Semantic Analysis: 1 Corinthians (Koine Greek → Kurdish)

How to read this document

Every term already established in the baseline Romans Language Package (translation_memory.json) is reused exactly and marked “[BASELINE — reuse].” New terms required by 1 Corinthians are analyzed fully and proposed for addition to translation memory in 08_core_glossary.md. Risk tiers (Critical/High/Medium/Low) follow the baseline’s doctrine_risk_registry.json definitions. Kurdish renderings are formal Kurmanji, Latin (Hawar) script.

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PART A: Core Passage Verse-by-Verse — 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

1 Corinthians 15:1

Greek: Γνωρίζω δὲ ὑμῖν, ἀδελφοί, τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ὃ εὐηγγελισάμην ὑμῖν, ὃ καὶ παρελάβετε, ἐν ᾧ καὶ ἑστήκατε

• γνωρίζω (gnōrizō) — Literal: “I make known.” Semantic range: to reveal, declare, remind of something already taught. English variants: “I make known / I declare / I would remind you.” Theological meaning: Paul is re-presenting foundational, already-delivered content, not introducing new teaching. Kurdish: “Dizanibim” / “Ez … dibêjim” — render as “Ez dixwazim bidim zanîn” (I want to make known). Risk: Low.
• εὐαγγέλιον (euangelion) — [BASELINE — reuse: Mizgînî]. Risk: Medium (per baseline). Note: in 1 Corinthians the emphasis is on the gospel as a fixed, received body of content (see paralambanō below), reinforcing rather than loosening the baseline’s caution about qualifying it as the specific apostolic record.
• παρελάβετε (parelabete, from παραλαμβάνω paralambanō) — Literal: “you received (as a handed-down deposit).” Semantic range: technical term for receiving an authoritative tradition passed down through a formal chain (used identically of Paul “receiving” in v.3). English variants: “received / accepted / were handed.” Theological meaning: the gospel is a fixed, historically transmitted deposit, not private revelation each believer reconstructs individually. Kurdish: “Standin” (wergirtin) — “we hene wergirtiye.” Risk: High. This “received/delivered” chain-of-transmission language is structurally similar to the Islamic isnad (chain of transmission for hadith) that Kurdish audiences — Sunni and Shafi’i alike — already reason with daily. This can be a genuine bridge (the gospel too has verifiable transmission and eyewitnesses), but risks the gospel being evaluated by isnad-style chain-reliability standards, or the content of the message being treated as merely one transmitted report among competing reports (paralleling the tahrif/corruption suspicion already flagged for Mizgînî/Încîl in the baseline). Teach explicitly: this is a resurrection-eyewitness-anchored deposit, not a folklore-style oral chain.
• ἑστήκατε (hestēkate) — Literal: “you stand / have taken your stand.” Semantic range: firm, settled position. Kurdish: “Sekinîn” (rawestandin/sekinîn - to stand firm). Risk: Low.

1 Corinthians 15:2

Greek: δι’ οὗ καὶ σῴζεσθε, τίνι λόγῳ εὐηγγελισάμην ὑμῖν εἰ κατέχετε, ἐκτὸς εἰ μὴ εἰκῇ ἐπιστεύσατε

• σῴζεσθε (sōzesthe, from σῴζω sōzō) — present passive, “you are being saved.” [BASELINE — reuse: Rizgarî]. Risk: Critical (per baseline). This verse is a prime candidate for the baseline’s mandatory anchoring rule: “you are being saved” must be rendered so it cannot default to Kurdish nationalist-liberation vocabulary. Recommended: pair with explicit reference to “ji gunehan” (from sin) in surrounding material.
• κατέχετε (katechete) — Literal: “you hold fast / retain firmly.” Semantic range: to grip, retain, keep possession of. Kurdish: “Xurt girtin” (to hold firmly). Risk: Low.
• εἰκῇ (eikē) — Literal: “in vain, without result, for nothing.” Kurdish: “Vala” / “Bêserûber”. Risk: Low.
• ἐπιστεύσατε (episteusate, from πιστεύω pisteuō) — [BASELINE — reuse: Îman] (verb form of faith). Risk: High (per baseline).

1 Corinthians 15:3

Greek: παρέδωκα γὰρ ὑμῖν ἐν πρώτοις, ὃ καὶ παρέλαβον, ὅτι Χριστὸς ἀπέθανεν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν κατὰ τὰς γραφάς

• παρέδωκα (paredōka, from παραδίδωμι paradidōmi) — Literal: “I handed down / delivered over.” The technical companion verb to paralambanō (received): together they form the standard vocabulary of formal tradition-transmission in both Jewish rabbinic and Hellenistic schools. Kurdish: “Radestkirin” (radestkirin — to hand over/deliver). Risk: High — same isnad-adjacent risk as v.1’s “received”; must be taught as apostolic eyewitness transmission of a historical event, not oral legend transmission.
• ἀπέθανεν (apethanen) — “died.” Kurdish: “Mir”. Risk: Low as a bare verb, but see below — combined with “for our sins” this is doctrinally load-bearing.
• ὑπὲρ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν (hyper tōn hamartiōn hēmōn) — Literal: “on behalf of / for the sake of our sins.” ἁμαρτία (hamartia) [BASELINE — reuse: Guneh]. The preposition ὑπέρ (hyper) carries substitutionary/representative force (“in place of / for the benefit of”). Kurdish: “ji bo gunehên me”. Risk: Critical. This is the atonement claim itself — Christ’s death as a substitutionary payment for sin. Must not be flattened to “died because of our sins” (mere causation) or “died alongside our sins” (mere association); the substitutionary “in our place, for our benefit” sense must be explicit, since neither mainstream Sunni theology (which denies the crucifixion outright, Qur’an 4:157) nor folk-Islamic sin-and-merit accounting has a substitutionary-atonement category.
• κατὰ τὰς γραφάς (kata tas graphas) — Literal: “according to the Scriptures.” Kurdish: “li gorî Nivîsarên Pîroz” (Nivîsara Pîroz = Holy Scripture, consistent with baseline’s “Îlhama Nivîsara Pîroz” doctrine name). Risk: High — ties directly to the baseline’s “Fulfillment of Prophecy” doctrine (naskh/abrogation risk: the tendency to treat later revelation as superseding, rather than fulfilling, earlier revelation).

