Core Glossary
Core Glossary — Ephesians (English → Kurdish/Kurmanji)
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing theological term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, spanning all six chapters of Ephesians. Terms marked REUSED are already recorded in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json and MUST be used exactly as recorded — no deviation permitted. Terms marked NEW are proposed additions to translation memory for the Ephesians curriculum and require the same theologian/native-speaker review routing indicated by their risk tier, per the baseline doctrine_risk_registry.json conventions.
Risk tier definitions (unchanged from baseline): Critical = human theologian review, every occurrence. High = human theologian review. Medium = native speaker review recommended. Low = automated review sufficient.
A. Terms Reused Exactly from Baseline Romans Translation Memory
| Term | Kurdish Rendering | Risk | Doctrine Link | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| gospel | Mizgînî | Medium | Gospel; Armor of God (shoes) | REUSED |
| grace | Kerem | High | Salvation by Grace through Faith | REUSED |
| faith | Îman | High | Salvation by Grace through Faith; Armor of God (shield) | REUSED |
| righteousness | Adalet | High | Salvation; Armor of God (breastplate) | REUSED |
| salvation | Rizgarî | Critical | Salvation by Grace through Faith; Armor of God (helmet) | REUSED |
| apostle | Şandî | Medium | Gifts for Building Up the Church | REUSED |
| called / calling | Bangkirî / Vexwendin | High/Medium | Election and Predestination | REUSED |
| holy | Pîroz | High | Sanctification; Holy Spirit; holy temple | REUSED |
| saints | Pîrozan | High | Church as Body of Christ; equipping of saints | REUSED |
| sanctification | Teqdîs | High | Household Codes (5:26); Walking in Newness of Life | REUSED |
| adoption | Kurxwendin | Critical | Election and Predestination (1:5) | REUSED |
| resurrection | Rabûn | Critical | Salvation (2:5-6, “raised together”) | REUSED |
| lord | Xudan | Critical | Christ’s Lordship; reserved, never for human masters (6:5-9) | REUSED |
| son_of_god | Kurê Xwedê | Critical | Christology (4:13, knowledge of the Son of God) | REUSED |
| peace | Aştî | Medium | Unity of Jews and Gentiles; Armor of God | REUSED |
| spiritual_gifts | Diyariyên Giyanî | Medium | Gifts for Building Up the Church (kept distinct from “gift” in 2:8) | REUSED |
| thanksgiving | Spasî | Low | General epistolary usage | REUSED |
| fellowship | Hevaltî | Medium | Church as Body of Christ | REUSED |
| church | Dêr | High | Church as Body of Christ (kept distinct from “Bedena Mesîh”) | REUSED |
| kingdom_of_god | Padîşahiya Xwedê | Critical | Household Codes (5:5, inheritance in the kingdom) | REUSED |
| law | Şerîeta Mûsa | Critical | Unity of Jews and Gentiles (2:15, abolishing the law) | REUSED |
| sin | Guneh | High | Salvation by Grace through Faith (2:1) | REUSED |
| gentiles | Ne-cihû | Medium | Unity of Jews and Gentiles | REUSED |
| glory | Rûmet | Medium | Election and Predestination (1:6, “to the praise of his glory”) | REUSED |
| obedience_of_faith | Guhdarîkirina Baweriyê | High | related to household “obey” distinctions | REUSED |
| power_of_god | Hêza Xwedê | Medium | Spiritual Warfare; Salvation | REUSED |
| covenant | Peyman | High | (background for “promise,” 2:12, 3:6) | REUSED |
| election | Hilbijartin | High | Election and Predestination (1:4) | REUSED |
| intercession | Navbeynkarî | High | Spiritual Warfare (6:18, prayer) | REUSED |
| providence | Rêveberiya Xwedê | Medium | Election and Predestination (background) | REUSED |
| mission | Peywira Mizgîniyê | High | Gifts for Building Up (evangelist) | REUSED |
| david | Dawid | Medium | (genealogical background, not prominent in Ephesians) | REUSED |
| israel | Îsraîl | Medium | Unity of Jews and Gentiles (2:12) | REUSED |
| jesus | Îsa | Critical | Christology throughout | REUSED |
| god | Xwedê | Critical | Throughout | REUSED |
| holy_spirit | Ruhê Pîroz | Critical | Sealing (1:13); grieving the Spirit (4:30); filling (5:18) | REUSED |
| father | Bav | Critical | Adoption; “one God and Father” (4:6) | REUSED |
| abba | Aba | High | (not directly in Ephesians; retained for consistency) | REUSED |
| exhort | Handan kirin | Low | Household codes; mutual exhortation | REUSED |
B. New Terms Proposed for Ephesians Translation Memory
| Term | Original (Greek) | Transliteration | Kurdish Rendering | Risk | Doctrine Link | Rationale Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| dead (spiritually) | νεκρός | nekros | Mirî | Medium | Salvation by Grace | Metaphorical extension from physical death must be explicit; collides with fitrah innate-purity default |
| trespasses | παράπτωμα | paraptōma | Sûc | Medium | Salvation by Grace | Keep distinct from “Guneh” (sin) to preserve Paul’s rhetorical doubling |
| flesh (sin-nature sense) | σάρξ | sarx | Xwezaya Gunehkar | High | Salvation by Grace; Household Codes | Must be distinguished per-occurrence from neutral “Beden” (body) and marital “one flesh” sense |
| by nature children of wrath | φύσει τέκνα ὀργῆς | physei tekna orgēs | Bi xwezayî zarokên Xezeba Xwedê | Critical | Universal Human Accountability | Direct collision with fitrah doctrine; underlies entire logic of 2:1-10 |
| mercy | ἔλεος | eleos | Dilovanî | Medium | Salvation by Grace | Distinct from charis; must be tied concretely to rescue of the spiritually dead |
| love | ἀγάπη | agapē | Evîn | High | Salvation by Grace; Household Codes; Unity | Sufi mystical-union “evîn” register risks eclipsing self-giving, cross-anchored sense |
| made alive together | συζωοποιέω | synzōopoieō | Bi Mesîh re jîndar kirin | High | Salvation by Grace | Shares resurrection-family collision risk (crucifixion denial; Yazidi reincarnation) |
| heavenly places | ἐπουράνιος | epouranios | Cîhên Ezmanî | Medium-High | Spiritual Warfare; Church as Body | Must render identically across all 5 occurrences to preserve thematic thread |
| gift (of salvation) | δῶρον | dōron | Diyarî | High | Salvation by Grace | Must not be conflated with “Diyariyên Giyanî” (spiritual gifts, differentiated by member) |
| works | ἔργα | erga | Kar / Karên Baş | High | Salvation by Grace | Must unambiguously exclude any human contribution, including religious observance |
| workmanship | ποίημα | poiēma | Berhem | Medium | Salvation by Grace; Walking in Newness | Preserve “deliberate crafted work” nuance, not generic “creature” |
| created | κτίζω | ktizō | Afirandin | Low-Medium | Walking in Newness of Life | New-creation sense; keep “in Christ Jesus” attached |
| predestined | προορίζω | proorizō | Pêşdiyarkirin | Critical | Election and Predestination | Collides with al-qadar, a pillar of Sunni iman; must be scoped to Christ-centered, gracious adoption, not blanket fatalism |
| redemption | ἀπολύτρωσις | apolytrōsis | Xelasî | High | Salvation by Grace | Distinguish from bare “Rizgarî”; avoid conflation with Islamic fidyah |
| forgiveness | ἄφεσις | aphesis | Bexşandin | Medium | Salvation by Grace | Anchor to once-for-all atoning blood, not repeated tawbah cycle |
| mystery | μυστήριον | mystērion | Sira Veşartî | Critical | The Mystery of Christ Revealed | Collides with Sufi sirr esoteric-elite-knowledge concept; Paul’s mystery is now openly revealed to all |
| head / body / fullness | κεφαλή / σῶμα / πλήρωμα | kephalē / sōma / plērōma | Ser / Bedena Mesîh / Tijetî | Critical (plērōma) / High (others) | Church as Body of Christ | ”Tijetî” risks Sufi wahdat al-wujud pantheistic-monism assimilation |
| rulers, authorities, powers, dominion | ἀρχή, ἐξουσία, δύναμις, κυριότης | archē, exousia, dynamis, kyriotēs | Serwer, Desthildar, Hêz, Serdestî | High | Spiritual Warfare | Introduces cosmic-hierarchy vocabulary developed in 3:10, 6:12 |
| dividing wall of hostility | μεσότοιχον τοῦ φραγμοῦ | mesotoichon tou phragmou | Dîwarê Dijminatiyê | High | Unity of Jews and Gentiles | Avoid unintended resonance with real regional border/security walls |
