Semantic Analysis: Acts 1–28 (Koine Greek → Malay)

Scope and Method

This document analyzes the full book of Acts in the original Koine Greek, chapter by chapter, with the core passage (Acts 2:1–41) given exhaustive verse-by-verse treatment. Every load-bearing theological or culturally-sensitive term is analyzed with: original word, transliteration, literal meaning, semantic range, English variants, contextual theological meaning, and destination-language (Malay) rendering risk.

Where a term already exists in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json, this document reuses the recorded Malay rendering exactly and cites it as “(baseline reuse).” New terms introduced by Acts are analyzed fresh and risk-rated using the same Critical/High/Medium/Low framework established in the Romans doctrine_risk_registry.json.

Chapters that introduce no new load-bearing vocabulary beyond terms already treated are explicitly marked as reviewed, per the full-book coverage mandate.

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PART 1 — CORE PASSAGE: ACTS 2:1–41 (Verse-by-Verse)

Acts 2:1

Greek: Καὶ ἐν τῷ συμπληροῦσθαι τὴν ἡμέραν τῆς πεντηκοστῆς ἦσαν πάντες ὁμοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό.

• πεντηκοστή (Pentēkostē) — “fiftieth [day].” Semantic range: the Jewish Feast of Weeks (Shavuot), celebrated fifty days after Passover, originally a harvest/covenant-renewal festival. English variants: “Pentecost,” “the day of Pentecost.” Contextual meaning: Luke deliberately anchors the outpouring of the Spirit to this specific pilgrim festival, when Jerusalem was full of diaspora Jews — setting up the multilingual sign that follows. Malay rendering: Pentakosta / Hari Pentakosta. Risk: Low (proper-noun transliteration, established in Alkitab tradition), but a brief note should tie it to the OT Feast of Weeks (Hari Raya Tujuh Minggu) so readers unfamiliar with Israel’s festival calendar do not read it as an arbitrary Christian holiday.
• ὁμοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό (homou epi to auto) — “together in the same place.” Semantic range: unity of location and purpose. Contextual meaning: the gathered, expectant church awaiting the promised Spirit (cf. Acts 1:14). Malay: bersama-sama di satu tempat. Risk: Low.

Acts 2:2

Greek: καὶ ἐγένετο ἄφνω ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἦχος ὥσπερ φερομένης πνοῆς βιαίας…

• πνοή βιαία (pnoē biaia) — “violent/mighty breath, blast.” Semantic range: wind, breath, the same root as pneuma (spirit/wind — cf. John 3:8). English variants: “rushing mighty wind,” “violent wind.” Contextual meaning: an auditory theophany sign, echoing OT wind-theophanies (1 Kings 19:11; Ezekiel 37:9–14, the breath that gives life to dry bones). Malay: bunyi seperti angin yang kencang bertiup. Risk: Medium — must be phrased as a simile (“seperti,” like) rather than a literal claim of storm wind, and should be taught alongside Roh Kudus so the wind is understood as accompanying sign, not the Spirit’s essence reduced to an impersonal natural force (a risk noted generally for Roh Kudus in the Romans baseline, where folk-animist roh halus categories are a live substrate).

Acts 2:3

Greek: καὶ ὤφθησαν αὐτοῖς διαμεριζόμεναι γλῶσσαι ὡσεὶ πυρός, καὶ ἐκάθισεν ἐφ᾽ ἕνα ἕκαστον αὐτῶν.

• γλῶσσαι ὡσεὶ πυρός (glōssai hōsei pyros) — “tongues as of fire,” i.e., flame-shaped forms distributed to rest on each person. Semantic range: glōssa = tongue (body part) or language; here a visual metaphor for divided flame. Contextual meaning: fire as a recurrent OT symbol of God’s manifest presence and purifying holiness (the burning bush, the pillar of fire, Isaiah 6). Malay: lidah-lidah seperti api. Risk: Medium — should be taught as symbolic/visionary imagery of divine presence resting individually on each believer, not confused with occult fire rituals or folk spirit-manifestation practices found in some traditional Malay belief.

Acts 2:4

Greek: καὶ ἐπλήσθησαν πάντες Πνεύματος Ἁγίου, καὶ ἤρξαντο λαλεῖν ἑτέραις γλώσσαις καθὼς τὸ Πνεῦμα ἐδίδου ἀποφθέγγεσθαι αὐτοῖς.

• ἐπλήσθησαν Πνεύματος Ἁγίου (eplēsthēsan Pneumatos Hagiou) — “were filled with the Holy Spirit.” Roh Kudus is the established baseline term (Critical risk, see baseline notes on Jibril/roh halus collisions). Here the verb “filled” (plēthō) is a NEW load-bearing term for Acts distinct from the one-time indwelling language of Romans 8: it denotes a repeated, Spirit-empowering event (recurs at 4:8, 4:31, 9:17, 13:9, 13:52). Malay: dipenuhi dengan Roh Kudus. Risk: High — teaching must clarify that “filled” describes an empowering for bold witness, not possession/trance as in traditional Malay bomoh spirit-mediumship practice, and not a one-time-only baptismal event to the exclusion of repeated fillings (Acts uses both patterns).
• ἑτέραις γλώσσαις (heterais glōssais) — “other/different tongues.” Semantic range: in this context, real human languages unknown to the speaker (confirmed by v.6–11, hearers recognize their own native tongues) — distinct from later ecstatic/unintelligible glossolalia debates. English variants: “other tongues,” “different languages.” Malay: bahasa-bahasa lain / bahasa asing. Risk: High — this is the doctrinally load-bearing term for the whole “Holy Spirit and Pentecost” curriculum unit. Must be rendered so it is clearly known human languages miraculously spoken, and must not be confused with (a) ecstatic trance utterance found in regional spirit-medium practice, or (b) a later, distinct charismatic-tongues debate not in view in Acts 2 itself. Teaching notes should flag this distinction explicitly.
• ἀποφθέγγεσθαι (apophthengesthai) — “to declare, utter forth” (a term for solemn, weighty proclamation, reused of Peter’s own speech in v.14). Malay: mengucapkan / menyampaikan dengan tegas. Risk: Low.

Acts 2:5

Greek: Ἦσαν δὲ εἰς Ἰερουσαλὴμ κατοικοῦντες Ἰουδαῖοι, ἄνδρες εὐλαβεῖς ἀπὸ παντὸς ἔθνους τῶν ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανόν.

• ἄνδρες εὐλαβεῖς (andres eulabeis) — “devout/reverent men.” Semantic range: careful, God-fearing piety, used elsewhere of Simeon (Luke 2:25) and of the men who bury Stephen (Acts 8:2). English variants: “devout,” “God-fearing.” Malay: orang yang saleh / orang yang takut akan Allah. Risk: Medium — avoid warak, a specifically Arabic-Islamic-register term for ritual scrupulousness; also avoid implying this piety is itself the meritorious ground of standing before God (cf. the baseline’s rejection of amal soleh as a righteousness-ground for the righteousness term). Devout characters in Acts still need the gospel preached to them.
• ἔθνους (ethnos) — “nation, people.” Reused throughout Acts for the ethnic/national plurality gathered at the feast; not yet the technical Pauline “Gentiles” (Bangsa bukan Yahudi, baseline reuse) contrast — here it means the scattered Jewish diaspora nations. Malay: bangsa. Risk: Low in this verse; becomes higher-risk later in Acts 10–15 (see below).

Acts 2:6–8

Greek: γενομένης δὲ τῆς φωνῆς ταύτης συνῆλθε τὸ πλῆθος καὶ συνεχύθη, ὅτι ἤκουον εἷς ἕκαστος τῇ ἰδίᾳ διαλέκτῳ λαλούντων αὐτῶν… πῶς ἡμεῖς ἀκούομεν ἕκαστος τῇ ἰδίᾳ διαλέκτῳ ἡμῶν ἐν ᾗ ἐγεννήθημεν;

• διάλεκτος (dialektos) — “language, dialect, mother tongue.” Semantic range: one’s native/birth language specifically (v.8, “in which we were born”). English variants: “language,” “tongue,” “dialect.” Contextual meaning: reinforces that this is genuine linguistic miracle, not ecstatic gibberish — every hearer understands their own native language, a deliberate reversal-echo of the Babel confusion of languages (Genesis 11). Malay: bahasa ibunda / loghat. Risk: Medium — the Babel-reversal theological point (unity restored across the nations through the gospel, contrasted with the sacred-Arabic-centrality found in Islamic theology of Qur’anic revelation) should be surfaced in teaching notes as a distinctive of the Christian view of Scripture and proclamation: God’s saving message is given to be heard in every mother tongue, not confined to one sacred liturgical language.

Acts 2:9–11

Greek: Πάρθοι καὶ Μῆδοι καὶ Ἐλαμῖται… τά μεγαλεῖα τοῦ θεοῦ.

• Proper nouns (Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya, Rome, Cretans, Arabians) — Risk: Low, transliterate per established Alkitab geographic conventions.
• τὰ μεγαλεῖα τοῦ θεοῦ (ta megaleia tou theou) — “the mighty/great works of God.” Semantic range: God’s great deeds, especially of deliverance (cf. LXX usage for the Exodus). English variants: “wonderful works,” “mighty deeds,” “great things.” Malay: perbuatan-perbuatan besar Allah / perbuatan ajaib Allah. Risk: Medium — related to but distinct from the later technical pairing “signs and wonders” (see Acts 2:43 below); here it specifically describes praise-content, God being extolled for his saving acts, comparable in weight to Kemuliaan (glory, baseline reuse) though not identical.

Acts 2:12–13

• διηπόρουν (diēporoun) — “were utterly perplexed.” Malay: tercengang-cengang / bingung. Risk: Low.
• γλεύκους μεμεστωμένοι εἰσίν (gleukous memestōmenoi eisin) — “they are full of sweet new wine” (mocking accusation of drunkenness). Malay: mereka mabuk anggur manis. Risk: Low, but note the theological irony Peter exploits in v.15 (it is 9 a.m., too early for drunkenness) — this rhetorical move should be preserved intact in translation, not smoothed over.

Acts 2:14–15

• ἐπῆρε τὴν φωνὴν αὐτοῦ (epēre tēn phōnēn autou) — “lifted up his voice,” an idiom for public, authoritative address. Malay: berkata dengan suara yang lantang. Risk: Low. This is Peter’s first authoritative apostolic sermon (cf. Rasul, baseline reuse, High risk — teaching must reaffirm Peter as Spirit-authorized eyewitness apostle, not an Islamic-category nabi bearer of new scripture).

