Semantic Analysis — Acts 1–28 (English → Kurdish)

Methodology

This document analyzes the Koine Greek text of the whole book of Acts for load-bearing theological vocabulary requiring deliberate translation decisions into Kurmanji Kurdish. It builds directly on the baseline Romans Language Package for Kurdish: any term already recorded in translation_memory.json is reused here exactly as recorded, with no substitution (e.g., Ruhê Pîroz, Rizgarî, Xudan, Kurê Xwedê, Mesîh, Îsa, Xwedê, Guneh, Adalet, Wek adil hatin hesibandin, Padîşahiya Xwedê, Şerîeta Mûsa, Îman, Kerem, Pîroz, Pîrozan, Hevaltî, Dêr, Hilbijartin, Bangkirî, Vexwendin, Şandî, Handan kirin, etc.).

Part A gives verse-by-verse treatment of the core passage, Acts 2:1-41 (the thesis narrative of the curriculum: Pentecost and Peter’s sermon). Part B surveys every chapter of Acts in canonical order, first to last, documenting every load-bearing term not already covered, or explicitly noting that a chapter introduces no new vocabulary.

Risk tiers (Critical / High / Medium / Low) follow the definitions established in the baseline doctrine_risk_registry.json.

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PART A — Core Passage: Acts 2:1-41 (Verse-by-Verse)

Acts 2:1

Text: “When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all together in one place.” Load-bearing term: Πεντηκοστή (Pentēkostē)

• Transliteration: Pentēkostē
• Literal meaning: “fiftieth [day]”
• Semantic range: the Jewish Feast of Weeks (Shavuot), celebrated fifty days after Passover/Firstfruits; by NT usage extended to the Christian observance of the Spirit’s outpouring on this day
• English variants: Pentecost, Feast of Weeks, Feast of Harvest
• Contextual theological meaning: the divinely appointed redemptive-historical moment — the Spirit poured out on the very feast that once celebrated the firstfruits of harvest, now yielding the firstfruits of the church
• Kurdish rendering & risk: Pentîkost (transliterated loanword). Medium risk — Kurdish “cejn” (festival) is the operative word for major cultural-religious festivals, including Newroz (Kurdish New Year, itself loaded with nationalist and political meaning) and Islamic Eid. Pentîkost must be taught as this specific, unrepeatable redemptive-historical event, not assimilated as a generic seasonal “cejn.”

Acts 2:2

Text: “And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind.” Load-bearing term: πνοή (pnoē, wind/breath) — wordplay with πνεῦμα (pneuma, Spirit)

• Literal meaning: breath, blast, wind
• Semantic range: physical wind/breath; in OT background (Genesis 2:7, Ezekiel 37) the breath that gives life
• Contextual theological meaning: the audible, physical sign accompanying the Spirit’s arrival, deliberately echoing OT life-giving breath imagery
• Kurdish rendering & risk: Ba (wind) / bayê dijwar (mighty wind). Low risk — the wind/Spirit wordplay does not carry over into Kurdish (ba ≠ Ruhê Pîroz), so the connection must be made explicit in teaching notes rather than assumed from the vocabulary itself.

Acts 2:3

Text: “And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.” Load-bearing term: γλῶσσαι ὡσεὶ πυρός (glōssai hōsei pyros, tongues as of fire)

• Literal meaning: “tongues” here denotes flame-shapes (a common Greek metaphor: a tongue-shaped flame), not yet the languages of v.4
• Contextual theological meaning: visible, individualized manifestation of the Spirit resting on each believer — no hierarchy, no single recipient
• Kurdish rendering & risk: zimanên wek agir (tongues like fire). Medium risk — must be visually distinguished in teaching from v.4’s γλῶσσαι (spoken languages); the same Kurdish word “ziman” is used for both the flame-shape and the miracle of speech, so catechesis should clarify the wordplay is deliberate in the Greek but requires explanation in Kurdish.

Acts 2:4

Text: “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Load-bearing terms:

1. πλησθέντες πνεύματος ἁγίου (plēsthentes pneumatos hagiou, filled with the Holy Spirit)
   • Semantic range: a repeatable filling distinct from the once-for-all indwelling; in Acts this phrase recurs at moments of empowerment for witness (4:8, 4:31, 13:9)
   • Contextual theological meaning: the defining inaugural experience of the church age — the Spirit given corporately and individually, not reserved for a spiritual elite
   • Kurdish rendering & risk: bi Ruhê Pîroz tije bûn (reusing baseline Ruhê Pîroz, Critical). Medium risk as a phrase — the baseline’s Critical-risk caution about Ruhê Pîroz (identification with the created angel Jibril/Gabriel in mainstream tafsir) applies at full force every time this phrase recurs; “filled” must not be read as a partial possession by an impersonal force.
2. ἑτέραις γλώσσαις (heterais glōssais, other tongues)
   • Literal meaning: “other/different tongues” — languages
   • Semantic range: in this passage, real human languages unknown to the speakers (confirmed by v.6-11); elsewhere in the NT the term can denote ecstatic utterance requiring interpretation (1 Cor 14) — a genuinely disputed range across Christian traditions
   • English variants: tongues, other tongues, languages
   • Kurdish rendering & risk: ziman / zimanên din. High risk — (a) doctrinally, care is needed not to pre-resolve the cessationist/continuationist debate through word choice; here in Acts 2 the referent is unambiguously real known languages and must be rendered so; (b) culturally, the miracle of hearing God’s praise in one’s own mother tongue carries unusual force for a Kurdish audience whose own language (in several of its dialects) has faced historical suppression across Turkey, Iran, Syria, and (to a lesser degree) Iraq — this is a genuine pastoral asset, but teaching must avoid over-politicizing the miracle as a validation of Kurdish linguistic-rights struggles specifically, keeping the emphasis on the gospel reaching every people through the Spirit.

Acts 2:5-6

Text: “Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem devout men… each one was hearing them speak in his own language (dialektos).” Load-bearing terms:

1. εὐλαβής (eulabēs, devout)
   • Literal meaning: reverent, taking hold well (of God)
   • Kurdish rendering & risk: dîndar (religiously devout). Low risk — standard, broadly shared vocabulary across regional religious traditions.
2. διάλεκτος (dialektos, own language/dialect) — distinct Greek word from γλῶσσα
   • Literal meaning: a people’s own native speech/dialect
   • Semantic range: mother tongue, vernacular, as opposed to a shared trade language (Greek/Aramaic)
   • Contextual theological meaning: reinforces that this is a miracle of real, particular native languages, not generalized ecstatic speech
   • Kurdish rendering & risk: zaravayê xwe yê zikmakî (one’s own native dialect/mother tongue). High risk (cultural asset with a caution) — Kurdish itself has several distinct dialects/varieties (Kurmanji, Sorani, Kelhuri, Zazaki) whose relationship to one another is itself a point of ethnolinguistic and political sensitivity; using “zaravayê xwe” here is theologically apt but should be handled with awareness that dialect politics are a live topic within Kurdish communities themselves.

Acts 2:7-8

Text: “And they were amazed and astonished, saying, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?’” Load-bearing term: ἐξίσταντο (existanto, were amazed/astonished — lit. “stood outside themselves”)

• Kurdish rendering & risk: matmayî man (were astonished). Low risk — standard descriptive vocabulary.