| one new man (corporate) | εἷς καινὸς ἄνθρωπος | heis kainos anthrōpos | Mirovekî Nû yê Yekbûyî | High | Unity of Jews and Gentiles | Must be distinguished from individual “new man” of 4:24 |
| reconciliation | ἀποκαταλλάσσω | apokatallassō | Aştîkirin | Medium-High | Unity of Jews and Gentiles | Tribal reconciliation is negotiable/revocable; Christ’s is unilateral and permanent |
| access | προσαγωγή | prosagōgē | Riya Nêzîkbûnê | Low-Medium | Unity of Jews and Gentiles | — |
| fellow citizens / household of God | συμπολίτης / οἰκεῖος | sympolitēs / oikeios | Hevwelatiyên Pîrozan / Malbata Xwedê | Critical (“hevwelatî”) | Unity of Jews and Gentiles | ”Welat” (homeland) collides with Kurdish national-citizenship aspiration; prefer family-based rendering where possible |
| cornerstone / foundation / holy temple / dwelling place | ἀκρογωνιαῖος / θεμέλιος / ναός / κατοικητήριον | akrogōniaios / themelios / naos / katoikētērion | Kevirê Serekî yê Goşeyê / Bingeh / Perestgeha Pîroz / Cîhê Niştecihbûna Xwedê | Medium | Church as Body of Christ | ”Perestgeha Pîroz” kept distinct from “Dêr”; avoid shrine-pilgrimage misreading |
| stewardship | οἰκονομία | oikonomia | Peywira Rêvebirinê | Low-Medium | The Mystery Revealed | Coined to avoid collision with “Rêveberiya Xwedê” (providence) |
| fellow heirs / fellow members / fellow partakers | συγκληρονόμος / σύσσωμος / συμμέτοχος | synklēronomos / syssōmos / symmetochos | Hevmîras / Hevendam / Hevbeş | High | Unity of Jews and Gentiles | Must convey genuinely equal, not derivative, status |
| manifold wisdom of God | πολυποίκιλος σοφία | polypoikilos sophia | Şehrezayiya Fireh a Xwedê | Low | The Mystery Revealed | — |
| boldness / access with confidence | παρρησία | parrēsia | Wêrekiya Nêzîkbûnê | Low-Medium | The Mystery Revealed | — |
| power at work within us | ἐνεργέω | energeō | Hêza ku di me de dixebite | Low-Medium | The Mystery Revealed | Built on baseline “Hêza Xwedê” |
| unity of the Spirit / bond of peace | ἑνότης / σύνδεσμος τῆς εἰρήνης | henotēs / syndesmos tēs eirēnēs | Yekîtiya Ruh / Girêdana Aştiyê | Medium | Gifts for Building Up the Church | — |
| baptism | βάπτισμα | baptisma | Imadan | High | Gifts for Building Up the Church | Confirm against any existing Kurdish Christian liturgical usage; theologian review required |
| free gift | δωρεά | dōrea | Diyariya Belaş | Medium | Gifts for Building Up the Church | — |
| evangelist | εὐαγγελιστής | euangelistēs | Mizgînvan | Low | Gifts for Building Up the Church | Elegant native compound on “Mizgînî” root |
| shepherd/pastor | ποιμήν | poimēn | Şivan | Low-Medium | Gifts for Building Up the Church | Positive cultural resonance; distinguish from tribal-political usage |
| teacher | διδάσκαλος | didaskalos | Mamoste | Low | Gifts for Building Up the Church | — |
| equipping / ministry / building up | καταρτισμός / διακονία / οἰκοδομή | katartismos / diakonia / oikodomē | Amadekirina Pîrozan / Xizmet / Avakirina Bedena Mesîh | High | Gifts for Building Up the Church | Risk inherited chiefly from “Pîrozan” (elite-sainthood collision) |
| full/experiential knowledge | ἐπίγνωσις | epignōsis | Nasîna Kûr | Medium | Gifts for Building Up the Church | — |
| mature man | τέλειος ἀνήρ | teleios anēr | Mirovê Gihîştî | Critical | Gifts for Building Up; Walking in Newness | AVOID “Mirovê Kamil” — direct collision with Sufi al-insān al-kāmil doctrine |
| old man / new man (individual) | παλαιὸς ἄνθρωπος / καινὸς ἄνθρωπος | palaios anthrōpos / kainos anthrōpos | Mirovê Kevin / Mirovê Nû | Critical | Walking in Newness of Life | Distinguish explicitly from corporate “one new man” (2:15) |
| renewed in the spirit of the mind | ἀνανεόω | ananeoō | Ji nû ve kirina giyanê hiş | Low-Medium | Walking in Newness of Life | — |
| holiness (piety) | ὁσιότης | hosiotēs | Pîrozî | Medium | Walking in Newness of Life | Paired with baseline “Adalet” in 4:24 |
| grieve the Holy Spirit | λυπέω τὸ Πνεῦμα | lypeō to pneuma | Ruhê Pîroz xemgîn nekin | Critical | Holy Spirit personhood | Reinforces Spirit’s personhood against angel-Jibril identification |
| kindness/forgiving | χαρίζομαι | charizomai | Bexşandin | Medium | Walking in Newness of Life | Cognate with “aphesis” rendering for consistency |
| offering / sacrifice | προσφορά / θυσία | prosphora / thysia | Diyarî / Qurban | Critical (thysia) | Household Codes; Christ’s self-giving | ”Qurban” collides with ritual, repeatable Islamic sacrifice; Christ’s is once-for-all, self-given |
| sexual immorality / impurity / covetousness | πορνεία / ἀκαθαρσία / πλεονεξία | porneia / akatharsia / pleonexia | Zîna / Neqenciya Exlaqî / Çavbirçîtî | Medium | Walking in Newness of Life | Pastoral sensitivity given regional legal weight of “zîna” |
| inheritance | κληρονομία | klēronomia | Mîras | High | Household Codes; Unity | Islamic fixed-share inheritance law collision; biblical inheritance is gracious and equal in Christ |
| darkness / light | σκότος / φῶς | skotos / phōs | Tarî / Ronahî | Medium | Walking in Newness of Life | Anchor to “in the Lord,” not generic illumination (Yazidi/Sufi light symbolism) |
| fruit (of the Spirit/light) | καρπός | karpos | Fêkî | Low | Walking in Newness of Life | — |
| filled with the Spirit | πληρόω (+ πνεῦμα) | plēroō | Bi Ruhê Pîroz tijî bibin | High | Walking in Newness of Life | Distinguish from Sufi dhikr ecstatic-trance practice |
| submitting to one another | ὑποτάσσω | hypotassō | Xwe Bindest Kirin | Critical | Household Codes | Governing MUTUAL command; must not collapse into one-directional wifely obedience alone |
| cleanse | καθαρίζω | katharizō | Paqijkirin | Medium | Household Codes | Paired with baseline “Teqdîs” |
| without spot or wrinkle | (ἄσπιλος, ῥυτίς) | aspilos, rhytis | Bêqusûr û Pîroz | Low-Medium | Household Codes | — |
| one flesh (marital) | μία σάρξ | mia sarx | Yek Beden | Low-Medium | Household Codes | Neutral sense; distinguish from 2:3 sin-nature sense |
| obey (children/servants) | ὑπακούω | hypakouō | Guhdarî Kirin | Medium | Household Codes | Distinct from “hypotassō” mutual-submission construction |
| honor | τιμάω | timaō | Rêz Girtin | Low-Medium | Household Codes | — |
| discipline and instruction of the Lord | παιδεία / νουθεσία | paideia / nouthesia | Terbiyet û Şîretên Xudan | Low-Medium | Household Codes | — |
| servant/slave | δοῦλος | doulos | Xulam | High | Household Codes | Handle with pastoral care given historical/contemporary slavery associations |
| master (human) | κύριος (human sense) | kyrios | Xwedî | High | Household Codes | NEVER “Xudan” (reserved for Christ); AVOID “Axa” (feudal-landlord collision) |
| whole armor of God | πανοπλία | panoplia | Çekê Temam ê Xwedê | Critical | Spiritual Warfare | Collides with Peshmerga/armed-resistance national identity; must anchor as purely spiritual struggle |
| rulers, authorities, cosmic powers, spiritual forces of evil | ἀρχή, ἐξουσία, κοσμοκράτωρ, πνευματικά τῆς πονηρίας | archē, exousia, kosmokratōr, pneumatika tēs ponērias | Serwer, Desthildar, Serokên Cîhana Tarî, Hêzên Giyanî yên Xerabiyê | High | Spiritual Warfare | Folk cin/jinn category risks reducing cosmic hierarchy to generic exorcism framework |
| word of God (rhēma) | ῥῆμα | rhēma | Peyva Xwedê | Medium | Spiritual Warfare (sword of the Spirit) | Paired with “Peyva Xwedê” for logos consistency |
| ambassador | πρεσβεύω | presbeuō | Balyoz | Medium | Spiritual Warfare / Ministry | Mild collision with modern Kurdish diplomatic-political vocabulary |
C. Cross-Reference Notes for Phase 2 Consistency
- “Evîn” (love) and “Sira Veşartî” (mystery) are the two highest-density new Critical/High terms in Ephesians, recurring across chapters 1, 2, 3, and 5; both require identical rendering at every occurrence and mandatory theologian review per the escalation rules in
12_ai_translation_requirements.md. - “Ser” (head) must be tracked across its three distinct referents — Christ as head of the church (1:22, 4:15, 5:23), and husband as head of wife (5:23) — since the household-codes usage is the most doctrinally sensitive.
