Core Glossary
08 Core Glossary — 3 John (English/Koine Greek → Manipuri)
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing term identified in analysis/07_semantic_analysis.md, covering the entire book of 3 John (a single chapter coextensive with the core passage, 1:1-14/15). Terms already fixed in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json are marked Baseline reuse — exact and MUST NOT be altered. New terms proposed here are flagged for addition to translation memory and, where Critical/High risk, for human theologian review per the doctrine risk registry conventions established in the baseline package.
Doctrine 1: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
| Term (EN) | Greek | Transliteration | Manipuri | Transliteration | Risk | Baseline Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| stranger / traveling minister | ξένος | xenos | লম্বীগী মী | lambigi mi | High | New | Core doctrinal term; sensitive given contemporary Manipur inter-community dynamics — teach as gospel-based hospitality obligation, not commentary on any specific ethnic group. |
| receive / support / welcome | ὑπολαμβάνω / ἐπιδέχομαι | hypolambanein / epidechomai | ওকপা | okpa | Medium | New | Central hospitality verb; also used negatively of Diotrephes’ refusal (3 Jn 1:9-10). |
| send on one’s journey | προπέμπω | propempsas | চৎনবা মতেং পাংবা | chatnaba mateng pangba | Medium | New | Practical/material provisioning for gospel travel, framed as worship “worthy of God.” |
| worthily (of God) | ἀξίως | axiōs | মতিক চাবা | matik chaba | Medium | New | Keep distinct from baseline “glory” term মতিক চাউবা (matik chauba). |
| the Name (of Christ) | ὄνομα | onoma | মমিং (ক্রিস্তোগী মমিং) | maming (Christogi maming) | High | New | Christological shorthand; must not be confused with Sanamahi or Vaishnava ritual name-invocation. |
| brother(s) | ἀδελφός | adelphos | ইচিল-ইনাও | ichil-inao | Medium | New | Spiritual, not clan (yumnak), kinship. |
| Gentile / pagan outsider | ἐθνικός | ethnikos | অতোপ্পা ফুরুপ | atoppa phurup | Medium | Baseline reuse (nuance note) | Baseline term (from ἔθνη) reused; here narrower sense = non-believing outsiders, not ethnic non-Jews generally. |
| fellow worker | συνεργός | synergos | থবক তৌমিন্নবা | thabak toumtnaba | Medium | New | Gospel partnership through hospitality, not devotional-merit accumulation (contrast bhakti seva). |
| ought (duty) | ὀφείλω | opheilō | থৌদাং ওইবা | thoudang oiba | Low | New |
Doctrine 2: Imitating Good rather than Evil
| Term (EN) | Greek | Transliteration | Manipuri | Transliteration | Risk | Baseline Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| imitate | μιμέομαι | mimeomai | মতুং ইনবা | matung inba | High | New (built on baseline root ইনবা) | Genuine collision risk with Ras Lila’s ritual imitation/reenactment of Krishna’s divine acts; teach as ordinary moral imitation of godly human character, never ritual reenactment of divine action. |
| good | ἀγαθός | agathos | অফবা | aphaba | Medium | New | |
| evil | κακός | kakos | ফত্তবা | phattaba | Medium | New | Shares lemma with πονηρός (below); nuance (malicious intent vs. general badness) should be flagged in teaching. |
| does good | ἀγαθοποιέω | agathopoieō | অফবা তৌবা | aphaba touba | Medium | New | Evidentiary fruit of belonging to God, not a means of earning that status — teach alongside baseline grace/imputed-righteousness cautions. |
| does evil | κακοποιέω | kakopoieō | ফত্তবা তৌবা | phattaba touba | Medium | New | |
| see (relationally know) | ὁράω | horaō | উবা | uba | Low | New |
Doctrine 3: Church Leadership and Pride (Diotrephes)
| Term (EN) | Greek | Transliteration | Manipuri | Transliteration | Risk | Baseline Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| elder | πρεσβύτερος | presbyteros | অহল | Ahal | High | New | Distinguish from Meitei clan/village elder authority and Sanamahi ritual-elder roles (Apokpa/Lai Haraoba leadership). |
| loves to be first / preeminence | φιλοπρωτεύω | philoprōteuōn | হন্না ওইনবা পাম্মি | hanna oinaba pammi | High | New | Deliberately built on হন্না (“first”), NOT on অহানবা (baseline’s fixed term for “salvation”) — avoid this term collision. Named as a vice, contrasted with servant leadership. |
| does not receive/acknowledge | ἐπιδέχομαι | epidechomai | ওকপা (negated) | okpa | Medium | New | Same verb as hospitality doctrine, used negatively of Diotrephes. |
