Core Glossary
Core Glossary
translation_memory.json is the enforced glossary for every Phase 2 translation in this curriculum. This document summarizes its shape and the principles behind it; see the Glossary Risk Groups for the full per-term entries.
Composition
The glossary currently holds 47 terms spanning all four risk tiers, drawn from the doctrines identified in Doctrine Analysis and grounded in the cultural, theological, and legal risks identified in Culture Analysis and Comparative Theology. Every term entry records:
- The approved Malay translation and a phonetic pronunciation guide
- The doctrine risk tier (Critical/High/Medium/Low)
- Explicitly rejected alternatives, with reasons, including where a term collides with a legally contested word (Allah), an Insider Movement-style alternative (Isa, Al-Masih), or a specific Islamic doctrine (syafaat)
- Notes explaining any non-obvious translation choice
Governing principles
- Established Alkitab usage over invention or Islamic-vocabulary substitution — where the Alkitab already has a settled rendering (Allah, Yesus, Kristus, Roh Kudus), this glossary follows it rather than proposing an alternative or adopting an Insider Movement-style Islamic-vocabulary substitute.
- Explicit naming, not silent avoidance — every Critical-risk term records the specific Islamic doctrine, legal controversy, or civilizational echo it stands in tension with (see
alternatives_rejectedandnotes), so a translator or reviewer understands why softening the term would misrepresent the source text or concede real ground. - Version-controlled and append-only in Phase 2 — if a new term is discovered during document translation, it is added to translation memory and the version number incremented, never silently improvised per-document (see the AI Translation Requirements’ Translation Memory Load and Enforcement Instructions).
Relationship to the Doctrine Risk Registry
Every glossary term’s doctrine field links back to an entry in doctrine_risk_registry.json, so a term’s risk tier is always traceable to the specific doctrine it protects — the glossary enforces vocabulary, the doctrine registry explains why that vocabulary matters, including the legal/political and mainstream-Sunni-doctrinal risks that distinguish this Language Package from every other Language Package in this pipeline.
Critical Risk Terms
Father
Approved rendering: Bapa
Transliteration: BAH-pah
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: Pencipta (Creator, as a substitute to avoid relational language)
CRITICAL: Calling God ‘Father’ can register as implying literal offspring, which tawhid forbids. Teach the relational, adoptive sense directly (aided by the culturally comfortable anak angkat/adoption concept, see the adoption entry) rather than retreating to the flatter Pencipta.
God
Approved rendering: Allah
Transliteration: ahl-LAHH
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Tuhan (used for ‘Lord’ in this Language Package; reserving Allah for ‘God’ keeps the two terms distinct as Alkitab does)
CRITICAL: Malay Christians have used Allah for God since the earliest Malay Bible translations (from 1629), and it remains the term used in the Alkitab today, particularly established among Christians in Sabah and Sarawak. Its use by non-Muslims has also been the subject of significant, ongoing legal and political contest in Malaysia (including a 2013 Court of Appeal ruling restricting non-Muslim use of the word in Peninsular Malaysia, and a 2021 High Court ruling in Kuching affirming a Christian’s right to use it), making this Language Package’s single most legally and politically sensitive term, not only a theological one.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Roh Kudus
Transliteration: ROHKH KOO-doos
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: Jibril (the archangel Gabriel), roh halus (a generic nature/subtle spirit in traditional Malay animist belief)
CRITICAL: Two distinct risks converge here. First, as elsewhere in the Islamic world, ‘Ruh al-Qudus’ is often explained in Islamic commentary as referring to the archangel Jibril aiding Jesus, not a co-equal divine Person. Second, and more distinctive to the Malay Archipelago, traditional animist belief (still present beneath official Islam in parts of Malay folk culture) recognizes many kinds of roh (spirits: ancestor spirits, nature spirits, jin), which risks Roh Kudus being heard as merely one spirit-being among many rather than God himself. Both must be explicitly addressed.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: Kebenaran yang diperhitungkan
Transliteration: keh-beh-NAH-rahn yahng dee-per-hee-TOONG-kahn
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: kebenaran yang diusahakan (earned/worked-for righteousness)
Righteousness credited to a believer’s account by faith, not achieved through amal soleh (righteous deeds). Kebenaran yang diusahakan (‘earned righteousness’) is explicitly rejected, since it reintroduces the deeds-ledger framework Paul argues against.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: Penjelmaan
Transliteration: pen-jel-MAHN
Doctrine: Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: Tuhan yang menyamar sebagai manusia (God disguising himself as a human)
CRITICAL: Penjelmaan (‘taking on form’) shares its root with penjelmaan dewa, an avatar-like concept surviving from the pre-Islamic Hindu-Buddhist civilizational layer of the Malay Archipelago (the historic Srivijaya and Majapahit era). Teaching material must clarify this is the eternal Son permanently, not temporarily or repeatably, taking on true human nature — not a deity’s episodic appearance in a Hindu-Buddhist avatar sense.