Acts 2:16–21 (Joel citation, Joel 2:28–32 LXX)

Greek: τοῦτό ἐστιν τὸ εἰρημένον διὰ τοῦ προφήτου Ἰωήλ… Καὶ ἔσται ἐν ταῖς ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις…

• προφήτης (prophētēs) — “prophet.” Nabi is the established baseline term (High risk — shared with the Islamic category into which the Qur’an places all pre-Muhammad messengers, including Isa). Here Joel is cited as a genuine OT prophet whose word finds its climactic fulfillment specifically in the Spirit’s outpouring on the church — teaching must show this as one strand within Acts’ larger fulfillment_of_prophecy doctrine (baseline High risk), while clarifying Joel’s prophetic office ends at revelation of God’s word, unlike claims of an open-ended prophetic succession.
• ἐν ταῖς ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις (en tais eschatais hēmerais) — “in the last days.” Semantic range: the inaugurated end-time era beginning with Christ’s resurrection and the Spirit’s coming, not merely a future terminal event. English variants: “last days,” “latter days.” Malay: pada hari-hari akhir / pada zaman akhir. Risk: High — zaman akhir (end times) is a heavily populated concept in Malay-Muslim eschatology (signs of the Mahdi, Dajjal, the return of Isa a.s.). Teaching material must clarify that Peter is announcing these “last days” have already begun at Pentecost through the Spirit’s outpouring — a present, inaugurated reality, not merely a future countdown of end-time signs.
• ἐκχεῶ ἀπὸ τοῦ Πνεύματός μου ἐπὶ πᾶσαν σάρκα (ekcheō apo tou Pneumatos mou epi pasan sarka) — “I will pour out of my Spirit on all flesh.” ἐκχέω (ekcheō) — “pour out” (liquid metaphor). Malay: mencurahkan Roh-Ku. Risk: Medium — the liquid/pouring metaphor must not reduce the Spirit to an impersonal force or substance; Roh Kudus (baseline Critical term) must retain full personal, divine identity throughout.
• προφητεύσουσιν (prophēteusousin) — “they will prophesy,” of “sons and daughters,” “young men,” “old men,” and even “menservants and maidservants” (v.17–18). Semantic range: Spirit-empowered proclamation/declaration of God’s truth, not necessarily predictive foretelling. Nubuat (baseline reuse, Medium risk) is the noun form. Malay verb: bernubuat. Risk: High — this democratized, gender-inclusive prophesying (explicitly including daughters and female servants) is theologically distinct from the closed, exclusively-male prophetic office (nubuwwah) of Islamic theology, which is considered sealed with Muhammad. Teaching must clarify that Spirit-empowered proclamation among all believers is not equivalent to the OT/Islamic category of a scripture-bearing prophetic office; it is the fruit of the Spirit’s outpouring on all who believe.
• σημεῖα (sēmeia), τέρατα (terata) — “signs,” “wonders” (v.19, cosmic portents: blood, fire, vapor of smoke, sun to darkness, moon to blood). English variants: “wonders,” “portents,” “signs.” Malay: tanda-tanda ajaib. Risk: Medium — apocalyptic imagery, should be taught as figurative cosmic-upheaval language (paralleling other prophetic judgment-oracles) rather than requiring a woodenly literal astronomical checklist.
• πᾶς ὃς ἂν ἐπικαλέσηται τὸ ὄνομα Κυρίου σωθήσεται (pas hos an epikalesētai to onoma Kyriou sōthēsetai) — “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Κύριος (Kyrios) = Tuhan (baseline Critical term). σωθήσεται = future passive of sōzō, “will be saved” — Keselamatan/diselamatkan (baseline Critical term). This is the climactic universal-scope promise of the whole sermon (cf. Romans 10:13, the identical citation, already flagged Critical in the Romans baseline’s universal_scope_of_gospel doctrine). Risk: Critical — must retain unqualified universality (“everyone,” “whoever”) and must retain present, secured salvation (not a deferred hope pending Judgment Day, per the baseline’s salvation entry notes).

Acts 2:22

Greek: Ἄνδρες Ἰσραηλῖται, ἀκούσατε τοὺς λόγους τούτους· Ἰησοῦν τὸν Ναζωραῖον, ἄνδρα ἀποδεδειγμένον ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ εἰς ὑμᾶς δυνάμεσι καὶ τέρασι καὶ σημείοις…

• Ἰησοῦν τὸν Ναζωραῖον (Iēsoun ton Nazōraion) — “Jesus the Nazarene.” Yesus (baseline Critical term — never Isa). Malay: Yesus orang Nasaret. Risk: Critical (baseline reuse; the whole force of the sermon depends on this being the historical, crucified-and-risen Yesus, not the Qur’anic Isa).
• δυνάμεσι καὶ τέρασι καὶ σημείοις (dynamesi kai terasi kai sēmeiois) — “by mighty works and wonders and signs.” δύναμις (dynamis) = “power/might” — cf. Kuasa Allah (baseline High-risk term for Romans 1:16). Here the same root now describes miracle-working power validating Jesus’ identity. Malay: kuasa, mukjizat, dan tanda. Risk: High — see extended discussion at Acts 2:43/Apostolic Authority below regarding the term mukjizat.

Acts 2:23

Greek: τοῦτον τῇ ὡρισμένῃ βουλῇ καὶ προγνώσει τοῦ θεοῦ ἔκδοτον λαβόντες διὰ χειρὸς ἀνόμων προσπήξαντες ἀνείλατε·

• ὡρισμένῃ βουλῇ καὶ προγνώσει (hōrismenē boulē kai prognōsei) — “determined/set plan and foreknowledge [of God].” Semantic range: God’s sovereign, purposive decree, paired with foreknowledge. English variants: “predetermined plan,” “set purpose and foreknowledge.” Malay: rancangan dan pengetahuan Allah yang ditetapkan lebih dahulu. Risk: High — this is providence/predestination language of the same class flagged in the Romans baseline’s providence entry (Pemeliharaan Allah). NEVER render with takdir (fatalistic, impersonal decree); this is personal, purposive divine sovereignty that works even through the wicked act of crucifixion without excusing human guilt — a paradox (divine sovereignty + human responsibility) that needs explicit teaching support, since takdir-framed fatalism in popular Malay usage would collapse this tension into simple predetermined inevitability without moral culpability.
• ἀνείλατε (aneilate) — “you killed, put to death.” This is a direct accusation of Jesus’ real, historical death by crucifixion — essential foundation for Kebangkitan (resurrection, baseline Critical term) in the next verse. Malay: kamu telah membunuh-Nya / menyalibkan dan membunuh-Nya. Risk: Critical — must be stated plainly and without euphemism; Qur’an 4:157’s denial of Jesus’ death makes this the single most theologically contested clause in the sermon.

Acts 2:24

Greek: ὃν ὁ θεὸς ἀνέστησεν, λύσας τὰς ὠδῖνας τοῦ θανάτου, καθότι οὐκ ἦν δυνατὸν κρατεῖσθαι αὐτὸν ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ.

• ἀνέστησεν (anestēsen) — “raised up” (from anistēmi, root of anastasis). Kebangkitan (baseline Critical term). Malay: Allah membangkitkan Dia. Risk: Critical — must affirm a real, bodily, historical resurrection following a real death (v.23); never render with language implying a no-death ascension, per the baseline’s explicit forbidden-substitution rule.
• λύσας τὰς ὠδῖνας τοῦ θανάτου (lysas tas ōdinas tou thanatou) — “having loosed the birth-pangs/agonies of death.” Semantic range: ōdinas literally means labor pains; here a vivid metaphor for death’s grip being broken. Malay: melepaskan Dia daripada sengsara maut. Risk: Medium — the metaphor should be rendered meaningfully even if the “birth pangs” image does not carry over literally into Malay idiom; the theological point (death’s power broken) must be clear.

Acts 2:25–28 (citing Psalm 16:8–11)

• ᾅδης (hadēs) — “Hades,” the realm/state of the dead. English variants: “hell,” “grave,” “the realm of the dead.” Malay: alam maut / dunia orang mati. Risk: Medium — must be distinguished from the later, final judgment concept of neraka (hell as final punishment); Hades here is the temporary state of death from which Christ was not abandoned, not the eternal lake of fire.
• τὸν ὅσιόν σου ἰδεῖν διαφθοράν (ton hosion sou idein diaphthoran) — “your Holy One to see corruption/decay.” ὅσιος (hosios) here functions similarly to Kudus (baseline High-risk term), though it is a distinct Greek root emphasizing covenant faithfulness/holiness. Malay: Yang Kudus daripada-Mu. Risk: High — this verse is Peter’s proof-text that Psalm 16 could not refer to David (whose body did decay, v.29) but points forward to Christ’s bodily incorruption — an argument structure (typological fulfillment) that needs unpacking for readers unfamiliar with this form of OT argumentation.

Acts 2:29–31

• πατριάρχης (patriarchēs) — “patriarch.” Of David here. Malay: bapa leluhur. Risk: Low.
• ὅρκῳ ὤμοσεν αὐτῷ ὁ θεὸς (horkō ōmosen autō ho theos) — “God swore to him with an oath [to seat one of his descendants on his throne].” This directly invokes the Davidic covenant (baseline Medium-risk doctrine, seed_of_david/davidic_covenant entries). Malay: Allah telah bersumpah kepadanya. Risk: High — the oath-bound, eternal-throne promise must be preserved as a specific covenant guarantee, not a generalized blessing; Malay royal-lineage tradition (salasilah diraja) gives real cultural resonance to dynastic-succession claims, per the baseline’s seed_of_david notes, and can be used as a cultural bridge here.
• προϊδὼν ἐλάλησεν περὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως τοῦ Χριστοῦ (proidōn elalēsen peri tēs anastaseōs tou Christou) — “foreseeing, he spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ.” Χριστός = Kristus (baseline Critical term — never Al-Masih). Ἀνάστασις = Kebangkitan (baseline Critical term). Risk: Critical — direct convergence of the two most theologically contested baseline terms in one clause.

Acts 2:32–33

• τοῦτον τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἀνέστησεν ὁ θεός, οὗ πάντες ἡμεῖς ἐσμεν μάρτυρες (touton ton Iēsoun anestēsen ho theos, hou pantes hēmeis esmen martyres) — “This Jesus God raised up, of which we all are witnesses.” μάρτυς (martys) — “witness.” NEW term for Acts, foundational to the “Persecution and Bold Witness” curriculum unit (recurs at 1:8, 5:32, 10:39, 22:15, 26:16). Semantic range: originally a purely legal/courtroom term for an eyewitness giving testimony; only later, post-NT, did the Greek word develop into the technical sense “martyr” (one who dies for testifying). English variants: “witness,” “eyewitness.” Malay: saksi. Risk: High — see extended treatment under Acts 7 (Stephen) and Acts 22 below; the key present concern is that “saksi” must be used consistently for the eyewitness testimony sense throughout Acts, reserving separate descriptive phrasing (never the loanword syahid) for later contexts where witnesses die for their testimony.
• τῇ δεξιᾷ οὖν τοῦ θεοῦ ὑψωθείς (tē dexia oun tou theou hypsōtheis) — “having been exalted to the right hand of God.” Malay: telah ditinggikan di sebelah kanan Allah. Risk: High — exaltation-enthronement language tied to Christ’s deity and lordship (cf. Ketuanan Kristus, baseline Critical doctrine); must not be softened to mere honor among other honored figures.
• τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν τοῦ Πνεύματος τοῦ Ἁγίου λαβὼν παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς ἐξέχεεν (tēn epangelian tou Pneumatos tou Hagiou labōn para tou patros execheen) — “having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he poured [it] out.” Bapa (baseline Critical term) and Roh Kudus (baseline Critical term) converge here in a single Trinitarian-shaped clause (Father giving, Son receiving and pouring out, Spirit given) — an important teaching opportunity for the Trinity’s relational distinctness without implying tritheism or literal begetting, echoing the baseline’s father entry notes.