- “Xudan” (Lord) must never be applied to the human “master” of Ephesians 6:5-9 (use “Xwedî” instead); this is a hard constraint carried forward from the baseline’s Critical reservation of “Xudan” for Christ’s exclusive Lordship.
- “Rizgarî” (salvation), “Padîşahiya Xwedê” (Kingdom of God), and the new term “Çekê Temam ê Xwedê” (armor of God) together form a cluster of nationalist/political-vocabulary collision risks specific to the Kurdish context (statelessness, liberation struggle, Peshmerga identity) and must all be anchored to personal/spiritual meaning at every occurrence, per the baseline’s existing forbidden-substitution logic, extended here to the new armor term.
- “Mirovê Kamil” is a standing FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION for Ephesians 4:13’s “mature man” — use “Mirovê Gihîştî” — due to direct collision with the Sufi al-insān al-kāmil doctrine. This should be added to the forbidden-substitutions list in the Phase 2 AI translation requirements document alongside the existing “Namûs,” “Pakkirin,” and “Adaleta ku tê bidestxistin” entries.
Critical Risk Terms
Salvation
Approved rendering: Rizgarî
Transliteration: rizgarî
Doctrine: Salvation by Grace through Faith
Original: σωτηρία / σῴζω / σεσῳσμένοι
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. CRITICAL: Kurdish nationalist-liberation vocabulary collision applies with full force. Ephesians 2:5, 2:8 use a perfect passive verb form (‘sesōsmenoi este’) signaling a completed-yet-abiding state; the Kurdish construction (e.g. ‘hûn xilas bûne’) must preserve this, not flatten into ongoing/future-only process. Also renders the helmet of salvation (6:17).
Adoption
Approved rendering: Kurxwendin
Transliteration: kurxwendin
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: υἱοθεσία
Category: Election
Inherited from Romans package. CRITICAL: Ephesians 1:5 ties adoption directly to predestination, compounding the Quranic adoption-restriction (33:4-5) and Kurdish tribal (aşîret) lineage collision with the additional al-qadar collision of predestination.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: Rabûn
Transliteration: rabûn
Doctrine: Assurance and Security in Christ
Original: ἀνάστασις / συζωοποιέω / συνεγείρω
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Root concept for the compound verbs of Ephesians 2:5-6 (made alive together, raised up together); shares the Quranic crucifixion-denial and Yazidi ‘kiras guhertin’ reincarnation risks.
Lord
Approved rendering: Xudan
Transliteration: Xudan
Doctrine: Deity and Sonship of Christ
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. HARD CONSTRAINT extended for Ephesians: must never be used for the human ‘master’ of Ephesians 6:5-9 (use ‘Xwedî’ instead), to protect this term’s exclusive reservation for Christ’s divine Lordship (1:2-3, 1:17, 4:1, 4:5, 6:23-24).
Son Of God
Approved rendering: Kurê Xwedê
Transliteration: Kurê Xwedê
Doctrine: Deity and Sonship of Christ
Original: υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Ephesians 4:13, growing into ‘the knowledge of the Son of God.‘
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: Padîşahiya Xwedê
Transliteration: padîşahiya Xwedê
Doctrine: Inheritance in Christ
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ Θεοῦ
Category: Kingdom
Inherited from Romans package. Ephesians 5:5, ‘kingdom of Christ and God,’ from which the unrepentant immoral, impure, and covetous are excluded. Same Kurdish-statehood-aspiration collision applies; never phrase so as to imply a this-worldly political inheritance or territory.
Law
Approved rendering: Şerîeta Mûsa
Transliteration: Şerîeta Mûsa
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles in One New Humanity
Rejected alternatives: Namûs
Original: νόμος
Category: Unity
Inherited from Romans package. FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION ‘Namûs’/bare ‘Şerîet’ carried forward. Ephesians 2:15, Christ abolishes ‘the law of commandments expressed in ordinances’ separating Jew and Gentile.
Jesus
Approved rendering: Îsa
Transliteration: Îsa
Doctrine: Deity and Sonship of Christ
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Used throughout Ephesians (1:1, 1:15, 2:6-7, 3:1, etc.). Still carries the Quranic prophet-only, non-crucified, non-divine narrative that must be actively corrected.
God
Approved rendering: Xwedê
Transliteration: Xwedê
Doctrine: Deity and Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Allah
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Ephesians 4:6 confesses ‘one God and Father of all.’ Native Old Iranian root, preferred for everyday Kurdish Christian usage; strict tawhid theology must be distinguished from the Trinitarian conception denoted by the same word.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Ruhê Pîroz
Transliteration: Ruhê Pîroz
Doctrine: Holy Spirit’s Personhood and Sealing of Believers
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Sealing believers (1:13-14), grieved by sin (4:30), the one believers are filled with (5:18). Ephesians 4:30’s ‘grieve’ verb is doctrinally decisive: only a personal being can be grieved, directly countering the mainstream regional tafsir identification with the created angel Jibril.
Father
Approved rendering: Bav
Transliteration: Bav
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Ephesians 1:3 (‘God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ’), 3:14-15 (‘every family in heaven and on earth is named’ from the Father), 4:6.
Messiah
Approved rendering: Mesîh
Transliteration: Mesîh
Doctrine: Deity and Sonship of Christ
Inherited from Romans package. Used pervasively throughout Ephesians in ‘Christ Jesus’ / ‘in Christ’ formulas; carries the same pre-loaded Quranic content as Arabic’s al-Masih.
Children Of Wrath
Approved rendering: Bi xwezayî zarokên Xezeba Xwedê
Transliteration: bi xwezayî zarokên xezeba Xwedê
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability (Total Spiritual Deadness)
Rejected alternatives: Bi hilbijartina xwe zarokên Xezeba Xwedê (by their own choice, children of wrath)
Original: φύσει τέκνα ὀργῆς
Category: Salvation
CRITICAL, NEW. Ephesians 2:3. The single sharpest collision point in Ephesians with regional Islamic fitrah (innate purity at birth) doctrine; underlies the entire dead-to-alive logic of 2:1-10. ‘By nature’ must never be softened to ‘by their own choices.‘
Predestined
Approved rendering: Pêşdiyarkirin
Transliteration: pêşdiyarkirin
Doctrine: Election and Predestination in Christ
Rejected alternatives: Terms derived from the Arabic qadar/taqdîr root
Original: προορίζω
Category: Election
CRITICAL, NEW. Ephesians 1:5, 1:11. A coined native compound (pêş + diyarkirin) with no prior Kurdish Christian precedent; deliberately avoids Arabic qadar-adjacent vocabulary to prevent importing al-qadar fatalism (a pillar of Sunni iman, often received popularly as ‘kismet’ covering all events good and evil). Must be scoped narrowly to believers’ adoption/inheritance in Christ specifically, taught against both fatalistic overgeneralization and reduction to mere foreknowledge. Flag for theologian confirmation before wide use given the coinage.
