Core Glossary
Core Glossary: Philemon
English → Malay | Per-Term Translation Risk Table (Full Book)
Curriculum: Philemon
Core passage: Philemon 1:8–21
Status: All terms below are drawn from the complete semantic analysis in analysis/07_semantic_analysis.md, covering every verse of Philemon (1:1–25). Terms marked [REUSED] repeat the baseline Romans Language Package rendering exactly, per the hard rule that established term renderings must be reused without alteration. Terms marked [NEW] are proposed additions to translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json for this curriculum and require formal registration and (where High/Critical) human theologian review before Phase 2 translation begins.
1. New Terms Proposed for This Curriculum
| English Term | Greek (Transliteration) | Literal Meaning | Malay Rendering | Risk | Doctrine | Rationale / Collision Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slave / bondservant | δοῦλος (doulos) | one owned by, legally bound to, a master | Hamba | High | Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power | Collides with the devotional Islamic-Malay self-designation hamba Allah (“servant of God,” a positive humility term); also carries residual weight from historic Malay-sultanate hamba/abdi bonded-labor systems and contemporary Malaysian discourse on migrant-labor exploitation/trafficking. Must be taught as Paul’s real, unjust social category, transformed but not immediately abolished by the gospel — never conflated with pious hamba Allah submission-language. |
| Brother / sister | ἀδελφός / ἀδελφή (adelphos / adelphē) | sibling from the same womb; fellow believer | Saudara / Saudari | High | Christian Brotherhood across Social Status | Saudara, and especially the compound saudara baru, is the standard contemporary Malaysian term for a convert to Islam; saudara alone also carries an everyday ethnic-Malay/bumiputera in-group sense. Christian “brotherhood” here is a NEW family identity created across social status (free/slave) by shared faith in Christ, not a religious-conversion or ethnic category — this distinction must be taught explicitly on first use. |
| Prisoner (of Christ) | δέσμιος (desmios) | one bound, in custody | Orang tahanan (preferred) / not banduan | Medium | Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another | Banduan implies a convicted criminal/inmate; Paul was in pre-trial Roman custody specifically for gospel proclamation, not convicted of a crime. Orang tahanan (person in custody/detention) avoids the criminal-stigma misread while preserving the suffering-for-the-gospel sense. |
| Charge to (my) account | ἐλλογάω (ellogaō) | enter into a ledger; impute a debt | Kirakan/hitungkan itu kepadaku | High | Forgiveness and Reconciliation | Directly mirrors the baseline imputed_righteousness doctrine (Critical; Kebenaran yang diperhitungkan) but applied to imputed DEBT rather than imputed righteousness. Recommend sharing the kira/hitung verb root with the baseline term so learners recognize the parallel legal-accounting logic Paul deliberately invokes as a small picture of the gospel’s substitutionary logic. |
| Owe besides / owe your very self | προσοφείλω (prosopheileis) | to owe in addition, on top of a stated debt | Kamu berhutang dirimu sendiri kepadaku | High | Grace-Motivated Obedience / Forgiveness and Reconciliation | Names Philemon’s own gospel-indebtedness to Paul (implying Paul led Philemon to faith) — must be taught as spiritual/gospel debt, not a literal financial claim, and always paired with the ἐλλόγα passage (v.18) to avoid a purely transactional misreading. |
| Compulsion / voluntary (paired) | ἀνάγκη / ἑκούσιον (anankē / hekousion) | forced necessity / free willingness | Paksaan / dengan rela hati | High | Grace-Motivated Obedience | The letter’s clearest echo of the baseline’s grace-vs-merit distinction (High risk in baseline): genuine gospel-shaped goodness cannot be coerced. Ananke (compulsion) here is social/relational, not cosmic fate, and must not be rendered so as to evoke takdir (already forbidden elsewhere in this package for providence/election). |
| Appeal / beseech | παρακαλέω (parakalō) | to call alongside; entreat | Merayu (pleading sense, per baseline exhort entry) | High | Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another | Reuses the baseline exhort entry’s own context-sensitivity note (merayu for pleading vs. menasihati for encouragement) — here squarely the pleading/entreaty sense. Must never be rendered with perantaraan, which this Language Package reserves exclusively for Christ’s unique heavenly intercession, to avoid implying Paul’s human appeal shares Christ’s mediatorial office. |
| Useless / useful (Onesimus wordplay) | ἄχρηστος / εὔχρηστος (achrēstos / euchrēstos) | not/of use, service | Tidak berguna / berguna | High | Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power | The central wordplay on Ὀνήσιμος (“useful/profitable”), invisible in Malay transliteration; requires a mandatory translator’s note. Secondary risk: instrumental “usefulness” framing of a person must be taught as the very frame the gospel overturns, not affirmed as a legitimate way to value persons. |
