Core Glossary
Core Glossary: 3 John (Malay Destination Language Package)
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing term identified in analysis/07_semantic_analysis.md, covering the entirety of 3 John (a single chapter, 1:1-14). Terms already present in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json are marked [BASELINE REUSE] and their recorded Malay rendering is carried over exactly, per the non-negotiable reuse rule. All other terms are proposed new entries for this curriculum, pending formal addition to translation memory in Phase 1 Step 2.
Risk tiers follow the baseline’s four-tier framework (doctrine_risk_registry.json): Critical (human theologian review, every occurrence) / High (human theologian review) / Medium (native speaker review recommended) / Low (automated review sufficient).
A. Baseline Terms Reused Exactly
| English Term | Greek Original | Transliteration | Malay Rendering | Risk | Doctrine Link | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Church | ἐκκλησία | ekklēsia | Gereja | Medium | Hospitality (v.6); Church Leadership and Pride (v.9) | translation_memory.json — reused exactly |
| Peace | εἰρήνη | eirēnē | Damai sejahtera | Medium | Closing blessing (v.14) | translation_memory.json — reused exactly |
B. New Terms Proposed for the 3 John Curriculum
Critical Risk
| English Term | Greek Original | Transliteration | Malay Rendering | Doctrine Link | Verses | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Truth | ἀλήθεια | alētheia | Kebenaran | Truth and Christian Fellowship | 1:1, 3(×2), 4, 8, 12(×2) | Collides directly with the baseline’s Critical-risk rendering of righteousness (δικαιοσύνη) as Kebenaran. Established Alkitab tradition genuinely uses kebenaran for both, so the rendering is retained for consistency with the wider Malay Bible, but every occurrence must carry a disambiguating gloss distinguishing “truth/gospel-fidelity” from “forensic righteous standing,” to prevent cross-curriculum doctrinal conflation for learners moving between Romans and 3 John material. |
| Gentiles / outsiders (mission-support sense) | ἐθνικῶν | ethnikōn | Orang yang tidak beriman kepada Kristus (descriptive; do NOT use Bangsa bukan Yahudi or kafir) | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | 1:7 | Compounds two forbidden-term risks: (1) reusing the baseline’s Bangsa bukan Yahudi would wrongly import Romans’ Jew/Gentile ethnic-boundary sense into a missions-support/integrity context; (2) the baseline explicitly forbids kafir for ἔθνη due to its contested pejorative charge in Malay/Indonesian discourse — a prohibition that applies with equal or greater force here. Requires descriptive, non-baseline rendering and human theologian review. |
High Risk
| English Term | Greek Original | Transliteration | Malay Rendering | Doctrine Link | Verses | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prosper / be in good health | εὐοδοῦσθαι / ὑγιαίνειν | euodousthai / hygiainein | Maju/sejahtera dalam segala perkara; sihat tubuh badan | (Epistolary greeting; adjacent to Truth and Fellowship framing) | 1:2 | A globally common prosperity-gospel proof-text, including in some Malaysian charismatic contexts. Must be explicitly taught as a standard ancient personal-letter greeting-wish, not a doctrinal guarantee of wealth/health. |
| Strangers | ξένοι | xenoi | Orang asing (with descriptive gloss “orang asing yang melayani Injil” on first use) | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | 1:5 | Collides with contemporary Malaysian immigration/foreign-labor political discourse (“orang asing/pendatang asing”), risking an unrelated, sensitive contemporary association overtaking the intended sense of unfamiliar traveling gospel workers. |
| ”The Name” (absolute, of Christ) | τοῦ ὀνόματος | tou onomatos | Nama itu (mandatory gloss: Nama Kristus/Yesus) | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | 1:7 | Unglossed, this absolute usage is doctrinally opaque in Malay and risks being read through Islamic invocational formulas emphasizing action “in the name of Allah” (bismillah). Must be explicitly identified as Christ’s name. |
| Loving preeminence / self-first ambition | φιλοπρωτεύων | philoprōteuōn | Yang suka mengutamakan dirinya (sebagai yang terutama) | Church Leadership and Pride (Diotrephes) | 1:9 | Rare NT hapax; no single Malay word suffices. Core term for the Diotrephes doctrine — must be taught as a critique of prideful self-exaltation specifically, not of church leadership/authority as such (contrast the letter’s own positive use of Penatua, elder). |
| Doer of good / doer of evil | ἀγαθοποιῶν / κακοποιῶν | agathopoiōn / kakopoiōn | Orang yang berbuat baik / orang yang berbuat jahat | Imitating Good rather than Evil | 1:11 | Read in isolation, sounds like a works-based test of standing before God. Must be explicitly taught, alongside the baseline’s grace-vs-merit caution, as describing the evidence/fruit of a life already transformed, not the ground on which standing with God is earned (echoes but is distinct from the baseline’s imputed_righteousness caution). |
| Has [not] seen God | ἑώρακεν τὸν θεόν | heōraken ton theon | Belum pernah melihat Allah | Imitating Good rather than Evil | 1:11 | Risk of being read as implying God’s physical visibility, in tension with tawhid’s rejection of divine anthropomorphism (tashbih). Must be taught as the Johannine idiom for relational, saving knowledge of God, not literal eyesight. |