Intercession
Approved rendering: Perantaraan
Transliteration: peh-rahn-tah-RAH-ahn
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Rejected alternatives: syafaat (the mainstream Sunni doctrine of the Prophet Muhammad’s intercession on the Day of Judgment, formally taught in Malaysian Islamic education)
CRITICAL: Syafaat Nabi Muhammad is not a fringe folk belief but a standard, formally taught article of mainstream Sunni eschatology in Malaysia. Christ’s unique, sufficient intercession (Romans 8:34) must be clearly distinguished from this widely and officially taught doctrine, using the more neutral Perantaraan rather than syafaat.
Jesus
Approved rendering: Yesus
Transliteration: YEH-soos
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Isa (the Qur’anic name, deliberately avoided by established Alkitab convention)
CRITICAL: The Alkitab (Malay Bible) deliberately uses Yesus rather than the Qur’anic Isa, precisely to keep the full Christian identity of Jesus distinct from the Qur’anic prophet-Isa and to avoid the appearance of an Islamic-vocabulary (‘Insider Movement’-style) translation approach. This Language Package follows that established, deliberate convention rather than the Isa naming used in some other Islamic-context languages in this pipeline.
Justification
Approved rendering: Diperbenarkan
Transliteration: dee-per-beh-NAHR-kahn
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: diampunkan (forgiven, alone)
A forensic-legal declaration (being ‘made/declared right’), not merely forgiveness. Diampunkan (forgiven) alone loses the positive legal-declaration sense Paul intends; the full concept must be taught, not abbreviated to pardon alone.
Lord
Approved rendering: Tuhan
Transliteration: TOO-hahn
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: tuan (master/sir, non-divine)
Established Alkitab term (Tuhan Yesus). In Romans 10:9 the confession ‘Jesus is Lord’ = Yesus adalah Tuhan. Tuan denotes a human master/sir and must not substitute; it removes the exclusive divine claim of the confession.
Messiah
Approved rendering: Kristus
Transliteration: KRIS-toos
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Rejected alternatives: Al-Masih (the Qur’anic title, deliberately avoided in favor of the Greek-derived Alkitab convention)
CRITICAL: Established Alkitab usage (Yesus Kristus) deliberately uses the Greek/English-derived Kristus rather than the Qur’anic Al-Masih title, precisely to avoid the appearance of adopting an Islamic-vocabulary (‘Insider Movement’-style) translation strategy that has been a significant point of controversy in Malay/Indonesian Bible translation circles. This Language Package follows that established, deliberate convention.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: Kebangkitan
Transliteration: keh-bahng-KIT-ahn
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: diangkat naik ke syurga (being raised up to heaven, without dying)
CRITICAL: Must affirm real bodily death followed by bodily resurrection. The Qur’an (4:157) denies Isa actually died; diangkat naik ke syurga describes the no-death-ascension reading and must never substitute for kebangkitan, which requires a prior death.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: Kebenaran
Transliteration: keh-beh-NAH-rahn
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: amal soleh (righteous deeds, as the ground itself)
CRITICAL: Kebenaran can ambiguously mean ‘truth/correctness’ as well as moral righteousness in everyday Malay; context must make clear this is right standing before God, not merely factual accuracy. Never present as equivalent to amal soleh (righteous deeds), the works-ledger category central to Islamic judgment theology.
Salvation
Approved rendering: Keselamatan
Transliteration: keh-seh-lah-MAH-tahn
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: masuk syurga (entering paradise, as the whole content)
CRITICAL: Keselamatan shares its root with selamat, an extremely common everyday word (‘selamat pagi,’ good morning; ‘selamat datang,’ welcome), which risks the doctrine reading as a vague, generic well-wishing rather than a specific, present deliverance secured by Christ. Must not be diluted into a synonym for hoping to enter syurga [paradise], an outcome Islamic theology leaves undetermined until Judgment Day.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: Anak Allah
Transliteration: AH-nahk ahl-LAHH
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: kekasih Allah (God’s beloved one), wakil Allah (God’s representative)
CRITICAL: Full phrase required, never softened. Some Bible translation efforts targeting Muslim-majority audiences elsewhere in the world have proposed avoiding ‘Son of God’ language altogether in favor of softer alternatives like ‘God’s beloved’ or ‘God’s representative,’ a practice that provoked a major, well-documented global evangelical controversy (the 2011-2013 ‘Son of God’ translation debate) precisely because it removes doctrinal content to reduce offense. This Language Package explicitly forbids that approach: Anak Allah must be used and taught, not replaced.
