Core Glossary
Colossians Core Glossary — English ⇄ Greek ⇄ Kurdish
| # | Term (English) | Greek / Transliteration | Kurdish Rendering | Status | Risk | Doctrine | Chapters | Risk Grounding Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gospel | εὐαγγέλιον / euangelion | Mizgînî | [BASELINE] | Medium | Gospel | 1 | Native word for good news; qualify as specific NT proclamation where Încîl/tahrif association likely. |
| 2 | Grace | χάρις / charis | Kerem | [BASELINE] | High | Grace | 1, 3 | Sufi keramet reserves extraordinary favor for elevated saints; must be taught as freely given to all. |
| 3 | Faith | πίστις / pistis | Îman | [BASELINE] | High | Faith | 1, 2 | Must be anchored as personal trust in Christ, not creedal assent. |
| 4 | Peace | εἰρήνη / eirēnē | Aştî | [BASELINE] | Medium | Peace with God | 1, 3 | Asset via regional peace-process resonance; must be tied explicitly to reconciliation through the cross. |
| 5 | Thanksgiving | εὐχαριστία / eucharistia | Spasî | [BASELINE] | Low | Thanksgiving | 1, 3, 4 | Standard vocabulary; low risk. |
| 6 | Apostle | ἀπόστολος / apostolos | Şandî | [BASELINE] | Medium | Apostleship | 1 | Native “one sent,” avoids Rasul Allah collision. |
| 7 | Saints | ἅγιοι / hagioi | Pîrozan | [BASELINE] | High | Sainthood | 1 | Must be all ordinary believers, not a hereditary Sufi pîr elite. |
| 8 | Holy | ἅγιος / hagios | Pîroz | [BASELINE] | Medium | Sanctification | 1, 3 | Standard native word; also used of Yazidi sacred sites — generic overlap. |
| 9 | Church | ἐκκλησία / ekklēsia | Civata Mesîhî (gathered community) / Dêr (building) | [BASELINE] | High | Church as God’s People | 1, 4 | Must convey organic body-of-Christ sense, not a building; region-aware framing on religious freedom. |
| 10 | Kingdom of God / Kingdom of the Son | βασιλεία τοῦ υἱοῦ / basileia tou huiou | Padîşahiya Xwedê / Padîşahiya Kurê wî yê Hezkirî | [BASELINE, extended] | Critical | Kingdom Mission | 1 | Colossians attributes kingship directly to the Son, intensifying the Kurdish statehood-aspiration collision risk; must be taught as exclusively spiritual. |
| 11 | Lord | κύριος / kyrios | Xudan (exclusively of Christ) | [BASELINE] | Critical | Lordship of Christ | 1, 3 | Never used for a human master (see Axa, #52) to preserve exclusivity of Christ’s supreme Lordship. |
| 12 | Son of God | υἱὸς θεοῦ / huios theou | Kurê Xwedê | [BASELINE] | Critical | Sonship of Christ | 1 | Quranic denial; also Sufi/Yazidi over-assimilation risk into mystical-absorption frameworks. |
| 13 | God | θεός / theos | Xwedê | [BASELINE] | Critical | Deity of Christ | 1-4 | Native Iranian-root word; content risk remains re: tawhid vs. Trinity. |
| 14 | Holy Spirit | πνεῦμα ἅγιον / pneuma hagion | Ruhê Pîroz | [BASELINE] | Critical | Sanctification | 1 | Quranic identification with Jibril must be explicitly distinguished. |
| 15 | Father | πατήρ / patēr | Bav | [BASELINE] | Critical | Adoption | 1, 3 | Tawhid-anthropomorphism objection; Sufi lover/beloved register as possible resource. |
| 16 | Jesus | Ἰησοῦς / Iēsous | Îsa | [BASELINE] | Critical | Lordship of Christ | 1-4 | Settled Kurdish Christian form; content (not name) carries the risk. |
| 17 | Christ / Messiah | Χριστός / Christos | Mesîh | [BASELINE] | Critical | Messianic Promise | 1-4 | Shares Quranic al-Masih content; Alevi/Yarsani expectations add a further layer. |
| 18 | Glory | δόξα / doxa | Rûmet | [BASELINE] | Medium | Deity of Christ | 1 | Sufi poetic mystical-splendor register must be anchored to Christ’s specific historical glory. |
| 19 | Resurrection (union with Christ’s) | ἀνάστασις-family / synēgerthēte | Rabûn | [BASELINE] | Critical | Resurrection of Christ | 1, 2 | Quranic crucifixion-denial; distinct Yazidi “kiras guhertin” reincarnation risk applies to “raised with him” language too. |
| 20 | Sin | ἁμαρτία / hamartia | Guneh | [BASELINE] | High | Universal Human Accountability | 1, 3 | Islamic fitrah (innate purity) runs counter to Colossians’ “dead in trespasses” language. |
| 21 | Image | εἰκών / eikōn | Wêne | [NEW] | Critical | Deity/Supremacy of Christ | 1, 3 | Islamic aniconism re: representing God; Yazidi/Sufi risk of reading as one repeatable manifestation among others. |
| 22 | Firstborn (of creation / from the dead) | πρωτότοκος / prōtotokos | Zayê Pêşîn | [NEW] | Critical | Supremacy of Christ over Creation | 1 | Most-cited verse regionally for arguing Christ is a created being; requires explicit rank-not-origin teaching note every occurrence. |
| 23 | Creation | κτίσις / ktisis | Afirandin | [NEW] | Medium | Supremacy of Christ over Creation | 1 | Compatible generally; risk only in combination with #22. |
| 24 | Throne (spiritual power class) | θρόνος / thronos | Text | [NEW] | Medium | Supremacy of Christ over Creation | 1 | ”Kursî” rejected — collides with Qur’an’s Ayat al-Kursi (2:255). |
| 25 | Dominion (spiritual power class) | κυριότης / kyriotēs | Serwerî | [NEW] | Medium | Supremacy of Christ over Creation | 1 | Must not be confused with Xudan (#11), reserved for Christ alone. |
| 26 | Rulers / Principalities | ἀρχή (pl. ἀρχαί) / archē | Serokatî | [NEW] | High | Supremacy of Christ over Creation | 1, 2 | Disambiguate from the unrelated “beginning” sense of the same Greek root (see #29) and from human political rulers. |
| 27 | Authorities | ἐξουσία / exousia | Desthilat | [NEW] | High | Supremacy of Christ over Creation | 1, 2 | Heavy regional political-authority connotation (state power); must stay anchored to spiritual referent. |
| 28 | Head | κεφαλή / kephalē | Serî | [NEW] | High | Christ as Head of the Church | 1, 2 | Tribal aşîret “serok” authority-only reading risks eclipsing the organic life-source sense central to Paul’s argument. |
| 29 | Beginning (of new creation) | ἀρχή / archē | Destpêk | [NEW] | Low | Supremacy of Christ over Creation | 1 | Keep visibly distinct from Serokatî (#26), a different sense of the same Greek word. |
| 30 | Body | σῶμα / sōma | Laş | [NEW] | Medium | Christ as Head of the Church | 1, 2 | Do not default to “laş” at 2:17, where sōma means “substance/reality,” not anatomical body. |
| 31 | Fullness | πλήρωμα / plērōma | Tijebûn | [NEW] | Critical | Fullness of Deity in Christ Bodily | 1, 2 | Doctrinal linchpin; must not suggest a partial or one-of-a-series divine manifestation (Yazidi risk). |