| Testify / testimony | μαρτυρέω / μαρτυρία | martyreō / martyria | Bersaksi / memberi kesaksian / kesaksian | Commendation of Faithful Witness (Demetrius); Truth and Christian Fellowship | 1:3, 6, 12(×3) | Sits near the conceptual neighborhood of the Islamic syahadah (formulaic creedal declaration of faith). Must be taught as commendation of a specific person’s observed, verifiable gospel-consistent character and conduct, not a fixed creedal recitation. Central to this curriculum’s Demetrius doctrine; route to human theologian review. |
Medium Risk
| English Term | Greek Original | Transliteration | Malay Rendering | Doctrine Link | Verses | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elder | πρεσβύτερος | presbyteros | Penatua | Church Leadership and Pride | 1:1 | Risks flattening to “an elderly person,” or colliding with customary indigenous adat elder councils in Sabah/Sarawak Malay-Christian contexts. Must be clarified as a recognized spiritual/pastoral office. |
| Beloved | ἀγαπητός | agapētos | Yang dikasihi | Truth and Christian Fellowship (epistolary address) | 1:1, 2, 5, 11 | The baseline rejected “kekasih Allah” as a forbidden Christological euphemism for Anak Allah; here the same root is used correctly as ordinary personal address to Gaius. Flag so reviewers recognize the distinct, non-Christological usage. |
| Soul | ψυχή | psychē | Jiwa | (Personal well-being, v.2, adjacent to Truth/Fellowship) | 1:2 | Distinguish from roh (already reserved for “spirit”/Roh Kudus); avoid folk-animist life-force (semangat) connotations. |
| Brothers (traveling ministers) | ἀδελφοί | adelphoi | Saudara-saudara | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | 1:3, 5, 10 | Also common Malay/Islamic vocabulary for ummah-based religious brotherhood; must be specified as fellow Christian gospel workers in this context. |
| Faithful thing (action) | πιστόν (ποιεῖς) | piston (poieis) | Perbuatan yang setia | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | 1:5 | Cognate with pistis (faith, baseline Iman) but describes an action’s character, not saving trust; avoid conflating with the act of believing. |
| Send on the journey (missionary support) | προπέμπω | propempō | Menghantar/membantu meneruskan perjalanan | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | 1:6 | No single Malay word; requires descriptive phrase conveying material provision for onward gospel travel. |
| Worthily of God | ἀξίως τοῦ θεοῦ | axiōs tou theou | Selayaknya di sisi Allah | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | 1:6 | Ensure “worthy/layak” is not read as earning merit before God; keep consistent with the baseline’s grace-vs-merit caution. |
| Ought / obligated | ὀφείλομεν | opheilomen | Kita patut / sewajarnya kita | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | 1:8 | Avoid wajib (Islamic fiqh legal-obligation category); this is relational, gratitude-flowing moral obligation, not legal duty. |
| Support / undergird | ὑπολαμβάνειν | hypolambanein | Menyokong / membantu | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | 1:8 | Distinguish from ἐπιδέχομαι (“menerima,” bare welcome); carries a stronger material-support nuance. |
| Receive / welcome (or refuse to) | ἐπιδέχομαι | epidechomai | Menerima | Hospitality; Church Leadership and Pride | 1:9, 10 | Straightforward but doctrinally weighted by context — welcome/rejection of legitimate apostolic authority and traveling ministers alike. |
| Malicious/slanderous talk | λόγοις πονηροῖς φλυαρῶν | logois ponērois phlyarōn | Memfitnah kami dengan kata-kata jahat | Church Leadership and Pride | 1:10 | Resonates with Malaysian defamation-law vocabulary (fitnah); keep focus on spiritual-community harm rather than contemporary legal categories. |
| Hinder / cast out | κωλύει / ἐκβάλλει | kōlyei / ekballei | Menghalang / menghalau (dari gereja) | Church Leadership and Pride | 1:10 | Must be distinguished from legitimate, restorative church discipline; this is its illegitimate, pride-motivated abuse. |
| Evil / good | κακόν / ἀγαθόν | kakon / agathon | Yang jahat / yang baik | Imitating Good rather than Evil | 1:11 | Broadly compatible moral vocabulary across Malay religious traditions; avoid a karmic/fate-based good-bad framing in favor of conduct measured against God’s holy character. |
| Friends | φίλος | philos | Sahabat-sahabat | Truth and Christian Fellowship (closing greeting) | 1:14 | Distinct register from saudara (brothers); echoes John 15:14-15’s “friends” language — keep consistent if cross-referenced. |
Low Risk
| English Term | Greek Original | Transliteration | Malay Rendering | Doctrine Link | Verses | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I wish/pray | εὔχομαι | euchomai | Berdoa/berharap | (Epistolary greeting) | 1:2 | Informal correspondence wish, not a formal liturgical prayer act. |
| Rejoiced / joy | ἐχάρην / χαρά | echarēn / chara | Sukacita | Truth and Christian Fellowship | 1:3, 4 | Standard term, no significant collision. |
| My children (spiritual) | τὰ ἐμὰ τέκνα | ta ema tekna | Anak-anakku | (Pastoral relationship) | 1:4 | Distinguish from the baseline’s divine-adoption doctrine (Pengangkatan sebagai anak); this is the elder’s human pastoral relationship to converts, not divine sonship. |
| Fellow worker(s) | συνεργός | synergos | Rakan sekerja | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | 1:8 | Standard, unambiguous secular/ministry co-labor term. |
| Imitate | μιμοῦ / μιμέομαι | mimou / mimeomai | Meniru / mencontohi | Imitating Good rather than Evil | 1:11 | Clear, standard term; central but low-collision-risk verb for this doctrine. |