Mystery
Approved rendering: Sira Veşartî
Transliteration: sira veşartî
Doctrine: The Mystery of Christ Revealed
Rejected alternatives: Sir (direct borrowing of the Sufi technical term)
Original: μυστήριον
Category: Mystery
CRITICAL, NEW. Ephesians 1:9-10, 3:3-9, 5:32, 6:19. Kurdish Sufi tradition’s technical concept of ‘sirr’ denotes esoteric knowledge disclosed only to advanced initiates through a pîr/şêx master-disciple lineage. Paul’s mystērion is the theological opposite: a secret now openly disclosed to ALL believers alike. Must be paired at every occurrence with an explicit ‘now revealed/made known’ clause.
Fullness
Approved rendering: Tijetî
Transliteration: tijetî
Doctrine: Deity and Sonship of Christ
Original: πλήρωμα
Category: Christology
CRITICAL, NEW. Ephesians 1:23 (‘the fullness of him who fills all in all’) and 3:19 (‘filled with all the fullness of God’). Risks assimilation into Kurdish Sufi wahdat al-wujud (‘unity of being’) monistic philosophy, in which all reality is a manifestation of one divine essence — compounding the baseline’s son_of_god Critical flag. Must be taught as Christ’s unique lordship actively filling and governing his body, never divine substance diffusing into or merging with creation.
Fellow Citizens
Approved rendering: Hevwelatiyên Pîrozan
Transliteration: hevwelatiyên pîrozan
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles in One New Humanity
Original: συμπολίτης
Category: Unity
CRITICAL, NEW. Ephesians 2:19. ‘Welat’ (homeland/nation) is among the most emotionally charged words in Kurdish, central to the century-long stateless national aspiration flagged Critical in the baseline for salvation and kingdom_of_god. Prefer ‘household_of_god’ wherever the citizenship nuance is not exegetically essential; where retained, pair with an explicit note anchoring the term to spiritual belonging in God’s family, not political statehood.
Mature Man
Approved rendering: Mirovê Gihîştî
Transliteration: mirovê gihîştî
Doctrine: Christian Maturity in Christ
Rejected alternatives: Mirovê Kamil
Original: τέλειος ἀνήρ
Category: Gifts
CRITICAL, NEW. FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION: never render as ‘Mirovê Kamil.’ Kamil is the exact technical term of the Sufi al-insān al-kāmil (‘Perfect Man’) doctrine (Ibn Arabi tradition, influential in regional Sufi orders), describing rare, spiritually advanced figures who fully manifest the divine attributes. Using it here (Ephesians 4:13) would assimilate ordinary corporate Christian growth into an elite mystical-attainment framework. ‘Mirovê Gihîştî’ (the one who has arrived/matured) avoids this collision.
Old Man
Approved rendering: Mirovê Kevin
Transliteration: mirovê kevin
Doctrine: Walking in Newness of Life
Original: παλαιὸς ἄνθρωπος
Category: Walking
CRITICAL, NEW. Ephesians 4:22. The individual believer’s former, unregenerate self, to be put off. Must be clearly distinguished from the corporate ‘one new man’ of 2:15 — this is individual ongoing ethical renewal, not the corporate Jew-Gentile new humanity.
New Man Individual
Approved rendering: Mirovê Nû
Transliteration: mirovê nû
Doctrine: Walking in Newness of Life
Original: καινὸς ἄνθρωπος
Category: Walking
CRITICAL, NEW. Ephesians 4:24. The individual believer’s new, Spirit-renewed self, to be put on. See old_man note; the two related-but-distinct Pauline images (corporate vs. individual ‘new man’) must never blur in teaching materials.
Grieve The Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Ruhê Pîroz xemgîn nekin
Transliteration: Ruhê Pîroz xemgîn nekin
Doctrine: Holy Spirit’s Personhood and Sealing of Believers
Original: λυπέω τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ Ἅγιον
Category: Sanctification
CRITICAL, NEW. Ephesians 4:30. The command not to grieve the Spirit by sin is doctrinally decisive: only a personal being can be grieved, reinforcing the Spirit’s personhood against the regional tafsir’s angel-Jibril identification. Built on the baseline’s Critical ‘Ruhê Pîroz.‘
Sacrifice
Approved rendering: Qurban
Transliteration: qurban
Doctrine: Household Codes and Christ-Centered Relationships
Rejected alternatives: Novel non-loanword coinage (rejected in favor of the recognizable established term with mandatory gloss)
Original: θυσία
Category: Household
CRITICAL, NEW. Ephesians 5:2. ‘Qurban’ names the central, repeated, ritually-performed Islamic sacrifice (notably at Eid al-Adha), typically an animal offered by the worshipper for their own religious merit/expiation. Christ’s self-offering is categorically different: unique, once-for-all, self-given by the Savior for others, not a repeatable ritual act performed by worshippers. Must be made explicit at every use, paralleling the baseline’s ‘Şerîeta Mûsa’ qualification strategy for ‘law.‘
Submitting To One Another
Approved rendering: Xwe Bindest Kirin
Transliteration: xwe bindest kirin
Doctrine: Household Codes and Christ-Centered Relationships
Original: ὑποτάσσω
Category: Household
CRITICAL, NEW. Ephesians 5:21. The reciprocal, voluntary mutual submission introducing the entire household code. Regional Islamic household ethics include a well-developed, largely one-directional doctrine of wifely obedience (qiwāmah, Qur’an 4:34); serious risk that only ‘wives, submit’ (5:22) is retained in popular teaching while this governing mutual command and the counterbalancing self-sacrificial husband’s-love command (5:25) are muted. Distinct from the child/servant ‘obey’ construction (hypakouō).
Whole Armor Of God
Approved rendering: Çekê Temam ê Xwedê
Transliteration: çekê temam ê Xwedê
Doctrine: Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God
Original: πανοπλία τοῦ Θεοῦ
Category: Spiritual Warfare
CRITICAL, NEW. Ephesians 6:11, 6:13. Kurdish culture across all four host states carries a storied, deeply honored tradition of armed resistance embodied in the Peshmerga (‘those who face death’) identity, central to modern Kurdish political consciousness. This imagery risks being heard as validating physical/political armed resistance rather than Paul’s explicit clarification (6:12) that the struggle is ‘not against flesh and blood.’ Every occurrence must be anchored explicitly and repeatedly to its purely spiritual, non-political-military referent.
High Risk Terms
Grace
Approved rendering: Kerem
Transliteration: kerem
Doctrine: Salvation by Grace through Faith
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Sufi ‘keramet’ elite-favor collision applies with full force at Ephesians 2:4-9, this curriculum’s thesis passage; always paired with explicit ‘given freely to all who believe, not according to rank or merit’ framing when contrasted with works (2:9).
Faith
Approved rendering: Îman
Transliteration: îman
Doctrine: Salvation by Grace through Faith
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Anchor as personal trust in Christ, not creedal assent. Also renders the shield of faith (6:16) and ‘one faith’ (4:5).
Righteousness
Approved rendering: Adalet
Transliteration: adalet
Doctrine: Salvation by Grace through Faith
Rejected alternatives: Rastî
Original: δικαιοσύνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Also the character of the individual ‘new man’ (4:24) and the breastplate of righteousness (6:14); must not collapse into a term for dutiful religious observance.
Called
Approved rendering: Bangkirî
Transliteration: bangkirî
Doctrine: Election and Predestination in Christ
Original: κλητός / κλῆσις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. In Ephesians 4:1, 4:4, the calling that unites the church’s sevenfold confession.
Holy
Approved rendering: Pîroz
Transliteration: pîroz
Doctrine: Sanctification and Holy Living
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package. Describes believers’ predestined identity (1:4) and the holy temple (2:21).
Saints
Approved rendering: Pîrozan
Transliteration: pîrozan
Doctrine: The Church as the Body of Christ
Original: ἅγιοι
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. High-density recurrence (1:1, 1:15, 1:18, 3:8, 3:18, 4:12, 5:3, 6:18) makes the Sufi ‘pîr’ hereditary-elite collision especially load-bearing at 4:12 (‘equipping of the saints’): must be taught as ALL ordinary believers, not a spiritually advanced class.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: Teqdîs
Transliteration: teqdîs
Doctrine: Sanctification and Holy Living
Rejected alternatives: Pakkirin
Original: ἁγιάζω / ἁγιασμός
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package. FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION ‘Pakkirin’ carried forward. Applied in Ephesians 5:26 to Christ’s sanctifying work for the church, his bride.
