Core Glossary
Core Glossary: Philemon
English → Kurdish (Kurmanji) | Per-Term Translation Risk Table
This glossary covers every load-bearing theological term identified across the full text of Philemon (the entire single chapter, vv.1–25). Terms marked Reused [TM] carry the exact rendering already recorded in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json and must not be altered. Terms marked New are proposed additions to translation memory for this curriculum, with risk tiers assigned using the same Critical/High/Medium/Low framework as bible_term_registry.json.
A. Terms Reused Exactly from Baseline Translation Memory
| Term | Original | Transliteration | Kurdish Term | Risk | Doctrine | Verses | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grace | χάρις | charis | Kerem | High | Grace | 1:3, 1:25; root of χαρίζομαι (1:22) | Brackets entire letter (opens v.3, closes v.25); central to Grace-Motivated Obedience doctrine. |
| Peace | εἰρήνη | eirēnē | Aştî | Medium | Peace with God | 1:3 | Standard epistolary greeting; no additional Philemon-specific risk beyond baseline note. |
| Lord | κύριος | kyrios | Xudan | Critical | Lordship of Christ | 1:3, 1:16, 1:20, 1:25 | Must retain exclusive supreme-Lordship force at every occurrence per baseline forbidden-substitution rule. |
| Faith | πίστις | pistis | Îman | High | Faith | 1:5, 1:6 | Anchor as personal trust in Christ, per baseline note. |
| Saints | ἅγιοι | hagioi | Pîrozan | High | Sainthood | 1:5, 1:7 | Ordinary believers, not a hereditary spiritual elite (pîr) — baseline note applies directly. |
| Church (gathered community) | ἐκκλησία | ekklēsia | Civata Mesîhî | High | Church as God’s People | 1:2 | Baseline requires this term (not Dêr, “building”) for the NT gathered-people sense; especially relevant here since Philemon 2 describes an actual house church. |
| Fellowship | κοινωνία | koinōnia | Hevaltî | Medium | Christian Fellowship | 1:6 | Abstract sense (“fellowship of your faith”); distinct from concrete κοινωνός at 1:17 (see New Terms). |
| Gospel | εὐαγγέλιον | euangelion | Mizgînî | Medium | Gospel | 1:13 | ”Imprisonment for the gospel” — reinforces that Paul’s imprisonment is gospel-motivated, not political/criminal. |
| Thanksgiving | εὐχαριστῶ | eucharistō | Spasî | Low | Thanksgiving | 1:4 | Standard. |
| Obedience (root) | ὑπακοή | hypakoē | Guhdarî (root of baseline’s “Guhdarîkirina Baweriyê”) | High | Obedience of Faith / Grace-Motivated Obedience | 1:21 | Must be taught with 1:14’s voluntary/compulsion distinction; obedience as faith’s fruit, never compelled submission. |
| Exhort (related word-group) | παρακαλῶ | parakaleō | See New: “Appeal/Plea” below (Lava kirin), cross-referenced to baseline’s Handan kirin/şîret kirin | Medium | Intercession and Appeal | 1:9, 1:10 | Philemon’s appeal sense is distinct from both baseline senses (admonition/encouragement); new cross-referenced entry recommended. |
B. New Terms Proposed for Translation Memory (Philemon-Specific)
| Term | Original | Transliteration | Kurdish Term | Risk | Doctrine | Verses | Notes / Reasoning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prisoner | δέσμιος | desmios | Girtî | High | Intercession and Appeal / Christian suffering for the gospel | 1:1, 1:9, 1:10, 1:13, 1:23 (as συναιχμάλωτος) | Kurdish across all four host states has a vivid, politically loaded “political prisoner” category; “prisoner of Christ” must be explicitly anchored to gospel suffering, not political captivity, while the resonance with real Kurdish suffering-for-conviction is not entirely inapt and may be acknowledged pastorally. |
| Fellow prisoner | συναιχμάλωτος | synaichmalōtos | Hevgirtî | High | Intercession and Appeal | 1:23 | Stronger term (war-captive root); same anchoring requirement as “Girtî.” |