| Ink / pen (reed) | μέλανος / καλάμου | melanos / kalamou | Dakwat / kalam-pena | (Material culture, no doctrine) | 1:13 | No theological content; included for full-verse coverage. |
| Face to face | στόμα πρὸς στόμα | stoma pros stoma | Bersemuka / bertemu terus | Truth and Christian Fellowship (closing) | 1:14 | Must render idiomatically, never literally (“mouth to mouth”). |
| By name / individually | κατ᾽ ὄνομα | kat’ onoma | Seorang demi seorang | (Closing personal greeting) | 1:14 | Straightforward, no doctrinal weight. |
C. Proper Names
| English Name | Greek Original | Transliteration | Malay Rendering | Risk | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gaius | Γάϊος | Gaios | Gayus | Low | Established Alkitab-consistent transliteration; letter’s positive recipient/exemplar of hospitality. |
| Diotrephes | Διοτρέφης | Diotrephēs | Diotrefes | Low (name itself); High doctrinal weight attaches to his described conduct, not the name | The negative example for Church Leadership and Pride; retain name form per Alkitab transliteration convention. |
| Demetrius | Δημήτριος | Dēmētrios | Demetrius | Low | The positive example for Commendation of Faithful Witness; retain name form per Alkitab transliteration convention. |
D. Summary Risk Counts (3 John)
| Risk Tier | Count (new terms) | Count (baseline reused) |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 2 | 0 |
| High | 6 | 0 |
| Medium | 13 | 2 |
| Low | 8 | 0 |
| Proper names | 3 | — |
Total requiring human theologian review (Critical + High): 8 Total requiring native speaker review (Medium): 15 (13 new + 2 baseline) Total automated-review-sufficient (Low): 8
This glossary feeds directly into Phase 1 Step 2 (translation memory extension) and Step 3 (doctrine risk registry extension) for the 3 John curriculum, and must be cross-checked against translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json before Phase 2 translation begins.
Critical Risk Terms
Righteousness
Approved rendering: Kebenaran
Transliteration: keh-beh-NAH-rahn
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: amal soleh (righteous deeds, as the ground itself)
CRITICAL: Kebenaran can ambiguously mean ‘truth/correctness’ as well as moral righteousness in everyday Malay; context must make clear this is right standing before God, not merely factual accuracy. Never present as equivalent to amal soleh (righteous deeds), the works-ledger category central to Islamic judgment theology. INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE: this is the single most consequential cross-curriculum collision in the 3 John Language Package, because 3 John’s own new ‘truth’ entry (below) uses the identical Malay word Kebenaran for a different sense (gospel-fidelity, not forensic standing). Reused exactly, unaltered; see the new ‘truth’ entry for the required disambiguation strategy.
Lord
Approved rendering: Tuhan
Transliteration: TOO-hahn
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: tuan (master/sir, non-divine)
Established Alkitab term (Tuhan Yesus). In Romans 10:9 the confession ‘Jesus is Lord’ = Yesus adalah Tuhan. Tuan denotes a human master/sir and must not substitute; it removes the exclusive divine claim of the confession. INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE: relevant background for unpacking 3 John 1:7’s absolute ‘the Name’ (τὸ ὄνομα), which teaching material must identify as Christ’s Name and, where appropriate, connect to his full Lordship. Reused exactly, unaltered.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: Anak Allah
Transliteration: AH-nahk ahl-LAHH
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: kekasih Allah (God’s beloved one), wakil Allah (God’s representative)
CRITICAL: Full phrase required, never softened. This Language Package explicitly forbids euphemistic substitution for Christ’s Sonship. INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE: relevant to 3 John because ‘kekasih Allah’ is the specific forbidden Christological substitute, and 3 John’s own ‘ἀγαπητός’ (beloved, addressed to Gaius, a human) uses the same ‘kasih’ root legitimately and non-Christologically. Reused exactly, unaltered, to document that this is a distinct, low-risk usage in 3 John — see the new ‘beloved’ entry.
Messiah
Approved rendering: Kristus
Transliteration: KRIS-toos
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Rejected alternatives: Al-Masih (the Qur’anic title, deliberately avoided in favor of the Greek-derived Alkitab convention)
CRITICAL: Established Alkitab usage (Yesus Kristus) deliberately uses Kristus rather than the Qur’anic Al-Masih title. INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE: required component of the mandatory gloss for 3 John 1:7’s absolute construction ‘the Name’ (Nama itu), which teaching material must identify explicitly as Nama Kristus/Nama Yesus. Reused exactly, unaltered.
Jesus
Approved rendering: Yesus
Transliteration: YEH-soos
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Isa (the Qur’anic name, deliberately avoided by established Alkitab convention)
CRITICAL: The Alkitab deliberately uses Yesus rather than the Qur’anic Isa. INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE: required component of the mandatory gloss for 3 John 1:7’s absolute ‘the Name’ (Nama itu → Nama Yesus/Nama Kristus). Reused exactly, unaltered. Note: 3 John’s own text never uses this name explicitly — it is supplied by teaching material to unpack the otherwise-opaque absolute construction.