| 32 | Deity / Godhead | θεότης / theotēs | Xwedatî | [NEW] | Critical | Fullness of Deity in Christ Bodily | 2 | Direct tawhid collision; pairs with Tijebûn (#31) at 2:9. |
| 33 | Dwell (bodily) | κατοικέω / katoikeō | Niştecih bûn | [NEW] | Critical | Fullness of Deity in Christ Bodily | 1, 2 | Must convey permanent residence, not a temporary visitation — the exact point of contrast with Yazidi successive-manifestation belief. |
| 34 | Reconcile | ἀποκαταλλάσσω / apokatallassō | Lihevanîn / Aştîkirin | [NEW] | Critical | Reconciliation through the Cross | 1 | Built on Aştî’s asset-and-risk profile (#4); connection to the cross/blood must always be made explicit or it drifts toward a generic political-social reconciliation reading. |
| 35 | Blood (of the cross) | αἷμα / haima | Xwîn | [NEW] | High | Reconciliation through the Cross | 1 | Atonement collides with Islamic crucifixion-denial; Kurdish tribal “xwînbiha” blood-price custom offers a teaching analogy if carefully bounded. |
| 36 | Cross | σταυρός / stauros | Xaç | [NEW] | High | Reconciliation through the Cross | 1, 2 | Direct Quranic crucifixion-denial (4:157) collision; must be taught as a real historical death, not symbol or substitution. |
| 37 | Mystery | μυστήριον / mystērion | Sir | [NEW] | High | Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism | 1, 2, 4 | Sufi “sirr” denotes esoteric knowledge for elite initiates; Paul’s mystery is the opposite — now openly revealed to all. Always pair with “now revealed.” |
| 38 | Wisdom | σοφία / sophia | Şehrezayî | [NEW] | High | Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism | 1, 2, 4 | ”Hîkmet” rejected as primary term — carries specific Qur’anic/hadith wisdom-literature associations that could validate a rival wisdom source. |
| 39 | Philosophy | φιλοσοφία / philosophia | Felsefe | [NEW] | Medium | Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism | 2 | Targets a specific syncretistic system, not reasoned inquiry generally; teaching must clarify scope. |
| 40 | Elemental spirits of the world | στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου / stoicheia tou kosmou | Hêzên Bingehîn ên Cîhanê | [NEW] | High | Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism | 2 | Risk of assimilation into regional folk-Islamic jinn belief and pre-Islamic Kurdish elemental-spirit folk tradition. |
| 41 | Circumcision (spiritual) | περιτομή / peritomē | Sinet | [NEW] | Critical | Union with Christ / Warning against Syncretism | 2 | Sinet is a living, near-universal Kurdish Muslim family/cultural rite; Paul’s spiritual redefinition must be taught with care not to appear to endorse, require, or dismiss the literal practice. |
| 42 | Record of debt / handwriting of requirements | χειρόγραφον / cheirographon | Nivîsara Deynî | [NEW] | Medium | Reconciliation through the Cross | 2 | Legal-guilt sense must not be flattened into an ordinary financial-debt metaphor. |
| 43 | Disarmed / Triumphed over (the powers) | θριαμβεύω / thriambeuō | Serkeftî derketin | [NEW] | High | Reconciliation through the Cross | 2 | Directly and constructively engages the crucifixion-as-defeat objection common regionally, reframing the cross as public cosmic victory. |
| 44 | Shadow / Substance | σκιά / skia — σῶμα (sense 2) | Sî / Rastî | [NEW] | Medium | Union with Christ | 2 | Do not translate “substance” as Laş (#30); different sense of the underlying Greek word. |
| 45 | Worship of angels | θρησκεία τῶν ἀγγέλων / thrēskeia tōn angelōn | Perizîna Milyaketan | [NEW] | Critical | Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism | 2 | Direct structural parallel to Yazidi veneration of Tawûsê Melek (Peacock Angel); requires exceptionally careful, non-inflammatory pastoral framing. |
| 46 | Self-made religion | ἐθελοθρησκία / ethelothrēskia | Ola bi Dilê Xwe Hatî Çêkirin | [NEW] | Medium | Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism | 2 | Broad applicability to regional ascetic/devotional traditions; teach as general principle, not targeted polemic. |
| 47 | Old self | παλαιὸς ἄνθρωπος / palaios anthrōpos | Mirovê Kevn | [NEW] | Critical | Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New | 3 | Garment-change imagery closely parallels Yazidi “kiras guhertin” (reincarnation doctrine, per baseline resurrection entry) — distinct, indigenous Kurdish risk requiring explicit non-cyclical framing. |
| 48 | New self | νέος/καινός ἄνθρωπος / neos/kainos anthrōpos | Mirovê Nû | [NEW] | Critical | Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New | 3 | Same kiras guhertin risk as #47; also echoes εἰκών/Wêne (#21) — “renewed after the image of its Creator.” |
| 49 | Put off / Put on (as garments) | ἀπεκδύομαι / ἐνδύω | Rakirin / Li xwe kirin | [NEW] | High | Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New | 3 | Carries the same #47/#48 garment-change risk; must be taught as a single, decisive, non-repeatable act. |
| 50 | Idolatry (covetousness as) | εἰδωλολατρία / eidōlolatria | Pûtperestî | [NEW] | Medium | Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New | 3 | Common ground with regional shirk/idolatry categories; useful bridge concept. |
| 51 | Submit (household code) | ὑποτάσσω / hypotassō | Xwe bindestî … kirin | [NEW] | Critical | Household Codes | 3 | Compounds baseline’s submission-as-Islamic-core-category risk with Kurdish tribal honor-culture (namûs) patriarchal enforcement; reciprocal “as fitting in the Lord” and husband’s love-obligation must always accompany it. |
| 52 | Master (human, household code) | κύριος κατὰ σάρκα / kyrios kata sarka | Axa | [NEW] | Critical | Household Codes | 3, 4 | Must never be rendered Xudan (#11), which is reserved exclusively for Christ’s Lordship; Axa also carries real Kurdish feudal-era social memory requiring sensitive, historically-aware teaching. |
| 53 | Bondservant / Slave | δοῦλος / doulos | Xulam | [NEW] | High | Household Codes | 3, 4 | Kurdish feudal xulamtî/serfdom history means this lands on genuine social memory for some readers; teach both original context and the “Master in heaven” mutual-accountability ethic. |
| 54 | Justly and fairly (masters to slaves) | δικαιοσύνη καὶ ἰσότης / dikaiosynē kai isotēs | Bi adalet û wekhevî | [NEW] | Medium | Household Codes | 3, 4 | Reuses baseline Adalet (righteousness) in an ethical-practical, not forensic-salvation, sense; context must disambiguate. |