| Obedience | ὑπακοή (hypakoē) | hearing-under; compliance | Ketaatan (reuse root of baseline obedience_of_faith) | High | Grace-Motivated Obedience | Shares the baseline’s obedience_of_faith root (Ketaatan iman, High) but here the immediate object is Paul’s personal appeal, not “the faith” abstractly. Teach as obedience flowing from an already-secured faith relationship, not a separate merit-earning duty. |
| Child / begotten (spiritual) | τέκνον / ἐγέννησα (teknon / egennēsa) | child / to beget, bring to birth | Anakku / yang kulahirkan dalam iman | Medium | Grace-Motivated Obedience (discipleship) | Spiritual-mentorship “father in the faith” language; must be kept distinct from the baseline’s Critical Anak Allah (Son of God) and Bapa (Father, adoption doctrine) categories — a human discipleship metaphor, not a claim about divine sonship. |
| Heart / inmost affection | σπλάγχνα (splanchna) | inward organs (bowels/entrails) | Hati | Medium | Forgiveness and Reconciliation | Idiom for deepest affection; a literal rendering referencing internal organs would read as crude/comedic in Malay. Recurs at vv.7, 12, 20 — render consistently as hati throughout. |
| Partner | κοινωνός (koinōnos) | one who shares in common | Rakan sekutu | Medium | Christian Brotherhood across Social Status | Shares a root with baseline Persekutuan (koinōnia, fellowship) but denotes a concrete personal/business partnership here; keep visibly related to, but not identical in form with, Persekutuan so the shared concept is recognizable without conflating the abstract and concrete senses. |
| Confidence / trust (in a person) | πεποιθώς (pepoithōs) | having been persuaded, settled trust | Dengan yakin | Medium | Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another | Confidence in a fellow believer’s character/obedience — must be distinguished from the baseline’s Critical assurance_of_salvation doctrine, a different referent (a believer’s standing before God). |
| Wronged / owe (paired) | ἀδικέω / ὀφείλω (adikeō / opheilō) | to act unjustly / to be indebted | Bersalah kepadamu / berhutang | Medium | Forgiveness and Reconciliation | Acknowledges real wrongdoing without minimizing it; reconciliation in this letter never bypasses naming actual wrong done. |
| Fellow prisoner (of war) | συναιχμάλωτος (synaichmalōtos) | fellow war-captive | Rakan sepenjara/rakan tawanan | Medium | Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power (context) | Stronger, more specifically military-captivity term than δέσμιος; keep distinguished in teaching notes. |
| Onesimus name-pun (“may I benefit”) | ὀναίμην (onaimēn) | may I be benefited/profited | Biarlah aku mendapat kebaikan/faedah daripadamu | High | Forgiveness and Reconciliation / Slavery doctrine | Third and climactic occurrence of the Onesimus (“useful”) wordplay (with vv.11); requires a cross-referencing translator’s note, since the pun is invisible in the Malay transliterated proper name. |
| Boldness / authority to command | παρρησία (parrēsia) | freedom/boldness of speech | Keberanian | Medium | Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another | Relational-apostolic authority Paul possesses but sets aside; must not read as mere personality trait. |
| Command (declined) | ἐπιτάσσω (epitassō) | to order with authority | Memerintahkan | Low | Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another | Straightforward administrative-command term; contrasted deliberately with παρακαλῶ. |
| Granted as a gracious gift | χαρίζομαι (charizomai, of Paul’s hoped-for release) | to give freely/graciously | Dikurniakan semula | Medium | Grace-Motivated Obedience (context) | Shares the χάρις root with baseline Kasih kurnia (High); Paul frames his own hoped-for freedom in the vocabulary of grace. |
| Serve / minister | διακονέω (diakoneō) | to wait on, render service | Melayani | Low-Medium | Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power (context) | Shares a root with the church office “deacon,” relevant elsewhere in this curriculum’s wider book list (1 Corinthians, Ephesians). |
| Eternal / forever | αἰώνιος (aiōnios) | pertaining to an age; without end | Untuk selama-lamanya | Medium | Christian Brotherhood across Social Status | Must retain eschatological depth (eternal fellowship), not flatten to mere social permanence. |
| Separated (providentially) | χωρίζω / ἐχωρίσθη (chōrizō / echōristhē) | to part, separate | Diceraikan/dipisahkan | Medium-High | Forgiveness and Reconciliation | Frames Onesimus’s flight within God’s providence without minimizing wrongdoing; connects to baseline providence doctrine (High) — teach as personal purposive care, never takdir. |
| Your spirit (closing benediction) | πνεῦμα ὑμῶν (pneuma hymōn) | your (human) spirit | Rohmu | Medium | (Cross-cutting; not a named curriculum doctrine, but a Critical-adjacent risk) | Must not be confused with the baseline’s Critical Roh Kudus (Holy Spirit); this is the believers’ own human spirit. Recommend a clarifying gloss at first use. |
