Core Glossary
Core Glossary — Gospel of Mark (English → Kurdish/Kurmanji)
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing theological term identified in analysis/07_semantic_analysis.md, covering the entire Gospel of Mark, chapters 1–16. Terms marked [Reused] carry forward the exact Kurdish rendering recorded in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json / bible_term_registry.json and must not be altered. Terms marked [New] are introduced for the Mark curriculum and must be added to translation_memory.json (with version increment) before Phase 2 translation begins, per the AI Translation Requirements’ new-term protocol.
Section A — Terms Reused Exactly from the Romans Baseline
| Term | Original (Translit.) | Kurdish Rendering | Risk Tier | Doctrine | Key Mark Chapters | Mark-Specific Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gospel | εὐαγγέλιον (euangelion) | Mizgînî | Medium | Gospel | 1, 8, 10, 13, 14, 16 | Mark 1:1 names the whole book “the beginning of the gospel”; 16:15 ties it to world mission |
| faith | πίστις (pistis) | Îman | High | Faith | 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11 | Recurrent storm/fear/faith pairing serves the Faith-amid-Fear doctrine |
| sin | ἁμαρτία (hamartia) | Guneh | High | Universal Human Accountability | 1, 2, 3, 7, 14 | 2:15-17, Jesus dines with “sinners”; grounds universal accountability narratively |
| law (Mosaic) | νόμος (nomos) | Şerîeta Mûsa | Critical | Fulfillment of Prophecy | 1, 2, 7, 10, 12 | Sabbath controversies (2:23-3:6), tradition-vs-commandment (7:1-13), divorce (10:2-9) |
| covenant | διαθήκη (diathēkē) | Peyman | High | Davidic Covenant / New Covenant | 14 | 14:24, “my blood of the covenant” — directly parallels the Ransom saying |
| messiah/christ | Χριστός (Christos) | Mesîh | Critical | Messianic Promise | 1, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15 | 8:29 Peter’s confession is the Gospel’s structural turning point |
| glory | δόξα (doxa) | Rûmet | High | Deity of Christ | 8, 9, 10, 13 | 10:37 request for glory-seats; 8:38/13:26 future glorious return |
| resurrection | ἀνάστασις (anastasis) | Rabûn | Critical | Resurrection of Christ | 6 (John’s), 9, 12, 16 | 16:6 empty tomb; never render with reincarnation vocabulary (cf. Yazidi kiras guhertin risk) |
| lord | κύριος (kyrios) | Xudan | Critical | Lordship of Christ | 1, 2, 5, 7, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16 | 2:28 Sabbath-lordship; 10:42 ironic negative form (katakyrieuousin) must NOT reuse this root |
| son of God | υἱὸς θεοῦ (huios theou) | Kurê Xwedê | Critical | Sonship / Deity of Christ | 1, 3, 5, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15 | Three-fold divine-voice/confession frame: 1:11, 9:7, 15:39 |
| father | πατήρ (patēr) | Bav | Critical | Adoption / Sonship of Christ | 8, 11, 13, 14 | 14:36 Gethsemane; 13:32 the Son’s limited knowledge |
| abba | Ἀββά (Abba) | Aba | High | Sonship of Christ | 14 | 14:36, only Gospel occurrence of the preserved Aramaic term |
| holy spirit | πνεῦμα ἅγιον (pneuma hagion) | Ruhê Pîroz | Critical | Sanctification / Deity of Christ | 1, 3, 12, 13 | Distinct at every occurrence from the “unclean spirit” (Ruhê Pîs) category |
| kingdom of God | βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ (basileia tou theou) | Padîşahiya Xwedê | Critical | Kingdom Mission / Kingdom Breaking In | 1, 4, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15 | 12:13-17 “render to Caesar” is the primary anchor text for separating kingdom from statehood |
| gentiles | ἔθνη (ethnē) | Ne-cihû | Medium | Unity of Jews and Gentiles | 7, 10 (implicit), 13, 15 | 7:24-30 Syrophoenician woman; 15:39 Gentile centurion’s confession |
| apostle | ἀπόστολος (apostolos) | Şandî | Medium | Apostleship | 3, 6 | 3:14 appointment of the Twelve; 6:7 sent out with delegated authority |
| power of God | δύναμις θεοῦ (dynamis theou) | Hêz / Hêza Xwedê | Medium | Power of God for Salvation | 5, 6, 9, 13 | Kept lexically distinct from exousia/Desthilat (authority) throughout Mark |
| election / the elect | ἐκλογή / ἐκλεκτοί (eklogē/eklektoi) | Hilbijartin(-based) | High | Effectual Calling | 13 | 13:20-27; must be distinguished from democratic-election vocabulary, per baseline caution |
| providence | (thematic; cf. πρόνοια) | Rêveberiya Xwedê | Medium | Providence | 10 | 10:40 “prepared” (divine passive) — God’s, not fate’s, ordering |
| prophet / prophecy | προφήτης / προφητεία (prophētēs/prophēteia) | Pêxember / Pêxemberî | Low | Fulfillment of Prophecy | 1, 6, 13 | 1:2 “as it is written in Isaiah the prophet”; 6:4 proverbial usage |
| david | Δαυίδ (Dauid) | Dawid | Medium/Low | Davidic Covenant | 2, 10, 11, 12 | 2:25-26 David and the showbread; 12:35-37 Son-of-David/Lord-of-David riddle |
| seed of David / Son of David | σπέρμα/υἱὸς Δαυίδ | Dûndana Dawid / Kurê Dawid | High | Davidic Covenant | 10, 11, 12 | See “Son of David” [New title-form] in Section B for the specific vocative title |
| thanksgiving | εὐχαριστέω (eucharisteō) | Spasî | Low | Thanksgiving | 14 | 14:23, at the Last Supper, before the cup |
| peace | εἰρήνη (eirēnē) | Aştî | Medium | Peace with God | 5 | 5:34, “go in peace” — physical-healing context; distinguish from covenantal peace-with-God sense |
| intercession / prayer | (thematic; ἔντευξις-adjacent) | Navbeynkarî | High | Prayer and Intercession | 11, 14 | 11:22-25 prayer and faith; 14:32-42 Gethsemane prayer |
| church (as gathered people) | ἐκκλησία (ekklēsia) | — (term not present in Mark) | N/A | Church as God’s People | — | Mark contains no ekklēsia occurrence; the Twelve/disciple-community terms carry this theme instead — see “disciple” in Section B |
Section B — New Terms Introduced for the Mark Curriculum
| Term | Original (Translit.) | Literal Meaning | Kurdish Rendering | Risk Tier | Doctrine | Key Passages | Rationale / Forbidden Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Son of Man | ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου (ho huios tou anthrōpou) | “the son of humanity” | Kurê Mirov | Critical | Jesus as Suffering Servant and Son of God | 2:10, 2:28, 8:31, 9:31, 10:33-45, 13:26, 14:62 | Must not be read as diminishing Kurê Xwedê (Son of God); guard against both mainstream denial of deity and Sufi/Yazidi over-assimilation into a manifestation framework. Mandatory theologian review every occurrence. |