| 55 | Love (husbands toward wives) | ἀγάπη / agapē | Hezkirin / Evîn | [NEW] | Medium | Household Codes | 3 | Sufi “evîn” mystical-union register can add warmth but must not blur agapē’s ethical, self-giving sense; must always be taught alongside #51 as the husband’s co-equal obligation. |
| 56 | Redemption | ἀπολύτρωσις / apolytrōsis | Standina Rizgariyê bi Bihayekî | [NEW] | Critical | Reconciliation through the Cross | 1 | Compounds Rizgarî’s baseline Critical political-nationalist risk with a genuine (but bounded) teaching analogy to Kurdish tribal “xwînbiha” blood-price custom. |
| 57 | Forgiveness of sins | ἄφεσις ἁμαρτιῶν / aphesis hamartiōn | Efûya Gunehan | [NEW] | High | Reconciliation through the Cross | 1 | Shared regional pardon-concept; must add the specific costly, cross-secured basis absent from mainstream regional forgiveness theology. |
| 58 | Mature / Perfect | τέλειος / teleios | Têkûz | [NEW] | Medium-High | Union with Christ | 1 | ”Kamil” avoided as default — carries specific Sufi “insan-i kamil” (perfected saint) technical meaning. |
| 59 | Mission / walking in wisdom toward outsiders | περιπατέω ἐν σοφίᾳ / peripateō en sophia | Bi şehrezayî meşîn | [NEW] | Medium | Mission to the Nations (baseline doctrine) | 4 | Reuses Şehrezayî (#38); no new independent risk beyond that entry. |
| 60 | Inheritance | κληρονομία / klēronomia | Mîrat | [NEW] | Medium | Union with Christ | 1, 3 | Codified Islamic mîras/mîrat inheritance-law associations; must convey gracious, not formula-calculated, inheritance. |
Notes on Glossary Governance
- Reuse discipline: Rows 1-20 above are direct, unaltered reuses of the Romans baseline
translation_memory.json. No Colossians-specific nuance may override these established renderings; where Colossians uses a baseline term in a distinct sense (e.g., #30 body/church vs. #44 body/substance; #54 righteousness/justice vs. forensic righteousness), a disambiguation note is provided rather than a new term. - New terms requiring TM addition: Rows 21-60 are proposed new entries for an extended Colossians translation memory. Per the AI Translation Requirements’ “Translation Memory Load and Enforcement Instructions,” each must be assigned a risk level, recorded before segment translation proceeds, and flagged for theologian review where Critical or High.
- Highest-priority Critical terms for this curriculum: Image (#21), Firstborn (#22), Fullness (#31), Deity (#32), Dwell bodily (#33), Reconcile (#34), Worship of Angels (#45), Old Self (#47), New Self (#48), Submit (#51), Master (#52), Circumcision (#41), Redemption (#56), and the baseline’s own Critical carryovers (Kingdom of the Son, Lord, Son of God, God, Holy Spirit, Father, Jesus, Christ, Resurrection) — together these define the doctrinal center of gravity of Colossians for a Kurdish audience and must all route to mandatory human theologian review in Phase 2.
- Distinctly Kurdish (non-Arabic-Islamic) risk layer: Three terms carry risk grounded specifically in Kurdish-indigenous religious traditions rather than mainstream regional Sunni Islam alone, and deserve special reviewer attention: Old Self/New Self garment imagery (#47-49, Yazidi kiras guhertin/reincarnation), Worship of Angels (#45, Yazidi Tawûsê Melek veneration), and Image/Fullness/Dwell (#21, #31, #33, Yazidi and Sufi divine-manifestation frameworks).
- Distinctly Kurdish social-structure risk layer: Household Code terms (#51-55) intersect with living Kurdish tribal (aşîret) honor-culture and historical feudal xulamtî/Axa social memory in ways that require review beyond the generic regional-Islamic submission caution already documented in the baseline.
This glossary should be read alongside analysis/07_semantic_analysis.md for full definitional and contextual detail on every entry.
Critical Risk Terms
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: Padîşahiya Xwedê / Padîşahiya Kurê wî yê Hezkirî
Transliteration: padîşahiya xwedê / padîşahiya kurê wî yê hezkirî
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ υἱοῦ τῆς ἀγάπης αὐτοῦ
Category: Kingdom
Inherited from Romans package, extended for Colossians 1:13’s unique ‘kingdom of his beloved Son.’ Attributing kingship directly to the Son intensifies the Kurdish statehood-aspiration collision risk beyond the baseline’s generic Kingdom-of-God caution; must be anchored explicitly and repeatedly as God’s spiritual reign.
Lord
Approved rendering: Xudan
Transliteration: xudan
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Reserved EXCLUSIVELY for Christ’s supreme Lordship (Colossians 3:17, 3:24, 4:1). Must NEVER be applied to a human master (see master_human/Axa below) — doing so would create a serious Christological collision in the household code.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: Kurê Xwedê
Transliteration: kurê xwedê
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Original: υἱὸς θεοῦ / υἱὸς τῆς ἀγάπης αὐτοῦ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Colossians 1:13 (‘his beloved Son’) intensifies both the Quranic-denial risk and the Sufi wahdat al-wujud / Yazidi manifestation over-assimilation risk documented in the baseline.
God
Approved rendering: Xwedê
Transliteration: xwedê
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Allah
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Native Old Iranian-root word; Colossians 1:19 and 2:9 attribute the entire fullness of this God’s being to Christ, the sharpest tawhid collision in the letter.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Ruhê Pîroz
Transliteration: ruhê pîroz
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: πνεῦμα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Referenced in Colossians as the source of the Colossians’ ‘love in the Spirit’ (1:8); the created-being-versus-divine-Person distinction from the mainstream Jibril identification must remain explicit.
Father
Approved rendering: Bav
Transliteration: bav
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Shares the region’s tawhid-anthropomorphism objection; in Colossians the Father qualifies believers for the inheritance of the saints and transfers them into the Son’s kingdom (1:12-13).
