Core Glossary
Core Glossary: Philemon
Risk Tier Definitions (unchanged from baseline)
| Tier | Definition | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | Mistranslation alters or destroys essential doctrine | Human theologian review, every occurrence |
| High | Mistranslation creates significant theological confusion or syncretism risk | Human theologian review |
| Medium | Mistranslation reduces clarity but preserves essential meaning | Native speaker review |
| Low | Mistranslation causes minor misunderstanding | Automated review sufficient |
Glossary Table
| # | English Term | Greek | Maithili | Transliteration | Risk | Status | Doctrine | Key Passages | Rejected Alternatives | Notes | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1 | gospel | εὐαγγέλιον | सुसमाचार | susamācār | High | (TM) | Gospel | 1:13 | नीक खबर, शुभ सन्देश | Reused exactly from baseline. Paul’s imprisonment is “for the gospel.” | | 2 | grace | χάρις | अनुग्रह | anugraha | High | (TM) | Grace | 1:3, 1:25 | कृपा, दया, पुण्य, कर्मफल, भाग | Reused exactly from baseline. Standard Pauline greeting/benediction frame. | | 3 | faith | πίστις | विश्वास | biswas | High | (TM) | Faith | 1:5 | श्रद्धा, भक्ति | Reused exactly. Philemon’s faith toward the Lord Jesus. | | 4 | peace | εἰρήνη | शान्ति | śānti | Medium | (TM) | Peace with God | 1:3 | चैन, सुख | Reused exactly from baseline. | | 5 | church | ἐκκλησία | मण्डली | maṇḍalī | Medium | (TM) | Church as God’s People | 1:2 | मन्दिर, मठ | Reused exactly. “The church in your house.” | | 6 | saints | ἅγιοι | पवित्र जन | pavitra jan | High | (TM) | Sainthood | 1:5, 1:7 | संत, सती | Reused exactly. Philemon’s love toward “the saints.” | | 7 | fellowship | κοινωνία | सङ्गति | saṅgati | Low | (TM) | Christian Fellowship | 1:6 | मित्रता, समाज | Reused exactly. Root shared conceptually with #16 below (κοινωνός). | | 8 | thanksgiving | εὐχαριστία / εὐχαριστέω | धन्यवाद | dhanyavād | Low | (TM) | Thanksgiving | 1:4 | — | Reused exactly. | | 9 | lord | κύριος | प्रभु | prabhu | Critical | (TM) | Lordship of Christ | 1:16, 1:20, 1:25 | स्वामी, मालिक | Reused exactly. Note: in 1:16, “in the Lord” (ἐν κυρίῳ) names the deeper register of Onesimus’s brotherhood with Philemon, outranking “in the flesh.” | | 10 | apostle (background referent for “command,” v.8) | ἐπιτάσσειν (cf. ἀπόστολος elsewhere) | प्रेरित | prerit | Medium | (TM, background) | Apostleship | 1:8 (implied) | दूत, पंडित | Not directly named in Philemon but the authority Paul declines to invoke by name is his apostolic authority; reused from baseline for conceptual consistency. | | 11 | exhort / appeal | παρακαλέω | विनती करब / उत्साहित करब | vinatī karab / utsāhit karab | Low (per TM) | (TM, context-sensitive) | Mutual Edification | 1:9, 1:10 | — | Per TM’s own note: use विनती for beseeching (as here), उत्साहित करब for building-up encouragement. | | 12 | imputed righteousness (conceptual parallel) | ἐλλογάω (cf. ἐλογίσθη) | आरोपित [करब] | āropit [karab] | High | (TM root reused) | Justification by Faith / Intercession | 1:18 | अर्जित धार्मिकता, सती-धर्म | NEW application of existing TM root. Paul’s request to “charge [Onesimus’s debt] to my account” (ἐλλόγα) uses the same accounting/imputation logic as the baseline’s आरोपित धार्मिकता (imputed righteousness). Reusing this root creates a valuable pedagogical bridge to Romans’ doctrine of justification, but requires a translator note clarifying the limits of the financial analogy — Paul’s offer is a literal debt-guarantee; Christ’s imputed righteousness is a forensic-spiritual reality of which this is only an illustration, not an equivalent. | | 13 | slave / bondservant | δοῦλος | दास | dās | Critical | (NEW) | Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power | 1:16 | नौकर, गुलाम, अछूत-सूचक कोनो शब्द | CRITICAL — grounded reason: Mithila has direct historical memory of caste- and lineage-bound bonded labor (the kamiya system) and continuing hereditary, caste-linked service obligations (jajmani-style relationships). दास is the established North Indian Bible-translation term and must be retained, but every occurrence requires a translator note making two things explicit: (1) the term names Onesimus’s actual prior legal status honestly, without euphemism; (2) the verse’s entire force is that the gospel does not merely tolerate this category but requires it to be transcended in Christ (“no longer as a slave, but… a beloved brother”). Reviewers must confirm the rendering neither (a) reads as quiet endorsement of caste-linked servitude as spiritually acceptable, nor (b) imports region-specific caste-status vocabulary (e.g., terms associated with historically “untouchable” service castes) into the Greek term, which denotes a Greco-Roman legal-economic status, not a caste category. | | 14 | beloved brother | ἀδελφὸς ἀγαπητός | प्रिय भाइ | priya bhāi | Critical | (NEW) | Christian Brotherhood across Social Status | 1:16 (also 1:1, 1:20 vocative ἀδελφέ) | मित्र, साथी (as substitutes that dodge kinship claim) | CRITICAL — grounded reason: In Mithila, brotherhood