Acts 2:9-11

Text: the list of nations — “Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia…” Load-bearing term/observation: Μῆδοι (Mēdoi, Medes)

• Contextual theological meaning: the geographic catalogue signals the universal, multi-national scope of the Pentecost sign, anticipating the gospel’s reach “to the ends of the earth” (1:8)
• Kurdish rendering & risk: Mad (Medes). Critical cultural note, not a translation-mechanics risk — Kurdish nationalist historiography commonly claims ethnic descent from the ancient Medes as part of a narrative of deep indigenous roots in the region. The appearance of “Medes” by name in the Pentecost nation-list is a striking, unplanned point of contact that a Kurdish reader is highly likely to notice and feel personally addressed by. This is a genuine pastoral asset (their own claimed ancestors are textually present at the birth of the church) but must be handled carefully: teaching should not overstate or assert a historical claim Acts itself is not making (the text names a Roman-era province/people group, not a genealogical claim about modern Kurds), while still allowing the resonance to be voiced pastorally.

Acts 2:12-13

Text: “What does this mean?” … “They are filled with new wine (γλεῦκος).” Load-bearing term: γλεῦκος (gleukos, sweet new wine)

• Kurdish rendering & risk: şerabê nû (new wine). Low risk — mocking accusation, straightforward.

Acts 2:14-15

Text: Peter stands with the eleven and refutes the drunkenness charge (“it is only the third hour of the day”).

• No new load-bearing theological term; narrative connective material.

Acts 2:16-21

Text: Peter quotes Joel 2:28-32. Load-bearing terms:

1. ἐκχεῶ (ekcheō, I will pour out) — “I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh”
   • Semantic range: to pour out abundantly, lavishly (a liquid poured without measure)
   • Contextual theological meaning: the Spirit given generously and universally (“all flesh”), not rationed to a hereditary or spiritually elite class
   • Kurdish rendering & risk: birêsandin (to pour out). High risk — must be paired explicitly with Ruhê Pîroz each time so “pouring out” is read as an act of the personal, divine Spirit and not a diffuse spiritual energy poured into creation (a framing that could otherwise assimilate too easily into Sufi wahdat al-wujud “unity of being” concepts or Yazidi divine-manifestation categories flagged elsewhere in the baseline).
2. προφητεύσουσιν (prophēteusousin, shall prophesy) — “your sons and your daughters shall prophesy” — reuses baseline Pêxemberî (prophecy, Low risk per baseline) with an added note: the democratizing “sons and daughters, young and old, male and female slaves” scope is itself theologically load-bearing for the doctrine of the Spirit’s universal outpouring, and this inclusive breadth must not be narrowed in translation.
3. ὃς ἂν ἐπικαλέσηται τὸ ὄνομα Κυρίου σωθήσεται (hos an epikalesētai to onoma Kyriou sōthēsetai, “whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved”)
   • Contextual theological meaning: the salvation-invocation formula anchoring salvation to a specific, nameable Lord, not a generalized appeal to divinity
   • Kurdish rendering & risk: reuse baseline Xudan (Lord, Critical) + Rizgarî (salvation, Critical): “kî ku navê Xudan gazî bike, ê rizgar bibe.” Critical — every occurrence of this formula must retain the explicit act of calling (“gazî kirin”) on a named, personal Lord, since this verse becomes the direct antecedent for Romans 10:13, already flagged Critical in the baseline. Must also be anchored personally/spiritually per the baseline’s standing caution against Rizgarî defaulting to national-liberation vocabulary.

Acts 2:22

Text: “Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs (δυνάμεσι καὶ τέρασι καὶ σημείοις).” Load-bearing term: σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα (sēmeia kai terata, signs and wonders), with δύναμις (dynamis, mighty work/power)

• Semantic range: attesting, authenticating acts of divine power distinct from magic or entertainment
• Kurdish rendering & risk: hêz, ecêb û nîşan (mighty works, wonders, and signs) — reusing baseline Hêza Xwedê for δύναμις. High risk — deliberately avoid the cognate keramet, already flagged Critical/High in the baseline for its Sufi association with graces granted to an elevated spiritual elite (a pîr or saint). Apostolic signs here authenticate a specific historical claim about Jesus to all who witness them; they must not be taught as marks of the apostles’ own advanced spiritual rank.

Acts 2:23

Text: “This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.” Load-bearing terms: ὡρισμένῃ βουλῇ (hōrismenē boulē, definite/determined plan) and πρόγνωσις (prognōsis, foreknowledge)

• Contextual theological meaning: the cross as sovereign divine design, not accident or defeat — human responsibility (“lawless men”) held together with divine sovereignty
• Kurdish rendering & risk: plana diyarkirî û pêşzaniya Xwedê, reusing baseline Rêveberiya Xwedê (providence, Medium). High risk in this specific verse — holding together divine sovereignty and human guilt for the crucifixion must be handled carefully so as neither to imply God authored evil nor to soften human/Jewish leadership responsibility in a way that could fuel supersessionist or antisemitic misreading; likewise must not collapse into a fatalistic qadar framing the baseline already cautions against under providence.

Acts 2:24

Text: “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.” Load-bearing terms: reuse baseline Rabûn (resurrection, Critical) + ὠδῖνας τοῦ θανάτου (ōdinas tou thanatou, the pangs/birth-pains of death)

• Kurdish rendering & risk: êşên mirinê (pains of death) + rabûna ji nav miriyan (rising from among the dead). Critical — this is the first resurrection claim in Acts and must, per baseline, be firmly distinguished both from the mainstream Sunni Quranic crucifixion-denial (4:157) and from the distinctly Kurdish/Yazidi kiras guhertin (reincarnation, “changing shirts”) doctrine — a bodily, historical, once-for-all event, not a soul’s transfer into a new body.

Acts 2:25-28

Text: quotation of Psalm 16:8-11 — “you will not abandon my soul to Hades (ᾅδης), or let your Holy One see corruption.” Load-bearing term: ᾅδης (hadēs, Hades)

• Semantic range: the realm/abode of the dead in Greek usage, adopted by the LXX/NT for Hebrew Sheol
• Contextual theological meaning: the realm from which the Messiah is delivered by resurrection, distinguishing him from ordinary mortality
• Kurdish rendering & risk: cîhana miriyan (Hades) — descriptive phrase with the Greek term glossed. Medium risk — must be kept distinct in teaching from the Islamic barzakh (intermediate waiting-state between death and judgment) and from Cehennem (hell/Gehenna, a separate NT term); conflating the three would blur this verse’s specific claim that God did not abandon the Messiah to ordinary death.

Acts 2:29

Text: “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.” Load-bearing term: πατριάρχης (patriarchēs, patriarch)

• Kurdish rendering & risk: bavik or serokê bav û kalan (patriarch/forefather). Low risk — reuse baseline Dawid (David, Medium) for the proper name; the argument (David died and stayed dead, therefore Psalm 16 must point beyond him) needs to be taught explicitly since it is not self-evident to a reader without the Davidic-covenant background already flagged Medium/High in the baseline.

Acts 2:30-31

Text: “Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him… he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ.” Load-bearing terms: ὅρκος (horkos, oath) and προϊδών (proidōn, having foreseen)

• Kurdish rendering & risk: sond (oath), pêşdîtin (foreseeing). Medium risk — reuse baseline Peyman (covenant, High) contextually, since the oath in view is the Davidic covenant oath (2 Samuel 7); reuse baseline Mesîh (Messiah, Critical) and Rabûn (resurrection, Critical) for the compound claim “resurrection of the Christ,” which is the doctrinal center of this unit.

Acts 2:32

Text: “This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.” Load-bearing term: μάρτυς (martys, witness)

• Literal meaning: one who testifies to what he has seen/experienced; the root from which “martyr” later derives (a witness who testifies even unto death)
• Semantic range: legal/testimonial witness (the dominant sense in Acts 1-7) → sealed by death (the sense that crystallizes at Stephen’s death in Acts 7 and recurs through Acts’ persecution narratives)
• English variants: witness, testify, martyr
• Contextual theological meaning: apostolic authority rests specifically on eyewitness testimony to the historical resurrection, not on private revelation or mystical experience alone
• Kurdish rendering & risk: Şahid (witness, testimonial sense). Critical risk — Kurdish “şehîd” (from the same Arabic root, shahāda/martyr) is one of the most emotionally weighted words in contemporary Kurdish life, denoting political and military martyrs of the Kurdish national struggle (Peshmerga, PKK, and other movements’ fallen). Two distinct but etymologically related Kurdish words must be carefully separated in teaching: şahid (testimonial witness — the primary sense in Acts 1-6) and şehîd (one who dies for the testimony — the sense appropriate from Stephen’s death in Acts 7 onward). The gospel’s call to costly testimony must never be allowed to blur into, or be read as endorsing, national-political martyrdom.