| Ransom | λύτρον (lytron) | “redemption price paid to free a slave/captive” | Bihayê Rizgariyê | Critical | The Ransom for Many | 10:45 | Built on established Critical term Rizgarî. FORBIDDEN: Fîdye (Arabic/Quranic loan for compensation-for-a-lapse ransom, Q 2:184) — wrong transactional framework. Mandatory theologian review. |
| ”For many” / substitution | ἀντὶ πολλῶν (anti pollōn) | “instead of/in place of many” | li şûna gelekan | Critical | The Ransom for Many | 10:45, 14:24 | FORBIDDEN: ji bo gelekan (“for the sake of many”) — loses substitutionary force of ἀντί. Must preserve “in place of.” Mandatory theologian review. |
| Authority | ἐξουσία (exousia) | “the right/freedom to act; delegated legitimate authority” | Desthilat | High (Critical when applied to forgiving sin, e.g. 2:10) | Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature | 1:22, 1:27, 2:10, 3:15, 6:7, 11:27-33 | Keep distinct from Hêz (raw power/dynamis). Negative/abusive uses (10:42, katexousiazousin) must use a separate, negatively-marked verbal construction, never Desthilat applied approvingly to worldly rulers. |
| Unclean spirit / demon | πνεῦμα ἀκάθαρτον / δαιμόνιον (pneuma akatharton / daimonion) | “impure spirit” | Ruhê Pîs | Critical | Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature | 1:23-27, 3:11, 22-30, 5:1-20, 7:24-30, 9:14-29 | FORBIDDEN: Cin (jinn) — imports regional folk/Quranic jinn-possession and ruqyah exorcism framework. Mandatory theologian review every exorcism passage. |
| Disciple | μαθητής (mathētēs) | “learner, student, follower” | Şagirt | Medium | Faith and Discipleship amid Fear | throughout | AVOID: Mirîd (Sufi master-disciple loan term) — imports hierarchical mystical-master framework foreign to the text’s sense. |
| Repent / repentance | μετάνοια / μετανοέω (metanoia/metanoeō) | “a change of mind/whole-life reorientation” | Tobe kirin / Tobe | High | Kingdom of God Breaking In | 1:4, 1:15, 6:12 | Must be taught as comprehensive life-reorientation paired with belief in the gospel, not merely regret-and-restitution for a specific act as in Islamic tawba. |
| Baptize / baptism (literal) | βαπτίζω / βάπτισμα (baptizō/baptisma) | “to immerse, dip, plunge” / “immersion” | Imad / Imad kirin | High | Kingdom of God Breaking In | 1:4-11 | Must not be conflated with Islamic ritual ablution (wudu/ghusl); a symbol of repentance and the Spirit’s descent, not ritual purity. |
| Baptism (metaphorical, of suffering) | βαπτισθῆναι (baptisthēnai) | “to be engulfed/overwhelmed” | Imad / Imad kirin (extended sense) | High | The Necessity of the Cross | 10:38-39 | Same lexeme as literal baptism, extended metaphorically; requires explicit unpacking so it is not misheard as a second literal water rite. |
| Cup (suffering) | ποτήριον (potērion) | “drinking vessel” | Kasê | High | The Necessity of the Cross | 10:38-39, 14:36 | Kurdish word is only literal; the OT metaphor (allotted divine judgment/suffering) must be supplied by teaching context at every occurrence. |
| Cross / crucify | σταυρός / σταυρόω (stauros/stauroō) | “execution stake” / “to execute on a stake” | Xaç / xaç kirin | Medium (literal cross); flag with the Resurrection doctrine’s Critical crucifixion-denial risk when asserting historicity | The Necessity of the Cross | 8:34, 15:13-27 | Established Kurdish Christian term (Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac heritage); doctrinal risk is the shared regional Quranic crucifixion-denial (Q 4:157), not the lexeme itself. |
| Blasphemy | βλασφημία (blasphēmia) | “abusive/injurious speech against God” | Kufr | High | Sanctification (unforgivable sin) / Deity of Christ (trial charge) | 3:28-29, 14:63-64 | Islamic kufr (disbelief/apostasy) carries heavier legal-social weight than Mark’s specific sense (attributing God’s work to Satan; or the Sanhedrin’s charge against Jesus’ divine self-claim). Must not be used to legitimize social apostasy-accusations. Mandatory theologian review. |
| Temple | τὸ ἱερόν (to hieron) | “the temple precincts” | Perestgeh | Medium | Necessity of the Cross / Unity of Jews and Gentiles | 11:11-17, 13:1-2, 14:58, 15:38 | Keep distinct from Dêr (church building) and never render as Mizgeft (mosque). |
| Body / Blood (Eucharistic) | τὸ σῶμα / τὸ αἷμα (to sōma/to haima) | “body” / “blood” | Laş (Medium) / Xwîn (High) | High | The Ransom for Many | 14:22-25 | Islamic dietary law’s strong blood-consumption taboo requires explicit symbolic/sacramental framing to prevent visceral cultural resistance. Mandatory theologian review. |
| Gehenna / hell | γέεννα (geenna) | historical valley name → image of final judgment | Cehenem | High | The Necessity of the Cross (implicit judgment backdrop) | 9:43-47 | Shared loanword with Islamic Jahannam theology, which includes a purgatorial framework for believing sinners absent from Mark’s usage; must clarify Mark’s sense is final judgment. |
| Parable | παραβολή (parabolē) | “a placing-beside, comparison” | Mesel / Meselok | Low-Medium | Kingdom of God Breaking In / Messianic Secret | ch. 4 and throughout | Broadly compatible with Quranic mathal; note Mark 4:11-12’s distinctive concealing/revealing dual function is not typically present in the Quranic use. |
| Clean / unclean (moral, heart-centered) | καθαρίζω / κοινός (katharizō/koinos) | “clean” / “common, defiled” | Paqij / Pîs | Medium | Universal Human Accountability | 1:40-44, 7:1-23 | Must be taught as relocated to the heart (7:14-23), not merely ritual/ceremonial observance. |
| ”I am” (self-declaration) | ἐγώ εἰμι (egō eimi) | “I am” | Ez im | High (Critical at 14:62) | Deity of Christ / Lordship of Christ | 6:50, 14:62 | Lexically plain, but the possible echo of the divine Name (Exodus 3:14) is not recoverable from the Kurdish words alone; must be taught explicitly, especially at 14:62. |
| Hosanna | ὡσαννά (hōsanna) | “save now, we pray!” | Hosana (preserved transliteration) | Medium-High | The Ransom for Many / Salvation (political-liberation risk) | 11:9-10 | Etymological and narrative convergence with the baseline’s flagged Rizgarî nationalist-liberation risk; crowd’s explicit Davidic-kingdom framing (11:10) is a primary teaching text for this doctrine’s caution. |
| Son of David (title) | υἱὲ Δαυίδ (huie Dauid) | “son of David” | Kurê Dawid | High | Davidic Covenant / Messianic Promise | 10:47-48, 12:35-37 | Reinforces messianic-nationalist expectation flagged for Mesîh; teach alongside the Hosanna caution. |