1 Corinthians 15:4

Greek: καὶ ὅτι ἐτάφη, καὶ ὅτι ἐγήγερται τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ τρίτῃ κατὰ τὰς γραφάς

• ἐτάφη (etaphē, from θάπτω thaptō) — “he was buried.” Kurdish: “Hat veşartin” (was buried/interred). Risk: Critical. Burial is the narrative proof of a real, physical death — directly countering the Qur’anic crucifixion-denial (4:157, “they did not kill him, nor crucify him, but it was made to appear so to them”) shared across the region’s mainstream Sunni Islam. This clause must not be softened or treated as a formality; it establishes that a genuine corpse was placed in a genuine tomb.
• ἐγήγερται (egēgertai, from ἐγείρω egeirō, perfect passive) — “he has been raised (and remains risen).” [BASELINE — reuse: Rabûn] (Resurrection doctrine). Risk: Critical (per baseline). The perfect tense underscores a completed act with ongoing effect — not a temporary revival or reincarnation cycle. Must be kept sharply distinct from the Yazidi “kiras guhertin” (soul’s transmigration through successive bodies) noted in the baseline as an indigenous, non-Islamic risk of conflation.
• τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ τρίτῃ (tē hēmera tē tritē) — “on the third day.” Kurdish: “di roja sisiyan de”. Risk: Low, but theologically load-bearing as a specific, falsifiable historical marker (not a vague mythic timeframe).
• κατὰ τὰς γραφάς — repeated; see v.3.

1 Corinthians 15:5

Greek: καὶ ὅτι ὤφθη Κηφᾷ, εἶτα τοῖς δώδεκα

• ὤφθη (ōphthē, from ὁράω horaō, aorist passive) — Literal: “he was seen / he appeared (to).” Semantic range: an objective, externally verifiable seeing, not a subjective inner vision or dream. Kurdish: “Xuya bû” (he appeared/became visible). Risk: Critical. Must be rendered so as to preserve bodily, objective appearance — not a mystical vision, dream, or inward spiritual impression, which would be too easily assimilated into Sufi visionary-experience categories (kashf) or read as merely subjective.
• Κηφᾷ (Kēpha) — “Cephas,” Peter’s Aramaic name (“Rock”). Kurdish: “Kefas” (retain as proper name; may gloss as “Petrûs/Peter” on first use). Risk: Low, proper name.
• τοῖς δώδεκα (tois dōdeka) — “the twelve [apostles].” Kurdish: “Diwanzdehan”. Risk: Low.

1 Corinthians 15:6

Greek: ἔπειτα ὤφθη ἐπάνω πεντακοσίοις ἀδελφοῖς ἐφάπαξ, ἐξ ὧν οἱ πλείονες μένουσιν ἕως ἄρτι, τινὲς δὲ ἐκοιμήθησαν

• ἐφάπαξ (ephapax) — “at one time / once for all.” Kurdish: “Carekê, bi hev re”. Risk: Low but theologically significant — stresses a single, simultaneous, verifiable historical event (500 witnesses at once), not a private or repeatable claim.
• ἐκοιμήθησαν (ekoimēthēsan, from κοιμάομαι koimaomai) — Literal: “fell asleep.” A common euphemism for the death of believers, implying a future waking (resurrection). Kurdish: “Xewê çûn” (went to sleep — idiomatic for death) or plainer “mirin” with a footnote on the euphemism. Risk: Medium — the sleep-euphemism must not be read as implying soul-sleep as a doctrine in itself, nor confused with any reincarnation-adjacent “changing of garments” imagery; it is simply Paul’s marker that these witnesses were verifiably, checkably real and some had since died naturally.

1 Corinthians 15:7

Greek: ἔπειτα ὤφθη Ἰακώβῳ, εἶτα τοῖς ἀποστόλοις πᾶσιν

• Ἰακώβῳ (Iakōbō) — “James” (the Lord’s brother). Kurdish: “Aqûb” or “Yaqûb” (established Kurdish Christian form). Risk: Low, proper name; note this is not James the apostle (son of Zebedee) but the Lord’s brother — a footnote may be warranted.
• τοῖς ἀποστόλοις πᾶσιν (tois apostolois pasin) — “all the apostles.” ἀπόστολος (apostolos) [BASELINE — reuse: Şandî]. Risk: Medium (per baseline).

1 Corinthians 15:8

Greek: ἔσχατον δὲ πάντων ὡσπερεὶ τῷ ἐκτρώματι ὤφθη κἀμοί

• ἔκτρωμα (ektrōma) — Literal: “a miscarriage / stillborn / untimely-born one.” Semantic range: something born abnormally, out of the normal order and time. Paul’s self-deprecating description of his own abrupt, undeserved, out-of-sequence apostolic calling (compared to the Twelve’s ordinary calling during Christ’s earthly ministry). Kurdish: “Zaroyê berî wextê ji dayik bûyî” (a child born before its time) or a shorter gloss “kêmasî” — recommend the fuller descriptive phrase to preserve the vivid self-abasement; a bare single word risks losing the force. Risk: Medium — primarily a translation-craft challenge (no single Kurdish word carries the same image), not a doctrinal collision risk.

