Core Glossary
Core Glossary: Titus (English–Kurdish)
Section A — Reused Terms (from Baseline Romans Translation Memory)
These renderings are already fixed in translation_memory.json and are reused here exactly, without alteration, per baseline mandate.
| Term (EN) | Original | Kurdish Rendering | Risk | Doctrine Link (Titus) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gospel | εὐαγγέλιον | Mizgînî | Medium | Sound Doctrine and Good Works | Underlies the whole letter’s proclamation frame (1:3). |
| grace | χάρις | Kerem | High | Grace That Trains for Godly Living; Salvation by Grace not Works | Central to 2:11, 2:14 (“his grace”), 3:7; the letter’s most theologically active use of χάρις in the NT — grace as an agent that personally “trains” (2:12). |
| faith | πίστις | Îman | High | Salvation by Grace not Works | 1:1, 1:4, 1:13, 2:2, 2:10, 3:8, 3:15. |
| righteousness | δικαιοσύνη | Adalet | High | Salvation by Grace not Works | Explicitly negated as a basis for salvation in 3:5 (“not by works of righteousness”). |
| justification | δικαίωσις / δικαιόω | Wek adil hatin hesibandin | Critical | Salvation by Grace not Works | 3:7 “having been justified” — forensic, not transformative, sense must be retained. |
| salvation | σωτηρία / σῴζω | Rizgarî | Critical | Salvation by Grace not Works; Grace That Trains for Godly Living | 2:11 (“saving”), 3:5 (“saved”). Same nationalist-liberation-vocabulary anchoring caution applies as in Romans. |
| apostle | ἀπόστολος | Şandî | Medium | (letter’s authorial framing) | 1:1. |
| called / calling | κλητός / κλῆσις | Bangkirî / Vexwendin | High | (background to Election/elect, 1:1) | Not directly used as a verb in Titus but the conceptual field of ἐκλεκτός (1:1) draws on this family. |
| holy | ἅγιος | Pîroz | Medium | Qualifications for Elders (ὅσιον, 1:8, related register) | Kept distinct from καθαρός/ἁγνός — see Section B overlap-risk note. |
| sanctification | ἁγιασμός | Teqdîs | High | (background to Regeneration/renewal, 3:5) | Not a direct lexical match in Titus but the same doctrinal territory (Spirit’s ongoing transforming work) as ἀνακαίνωσις. |
| lord | κύριος | Xudan | Critical | Deity of Christ (backdrop to 2:13) | Reserved exclusively for Christ; MUST be kept lexically distinct from δεσπότης (“master,” 2:9, rendered Axa) — see Section B. |
| son of God | υἱὸς θεοῦ | Kurê Xwedê | Critical | Deity of Christ (backdrop to 2:13) | Not used directly in Titus, but the “great God and Savior” title (2:13) makes the same deity claim; keep terminology consistent with this baseline entry when teaching cross-references. |
| incarnation | (theological term) | Tecessud | Critical | Deity of Christ / Regeneration (backdrop to 2:11, 2:13, 3:4 ἐπιφαίνω) | Related but distinct from the ἐπιφαίνω/ἐπιφάνεια word-family — see Section B “appearing.” |
| peace | εἰρήνη | Aştî | Medium | (greeting formula) | 1:4. |
| church | ἐκκλησία | Dêr | High | Qualifications for Elders / Sound Doctrine | Implicit throughout as the setting for elder qualifications and sound teaching; note the ἐπίσκοπος (“Çavdêr”) near-homophone caution in Section B. |
| law | νόμος | Şerîeta Mûsa | Critical | Avoiding Divisive Controversies (backdrop to 3:9’s νομικάς) | Do NOT apply this specific rendering to 3:9’s generic “legal disputes” (νομικάς), which is a broader, non-Mosaic-specific reference — see Section B. |
| sin | ἁμαρτία / ἁμαρτάνω | Guneh | High | Salvation by Grace not Works; Avoiding Divisive Controversies | 3:3 (pre-conversion state), 3:11 (the divisive person “sins”). |
| glory | δόξα | Rûmet | Medium | Deity of Christ | 2:13 “the glory of our great God and Savior.” |
| obedience of faith | ὑπακοὴ πίστεως | Guhdarîkirina Baweriyê | Critical | Submission to Authority | Conceptual backdrop distinguishing grace-produced obedience from legalistic submission; reused verb-family for πειθαρχέω (3:1). |
| messiah / christ | Χριστός | Mesîh | Critical | Deity of Christ | Throughout, in “Jesus Christ.” |
| covenant | διαθήκη | Peyman | High | (backdrop to promise language, 1:2) | ἐπηγγείλατο (“promised,” 1:2) draws on this covenantal frame. |
| election | ἐκλογή / ἐκλεκτός | Hilbijartin | High | (backdrop to 1:1 “God’s elect”) | Retain baseline caution: not a democratic vote. |
| mission | ἀποστολή / πέμπω | Peywira Mizgîniyê | High | (backdrop to Paul’s apostolic commissioning, 1:1-3) | Four-state safety-context caution applies to any teaching/evangelism application drawn from Titus. |
| jesus | Ἰησοῦς | Îsa | Critical | Deity of Christ | Throughout. |
| god | θεός | Xwedê | Critical | Deity of Christ; Salvation by Grace not Works | Throughout; note the “great God and Savior” construction at 2:13 makes the deity claim explicit and undeniable — do not permit softening. |
| holy spirit | πνεῦμα ἅγιον | Ruhê Pîroz | Critical | Regeneration by the Holy Spirit | 3:5 — the Spirit is the explicit agent of regeneration/renewal; the created-being-vs.-divine-Person distinction is especially load-bearing here since a whole curriculum doctrine rests on the Spirit’s personal, divine agency. |
| exhort | παρακαλέω | Handan kirin | Low | Sound Doctrine and Good Works | 2:15. |
| imputed righteousness | ἐλογίσθη… εἰς δικαιοσύνην (conceptual parallel) | Adaleta ku tê hesibandin | Critical | Salvation by Grace not Works | Direct conceptual parallel to 3:5’s “not by works of righteousness… but according to his mercy” — same forbidden-substitution logic (never “earned”) applies. |
Section B — New Terms Proposed for This Curriculum
These terms are not yet recorded in the baseline translation memory. Proposed Kurdish renderings, risk tiers, and rationale are given for Phase 2 adoption. Critical and High risk entries require human theologian review before first use; Medium requires native speaker review; Low requires automated review only, per the baseline’s doctrine_risk_registry.json review-routing convention.