| Eternal life | ζωὴ αἰώνιος (zōē aiōnios) | “life of the age (to come)“ | Jiyana Herheyî | High | Grace | 10:17, 10:30 | Distinguish from the regional Islamic Cenet (Paradise)-as-earned-reward concept; tied here explicitly to grace, not merit. |
| Love (greatest commandment) | ἀγάπη / ἀγαπάω (agapē/agapaō) | “committed, covenantal love” | Evîn / Hezkirin | Medium | (Cross-cutting; supports Servanthood and Kingdom doctrines) | 12:28-34 | Kurdish Sufi mystical-love poetic register is a devotional asset but tends toward lover/beloved longing; anchor to obedient, others-directed covenant love. |
| Soul / life | ψυχή (psychē) | “the whole, unified life/self” (Semitic nephesh sense) | Can | Medium | The Ransom for Many / Humanity of Christ | 8:35-37, 10:45 | Guard against a dualistic separable-soul reading influenced by regional folk piety or Yazidi soul-transmigration belief; this is Christ’s whole human life given, not a detachable spiritual essence alone. |
| Divine necessity (“must”) | δεῖ (dei) | “it is necessary, is bound to happen” | Divê / Pêwîst e | Medium | The Necessity of the Cross | 8:31, 9:31, 10:33-34 | Convey purposeful divine necessity rooted in God’s redemptive plan, not impersonal fatalism (qadar-adjacent risk). |
| Servant (diakonos) | διάκονος / διακονέω (diakonos/diakoneō) | “one who serves/attends to needs” | Xizmetkar / xizmet kirin | High | Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness | 9:35, 10:43, 10:45 | Regional Sufi xizmet concept (disciple-to-master service) is a partial asset but must be redirected: greatness requires service toward all, not upward to a spiritual elite. |
| Slave (doulos) | δοῦλος (doulos) | “one legally owned, without personal autonomy” | Kole | High | Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness | 10:44 | Deliberately distinct from Xulam (dignified “servant of God,” parallel to Islamic ‘abd Allah) to preserve the saying’s intended shock: slave of all people, not a dignified submission to God alone. Must remain distinct from Xizmetkar (v.43) to preserve the escalation. |
| Rulers of the Gentiles / lord it over | ἄρχοντες… κατακυριεύουσιν (archontes… katakyrieuousin) | “rulers… dominate/lord over” | serokên miletan… serdestî li ser kirin | High | Kingdom of God Breaking In / Servanthood | 10:42 | The negative, domineering verb form must NEVER reuse the root of Xudan (reserved for Christ’s true Lordship); preserves the deliberate ironic word-root contrast. |
| Transfiguration | μεταμορφόω (metamorphoō) | “changed in outward form/appearance” | Guhertina Dirûvî | High | Jesus as Suffering Servant and Son of God | 9:2-8 | Guard against Sufi wahdat-al-wujud and Yazidi divine-manifestation frameworks reading this as a repeatable transformation rather than a momentary unveiling of Christ’s own permanent glory. |
| Abomination of desolation | τὸ βδέλυγμα τῆς ἐρημώσεως | ”the desolating sacrilege” | Nefretiya Wêranker | Low | (Eschatological background; supports Necessity of the Cross’s judgment context) | 13:14 | Primarily a comprehension/background-knowledge challenge; low regional-religious collision risk. |
| Preserved Aramaic phrases | Ταλιθὰ κούμ / Ἐλωῒ Ἐλωῒ λεμὰ σαβαχθανί / Ῥαββουνί (Talitha koum / Eloi Eloi lema sabachthani / Rabbouni) | “Little girl, arise” / “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” / “my great one/master” | Talîta qûm / Elohî, Elohî, lema şebaqtanî / Rabûnî | Low (lexical) / High (doctrinal significance) | Humanity of Christ / Necessity of the Cross | 5:41, 15:34, 10:51 | Preserve by transliteration with Kurdish gloss, per the established Abba precedent; do not paraphrase away the cry of dereliction’s raw force at 15:34. |
Section C — Escalation Flags Summary (for Phase 2 Routing)
The following Mark-specific terms/passages require mandatory human theologian review on every occurrence, in addition to the baseline’s existing escalation list:
- Son of Man (all occurrences, esp. 2:10, 8:31, 10:45, 13:26, 14:62)
- Ransom / “for many” substitutionary language (10:45; 14:24)
- Unclean spirit / demon exorcism passages (1:21-28; 3:22-30; 5:1-20; 7:24-30; 9:14-29)
- Authority (exousia) applied to forgiveness of sin (2:10) or challenged by religious leaders (11:27-33)
- Blasphemy passages (3:28-29; 14:63-64)
- Transfiguration (9:2-8)
- The Son’s limited knowledge (13:32)
- Eucharistic body/blood language (14:22-25)
- “I am” self-declarations (6:50; 14:62)
- Hosanna / triumphal entry nationalist-messianic framing (11:9-10) and the Barabbas contrast (15:6-15) — both routed through the existing baseline Salvation/Kingdom Mission escalation rules
- Crucifixion and resurrection historicity claims (ch. 15-16), per the baseline’s existing Resurrection of Christ and Humanity of Christ escalation rules
- Son of David / Lord of David riddle (12:35-37)
All other new terms in Section B are routed per the baseline’s standard risk-tier review rules (Critical/High → theologian; Medium → native speaker; Low → automated).
Critical Risk Terms
Salvation
Approved rendering: Rizgarî
Transliteration: rizgarî
Doctrine: The Ransom for Many / Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Defining vocabulary of Kurdish political nationalism across all four host states. Mark-specific: the coined compound ‘Bihayê Rizgariyê’ (ransom, 10:45) is built directly on this root, doubling the anchoring burden; the Hosanna acclamation (11:9-10, ‘save now’) and the Barabbas contrast (15:6-15, a real violent-liberation figure offered against Jesus) are the two sharpest teaching texts in Mark for distinguishing personal/spiritual rizgarî from national-political liberation. Also covers sōzō (‘save’), used of both physical healing (5:34; 10:52) and eternal salvation — render healing occurrences with a healing-specific verb (qenc bûn/sax bûn) plus a note connecting to Rizgarî, never bare ‘rizgar bû’ without qualification.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: Rabûn
Transliteration: rabûn
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Original: ἀνάστασις
Category: Eschatology
Inherited from Romans package. Must never be rendered with reincarnation vocabulary. Mark-specific: predicted three times (8:31; 9:31; 10:34) and narrated as plain historical fact at the empty tomb (16:1-8); distinct from the Yazidi ‘kiras guhertin’ (soul transmigration) risk in addition to the mainstream Sunni crucifixion-denial (Q 4:157).