Acts 2:34–35 (citing Psalm 110:1)

• Εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος τῷ Κυρίῳ μου (Eipen ho Kyrios tō Kyriō mou) — “The Lord said to my Lord.” Two distinct uses of Κύριος/Tuhan in one clause (YHWH addressing David’s “Lord,” i.e., the Messiah) — the same OT text Jesus himself uses in the Gospels (Matt 22:44) to press his own deity. Risk: Critical — this double-Kyrios structure is a key building block of NT Christology; Malay rendering must retain both occurrences as Tuhan, preserving the interpretive puzzle Peter is exploiting (David’s own “Lord” is greater than David — a genuinely divine figure), which becomes the ground for the sermon’s climax in v.36.

Acts 2:36

Greek: ἀσφαλῶς οὖν γινωσκέτω πᾶς οἶκος Ἰσραὴλ ὅτι καὶ Κύριον αὐτὸν καὶ Χριστὸν ὁ θεὸς ἐποίησεν, τοῦτον τὸν Ἰησοῦν ὃν ὑμεῖς ἐσταυρώσατε.

• καὶ Κύριον καὶ Χριστὸν ἐποίησεν (kai Kyrion kai Christon epoiēsen) — “[God] has made [him] both Lord and Christ.” The climactic confession of the entire sermon: Tuhan and Kristus (both baseline Critical terms) predicated jointly of the crucified-and-risen Yesus. Risk: Critical — this single verse is arguably the theological summit of the core passage; it must be rendered “Yesus… telah dijadikan Tuhan dan Kristus oleh Allah” without qualification, softening, or reinterpretation of ἐποίησεν (“made”) as implying Jesus became divine only at this point rather than being eternally so (the “made” language refers to public installation/declaration to that office, not ontological origin — a nuance requiring careful teaching support given the collision with tawhid).
• ἐσταυρώσατε (estaurōsate) — “you crucified.” Direct address of culpability to the hearers (paralleling v.23). Malay: kamu telah menyalibkan. Risk: High — must remain a plain historical accusation; pastoral framing softening collective guilt belongs in surrounding teaching material, not in altering the verb.

Acts 2:37

Greek: Ἀκούσαντες δὲ κατενύγησαν τὴν καρδίαν…Τί ποιήσωμεν, ἄνδρες ἀδελφοί;

• κατενύγησαν τὴν καρδίαν (katenygēsan tēn kardian) — “were pierced/stung to the heart.” Semantic range: deep conviction, cutting emotional-spiritual anguish. English variants: “cut to the heart,” “pricked in their heart.” Malay: tertikam hati mereka / terharu sehingga ke lubuk hati. Risk: Low, but should be rendered vividly, not flattened into mere “surprised” or “sad.”

Acts 2:38

Greek: Πέτρος δὲ πρὸς αὐτούς· Μετανοήσατε, καὶ βαπτισθήτω ἕκαστος ὑμῶν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς ἄφεσιν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ὑμῶν, καὶ λήμψεσθε τὴν δωρεὰν τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος.

This is the single most doctrinally load-bearing verse in the core passage, anchoring both the “Repentance and Baptism” curriculum unit.

• Μετανοήσατε (Metanoēsate) — imperative of metanoeō, “repent.” Literally “change the mind/think differently afterward” (meta + noeō). Semantic range: a decisive, Spirit-enabled turning of the whole person away from sin and unbelief toward God, evidenced in changed life direction — not mere regret or remorse (contrast with Greek metamelomai, mere regret, e.g. Judas in Matt 27:3). English variants: “repent,” “turn,” “change one’s mind.” Malay: Bertobatlah. Risk: High — Malay bertobat/pertobatan shares its root with Islamic taubat (tawbah), a major, well-developed doctrine in Islamic theology of turning back to Allah through sincere remorse, restitution, and renewed obedience, understood within a framework where human effort plays a central meritorious role in restoring standing before God. This curriculum’s bertobat must be taught as a Spirit-worked turning specifically toward faith in the crucified and risen Yesus Kristus (not toward Allah in the abstract, and not as a self-generated act of moral restitution that itself earns forgiveness) — the object and ground of repentance must always be made explicit in context, on the same principle already established for Iman (faith) in the Romans baseline.
• βαπτισθήτω (baptisthētō) — imperative passive of baptizō, “let each of you be baptized.” Semantic range: ritual immersion in water; in Acts, an outward act of public identification with Christ’s death and resurrection and with the believing community, done “in the name of” the one confessed. English variants: “be baptized,” “baptism.” Malay: berbaptislah / dibaptiskanlah. Risk: High — established Alkitab term (baptis/dibaptis/baptisan), phonetically transparent and not derived from an Islamic-vocabulary root, which is a genuine cultural-linguistic advantage. The risk is doctrinal rather than lexical: baptism must be taught as response to grace already given through repentance and faith, not itself the meritorious cause of forgiveness (avoiding both a bare-symbol minimalism and a baptismal-regeneration overstatement), and must be clearly distinguished from ritual ablution practices (wudhu’) that precede Islamic prayer, which cleanse for ritual purity rather than mark death-and-resurrection union with Christ.
• ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ (epi tō onomati Iēsou Christou) — “in/upon the name of Jesus Christ.” Yesus Kristus (baseline Critical, paired form). Risk: Critical — the full paired name must always be used here, never abbreviated, since the whole force of the baptismal formula is that it is done in this specific, exclusive name.
• εἰς ἄφεσιν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν (eis aphesin tōn hamartiōn) — “for/unto the forgiveness of sins.” ἄφεσις (aphesis) — “release, forgiveness, pardon,” from a root meaning “sending away/letting go.” ἁμαρτία (hamartia) = Dosa (baseline High-risk term). Malay: untuk pengampunan dosa. Risk: Critical — the preposition eis (“for/unto”) has generated significant theological discussion (causal vs. resultant); this Language Package follows the majority Protestant reading that repentance-and-baptism together mark, rather than cause, the forgiveness already secured by grace through faith, consistent with Diperbenarkan (justification, baseline Critical term) and the imputed_righteousness entry — teaching notes must state this reading explicitly to avoid a sacramental-merit misreading.
• λήμψεσθε τὴν δωρεὰν τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος (lēmpsesthe tēn dōrean tou Hagiou Pneumatos) — “you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” δωρεά (dōrea) — “free gift,” a term emphasizing gratuitous, unearned giving (same semantic family as Kasih kurnia/grace, baseline High-risk term). Malay: kamu akan menerima karunia Roh Kudus. Risk: Critical — the Spirit’s coming is itself an unmerited gift, not a reward for the sincerity of one’s repentance or the correctness of one’s baptismal ritual; this must be taught alongside the grace/merit distinction the baseline establishes for Romans 3–4 and 11:5–6.

Acts 2:39

Greek: ὑμῖν γάρ ἐστιν ἡ ἐπαγγελία καὶ τοῖς τέκνοις ὑμῶν καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς εἰς μακράν, ὅσους ἂν προσκαλέσηται Κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν.

• ἡ ἐπαγγελία (hē epangelia) — “the promise.” Tied to the Davidic/Abrahamic covenant promises and now explicitly extended. Perjanjian-family term (baseline Medium-risk covenant). Malay: janji itu. Risk: Medium.
• πᾶσι τοῖς εἰς μακράν (pasi tois eis makran) — “to all who are far off.” Semantic range: geographically and/or ethnically distant peoples — the seed of the Jew-Gentile inclusion that will unfold through Acts 10–15. Malay: kepada semua orang yang jauh. Risk: High — this phrase anticipates the universal_scope_of_gospel and unity_of_jews_and_gentiles doctrines (baseline High/Medium risk) and must retain its full inclusive force, not be narrowed to mean only diaspora Jews (a plausible but insufficient reading given how Acts unfolds).
• ὅσους ἂν προσκαλέσηται Κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν (hosous an proskalesētai Kyrios ho theos hēmōn) — “as many as the Lord our God will call.” Dipanggil/Panggilan (baseline High-risk called/calling terms). Malay: seberapa ramai yang dipanggil oleh Tuhan, Allah kita. Risk: High — sovereign, effectual calling language (cf. baseline effectual_calling doctrine); must not be rendered with takdir-style fatalism, but as a personal, purposive summons.

Acts 2:40

Greek: ἑτέροις τε λόγοις πλείοσιν διεμαρτύρατο καὶ παρεκάλει αὐτοὺς λέγων· Σώθητε ἀπὸ τῆς γενεᾶς τῆς σκολιᾶς ταύτης.

• διεμαρτύρατο (diemartyrato) — “solemnly testified/witnessed” (same root as martys, v.32). Malay: memberi kesaksian dengan sungguh-sungguh. Risk: Medium.
• παρεκάλει (parekalei) — imperfect of parakaleō, “urged, exhorted, encouraged.” Menasihati (baseline Low-risk exhort term — context here leans toward the “urgent entreaty” sense noted in the baseline’s context-sensitivity comment). Malay: menasihati / merayu. Risk: Low.
• Σώθητε ἀπὸ τῆς γενεᾶς τῆς σκολιᾶς ταύτης (Sōthēte apo tēs geneas tēs skolias tautēs) — “Be saved from this crooked/perverse generation.” σῴζω = Keselamatan/diselamatkan (baseline Critical term). Malay: Selamatkanlah dirimu daripada generasi yang bengkok ini. Risk: Critical — must retain “save yourselves” as responsive appropriation of an already-accomplished salvation (cf. Philippians 2:12 “work out your salvation,” a parallel imperative-of-appropriation, not a self-achieved salvation), consistent with the baseline’s salvation entry warning against diluting Keselamatan into vague well-wishing.

Acts 2:41

Greek: οἱ μὲν οὖν ἀποδεξάμενοι τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ ἐβαπτίσθησαν, καὶ προσετέθησαν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ψυχαὶ ὡσεὶ τρισχίλιαι.