Jesus
Approved rendering: Îsa
Transliteration: îsa
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Settled, uncontroversial Kurdish Christian form; the risk lies entirely in content (the Quranic prophet-only narrative), not the name. NOTE: ‘Jesus called Justus’ (4:11) requires a disambiguating device (e.g. ‘Jêşû, yê bi navê Justus’) to avoid confusion with the Lord Jesus.
Messiah
Approved rendering: Mesîh
Transliteration: mesîh
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Original: Χριστός
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Carries the same pre-loaded Quranic al-Masih content; Colossians 2:3 locates ‘all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge’ exclusively in this figure. Alevi/Yarsani divinely-guided-figure expectations add a further comparison layer for some Kurdish communities.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: Rabûn
Transliteration: rabûn
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Original: συνηγέρθητε / ἀνάστασις-family
Category: Eschatology
Inherited from Romans package. In Colossians this term must additionally carry the believer’s own union-with-resurrection sense (‘raised with him,’ 2:12; ‘raised with Christ,’ 3:1) — a second layer of the same Quranic crucifixion-denial and Yazidi kiras guhertin (reincarnation) risk, now applied to the believer, not only to Christ.
Image
Approved rendering: Wêne
Transliteration: wêne
Doctrine: The Supremacy and Sufficiency of Christ over Creation
Original: εἰκών
Category: Christology
Christ is ‘the image of the invisible God’ (1:15); believers are renewed ‘after the image of its creator’ (3:10). Collides with Sunni aniconism regarding God AND, distinctly, with Yazidi belief in the divine essence taking visible form in successive holy human figures. Must be taught in both directions: not a mere picture, and not one repeatable manifestation among others, but Christ’s unique, eternal, exclusive disclosure of the one God.
Firstborn
Approved rendering: Zayê Pêşîn
Transliteration: zayê pêşîn
Doctrine: The Supremacy and Sufficiency of Christ over Creation
Rejected alternatives: yê pêşî hatî zayîn (literal birth-order calque)
Original: πρωτότοκος
Category: Christology
Applied to Christ as ‘firstborn of all creation’ (1:15) and ‘firstborn from the dead’ (1:18). The single most regionally-citable phrase for arguing Christ is a created being, fully compatible with mainstream Sunni Christology-denial. A literal birth-order calque was rejected as actively reinforcing this misreading. Every occurrence requires an explicit teaching note: supreme rank and heirship over creation, not createdness, reinforced by 1:16-17’s claim that Christ is himself creation’s agent and ground.
Fullness
Approved rendering: Tijebûn
Transliteration: tijebûn
Doctrine: Fullness of Deity in Christ Bodily
Original: πλήρωμα
Category: Christology
The complete, undivided reality of God’s being, pleased to dwell in Christ (1:19), further specified as ‘the whole fullness of deity’ dwelling in him bodily (2:9). The doctrinal linchpin of the letter’s Christology; must never suggest a partial or repeated/successive divine manifestation, a live risk given Yazidi belief in the divine essence manifesting through a succession of holy human figures.
Deity Godhead
Approved rendering: Xwedatî
Transliteration: xwedatî
Doctrine: Fullness of Deity in Christ Bodily
Original: θεότης
Category: Christology
The Godhead itself, dwelling bodily in Christ (2:9). Direct tawhid collision — the paradigm case of shirk from a regional Sunni standpoint. Pairs with Tijebûn at 2:9 and must never be softened.
Dwell Bodily
Approved rendering: Niştecih bûn
Transliteration: niştecih bûn
Doctrine: Fullness of Deity in Christ Bodily
Rejected alternatives: Mêvan bûn (to be a guest / temporary visitor)
Original: κατοικέω / σωματικῶς
Category: Christology
Permanent residence (distinct from a temporary visitation); God’s fullness permanently and bodily resides in Christ (1:19, 2:9). This permanence is the exact point of difference from the Yazidi successive-manifestation pattern; ‘mêvan bûn’ was explicitly rejected as implying only a passing appearance.
Reconcile
Approved rendering: Lihevanîn / Aştîkirin
Transliteration: lihevanîn / aştîkirin
Doctrine: Reconciliation through the Cross
Rejected alternatives: Aştî standing alone without the blood/cross anchor named in the same clause
Original: ἀποκαταλλάσσω
Category: Salvation
Cosmic reconciliation of ‘all things, in heaven and on earth,’ through Christ’s blood (1:20, 1:22). Built on the Aştî root, a genuine regional asset (echoing real peace processes) but also a risk: the connection to the cross/blood must always be made explicit in immediate proximity, or the term drifts toward generic political-social reconciliation.
Circumcision
Approved rendering: Sinet
Transliteration: sinet
Doctrine: Union with Christ (Died and Raised With Him)
Original: περιτομή
Category: Union with Christ
Paul’s redefinition of the covenant sign as an inward reality ‘made without hands,’ fulfilled by union with Christ (2:11). ‘Sinet’ is not merely biblical-historical for Kurdish readers but a living, near-universal Kurdish Muslim family rite; must be taught without appearing to endorse, require, or dismiss the literal practice.
Worship Of Angels
Approved rendering: Perizîna Milyaketan
Transliteration: perizîna milyaketan
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Original: θρησκεία τῶν ἀγγέλων
Category: False Teaching
Cultic veneration of angels, named among the disqualifying Colossian error practices (2:18). Directly parallels living Yazidi devotion to Tawûsê Melek (Peacock Angel); must be taught as establishing Christ’s supremacy over all angelic powers (1:16), never as blunt polemic against a living neighboring religious community.
Old Self
Approved rendering: Mirovê Kevn
Transliteration: mirovê kevn
Doctrine: Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New
Original: παλαιὸς ἄνθρωπος
Category: Sanctification
The corrupted, pre-conversion identity, decisively ‘put off’ like a garment (3:9). The garment-change image is strikingly close to the Yazidi doctrine of ‘kiras guhertin’ (soul transmigration through successive bodies); requires explicit teaching that this is a single, decisive, non-repeatable transformation, never a cyclical rebirth.
New Self
Approved rendering: Mirovê Nû
Transliteration: mirovê nû
Doctrine: Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New
Original: νέος / καινός ἄνθρωπος
Category: Sanctification
The regenerated identity, ‘renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator’ (3:10). Carries the same kiras guhertin garment-change risk as old_self; also deliberately echoes eikōn/Wêne — preserve the link back to Christ as the Image of God (1:15) where possible.
