Core Glossary
Core Glossary: 1 Timothy
This glossary extends the Romans baseline Language Package. Section A lists terms already established in translation_memory.json that recur in 1 Timothy — these renderings are reused exactly, with no changes, per the hard rule that established terms must not be altered. Section B lists new terms first required by 1 Timothy, proposed for addition to translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json in the next version increment. Section C lists new doctrines requiring extension of doctrine_risk_registry.json.
Section A — Reused Baseline Terms (No Changes; Cited by 1 Timothy Occurrence)
| Term (EN) | Kurdish (TM) | Risk (baseline) | 1 Timothy Occurrences | Note for 1 Timothy Usage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| gospel | Mizgînî | Medium | 1:11 | ”the gospel of the glory of the blessed God” — Paul’s own commission. |
| grace | Kerem | High | 1:2, 1:14, 6:21 | Opening/closing greeting formula and Paul’s testimony of grace overcoming his violent past. |
| faith | Îman | High | throughout (1:2,4,5,14,19; 2:7,15; 3:9,13; 4:1,6,12; 5:8,12; 6:10,11,12,21) | Context-sensitive: personal trust (most occurrences) vs. objective body of doctrine (1:19; 3:9; 4:1,6; 6:10,21) vs. a specific vow/pledge (5:12, see Section B note). |
| salvation | Rizgarî | Critical | 1:15; 2:4; 4:16 | Must retain the baseline’s mandatory personal/spiritual anchoring at every occurrence; see new Rizgarkar (Savior) entry below, which intensifies the same risk. |
| apostle | Şandî | Medium | 1:1; 2:7 | Paul’s self-designation grounding his authority to write the letter’s instructions. |
| holy | Pîroz | Medium | 2:8 (“holy hands”) | See semantic analysis note distinguishing inward moral purity from ritual ablution-posture expectations. |
| sanctification | Teqdîs | High | 4:5 | ”sanctified through the word of God and prayer” — of food/creation received thankfully, not a ritual-purity act. |
| church | Dêr / Civata Mesîhî | High | 3:5, 3:15 | ”church of God,” “household of God… church of the living God” — reuse Civata Mesîhî for the gathered-people sense here. |
| law | Şerîeta Mûsa | Critical | 1:7-9 | NEVER bare “Şerîet” or “Namûs” — forbidden-substitution rule applies unchanged. |
| sin | Guneh | High | throughout (1:9,15; 5:20,22,24) | Standard usage; no new risk beyond the baseline note. |
| gentiles | Ne-cihû | Medium | 2:7 | ”teacher of the Gentiles.” |
| glory | Rûmet | Medium | 1:11, 1:17 | Reserved for divine glory; do not reuse for σεμνότης (dignity) — see Section B. |
| lord | Xudan | Critical | 1:2,12,14; 6:3,14,15 (superlative form) | NEVER apply to human masters (δεσπόται, 6:1-2) — see Axa entry, Section B. |
| jesus | Îsa | Critical | throughout | No change. |
| messiah/christ | Mesîh | Critical | throughout | No change. |
| god | Xwedê | Critical | throughout | No change. |
| holy_spirit | Ruhê Pîroz | Critical | 4:1 (“the Spirit expressly says”) | No change; do not confuse with “deceitful spirits” (Section B), which share only the grammatical word ruh. |
| father | Bav | High | (implicit in “God our Father,” 1:2) | No change. |
| spiritual_gifts | Diyariyên Giyanî | Medium | 4:14 (singular form, see Section B) | Singular χάρισμα requires singular Kurdish form; always retain giyanî. |
| thanksgiving | Spasî | Low | 2:1; 4:3-4 | No change. |
| fellowship | Hevaltî | Low | 6:18 (κοινωνικός, adjectival form) | Root reused adjectivally for “willing to share/generous.” |
| power_of_god | Hêza Xwedê | Medium | 1:12 (ἐνδυναμόω, “he who has strengthened me”) | Root hêz reused verbally. |
| providence | Rêveberiya Xwedê | Medium | 1:4 (οἰκονομία, related but distinct — see Birêvebirina Xwedê, Section B) | Keep the two terms distinct; do not conflate. |
| prophecy | Pêxemberî | Low | 1:18; 4:14 | Standard usage. |
| intercession | Navbeynkarî | High | 2:1 (ἔντευξις) | One of the four Romans 2:1 prayer-terms; root reused for Navbeynkar (mediator), Section B. |
| election | Hilbijartin | High | 5:21 (“the elect angels”) | Different referent (angels, not people) from Romans usage; low incremental risk, brief note only. |
| exhort | Handan kirin / Şîret kirin | Low | throughout (1:3; 2:1; 5:1; 6:2) | Context-sensitive per baseline note. |
Section B — New Terms First Required by 1 Timothy
| # | Term (EN) | Original (Greek) | Transliteration | Kurdish Rendering | Risk | Doctrine | Rejected Alternatives | Risk Rationale | Key Passages |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | overseer / bishop (office) | ἐπίσκοπος / ἐπισκοπή | episkopos / episkopē | Çavdêr / Çavdêrî | High | Qualifications for Church Leadership | — | Native calque (“over-seer”) avoiding direct collision with regional clerical titles (mele, þêx, imam) that carry hereditary/credentialed religious authority; must be taught as a character-qualified service office, not an independent clerical rank. | 3:1-2 |
| 2 | elder (office) | πρεσβύτερος | presbyteros | Rîspî (formal office); generic age-sense: mirovê temenmezin | High | Qualifications for Church Leadership | Pîr (rejected — collides with the Romans baseline’s High-risk Sufi hereditary shrine-master term) | Reuses the real Kurdish tribal (aşîret) “council of respected elders” concept — a positive structural bridge, but risks importing age/lineage-based qualification logic in place of the text’s character-and-doctrine-based standard. Also context-sensitive: same Greek word denotes a generic “older man” in 5:1. | 4:14; 5:1,17,19 |
| 3 | council of elders | πρεσβυτέριον | presbyterion | Civata Rîspiyan | High | Qualifications for Church Leadership | — | Compound of #2; same tribal-council resonance and risk. | 4:14 |
| 4 | deacon (office) | διάκονος | diakonos | Xizmetkar | High | Qualifications for Church Leadership | — | Context-sensitive with the generic “servant/minister” sense (used of Timothy, 4:6); must be clearly marked as the formal office in 3:8-13. | 3:8,10,12,13 |
| 5 | husband of one wife | μιᾶς γυναικὸς ἄνδρα | mias gynaikos andra | Mêrê ku tenê yek jinê heye | Critical | Qualifications for Church Leadership | — | Direct, concrete confrontation with regionally-permitted and still-practiced polygamy (Sunni and Shia law alike permit up to four wives); mandatory theologian review at every occurrence given real pastoral stakes for polygamous converts. | 3:2,12; 5:9 (reversed form) |
| 6 | godliness | εὐσέβεια | eusebeia | Xwedaparêzî | High | Godliness and Contentment | Perhîzkarî (considered, not primary — too narrowly tied to ritual/dietary abstinence) | The book’s single most frequent distinctive term; risk of collapsing into ritual/ascetic piety rather than comprehensive reverent living flowing from faith in Christ. | 2:2; 3:16; 4:7,8; 5:4; 6:3,5,6,11 |
| 7 | contentment | αὐτάρκεια | autarkeia | Razîbûn | Medium | Godliness and Contentment | — | Risk of passive-fatalistic misreading (echoing regional folk qadar-fatalism); must be taught as active trust in God’s provision, not resignation. | 6:6 |
| 8 | love of money | φιλαργυρία | philargyria | Evîna Pereyan | Medium | Godliness and Contentment | — | Straightforward compound; keep consistent across 3:3 (ἀφιλάργυρος, negated) and 6:10. | 3:3; 6:10 |
| 9 | mediator | μεσίτης | mesitēs | Navbeynkar | Critical | Christ as the One Mediator | — | The book’s most theologically loaded single term: “one mediator” excludes intercession through saints, Sufi pîrs, and the Prophet’s shafa’a — the specifically non-shared claim beneath the shared “one God” ground. Mandatory theologian review at every occurrence. | 2:5 |