• ἀποδεξάμενοι τὸν λόγον (apodexamenoi ton logon) — “having received/welcomed the word.” Malay: menerima firman itu. Risk: Low.
• ἐβαπτίσθησαν (ebaptisthēsan) — “were baptized” (baseline reuse, see v.38 discussion). Risk: High (as above).
• προσετέθησαν… ψυχαὶ ὡσεὶ τρισχίλιαι (prosetethēsan… psychai hōsei trischiliai) — “there were added… about three thousand souls.” ψυχή (psychē) — “soul, life, person.” Malay: kira-kira tiga ribu jiwa. Risk: Low, but note this verse establishes the church-growth pattern that recurs throughout Acts (2:47; 4:4; 5:14; 6:7; 9:31; 11:21, 24; 16:5) and functions as the founding narrative for the “Church as Community” doctrine unit — the newly baptized are immediately described as “added” to an existing community (v.42ff.), not left as isolated individual converts.

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PART 2 — CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER STUDY OF THE WHOLE BOOK

Chapter 1 — Ascension, the Upper Room, Matthias

• δύναμις (dynamis), “power” (1:8, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you”). Reuses Kuasa Allah (baseline High-risk term). Contextual meaning here: empowerment specifically for witness, tying Kuasa Allah directly to the new term below. Risk: High (baseline reuse).
• μάρτυς (martys), “witness” (1:8, “you will be my witnesses… to the end of the earth”). NEW term (see full treatment at 2:32 above). This verse is the programmatic thesis-statement of the entire book of Acts, functioning for Acts as Romans 1:16–17 functions for Romans — it must be rendered identically wherever restated (cf. Acts 26:16). Malay: kamu akan menjadi saksi-Ku. Risk: High.
• βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ (basileia tou theou), “kingdom of God” (1:3, 1:6). Reuses Kerajaan Allah (baseline Medium-risk term). Note the disciples’ politically-loaded misreading in 1:6 (“will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”) is corrected by Jesus toward mission, not nationalist restoration — directly relevant to the kingdom_mission doctrine’s caution about Kerajaan’s double meaning as “government” in modern Malay.
• ἀπόστολος (apostolos), “apostle,” used of the replacement of Judas by lot (1:26, Matthias). Reuses Rasul (baseline High-risk term). Risk: High (baseline reuse) — note this passage additionally establishes the qualification criterion for apostleship (eyewitness of the risen Christ from John’s baptism onward, 1:21–22), useful teaching material for distinguishing NT apostleship from the Islamic rasul/prophet-messenger category.
• κλῆρος (klēros), “lot” (1:26, “they cast lots”). NEW minor term. Malay: membuang undi. Risk: Low — a recognized ancient decision-making practice; note only that this is not fortune-telling/divination (contrast with the divination spirit term in ch.16, which is High risk) but an act of entrusting a decision to God’s sovereignty in a specific, bounded historical circumstance not prescribed as an ongoing church practice.

Chapter 2 — Pentecost (core passage 2:1–41 above); remaining verses 2:42–47

• κοινωνία (koinōnia), “fellowship” (2:42). Reuses Persekutuan (baseline Low-risk term). Risk: Low (baseline reuse).
• κλάσις τοῦ ἄρτου (klasis tou artou), “the breaking of bread” (2:42, 2:46). NEW term for Acts. Semantic range: likely refers to both ordinary shared meals and the commemorative Lord’s Supper together, not sharply distinguished at this early stage. English variants: “breaking of bread,” “the Lord’s Supper” (later technical sense). Malay: memecahkan roti. Risk: Medium — teaching should note the double reference (ordinary table fellowship and commemorative meal) without over-specifying a fixed liturgical sacrament not yet clearly differentiated in the text itself.
• τέρατα καὶ σημεῖα (terata kai sēmeia), “wonders and signs” (2:43, “many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles”). See extended discussion below under “Apostolic Authority and Miracles” (Chapter 3 entry) regarding the term mukjizat.
• ἅπαντα κοινά (hapanta koina), “all things common” (2:44, “all who believed… had all things in common”). NEW term, central to the “Church as Community” doctrine. Malay: segala kepunyaan mereka menjadi kepunyaan bersama. Risk: Medium — must be taught as a voluntary, Spirit-motivated act of generosity within the specific Jerusalem community (not a universal command for all churches, cf. later Pauline instructions assuming private property, e.g. 1 Tim 6:17–19), and should be distinguished both from a modern communist-ideological reading and from the Islamic zakat framework of obligatory, formula-based almsgiving — this is unforced love, not a religious legal duty.
• ἀγαλλιάσει καὶ ἀφελότητι καρδίας (agalliasei kai aphelotēti kardias), “with gladness and sincerity of heart” (2:46). Malay: dengan sukacita dan hati yang tulus. Risk: Low.
• αἰνοῦντες τὸν θεόν (ainountes ton theon), “praising God” (2:47). Reuses the praise-vocabulary field near Kesyukuran (thanksgiving, baseline Low-risk term) and Kemuliaan (glory, baseline High-risk term). Risk: Low.

Chapter 3 — Healing at the Beautiful Gate; Peter’s Temple Sermon

• πίστις (pistis), “faith” (3:16, “his name — by faith in his name — has made this man strong”). Reuses Iman (baseline High-risk term); note the object of faith is explicitly named (“his name,” i.e., Yesus), consistent with the baseline’s requirement that the object of faith always be stated in context.
• μετάνοια/μετανοέω (metanoia/metanoeō), “repentance/repent” (3:19, “Repent therefore, and turn again”). Reuses the analysis at 2:38 above (Bertobat/Pertobatan). Risk: High.
• καιροὶ ἀναψύξεως (kairoi anapsyxeōs), “times of refreshing” (3:19). NEW term. Semantic range: seasons of relief/restoration from the Lord’s presence. Malay: masa-masa kesegaran. Risk: Low-Medium — an evocative but not heavily doctrinally-contested phrase; ensure it is not read as merely psychological relief (cf. the baseline’s ketenangan caution under peace) but as tied to the Lord’s presence and the following, more weighty term.
• ἀποκατάστασις πάντων (apokatastasis pantōn), “restoration of all things” (3:21). NEW term, eschatological. Semantic range: the final cosmic renewal at Christ’s return, spoken of by “the prophets.” Malay: pemulihan segala sesuatu. Risk: Medium — should be linked forward to the full biblical hope of new creation, and must not be confused with a cyclical-restoration or reincarnation-adjacent cosmology; this is a linear, once-for-all consummation.
• σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα δι᾽ αὐτῶν (sēmeia kai terata di’ autōn), “signs and wonders through them [the apostles]” — this chapter’s healing miracle is the first extended narrative example. σημεῖον = “sign” (miracle understood as pointing beyond itself to God’s identity/action); τέρας = “wonder” (miracle understood by its astonishing effect). English variants: “signs,” “wonders,” “miracles,” “mighty works.” Malay: tanda dan mukjizat / tanda ajaib. Risk: High — Arabic-derived mukjizat in standard Malay/Indonesian Islamic usage specifically denotes miracles given to a prophet as divine proof of that prophet’s authenticity (preeminently the Qur’an itself as Muhammad’s mu’jizat), a closed category tied to the prophetic office. Using mukjizat for apostolic miracles risks implying the apostles hold the closed, scripture-authenticating nabi/rasul office in the Islamic sense (already flagged High risk for Rasul in the baseline). This Language Package recommends mukjizat be retained (it is the most natural, recognizable Malay word for a miracle) but always accompanied by explicit teaching that apostolic signs authenticate the apostles’ Spirit-given authority and the truth of the resurrection message, not new scripture-bearing prophethood equivalent to Muhammad’s.

Chapter 4 — Peter and John Before the Sanhedrin

• σωτηρία (sōtēria), “salvation” (4:12, “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved”). Reuses Keselamatan (baseline Critical term). Risk: Critical — this is one of the strongest exclusivity claims in the NT; must retain full exclusivity (“no other name,” “must be saved” by this name alone) without softening into inclusivist language.
• παρρησία (parrhēsia), “boldness, confidence, freedom of speech” (4:13, 4:29, 4:31). NEW term, central to the “Persecution and Bold Witness” doctrine. Semantic range: originally a civic/political term for the right of free, open speech (as opposed to timidity or concealment); in Acts, Spirit-given boldness to proclaim the gospel despite threat. English variants: “boldness,” “confidence,” “outspokenness.” Malay: keberanian / dengan yakin dan terus terang. Risk: High — must be rendered as Spirit-given confidence in proclamation under threat, not recklessness or mere natural courage; this term recurs at key persecution junctures throughout Acts (9:27–28, 13:46, 14:3, 18:26, 19:8, 26:26, 28:31) and should be rendered consistently.
• ἀγράμματοι καὶ ἰδιῶται (agrammatoi kai idiōtai), “unschooled/uneducated and ordinary/untrained men” (4:13, of Peter and John). Malay: orang yang tidak berpelajaran dan biasa. Risk: Low — but theologically significant contrast with the Sanhedrin’s own credentialed authority; the source of apostolic authority is the Spirit and having “been with Jesus,” not formal religious education.
• ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ ὀνόματι/ ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι τούτῳ (in this name) — recurring insistence on “the name” as shorthand for the person and authority of Yesus Kristus (4:7, 4:10, 4:12, 4:17–18, 4:30). Malay: nama ini / demi nama Yesus Kristus. Risk: High (tied to the baseline’s Critical jesus/messiah entries) — the recurring “name” language should not be flattened to a mere label but understood as invoking Christ’s full person and authority.

Chapter 5 — Ananias and Sapphira; Apostles Imprisoned and Freed

• ψεύσασθαι τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ Ἅγιον (pseusasthai to Pneuma to Hagion), “to lie to the Holy Spirit” (5:3). Reuses Roh Kudus (baseline Critical term). Contextual meaning: Ananias’s deception is treated as sin against a personal, divine Spirit, not merely against the community — a strong data point for the Spirit’s full personhood and deity, directly useful for countering the archangel-Jibril misreading flagged in the baseline. Risk: Critical (baseline reuse).
• φόβος μέγας (phobos megas), “great fear” (5:5, 5:11). Malay: ketakutan yang besar. Risk: Low.
• πειθαρχεῖν δεῖ θεῷ μᾶλλον ἢ ἀνθρώποις (peitharchein dei theō mallon ē anthrōpois), “we must obey God rather than men” (5:29). NEW term-cluster: πειθαρχέω (peitharcheō), “to obey, submit to authority.” Semantic range: distinct from ketaatan iman (obedience of faith, baseline High-risk term, which describes faith’s fruit); here it is a direct statement of the limits of human civil/religious authority when it conflicts with God’s command. Malay: kita harus taat kepada Allah lebih daripada manusia. Risk: Medium-High — important for the “Persecution and Bold Witness” doctrine and for contemporary Malaysian readers navigating religious-authority structures; teaching must clarify this is not a general license for civil disobedience but a specific principle applying when human authority commands direct disobedience to God (contrast with Romans 13:1–7’s general instruction to submit to governing authorities, already flagged in the Romans baseline as a “flag but allow native speaker review” category).