1 Corinthians 15:9

Greek: Ἐγὼ γάρ εἰμι ὁ ἐλάχιστος τῶν ἀποστόλων, ὃς οὐκ εἰμὶ ἱκανὸς καλεῖσθαι ἀπόστολος, διότι ἐδίωξα τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ θεοῦ

• ἐλάχιστος (elachistos) — “least, smallest.” Kurdish: “Herî biçûk”. Risk: Low.
• καλεῖσθαι (kaleisthai, from καλέω kaleō) — “to be called.” [BASELINE — reuse: Bangkirî] (Divine Calling). Risk: High (per baseline) — here specifically the calling to apostleship (matching the baseline’s note that Bangkirî is context-sensitive across ministry-call, sainthood, and salvation senses).
• ἐδίωξα (ediōxa, from διώκω diōkō) — “I persecuted.” Kurdish: “Min zulm kir” or “min tengav kir” (I oppressed/persecuted). Risk: Low.
• τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ θεοῦ (tēn ekklēsian tou theou) — “the church of God.” ἐκκλησία (ekklēsia) [BASELINE — reuse: Dêr / Civata Mesîhî]. Risk: High (per baseline “church” entry) — here plainly the gathered persecuted community, reinforcing the need for “Civata Mesîhî” (not the building-word “Dêr”) in narrative contexts like this.

1 Corinthians 15:10

Greek: χάριτι δὲ θεοῦ εἰμι ὅ εἰμι, καὶ ἡ χάρις αὐτοῦ ἡ εἰς ἐμὲ οὐ κενὴ ἐγενήθη, ἀλλὰ περισσότερον αὐτῶν πάντων ἐκοπίασα, οὐκ ἐγὼ δὲ ἀλλὰ ἡ χάρις τοῦ θεοῦ [ἡ] σὺν ἐμοί

• χάριτι θεοῦ (chariti theou) — “by the grace of God.” χάρις (charis) [BASELINE — reuse: Kerem]. Risk: High (per baseline). This verse is an excellent teaching anchor for the baseline’s core warning: Paul’s transformation from persecutor to apostle is kerem given to the least deserving — the opposite of the Sufi keramet pattern of graces earned by advanced spiritual rank. Recommend flagging this verse specifically for the grace-vs-merit contrast rule already defined in the AI requirements document.
• κενή (kenē) — “empty, in vain, without effect.” Kurdish: “Vala”. Risk: Low.
• ἐκοπίασα (ekopiasa, from κοπιάω kopiaō) — “I labored / worked hard to the point of weariness.” Kurdish: “Min zehmet kişand” (I bore hardship/labored). Risk: Low.

1 Corinthians 15:11

Greek: εἴτε οὖν ἐγὼ εἴτε ἐκεῖνοι, οὕτως κηρύσσομεν καὶ οὕτως ἐπιστεύσατε

• κηρύσσομεν (kēryssomen, from κηρύσσω kēryssō) — “we proclaim / we herald.” Semantic range: authoritative public announcement, not private opinion-sharing. Kurdish: “Em ragihînin” (we proclaim/announce, consistent with baseline’s “Ragihandina Mizgîniyê” — Evangelism doctrine name). Risk: Medium — should be kept consistent with the established “evangelism” doctrine vocabulary from the baseline.
• ἐπιστεύσατε (episteusate) — “you believed.” [BASELINE — reuse: Îman]. Risk: High (per baseline).

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PART B: Chapter-by-Chapter Study of the Whole Book

Chapter 1 — Christian Unity versus Factionalism; The Cross as Wisdom and Power

• σχίσμα (schisma) — Literal: “a tear, split, division” (from the verb “to split/tear,” as of cloth). English variants: “division / schism / faction.” Contextual meaning: the Corinthians’ quarrels over Paul/Apollos/Cephas/Christ factions (1:10-13). Kurdish: “Dabeşbûn” (division/splitting). Risk: High. Kurdish political and social life is famously organized around durable factional rivalries (KDP/PUK intra-Kurdish party division, PKK/KRG tensions, and the deeper aşîret tribal-confederation structure underlying much of this). “Dabeşbûn” risks being read through this lens of entrenched political-factional loyalty rather than Paul’s specific concern: rival allegiance to human teachers within one body. Must be anchored explicitly to Christ as the sole undivided foundation (1:13, “Is Christ divided?”).
• σοφία (sophia) — Literal: “wisdom.” Semantic range: skill, practical discernment, philosophical wisdom, or (in Kurdish Sufi usage) mystical/esoteric insight. English variants: “wisdom / cleverness / philosophy.” Contextual meaning: contrasted sharply with “the word of the cross” — human/worldly wisdom versus God’s wisdom revealed in a crucified Messiah (1:18-25). Kurdish: “Hikmet” (the standard, widely-used term, shared with Sufi vocabulary) with native alternative “Zanebûn” available. Risk: High. Kurdish Sufi tradition (Naqshbandi, Qadiri orders prominent in Kurdistan) treats hikmet as esoteric wisdom disclosed to spiritually advanced masters. Paul’s “wisdom” is the opposite: foolish-looking, publicly preached, available to all who believe, centered on a criminal’s execution rather than mystical attainment. Must be taught against both the world’s philosophical-wisdom default and the Sufi elite-insight default.
• δύναμις θεοῦ (dynamis theou) — [BASELINE — reuse: Hêza Xwedê] (Power of God for Salvation). Risk: Medium (per baseline). Here specifically “the power of God” displayed paradoxically through the cross’s apparent weakness.
• σταυρός (stauros) — Literal: “cross,” specifically the Roman execution stake/beam. English variants: “cross / crucifixion instrument.” Contextual meaning: “the word of the cross” (ho logos tou staurou) is Paul’s shorthand for the entire scandalous gospel message. Kurdish: “Xaç” (established Kurdish word for cross). Risk: Critical. This is the single most direct point of collision with the Qur’anic crucifixion-denial (4:157) shared across mainstream Sunni Islam in all four Kurdish-majority states. Every occurrence of “the cross” in 1 Corinthians (a book saturated with cross-theology, 1:17-18, 1:23, 2:2) must be paired with clear historical-eyewitness anchoring (see 15:3-5 above) rather than assumed as settled common ground.
• μωρία (mōria) — “foolishness.” Kurdish: “Bêaqilî” (mindlessness/folly, native compound). Risk: Medium — must retain Paul’s deliberate irony (what looks foolish is actually God’s wisdom), not flatten to simple negative “stupidity.”
• καυχάομαι (kauchaomai) — “to boast.” Kurdish: “Pesindan / Serbilindî”. Risk: Low, though note honor/shame-sensitive Kurdish social context makes boasting language culturally resonant; keep Paul’s redirection (“let him who boasts, boast in the Lord,” 1:31) explicit.
• κλητοί (klētoi) — “called ones.” [BASELINE — reuse: Bangkirî]. Risk: High (per baseline), applied here to effectual calling to salvation (1:2, 1:24).