God
Approved rendering: Allah
Transliteration: ahl-LAHH
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Tuhan (used for ‘Lord’ in this Language Package; reserving Allah for ‘God’ keeps the two terms distinct as Alkitab does)
CRITICAL: Malay Christians have used Allah for God since the earliest Malay Bible translations (from 1629). INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE: directly used in 3 John 1:11 (‘whoever does good is from God’; ‘whoever does evil has not seen God’). Reused exactly, unaltered; see the new ‘seen_god’ entry for the specific anthropomorphism-risk caution attached to this verse.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: Kebenaran yang diperhitungkan
Transliteration: keh-beh-NAH-rahn yahng dee-per-hee-TOONG-kahn
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: kebenaran yang diusahakan (earned/worked-for righteousness)
Righteousness credited to a believer’s account by faith, not achieved through amal soleh (righteous deeds). INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE: the grace-vs-merit distinction this term protects is directly analogous to the caution required at 3 John 1:11’s ‘doer of good is of God’ — that verse’s doer-of-good language must be taught as the evidence/fruit of a life already transformed, never the ground on which standing with God is earned. Reused exactly, unaltered.
Truth
Approved rendering: Kebenaran
Transliteration: keh-beh-NAH-rahn
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: a novel/rival Malay coinage distinct from established Alkitab kebenaran (rejected to preserve consistency with the wider Malay Bible tradition)
Original: ἀλήθεια
Category: Truth and Fellowship
CRITICAL — HIGHEST-PRIORITY CROSS-CURRICULUM COLLISION IN THIS PACKAGE: the baseline Romans package already assigns Critical risk to Kebenaran as the rendering of righteousness (forensic standing before God). In 3 John, Kebenaran instead renders truth/gospel-fidelity (‘walking in the truth,’ a whole-life pattern of gospel-consistent conduct), a related but genuinely distinct concept. Established Alkitab usage renders alētheia as kebenaran, so the rendering is retained for consistency with the wider Malay Bible tradition, but EVERY occurrence in 3 John (1:1, 3 x2, 4, 8, 12 x2) must carry a disambiguating gloss (e.g. ‘kebenaran [hal benar, kesetiaan kepada Injil]’ vs. the Romans sense ‘kebenaran [status benar di hadapan Allah]’) so that learners moving between the two curricula do not conflate the two doctrines.
High Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: Injil
Transliteration: IN-jeel
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: berita baik (generic ‘good news’, without the proclamation weight)
Injil is the established Alkitab (Malay Bible) term, shared with the Qur’anic name for the revelation given to Isa, which Islamic doctrine treats as historically altered (tahrif). This curriculum uses Injil for Paul’s living proclamation specifically, not as a bare reference to a contested book. INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE: relevant to 3 John because the traveling brothers (vv.5-8) are gospel workers sent out ‘for the sake of the Name’ (v.7); reused exactly, unaltered.
Grace
Approved rendering: Kasih kurnia
Transliteration: KAH-sih KOOR-nee-ah
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: rahmat (mercy, an Arabic-loan term operating within a deeds-and-mercy Islamic judgment framework)
Kasih kurnia (‘loving favor’) is a native Malay-Sanskrit compound rather than an Arabic loanword, established in Alkitab usage specifically to convey unearned favor apart from merit, distinct from rahmat, which still functions within a framework where deeds matter for final judgment. INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE: relevant to 3 John 1:11, where ‘doer of good is of God’ must be taught as evidence of grace-given transformation, never as merit earning standing before God; reused exactly, unaltered.
Faith
Approved rendering: Iman
Transliteration: ee-MAHN
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: kepercayaan (generic belief/trust)
Iman is shared with Islamic vocabulary (the pillars of belief: Allah, angels, books, prophets, the last day, qada’ and qadar). Romans’ iman is personal trust in Yesus Kristus specifically; the object of faith must always be stated in context. INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE: relevant to 3 John 1:5, where ‘piston’ (a faithful thing/action) is cognate with pistis/Iman but describes an action’s character, not saving trust itself; teaching notes must keep the two distinct. Reused exactly, unaltered.
Adoption
Approved rendering: Pengangkatan sebagai anak
Transliteration: peng-ahng-KAH-tahn seh-BAH-gai AH-nahk
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: anak angkat (bare, without doctrinal qualifier)
Anak angkat (adopted child) is a culturally comfortable, unstigmatized concept in Malay society, which gives this doctrine an unusually low-friction cultural bridge compared to most terms in this package. The remaining risk is theological rather than social: teaching material must still clarify this describes believers’ legal-relational status with full inheritance rights, not a claim that God has literal offspring, which tawhid forbids. INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE: relevant to 3 John 1:4’s ‘anak-anakku’ (my children), which is a DIFFERENT concept — the elder’s ordinary human pastoral relationship to his converts, not divine adoption. Reused exactly, unaltered, specifically to document this distinction; see the new ‘spiritual_children’ entry.
Mission
Approved rendering: Penyebaran Injil
Transliteration: peh-nyeh-BAH-rahn IN-jeel
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
Rejected alternatives: misi (loaded with colonial-era missionary connotations in Malaysian public discourse), dakwah-style framing (the specific Islamic term for religious propagation, best reserved for its own context)
Penyebaran Injil (‘spreading of the Gospel’) is used rather than misi, which carries colonial baggage, or dakwah, the specifically Islamic term for religious outreach. INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE: relevant to 3 John 1:5-8, where the traveling brothers are itinerant gospel workers whose support Gaius is commended for providing; reused exactly, unaltered. As in Romans, this remains routed to human theologian review for pastoral and legal-safety reasons given Malaysia’s restrictions on proselytizing Muslims.
