Core Glossary
3 John — Core Glossary (Phase 1, Step 8 basis for Step 1 deliverable)
Destination Language: Marathi (Devanagari script)
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing term identified in analysis/07_semantic_analysis.md across the whole of 3 John (1:1–14). Terms already established in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json / bible_term_registry.json are marked Baseline Reuse — Exact and must not be altered. All new terms below extend the Language Package for this curriculum without contradicting baseline conventions; they should be added to translation_memory.json at Phase 2 with version increment, per the AI Translation Requirements’ load/enforcement rules.
| # | English Term | Greek (transliteration) | Marathi Rendering (transliteration) | Doctrine Risk | Doctrine Category | Baseline Status | Key Rationale / Rejected Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elder | πρεσβύτερος (presbyteros) | वडील (vaḍīl) | Medium | Church Leadership and Pride | New term | Established Marathi church-office term; must read as recognized leadership title, not merely “family elder.” Contrasts with Diotrephes’ self-asserted status. |
| 2 | Beloved | ἀγαπητός (agapētos) | प्रिय (priya) | Low-Medium | Truth and Christian Fellowship | New term | Address term for fellow believers; keep distinct from secular endearment. |
| 3 | Love (verb/noun) | ἀγαπάω / ἀγάπη (agapaō / agapē) | प्रीती करणे / प्रीती (prīti karaṇe / prīti) | Medium | Truth and Christian Fellowship; Hospitality | New term | Standardize on प्रीती for the covenantal/agape sense; distinguish from Warkari bhakti-prem devotional vocabulary directed at Vitthal, which centers on devotee-initiated emotion, not truth-grounded covenantal love. Rejected: bare प्रेम alone (too generic/secular). |
| 4 | Truth | ἀλήθεια (alētheia) | सत्य (satya) | High | Truth and Christian Fellowship (thesis term); also underlies Hospitality (v.8) and Demetrius commendation (v.12) | New term | Central term of the letter (6 occurrences). सत्य collides with Gandhian सत्याग्रह, Hindu Brahman-truth categories, and the Buddhist “Four Noble Truths” (चार आर्य सत्ये) well known via Ambedkarite instruction. Every occurrence must be anchored to the Johannine referent — gospel reality in Christ — not left as an abstract philosophical/moral principle. |
| 5 | Soul | ψυχή (psychē) | जीव (jīv) | Medium | (supporting; general well-being) | New term | Do not use आत्मा (reserved by baseline for Holy Spirit, पवित्र आत्मा) for the human soul, to avoid conflating human ψυχή with the divine Spirit. |
| 6 | Prosper | εὐοδόω (euodoō) | भरभराट होणे (bharabharāṭ hoṇe) | Medium | (supporting) | New term | Preserve the “just as your soul prospers” comparative so spiritual flourishing remains the benchmark, guarding against prosperity-gospel misreading. |
| 7 | Health | ὑγιαίνω (hygiainō) | निरोगी असणे (nirogī asaṇe) | Low | (supporting) | New term | Standard, no risk. |
| 8 | Rejoice / Joy | χαίρω / χαρά (chairō / chara) | आनंद होणे / आनंद (ānand hoṇe / ānand) | Low | (supporting) | New term | Standard NT joy vocabulary; no collision risk. |
| 9 | Brother(s) | ἀδελφός (adelphos) | बंधू (bandhū) | Low-Medium | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | New term | Established Marathi Christian address for fellow believers; must not read as literal blood-kinship only. |
| 10 | Testify / Witness (verb) | μαρτυρέω (martyreō) | साक्ष देणे (sākṣa deṇe) | High (esp. v.12) | Commendation of Faithful Witness (Demetrius); Truth and Fellowship | New term | Anchors two of the five assigned doctrines; must carry gospel-testimonial weight, not mere secular-legal witness. In v.12 flag for theologian review to preserve the three-fold witness structure. |
| 11 | Testimony | μαρτυρία (martyria) | साक्ष (sākṣa) | Medium-High | Commendation of Faithful Witness | New term | Noun form of #10; keep root consistent. |
| 12 | True / Truthful | ἀληθής (alēthēs) | खरे / सत्य आहे (khare / satya āhe) | Medium | Commendation of Faithful Witness; Truth and Fellowship | New term | Keep सत्य root consistent with ἀλήθεια (#4) for terminological coherence. |