Chapter 2 — The Cross as Wisdom and Power (continued)

• ψυχικὸς ἄνθρωπος (psychikos anthrōpos) — Literal: “soulish/natural man.” Semantic range: the unregenerate person operating only by natural human faculties, unable to receive spiritual truth (2:14). Kurdish: “Mirovê xwezayî” (natural man). Risk: High. Anthropological binary care is needed: this is not a claim about intellectual capacity or caste, but spiritual receptivity apart from the Spirit — must not be read as endorsing any hierarchy of “higher” versus “lower” people (a risk given regional Sufi hierarchical spiritual-rank thinking, cf. the keramet note under grace).
• πνευματικὸς ἄνθρωπος (pneumatikos anthrōpos) — “spiritual man.” Kurdish: “Mirovê giyanî” (using giyanî, consistent with baseline’s “Diyariyên Giyanî” spiritual gifts term). Risk: High, paired with above.
• νοῦς Χριστοῦ (nous Christou) — “the mind of Christ” (2:16). Kurdish: “Hiş(mendiya) Mesîh”. Risk: Medium.
• μυστήριον (mystērion) — Literal: “mystery, hidden thing now revealed.” Semantic range: not a puzzle or secret withheld, but a previously hidden divine plan now disclosed to all believers. Kurdish: “Nihênî” (hidden thing) — recommend the fuller phrase “nihêniya ku Xwedê eşkere kir” (the hidden thing God has revealed). Risk: High. Sufi tradition reserves sirr (secret/esoteric truth, an Arabic-origin term with wide regional currency) for advanced initiates on a mystical path. Paul’s “mystery” is the opposite: once hidden, now openly proclaimed to all who believe, not an exclusive gnosis for the spiritually elite. This distinction must be taught explicitly wherever mystērion recurs (2:1, 2:7, 4:1, 13:2, 14:2, 15:51).

Chapter 3 — Church Discipline and Holiness (foundational imagery)

• σαρκικός (sarkikos) — Literal: “fleshly, carnal.” Kurdish: “Bedenî” (of the body/flesh, contrasted with giyanî, spiritual). Risk: Medium — must distinguish from a merely physical/bodily sense; here it names immature, sin-dominated behavior among believers (3:1-3), not physical embodiment itself (which is not sinful, cf. 6:19-20).
• ναὸς θεοῦ (naos theou) — Literal: “temple/sanctuary of God” (the inner shrine, not the whole temple complex). Kurdish: “Perestgeha Xwedê”. Risk: Medium-High. Distinct from “Dêr” (church building, baseline). Here the corporate church itself (and, in ch.6, the individual believer’s body) is God’s dwelling place — a startling claim needing explicit teaching, since it displaces the mosque/shrine/church-building as the primary locus of the sacred in popular religious imagination.
• θεμέλιος (themelios) — “foundation.” Kurdish: “Bingeh” (native). Risk: Low. Christ alone as the one foundation (3:11).
• πῦρ (pyr) — “fire” (testing believers’ works). Kurdish: “Agir”. Risk: Low, standard eschatological-testing imagery.

Chapter 4 — Apostleship and Stewardship

• οἰκονόμος (oikonomos) — Literal: “household manager, steward.” Kurdish: “Rêvebir” (manager, consistent with baseline’s “Rêveberiya Xwedê” root for providence). Risk: Low-Medium. Applied to apostles as stewards of God’s mysteries (4:1-2).
• μυστήρια θεοῦ (mystēria theou) — see ch.2 entry; here “the mysteries of God” entrusted to apostolic stewards. Risk: High, same note as above.
• βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ (basileia tou theou) — [BASELINE — reuse: Padîşahiya Xwedê] (Kingdom of God/Kingdom Mission). Risk: Critical (per baseline) — 4:20, “the kingdom of God is not in talk but in power.” Must retain the baseline’s mandatory anti-nationalist-statehood anchoring.

Chapter 5 — Church Discipline and Holiness

• πορνεία (porneia) — Literal: “sexual immorality” (a broad term covering various illicit sexual acts, distinct from adultery specifically, moicheia). Kurdish: “Zîna” (the established regional term). Risk: Critical. This is a major, distinctly Kurdish-context collision: zîna is not merely a moral-vocabulary word but a specific hudud (fixed-penalty) legal category in Islamic jurisprudence carrying severe judicial and social consequences, and stands adjacent to the honor-killing (“namûs”) framework already flagged as Critical in the baseline’s “law” entry. Paul’s church-discipline instruction in ch.5 (redemptive, restoration-aimed exclusion carried out by the church, “that his spirit may be saved,” 5:5) must be taught as categorically different in purpose and method from both Islamic hadd punishment and tribal honor-based retribution — it seeks repentance and restoration, not punitive vindication of family honor.
• ζύμη (zymē) — “leaven/yeast.” Kurdish: “Xemîr” (standard word for leaven/dough starter). Risk: Low-Medium. The Passover-echoing metaphor (a little leaven corrupts the whole batch, 5:6-8) may need brief cultural explanation, as unleavened-bread religious symbolism is not a live regional Kurdish Muslim custom (though known through shared biblical/Jewish memory and some Yazidi practice); the image itself (small corruption spreading through a community) transfers well once explained.
• παραδοῦναι τῷ Σατανᾷ (paradounai tō Satana) — “to deliver to Satan” (5:5), i.e., formal exclusion from the church community. Kurdish: “Radestî Îblîs kirin” (hand over to Satan/Iblis). Risk: High — must be clarified as temporary, restorative church discipline, not a curse or magical malediction (a meaningful risk given regional folk-belief in curses and the evil eye).