Lord
Approved rendering: Xudan
Transliteration: Xudan
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Must convey exclusive, supreme lordship. Mark-specific: 2:28 (‘Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath’); 12:35-37 (David’s Lord); 14:62 (trial confession). CRITICAL FENCE: this root must NEVER be used for the negatively-marked ‘lord it over’ (10:42, katakyrieuousin) describing worldly rulers’ domineering rule — see ‘lord_it_over’ entry.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: Kurê Xwedê
Transliteration: Kurê Xwedê
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ / Deity of Christ
Original: υἱὸς θεοῦ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Must not read as metaphorical, adoptive, or honorary sonship. Mark-specific: three-fold literary frame bracketing the Gospel — 1:11 (baptism, divine voice), 9:7 (Transfiguration, divine voice), 15:39 (Gentile centurion’s confession at the cross). Must never be softened by, or confused with, the new term ‘Kurê Mirov’ (Son of Man).
Incarnation
Approved rendering: Tecessud
Transliteration: tecessud
Doctrine: Incarnation
Inherited from Romans package. Shares the tawhid objection; distinctly, Yazidi successive-divine-manifestation belief risks assimilating the Incarnation as one more recurring instance rather than a unique, unrepeatable event. Mark-specific: not a lexical occurrence but the theological background to Son of Man’s ‘came’ (10:45, ēlthen) and the Transfiguration (9:2-8), which risks the same over-assimilation in fresh narrative form.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: Padîşahiya Xwedê
Transliteration: padîşahiya Xwedê
Doctrine: Kingdom of God Breaking In / Kingdom Mission and Political Power
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Kingdom
Inherited from Romans package. Root ‘padîşah’ (king/monarch) carries real historical-monarchic and Kurdish-statehood-aspiration resonance. Mark-specific: 1:15 (‘has drawn near,’ present in-breaking reality) must be marked with an explicit proximity phrase distinct from future-consummation passages (13:26); 12:13-17 (‘render to Caesar’) and the repeated ‘King of the Jews’ mockery (15:2-26) are the sharpest available texts for separating God’s spiritual reign from any specific Kurdistan political-statehood outcome.
Law
Approved rendering: Şerîeta Mûsa
Transliteration: Şerîeta Mûsa
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: Namûs, bare Şerîet
Original: νόμος
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Bare ‘Şerîet’ risks conflation with Islamic law generally; Namûs is rejected (honor-killing connotation). Mark-specific: Sabbath controversies (2:23-3:6), tradition-vs-commandment dispute (7:1-13, distinguishing the Law’s own provisions from human tradition built around it), and the divorce teaching (10:2-9, Mosaic concession vs. God’s creational ideal).
Messiah
Approved rendering: Mesîh
Transliteration: Mesîh
Doctrine: Messianic Promise / The Messianic Secret
Original: Χριστός
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Carries the same pre-loaded Quranic content as Arabic’s al-Masih; Alevi/Yarsani divinely-guided-figure expectations add a further comparison layer. Mark-specific: 8:29 (Peter’s confession, the Gospel’s structural turning point, immediately followed by silencing and the first passion prediction); contested by false claimants (13:6, 21-22) and by the nationalist-political crowd at the triumphal entry (11:9-10).
Jesus
Approved rendering: Îsa
Transliteration: Îsa
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Settled, uncontroversial Kurdish Christian usage; risk is entirely in content (the Quranic prophet-only, non-crucified, non-divine narrative), which Mark’s whole narrative arc actively corrects.
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, genuine independent linguistic asset. Risk remains in content: strict tawhid theology must be distinguished from the Trinitarian conception Mark’s narrative assumes throughout.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Ruhê Pîroz
Transliteration: Ruhê Pîroz
Doctrine: Sanctification / Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Shares the Quranic Jibril (Gabriel) identification risk. Mark-specific: 1:8-12 (descent ‘like a dove’ at Jesus’ baptism, a safe descriptive detail); 3:28-29 (subject of the unforgivable-sin warning). FENCE: the adjective ‘Pîroz’ must never be dropped, since bare ‘Ruh’ is dangerously ambiguous with ‘Ruhê Pîs’ (unclean spirit).
Father
Approved rendering: Bav
Transliteration: Bav
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Native word sharing the region’s tawhid-anthropomorphism objection. Mark-specific: 14:36 (Gethsemane, paired with ‘Aba’); 13:32 (the Son’s limited knowledge, ‘not even the Son, but only the Father’ — requires careful handling that neither denies Christ’s full deity nor his full, willing humanity).
Son Of Man
Approved rendering: Kurê Mirov
Transliteration: Kurê Mirov
Doctrine: Jesus as the Suffering Servant and Son of God
Original: ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου
Category: Christology
New for Mark curriculum. Jesus’ own preferred self-designation (14 occurrences), drawing on Daniel 7:13-14’s exalted, dominion-receiving figure while affirming genuine humanity. Two-directional risk: (1) may be seized as confirmation Jesus is merely human, reinforcing the Quranic prophet-only denial and used to argue against Kurê Xwedê; (2) may be too readily absorbed, given Sufi/Yazidi frameworks, as ‘a human channel for the divine’ rather than the unique, eternal Son who assumed genuine human nature once for all. Key passages: 2:10 (authority to forgive sin), 2:28 (Sabbath lordship), 8:31/9:31/10:33-34 (passion predictions), 10:45 (ransom), 13:26/14:62 (glorious return). Mandatory human theologian review at every occurrence. Must never be treated as diminishing or opposed to Kurê Xwedê.
Ransom
Approved rendering: Bihayê Rizgariyê
Transliteration: bihayê rizgariyê
Doctrine: The Ransom for Many
Rejected alternatives: Fîdye
Original: λύτρον
Category: Salvation
New for Mark curriculum. Coined compound built on the already-Critical baseline term Rizgarî. FORBIDDEN: Fîdye (Q 2:184’s compensation-for-a-missed-obligation ransom) — wrong, works-adjacent transactional framework. Mark 10:45’s climactic statement; must be double-anchored at every occurrence: (a) personal/spiritual, not national-political, framing of the Rizgarî root; (b) preserved substitutionary force paired with ‘li şûna gelekan.’ Also appears in parallel form at 14:24 (‘blood of the covenant… poured out for many’). Mandatory human theologian review.
For Many Substitution
Approved rendering: li şûna gelekan
Transliteration: li şûna gelekan
Doctrine: The Ransom for Many
Rejected alternatives: ji bo gelekan
Original: ἀντὶ πολλῶν
Category: Salvation
New for Mark curriculum. Renders anti pollōn (‘instead of/in place of many’). FORBIDDEN: ‘ji bo gelekan’ (‘for the sake of many’) — loses the substitutionary force of anti, flattening the passage’s connection to Isaiah 53’s Suffering Servant who bears others’ judgment in their place. ‘Many’ denotes a vast, all-encompassing multitude, not a numerically restricted subset. Occurs at 10:45 and, in parallel form, 14:24. Mandatory human theologian review for every occurrence.