| 10 | ransom | ἀντίλυτρον | antilytron | Bihayê Rizgariyê | Critical | Christ as the One Mediator | Fîdye (rejected — narrow Islamic legal sense of compensatory payment for a missed religious obligation) | Must convey substitutionary self-giving for sin, not a legal-transactional payment. | 2:6 |
| 11 | Savior (personal title) | σωτήρ | sōtēr | Rizgarkar | Critical | Christ as the One Mediator / Salvation | — | Intensifies the baseline’s flagged Rizgarî political-liberation risk by personifying it in a “liberator” title readily assimilable to Kurdish national-liberator/martyr rhetoric; mandatory explicit personal/spiritual anchoring at every occurrence. | 1:1; 2:3; 4:10 |
| 12 | mystery | μυστήριον | mystērion | Sir | High | The Church as Pillar of Truth / Sound Doctrine | — | Collides with Sufi sir/esrar (esoteric knowledge for advanced initiates); must be taught as truth once hidden but now openly proclaimed to all, the inverse of the Sufi sense. | 3:9,16 |
| 13 | conscience | συνείδησις | syneidēsis | Wijdan | Medium | Sound Doctrine versus False Teaching | — | Broadly compatible regional loanword; must answer to God, not be reduced to social honor/shame propriety. | 1:5,19; 3:9; 4:2 |
| 14 | sound doctrine / teaching | ὑγιαίνουσα διδασκαλία / διδασκαλία | hygiainousa didaskalia / didaskalia | Fêrkirina Saxlem / Fêrkirin | High | Sound Doctrine versus False Teaching | — | Core term of the letter’s central doctrine; must be anchored to the apostolic deposit, not personal speculation or shifting “different teaching.” | 1:10; 4:1,6,13,16; 6:1,3 |
| 15 | myth | μῦθος | mythos | Efsane | Medium | Sound Doctrine versus False Teaching | — | Standard shared regional word; low independent risk beyond context. | 1:4; 4:7 |
| 16 | endless genealogies | γενεαλογίαι ἀπέραντοι | genealogiai aperantoi | Þecereyên bêdawî | Medium-High | Sound Doctrine versus False Teaching | — | Tension with the high cultural value Kurdish aşîret society places on lineage; must not be heard as devaluing ancestry generally. | 1:4 |
| 17 | household of God | οἶκος θεοῦ | oikos theou | Mala Xwedê | High | The Church as Pillar of Truth | — | Must be distinguished from Islamic Beytullah (the Kaaba) and from the tribal/clan sense of “mal”; the church as spiritual family transcending blood lineage. | 3:15 |
| 18 | pillar and foundation of the truth | στῦλος καὶ ἑδραίωμα τῆς ἀληθείας | stylos kai hedraiōma tēs alētheias | Stûn û Bingeha Rastiyê | High | The Church as Pillar of Truth | — | Two-directional risk: over-reading as church infallibility (parallel to Qur’anic-preservation claims) vs. under-reading given the regional tahrif assumption about Scripture; church is truth’s servant/witness, not its source. | 3:15 |
| 19 | mystery of godliness | τὸ τῆς εὐσεβείας μυστήριον | to tēs eusebeias mystērion | Sira Xwedaparêziyê | Critical | The Church as Pillar of Truth / Incarnation (baseline) | — | Introduces the 3:16 Christ-hymn, directly overlapping the baseline’s Critical Incarnation/Deity/Resurrection doctrines; every clause requires theologian review. | 3:16 |
| 20 | falsely-called knowledge | ψευδώνυμος γνῶσις | pseudōnymos gnōsis | ”Zanîna” ku bi xeletî wisa tê binavkirin | High | Sound Doctrine versus False Teaching | — | Parallels Sufi irfan/marifa (esoteric mystical knowledge) and esoteric Yazidi religious knowledge; reinforces the μυστήριον corrective — true gospel truth is open, not restricted-elite knowledge. | 6:20 |
| 21 | guard the deposit | παραθήκη (φύλαξον) | parathēkē | Emanet (Emaneta […] biparêze) | Critical | Guarding the Deposit of Faith | — | Deep resonance with Qur’anic al-amanah (Q33:72), the cosmic moral trust; a genuine bridge term but must be sharply anchored to the specific apostolic gospel deposit, never left as a generalized moral-trust concept. Highest-priority term for next TM version. | 6:20 (cf. 1:18-19) |
| 22 | deceitful spirits / teachings of demons | πνεῦμα πλάνον / δαιμόνιον | pneuma planon / daimonion | Ruhên xapînok / Cin | High | Sound Doctrine versus False Teaching | — | Regional (Islamic and Yazidi) jinn tradition holds a morally mixed class of spirit-beings, unlike the NT’s uniformly evil, rebellious demons; must be taught explicitly. | 4:1 |
| 23 | man of God | ἄνθρωπος θεοῦ | anthrōpos theou | Mirovê Xwedê | Medium | Guarding the Deposit of Faith | — | Risk of assimilation to the regional “wali” (venerated Muslim saint) concept; addresses Timothy’s calling/responsibility, not elevated sanctity or intercessory status. | 6:11 |
| 24 | fight the good fight (of faith) | ἀγωνίζου τὸν καλὸν ἀγῶνα (τῆς πίστεως) | agōnizou ton kalon agōna (tēs pisteōs) | Þerê baþ (ê îmanê) bike | High | Godliness and Contentment / Guarding the Deposit | Têkoşîn (rejected as primary — the defining term of the Kurdish national liberation struggle) | Deliberately avoids fusing spiritual perseverance with the specific têkoşîna rizgariyê political-liberation narrative; compounds the baseline’s rizgarî caution. | 1:18; 6:12 |
| 25 | steadfastness / endurance | ὑπομονή | hypomonē | Sebir (default); Berxwedan (flagged alternative) | High | Godliness and Contentment | — | Berxwedan carries strong contemporary political-military resistance resonance (e.g., “berxwedana Kobanê”); Sebir recommended as the lower-risk default pending per-context theologian decision. | 6:11 |
| 26 | eternal life | αἰώνιος ζωή | aiōnios zōē | Jiyana Herheyî | Critical | Guarding the Deposit of Faith / Resurrection (baseline) | — | Must be sharply distinguished from the Yazidi reincarnation doctrine (kiras guhertin) already flagged Critical in the baseline’s resurrection entry: one continuous unending life, never a repeating cycle. | 6:12,19 |
| 27 | King of kings and Lord of lords | βασιλεὺς τῶν βασιλευόντων καὶ κύριος τῶν κυριευόντων | basileus tōn basileuontōn kai kyrios tōn kyrieuontōn | Padîþahê Padîþehan û Xudanê Xudanan | Critical | Christ as the One Mediator / Kingdom Mission (baseline) | — | Superlative extension of the baseline’s Critical Kingdom-of-God and Lord entries; must never be heard as commenting on, endorsing, or rivaling any regional political sovereignty question, including Kurdish statehood. | 6:15 |
| 28 | the good confession | ἡ καλὴ ὁμολογία | hē kalē homologia | Îkrar | Medium | Christ as the One Mediator | Îtîraf (rejected — connotes confessing guilt/wrongdoing in regional usage) | Must read as a bold positive declaration of allegiance/truth, not an admission of fault. | 6:12-13 |
| 29 | laying on of hands | ἐπίθεσις τῶν χειρῶν | epithesis tōn cheirōn | Danîna Destan | High | Qualifications for Church Leadership | — | Risk of assimilation to folk-healing hand-laying or Sufi shaykh baraka-transfer ritual; teach as symbolic commissioning with prayer, not power-transfer. | 4:14; 5:22 |
| 30 | prayer (general) | προσευχή | proseuchē | Dua | Medium | Public Worship and Prayer | — | Positive shared vocabulary with Islamic dua-prayer, but must be distinguished as prayer offered through the one Mediator, not ritual formula or other intercessors. | 2:1 |
| 31 | one God, one mediator | εἷς θεός, εἷς μεσίτης | heis theos, heis mesitēs | Yek Xwedê… yek Navbeynkar | Critical | Christ as the One Mediator | — | “One God” is genuine shared ground with tawhid theology; “one mediator” is the specifically Christian, contested exclusivity claim. Mandatory theologian review. | 2:5 |