| Term (EN) | Original (Greek) | Transliteration | Proposed Kurdish Rendering | Risk | Doctrine Link | Rationale / Collision Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| appearing / epiphany | ἐπιφαίνω / ἐπιφάνεια | epiphainō / epiphaneia | Xuyabûn | Critical | Grace That Trains for Godly Living; Salvation by Grace not Works; Deity of Christ | Structural keyword of the letter (2:11 grace; 2:13 glory/Second Coming; 3:4 kindness). Related to but distinct from the baseline’s “Incarnation” (Tecessud) entry; must distinguish the past, humble appearing (2:11, 3:4) from the future, glorious appearing (2:13). Compounds the baseline’s Yazidi divine-manifestation over-assimilation risk already flagged for Incarnation/Sonship. |
| great God and Savior [Jesus Christ] | ὁ μέγας Θεὸς καὶ σωτὴρ | ho megas Theos kai sōtēr | Xwedayê me yê Mezin û Rizgarker | Critical | Deity of Christ | Grammatically unites “God” and “Savior” as one referent (Jesus Christ) — a direct, undeniable deity claim (parallel to Romans 9:5, already Critical in the baseline). Must not be split into two figures in translation. |
| Savior | σωτήρ | sōtēr | Rizgarker | Critical | Salvation by Grace not Works; Deity of Christ | Applies the baseline’s Critical “salvation” root (Rizgarî) as a personal title for God/Christ. Heightens the baseline’s nationalist-liberation-vocabulary risk: “rizgarker” (liberator/deliverer) is precisely the kind of title given to Kurdish national-liberation figures and commanders. Every occurrence (1:3, 1:4 implied, 2:10 implied, 2:13, 3:4, 3:6) must be anchored explicitly to personal, spiritual deliverance from sin. |
| redeem / redemption | λυτρόω | lytroō | Fîdîkirin | Critical | Salvation by Grace not Works | Not reducible to generic “save” (Rizgarî) — carries the specific “ransom price paid” nuance (2:14, “gave himself… to redeem us”). Rejected alternative: bare “xilaskirin” (too generic, loses the price-paid dimension). Risk of collapse into Islamic fidya (legal ransom-payment) framework, reducing substitutionary atonement to a legal fee. |
| regeneration | παλιγγενεσία | palingenesia | Jinûvebûn | Critical | Regeneration by the Holy Spirit | Names the curriculum doctrine itself (3:5). Distinctive Kurdish risk: direct conflation potential with the Yazidi doctrine of kiras guhertin (reincarnation, “changing shirts/garments” — soul transmigration through successive bodies), already flagged in the baseline for “resurrection” but arguably even more exposed here since regeneration describes a “becoming new” within the present life. Must be taught as a one-time, non-cyclical, Spirit-wrought inward renewal at conversion. |
| submit / be subject to | ὑποτάσσω | hypotassō | Xwe binê desthilatê danîn | Critical | Submission to Authority | Names the curriculum doctrine itself; recurs at 2:5 (wives), 2:9 (slaves), 3:1 (civil authorities). Alternative rejected: teslîm bûn — FORBIDDEN, because this word is the direct etymological root shared with “Islam” (submission to Allah); its use here would strongly suggest Christian submission is a species of, or endorsement of, the Islamic pillar of submission theology. |
| works of righteousness [negated] | ἔργα τὰ ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ | erga ta en dikaiosynē | Karên di Adaletê de (negated: ne ji karên…) | Critical | Salvation by Grace not Works | 3:5’s explicit denial that salvation is “by works of righteousness which we did.” Structurally identical to the baseline’s “imputed righteousness” forbidden-substitution rule — must never be softened to “not by works alone” or any qualifier implying partial merit. |
| good works | καλὰ/ἀγαθὰ ἔργα | kala / agatha erga | Karên Baş | High | Sound Doctrine and Good Works; Salvation by Grace not Works | The single most-repeated theological phrase in Titus (1:16; 2:7 implied; 2:14; 3:1; 3:8; 3:14). Must always be taught as the fruit and evidence of grace/regeneration, never its ground — direct collision with regional Islamic works-merit (amal salih) expectations. The 3:5→3:8 ordering (denial of works as ground, immediately followed by command to devote to works as fruit) is the passage’s structural safeguard against this collision and must be visibly preserved. |
| elder | πρεσβύτερος | presbyteros | Rihspî | High | Qualifications for Elders | Names the curriculum doctrine itself (1:5-9). Genuine cultural asset: Kurdish tribal “rihspî” (respected elder, arbitration authority) offers real resonance. Risk: must be explicitly distinguished from hereditary/seniority-based tribal authority (the church office requires doctrinal soundness and moral qualification, not age/lineage alone) and kept lexically separate from the baseline’s “pîr” (Sufi hereditary spiritual master, already High-risk under “saints”) to avoid compounding two distinct collision risks. |
| heir | κληρονόμος | klēronomos | Mîratgir | High | Regeneration by the Holy Spirit (3:7, inheritance flowing from regeneration/adoption) | Directly intersects the baseline’s Critical “adoption” (Kurxwendin) entry and its two compounding regional defaults: Quranic restriction on adoption-inheritance and Kurdish tribal (aşîret) lineage-based inheritance. Must be taught as inheritance through grace/regeneration, not bloodline. |
| mercy | ἔλεος | eleos | Dilovanî | High | Salvation by Grace not Works | 3:5, the stated basis of salvation (“according to his mercy”). Collision with Islamic ar-Rahman/ar-Rahim (foundational divine mercy-names); risk that mercy is heard as operating within a merit-weighing system rather than as the sole, exclusive basis of salvation apart from works, as Titus 3:5 insists. |
| washing | λουτρόν | loutron | Şuştin | High | Regeneration by the Holy Spirit | 3:5, “washing of regeneration.” Strong collision with Islamic ritual ablution (wudu/ghusl); must be taught as metaphor for the Spirit’s inward work, not physical ritual requirement. |
| godliness | εὐσέβεια | eusebeia | Xwedaperestî | High | Grace That Trains for Godly Living | Root of the doctrine title itself (1:1; adverbial εὐσεβῶς at 2:12). Regional analog: Islamic taqwa (God-consciousness cultivated through disciplined law-observance toward divine favor). Titus’s argument (godliness as product of grace’s training, 2:12) must reverse this causal direction explicitly at every occurrence. |
| sound doctrine / sound teaching | ὑγιαίνουσα διδασκαλία | hygiainousa didaskalia | Hînkirina Saxlem | High | Sound Doctrine and Good Works | Root of the doctrine title itself (1:9, 1:13 implied, 2:1, 2:8 “sound speech,” 2:2 “sound in faith”). Preserves Paul’s medical (“healthy”) metaphor via saxlem. Must convey doctrinal health/vitality, not mere ritual correctness or a closed legal-code framework (cf. baseline “law” caution). |
| a people for his own possession | λαὸς περιούσιος | laos periousios | Gelê Xwedê yê Taybet | High | Salvation by Grace not Works | 2:14, OT echo (Exodus 19:5). “Gel” (people/nation) is core vocabulary of Kurdish ethnic-national identity and statehood aspiration — parallel risk to the baseline’s already-Critical “Kingdom of God”/“salvation” nationalist-vocabulary cautions. Must be anchored as a trans-ethnic spiritual people, never an ethnic “chosen nation” reading. |
| authorities / rulers | ἐξουσίαι / ἀρχαί | exousiai / archai | Desthilat | High | Submission to Authority | 3:1. Four-state political-context caution (Turkey/Iraq/Iran/Syria) — general civic submission must be distinguished from endorsement of any specific government’s legitimacy or from complicity in persecution, echoing the baseline’s mission/evangelism four-state sensitivity. |