| 13 | Walk (conduct) | περιπατέω (peripateō) | (सत्यात) चालणे / आचरण करणे ([satyāt] cālaṇe / ācaraṇ karaṇe) | Medium | Truth and Christian Fellowship | New term | Confirm आचरण करणे reads clearly as “conduct of life,” not merely physical walking. |
| 14 | Children (spiritual) | τέκνον (teknon) | (आध्यात्मिक) लेकरे / मुले | Low-Medium | Truth and Christian Fellowship | New term | Must be clearly marked as spiritual, not biological, offspring. |
| 15 | Faithful | πιστός (pistos) | विश्वासू (viśvāsū) | Medium | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | New term, built on baseline root | Built on baseline-established विश्वास (faith) root, per translation_memory.json, to preserve the visible link between faith and faithful action across curricula. |
| 16 | Work / Do | ἐργάζομαι (ergazomai) | करणे / कार्य करणे | Low | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | New term | Standard; no collision risk. |
| 17 | Stranger(s) | ξένος (xenos) | परके (parke) | High | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers (thesis term) | New term | Central hospitality term. Guard against assimilation to generic Hindu guest-honor custom (अतिथी देवो भव) or merit-earning charitable dāna; commendation here is specifically for Christ-centered, gospel-partnership hospitality (“for the sake of the Name,” v.7). |
| 18 | Church | ἐκκλησία (ekklēsia) | मंडळी (maṇḍaḷī) | Low (Medium in Diotrephes context) | Church Leadership and Pride; Truth and Fellowship | Baseline Reuse — Exact | Per baseline TM: never देऊळ/मंदिर. Corporate-accountability dimension matters for the Diotrephes contrast. |
| 19 | Send forward / help on journey | προπέμπω (propempō) | प्रवासासाठी सहाय्य करून पुढे पाठवणे (pravāsāsāṭhī sahāya karūn puḍhe pāṭhavaṇe) | High | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | New term | Ancient technical term for material provisioning, not mere farewell. A bare “bid farewell” rendering understates the doctrine; flag for theologian review. |
| 20 | Worthily | ἀξίως (axiōs) | देवाला शोभेल असे / योग्य रीतीने | Medium | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | New term | Ensure explicit tie to परमेश्वर (God), not vague general propriety. |
| 21 | God | θεός (theos) | परमेश्वर (Parameśvar) | Critical | (all doctrines, general) | Baseline Reuse — Exact | Never देव/भगवान alone in doctrinally precise contexts, per baseline TM. |
| 22 | The Name (of Christ) | ὄνομα (onoma), absolute usage | ख्रिस्ताच्या नावासाठी (Khristācyā nāvāsāṭhī) | High | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | New term | Must render explicitly as Christ’s name/authority, not a bare “that name,” to avoid an abstract-reputation misreading of this absolute Johannine idiom. Flag for theologian review. |
| 23 | Gentiles / Pagans | ἐθνικός (ethnikos) | अन्यजातीय (anyajātīya) | Medium | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | Baseline root reused; sense differs from Romans | Narrower sense here (“unbelieving outsiders”) than Romans’ Jew/Gentile unity theme; add translator note distinguishing the two curricula’s usage to prevent doctrinal conflation. |
| 24 | Ought / Obligated | ὀφείλω (opheilō) | कर्तव्य असणे / ऋणी असणे | Medium-High | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | New term | Must read as relational, grace-motivated obligation to fellow gospel-workers, never as merit-earning religious duty (cf. baseline’s caution on धार्मिक कर्तव्य and Buddhist self-effort framing). |
| 25 | Support / Receive | ὑπολαμβάνω (hypolambanō) | आश्रय देणे / पाठिंबा देणे | Medium | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | New term | Retain material-support sense, matching προπέμπω (#19). |
| 26 | Fellow worker | συνεργός (synergos) | सहकारी (sahakārī) | Low-Medium | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | New term | Specify “fellow worker for the truth,” not generic teamwork. |