Prosper
Approved rendering: Maju / sejahtera dalam segala perkara
Transliteration: MAH-joo / seh-jah-TEH-rah dah-LAHM seh-GAH-lah per-KAH-rah
Doctrine: Prayer for Wellbeing and Prosperity
Rejected alternatives: a rendering that implies an unconditional wealth/prosperity guarantee for all believers
Original: εὐοδοῦσθαι
Category: Epistolary Wellbeing
Literally ‘to have a good road/journey’; by extension, to prosper/succeed materially (1:2). This verse is one of the most frequently misused prosperity-gospel proof-texts in world Christianity, including in some Malaysian charismatic circles. Teaching material must state clearly this is a standard ancient personal-letter greeting-wish, paralleling and subordinate to the well-being of Gaius’s soul in the same verse — NOT a doctrinal guarantee of financial wealth.
Good Health
Approved rendering: Sihat tubuh badan
Transliteration: SEE-haht TOO-booh BAH-dahn
Doctrine: Prayer for Wellbeing and Prosperity
Original: ὑγιαίνειν
Category: Epistolary Wellbeing
To be physically healthy/sound (1:2). Paired with ‘prosper’ in the same prosperity-gospel misuse risk; must be taught as part of a standard ancient greeting-wish formula modeled on the health of Gaius’s soul, not a standalone health-and-wealth promise applicable to all believers.
Testify Testimony
Approved rendering: Bersaksi / memberi kesaksian / kesaksian
Transliteration: ber-SAHK-see / mem-BEH-ree keh-SAHK-see-ahn
Doctrine: Commendation of Faithful Witness (Demetrius); Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: a rendering that reads as a fixed creedal recitation (syahadah-style formula)
Original: μαρτυρέω / μαρτυρία
Category: Witness
The linguistic backbone of the Demetrius commendation doctrine (1:3, 6, 12 x3). Malay kesaksian/bersaksi sits near the conceptual neighborhood of the Islamic syahadah (shahada), the foundational, formulaic creedal declaration of faith central to Islamic practice. Teaching material must clarify this concerns the observed, verifiable character and gospel-consistent conduct of a specific individual, attested by a community and by the elder — a relational, evidentiary commendation, not a fixed confession formula. Route to human theologian review.
Strangers
Approved rendering: Orang asing
Transliteration: OH-rahng AH-sing
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: a rendering left unglossed, which would default to Malaysia’s immigration/foreign-labor political discourse
Original: ξένοι
Category: Hospitality
Traveling missionaries personally unknown to Gaius, hosted purely on the basis of their gospel service (1:5). In contemporary Malaysian public discourse, orang asing carries strong, politically loaded associations with foreign migrant labor and immigration-enforcement discourse. Mandatory descriptive gloss on first use per lesson: ‘orang asing yang melayani Injil’ (foreigners who serve the gospel). Never leave unglossed in doctrinal teaching text.
Loving Preeminence
Approved rendering: Yang suka mengutamakan dirinya (sebagai yang terutama)
Transliteration: yahng SOO-kah meng-oo-TAH-mah-kahn DEE-ree-nyah
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride (Diotrephes)
Rejected alternatives: a single-word coinage that would fail to capture the compound NT hapax legomenon
Original: φιλοπρωτεύων
Category: Church Leadership
A rare NT hapax legomenon describing a person whose defining trait is craving preeminence/first rank; used of Diotrephes (1:9). No single Malay word captures this compound precisely; a descriptive phrase is required. Teaching material must make clear this critiques prideful self-exaltation in leadership, NOT legitimate church eldership/authority itself (the letter’s own opening term, Penatua, models positive leadership) — the doctrine is about the sin of pride in office, not a general suspicion of church leadership structures.
Doer Of Good Evil
Approved rendering: Orang yang berbuat baik / orang yang berbuat jahat
Transliteration: OH-rahng yahng ber-BOO-aht BAH-eek / OH-rahng yahng ber-BOO-aht JAH-haht
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Rejected alternatives: a standalone works-based-standing reading absent the grace/fruit qualification
Original: ἀγαθοποιῶν / κακοποιῶν
Category: Ethics
Habitual-action participles describing a person’s characteristic pattern of life as evidence of belonging to God or not (1:11). Read in isolation, sounds like a works-based test of standing with God. Must be explicitly taught, alongside the baseline’s grace-vs-merit caution (see imputed_righteousness, grace entries), as describing the evidence/fruit of a life already transformed, not the means of earning that standing. Flag for human theologian review given proximity to the Romans curriculum’s central grace/works distinction.
Seen God
Approved rendering: Belum pernah melihat Allah
Transliteration: BEH-loom PER-nah meh-LEE-haht ahl-LAHH
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Rejected alternatives: a literalized rendering implying physical visibility of God
Original: ἑώρακεν τὸν θεόν
Category: God
A Johannine idiom for spiritual perception/relational, saving knowledge of God (1:11; cf. John 1:18; 1 John 3:6), not literal ocular vision. Must NOT be read as implying God is physically visible or embodied — Islamic theology (tawhid) strongly denies any anthropomorphic visibility or resemblance (tashbih) of Allah. Teaching material must clarify ‘seeing’ here is the Johannine idiom, while preserving the force of the claim that habitual evildoing is incompatible with truly knowing God.