| 32 | savior of all people, especially believers | σωτὴρ πάντων ἀνθρώπων, μάλιστα πιστῶν | sōtēr pantōn anthrōpōn, malista pistōn | Rizgarkar ê hemû mirovan, bi taybetî yên bawermend | Critical | Christ as the One Mediator / Universal Scope (baseline) | — | Must preserve both the universal offer and the particular, faith-conditioned reception clauses; flag if either is dropped in translation. | 4:10 |
| 33 | saved through childbearing | σωθήσεται διὰ τῆς τεκνογονίας | sōthēsetai dia tēs teknogonias | Wê di zayîna zarokan de were parastin (provisional — pending theologian determination) | Critical | Christ as the One Mediator / Justification by Faith (baseline) | Full “Rizgarî” without disambiguating gloss (rejected — risks implying works-based salvation via childbearing) | Notoriously disputed verse; the Kurdish rendering must not contradict the book’s and Romans’ justification-by-faith-alone framework. | 2:15 |
| 34 | exercise authority over | αὐθεντεῖν | authentein | Desthilatdarî li ser [mêran] kirin (provisional, ambiguity preserved) | High | Public Worship and Prayer | — | Genuinely disputed NT hapax legomenon; rendering has direct consequences for church-practice teaching on women’s roles; must not be silently resolved by translator preference. | 2:12 |
| 35 | women/wives (deacons) | γυναῖκας | gynaikas | Jin (ambiguity preserved) | High | Qualifications for Church Leadership | — | Genuinely ambiguous in the source (deacons’ wives vs. a parallel female-deacon office); flag for theologian review rather than resolving by default. | 3:11 |
| 36 | worse than an unbeliever | ἀπίστου χείρων | apistou cheirōn | ji kesê ku baweriyê nake xerabtir (descriptive) | High | Care for Widows and the Household of Faith | Bêîman as an epithet (rejected — evokes the regionally loaded and socially dangerous “kafir” category) | Preserves Paul’s rhetorical force on family responsibility without importing kafir’s specific regional legal-social weight. | 5:8 |
| 37 | blasphemer / blasphemed | βλάσφημος / βλασφημέω | blasphēmos / blasphēmeō | descriptive phrase: kesê ku gotinên nizm li dijî Xwedê dibêje | High | Sound Doctrine versus False Teaching | Kufir (rejected — regional Islamic legal category for apostasy/unbelief, disproportionately severe and socially dangerous) | Avoids importing kafir/kufir’s specific legal-social weight into Paul’s autobiographical confession or the letter’s general reputational warnings. | 1:13; 6:1 |
| 38 | command (divine mandate) | ἐπιταγή | epitagē | Emir | Medium-High | Sound Doctrine versus False Teaching | Ferman (rejected — specifically denotes the historical Yazidi persecution “fermans” in Yazidi communal memory) | Avoids an unintended, painful historical association for Yazidi-background readers. | 1:1 |
| 39 | masters (human, slave-owning) | δεσπότης | despotēs | Axa | High | (General ethics; not a named curriculum doctrine, but High-impact forbidden-substitution rule) | Xudan (explicitly forbidden — reserved exclusively for Christ’s divine Lordship) | Prevents collision with the Critical Lordship-of-Christ term; Axa itself carries feudal aga-serf social resonance requiring its own historical contextualization. | 6:1-2 |
| 40 | slave / bondservant (literal) | δοῦλος | doulos | Kole | Medium-High | (General ethics) | — | Requires historical contextualization distinguishing ancient household slavery from any modern practice and from Paul’s separate positive “slave of Christ” metaphor. | 6:1 |
| 41 | widow | χήρα | chēra | Bêva | High | Care for Widows and the Household of Faith | — | Church support structured as secondary to (not a replacement for) family responsibility; broadly resonant with, and correcting, Kurdish tribal family-care expectations. | 5:3-16 |
| 42 | honor (elders/widows) | τιμή | timē | Rêz / Qedir | Medium | Care for Widows and the Household of Faith / Qualifications for Church Leadership | — | Encompasses both respect and (5:17-18) material support. | 5:3,17 |
| 43 | first pledge (widows) | πρώτη πίστις | prōtē pistis | soza yekem | Medium | Care for Widows and the Household of Faith | Îman (rejected as direct substitute — distinct sense of “vow/pledge,” not saving faith) | Prevents blurring the doctrinal faith term with a specific vow-of-service sense. | 5:12 |
| 44 | dignity / gravity | σεμνότης | semnotēs | Rêzdarî | Medium | Qualifications for Church Leadership | Rûmet (rejected — reserved exclusively for divine glory in the baseline) | Keeps a clean distinction from the baseline’s Rûmet (glory) entry. | 3:4,8,11 |
| 45 | stewardship / plan of God | οἰκονομία θεοῦ | oikonomia theou | Birêvebirina Xwedê | Medium | Sound Doctrine versus False Teaching | — | Related to, but kept distinct from, the baseline’s Rêveberiya Xwedê (Providence). | 1:4 |
| 46 | mercy | ἔλεος | eleos | Dilovanî | Medium | Sound Doctrine versus False Teaching / general | — | Positive asset term, distinct from but complementary to Kerem (grace). | 1:2,13,16 |
| 47 | good testimony from outsiders | μαρτυρία καλὴ ἀπὸ τῶν ἔξωθεν | martyria kalē apo tōn exōthen | Þahidiyeke baþ ji ên derveyî civatê | High | Qualifications for Church Leadership | — | Honor-shame cultural weight is a genuine asset here but must anchor to godly character, not mere social conformity. | 3:7 |
Section C — New Doctrine Registry Entries (for doctrine_risk_registry.json extension)
| Doctrine | Risk | Key Terms | Primary Passages | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sound Doctrine versus False Teaching | High | Fêrkirina Saxlem, Efsane, Þecereyên bêdawî, “Zanîna” derewîn, Wijdan | 1:3-11; 4:1-7,13,16; 6:3-5,20-21 | Human theologian |
| Qualifications for Church Leadership (Elders and Deacons) | Critical | Çavdêr, Rîspî, Civata Rîspiyan, Xizmetkar, Mêrê ku tenê yek jinê heye, Danîna Destan | 3:1-13; 4:14; 5:17-22 | Human theologian |
| Christ as the One Mediator | Critical | Navbeynkar, Bihayê Rizgariyê, Rizgarkar, Padîþahê Padîþehan û Xudanê Xudanan, Îkrar | 2:5-6; 6:12-16 | Human theologian |
| Public Worship and Prayer | High | Dua, Lava, Navbeynkarî, Spasî, fedî/xweparastin, desthilatdarî li ser mêran kirin | 2:1-15 | Human theologian |
| The Church as Pillar of Truth | High | Mala Xwedê, Stûn û Bingeha Rastiyê, Sira Xwedaparêziyê, Sir | 3:14-16 | Human theologian |
| Godliness and Contentment | High | Xwedaparêzî, Razîbûn, Evîna Pereyan, Sebir/Berxwedan, Þerê baþ ê îmanê | 4:7-8; 6:6-12 | Human theologian |
| Care for Widows and the Household of Faith | High | Bêva, Rêz/Qedir, soza yekem, ji kesê ku baweriyê nake xerabtir | 5:1-16 | Human theologian |
| Guarding the Deposit of Faith | Critical | Emanet, Jiyana Herheyî, “Zanîna” derewîn, Sûcdarî/du an sê þahid | 6:20-21 (cf. 1:18-19) | Human theologian |
All eight new doctrines are High or Critical risk and require human theologian review routing, consistent with the Romans baseline’s escalation rules — no new Medium- or Low-only doctrines are introduced by this curriculum.
Critical Risk Terms
Salvation
Approved rendering: Rizgarî
Transliteration: rizgarî
Doctrine: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package; rendering and risk unchanged. 1 Timothy 1:15 (‘Christ Jesus came to save sinners’) and 4:16 require the same mandatory personal/spiritual anchoring; risk is intensified in this book by the new Rizgarkar (Savior) agent-noun title.
Law
Approved rendering: Şerîeta Mûsa
Transliteration: Şerîeta Mûsa
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: Namûs
Inherited from Romans package; rendering and risk unchanged. 1:7-9: the law is good if used lawfully. NEVER bare ‘Şerîet’ or ‘Namûs’ - forbidden-substitution rule stands unchanged.