Chapter 6 — Church Discipline and Holiness; Christian Liberty (bodily holiness)

• κρίνειν (krinein) — “to judge/to take to court” (lawsuits among believers before unbelieving judges, 6:1-8). Kurdish: “Doz vekirin” (to open a legal case). Risk: Low-Medium.
• ναὸς τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος (naos tou hagiou pneumatos) — “temple of the Holy Spirit” (6:19), the individual believer’s body as God’s dwelling. Ἅγιον Πνεῦμα [BASELINE — reuse: Ruhê Pîroz]. Risk: Critical (compounding the baseline’s Critical risk on Ruhê Pîroz with the naos/temple risk above) — must be held together as one coherent claim: the individual body, not only the corporate church, is Spirit-indwelt.
• ἠγοράσθητε τιμῆς (ēgorasthēte timēs, from ἀγοράζω agorazō) — Literal: “you were bought at a price” (6:20), marketplace/purchase imagery. Kurdish: “Hûn bi bihayekî hatin kirîn” (you were bought at a price). Risk: Critical. This redemption-as-purchase image needs careful handling in the Kurdish context: historical tribal slave-raiding memory, and more immediately, bride-price/dowry customs (qelen) in which a bride is in some sense “purchased” by a groom’s family, could distort the image toward property-transfer or transactional marriage rather than liberating rescue from sin’s ownership into belonging to God. Must be explicitly taught as costly, liberating rescue (paralleling the “salvation”/rizgarî anchoring rule), not commodification of a person.

Chapter 7 — Marriage and Singleness

• γάμος (gamos) — “marriage.” Kurdish: “Zewac” (standard term). Risk: Medium. Must avoid importing the Islamic marriage-contract (nikah) framework’s distinctive features (e.g., polygamy allowance, differing divorce procedure) into Paul’s specific pastoral instructions, which assume monogamous, mutual-consent marriage.
• παρθένος (parthenos) — “virgin.” Kurdish: “Bakîre”. Risk: High. Virginity/honor (namûs) carries enormous social weight in Kurdish tribal culture; Paul’s neutral-to-positive treatment of the “virgins” question (whether to marry) in 7:25-38 is about a voluntary devotional choice, not primarily about family honor status — this distinction must be made explicit to avoid the passage being absorbed into the culture’s honor-based purity framework.
• ἄγαμος (agamos) — “unmarried, single.” Kurdish: “Bêzewac” (native compound). Risk: High. Singleness is culturally undervalued in a marriage- and lineage-centered Kurdish tribal (aşîret) society (cf. the baseline’s adoption entry on lineage-driven default structures). Paul’s positive teaching on singleness for “undivided devotion to the Lord” (7:32-35) runs directly against the cultural default that full adult social personhood requires marriage and children, and must be taught deliberately, not assumed as intuitive.
• δοῦλος / ἐλεύθερος (doulos / eleutheros) — “slave / free person” (7:21-23). Kurdish: “Xulam / Azad” (using Azad/Azadî; see risk note under ch.8’s eleutheria below — this word choice recurs and carries the same political-liberation resonance flagged already for rizgarî). Risk: High.
• περιτομή / ἀκροβυστία (peritomē / akrobystia) — “circumcision / uncircumcision” (7:18-19). Kurdish: “Sinetkirin / Nesinetkirî”. Risk: Medium — circumcision is a nearly universal Kurdish Muslim cultural practice performed for religious-identity reasons; Paul’s point (“neither counts for anything, but keeping God’s commandments”) must be clearly taught as relativizing this identity marker in Christ, which may be an unexpectedly sensitive claim.
• κλῆσις (klēsis) — [BASELINE — reuse: Vexwendin] — “calling,” here specifically one’s calling/station in life at conversion (7:17-24, “each should remain in the condition in which he was called”). Risk: High (per baseline), applied to a new context (social station) requiring explicit clarification that this is not a fatalistic sanctioning of unjust conditions (e.g., slavery) as permanent or ideal.

Chapter 8 — Christian Liberty and Idol Meat

• εἰδωλόθυτον (eidōlothyton) — Literal: “meat sacrificed to an idol.” Kurdish: “Goştê ji bo Pûtan Qurban kirî” (meat offered in sacrifice to idols). Risk: Critical. This maps with unusual directness onto the region’s dominant halal/haram dietary-law framework (Islamic dhabiha slaughter rules, prohibited foods) — a live, daily-practiced category for the vast majority of the Kurdish audience. Paul’s argument (idols are nothing, so the meat itself is neutral, but love for weaker consciences may still require abstaining) risks being assimilated into a fixed halal/haram ruling rather than taught as a matter of Christian liberty governed by love, which is precisely Paul’s more nuanced point.
• γνῶσις (gnōsis) — “knowledge” (8:1, “knowledge puffs up, but love builds up”). Kurdish: “Zanîn” (native). Risk: High. Parallels the ch.1 hikmet/wisdom collision: regional Sufi ma’rifa (esoteric spiritual knowledge granted to advanced seekers) risks reframing Paul’s “knowledge” as a mark of spiritual advancement rather than the potentially prideful, love-lacking thing Paul is actually critiquing.
• συνείδησις (syneidēsis) — “conscience.” Kurdish: “Wîjdan” (standard modern term). Risk: Medium. Generally compatible concept; ensure it is taught as an internal moral faculty that can be “weak” (uninstructed) or “defiled,” not an infallible guide.
• πρόσκομμα (proskomma) — “stumbling block” (8:9). Kurdish: “Astengî” (obstacle). Risk: Low.
• ἐξουσία (exousia) — “right, authority, freedom [to act]” (8:9). Kurdish: “Maf” (right) preferred over “Azadî” here specifically to avoid the political-liberation collision. Risk: High — recommend “maf” (right/entitlement) rather than “azadî” (freedom) wherever exousia denotes a personal prerogative that may need to be voluntarily foregone for love’s sake, since “azadî” too easily invites the nationalist-liberation resonance already flagged for rizgarî in the baseline.
• εἷς θεός … εἷς κύριος (heis theos … heis kyrios) — “one God … one Lord” (8:6). [BASELINE — reuse: Xwedê / Xudan]. Risk: Critical. The first half (“one God, the Father”) resonates strongly, even reassuringly, with regional tawhid monotheism — a genuine point of contact. The second half (“one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things”) is where the collision occurs: it places Christ within the identity of the one God as co-agent of creation, which must not be softened into a merely honorific “lord” alongside, or subordinate to, the “one God.”