is customarily verified through the Panjikaran genealogical registry and tied tightly to caste-lineage identity — “brother” is ordinarily a claim about shared, verifiable ancestry, not a chosen spiritual relationship. Philemon 1:16 deliberately and explicitly crosses this boundary, applying kinship language to a former slave with no shared bloodline or caste, exactly as the baseline’s “unity_of_jews_and_gentiles” doctrine crosses the caste-lineage boundary in Romans. Reviewers must confirm प्रिय भाइ is not softened into a merely warm but status-neutral term (e.g., “dear friend/मित्र”) that would evacuate the kinship claim and let the doctrine collapse into vague goodwill. | | 15 | love | ἀγάπη | प्रेम | prem | High | (NEW) | Grace-Motivated Obedience / Christian Brotherhood | 1:5, 1:7, 1:9 | भक्ति, प्यार | HIGH — grounded reason: भक्ति is reserved in the baseline for Mithila’s Ram-Sita/Shiva devotional-reverence tradition (Vidyapati’s poetic tradition) and must not stand in for Christian ἀγάπη, which here is willed, self-giving love extended to a social inferior for that person’s own benefit — a directly countercultural move in a status-conscious setting. प्यार carries a romantic-affection register unsuited to this formal doctrinal use. प्रेम is the safe, formal, Sanskritic choice consistent with the register requirements of the baseline package. | | 16 | partner / co-participant | κοινωνός | सहभागी | sahabhāgī | High | (NEW) | Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another / Christian Brotherhood | 1:17 | साझीदार (business partner) | HIGH — grounded reason: Built on the same root as the baseline’s सङ्गति (fellowship), so the Maithili reader senses the conceptual link. Risk: rendering with साझीदार (an ordinary commercial-partnership word) reduces Paul’s appeal — “receive him as you would receive me” — to a business transaction, precisely the transactional frame the letter is dismantling (cf. vv.14, 18-19’s explicit refusal of compulsion/commercial logic as the primary register even while using accounting imagery instrumentally). | | 17 | voluntary (vs. compulsion) | ἑκούσιον / ἀνάγκη | स्वेच्छासँ / बाध्यता | svecchāsã̃ / bādhyatā | High | (NEW) | Grace-Motivated Obedience | 1:14 | — | HIGH — grounded reason: This contrast is the doctrinal center of “Grace-Motivated Obedience,” directly paralleling the baseline’s insistence (in the “grace” doctrine entry) that grace is unmerited and never extracted or earned. If स्वेच्छासँ is softened to a generic “gladly” or बाध्यता to a generic “difficult,” the free-will/compulsion contrast that carries the doctrine collapses. Uses the native Maithili instrumental -सँ marker per the package’s grammar requirements. | | 18 | obedience (to appeal) | ὑπακοή | आज्ञाकारिता | ājñākāritā | High | (NEW, shared root with TM) | Grace-Motivated Obedience | 1:21 | कर्तव्य पालन | HIGH — grounded reason: Shares its root with the baseline’s “obedience_of_faith” (विश्वासक आज्ञाकारिता) but denotes here Philemon’s expected response to Paul’s specific pastoral appeal rather than the generic gospel-obedience of Romans 1:5/16:26. Must be flagged so translators do not conflate the two senses, and must avoid कर्तव्य पालन (duty-compliance), which the baseline already identifies as carrying strong resonance with Mithila’s dharma-bound household-duty ideal — obedience here is expected to flow from love and free consent (v.14), not duty. | | 19 | wronged / owed (forgiveness of debt) | ἀδικέω / ὀφείλω | अन्याय कएने/ऋणी | anyāy kaene / ṛṇī | High | (NEW) | Forgiveness and Reconciliation | 1:18 | — | HIGH — grounded reason: Names Onesimus’s real fault without euphemism, so that the forgiveness enacted in vv.18-19 is forgiveness of an actual, acknowledged wrong, not a polite fiction. Reviewers should confirm the wrongdoing is neither minimized nor dwelt upon punitively — the letter’s tone models restorative, not punitive, justice. | | 20 | inward parts / heart (deep affection) | σπλάγχνα | हृदय | hṛdaya | Medium | (NEW) | Forgiveness and Reconciliation / Intercession | 1:7, 1:12, 1:20 | कलेजा (too colloquial for formal register) | Formal register uses हृदय; a translator note should surface the more visceral literal sense (“inward parts/very self”) at first occurrence so the bodily intensity of the Greek is not lost to over-formalization. | | 21 | old man / ambassador (textual variant) | πρεσβύτης / πρεσβευτής | बूढ़ पुरुष / राजदूत | būṛh puruṣ / rājdūt | Medium | (NEW) | Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another | 1:9 | — | Textual-critical fork affecting tone (humble elder vs. authoritative envoy); render the majority “old man” reading with a translator note on the “ambassador” variant. | | 22 | prisoner (of Christ Jesus) | δέσμιος | बन्दी | bandī | Medium | (NEW) | Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another | 1:1, 1:9, 1:10, 1:23 | कैदी (carries ordinary-criminal connotation) | Always pair with ख्रीष्ट यीशुक (of Christ Jesus) so Paul’s chains read as gospel suffering, not criminal punishment. | | 23 | boldness / confidence to command | παρρησία | साहस / निःसंकोच अधिकार | sāhas / niḥsaṅkoc adhikār | Medium | (NEW) | Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another | 1:8 | — | Must retain the “in Christ” source of this confidence explicitly; not a personal character trait alone. | | 24 | Onesimus (proper name / wordplay) | Ὀνήσιμος | ओनेसिमुस | Onesimus | Medium | (NEW) | Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power | 1:10, 1:11, 1:20 | — | Transliterated proper name; requires a translator note on the untranslatable Greek pun with ἄχρηστος/εὔχρηστος (vv.11) and ὀναίμην (v.20). | | 25 | useless / useful | ἄχρηστος / εὔχρηστος | अनुपयोगी / उपयोगी | anupayogī / upayogī | Low-Medium | (NEW) | Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power | 1:11 | — | Must not let the “usefulness” frame eclipse the relational “brotherhood” point of v.16 — the gospel’s transformation is relational, not merely functional/utilitarian. | | 26 | consent / free will | γνώμη | सहमति | sahamati | High | (NEW) | Grace-Motivated Obedience | 1:14 | — | Must convey Philemon’s own initiating will, not mere permission granted to a decision already made. | | 27 | flesh (ordinary human relation) | σάρξ (ἐν σαρκί) | शरीरतः / मानवीय दृष्टिसँ | śarīrataḥ / mānavīya dṛṣṭisã̃ | Medium-High | (NEW) | Christian Brotherhood across Social Status | 1:16 | देह (reserved for incarnation) | Deliberately avoid the देह root used for देहधारण (incarnation, Critical risk in baseline) to prevent conflating this everyday-relational sense of “flesh” with the Christological doctrine of Christ’s taking human nature. | | 28 | separated (providential passive) | χωρίζω (ἐχωρίσθη) | अलग भेल | alag bhel | High | (NEW) | Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power / Providence (cf. baseline) | 1:15 | भाग्यसँ (fate-framing) | Preserve the passive-voice providential nuance; must NOT be explained via भाग्य/प्रारब्ध framing, consistent with the baseline’s existing “providence” convention (Romans 8:28). | | 29 | eternal / permanent | αἰώνιος | अनन्त | ananta | Medium-High | (NEW) | Christian Brotherhood across Social Status | 1:15 | — | Keep distinct register from casual “for good” — the brotherhood formed is permanent, echoing the register of eternal life, not merely “a long time.” | | 30 | repay / guarantee debt | ἀποτίνω | चुकाएब | cukāeb | Medium-High | (NEW) | Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another | 1:19 | — | Must convey a binding, personal, handwritten guarantee, not a vague offer. | | 31 | confidence/trust (in a person’s character) | πείθω (πεποιθώς) | भरोसा | bharosā | Medium-High | (NEW) | Grace-Motivated Obedience | 1:21 | विश्वास (reserved) | Deliberately distinct from विश्वास, which the baseline reserves for saving faith in Christ; this is ordinary interpersonal confidence in character. | | 32 | receive/welcome fully | προσλαμβάνω | ग्रहण करब / अपनाएब | grahaṇ karab / apnāeb | High | (NEW) | Christian Brotherhood across Social Status | 1:17 | — | Must convey full, socially visible incorporation as an equal, not grudging tolerance. | | 33 | begotten (spiritual fathering) | γεννάω | जन्म देल (आत्मिक अर्थमे) | janma del (ātmik arthame) | Medium | (NEW) | Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power | 1:10 | — | Must be marked explicitly as spiritual metaphor, not a literal parentage/lineage claim, given Mithila’s Panjikaran-conscious kinship framework. | | 34 | fellow worker | συνεργός | सहकर्मी | sahakarmī | Medium | (NEW) | Christian Brotherhood across Social Status | 1:1, 1:24 | — | Establishes Philemon’s own equal-partner status with Paul, priming the κοινωνός argument of 1:17. | | 35 | fellow prisoner | συναιχμάλωτος | सह-बन्दी | sah-bandī | Low | (NEW) | Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another | 1:23 | — | Keep बन्दी root consistent with #22. |
Doctrine-to-Term Cross-Reference
| Doctrine | Primary Terms | Primary Passages |
|---|---|---|
| Forgiveness and Reconciliation | wronged/owed (#19), inward parts/heart (#20), imputed righteousness parallel (#12) | 1:7, 1:12, 1:18-20 |
| Christian Brotherhood across Social Status | beloved brother (#14), slave (#13), partner (#16), flesh (#27), receive fully (#32), fellow worker (#34) | 1:1, 1:16-17 |
| Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power | slave (#13), Onesimus/useless-useful (#24, #25), begotten (#33), separated (#28), eternal (#29) | 1:10-11, 1:15-16 |
| Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another | old man/ambassador (#21), prisoner (#22), boldness (#23), repay/guarantee (#30), fellow prisoner (#35) | 1:8-10, 1:19, 1:23 |
| Grace-Motivated Obedience | voluntary/compulsion (#17), obedience (#18), consent (#26), confidence/trust (#31) | 1:14, 1:21 |
Terms Reused Exactly from Baseline (No Deviation Permitted)
सुसमाचार (gospel), अनुग्रह (grace), विश्वास (faith), शान्ति (peace), मण्डली (church), पवित्र जन (saints), सङ्गति (fellowship), धन्यवाद (thanksgiving), प्रभु (lord), प्रेरित (apostle), उत्साहित करब / विनती (exhort), आरोपित root (imputed righteousness).
