; cf. 3:3-8 | पुनर्जन्म (forbidden — reincarnation) | Foundational New Birth term; must never use rebirth/reincarnation vocabulary |
| 7 | Lamb of God | देवाचें कोंकरूं | devāce koṅkarū̃ | Critical | Christ’s Substitutionary Death | 1:29,36; 19:36 | कोंकरो alone (loses “of God” and sacrificial force) | Requires Passover typology explanation (Exodus 12); must retain substitutionary-sacrificial force, not mere gentleness symbolism |
| 8 | Rabbi (title) | रब्बी | rabbī | Medium | (Apostleship-analog) | 1:38,49; 3:2,26; 4:31; 6:25; 9:2; 11:8 | गुरू (rejected — guru-disciple authority association) | Retained as transliterated proper title, distinct in kind from a guru figure |
| 9 | Teacher | शिक्षक | śikṣak | Medium | (Apostleship-analog) | 1:38; 3:2,10 | गुरू (rejected, same reason as above) | — |
| 10 | King (of Israel/of the Jews) | राजा | rājā | Medium | Messianic Promise | 1:49; 12:13,15; 18:33-19:22 | — | Must not evoke a political/nationalist kingship, given Goa’s own colonial-era sensitivities already flagged in the Romans baseline for “kingdom of God” |
| 11 | Son of Man | मनशाचो पुत्र | manaśāco putra | Critical | Deity of Christ / Messianic Promise | 1:51; 3:13-14; 5:27; 6:27,53,62; 8:28; 9:35; 12:23,34; 13:31 | मनीसपुत्र (less consistent with देवाचो पुत्र’s grammatical pattern) | Must be explained as complementary to, not competing with, “Son of God”; combines true humanity with heavenly, divine, Daniel-7 authority |
| 12 | Sign | चिन्ह | cinha | Medium | Deity of Christ | 2:11,23; 3:2; 4:54; 6:2,14,26; 7:31; 9:16; 11:47; 12:18,37; 20:30 | चमत्कार (rejected — carries godman/guru wonder-working connotation) | John’s signs reveal glory and invite belief; not displays of personal spiritual attainment |
| 13 | Temple (literal building) | मंदीर / देवूळ | mandīr / devūḷ | Medium | (contextual, disambiguation) | 2:14-21 | — | Unlike the Romans baseline’s rejection of these words for church, here they correctly denote the literal historical Jerusalem Temple; disambiguation note required so translators do not confuse this with मंडळी (church) |
| 14 | The Hour (theological time marker) | (नेमलेली) वेळ / घडी | (nemleli) veḷ / ghaḍī | Medium | Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection | 2:4; 7:30; 8:20; 12:23,27; 13:1; 17:1 | — | Recurring motif across the whole book; must be tracked as a single theological thread, not isolated time-references |
| 15 | Born again / born from above | परतून जल्मप / वयल्यान जल्मप | paratun jalmap / vayalyān jalmap | Critical | The New Birth and Regeneration by the Spirit | 3:3,7,31 | पुनर्जन्म (forbidden — reincarnation) | Konkani has no single word carrying both Greek senses (again / from above); mandatory translator note at first occurrence |
| 16 | Born of water and the Spirit | उदक आनी आत्म्या पासून जल्मप | udak āni ātmyā pāsun jalmap | Critical | The New Birth and Regeneration by the Spirit | 3:5 | — | Must not teach that ritual water itself regenerates (risk of confusion with sacred-river/temple-tank bathing practices); flag for human theologian review given denominational sensitivity |
| 17 | Flesh (vs. Spirit) | देह | deha | High | The New Birth and Regeneration by the Spirit | 3:6; 6:51-56 (as मांस, see #18) | — | Shares root with देहधारण (incarnation) but denotes ordinary human nature/origin, not Christ’s unique taking of flesh |
| 18 | Eat [my] flesh / drink [my] blood | मांस खावप / रगत पिवप | mās khāvap / ragat pivap | High | Christ’s Substitutionary Death | 6:51-56 | — | Flag for reviewer awareness of possible Eucharistic-sacramental reading among Catholic-background readers; preserve vivid concreteness without adjudicating sacramental debate |
| 19 | Wind/Spirit pun | वारें / आत्मो | vāre / ātmo | Medium | Holy Spirit as Counselor (background) | 3:8 | — | Untranslatable wordplay; mandatory footnote explaining the single Greek word πνεῦμα covers both senses |
| 20 | Earthly things / heavenly things | सांसारीक गजाली / स्वर्गीय गजाली | sānsārīk gajālī / svargīy gajālī | Medium | Pre-existence of Christ | 3:12 | — | — |
| 21 | Ascend / descend | वयर वचप / सकयल येवप | vayar vacap / sakayal yevap | Critical | Deity and Pre-existence of Christ / Incarnation | 3:13; 6:33,38,41-42,50-51,58 | — | Must not be read as one of repeated avatar-descents; asserts unique pre-existence and singular incarnation |
| 22 | Lifted up (double meaning) | वयर काडप | vayar kāḍap | Critical | Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection | 3:14; 8:28; 12:32-34 | — | Deliberate double meaning (crucifixion + glorification) requires mandatory translator note at every occurrence |
| 23 | Serpent (typology) | सर्प | sarp | Medium | Christ’s Substitutionary Death (typology) | 3:14 | — | Requires Numbers 21 background note |
| 24 | Eternal life | सार्वकालिक जीवन | sārvakālik jīvan | Critical | Eternal Life through Faith in Christ | 3:15-16,36; 4:14,36; 5:24,39; 6:27,40,47,54,68; 10:28; 12:25,50; 17:2-3 | अनंत जीवन (retained as a possible secondary gloss, not primary term) | Must be distinguished from मोक्ष (liberation from rebirth cycle) and from impersonal merging with Brahman/Paramatma; John 17:3 defines it relationally |
| 25 | World (kosmos) | जग | jag | High | God’s Love for the World | 1:10,29; 3:16-17; 8:12; 12:47; 15:18-19; 16:33; 17:5 | संसार (used only for general “worldly life,” not this theological sense) | Dual Johannine usage: object of God’s redeeming love (3:16) vs. the hostile world-system opposed to God (15:18) — track which sense is active |
| 26 | Perish | नाश जावप | nāś jāvap | High | Eternal Life / Judgment | 3:16; 10:28 | — | Final, not cyclical, outcome — must not be conflated with reincarnation into a new existence |
| 27 | Condemn / judge / judgment | दोषी थारावप / न्याय करप / न्याय | doṣī thārāvap / nyāy karap / nyāy | Critical | Judgment and Belief/Unbelief | 3:17-19; 5:22,24,27,29-30; 8:16,26,50; 9:39; 12:31,47-48; 16:8,11 | — | Must not collapse into an impersonal karmic mechanism; this is personal judgment in response to a personal Christ |