Acts 2:33

Text: “Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.” Load-bearing terms: ὑψωθείς (hypsōtheis, having been exalted) and δεξιᾷ τοῦ θεοῦ (dexia tou theou, the right hand of God)

• Contextual theological meaning: Christ’s heavenly enthronement (the doctrine of the “session”) as the ground for his authority to send the Spirit — directly tied to his deity and lordship
• Kurdish rendering & risk: hilbûrî (exalted) + li milê rastê yê Xwedê (at the right hand of God); reuse baseline Bav (Father, Critical) and Ruhê Pîroz (Holy Spirit, Critical). Critical — this verse asserts Christ’s heavenly authority to dispense the divine Spirit himself, a strong implicit deity claim; must not be softened to a merely honorific “seated in favor.”

Acts 2:34-35

Text: quotation of Psalm 110:1 — “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.’” Load-bearing term: reuse baseline Xudan (Lord, Critical), doubled reference (YHWH and the Messiah both called “Lord”)

• Contextual theological meaning: the double-Lord structure of Psalm 110 is a key OT text for the deity and lordship of the Messiah in earliest Christian preaching
• Kurdish rendering & risk: Critical — Kurdish, like other target languages using a single word (“Xudan”) for both instances of “Lord” in this verse, must rely on teaching notes to make clear that two distinct persons are both called “Xudan” — YHWH and the Messiah — since this double address is precisely Peter’s proof text for Jesus’ deity in v.36.

Acts 2:36

Text: “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Load-bearing terms: reuse baseline Xudan (Lord, Critical) and Mesîh (Christ/Messiah, Critical)

• Contextual theological meaning: the climactic double title of the sermon — this is the single most theologically dense verse in the passage, asserting simultaneously Jesus’ supreme lordship and messianic identity, directed at the very people responsible for his death
• Kurdish rendering & risk: Xwedê ew kir Xudan û Mesîh, eva Îsayê ku we dardakir. Critical — per the AI Translation Requirements’ cross-document consistency rule, any rendering touching “Jesus is Lord” content (cf. Romans 10:9) must align precisely; “Xudan” here must retain full exclusive-lordship force, and “kir” (made/appointed) must be handled so as not to imply Jesus became something ontologically new at this moment (adoptionism) rather than being publicly enthroned/vindicated in what he eternally is — a nuance requiring theologian review per baseline escalation rules.

Acts 2:37

Text: “Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said… ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’” Load-bearing term: κατενύγησαν (katenygēsan, were cut/pierced to the heart)

• Literal meaning: to be pierced, stabbed, stung sharply
• Kurdish rendering & risk: dilê wan êşiya or ji dil hatin xemilandin/kutan — literally “their heart was pierced/stung.” Low-Medium risk — standard descriptive vocabulary for conviction, but should be distinguished in teaching from a purely emotional guilt-response; the Greek denotes a decisive inward reckoning that immediately produces the question “what shall we do,” i.e., a Spirit-wrought conviction leading to repentance, not mere remorse.

Acts 2:38

Text: “And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’” Load-bearing terms — the doctrinal center of the entire passage:

1. μετανοήσατε (metanoēsate, repent)
   • Literal meaning: to change one’s mind, to turn around in thought and direction
   • Semantic range: intellectual reorientation → moral/relational reorientation (turning from sin to God)
   • English variants: repent, turn, change one’s mind
   • Contextual theological meaning: a Spirit-enabled, decisive turning from sin and unbelief toward God through Christ, inseparable from but distinct from faith
   • Kurdish rendering & risk: Tobe (established, widely used Kurdish/regional term, cognate with Arabic tawba). Critical risk — tawba is a major, structurally central concept in Islamic piety: a ritualized turning-back to God through remorse, verbal formula, and resolve not to repeat the sin, understood as restoring standing before God on the basis of God’s mercy responding to human initiative. Teaching must make explicit that biblical metanoia in Acts 2 is (a) tied specifically and exclusively to trust in the crucified-and-risen Jesus (not a general return to God), (b) once-for-all in its saving significance though it may recur in the Christian life, and (c) itself Spirit-enabled (cf. Acts 11:18, “God has granted repentance”), not a self-generated act that then earns divine forgiveness.
2. βαπτισθήτω (baptisthētō, be baptized) / βάπτισμα (baptisma)
   • Literal meaning: to dip, immerse
   • Semantic range: ritual washing (Jewish purification, John’s baptism of repentance) → the distinct Christian ordinance of baptism “in the name of Jesus Christ,” marking public identification with Christ’s death and resurrection (cf. Romans 6, already in the baseline curriculum)
   • Kurdish rendering & risk: Vaftîzm / vaftîz kirin (established transliterated Christian term, avoiding Arabic-Islamic ritual vocabulary). Critical risk — must be sharply distinguished from Islamic ritual washing (wudu, minor ablution; ghusl, full ritual purification), which are repeated, self-administered acts of ritual purity unconnected to Christ’s death and resurrection. Baptism in Acts 2:38 is a one-time, Spirit-and-church-mediated act of public identification with a specific historical Person, not a repeatable purification rite.
3. εἰς ἄφεσιν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ὑμῶν (eis aphesin tōn hamartiōn hymōn, for the forgiveness of your sins)
   • Literal meaning: “aphesis” = release, letting go, pardon
   • Semantic range: legal pardon/release from a debt or bondage
   • Contextual theological meaning: the removal of the guilt and penalty of sin, distinct from, though closely tied to, justification (already covered in baseline as “wek adil hatin hesibandin”)
   • Kurdish rendering & risk: lêbûrîna guneha (forgiveness/pardon of sins) — from lêborîn, to forgive/pardon. High risk — must be distinguished from the Islamic maghfira (forgiveness) framework, in which forgiveness is granted case-by-case in response to human repentance and good deeds and remains uncertain until final judgment (a major driver of the baseline’s “Assurance of Salvation” High-risk doctrine); here forgiveness is secured decisively at conversion on the basis of Christ’s finished work, grounding present assurance.
4. δωρεὰν τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος (dōrean tou hagiou pneumatos, the gift of the Holy Spirit)
   • Kurdish rendering & risk: diyariya Ruhê Pîroz — reusing baseline Ruhê Pîroz (Critical) and the pattern of baseline Diyariyên Giyanî (spiritual gifts, Medium). Critical — this is the personal indwelling of the divine Spirit as a gift, not an achievement or reward for successful repentance; the gift/reward distinction here must track the baseline’s grace-versus-merit caution (kerem, High) precisely.

Acts 2:39

Text: “For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” Load-bearing terms: ἐπαγγελία (epangelia, promise) and μακράν (makran, far off)

• Contextual theological meaning: the first explicit signal within the sermon of the gospel’s future extension beyond ethnic Israel to the Gentiles (“all who are far off”), a key seed for the Jew-Gentile doctrine that dominates the rest of Acts
• Kurdish rendering & risk: soz (promise); yên ku dûr in (those who are far off); reuse baseline Bangkirî/Vexwendin (called/calling, High) for “calls to himself.” High risk — “the Lord our God calls” must retain the sense of sovereign, effectual divine summons (per baseline’s Effectual Calling doctrine) rather than a general invitation extended equally to all without particular divine initiative.