Chapter 6 — Choosing of the Seven; Stephen Full of Grace and Power

• διακονεῖν τραπέζαις (diakonein trapezais), “to serve tables” (6:2); διάκονος (diakonos), “servant, deacon” (root, though the noun itself does not appear until later NT letters — the office is established here). NEW term for church leadership structure. Semantic range: a distinct, Spirit-qualified office of practical service, complementing (not competing with) the apostles’ ministry of the word and prayer. English variants: “deacon,” “servant,” “table-server.” Malay: pelayan jemaah / diaken. Risk: Medium — should be distinguished from Rasul (apostle) as a separate governance office, and from general Islamic religious-leadership titles (imam, ustaz, tok guru) which carry different institutional and educational connotations in the Malaysian context.
• πλήρης πίστεως καὶ Πνεύματος Ἁγίου (plērēs pisteōs kai Pneumatos Hagiou), “full of faith and the Holy Spirit” (6:5, of Stephen). Reuses Iman and Roh Kudus (both baseline Critical/High terms) in combination — the qualification criterion for this new office. Risk: High (baseline reuse).
• σοφία (sophia), “wisdom” (6:3, 6:10). Reuses the wisdom-vocabulary field; no baseline entry yet exists specifically for sophia in the Romans package but the term is Low risk and can be rendered hikmat, a term shared comfortably across Malay religious registers without significant collision.

Chapter 7 — Stephen’s Speech and Martyrdom

• Stephen’s speech is a long historical recitation (Abraham, Joseph, Moses, the Exodus, the tabernacle, Solomon’s temple) — proper names and OT narrative content reuse established Alkitab forms (Abraham, Musa, Daud) with Low risk.
• σκληροτράχηλοι (sklērotrachēloi), “stiff-necked” (7:51). NEW term, a vivid OT covenant-lawsuit idiom (cf. Exodus 32:9) for persistent resistance to God. Malay: keras kepala / tegar tengkuk. Risk: Low-Medium — should be rendered with an equally vivid Malay idiom for obstinacy, not flattened to a generic “stubborn.”
• ἀντιπίπτετε τῷ Πνεύματι τῷ Ἁγίῳ (antipiptete tō Pneumati tō Hagiō), “you always resist the Holy Spirit” (7:51). Reuses Roh Kudus (baseline Critical term). Risk: Critical (baseline reuse) — reinforces the Spirit’s personal agency (one “resists” a person, not a force).
• ἐλιθοβόλουν τὸν Στέφανον (elithoboloun ton Stephanon), “they were stoning Stephen” (7:58–59). NEW term. λιθοβολέω (lithoboleō) — “to stone, throw stones at.” Malay: merajam / melontar batu. Risk: High — merajam (stoning) in the contemporary Malaysian context carries strong associations with hudud, the Islamic criminal-law penalty for certain offenses (notably adultery) that is a subject of ongoing political and legal debate in Malaysia’s dual civil/Syariah legal system. Teaching material must clearly frame Stephen’s stoning as illegitimate mob violence carried out by an enraged Sanhedrin crowd without proper legal authority under Roman law (contrast with the later, formally correct Roman legal process Paul receives) — not an instance of, or commentary on, the contemporary Islamic legal category.
• Κύριε Ἰησοῦ, δέξαι τὸ πνεῦμά μου (Kyrie Iēsou, dexai to pneuma mou), “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (7:59). Direct prayer addressed to Tuhan Yesus (baseline Critical terms), paralleling Jesus’ own words on the cross (Luke 23:46, there addressed to the Father) — a significant data point for the deity of Christ, since Stephen prays directly to Jesus. Risk: Critical.
• μὴ στήσῃς αὐτοῖς ταύτην τὴν ἁμαρτίαν (mē stēsēs autois tautēn tēn hamartian), “do not hold this sin against them” (7:60). Reuses Dosa (baseline High-risk term); Stephen’s death becomes the first NT example of a believer’s death under persecution accompanied by forgiveness of persecutors, foundational for the whole “Persecution and Bold Witness” doctrine. This is also the moment where the technical later sense of “martyr” begins to attach itself to the term μάρτυς used of Stephen back in 22:20 — see note there.

Chapter 8 — Philip in Samaria; Simon Magus; the Ethiopian Eunuch

• μαγεύων (mageuōn), “practicing sorcery/magic” (8:9, of Simon). μαγεία (mageia) — “sorcery, magic arts.” NEW term, central to a recurring Acts sub-theme (also Elymas, ch.13; Ephesian magic books, ch.19; the divination spirit, ch.16). Semantic range: occult practice claiming supernatural power, contrasted sharply with Kuasa Allah (baseline High-risk term, whose notes already flag the bomoh/occult kuasa ghaib collision risk in Malay culture). English variants: “sorcery,” “magic,” “witchcraft.” Malay: sihir / ilmu sihir. Risk: High — this is precisely the term the Romans baseline’s power_of_god entry anticipates: Simon’s sihir must be shown as a counterfeit, ultimately powerless imitation exposed and rebuked by the Spirit’s genuine power, a live theological contrast given the ongoing presence of bomoh shamanic practice as a substrate beneath official religious life in parts of Malay culture.
• ἐπιθέντος τὰς χεῖρας (epithentos tas cheiras), “laying on of hands” (8:17–19, the Samaritans receive the Spirit through the apostles’ laying on of hands). NEW term. Semantic range: a physical gesture accompanying prayer for impartation of the Spirit, healing, commissioning, or blessing (recurs 6:6; 9:12, 17; 13:3; 19:6; 28:8). Malay: menumpangkan tangan. Risk: Medium — must be distinguished from folk-healing touch practices associated with bomoh or dukun traditional healers; the efficacy here is entirely attributed to the Spirit’s sovereign action, not to any inherent power in the apostles’ hands or ritual technique (Simon’s own error in the following verses, 8:18–19, is precisely mistaking this for a purchasable magical technique).
• ἀργύριόν σου σὺν σοὶ εἴη εἰς ἀπώλειαν (argyrion sou syn soi eiē eis apōleian), “your silver perish with you” (8:20) — Simon’s attempt to buy the Spirit’s power with money; the origin of the term “simony.” Reinforces the dōrea/free-gift theme from 2:38 (karunia, gift) — the Spirit’s power cannot be purchased or earned. Risk: Medium.
• εὐαγγελίζετο (euēngelizeto), “he preached the gospel/good news” (8:35, of Philip to the eunuch). Reuses Injil (baseline High-risk term). Risk: High (baseline reuse).

Chapter 9 — Conversion of Saul

• ἡ ὁδός (hē hodos), “the Way” (9:2, “if he found any belonging to the Way”). NEW term, the earliest self-designation for the Christian movement in Acts (also 19:9, 19:23, 22:4, 24:14, 24:22). Semantic range: a manner/path of life following Jesus, likely drawing on Isaiah’s “way of the LORD” (40:3) and Jesus’ own self-description (“I am the way,” John 14:6). English variants: “the Way,” “this Way,” “the Way of the Lord.” Malay: Jalan Tuhan / pengikut Jalan itu. Risk: High — this phrase carries genuine resonance with the Islamic concept of As-Sirat al-Mustaqim (“the Straight Path,” recited daily in the opening surah of the Qur’an, Al-Fatihah), a path understood as adherence to Islamic law and submission. Teaching material must clarify that “the Way” in Acts denotes personal, relational following of and union with the person of Yesus Kristus specifically — not primarily a code of law or ritual observance to be followed, though the term itself can also serve as a genuine point of respectful cultural bridge if handled with care, similar in spirit to Paul’s own Areopagus strategy in ch.17.
• φωνὴν λέγουσαν αὐτῷ· Σαοὺλ Σαούλ, τί με διώκεις; (phōnēn legousan autō: Saoul Saoul, ti me diōkeis?), “a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (9:4). Foundational conversion-narrative text (recounted again in chs. 22, 26). διώκω (diōkō) — “to persecute, pursue.” Malay: Mengapa engkau menganiaya Aku? Risk: High — Christ speaks of himself as personally identified with and suffering in his persecuted church (“why do you persecute ME,” not “my followers”) — an important teaching point about the church’s union with Christ (cf. the baseline’s christian_identity_in_christ doctrine).
• ὅπως ἐάν τινας εὕρῃ τῆς ὁδοῦ ὄντας… δεδεμένους ἀγάγῃ (hopōs ean tinas heurē tēs hodou ontas… dedemenous agagē) — arrest/binding language, establishing Saul’s role as a violent persecutor prior to conversion, essential background for the doctrine of grace transforming even the chief persecutor (cf. 1 Timothy 1:15–16, outside Acts but thematically linked).
• υἱὸς θεοῦ (huios theou), “Son of God” (9:20, Saul’s first recorded preaching: “he proclaimed Jesus, saying, ‘He is the Son of God’”). Reuses Anak Allah (baseline Critical term, the single most closely watched doctrinal choice in the whole Language Package). Risk: Critical (baseline reuse) — significant that this is the very first content of Saul/Paul’s own preaching recorded in Acts, immediately after his conversion.

Chapter 10 — Cornelius and the Gentile Pentecost

• ἀνὴρ εὐσεβὴς καὶ φοβούμενος τὸν θεὸν (anēr eusebēs kai phoboumenos ton theon), “a devout man and one who feared God” (10:2, of Cornelius). NEW term-category: “God-fearer” (phoboumenos ton theon / sebomenos ton theon), a recognized technical designation in Acts for Gentiles who worshipped Israel’s God and attended synagogue without full proselyte conversion (circumcision). English variants: “God-fearer,” “one who fears God,” “devout Gentile.” Malay: orang yang takut akan Allah. Risk: Medium — an important sociological category for understanding the early Gentile mission’s actual social entry point (not random strangers but already-sympathetic worshippers), useful teaching background for the “Gospel to Jews and Gentiles” doctrine.
• κοινὸν ἢ ἀκάθαρτον (koinon ē akatharton), “common or unclean” (10:14, 10:28, Peter’s vision of the sheet with animals: “I have never eaten anything common or unclean”). NEW term, one of the most doctrinally sensitive terms in Acts for a Malay-Muslim-majority context. Semantic range: ceremonial impurity under the Mosaic dietary law (Leviticus 11) — not moral impurity or general “dirtiness.” English variants: “common,” “unclean,” “impure,” “unlawful [to eat].” CRITICAL RISK — Malay rendering: najis / tidak tahir. Do not render with haram (the operative Islamic legal-religious category for forbidden food, centrally administered in Malaysia through JAKIM halal certification) or with tidak halal (its paired opposite). Reason: Malaysia’s halal/haram dietary framework is a live, currently-operating religio-legal system, not a historical curiosity; using this vocabulary for Peter’s vision would import that specific contemporary system into the text, obscuring that Acts 10 addresses the abolition of the Mosaic ceremonial food law specifically (a distinct historical covenant category, cf. Hukum Taurat, baseline High-risk term), not a general theological statement about dietary law as such, still less a comment on the Islamic halal system. Teaching notes must state this distinction explicitly and directly.
• ὁ θεὸς οὐκ ἔστιν προσωπολήμπτης (ho theos ouk estin prosōpolēmptēs), “God is not one to show partiality/favoritism” (10:34). NEW term. προσωπολήμπτης (prosōpolēmptēs) — “respecter of persons, one who shows favoritism based on external status.” Malay: Allah tidak memandang bulu / tidak berat sebelah. Risk: Medium-High — this verse is the theological hinge of the whole Cornelius narrative and directly supports the unity_of_jews_and_gentiles and universal_scope_of_gospel doctrines (baseline Medium/High risk); should be rendered plainly and forcefully, not hedged.
• ἐπέπεσε τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ Ἅγιον ἐπὶ πάντας (epepese to Pneuma to Hagion epi pantas), “the Holy Spirit fell on all [who heard the word]” (10:44). Reuses Roh Kudus (baseline Critical term); this “Gentile Pentecost” deliberately parallels Acts 2 (confirmed explicitly by Peter in 11:15–17, “as on us at the beginning”) — teaching material should draw this parallel out clearly as proof that Gentiles receive the identical gift without needing to first become Jewish proselytes (i.e., without circumcision, see ch.15 below).