| remind / bring to account | ὑπομιμνήσκω | hypomnēskō | নিংশিংহনবা | ningshinghanba | Low | New | |
| evil/wicked words | πονηρός | ponēros | ফত্তবা | phattaba | Medium | New | See “evil” note above re: shared lemma. |
| prate against / baseless accusation | φλυαρέω | phlyareō | অকৈবা ৱা ঙাংবা | akaiba wa ngangba | Medium | New | |
| content / satisfied | ἀρκέομαι | arkeomai | পুক ঙাইবা | puk ngaiba | Low | New | Natural Meitei idiom (“belly-satisfied”). |
| hinder / forbid | κωλύω | kōlyō | থিংবা | thingba | Low | New | |
| cast out / expel (from church) | ἐκβάλλω | ekballō | কলিসিয়াদগী থাদোকপা | kalisiyadagi thadokpa | High | New | Teach as illegitimate abuse of leadership power, not warranted church discipline; real pastoral risk of normalization against Manipur’s strong clan/council-authority culture. |
| church | ἐκκλησία | ekklēsia | কলিসিয়া | kalisiya | Medium | Baseline reuse — exact |
Doctrine 4: Commendation of Faithful Witness (Demetrius)
| Term (EN) | Greek | Transliteration | Manipuri | Transliteration | Risk | Baseline Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| testify / testimony | μαρτυρέω / μαρτυρία | martyreō / martyria | সাক্ষী পীবা / সাক্ষী | sakhi piba / sakhi | High | New | Distinguish sharply from a maibi’s trance-derived oracular “testimony” during Lai Haraoba; this is ordinary factual/moral attestation of character. |
| true | ἀληθής | alēthēs | অচুম্বা | achumba | Medium | New (shares root with “truth”) | |
| Demetrius (proper name) | Δημήτριος | Dēmētrios | দেমেত্রিয়স | Demetriyas | Low | New | Transliteration only; doctrinal weight lies in the surrounding testimony vocabulary, not the name. |
| Diotrephes (proper name) | Διοτρέφης | Diotrephēs | দিয়োত্রেফেস | Diyotrephes | Low | New | Transliteration only. |
| Gaius (proper name) | Γάϊος | Gaios | গাইয়ূস | Gaiyus | Low | New | Transliteration only. |
Doctrine 5: Truth and Christian Fellowship
| Term (EN) | Greek | Transliteration | Manipuri | Transliteration | Risk | Baseline Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| truth | ἀλήθεια | alētheia | অচুম্বা | achumba | High | New (built on baseline morpheme from “righteousness”) | Central theme-word of the letter (6 occurrences); must be taught as objective, revealed gospel reality, not subjective sincerity, custom, or bhakti “realization.” Personified in 3 Jn 1:12 (“the truth itself testifies”) — flag so it is not misread as an independent semi-divine agent. |
| walking / conduct | περιπατέω | peripateō | চৎনবা | chatnaba | Medium | New (reuses baseline conduct-morpheme) | Combines naturally with অচুম্বা: “অচুম্বাদা চৎনবা” (“to walk in truth”). |
| beloved | ἀγαπητός | agapētos | নুংশিরবা | nungshiraba | Low | New | |
| love (noun) | ἀγάπη | agapē | নুংশিবা | nungshiba | Low | New | |
| rejoice / joy | χαίρω / χαρά | chairō / chara | নুংঙাইবা | nungngaiba | Low | New (reuses joy-morpheme from baseline “gospel” term) | |
| fellowship-adjacent: friend | φίλος | philos | মরূप | marup | Medium | New | Keep distinct from “brothers” (ইচিল-ইনাও); letter appears to distinguish role-based “brothers” from personal “friends.” |
| peace (epistolary) | εἰρήνη | eirēnē | ইনগবা | ingba | Medium | Baseline reuse — exact | Here an epistolary farewell blessing, not the forensic “peace with God” of Romans 5:1 — keep senses distinct in commentary. |
| greet | ἀσπάζομαι | aspazomai | খুরুমজবা | khurumjaba | Low | New | |
| God | θεός | theos | তেংবাং মপু | Tengban Mapu | Critical | Baseline reuse — exact |
Supporting / General Vocabulary (Low doctrinal weight, full-book coverage)
| Term (EN) | Greek | Transliteration | Manipuri | Transliteration | Risk | Baseline Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| soul | ψυχή | psychē | থাওয়াই | thawai | High | New | Same root flagged as risky (bare) for Holy Spirit in baseline; here denotes the whole inner person, not a distinct spirit-entity — teach the distinction explicitly at first use, given Sanamahi ancestral/nature-spirit associations of this word. |
| pray / wish | εὔχομαι | euchomai | হায়জবা | haijaba | Low | New (reuses baseline intercession root) | |
| prosper | εὐοδόω | euodousthai | ফাজরবা | phajaba | Low | New | Not a “prosperity gospel” formula. |