Critical Risk Terms
Lord
Approved rendering: प्रभु
Transliteration: prabhu
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: स्वामी, मालिक
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package, unaltered. In Philemon 1:16, ‘in the Lord’ (ἐν κυρίῳ) is rendered प्रभुमे and names the deeper spiritual register of Onesimus’s brotherhood with Philemon, outranking the merely ‘in the flesh’ register (see new term flesh_ordinary_relation). Also occurs 1:20, 1:25.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: आरोपित धार्मिकता
Transliteration: āropit dhārmiktā
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: अर्जित धार्मिकता, सती-धर्म
Inherited from Romans package, unaltered as a doctrinal term. Its आरोपित (imputed/charged) root is reused, NOT this full phrase, in the new Philemon-specific term charge_to_account (1:18) to build a pedagogical bridge between Paul’s financial guarantee and the forensic doctrine of imputation. The two must not be presented as equivalent — see charge_to_account notes.
Jesus
Approved rendering: यीशु
Transliteration: Yīśu
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: ईसा
Inherited from Romans package, unaltered. Appears throughout Philemon in the compound ‘Christ Jesus’ (ख्रीष्ट यीशु), e.g. 1:1, 1:9, 1:23.
God
Approved rendering: परमेश्वर
Transliteration: parameśvar
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: भगवान, ईश्वर
Inherited from Romans package, unaltered. Philemon 1:3-4, 1:22: ‘God our Father,’ ‘my God.‘
Father
Approved rendering: पिता
Transliteration: pitā
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: ब्रह्मा, सृष्टिकर्ता
Inherited from Romans package, unaltered. Philemon 1:3: ‘God our Father.‘
Messiah
Approved rendering: मसीह
Transliteration: masīh
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Rejected alternatives: अभिषिक्त पुरुष, अवतारी पुरुष
Inherited from Romans package, unaltered. In running text within Philemon, ‘Christ’ as part of the proper-name compound ‘Christ Jesus’ is transliterated ख्रीष्ट per the established curriculum-wide proper-noun convention (see christ_jesus entry below), while मसीह is retained for explicit messianic-title contexts if any arise in teaching material built on this letter.
Christ Jesus
Approved rendering: ख्रीष्ट यीशु
Transliteration: Khrīṣṭ Yīśu
Doctrine: Deity of Christ / Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: ईसा मसीह
NEW — standard proper-name compound occurring repeatedly in Philemon (1:1, 1:9, 1:23, and implicitly wherever ‘Christ’ modifies ‘Jesus’). Follows the curriculum-wide transliteration standard already fixed for the wider book list (Christ = ख्रीष्ट / मसीह) — ख्रीष्ट is used specifically in the compound proper name, मसीह reserved for the explicit messianic-title doctrine. Never render as ईसा मसीह (Muslim/Urdu-influenced usage).
Slave
Approved rendering: दास
Transliteration: dās
Doctrine: Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power
Rejected alternatives: नौकर, गुलाम, अछूत-सूचक कोनो शब्द
Original: δοῦλος
Category: Slavery and Social Status
CRITICAL — NEW. Philemon 1:16: ‘no longer as a slave.’ दास is the established North Indian Bible-translation term and must be retained, but Mithila has direct living historical memory of caste- and lineage-bound bonded labor (the kamiya system) and continuing jajmani-style hereditary caste-service obligations. Every occurrence requires a translator note stating (1) the term honestly names Onesimus’s actual prior legal status, (2) the verse’s force is that the gospel requires this relational category to be transcended in Christ, not merely tolerated. NEVER substitute region-specific caste-status vocabulary (e.g. terms tied to historically ‘untouchable’ service castes), which would wrongly import a caste category onto a Greco-Roman legal-economic one.