| 28 | Light / darkness | उजवाड / काळोख | ujavāḍ / kāḷokh | High | Judgment and Belief/Unbelief | 1:4-9; 3:19-21; 8:12; 9:5; 12:35-36,46 | तेज (rejected for light, per baseline’s glory-term rationale, to avoid divine-luster iconography associations) | Must be distinguished from Hindu “light of knowledge” (jñāna dispelling avidyā) tropes; John’s light/darkness is moral/relational, a choice for or against a person |
| 29 | Wrath of God | देवाचो रोश | devāco roś | High | Judgment and Belief/Unbelief | 3:36 | — | Personal, moral, judicial reality; not an impersonal karmic debt working itself out automatically |
| 30 | Worship in spirit and truth | आराधना करप | ārādhanā karap | High | (background to Unity of Father and Son / true worship) | 4:23-24 | पूजा (rejected — Hindu ritual image/deity worship) | आराधना conveys reverent worship of the one true God without ritual-image connotations |
| 31 | Living water | जिवें उदक | jivẽ udak | High | Eternal Life through Faith in Christ | 4:10-14; 7:37-39 | — | Must avoid conflation with ritual sacred-water bathing practices; received by faith, not ritual immersion |
| 32 | Savior of the world | जगाचो तारणार | jagāco tāraṇhār | Critical | God’s Love for the World / Salvation | 4:42 | — | Built on तारण (Romans TM); forbidden-substitution rule (never मुक्ती/मोक्ष) applies to this derived form as well |
| 33 | Give life / make alive | जिवें करप | jivẽ karap | High | Eternal Life | 5:21; 6:63 | — | — |
| 34 | Devil / Satan | सैतान | saitān | High | (spiritual conflict, background to Judgment) | 8:44; 13:2,27 | — | Personal, malevolent being, not an impersonal principle of evil or illusion (māyā) |
| 35 | I am (absolute divine claim) | हांव आसा | hāv āsā | CRITICAL | The Deity and Pre-existence of Christ / The Seven “I Am” Statements | 6:20; 8:24,28,58; 13:19; 18:5-6; plus all seven predicated sayings below | — | Echoes Exodus 3:14 LXX’s ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν; mandatory translator note; must never be softened to lose the self-existent divine-name claim, especially at 8:58 |
| 36 | I am the bread of life | हांव जिविताची भाकर आसां | hāv jivitācī bhākar āsā̃ | Critical | The Seven “I Am” Statements | 6:35,48 | — | First of the Seven; true, permanently satisfying source of spiritual life, surpassing manna |
| 37 | I am the light of the world | हांव संसाराचो उजवाड आसां | hāv sansārāco ujavāḍ āsā̃ | Critical | The Seven “I Am” Statements | 8:12; 9:5 | — | Second of the Seven; builds on light/darkness term above |
| 38 | I am the door | हांव दार आसां | hāv dār āsā̃ | Critical | The Seven “I Am” Statements | 10:7,9 | — | Third of the Seven; exclusive access to salvation |
| 39 | I am the good shepherd | हांव बरो मेंढपाळ आसां | hāv baro meṇḍhpāḷ āsā̃ | Critical | The Seven “I Am” Statements / Christ’s Substitutionary Death | 10:11,14 | गोवारी (regional alternative, less standard in Bible-register Konkani) | Fourth of the Seven; sacrificial, personal ownership of his people |
| 40 | Lay down [his] life | जीव दिवप | jīv divap | Critical | Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection | 10:11,15,17-18; 15:13 | — | Must convey voluntary self-giving, not a tragic accident |
| 41 | I and the Father are one | हांव आनी बापूय एक आसां | hāv āni bāpūy ek āsā̃ | CRITICAL | Unity of the Father and the Son | 10:30; 17:11,21-22 | — | Goa’s Vedantic (Advaita) heritage risks a monistic misreading; must convey unity of essence between two eternally distinct persons, not dissolving of distinction into an undifferentiated absolute |
| 42 | I am the resurrection and the life | हांव पुनरुत्थान आनी जीवन आसां | hāv punaruthān āni jīvan āsā̃ | Critical | The Seven “I Am” Statements / Resurrection | 11:25 | — | Fifth of the Seven; पुनरुत्थान REUSED FROM ROMANS TM, forbidden-substitution rule applies |
| 43 | Grain of wheat dies | गव्हाचें दाणें मरता (तर फळ दिता) | gavhāce dāṇẽ martā (tar phaḷ ditā) | High | Christ’s Substitutionary Death | 12:24 | — | Agricultural metaphor for substitutionary death producing abundant life |
| 44 | Hardened | काळीज कठीण जावप | kāḷīj kaṭhīṇ jāvap | Medium | Judgment and Belief/Unbelief | 12:40 | — | Judicial hardening in response to persistent unbelief |
| 45 | New commandment | नवी आज्ञा | navī āj̈ñā | Medium | (mutual love among disciples) | 13:34 | — | — |
| 46 | Disciple | शिष्य | śiṣya | Medium | (Discipleship, background to Apostleship) | throughout, esp. chs.13-17 | अनुयायी (too generic/political-sounding) | Established Bible-translation term; must be distinguished from a generic guru-shishya devotional-authority relationship |
| 47 | I am the way, the truth, and the life | हांव वाट, सत्य आनी जीवन आसां | hāv vāṭ, satya āni jīvan āsā̃ | CRITICAL | The Seven “I Am” Statements | 14:6 | — | Sixth of the Seven; strongest exclusivity claim (“no one comes to the Father except through me”) |
| 48 | Counselor / Advocate / Helper (Paraclete) | सहाय्यक | sahāyyak | Critical | The Holy Spirit as Counselor | 14:16,26; 15:26; 16:7 | मध्यस्थी (reserved for “intercession” in Romans TM — kept distinct) | Combines legal-advocate and comforter senses; deliberately distinct word from मध्यस्थी to avoid merging two related Spirit-ministries |
| 49 | Spirit of truth | सत्याचो आत्मो | satyāco ātmo | High | The Holy Spirit as Counselor | 14:17; 15:26; 16:13 | — | Descriptive title for पवित्र आत्मा emphasizing truth-revealing ministry |
| 50 | I am the true vine | हांव खरो द्राक्षवेल आसां | hāv kharo drākṣavel āsā̃ | Critical | The Seven “I Am” Statements | 15:1,5 | — | Seventh and final of the Seven |
| 51 | Abide / remain | रावप | rāvap | High | Union with Christ (background to Unity doctrine) | 15:4-10 | — | Ongoing personal, relational union — not Advaita-style merging/dissolving of the self into the divine |
| 52 | Convict / expose | दोष दाखोवप | doṣ dākhovap | Medium | The Holy Spirit as Counselor | 16:8 | — | The Spirit’s work of exposing sin, righteousness, and judgment |
| 53 | I have overcome the world | जग जिखलां | jag jikhlā̃ | High | (Christ’s finished victory, background to Assurance) | 16:33 | — | Grounds believers’ confidence in Christ’s already-secured victory |