Acts 2:40

Text: “And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, ‘Save yourselves from this crooked generation.’” Load-bearing terms: reuse baseline Handan kirin (exhort/encourage, Low) and γενεᾶς σκολιᾶς (geneas skolias, crooked/twisted generation)

• Kurdish rendering & risk: nifşê xwar/çewt (crooked/perverse generation). Low-Medium risk — “save yourselves” (σώθητε) here is an imperative response to the sermon’s message, reusing baseline Rizgarî (salvation, Critical); must retain the sense of urgently appealing to hearers to embrace the salvation already announced, not a self-achieved rescue.

Acts 2:41

Text: “So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.” Load-bearing terms: ἀποδεξάμενοι τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ (apodexamenoi ton logon autou, those who received his word) and προσετέθησαν (prosetethēsan, were added)

• Contextual theological meaning: reception of the apostolic word, sealed by baptism (reuse Vaftîzm), results in incorporation into a numbered, identifiable community — the beginning of the visible church
• Kurdish rendering & risk: peyva wî pejirandin (received his word); lê zêde bûn (were added). Medium risk — “added” should be rendered so as to convey addition to a specific, existing community (the apostolic band, cf. v.42’s fellowship), not merely a headcount of individual converts, since Acts consistently ties conversion to incorporation into the visible church (Church as Community doctrine).

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Chapter 2, verses 42-47 (continuation, outside core-passage boundary but same chapter)

Although the assigned core passage is Acts 2:1-41, the remainder of the chapter introduces additional load-bearing vocabulary essential to the Church as Community doctrine and is treated here for completeness.

• κοινωνία (koinōnia, fellowship, v.42) — reuse baseline Hevaltî (Medium). Note again the baseline’s caution that “heval” carries a secular leftist/revolutionary “comrade” echo in modern Kurdish political usage.
• κλάσις τοῦ ἄρτου (klasis tou artou, the breaking of bread, v.42) — Kurdish: Şikandina Nanî. Low-Medium risk — a technical term for the shared apostolic meal (including but likely not limited to what became the Lord’s Supper); should not be confused with ordinary Kurdish hospitality-meal customs (also highly significant culturally) without the specific worship context being made clear.
• ἅπαντα κοινά (hapanta koina, all things in common, v.44-45) — Kurdish: hemû tişt bi hev re, wek milkê hevpar. High risk — this description of the earliest church voluntarily sharing possessions is at genuine risk of being assimilated to modern Kurdish political vocabulary and memory, since several major 20th-century Kurdish political movements have had explicitly socialist/communist programs (collective property, “heval” as comrade). Teaching must make clear this is a voluntary, Spirit-motivated, temporary Jerusalem-specific practice of generosity flowing from love, not a normative economic system or an endorsement of a particular political-economic ideology.
• ἀγαλλιάσει καὶ ἀφελότητι καρδίας (agalliasei kai aphelotēti kardias, with glad and generous/sincere hearts, v.46) — Kurdish: bi dilxweşî û dilpakî. Low risk.

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PART B — Chapter-by-Chapter Survey of the Whole Book of Acts

Chapter 1 — Ascension, the Spirit Promised, Apostolic Restoration

• βασιλεία (basileia, kingdom, 1:6 — “will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”) — reuse baseline Padîşahiya Xwedê (Kingdom of God, Critical). Critical — this is the single most direct textual parallel in the New Testament to the exact anxiety the baseline flags: the disciples themselves ask about political restoration of a national kingdom, and Jesus redirects them to spiritual mission and the Spirit’s empowerment (1:7-8). This verse should be foregrounded as the interpretive key for teaching Kurdish audiences that “Kingdom of God” language is deliberately, repeatedly redirected away from national-political restoration throughout Acts, beginning with this very question.
• μάρτυς (martys, witness, 1:8 — “you will be my witnesses”) — introduces the term fully (see Acts 2:32 entry above for full field treatment); this is the programmatic verse for the entire book’s structure (Jerusalem → Judea/Samaria → ends of the earth), tying witness directly to the Great Commission Fulfilled doctrine. Critical for the reasons given at 2:32.
• βάπτισμα ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ (baptism in/with the Holy Spirit, 1:5) — reuse Vaftîzm + Ruhê Pîroz. Critical — first occurrence of the Spirit-baptism promise fulfilled at Pentecost; must be distinguished from John’s water baptism mentioned in the same verse (a distinction Acts itself revisits at 19:1-7).
• κλῆρος (klēros, lot, 1:26 — casting lots for Matthias) — Kurdish: pişk (lot) / pişk avêtin (to cast lots). Medium risk — must be distinguished in teaching from regional folk-divination practice (fal, fortune-telling by omens), which is culturally widespread; the apostles’ lot-casting here is a prayerful, Scripture-guided means of discerning God’s prior choice (v.24, echoing Hilbijartin/election, High), not a game of chance or occult practice.
• ἀνελήμφθη (anelēmphthē, was taken up, 1:9-11 — the Ascension) — Kurdish: hilkişî (rose up) / bi ezmên ve hilkişîn. High risk — while the Ascension shares no direct Quranic prohibition (Islam in fact affirms Jesus/Isa was raised bodily to heaven without dying, Quran 4:157-158), this creates an inverted risk: a Kurdish Muslim reader may too readily accept “Jesus ascended” while continuing to deny the crucifixion and resurrection that Acts presents as preceding it. Teaching must make clear the ascension in Acts presupposes and confirms, rather than replaces, the prior death and bodily resurrection (already Critical in the baseline).

Chapter 2 — see Part A (core passage) and the 2:42-47 continuation above.

Chapter 3 — Healing at the Temple Gate, Peter’s Second Sermon

• ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ (“in the name of Jesus Christ,” 3:6) — introduces the Name (ὄνομα) formula fully.
  • Semantic range: invoking a name as the ground of authority for an act (here, healing)
  • Contextual theological meaning: healing (and, at 4:12, salvation) proceeds from Christ’s own person and authority, invoked verbally but not as an incantation
  • Kurdish rendering & risk: bi navê Îsa Mesîh. High risk — regional folk-religious practice (shared across Sufi, folk-Islamic, and some Yazidi contexts) includes invoking the names of God, a pîr, or a saint for healing or protection, sometimes alongside amulets. “In the name of Jesus” must be taught as resting entirely on Christ’s own person, authority, and finished work — not a verbal formula with independent power, and not comparable to invoking a saint’s intercessory name.
• καιροὶ ἀναψύξεως (“times of refreshing,” 3:19) — Kurdish: demên vejîna giyanî (times of spiritual refreshment). Low-Medium risk — eschatological, tied to repentance (reuse Tobe).
• προφήτην… ὡς ἐμέ (“a prophet like me [Moses],” 3:22-23, quoting Deuteronomy 18:15) — reuse baseline Pêxember (prophet, High). Critical risk, specific to this verse — the “prophet like Moses” typology is one of the most common arguments in regional Muslim apologetics for Muhammad’s finality of prophethood (identifying Muhammad, not Jesus, as this promised prophet). Peter’s sermon applies this text directly and exclusively to Jesus. This is a live, frequently-encountered interfaith argument and must be flagged for theologian review wherever it recurs, with explicit teaching on why the Deuteronomy 18 prophecy is fulfilled in Jesus specifically (a prophet from among the Israelites who speaks God’s very words, vindicated by resurrection).