Submit
Approved rendering: Xwe bindestî … kirin
Transliteration: xwe bindestî … kirin
Doctrine: Household Codes
Original: ὑποτάσσω
Category: Household
A qualified, Christ-centered submission (‘as is fitting in the Lord’), always paired with a reciprocal obligation (3:18-19). Compounds the baseline’s general regional submission-as-core-category risk with Kurdish tribal (aşîret) honor-culture (namûs) patriarchal enforcement. MUST always appear with the husband’s co-equal love-obligation in the same teaching unit.
Master Human
Approved rendering: Axa
Transliteration: axa
Doctrine: Household Codes
Rejected alternatives: Xudan (forbidden — reserved exclusively for Christ’s Lordship)
Original: κύριος κατὰ σάρκα
Category: Household
One’s human employer/owner (3:22-24, 4:1), explicitly distinguished from the heavenly Master (Christ). MUST NEVER be rendered Xudan. Kurdish social history includes a real, relatively recent feudal Axa system, meaning this lands on genuine living social memory requiring historically-aware teaching.
Redemption
Approved rendering: Standina Rizgariyê bi Bihayekî
Transliteration: standina rizgariyê bi bihayekî
Doctrine: Reconciliation through the Cross
Rejected alternatives: Rizgarî (bare, without the costly-price element)
Original: ἀπολύτρωσις
Category: Salvation
A costly liberation secured by payment, ‘redemption, the forgiveness of sins’ (1:14), anticipating the blood of the cross (1:20). Compounds Rizgarî’s baseline Critical political-nationalist risk with a genuine cultural teaching resource — Kurdish tribal ‘xwînbiha’ (blood-price) — provided it is taught as a unilateral gift of grace, not a negotiated tribal settlement between equals.
High Risk Terms
Grace
Approved rendering: Kerem
Transliteration: kerem
Doctrine: Grace
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Sufi ‘keramet’ cognate risks an elite, hierarchical favor reading; Colossians 1:6 and 4:6 require grace to be taught as freely given to all believers, not a mark of spiritual rank.
Faith
Approved rendering: Îman
Transliteration: iman
Doctrine: Faith
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Shares the region’s six-pillars creedal-assent structure; Colossians 2:5-7 uses faith as the ground for standing firm against false teaching, so the object (Christ specifically) must remain explicit.
Saints
Approved rendering: Pîrozan
Transliteration: pîrozan
Doctrine: Sainthood
Original: ἅγιοι
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Must not read as the hereditary, shrine-venerated Sufi ‘pîr’ elite; Colossians 1:2 and 1:12 apply this to all ordinary believers.
Church
Approved rendering: Civata Mesîhî (gathered community) / Dêr (building)
Transliteration: civata mesîhî / dêr
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Colossians’ body/head imagery (1:18, 1:24, 2:19) makes the organic Civata Mesîhî sense especially load-bearing; Dêr’s Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac building-association must not bleed into it. Also covers local house-fellowships (4:15-16).
Sin
Approved rendering: Guneh
Transliteration: guneh
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Original: ἁμαρτία / παράπτωμα
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package. Islamic fitrah (innate purity) doctrine runs directly against Colossians’ ‘dead in your trespasses’ language (2:13) and its naming of covetousness as idolatry (3:5); must be taught deliberately against this default.
Rulers Principalities
Approved rendering: Serokatî
Transliteration: serokatî
Doctrine: The Supremacy and Sufficiency of Christ over Creation
Original: ἀρχή (pl. ἀρχαί)
Category: Creation
Spiritual authorities created by and subject to Christ (1:16), later disarmed at the cross (2:15). Must be disambiguated from purely human/political rulers and from the unrelated ‘beginning/source’ sense of the same Greek root applied to Christ in 1:18 (rendered Destpêk, not Serokatî).
Authorities
Approved rendering: Desthilat
Transliteration: desthilat
Doctrine: The Supremacy and Sufficiency of Christ over Creation
Original: ἐξουσία
Category: Creation
Paired with ‘rulers’ as the fullest category of spiritual power, subordinate to Christ (1:16, 2:10, 2:15). Desthilat carries acute regional political weight (state power, often oppressive, across all four Kurdish-speaking states); readers must not import a this-worldly political frame into this spiritual referent.
Head
Approved rendering: Serî
Transliteration: serî
Doctrine: Christ as Head of the Church
Original: κεφαλή
Category: Church
Christ as both organic life-source and supreme authority over the church, his body (1:18, 2:19). Kurdish tribal (aşîret) ‘serok’ (chief) category risks an authority-only reading that eclipses the organic, life-giving sense central to 2:19; both dimensions must be taught explicitly.
Blood
Approved rendering: Xwîn
Transliteration: xwîn
Doctrine: Reconciliation through the Cross
Original: αἷμα
Category: Salvation
Christ’s sacrificial death, ‘the blood of his cross’ (1:20). Blood-sacrifice atonement theology intersects the region’s shared Islamic rejection of the crucifixion as real and efficacious. Kurdish tribal ‘xwînbiha’ (blood-price ending a feud) offers a positive teaching analogy, provided it is distinguished from a negotiated settlement between human equals.
Cross
Approved rendering: Xaç
Transliteration: xaç
Doctrine: Reconciliation through the Cross
Original: σταυρός
Category: Salvation
The established Kurdish Christian term for the instrument and event of the crucifixion (1:20, 2:14-15). Directly implicates the Quranic crucifixion-denial (Sura 4:157); every occurrence must be taught as a real historical death that truly reconciled and truly triumphed, not a symbol or substitution.
Mystery
Approved rendering: Sir
Transliteration: sir
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Original: μυστήριον
Category: Revelation
A truth previously hidden but now fully and openly disclosed to all believers — Christ himself (1:26-27, 2:2, 4:3). Kurdish Sufi tradition’s ‘sirr’ denotes esoteric knowledge for elite initiates, structurally opposite to Paul’s meaning. MUST always be paired with ‘niha hatiye eşkere kirin’ (now revealed) at every occurrence.
Wisdom
Approved rendering: Şehrezayî
Transliteration: şehrezayî
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Rejected alternatives: Hîkmet
Original: σοφία
Category: False Teaching
The insight found only in Christ, ‘in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge’ (2:3), contested against a rival false wisdom (2:23). ‘Hîkmet’ was rejected as the default rendering because it carries specific Qur’anic/hadith prophetic-wisdom associations that could accidentally validate a rival, non-Christ-centered wisdom source.
Elemental Spirits
Approved rendering: Hêzên Bingehîn ên Cîhanê
Transliteration: hêzên bingehîn ên cîhanê
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Original: στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου
Category: False Teaching
Elementary cosmic powers/principles firmly subordinated to Christ (2:8, 2:10, 2:20). Risk of assimilation into regional folk-Islamic jinn belief and pre-Islamic Kurdish elemental-spirit folk tradition rather than being understood as a category Christ liberates believers from.