| master (human, of slaves) | δεσπότης | despotēs | Axa | High | Submission to Authority | 2:9. Must be kept lexically distinct from Xudan, reserved exclusively for Christ’s Lordship, to prevent blurring human slave-master authority with Christ’s unique divine Lordship. Carries a double edge: clear structurally, but historically loaded with feudal-landlord connotations in Kurdish social memory. |
| husband of one wife | μιᾶς γυναικὸς ἀνήρ | mias gynaikos anēr | mêrê jinekê | High | Qualifications for Elders | 1:6. Genuine collision with regionally permitted polygamous marriage (up to four wives under mainstream Islamic law), still practiced in some traditional/rural communities. Must be scoped as a leadership-office qualification, not a general marriage polemic. |
| overseer / bishop | ἐπίσκοπος | episkopos | Çavdêr | Medium | Qualifications for Elders | 1:7. Same office as πρεσβύτερος (1:5) under a functional rather than relational-age description — must be taught as one office, not two. Minor phonetic-proximity footnote to the baseline’s “Dêr” (church) — different etymology, low practical confusion risk. |
| divisive person | αἱρετικὸν ἄνθρωπον | hairetikon anthrōpon | Mirovê Dabeşker | Medium-High | Avoiding Divisive Controversies | 3:10. False-cognate warning: root of English “heretic,” but here means “a person who causes factional division,” not “a person holding heterodox doctrine” — must not import later technical heresy-trial connotations. |
| foolish controversies | μωραὶ ζητήσεις | mōrai zētēseis | Nîqaşên Vala | Medium-High | Avoiding Divisive Controversies | 3:9. Names the curriculum doctrine itself. Risk of being heard through the lens of Kurdistan’s real contemporary political-factional and inter-religious-community divisions rather than Paul’s narrower target (speculative doctrinal disputation). |
| slave / servant (human, household) | δοῦλος | doulos | Kole | Medium | Submission to Authority | 2:9-10, distinguished from Paul’s own honorific self-designation δοῦλος Θεοῦ (1:1, rendered Xulam). Household-slavery instructions must not be read as endorsing modern forced labor/trafficking, a genuine regional concern. |
| conscience | συνείδησις | syneidēsis | Vîjdan | Medium | Avoiding Divisive Controversies; Qualifications for Elders (background, 1:15) | 1:15. Regional moral-compass default is honor/shame-based (şerm, namûs) rather than an internalized, individually-defilable faculty; the distinction should be taught without overreach. |
| love | ἀγάπη | agapē | Evîn | Medium | (background to Sound Doctrine and Good Works, 2:2) | Distinguish from the erotic/mystical lover-beloved register of Kurdish classical Sufi poetry (already noted in the baseline under “father” and “glory”). |
| genealogies | γενεαλογίαι | genealogiai | Rêzenav / Nijadname | Medium | Avoiding Divisive Controversies | 3:9. Must be scoped to speculative theological argument from genealogy, not read as devaluing the genuinely significant lineage-consciousness of Kurdish tribal (aşîret) society generally. |
| lawlessness | ἀνομία | anomia | Neqanûnî | Medium | Salvation by Grace not Works | 2:14. Distinct from the baseline’s guarded “Şerîeta Mûsa” (Mosaic Law); this is a general moral category, not a reference to the Mosaic law specifically. |
| kindness / love for mankind | χρηστότης / φιλανθρωπία | chrēstotēs / philanthrōpia | Qencî / Evîna Mirovahiyê | Medium | Salvation by Grace not Works | 3:4. φιλανθρωπία risks resonance with secular humanitarian/human-rights vocabulary in Kurdish diaspora political discourse; anchor to God’s specific saving initiative. |
| renewal | ἀνακαίνωσις | anakainōsis | Nûbûn | High | Regeneration by the Holy Spirit | 3:5, paired with παλιγγενεσία; reinforces the ongoing dimension of the Spirit’s work. |
| hope | ἐλπίς | elpis | Hêvî | Medium | Grace That Trains for Godly Living (2:13 “blessed hope”) | Must be anchored to the specific future event named in context (Christ’s appearing), not left as generic optimism. |
| pure/chaste; clean/defiled | ἁγνός; καθαρός / μεμιαμμένος | hagnos; katharos / memiammenos | Paqij; Paqij / Gemarî | Medium | (background to Qualifications for Elders, Avoiding Divisive Controversies) | Greek distinguishes ἅγιος (holy), ἁγνός (chaste/pure), and καθαρός (clean) more sharply than standard Kurdish vocabulary; flag for native-speaker review to preserve distinctions in context (1:15; 2:5). |
| eternal life | ζωὴ αἰώνιος | zōē aiōnios | Jiyana Herheyî | Medium | Salvation by Grace not Works; Regeneration by the Holy Spirit | 1:2, 3:7. |
| training/disciplining (of grace) | παιδεύω | paideuō | Perwerdekirin | Critical | Grace That Trains for Godly Living | Names the curriculum doctrine itself (2:12). Must convey formative, parental-style character training, not punitive punishment alone, and must not imply grace is a passive backdrop to self-achieved discipline. |
| refute those who contradict | ἀντιλέγοντας ἐλέγχειν | antilegontas elegchein | red kirin (ê dijber) | Medium | Avoiding Divisive Controversies; Sound Doctrine and Good Works | 1:9. Distinguish doctrinal refutation of false-teaching content (commanded) from participation in speculative factional disputes (forbidden, 3:9) — the two must not be collapsed together in teaching. |
Section C — Terms Requiring Special Cross-Reference Discipline
The following pairs/triples of terms must be kept visibly, lexically distinct from one another in Kurdish to prevent doctrinal blurring, per the analysis above:
| Distinguish | From | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Xudan (Lord, reserved for Christ) | Axa (δεσπότης, human master of slaves) | Prevents human household authority language from blurring into Christ’s unique, exclusive divine Lordship (baseline Critical entry). |
| Rihspî (πρεσβύτερος, church elder office) | Pîr (Sufi hereditary spiritual master, baseline “saints” High-risk entry) | Prevents the church elder office from being read through the shrine-veneration, hereditary-succession lens of Sufi pîr culture. |
| Kole (δοῦλος, literal household slave, 2:9-10) | Xulam (δοῦλος, Paul’s honorific self-designation “slave of God,” 1:1) | Marks the different registers of the identical Greek word — one a first-century social institution, one a devotional self-title — preventing either a devotional reading of literal slavery or a demeaning reading of Paul’s self-title. |
| Şerîeta Mûsa (νόμος, the Mosaic Law, baseline Critical entry) | “legal disputes” (νομικάς, 3:9, general legalistic wrangling) | Prevents 3:9’s general caution against legalistic quarreling from being misapplied as a statement about the Law of Moses itself. |
| Xuyabûn (ἐπιφαίνω/ἐπιφάνεια, “appearing,” 2:11/2:13/3:4) | Tecessud (baseline “incarnation” entry) | Related but distinct concepts: Tecessud = the Son’s becoming flesh; Xuyabûn = the historical/future visible manifestation of grace, glory, and kindness. Both must be taught, neither substituted for the other. |
| Rizgarker (σωτήρ, “Savior,” title for God/Christ) | Rizgarî (baseline σωτηρία, “salvation,” the abstract noun) | Applying the title directly to a person (Rizgarker) heightens the baseline’s nationalist-liberation-vocabulary risk beyond the abstract noun alone; anchoring discipline must be even more deliberate for the personal title. |
This glossary extends, and does not contradict, the baseline Romans translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json. All Section A entries are enforced exactly as recorded in the baseline. All Section B entries are proposed for addition to translation memory in Phase 2 Step 16, with risk tiers determining review routing per doctrine_risk_registry.json conventions (Critical/High → human theologian review; Medium → native speaker review; Low → automated review).