Church
Approved rendering: Dêr
Transliteration: dêr
Doctrine: The Church as the Body of Christ
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Ecclesiology
Inherited from Romans package. Ephesians is the most developed ecclesiological book in this curriculum (body 1:22-23, bride 5:25-32, temple 2:21); ‘Dêr’ must be reserved strictly for the gathered-assembly sense, kept visibly distinct from ‘Bedena Mesîh’ (body of Christ) and ‘Perestgeha Pîroz’ (holy temple).
Sin
Approved rendering: Guneh
Transliteration: guneh
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability (Total Spiritual Deadness)
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Ephesians 2:1 pairs ‘guneh’ with ‘sûc’ (trespasses) for rhetorical fullness; the total-deadness argument depends on ‘guneh’ being read as a comprehensive condition, not isolated acts — a sharper application of the fitrah-collision note than in Romans.
Obedience Of Faith
Approved rendering: Guhdarîkirina Baweriyê
Transliteration: guhdarîkirina baweriyê
Doctrine: Household Codes and Christ-Centered Relationships
Original: ὑπακοή (cf. ὑπακούω, 6:1, 6:5)
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Conceptually underlies the household ‘obey’ commands (6:1, 6:5) but must be kept distinct from the mutual, reciprocal ‘submitting to one another’ construction (5:21), which uses a different Kurdish verb.
Covenant
Approved rendering: Peyman
Transliteration: peyman
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles in One New Humanity
Original: διαθήκη (cf. ‘covenants of promise,’ 2:12)
Category: Unity
Inherited from Romans package. Ephesians 2:12, Gentiles formerly ‘strangers to the covenants of promise.‘
Election
Approved rendering: Hilbijartin
Transliteration: hilbijartin
Doctrine: Election and Predestination in Christ
Original: ἐκλέγομαι
Category: Election
Inherited from Romans package. Ephesians 1:4, ‘chose us in him before the foundation of the world’ — this framing must always accompany the term to counter a reading of ‘Hilbijartin’ as a contingent, revisable democratic vote (hilbijartinên giştî).
Intercession
Approved rendering: Navbeynkarî
Transliteration: navbeynkarî
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Original: προσευχή / δέησις
Category: Spiritual Warfare
Inherited from Romans package. Ephesians 1:16-19, 3:14-19, 6:18-20.
Mission
Approved rendering: Peywira Mizgîniyê
Transliteration: peywira Mizgîniyê
Doctrine: Gifts for Building Up the Church
Original: εὐαγγελιστής / πρεσβεύω
Category: Gifts
Inherited from Romans package. Ephesians 4:11 (evangelist) and 6:19-20 (ambassador in chains); safety implications continue to differ significantly by host state (Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria).
Abba
Approved rendering: Aba
Transliteration: Aba
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: Ἀββά
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Not present verbatim in Ephesians but retained for curriculum-wide consistency with the Adoption doctrine.
Prophet
Approved rendering: Pêxember
Transliteration: pêxember
Doctrine: The Mystery of Christ Revealed
Original: προφήτης
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Same finality-of-prophethood risk as in Romans, compounded here because Ephesians 2:20 and 3:5 make NT apostles/prophets foundational revelation-recipients, a category regional Islamic theology reserves as closed and superseded. Also a ministry gift (4:11).
Flesh Sin Nature
Approved rendering: Xwezaya Gunehkar
Transliteration: xwezaya gunehkar
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability (Total Spiritual Deadness)
Rejected alternatives: Beden (blanket use)
Original: σάρξ
Category: Salvation
NEW. Ephesians 2:3. The fallen, self-directed human nature in rebellion against God, distinct from the neutral physical-body sense used elsewhere in the letter (2:11, 2:14-15, 5:29-31, 6:5). Each ‘flesh’ occurrence must be checked individually for sense; a single blanket Kurdish word risks conflating Christ’s literal incarnate body with this negative sin-nature sense.
Love
Approved rendering: Evîn
Transliteration: evîn
Doctrine: Household Codes and Christ-Centered Relationships
Original: ἀγάπη
Category: Household
NEW. God’s initiating love (2:4), the ground of unity (3:17, 4:2, 4:15-16), Christ’s sacrificial pattern for marriage (5:2, 5:25, 5:28-33). Kurdish classical Sufi poetic tradition (Melayê Cizîrî, Ehmedê Xanî) cultivates an intimate mystical ‘evîn’ register oriented toward ecstatic union/self-annihilation rather than covenantal, self-giving, historically-enacted love; every occurrence must be anchored to Christ’s concrete self-sacrifice, especially at 5:2 and 5:25.
Made Alive Together
Approved rendering: Bi Mesîh re jîndar kirin
Transliteration: bi Mesîh re jîndar kirin
Doctrine: Assurance and Security in Christ
Original: συζωοποιέω
Category: Salvation
NEW. Ephesians 2:5. Believers joined to Christ’s own resurrection as a single act. Doctrinally adjacent to ‘Rabûn’ (resurrection, Critical); shares the same crucifixion-denial and Yazidi ‘kiras guhertin’ reincarnation collision risk and must be visibly part of the same raising-to-life event-family.
Heavenly Places
Approved rendering: Cîhên Ezmanî
Transliteration: cîhên ezmanî
Doctrine: Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God
Original: ἐπουράνιος
Category: Ecclesiology
NEW. Ephesians 1:3, 1:20, 2:6, 3:10, 6:12. Must be rendered identically at all five occurrences to preserve the thematic thread linking blessing, Christ’s exaltation, the church’s position, the mystery’s cosmic display, and spiritual warfare.
Gift Of Salvation
Approved rendering: Diyarî
Transliteration: diyarî
Doctrine: Salvation by Grace through Faith
Rejected alternatives: Diyariyên Giyanî (reserved for spiritual gifts)
Original: δῶρον
Category: Salvation
NEW. Ephesians 2:8. Salvation itself as an unearned gift, universal to all believers. Must never be substituted with ‘Diyariyên Giyanî’ (spiritual gifts/charismata, differentiated by member, ch. 4), or the distinct scope of the two terms will blur. Also renders ‘offering’ (prosphora) in 5:2 — context disambiguates the two unrelated senses.
Works
Approved rendering: Kar / Karên Baş
Transliteration: kar / karên baş
Doctrine: Salvation by Grace through Faith
Original: ἔργα
Category: Salvation
NEW. Ephesians 2:9 (excluded as ground of salvation) and 2:10 (good works as fruit and purpose). ‘Not as a result of works’ (2:9) is the single most load-bearing negative clause in the core passage and must unambiguously exclude any human contribution, including regional Islamic acts of piety (prayer, fasting, alms) understood as meriting divine favor.
Redemption
Approved rendering: Xelasî
Transliteration: xelasî
Doctrine: Redemption through Christ’s Blood
Original: ἀπολύτρωσις
Category: Salvation
NEW. Ephesians 1:7, 1:14. Must be distinguished from bare ‘Rizgarî’ (salvation) so the price-paid-in-blood nuance is not lost, and from the Islamic fidyah concept (a substitute payment for a missed ritual obligation), which is transactional-ritual rather than a sin-debt paid by another’s blood.
Head
Approved rendering: Ser
Transliteration: ser
Doctrine: The Church as the Body of Christ
Original: κεφαλή
Category: Christology
NEW. Christ as head of the church (1:22, 4:15) and the husband as head of the wife (5:23). Must be tracked across its distinct referents; the household-codes usage (5:23) is the most doctrinally sensitive and must always be paired with the self-sacrificial love standard of 5:25.
Body Of Christ
Approved rendering: Bedena Mesîh
Transliteration: bedena Mesîh
Doctrine: The Church as the Body of Christ
Original: σῶμα (τοῦ Χριστοῦ)
Category: Ecclesiology
NEW. Ephesians 1:23, 4:4, 4:12, 4:16, 5:23, 5:30. The church as Christ’s organic body, united under him as head. Kept visibly distinct from ‘Dêr’ (church as gathered assembly/building term).