High Risk Terms
Abba
Approved rendering: Abba
Transliteration: AH-bah
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Aramaic term of intimacy preserved untranslated in Romans 8:15. Retain the transliteration; it conveys a childlike intimacy that formal Bapa alone may not fully carry.
Adoption
Approved rendering: Pengangkatan sebagai anak
Transliteration: peng-ahng-KAH-tahn seh-BAH-gai AH-nahk
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: anak angkat (bare, without doctrinal qualifier)
Anak angkat (adopted child) is a culturally comfortable, unstigmatized concept in Malay society, which gives this doctrine an unusually low-friction cultural bridge compared to most terms in this package. The remaining risk is theological rather than social: teaching material must still clarify this describes believers’ legal-relational status with full inheritance rights, not a claim that God has literal offspring, which tawhid forbids.
Apostle
Approved rendering: Rasul
Transliteration: RAH-sool
Doctrine: Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: utusan (a lower-weight, purely secular ‘envoy/messenger’)
HIGH: Established Alkitab usage retains Rasul (e.g. ‘Rasul Paulus’), even though rasul is also the specific Islamic category for a major prophet-messenger who receives new scripture (preeminently Muhammad, ‘Rasulullah’). This Language Package follows existing Malay Bible precedent rather than substituting a different word, but every use must be accompanied by explicit teaching that a New Testament apostle is a Spirit-authorized eyewitness to the risen Christ, not a scripture-bearing prophet in the Islamic sense.
Called
Approved rendering: Dipanggil
Transliteration: dee-PAHNG-gil
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: dijemput (invited, as to a social event)
Context-sensitive: in 1:1 = called to apostleship; in 1:7 = called to be saints; in 8:28-30 = effectual calling to salvation. Dijemput (‘invited’) understates the sovereign weight of God’s call.
Calling
Approved rendering: Panggilan
Transliteration: pahng-GIL-ahn
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: jemputan
Noun form for the act/state of being called by God. Jemputan (invitation) does not carry the effectual weight of a sovereign summons.
Election
Approved rendering: Pilihan Allah
Transliteration: pee-LEE-hahn ahl-LAHH
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: takdir (fate/predetermined decree)
God’s sovereign, personal choosing for salvation. Takdir carries strong fatalistic-decree connotations common in everyday Malay speech; Pilihan Allah preserves the relational, purposive sense Romans intends.
Faith
Approved rendering: Iman
Transliteration: ee-MAHN
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: kepercayaan (generic belief/trust)
Iman is shared with Islamic vocabulary (the pillars of belief: Allah, angels, books, prophets, the last day, qada’ and qadar). Romans’ iman is personal trust in Yesus Kristus specifically; the object of faith must always be stated in context.
Glory
Approved rendering: Kemuliaan
Transliteration: keh-moo-lee-AH-ahn
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: nur (divine light, associated with Nur Muhammad devotion in the historic Malay Sufi tradition, e.g. the writings of Hamzah Fansuri)
God’s radiant honor and majesty. Avoid nur, which in Malay Sufi devotional literature specifically evokes the pre-existent light of Muhammad — a competing pre-existence and glory claim.
Gospel
Approved rendering: Injil
Transliteration: IN-jeel
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: berita baik (generic ‘good news’, without the proclamation weight)
Injil is the established Alkitab (Malay Bible) term, shared with the Qur’anic name for the revelation given to Isa, which Islamic doctrine treats as historically altered (tahrif). This curriculum uses Injil for Paul’s living proclamation specifically, not as a bare reference to a contested book.
Grace
Approved rendering: Kasih kurnia
Transliteration: KAH-sih KOOR-nee-ah
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: rahmat (mercy, an Arabic-loan term operating within a deeds-and-mercy Islamic judgment framework)
Kasih kurnia (‘loving favor’) is a native Malay-Sanskrit compound rather than an Arabic loanword, established in Alkitab usage specifically to convey unearned favor apart from merit, distinct from rahmat, which still functions within a framework where deeds matter for final judgment.