Chapter 11 — Report to Jerusalem; Believers First Called “Christians”

• οἱ ἐκ περιτομῆς (hoi ek peritomēs), “those of the circumcision [party]” (11:2). Anticipates the fuller circumcision controversy at ch.15; see extended treatment there.
• μετάνοιαν εἰς ζωήν (metanoian eis zōēn), “repentance unto/leading to life” (11:18, “then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life”). Reuses Bertobat/Pertobatan (see 2:38 analysis) combined with “life” language; note repentance here is explicitly something God “grants” (edōken) — a gift, not a self-generated achievement, reinforcing the distinction from Islamic taubat’s more effort-centered framework. Risk: High (as established above).
• χρηματίσαι τε πρῶτον ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ τοὺς μαθητὰς Χριστιανούς (chrēmatisai te prōton en Antiocheia tous mathētas Christianous), “the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch” (11:26). NEW term — the origin of the label itself. Χριστιανός (Christianos) — “Christ-person, follower of Christ,” likely originally applied by outsiders (possibly with a mildly mocking edge, on the pattern of other -ianos political-party names) but adopted positively by the church. Malay: Kristian / orang Kristian. Risk: Medium — as an identity-label term (distinct from Kristus itself, baseline Critical), this connects to the christian_identity_in_christ doctrine (baseline High risk) regarding the fusion of Malay ethnicity and Islam in Malaysian constitutional and popular usage; the term “Kristian” must be taught as identity rooted in union with Christ, addressing directly (not avoiding) the real social cost some Malay-background believers may associate with the label.

Chapter 12 — Herod’s Persecution; Peter’s Angelic Deliverance

• ἄγγελος Κυρίου (angelos Kyriou), “an angel of the Lord” (12:7, 12:23). Reuses established Alkitab convention (malaikat Tuhan); low doctrinal risk as a recognized biblical category shared broadly (though note Islamic angelology assigns specific named/ranked angels — Jibril, Mikail, Izrail, etc. — with distinct roles; this text does not name the angel and should not be assumed to correspond to a specific Islamic angelic figure). Risk: Low-Medium.
• προσευχὴ ἦν ἐκτενῶς γινομένη (proseuchē ēn ektenōs ginomenē), “prayer was being made earnestly” (12:5, the church praying for Peter’s release). Reuses general prayer vocabulary (doa); connects to the prayer_and_intercession doctrine (baseline Critical) though here it is the church’s intercession for Peter, not Christ’s or the Spirit’s intercession specifically. Risk: Medium.
• οὐκ ἔδωκεν τὴν δόξαν τῷ θεῷ (ouk edōken tēn doxan tō theō), “he [Herod] did not give the glory to God” (12:23, followed by Herod being struck down and “eaten by worms”). Reuses Kemuliaan (baseline High-risk term); a stark warning narrative about a ruler accepting divine honors for himself. Risk: High (baseline reuse).

Chapter 13 — Antioch Commissioning; Elymas; Pisidian Antioch Sermon

• ἀφορίσατε δή μοι τὸν Βαρναβᾶν καὶ τὸν Σαῦλον (aphorisate dē moi ton Barnaban kai ton Saulon), “set apart for me Barnabas and Saul” (13:2, the Holy Spirit speaking). ἀφορίζω (aphorizō) — “to set apart, separate, mark off.” Reuses the baseline’s separation_unto_gods_service doctrine (Pengasingan untuk Melayani Allah, High risk) — this is the direct commissioning narrative behind Paul’s own later self-description in Romans 1:1 (“set apart for the gospel”). Risk: High (baseline reuse) — must not be read as Sufi ascetic withdrawal but as a specific, Spirit-initiated commissioning for a defined missionary task.
• μαγεία/μάγος (mageia/magos) — Elymas the sorcerer (13:6, 13:8). Reuses sihir (see ch.8 above). Risk: High (baseline reuse from this document).
• σπέρμα Δαυίδ / τὸ σπέρμα τούτου (sperma Dauid), “seed of David” (13:22–23, Paul’s sermon: God raised up “of this man’s [David’s] seed” a Savior, Jesus). Reuses Keturunan Daud (baseline Medium-risk term) directly, echoing Romans 1:3. Risk: Medium (baseline reuse).
• δικαιοῦται / δικαιωθῆναι (dikaioutai/dikaiōthēnai), “is justified / to be justified” (13:38–39: “by him everyone who believes is freed/justified from everything from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses”). Reuses Diperbenarkan (baseline Critical term) directly. This is the single clearest “Justification apart from the Law” proof-text in Acts, a near-verbatim anticipation of Romans’ central argument. Risk: Critical — must be rendered with full forensic-legal weight (declared/reckoned righteous), explicitly contrasted with Hukum Taurat (baseline High-risk term, “the law of Moses” here), and must never be softened into merely “forgiven” (per the baseline’s justification entry, which already warns against collapsing justification into forgiveness alone).
• τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον (tetagmenoi eis zōēn aiōnion), “appointed/ordained to eternal life” (13:48, “as many as were appointed to eternal life believed”). NEW combination of election language (reuses Pilihan Allah, baseline High-risk term) with “eternal life” (hidup kekal, NEW low-risk term). Risk: High — this is one of the strongest sovereign-election texts in Acts (paralleling Romans 8:28–30 and 9:11–12, already Critical/High in the baseline); must never be rendered with takdir-style impersonal fatalism, per the established baseline convention for election and providence.

Chapter 14 — Lystra: Healing, Mistaken for Gods, Stoning; Elders Appointed

• Δία… Ἑρμῆν (Dia… Hermēn), “Zeus… Hermes” (14:12, the crowd calls Barnabas “Zeus” and Paul “Hermes” after the healing). Proper names of Greco-Roman deities; Malay: Zeus… Hermes (transliterate, do not substitute a local deity name). Risk: Low-Medium — an important narrative moment where Paul and Barnabas forcefully reject being worshipped as gods (14:15, “we also are men, of like nature with you”), directly relevant teaching material for the deity_of_christ doctrine’s contrast: Paul refuses worship for himself precisely because he is not divine, which sharpens (by contrast) the force of Christ’s own acceptance of worship elsewhere in the NT.
• ματαίων (mataiōn), “vain/worthless things,” i.e., idols (14:15, “turn from these vain things to the living God”). Reuses berhala-adjacent vocabulary; low-medium risk, a standard biblical polemic term against idolatry broadly shared with Islamic anti-idolatry vocabulary (a genuine point of resonance, similar to the baseline’s note on thanksgiving as shared ground).
• ἐλιθοβόλησαν τὸν Παῦλον (elithobolēsan ton Paulon), “they stoned Paul” (14:19). Reuses merajam (see ch.7 above). Risk: High (baseline reuse from this document) — reinforces that stoning in Acts is repeatedly mob violence, not legitimate judicial process, a point that should be consistently taught.
• χειροτονήσαντες αὐτοῖς πρεσβυτέρους (cheirotonēsantes autois presbyterous), “having appointed elders for them” (14:23). NEW term: πρεσβύτερος (presbyteros) — “elder” (literally “older one”), a church governance office. English variants: “elder,” “presbyter.” Malay: penatua. Risk: Medium — should be distinguished from the general honorific for an older person in Malay culture (orang tua-tua) as well as from Islamic religious-leadership titles (imam, tok guru, ustaz), denoting instead a specific NT church office with defined qualifications (cf. 1 Timothy 3, outside Acts but thematically linked).

Chapter 15 — The Jerusalem Council

This chapter is the single most important passage in Acts for the “Justification apart from the Law” doctrine outside of Paul’s sermon in ch.13.