Lord
Approved rendering: Xudan
Transliteration: Xudan
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Inherited from Romans package; rendering and risk unchanged. Applied to Christ at 1:2,12,14 and intensified in the superlative ‘Lord of lords’ (6:15). NEVER extended to δεσπότης, the human slave-master of 6:1-2 (see masters_human) - essential forbidden-substitution rule to prevent conflating Christ’s exclusive divine Lordship with ordinary human household authority.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: Kurê Xwedê
Transliteration: Kurê Xwedê
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Inherited from Romans package; rendering and risk unchanged. Underlies the Christ-hymn of 3:16 (see mystery_of_godliness); guard against BOTH the mainstream tawhid denial AND the inverted Sufi/Yazidi over-assimilation risk already documented in the baseline.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: Tecessud
Transliteration: tecessud
Doctrine: Incarnation
Inherited from Romans package; rendering and risk unchanged. 3:16 (‘manifested in the flesh’) is this letter’s direct engagement with the doctrine; every clause of the hymn requires the same theologian rigor as the baseline entry.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: Rabûn
Transliteration: rabûn
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Inherited from Romans package; rendering and risk unchanged. 3:16 (‘vindicated by the Spirit… taken up in glory’) and the new eternal_life entry both require the same fencing against the Yazidi reincarnation doctrine (kiras guhertin) already flagged Critical in the baseline.
Jesus
Approved rendering: Îsa
Transliteration: Îsa
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Inherited from Romans package; rendering and risk unchanged. Used throughout, including the mediator formula ‘Christ Jesus’ (2:5).
Messiah
Approved rendering: Mesîh
Transliteration: Mesîh
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Inherited from Romans package; rendering and risk unchanged. Used throughout, including 3:16’s hymn.
God
Approved rendering: Xwedê
Transliteration: Xwedê
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Allah
Inherited from Romans package; rendering and risk unchanged. The ‘one God’ clause of 2:5 is genuine shared ground with regional tawhid theology, immediately followed by the specifically Christian, contested ‘one mediator’ claim (see mediator).
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Ruhê Pîroz
Transliteration: Ruhê Pîroz
Doctrine: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package; rendering and risk unchanged. 4:1 (‘the Spirit expressly says’) must be kept sharply distinct, even at the level of shared grammatical vocabulary (‘ruh’), from the ‘deceitful spirits’ named in the same verse (see deceitful_spirits_and_demons).
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: Padîşahiya Xwedê
Transliteration: padîşahiya Xwedê
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Inherited from Romans package; rendering and risk unchanged. Not directly named in 1 Timothy, but its root underlies the new King of kings/Lord of lords superlative (6:15, see king_of_kings_lord_of_lords); the baseline’s forbidden-substitution rule against Kurdish-statehood-aspiration association applies equally to that superlative.
Husband Of One Wife
Approved rendering: Mêrê ku tenê yek jinê heye
Transliteration: mêrê ku tenê yek jinê heye
Doctrine: Qualifications for Church Leadership (Elders and Deacons)
New term. Direct, concrete confrontation with regionally permitted and still-practiced polygamy under Sunni and Shia law (up to four wives); a live social and legal reality in some rural and tribal Kurdish communities across all four host states, not merely an ancient-world reference. Mandatory human theologian review at every occurrence given the real pastoral cost for polygamous converts and their families. 3:2,12; 5:9 (reversed form).
Mediator
Approved rendering: Navbeynkar
Transliteration: navbeynkar
Doctrine: Christ as the One Mediator
New term. The book’s most theologically loaded single term: ‘one mediator’ excludes not only regional practice of intercession through saints and Sufi pîrs but also the Prophet’s shafa’a doctrine widespread in mainstream Sunni piety. Mandatory human theologian review at every occurrence. 2:5.
Ransom
Approved rendering: Bihayê Rizgariyê
Transliteration: bihayê rizgariyê
Doctrine: Christ as the One Mediator
Rejected alternatives: Fîdye (rejected - narrow Islamic legal sense of a compensatory payment for a missed religious obligation, e.g. missed fasting)
New term. Must convey Christ’s voluntary substitutionary self-giving for sin, not a legal-transactional payment. 2:6.
Savior
Approved rendering: Rizgarkar
Transliteration: rizgarkar
Doctrine: Christ as the One Mediator / Salvation
New term. This agent-noun title intensifies the baseline’s flagged Rizgarî political-liberation risk by personifying it as a ‘liberator’ figure, readily assimilable to Kurdish national-liberation-hero or martyr rhetoric; every occurrence must be explicitly anchored to God’s/Christ’s personal, spiritual saving action. 1:1; 2:3; 4:10.
Mystery Of Godliness
Approved rendering: Sira Xwedaparêziyê
Transliteration: sira xwedaparêziyê
Doctrine: The Church as Pillar of Truth / Incarnation
New term. Introduces the 3:16 Christ-hymn, directly overlapping the baseline’s Critical Incarnation, Deity, and Resurrection doctrines, including the inverted Sufi mystical-absorption and Yazidi divine-manifestation risks already documented there; every clause requires the same mandatory theologian review. 3:16.
Guard The Deposit
Approved rendering: Emanet
Transliteration: emanet
Doctrine: Guarding the Deposit of Faith
New term. Carries deep resonance with the Qur’anic al-amanah (Q33:72), the cosmic moral trust offered to the heavens, earth, and mountains before humanity alone accepted it - a genuinely rich bridge term, but must be sharply anchored at every occurrence to the specific apostolic gospel deposit (the sound doctrine of this letter), never left as a generalized, undefined moral-responsibility concept borrowed wholesale from its Qur’anic context. Highest-priority Critical term in the whole package. 6:20 (cf. 1:18-19).
Eternal Life
Approved rendering: Jiyana Herheyî
Transliteration: jiyana herheyî
Doctrine: Eternal Life and Christian Hope
New term. Must be sharply distinguished from the minority but culturally significant Yazidi doctrine of reincarnation/soul-transmigration (kiras guhertin, ‘changing shirts’) already flagged Critical in the baseline’s resurrection entry - eternal life is one continuous, unending life following bodily resurrection, never a repeating cycle of successive lives/bodies. 6:12,19.
King Of Kings Lord Of Lords
Approved rendering: Padîşahê Padîşehan û Xudanê Xudanan
Transliteration: padîşahê padîşehan û xudanê xudanan
Doctrine: Deity and Lordship of Christ
New term. Superlative extension of the baseline’s Critical Kingdom-of-God and Lord entries; must never be heard as endorsing, rivaling, or commenting on any regional political sovereignty question, including the century-long Kurdish national aspiration for statehood. Mandatory theologian review at every occurrence. 6:15.
One God One Mediator
Approved rendering: Yek Xwedê heye, û yek Navbeynkar jî heye
Transliteration: yek Xwedê heye, û yek Navbeynkar jî heye
Doctrine: Christ as the One Mediator
New term (compound clause distinct from the standalone ‘mediator’ entry). ‘One God’ is genuine shared ground with tawhid theology; ‘one mediator’ is the specifically Christian, contested exclusivity claim. The numeral ‘yek’ (one) must never be dropped or implied only by article use, since Kurdish lacks a definite article that could carry the exclusivity alone. Mandatory theologian review at every occurrence. 2:5.
Savior Of All People
Approved rendering: Rizgarkar ê hemû mirovan, bi taybetî yên bawermend
Transliteration: rizgarkar ê hemû mirovan, bi taybetî yên bawermend
Doctrine: Christ as the One Mediator / Universal Scope of the Gospel
New term. Must preserve both the universal-offer clause and the particular, faith-conditioned-reception clause; flag for theologian review if either clause is dropped in translation. 4:10.
Saved Through Childbearing
Approved rendering: Wê di zayîna zarokan de were parastin
Transliteration: wê di zayîna zarokan de were parastin
Doctrine: Christ as the One Mediator / Salvation
Rejected alternatives: Full ‘Rizgarî’ without a disambiguating gloss (rejected - risks implying works-based/childbearing-based salvation, directly contradicting the letter’s and Romans’ justification-by-faith-alone framework)
New term, provisional pending theologian-finalized exegesis. One of the most exegetically disputed verses in the NT; most interpreters understand σῴζω here as ‘kept safe/preserved’ through childbirth, not the full soteriological sense used elsewhere in this letter. 2:15.