| Slave / bondservant | δοῦλος | doulos | Kole | Critical | Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power; Christian Brotherhood across Social Status | 1:16 | Rejected alternative: Xulam (softer “servant,” blurs the legal-social status Paul’s argument requires). Islamic manumission law provides a distinct, religiously sanctioned legal-social framework for slave-master relations that predates and differs from Paul’s argument; the doctrine must be taught as transcending the master-slave category itself through new family identity in Christ, not as endorsing or merely softening the institution via manumission piety. Human theologian review required at every occurrence. |
| Brother | ἀδελφός | adelphos | Bira | High | Christian Brotherhood across Social Status; cross-reference baseline’s “christian_identity_in_christ” | 1:1, 1:7, 1:9, 1:16, 1:20 | Kurdish aşîret (tribal) culture organizes identity/loyalty around blood-kinship “bira”; this brotherhood must be taught as crossing both blood-lineage and master-slave social lines. |
| Sister | ἀδελφή | adelphē | Xwişk | High | Christian Brotherhood across Social Status | 1:2 | Same reasoning as “Brother.” |
| Love | ἀγάπη | agapē | Evîn | High | Grace-Motivated Obedience; Christian Brotherhood across Social Status | 1:5, 1:7, 1:9 | Not previously catalogued in baseline TM despite extensive Romans usage — recommend backfilling this gap. Kurdish classical Sufi poetry’s mystical lover/beloved register (already flagged in baseline for “Father,” “glory”) risks pulling this ethically active, socially transformative love toward a generalized mystical-romantic reading; must be anchored to committed, self-giving, action-producing love. |
| Beloved | ἀγαπητός | agapētos | Hezkirî | Medium | Christian Brotherhood across Social Status | 1:1, 1:16 | Consistency required: same word used of Philemon (1:1) and Onesimus (1:16) — the rhetorical parallel must be preserved by using the identical Kurdish term both times. |
| Appeal / plea | παρακαλῶ (entreaty sense) | parakaleō | Lava kirin | Medium | Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another | 1:9, 1:10 | Cross-referenced to, but distinguished from, baseline’s “exhort” entry (Handan kirin/şîret kirin); captures the specific loving, non-coercive, authority-relinquishing plea central to the letter’s rhetorical strategy. Flag for human theologian review given centrality to this doctrine. |
| Fellow soldier | συστρατιώτης | systratiōtēs | Hevleşker | High | Intercession and Appeal (shared spiritual labor/struggle) | 1:2 | Military metaphor is unusually dangerous in Kurdish context given live, real-world armed-struggle vocabulary and history (Peshmerga, guerrilla movements) across all four host states; must be anchored explicitly and immediately as figurative language for spiritual labor, never literal or political struggle. |
| Fellow worker | συνεργός | synergos | Hevkar | Low | — | 1:1, 1:24 | Transparent native compound; minimal risk. |
| Partner | κοινωνός | koinōnos | Hevpar | Medium | Forgiveness and Reconciliation; Christian Brotherhood across Social Status | 1:17 | Deliberately distinguished from Hevaltî (abstract fellowship, 1:6) to preserve the concrete “receive him as you would receive me” force; also avoids baseline’s noted “heval” (comrade) political-solidarity echo. |
| Receive / welcome | προσλαμβάνω | proslambanō | Qebûl kirin | Medium | Forgiveness and Reconciliation | 1:17 | Cross-reference with any future Romans 14:1/15:7 treatment of the same verb for cross-document consistency. |
| Charge to one’s account (impute) | ἐλλογάω | ellogaō | Li ser [min] bihesibîne | High | Forgiveness and Reconciliation; typological echo of Justification/Imputed Righteousness | 1:18 | Deliberately reuses the hesibandin (reckon/count) root already established in baseline’s Critical “Wek adil hatin hesibandin” and “Adaleta ku tê hesibandin,” preserving the substitutionary-imputation echo (debt transferred away vs. righteousness credited) for students studying both Romans and Philemon. Flag for human theologian review. |
| Wronged / did injustice | ἀδικέω | adikeō | Neheqî kirin | Medium | Forgiveness and Reconciliation | 1:18 | Etymological kinship with δικαιοσύνη/δικαίωσις word-family worth noting for teaching, though a matching Kurdish root is not required. |