Rulers Authorities Powers Dominion
Approved rendering: Serwer, Desthildar, Hêz, Serdestî
Transliteration: serwer, desthildar, hêz, serdestî
Doctrine: Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God
Original: ἀρχή, ἐξουσία, δύναμις, κυριότης
Category: Spiritual Warfare
NEW. Ephesians 1:21, developed in 3:10 and 6:12. Introduces the cosmic-hierarchy vocabulary. Regional folk belief in cin (jinn) offers a plausibility bridge but risks reducing Paul’s structured cosmic hierarchy to generic folk-spirit categories; must be anchored to Christ’s decisive, already-secured victory (1:20-21) over a defeated-but-still-active enemy system.
Dividing Wall Of Hostility
Approved rendering: Dîwarê Dijminatiyê
Transliteration: dîwarê dijminatiyê
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles in One New Humanity
Original: τὸ μεσότοιχον τοῦ φραγμοῦ
Category: Unity
NEW. Ephesians 2:14. The temple barrier separating Jew from Gentile, abolished by Christ. Kurdish-populated regions have their own real, politically fraught border/security walls (e.g. the Turkey-Syria frontier); this image must remain anchored to its specific historical Jewish/Gentile-temple referent and its abolition ‘in his flesh,’ not read as commentary on contemporary regional border politics.
One New Man Corporate
Approved rendering: Mirovekî Nû yê Yekbûyî
Transliteration: mirovekî nû yê yekbûyî
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles in One New Humanity
Original: εἷς καινὸς ἄνθρωπος
Category: Unity
NEW. Ephesians 2:15. The single new, united humanity formed by joining believing Jews and Gentiles. Must be explicitly distinguished from the individual ‘new man’ of 4:24 (see new_man_individual); this is a corporate ecclesiological reality, not personal moral renewal.
Reconciliation
Approved rendering: Aştîkirin
Transliteration: aştîkirin
Doctrine: Reconciliation through the Cross
Original: ἀποκαταλλάσσω
Category: Unity
NEW. Ephesians 2:16. Full restoration to right relationship, both humanity to God and Jew to Gentile, through the cross. Kurdish tribal reconciliation customs for ending feuds provide a genuine cultural bridge-image, but such reconciliations are typically negotiated, partial, and revocable; Christ’s cross-achieved reconciliation must be taught as complete, unilateral, and permanent.
Fellow Heirs
Approved rendering: Hevmîras
Transliteration: hevmîras
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles in One New Humanity
Original: συγκληρονόμος
Category: Unity
NEW. Ephesians 3:6. Native ‘hev-’ (co-/mutual) prefix compound; must communicate truly equal, not derivative, Gentile inheritance status alongside Jewish believers.
Fellow Members
Approved rendering: Hevendam
Transliteration: hevendam
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles in One New Humanity
Original: σύσσωμος
Category: Unity
NEW. Ephesians 3:6. Gentile believers as full members of the same body; see fellow_heirs note.
Fellow Partakers
Approved rendering: Hevbeş
Transliteration: hevbeş
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles in One New Humanity
Original: συμμέτοχος
Category: Unity
NEW. Ephesians 3:6. Gentile believers as full sharers in the promise. The ‘hev-’ prefix is also familiar from ‘heval’ (friend/comrade, Medium risk per baseline fellowship entry) and should not collapse into a merely political-solidarity register.
Baptism
Approved rendering: Imadan
Transliteration: imadan
Doctrine: Gifts for Building Up the Church
Rejected alternatives: Baptîzm (direct loanword), Avjenîna Baweriyê (descriptive paraphrase)
Original: βάπτισμα
Category: Ecclesiology
NEW. Ephesians 4:5, one of the seven unifying marks of the church (‘one baptism’). Independent doctrinal weight (identification with Christ’s death/resurrection, cf. Romans 6). Flag for theologian review to confirm this matches established Kurdish Christian liturgical usage before wide use.
Equipping Of Saints
Approved rendering: Amadekirina Pîrozan
Transliteration: amadekirina pîrozan
Doctrine: Gifts for Building Up the Church
Original: καταρτισμὸς τῶν ἁγίων
Category: Gifts
NEW. Ephesians 4:12. Ministry gifts given to equip ALL believers for works of service. Risk inherited chiefly from ‘Pîrozan’ (saints) — must be clear this equipping is for every ordinary believer, not an elite spiritual class, given the socially significant Sufi ‘pîr’ hereditary tradition.
Building Up Body Of Christ
Approved rendering: Avakirina Bedena Mesîh
Transliteration: avakirina bedena Mesîh
Doctrine: Gifts for Building Up the Church
Original: οἰκοδομὴ τοῦ σώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ
Category: Gifts
NEW. Ephesians 4:12, 4:16. The purpose of ministry gifts: building up Christ’s body.
Inheritance
Approved rendering: Mîras
Transliteration: mîras
Doctrine: Inheritance in Christ
Original: κληρονομία
Category: Household
NEW. Ephesians 1:11, 1:14, 1:18, 5:5. Islamic inheritance law (mîras, Qur’an 4:11-12) is a detailed, fixed, gender-differentiated legal system governing family property distribution; the believer’s spiritual inheritance in Christ is a gift of grace extended equally to all in Christ, Jew and Gentile, male and female, not a legally-formulated bloodline share.
Filled With Spirit
Approved rendering: Bi Ruhê Pîroz tijî bibin
Transliteration: bi Ruhê Pîroz tijî bibin
Doctrine: Sanctification and Holy Living
Original: πληρόω (+ πνεῦμα)
Category: Sanctification
NEW. Ephesians 5:18. The command to be continuously filled with the Holy Spirit, contrasted with drunkenness. Risks assimilation into regional ecstatic ritual practices (e.g. Sufi dhikr trance states); must be taught as ongoing Spirit-empowered worship, gratitude, and mutual submission (5:19-21), not induced ecstatic experience.
Servant Slave
Approved rendering: Xulam
Transliteration: xulam
Doctrine: Household Codes and Christ-Centered Relationships
Original: δοῦλος
Category: Household
NEW. Ephesians 6:5-8. The bondservant addressed in the household code. Handle with pastoral care given historical and contemporary slavery associations; the passage’s teaching that earthly masters ‘also have a Master in heaven’ (6:9) relativizes rather than endorses any human master-servant hierarchy.
Master Human
Approved rendering: Xwedî
Transliteration: xwedî
Doctrine: Household Codes and Christ-Centered Relationships
Rejected alternatives: Xudan, Axa
Original: κύριος (human sense)
Category: Household
NEW. Ephesians 6:5-9. HARD CONSTRAINT: never render as ‘Xudan,’ reserved exclusively for Christ’s divine Lordship. Also avoid ‘Axa’ — the historical Kurdish feudal landlord/tenant title carries real socio-economic exploitation associations that would import an inappropriate specific cultural memory into the text. ‘Xwedî’ (owner/master, neutral) is the safer choice.
Cosmic Powers Spiritual Forces
Approved rendering: Serokên Cîhana Tarî / Hêzên Giyanî yên Xerabiyê
Transliteration: serokên cîhana tarî / hêzên giyanî yên xerabiyê
Doctrine: Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God
Original: κοσμοκράτωρ, πνευματικὰ τῆς πονηρίας
Category: Spiritual Warfare
NEW. Ephesians 6:12. The cosmic rulers of darkness and spiritual forces of evil the believer wrestles against. Regional folk belief in cin (jinn) offers an available conceptual bridge but risks reducing Paul’s structured cosmic hierarchy to generic exorcism/folk-spirit categories rather than Christ’s decisive, already-secured victory.
Medium Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: Mizgînî
Transliteration: mizgînî
Doctrine: Gospel
Original: εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. A native Kurdish word for ‘good news,’ not an Arabic loanword. In Ephesians also renders ‘the gospel of peace’ in the shoes of the armor of God (6:15); must retain identical rendering there.
Apostle
Approved rendering: Şandî
Transliteration: şandî
Doctrine: Gifts for Building Up the Church
Rejected alternatives: Resûl
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. In Ephesians, foundational to the church (2:20) and one of the ministry gifts (4:11).
Calling
Approved rendering: Vexwendin
Transliteration: vexwendin
Doctrine: Election and Predestination in Christ
Original: κλῆσις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Ephesians 1:18, 4:1, 4:4. Direction of address (God calling a person) must be explicit.
Peace
Approved rendering: Aştî
Transliteration: aştî
Doctrine: Peace through Christ
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Unity
Inherited from Romans package. In Ephesians renders both peace with God through Christ’s blood and peace between Jew and Gentile (2:14-17), the ‘bond of peace’ (4:3), and the ‘gospel of peace’ (6:15). Positive resonance with real regional peace processes is an asset provided the cross-achieved basis is always stated.