Holy
Approved rendering: Kudus
Transliteration: KOO-doos
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: suci (ritually/physically clean)
Kudus = set apart for God, morally pure; shared with the Arabic-loan divine attribute Al-Quddus and used in Roh Kudus. Suci carries ritual-cleanliness connotations (closer to wudu’ purity) rather than moral holiness.
Law
Approved rendering: Hukum Taurat
Transliteration: HOO-koom tow-RAHT
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: Syariah / Hukum Syariat (Islamic religious law, an operative parallel legal system in Malaysia)
Refers to the Mosaic law given through the Taurat (Torah). NEVER use Syariah, which in Malaysia names an actual, currently operating parallel court system for Muslims, not merely an abstract theological category; conflating the two would import a specific, legally loaded contemporary institution into Paul’s argument.
Mission
Approved rendering: Penyebaran Injil
Transliteration: peh-nyeh-BAH-rahn IN-jeel
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
Rejected alternatives: misi (loaded with colonial-era missionary connotations in Malaysian public discourse), dakwah-style framing (the specific Islamic term for religious propagation, best reserved for its own context)
Penyebaran Injil (‘spreading of the Gospel’) is used rather than misi, which carries colonial baggage, or dakwah, the specifically Islamic term for religious outreach. Proselytizing Muslims is legally restricted in Malaysia under state Islamic administration enactments, so this Language Package’s Requirements document routes related content to human theologian review for pastoral and legal-safety reasons.
Obedience Of Faith
Approved rendering: Ketaatan iman
Transliteration: keh-tah-AH-tahn ee-MAHN
Doctrine: Obedience of Faith
Rejected alternatives: ketaatan agama (generic religious dutifulness/submission)
Romans 1:5 and 16:26. Taat (obedience) is a prominent Islamic virtue-word (taat kepada Allah, taat kepada pemimpin); the obedience here must be taught as the fruit of a faith relationship already secured by grace, not dutiful religious submission that itself earns standing before God.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: Kuasa Allah
Transliteration: KOO-ah-sah ahl-LAHH
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Rejected alternatives: kuasa ghaib (occult/supernatural power, associated with traditional Malay bomoh shamanic practice and animistic belief in semangat, life-force)
Kuasa Allah is the plain, doctrinally clean term for God’s sovereign power. Kuasa ghaib risks being heard through the lens of Malay folk-animist practice (bomoh healers, keris talismans, ilmu occult knowledge), a real substrate beneath official Islam in parts of Malay culture, rather than as the personal power of the biblical God.
Prophet
Approved rendering: Nabi
Transliteration: NAH-bee
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: ahli nujum (fortune-teller/astrologer)
Nabi is the standard shared Islamic-Malay term, and precisely the (exclusive) category Islamic theology places Jesus into (Nabi Isa). When used of OT prophets pointing to Christ, ensure the text distinguishes their role from Christ’s own identity as more than prophetic.
Providence
Approved rendering: Pemeliharaan Allah
Transliteration: peh-meh-lee-hah-RAH-ahn ahl-LAHH
Doctrine: Providence
Rejected alternatives: takdir (fate/decree)
God’s personal, purposive care, especially Romans 8:28. Takdir carries strong fatalistic connotations of an impersonal, unknowable decree; Pemeliharaan (‘preserving/caring for’) preserves the personal, Father-hearted sense Romans intends.
Saints
Approved rendering: Orang kudus
Transliteration: OH-rahng KOO-doos
Doctrine: Sainthood
Rejected alternatives: wali (Sufi saints venerated at keramat sites in traditional Malay Islam)
Orang kudus = all believers corporately, set apart in Christ. Wali carries strong associations in traditional Malay Sufi practice with venerated holy figures whose graves (keramat) receive visits seeking blessing; this is a specially graced elite category, not the ordinary corporate sainthood of Romans 1:7.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: Pengudusan
Transliteration: peng-goo-DOO-sahn
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: penyucian (ritual purification)
The Spirit’s ongoing work of making believers holy. Penyucian leans toward ceremonial/ritual cleansing; pengudusan keeps the moral-relational, Spirit-worked sense, consistent with Kudus above.
Sin
Approved rendering: Dosa
Transliteration: DOH-sah
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: kesilapan (mistake/error)
Dosa is the standard shared term, but Islamic anthropology (fitrah, humans born sinless) resists inherited universal sinfulness; Romans 5:12-19’s doctrine of inherited sin needs explicit teaching support.