| Owe / debt | ὀφείλω | opheilō | Deyn / Deyndar bûn | Medium | Forgiveness and Reconciliation | 1:18, 1:19 | Standard financial-legal metaphor. |
| Repay | ἀποτίνω | apotinō | Dayîn / Vegerandin | Low | — | 1:19 | Standard. |
| Voluntary / by compulsion | ἑκούσιον / ἀνάγκη | hekousion / anankē | Bi dilxwazî / Bi zorê | High | Grace-Motivated Obedience | 1:14 | Structurally identical to baseline’s grace-vs-works and obedience-of-faith Critical/High risk logic; the surrounding Sunni-majority religious culture’s core submission category creates pressure to read obedience as compelled duty. Flag for human theologian review; teach together with 1:21’s ὑπακοή. |
| Boldness / confidence | παρρησία | parrēsia | Wêrekî | Medium | Intercession and Appeal | 1:8 | Sets up the authority-voluntarily-set-aside contrast with 1:9’s appeal. |
| Command | ἐπιτάσσω | epitassō | Ferman kirin | Low | — | 1:8 | Note historical tribal/state authority resonance of “ferman,” which usefully underscores the authority Paul chooses not to exercise. |
| Beget (spiritual fatherhood) | γεννάω | gennaō | Zayîn (figurative) | High | Adoption into God’s Family (cross-reference, baseline Critical doctrine) | 1:10 | Claims a father-child bond with no blood relation — a vivid narrative illustration of the Critical adoption doctrine’s fight against the region’s blood-lineage-only default (Quranic restriction, reinforced by Kurdish aşîret structures). |
| Useless / useful | ἄχρηστος / εὔχρηστος | achrēstos / euchrēstos | Bêkêr / Kêrhatî | Medium | Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power | 1:11 | Wordplay with Onesimus’s own name (Ὀνήσιμος, “useful/profitable” — see below); invisible in transliterated Kurdish name, requires translator’s note. |
| Onesimus (name meaning) | Ὀνήσιμος / ὀναίμην | Onēsimos / onaimēn | Onesîmos (name, transliterated); wordplay untranslatable | Medium (translation-technique flag, not doctrinal) | Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power | 1:10, 1:11, 1:20 | Name means “useful, profitable”; Paul plays on this root three times (1:10 name itself, 1:11 ἄχρηστος/εὔχρηστος, 1:20 ὀναίμην). Requires a single consolidated translator’s note rather than three separate flags. |
| Heart / inmost affection | σπλάγχνα | splagchna | Dil | Medium (High at 1:12 specifically) | Christian Brotherhood across Social Status; Intercession and Appeal | 1:7, 1:12, 1:20 | Literal “bowels” idiom has no natural Kurdish equivalent; “dil” (heart) is the necessary idiomatic substitution per baseline idiom-handling rules. Occurs three times — unusually concentrated for a 25-verse letter — flag once as a recurring motif. At 1:12, Onesimus himself is called Paul’s “very heart,” an unusually intense identification requiring careful, non-flattened rendering. |
| Flesh (social/physical sense) | σάρξ | sarx | Li gorî laş | Medium | Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power | 1:16 | Contrastive “in the flesh… in the Lord” pairing; must not be confused with Romans’ “flesh vs. Spirit” moral-conflict sense of σάρξ. |
| Guest room / hospitality | ξενία | xenia | Cîhê Mêvanan / Mêvandarî | Low (cultural asset) | — | 1:22 | Kurdish hospitality (mêvanperwerî) is a strongly positive cultural value; genuine asset, comparable to baseline’s note on Aştî (peace). |
| Granted / given (grace-root wordplay) | χαρίζομαι | charizomai | Were dayîn (bi kerema Xwedê) | Medium | Grace-Motivated Obedience | 1:22 | Shares its root directly with χάρις (grace); recommend preserving the connection to [TM] Kerem where natural, flagged for translator awareness. |
| Spirit (human, not Holy Spirit) | πνεῦμα | pneuma | Ruhê we | Low-Medium | — | 1:25 | Must be clearly distinguished from [TM] Ruhê Pîroz (Holy Spirit, Critical); this is the ordinary human spirit, addressed to the whole household. |
C. Terms Noted but Assessed as Low/No Additional Risk (Complete-Coverage Record)
The following load-bearing but low-risk terms occur in Philemon and are recorded here for full-coverage completeness per the PRD mandate; none require escalation beyond standard native-speaker/automated review.