Disarmed Triumphed
Approved rendering: Çekên wan jê standin û bi ser wan de serkeftî derketin
Transliteration: çekên wan jê standin û bi ser wan de serkeftî derketin
Doctrine: Reconciliation through the Cross
Original: ἀπεκδυσάμενος / θριαμβεύσας
Category: Salvation
Christ’s decisive public victory over hostile spiritual powers at the cross (2:15). This imagery directly and constructively engages the regional crucifixion-as-defeat objection by reframing the cross as public cosmic victory; must not be softened into mere moral example.
Put Off Put On
Approved rendering: Rakirin / Li xwe kirin
Transliteration: rakirin / li xwe kirin
Doctrine: Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New
Original: ἀπεκδύομαι / ἐνδύω
Category: Sanctification
The garment-metaphor verbs governing the old-self/new-self transformation (3:9-10, 3:12). Carries the same kiras guhertin collision risk; must be taught as a single, decisive act, not a repeatable process.
Bondservant
Approved rendering: Xulam
Transliteration: xulam
Doctrine: Household Codes
Rejected alternatives: Kole (harsher chattel-slavery connotation, less historically apt)
Original: δοῦλος
Category: Household
An enslaved/bonded member of the Colossian church, addressed as a full member of the ‘new self’ community (3:22-25). Kurdish feudal xulamtî/serfdom history under tribal Axas means this passage lands on genuine, sometimes painful, living social memory for some readers.
Forgiveness Of Sins
Approved rendering: Efûya Gunehan
Transliteration: efûya gunehan
Doctrine: Reconciliation through the Cross
Original: ἄφεσις ἁμαρτιῶν
Category: Salvation
Full remission of sins, in apposition with redemption (1:14) and developed at 2:13-14. ‘Efû’ is a widely shared regional/Islamic pardon-concept; the specific, costly, cross-secured basis of Christian forgiveness must be made explicit alongside it.
Presented Holy Blameless
Approved rendering: Pêşkêş kirin wek pîroz, bêkêmasî, û bêsûc
Transliteration: pêşkêş kirin wek pîroz, bêkêmasî, û bêsûc
Doctrine: Reconciliation through the Cross
Original: παραστῆσαι ἁγίους καὶ ἀμώμους καὶ ἀνεγκλήτους
Category: Salvation
The goal of reconciliation: believers presented before God in complete purity, achieved through Christ’s death alone (1:22). Must avoid any suggestion this status is earned by ongoing moral effort (cf. baseline’s earned-vs-credited-righteousness caution).
Sufferings Of Christ
Approved rendering: Kêmasiya Êşên Mesîh
Transliteration: kêmasiya êşên mesîh
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship and Ministry
Original: ὑστερήματα τῶν θλίψεων τοῦ Χριστοῦ
Category: Church
Paul’s own ministry-sufferings as participation in, not addition to, Christ’s redemptive work (1:24). Requires a clear note that this is not a claim Christ’s atonement was incomplete, to avoid confusion with regional notions of accumulating spiritual merit through suffering.
Medium Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: Mizgînî
Transliteration: mizgînî
Doctrine: Gospel
Original: εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Native Kurdish word for ‘good news,’ not an Arabic loanword; qualify as the specific NT record where the Islamic Încîl/tahrif association is likely. In Colossians describes the gospel ‘bearing fruit and growing’ worldwide (1:5-6, 1:23).
Peace
Approved rendering: Aştî
Transliteration: aştî
Doctrine: Peace with God
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Genuine asset via regional peace-process resonance; in Colossians 1:20 and 3:15 must be explicitly tied to reconciliation through the cross, not left as a free-floating value.
Apostle
Approved rendering: Şandî
Transliteration: şandî
Doctrine: Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: Resûl
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Native ‘one sent,’ avoiding collision with Muhammad’s Rasul Allah title; underwrites Paul’s authority to correct the Colossian error (1:1).
Holy
Approved rendering: Pîroz
Transliteration: pîroz
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package. Standard native word; Colossians 1:22 uses it of the believer’s positional status achieved through Christ’s reconciling death, not ongoing ritual purity.
Glory
Approved rendering: Rûmet
Transliteration: rûmet
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Kurdish Sufi poetic mystical-splendor register must be anchored to Christ’s specific indwelling presence (Colossians 1:11, 1:27), not left as generalized mystical majesty.
Creation
Approved rendering: Afirandin
Transliteration: afirandin
Doctrine: The Supremacy and Sufficiency of Christ over Creation
Original: κτίσις
Category: Creation
The entire created order, over which Christ holds supreme originating rank (1:15-16, 1:23). Compatible with regional creation theology generally; risk is chiefly combinatorial with ‘firstborn’ — must never be read as placing Christ inside the category he originates and sustains.
Throne
Approved rendering: Text
Transliteration: text
Doctrine: The Supremacy and Sufficiency of Christ over Creation
Rejected alternatives: Kursî
Original: θρόνος
Category: Creation
A class of ranked spiritual power created in, through, and for Christ (1:16). ‘Kursî’ was rejected because it is the term used in the Qur’an’s Ayat al-Kursi (2:255), central to Sunni devotional life describing God’s own cosmic throne; using it for a mere created power-class risks an unwanted echo.
Dominion
Approved rendering: Serwerî
Transliteration: serwerî
Doctrine: The Supremacy and Sufficiency of Christ over Creation
Original: κυριότης
Category: Creation
A rank of spiritual authority created by and subordinate to Christ (1:16). Built on the same root family as Xudan (Lord); must never be confused with Christ’s own exclusive Lordship.
Body
Approved rendering: Laş
Transliteration: laş
Doctrine: Christ as Head of the Church
Original: σῶμα
Category: Church
The church as Christ’s organic body (1:18, 1:24, 2:19, 3:15). Must NOT be used at 2:17, where the same Greek word (sōma) means ‘substance/reality’ contrasted with ‘shadow’ (see shadow_substance entry) — a distinct, unrelated sense.
Philosophy
Approved rendering: Felsefe
Transliteration: felsefe
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Original: φιλοσοφία
Category: False Teaching
The specific syncretistic system troubling the Colossian church (2:8). Teaching must clarify Paul targets a specific system, not reasoned inquiry generally, so the warning is not misapplied as anti-intellectualism.
Record Of Debt
Approved rendering: Nivîsara Deynî
Transliteration: nivîsara deynî
Doctrine: Reconciliation through the Cross
Original: χειρόγραφον
Category: Salvation
A legal certificate of indebtedness/guilt, cancelled and nailed to the cross (2:14). Kurdish customary debt-forgiveness practices offer a teaching resource; the legal-condemnation sense must not be flattened into an ordinary financial transaction.