| 27 | Loves to be first / craves preeminence | φιλοπρωτεύω (philoprōteuō) | प्रमुखपदाची हाव धरणारा (pramukhapadācī hāv dharaṇārā) | High | Church Leadership and Pride (thesis term) | New term — NT hapax legomenon | Must not be flattened to a generic word for “proud” (गर्विष्ठ); this precise leadership-craving nuance is the doctrinal core of the Diotrephes passage. Flag for theologian review to fix a single curriculum-wide standard phrase. |
| 28 | Receive / Welcome | ἐπιδέχομαι (epidechomai) | स्वीकारणे (svīkāraṇe) | Medium | Church Leadership and Pride | New term | Keep conceptually parallel to ὑπολαμβάνω (#25) — both describe “receiving” people, contrasted positively/negatively across the letter. |
| 29 | Remind / Call attention to | ὑπομιμνήσκω (hypomimnēskō) | आठवण करून देणे / उघड करणे | Low | Church Leadership and Pride | New term | Leadership accountability exercised even toward an abuser of position. |
| 30 | Deeds / Works | ἔργον (ergon) | कृत्ये (kṛtye) | Low-Medium | Church Leadership and Pride; Imitating Good rather than Evil | New term | Not to be confused with the Romans “works of the law” controversy; here simply “deeds/conduct.” |
| 31 | Wicked | πονηρός (ponēros) | दुष्ट (duṣṭa) | Low-Medium | Church Leadership and Pride | New term | Standard moral-evil term; stronger/more active than #33 κακός. |
| 32 | Maliciously accuse / gossip | φλυαρέω (phlyareō) | दुष्ट शब्दांनी चहाडी करणे / निंदा करणे | Medium | Church Leadership and Pride | New term — NT hapax legomenon | Convey baseless, malicious character-attack, not mere disagreement/criticism. |
| 33 | Forbid / Hinder | κωλύω (kōlyō) | अडवणे / मनाई करणे | Low-Medium | Church Leadership and Pride | New term | Diotrephes actively prevents others’ hospitality, an abuse of positional power over the whole community. |
| 34 | Cast out / Expel | ἐκβάλλω (ekballō) | (मंडळीतून) बाहेर काढणे | High | Church Leadership and Pride | New term | Must clearly communicate illegitimate, self-serving expulsion (abuse), distinct from legitimate biblical church discipline for genuine sin. Flag for theologian review. |
| 35 | Imitate | μιμέομαι (mimeomai) | अनुकरण करणे (anukaraṇ karaṇe) | Medium | Imitating Good rather than Evil (thesis term) | New term | Distinguish from ritual/devotional imitation of a guru or sant-poet figure in Warkari bhakti practice; here the object of imitation is moral character in relation to God. |
| 36 | Evil / Bad | κακός (kakos) | वाईट (vāīṭ) | Low | Imitating Good rather than Evil | New term | General moral-badness term. |
| 37 | Good | ἀγαθός (agathos) | चांगले (cāṅgale) | Low | Imitating Good rather than Evil | New term | General moral-goodness term. |
| 38 | Does good | ἀγαθοποιέω (agathopoieō) | चांगले करणारा / सत्कृत्य करणारा | High | Imitating Good rather than Evil | New term | Must be taught as evidence of an already-given relationship with God (cf. baseline grace/adoption doctrine), never as the means of earning standing before God. Avoid पुण्य-adjacent phrasing (karma-merit economy). |
| 39 | Does evil | κακοποιέω (kakopoieō) | वाईट करणारा / दुष्कृत्य करणारा | Medium-High | Imitating Good rather than Evil | New term | Must not imply karmic bad-birth/bad-fate causation, a framework Ambedkarite Buddhist communities explicitly rejected (cf. baseline notes on “sin” and “providence”). Character evidence in the present, not birth-status accusation. |
| 40 | Has seen (God) | ὁράω (horaō) | पाहिले आहे (pāhile āhe) | Medium | Imitating Good rather than Evil | New term | Johannine idiom for relational knowledge of God, not literal sight; clarify with context or translator note. |
| 41 | Hope | ἐλπίζω (elpizō) | आशा करणे (āśā karaṇe) | Low | (closing greeting) | New term | Standard; not the technical eschatological ἐλπίς of Romans 5/8 in this occurrence. |
| 42 | Face to face | στόμα πρὸς στόμα (stoma pros stoma) | समोरासमोर (samorāsamor) | Low-Medium | Truth and Christian Fellowship | New term | Idiom: do not translate literally (“mouth to mouth”); use natural Marathi equivalent per baseline idiom-handling rule. |