| 54 | Before the world was | जग रचण्यापयलीं | jag racaṇyā-paylĩ | Critical | The Deity and Pre-existence of Christ | 17:5 | — | Clearest pre-existence statement alongside 1:1 and 8:58; personal, not merely planned-in-advance, pre-existence |
| 55 | Know [relationally] | ओळखप | oḷakhap | High | Eternal Life through Faith in Christ | 17:3 | ज्ञान (rejected — implies mere intellectual/gnostic knowledge) | Defines eternal life relationally; must be distinguished from Vedantic jñāna-based liberation |
| 56 | It is finished | पुराय जालें | purāy jāle | CRITICAL | Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection | 19:30 | — | Total sufficiency and completion of the atoning work; reinforces grace-vs-merit; nothing remains for human effort to add |
| 57 | My Lord and my God! | माझो प्रभू आनी माझो देव! | mājho prabhū āni mājho dev! | CRITICAL | The Deity and Pre-existence of Christ | 20:28 | — | Climactic explicit deity confession, parallel in weight to Romans 10:9; functions itself as देव’s required exclusivity marker |
| 58 | Do you love me? (ἀγαπάω/φιλέω) | मोग करता? | mog kartā? | Medium | (background to disciple restoration) | 21:15-17 | — | Konkani likely renders both Greek verbs identically, losing the lexical distinction; mandatory translator note |
| 59 | Truth sets [you] free | सत्यान सुटका मेळटा | satyān suṭkā meḷṭā | CRITICAL | (Salvation-adjacent freedom from sin) | 8:32,36 | मुक्ती (forbidden — Hindu moksha association) | Must always be qualified as freedom from slavery to sin, granted by the Son; must never stand alone as a general liberation statement |
Doctrine-to-Term Cross-Reference (John-Specific Doctrines)
| Curriculum Doctrine | Primary New Terms (Part B #) |
|---|---|
| The Deity and Pre-existence of Christ (the Word) | 1, 2, 11, 21, 35-42, 47, 50, 54, 57 |
| The New Birth and Regeneration by the Spirit | 6, 15, 16, 17, 19 |
| Eternal Life through Faith in Christ | 24, 26, 31, 32, 33, 42, 55 |
| God’s Love for the World | 25, 32 |
| Judgment and Belief/Unbelief | 27, 28, 29, 44, 52 |
| The Seven “I Am” Statements | 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 42, 47, 50 |
| The Holy Spirit as Counselor | 19, 48, 49, 52 |
| Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection | 7, 18, 22, 39, 40, 43, 56 |
| Unity of the Father and the Son | 41, 51 |
Notes for Phase 1 Step 2 (Translation Memory Update)
- All 59 Part B terms above should be formally added to a new
translation_memory.jsonversion (incrementing from the Romans baseline), each taggedcurriculum: "John". - Terms 35-42, 47, 50 (the “I Am” family) should share a consistent template rendering pattern: हांव [predicate] आसां, to preserve the recognizable repeated formula across all seven sayings, as the Greek ἐγώ εἰμι does.
- Per the existing Romans-baseline consistency rule for thesis verses, John 3:16 and John 20:28 / 20:31 should be locked to single, fixed Konkani renderings applied identically across every John curriculum document, joining Romans 1:16-17, 8:28, and 10:9-10 in that protected category.
- Every Critical-risk term above requires human theologian review per the doctrine_risk_registry.json routing model already established in the Romans baseline; Medium-risk terms route to native speaker review; Low-risk terms are automated-review only.
Critical Risk Terms
Righteousness
Approved rendering: नीतिमत्ता
Transliteration: nītimattā
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: धर्म, पुण्य, न्याय
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Low direct frequency in John’s own text but retained for cross-curriculum consistency.
Justification
Approved rendering: नीतिमान ठरवणें
Transliteration: nītimān ṭharavaṇẽ
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: क्षमा मेळप, पुण्य कमावप
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Reserved for cross-curriculum consistency.
Salvation
Approved rendering: तारण
Transliteration: tāraṇ
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: मुक्ती, मोक्ष, सुटका
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Key John passages: 3:17; 4:22; 5:34; 10:9; 12:47. Root of the new derived term जगाचो तारणार, ‘Savior of the world’ (see savior_of_the_world below).
Resurrection
Approved rendering: पुनरुत्थान
Transliteration: punaruthān
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: पुनर्जन्म, पुनर्जीवन
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. NEVER पुनर्जन्म. Central to John 11:25 (‘I am the resurrection and the life’) and John 20; forbidden-substitution rule applies identically.
Lord
Approved rendering: प्रभू
Transliteration: prabhū
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: स्वामी, मालक
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Climactic John use in 20:28, ‘माझो प्रभू आनी माझो देव!’ (see my_lord_and_my_god below).
Son Of God
Approved rendering: देवाचो पुत्र
Transliteration: devāco putra
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: देवाचो अंश, देवपुरुष
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Must be kept distinct from the new John-specific title ‘Son of Man’ (मनशाचो पुत्र, see below) — both true, complementary titles, not competing ones.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: देहधारण
Transliteration: dehadhāraṇ
Doctrine: Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: अवतार, देह प्रगट
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. NEVER अवतार. John contains substantially denser incarnation Christology than Romans (1:14 ‘the Word became flesh’; 3:13; 6:33-62 descent language); pair with वस्ती केली and ascend_descend below.
Messiah
Approved rendering: मसीहा
Transliteration: masīhā
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Rejected alternatives: अभिषिक्त पुरुष, अवतारी पुरुष
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. John uses this term more frequently than Romans (1:20,25,41; 4:25-26,29; 7:26-27,31,41-42; 9:22; 10:24; 11:27; 20:31).
Jesus
Approved rendering: येशू
Transliteration: yeśū
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: जेजू
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Used throughout John; NOT जेजू (Romi Konkani Catholic spelling).