Unclean Spirit
Approved rendering: Ruhê Pîs
Transliteration: Ruhê Pîs
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature
Rejected alternatives: Cin
Original: πνεῦμα ἀκάθαρτον
Category: Miracles
New for Mark curriculum. FORBIDDEN: Cin (jinn) — imports the regional folk/Quranic jinn-possession and ruqyah exorcism framework (specific incantations, amulets, professional exorcists), assimilating Mark’s exorcism accounts into an existing magical-transactional cosmology rather than teaching Christ’s unique, word-only authority as a sign of the in-breaking kingdom. Recurs across five major narratives: 1:21-28; 3:22-30; 5:1-20; 7:24-30; 9:14-29. FENCE: must always appear as the fixed compound (never bare ‘pîs’ referring to a spirit, which risks bleed-through with the ritual/moral-purity sense of ‘pîs’ used in ch. 7). Mandatory human theologian review every occurrence.
High Risk Terms
Grace
Approved rendering: Kerem
Transliteration: kerem
Doctrine: Grace
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Sufi ‘keramet’ cognate risks implying elite, hierarchical favor for spiritually advanced figures. Mark-specific: anchors 10:17-27 (rich young man, ‘with God all things are possible’) and 10:45 (ransom) as freely given, not a reward for law-keeping, ascetic renunciation, or 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 risk. Mark-specific: repeatedly tested amid physical danger and fear (4:40; 5:34,36; 6:50; 9:23-24; 10:52) — must be taught as sustained personal trust in Christ through fear, not stoic bravery or qadar-style fatalistic resignation.
Sin
Approved rendering: Guneh
Transliteration: guneh
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package. Shares the region’s fitrah (innate purity) doctrine. Mark-specific: 2:5-10 (forgiveness of sin as implicit deity claim); 2:15-17 (Jesus dines with ‘sinners’); 7:14-23 (defilement relocated from ritual observance to the internal heart) — must not be used interchangeably with ‘Kufr’ (blasphemy), which is narrower and weightier.
Prophet
Approved rendering: Pêxember
Transliteration: pêxember
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Original: προφήτης
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Same finality-of-prophethood risk as Arabic’s nabi. Mark-specific: 6:4, ‘a prophet is not without honor except in his hometown,’ used proverbially — ensure this descriptive usage does not diminish Jesus’ unique, greater identity already established in ch. 1.
Covenant
Approved rendering: Peyman
Transliteration: peyman
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant / New Covenant
Original: διαθήκη
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Distinct from revocable, equals-negotiated aşîret alliance peymans. Mark-specific: 14:24, ‘my blood of the covenant, poured out for many’ — directly parallels and must be rendered consistently with the ransom saying’s substitutionary language (10:45, ‘anti pollōn’).
Election
Approved rendering: Hilbijartin
Transliteration: hilbijartin
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Original: ἐκλεκτοί
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Also the standard modern word for democratic elections. Mark-specific: 13:20, 22, 27, ‘the elect… gathered from the four winds’ — must be taught as God’s sovereign, unilateral gathering, never a vote or popularity contest.
Intercession
Approved rendering: Navbeynkarî
Transliteration: navbeynkarî
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Original: (thematic; cf. προσεύχομαι)
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Shares the region’s general shafa’at-adjacent complexity. Mark-specific: 1:35, 6:46 (Jesus’ solitary prayer); 11:22-25 (prayer and faith); 14:32-42 (Gethsemane) — a useful counterpoint to any expectation of required human intermediaries, since Jesus prays directly to the Father himself.
Mission
Approved rendering: Peywira Mizgîniyê
Transliteration: peywira Mizgîniyê
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
Original: ἀποστέλλω
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Kurdish spans four state jurisdictions with meaningfully different religious-freedom environments. Mark-specific: 6:7-13 (sending of the Twelve); 13:10 (gospel proclaimed ‘to all nations’); 16:15 (Great Commission, longer ending) — teach with explicit awareness that safety implications for proclamation differ significantly by audience state (Turkey/Iraq/Iran/Syria).
Abba
Approved rendering: Aba
Transliteration: Aba
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Original: אַבָּא
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Mark-specific: 14:36 is Mark’s only occurrence, and the only Gospel occurrence of this Aramaic term preserved in the Greek text itself (Paul later echoes it at Romans 8:15); must match that baseline precedent exactly per cross-document consistency rules. Occurs at the moment of Jesus’ greatest anguish, reinforcing both genuine suffering humanity and unique filial intimacy.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: Dûndana Dawid
Transliteration: dûndana Dawid
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: σπέρμα Δαυίδ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Mark-specific: conceptual background to the Son-of-David texts (10:47-48; 12:35-37); requires the reader to have, or be given, the OT covenant background to be meaningful.
Authority
Approved rendering: Desthilat
Transliteration: desthilat
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature
Original: ἐξουσία
Category: Miracles
New for Mark curriculum. Renders exousia — the legitimate, delegated (or, for Jesus, original/inherent) right to act, distinct from raw power (dynamis/Hêz). Everyday Kurdish political/administrative connotation (desthilatdar = official/state authority-holder, often carrying negative unaccountable-power overtones) risks flattening Jesus’ authority into bureaucratic permission. Key passages: 1:22, 27 (teaching, exorcism); 2:10 (forgiving sin — ESCALATES TO CRITICAL here, since this is the paradigm implicit deity claim, contested by the scribes on the same grounds a tawhid-shaped reader would raise); 3:15, 6:7 (delegated to the Twelve); 11:27-33 (challenged by religious leaders). Reserve strictly for Jesus’ (or his delegates’) legitimate authority; never use approvingly of worldly political rulers — see ‘lord_it_over.‘
Repentance
Approved rendering: Tobe kirin
Transliteration: tobe kirin
Doctrine: The Kingdom of God Breaking In
Original: μετάνοια
Category: Kingdom
New for Mark curriculum. Kurdish ‘tobe’ (from Arabic tawba) is the standard regional word for religious repentance, but Islamic tawba is typically structured around specific conditions tied to a specific sin (regret, cessation, restitution, resolve). Mark’s metanoia (1:4, 1:15, 6:12) is a comprehensive reorientation of the whole person toward God, inseparably paired with believing ‘the gospel,’ not merely a repeatable ritual response to a particular lapse — this breadth must be taught explicitly at every occurrence.
Baptism
Approved rendering: Imad
Transliteration: Imad
Doctrine: The Kingdom of God Breaking In / The Necessity of the Cross
Original: βάπτισμα / βαπτίζω
Category: Sacraments
New for Mark curriculum. Established Kurdish Christian usage, distinct from Islamic ritual ablution (wudu/ghusl), which are washing-for-ritual-purity rites, not initiatory death-and-resurrection symbols. Literal sense at 1:4-11 (John’s baptism, Jesus’ own baptism); extended metaphorically by Jesus at 10:38-39 to mean being overwhelmed/engulfed by his coming suffering — this metaphorical stretch is absent from ordinary Kurdish usage and requires explicit unpacking at every occurrence so it is not misheard as a second literal water rite.