| 43 | Peace | εἰρήνη (eirēnē) | शांती (śāntī) | Medium | Truth and Christian Fellowship | Baseline Reuse — Exact | Relational peace/blessing, not मनःशांती (inner calm via bhakti/meditation), per baseline distinction. |
| 44 | Friend(s) | φίλος (philos) | मित्र (mitra) | Low | Truth and Christian Fellowship | New term | Warmer, personal-relationship term distinct from बंधू (#9); no collision risk. |
Risk Tier Summary for 3 John Curriculum
| Risk Tier | Count | Review Routing (per baseline doctrine_risk_registry.json conventions) |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 1 (#21 God — baseline inherited) | Human theologian review, every occurrence |
| High | 9 (#4, #10, #17, #19, #22, #27, #34, #38, plus #21 baseline overlap) | Human theologian review |
| Medium / Medium-High | 22 | Native speaker review (theologian review where flagged individually above) |
| Low / Low-Medium | 12 | Automated / native speaker spot-check |
New terms requiring Phase 2 translation_memory.json registration (version increment required before any segment translation): #1–20, #22–34 (excluding baseline reuses #18, #21, #43), #35–42, #44. All must be added with risk tier, doctrine tag, and rejected-alternatives fields matching the format of the existing baseline entries before Phase 2 begins.
Terms confirmed as exact baseline reuse (no new registration needed, cite existing entry only): God (#21 → परमेश्वर), Church (#18 → मंडळी), Peace (#43 → शांती).
Prepared for Phase 1, Step 1 (feeding Step 8 Core Glossary) of the TRI pipeline for the 3 John curriculum. Cross-reference analysis/07_semantic_analysis.md for full verse-level argumentation behind each risk assignment.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: परमेश्वर
Transliteration: Parameśvar
Doctrine: Deity of Christ / General Reference to God
Rejected alternatives: देव, भगवान
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. CRITICAL: देव is the everyday Marathi word for any deity at all (Ganpati, Vitthal, a village deity), so it flattens monotheistic exclusivity if used alone for the God of Scripture. परमेश्वर is preferred for doctrinal precision. Relevant to 3 John 1:6 (‘worthy of God’) and 1:11 (‘is of God’ / ‘has not seen God’).
Jesus
Approved rendering: येशू
Transliteration: Yeśū
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: ईसा
Inherited from Romans package. येशू is the Marathi Christian standard; ईसा is associated with Muslim/Urdu usage. Relevant background term for 3 John 1:7’s absolute ‘the Name,’ which this curriculum’s new term the_name renders explicitly as ख्रिस्ताच्या नावासाठी (for the sake of Christ’s name).
Grace
Approved rendering: कृपा
Transliteration: kṛpā
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: कर्मफळ, पुण्य, स्वतःच्या प्रयत्नाने मिळवलेले
Inherited from Romans package. CRITICAL: unearned favor given through Christ alone, not cultivated through bhakti devotion or self-cultivation. Cross-referenced in this book’s doctrine notes for ‘does good’ (ἀγαθοποιέω, 3 John 1:11), which must be taught as evidence of an already-given relationship with God flowing from grace, never as the means of earning it.
High Risk Terms
Faith
Approved rendering: विश्वास
Transliteration: viśvāsa
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: श्रद्धा, भक्ति
Inherited from Romans package. Personal trust in Christ; श्रद्धा/भक्ति carry devotional-reverence connotations from Warkari/broader bhakti practice. Root retained here because this book’s new term ‘faithful’ (πιστός, विश्वासू, 3 John 1:5) is deliberately built on this baseline root to preserve the visible link between saving faith and faithful hospitality-action across curricula.
Sin
Approved rendering: पाप
Transliteration: pāp
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: अधर्म
Inherited from Romans package. Moral transgression before a personal God. Cross-referenced (not directly re-translated) in this book’s doctrine notes for ‘does evil’ (κακοποιέω, 3 John 1:11), which must be handled with the same caution against echoing the caste-Hindu birth-karma framework that Ambedkarite Buddhist communities explicitly rejected.