Beloved Brother
Approved rendering: प्रिय भाइ
Transliteration: priya bhāi
Doctrine: Christian Brotherhood across Social Status
Rejected alternatives: मित्र, साथी, भाइ (bare, without प्रिय)
Original: ἀδελφὸς ἀγαπητός
Category: Christian Brotherhood
CRITICAL — NEW. Philemon 1:16 (also vocative ἀδελφέ at 1:20; of Timothy at 1:1). In Mithila, brotherhood is customarily verified through the Panjikaran genealogical registry and bound to caste-lineage identity. This verse deliberately crosses that boundary, applying kinship language to a former slave with no shared bloodline or caste — directly paralleling the baseline’s ‘unity_of_jews_and_gentiles’ doctrine. NEVER use bare भाइ in this letter’s doctrinally load-bearing verses (1:16, 1:20); always प्रिय भाइ. Must not be softened to a status-neutral ‘dear friend’ term that evacuates the kinship claim.
High Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: सुसमाचार
Transliteration: susamācār
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: नीक खबर, शुभ सन्देश
Original: εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unaltered. Philemon 1:13: Paul’s imprisonment is explicitly ‘for the gospel’ — must read as a weighty, unique proclamation, not casual news.
Grace
Approved rendering: अनुग्रह
Transliteration: anugraha
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: कृपा, दया, पुण्य, कर्मफल, भाग
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unaltered. Used in the salutation (1:3) and benediction (1:25); even in this brief formulaic use must not drift toward merit-based renderings.
Faith
Approved rendering: विश्वास
Transliteration: biswas
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: श्रद्धा, भक्ति
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package, unaltered. Philemon 1:5-6: Philemon’s faith ‘toward the Lord Jesus.’ Must remain lexically distinct from भरोसा (see confidence_trust_character, a new Philemon-specific term for ordinary interpersonal confidence).
Saints
Approved rendering: पवित्र जन
Transliteration: pavitra jan
Doctrine: Sainthood
Rejected alternatives: संत, सती
Original: ἅγιοι
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package, unaltered. Philemon 1:5, 1:7: objects of Philemon’s reported love.
In Christ
Approved rendering: ख्रीष्टमे
Transliteration: Khrīṣṭame
Doctrine: Christian Identity in Christ
NEW. Renders ἐν Χριστῷ (Philemon 1:8, ‘boldness in Christ’; 1:20, ‘refresh my heart in Christ’). Related to, but a distinct occurrence from, the baseline Romans doctrine ‘christian_identity_in_christ’ (High risk). Must situate Paul’s confidence and personal request within union with Christ, not mere personal friendship or apostolic rank.
Love
Approved rendering: प्रेम
Transliteration: prem
Doctrine: Grace-Motivated Obedience / Christian Brotherhood across Social Status
Rejected alternatives: भक्ति, प्यार
Original: ἀγάπη
Category: Faith
HIGH — NEW. Philemon 1:5, 1:7, 1:9. भक्ति is reserved for Mithila’s Ram-Sita/Shiva devotional-reverence tradition and must not stand in for Christian ἀγάπη; प्यार carries an unsuited romantic-affection register. This is willed, self-giving love extended to a social inferior for that person’s own benefit — countercultural in a status-conscious setting, and the stated basis of Paul’s appeal replacing command (1:9).
Partner
Approved rendering: सहभागी
Transliteration: sahabhāgī
Doctrine: Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another / Christian Brotherhood across Social Status
Rejected alternatives: साझीदार
Original: κοινωνός
Category: Christian Brotherhood
HIGH — NEW. Philemon 1:17: ‘if you consider me your partner (κοινωνός), receive him as you would receive me.’ Built on the same root as सङ्गति (fellowship) to keep the conceptual link visible. NEVER साझीदार (ordinary commercial-partnership term), which would reduce the appeal to a business transaction — precisely the transactional frame the letter otherwise resists.
Charge To Account
Approved rendering: आरोपित करब
Transliteration: āropit karab
Doctrine: Forgiveness and Reconciliation / Justification by Faith (parallel)
Rejected alternatives: क्षमा करब (alone)
Original: ἐλλογάω
Category: Salvation
HIGH — NEW. Philemon 1:18: ‘charge that to my account’ (ἐλλόγα). Reuses the आरोपित root from the baseline’s imputed_righteousness entry (आरोपित धार्मिकता) to create a valuable pedagogical bridge to the doctrine of justification, but requires a mandatory translator note clarifying the analogy’s limits: Paul offers to pay a literal financial debt; Christ’s imputed righteousness is a forensic-spiritual reality, not merely a financial metaphor. Must not stand alone without the accompanying accounting language of the passage (debt named, v.18; guarantee, v.19).