Cup
Approved rendering: Kasê
Transliteration: kasê
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross
Original: ποτήριον
Category: Suffering
New for Mark curriculum. The Kurdish word for a literal drinking cup is transparent and lexically unproblematic, but the entire OT metaphorical weight (an allotted portion of divinely appointed suffering/judgment, cf. Isaiah 51:17-22, Jeremiah 25:15-28, Psalm 75:8) is not native to ordinary Kurdish usage and must be supplied by explicit teaching at every occurrence (10:38-39; 14:36), inside the core passage’s immediate context.
Blasphemy
Approved rendering: Kufr
Transliteration: kufr
Doctrine: Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit
Original: βλασφημία
Category: Sanctification
New for Mark curriculum. Islamic kufr (disbelief/apostasy) carries much heavier regional legal-social weight (including historical takfir/excommunication practice) than Mark’s specific sense: a deliberate, settled attribution of the Spirit’s clear work to Satan (3:28-29), or the Sanhedrin’s charge against Jesus’ own divine self-claim (14:63-64). Must be confined strictly to these two passages and never used as a general synonym for ‘sin’ (Guneh) elsewhere in Mark, and must not be used to legitimize social/legal apostasy accusations within the believing community. Mandatory human theologian review at every occurrence.
Eucharist Body Blood
Approved rendering: Laş / Xwîn
Transliteration: laş / xwîn
Doctrine: The Ransom for Many
Original: τὸ σῶμά μου / τὸ αἷμά μου
Category: Sacraments
New for Mark curriculum. ‘Laş’ (body, Medium-risk component) and ‘Xwîn’ (blood, High-risk component) at the Last Supper (14:22-25). Chief risk is not lexical but visceral-cultural: regional Islamic dietary law strictly prohibits blood consumption (Q 5:3, 6:145), making ‘drink my blood’ potentially jarring without immediate, explicit sacramental/symbolic framing as a memorial participation in Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice, not literal consumption. Mandatory human theologian review.
Gehenna
Approved rendering: Cehenem
Transliteration: cehenem
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross (judgment background)
Original: γέεννα
Category: Eschatology
New for Mark curriculum. Standard regional loanword (Islamic Jahannam cognate); used deliberately rather than avoided, since full avoidance would leave no recognizable term at all. Mainstream Sunni theology includes a purgatorial framework for believing sinners and a graded, multi-level structure absent from Mark’s usage (9:43-47); teaching must state explicitly that Mark’s Gehenna refers to final, not temporary, judgment, without assuming or denying every detail of the surrounding eschatology.
Ego Eimi
Approved rendering: Ez im
Transliteration: Ez im
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: ἐγώ εἰμι
Category: Christology
New for Mark curriculum. Lexically plain paraphrase (Kurdish has no way to transliterate this Greek self-declaration); the possible echo of the divine Name (Exodus 3:14) is not recoverable from the words alone and must be supplied entirely by teaching notes. Occurs at 6:50 (walking on water) and, unambiguously, at 14:62 (trial confession, where the high priest’s blasphemy charge in 14:63-64 confirms the claim was understood as divine). Mandatory human theologian review at both occurrences.
Hosanna
Approved rendering: Hosana
Transliteration: Hosana
Doctrine: Messianic Promise / The Ransom for Many (political-liberation risk)
Original: ὡσαννά
Category: Salvation
New for Mark curriculum. Preserved transliteration (an acclamation/liturgical formula, not a translatable proposition), etymologically ‘save now, we pray’ — the same root family as Rizgarî. Mark 11:9-10’s crowd explicitly frames this as hope for ‘the coming kingdom of our father David,’ i.e., national-political restoration — precisely the kind of liberation hope the baseline flags Rizgarî as risking by default, and precisely what Jesus does not deliver by force. Primary teaching text for that caution. Mandatory human theologian review.
Son Of David
Approved rendering: Kurê Dawid
Transliteration: Kurê Dawid
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant / Messianic Promise
Original: υἱὲ Δαυίδ
Category: Christology
New for Mark curriculum. Built on the baseline’s Dûndana Dawid (seed of David). Used by Bartimaeus (10:47-48) and debated by Jesus in the Son-of-David/Lord-of-David riddle (12:35-37), where the title must be held together with, not opposed to, Christ’s Lordship over David. Reinforces the messianic-nationalist expectation flagged for Mesîh and Hosana; teach together.
Eternal Life
Approved rendering: Jiyana Herheyî
Transliteration: Jiyana Herheyî
Doctrine: Grace
Original: ζωὴ αἰώνιος
Category: Salvation
New for Mark curriculum. Must be distinguished from the regional Islamic Cenet (Paradise)-as-earned-reward concept, based on a life-balance of good and bad deeds. Mark’s usage (10:17, 10:30) ties eternal life explicitly to grace received by faith/costly discipleship, and to the rich young man’s text’s own emphatic point that it is impossible by human power alone (‘with God all things are possible,’ 10:27).
Servant Diakonos
Approved rendering: Xizmetkar
Transliteration: xizmetkar
Doctrine: Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness
Original: διάκονος / διακονέω
Category: Discipleship
New for Mark curriculum. Kurdish Sufi ‘xizmet’ (devoted service to a sheikh) and tribal (aşîret) honor-seating customs supply a partial cultural bridge but default to an upward, hierarchy-preserving logic. Mark 9:35 and 10:43 require service directed toward ALL people, not rendered upward to a spiritual master or elite figure — the direction of service, not merely its existence, is the doctrinal point. The first, lesser-shock step in a two-step escalation with ‘slave_doulos’ (v.44); must remain lexically and rhetorically distinct from it.
Slave Doulos
Approved rendering: Kole
Transliteration: kole
Doctrine: Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness
Rejected alternatives: Xulam
Original: δοῦλος
Category: Discipleship
New for Mark curriculum. Kurdish ‘kole’ denotes chattel slavery specifically. FORBIDDEN: Xulam (a dignified, often religious/courtly ‘servant-of-a-master’ term, cognate with the Islamic self-designation ‘abd Allah, ‘slave/servant of God’) — using Xulam would soften the saying into the familiar, honor-preserving posture of serving God alone, losing Jesus’ intended shock. ‘Kole’ preserves the radical, undignified call to be owned by, and answerable to, everyone (10:44) — the climax of the status-reversal teaching. Must remain lexically distinct from Xizmetkar (v.43) to preserve the escalation.
Lord It Over
Approved rendering: serdestî li ser kirin
Transliteration: serdestî li ser kirin
Doctrine: Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness / Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: any cognate of Xudan
Original: κατακυριεύουσιν
Category: Discipleship
New for Mark curriculum. Renders katakyrieuousin, an intensified, negatively-marked form of the same root translated ‘Lord’ (kyrios/Xudan) for Christ elsewhere — a deliberate ironic word-root collision in the Greek that must be preserved as a VISIBLE Kurdish contrast: Christ is truly Xudan precisely because he does not ‘lord it over’ as worldly rulers do (10:42, 45). FORBIDDEN: any construction using the Xudan root for this negative sense. Also covers the parallel ‘exercise authority over’ (katexousiazousin, from the exousia/Desthilat root) in the same verse, which must likewise use a clearly negative verbal construction distinguished from the positive uses of Desthilat elsewhere.