| be healthy | ὑγιαίνω | hygiainein | হক্চাং সেংনা লৈবা | hakchang sengna leiba | Low | New | |
| faithful (act) | πιστός | piston | থাজরবা | thajaraba | Medium | New (built on baseline root থাজবা) | Teach as outworking of the baseline faith-root, not a separate meritorious category. |
| children (spiritual) | τέκνα | tekna | মচা | macha | Medium | New (shares root with baseline “adoption” term) | Spiritual parentage in the faith, distinct from the formal Romans 8 adoption doctrine though sharing a root. |
| hope (everyday) | ἐλπίζω | elpizō | আশা থামবা | asha thamba | Low (in this context) | New | Distinguish from future eschatological-hope terminology. |
| pen | κάλαμος | kalamos | কলম | kalam | Low | New | |
| ink | μέλαν | melan | দোয়া | doya | Low | New |
Risk Summary for 3 John
| Risk Tier | Count | Review Routing (per baseline convention) |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 1 (God — baseline reuse) | Human theologian |
| High | 9 (elder; loves to be first; cast out/expel; imitate; the Name; stranger/traveling minister; testify/testimony; truth; soul) | Human theologian |
| Medium | 19 | Native speaker review |
| Low | 16 | Automated review |
Note: This glossary intentionally avoids two collision risks not previously documented in the baseline: (1) μιμέομαι (“imitate”) against the Ras Lila tradition’s ritual imitation/reenactment of Krishna’s actions, and (2) φιλοπρωτεύω (“loves to be first”) against Meitei clan/village hierarchical-authority norms, both newly surfaced by 3 John’s specific vocabulary and neither present in the Romans baseline. Both must be carried forward into the doctrine risk registry update for this curriculum.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: তেংবাং মপু
Transliteration: Tengban Mapu
Doctrine: Deity of Christ / Doing Good as Evidence of Belonging to God
Rejected alternatives: ঠাকুর (a devotional title strongly associated with Krishna in Manipuri Vaishnavism, avoid as the primary term), সানামাহি (never use as the primary term for the biblical God; reserve strictly for describing traditional Sanamahi belief about the household deity)
Original: θεός
Category: God
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE — exact reuse, unchanged. Relevant to 3 John 1:6 (hospitality ‘worthy of God’) and 1:11 (‘whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God’).
Jesus
Approved rendering: জিসু
Transliteration: Jisu
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE — exact reuse. 3 John never names Jesus directly by this term but the proper name underlies ক্রিস্তোগী মমিং (‘the Name,’ 3 John 1:7); kept in memory for consistency across the wider curriculum.
Messiah
Approved rendering: ক্রিস্তো
Transliteration: Christo
Doctrine: The Name of Christ as Motive for Gospel Labor
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE — exact reuse. ক্রিস্তো is the root of the compound মমিং (ক্রিস্তোগী মমিং, ‘the Name of Christ’) coined for 3 John 1:7; retained here so the two entries stay visibly linked in translation memory.
Lord
Approved rendering: মপু ইবুংগো
Transliteration: Mapu Ibungo
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: ঠাকুর (a devotional title for Krishna in Manipuri Vaishnava usage, avoid as the primary term for Christ’s Lordship)
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE — exact reuse. Not directly quoted in 3 John’s text but underlies the doctrinal weight of ‘the Name’ (1:7) as shorthand for Christ’s own exclusive authority; retained for cross-curriculum consistency.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: থাওয়াই অসেংবা
Transliteration: Thawai Asengba
Doctrine: Sanctification / Soul and Bodily Well-Being
Rejected alternatives: থাওয়াই alone (a generic spirit/soul, which in Sanamahi belief can also name an ancestral or Umang Lai nature-spirit, never use without অসেংবা), শক্তি (a maibi’s oracular trance-power, never use)
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE — exact reuse. Critical anchor term for the new ‘soul’ entry below: bare থাওয়াই is used in 3 John 1:2 for the whole inner person, NOT for the Holy Spirit; translators and reviewers must hold this full compound in mind as the fixed, never-abbreviated reference point that distinguishes the personal Holy Spirit from both a believer’s ordinary inner self and Sanamahi’s populated spirit-world.