Adoption
Approved rendering: दत्तक पुत्रत्व
Transliteration: dattak putratva
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: दत्तक घेणे
Inherited from Romans package. Full son-status and inheritance. Cross-referenced in this book’s doctrine notes for ‘does good… is of God’ (3 John 1:11) as the relational, already-secured family-standing that good deeds evidence rather than earn.
Providence
Approved rendering: देवाचे विधान
Transliteration: devāce vidhān
Doctrine: Providence
Rejected alternatives: नशीब, कर्माचा नियम
Inherited from Romans package. God’s personal, purposive governance, never karma/fate. Cross-referenced in this book’s doctrine notes for ‘does evil… has not seen God’ (3 John 1:11), which must never be phrased so as to echo a karma-based explanation of a person’s status or misfortune.
Truth
Approved rendering: सत्य
Transliteration: satya
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: ἀλήθεια
Category: Truth and Fellowship
The letter’s dominant term (6 occurrences: vv.1, 3 [x2], 4, 8, 12 [x2]). No viable Marathi alternative exists; सत्य is the only lexical option, so the risk-management strategy is anchoring, not substitution. HIGH RISK: सत्य already names Gandhian सत्याग्रह, Hindu/Vedantic Brahman-attribute usage, and the Buddhist ‘Four Noble Truths’ (चार आर्य सत्ये) taught in Ambedkarite instruction. Every occurrence must be anchored explicitly to its Johannine referent — the gospel reality of and fellowship grounded in Christ — never left as an abstract philosophical or moral principle. Flag every occurrence for theologian review, not merely the first.
Testify
Approved rendering: साक्ष देणे
Transliteration: sākṣa deṇe
Doctrine: Commendation of Faithful Witness
Rejected alternatives: सांगणे (too weak, mere reporting)
Original: μαρτυρέω
Category: Witness and Testimony
3 John 1:3, 1:6, 1:12. Formal, first-hand witness-bearing; anchors two of the five assigned doctrines (Commendation of Demetrius and Truth and Fellowship). Must carry gospel-testimonial weight, not mere secular-legal witness. In 3 John 1:12, must preserve the three-fold witness structure (everyone / the truth itself / the elder’s own testimony) as three distinct clauses, not compressed into one generic statement.
Testimony
Approved rendering: साक्ष
Transliteration: sākṣa
Doctrine: Commendation of Faithful Witness
Original: μαρτυρία
Category: Witness and Testimony
3 John 1:12. Noun form of testify; root-consistent. High risk because testimony-integrity is itself a theme tying the letter’s opening (v.1, truth) to its climax (v.12, three-fold witness for Demetrius).
Stranger
Approved rendering: परके
Transliteration: parke
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: अनोळखी व्यक्ती (adequate but weaker as a fixed doctrinal term)
Original: ξένος
Category: Hospitality
3 John 1:5. Central hospitality term. HIGH RISK: Maharashtra’s widely known maxim अतिथी देवो भव (‘the guest is God’) supplies genuine cultural common ground but risks assimilation to generic Hindu guest-veneration custom or merit-earning charitable दान. Every occurrence must be anchored to ‘for the sake of the Name’ (v.7) so the commendation reads as Christ-centered gospel partnership, not general guest-honor custom.
Send Forward
Approved rendering: प्रवासासाठी सहाय्य करून पुढे पाठवणे
Transliteration: pravāsāsāṭhī sahāya karūn puḍhe pāṭhavaṇe
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: केवळ निरोप देणे (‘just to bid farewell’ — understates material provisioning)
Original: προπέμπω
Category: Hospitality
3 John 1:6. Ancient technical term (προπέμπω) for equipping/provisioning a traveler for onward gospel work, not mere farewell. No single Marathi word captures this; retain the full descriptive phrase. Flag for theologian review to lock the standard phrase at first Phase 2 occurrence.