Spiritual Gifts
Approved rendering: Diyariyên Giyanî
Transliteration: diyariyên giyanî
Doctrine: Gifts for Building Up the Church
Original: χαρίσματα / δωρεά
Category: Gifts
Inherited from Romans package. Ephesians 4:7-11 (apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, teachers). Must be kept distinct from ‘Diyarî’ (the universal gift of salvation itself, 2:8), which is not differentiated by member.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: Hevaltî
Transliteration: hevaltî
Doctrine: Unity of the Spirit and the Bond of Peace
Original: κοινωνία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Secular leftist/nationalist ‘comrade’ echo persists; context should disambiguate from Christian fellowship in the sevenfold unity confession (4:1-6).
Gentiles
Approved rendering: Ne-cihû
Transliteration: ne-cihû
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles in One New Humanity
Rejected alternatives: Umet
Original: ἔθνη
Category: Unity
Inherited from Romans package. Central subject of Ephesians 2:11-3:6, now fellow heirs with Jewish believers.
Glory
Approved rendering: Rûmet
Transliteration: rûmet
Doctrine: Election and Predestination in Christ
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. The refrain ‘to the praise of his glory’ structures Ephesians 1:6, 1:12, 1:14.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: Hêza Xwedê
Transliteration: hêza Xwedê
Doctrine: Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God
Original: δύναμις θεοῦ / κράτος τῆς ἰσχύος
Category: Spiritual Warfare
Inherited from Romans package. Ephesians 1:19-21, the same power that raised Christ; 6:10, the strength believers stand in.
Providence
Approved rendering: Rêveberiya Xwedê
Transliteration: rêveberiya Xwedê
Doctrine: Election and Predestination in Christ
Original: (cf. προορίζω, πρόθεσις — 1:9, 1:11)
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Background for Ephesians’ ‘purpose’ (prothesis) language, 1:9, 1:11.
David
Approved rendering: Dawid
Transliteration: Dawid
Doctrine: Inheritance in Christ
Original: Δαυίδ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Not prominent by name in Ephesians; the covenant-heir background informs inheritance language.
Israel
Approved rendering: Îsraîl
Transliteration: Îsraîl
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles in One New Humanity
Original: Ἰσραήλ
Category: Unity
Inherited from Romans package. Ephesians 2:12, Gentiles formerly ‘alienated from the commonwealth of Israel.‘
Dead Spiritually
Approved rendering: Mirî
Transliteration: mirî
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability (Total Spiritual Deadness)
Original: νεκρός
Category: Salvation
NEW. Ephesians 2:1, 2:5. The metaphorical extension of the standard word for physical death must be made explicit (‘mirî di guneh de,’ dead in sin), since Islamic fitrah theology resists a totally, rather than partially, lifeless spiritual condition.
Trespasses
Approved rendering: Sûc
Transliteration: sûc
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability (Total Spiritual Deadness)
Original: παράπτωμα
Category: Salvation
NEW. Ephesians 2:1, 2:5. Keep distinct from ‘Guneh’ (sin) so the paired phrase ‘sûc û guneh’ preserves Paul’s rhetorical doubling for total culpability.
Mercy
Approved rendering: Dilovanî
Transliteration: dilovanî
Doctrine: Salvation by Grace through Faith
Original: ἔλεος
Category: Salvation
NEW. Ephesians 2:4, ‘rich in mercy.’ Distinct from charis (grace, focused on the unworthy); must be tied concretely to God’s rescue of the spiritually dead described in 2:1-3, not left as an abstract divine attribute.
Workmanship
Approved rendering: Berhem
Transliteration: berhem
Doctrine: Salvation by Grace through Faith
Rejected alternatives: Afirîde (generic creature)
Original: ποίημα
Category: Salvation
NEW. Ephesians 2:10. A deliberately made work of craftsmanship; must preserve the crafted-with-purpose nuance, not flatten to a generic word for ‘creature.‘
Created
Approved rendering: Afirandin
Transliteration: afirandin
Doctrine: Walking in Newness of Life
Original: κτίζω
Category: Salvation
NEW. Ephesians 2:10. God’s act of re-creating the believer in Christ. The attached phrase ‘in Christ Jesus’ must never be dropped, or the new-creation sense collapses into a statement about original cosmic creation.
Forgiveness
Approved rendering: Bexşandin
Transliteration: bexşandin
Doctrine: Redemption through Christ’s Blood
Original: ἄφεσις / χαρίζομαι
Category: Salvation
NEW. Ephesians 1:7 (aphesis, release/pardon through Christ’s blood) and 4:32 (charizomai, relational forgiving among believers) share cognate Kurdish forms. Broadly compatible with Islamic divine-forgiveness vocabulary (ghafur/rahim); the distinguishing teaching point is the once-for-all atoning basis ‘through his blood,’ not a repeated tawbah/hoped-for-leniency cycle.
Access
Approved rendering: Riya Nêzîkbûnê
Transliteration: riya nêzîkbûnê
Doctrine: Reconciliation through the Cross
Original: προσαγωγή
Category: Unity
NEW. Ephesians 2:18, 3:12. Bringing/leading toward God, as into a royal court.
Household Of God
Approved rendering: Malbata Xwedê
Transliteration: malbata Xwedê
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles in One New Humanity
Original: οἰκεῖος (τοῦ Θεοῦ)
Category: Unity
NEW. Ephesians 2:19. Preferred alternative to ‘fellow_citizens’ since it avoids the ‘welat’ national-aspiration collision while preserving the belonging sense.
Cornerstone
Approved rendering: Kevirê Serekî yê Goşeyê
Transliteration: kevirê serekî yê goşeyê
Doctrine: The Church as the Body of Christ
Original: ἀκρογωνιαῖος
Category: Ecclesiology
NEW. Ephesians 2:20. Christ as the chief cornerstone of the church’s foundation.
Holy Temple
Approved rendering: Perestgeha Pîroz
Transliteration: perestgeha pîroz
Doctrine: The Church as the Body of Christ
Original: ναός ἅγιος
Category: Ecclesiology
NEW. Ephesians 2:21. The church as a holy sanctuary indwelt by the Spirit. Deliberately distinct from ‘Dêr’ (church-building term) since naos here is metaphorical for the corporate people. Must not be heard as pointing toward a literal pilgrimage/shrine site, given regional Sufi pîr-shrine and Yazidi Lalish shrine-veneration practices.
Dwelling Place Of God
Approved rendering: Cîhê Niştecihbûna Xwedê
Transliteration: cîhê niştecihbûna Xwedê
Doctrine: The Church as the Body of Christ
Original: κατοικητήριον τοῦ Θεοῦ
Category: Ecclesiology
NEW. Ephesians 2:22. The church as God’s dwelling place by the Spirit.
Power At Work Within
Approved rendering: Hêza ku di me de dixebite
Transliteration: hêza ku di me de dixebite
Doctrine: Deity and Sonship of Christ
Original: ἐνεργέω
Category: God
NEW. Ephesians 3:20. God’s power working within believers, built on the baseline’s ‘Hêza Xwedê.‘
Unity Of The Spirit
Approved rendering: Yekîtiya Ruh
Transliteration: yekîtiya ruh
Doctrine: Unity of the Spirit and the Bond of Peace
Original: ἑνότης τοῦ Πνεύματος
Category: Ecclesiology
NEW. Ephesians 4:3. The unity believers already possess by the Spirit, to be maintained (not constructed or negotiated).
Bond Of Peace
Approved rendering: Girêdana Aştiyê
Transliteration: girêdana aştiyê
Doctrine: Unity of the Spirit and the Bond of Peace
Original: σύνδεσμος τῆς εἰρήνης
Category: Ecclesiology
NEW. Ephesians 4:3. The peace that binds the church’s unity together, built on the baseline’s ‘Aştî.‘
Free Gift
Approved rendering: Diyariya Belaş
Transliteration: diyariya belaş
Doctrine: Gifts for Building Up the Church
Original: δωρεά
Category: Gifts
NEW. Ephesians 4:7. The grace given to each believer ‘according to the measure of Christ’s gift.‘
Shepherd
Approved rendering: Şivan
Transliteration: şivan
Doctrine: Gifts for Building Up the Church
Original: ποιμήν
Category: Gifts
NEW. Ephesians 4:11. A pastoral ministry gift; positive cultural resonance in traditionally pastoral Kurdish culture. Distinguish this ministry-office sense from any tribal ‘leader of the flock’ political usage.