Shadow Substance
Approved rendering: Sî / Rastî
Transliteration: sî / rastî
Doctrine: Union with Christ (Died and Raised With Him)
Original: σκιά / σῶμα
Category: Covenant
OT ceremonial regulations were a ‘shadow of things to come,’ but ‘the substance/reality belongs to Christ’ (2:17). Must not render ‘substance’ as Laş (body), which would wrongly import the church-as-body metaphor into this unrelated contrast.
Self Made Religion
Approved rendering: Ola bi Dilê Xwe Hatî Çêkirin
Transliteration: ola bi dilê xwe hatî çêkirin
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Original: ἐθελοθρησκία
Category: False Teaching
Self-devised religious observance with an appearance of wisdom but no power over the flesh (2:23). Broad applicability to regional ascetic/devotional traditions; teach as Paul’s general principle, not a targeted attack on any one tradition.
Idolatry
Approved rendering: Pûtperestî
Transliteration: pûtperestî
Doctrine: Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New
Original: εἰδωλολατρία
Category: Sin
Covetousness explicitly named as idolatry (3:5). Useful common ground with the regional Islamic shirk/idol-worship category, aiding reception of Paul’s point.
Justly And Fairly
Approved rendering: Bi adalet û wekhevî
Transliteration: bi adalet û wekhevî
Doctrine: Household Codes
Original: δικαιοσύνη καὶ ἰσότης
Category: Household
The just, equitable treatment masters owe bondservants (4:1). Reuses the baseline’s Critical-risk Adalet in a distinct, ethical-practical sense (not forensic salvation); context must disambiguate the two senses.
Mature Perfect
Approved rendering: Têkûz
Transliteration: têkûz
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: Kamil
Original: τέλειος
Category: Sanctification
Full spiritual maturity/completeness in Christ, the goal of Paul’s ministry (1:28, 4:12). ‘Kamil’ was rejected as the default rendering since it carries the specific Sufi ‘insan-i kamil’ (spiritually perfected saint) technical meaning.
Inheritance
Approved rendering: Mîrat
Transliteration: mîrat
Doctrine: Union with Christ (Died and Raised With Him)
Original: κλῆρος / κληρονομία
Category: Salvation
The believer’s allotted share in the saints’ inheritance in light (1:12) and the reward bondservants receive from the Lord (3:24). Islamic mîras/mîrat is a detailed, codified legal system; care is needed that this evokes a gracious, undeserved inheritance, not a formula-calculated legal entitlement.
Love
Approved rendering: Hezkirin / Evîn
Transliteration: hezkirin / evîn
Doctrine: Household Codes
Original: ἀγάπη
Category: Ethics
Selfless, willed love — for the saints (1:4, 1:8), the crowning virtue that binds all together (3:14), and the husband’s specific reciprocal obligation toward his wife (3:19). Sufi ‘evîn’ mystical-union register can lend warmth but must not blur agapē’s ethical, self-giving sense; when used of husbands must always be taught alongside the wife’s submission (3:18) as a co-equal obligation.
Hope
Approved rendering: Hêvî
Transliteration: hêvî
Doctrine: Resurrection and Future Hope
Original: ἐλπίς
Category: Faith
Confident expectation of a secured future good; ‘the hope laid up for you in heaven’ (1:5) and ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory’ (1:27). Preserve the certainty/security dimension against a colloquial reading of hêvî as mere wishing.
Power For Endurance
Approved rendering: Hêza Xwedê
Transliteration: hêza xwedê
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: δύναμις
Category: God
Reuses the Romans baseline power_of_god rendering (Hêza Xwedê) in a new context: divine strength enabling endurance and patience (1:11), not specifically salvation-power. Broadly compatible concept; low-to-medium independent risk.
Domain Of Darkness
Approved rendering: Hêza Tarîtiyê
Transliteration: hêza tarîtiyê
Doctrine: Reconciliation through the Cross
Original: ἐξουσία τοῦ σκότους
Category: Salvation
The realm of sin and spiritual bondage from which believers were rescued into Christ’s kingdom (1:13). Must be carefully distinguished from Rizgarî’s baseline Critical risk of a national-political-liberation reading.
Alienation Hostility
Approved rendering: Jê dûrketî / Dijmin
Transliteration: jê dûrketî / dijmin
Doctrine: Reconciliation through the Cross
Original: ἀπηλλοτριωμένους / ἐχθρούς
Category: Salvation
The Colossians’ former estranged, hostile condition before reconciliation, ‘hostile in mind, doing evil deeds’ (1:21). Standard vocabulary contrasting sharply with 1:20/22’s reconciliation.
Tradition Of Men
Approved rendering: Kevneşopiya Mirovan
Transliteration: kevneşopiya mirovan
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Original: παράδοσις τῶν ἀνθρώπων
Category: False Teaching
Merely human-originated religious teaching, contrasted with Christ (2:8). Must be understood as targeting any human-originated religious authority set alongside or above Christ — Islamic hadith/sunnah, Sufi tariqa custom, and Kurdish tribal adet/urf are all potential referents, not any single one narrowly.
Severity To Body
Approved rendering: Tundîtiya li Hember Laş
Transliteration: tundîtiya li hember laş
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Original: ἀφειδία σώματος
Category: False Teaching
Rigorous ascetic self-denial, judged spiritually ineffective against the flesh (2:23). Broad applicability across regional ascetic/devotional traditions; teach as Paul’s general principle rather than a targeted critique.
Put To Death Vices
Approved rendering: Kuştin / Bikujin
Transliteration: kuştin / bikujin
Doctrine: Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New
Original: νεκρόω
Category: Sanctification
A decisive, willed act of killing off sinful practices (3:5). The vigorous, decisive force of the imperative should be preserved, not softened to a gentler ‘resist’ or ‘avoid.‘
Humility
Approved rendering: Nefsbiçûkî
Transliteration: nefsbiçûkî
Doctrine: Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New
Original: ταπεινοφροσύνη
Category: Ethics
Lowliness of mind, part of the ‘new self’ virtue-list (3:12). Kurdish tribal honor culture’s strong emphasis on visible honor/status may sit in tension with humility as a positive virtue; teach with attention to this dynamic.
Patience Forbearance
Approved rendering: Sebir
Transliteration: sebir
Doctrine: Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New
Original: μακροθυμία
Category: Ethics
Patient endurance of provocation, enabling mutual bearing-with and forgiveness (3:12-13). ‘Sebir’ is a core regional religious virtue, an asset for reception, but must not collapse into a more fatalistic sense of passive resignation before hardship.