Voluntary
Approved rendering: स्वेच्छासँ
Transliteration: svecchāsã̃
Doctrine: Grace-Motivated Obedience
Rejected alternatives: खुशीसँ (too weak), आनन्दसँ (too weak)
HIGH — NEW. Philemon 1:14: ‘not by compulsion but of your own accord’ (ἑκούσιον). Uses the native Maithili instrumental -सँ marker per the package’s grammar requirements. This is the doctrinal center of ‘Grace-Motivated Obedience,’ directly paralleling the baseline’s insistence that grace is unmerited and never extracted. Must always be paired contrastively with ‘compulsion’ (see next entry); must not be diluted to a generic ‘gladly.‘
Compulsion
Approved rendering: बाध्यता
Transliteration: bādhyatā
Doctrine: Grace-Motivated Obedience
Rejected alternatives: मजबूरी (acceptable colloquial synonym, but बाध्यता preferred for formal register)
HIGH — NEW. Philemon 1:14: ‘not by compulsion’ (κατὰ ἀνάγκην), the negative pole of the verse’s central contrast against voluntary. Must be preserved sharply in every occurrence, not softened into a general ‘please do this’ framing. Mithila’s dharma-bound household-duty ideal (कर्तव्य पालन) is the live risk of collapsing this contrast into ordinary social obligation.
Obedience To Appeal
Approved rendering: आज्ञाकारिता
Transliteration: ājñākāritā
Doctrine: Grace-Motivated Obedience
Rejected alternatives: कर्तव्य पालन
Original: ὑπακοή
Category: Grace-Motivated Obedience
HIGH — NEW. Philemon 1:21: ‘confident of your obedience’ (ὑπακοή). Shares its root with the baseline’s विश्वासक आज्ञाकारिता (obedience of faith, Romans 1:5/16:26) but must NOT be conflated with it — this is Philemon’s expected responsiveness to Paul’s specific pastoral appeal, not generic gospel-obedience. Must avoid कर्तव्य पालन (duty-compliance), flagged in the baseline as carrying dharma-bound household-duty resonance; this obedience is expected to flow from love and free consent (1:14), not duty. A translator note distinguishing this term from the baseline’s obedience_of_faith entry is required at first occurrence.
Wronged Debt
Approved rendering: अन्याय कएने / ऋणी
Transliteration: anyāy kaene / ṛṇī
Doctrine: Forgiveness and Reconciliation
Original: ἀδικέω / ὀφείλω
Category: Forgiveness and Reconciliation
HIGH — NEW. Philemon 1:18: ‘if he has wronged you or owes you anything’ (ἀδικέω / ὀφείλω). Names Onesimus’s real fault honestly so that the forgiveness enacted in vv.18-19 is forgiveness of an actual, acknowledged wrong, not a polite fiction. Must be neither minimized nor punitively dwelt upon — the letter models restorative, not punitive, justice.
Consent Free Will
Approved rendering: सहमति
Transliteration: sahamati
Doctrine: Grace-Motivated Obedience
Original: γνώμη
Category: Grace-Motivated Obedience
HIGH — NEW. Philemon 1:14: ‘without your consent I would do nothing’ (γνώμη). The doctrinal point collapses if rendered as mere ‘permission’ granted to a decision already made; must convey Philemon’s own initiating will.
Separated Providentially
Approved rendering: अलग भेल
Transliteration: alag bhel
Doctrine: Providence / Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power
Rejected alternatives: भाग गेल (active, loses providential nuance), भाग्यसँ / प्रारब्धसँ (fate-framing)
Original: χωρίζω (ἐχωρίσθη)
Category: Slavery and Social Status
HIGH — NEW. Philemon 1:15: ‘perhaps this is why he was separated from you for a while’ (ἐχωρίσθη, divine passive). The passive-voice providential nuance must be preserved rather than flattened into an active ‘he ran away.’ Must NEVER be explained via भाग्य/प्रारब्ध (fate/destiny) framing, consistent with the baseline’s existing ‘providence’ convention (Romans 8:28).
Receive Fully
Approved rendering: ग्रहण करब
Transliteration: grahaṇ karab
Doctrine: Christian Brotherhood across Social Status
Rejected alternatives: अपनाएब (acceptable secondary gloss)
Original: προσλαμβάνω
Category: Christian Brotherhood
HIGH — NEW. Philemon 1:17: ‘receive him as you would receive me’ (προσλαμβάνω) — the command verb of the whole letter. Must convey full, socially visible incorporation as an equal, not grudging tolerance; the doctrine is realized or lost in how forcefully this verb lands.
Flesh Ordinary Relation
Approved rendering: शरीरतः / मानवीय दृष्टिसँ
Transliteration: śarīrataḥ / mānavīya dṛṣṭisã̃
Doctrine: Christian Brotherhood across Social Status
Rejected alternatives: देह (reserved for देहधारण/incarnation)
Original: σάρξ (ἐν σαρκί)
Category: Christian Brotherhood
HIGH (normalized from source analysis’s ‘Medium-High’ for enforcement purposes) — NEW. Philemon 1:16: Onesimus is Philemon’s brother ‘in the flesh’ (ἐν σαρκί), i.e. in the ordinary human/social sphere, contrasted with ‘in the Lord.’ Deliberately avoids the देह root reserved for देहधारण (incarnation, Critical risk in the baseline) so this everyday-relational sense is never conflated with the Christological doctrine of Christ’s taking human nature.