Critical Risk Terms
Justification
Approved rendering: Wek adil hatin hesibandin
Transliteration: wek adil hatin hesibandin
Doctrine: Salvation
Original: δικαίωσις / δικαιωθέντες
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. CRITICAL: compound phrase required to convey the forensic declaration rather than a process of becoming righteous. Titus 3:7 ‘having been justified’ must retain this forensic, declarative sense, never a transformative ‘became righteous’ reading.
Salvation
Approved rendering: Rizgarî
Transliteration: rizgarî
Doctrine: Salvation
Original: σωτηρία / σῴζω
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. CRITICAL: rizgarî is the defining vocabulary of Kurdish political nationalism across all four host states. In Titus this risk intensifies because the abstract noun is repeatedly converted into the personal title ‘Rizgarker’ (Savior) applied to both the Father and the Son (1:3-4, 2:10, 2:13, 3:4, 3:6); every occurrence must be anchored to personal, spiritual deliverance from sin.
Lord
Approved rendering: Xudan
Transliteration: Xudan
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. CRITICAL: applying supreme, exclusive Lordship to Jesus is the deity claim itself and must not be softened. In Titus this must be kept lexically distinct from δεσπότης (‘master,’ 2:9, rendered Axa) so ordinary human slave-master authority never blurs into Christ’s unique, exclusive Lordship.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: Kurê Xwedê
Transliteration: Kurê Xwedê
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Original: υἱὸς θεοῦ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. CRITICAL: shares the Quranic denial (112:3, 19:35). Not used verbatim in Titus, but 2:13’s ‘great God and Savior Jesus Christ’ makes an equivalent deity claim; keep vocabulary consistent with this entry when cross-referencing.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: Tecessud
Transliteration: tecessud
Doctrine: Incarnation
Original: (theological term; cf. ἐπεφάνη ἡ χάρις, 2:11)
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. CRITICAL: Yazidi theology’s successive-divine-manifestation belief creates an over-assimilation risk. In Titus, keep visibly distinct from the new term ‘Xuyabûn’ (appearing, ἐπιφαίνω word-family, 2:11/2:13/3:4): Tecessud names Christ’s becoming flesh; Xuyabûn names the historical/future visible manifestation of grace, glory, and kindness. Neither substitutes for the other.
Law
Approved rendering: Şerîeta Mûsa
Transliteration: Şerîeta Mûsa
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: Namûs
Original: νόμος
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. CRITICAL: bare ‘Şerîet’ risks conflation with Islamic law generally; Namûs is forbidden as it has narrowed regionally to mean family/female honor. In Titus 3:9, νομικάς (‘legal disputes’) is a broader, non-Mosaic-specific reference to legalistic wrangling and must NOT be rendered with this term - see the new ‘legal_disputes’ entry for the correct, distinct rendering.
Messiah
Approved rendering: Mesîh
Transliteration: Mesîh
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Original: Χριστός
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. CRITICAL: carries the same pre-loaded Quranic content as Arabic’s al-Masih. Throughout Titus in ‘Jesus Christ’ (1:1, 1:4, 2:13, 3:6).
Jesus
Approved rendering: Îsa
Transliteration: Îsa
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. The risk is entirely in content: ‘Îsa’ still carries the Quranic prophet-only, non-crucified, non-divine narrative that Titus 2:13’s deity claim must actively correct.
God
Approved rendering: Xwedê
Transliteration: Xwedê
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Allah
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Titus 2:13’s ‘great God and Savior… Jesus Christ’ construction makes the deity claim explicit and undeniable; this must never be softened by splitting the phrase into two separate referents.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Ruhê Pîroz
Transliteration: Ruhê Pîroz
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: Πνεῦμα Ἅγιον
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. CRITICAL: shares the Quranic identification with the angel Jibril found regionally. Titus 3:5 names the Spirit as the explicit agent of the sinner’s regeneration and renewal - the created-being-vs.-divine-Person distinction is especially load-bearing here since a whole curriculum doctrine (Regeneration by the Holy Spirit) rests on the Spirit’s personal, divine agency.
Father
Approved rendering: Bav
Transliteration: Bav
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Shares the region’s tawhid-anthropomorphism objection to Father-language for God. Titus 1:4 ‘God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior’ in the epistolary greeting.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: Adaleta ku tê hesibandin
Transliteration: adaleta ku tê hesibandin
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: Adaleta ku tê bidestxistin
Original: ἐλογίσθη… εἰς δικαιοσύνην (conceptual parallel to Titus 3:5)
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. CRITICAL: ‘Adaleta ku tê bidestxistin’ (‘earned righteousness’) is explicitly rejected. Direct conceptual parallel to Titus 3:5’s ‘not by works of righteousness… but according to his mercy’; the same forbidden-substitution logic applies to this conceptual link.
Adoption
Approved rendering: Kurxwendin
Transliteration: kurxwendin
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: υἱοθεσία (conceptual backdrop to κληρονόμοι, 3:7)
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. CRITICAL: the Quranic restriction on adoption (33:4-5) is reinforced by Kurdish tribal (aşîret) lineage structures. Titus 3:7’s ‘heirs according to the hope of eternal life’ presupposes this doctrine; see the new ‘heir’ entry for the compounding regional risk this creates.
Appearing Epiphany
Approved rendering: Xuyabûn
Transliteration: xuyabûn
Doctrine: Grace That Trains for Godly Living
Rejected alternatives: bare ‘xuya bûn’ left untreated as an ordinary verb (rejected: loses the letter’s technical, structural-keyword status)
Original: ἐπιφαίνω / ἐπιφάνεια
Category: Christology
NEW term. Structural keyword of Titus, naming the ἐπιφαίνω/ἐπιφάνεια word-family (2:11 grace, past; 2:13 glory, future; 3:4 kindness, past). Must be kept visibly distinct from ‘Tecessud’ (Incarnation) - Xuyabûn names the visible manifestation event, not the assumption of flesh. Must distinguish the past, humble appearing (2:11, 3:4) from the future, glorious appearing (2:13) so the already/not-yet structure is not flattened. Compounds the baseline’s Yazidi divine-manifestation over-assimilation risk already flagged for Incarnation/Sonship - teach as a single, unrepeatable event.
Great God And Savior
Approved rendering: Xwedayê me yê Mezin û Rizgarker
Transliteration: xwedayê me yê mezin û rizgarker
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: splitting into two separate referents, e.g. ‘Xwedayê mezin, û Rizgarkerê me Îsa Mesîh’ treated as two figures (FORBIDDEN — destroys the Sharp’s-rule grammatical point that both titles name one person, Jesus Christ)
Original: ὁ μέγας Θεὸς καὶ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστός
Category: Christology
NEW term (Titus 2:13). One of the NT’s clearest single-sentence deity statements: one grammatical unit names Jesus Christ as both ‘great God’ and ‘Savior.’ Must never be softened by punctuation or clause-break that separates the two titles from the one name; this is the direct Titus parallel to the baseline’s Romans 9:5 ‘God over all’ Critical entry.