Chapter 9 — Christian Liberty (apostolic rights and self-discipline)

• ἐξουσία (exousia) — “right” (to receive support, 9:4-6, 12, 18). Risk: High, same as ch.8.
• μισθός (misthos) — “reward, wage.” Kurdish: “Xelat” (reward) or “Meaş” (wage) depending on context. Risk: Low-Medium — must not be read as earning salvation (cf. baseline’s grace-vs-merit rule); this is reward for faithful ministry, not the ground of standing before God.
• ὑπωπιάζω (hypōpiazō) — Literal: “to strike under the eye, to buffet/subdue” (9:27, of Paul’s body). Kurdish: “Laşê xwe kontrol kirin / binê xwe hiştin” (bring one’s body under control). Risk: Low.
• βραβεῖον (brabeion) — “prize” (athletic-race metaphor, 9:24). Kurdish: “Xelata Serkeftinê”. Risk: Low.

Chapter 10 — Christian Liberty and Idol Meat; The Lord’s Supper (anticipated)

• εἰδωλολατρία (eidōlolatria) — “idolatry.” Kurdish: “Pûtperestî” (idol-worship, native/standard compound). Risk: Medium-High — literal cultic idol-worship is not the daily-lived category it once was for most of the Kurdish audience (though Yazidi and other minority religious practices are sometimes mischaracterized this way by outsiders, a sensitivity to note); the text’s warning must be extended to any rival ultimate allegiance, not merely statue-worship.
• κοινωνία (koinōnia) — here specifically “the cup … a participation (koinōnia) in the blood of Christ” (10:16). [BASELINE — reuse: Hevaltî] for general fellowship, but flagged separately here because this is a deeper, sacramental participation-sense, not mere social fellowship. Risk: High — recommend a distinct phrase for this sacramental sense, e.g., “beşdarî” (participation/sharing) rather than relying on “hevaltî” alone, to avoid the political “comrade” resonance the baseline already notes for hevaltî bleeding into Communion theology.
• τράπεζα κυρίου / τράπεζα δαιμονίων (trapeza kyriou / trapeza daimoniōn) — “table of the Lord / table of demons” (10:21). Kurdish: “Sifreya Xudan / Sifreya cinan” (using established Xudan for Lord). Risk: High — must be clear these are ritual cultic meals with real spiritual allegiance implications, not merely dinner tables.
• τύπος (typos) — “example, type” (10:6, 11 — OT Israel’s wilderness history as “types” written for our instruction). Kurdish: “Nimûne”. Risk: Low-Medium.

Chapter 11 — Order in Worship; The Lord’s Supper

• κεφαλή (kephalē) — Literal: “head.” Semantic range: physical head; metaphorically, source, authority-over, or preeminence (contested among interpreters). Kurdish: “Ser” (native). Risk: High. Kurdish tribal/social structure has an unusually strong hierarchical “head/serok” concept (tribal chief, party leader) shaping how “headship” language will land. Both directions of misreading are live risks: (a) importing harsh tribal-patriarchal domination into Christ-Church and husband-wife relationships, or (b) draining the term of any relational-order content to avoid controversy. Requires careful, explicit theological framing rather than a bare literal rendering.
• κατακαλύπτω (katakalyptō) — “to cover (the head).” Kurdish: “Serê xwe pêçandin / venêartin”. Risk: High. Head-covering is a live, religiously-coded daily practice regionally (Islamic hijab), with a theological rationale (modesty, religious law/obedience) quite different from Paul’s stated argument (creation order, cultural propriety, “because of the angels,” 11:10). Must avoid the passage being read as endorsing, or as a Christian version of, Islamic veiling requirements; the underlying rationale differs even where the practice may look similar.
• κυριακὸν δεῖπνον (kyriakon deipnon) — “the Lord’s Supper” (11:20). Kurdish: “Şîva Xudan” (using established Xudan). Risk: Critical. New sacramental term for this curriculum (no direct antecedent in the Romans baseline). No mainstream regional Islamic ritual parallel exists, but the region’s ancient Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac Christian heritage (noted in the baseline’s “church” entry) may offer a liturgical resource. Risk is bidirectional: teach against both bare memorialism that empties the meal of all significance, and ritual-magic readings (possibly influenced by folk-religious or Yazidi communal sacred-meal practices) that would treat the elements as magically potent apart from faith.
• σῶμα / αἷμα (sōma / haima) — “body / blood” (of Christ, in the Supper). Kurdish: “Laş / Xwîn”. Risk: Medium-High — context must clearly disambiguate this literal, sacramental sense from the metaphorical “body of Christ” (the church, ch.12) sense of sōma, since both occur within a few chapters of each other.
• ἀνάμνησις (anamnēsis) — “remembrance” (11:24-25, “do this in remembrance of me”). Kurdish: “Bîranîn”. Risk: Low-Medium.
• ἀναξίως (anaxiōs) — “in an unworthy manner” (11:27). Kurdish: “Bi awayekî nebaş / neguncan”. Risk: Medium — must convey self-examination regarding one’s spiritual state and regard for the body/community, not merely liturgical etiquette.
• διακρίνων τὸ σῶμα (diakrinōn to sōma) — “discerning the body” (11:29). Kurdish: “Laş nas kirin/cudakirin”. Risk: High — ambiguous even in Greek scholarship (the literal elements vs. the gathered church body); flag for theologian review either way.