Medium Risk Terms
Peace
Approved rendering: Damai sejahtera
Transliteration: DAH-mai seh-jah-TEH-rah
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: ketenangan (inner calm)
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Truth and Fellowship
In Romans 5:1, damai sejahtera is relational, whole-life peace with God through justification, echoing the fullness of Hebrew shalom well. Ketenangan (calm) is closer to psychological composure and understates the relational and covenantal dimension. INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE: reused exactly for 3 John 1:14’s closing blessing (‘Peace be to you’). Note that 3 John closes with peace alone, with no accompanying ‘grace’ as in Paul’s letters — a minor stylistic distinction only, not requiring a different rendering.
Church
Approved rendering: Gereja
Transliteration: geh-REH-jah
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: jemaah (a term also used broadly for a mosque congregation or generic religious assembly)
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Gereja (from early Portuguese colonial contact, ‘igreja’) is an established, unambiguous Malay word for the Christian church specifically, distinct from masjid (mosque) and the more religiously generic jemaah. INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE: reused exactly for 3 John 1:6, 1:9, 1:10, where ekklēsia denotes a specific local assembly (not the universal church); retain that concrete, local sense in teaching material.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: Bangsa bukan Yahudi
Transliteration: BAHNG-sah BOO-kahn yah-HOO-dee
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: kafir (unbeliever/infidel, an Islamic religious-legal category with strong, actively contested pejorative force in contemporary Malay/Indonesian religious discourse)
Bangsa bukan Yahudi (‘peoples who are not Jewish’) is the ethnically neutral Bible term for Romans’ Jew/Gentile ethnic-unity doctrine. INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE WITH AN EXPLICIT NON-REUSE WARNING: this term MUST NOT be used to render 3 John 1:7’s ethnikōn, which carries a missions-support/non-believer sense wholly distinct from Romans’ ethnic-boundary category. See the new ‘gentiles_outsiders’ entry below for the correct 3 John rendering. This baseline entry is retained here specifically to document, and prevent, that potential confusion.
Elder
Approved rendering: Penatua
Transliteration: peh-nah-TOO-ah
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride; Spiritual Parenthood and Pastoral Authority
Rejected alternatives: tua-tua kampung / ketua adat (customary indigenous elder-council roles drawing authority from custom/lineage rather than apostolic spiritual office)
Original: πρεσβύτερος
Category: Church Leadership
The letter’s own self-designation for its author (traditionally the apostle John), 3 John 1:1. Established Malay church-leadership term, but risks (a) flattening to mean merely ‘an elderly person’ and (b) collision with customary indigenous adat elder councils prominent in Sabah/Sarawak Malay-Christian contexts. Teaching material must clarify this is a recognized spiritual, pastoral office, not a village-elder or clan-elder role. New term for this curriculum; not present in the baseline Romans package.
Beloved
Approved rendering: Yang dikasihi
Transliteration: yahng dee-KAH-sih
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: kekasih Allah (the baseline’s forbidden Christological euphemism for Anak Allah/Son of God; not applicable to this ordinary human address but flagged to prevent confusion)
Original: ἀγαπητός
Category: Truth and Fellowship
Warm epistolary address to Gaius (1:1, 2, 5, 11). The baseline Language Package forbids ‘kekasih Allah’ as a euphemistic substitute for Anak Allah, since it dilutes Christ’s unique Sonship; here the same root (kasih) is used correctly of a human recipient in ordinary affectionate address. Flag so reviewers recognize this distinct, non-Christological, low-doctrinal-weight usage and do not import the earlier controversy’s caution unnecessarily.
Soul
Approved rendering: Jiwa
Transliteration: JEE-wah
Doctrine: Prayer for Wellbeing and Prosperity
Rejected alternatives: semangat (folk-animist life-force connotation), roh (already reserved for ‘spirit,’ as in Roh Kudus)
Original: ψυχή
Category: Christian Life
The seat of a person’s inner spiritual/moral life; the true measure of Gaius’s well-being (1:2). Jiwa is the standard Malay Christian term for soul, distinct from roh. Malay jiwa can also carry folk/traditional connotations (life-force, semangat) in indigenous animist substrate contexts; teaching notes should clarify this is the believer’s inner spiritual-moral life before God, not an animistic life-force.
Brothers
Approved rendering: Saudara-saudara
Transliteration: sow-DAH-rah sow-DAH-rah
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: saudara se-Islam framing (ummah-based religious brotherhood, an Islamic communal category)
Original: ἀδελφοί
Category: Hospitality
Traveling Christian workers/missionaries who visited Gaius (1:3, 5, 10). Standard Malay Christian fraternal term, but ‘saudara’ also functions as common Malay/Islamic vocabulary for ummah-based religious brotherhood or generic kinship. Teaching material must specify these are traveling gospel workers in fellowship with the Johannine circle, not a generic religious-communal category.
Faithful Thing
Approved rendering: Perbuatan yang setia
Transliteration: per-boo-AH-tahn yahng SEH-tee-ah
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: an Iman-based rendering that would conflate this action-adjective with saving faith itself
Original: πιστόν (ποιεῖς)
Category: Hospitality
A faithful, trustworthy action; describes Gaius’s concrete hospitality (1:5). Cognate with pistis/Iman but here an adjective describing an action’s character, not a person’s saving trust. Care must be taken that setia (faithful/loyal), describing an action, is not confused with Iman, the baseline term for saving faith/trust in Christ.