| Term | Original | Kurdish Term | Risk | Verses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prayer | προσευχή | Dua | Low | 1:4, 1:22 |
| Joy | χαρά | Şadî | Low | 1:7 |
| Comfort/encouragement | παράκλησις | Aramî | Low-Medium | 1:7 |
| Full knowledge | ἐπίγνωσις | Zanîna Temam | Low | 1:6 |
| Good deed | ἀγαθόν | Qencî | Low | 1:14 |
| Consent/will | γνώμη | Dilxwazî/Biryar | Low | 1:14 |
| Separated / received back | χωρίζω / ἀπέχω | Veqetandin / Standin | Medium (cross-ref. Providence doctrine) | 1:15 |
| Eternal/permanent (relational sense) | αἰώνιος | Her û Her | Low-Medium | 1:15 |
| Wished/desired | βούλομαι | Xwestin | Low | 1:13 |
| Kept/retained | κατέχω | Girtin/Ragirtin | Low | 1:13 |
| Serve/minister | διακονέω | Xizmet kirin | Low-Medium | 1:13 |
| Old man / ambassador (textual variant) | πρεσβύτης / πρεσβευτής | Kalemêr / Nûner | Low (textual note only) | 1:9 |
| Confident/persuaded | πείθω | Bawer bûn/Dilniya bûn | Low-Medium | 1:21 |
| Greet | ἀσπάζομαι | Silav şandin | Low | 1:23 |
| Refresh | ἀναπαύω | Rihet bike/Aram bike | Low | 1:7, 1:20 |
| Hope | ἐλπίζω | Hêvî kirin | Low | 1:22 |
D. Proper Names — Established Transliteration Forms
Per baseline transliteration standards (established Kurdish Christian Bible-translation forms), the following proper names in Philemon should use these forms consistently:
| Name | Kurdish Form |
|---|---|
| Paul | Pawlos |
| Timothy | Tîmotêyos |
| Philemon | Filêmon |
| Apphia | Apfiya |
| Archippus | Arkîpos |
| Onesimus | Onesîmos |
| Epaphras | Epafras |
| Mark | Marqos |
| Aristarchus | Arîstarkos |
| Demas | Dêmas |
| Luke | Lûqa |
| Christ | Mesîh |
| Jesus | Îsa |
| God | Xwedê |
Book citation form: Filêmon 1:8–21 (chapter:verse, per Kitêba Pîroz convention; consistent with the “Romayî 3:23” style established in the baseline package).
This glossary extends, and does not contradict, the baseline Romans translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json. All “Reused [TM]” entries carry forward the baseline’s exact recorded rendering. All “New” entries are proposed for addition to translation memory under the same version-increment and theologian-review procedures specified in 12_ai_translation_requirements.md.
Critical Risk Terms
Lord
Approved rendering: Xudan
Transliteration: Xudan
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. CRITICAL: must never be softened to a merely respectful title. Philemon-specific: occurs at 1:3, 1:16, 1:20, 1:25; the 1:16 occurrence (‘in the flesh and in the Lord’) is especially sensitive because it sits inside the socially charged master-slave contrast and must retain full, exclusive, supreme Lordship force even there.
Adoption
Approved rendering: Kurxwendin
Transliteration: kurxwendin
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Inherited from Romans package. CRITICAL: shared Quranic restriction on adoption plus Kurdish aşîret lineage structures. Philemon-specific: cross-teach with 1:10’s ‘Zayîn’ (spiritual begetting, Section B) — Paul’s father-child claim on Onesimus with no blood relation is a vivid narrative illustration of exactly this doctrine.
Justification
Approved rendering: Wek adil hatin hesibandin
Transliteration: wek adil hatin hesibandin
Doctrine: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. CRITICAL: forensic declaration, not process. Philemon-specific: the ‘hesibandin’ (reckon/count) root recurs deliberately at 1:18’s ἐλλογάω (‘charge it to my account,’ Section B), creating a typological echo between debt transferred away and righteousness credited; this cross-reference must be preserved in Phase 2 output.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: Adaleta ku tê hesibandin
Transliteration: adaleta ku tê hesibandin
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: Adaleta ku tê bidestxistin
Inherited from Romans package. CRITICAL: never ‘earned.’ Philemon-specific: same ‘hesibandin’ root reused in Section B’s ‘Li ser min bihesibîne’ (1:18); students studying both Romans and Philemon should be able to perceive this connection.
Jesus
Approved rendering: Îsa
Transliteration: Îsa
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Inherited from Romans package. Philemon-specific: appears throughout the salutation and closing as ‘Christ Jesus’ / ‘the Lord Jesus Christ’ (1:1, 1:3, 1:5, 1:9, 1:23, 1:25); the Quranic prophet-only narrative must be actively corrected wherever the name appears in these titles.
God
Approved rendering: Xwedê
Transliteration: Xwedê
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Allah
Inherited from Romans package. Philemon-specific: appears at 1:3 (‘God our Father’), 1:4, 1:22 (χαρίζομαι echo, Section B); tawhid vs. Trinitarian content distinction applies wherever the term occurs.