God
Approved rendering: देव
Transliteration: dev
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: भगवान
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Every John load-bearing occurrence must carry an exclusivity marker; John 20:28’s ‘My Lord and my God’ functions as the strongest such marker in the whole book (see my_lord_and_my_god below).
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: पवित्र आत्मा
Transliteration: pavitra ātmā
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: ब्रह्म, परमात्मा
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. In John also functions as the Paraclete/Counselor (see counselor_paraclete below); at 3:8 the bare Greek πνεῦμα plays on both ‘wind’ and ‘Spirit’ (see wind_spirit_pun below), which requires a bare आत्मो rendering plus footnote rather than पवित्र आत्मा at that specific occurrence.
Father
Approved rendering: पिता
Transliteration: pitā
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: ब्रह्मा, निर्माणकार
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. John’s ‘Father’ language is exceptionally dense, especially chs. 14-17; warmth-register tone rules apply per baseline.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: आरोपित नीतिमत्ता
Transliteration: āropit nītimattā
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: कमावलेली नीतिमत्ता
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Reserved for cross-curriculum consistency.
Word Logos
Approved rendering: शब्द
Transliteration: śabda
Doctrine: The Deity and Pre-existence of Christ (the Word)
Rejected alternatives: अवतार-adjacent renderings, भाषण
NEW TERM (John). Goa’s Saraswat Brahmin Vedantic heritage’s śabda/nāda-brahma concept treats sacred sound/word as an impersonal manifestation of ultimate reality (echoed in Om/AUM theology). शब्द must be explicitly taught as the personal, eternal divine Son — ‘the Word was with God, and the Word was God’ (distinct-yet-one) — never an impersonal cosmic vibration. Mandatory translator note at 1:1 and 1:14.
Only Son Monogenes
Approved rendering: एकुलतो पुत्र
Transliteration: ekulto putra
Doctrine: The Deity and Pre-existence of Christ (the Word)
Rejected alternatives: अंश
NEW TERM (John). Must not imply the Son was created or made at a point in time; conveys eternal, unrepeatable Sonship, consistent with देवाचो पुत्र. Key passages: 1:14,18; 3:16,18.
Born Of God
Approved rendering: देवा पासून जल्मले
Transliteration: devā pāsun jalmale
Doctrine: The New Birth and Regeneration by the Spirit
Rejected alternatives: पुनर्जन्म
NEW TERM (John). NEVER पुनर्जन्म (reincarnation). Foundational term for the New Birth doctrine, pairing directly with John 3:3-8. Key passage: 1:13.
Lamb Of God
Approved rendering: देवाचें कोंकरूं
Transliteration: devāce koṅkarū̃
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection
Rejected alternatives: कोंकरो alone
NEW TERM (John). Requires Passover typology explanation (Exodus 12) given low assumed OT narrative literacy; must retain substitutionary-sacrificial force, not mere symbolism of gentleness/innocence. Key passages: 1:29,36; 19:36.
Son Of Man
Approved rendering: मनशाचो पुत्र
Transliteration: manaśāco putra
Doctrine: The Deity and Pre-existence of Christ (the Word)
Rejected alternatives: मनीसपुत्र
NEW TERM (John). Must be introduced with an explanatory note distinguishing it from ‘Son of God’ (देवाचो पुत्र) — both true, complementary titles, not competing ones. Key passages: 1:51; 3:13-14; 5:27; 6:27,53,62; 8:28; 9:35; 12:23,34; 13:31.
Born Again From Above
Approved rendering: परतून जल्मप / वयल्यान जल्मप
Transliteration: paratun jalmap / vayalyān jalmap
Doctrine: The New Birth and Regeneration by the Spirit
Rejected alternatives: पुनर्जन्म
NEW TERM (John). Konkani has no single word carrying both Greek senses of ἄνωθεν (‘again’ and ‘from above’) simultaneously. Mandatory translator note at first occurrence (3:3). NEVER पुनर्जन्म. Key passages: 3:3,7,31.
Born Of Water And Spirit
Approved rendering: उदक आनी आत्म्या पासून जल्मप
Transliteration: udak āni ātmyā pāsun jalmap
Doctrine: The New Birth and Regeneration by the Spirit
NEW TERM (John). Must not be reduced to teaching that ritual water (temple-tank/sacred-river bathing) itself regenerates; preserve interpretive ambiguity; flag for human theologian review given denominational baptismal sensitivity. Key passage: 3:5.
Ascend Descend
Approved rendering: वयर वचप / सकयल येवप
Transliteration: vayar vacap / sakayal yevap
Doctrine: The Deity and Pre-existence of Christ (the Word)
NEW TERM (John). Must not be softened to a merely visionary ascent/descent experience nor read as one of repeated avatar-descents. Key passages: 3:13; 6:33,38,41-42,50-51,58.
Lifted Up
Approved rendering: वयर काडप
Transliteration: vayar kāḍap
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection
NEW TERM (John). Deliberate double meaning throughout John: physical lifting up on the cross AND exaltation/glorification. Mandatory translator note at every occurrence (3:14; 8:28; 12:32-34).
Eternal Life
Approved rendering: सार्वकालिक जीवन
Transliteration: sārvakālik jīvan
Doctrine: Eternal Life through Faith in Christ
Rejected alternatives: मोक्ष, अनंत जीवन (secondary gloss only, not primary term)
NEW TERM (John). Must be distinguished from मोक्ष (liberation from the rebirth cycle) and from Vedantic jñāna-based dissolution into Brahman/Paramatma. John 17:3 defines it relationally. Mandatory translator note at first occurrence (3:15-16). Key passages: 3:15-16,36; 4:14,36; 5:24,39; 6:27,40,47,54,68; 10:28; 12:25,50; 17:2-3.
Condemn Judgment
Approved rendering: दोषी थारावप / न्याय करप / न्याय
Transliteration: doṣī thārāvap / nyāy karap / nyāy
Doctrine: Judgment and Belief/Unbelief
NEW TERM (John). Must not collapse into an impersonal karmic mechanism; this is personal judgment in response to a personal light/Christ. Key passages: 3:17-19; 5:22,24,27,29-30; 8:16,26,50; 9:39; 12:31,47-48; 16:8,11.
Savior Of The World
Approved rendering: जगाचो तारणार
Transliteration: jagāco tāraṇhār
Doctrine: God’s Love for the World
Rejected alternatives: मुक्ती, मोक्ष
NEW TERM (John, derived from तारण, Romans TM). Forbidden-substitution rule (never मुक्ती/मोक्ष) applies to this derived agent-noun as well. Key passage: 4:42.