Send On Journey
Approved rendering: Menghantar / membantu meneruskan perjalanan
Transliteration: meng-HAHN-tar / mem-BAHN-too meh-neh-ROOS-kahn per-JAH-lah-nahn
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: menghantar alone (loses the material-support/provisioning dimension)
Original: προπέμπω
Category: Hospitality
To equip and escort someone on their onward journey (1:6) — a technical missions-support term (cf. Acts 15:3; 1 Cor 16:6, 11). No single Malay word captures the technical ‘equip-and-send’ sense; a descriptive phrase is required, and teaching material should specify this includes material provision (funds, supplies, companions), not merely a farewell greeting.
Worthy Of God
Approved rendering: Selayaknya di sisi Allah
Transliteration: seh-LAH-yahk-nyah dee SEE-see ahl-LAHH
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: ἀξίως τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Hospitality
A manner of action reflecting well on, and fitting for the honor of, God himself (1:6). Ensure ‘layak’ (worthy) is not confused with earning merit before God, echoing the grace-vs-merit caution already flagged in the baseline for Kasih kurnia.
Ought Obligated
Approved rendering: Kita patut / sewajarnya kita
Transliteration: KEE-tah PAH-toot / seh-wah-JAHR-nyah KEE-tah
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: wajib (the Islamic fiqh category of a religiously mandatory duty carrying reward/punishment weight)
Original: ὀφείλομεν
Category: Hospitality
Moral obligation flowing from relationship and gratitude, grounding hospitality as a communal duty of the whole church (1:8). Avoid wajib, which would import a legalistic, merit-based obligation framework at odds with this letter’s grace-flowing, relational sense of ‘ought.’ Prefer patut/sewajarnya/seharusnya.
Support Undergird
Approved rendering: Menyokong / membantu
Transliteration: meh-NYOH-kong / mem-BAHN-too
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: ὑπολαμβάνειν
Category: Hospitality
To receive, welcome, and materially support someone, with a stronger ‘undergird/sustain’ nuance than the more general receive_welcome (1:8). Distinguish in teaching notes from menerima (bare welcome/acceptance); this word carries a stronger ‘sustain, undergird materially’ sense.
Receive Welcome
Approved rendering: Menerima
Transliteration: meh-neh-REE-mah
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers; Church Leadership and Pride
Rejected alternatives: an over-translated ‘does not acknowledge our authority’ expansion beyond the base meaning ‘receive/welcome’
Original: ἐπιδέχομαι
Category: Hospitality
To accept or acknowledge someone, both socially and in terms of recognized authority; used positively of ideal practice and negatively of Diotrephes’s refusal (1:9, 10). The Malay rendering should stay close to ‘receive/welcome’ unless a separate study note unpacks the authority dimension, to avoid over-translating.
Malicious Slander
Approved rendering: Memfitnah kami dengan kata-kata jahat
Transliteration: mem-FEET-nah KAH-mee DEHNG-ahn KAH-tah KAH-tah JAH-haht
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride (Diotrephes)
Original: λόγοις πονηροῖς φλυαρῶν
Category: Church Leadership
Malicious, baseless accusations combined with evil intent; Diotrephes’s defamation of the elder and associates (1:10). Memfitnah is a legally weighty term in Malaysian public discourse (defamation and sedition-adjacent law), which may usefully underscore the seriousness of the offense, but teaching notes should keep focus on the spiritual-community harm described in the text rather than importing contemporary Malaysian legal categories.
Hinder Castout
Approved rendering: Menghalang / menghalau (dari gereja)
Transliteration: meng-hah-LAHNG / meng-hah-LOW
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride (Diotrephes)
Original: κωλύει / ἐκβάλλει
Category: Church Leadership
To actively block others from extending hospitality, and to forcibly expel faithful members from the assembly — Diotrephes’s culminating abuses (1:10). Must be clearly distinguished from legitimate, restorative biblical church discipline; this describes its illegitimate abuse, motivated by pride and self-preeminence rather than righteous concern.
Evil Good
Approved rendering: Yang jahat / yang baik
Transliteration: yahng JAH-haht / yahng BAH-eek
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Rejected alternatives: a karmic/fate-based impersonal moral-balance framing
Original: κακόν / ἀγαθόν
Category: Ethics
Broad moral categories framing the letter’s conflict (Diotrephes vs. Demetrius/Gaius) in stark moral terms (1:11). Broadly compatible moral vocabulary shared across Malay religious traditions; ensure it is not read through an impersonal cosmic-balancing framework but as conduct measured against the personal, holy character of God.
Friends
Approved rendering: Sahabat-sahabat
Transliteration: sah-HAH-baht sah-HAH-baht
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: φίλος
Category: Truth and Fellowship
A relational term distinct from ἀδελφός (brother/fellow believer), used in the letter’s closing greeting (1:14), echoing John 15:14-15. Distinguish from saudara-saudara (brothers, used throughout vv. 3, 5, 10); where curriculum teaching notes reference John 15:14-15, ensure sahabat is used consistently.
Low Risk Terms
Fellowship
Approved rendering: Persekutuan
Transliteration: per-seh-koo-TOO-ahn
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: persaudaraan (brotherhood, generic/ethnic)
Persekutuan is the established, well-understood Malay Christian term for shared participation in Christ. Persaudaraan risks reading as ethnic or Malay-bumiputera solidarity rather than a specifically Christ-centered bond. INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE: relevant to this curriculum’s own doctrine title, ‘Truth and Christian Fellowship’; though 3 John does not use the Greek koinōnia lexically, this term supplies the standard Malay vocabulary for teaching material discussing the doctrine generally. Reused exactly, unaltered.