Eternal Permanent
Approved rendering: अनन्त
Transliteration: ananta
Doctrine: Christian Brotherhood across Social Status
Rejected alternatives: सधैंलेल (casual ‘for good’, too weak)
Original: αἰώνιος
Category: Christian Brotherhood
HIGH (normalized from source analysis’s ‘Medium-High’) — NEW. Philemon 1:15: contrasts the temporary separation (‘for an hour’) with the permanent restoration of relationship. Keep a register distinct from a casual ‘for good’ so the eternal-relationship claim, echoing the register of eternal life, is not lost.
Repay Guarantee
Approved rendering: चुकाएब
Transliteration: cukāeb
Doctrine: Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another
Original: ἀποτίνω
Category: Intercession
HIGH (normalized from source analysis’s ‘Medium-High’) — NEW. Philemon 1:19: ‘I will repay it’ (ἀποτίνω), Paul’s personal, handwritten guarantee. Must convey a binding, personal guarantee, not a vague offer, underscored by ‘I have written this with my own hand.‘
Confidence Trust Character
Approved rendering: भरोसा
Transliteration: bharosā
Doctrine: Grace-Motivated Obedience
Rejected alternatives: विश्वास (reserved)
Original: πείθω (πεποιθώς)
Category: Grace-Motivated Obedience
HIGH (normalized from source analysis’s ‘Medium-High’) — NEW. Philemon 1:21: ‘confident of your obedience’ (πεποιθώς). Deliberately distinct from विश्वास, which the baseline reserves specifically for saving faith in Christ; conflating the two vocabularies would blur a Critical-risk theological distinction already established in the baseline package. This is ordinary interpersonal confidence in Philemon’s character, not saving faith.
Medium Risk Terms
Peace
Approved rendering: शान्ति
Transliteration: śānti
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: चैन, सुख
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unaltered. Standard Pauline greeting formula, Philemon 1:3.
Church
Approved rendering: मण्डली
Transliteration: maṇḍalī
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: मन्दिर, मठ
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package, unaltered. Philemon 1:2: ‘the church in your house’ (house-church gathering).
Apostle
Approved rendering: प्रेरित
Transliteration: prerit
Doctrine: Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: दूत, पंडित
Original: ἐπιτάσσειν (background referent: ἀπόστολος)
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package, unaltered. Not directly named in Philemon but the delegated authority Paul explicitly declines to invoke by direct command (1:8), appealing through love instead.
Inward Parts Heart
Approved rendering: हृदय
Transliteration: hṛdaya
Doctrine: Forgiveness and Reconciliation
Rejected alternatives: कलेजा (too colloquial for formal register)
Original: σπλάγχνα
Category: Forgiveness and Reconciliation
MEDIUM — NEW. Philemon 1:7 (‘hearts of the saints refreshed’), 1:12 (‘my very heart,’ of Onesimus), 1:20 (‘refresh my heart’). Formal register uses हृदय; a translator note should surface the more visceral literal sense (‘inward parts/very self,’ σπλάγχνα) at first occurrence (1:7) so the bodily intensity of the Greek is not lost to over-formalization.
Old Man Ambassador
Approved rendering: बूढ़ पुरुष
Transliteration: būṛh puruṣ
Doctrine: Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another
Original: πρεσβύτης / πρεσβευτής
Category: Intercession
MEDIUM — NEW. Philemon 1:9: textual-critical fork between πρεσβύτης (‘old man,’ majority reading, rendered here) and πρεσβευτής (‘ambassador,’ variant reading, राजदूत). Render the majority reading as primary text with a translator note flagging the variant, since the two readings shift the tone of the whole appeal (humble elder vs. authoritative envoy).
Prisoner Of Christ
Approved rendering: बन्दी
Transliteration: bandī
Doctrine: Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another
Rejected alternatives: कैदी (ordinary-criminal connotation)
Original: δέσμιος
Category: Intercession
MEDIUM — NEW. Philemon 1:1, 1:9, 1:10, 1:23. Must always be paired with ख्रीष्ट यीशुक (of Christ Jesus) so Paul’s chains read as gospel suffering, not ordinary criminal imprisonment.
Boldness In Christ
Approved rendering: साहस
Transliteration: sāhas
Doctrine: Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another
Rejected alternatives: निःसंकोच अधिकार
Original: παρρησία
Category: Intercession
MEDIUM — NEW. Philemon 1:8: the confident authority Paul has ‘in Christ’ to command Philemon, which he chooses not to exercise. Must retain the ‘in Christ’ source of this confidence explicitly in the clause, not as a general personal-character trait.
Onesimus
Approved rendering: ओनेसिमुस
Transliteration: Onesimus
Doctrine: Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power
Original: Ὀνήσιμος
Category: Proper Names
MEDIUM — NEW. Philemon 1:10, 1:11, 1:20. Proper name meaning ‘useful/profitable’; the letter’s central wordplay figure. Transliterate as ओनेसिमुस; requires a translator note at first occurrence explaining the untranslatable Greek pun with ἄχρηστος/εὔχρηστος (useless/useful, v.11) and ὀναίμην (v.20).