Transfiguration
Approved rendering: Guhertina Dirûvî
Transliteration: guhertina dirûvî
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ / Jesus as the Suffering Servant and Son of God
Original: μεταμορφόω
Category: Christology
New for Mark curriculum. A temporary, revelatory change in Jesus’ outward appearance (9:2-8), disclosing an underlying divine glory always present but normally veiled — NOT Jesus becoming divine or changing into a different being. Given Sufi wahdat-al-wujud philosophy and Yazidi successive-divine-manifestation belief (already Critical in the baseline for Incarnation/Sonship), this episode risks being read as one more instance of an ongoing, repeatable manifestation pattern rather than a unique, momentary unveiling of a permanent, unique glory. Mandatory human theologian review.
Preserved Aramaic Phrases
Approved rendering: Talîta qûm / Elohî, Elohî, lema şebaqtanî / Rabûnî
Transliteration: Talîta qûm / Elohî, Elohî, lema şebaqtanî / Rabûnî
Doctrine: Humanity of Christ
Original: Ταλιθὰ κούμ / Ἐλωῒ Ἐλωῒ λεμὰ σαβαχθανί / Ῥαββουνί
Category: Christology
New for Mark curriculum. Preserve by transliteration with an accompanying Kurdish gloss, per the established Abba precedent: 5:41 (‘Little girl, arise’); 15:34, the cry of dereliction (‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ — essential evidence of Christ’s genuine suffering; must NOT be softened or paraphrased away); 10:51, Rabbouni (an intensified honorific, stronger than ordinary ‘Rabbi’ — do not flatten to ‘Mamoste’). Lexically Low risk; doctrinally High significance.
Silence Command
Approved rendering: Ferman da wan ku tiştek nebêjin
Transliteration: ferman da wan ku tiştek nebêjin
Doctrine: The Messianic Secret
New for Mark curriculum. Fixed functional formula for the recurring silencing-command pattern (1:34, 44; 3:12; 5:43; 7:36; 8:30; 9:9) — ‘Messianic Secret’ itself is a scholarly label, not a translatable biblical phrase, so no single lexical fix exists; this phrase must be used consistently across all seven occurrences so the literary pattern remains visible. Kurdish Sufi tradition’s practice of restricting esoteric knowledge to initiated disciples creates a risk that these commands are assimilated into an initiatory-secrecy framework; every occurrence requires a teaching note explaining the actual narrative-strategic reason (preventing premature, politically-loaded messianic acclaim before the cross clarifies what ‘Messiah’ means), explicitly distinguished from esoteric initiation. Human theologian review required to standardize the note at the first three occurrences (1:34, 44; 8:30) before Phase 2 scales it.
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 like Injil. Mark-specific: Mark 1:1 uniquely uses this word as the self-designation/genre-title of the whole book (‘the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God’), not only as its content; qualify as the specific record of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection where the Islamic Încîl/tahrif association is likely.
Apostle
Approved rendering: Şandî
Transliteration: şandî
Doctrine: Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: Resûl
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Avoids collision with Muhammad’s Rasul Allah title. Mark-specific: 3:14 appointment of the Twelve ‘to be with him and to be sent out,’ given delegated exousia (authority); 6:7 sent out in pairs with authority over unclean spirits.
Holy
Approved rendering: Pîroz
Transliteration: pîroz
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package. Standard native word; also used of Yazidi sacred sites/figures, a generic shared-vocabulary overlap. Mark-specific: forms the fixed adjective in ‘Ruhê Pîroz’ (Holy Spirit); this adjective must never be dropped, since bare ‘Ruh’ is ambiguous with ‘Ruhê Pîs’ (unclean spirit).
Peace
Approved rendering: Aştî
Transliteration: aştî
Doctrine: Peace with God
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Resonant with real regional peace-process vocabulary. Mark-specific: 5:34, ‘go in peace,’ spoken in a physical-healing context — connect to, but do not collapse into, the fuller covenantal peace-with-God sense.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: Ne-cihû
Transliteration: ne-cihû
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: Umet
Original: ἔθνη
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Umet carries the loaded pan-Islamic community sense. Mark-specific: 7:24-30 (Syrophoenician woman); 15:39 (Gentile centurion’s confession, resolving the Messianic Secret).
Glory
Approved rendering: Rûmet
Transliteration: rûmet
Doctrine: Deity of Christ / Eschatological Return of Christ
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Kurdish Sufi poetic resonance can lend devotional weight but must be anchored to the specific, historical Christ. Mark-specific: 10:37 (James and John’s premature request for glory-seats, corrected by the cross); 8:38 and 13:26 (Son of Man’s future glorious, Daniel-7 return) — teach the pattern ‘glory through suffering, not instead of it.‘
Power Of God
Approved rendering: Hêza Xwedê
Transliteration: hêza Xwedê
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Original: δύναμις
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Mark-specific: keep lexically distinct from bare ‘Hêz’ (dynamis in general, e.g. 14:62 ‘seated at the right hand of Power’), and both distinct from ‘Desthilat’ (exousia/authority) — Mark maintains the exousia/dynamis distinction deliberately (1:22,27; 6:2,5,7) and Kurdish must mirror it segment-by-segment.
Providence
Approved rendering: Rêveberiya Xwedê
Transliteration: rêveberiya Xwedê
Doctrine: Providence
Original: (thematic; cf. Mark 10:40, 13:20, 14:21)
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Keep distinct from folk qadar fatalism. Mark-specific: 10:40 (‘for whom it has been prepared,’ divine passive inside the core passage); 13:20 (the days ‘cut short’); 14:21 (‘as it is written’) — the implied divine agent behind each passive construction must be made explicit.
David
Approved rendering: Dawid
Transliteration: Dawid
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: Δαυίδ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Shared, positively-regarded Quranic prophet-king figure. Mark-specific: 2:25-26 (David and the showbread); 12:35-37 (Son-of-David/Lord-of-David riddle) — the covenant-king typology pointing to a promised messianic heir who is also David’s Lord is absent from the Quranic Dawid tradition and must be taught explicitly.
Israel
Approved rendering: Îsraîl
Transliteration: Îsraîl
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Original: Ἰσραήλ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Kurdish sentiment, especially in Iraqi Kurdistan, is often more favorable toward Israel than the regional norm. Mark-specific: 12:29, the Shema quoted by Jesus as the greatest commandment (‘Hear, O Israel’).