Savior
Approved rendering: Rizgarker
Transliteration: rizgarker
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: transliterated/opaque loanword title (rejected: forfeits the anchoring/fencing work that depends on Rizgarker remaining a transparent, re-anchorable Kurdish word)
Original: σωτήρ
Category: Christology
NEW term. Applies the baseline’s Critical ‘salvation’ root (Rizgarî) as a personal title for God/Christ (Titus 1:3, 1:4 implied, 2:10 implied, 2:13, 3:4, 3:6). Heightens the baseline’s nationalist-liberation-vocabulary risk: ‘Rizgarker’ (liberator/deliverer) is precisely the kind of title given to Kurdish national-liberation figures and commanders across all four host states. Every occurrence must be anchored explicitly to personal, spiritual deliverance from sin, never left to resonate with a political liberator figure.
Redemption
Approved rendering: Fîdîkirin
Transliteration: fîdîkirin
Doctrine: Atonement — Christ’s Self-Giving Redemption
Rejected alternatives: Xilaskirin (‘rescue/save,’ generic - rejected because it collapses the specific ransom-price nuance into rizgarkirin and loses the ‘at a cost’ dimension entirely)
Original: λυτρόω / λυτρώσηται
Category: Salvation
NEW term (Titus 2:14), from an established Kurdish NT ransom-word (cf. Mark 10:45). Must retain the price-paid dimension of Christ’s substitutionary self-giving (v. 14a) and must not be assimilated into the Islamic legal-transactional fidya framework (a compensatory payment discharging a missed religious obligation), which would reduce the cross to a legal fee rather than a substitutionary sacrifice.
Regeneration
Approved rendering: Jinûvebûn
Transliteration: jinûvebûn
Doctrine: Regeneration by the Holy Spirit
Original: παλιγγενεσία
Category: Sanctification
NEW term. Names the curriculum doctrine itself (Titus 3:5; only here and Matt 19:28 in the NT). Distinctly Kurdish risk beyond anything documented for Arabic or Persian: direct conflation potential with the Yazidi doctrine of kiras guhertin (reincarnation, ‘changing shirts/garments’ - soul transmigration through successive bodies), an indigenous religious tradition. More acute than for ‘resurrection’ since regeneration describes a ‘becoming new’ within the present life. Must be taught explicitly and repeatedly as one-time, non-cyclical, Spirit-wrought inward renewal at conversion.
Works Of Righteousness Negated
Approved rendering: ne ji karên di adaletê de yên me kirin
Transliteration: ne ji karên di adaletê de yên me kirin
Doctrine: Salvation by Grace not Works
Rejected alternatives: ‘ne tenê ji karan’ (‘not by works alone’) — FORBIDDEN, reintroduces partial merit and reverses Paul’s point exactly as the baseline’s ‘earned righteousness’ prohibition forbids
Original: οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων τῶν ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ
Category: Salvation
NEW conceptual term (Titus 3:5). Explicit denial that salvation is based on righteous deeds performed by the sinner. Structurally identical to the baseline’s ‘imputed_righteousness’ forbidden-substitution rule - this negative clause must be rendered with unmistakable force; any softening reverses Paul’s point and is forbidden.
Training Paideuo
Approved rendering: Perwerdekirin
Transliteration: perwerdekirin
Doctrine: Grace That Trains for Godly Living
Rejected alternatives: tewbîhkirin/cezakirin (punitive punishment only - rejected for losing the positive, formative, parental sense)
Original: παιδεύουσα (παιδεύω)
Category: Sanctification
NEW term. Names the curriculum doctrine itself (Titus 2:12). Grace is the grammatical subject that trains believers like a parent forming a child’s character. Must not be rendered with a word implying only punitive punishment, nor with a word implying grace merely permits/tolerates self-achieved sin-free living. Kerem must remain the explicit grammatical subject of Perwerdekirin in Kurdish syntax; flag any passive-voice or agent-demoted rendering for mandatory revision.
Submission
Approved rendering: Xwe binê desthilatê danîn
Transliteration: xwe binê desthilatê danîn
Doctrine: Submission to Authority
Rejected alternatives: teslîm bûn (FORBIDDEN — direct etymological root shared with ‘Islam’ itself, submission to Allah; using it here would strongly suggest Christian submission is a species of, or endorsement of, Islamic submission theology)
Original: ὑποτάσσω / ὑποτάσσεσθαι
Category: Household Ethics and Authority
NEW term. Names the curriculum doctrine itself; recurs at 2:5 (wives), 2:9 (slaves), and 3:1 (civil authorities). Use the same root consistently across all three occurrences for terminological consistency, but pair each with distinct contextual teaching notes (mutual household ethic; an obsolete social institution with anti-trafficking caveat; civic order without endorsing any specific host state’s legitimacy).
High Risk Terms
Grace
Approved rendering: Kerem
Transliteration: kerem
Doctrine: Grace
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Kurdistan’s rich Sufi heritage (the Naqshbandi revival led by the Kurdish Sheikh Mawlana Khalid) uses the cognate ‘keramet’ for miracles granted specifically to elevated Sufi saints as marks of spiritual rank. Using kerem for grace risks implying an elite, hierarchical favor reserved for spiritually advanced figures, rather than Paul’s point that grace is freely given to all who believe. In Titus, grace is unusually the grammatical SUBJECT that itself ‘appears’ (2:11) and ‘trains’ (2:12) believers - keep this active, personified use visible in Kurdish syntax; do not passivize it.
Faith
Approved rendering: Îman
Transliteration: iman
Doctrine: Faith
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Shares the region’s Sunni (predominantly Shafi’i madhhab among Kurds) six-pillars creedal structure. Must be anchored as personal trust in Christ, not creedal assent to a list of propositions. Occurs in Titus at 1:1, 1:4, 1:13, 2:2, 2:10, 3:8, 3:15.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: Adalet
Transliteration: adalet
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: Rastî
Original: δικαιοσύνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Rastî (native Kurdish for ‘rightness/truth’) is too thin for the weighty forensic sense; Adalet (justice) carries the necessary legal-moral weight. Titus 3:5 explicitly negates ‘works of righteousness’ as a basis for salvation - the forensic sense must remain visible even inside this negated clause.
Called
Approved rendering: Bangkirî
Transliteration: bangkirî
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Context-sensitive across senses of calling. Not used verbatim in Titus, but underlies the conceptual field of ‘God’s elect’ (ἐκλεκτῶν, 1:1).
Sanctification
Approved rendering: Teqdîs
Transliteration: teqdîs
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: Pakkirin
Original: ἁγιασμός (conceptual parallel: ἀνακαίνωσις)
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Pakkirin (‘to purify,’ ritual sense) risks reading as ritual cleanliness; teqdîs keeps the specific theological sense of the Spirit’s ongoing moral transformation. Not a direct lexical match in Titus but shares doctrinal territory with 3:5’s ‘renewal’ (Nûbûn); keep terminology consistent when teaching this cross-reference.
Church
Approved rendering: Dêr
Transliteration: dêr
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Dêr is the established word for a church building; the NT sense of the gathered people is implicit throughout as the setting for Titus’s elder qualifications and sound teaching. Note the coincidental, unrelated-etymology phonetic proximity to the new term ‘Çavdêr’ (overseer, 1:7) - worth a translator footnote though low practical confusion risk.