The Name
Approved rendering: ख्रिस्ताच्या नावासाठी
Transliteration: Khristācyā nāvāsāṭhī
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: त्या नावासाठी (bare ‘for that name’ — reads as abstract reputation/fame)
Original: ὄνομα (absolute usage)
Category: Hospitality
3 John 1:7. The absolute Johannine idiom (‘the Name’) refers to Christ’s own person and authority. Must always be expanded explicitly; never left as a bare, unqualified ‘नाव.’ Flag for theologian review given its Christological weight.
Ought Obligated
Approved rendering: आपले कर्तव्य आहे / आपण ऋणी आहोत
Transliteration: āple kartavya āhe / āpaṇ ṛṇī āhot
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: धार्मिक कर्तव्य (reads as caste-dharma-style obligation)
Original: ὀφείλω
Category: Hospitality
3 John 1:8. Must be understood as a grace-motivated response to shared gospel partnership, never as merit-earning religious duty — echoing the baseline’s caution around धार्मिक कर्तव्य and the parallel Buddhist self-effort concern already documented for grace and obedience-of-faith. Pair with gospel-partnership language (‘सत्यासाठी सहकारी असल्यामुळे’) wherever possible.
Loves To Be First
Approved rendering: प्रमुखपदाची हाव धरणारा
Transliteration: pramukhapadācī hāv dharaṇārā
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Rejected alternatives: गर्विष्ठ (generic ‘proud’ — loses the specific institutional leadership-craving nuance), स्वतःला मुख्य मानणारा (acceptable secondary variant, not primary)
Original: φιλοπρωτεύω
Category: Church Leadership
3 John 1:9. A New Testament hapax legomenon (φιλοπρωτεύω) naming Diotrephes’ precise sin: craving and defending first-rank status within the church, not generic vanity. This is the doctrinal thesis-term for Church Leadership and Pride. Must never be flattened to गर्विष्ठ. Flag for theologian review to fix this as the single curriculum-wide standard phrase.
Cast Out Expel
Approved rendering: (मंडळीतून) बाहेर काढणे
Transliteration: (maṇḍaḷītūn) bāher kāḍhaṇe
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Original: ἐκβάλλω
Category: Church Leadership
3 John 1:10. The climactic abuse in Diotrephes’ pattern. Must clearly communicate illegitimate, self-serving expulsion — an abuse of power — kept distinct from legitimate biblical church discipline for genuine sin, so students do not confuse the two categories. Flag for theologian review.
Does Good
Approved rendering: चांगले करणारा / सत्कृत्य करणारा
Transliteration: cāṅgale karaṇārā / satkṛtya karaṇārā
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Rejected alternatives: पुण्य-संबंधित शब्दप्रयोग (merit-accumulation vocabulary)
Original: ἀγαθοποιέω
Category: Christian Character
3 John 1:11. ‘Is of God’ presents habitual good conduct as evidence of an existing relationship with God, not the means of establishing it. Avoid पुण्य-adjacent phrasing entirely (Hindu merit-toward-rebirth economy and Buddhist Eightfold Path self-cultivation ethic both treat ‘doing good’ as the mechanism of advancement, the reverse of this text’s causal direction). Must be taught alongside the baseline’s established grace/adoption doctrine.
Does Evil
Approved rendering: वाईट करणारा / दुष्कृत्य करणारा
Transliteration: vāīṭ karaṇārā / duṣkṛtya karaṇārā
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Original: κακοποιέω
Category: Christian Character
3 John 1:11. ‘Has not seen God’ must be rendered as present-tense character evidence only, never phrased so as to echo the caste-Hindu birth-karma explanation of misfortune or status that Ambedkarite Buddhist communities in Maharashtra explicitly and painfully rejected. Cross-reference the baseline’s existing cautions on sin and providence.
Medium Risk Terms
Church
Approved rendering: मंडळी
Transliteration: maṇḍaḷī
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride / Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: देऊळ, मंदिर
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Established Marathi Christian term for the congregation. Never देऊळ/मंदिर (Hindu temple). Elevated in relevance for 3 John 1:6, 1:9-10, where मंडळी is both the site of Gaius’s public commendation and of Diotrephes’ illegitimate expulsion of believers.