• περιτέμνησθε τῷ ἔθει τῷ Μωϋσέως (peritemnēsthe tō ethei tō Mōuseōs), “unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses [you cannot be saved]” (15:1); περιτομή (peritomē) — “circumcision.” NEW term, central to this chapter’s controversy. English variants: “circumcision.” Malay: sunat / berkhitan. Risk: High — sunat/berkhitan denotes a widely and positively practiced rite in Malaysian Islamic culture (male circumcision, often performed with community celebration around puberty). Teaching material must clearly frame the Jerusalem Council’s question as a specific, historically-bounded debate over whether Gentile converts must undergo the Mosaic covenant-sign rite to be saved — the Council’s answer (no) is a statement about the sufficiency of grace through faith apart from this and all other Mosaic law-works, not a commentary on, or polemic against, the Islamic cultural practice of khitan/berkhitan itself, which arose independently in a different historical and religious context. This distinction must be made explicit to avoid the passage being misread as directly addressing contemporary Malay Islamic custom.
• ζυγὸν… ὃν οὔτε οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν οὔτε ἡμεῖς ἰσχύσαμεν βαστάσαι (zygon… hon oute hoi pateres hēmōn oute hēmeis ischysamen bastasai), “a yoke… that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear” (15:10, Peter’s speech, of the law). ζυγός (zygos) — “yoke.” Malay: kuk. Risk: Medium — a vivid metaphor for the law’s burden that should be preserved, tied to Hukum Taurat (baseline High-risk term).
• διὰ τῆς χάριτος τοῦ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ πιστεύομεν σωθῆναι καθ᾽ ὃν τρόπον κἀκεῖνοι (dia tēs charitos tou Kyriou Iēsou pisteuomen sōthēnai kath’ hon tropon kakeinoi), “we believe that we [Jews] will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they [Gentiles]” (15:11). Reuses Kasih kurnia (baseline High-risk term) as the explicit, single ground of salvation for both Jew and Gentile alike — arguably the clearest single-verse statement of Jew-Gentile salvific equality in Acts. Risk: Critical — this verse must not be softened; the “same way” (grace alone, for both groups identically) is the theological center of the entire council’s ruling.
• ἔδοξεν τῷ Πνεύματι τῷ Ἁγίῳ καὶ ἡμῖν (edoxen tō Pneumati tō Hagiō kai hēmin), “it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us” (15:28, the Council’s decree formula). Reuses Roh Kudus (baseline Critical term). Risk: High — a notable model of Spirit-guided corporate church discernment through apostolic council and consensus; teaching material may note (with care) a point of respectful comparative awareness with the Islamic concept of ijma’ (scholarly consensus) as a source of religious authority, while clarifying the Jerusalem Council’s authority rests specifically on apostolic Spirit-inspired testimony converging with Scripture (Amos, cited in 15:16–17), not a parallel legal-consensus mechanism.
• εἰδωλοθύτων… αἵματος… πνικτῶν… πορνείας (eidōlothytōn… haimatos… pniktōn… porneias), “things sacrificed to idols… blood… things strangled… sexual immorality” (15:29, the apostolic decree’s minimal requirements for Gentile believers). NEW minor terms. Malay: makanan yang dipersembahkan kepada berhala, darah, binatang yang tercekik, dan percabulan. Risk: Medium — should be taught as a pastorally-motivated minimal accommodation to preserve Jewish-Gentile table fellowship, not as a re-imposition of Mosaic law-righteousness (contrast sharply with 15:1, 15:10–11 above); the four items are practical unity measures, not a partial reinstatement of the law as a ground of salvation.

Chapter 16 — Philippian Jailer; Lydia; the Divination Spirit

• πίστευσον ἐπὶ τὸν Κύριον Ἰησοῦν, καὶ σωθήσῃ σὺ καὶ ὁ οἶκός σου (pisteuson epi ton Kyrion Iēsoun, kai sōthēsē sy kai ho oikos sou), “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household” (16:31). Reuses Iman/Tuhan/Keselamatan (all baseline Critical terms) in direct combination — one of the most quoted evangelistic verses in the whole book. Risk: Critical — must retain “believe” (a decisive, personal trust-act), the exclusive object “the Lord Jesus,” and the assured “will be saved,” without qualification.
• πνεῦμα πύθωνα (pneuma pythōna), “a spirit of divination” (literally “a python spirit,” referencing the Delphic oracle tradition; 16:16, the slave girl). NEW term. Semantic range: an evil, oracular/prophetic spirit enabling fortune-telling for profit. English variants: “spirit of divination,” “python spirit,” “fortune-telling spirit.” Malay: roh tenungan / roh peramal. Risk: High — must be clearly distinguished both from Roh Kudus (the source of genuine, God-honoring prophecy, cf. Acts 2:17–18 above) and from the broader Malay-cultural category of ilmu ghaib/bomoh divination practice; Paul’s exorcism of this spirit (16:18, done “in the name of Jesus Christ”) should be taught as a direct confrontation between Kuasa Allah and a counterfeit occult power, consistent with the power_of_god doctrine’s existing baseline caution.
• παρήγγειλεν… τῷ πνεύματι· Παραγγέλλω σοι ἐν ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐξελθεῖν ἀπ᾽ αὐτῆς (parēngeilen… tō pneumati: Parangellō soi en onomati Iēsou Christou exelthein ap’ autēs), “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her” (16:18). Reuses the “name” formula (see ch.4 above); an exorcism performed by direct command in Christ’s name, not by ritual technique or negotiation with the spirit — theologically significant contrast with folk-exorcism practices that may involve appeasement or bargaining with spirits.

Chapter 17 — Thessalonica, Berea, the Areopagus

• Ἀγνώστῳ θεῷ (Agnōstō theō), “To an unknown God” (17:23, the altar inscription Paul uses as his rhetorical bridge in Athens). NEW term. Malay: Kepada Allah yang tidak dikenali. Risk: High — given the baseline’s extensive documentation of Allah’s own legal and political sensitivity as a term in Malaysia (Critical risk in the Romans baseline), Paul’s rhetorical strategy here requires careful handling: Paul is not claiming the Athenians already worship the true God under a different name in a fully adequate way, but using their own acknowledgment of religious ignorance as a bridge to proclaim the God who “made the world and everything in it” (17:24) and who has now “commanded all people everywhere to repent” (17:30) because he has “fixed a day” of judgment through the man he raised from the dead (17:31, an unmistakable resurrection reference, reusing Kebangkitan, baseline Critical term). Teaching material must clarify Paul’s apologetic method (finding a point of contact) without allowing it to be read as an endorsement of religious pluralism or an equivalence between the Athenian altar-god and the true God of the gospel that Paul then proceeds to name and identify specifically through Christ’s resurrection.
• μετανοεῖν (metanoein), “to repent” (17:30, “now he commands all people everywhere to repent”). Reuses Bertobat (see 2:38 above). Risk: High (baseline reuse) — note the striking universal scope (“all people everywhere”), reinforcing universal_scope_of_gospel.
• ἀνάστασιν νεκρῶν (anastasin nekrōn), “resurrection of the dead” (17:32, where some mock and some want to hear more). Reuses Kebangkitan (baseline Critical term). Risk: Critical (baseline reuse) — the mixed reception (mockery alongside genuine interest) is realistic and should not be smoothed into uniform acceptance or uniform rejection.
• ἀνακρίνοντες τὰς γραφὰς (anakrinontes tas graphas), “examining the Scriptures” (17:11, the Bereans “more noble” for testing Paul’s teaching against Scripture daily). Reuses Kitab Suci-adjacent vocabulary connected to the baseline’s inspiration_of_scripture doctrine (Critical risk, given the tahrif/corruption controversy already documented there); the Berean example is valuable teaching material modeling careful Scripture-testing without needing new glossary risk beyond what is already flagged.

Chapter 18 — Corinth; Gallio; Apollos

• No major new theologically load-bearing terms beyond reuse: the Way (18:25–26, of Apollos, “instructed in the way of the Lord,” reusing ch.9’s term), baptism of John (18:25, anticipating the fuller distinction drawn out in ch.19), Kristus (18:5, 18:28, Paul “testifying that the Christ was Jesus”). Chapter reviewed; no new terms beyond established reuse.

Chapter 19 — Ephesus: Rebaptism, Tongues, Magic Books, the Riot

• βάπτισμα Ἰωάννου (baptisma Iōannou) vs. εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ (eis to onoma tou Kyriou Iēsou), “John’s baptism” vs. baptism “into the name of the Lord Jesus” (19:3–5). NEW distinction. Semantic range: John’s baptism as a preparatory baptism of repentance pointing forward to the Messiah, versus Christian baptism marking incorporation into Christ specifically and reception of the Spirit. Malay: baptisan Yohanes… baptisan dalam nama Tuhan Yesus. Risk: Medium — reuses Baptisan (see 2:38 discussion, High risk) with an added layer requiring clear distinction between a preparatory, incomplete rite and its Christ-ward fulfillment.
• γλώσσαις καὶ ἐπροφήτευον (glōssais kai eprophēteuon), “tongues and prophesied” (19:6, the Ephesian twelve after Paul lays hands on them). Reuses the 2:4 tongues/prophecy vocabulary. Risk: High (baseline reuse from this document).
• τῶν τὰ περίεργα πραξάντων (tōn ta perierga praxantōn), “those who had practiced magic arts” (19:19, burning the magic books). Reuses sihir-family vocabulary (see chs. 8, 13 above). Risk: High (baseline reuse from this document) — this narrative (public, costly renunciation of occult practice) is valuable teaching material for genuine repentance’s practical, costly fruit.
• Μεγάλη ἡ Ἄρτεμις Ἐφεσίων (Megalē hē Artemis Ephesiōn), “Great is Artemis/Diana of the Ephesians” (19:28, 19:34, the riot chant). Proper noun (Greco-Roman goddess); Malay: Dewi Artemis. Risk: Low-Medium — an idol-worship narrative connected to berhala-vocabulary; useful for showing the gospel’s real economic and social disruption of idol-based commerce, a pattern with some contemporary resonance regarding gospel proclamation’s social costs.
• πνεῦμα πονηρόν (pneuma ponēron), “evil spirit” (19:12–16, the seven sons of Sceva incident: “Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?”). NEW term. Semantic range: a malevolent, non-divine spiritual being capable of possessing/overpowering a person. English variants: “evil spirit,” “unclean spirit,” “demon.” Malay: roh jahat. Risk: Medium-High — must be clearly distinguished from Roh Kudus (unambiguously good/divine) and should also be distinguished from the Islamic jin category, which in Islamic cosmology includes both good and evil members (some jin are said to convert to Islam, per Qur’an 72). Roh jahat here denotes an unambiguously malevolent, defeated-by-Christ’s-name spiritual power, not a morally ambiguous jin; this contrast should be made explicit in teaching material.

Chapter 20 — Troas; Farewell to the Ephesian Elders

• Εὔτυχος… ἦρθη νεκρός (Eutychos… ērthē nekros), “Eutychus… was picked up dead” (20:9–10), then restored to life by Paul (20:10, “his life/soul is in him,” or v.12 “they brought the boy back alive”). NEW miracle-narrative term-adjacent to but distinct from Kebangkitan (which is reserved for Christ’s own once-for-all, eschatologically significant resurrection); Eutychus’s restoration is better categorized as a resuscitation-to-ordinary-mortal-life, paralleling OT/NT accounts of Elijah, Elisha, Jesus (Lazarus, Jairus’s daughter), and Peter (Tabitha, 9:36–41). Malay: dihidupkan semula. Risk: Medium — teaching should distinguish this category of miracle (return to mortal life, subject to future death again) from Christ’s resurrection (permanent, glorified, death-defeating) to avoid theological conflation.
• ἐπίσκοποι (episkopoi), “overseers” (20:28, Paul addressing the Ephesian “elders,” presbyteroi, 20:17, and calling them “overseers,” episkopoi, in the same speech — establishing these as overlapping/synonymous offices in this early period). NEW term. Malay: penilik jemaah / pengawas jemaah. Risk: Medium — reinforces penatua (elder, ch.14) as describing the same office from a different angle (the elder’s identity, “older/respected one”; the overseer’s function, “one who watches over”); should be taught together, not as two separate offices at this stage.
• ποιμαίνειν τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ θεοῦ (poimainein tēn ekklēsian tou theou), “to shepherd the church of God” (20:28). Reuses Gereja (baseline Medium-risk term, here as ekklēsia, “assembly/church”) combined with shepherd-flock imagery. Malay: menggembalakan Gereja/jemaah Allah. Risk: Medium (baseline reuse).
• λύκοι βαρεῖς (lykoi bareis), “fierce/savage wolves” (20:29, false teachers who will arise). Malay: serigala yang ganas. Risk: Low — vivid pastoral-warning metaphor, straightforward to render.
• τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τῆς χάριτος τοῦ θεοῦ (to euangelion tēs charitos tou theou), “the gospel of the grace of God” (20:24). Reuses Injil and Kasih kurnia (both baseline High-risk terms) in combination. Risk: High (baseline reuse).