Grace
Approved rendering: মথৌ তাদনা পীবা তেংবাং
Transliteration: mathou tadana piba tengbang
Doctrine: Grace / Doing Good as Evidence of Belonging to God
Rejected alternatives: কৃপা (a term shared with Vaishnava bhakti usage for Krishna’s compassionate favor toward a devotee, avoid as the primary term), পুণ্য (merit accumulated through devotional service/seva, never use)
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE — exact reuse. Must be held alongside 3 John 1:11 (‘whoever does good is from God’) to prevent a works-based misreading of that verse in isolation; ‘doing good’ is evidentiary fruit of grace already received, not a bhakti-seva-style means of earning divine sonship.
Salvation
Approved rendering: অহানবা
Transliteration: ahanba
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: মোক্ষ (Vaishnava/Hindu liberation, never use), লাইনিং (union/absorption into a deity’s divine presence, never use as a stand-alone gloss for eternal salvation)
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE — exact reuse. Retained specifically as the term the new coinage হন্না ওইনবা পাম্মি (‘loves to be first,’ 3 John 1:9) was deliberately built to AVOID colliding with; অহানবা’s root অহান- must never be reused or confused with হন্না (‘first’).
Righteousness
Approved rendering: অচুম্বা চৎনবিরাক
Transliteration: achumba chatnabirak
Doctrine: Salvation / Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: ধর্ম (avoid the broad Hindu-derived sense of cosmic/religious duty absorbed into Meitei religious vocabulary through Vaishnavization)
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE — exact reuse. Supplies the morpheme অচুম্বা reused as 3 John’s standalone term for ‘truth’ (ἀλήθεια), giving deliberate cross-curriculum consistency between Romans and 3 John.
High Risk Terms
Faith
Approved rendering: থাজবা
Transliteration: thajaba
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: ভক্তি (bhakti, devoted loving worship, too specific to the Vaishnava devotional framework)
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE — exact reuse. Root of the new 3 John term ‘faithful act’ (থাজরবা, 1:5), Gaius’s hospitality being commended as trustworthy action flowing from this same root.
Obedience Of Faith
Approved rendering: থাজবগী ইনবা
Transliteration: thajabagi inba
Doctrine: Obedience of Faith
Rejected alternatives: ভক্তিগী সেবা (devotional service performed out of bhakti, a works-based misreading)
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE — exact reuse. The root ইনবা supplies part of the new coinage মতুং ইনবা (‘imitate,’ 3 John 1:11); teach 3 John’s ‘imitate the good’ as this same obedience-flowing-from-faith pattern, applied to moral example rather than ritual reenactment.
Adoption
Approved rendering: মচা ওইনা লৌবা
Transliteration: macha oina louba
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family / Spiritual Fatherhood and Children in the Faith
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE — exact reuse. Shares its root মচা with 3 John’s ‘my children’ (3 John 1:4), which must be taught as ordinary spiritual-parentage/discipleship language, distinct from this forensic Romans 8 adoption doctrine and from Meitei clan-lineage (yumnak) identity carried by birth.
Glory
Approved rendering: মতিক চাউবা
Transliteration: matik chauba
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE — exact reuse. Retained specifically as the term that 3 John’s new coinage মতিক চাবা (‘worthily,’ 1:6) must be kept visibly distinct from: মতিক চাউবা names God’s own radiant honor, while মতিক চাবা names the fittingness of a human action. Do not conflate.
Elder
Approved rendering: অহল
Transliteration: Ahal
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride (Diotrephes)
Original: πρεσβύτερος
Category: Church Leadership
NEW for 3 John (1:1), the author’s self-designation. Must be taught as recognized, humble servant-authority within the church, not a claim to hereditary clan/village-chief status or a Sanamahi ritual-elder role tied to ancestor (Apokpa) veneration and Lai Haraoba leadership.
Truth
Approved rendering: অচুম্বা
Transliteration: achumba
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: ἀλήθεια
Category: Truth
NEW for 3 John, but built on the baseline’s own righteousness morpheme (see ‘righteousness’ entry above). The letter’s dominant theme-word (6 occurrences: 1:1, 1:3 [x2], 1:4, 1:8, 1:12 [x2]). Must be taught as objective, revealed gospel reality centered on Christ, never subjective sincerity, custom/tradition, or bhakti-style experiential ‘realization.’ Its personification in 1:12 (‘the truth itself testifies’) requires an explicit note that this is rhetorical personification of the gospel’s self-evidencing character, not an independent semi-divine witnessing agent.