Chapter 12 — Spiritual Gifts and the Body of Christ

• χαρίσματα (charismata) — [BASELINE — reuse: Diyariyên Giyanî] (Spiritual Gifts). Risk: Medium (per baseline).
• σῶμα Χριστοῦ (sōma Christou) — “body of Christ” (metaphorical, corporate). Kurdish: “Laşê Mesîh”, understood metaphorically for the church (reinforcing the baseline’s “Church as God’s People” doctrine). Risk: High — see the ch.11 disambiguation note; context markers should be used consistently (e.g., “wek laşekî” — “as a body,” signaling metaphor) to keep this distinct from the literal Supper referent.
• μέλη (melē) — “members (of the body).” Kurdish: “Endam”. Risk: Medium.
• βαπτίζω / βάπτισμα (baptizō / baptisma) — Literal: “to dip, immerse / immersion.” New term for this curriculum (not present in the Romans baseline glossary, though Romans 6 discusses the concept without the transliterated noun). Kurdish: “Imad” (established loanword rooted in regional Syriac Christian usage, reflecting Kurdistan’s ancient Assyrian/Chaldean Christian heritage). Risk: Critical. Islamic ritual ablution practices (wudu, ghusl) are a live daily-practiced regional category involving water and ritual purification before prayer; baptism must be clearly taught as a once-for-all public identification with Christ’s death and resurrection and incorporation into his body (12:13), not a repeatable ritual-cleanliness act analogous to wudu. Recommend this term be formally added to translation memory given its Critical risk and cross-book (Romans 6 concept, 1 Corinthians 12:13) relevance.
• γένη γλωσσῶν (genē glōssōn) — “kinds of tongues.” γλῶσσα (glōssa), literal “tongue,” here “language/ecstatic utterance.” Kurdish: “Cûreyên Zimanan”, recommend qualifying as “zimanên nenas” (unfamiliar/unknown tongues) where context indicates ecstatic (not ordinary foreign-language) speech. Risk: Critical. Kurdish Sufi orders (Naqshbandi, Qadiri) practice dhikr — rhythmic, sometimes ecstatic vocalization and trance states in devotional gatherings — a genuine indigenous devotional parallel that could cause “tongues” to be assimilated into an existing mystical-ecstasy framework rather than understood as a specific, Spirit-given, intelligible-when-interpreted gift exercised for the church’s edification under Paul’s regulated order (see ch.14).
• ἑρμηνεία γλωσσῶν (hermēneia glōssōn) — “interpretation of tongues.” Kurdish: “Şirovekirina Zimanan”. Risk: Medium, paired with the above.
• ἰάματα (iamata) — “healings” (gifts of healing). Kurdish: “Şifa” (established, widely-used term for healing). Risk: Medium — şifa also carries strong folk-Islamic and Qur’anic-recitation healing-practice associations (e.g., ruqyah); must be taught as a sovereign Spirit-given enablement, not a formulaic incantation or amulet-based practice.
• ἐνεργήματα δυνάμεων (energēmata dynameōn) — “workings of miracles/powers.” Kurdish: “Kiryarên Hêzê”. Risk: Low-Medium.
• διακρίσεις πνευμάτων (diakriseis pneumatōn) — “distinguishing/discerning of spirits.” Kurdish: “Cihêrengiya Giyanan”. Risk: Medium — important given regional folk-belief in jinn and spirit-discernment practices; must be anchored as a Spirit-given gift for testing claims against the gospel, not folk exorcism technique.

Chapter 13 — Love as the Greater Way

• ἀγάπη (agapē) — Literal: “love” — self-giving, others-oriented, covenantal love, without erotic or merely affectionate connotation. English variants: “love / charity” (older translations). Contextual meaning: the “more excellent way” (12:31) surpassing even the most spectacular spiritual gifts; defined by action (13:4-7) rather than feeling. Kurdish: “Evîn” (the term used in established Kurdish Bible translation tradition for agapē). Risk: Critical. This is among the highest-stakes lexical choices in the entire curriculum. “Evîn” is the central word of Kurdish classical Sufi and epic literature — most famously Ehmedê Xanî’s Mem û Zîn, the great Kurdish national love epic, and the mystical love-poetry of Melayê Cizîrî — where it denotes passionate, often erotically-charged romantic love and/or mystical longing for union with the Divine Beloved (a register the baseline itself already flags as a resource for warmth in Romans 8/12, with the caution that the lover/beloved metaphor must not be confused with the paternal one). In 1 Corinthians 13, “evîn” must be filled with entirely different content: patient, kind, not jealous, not self-seeking, keeping no record of wrongs, enduring — a deliberate, willed, self-giving orientation toward others’ good, not passionate desire or mystical absorption-longing. Every occurrence of ch.13 must actively teach against the romantic/mystical default this word otherwise carries.
• οὐ λογίζεται τὸ κακόν (ou logizetai to kakon) — “keeps no record of wrongs” (13:5). Kurdish: “Xerabiyan tomar nake” (does not record wrongs). Risk: High. This directly confronts Kurdish tribal blood-feud culture (heyf/tolhildan, generational vengeance-keeping between clans, already noted in the baseline’s intercession entry regarding tribal reconciliation customs), where recording and eventually avenging wrongs is a deeply embedded social value. This clause should be flagged as a significant, culturally pointed teaching opportunity, not merely a general ethical statement.
• οὐ ζηλοῖ / οὐ περπερεύεται / οὐ φυσιοῦται (ou zēloi / ou perpereuetai / ou physioutai) — “does not envy / does not boast / is not arrogant” (13:4). Kurdish: “Neçavnebar e / Xwe pesn nade / Nefre nake”. Risk: Low-Medium, standard ethical vocabulary.
• τὸ ἐκ μέρους / τὸ τέλειον (to ek merous / to teleion) — “the partial / the complete (perfect)” (13:9-10). Kurdish: “Kêm / Bêkêmasî (temam)”. Risk: Low-Medium, eschatological-completion contrast.
• πίστις, ἐλπίς, ἀγάπη (pistis, elpis, agapē) — “faith, hope, love” (13:13). πίστις [BASELINE — reuse: Îman]. ἐλπίς (elpis) — “hope,” new term: Kurdish “Hêvî” (native, standard). Risk: Low. The climactic statement “the greatest of these is love” reinforces the agapē risk-note above.