High Risk Terms
Grace
Approved rendering: Kerem
Transliteration: kerem
Doctrine: Grace
Inherited from Romans package; rendering and risk unchanged. 1 Timothy 1:14-16 (grace poured out on ‘the foremost of sinners’) is a vivid corrective against the Sufi keramet elite-favor risk already documented in the baseline; recurs at 6:21.
Faith
Approved rendering: Îman
Transliteration: iman
Doctrine: Faith
Inherited from Romans package; rendering and risk unchanged. In 1 Timothy the word is context-sensitive across at least three senses: personal trust (1:2,14), the objective body of apostolic doctrine (1:19; 3:9; 4:1,6; 6:10,21), and a specific service vow (5:12, see first_pledge). Track which sense is active at every occurrence.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: Teqdîs
Transliteration: teqdîs
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: Pakkirin
Inherited from Romans package; rendering and risk unchanged. 1 Timothy 4:5 (‘sanctified through the word of God and prayer’) describes creation/food received thankfully, not a ritual-blessing formula recited over food (a possible false parallel to regional halal-blessing practice).
Church
Approved rendering: Dêr / Civata Mesîhî
Transliteration: dêr / civata mesîhî
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Inherited from Romans package; rendering and risk unchanged. 3:5, 3:15 (‘church of God,’ ‘church of the living God’) use the gathered-people sense, Civata Mesîhî; religious-freedom conditions for visible church life vary sharply across Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria.
Sin
Approved rendering: Guneh
Transliteration: guneh
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Inherited from Romans package; rendering and risk unchanged. 1:15’s ‘foremost of sinners’ and 5:20,22,24 extend the baseline’s corrective against the region’s Islamic fitrah (innate-purity) doctrine.
Father
Approved rendering: Bav
Transliteration: Bav
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Inherited from Romans package; rendering and risk unchanged. Implicit in the opening greeting formula ‘God our Father’ (1:2).
Intercession
Approved rendering: Navbeynkarî
Transliteration: navbeynkarî
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Inherited from Romans package; rendering and risk unchanged. 2:1, one of the letter’s own four prayer-terms; the root is also reused for the new Navbeynkar (mediator) term - keep general intercessory prayer sharply distinct from Christ’s unique, exclusive mediatorial role (2:5).
Election
Approved rendering: Hilbijartin
Transliteration: hilbijartin
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Inherited from Romans package; rendering and risk unchanged. 5:21 (‘the elect angels’) applies the root to angels rather than human salvation; the modern-democratic-election vocabulary collision documented in the baseline still applies whenever this term appears.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: Adalet
Transliteration: adalet
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: Rastî
Inherited from Romans package; rendering and risk unchanged. 6:11 (‘pursue righteousness, godliness, faith…’) places it in the letter’s closing virtue-list alongside the new Xwedaparêzî (godliness) term.
Overseer
Approved rendering: Çavdêr / Çavdêrî
Transliteration: çavdêr / çavdêrî
Doctrine: Qualifications for Church Leadership (Elders and Deacons)
New term. Transparent native compound (‘watch-over-er’) chosen to avoid direct collision with regional clerical titles (mele, şêx, imam) carrying hereditary or madrasa-credentialed authority; must be taught as a character-and-conduct-qualified service office, not an independent clerical rank. 3:1-2.
Elder
Approved rendering: Rîspî (formal office); mirovê temenmezin (generic ‘older man’)
Transliteration: rîspî; mirovê temenmezin
Doctrine: Qualifications for Church Leadership (Elders and Deacons)
Rejected alternatives: Pîr (rejected - collides with the baseline’s High-risk Sufi hereditary shrine-master term)
New term. Reuses the real Kurdish tribal (aşîret) council-of-elders concept, a positive structural bridge for plural church leadership, but risks importing age/lineage-based qualification logic instead of the text’s explicit character-and-doctrine-based standard (3:1-7); context-sensitive with the generic age sense at 5:1. 4:14; 5:1,17,19.
Council Of Elders
Approved rendering: Civata Rîspiyan
Transliteration: civata rîspiyan
Doctrine: Qualifications for Church Leadership (Elders and Deacons)
New term. Compound of elder; carries the same tribal-council resonance and risk of assimilation to age/lineage-based tribal authority. 4:14.
Deacon
Approved rendering: Xizmetkar
Transliteration: xizmetkar
Doctrine: Qualifications for Church Leadership (Elders and Deacons)
New term. Context-sensitive with the generic ‘servant/minister’ sense used of Timothy himself (4:6); must be clearly marked as the formal office when 3:8-13’s qualification list is in view, and must not carry a demeaning menial-servant connotation understating the office’s dignity. 3:8,10,12,13.
Godliness
Approved rendering: Xwedaparêzî
Transliteration: xwedaparêzî
Doctrine: Godliness and Contentment
Rejected alternatives: Perhîzkarî (considered, not primary - too narrowly tied to ritual/dietary abstinence, echoing Islamic pious abstention)
New term. The book’s single most frequent distinctive term (2:2; 3:16; 4:7-8; 5:4; 6:3,5,6,11); keeps the emphasis on comprehensive reverent living flowing from faith in Christ, per 4:1-5’s own warning against reducing godliness to external asceticism.
Mystery
Approved rendering: Sir
Transliteration: sir
Doctrine: The Church as Pillar of Truth / Sound Doctrine versus False Teaching
New term. Collides with the Kurdish Sufi concept of sir/esrar, esoteric divine knowledge disclosed only to advanced mystics - the inverse of Paul’s meaning; must be taught as truth once hidden but now openly proclaimed to all believers. 3:9,16.
Sound Doctrine
Approved rendering: Fêrkirina Saxlem / Fêrkirin
Transliteration: fêrkirina saxlem
Doctrine: Sound Doctrine versus False Teaching
New term. The letter’s core organizing category; preserve the recurring healthy/sick metaphor (cf. 6:4’s ‘sick craving for controversy’) where the destination platform’s style allows, since it anchors doctrinal fidelity to the apostolic deposit. 1:10; 4:1,6,13,16; 6:1,3.
Different Doctrine
Approved rendering: Fêrkirineke din / cuda kirin
Transliteration: fêrkirineke din
Doctrine: Sound Doctrine versus False Teaching
New term. The central negative counterpart to sound doctrine and the core term of the whole letter’s central concern. 1:3; 6:3.
Household Of God
Approved rendering: Mala Xwedê
Transliteration: mala Xwedê
Doctrine: The Church as Pillar of Truth
New term. Must be distinguished from Islamic Beytullah/Baytullah (the Kaaba, ‘House of God’) and the physical mosque, and from the tribal/clan sense of the Kurdish word ‘mal’ (extended family/aşîret unit) - the church is a spiritual family transcending, not replacing, blood lineage. 3:15.
Pillar And Foundation Of Truth
Approved rendering: Stûn û Bingeha Rastiyê
Transliteration: stûn û bingeha rastiyê
Doctrine: The Church as Pillar of Truth
New term. Two-directional risk: over-reading as church infallibility parallel to Qur’anic-preservation claims would overreach; under-reading, given the region’s Islamic tahrif (Scripture-corruption) assumption already flagged in the baseline, would wrongly deny the church any real truth-bearing role. Teach the church as truth’s servant and witness, never its source or replacement. 3:15.
Falsely Called Knowledge
Approved rendering: “Zanîna” ku bi xeletî wisa tê binavkirin
Transliteration: zanîna ku bi xeletî wisa tê binavkirin
Doctrine: Sound Doctrine versus False Teaching
New term. Parallels the Sufi tradition of irfan/marifa (special mystical ‘gnosis’ for advanced initiates) and certain esoteric strands of Yazidi religious knowledge; reinforces the mystery corrective - true gospel truth is openly proclaimed to all, not restricted teaching for a spiritual elite. 6:20.
Deceitful Spirits And Demons
Approved rendering: Ruhên xapînok / Cin
Transliteration: ruhên xapînok / cin
Doctrine: Sound Doctrine versus False Teaching
New term. Regional (Islamic and, distinctively, Yazidi) folk belief holds a complex, morally mixed class of spirit-beings (‘cin’), unlike the NT’s uniformly rebellious, evil demons; this distinction must be taught explicitly. Do not confuse the grammatical ‘ruh’ root here with Ruhê Pîroz (Holy Spirit). 4:1.