Soul
Approved rendering: থাওয়াই
Transliteration: thawai
Doctrine: Soul and Bodily Well-Being
Original: ψυχή
Category: Anthropology
NEW for 3 John (1:2), but shares its bare root with থাওয়াই অসেংবা, flagged Critical/High in the baseline when bare থাওয়াই is used for the Holy Spirit. Here it correctly denotes the whole inner person/self, not a distinct spirit-entity, but bare থাওয়াই in Sanamahi belief also names ancestral spirits (Apokpa) and Umang Lai nature-deities. A three-way distinction (believer’s soul vs. personal Holy Spirit vs. Sanamahi spirit-beings) must be taught explicitly at this verse’s first occurrence.
Testify Testimony
Approved rendering: সাক্ষী পীবা / সাক্ষী
Transliteration: sakhi piba / sakhi
Doctrine: Commendation of Faithful Witness (Demetrius)
Original: μαρτυρέω / μαρτυρία
Category: Witness
NEW for 3 John (1:3, 1:6, 1:12 [x3]). Must be sharply distinguished from a maibi’s trance-derived oracular ‘testimony’ given during Lai Haraoba spirit-possession states — a live, currently practiced phenomenon. This is ordinary, factual, moral attestation of observed character, not spirit-possession utterance.
Stranger Traveling Minister
Approved rendering: লম্বীগী মী
Transliteration: lambigi mi
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: ξένος (pl. ξένους)
Category: Hospitality
NEW for 3 John (1:5). Core term for the Hospitality doctrine; must be handled with care given contemporary sensitivities around welcoming outsiders/strangers within Manipur’s inter-community context. Teach strictly as gospel-partnership hospitality toward fellow believers, never as commentary on any specific ethnic or migrant group.
The Name
Approved rendering: মমিং (ক্রিস্তোগী মমিং)
Transliteration: maming (Christogi maming)
Doctrine: The Name of Christ as Motive for Gospel Labor
Original: ὄνομα
Category: Christology
NEW for 3 John (1:7). Christological shorthand for Christ’s own person and authority. Must never be left as bare মমিং without the explicit referent; must not be confused with Sanamahi ritual invocation of Sanamahi’s or an Umang Lai deity’s name in ceremony, nor with Vaishnava chanting/repetition of Krishna’s names (nama-japa/kirtan) within the Ras Lila devotional tradition.
Loves To Be First
Approved rendering: হন্না ওইনবা পাম্মি
Transliteration: hanna oinaba pammi
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride (Diotrephes)
Rejected alternatives: Any coinage built on অহান- (the root of অহানবা, ‘salvation’) — explicitly rejected to avoid a serious term collision
Original: φιλοπρωτεύω
Category: Church Leadership
NEW coinage for 3 John (1:9), the letter’s key negative character trait (Diotrephes). Deliberately built on হন্না (‘first/before’), NOT on অহানবা. Must be taught as a named vice contrasted with servant leadership, never softened toward ‘assertive/strong leadership,’ given that Meitei clan-hierarchical culture might otherwise read self-seeking dominance as admirable. Flagged for mandatory human theologian confirmation before wide deployment.
Cast Out Expel
Approved rendering: কলিসিয়াদগী থাদোকপা
Transliteration: kalisiyadagi thadokpa
Doctrine: Abuse of Church Discipline and Authority
Original: ἐκβάλλω
Category: Church Leadership
NEW for 3 John (1:10), Diotrephes’ most serious abuse. Must be taught as an illegitimate, sinful abuse of leadership power, the opposite of biblically warranted church discipline exercised in humility and due process, given the real pastoral risk that strong clan/village-council-style unilateral authority structures in Meitei social life could otherwise normalize this as ordinary leadership prerogative.
Imitate
Approved rendering: মতুং ইনবা
Transliteration: matung inba
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Original: μιμέομαι (μιμοῦ)
Category: Ethics
NEW for 3 John (1:11), the letter’s central ethical command, built on the ইনবা root already fixed in the baseline’s obedience-of-faith term. Genuine collision risk: Manipuri Vaishnavism’s Ras Lila tradition centers precisely on ritually imitating/reenacting Krishna’s divine actions in devotional dance-drama, a prestigious, UNESCO-recognized, actively practiced form. Must be explicitly taught as ordinary, everyday moral imitation of godly human character (Demetrius) and of God’s own goodness, never ritual reenactment of divine action.