Honor Son As Father
Approved rendering: मान दिवप
Transliteration: mān divap
Doctrine: Unity of the Father and the Son
NEW TERM (John). Must convey equal honor, not honor of a lesser, derivative kind, as a devotee might honor a guru or subordinate deity. Key passage: 5:23.
I Am Absolute
Approved rendering: हांव आसा
Transliteration: hāv āsā
Doctrine: The Deity and Pre-existence of Christ (the Word) / The Seven ‘I Am’ Statements
NEW TERM (John). Echoes Exodus 3:14 LXX’s ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν; mandatory translator note; must never be softened to lose the self-existent divine-name claim, especially at 8:58. Key passages: 6:20; 8:24,28,58; 13:19; 18:5-6.
I Am Bread Of Life
Approved rendering: हांव जिविताची भाकर आसां
Transliteration: hāv jivitācī bhākar āsā̃
Doctrine: The Seven ‘I Am’ Statements
NEW TERM (John). First of the Seven; shares the हांव … आसां template across all seven sayings. Key passages: 6:35,48.
I Am Light Of World
Approved rendering: हांव संसाराचो उजवाड आसां
Transliteration: hāv sansārāco ujavāḍ āsā̃
Doctrine: The Seven ‘I Am’ Statements
NEW TERM (John). Second of the Seven; builds on light_darkness above. Key passages: 8:12; 9:5.
Truth Sets Free
Approved rendering: सत्यान सुटका मेळटा
Transliteration: satyān suṭkā meḷṭā
Doctrine: Sin and Bondage to the Devil
Rejected alternatives: मुक्ती
NEW TERM (John). Must NEVER be रendered मुक्ती (forbidden, Hindu moksha association). Must always be qualified as freedom FROM SLAVERY TO SIN, granted BY THE SON — must not stand alone as a general ‘liberation’ statement. Key passages: 8:32,36.
I Am Door
Approved rendering: हांव दार आसां
Transliteration: hāv dār āsā̃
Doctrine: The Seven ‘I Am’ Statements
NEW TERM (John). Third of the Seven; exclusive access to salvation and safety through Christ alone. Key passages: 10:7,9.
I Am Good Shepherd
Approved rendering: हांव बरो मेंढपाळ आसां
Transliteration: hāv baro meṇḍhpāḷ āsā̃
Doctrine: The Seven ‘I Am’ Statements / Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection
Rejected alternatives: गोवारी
NEW TERM (John). Fourth of the Seven; sacrificial, personal ownership of his people, echoing Ezekiel 34 and Psalm 23. Key passages: 10:11,14.
Lay Down Life
Approved rendering: जीव दिवप
Transliteration: jīv divap
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection
NEW TERM (John). Must convey voluntary self-giving (‘no one takes it from me, I lay it down of my own accord,’ 10:18), not a tragic accident. Key passages: 10:11,15,17-18; 15:13.
I And Father One
Approved rendering: हांव आनी बापूय एक आसां
Transliteration: hāv āni bāpūy ek āsā̃
Doctrine: Unity of the Father and the Son
NEW TERM (John). Goa’s strong Vedantic (Advaita) intellectual heritage risks a monistic misreading of ‘one’ as dissolving of personal distinction into an undifferentiated absolute. Must be taught as unity of essence between two eternally distinct persons. Mandatory theologian review at every occurrence: 10:30; 17:11,21-22.
I Am Resurrection Life
Approved rendering: हांव पुनरुत्थान आनी जीवन आसां
Transliteration: hāv punaruthān āni jīvan āsā̃
Doctrine: The Seven ‘I Am’ Statements
Rejected alternatives: पुनर्जन्म
NEW TERM (John). Fifth of the Seven; पुनरुत्थान reused from Romans TM, forbidden-substitution rule (never पुनर्जन्म) applies here as well. Key passage: 11:25.
I Am Way Truth Life
Approved rendering: हांव वाट, सत्य आनी जीवन आसां
Transliteration: hāv vāṭ, satya āni jīvan āsā̃
Doctrine: The Seven ‘I Am’ Statements
NEW TERM (John). Sixth of the Seven; the strongest exclusivity claim in the Gospel (‘no one comes to the Father except through me’). Must preserve full exclusivity without softening. Key passage: 14:6.
Counselor Paraclete
Approved rendering: सहाय्यक
Transliteration: sahāyyak
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit as Counselor
Rejected alternatives: मध्यस्थी
NEW TERM (John). Deliberately distinct from मध्यस्थी (Romans TM ‘intercession’) to avoid merging two related-but-distinct Spirit ministries. Translator note should explain the combined legal-advocate + comforter nuance. Key passages: 14:16,26; 15:26; 16:7.
I Am True Vine
Approved rendering: हांव खरो द्राक्षवेल आसां
Transliteration: hāv kharo drākṣavel āsā̃
Doctrine: The Seven ‘I Am’ Statements
NEW TERM (John). Seventh and final of the Seven. Key passages: 15:1,5.
Before World Was
Approved rendering: जग रचण्यापयलीं
Transliteration: jag racaṇyā-paylĩ
Doctrine: The Deity and Pre-existence of Christ (the Word)
NEW TERM (John). The clearest single pre-existence statement in the Gospel alongside 1:1 and 8:58. Must clearly convey Christ’s personal, eternal pre-existence, not merely ‘planned in advance.’ Key passage: 17:5.
It Is Finished
Approved rendering: पुराय जालें
Transliteration: purāy jāle
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection
NEW TERM (John). Must convey total sufficiency and completion of Christ’s atoning work; must not imply ongoing human effort could add to or complete it further, directly reinforcing the Romans baseline’s grace-vs-merit concern. Key passage: 19:30.
Not One Bone Broken
Approved rendering: हाड्डी मोडची ना
Transliteration: hāḍḍī moḍcī nā
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection
NEW TERM (John). Direct fulfillment of Passover lamb regulations (Exodus 12:46); reinforces the Lamb of God typology established in ch.1. Key passage: 19:36.
My Lord And My God
Approved rendering: माझो प्रभू आनी माझो देव!
Transliteration: mājho prabhū āni mājho dev!
Doctrine: Lordship and Deity Confession (My Lord and my God)
NEW TERM (John). प्रभू and देव reused from Romans TM. Deliberately parallel to Romans 10:9’s ‘Jesus is Lord.’ Functions itself as देव’s required exclusivity marker; must never be rendered as merely honorific address. Key passage: 20:28. LOCKED VERSE per cross-document consistency rules.