Fight The Good Fight
Approved rendering: Şerê baş (ê îmanê) bike
Transliteration: şerê baş ê îmanê bike
Doctrine: Godliness and Contentment / Guarding the Deposit of Faith
Rejected alternatives: Têkoşîn (rejected as primary - the defining term of the Kurdish national liberation struggle, ‘têkoşîna rizgariyê’)
New term. Deliberately avoids fusing Paul’s spiritual perseverance with the specific têkoşîna rizgariyê political-liberation narrative, compounding the baseline’s rizgarî caution. If a translation team judges the têkoşîn resonance to be a valuable evangelistic bridge in a specific context, that decision must be made explicitly and consciously, never by default. 1:18; 6:12.
Endurance
Approved rendering: Sebir
Transliteration: sebir
Doctrine: Godliness and Contentment
Rejected alternatives: Berxwedan (flagged alternative - strong contemporary political-military resistance resonance, e.g. ‘berxwedana Kobanê’; reserved only for deliberate, theologian-approved contextual use)
New term. Sebir, a less politically loaded regional loanword, is recommended as the default rendering pending per-context theologian decision. 6:11.
Laying On Of Hands
Approved rendering: Danîna Destan
Transliteration: danîna destan
Doctrine: Qualifications for Church Leadership (Elders and Deacons)
New term. Risk of assimilation to regional folk-healing hand-laying practices or to a Sufi shaykh’s hand-blessing (baraka-transfer) ritual at a disciple’s initiation; must be taught as symbolic commissioning accompanied by prayer, not a channel of magical or hereditary spiritual power. 4:14; 5:22.
Exercise Authority Over
Approved rendering: Desthilatdarî li ser [mêran] kirin
Transliteration: desthilatdarî li ser mêran kirin
Doctrine: Public Worship and Prayer
New term, deliberately ambiguity-preserving. A rare NT hapax legomenon (αὐθεντεῖν) with a genuinely disputed semantic range, from neutral ‘have authority’ to negative ‘domineer/usurp authority’; rendering has direct consequences for church-practice teaching on women’s roles and must not be silently resolved by translator preference. Mandatory theologian review at every occurrence. 2:12.
Women Deacons Ambiguity
Approved rendering: Jin
Transliteration: jin
Doctrine: Qualifications for Church Leadership (Elders and Deacons)
Rejected alternatives: Jinên wan / ‘their wives’ (rejected as a default - inserts a possessive not clearly present in the Greek, silently resolving a live interpretive debate)
New term, deliberately ambiguity-preserving. Genuinely ambiguous between deacons’ wives and a parallel female diaconal office; flag for mandatory human theologian review rather than resolving by default. 3:11.
Worse Than Unbeliever
Approved rendering: ji kesê ku baweriyê nake xerabtir
Transliteration: ji kesê ku baweriyê nake xerabtir
Doctrine: Care for Widows and the Household of Faith
Rejected alternatives: Kafir / bêîman as a single epithet (rejected - evokes the regionally loaded, socially dangerous Islamic unbelief/apostasy category)
New term. Descriptive phrase preserves Paul’s rhetorical force on family responsibility without importing kafir’s specific regional legal-social weight. 5:8.
Blasphemer
Approved rendering: kesê ku gotinên nizm li dijî Xwedê dibêje/digot
Transliteration: kesê ku gotinên nizm li dijî Xwedê dibêje
Doctrine: Sound Doctrine versus False Teaching
Rejected alternatives: Kufir/Kafir (rejected - regional Islamic legal category for apostasy/unbelief, disproportionately severe and socially dangerous)
New term. Descriptive phrase avoids importing kafir/kufir’s specific legal-social weight into Paul’s autobiographical confession (1:13) or the letter’s general reputational warnings (6:1).
Masters Human
Approved rendering: Axa
Transliteration: axa
Doctrine: Household and Family Ethics
Rejected alternatives: Xudan (explicitly FORBIDDEN - reserved exclusively for Christ’s divine Lordship, Critical baseline term)
New term. NEVER use Xudan for a human slave-owner; doing so would create a serious collision between Christ’s unique Lordship and an ordinary human master. Axa itself carries feudal aga-serf social deference expectations still present in parts of rural Kurdish society, which should be named and taught around. 6:1-2.
Widow
Approved rendering: Bêva
Transliteration: bêva
Doctrine: Care for Widows and the Household of Faith
New term. Church support is structured as secondary to (not a replacement for) family responsibility (5:4,8,16); this resonates positively with, while also correcting, strong Kurdish tribal/family widow-care expectations. 5:3-16.
Good Testimony Outsiders
Approved rendering: Şahidiyeke baş ji ên derveyî civatê
Transliteration: şahidiyeke baş ji ên derveyî civatê
Doctrine: Qualifications for Church Leadership (Elders and Deacons)
New term. Given the strong honor-shame dynamics prevalent regionally, ‘reputation among outsiders’ carries especially high social weight; a genuine positive bridge, but must be anchored to godly character, not mere social conformity or family honor management. 3:7.
Depart From The Faith
Approved rendering: Ji baweriyê dûr ketin
Transliteration: ji baweriyê dûr ketin
Doctrine: Sound Doctrine versus False Teaching
New term. Apostasy (regional ridda/irtidad) carries severe social, legal, and in some interpretations capital consequences across parts of the region Kurdish spans; requires acute pastoral sensitivity, especially in Iran, Syria, and parts of Turkey. 4:1.
Forbid Marriage Abstain Foods
Approved rendering: Ne hiştin zewac bikin, dûrketin ji xwarinan
Transliteration: ne hiştin zewac bikin, dûrketin ji xwarinan
Doctrine: False Asceticism and the Goodness of Creation
New term. Touches directly on regional Islamic dietary law (halal/haram) and genuine ascetic practices found in both Sufi and Yazidi tradition; must reject asceticism-as-a-means-of-special-holiness without being heard as a blanket dismissal of all freely undertaken fasting or dietary discipline. 4:1-5.
Rebuke Publicly
Approved rendering: Li ber çavên gişan sererast bike
Transliteration: li ber çavên gişan sererast bike
Doctrine: Qualifications for Church Leadership (Elders and Deacons)
New term. Public correction carries exceptionally heavy social weight in the region’s strong honor-shame culture; must be taught with pastoral care distinguishing biblically warranted public accountability from culturally destructive public humiliation. 5:20.
Respectable Apparel Modesty
Approved rendering: Cil û bergên rêkûpêk, bi fedî û xweparastinê ve
Transliteration: cil û bergên rêkûpêk, bi fedî û xweparastinê ve
Doctrine: Public Worship and Prayer
New term. ‘Fedî/şerm’ (modesty/shame) sits directly inside the region’s pervasive honor-shame culture and overlapping hijab/modesty discourse; must distinguish the NT’s emphasis on inner godly character and good works over costly display from externally imposed honor-code compliance. 2:9-10.
Medium Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: Mizgînî
Transliteration: Mizgînî
Doctrine: Gospel
Inherited from Romans package; rendering and risk unchanged. In 1 Timothy 1:11 tied explicitly to ‘the glory of the blessed God,’ reinforcing its authoritative divine source.
Apostle
Approved rendering: Şandî
Transliteration: şandî
Doctrine: Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: Resûl
Inherited from Romans package; rendering and risk unchanged. Paul’s self-designation (1:1; 2:7) grounds his authority to prescribe church order throughout this letter.
Holy
Approved rendering: Pîroz
Transliteration: pîroz
Doctrine: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package; rendering and risk unchanged. 1 Timothy 2:8’s ‘holy hands’ (see holy_hands) describes inward moral/relational purity, not a ritual ablution posture.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: Ne-cihû
Transliteration: ne-cihû
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: Umet
Inherited from Romans package; rendering and risk unchanged. 2:7 ‘teacher of the Gentiles.‘
Glory
Approved rendering: Rûmet
Transliteration: rûmet
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Inherited from Romans package; rendering and risk unchanged. 1:11, 1:17 doxology. Reserved for divine glory only - must NOT be reused for σεμνότης (‘dignity,’ see dignity entry) to keep this term’s specific divine referent undiluted.