2. Reused Terms (Baseline Romans Language Package — Render Exactly as Recorded)
| English Term | Malay Rendering (Baseline) | Risk (Baseline) | Occurrence in Philemon | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gospel | Injil | High | v.13 (“chains of the gospel”) | Reuse exactly; do not substitute “berita baik.” |
| Grace | Kasih kurnia | High | vv.3, 25 | Standard salutation/benediction; reuse exactly. |
| Faith | Iman | High | vv.5, 6 | Object of faith (“toward the Lord Jesus”) explicitly stated, per baseline convention. |
| Saints | Orang kudus | High | vv.5, 7 | Corporate believers; reuse exactly. |
| Fellowship / partnership (abstract noun) | Persekutuan | Low | v.6 | Distinguish from concrete κοινωνός/rakan sekutu (v.17, new term above). |
| Church | Gereja | Medium | v.2 | House-church context; reuse exactly. |
| Lord | Tuhan | Critical | vv.3, 5, 16, 20, 25 | Exclusive divine Lordship; reuse exactly, including in the “in the Lord” (ἐν κυρίῳ) phrase. |
| God | Allah | Critical | v.3, 4 | Reuse exactly. |
| Father | Bapa | Critical | v.3 | Reuse exactly. |
| Jesus | Yesus | Critical | throughout | Reuse exactly; never Isa. |
| Christ | Kristus | Critical | throughout | Reuse exactly; never Al-Masih. |
| Peace | Damai sejahtera | Medium | v.3 | Reuse exactly. |
| Thanksgiving | Kesyukuran | Low | v.4 | Reuse exactly. |
| Obedience (of faith, root) | Ketaatan (iman) | High | v.21 | Root reused for ὑπακοή; object here is Paul’s appeal, not “the faith” abstractly — see New Terms table note. |
| Providence | Pemeliharaan Allah | High | v.15 (thematic) | Reuse exactly for the providential framing of Onesimus’s flight/return. |
| Imputed righteousness (conceptual parallel) | Kebenaran yang diperhitungkan | Critical | v.18 (thematic parallel) | Not directly quoted, but ἐλλόγα (v.18) should share its verb root (kira/hitung) with this established rendering — see New Terms table entry for ἐλλόγα. |
| Exhort (root, context-sensitive) | Menasihati / Merayu | Low | v.9, 10 | Philemon’s παρακαλῶ uses the merayu (pleading) branch of this existing context-sensitive baseline entry. |
| Intercession (contrast term, NOT used here) | Perantaraan | Critical | (excluded by contrast) | Must NOT be used for Paul’s human appeal in Philemon; reserved exclusively for Christ’s unique intercession per baseline. |
3. Proper Names (Transliteration Only — Low Risk)
| English | Malay (Established/Recommended Form) | Risk | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paul | Paulus | Low | Established Alkitab form. |
| Timothy | Timotius | Low | Established Alkitab form. |
| Philemon | Filemon | Low | Established Alkitab form. |
| Apphia | Apfia | Low | Transliterate per Malay Bible orthography conventions. |
| Archippus | Arkhipus | Low | Transliterate per Malay Bible orthography conventions. |
| Onesimus | Onesimus | Medium | Transliteration alone is low risk, but the name’s meaning (“useful/profitable”) is the hinge of the letter’s central wordplay (vv.11, 20) and is invisible in Malay without an explicit translator’s note at first occurrence. |
| Epaphras | Epafras | Low | Transliterate per Malay Bible orthography conventions. |
| Mark | Markus | Low | Established Alkitab form (per baseline requirements document transliteration table). |
| Aristarchus | Aristarkhus | Low | Transliterate per Malay Bible orthography conventions. |
| Demas | Demas | Low | Transliterate per Malay Bible orthography conventions. |
| Luke | Lukas | Low | Established Alkitab form (per baseline requirements document transliteration table). |
4. Doctrine-to-Term Cross-Reference (Curriculum Doctrines)
| Curriculum Doctrine | Primary Terms (this glossary) | Overall Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Forgiveness and Reconciliation | ἐλλόγα/kirakan kepadaku (High), προσοφείλεις/berhutang dirimu (High), ἀδικέω/ὀφείλω (Medium), ἐχωρίσθη/diceraikan (Medium-High), σπλάγχνα/hati (Medium), ὀναίμην (High) | High |
| Christian Brotherhood across Social Status | ἀδελφός/saudara (High), κοινωνός/rakan sekutu (Medium), αἰώνιος/selama-lamanya (Medium) | High |
| Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power | δοῦλος/hamba (High), ἄχρηστος/εὔχρηστος (High), διακονέω/melayani (Low-Medium), συναιχμάλωτος (Medium) | High |
| Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another | παρακαλέω/merayu (High), δέσμιος/orang tahanan (Medium), παρρησία/keberanian (Medium), ἐπιτάσσω/memerintahkan (Low), πεποιθώς/dengan yakin (Medium) | High |
| Grace-Motivated Obedience | ἀνάγκη/ἑκούσιον (High), ὑπακοή/ketaatan (High), τέκνον/ἐγέννησα (Medium), χαρίζομαι/dikurniakan (Medium) | High |
Overall curriculum risk assessment: Philemon, despite its brevity, carries a HIGH concentration of doctrinal risk terms relative to its length — 3 of its load-bearing terms qualify for New Critical/High registration in translation_memory.json (hamba, saudara, and the debt-imputation cluster), each requiring human theologian review before Phase 2 translation. This reflects the letter’s dense, compressed argument, which moves through slavery, brotherhood, debt-forgiveness, and grace-obedience within only 25 verses.