Love
Approved rendering: Kasih
Transliteration: KAH-sih
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: ἀγάπη / ἀγαπάω
Category: Truth and Fellowship
Self-giving, others-oriented love; the elder’s love for Gaius (1:1) and Gaius’s love reported before the church (1:6). Standard, well-established Malay Christian vocabulary with no major religious-vocabulary collision. Pair consistently with kebenaran (truth) in 1:1 to preserve the letter’s love-in-truth bond.
Wish Pray
Approved rendering: Berdoa / berharap
Transliteration: ber-DOH-ah / ber-hah-RAHP
Doctrine: Prayer for Wellbeing and Prosperity
Original: εὔχομαι
Category: Epistolary
An informal personal wish or prayer opening the letter (1:2), less formal than a liturgical prosphrase. Ordinary epistolary wish-prayer language, not a formal intercessory prayer act; avoid over-solemnizing in teaching material.
Joy
Approved rendering: Sukacita
Transliteration: soo-kah-CHEE-tah
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: χαρά / ἐχάρην
Category: Truth and Fellowship
Deep gladness triggered by a report of another believer’s faithfulness (1:3-4). Standard term, no significant collision risk.
Spiritual Children
Approved rendering: Anak-anakku
Transliteration: AH-nahk AH-nahk-koo
Doctrine: Spiritual Parenthood and Pastoral Authority
Rejected alternatives: a rendering that implies divine adoption (Pengangkatan sebagai anak), a distinct baseline doctrine
Original: τὰ ἐμὰ τέκνα
Category: Pastoral Relationship
The elder’s spiritual, not biological, offspring — those he has discipled/brought to faith (1:4). Must be clarified as a spiritual-pastoral metaphor, distinct from the baseline’s Adoption doctrine (believers’ status as God’s own adopted children); here it is the elder’s human, pastoral relationship to his converts. Do not conflate the two ‘children’ concepts across curricula.
Fellow Worker
Approved rendering: Rakan sekerja
Transliteration: RAH-kahn seh-KER-jah
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: συνεργός
Category: Hospitality
A co-laborer, partner in a shared gospel task (1:8); hosting traveling ministers makes the host an active partner in the spread of truth. Standard, unambiguous secular/ministry co-labor term; no significant collision risk.
Imitate
Approved rendering: Meniru / mencontohi
Transliteration: meh-NEE-roo / men-CHON-toh-hee
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Original: μιμοῦ / μιμέομαι
Category: Ethics
To model one’s behavior on an example (1:11); the letter’s central ethical exhortation. Clear, standard vocabulary; low collision risk. Anchors the doctrine’s central verb.
Ink Pen
Approved rendering: Dakwat / kalam-pena
Transliteration: DAHK-waht / KAH-lahm PEH-nah
Doctrine: (material culture, no doctrine)
Original: μέλανος / καλάμου
Category: Material Culture
Ink and reed-pen, ordinary material-culture writing implements mentioned as the elder explains his preference for face-to-face fellowship (1:13). No theological content; included for full-verse coverage only.
Face To Face
Approved rendering: Bersemuka / bertemu terus
Transliteration: ber-seh-MOO-kah / ber-TEH-moo TEH-roos
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: a literal ‘mouth to mouth’ translation, which would be nonsensical or unintentionally comic in Malay
Original: στόμα πρὸς στόμα
Category: Truth and Fellowship
A Hebraic idiom (‘mouth to mouth’) for direct, unmediated personal communication (1:14; cf. Numbers 12:8 LXX). Must be rendered idiomatically, never literally; expresses the value the letter places on direct, embodied Christian fellowship.
By Name
Approved rendering: Seorang demi seorang
Transliteration: seh-OH-rahng DEH-mee seh-OH-rahng
Doctrine: (closing greeting, no doctrine)
Original: κατ᾽ ὄνομα
Category: Epistolary
A personalized, individual greeting rather than a generic collective one (1:14). Straightforward, no doctrinal weight; a warm pastoral touch consistent with the letter’s intimate character.
Gaius
Approved rendering: Gayus
Transliteration: GAH-yoos
Doctrine: (proper name)
Original: Γάϊος
Category: Proper Names
The letter’s recipient, commended as a positive exemplar of hospitality and truth-walking (1:1). Established Alkitab-consistent transliteration, following the pattern of Paulus, Titus, Timotius.
Diotrephes
Approved rendering: Diotrefes
Transliteration: dee-oh-TREH-fes
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride (Diotrephes)
Original: Διοτρέφης
Category: Proper Names
The negative example for the Church Leadership and Pride doctrine (1:9-10). The name itself carries low risk; the high doctrinal weight attaches to his described conduct (loving_preeminence, receive_welcome negated, hinder_castout), not the name form.
Demetrius
Approved rendering: Demetrius
Transliteration: deh-MEH-tree-oos
Doctrine: Commendation of Faithful Witness (Demetrius)
Original: Δημήτριος
Category: Proper Names
The positive example for the Commendation of Faithful Witness doctrine, attested by everyone, by the truth itself, and by the elder (1:12). Established Alkitab-consistent transliteration.
Referenced passages