Spiritual Gifts
Approved rendering: Diyariya Giyanî
Transliteration: diyariya giyanî
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts
Inherited from Romans package (singular form used for 4:14’s χάρισμα, vs. the baseline’s plural Diyariyên Giyanî). Always retain ‘giyanî’ (spiritual) so the phrase is not read as ordinary natural talent.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: Hêza Xwedê
Transliteration: hêza Xwedê
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Inherited from Romans package; rendering and risk unchanged. 1:12 (‘he who has strengthened me’) reuses the hêz root verbally for divine enabling of ministry.
Providence
Approved rendering: Rêveberiya Xwedê
Transliteration: rêveberiya Xwedê
Doctrine: Providence
Inherited from Romans package; rendering and risk unchanged. Keep distinct from the new stewardship_of_god term (οἰκονομία, 1:4); providence underlies 1:12’s testimony without directly restating it.
Contentment
Approved rendering: Razîbûn
Transliteration: razîbûn
Doctrine: Godliness and Contentment
New term. Risk of a passive-fatalistic misreading (echoing regional folk qadar-fatalism already flagged in the baseline’s Providence entry); must be taught as actively cultivated trust in God’s provision (6:17), not stoic or fatalistic resignation. 6:6.
Love Of Money
Approved rendering: Evîna Pereyan
Transliteration: evîna pereyan
Doctrine: Godliness and Contentment
New term. Keep consistent across 3:3 (negated form), 3:8’s related warning (see greedy_for_dishonest_gain), and 6:10’s noun form, since all three passages address the same underlying financial-integrity concern.
Conscience
Approved rendering: Wijdan
Transliteration: wijdan
Doctrine: Sound Doctrine versus False Teaching
New term. A broadly compatible regional loanword; must be taught as answering to God, not reduced to social honor/shame propriety. 1:5,19; 3:9; 4:2.
Myth
Approved rendering: Efsane
Transliteration: efsane
Doctrine: Sound Doctrine versus False Teaching
New term. Standard shared Kurdish-Persian word; low independent risk beyond context, since it carries no specific competing religious-authority connotation. 1:4; 4:7.
Endless Genealogies
Approved rendering: Şecereyên bêdawî
Transliteration: şecereyên bêdawî
Doctrine: Sound Doctrine versus False Teaching
New term. Kurdish aşîret (tribal) culture places very high positive value on lineage for identity, land, and alliance purposes; care is needed so this warning against speculative religious genealogies is not misheard as devaluing ancestry generally. 1:4.
Man Of God
Approved rendering: Mirovê Xwedê
Transliteration: mirovê Xwedê
Doctrine: Guarding the Deposit of Faith
New term. Risk of assimilation to the regional ‘wali’ (venerated Muslim saint with quasi-miraculous status) concept; must address Timothy’s specific calling and responsibility, not elevated sanctity or intercessory status. 6:11.
Good Confession
Approved rendering: Îkrar
Transliteration: îkrar
Doctrine: Christ as the One Mediator
Rejected alternatives: Îtîraf (rejected - in regional usage strongly connotes confessing wrongdoing/guilt, as in a criminal confession)
New term. Must read as a bold, positive declaration of allegiance/truth, modeled on Christ’s own testimony before Pilate, not an admission of fault. 6:12-13.
Prayer General
Approved rendering: Dua
Transliteration: dua
Doctrine: Public Worship and Prayer
New term. A positive shared-vocabulary bridge with Islamic petitionary prayer, but Christian prayer here is offered specifically through the one Mediator (2:5) rather than through ritual formula (salat) or the intercession of other figures; this distinction must be taught explicitly. 2:1.
Command Divine Mandate
Approved rendering: Emir
Transliteration: emir
Doctrine: Apostleship and Delegated Authority
Rejected alternatives: Ferman (rejected - specifically denotes the historical waves of persecution and massacre against the Yazidi community, ‘the 72 fermans,’ in Yazidi communal memory)
New term. Avoids an unintended, painful historical association for Yazidi-background readers when translating God’s benevolent commissioning of Paul’s apostleship. 1:1.
Slave Bondservant
Approved rendering: Kole
Transliteration: kole
Doctrine: Household and Family Ethics
New term. Requires clear historical framing distinguishing the ancient Greco-Roman household-slavery context from any modern practice, and from Paul’s separate, positive theological use of ‘slave of Christ’ language elsewhere. 6:1.
Honor
Approved rendering: Rêz / Qedir
Transliteration: rêz / qedir
Doctrine: Care for Widows and the Household of Faith / Qualifications for Church Leadership
New term. Encompasses both respect and (5:17-18) material support; must not be flattened to mere verbal respect when the material-support sense is clearly in view. 5:3,17.
First Pledge
Approved rendering: soza yekem
Transliteration: soza yekem
Doctrine: Care for Widows and the Household of Faith
Rejected alternatives: Îman as a direct substitute (rejected - distinct sense of ‘vow/pledge,’ not saving faith)
New term. Prevents blurring the doctrinal faith term with a specific service-vow sense undertaken by enrolled widows. 5:12.
Dignity
Approved rendering: Rêzdarî
Transliteration: rêzdarî
Doctrine: Qualifications for Church Leadership (Elders and Deacons)
Rejected alternatives: Rûmet (rejected - reserved exclusively for divine glory in the baseline)
New term. Keeps a clean distinction from the baseline’s Rûmet (glory) entry, preserving Christ’s unique glory as a separate category from ordinary human moral gravitas. 3:4,8,11.
Stewardship Of God
Approved rendering: Birêvebirina Xwedê
Transliteration: birêvebirina Xwedê
Doctrine: Sound Doctrine versus False Teaching
New term. Related to, but kept distinct from, the baseline’s Rêveberiya Xwedê (Providence, Romans 8:28); the two should not be conflated despite the shared root sense of divine ordering. 1:4.
Mercy
Approved rendering: Dilovanî
Transliteration: dilovanî
Doctrine: Grace
New term. A positive native asset term, distinct from but complementary to Kerem (grace); Paul distinguishes the two in his 1:13-16 testimony, so they should not be treated as interchangeable. 1:2,13,16.
Able To Teach
Approved rendering: Karîgerê hînkirinê
Transliteration: karîgerê hînkirinê
Doctrine: Sound Doctrine versus False Teaching / Qualifications for Church Leadership
New term. Ties directly to Sound Doctrine; must be distinguished from mere rhetorical eloquence or credentialed religious-scholar status, given regional respect for madrasa-trained scholars whose authority derives from a different source. 3:2.
Not A Drunkard
Approved rendering: Ne meyxwarok / ne serxweşbûyî
Transliteration: ne meyxwarok
Doctrine: Qualifications for Church Leadership (Elders and Deacons)
New term. Since alcohol is haram in mainstream regional Islam, this qualification may be read as self-evidently assumed rather than meaningful; teaching should clarify this concerns a genuine, observed pattern of self-control. 3:3; 3:8.
Household Domestic
Approved rendering: Mal / Malbat
Transliteration: mal / malbat
Doctrine: Household and Family Ethics
New term. ‘Mal’ also denotes the wider extended-family/clan unit prized in Kurdish aşîret society; the household in view here is the nuclear family under an overseer’s or deacon’s direct care, not the wider clan. 3:4-5,12.
Submissive
Approved rendering: Guhdarî / Tabiyî bûn
Transliteration: guhdarî bûn
Doctrine: Household and Family Ethics
New term. Must be distinguished from harsh authoritarian household control sometimes assumed in strict honor-based family structures; the standard is respectful order achieved through godly example, not fear. 3:4.
Tested
Approved rendering: Bila werin ceribandin / nirxandin
Transliteration: bila werin ceribandin
Doctrine: Qualifications for Church Leadership (Elders and Deacons)
New term. This process-based, character-tested qualification for office stands in tension with hereditary or lineage-based religious/tribal authority structures (Sufi pîr succession, aşîret leadership by birth-order); must be taught as a deliberate contrast. 3:10.
Greedy For Dishonest Gain
Approved rendering: Bi hîlebazî pere xwestin
Transliteration: bi hîlebazî pere xwestin
Doctrine: Qualifications for Church Leadership (Elders and Deacons)
New term. Keep terminology consistent with love_of_money (3:3; 6:10) and the godliness-as-gain warning (6:5), since all three address the same underlying financial-integrity concern. 3:8.