Critical Risk Terms
Lord
Approved rendering: Tuhan
Transliteration: TOO-hahn
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: tuan (master/sir, non-divine)
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Appears in Filemon 1:3, 5, 16, 20, 25, including the doctrinally loaded ‘in the Lord’ (en kyrio) phrase of 1:16 and 1:20. Zero-deviation reuse required.
God
Approved rendering: Allah
Transliteration: ahl-LAHH
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Tuhan (reserved for ‘Lord’ in this Language Package)
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Filemon 1:3-4. Malaysia’s legally and politically sensitive term; see baseline notes and comparative theology analysis.
Father
Approved rendering: Bapa
Transliteration: BAH-pah
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: Pencipta (Creator, flattening substitute)
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Filemon 1:3.
Jesus
Approved rendering: Yesus
Transliteration: YEH-soos
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Isa (the Qur’anic name)
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Never Isa; occurs throughout Filemon.
Messiah
Approved rendering: Kristus
Transliteration: KRIS-toos
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Rejected alternatives: Al-Masih (the Qur’anic title)
Original: Χριστός
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Never Al-Masih; occurs throughout Filemon, always paired with Yesus in doctrinally significant contexts.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: Kebenaran yang diperhitungkan
Transliteration: keh-beh-NAH-rahn yahng dee-per-hee-TOONG-kahn
Doctrine: Substitutionary Imputation of Debt (thematic parallel)
Rejected alternatives: kebenaran yang diusahakan (earned righteousness)
Original: ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package as the conceptual and lexical parallel to Filemon 1:18’s ellogao (imputed DEBT, not righteousness) — see new term ‘imputed_debt’ below, which deliberately shares the kira/hitung verb root with this term so learners recognize the same legal-accounting logic applied in reverse.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Roh Kudus
Transliteration: ROHKH KOO-doos
Doctrine: Sanctification (contrastive reference)
Rejected alternatives: Jibril (archangel Gabriel), roh halus (generic animist nature-spirit)
Inherited from Romans package. Does not itself occur in Filemon, but MUST be held distinct in translator awareness from the new term ‘human_spirit’ (rohmu, Filemon 1:25’s closing ‘your spirit’), since Malay orthography does not disambiguate capitalization as clearly as English.
High Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: Injil
Transliteration: IN-jeel
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: berita baik (generic ‘good news’, without the proclamation weight)
Original: εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. In Filemon 1:13 (‘chains of the gospel’), Paul’s imprisonment is framed as gospel-service, not punishment. Render exactly as baseline.
Grace
Approved rendering: Kasih kurnia
Transliteration: KAH-sih KOOR-nee-ah
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: rahmat (mercy, deeds-and-mercy framework)
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Frames the salutation (1:3) and benediction (1:25); also underlies Paul’s hope to be ‘granted’ back to the church (1:22, charizomai, same root — see new term granted_graciously below). Render exactly as baseline.
Faith
Approved rendering: Iman
Transliteration: ee-MAHN
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: kepercayaan (generic belief/trust)
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Filemon 1:5-6 names the object explicitly (‘toward the Lord Jesus’), consistent with the baseline requirement that Iman’s object always be stated in context.
Saints
Approved rendering: Orang kudus
Transliteration: OH-rahng KOO-doos
Doctrine: Sainthood (Called to be Holy)
Rejected alternatives: wali (Sufi saints venerated at keramat sites)
Original: ἅγιοι
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Filemon 1:5, 7: the corporate body of believers whose hearts (splanchna) have been refreshed through Philemon.