Believe And Have Life In His Name
Approved rendering: विश्वास दवरून ताच्या नांवान जीवन मेळचें
Transliteration: viśvās davarun tācyā nāvān jīvan meḷcẽ
Doctrine: Eternal Life through Faith in Christ
NEW TERM (John). John’s own explicit statement of purpose for writing the whole Gospel. This verse should receive a single, fixed rendering across every John curriculum document, parallel to the Romans-package rule for Romans 1:16-17. Key passage: 20:31. LOCKED VERSE per cross-document consistency rules.
High Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: सुवार्ता
Transliteration: suvārtā
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: बरी खबर, शुभवर्तमान
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. NOTE for John curriculum: शुभवर्तमान remains reserved separately as the literary-genre BOOK TITLE for ‘the Gospel of John’ (योहानलिखित शुभवर्तमान); this does not contradict its rejection here as a rendering of the doctrinal term ‘gospel’ within running text, which must remain सुवार्ता.
Grace
Approved rendering: कृपा
Transliteration: kṛpā
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: कर्मफळ, पुण्य, नशीब
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. In John 1:14,16-17 paired with सत्य (truth) in ‘grace and truth’ (see truth_satya below), echoing Exodus 34:6.
Faith
Approved rendering: विश्वास
Transliteration: viśvās
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: श्रद्धा, भक्ती
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. John’s Gospel favors the verb form (~98 uses of πιστεύω); object of faith (Christ specifically) must always remain recoverable from context.
Called
Approved rendering: बोलावलेले
Transliteration: bolāvlele
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: आमंत्रित
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Applied to Christ’s call to discipleship in John 1:39,43 (‘Come and see,’ ‘Follow me’).
Calling
Approved rendering: बोलावणें
Transliteration: bolāvaṇẽ
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: आमंत्रण
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged.
Holy
Approved rendering: पवित्र
Transliteration: pavitra
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: शुद्ध, निर्मळ
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Key John passages: 10:36; 17:11,17,19.
Saints
Approved rendering: पवित्र जन
Transliteration: pavitra jan
Doctrine: Sainthood
Rejected alternatives: संत, भक्त
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Reserved for cross-curriculum consistency; not directly used in John’s own text.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: पवित्रीकरण
Transliteration: pavitrīkaraṇ
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: शुद्धीकरण
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Key John passages: 17:17,19, ‘sanctify them in the truth’ — grounded in God’s truth, not ritual purification.
Adoption
Approved rendering: दत्तक पुत्र करून घेणें
Transliteration: dattak putra karun ghenẽ
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: दत्तक घेणें
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Must be kept distinct from John’s own birth-metaphor ‘children of God’ (देवाचीं भुरगीं, see children_of_god below) — do not conflate or interchange the two images.
Law
Approved rendering: नियमशास्त्र
Transliteration: niyamaśāstra
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: धर्म, कायदो
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Key John passages: 1:17,45; 7:19,23,49,51; 8:5,17; 10:34; 15:25; 19:7.
Sin
Approved rendering: पाप
Transliteration: pāp
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: अधर्म, अशुद्धता
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Key John passages: 1:29; 8:21,24,34,46; 9:41; 15:22-24; 16:8-9; 19:11.
Glory
Approved rendering: गौरव
Transliteration: gaurav
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: तेज, देवीतेज
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Never तेज-based light imagery. Key John passages: 1:14; 2:11; 11:4,40; 12:23,41; 17:5,22,24.
Obedience Of Faith
Approved rendering: विश्वासाची आज्ञाधारकता
Transliteration: viśvāsācī āj̈ñādhārakatā
Doctrine: Obedience of Faith
Rejected alternatives: धार्मिक कर्तव्यपालन
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Reserved for cross-curriculum consistency; not directly repeated in John’s own text.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: देवाचें सामर्थ्य
Transliteration: devāce sāmarthya
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Rejected alternatives: शक्ती
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. NEVER शक्ती. Implicit in John’s ‘signs’ passages (2:11; 11:40).
Covenant
Approved rendering: करार
Transliteration: karār
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: समजूत
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Implicit background in John 1:17, ‘the law was given through Moses.‘
Election
Approved rendering: देवाची निवड
Transliteration: devācī nivaḍ
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: नशीब, प्रारब्ध
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Reserved for cross-curriculum consistency.
Providence
Approved rendering: देवाची तरतूद
Transliteration: devācī tartūd
Doctrine: Providence
Rejected alternatives: नशीब, प्रारब्ध
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Reserved for cross-curriculum consistency.
Abba
Approved rendering: अब्बा
Transliteration: abbā
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Not used in John’s own text; retained for cross-curriculum consistency.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: दावीदाच्या वंशांतलो
Transliteration: dāvīdācyā vanśāntlo
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Reserved for cross-curriculum consistency; background to John 7:42.
Tabernacled Dwelt
Approved rendering: वस्ती केली
Transliteration: vastī kelī
Doctrine: The Deity and Pre-existence of Christ (the Word)
Rejected alternatives: राहिलो
NEW TERM (John). Must be paired with देहधारण; recovers OT tabernacle/Shekinah background (Exodus 40) for readers with low OT narrative literacy. Key passage: 1:14.
Truth Satya
Approved rendering: सत्य
Transliteration: satya
Doctrine: The Seven ‘I Am’ Statements
Rejected alternatives: खरेपण
NEW TERM (John). Must retain exclusivity where John claims it (14:6, ‘I am … the truth’); not to be flattened into ‘one truth among many paths.’ Key passages: 1:14,17; 8:32; 14:6; 17:17.
Children Of God
Approved rendering: देवाचीं भुरगीं
Transliteration: devācī bhurgī
Doctrine: The New Birth and Regeneration by the Spirit
NEW TERM (John). A distinct soteriological image (birth-metaphor) from Paul’s legal adoption metaphor (दत्तक पुत्र करून घेणें, Romans TM). Translator note required distinguishing the two so they are not conflated or interchanged. Key passages: 1:12; 11:52.
Flesh Vs Spirit
Approved rendering: देह
Transliteration: deha
Doctrine: The New Birth and Regeneration by the Spirit
NEW TERM (John). Shares its root with देहधारण (incarnation) but denotes ordinary human sarx-birth, a different theological referent. Key passages: 3:6; 6:51-56.
Eat Flesh Drink Blood
Approved rendering: मांस खावप / रगत पिवप
Transliteration: mās khāvap / ragat pivap
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection
NEW TERM (John). Flag for reviewer awareness of possible Eucharistic-sacramental reading among Catholic-background readers; preserve vivid concreteness without adjudicating the sacramental debate. Key passage: 6:51-56.