Bear With And Forgive
Approved rendering: Hev çareser kirin / Efû kirin
Transliteration: hev çareser kirin / efû kirin
Doctrine: Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New
Original: ἀνέχομαι / χαρίζομαι
Category: Ethics
Mutual forbearance and gracious forgiveness modeled on the Lord’s own forgiveness (3:13). The Greek charizomai/charis wordplay (forgiveness as grace) is not preserved by Efû kirin, since the Kurdish roots are unrelated; a translator’s note may surface this connection for teaching.
Word Of Christ Dwelling
Approved rendering: Peyva Mesîh bi Dewlemendî li Nav We Rûniştin
Transliteration: peyva mesîh bi dewlemendî li nav we rûniştin
Doctrine: Christ as Head of the Church
Original: ὁ λόγος τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐνοικείτω
Category: Church
Christ’s word dwelling richly within believers via teaching, admonishing, and singing (3:16). Deliberately echoes the katoikeō-family verb used of God’s fullness dwelling in Christ (1:19, 2:9); an opportunity for teaching coherence.
No Partiality
Approved rendering: Bêalîgirî
Transliteration: bêalîgirî
Doctrine: Household Codes
Original: ἀπροσωπολήμπτως
Category: Household
God’s impartial judgment applied to the master-slave relationship (3:25). Reuses the baseline’s Adalet-adjacent justice vocabulary in an ethical-relational, not forensic-salvation, sense.
Low Risk Terms
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: Spasî
Transliteration: spasî
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Original: εὐχαριστία
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Standard vocabulary with broad positive overlap; recurring refrain across Colossians (1:3, 1:12, 3:15, 3:17, 4:2).
Beginning Source
Approved rendering: Destpêk
Transliteration: destpêk
Doctrine: The Supremacy and Sufficiency of Christ over Creation
Original: ἀρχή
Category: Christology
Christ as origin-point of the new creation/resurrection life, paired with ‘firstborn from the dead’ (1:18). Low risk provided it stays visibly distinct from Serokatî, the unrelated ‘rulers’ sense of the same Greek root at 1:16/2:15.
Minister
Approved rendering: Xizmetkar
Transliteration: xizmetkar
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship and Ministry
Original: διάκονος
Category: Church
One who serves; applied to Epaphras (1:7) and Paul (1:23, 1:25). Kept distinct from Şandî (apostle) to preserve humble service rather than commissioned authority.
Understanding
Approved rendering: Fêhm / Têgihiştin
Transliteration: fêhm / têgihiştin
Doctrine: Spiritual Wisdom and Maturity
Original: σύνεσις
Category: Faith
Spirit-given comprehension and discernment, paired with wisdom (1:9). Standard vocabulary; low independent risk.
Walk
Approved rendering: Meşîn / Jiyîn
Transliteration: meşîn / jiyîn
Doctrine: Mission and Witness to Outsiders
Original: περιπατέω
Category: Ethics
A Semitic idiom for ethical conduct; ‘walk in a manner worthy of the Lord’ (1:10), ‘walk in wisdom toward outsiders’ (4:5). Kurdish has comparable idioms; prefer the natural equivalent over a literal calque.
Stewardship
Approved rendering: Karbidestî
Transliteration: karbidestî
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship and Ministry
Original: οἰκονομία
Category: Church
Paul’s divinely-entrusted administrative responsibility to fully preach the word (1:25). Standard native compound; low-medium risk.
Things Above
Approved rendering: Tiştên Jorîn
Transliteration: tiştên jorîn
Doctrine: Union with Christ (Died and Raised With Him)
Original: τὰ ἄνω
Category: Sanctification
Heavenly, spiritual realities, ‘where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God’ (3:1). Standard vocabulary; low risk.
Bond Of Perfection
Approved rendering: Girêdana Bêkêmasiyê
Transliteration: girêdana bêkêmasiyê
Doctrine: Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New
Original: σύνδεσμος τῆς τελειότητος
Category: Ethics
Love as the unifying, completing bond over the whole virtue-list, echoing the body/ligament imagery of 2:19 (3:14). Low-medium risk.
Psalms Hymns Spiritual Songs
Approved rendering: Zebûr, Stiran, û Stranên Giyanî
Transliteration: zebûr, stiran, û stranên giyanî
Doctrine: Christ as Head of the Church
Original: ψαλμοί, ὕμνοι, ᾠδαὶ πνευματικαί
Category: Church
The range of corporate sung worship (3:16). Zebûr is the established Kurdish Bible term for the Psalms; giyanî (‘spiritual’) reuses the baseline root from spiritual_gifts.
Eye Service
Approved rendering: Xizmeta ku tenê ji bo çavan tê kirin
Transliteration: xizmeta ku tenê ji bo çavan tê kirin
Doctrine: Household Codes
Original: ὀφθαλμοδουλία
Category: Household
Superficial, appearance-only compliance, contrasted with sincerity of heart (3:22). Standard descriptive vocabulary; low-medium risk.
Prayer
Approved rendering: Dua
Transliteration: dua
Doctrine: Thanksgiving and Prayer
Original: προσευχή
Category: Faith
Steadfast, watchful, thankful prayer (4:2) and Paul’s request for an open door to declare Christ’s mystery (4:3). Standard, widely shared regional term; generally safe.
Redeeming The Time
Approved rendering: Derfetan Baş Bikar Bînin
Transliteration: derfetan baş bikar bînin
Doctrine: Mission and Witness to Outsiders
Original: ἐξαγοραζόμενοι τὸν καιρόν
Category: Mission
Making the best use of opportune moments toward outsiders (4:5). Straightforward exhortation to seize opportunities for witness.
Salt Speech
Approved rendering: Axaftina xwe bi xwê veşêrin
Transliteration: axaftina xwe bi xwê veşêrin
Doctrine: Mission and Witness to Outsiders
Original: ἐν χάριτι, ἅλατι ἠρτυμένος
Category: Mission
Winsome, gracious speech ‘seasoned with salt’ toward outsiders (4:6). Salt/xwê carries similar everyday flavor/value connotations in Kurdish; the image transfers without difficulty.
Fellow Servant
Approved rendering: Hevxulam
Transliteration: hevxulam
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship and Ministry
Original: σύνδουλος
Category: Church
A fellow servant of the same Master, applied to Epaphras and Tychicus (1:7, 4:7). Built on the Xulam root established for the household-code doulos discussion; use consistently rather than introducing a separate root.
Compassion Kindness Meekness
Approved rendering: Dilovanî, Qencî, û Nermî
Transliteration: dilovanî, qencî, û nermî
Doctrine: Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New
Original: σπλάγχνα οἰκτιρμοῦ / χρηστότης / πραΰτης
Category: Ethics
Compassion, kindness, and gentleness — the opening items in the ‘new self’ virtue-list (3:12). Standard native vocabulary with broad positive overlap; low independent risk.
Referenced passages