Sin
Approved rendering: Guneh
Transliteration: guneh
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Original: ἁμαρτία / ἁμαρτάνω
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Shares the region’s Islamic fitrah (innate purity) doctrine. Titus 3:3 describes the pre-conversion state (‘slaves to various passions’); 3:11 describes the divisive person as one who ‘sins, being self-condemned.’ Both must be taught deliberately against the fitrah default.
Obedience Of Faith
Approved rendering: Guhdarîkirina Baweriyê
Transliteration: guhdarîkirina baweriyê
Doctrine: Obedience of Faith
Original: ὑπακοὴ πίστεως (conceptual backdrop); πειθαρχεῖν (3:1)
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Shares the region’s Islamic submission-as-core-category risk; must be taught as faith’s fruit, never its ground. Titus 3:1’s πειθαρχεῖν (‘obey/be obedient to authority’) deliberately reuses this guhdarî- root so civic obedience is taught as flowing from grace, not as a legalistic ground of standing.
Covenant
Approved rendering: Peyman
Transliteration: peyman
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: διαθήκη (conceptual backdrop to ἐπηγγείλατο, 1:2)
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Resonant with Kurdish tribal (aşîret) alliance-making traditions, but such peymans are typically negotiated between relative equals and revocable - unlike the unilaterally-initiated, gracious biblical covenant. Titus 1:2 (‘which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began’) draws on this covenantal frame.
Election
Approved rendering: Hilbijartin
Transliteration: hilbijartin
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Original: ἐκλεκτῶν (ἐκλεκτός)
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Also the standard modern Kurdish word for democratic elections. Titus 1:1 ‘God’s elect’ (ἐκλεκτῶν) re-triggers the baseline caution: God’s sovereign choice must not be heard as a vote.
Mission
Approved rendering: Peywira Mizgîniyê
Transliteration: peywira mizgîniyê
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
Original: ἀποστολή (conceptual backdrop to 1:1-3)
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Kurdish spans four state jurisdictions with meaningfully different religious-freedom environments. Backdrop to Paul’s apostolic commissioning in Titus 1:1-3; any teaching/evangelism application drawn from this letter must retain the four-state safety-context caution.
Renewal
Approved rendering: Nûbûn
Transliteration: nûbûn
Doctrine: Regeneration by the Holy Spirit
Original: ἀνακαίνωσις
Category: Sanctification
NEW term. Paired with ‘Jinûvebûn’ in Titus 3:5, reinforcing the ongoing dimension of the Spirit’s renewing work (cf. Romans 12:2’s same conceptual root already in the baseline curriculum). Keep visibly distinct from but paired with Jinûvebûn - do not collapse the two into a single generic gloss.
Washing
Approved rendering: Şuştin
Transliteration: şuştin
Doctrine: Regeneration by the Holy Spirit
Original: λουτρόν
Category: Sanctification
NEW term (Titus 3:5, ‘washing of regeneration’). Strong regional collision with Islamic ritual ablution (wudu/ghusl), the obligatory ritual washing before prayer; must be taught as a metaphor for the Spirit’s inward, one-time regenerating work, not a physical ritual requirement.
Mercy
Approved rendering: Dilovanî
Transliteration: dilovanî
Doctrine: Mercy of God as Sole Basis of Salvation
Rejected alternatives: Rehm (Arabic loanword - rejected in favor of the native, heart-rooted compound)
Original: ἔλεος
Category: Salvation
NEW term (Titus 3:5, the stated basis of salvation). Overlaps with the foundational Islamic divine names ar-Rahman/ar-Rahim; hearers may map God’s mercy onto a framework in which mercy operates within a merit-weighing system (the mîzan, scales of deeds) rather than, as Titus 3:5 insists, as the sole basis of salvation apart from any works-weighing at all. Exclusivity must be made explicit at every occurrence.
Good Works
Approved rendering: Karên Baş
Transliteration: karên baş
Doctrine: Sound Doctrine and Good Works
Original: καλὰ/ἀγαθὰ ἔργα
Category: Sound Doctrine and Good Works
NEW term. The single most-repeated theological phrase in Titus (1:16; 2:14; 3:1; 3:8; 3:14). Must always be taught as the fruit and evidence of grace/regeneration, never its ground - direct collision with regional Islamic works-merit (amal salih) expectations. The 3:5-to-3:8 ordering (denial of works as ground, immediately followed by command to devote to works as fruit) must be visibly preserved in Kurdish syntax.
Elder
Approved rendering: Rihspî
Transliteration: rihspî
Doctrine: Qualifications for Elders
Rejected alternatives: Pîr (Sufi hereditary spiritual master, baseline High-risk under ‘saints’ — rejected to avoid compounding two distinct collision risks into one term)
Original: πρεσβύτερος
Category: Church
NEW term. Names the curriculum doctrine itself (Titus 1:5-9). Genuine cultural asset: Kurdish tribal ‘rihspî’ (respected elder, arbitration authority) offers real resonance, but must be explicitly distinguished from hereditary/age-based tribal succession; the office requires doctrinal soundness and moral qualification, not seniority or clan standing alone. Same office as ἐπίσκοπος (Çavdêr, 1:7) under a functional description - teach as one office, not two.
Husband Of One Wife
Approved rendering: mêrê jinekê
Transliteration: mêrê jinekê
Doctrine: Qualifications for Elders
Original: μιᾶς γυναικὸς ἀνήρ
Category: Church
NEW term (Titus 1:6), a descriptive marital-fidelity/monogamy qualification for the elder office. Genuine collision with regionally permitted polygamous marriage (up to four wives under mainstream Islamic law), still practiced in some traditional/rural Kurdish communities. Must be scoped specifically as a leadership-office qualification, not a general polemic against surrounding marriage practices.
Godliness
Approved rendering: Xwedaperestî
Transliteration: xwedaperestî
Doctrine: Godliness as the Fruit of Grace
Original: εὐσέβεια / εὐσεβῶς
Category: Sanctification
NEW term. Root of the doctrine title itself; recurs at 1:1 and adverbially (εὐσεβῶς) at 2:12. Dominant regional analog is Islamic taqwa (God-consciousness cultivated through disciplined law-observance toward divine favor). Titus’s argument (godliness as grace’s PRODUCT, 2:12, not a self-generated meritorious discipline) reverses this causal direction and must be made explicit at every occurrence.
Sound Doctrine
Approved rendering: Hînkirina Saxlem
Transliteration: hînkirina saxlem
Doctrine: Sound Doctrine and Good Works
Original: ὑγιαίνουσα διδασκαλία
Category: Sound Doctrine and Good Works
NEW term. Root of the doctrine title itself (1:9, 1:13 implied, 2:1, 2:8 sound speech, 2:2 sound in faith). Preserves Paul’s own medical (‘healthy’) metaphor via ‘saxlem,’ a common native/Persian-rooted Kurmanji word for physical health. Must convey doctrinal health/vitality, not merely correct ritual performance, and must be distinguished from an Islamic conception of a single, closed, unified body of religious law (cf. Şerîeta Mûsa caution).
Sound Speech
Approved rendering: axaftina saxlem
Transliteration: axaftina saxlem
Doctrine: Sound Doctrine and Good Works
Original: λόγον ὑγιῆ ἀκατάγνωστον
Category: Sound Doctrine and Good Works
NEW term (Titus 2:8), ‘speech that cannot be condemned.’ Adjectival cousin of ‘sound doctrine’; keep the ‘saxlem’ root consistent between the two entries so learners see the connection between Titus’s own teaching conduct and the doctrine he proclaims.