Obedience Of Faith
Approved rendering: Ketaatan iman
Transliteration: keh-tah-AH-tahn ee-MAHN
Doctrine: Grace-Motivated Obedience
Rejected alternatives: ketaatan agama (generic religious duty)
Original: ὑπακοὴ πίστεως
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Filemon does not quote this exact compound phrase, but v.21’s hypakoe (obedience alone) shares this root — see new term ‘obedience_personal’ below for the distinct personal-appeal sense.
Providence
Approved rendering: Pemeliharaan Allah
Transliteration: peh-meh-lee-hah-RAH-ahn ahl-LAHH
Doctrine: Providence in Suffering and Separation
Rejected alternatives: takdir (fatalistic decree)
Original: πρόνοια (cf. Filemon 1:15’s implied divine purpose)
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Filemon 1:15 (‘perhaps he was separated for this reason…’) frames Onesimus’s flight within God’s providential purpose without minimizing his wrongdoing.
Apostle
Approved rendering: Rasul
Transliteration: RAH-sool
Doctrine: Servanthood over Positional Authority
Rejected alternatives: utusan (lower-weight secular envoy)
Inherited from Romans package. Notably NOT used in Filemon 1:1 — Paul opens with ‘prisoner of Christ Jesus’ instead of his customary ‘apostle,’ a structural absence that is itself theologically loaded since Rasul is the Islamic category for a major scripture-bearing prophet-messenger. Teach this as a deliberate rhetorical substitution (appeal, not command), not a diminishment of Paul’s actual apostolic authority documented elsewhere in this curriculum.
Slave
Approved rendering: Hamba
Transliteration: HAHM-bah
Doctrine: Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power
Rejected alternatives: abdi (archaic palace-slave term), orang gaji (modern domestic worker), buruh paksa/pemerdagangan manusia (forced labor/human trafficking, anachronistic contemporary category)
Original: δοῦλος
Category: Slavery
NEW TERM. Onesimus’s prior legal status (Filemon 1:16). HIGH RISK: collides with the devotional Islamic-Malay self-designation ‘hamba Allah’ (a positive humility term), and carries residual weight from historic Malay-sultanate hamba/abdi bonded-labor systems and contemporary Malaysian discourse on migrant-labor exploitation/trafficking. Teaching material must distinguish Paul’s unjust social category from pious hamba Allah submission-language on every occurrence, not merely first use, and must never present this as tacit endorsement of slavery.
Brother
Approved rendering: Saudara
Transliteration: SOW-DAH-rah
Doctrine: Christian Brotherhood across Social Status
Rejected alternatives: saudara baru (standard Malaysian term for a convert to Islam)
Original: ἀδελφός
Category: Relationships
NEW TERM. Used of Timothy (1:1) and, climactically, of Onesimus (1:16), collapsing free/slave social distance into one family category. HIGH RISK: ‘saudara,’ especially the compound ‘saudara baru,’ is the standard contemporary Malaysian term for an Islamic convert, and also carries an everyday ethnic-Malay/bumiputera in-group connotation. Never use ‘saudara baru’ in Christian teaching material; always gloss ‘saudara’ on first use as a NEW family identity created by shared faith in Christ across social status, not an ethnic or civil-conversion category.
Sister
Approved rendering: Saudari
Transliteration: SOW-DAH-ree
Doctrine: Christian Brotherhood across Social Status
Rejected alternatives: saudari baru (parallel conversion-vocabulary risk)
Original: ἀδελφή
Category: Relationships
NEW TERM. Used of Apphia (1:2). Carries the identical ‘saudara baru’ conversion-vocabulary collision risk as ‘brother’; teach alongside it as part of the same new-family-identity doctrine.
Appeal
Approved rendering: Merayu
Transliteration: meh-RAH-yoo
Doctrine: Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another
Rejected alternatives: perantaraan (reserved exclusively for Christ’s unique heavenly intercession), syafaat (the mainstream Sunni doctrine of Muhammad’s Judgment-Day intercession)
Original: παρακαλέω
Category: Intercession
NEW TERM (context-sensitive branch of the baseline ‘exhort’ entry). Filemon 1:9-10, the letter’s central verb — Paul trades command for appeal. MUST NEVER be rendered with perantaraan or syafaat; a teaching note must state Paul’s appeal is a model of Christian intercessory love, not a claim to Christ’s or Muhammad’s mediatorial office.
Useless Useful
Approved rendering: Tidak berguna / Berguna
Transliteration: TEE-dahk ber-GOO-nah / ber-GOO-nah
Doctrine: Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power
Original: ἄχρηστος / εὔχρηστος
Category: Slavery
NEW TERM. Filemon 1:11. Antonym pair punning directly on Onesimus’s name (‘useful/profitable’), a pun entirely lost in Malay transliteration and requiring a mandatory translator’s note. Reducing a person to utility-language must be taught as the very frame the gospel overturns, never as a legitimate way to value persons.