Medium Risk Terms
Church
Approved rendering: Gereja
Transliteration: geh-REH-jah
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: jemaah (a term also used broadly for a mosque congregation or generic religious assembly)
Gereja (from early Portuguese colonial contact, ‘igreja’) is an established, unambiguous Malay word for the Christian church specifically, distinct from masjid (mosque) and the more religiously generic jemaah.
Covenant
Approved rendering: Perjanjian
Transliteration: per-jahn-jee-AHN
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: kontrak (bare commercial contract)
Perjanjian (also used for Perjanjian Lama/Perjanjian Baru, Old/New Testament) is the established relational-covenant term. Kontrak reads as a bare commercial agreement and loses the relational-promise dimension.
David
Approved rendering: Daud
Transliteration: dah-OOD
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Established Alkitab proper name, recognizable from the Qur’anic Dawud, though the Qur’an presents him as a prophet-king without the messianic covenant content Romans assumes.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: Bangsa bukan Yahudi
Transliteration: BAHNG-sah BOO-kahn yah-HOO-dee
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: kafir (unbeliever/infidel, an Islamic religious-legal category with strong, actively contested pejorative force in contemporary Malay/Indonesian religious discourse)
Bangsa bukan Yahudi (‘peoples who are not Jewish’) is the ethnically neutral Bible term. Kafir carries a very strong and, in recent years, publicly contested pejorative charge and would import an entirely different, religiously loaded boundary line than Paul’s Jew/Gentile distinction.
Israel
Approved rendering: Israel
Transliteration: iss-rah-EL
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Proper name; established Alkitab form. Handle with pastoral awareness given contemporary geopolitical sensitivities around the modern state of the same name in Malaysian public discourse.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: Kerajaan Allah
Transliteration: keh-rah-JAH-ahn ahl-LAHH
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Rejected alternatives: pentadbiran Allah (God’s administration)
Kerajaan doubles in modern Malay as the ordinary word for ‘government’ (Kerajaan Malaysia, the Government of Malaysia) as well as historic Malay sultanates; teaching material must make clear God’s Kerajaan is his sovereign reign, not a literal bureaucratic administration or earthly monarchy.
Peace
Approved rendering: Damai sejahtera
Transliteration: DAH-mai seh-jah-TEH-rah
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: ketenangan (inner calm)
In Romans 5:1, damai sejahtera is relational, whole-life peace with God through justification, echoing the fullness of Hebrew shalom well. Ketenangan (calm) is closer to psychological composure and understates the relational and covenantal dimension.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: Nubuat
Transliteration: noo-boo-AHT
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: ramalan (fortune-telling/prediction)
God-inspired declaration pointing to Christ, an established Alkitab term. Ramalan carries divination/fortune-telling connotations and must be avoided.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: Keturunan Daud
Transliteration: keh-too-ROO-nahn dah-OOD
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Romans 1:3; conveys physical lineage and fulfillment of the Davidic covenant promise. Malay culture’s own tradition of royal lineage legitimacy (keturunan/salasilah diraja in the Malay sultanates) gives dynastic descent claims real cultural resonance, though readers may need help moving from an earthly-succession model to the eternal, messianic kingship Romans assumes.
Spiritual Gifts
Approved rendering: Karunia rohani
Transliteration: kah-ROO-nee-ah roh-HAH-nee
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts
Rejected alternatives: keramat (a miraculous power or site associated with a venerated wali in traditional Malay Islam)
Always pair karunia with rohani; keramat specifically denotes the miraculous power attributed to a saint’s grave-site in traditional Malay devotional practice and must not be used.
Low Risk Terms
Exhort
Approved rendering: Menasihati
Transliteration: meh-NAH-see-HAH-tee
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Context-sensitive: use merayu (entreat/beseech) for pleading; menasihati (advise/encourage) for building up.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: Persekutuan
Transliteration: per-seh-koo-TOO-ahn
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: persaudaraan (brotherhood, generic/ethnic)
Persekutuan is the established, well-understood Malay Christian term for shared participation in Christ. Persaudaraan risks reading as ethnic or Malay-bumiputera solidarity rather than a specifically Christ-centered bond.
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: Kesyukuran
Transliteration: keh-shoo-KOO-rahn
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Standard term shared with everyday Islamic-influenced gratitude vocabulary (bersyukur, alhamdulillah-style piety). Low doctrinal risk; a genuine point of resonance.
Referenced passages