Chapter 4 — Peter and John Before the Council; Exclusivity of Salvation

• οὐδὲ γὰρ ὄνομά ἐστιν ἕτερον… ἐν ᾧ δεῖ σωθῆναι ἡμᾶς (“there is no other name under heaven… by which we must be saved,” 4:12) — reuse Rizgarî (salvation, Critical) + Name term (High, see ch.3). Critical — the sharpest exclusivity claim in Acts; must be preserved in full force per the baseline’s Universal Scope of Gospel doctrine (High), without softening into religious pluralism, while pastorally aware this is among the most contested claims for a multi-religious Kurdish audience (Sunni, Sufi, Yazidi, Alevi, Yarsani).
• παρρησία (parrēsia, boldness, 4:13, 29, 31) — introduces the term fully.
  • Literal meaning: freedom/openness of speech, originally a civic-political term for a citizen’s right to speak plainly in the assembly
  • Contextual theological meaning: Spirit-given fearlessness in proclaiming Christ despite threat, tied directly to the Persecution and Bold Witness doctrine
  • Kurdish rendering & risk: wêrekî (boldness/courage) or soza axaftinê ya bêtirs (fearless speech). High risk — must be distinguished from mere political defiance or activist courage (a strongly positive value in Kurdish political culture given the region’s history of resistance movements); biblical parrēsia here is Spirit-produced testimony to Christ specifically, not courage as a general civic or national virtue.
• ὁμοθυμαδὸν… ἦν αὐτοῖς καρδία καὶ ψυχὴ μία (“of one heart and soul,” 4:32) — reuses the “all things in common” theme from 2:44-45; see that entry’s High-risk note on socialist/communist political resonance.

Chapter 5 — Ananias and Sapphira; Apostolic Boldness Continues

• ψεύσασθαί σε τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον (“to lie to the Holy Spirit,” 5:3) — reuse Ruhê Pîroz (Critical). Critical — this narrative is a key text for the Spirit’s full personhood and deity (lying to the Spirit = lying to God, v.4), directly reinforcing the baseline’s caution that the Spirit must never be reduced to an impersonal force or a created angelic being.
• φόβος μέγας (“great fear,” 5:5, 11) — Kurdish: tirsek mezin. Low risk — the church’s reverent fear of God’s holiness; distinguish from servile terror.
• χαίροντες ὅτι κατηξιώθησαν ἀτιμασθῆναι (“rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name,” 5:41) — introduces the Persecution and Bold Witness doctrine’s paradoxical joy-in-suffering motif fully; High risk — joy in suffering for Christ’s name must be distinguished from valorized suffering/martyrdom for the Kurdish national cause (cf. şehîd, Critical, at 2:32), even though both involve costly public identification with a cause under a hostile state.

Chapter 6 — The Seven Chosen; Stephen Introduced

• διακονεῖν τραπέζαις / διακονία (diakonein trapezais / diakonia, to serve tables / service, 6:1-4) — Kurdish: xizmet (service) / xizmetkirina sifreyan. Medium risk — “xizmet” is standard Kurdish vocabulary but carries residual feudal/tribal connotation (serving an axa/lord in a hierarchical patron-client relationship); church diaconal service must be taught as dignified, Spirit-gifted ministry among equals, not subordinate feudal servitude.
• Stephen “full of grace and power” — reuse baseline Kerem (grace, High) and Hêza Xwedê (power of God, Medium). No new risk beyond the baseline entries.

Chapter 7 — Stephen’s Speech and Martyrdom

• ἀπερίτμητοι καρδίαις (“uncircumcised in heart,” 7:51) — Kurdish: dilê wan nesinetkirî ye. High risk — introduces the metaphorical extension of the circumcision term (see ch.15 below, Critical) into an internal, spiritual category; this metaphor must not be read literally in a culture where physical circumcision (sinet) is a significant Islamic rite of passage, nor should it be read as disparaging the practice itself, but rather as Stephen’s charge of persistent unbelief and resistance to the Spirit.
• Stephen’s death: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit”; “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (7:59-60) — this is the passage where μάρτυς (witness) first crystallizes into the later sense of “martyr” (one who testifies unto death). Introduce şehîd here explicitly as the appropriate Kurdish word for this specific narrative moment, while reiterating the Critical caution from 2:32 that this must be taught as testimony sealed by death for Christ, categorically distinct from Kurdish national-political martyrdom, even while both concepts carry immense emotional and cultural weight for the audience.

Chapter 8 — Philip, Simon Magus, the Ethiopian Eunuch

• μαγεία (mageia, sorcery/magic, 8:9-24, Simon Magus) — introduces the term fully.
  • Contextual theological meaning: the Spirit’s power is not a commodity that can be purchased or manipulated (giving rise to the term “simony”)
  • Kurdish rendering & risk: sêrbazî (sorcery). High risk — the region (across Sunni, Sufi, Yazidi, and folk traditions) has widespread belief in jinn, the evil eye (çavê nezer), and protective/harmful magical practice; this narrative’s rejection of purchasing spiritual power must be taught as a rejection of a transactional, magical view of the Spirit’s power altogether, not simply a rule against paying for it.
• εὐνοῦχος (eunouchos, eunuch, 8:27ff) — Kurdish: xesî (eunuch). Low-Medium risk — a socially marginal figure in the ancient world (and one excluded from full temple worship under the Mosaic law, cf. Deut 23:1) welcomed fully into the gospel (echoing Isaiah 56:3-5); ties to the Gospel to Jews and Gentiles doctrine’s inclusive trajectory.
• ἐπιτιθέναι τὰς χεῖρας (laying on of hands, 8:17-19) — introduces the term fully.
  • Kurdish rendering & risk: destlêdanîn (laying on of hands). Medium risk — must be distinguished from folk-healing touch practices attributed to a pîr or other spiritually powerful figure; here it is a visible, communal sign accompanying (not causing, per Simon’s error) the sovereign giving of the Spirit.

Chapter 9 — Saul’s Conversion

• τῆς ὁδοῦ (“the Way,” 9:2 — first occurrence in Acts, of the earliest self-designation of the Christian movement) — introduces the term fully.
  • Kurdish rendering & risk: Rê (the Way) / Riya Xwedê. High risk — resonates with, but must be distinguished from, the Islamic concept of “the straight path” (sirat al-mustaqim, recited in every performance of the opening chapter of the Quran); “the Way” in Acts denotes the specific, concrete community of those who follow the crucified-and-risen Jesus, not a set of ethical prescriptions or a general path to God.
• φῶς ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ (“a light from heaven,” 9:3) and the voice — narrative signal of direct divine encounter; ties to the Conversion of Paul doctrine.
• ὡσεὶ λεπίδες (“something like scales,” 9:18, falling from Saul’s eyes) — Kurdish: wek pûlik (like scales). Low risk, vivid narrative detail signifying restored spiritual and physical sight together.
• σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς (skeuos eklogēs, “a chosen instrument/vessel,” 9:15) — introduces the term fully.
  • Kurdish rendering & risk: amrazê hilbijartî (chosen instrument), reusing baseline Hilbijartin (election, High). Medium risk — must retain the sense of sovereign divine selection for a specific missionary task (to Gentiles, kings, and Israel) without collapsing into the baseline’s flagged confusion with democratic “election”/voting.
• διώκειν (diōkein, to persecute — “why do you persecute me?” 9:4) — introduces the Persecution vocabulary formally.
  • Kurdish rendering & risk: çewisandin/tacîz kirin (persecute). Medium risk — theologically significant here because Christ identifies himself with his persecuted people (“why do you persecute me”), a union-with-Christ point (cf. baseline’s Christian Identity in Christ doctrine, High) worth flagging for teaching emphasis rather than translation difficulty per se.