Chapter 21 — Warnings, Arrival in Jerusalem, Arrest in the Temple

• εὐχὴν ἔχων (euchēn echōn), “having taken a vow” (21:23–24, the Nazirite vow Paul undertakes with four men). NEW term. εὐχή (euchē) — “vow, prayer of vow.” Malay: nazar. Risk: Medium — nazar is also a recognized, well-developed concept in Malay Islamic devotional practice (a vow of specific religious performance conditioned on a request being granted); teaching material should note that this specific vow (likely Nazirite, cf. Numbers 6) reflects Paul’s continuing respectful engagement with Jewish custom as a matter of cultural sensitivity and freedom (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:19–23, outside Acts), not an implication that vow-taking itself is meritorious for salvation, consistent with the justification_apart_from_law doctrine established in chs. 13 and 15.
• Ῥωμαῖος (Rhōmaios), “a Roman [citizen]” (21:39, 22:25–29, Paul’s Roman citizenship, becoming important legal-protection background through the remaining chapters). Malay: warganegara Rom. Risk: Low — civil/legal status term, not directly theological, though it structures the entire remaining narrative of Paul’s legal defense.

Chapter 22 — Paul’s Defense Speech (Jerusalem)

• Substantially a retelling of the conversion narrative from ch.9; reuses Anak Allah, Kristus, the Way, Bertobat with the same risk ratings established above.
• ὁ δίκαιος (ho dikaios), “the Righteous One” (22:14, Ananias’s words to Saul: “you will know his will, and see the Righteous One, and hear a voice from his mouth”). Reuses Kebenaran-family vocabulary (yang benar, the Righteous One, a christological title). Risk: High — an important title applying Kebenaran (baseline Critical term, righteousness) directly to Christ’s person as a title of address, not only as a status believers receive; teaching should note this dual usage (Christ as inherently righteous; believers as declared righteous through him, per Diperbenarkan).
• βάπτισαι καὶ ἀπόλουσαι τὰς ἁμαρτίας σου, ἐπικαλεσάμενος τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ (baptisai kai apolousai tas hamartias sou, epikalesamenos to onoma autou), “be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name” (22:16). Reuses Baptisan/Dosa vocabulary (see 2:38 discussion). Risk: Critical — parallels 2:38 closely; the same teaching caution against baptismal-merit misreading applies (baptism marks, rather than itself causes by ritual efficacy, forgiveness already secured through calling on Christ’s name in faith).

Chapter 23 — Paul Before the Sanhedrin; Plot Against His Life

• περὶ ἐλπίδος καὶ ἀναστάσεως νεκρῶν (peri elpidos kai anastaseōs nekrōn), “concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead” (23:6, Paul deliberately provokes the Pharisee-Sadducee division on this point). Reuses Kebangkitan (baseline Critical term). Risk: Critical (baseline reuse) — a strategic, not merely incidental, use of the resurrection doctrine to divide Paul’s accusers.
• συνείδησις ἀγαθή (syneidēsis agathē), “a good/clear conscience” (23:1). NEW term. Malay: hati nurani yang bersih/baik. Risk: Low-Medium — a recognized moral-psychological category in most cultures; low collision risk, though it should not be presented as itself the ground of righteousness before God (contrast with Diperbenarkan, which is a forensic status, not a subjective feeling of clear conscience).

Chapter 24 — Paul Before Felix

• τῆς ὁδοῦ ἣν λέγουσιν αἵρεσιν (tēs hodou hēn legousin hairesin), “the Way, which they call a sect” (24:14). NEW term: αἵρεσις (hairesis) — “sect, party, faction” (the root of English “heresy,” though here in its neutral, pre-technical sense of a distinguishable religious/philosophical party within Judaism, comparable to how Pharisees and Sadducees are also called haireseis elsewhere, e.g. Acts 5:17, 15:5, 26:5). English variants: “sect,” “party,” “faction.” Malay: mazhab / aliran. Risk: Medium — mazhab in standard Malaysian usage specifically denotes one of the four recognized Sunni schools of Islamic jurisprudence, which could misleadingly suggest early Christianity was merely a jurisprudential variant within Judaism’s legal framework; aliran (“stream, movement, faction”) is the safer rendering, avoiding this specific legal-school association while still conveying “a distinguishable religious party.”
• δικαιοσύνη καὶ ἐγκράτεια καὶ τὸ κρίμα τὸ μέλλον (dikaiosynē kai enkrateia kai to krima to mellon), “righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment” (24:25, Paul’s address to Felix, who becomes afraid). Reuses Kebenaran (baseline Critical term) in a moral-ethical-address sense (not the forensic-justification sense) — teaching should note this dual usage across Acts, similar to the note at 22:14 above.

Chapter 25 — Paul Before Festus; Appeal to Caesar

• Καίσαρα ἐπικαλοῦμαι (Kaisara epikaloumai), “I appeal to Caesar” (25:11). Civil/legal proper-noun term. Malay: Aku merayu kepada Kaisar / membuat rayuan kepada Kaisar. Risk: Low — a legal, not theological, term; structurally important for the remaining chapters but not doctrinally load-bearing.

Chapter 26 — Paul’s Defense Before Agrippa (Fullest Conversion Retelling)

• οὐρανόθεν φῶς (ouranothen phōs), “a light from heaven” (26:13, “a heavenly vision,” ouranion optasian, 26:19). NEW low-risk descriptive term for the Damascus-road theophany. Malay: cahaya dari langit / penglihatan syurgawi. Risk: Low.
• ἀνοῖξαι ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτῶν, τοῦ ἐπιστρέψαι ἀπὸ σκότους εἰς φῶς καὶ τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ Σατανᾶ ἐπὶ τὸν θεόν (anoixai ophthalmous autōn, tou epistrepsai apo skotous eis phōs kai tēs exousias tou Satana epi ton theon), “to open their eyes, to turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God” (26:18). NEW term: Σατανᾶς (Satanas) — “Satan,” and ἐξουσία (exousia) — “authority, dominion,” here contrasted directly with God. Malay: kuasa Iblis / Syaitan kepada Allah. Risk: Medium-High — Malay has two available terms, Iblis (the proper-name figure who refuses to bow to Adam, prominent in Islamic Qur’anic narrative) and Syaitan (the more general term for tempting/evil spiritual forces, including Iblis’s offspring/followers); either is broadly intelligible to a Malay-Muslim-background audience and both are already used in existing Malay Bible tradition, but teaching material should clarify the NT’s cosmic-conflict framework (kingdom of light vs. kingdom of darkness, decisively resolved through Christ’s victory) rather than assuming full doctrinal equivalence with Islamic angelology/demonology’s more elaborate hierarchy.
• πίστει τῇ εἰς ἐμέ (pistei tē eis eme), “by faith in me [Christ]” (26:18, part of the same commissioning verse, tied to “forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified”). Reuses Iman and Pengudusan (both baseline High-risk terms) together with Dosa. Risk: High (baseline reuse).
• ἐν ὀλίγῳ με πείθεις Χριστιανὸν γενέσθαι (en oligō me peitheis Christianon genesthai), “in a short time you would persuade me to become a Christian” (26:28, Agrippa’s famous reply). Reuses Kristian (see ch.11 above). Risk: Medium (baseline reuse from this document).

Chapter 27 — The Voyage and Shipwreck

No new theologically load-bearing terms; this chapter is a detailed nautical narrative (the storm, the angelic reassurance in 27:23–24 reusing already-established angel/providence vocabulary, and Paul’s continued bold witness even as a prisoner). Chapter reviewed: no new theological vocabulary beyond established reuse of “angel of the Lord” (ch.12) and providence-adjacent themes (Romans baseline’s Pemeliharaan Allah).

Chapter 28 — Malta, Arrival in Rome, Paul’s Final Word to the Jewish Leaders

• ἔχιδνα (echidna), “viper” (28:3–6, the snake bite Paul survives, leading the islanders to first think him a murderer pursued by justice, then a god). Narrative/cultural-superstition color; low theological risk, though it again shows (as in ch.14) a pattern of pagan audiences oscillating between condemnation and deification in response to the unexplained — useful teaching material on the gospel’s disruption of both extremes.
• βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ… μετὰ πάσης παρρησίας ἀκωλύτως (basileian tou theou… meta pasēs parrēsias akōlytōs), “the kingdom of God… with all boldness, without hindrance” (28:31, the book’s closing words). Reuses Kerajaan Allah and parrhēsia/keberanian (see ch.4 above) together as the final, climactic summary of the entire book: the gospel of the kingdom proclaimed with total boldness, unhindered, from Jerusalem to the heart of the Roman Empire — the narrative fulfillment of the 1:8 programmatic thesis (“you will be my witnesses… to the end of the earth”). Risk: High — this closing verse functions for the “Great Commission Fulfilled” doctrine the way Romans 1:16–17 functions as thesis-statement for Romans; it should be rendered consistently with 1:8 and treated as a matched bookend.
• Citation of Isaiah 6:9–10 (“you will indeed hear but never understand…”, 28:26–27). Reuses Nubuat/Nabi (baseline Medium/High-risk terms) — Paul’s closing appeal to fulfilled prophecy regarding Israel’s partial hardening, directly connected to the Romans baseline’s fulfillment_of_prophecy doctrine and anticipating Romans 9–11’s fuller treatment of the same theme.

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Summary Observations for Phase 1 Downstream Steps

1. Highest-density new-risk clusters: Acts 2 (Pentecost core passage), Acts 10 (unclean/common — Critical, halal/haram collision), Acts 13/15 (justification apart from law, circumcision — High/Critical), Acts 7–8 (stoning, sorcery — High), Acts 9 (the Way — High).
2. Most Malaysia-specific new risk: the koinon/akatharton (“unclean”) term in Acts 10:14, 10:28, given the currently-operating JAKIM halal certification system — flagged Critical, exceeding even the baseline’s existing food/purity cautions.
3. Terms requiring the strongest forbidden-substitution guardrails: syahid (martyr) must never replace saksi (witness); haram/halal must never replace najis/tidak tahir (unclean); mukjizat requires accompanying teaching wherever used of apostolic (not new-scripture-bearing) miracles.
4. Full-book coverage confirmed: all 28 chapters of Acts have been reviewed; Chapters 18 and 27 introduce no new load-bearing theological vocabulary beyond established reuse and are noted as such above.