Sick Craving For Controversy
Approved rendering: Bi vekolîn û pevçûnên li ser gotinan ve nexweş bûye
Transliteration: bi vekolîn û pevçûnên li ser gotinan ve nexweş bûye
Doctrine: Sound Doctrine versus False Teaching
New term. Preserve the healthy/sick metaphor pairing with sound_doctrine across the book where the destination platform’s style allows, since it is a deliberate literary device of the letter. 6:4.
Root Of All Evils
Approved rendering: Evîna pereyan reh e ji her cure xerabiyan
Transliteration: evîna pereyan reh e ji her cure xerabiyan
Doctrine: Wealth and the Dangers of Riches
Rejected alternatives: ‘Evîna pereyan reha her xerabiyê ye’ (the root of ALL evil - rejected in favor of the ‘a root of’ framing, matching most modern English versions and avoiding overstatement)
New term. Names the love of money, not money itself, as a uniquely pervasive and fertile source of many evils. 6:10.
Kings And Rulers
Approved rendering: Padîşah û hemû yên li ser desthilatê ne
Transliteration: padîşah û hemû yên li ser desthilatê ne
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
New term. Must be kept sharply distinct from Padîşahiya Xwedê (Kingdom of God, Critical baseline term); praying for actual regional governments (Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria) is precisely the literal political reference the Kingdom-of-God doctrine must never be confused with. 2:2.
Knowledge Of Truth
Approved rendering: Zanîna Rastiyê
Transliteration: zanîna rastiyê
Doctrine: Universal Scope of the Gospel
New term. Keep distinct from the more contested γνῶσις (see falsely_called_knowledge); ἐπίγνωσις here denotes genuine saving recognition, not speculative ‘special knowledge.’ 2:4.
Holy Hands
Approved rendering: Destên pîroz
Transliteration: destên pîroz
Doctrine: Public Worship and Prayer
New term. Guard against reading as a ritual-purity/ablution posture (a strong regional expectation before prayer, e.g. wudu); the emphasis is on inward moral and relational purity, specifically freedom from anger and quarreling. 2:8.
Recent Convert
Approved rendering: Baweriya nû / nûbawermend
Transliteration: nûbawermend
Doctrine: Qualifications for Church Leadership (Elders and Deacons)
New term. In regions where conversion from Islam carries serious social and legal risk, ‘new convert’ churches may in practice have few or no long-term believers to draw leaders from; requires pastorally sensitive, patient application rather than mechanical enforcement in persecution contexts. 3:6.
The Devil
Approved rendering: Îblîs / Şeytan
Transliteration: Îblîs / Şeytan
Doctrine: Sound Doctrine versus False Teaching
New term. Shared vocabulary with the Islamic Iblîs/Şeytan tradition (broadly compatible figure), but doctrinal specifics of his fall, nature, and current activity differ in detail and should be taught explicitly where relevant. 3:6-7,11.
Seared Conscience
Approved rendering: Wijdanek bihişbûyî / mirî
Transliteration: wijdanek bihişbûyî
Doctrine: Sound Doctrine versus False Teaching
New term. Translate the vivid branding-iron image plainly if a literal calque would obscure meaning, per the idiom-handling convention; keep consistent with the conscience (Wijdan) term. 4:2.
Worthy Of Double Honor
Approved rendering: Layiqê rêzeke ducarî ne
Transliteration: layiqê rêzeke ducarî ne
Doctrine: Care for Widows and the Household of Faith
New term. Reuses the honor (Rêz/Qedir) root; must retain the combined relational-and-material sense per 5:18’s wage-quotation. 5:17.
Low Risk Terms
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: Spasî
Transliteration: spasî
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Inherited from Romans package; rendering and risk unchanged. 2:1 (one of four prayer-terms) and 4:3-4 (creation received ‘with thanksgiving’).
Fellowship
Approved rendering: Hevaltî
Transliteration: hevaltî
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Inherited from Romans package; rendering and risk unchanged. 6:18’s adjectival form (κοινωνικός, ‘generous, willing to share’) extends the baseline root to an ethical-generosity sense.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: Pêxemberî
Transliteration: pêxemberî
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Inherited from Romans package; rendering and risk unchanged. 1:18 and 4:14, tied to Timothy’s ordination.
Exhort
Approved rendering: Handan kirin / Şîret kirin
Transliteration: handan kirin / şîret kirin
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Inherited from Romans package; rendering and risk unchanged. Context-sensitive throughout (1:3; 2:1; 5:1; 6:2).
Above Reproach
Approved rendering: Bêqusûr
Transliteration: bêqusûr
Doctrine: Qualifications for Church Leadership (Elders and Deacons)
New term. Standard, low-risk vocabulary; descriptive phrase preferred over a single loaded word. 3:2.
Sober Minded
Approved rendering: Hişmend
Transliteration: hişmend
Doctrine: Qualifications for Church Leadership (Elders and Deacons)
New term. Standard vocabulary. 3:2; 3:11.
Self Controlled
Approved rendering: Xweparêz
Transliteration: xweparêz
Doctrine: Qualifications for Church Leadership (Elders and Deacons)
New term. Standard vocabulary. 3:2.
Respectable Orderly
Approved rendering: Rêkûpêk
Transliteration: rêkûpêk
Doctrine: Qualifications for Church Leadership (Elders and Deacons)
New term. Standard vocabulary. 3:2.
Hospitable
Approved rendering: Mêvanperwer
Transliteration: mêvanperwer
Doctrine: Qualifications for Church Leadership (Elders and Deacons)
New term. A very strong, positive native Kurdish term reflecting deep Kurdish hospitality customs; a genuine cultural asset requiring no correction, only application to the church context. 3:2.
Violent Striker
Approved rendering: Ne şerker
Transliteration: ne şerker
Doctrine: Qualifications for Church Leadership (Elders and Deacons)
New term. Standard vocabulary. 3:3.
Gentle
Approved rendering: Nermik
Transliteration: nermik
Doctrine: Qualifications for Church Leadership (Elders and Deacons)
New term. Standard vocabulary. 3:3.
Not Quarrelsome
Approved rendering: Ne şerxwaz
Transliteration: ne şerxwaz
Doctrine: Qualifications for Church Leadership (Elders and Deacons)
New term. Standard vocabulary. 3:3.
Manage Well
Approved rendering: Bi başî serokatiya malê kirin
Transliteration: bi başî serokatiya malê kirin
Doctrine: Household and Family Ethics
New term. Keep consistent with 5:17’s usage of the same underlying verb applied to elders. 3:4.
Blameless Deacon
Approved rendering: Bêsûc / bêqusûr
Transliteration: bêsûc
Doctrine: Qualifications for Church Leadership (Elders and Deacons)
New term. Standard vocabulary, parallels ἀνεπίλημπτος at 3:2. 3:10.
Double Tongued
Approved rendering: Zimandurû
Transliteration: zimandurû
Doctrine: Qualifications for Church Leadership (Elders and Deacons)
New term. A natural existing Kurdish idiom for duplicity; good natural equivalent. 3:8.
Living God
Approved rendering: Xwedayê Zindî
Transliteration: Xwedayê Zindî
Doctrine: Deity and Lordship of Christ
New term. A positive, broadly resonant biblical phrase contrasting God’s vitality with lifeless idols. 3:15; 4:10; 6:13.
Who Alone Has Immortality
Approved rendering: Yê ku bi tenê nemir e
Transliteration: yê ku bi tenê nemir e
Doctrine: Deity and Lordship of Christ
New term. A genuine apologetic asset resonating positively with regional tawhid theology’s emphasis on God’s transcendence; a helpful counterweight to the inverted Sufi-mystical-merger and Yazidi divine-manifestation risks already flagged for Incarnation and Sonship. 6:16.
Accusation Witnesses
Approved rendering: Sûcdarî… du an sê şahid
Transliteration: sûcdarî… du an sê şahid
Doctrine: Qualifications for Church Leadership (Elders and Deacons)
New term. This evidentiary due-process principle resonates positively with both biblical (Deut 19:15) and regional customary/Islamic legal traditions requiring multiple witnesses - a genuine structural bridge and teaching asset for due process. 5:19.
Referenced passages