Chapter 10 — Cornelius; the Gospel Opens to Gentiles

• φοβούμενος τὸν θεόν (phoboumenos ton theon, God-fearer, 10:2, 22) — introduces the term fully.
  • Semantic range: a first-century technical category for Gentiles who worshiped Israel’s God and attended synagogue without full proselyte conversion (i.e., without circumcision)
  • Kurdish rendering & risk: Xwedêparêz. Medium risk — must be explained as a specific historical category (distinct from a general description of any pious person) so the significance of Cornelius’s full inclusion without circumcision is not lost.
• κοινός (koinos, common/unclean, 10:14-15, 28 — Peter’s vision) — introduces the term fully.
  • Semantic range: ritually common/unclean under Mosaic dietary law (as opposed to καθαρός, clean) → by extension, in this passage, applied metaphorically to people (“God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean”)
  • Kurdish rendering & risk: neptik / gemar (unclean/common). High risk — Islamic halal/haram dietary categories are pervasive and structurally similar in form (though independently derived) to the Mosaic categories being annulled here; teaching must make clear this passage announces the fulfillment and setting-aside of the OT ceremonial food law specifically in Christ (a redemptive-historical move), and is not a general argument against religious dietary law as such, nor a direct commentary on Islamic practice.
• οὐκ ἔστιν προσωπολήμπτης ὁ θεός (“God shows no partiality,” 10:34) — Kurdish: Xwedê alîgir nîne. Medium risk — foundational text for the Gospel to Jews and Gentiles doctrine; could also be taught (with care) against tribal/aşîret favoritism, though this application should remain secondary to the text’s primary Jew-Gentile point.
• The Gentiles receive the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues (10:44-46) — reuse Ruhê Pîroz and ziman/zimanên din (tongues, High, see 2:4); this is the narrative confirmation that Gentiles receive the identical Pentecost gift, without prior circumcision or law-observance — directly feeding the Justification apart from the Law doctrine developed fully in chapters 13 and 15.

Chapter 11 — Peter’s Report; the Church at Antioch

• μετάνοιαν εἰς ζωήν (“repentance that leads to life,” 11:18) — reuse Tobe (Critical, see 2:38); note here specifically that repentance itself is described as something God “grants” (ἔδωκεν) to the Gentiles — reinforcing that it is Spirit-enabled, not self-generated (see the ch.2:38 caution against the Islamic tawba framework of human-initiated repentance).
• Χριστιανούς (Christianous, Christians, 11:26 — first use of the term, at Antioch) — Kurdish: Mesîhî (reusing baseline Mesîh). Low-Medium risk — establishes the standard Kurdish Christian self-designation used throughout the rest of the curriculum; low collision risk since it derives transparently from the already-established Mesîh.

Chapter 12 — Herod’s Persecution; Peter’s Deliverance

• ἄγγελος Κυρίου (angel of the Lord, 12:7-11) — Kurdness: milyaketê Xudan. Low-Medium risk — standard shared vocabulary (angels are affirmed across regional religious traditions); the specific point that this is an act of God’s personal deliverance (reuse Rêveberiya Xwedê, providence, Medium) from unjust state persecution should be emphasized given the audience’s lived experience of state power across four different jurisdictions.
• “the word of God increased and multiplied” (12:24) — reuse growth vocabulary from 2:41 (Church as Community / Great Commission Fulfilled doctrines).
• James’s martyrdom (12:2) — reuse şehîd framework from ch.7, with the Critical caution restated.

Chapter 13 — Paul and Barnabas Sent; Justification Apart from the Law Proclaimed

• ἀφορίσατε δή μοι τὸν Βαρναβᾶν καὶ Σαῦλον (“set apart for me Barnabas and Saul,” 13:2) — Kurdish: ji min re cuda bikin. High risk — reuses the baseline’s “Separation unto God’s Service” doctrine (High); this commissioning is by the Holy Spirit’s direct initiative during corporate worship/fasting, a model of Spirit-directed (not institutionally imposed) missionary sending relevant to the Great Commission Fulfilled doctrine.
• Elymas the sorcerer (13:6-11) — reuse sêrbazî (sorcery, High, see ch.8).
• διὰ τούτου ὑμῖν ἄφεσις ἁμαρτιῶν καταγγέλλεται, καὶ ἀπὸ πάντων ὧν οὐκ ἠδυνήθητε ἐν νόμῳ Μωϋσέως δικαιωθῆναι, ἐν τούτῳ πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων δικαιοῦται (“through him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed/justified from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses,” 13:38-39) — the single most important Justification-apart-from-the-Law text in Acts.
  • Reuse baseline Wek adil hatin hesibandin (justification, Critical) and Şerîeta Mûsa (law of Moses, Critical) exactly.
  • Critical risk — δικαιωθῆναι/δικαιοῦται (justified/freed) here uses the same root the baseline has already anchored to forensic declaration, not moral achievement; this verse must be rendered so that “freed” is understood as the same event as “justified” (a legal release from the guilt the law could never actually remove), not as two separate benefits, and must not imply the law of Moses was itself deficient or evil — only that it could never achieve justification, a point requiring careful, non-supersessionist framing given Acts’ consistently positive regard for Jewish heritage.
• ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον (“as many as were appointed/ordained to eternal life,” 13:48) — reuse baseline Hilbijartin (election, High). High risk — restated caution: must not be read through the lens of a democratic “vote” or “appointment” in the modern electoral sense (per the baseline’s specific warning about hilbijartin’s overlap with KRG/Rojava electoral politics); here it denotes God’s prior, sovereign determination, publicly visible in who actually believes.

Chapter 14 — Lystra, Iconium, Derbe

• Paul and Barnabas mistaken for the gods Zeus and Hermes (14:11-13) — reuse but (idol, Medium) vocabulary contextually; Paul’s response, “we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God” (14:15), reuses Mizgînî (gospel, Medium) and introduces a direct idol-versus-living-God contrast relevant to engaging Yazidi, Yarsani, and folk-religious frameworks that include multiple divine/spiritual figures.
• διὰ πολλῶν θλίψεων δεῖ ἡμᾶς εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ (“through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God,” 14:22) — reuse Padîşahiya Xwedê (Critical) and introduces θλῖψις (thlipsis, tribulation/affliction) — Kurdish: tengasî/zulm. High risk — ties persecution directly and necessarily to kingdom membership, reinforcing (again) that this kingdom is not a this-worldly political achievement but is entered precisely through suffering under hostile powers — a needed corrective given the baseline’s Critical caution about Kurdish statehood aspiration.
• πρεσβυτέρους (elders, 14:23) — introduces the term fully (see ch.20 below for fuller treatment alongside “overseer”).

Chapter 15 — The Jerusalem Council

• περιτομή (peritomē, circumcision, throughout ch.15) — introduces the term fully.
  • Literal meaning: cutting around, circumcision
  • Semantic range: the Mosaic covenant sign (Genesis 17) → by the first century, also the marker distinguishing full Jewish/proselyte identity from Gentile “God-fearer” status (cf. ch.10)
  • Contextual theological meaning: the Council’s central question — whether Gentile believers must be circumcised and keep the law of Moses to be saved — is resolved decisively in the negative (15:11: “we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will”)
  • Kurdish rendering & risk: sinet (established Kurdish/regional term for circumcision, from Arabic/Islamic vocabulary — sünnet). Critical risk — circumcision (sinet) is a major, near-universal Islamic (and also historically Jewish, though the Jewish community in the region is now tiny) cultural rite of passage for Kurdish boys, carrying strong social and religious significance entirely independent of this text. The Jerusalem Council’s conclusion — that circumcision is not required for salvation — must be taught with extreme care so it is understood as a first-century, salvation-specific theological ruling about the basis of a right standing with God (grace through faith, not law-keeping), and is in no way a commentary on, or challenge to, the contemporary cultural/religious practice of sinet within Kurdish Muslim families. Conflating the two would create serious, unnecessary offense and confusion.
• Reuse Kerem (grace, High) at 15:11 — the doctrinal payoff verse, tying justification-apart-from-law directly to grace as already flagged Critical/High in the baseline.
• πορνεία (porneia, sexual immorality, part of the apostolic decree, 15:20, 29) — Kurdish: zînap or fuhûş (sexual immorality). Medium risk — standard shared moral vocabulary; low ambiguity but should be distinguished from the narrower meaning of “namûs” already rejected in the baseline for the unrelated “law” term (recall: namûs has narrowed in Kurdish to mean specifically family/female honor, tied to honor-killing contexts) — porneia here should NOT be rendered with namûs-derived vocabulary for the same reason the baseline rejected it for “law.”