Onesimus Benefit Wordplay
Approved rendering: Biarlah aku mendapat kebaikan/faedah daripadamu
Transliteration: bee-AHR-lah AH-koo men-DAH-paht keh-BAI-kahn/fah-EH-dah dah-ree-PAH-dah-moo
Doctrine: Identity and Name Transformation in Christ
Original: ὀναίμην
Category: Slavery
NEW TERM. Filemon 1:20, the letter’s climactic wordplay (third occurrence, with v.11) — Paul asks to finally receive the ‘benefit’ Onesimus’s own name promises. Requires a mandatory translator’s note cross-referencing v.11.
Compulsion
Approved rendering: Paksaan
Transliteration: pahk-SAH-ahn
Doctrine: Grace-Motivated Obedience
Rejected alternatives: takdir (fatalistic decree, already forbidden elsewhere in this package for providence/election)
Original: ἀνάγκη
Category: Obedience
NEW TERM. Filemon 1:14, paired with ‘voluntary.’ The negative pole of the letter’s grace-vs-merit argument: genuine goodness cannot be coerced. This is social/relational compulsion, not cosmic fate.
Voluntary
Approved rendering: Dengan rela hati
Transliteration: DEH-ngahn REH-lah HAH-tee
Doctrine: Grace-Motivated Obedience
Original: ἑκούσιον
Category: Obedience
NEW TERM. Filemon 1:14, paired with ‘compulsion.’ Philemon’s reception of Onesimus must be freely chosen, mirroring how grace itself operates apart from compulsion — the letter’s clearest echo of the baseline’s grace/works distinction.
Providential Separation
Approved rendering: Dipisahkan
Transliteration: dee-pee-SAHH-kahn
Doctrine: Providence in Suffering and Separation
Rejected alternatives: diceraikan (primary contemporary sense is marital divorce; corrected out of use for this context per linguistic gap analysis)
Original: ἐχωρίσθη (from χωρίζω)
Category: God
NEW TERM, linked to the baseline ‘providence’ doctrine. Filemon 1:15. Use ‘dipisahkan’ ONLY — ‘diceraikan’ is explicitly retired from this context because its dominant contemporary Malay sense is marital divorce, an unintended collision when describing Onesimus’s flight. Must be taught as personal, purposive divine care working even through human wrongdoing, never as impersonal ‘takdir’-style fatalism.
Imputed Debt
Approved rendering: Kirakan/hitungkan itu kepadaku
Transliteration: KEE-rah-kahn/hee-TOONG-kahn EE-too keh-PAH-dah-koo
Doctrine: Substitutionary Imputation of Debt
Original: ἐλλογάω (ἐλλόγα)
Category: Reconciliation
NEW TERM. Filemon 1:18. A ledger/accounting term directly mirroring the baseline ‘imputed_righteousness’ doctrine (Critical) but applied to imputed DEBT rather than imputed righteousness. Deliberately shares the kira/hitung verb root with ‘Kebenaran yang diperhitungkan’ so learners recognize the parallel accounting logic — but teaching material must state explicitly this is an analogy (debt vs. righteousness are different objects imputed), not an equivalence, and that Paul is a model, never a rival savior-figure to Christ.
Owe Besides
Approved rendering: Kamu berhutang dirimu sendiri kepadaku
Transliteration: KAH-moo ber-HOO-tahng DEE-ree-moo sen-DEE-ree keh-PAH-dah-koo
Doctrine: Substitutionary Imputation of Debt
Original: προσοφείλω
Category: Reconciliation
NEW TERM. Filemon 1:19. Paul reminds Philemon he owes Paul his very spiritual life — gospel-indebtedness dwarfing any monetary debt Onesimus owes. Must be taught as spiritual-gospel indebtedness, not a literal financial claim, always paired with ‘imputed_debt’ (v.18) to avoid a purely transactional reading.
Obedience Personal
Approved rendering: Ketaatan
Transliteration: keh-tah-AH-tahn
Doctrine: Grace-Motivated Obedience
Rejected alternatives: taat (bare Islamic virtue-obedience vocabulary, e.g. taat kepada Allah/pemimpin, presented without the grace qualifier)
Original: ὑπακοή
Category: Obedience
NEW TERM sharing the root of the baseline ‘obedience_of_faith’ (Ketaatan iman). Filemon 1:21: here the immediate object is Paul’s personal appeal, not ‘the faith’ abstractly. Always pair with ‘dengan rela hati’ (voluntary) and grace-framing language; never present as a stand-alone merit-earning duty.