Disciple
Approved rendering: Şagirt
Transliteration: şagirt
Doctrine: Faith and Discipleship amid Fear / Christian Identity in Christ
Rejected alternatives: Mirîd
Original: μαθητής
Category: Discipleship
New for Mark curriculum. AVOID: Mirîd (Sufi master-disciple loan term) — imports a hierarchical mystical-master framework foreign to Mark’s sense of active following and shared suffering. Distinct in register from Şandî (apostle, delegated authority) and from Xizmetkar/Kole (servant/slave, status-inversion terms) — these four terms must remain in strict, distinct escalating registers, not used interchangeably.
Cross
Approved rendering: Xaç
Transliteration: Xaç
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross
Original: σταυρός / σταυρόω
Category: Suffering
New for Mark curriculum. Established, uncontroversial Kurdish Christian term via the region’s ancient Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac Christian heritage; no new lexical coinage needed. Main risk is not lexical but doctrinal: the shared regional Quranic crucifixion-denial (Q 4:157) requires every reference to the cross as a real historical event (8:34, call to discipleship; 15:13-27, the literal event) to be taught as such, never softened toward a merely symbolic or metaphorical ‘burden to bear.‘
Temple
Approved rendering: Perestgeh
Transliteration: perestgeh
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross / Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: Mizgeft
Original: τὸ ἱερόν
Category: Covenant
New for Mark curriculum. Must be kept distinct from Dêr (church building, the baseline term for ekklesia’s architectural sense) and NEVER rendered as Mizgeft (mosque). Key passages: 11:11-17 (cleansing, ‘house of prayer for all nations’); 13:1-2 (destruction prediction); 14:58; 15:38 (curtain torn — symbol of opened access to God).
Parable
Approved rendering: Mesel
Transliteration: mesel
Doctrine: The Kingdom of God Breaking In / The Messianic Secret
Original: παραβολή
Category: Kingdom
New for Mark curriculum. Broadly compatible with the Quranic mathal (parable/proverb); note that Mark 4:11-12’s distinctive dual concealing/revealing function (parables reveal the kingdom to insiders while veiling it from those outside) is not typically emphasized in the Quranic use and should be taught, not assumed.
Clean Unclean
Approved rendering: Paqij / Pîs
Transliteration: paqij / pîs
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Original: καθαρίζω / κοινός
Category: Sin
New for Mark curriculum. Covers both the ritual sense (1:40-44, leper’s cleansing) and Jesus’ relocation of true defilement to the internal heart (7:14-23). FENCE: ‘pîs’ is shared with ‘Ruhê Pîs’ (unclean spirit); reserve bare ‘pîs’/‘paqij’ strictly for ritual/moral-purity passages (esp. ch. 7) and never let it substitute for, or bleed into, the fixed spirit-being compound.
Love Agape
Approved rendering: Evîn
Transliteration: evîn
Doctrine: (Cross-cutting; supports Servanthood and Kingdom doctrines)
Original: ἀγάπη / ἀγαπάω
Category: Faith
New for Mark curriculum. Kurdish classical Sufi mystical-love poetic register (Melayê Cizîrî, Ehmedê Xanî) is a genuine devotional asset but tends toward a lover/beloved, ecstatic-longing framework. Mark 12:28-34’s greatest-commandment quotation of Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and Leviticus 19:18 is committed, covenantal, obedience-bound love paired inseparably with love of neighbor; anchor to this sense, not romantic mystical longing alone.
Soul Life
Approved rendering: Can
Transliteration: can
Doctrine: The Ransom for Many / Humanity of Christ
Original: ψυχή
Category: Christology
New for Mark curriculum. Renders psychē (following Hebrew nephesh usage) as the whole, unified life of a person, not a separable spiritual essence. Kurdish ‘can’ carries some risk of a more dualistic, separable-soul reading common in regional folk piety and Yazidi thought (cf. ‘kiras guhertin,’ soul transmigration). Occurs at 8:35 (losing one’s life for the gospel) and 10:45 (the ransom, ‘his life… for many’) — teaching must clarify Christ gives his whole, unified human life, not merely a detachable soul.
Divine Necessity
Approved rendering: Divê / Pêwîst e
Transliteration: divê / pêwîst e
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross
Original: δεῖ
Category: Suffering
New for Mark curriculum. Renders dei (‘it is necessary’), the linguistic hinge of all three passion predictions (8:31; 9:31; 10:33-34). ‘Divê’ also functions as ordinary modal ‘must/should’ in everyday Kurdish, carrying no inherent redemptive sense; supply an explicit qualifying phrase (‘li gorî plana Xwedê,’ ‘according to God’s plan’) at first occurrence (8:31) to anchor purposeful divine necessity rather than impersonal fatalism or mere narrative inevitability, echoing the baseline’s providence/qadar caution.
Low Risk Terms
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: Spasî
Transliteration: spasî
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Original: εὐχαριστέω
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Standard term, broad positive overlap. Mark-specific: 8:6 (feeding of the 4,000) and 14:23 (Last Supper, before the cup).
Prophecy
Approved rendering: Pêxemberî
Transliteration: pêxemberî
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Original: προφητεία
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Mark-specific: 1:2-3, opening citation of Isaiah, establishing John the Baptist’s ministry as prophetic fulfillment from the first verses.
Abomination Of Desolation
Approved rendering: Nefretiya Wêranker
Transliteration: nefretiya wêranker
Doctrine: Eschatological Return of Christ (background)
Original: τὸ βδέλυγμα τῆς ἐρημώσεως
Category: Eschatology
New for Mark curriculum. A technical apocalyptic-warning term (13:14, quoting Daniel) referring to a sacrilegious defiling act; primarily a comprehension/background-knowledge challenge rather than a doctrinal-risk term, since it has no natural regional-religious collision.
Compassion
Approved rendering: Dilovanî
Transliteration: dilovanî
Doctrine: Mutual Service and Compassion
Original: σπλαγχνίζομαι
Category: Discipleship
New for Mark curriculum. Renders splanchnizomai, the strongest Greek idiom for gut-level compassion (literally ‘moved in one’s inward parts’). Preserve visceral intensity rather than flattening to generic kindness. Precedes the feeding of the 5,000 (6:34), framing the authority-over-nature miracle as flowing from shepherd-like compassion, not mere display of power.
Immediately Marker
Approved rendering: Tavilê
Transliteration: tavilê
Doctrine: (Stylistic; supports narrative urgency, no independent doctrine)
Rejected alternatives: yekser (reserve for stronger emphasis only), di cih de
New for Mark curriculum. Fixed default rendering for euthys (~40 occurrences), the characteristic Markan urgency marker. Low doctrinal risk, but house-style consistency matters: reserve ‘yekser’ only for contexts warranting stronger immediacy than the routine narrative marker.
Astonishment Reaction
Approved rendering: heyirîn / ecêbmayî man
Transliteration: heyirîn / ecêbmayî man
Doctrine: (Stylistic; supports theophany-adjacent scenes)
New for Mark curriculum. Graded by intensity: ‘heyirîn’ (mild) for routine amazement; ‘ecêbmayî man’ (strong) reserved for theophany-adjacent scenes (Transfiguration, 9:6; empty tomb, 16:8). Noted for stylistic consistency only, not doctrinal escalation.
Referenced passages