World Kosmos
Approved rendering: जग
Transliteration: jag
Doctrine: God’s Love for the World
Rejected alternatives: संसार
NEW TERM (John). Dual Johannine usage (object of God’s redeeming love in 3:16 vs. hostile world-system in 15:18-19) must be tracked per occurrence. NEVER संसार in this theological sense (reserved for ordinary ‘worldly life’). Key passages: 1:10,29; 3:16-17; 8:12; 12:47; 15:18-19; 16:33; 17:5.
Perish
Approved rendering: नाश जावप
Transliteration: nāś jāvap
Doctrine: Eternal Life through Faith in Christ
NEW TERM (John). Must not be conflated with the Hindu cycle of rebirth; this is a final, not cyclical, outcome. Key passages: 3:16; 10:28.
Light Darkness
Approved rendering: उजवाड / काळोख
Transliteration: ujavāḍ / kāḷokh
Doctrine: Judgment and Belief/Unbelief
Rejected alternatives: तेज
NEW TERM (John). Must be distinguished from Hindu ‘light of knowledge’ (jñāna dispelling avidyā) tropes; John’s light/darkness is a moral and relational choice for or against a person. Key passages: 1:4-9; 3:19-21; 8:12; 9:5; 12:35-36,46.
Wrath Of God
Approved rendering: देवाचो रोश
Transliteration: devāco roś
Doctrine: Judgment and Belief/Unbelief
NEW TERM (John). Must be conveyed as a personal, moral, judicial reality, not an impersonal karmic debt automatically working itself out. Key passage: 3:36.
Worship Spirit Truth
Approved rendering: आराधना करप
Transliteration: ārādhanā karap
Doctrine: Unity of the Father and the Son (worship background)
Rejected alternatives: पूजा
NEW TERM (John). Deliberately NOT पूजा, which in Goan Hindu practice denotes ritual image/deity worship with offerings. Key passage: 4:20-24.
Living Water
Approved rendering: जिवें उदक
Transliteration: jivẽ udak
Doctrine: Eternal Life through Faith in Christ
NEW TERM (John). Must avoid conflation with ritual sacred-river/temple-tank bathing practices; received by faith, not ritual immersion. Key passages: 4:10-14; 7:37-39.
Give Life Make Alive
Approved rendering: जिवें करप
Transliteration: jivẽ karap
Doctrine: Eternal Life through Faith in Christ
NEW TERM (John). The Son shares the Father’s unique life-giving prerogative. Key passages: 5:21; 6:63.
Devil Satan
Approved rendering: सैतान
Transliteration: saitān
Doctrine: Sin and Bondage to the Devil
NEW TERM (John). Personal, malevolent being, not an impersonal principle of evil or illusion (māyā). Key passages: 8:44; 13:2,27.
True Bread From Heaven
Approved rendering: स्वर्गांतल्यान आयिल्ली खरी भाकर
Transliteration: svargāntlyān āyillī kharī bhākar
Doctrine: The Deity and Pre-existence of Christ (the Word)
NEW TERM (John). Contrasted with the manna Moses gave, which only sustained physical life temporarily. Key passage: 6:32-35,50-51,58.
Grain Of Wheat Dies
Approved rendering: गव्हाचें दाणें मरता (तर) फळ दिता
Transliteration: gavhāce dāṇẽ martā (tar) phaḷ ditā
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection
NEW TERM (John). Agricultural metaphor for substitutionary death producing abundant life. Key passage: 12:24.
Spirit Of Truth
Approved rendering: सत्याचो आत्मो
Transliteration: satyāco ātmo
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit as Counselor
NEW TERM (John, descriptive title; पवित्र आत्मा reused where the full title is used). Key passages: 14:17; 15:26; 16:13.
Abide Remain
Approved rendering: रावप
Transliteration: rāvap
Doctrine: Unity of the Father and the Son (union with Christ background)
NEW TERM (John). Must be taught as ongoing personal, relational union, NOT an Advaita-style dissolving/merging of the self into the divine; parallel concern to ‘I and the Father are one.’ Key passages: 15:4-10.
Overcome The World
Approved rendering: जग जिखलां
Transliteration: jag jikhlā̃
Doctrine: Assurance through Christ’s Accomplished Victory
NEW TERM (John). Grounds believers’ confidence in Christ’s already-secured victory, not karmic uncertainty. Key passage: 16:33.
Know Relationally
Approved rendering: ओळखप
Transliteration: oḷakhap
Doctrine: Eternal Life through Faith in Christ
Rejected alternatives: ज्ञान
NEW TERM (John). Must be distinguished from Vedantic jñāna-based liberation (knowledge leading to moksha); this is relational acquaintance. NEVER ज्ञान. Key passage: 17:3.
Medium Risk Terms
Apostle
Approved rendering: प्रेषित
Transliteration: preṣit
Doctrine: Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: दूत, गुरू
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Reserved for cross-curriculum consistency; John’s own vocabulary favors शिष्य (disciple, see below) over प्रेषित.
Peace
Approved rendering: शांती
Transliteration: śāntī
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: सुख, समाधान
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. John’s usage (14:27; 16:33; 20:19,21,26) adds the explicit contrast ‘not as the world gives.‘
Spiritual Gifts
Approved rendering: आत्मिक वरदान
Transliteration: ātmik varadān
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts
Rejected alternatives: वरदान, सिद्धी
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Not directly used in John’s own text; reserved for cross-curriculum consistency.
Church
Approved rendering: मंडळी
Transliteration: maṇḍaḷī
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: देऊळ, मंदिर
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Not John’s own vocabulary but doctrinally relevant background to 10:16’s ‘one flock, one shepherd.’ Must not be confused with temple_literal (मंदीर/देवूळ) below, which correctly denotes the literal Jerusalem Temple in John 2:14-21.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: देवाचें राज्य
Transliteration: devāce rājya
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Rejected alternatives: देवाचें राष्ट्र
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Only two occurrences in the whole Gospel of John (3:3, 3:5), both inside the Core Passage.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: परराष्ट्रीय
Transliteration: pararāṣṭrīya
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: विदेशी
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Low-frequency in John (7:35 implicit; 12:20-21).
Intercession
Approved rendering: मध्यस्थी
Transliteration: madhyasthī
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Rejected alternatives: शिफारस
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Deliberately kept distinct from John’s new term सहाय्यक (Counselor/Paraclete, see counselor_paraclete below) — the two are related but distinct Spirit-ministries.
Mission
Approved rendering: सुवार्ता प्रसार
Transliteration: suvārtā prasār
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
Rejected alternatives: मिशन
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Given Goa’s Inquisition history, always frame proclamation as invitation, never coercion.