Forgiveness
Approved rendering: Pengampunan
Transliteration: peng-ahm-POO-nahn
Doctrine: Forgiveness and Reconciliation
Rejected alternatives: diampunkan alone (already flagged in baseline as insufficient stand-alone rendering for justification), rahmat (mercy, deeds-and-mercy framework, already rejected in baseline for grace)
NEW DOCTRINE-NOUN REGISTRATION. Not previously registered in the baseline Romans package (which emphasizes justification/righteousness vocabulary rather than a standalone ‘forgiveness’ noun). Must be taught as a settled, Christ-secured reality flowing from Christ’s finished work — echoing the forensic, settled-status logic of Diperbenarkan (justification) — rather than a provisional hope contingent on a future weighing of deeds, which is how everyday Islamic usage tends to frame forgiveness.
Reconciliation
Approved rendering: Pendamaian
Transliteration: pen-dah-mah-EE-ahn
Doctrine: Forgiveness and Reconciliation
NEW DOCTRINE-NOUN REGISTRATION. Not previously registered in the baseline Romans package. Pair consistently with baseline ‘Damai sejahtera’ (peace) to reinforce the relational, not merely legal-transactional, sense. Reconciliation in Filemon is grounded in naming real wrongdoing (vv.18) plus gracious absorption of the resulting debt, not a vague feeling of relational improvement.
Medium Risk Terms
Church
Approved rendering: Gereja
Transliteration: geh-REH-jah
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: jemaah (broad, mosque-adjacent generic assembly)
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Filemon 1:2 refers to a house-church (‘the church in your house’); relevant background for readers whose only referent for ‘gereja’ may be a physical building.
Peace
Approved rendering: Damai sejahtera
Transliteration: DAH-mai seh-jah-TEH-rah
Doctrine: Grace and Peace in Greeting
Rejected alternatives: ketenangan (inner calm)
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Filemon 1:3, part of the standard salutation formula paired with grace.
Prisoner
Approved rendering: Orang tahanan
Transliteration: OH-rahng tah-HAH-nahn
Doctrine: Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another
Rejected alternatives: banduan (convicted inmate, imports unwarranted criminal stigma)
Original: δέσμιος
Category: Intercession
NEW TERM. Paul’s self-designation (1:1, 9), notably replacing his customary ‘apostle’ opening. ‘Orang tahanan’ (person in custody) is preferred over ‘banduan,’ since Paul’s Roman custody was pre-trial detention for the gospel, not a criminal conviction.
Fellow Prisoner
Approved rendering: Rakan sepenjara
Transliteration: RAH-kahn seh-pen-JAH-rah
Doctrine: Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power (context)
Rejected alternatives: rakan tawanan (acceptable variant, less standard)
Original: συναιχμάλωτος
Category: Intercession
NEW TERM. Used of Epaphras (1:23). A stronger, specifically military-captivity term than ‘orang tahanan’ (desmios); keep visibly distinguished from ‘prisoner’ in teaching notes as a related but stronger term.
Boldness
Approved rendering: Keberanian
Transliteration: keh-beh-rah-NEE-ahn
Doctrine: Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another
Original: παρρησία
Category: Intercession
NEW TERM. Filemon 1:8. The relational-apostolic authority Paul possesses but deliberately sets aside; must not read as mere personal courage/personality trait.
Spiritual Child
Approved rendering: Anakku (yang kulahirkan dalam iman)
Transliteration: AH-nahk-koo (yahng koo-lah-HEER-kahn DAH-lahm ee-MAHN)
Doctrine: Grace-Motivated Obedience
Rejected alternatives: anak angkat (adoption, wrong register — reserved for the doctrinal adoption category)
Original: τέκνον / ἐγέννησα
Category: Relationships
NEW TERM. Filemon 1:10, of Onesimus. Discipleship ‘father in the faith’ language; must be kept distinct from the baseline’s Critical ‘Anak Allah’ and ‘Bapa’ categories — a human-mentorship metaphor, not a claim about divine sonship.
Onesimus Name
Approved rendering: Onesimus
Transliteration: oh-NEH-see-moos
Doctrine: Identity and Name Transformation in Christ
Original: Ὀνήσιμος
Category: Relationships
NEW TERM (proper name with doctrinal weight, following baseline precedent for Daud/Israel). Transliterate as ‘Onesimus’; a translator’s note is required at first occurrence explaining the name’s meaning (‘useful/profitable’), since the transliteration carries no meaning in Malay and the wordplay of vv.11, 20 would otherwise be invisible.
Inmost Affection
Approved rendering: Hati
Transliteration: HAH-tee
Doctrine: Forgiveness and Reconciliation
Rejected alternatives: isi perut (literal ‘bowels/entrails’, reads as crude or comedic in Malay)
Original: σπλάγχνα
Category: Reconciliation
NEW TERM. Filemon 1:7, 12, 20 (splanchna). A literal internal-organ rendering must be avoided; render consistently as ‘hati’ throughout all three occurrences.