Chapter 16 — Lydia, the Philippian Jailer, Paul’s Roman Citizenship

• ἧς ὁ κύριος διήνοιξεν τὴν καρδίαν (“the Lord opened her heart,” 16:14, Lydia) — reuse Xudan (Lord, Critical); introduces the motif of divine initiative in individual conversion, feeding the Effectual Calling doctrine (High, already in baseline).
• πνεῦμα πύθωνα (“a spirit of divination,” lit. “python spirit,” 16:16) — Kurdish: ruhê fala (spirit of fortune-telling/divination). High risk — direct relevance to regionally widespread belief in jinn possession and fortune-telling (fal); this narrative models the authority of Christ’s name over such spirits (reuse “Name” term, High) without turning the episode into an endorsement of a broader folk-exorcism framework.
• Τί με δεῖ ποιεῖν ἵνα σωθῶ; … Πίστευσον ἐπὶ τὸν Κύριον Ἰησοῦν, καὶ σωθήσῃ σὺ (“What must I do to be saved?” … “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved,” 16:30-31) — reuse Rizgarî (Critical), Xudan (Critical), Îman-family verb for “believe” (Critical/High per baseline’s faith entry). Critical — alongside 2:21/2:38 and Romans 10:9-10, this is one of the curriculum’s core salvation-formula verses and must be rendered with word-for-word consistency with those passages per the cross-document consistency rule already established in the baseline AI requirements.
• Roman citizenship (πολίτης Ῥωμαῖος, 16:37-38) — Kurdish: hemwelatiya Romayê. Low doctrinal risk, but a notable cultural-pastoral point: Paul’s appeal to the legal protections of a state citizenship he held is a poignant contrast for a Kurdish audience, many of whom live as a stateless or minority population without equivalent legal protection from any of the four states they inhabit; this may be worth a pastoral note in teaching materials but does not require special translation handling.

Chapter 17 — Thessalonica, Berea, Athens (the Areopagus)

• οἱ τὴν οἰκουμένην ἀναστατώσαντες (“these men who have turned the world upside down,” 17:6) — narrative, no new doctrinal term; illustrates the Persecution and Bold Witness doctrine’s social disruption theme.
• εὐγενέστεροι… ἀνακρίνοντες τὰς γραφὰς (“more noble… examining the Scriptures,” 17:11, the Bereans) — Kurdish: serbilindtir bûn… û Nivîsarên Pîroz kontrol kirin. Low risk — models careful, Scripture-tested reception of apostolic preaching, a valuable pattern to commend given widespread suspicion of textual corruption (tahrif) already flagged in the baseline under Inspiration of Scripture (High).
• ἄγνωστος θεός (agnōstos theos, “an unknown god,” 17:23, the Areopagus altar) — introduces the term fully.
  • Kurdish rendering & risk: xwedayê nenas (descriptive phrase, not a fixed liturgical term). Low-Medium risk — a valuable apologetic model: Paul builds a bridge from existing (if incomplete) religious devotion to the specific proclamation of the true God revealed in Christ. This approach is directly relevant to engaging Kurdish audiences with Sufi, Yazidi, Alevi, or Yarsani religious backgrounds, provided the bridge is completed (as Paul does) with the specific, exclusive claims of Christ’s resurrection and coming judgment, not left as an affirmation of shared religious sentiment.
• ἀκούσαντες δὲ ἀνάστασιν νεκρῶν οἱ μὲν ἐχλεύαζον (“when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked,” 17:32) — reuse Rabûn (resurrection, Critical). Critical — the Areopagus philosophers’ mockery of bodily resurrection anticipates and models the same mainstream regional resistance to this doctrine (see 2:24); worth noting for teaching that resistance to this specific claim is neither new nor unique to Islamic contexts.

Chapter 18 — Corinth; Priscilla, Aquila, and Apollos

• τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ θεοῦ ἀκριβέστερον (“the way of God more accurately,” 18:26) — reuse Rê (the Way, High, see ch.9); no new risk beyond that entry.
• No further new load-bearing theological terms in this chapter; reuses vocabulary already introduced.

Chapter 19 — Ephesus: John’s Disciples, Sons of Sceva, the Riot

• Twelve disciples “who had not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit” and had received only “John’s baptism” (19:1-7) — reuse Ruhê Pîroz (Critical) and Vaftîzm (Critical); this passage requires explicit teaching on the distinction between John’s baptism of repentance (preparatory, forward-looking) and Christian baptism “in the name of the Lord Jesus” (which incorporates the Spirit’s gift) — an important nuance for a Great Commission Fulfilled unit tracing the gospel’s expanding, maturing proclamation.
• Sons of Sceva’s failed exorcism (19:13-16) and burning of magic books (τὰ περίεργα, “curious/magic arts,” 19:19) — reuse sêrbazî (sorcery, High, see ch.8); reinforces that Christ’s authority cannot be borrowed or imitated by formula.
• The Ephesian riot over Artemis/Diana (19:23-41) — reuse but (idol, Medium); illustrates economic and religious opposition to the gospel’s advance, relevant to Persecution and Bold Witness doctrine.

Chapter 20 — Paul’s Farewell to the Ephesian Elders

• πρεσβυτέρους (elders, 20:17) and ἐπισκόπους (overseers, 20:28) used together for the same office — introduces overseer fully alongside the ch.14 introduction of elders.
  • Elders (πρεσβύτεροι): Kurdish: Rihspî (lit. “white-beard,” the native Kurdish term for a respected village/tribal elder entrusted with authority in dispute resolution and decision-making). High risk — Kurdish aşîret (tribal) structures grant elder authority substantially on the basis of age, lineage, and inherited social standing; church eldership in Acts is instead based on spiritual qualification and the Spirit’s appointment (20:28, “the Holy Spirit has made you overseers”), open in principle to any qualified believer regardless of tribal lineage or age alone. This distinction must be taught explicitly, paralleling the baseline’s caution about aşîret structures reinforcing restrictive defaults for the adoption doctrine.
  • Overseer (ἐπίσκοπος): Kurdish: Çavdêr (native compound, “eye-watcher,” i.e., one who watches over/supervises). Medium risk — a transparent, non-loaded native term; low collision risk, but should be taught as the same office as “elder” (not a higher rank), since Acts 20 uses both terms interchangeably for the same group of men.
• ποιμαίνειν τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ θεοῦ (“shepherd the church of God,” 20:28) — introduces shepherd/flock vocabulary fully.
  • Kurdish rendering & risk: şivantiya dêrê/civata Mesîhî bikin (shepherd the church), reusing baseline Dêr/Civata Mesîhî (church, High). Medium risk — pastoral shepherd imagery resonates strongly and positively with Kurdish pastoral-nomadic cultural heritage; a genuine asset, though care should be taken that it not be assimilated to the Sufi murshid-disciple guidance relationship, which (like the pîr concept already flagged Critical/High in the baseline) implies a more hierarchical, quasi-hereditary spiritual authority than the biblical shepherd-elder model intends.
• λύκοι βαρεῖς (“fierce wolves,” 20:29, false teachers) — Kurdish: gurên hovane. Low risk, standard metaphor.