Messiah
Approved rendering: Mesîh
Transliteration: Mesîh
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Inherited from Romans package. Philemon-specific: appears as part of the compound titles ‘Christ Jesus’ throughout; carries the same pre-loaded Quranic content noted in baseline.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Ruhê Pîroz
Transliteration: Ruhê Pîroz
Doctrine: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package. Philemon-specific: NOT used directly in the letter’s text, but must be kept clearly distinct from the ordinary human-spirit sense of πνεῦμα at 1:25 (‘your spirit’), rendered separately in Section B as ‘Ruhê we’ — proximity of the bare word ‘ruh’ must not trigger false conflation with this Critical divine-Person term.
High Risk Terms
Grace
Approved rendering: Kerem
Transliteration: kerem
Doctrine: Grace
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Kurdistan’s Sufi ‘keramet’ concept risks implying an elite, hierarchical favor rather than freely given grace. Philemon-specific: this term brackets the entire letter (1:3 opening, 1:25 closing) and underlies χαρίζομαι at 1:22 (‘granted to you through your prayers’); the inclusio structure must be preserved.
Faith
Approved rendering: Îman
Transliteration: iman
Doctrine: Faith
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Must be anchored as personal trust in Christ, not six-pillars creedal assent. Philemon-specific: occurs at 1:5-6, describing Philemon’s own reported faith ‘toward the Lord Jesus.‘
Saints
Approved rendering: Pîrozan
Transliteration: pîrozan
Doctrine: Sainthood
Original: ἅγιοι
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Must not be read through the hereditary, shrine-venerated Sufi ‘pîr’ lens. Philemon-specific: occurs at 1:5, 1:7 — ‘the hearts of the saints’ refreshed through Philemon’s ministry are ordinary believers in general.
Church
Approved rendering: Dêr
Transliteration: dêr
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Inherited from Romans package. Dêr denotes a church BUILDING and must NOT be used for Philemon 1:2’s ‘the church in your house’ — that gathered-community sense requires the new Section B term ‘Civata Mesîhî.’ Retained here only for cases where the building sense is genuinely intended elsewhere in the curriculum.
Obedience Of Faith
Approved rendering: Guhdarîkirina Baweriyê
Transliteration: guhdarîkirina baweriyê
Doctrine: Obedience of Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Must be taught as faith’s fruit, never its ground, against the region’s submission-as-core-category default. Philemon-specific: the bare-noun root ‘Guhdarî’ at 1:21 (see Section B) is built on this same compound and must be read together with 1:14’s voluntary/compulsion contrast.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: Adalet
Transliteration: adalet
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: Rastî
Inherited from Romans package. Philemon-specific: not directly used as a lexical item in the letter, but ἀδικέω (‘wronged,’ 1:18, Section B) shares its δίκη root; worth noting for teaching purposes though no matching Kurdish root is forced.
Medium Risk Terms
Peace
Approved rendering: Aştî
Transliteration: aştî
Doctrine: Peace with God
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Aştî’s resonance with regional political peace processes remains an asset. Philemon-specific: appears once, in the standard epistolary greeting (1:3); no additional letter-specific risk beyond the baseline note.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: Hevaltî
Transliteration: hevaltî
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Original: κοινωνία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Carries a secular leftist/nationalist ‘comrade’ echo via ‘heval.’ Philemon-specific: used abstractly at 1:6 (‘the fellowship of your faith’); must be kept distinct in rendering from the concrete personal-partnership sense of κοινωνός at 1:17, rendered separately as Hevpar (see Section B).
Gospel
Approved rendering: Mizgînî
Transliteration: Mizgînî
Doctrine: Gospel
Original: εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Native Kurdish word, lower risk than Arabic-derived Încîl. Philemon-specific: at 1:13, ‘imprisonment for the gospel’ functions to anchor Paul’s imprisonment (Girtî) as gospel-motivated, not political or criminal — the clause-level link between Mizgînî and Girtî must be preserved, not left to a footnote alone.
Low Risk Terms
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: Spasî
Transliteration: spasî
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Original: εὐχαριστῶ
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Standard, low-risk. Philemon-specific: occurs at 1:4, Paul’s opening thanksgiving for Philemon.
Exhort
Approved rendering: Handan kirin
Transliteration: handan kirin
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Inherited from Romans package (context-sensitive: şîret kirin for admonition, handan kirin for encouragement). Philemon-specific: NOT used for παρακαλῶ at 1:9-10, which requires the distinct new term ‘Lava kirin’ (Section B) capturing the specific authority-relinquishing personal plea; retained here for other encouragement contexts only.