Medium Risk Terms
Church
Approved rendering: কলিসিয়া
Transliteration: kalisiya
Doctrine: Church as God’s People / Church Leadership and Pride
Rejected alternatives: মন্দির (a Vaishnava temple, never use), উমাং লাই থাবা (an Umang Lai sacred grove worship site, never use)
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE — exact reuse. Central to 3 John 1:6, 1:9-10: the congregation before which testimony is publicly given (rightly) and from which Diotrephes wrongly expels dissenting members.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: অতোপ্পা ফুরুপ
Transliteration: atoppa phurup
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: ἐθνικός
Category: Church
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE — exact reuse, WITH A CONTEXTUAL NUANCE FLAG for 3 John 1:7: here ἐθνικός names non-believing outsiders specifically (from whom the traveling ministers refused support), not the broader ethnic Jew/Gentile contrast of Romans. Same Manipuri term, different contextual nuance — flag in teaching, do not create a separate word.
Peace
Approved rendering: ইনগবা
Transliteration: ingba
Doctrine: Personal Greeting and Individual Value in Fellowship
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Fellowship
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE — exact reuse. In 3 John 1:14 this is an ordinary epistolary farewell blessing between friends, not the forensic ‘peace with God’ sense of Romans 5:1; keep the two senses distinct in commentary though the Manipuri word is identical.
True
Approved rendering: অচুম্বা
Transliteration: achumba
Doctrine: Commendation of Faithful Witness (Demetrius)
Original: ἀληθής
Category: Truth
NEW for 3 John (1:12), adjectival use of the truth-root: the Elder’s own testimony about Demetrius is ‘true.’ Keep distinct in teaching from the personified ‘the truth itself’ in the same verse.
Brothers
Approved rendering: ইচিল-ইনাও
Transliteration: ichil-inao
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: ἀδελφός (pl. ἀδελφῶν)
Category: Fellowship
NEW for 3 John (1:3, 1:5, 1:10). Meitei kinship terms carry strong clan (yumnak) lineage associations; must be taught as spiritual kinship in Christ, not literal clan bond, paralleling the baseline’s caution for ‘Gentiles.’ Keep visibly distinct from মরূপ (‘friend,’ 1:14), a personal-relationship rather than role-based term.
Walking Conduct
Approved rendering: চৎনবা
Transliteration: chatnaba
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: περιπατέω
Category: Ethics
NEW for 3 John (1:3, 1:4), reuses the conduct-morpheme in the baseline’s ‘righteousness’ compound. Combines naturally as অচুম্বাদা চৎনবা (‘to walk in truth’). Ensure not misheard as literal pilgrimage/procession language associated with sacred-grove worship.
Spiritual Children
Approved rendering: মচা
Transliteration: macha
Doctrine: Spiritual Fatherhood and Children in the Faith
Original: τέκνα (ἐμά)
Category: Fellowship
NEW for 3 John (1:4). Shares its root with the baseline’s formal legal-adoption compound (মচা ওইনা লৌবা, Romans 8) but here denotes ordinary spiritual-parentage/discipleship language, distinct from that forensic doctrine and from Meitei clan-lineage (yumnak) identity carried by birth.
Faithful Act
Approved rendering: থাজরবা
Transliteration: thajaraba
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: πιστόν (ποιεῖς)
Category: Faith
NEW for 3 John (1:5), built on the baseline’s fixed root থাজবা (‘faith/trust’). Teach as an outworking of the same faith root as থাজবগী ইনবা (obedience of faith), not a separate meritorious category.
Send On Journey
Approved rendering: চৎনবা মতেং পাংবা
Transliteration: chatnaba mateng pangba
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: προπέμπω
Category: Hospitality
NEW for 3 John (1:6). Central to the Hospitality doctrine; teach as an act of gospel-mission partnership, not generic farewell courtesy or almsgiving.
Worthily
Approved rendering: মতিক চাবা
Transliteration: matik chaba
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: ἀξίως
Category: Hospitality
NEW for 3 John (1:6). Must be kept visibly distinct from the baseline’s fixed ‘glory’ term মতিক চাউবা (God’s own radiant honor); মতিক চাবা describes the fittingness of a human action, not divine radiance.