People For His Own Possession
Approved rendering: Gelê Xwedê yê Taybet
Transliteration: gelê Xwedê yê taybet
Doctrine: Salvation by Grace not Works
Original: λαὸς περιούσιος
Category: Salvation
NEW term (Titus 2:14), OT echo of Exodus 19:5 (LXX λαὸς περιούσιος). ‘Gel’ (people/nation) is core vocabulary of Kurdish ethnic-national identity and the century-long statehood aspiration - a direct parallel to the baseline’s already-Critical ‘Kingdom of God’/‘salvation’ nationalist-vocabulary cautions. Must be anchored explicitly as a trans-ethnic spiritual people gathered from every nation, never allowed to resonate with a Kurdish ethnic ‘chosen nation’ reading.
Authorities Rulers
Approved rendering: Desthilat
Transliteration: desthilat
Doctrine: Submission to Authority
Original: ἀρχαί / ἐξουσίαι
Category: Household Ethics and Authority
NEW term (Titus 3:1). Kurdish believers live under four distinct state jurisdictions (Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria) with sharply different, sometimes actively oppressive, relationships to Kurdish populations. Teaching civil submission requires the same four-state pastoral sensitivity the baseline applies to mission/evangelism - general civic order must be distinguished from endorsement of any specific government’s legitimacy or from complicity in persecution.
Master Despotes
Approved rendering: Axa
Transliteration: axa
Doctrine: Household Order and Public Witness
Rejected alternatives: Xudan (FORBIDDEN — reserved exclusively for Christ’s unique, exclusive divine Lordship; using it here would blur ordinary human slave-master authority into the deity claim)
Original: δεσπότης
Category: Household Ethics and Authority
NEW term (Titus 2:9). Traditional Kurdish feudal-lord/landowning-master title, chosen for structural clarity over coinage or transliteration. Carries a double edge: genuinely evocative of household authority, but also loaded with the historical memory of the feudal landlord system many rural Kurds associate with exploitation; acknowledge this in teaching notes even as the word is retained.
Heir
Approved rendering: Mîratgir
Transliteration: mîratgir
Doctrine: Adoption and Inheritance
Original: κληρονόμος
Category: Salvation
NEW term (Titus 3:7). Directly intersects the baseline’s already-Critical adoption doctrine (Kurxwendin) and its two compounding regional defaults: the Quranic restriction on adoption-inheritance (33:4-5) and Kurdish tribal (aşîret) lineage-based inheritance customs. Must be taught explicitly as inheritance flowing from spiritual regeneration and grace-given adoption, never from bloodline or legal kinship.
Divisive Person
Approved rendering: Mirovê Dabeşker
Transliteration: mirovê dabeşker
Doctrine: Avoiding Divisive Controversies
Original: αἱρετικὸν ἄνθρωπον
Category: Avoiding Divisive Controversies
NEW term (Titus 3:10). FALSE-COGNATE WARNING: this Greek word (αἱρετικόν) is the historical root of English ‘heretic,’ but its sense here is behavioral - one who causes factional splits - not the later technical sense of ‘one holding heterodox doctrine.’ Translators and teachers must not import full-blown heresy-trial connotations; the concern is factionalism, addressed by limited, escalating admonition.
Foolish Controversies
Approved rendering: Nîqaşên Vala
Transliteration: nîqaşên vala
Doctrine: Avoiding Divisive Controversies
Original: μωραὶ ζητήσεις
Category: Avoiding Divisive Controversies
NEW term. Names the curriculum doctrine itself (Titus 3:9). Kurdish society’s own real, contemporary factional political-party and inter-religious-community divisions (Sunni, Alevi, Yazidi, Yarsani) risk being read into Paul’s narrower target of speculative doctrinal disputation over genealogies and legal minutiae; teaching notes must clarify this specific, narrower scope.
Insubordinate
Approved rendering: Serhişk
Transliteration: serhişk
Doctrine: Sound Doctrine and Good Works
Rejected alternatives: neteslîmbûyî (avoided for consistency with the forbidden teslîm root)
Original: ἀνυπότακτοι
Category: Sound Doctrine and Good Works
NEW term (Titus 1:10), ‘stubborn/unruly,’ native word, the negative mirror image of the ὑποτάσσω word-family central to Submission to Authority. For consistency, avoid the FORBIDDEN teslîm root here as well.
Profess Deny By Works
Approved rendering: bi devê xwe dibêjin ku Xwedê nas dikin, lê bi kirinên xwe wî red dikin
Transliteration: bi devê xwe dibêjin ku Xwedê nas dikin, lê bi kirinên xwe wî red dikin
Doctrine: Avoiding Divisive Controversies
Original: ὁμολογοῦσιν εἰδέναι τὸν Θεόν, τοῖς δὲ ἔργοις ἀρνοῦνται
Category: Avoiding Divisive Controversies
NEW term (Titus 1:16), describing false teachers who claim to know God but deny him by their conduct. ἔργα here functions negatively (works that deny God through hypocrisy) - a useful contrast point so ‘works’ (Karên Baş) is not treated as monolithically positive across the letter, but always evaluated by its relationship to genuine faith.
Medium Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: Mizgînî
Transliteration: Mizgînî
Doctrine: Gospel
Original: εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. A native Kurdish word for ‘good news,’ not an Arabic loanword like Injil - a genuine linguistic asset. Some readers will also know Încîl via shared Islamic vocabulary, carrying the same tahrif (corruption) assumption found regionally; qualify as the specific NT record when that association is likely. In Titus this term underlies the whole letter’s proclamation frame (1:3) and the Sound Doctrine and Good Works doctrine.
Apostle
Approved rendering: Şandî
Transliteration: şandî
Doctrine: Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: Resûl
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. A native Kurdish word (‘the one sent’) that avoids the direct collision with Muhammad’s Rasul Allah title. Titus 1:1, establishing Paul’s authoritative frame for the letter.
Calling
Approved rendering: Vexwendin
Transliteration: vexwendin
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. A native compound word for invitation; the direction of address (God calling a person) still needs to be made explicit. Conceptual backdrop to Titus 1:1.
Holy
Approved rendering: Pîroz
Transliteration: pîroz
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: ἅγιος / ὅσιος
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. The standard, extremely common native Kurdish word for holy/sacred. In Titus, keep distinguishable in context from the related but distinct ὅσιος (1:8, devout/holy) and ἁγνός (chaste, 1:15, 2:5) and καθαρός (clean, 1:15) - Kurdish vocabulary does not naturally preserve this three-way Greek distinction; flag for native-speaker review at each occurrence.
Peace
Approved rendering: Aştî
Transliteration: aştî
Doctrine: Peace with God
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Aştî’s resonance with real, hard-won regional peace processes is a genuine asset. Titus 1:4 greeting formula (‘grace, mercy, and peace’).
Glory
Approved rendering: Rûmet
Transliteration: rûmet
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: δόξα
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Kurdish classical Sufi poetry lends devotional weight but must anchor to Christ’s specific, historical glory. Titus 2:13, ‘the glory of our great God and Savior,’ directly supporting Deity of Christ.