Full Knowledge
Approved rendering: Nasîna Kûr
Transliteration: nasîna kûr
Doctrine: Christian Maturity in Christ
Original: ἐπίγνωσις
Category: Gifts
NEW. Ephesians 4:13. Deep, experiential knowledge of the Son of God, a goal of church maturity.
Renewed Mind
Approved rendering: Ji nû ve kirina giyanê hiş
Transliteration: ji nû ve kirina giyanê hiş
Doctrine: Walking in Newness of Life
Original: ἀνανεόω
Category: Walking
NEW. Ephesians 4:23. Ongoing renewal of the believer’s mind/spirit.
Holiness Piety
Approved rendering: Pîrozî
Transliteration: pîrozî
Doctrine: Sanctification and Holy Living
Original: ὁσιότης
Category: Sanctification
NEW. Ephesians 4:24. Devout uprightness characterizing the new self, paired with the baseline’s ‘Adalet’ (righteousness).
Offering
Approved rendering: Diyarî
Transliteration: diyarî
Doctrine: Household Codes and Christ-Centered Relationships
Original: προσφορά
Category: Household
NEW. Ephesians 5:2. Christ’s self-giving offering to God. Context must disambiguate this sense from the unrelated ‘gift of salvation’ usage of the same Kurdish word in 2:8.
Sexual Immorality
Approved rendering: Zîna
Transliteration: zîna
Doctrine: Sanctification and Holy Living
Original: πορνεία
Category: Household
NEW. Ephesians 5:3, 5:5. ‘Zîna’ also carries serious legal weight in regional Islamic criminal-law contexts, requiring pastoral sensitivity (a delivery-context risk, not itself a doctrinal mistranslation risk).
Impurity
Approved rendering: Neqenciya Exlaqî
Transliteration: neqenciya exlaqî
Doctrine: Sanctification and Holy Living
Original: ἀκαθαρσία
Category: Household
NEW. Ephesians 5:3. Moral impurity.
Covetousness
Approved rendering: Çavbirçîtî
Transliteration: çavbirçîtî
Doctrine: Sanctification and Holy Living
Original: πλεονεξία
Category: Household
NEW. Ephesians 5:3, 5:5. Greed/covetousness, equated with idolatry; a vivid native idiom (‘hungry-eyedness’).
Darkness
Approved rendering: Tarî
Transliteration: tarî
Doctrine: Walking in Newness of Life
Original: σκότος
Category: Walking
NEW. Ephesians 5:8, 6:12. The former condition of unbelief and sin.
Light
Approved rendering: Ronahî
Transliteration: ronahî
Doctrine: Walking in Newness of Life
Original: φῶς
Category: Walking
NEW. Ephesians 5:8. The believer’s new condition ‘in the Lord.’ Yazidi cosmology places strong positive emphasis on light and the sun (Melek Taus), and some Sufi orders use light/illumination (nur) imagery for mystical enlightenment; the contrast must be anchored to moral transformation ‘in the Lord’ specifically, not generic spiritual-illumination attainment.
Cleanse
Approved rendering: Paqijkirin
Transliteration: paqijkirin
Doctrine: Household Codes and Christ-Centered Relationships
Original: καθαρίζω
Category: Household
NEW. Ephesians 5:26. Christ’s cleansing of the church, his bride, paired with the baseline’s ‘Teqdîs’ (sanctification).
One Flesh Marital
Approved rendering: Yek Beden
Transliteration: yek beden
Doctrine: Household Codes and Christ-Centered Relationships
Original: μία σάρξ
Category: Household
NEW. Ephesians 5:31 (quoting Genesis 2:24). The marital union of husband and wife, a neutral sense of ‘flesh’; must be distinguished from the negative sin-nature sense of sarx used in 2:3.
Obey
Approved rendering: Guhdarî Kirin
Transliteration: guhdarî kirin
Doctrine: Household Codes and Christ-Centered Relationships
Original: ὑπακούω
Category: Household
NEW. Ephesians 6:1, 6:5. The command for children and servants to obey. Distinct verb construction from the mutual ‘submitting to one another’ (5:21) — must not be interchanged.
Honor
Approved rendering: Rêz Girtin
Transliteration: rêz girtin
Doctrine: Household Codes and Christ-Centered Relationships
Original: τιμάω
Category: Household
NEW. Ephesians 6:2. The command to honor father and mother.
Word Of God Rhema
Approved rendering: Peyva Xwedê
Transliteration: peyva Xwedê
Doctrine: Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God
Original: ῥῆμα (Θεοῦ)
Category: Spiritual Warfare
NEW. Ephesians 6:17. The spoken word of God, the sword of the Spirit; paired with the established rendering for logos for consistency.
Ambassador
Approved rendering: Balyoz
Transliteration: balyoz
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Original: πρεσβεύω
Category: Gifts
NEW. Ephesians 6:20. Paul’s self-description as an ambassador in chains for the gospel. Given acute Kurdish statelessness themes, the modern diplomatic-political term ‘balyoz’ carries a mild risk of unintended political-diplomatic resonance; the pairing ‘in chains’ must be retained clearly to keep the image centered on Paul’s suffering service to the gospel, not diplomatic status-seeking.
Low Risk Terms
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: Spasî
Transliteration: spasî
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Original: εὐχαριστία
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Ephesians 1:16, 5:4, 5:20.
Exhort
Approved rendering: Handan kirin
Transliteration: handan kirin
Doctrine: Mutual Edification and Encouragement
Original: παρακαλέω
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Ephesians 4:1, ‘I urge you to walk worthy.‘
Foundation
Approved rendering: Bingeh
Transliteration: bingeh
Doctrine: The Church as the Body of Christ
Original: θεμέλιος
Category: Ecclesiology
NEW. Ephesians 2:20. The apostles’ and prophets’ foundational role in the church.
Stewardship
Approved rendering: Peywira Rêvebirinê
Transliteration: peywira rêvebirinê
Doctrine: The Mystery of Christ Revealed
Original: οἰκονομία
Category: Mystery
NEW. Ephesians 3:2, 3:9. Paul’s stewardship of grace to make known the mystery. Coined to avoid collision with the baseline’s ‘Rêveberiya Xwedê’ (providence).
Manifold Wisdom
Approved rendering: Şehrezayiya Fireh a Xwedê
Transliteration: şehrezayiya fireh a Xwedê
Doctrine: The Mystery of Christ Revealed
Original: πολυποίκιλος σοφία
Category: Mystery
NEW. Ephesians 3:10. God’s rich, multifaceted wisdom displayed through the church to the rulers and authorities.
Boldness Of Access
Approved rendering: Wêrekiya Nêzîkbûnê
Transliteration: wêrekiya nêzîkbûnê
Doctrine: The Mystery of Christ Revealed
Original: παρρησία
Category: Mystery
NEW. Ephesians 3:12. Confident boldness in approaching God.
Evangelist
Approved rendering: Mizgînvan
Transliteration: mizgînvan
Doctrine: Gifts for Building Up the Church
Original: εὐαγγελιστής
Category: Gifts
NEW. Ephesians 4:11. Elegant native compound built directly on the baseline’s ‘Mizgînî’ (gospel) root.
Teacher
Approved rendering: Mamoste
Transliteration: mamoste
Doctrine: Gifts for Building Up the Church
Original: διδάσκαλος
Category: Gifts
NEW. Ephesians 4:11. A teaching ministry gift; standard respected term.
Fruit Of Spirit
Approved rendering: Fêkî
Transliteration: fêkî
Doctrine: Walking in Newness of Life
Original: καρπός
Category: Walking
NEW. Ephesians 5:9. The visible moral fruit of walking in the light.
Without Spot Or Wrinkle
Approved rendering: Bêqusûr û Pîroz
Transliteration: bêqusûr û pîroz
Doctrine: Household Codes and Christ-Centered Relationships
Original: ἄσπιλος, ῥυτίς
Category: Household
NEW. Ephesians 5:27. The church presented flawless to Christ.
Discipline And Instruction
Approved rendering: Terbiyet û Şîretên Xudan
Transliteration: terbiyet û şîretên Xudan
Doctrine: Household Codes and Christ-Centered Relationships
Original: παιδεία, νουθεσία
Category: Household
NEW. Ephesians 6:4. The Lord’s discipline and instruction fathers are to raise children in.
Referenced passages