Useless Useful
Approved rendering: अनुपयोगी / उपयोगी
Transliteration: anupayogī / upayogī
Doctrine: Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power
Original: ἄχρηστος / εὔχρηστος
Category: Slavery and Social Status
MEDIUM (normalized from source analysis’s ‘Low-Medium’) — NEW. Philemon 1:11: Onesimus’s former uselessness and present usefulness, a wordplay on his own name. Must not let the ‘usefulness’ frame eclipse the relational ‘brotherhood’ point of v.16 — the gospel’s transformation is relational, not merely functional/utilitarian.
Begotten Spiritual
Approved rendering: जन्म देल (आत्मिक अर्थमे)
Transliteration: janma del (ātmik arthame)
Doctrine: Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power
Original: γεννάω
Category: Slavery and Social Status
MEDIUM — NEW. Philemon 1:10: Paul’s claim to have spiritually ‘begotten’ Onesimus (γεννάω) during his imprisonment. Must be marked explicitly as a spiritual metaphor, not a literal parentage/lineage claim, given Mithila’s Panjikaran-conscious kinship framework where such claims carry real social-lineage weight.
Fellow Worker
Approved rendering: सहकर्मी
Transliteration: sahakarmī
Doctrine: Christian Brotherhood across Social Status
Original: συνεργός
Category: Christian Brotherhood
MEDIUM — NEW. Philemon 1:1 (Philemon), 1:24 (Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke). Establishes Philemon’s own equal-partner status with Paul from the letter’s opening, priming the κοινωνός (partner) argument developed at 1:17.
Spirit Human
Approved rendering: आत्मा
Transliteration: ātmā
Doctrine: Grace (closing benediction)
Rejected alternatives: पवित्र आत्मा (reserved for the Holy Spirit)
MEDIUM — NEW. Philemon 1:25: ‘the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit’ (τοῦ πνεύματος ὑμῶν) — Philemon’s own human spirit, NOT the Holy Spirit. Must never be qualified with पवित्र, which the baseline reserves exclusively for the third Person of the Trinity (पवित्र आत्मा).
Low Risk Terms
Fellowship
Approved rendering: सङ्गति
Transliteration: saṅgati
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: मित्रता, समाज
Original: κοινωνία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package, unaltered. Philemon 1:6: ‘the fellowship of your faith.’ Root shared conceptually with the new High-risk term ‘partner’ (κοινωνός) at 1:17 — keep the shared root visible in Maithili (सङ्गति / सहभागी).
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: धन्यवाद
Transliteration: dhanyavād
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Original: εὐχαριστία / εὐχαριστέω
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package, unaltered. Philemon 1:4.
Exhort
Approved rendering: उत्साहित करब
Transliteration: utsāhit karab
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Inherited from Romans package, unaltered. In Philemon 1:9-10, use the beseeching sense per the baseline’s own context-sensitivity note: विनती करब (entreat), sharply distinguished from ἐπιτάσσω/आज्ञा (command) in 1:8.
Fellow Prisoner
Approved rendering: सह-बन्दी
Transliteration: sah-bandī
Doctrine: Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another
Original: συναιχμάλωτος
Category: Intercession
LOW — NEW. Philemon 1:23: Epaphras named as sharing Paul’s imprisonment. Keep the बन्दी root consistent with Paul’s own ‘prisoner of Christ Jesus’ designation.
Paul Name
Approved rendering: पौलुस
Transliteration: Paulus
Doctrine: Proper Name
NEW proper name, transliteration fixed per the curriculum-wide proper-noun convention already anticipated in 12_ai_translation_requirements.md (baseline).
Timothy Name
Approved rendering: तीमुथियुस
Transliteration: Timotheus
Doctrine: Proper Name
NEW proper name. Philemon 1:1, co-sender.
Philemon Name
Approved rendering: फिलेमोन
Transliteration: Philēmōn
Doctrine: Proper Name
NEW proper name and book name. Philemon 1:1. Also used as the Maithili book-title form: फिलेमोन (see citation conventions in 12_ai_translation_requirements.md).
Apphia Name
Approved rendering: अप्फिया
Transliteration: Apphia
Doctrine: Proper Name
NEW proper name. Philemon 1:2.
Archippus Name
Approved rendering: अरखिप्पुस
Transliteration: Archippus
Doctrine: Proper Name
NEW proper name. Philemon 1:2.
Mark Name
Approved rendering: मरकुस
Transliteration: Markos
Doctrine: Proper Name
NEW proper name. Philemon 1:24. Reused for cross-document consistency with the Gospel of Mark, elsewhere in this curriculum’s wider book list.
Aristarchus Name
Approved rendering: अरिस्तारखुस
Transliteration: Aristarchos
Doctrine: Proper Name
NEW proper name. Philemon 1:24.
Demas Name
Approved rendering: देमास
Transliteration: Dēmas
Doctrine: Proper Name
NEW proper name. Philemon 1:24.
Luke Name
Approved rendering: लूका
Transliteration: Loukas
Doctrine: Proper Name
NEW proper name. Philemon 1:24. Reused for cross-document consistency with the Gospel of Luke, elsewhere in this curriculum’s wider book list.
Referenced passages