Everlasting Reunion
Approved rendering: Untuk selama-lamanya
Transliteration: OON-took seh-LAH-mah-LAH-mah-nyah
Doctrine: Christian Brotherhood across Social Status
Rejected alternatives: untuk kebaikan (merely ‘for good’ in a social-permanence-only sense)
Original: αἰώνιος
Category: Relationships
NEW TERM. Filemon 1:15. Plays on two senses: a permanent (no longer merely temporary) relationship, and an intimation of eternal fellowship. Must not be flattened to mere social permanence.
Partner
Approved rendering: Rakan sekutu
Transliteration: RAH-kahn seh-KOO-too
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship and Partnership
Rejected alternatives: persaudaraan (ethnic-solidarity risk, already rejected in baseline for ‘fellowship’)
Original: κοινωνός
Category: Relationships
NEW TERM. Filemon 1:17. Shares a root with baseline ‘Persekutuan’ (koinonia, fellowship) but denotes a concrete personal/business partnership here; keep visibly related to, but not identical in form with, Persekutuan.
Wronged Indebted
Approved rendering: Bersalah kepadamu / Berhutang
Transliteration: ber-SAH-lah keh-PAH-dah-moo / ber-HOO-tahng
Doctrine: Forgiveness and Reconciliation
Original: ἀδικέω / ὀφείλω
Category: Reconciliation
NEW TERM. Filemon 1:18. Acknowledges real wrongdoing (likely theft and/or unauthorized flight) without minimizing it — reconciliation in this letter never bypasses acknowledgment of actual wrong.
Confidence In Person
Approved rendering: Dengan yakin
Transliteration: DEH-ngahn YAH-kin
Doctrine: Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another
Original: πεποιθώς
Category: Faith
NEW TERM. Filemon 1:21. Paul’s confidence rests in Philemon’s proven Christian character, not coercive leverage. Must be distinguished from the baseline’s Critical ‘assurance_of_salvation’ doctrine — a different referent (confidence in a fellow believer, not a believer’s own standing before God).
Granted Graciously
Approved rendering: Dikurniakan semula
Transliteration: dee-koor-nee-AH-kahn seh-MOO-lah
Doctrine: Thanksgiving and Prayer for Release
Rejected alternatives: dibebaskan (bare ‘released’, loses the grace-vocabulary connection)
Original: χαρίζομαι (χαρισθήσομαι)
Category: Salvation
NEW TERM sharing the root of baseline ‘Kasih kurnia’ (charis). Filemon 1:22, Paul’s hoped-for release described in grace-vocabulary — his release would be an act of God’s gracious favor, not merely good fortune.
Human Spirit
Approved rendering: Rohmu
Transliteration: ROHKH-moo
Doctrine: Closing Benediction (cross-cutting, Critical-adjacent risk)
Original: πνεῦμα ὑμῶν
Category: God
NEW TERM. Filemon 1:25, closing benediction (‘your spirit’). Must NOT be confused with the baseline’s Critical ‘Roh Kudus’ (Holy Spirit); Malay orthography does not disambiguate capitalization as clearly as English, so a brief clarifying gloss is recommended at first use.
Low Risk Terms
Fellowship
Approved rendering: Persekutuan
Transliteration: per-seh-koo-TOO-ahn
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship and Partnership
Rejected alternatives: persaudaraan (brotherhood, ethnic/generic)
Original: κοινωνία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Filemon 1:6 (‘the fellowship of your faith’), the abstract noun form. Distinguish from the concrete ‘partner’ (koinonos) of 1:17 — see new term ‘partner’ below.
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: Kesyukuran
Transliteration: keh-shoo-KOO-rahn
Doctrine: Thanksgiving and Prayer for Release
Original: εὐχαριστία / εὐχαριστῶ
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Filemon 1:4, opening thanksgiving for Philemon’s love and faith.
Command
Approved rendering: Memerintahkan
Transliteration: meh-meh-rin-TAHH-kahn
Doctrine: Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another
Original: ἐπιτάσσω
Category: Intercession
NEW TERM. Filemon 1:8, the authority Paul explicitly declines to use, contrasted deliberately with ‘merayu’ (appeal).
Minister
Approved rendering: Melayani
Transliteration: meh-lah-YAH-nee
Doctrine: Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power (context)
Original: διακονέω
Category: Church
NEW TERM. Filemon 1:13, of Onesimus’s hoped-for service to Paul. Shares a root with the church office ‘deacon,’ relevant elsewhere in this curriculum’s wider book list (1 Corinthians, Ephesians).