Receive Support
Approved rendering: ওকপা
Transliteration: okpa
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers / Church Leadership and Pride
Original: ὑπολαμβάνω / ἐπιδέχομαι
Category: Hospitality
NEW for 3 John (1:8, used positively; negated at 1:9-10 of Diotrephes’ refusal). Same verb used both positively and negatively — check context at each occurrence.
Fellow Worker
Approved rendering: থবক তৌমিন্নবা
Transliteration: thabak toumtnaba
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: συνεργός
Category: Hospitality
NEW for 3 John (1:8). Teach as active gospel partnership through hosting/supporting ministers, not devotional-merit accumulation (contrast bhakti seva).
Evil Words
Approved rendering: ফত্তবা
Transliteration: phattaba
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride (Diotrephes)
Original: πονηρός (πονηροῖς)
Category: Church Leadership
NEW for 3 John (1:10), describing Diotrephes’ malicious speech. Shares the same Manipuri lemma as κακός (‘evil,’ 1:11); the nuance difference (malicious intent here vs. general moral badness there) must be flagged in teaching even though the lemma is shared.
Prate Against
Approved rendering: অকৈবা ৱা ঙাংবা
Transliteration: akaiba wa ngangba
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride (Diotrephes)
Original: φλυαρέω
Category: Church Leadership
NEW for 3 John (1:10). Slanderous, baseless accusation — an abuse of speech within church leadership.
Good
Approved rendering: অফবা
Transliteration: aphaba
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Original: ἀγαθός
Category: Ethics
NEW for 3 John (1:11). The category of conduct exemplified by Demetrius, to be actively imitated.
Evil
Approved rendering: ফত্তবা
Transliteration: phattaba
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Original: κακός
Category: Ethics
NEW for 3 John (1:11). Shares its Manipuri lemma with πονηρός (‘evil/malicious words,’ 1:10); flag the nuance difference (general moral badness here vs. malicious intent there) in teaching.
Do Good
Approved rendering: অফবা তৌবা
Transliteration: aphaba touba
Doctrine: Doing Good as Evidence of Belonging to God
Original: ἀγαθοποιέω
Category: Ethics
NEW for 3 John (1:11). Must not be taught as a works-based means of becoming God’s child; it is evidentiary fruit, not the ground, of belonging to God — read alongside the baseline’s grace/imputed-righteousness cautions.
Do Evil
Approved rendering: ফত্তবা তৌবা
Transliteration: phattaba touba
Doctrine: Doing Good as Evidence of Belonging to God
Original: κακοποιέω
Category: Ethics
NEW for 3 John (1:11). Parallel construction to ‘do good’; evidence of not having truly known God.
Friend
Approved rendering: মরূপ
Transliteration: marup
Doctrine: Personal Greeting and Individual Value in Fellowship
Original: φίλος (pl. φίλοι)
Category: Fellowship
NEW for 3 John (1:14). Keep visibly distinct from ইচিল-ইনাও (‘brothers’); the letter distinguishes role-based ‘brothers’ (traveling ministers) from personal ‘friends’ — do not flatten both into one Manipuri word.
Low Risk Terms
Fellowship
Approved rendering: লোইনবা
Transliteration: loinaba
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE — exact reuse. Relevant to 3 John’s overarching theme of truth-grounded Christian fellowship, alongside the letter’s own more personal vocabulary (নুংশিবা ‘love,’ মরূপ ‘friend’).
Beloved
Approved rendering: নুংশিরবা
Transliteration: nungshiraba
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: ἀγαπητός
Category: Fellowship
NEW for 3 John (1:1, 1:2, 1:5, 1:11). Built on the attested Meitei root নুংশিবা (‘to love’); confirm regional naturalness with native speakers.
Pray Wish
Approved rendering: হায়জবা
Transliteration: haijaba
Doctrine: Soul and Bodily Well-Being
Original: εὔχομαι
Category: Faith
NEW for 3 John (1:2), reuses the baseline’s intercession root (মখোয়গী মফমদা হায়জবা). Heartfelt personal wish/petition, relational not liturgical.
Prosper
Approved rendering: ফাজরবা
Transliteration: phajaba
Doctrine: Soul and Bodily Well-Being
Original: εὐοδοῦσθαι
Category: Provision
NEW for 3 John (1:2). Must not be taught as a ‘faith-prosperity’ formula guaranteeing material blessing.
Be Healthy
Approved rendering: হক্চাং সেংনা লৈবা
Transliteration: hakchang sengna leiba
Doctrine: Soul and Bodily Well-Being
Original: ὑγιαίνειν
Category: Provision
NEW for 3 John (1:2). Physical soundness, distinct from but compared to Gaius’s spiritual/soul condition in the same verse.