David
Approved rendering: दावीद
Transliteration: dāvīd
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Key John passage: 7:42.
Israel
Approved rendering: इस्राएल
Transliteration: isrāel
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Key John passages: 1:31,47,49; 3:10; 12:13.
Rabbi
Approved rendering: रब्बी
Transliteration: rabbī
Doctrine: Apostleship and Discipleship
Rejected alternatives: गुरू
NEW TERM (John). Retained as a transliterated proper title, distinct in kind from गुरू, which carries strong Goan guru-disciple devotional-authority associations. Key passages: 1:38,49; 3:2,26; 4:31; 6:25; 9:2; 11:8.
Teacher
Approved rendering: शिक्षक
Transliteration: śikṣak
Doctrine: Apostleship and Discipleship
Rejected alternatives: गुरू
NEW TERM (John). Same गुरू-avoidance concern as ‘Rabbi.’ Key passages: 1:38; 3:2,10.
King Of Israel Jews
Approved rendering: राजा
Transliteration: rājā
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
NEW TERM (John). Must not evoke a political/nationalist kingship, sensitive given Goa’s own contested colonial history. Key passages: 1:49; 12:13,15; 18:33-19:22. Note the deliberate Johannine irony at the trial: mocked by Rome, yet truly royal.
Sign
Approved rendering: चिन्ह
Transliteration: cinha
Doctrine: The Deity and Pre-existence of Christ (the Word)
Rejected alternatives: चमत्कार
NEW TERM (John). Must be distinguished from चमत्कार-style guru/godman wonder-working performed for reputation; John’s signs reveal glory and invite belief. Key passages: 2:11,23; 3:2; 4:54; 6:2,14,26; 7:31; 9:16; 11:47; 12:18,37; 20:30.
Temple Literal
Approved rendering: मंदीर / देवूळ
Transliteration: mandīr / devūḷ
Doctrine: (Disambiguation background to Church as God’s People)
NEW TERM (John, disambiguation entry). Unlike the Romans baseline’s rejection of these words for ‘church,’ here the referent genuinely is the literal historical Jerusalem Temple building; translator note required distinguishing from मंडळी. Key passage: 2:14-21.
The Hour
Approved rendering: (नेमलेली) वेळ / घडी
Transliteration: (nemleli) veḷ / ghaḍī
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection
NEW TERM (John). Recurring theological time-marker motif (2:4; 7:30; 8:20; 12:23,27; 13:1; 17:1); must be tracked as a single thread, not isolated time-references.
Wind Spirit Pun
Approved rendering: वारें / आत्मो
Transliteration: vāre / ātmo
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit as Counselor
NEW TERM (John). Konkani has no single word spanning both ‘wind’ and ‘Spirit’; mandatory footnote explaining the wordplay is lost and should be recovered via footnote. Key passage: 3:8.
Earthly Heavenly Things
Approved rendering: सांसारीक गजाली / स्वर्गीय गजाली
Transliteration: sānsārīk gajālī / svargīy gajālī
Doctrine: The Deity and Pre-existence of Christ (the Word)
NEW TERM (John). Sets up Christ’s disclosure of his own heavenly origin in the following verse. Key passage: 3:12.
Serpent Typology
Approved rendering: सर्प
Transliteration: sarp
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection
NEW TERM (John). Requires Numbers 21:4-9 background note for readers with low OT narrative literacy. Key passage: 3:14.
Testify Witness
Approved rendering: साक्ष दिवप
Transliteration: sākṣa divap
Doctrine: Testimony and Witness to Christ
NEW TERM (John). Must convey courtroom-grade reliability of testimony, not casual personal opinion or devotional feeling. Key passages: 1:7-8,15,19-34; 3:11,32-33; 5:31-39; 8:14,18; 15:26-27; 19:35; 21:24.
Hardened
Approved rendering: काळीज कठीण जावप
Transliteration: kāḷīj kaṭhīṇ jāvap
Doctrine: Judgment and Belief/Unbelief
NEW TERM (John). Judicial hardening in response to persistent unbelief, quoting Isaiah 6:9-10. Key passage: 12:40.
New Commandment
Approved rendering: नवी आज्ञा
Transliteration: navī āj̈ñā
Doctrine: The Love Command and Mutual Love among Disciples
NEW TERM (John). Love for one another modeled on Christ’s own self-giving love, marking genuine discipleship. Key passage: 13:34.
Disciple
Approved rendering: शिष्य
Transliteration: śiṣya
Doctrine: Apostleship and Discipleship
Rejected alternatives: अनुयायी
NEW TERM (John, established Bible-translation term). Must be distinguished from a generic guru-shishya devotional-authority relationship. Used throughout, concentrated in chs.13-17.
Convict Expose
Approved rendering: दोष दाखोवप
Transliteration: doṣ dākhovap
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit as Counselor
NEW TERM (John). The Spirit’s work of exposing sin, righteousness, and judgment to the world. Key passage: 16:8.
Love Agapao Phileo
Approved rendering: मोग करता?
Transliteration: mog kartā?
Doctrine: The Love Command and Mutual Love among Disciples
NEW TERM (John). Konkani likely renders both ἀγαπάω and φιλέω identically (मोग), losing the lexical distinction; mandatory translator note. Key passage: 21:15-17.
Feed Shepherd My Sheep
Approved rendering: मेंढपाळ
Transliteration: meṇḍhpāḷ
Doctrine: Pastoral Shepherding Ministry
NEW TERM (John). Peter entrusted with shepherding under Christ, the true Good Shepherd; must not be reframed as a hierarchical guru-disciple authority relationship. Key passage: 21:15-17.
Low Risk Terms
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: धन्यवाद
Transliteration: dhanyavād
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Key John passage: 11:41 (Jesus’s prayer of thanks before raising Lazarus).
Fellowship
Approved rendering: सहभागिता
Transliteration: sahabhāgitā
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: इश्टागत, समाज
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Background to John 15’s abide/branches imagery and 17:20-23’s unity prayer.
Prophet
Approved rendering: संदेष्टा
Transliteration: sandeṣṭā
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: ज्योतिषी
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Key John passages: 1:21,25; 4:19,44; 6:14; 7:40,52; 9:17.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: भविष्यवाणी
Transliteration: bhaviṣyavāṇī
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: भविष्यफळ
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Reserved for cross-curriculum consistency.
Exhort
Approved rendering: उत्तेजन देणें
Transliteration: uttejan denẽ
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Applies to encouragement passages in the Upper Room discourse (chs. 14-16).
Referenced passages