Overseer
Approved rendering: Çavdêr
Transliteration: çavdêr
Doctrine: Qualifications for Elders
Original: ἐπίσκοπος
Category: Church
NEW term (Titus 1:7), ‘eye-watcher,’ native word for supervisor. Must be taught as the same office Paul has just called πρεσβύτερος (Rihspî) two verses earlier, not a second office. Coincidental phonetic proximity to ‘Dêr’ (church building) is unrelated etymologically (çav = eye; dêr here from dîtin, ‘to see’) but worth a translator footnote.
Slave Household
Approved rendering: Kole
Transliteration: kole
Doctrine: Household Order and Public Witness
Original: δοῦλος (household referent, 2:9-10)
Category: Household Ethics and Authority
NEW term (Titus 2:9-10), a literal first-century household slave. Deliberately distinguished from Paul’s own honorific self-designation δοῦλος Θεοῦ (1:1, rendered Xulamê Xwedê, see below) - using two different Kurdish words for the same Greek word marks the different registers and prevents household-code instructions from being read as endorsing modern forced labor/trafficking, a genuine contemporary regional concern.
Servant Of God Self Title
Approved rendering: Xulamê Xwedê
Transliteration: xulamê Xwedê
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and the Truth of the Gospel
Original: δοῦλος Θεοῦ
Category: Church
NEW term (Titus 1:1), Paul’s honorific self-designation. A genuine, positive convergence with the regional Muslim self-naming pattern (‘abd Allah, servant of God), leverageable pastorally provided it stays anchored to devoted gospel service under grace rather than legal ownership. Kept lexically distinct from Kole (literal household slave, 2:9-10).
Hope
Approved rendering: Hêvî
Transliteration: hêvî
Doctrine: Hope of Eternal Life
Original: ἐλπίς
Category: Salvation
NEW term. Occurs at Titus 1:2 (introduced abstractly), 2:13 (‘blessed hope,’ tied to Christ’s appearing), and 3:7 (tied to heirship). Must be anchored to the specific future event named in context (Christ’s glorious appearing), not left as generic optimism.
Eternal Life
Approved rendering: Jiyana Herheyî
Transliteration: jiyana herheyî
Doctrine: Hope of Eternal Life
Original: ζωὴ αἰώνιος
Category: Salvation
NEW term (Titus 1:2, 3:7). No independent regional collision beyond the shared appearing/hope cautions already flagged for Deity of Christ and Hope of Eternal Life.
Kindness And Love For Mankind
Approved rendering: Qencî û Evîna Mirovahiyê
Transliteration: qencî û evîna mirovahiyê
Doctrine: Salvation by Grace not Works
Original: χρηστότης καὶ φιλανθρωπία
Category: Salvation
NEW term (Titus 3:4), God’s benevolent goodness and love toward humanity, the content of the ‘appearing’ at 3:4. φιλανθρωπία (Evîna Mirovahiyê) risks resonance with secular humanitarian/human-rights vocabulary prominent in Kurdish diaspora political discourse; must be anchored specifically to God’s saving initiative toward sinners, not generic philanthropy.
Lawlessness
Approved rendering: Neqanûnî
Transliteration: neqanûnî
Doctrine: Atonement — Christ’s Self-Giving Redemption
Rejected alternatives: any Şerîet-rooted rendering (rejected to avoid conflating this general moral category with the baseline’s carefully guarded Mosaic Law term)
Original: ἀνομία
Category: Sin
NEW term (Titus 2:14), a general moral category of transgression before God, from which Christ redeems believers. Distinct from Şerîeta Mûsa (the baseline’s Mosaic Law entry); avoid any wording that imports Şerîet directly into this term.
Conscience
Approved rendering: Vîjdan
Transliteration: vîjdan
Doctrine: Avoiding Divisive Controversies
Original: συνείδησις
Category: Sin
NEW term (Titus 1:15), the established, widely used modern Kurdish loanword for the inner faculty of moral self-awareness. The dominant regional moral-compass model is honor/shame-based (şerm, namûs); biblical conscience is an internal faculty that can itself become defiled by false belief. Teach this distinction explicitly, without overreaching into a full contrast.
Love Agape
Approved rendering: Evîn
Transliteration: evîn
Doctrine: Sound Doctrine and Good Works
Original: ἀγάπη
Category: Sound Doctrine and Good Works
NEW term (Titus 2:2, part of the ‘sound in faith, love, endurance’ triad). Kurdish classical Sufi poetry (Melayê Cizîrî, Ehmedê Xanî) cultivates an intimate mystical-love register (often erotic/lover-beloved imagery) for divine address, already flagged in the baseline under ‘father’ and ‘glory’; ἀγάπη’s selfless, others-directed character should be distinguished from that romantic-mystical register by context, even while drawing on its warmth.
Genealogies
Approved rendering: Rêzenav
Transliteration: rêzenav
Doctrine: Avoiding Divisive Controversies
Original: γενεαλογίαι
Category: Avoiding Divisive Controversies
NEW term (Titus 3:9). Kurdish tribal (aşîret) society places genuine, high social value on lineage and genealogical descent for status, land rights, and marriage; must be carefully scoped to Paul’s target (speculative theological arguments from genealogy, likely tied to the ‘circumcision party’ of 1:10), not read as devaluing lineage-consciousness generally.
Legal Disputes
Approved rendering: Nakokî û Şerên Qanûnî
Transliteration: nakokî û şerên qanûnî
Doctrine: Avoiding Divisive Controversies
Rejected alternatives: any rendering using Şerîet- or Namûs-rooted vocabulary (rejected to avoid misapplying the baseline’s guarded Mosaic Law / honor-killing cautions to this general legalistic-wrangling reference)
Original: μάχας νομικάς
Category: Avoiding Divisive Controversies
NEW term (Titus 3:9, νομικάς). A general reference to legalistic wrangling, NOT a statement about the Law of Moses (Şerîeta Mûsa) itself; confirmed absent of namûs- or şerîet-rooted components as a standing QA check.
Word Of God Blasphemed
Approved rendering: peyva Xwedê neyê heqaretkirin
Transliteration: peyva Xwedê neyê heqaretkirin
Doctrine: Household Order and Public Witness
Original: ὁ λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ βλασφημῆται
Category: Household Ethics and Authority
NEW term (Titus 2:5). Ties household ethics directly to public gospel reputation - highly relevant given the differing religious-freedom environments across the four states Kurdish spans, echoing the baseline’s mission/evangelism caution.
Pure Chaste Clean
Approved rendering: Paqij
Transliteration: paqij
Doctrine: Qualifications for Elders
Original: ἁγνός / καθαρός / μεμιαμμένος
Category: Sanctification
NEW term. Covers ἁγνός (chaste/pure, 1:15, 2:5) and καθαρός (clean, 1:15; opposite: Gemarî, defiled). Greek distinguishes ἅγιος (holy), ἁγνός (chaste/pure), and καθαρός (clean) more sharply than standard Kurdish vocabulary allows; flag for native-speaker review at each occurrence to preserve the distinctions in context.
Low Risk Terms
Exhort
Approved rendering: Handan kirin
Transliteration: handan kirin
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Original: παρακαλέω
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Context-sensitive: şîret kirin (admonish) vs. handan kirin (encourage). Titus 2:15 uses the authoritative-urging sense fitting the letter’s teaching context.
Referenced passages