Chapter 14 — Order in Worship; Spiritual Gifts (continued)

• προφητεία (prophēteia) / γλῶσσα (glōssa) compared throughout — see ch.12 entries; risk notes carry over unchanged, with the added emphasis here on intelligibility and edification of the whole church as the governing criterion (14:1-25).
• οἰκοδομή (oikodomē) — “edification, building up.” Kurdish: “Avakirin” (reusing the root already established in the baseline’s “Mutual Edification” doctrine, “Avakirina Hevpar”). Risk: Low.
• τάξις / εὐσχημόνως (taxis / euschēmonōs) — “order / decently, becomingly” (14:40, “all things should be done decently and in order”). Kurdish: “Rêz û Rêk”. Risk: Low.
• σιγάτω (sigatō, from σιγάω sigaō) — “let [her] be silent” (14:34, the women-in-church passage). Kurdish: “Bila bêdeng bimîne”. Risk: Critical — flagged for mandatory human theologian review given long-standing interpretive complexity even within the Christian tradition. Distinctly for a Kurdish audience: contemporary Kurdish political movements (notably the YPJ/women’s units and broader gender-equality rhetoric within parts of the Kurdish nationalist movement, especially in Rojava) have made women’s public leadership a celebrated ideal in some Kurdish social contexts, creating a markedly different reception environment than in many neighboring language communities — both a potential source of resistance to a plain-sense reading and an occasion for careful, non-reactionary pastoral teaching that neither dismisses the text nor imports an unexamined cultural framework onto it either direction.

Chapter 15 — The Resurrection of Christ and Believers (remainder of chapter, vv. 12-58; see Part A above for vv. 1-11)

• ἀπαρχή (aparchē) — “firstfruits” (15:20, 23 — Christ as the firstfruits of the resurrection harvest). Kurdish: “Fêkiyên Pêşîn” (first fruits). Risk: Critical — the guarantee-logic (Christ’s resurrection as the first installment guaranteeing believers’ future resurrection) is central to the doctrine and must not be lost in translation as a merely decorative agricultural metaphor.
• ὁ ἔσχατος Ἀδάμ (ho eschatos Adam) — “the last Adam” (15:45), contrasted with “the first man Adam.” Kurdish: “Adema Dawî”. Risk: High — requires the Adam-Christ federal-headship typology (already flagged as High-risk against the region’s fitrah/innate-purity doctrine in the baseline’s “Universal Human Accountability” entry) to be taught explicitly; without it, “last Adam” is an opaque title.
• σῶμα ψυχικόν / σῶμα πνευματικόν (sōma psychikon / sōma pneumatikon) — “natural body / spiritual body” (15:44). Kurdish: “Laşê xwezayî / Laşê giyanî”. Risk: Critical. Direct continuity with the baseline’s resurrection entry: this is the single passage most likely to be assimilated into Yazidi “kiras guhertin” (soul’s transmigration through successive bodily “garments”) if not handled with deliberate care — Paul’s “spiritual body” is a transformed, still-physical, still-numerically-continuous body, not a new incarnation in a different vessel through a repeating cycle.
• ἀφθαρσία / ἀθανασία (aphtharsia / athanasia) — “imperishability / immortality” (15:53-54). Kurdish: “Nemirbûn” (undying-ness, covering both senses). Risk: Medium.
• τὸ κέντρον τοῦ θανάτου (to kentron tou thanatou) — “the sting of death” (15:55-56). Kurdish: “Derziya Mirinê”. Risk: Low-Medium, vivid image requiring no major cultural adjustment.
• νῖκος (nikos) — “victory” (15:54-57, “death is swallowed up in victory… thanks be to God who gives us the victory”). Kurdish: “Serkeftin”. Risk: Medium. “Serkeftin” is prominent in Kurdish political-liberation rhetoric (parallel to the baseline’s caution on rizgarî/azadî); this spiritual victory over sin and death must be kept distinct from national-political victory language, though the resonance can be a homiletic asset once explicitly anchored.

Chapter 16 — Closing Instructions

• λογεία (logeia) — “collection” (for the saints in Jerusalem, 16:1-2). Kurdish: “Berhevkirina Diyariyan” (gathering of gifts/offering). Risk: Low.
• Μαρὰν ἀθά (Maranatha) — Aramaic, retained untranslated in the Greek text, “Our Lord, come!” (or “Our Lord has come”). Kurdish: retain transliterated as “Maranata”, following the same preservation principle the baseline applies to “Abba” (Romans 8:15). Risk: Medium-High — an ancient, intensely eschatological prayer-cry; should be footnoted rather than fully domesticated, preserving its foreign, primitive-church texture the way “Aba” is preserved.
• φίλημα ἅγιον (philēma hagion) — “holy kiss” (16:20). Kurdish: “Maçîka Pîroz”. Risk: Low — cheek-kissing as a same-gender greeting custom is already a normal regional social practice, a genuine point of natural fit; note should clarify the New Testament context (same-gender greeting among believers) to avoid any modern romantic misreading.
• ἀπόστολοι, ἅγιοι (apostoloi, hagioi) and other recurring terms in the greetings — [BASELINE — reuse: Şandî, Pîrozan]. No new risk.

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Coverage Confirmation

All sixteen chapters of 1 Corinthians have been reviewed. Chapters 1-15 each contribute load-bearing new theological vocabulary as documented above (chapter 15 treated in two parts: the core passage vv.1-11 in Part A, and vv.12-58 in Part B). Chapter 16 contributes closing-instruction vocabulary (collection, Maranatha, holy kiss) plus reuse of established terms; it is explicitly confirmed reviewed and is not silently omitted, notwithstanding its comparatively low independent doctrinal risk profile relative to chapters 1-15.