Chapter 21 — Paul’s Journey to Jerusalem; Warnings and Vow

• Agabus’s prophetic sign-act (21:10-11) — reuse Pêxemberî (prophecy, Low per baseline); no new risk.
• Paul’s purification vow (21:23-26, likely a Nazirite-type vow, εὐχή) — Kurdish: sond/nezîrî. Low-Medium risk — illustrates Paul’s continued personal respect for Jewish customs even while defending Gentile freedom from the law as a basis for salvation (ch.13, 15); this nuance (freedom from the law for justification is compatible with continued voluntary law-observance as a Jewish believer’s cultural practice) is worth flagging for careful teaching so the Justification apart from the Law doctrine is not misread as hostility to Jewish practice as such.

Chapter 22 — Paul’s Defense Before the Jerusalem Crowd

• Paul retells his conversion (reuse all terms from ch.9: Rê, Rabûn, light/voice imagery, Tobe). No new load-bearing theological term; reinforces the Conversion of Paul doctrine through repetition, a pattern Acts itself uses deliberately (Paul’s conversion is narrated three times — ch.9, 22, 26 — underscoring its programmatic importance).

Chapter 23 — Paul Before the Sanhedrin

• περὶ ἀναστάσεως νεκρῶν… κρίνομαι (“I am on trial concerning the resurrection of the dead,” 23:6) and the resulting Pharisee-Sadducee dispute (23:8, “the Sadducees say there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all”) — reuse Rabûn (Critical). High risk, note — useful teaching point that resurrection was already a disputed doctrine within first-century Judaism itself, not something Christianity invented; helpful context for engaging the mainstream Sunni denial of Jesus’ resurrection specifically (already Critical in the baseline) while distinguishing the general concept of resurrection (which many streams of Judaism and Islam alike affirm will happen at the end of the age) from the specific historical claim that Jesus in particular has already been raised.

Chapter 24 — Paul Before Felix

• τὴν καθ’ ὁδόν (“the Way,” again, 24:14, 22) — reuse Rê (High).
• ἀνάστασιν μέλλειν ἔσεσθαι δικαίων τε καὶ ἀδίκων (“there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust,” 24:15) — reuse Rabûn (Critical) and Adalet-family vocabulary (righteous, High per baseline); ties resurrection to final judgment, a combination shared broadly with Islamic eschatology and thus a potential bridge-point for teaching, provided the specific, already-accomplished resurrection of Christ (as the ground of future resurrection, 1 Cor 15) is not lost in the more general, shared future-resurrection expectation.
• περὶ δικαιοσύνης καὶ ἐγκρατείας καὶ τοῦ κρίματος τοῦ μέλλοντος (“righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come,” 24:25) — introduces κρίμα (krima, judgment) formally.
  • Kurdish rendering & risk: dîwana/darazandina Xwedê ya bê (the coming judgment of God). Medium risk — reuse baseline Adalet (righteousness, Critical) here in its ordinary ethical sense (self-controlled righteous living), distinct from its forensic justification sense elsewhere in the curriculum; this dual usage of “Adalet” across ethical and forensic senses should be flagged for translators to disambiguate by context.

Chapter 25 — Paul Appeals to Caesar

• Καίσαρα ἐπικαλοῦμαι (“I appeal to Caesar,” 25:11) — Kurdish: gazî li Qeyser dikim. Low doctrinal risk — a legal-procedural term; illustrates Paul’s lawful use of Roman legal process to advance his gospel witness to the highest levels of imperial authority, relevant to the Great Commission Fulfilled doctrine’s climax (the gospel reaching “the ends of the earth,” culminating in Rome itself, ch.28).

Chapter 26 — Paul’s Defense Before Agrippa

• ἀνοῖξαι ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτῶν, τοῦ ἐπιστρέψαι ἀπὸ σκότους εἰς φῶς καὶ τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ Σατανᾶ ἐπὶ τὸν θεόν (“to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God,” 26:18) — introduces ἐπιστρέφω (epistrephō, to turn/convert) fully.
  • Kurdish rendering & risk: vegerandin (to turn back/convert). Medium-High risk — this verse gives the fullest single-verse summary of conversion in Acts, combining light/darkness dualism (broadly shared imagery across regional religious traditions and thus a genuine bridge) with the more specific claim of deliverance from “the power/authority of Satan” (ἐξουσία τοῦ Σατανᾶ) — this should be taught as a specific power-transfer (from Satan’s dominion to God’s), not merely a moral improvement or enlightenment, to avoid flattening the conversion doctrine into generic religious enlightenment language.
• οὐκ ἐγενόμην ἀπειθὴς τῇ οὐρανίῳ ὀπτασίᾳ (“I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,” 26:19) — reuse baseline Guhdarîkirina Baweriyê (obedience of faith, Critical); reinforces that Paul’s ongoing obedience flows from his conversion encounter, not the reverse.
• ἐν ὀλίγῳ με πείθεις Χριστιανὸν ποιῆσαι (“in a short time you would persuade me to be a Christian,” 26:28) — reuse Mesîhî (Christianoi, Low-Medium, see ch.11).

Chapter 27 — The Voyage and Shipwreck

• No new load-bearing theological term. The chapter reinforces the Rêveberiya Xwedê (providence, Medium) doctrine already established (God’s angel reassures Paul, 27:23-24) and models calm endurance under mortal danger, relevant to the Persecution and Bold Witness doctrine’s broader theme of God’s sustaining presence amid affliction — reviewed and noted, no new vocabulary required.

Chapter 28 — Malta, Rome, and Paul’s Final Testimony

• The viper bite and healing on Malta (28:3-6) — reuse hêz/nîşan (signs/power, High, see 2:22); the islanders’ reaction (calling Paul “a god,” 28:6) again illustrates the idol/pagan-deification risk already flagged at ch.14, reinforcing the need to distinguish divine attestation of a messenger from the deification of the messenger himself.
• Paul’s closing citation of Isaiah 6:9-10 on hardened hearts (28:26-27) — reuse Pêxemberî/fulfillment vocabulary (Fulfillment of Prophecy doctrine, High per baseline).
• τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ἀπεστάλη τοῦτο τὸ σωτήριον τοῦ θεοῦ (“this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles,” 28:28) — reuse Rizgarî (Critical) and Ne-cihû (Gentiles, Medium, from baseline). Critical — this closing statement bookends the whole book’s Jew-to-Gentile trajectory (begun already in seed form at 2:39) and must retain full force as the capstone of the Gospel to Jews and Gentiles doctrine.
• κηρύσσων τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ διδάσκων τὰ περὶ τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ μετὰ πάσης παρρησίας ἀκωλύτως (“proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance,” 28:31, the book’s final verse) — reuse Padîşahiya Xwedê (Critical), Xudan/Mesîh (Critical), and wêrekî/parrēsia (boldness, High). Critical — the book’s final word is a fitting summary and should be rendered consistent with every other occurrence of these terms throughout the curriculum, closing the Great Commission Fulfilled doctrine on the note of unhindered, bold, kingdom-and-Christ-centered proclamation — precisely the spiritual, non-territorial kingdom vision the baseline requires be kept sharply distinct from Kurdish national-political aspiration throughout.

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This document must be loaded alongside the baseline Romans Language Package (translation_memory.json, bible_term_registry.json, doctrine_risk_registry.json, 12_ai_translation_requirements.md) before any Phase 2 processing of Acts material. New terms identified here (Pentecost, tongues, repentance, baptism, witness/martyr, boldness, signs and wonders, the Way, circumcision, God-fearer, unclean/common, Name-invocation, sorcery, elders, overseer, shepherd, forgiveness of sins, ascension, turn/convert, and others) must be added to an Acts-specific extension of translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json in the next phase, per the Glossary Enforcement Priority Order already established in the baseline AI Translation Requirements.