Rejoice Joy
Approved rendering: নুংঙাইবা
Transliteration: nungngaiba
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: χαίρω / χαρά
Category: Fellowship
NEW for 3 John (1:3, 1:4), reuses the joy-morpheme already present in the baseline’s fixed ‘gospel’ term (নুংঙাইবগী পাউ).
Love Noun
Approved rendering: নুংশিবা
Transliteration: nungshiba
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: ἀγάπη
Category: Fellowship
NEW for 3 John (1:6). Consistent root with নুংশিরবা (‘beloved’).
Ought
Approved rendering: থৌদাং ওইবা
Transliteration: thoudang oiba
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: ὀφείλω
Category: Hospitality
NEW for 3 John (1:8). Frames hospitality to gospel workers as moral duty flowing from shared faith, not optional generosity.
Remind
Approved rendering: নিংশিংহনবা
Transliteration: ningshinghanba
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride (Diotrephes)
Original: ὑπομιμνήσκω
Category: Church Leadership
NEW for 3 John (1:10). Causative of ‘to remember’; the Elder’s intended direct, corrective confrontation of Diotrephes upon arrival.
Content Satisfied
Approved rendering: পুক ঙাইবা
Transliteration: puk ngaiba
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride (Diotrephes)
Original: ἀρκέομαι (ἀρκούμενος)
Category: Church Leadership
NEW for 3 John (1:10). Natural Meitei idiom, literally ‘belly-satisfied.’ Diotrephes’ pride escalates beyond slander into active obstruction.
Hinder
Approved rendering: থিংবা
Transliteration: thingba
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride (Diotrephes)
Original: κωλύω
Category: Church Leadership
NEW for 3 John (1:10). Diotrephes actively blocks other believers who wish to show hospitality.
See Relational
Approved rendering: উবা
Transliteration: uba
Doctrine: Doing Good as Evidence of Belonging to God
Original: ὁράω (ἑώρακεν)
Category: Faith
NEW for 3 John (1:11). Metaphorical, relational sense of ‘seeing’ God, evidenced or contradicted by conduct — not literal or visionary sight.
Hope Everyday
Approved rendering: আশা থামবা
Transliteration: asha thamba
Doctrine: Personal Greeting and Individual Value in Fellowship
Original: ἐλπίζω
Category: Faith
NEW for 3 John (1:14). Ordinary personal expectation of a future visit, not technical eschatological hope; distinguish from any future treatment of eschatological hope.
Greet
Approved rendering: খুরুমজবা
Transliteration: khurumjaba
Doctrine: Personal Greeting and Individual Value in Fellowship
Original: ἀσπάζομαι
Category: Fellowship
NEW for 3 John (1:14). Conventional epistolary greeting, given individually ‘each by name,’ reinforcing the letter’s theme of valuing individuals by name rather than as an anonymous mass.
Ink
Approved rendering: দোয়া
Transliteration: doya
Doctrine: Personal Greeting and Individual Value in Fellowship
Original: μέλαν
Category: Correspondence
NEW for 3 John (1:13). Concrete material detail, no doctrinal weight.
Pen
Approved rendering: কলম
Transliteration: kalam
Doctrine: Personal Greeting and Individual Value in Fellowship
Original: κάλαμος
Category: Correspondence
NEW for 3 John (1:13). Established Manipuri loanword for ‘pen,’ no doctrinal weight.
Gaius
Approved rendering: গাইয়ূস
Transliteration: Gaiyus
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: Γάϊος
Category: Proper Names
NEW for 3 John. Proper name, transliteration only, following established Manipuri Bible-translation naming convention (cf. দাউদ, ইস্রায়েল).
Diotrephes
Approved rendering: দিয়োত্রেফেস
Transliteration: Diyotrephes
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride (Diotrephes)
Original: Διοτρέφης
Category: Proper Names
NEW for 3 John. Proper name, transliteration only; doctrinal weight attaches to হন্না ওইনবা পাম্মি and কলিসিয়াদগী থাদোকপা, not the name itself.
Demetrius
Approved rendering: দেমেত্রিয়স
Transliteration: Demetriyas
Doctrine: Commendation of Faithful Witness (Demetrius)
Original: Δημήτριος
Category: Proper Names
NEW for 3 John. Proper name, transliteration only; a named positive example contrasted directly with Diotrephes.
Referenced passages