Peace
Approved rendering: शांती
Transliteration: śāntī
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship / Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: मनःशांती
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Truth and Fellowship
Inherited from Romans package. Relational peace/blessing, not the inner calm (मनःशांती) sought through bhakti meditation or Buddhist mindfulness practice. Used in 3 John 1:14’s closing benediction, ‘Peace to you.‘
Elder
Approved rendering: वडील
Transliteration: vaḍīl
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Rejected alternatives: गुरू, प्राचीन, प्रेस्बिटर (transliteration)
Original: πρεσβύτερος
Category: Church Leadership
Established Marathi Christian office-term for a church leader. Risk: वडील is also the ordinary Marathi word for a family elder/parent, so context must make clear this is a recognized church-leadership title. The author’s deliberately modest self-designation (3 John 1:1) contrasts with Diotrephes’ self-exalting conduct (v.9).
Beloved
Approved rendering: प्रिय
Transliteration: priya
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: आवडता, जिव्हाळ्याचा (secular endearment)
Original: ἀγαπητός
Category: Truth and Fellowship
Term of affectionate address among believers grounded in covenantal ἀγάπη-love (3 John 1:1, 2, 5, 11). Must be kept distinct from generic secular terms of endearment so it retains its covenantal, family-of-faith register.
Love
Approved rendering: प्रीती / प्रीती करणे
Transliteration: prīti / prīti karaṇe
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: प्रेम (too generic/secular), भक्ति/प्रेम (Warkari devotional register)
Original: ἀγαπάω / ἀγάπη
Category: Truth and Fellowship
Standardize on प्रीती for the covenantal, truth-bound love of 3 John 1:1, 1:6. Must be distinguished from Warkari bhakti’s own devotional vocabulary of प्रेम/भक्ति directed at Vitthal, which centers on devotee-initiated emotional devotion rather than truth-anchored, others-directed covenantal love. Preserve the ‘love…in truth’ pairing intact in translation.
Soul
Approved rendering: जीव
Transliteration: jīv
Doctrine: Spiritual Well-Being and Prosperity
Rejected alternatives: आत्मा
Original: ψυχή
Category: Blessing and Well-Being
3 John 1:2. Never आत्मा, which the baseline reserves for the Holy Spirit (पवित्र आत्मा); reusing it for the human soul would conflate ψυχή with the divine Person of the Spirit.
Prosper
Approved rendering: भरभराट होणे
Transliteration: bharabharāṭ hoṇe
Doctrine: Spiritual Well-Being and Prosperity
Rejected alternatives: यशस्वी होणे (too narrowly ‘succeed’)
Original: εὐοδόω
Category: Blessing and Well-Being
3 John 1:2. Must preserve the comparative clause (‘just as your soul prospers’) so spiritual flourishing remains the benchmark for outward well-being; dropping the qualifier risks an unconditional prosperity-gospel misreading.
Brothers
Approved rendering: बंधू
Transliteration: bandhū
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: भाऊ (too narrowly biological)
Original: ἀδελφός
Category: Hospitality
3 John 1:3, 1:5, 1:10. Established Marathi Christian address for fellow believers, here the traveling missionaries Gaius hosted; must not read as literal blood-kinship only.
True Truthful
Approved rendering: खरे / सत्य आहे
Transliteration: khare / satya āhe
Doctrine: Commendation of Faithful Witness
Rejected alternatives: प्रामाणिक (severs the lexical link to सत्य)
Original: ἀληθής
Category: Witness and Testimony
3 John 1:12. Keep the सत्य root consistent with truth’s rendering for terminological coherence across the letter.
Walk Conduct
Approved rendering: (सत्यात) चालणे / आचरण करणे
Transliteration: (satyāt) cālaṇe / ācaraṇ karaṇe
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: περιπατέω
Category: Truth and Fellowship
3 John 1:3-4. Johannine metaphor for one’s whole conduct of life. Confirm आचरण करणे reads clearly as ongoing conduct, since literal चालणे could otherwise be read as merely physical walking.
Children Spiritual
Approved rendering: (आध्यात्मिक) लेकरे / मुले
Transliteration: (ādhyātmik) lekare / mule
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: τέκνον
Category: Truth and Fellowship
3 John 1:4. Spiritual, not biological, offspring under the elder’s pastoral care; reinforces the letter’s warm, parental register in contrast to Diotrephes’ authoritarian conduct.
Faithful
Approved rendering: विश्वासू
Transliteration: viśvāsū
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: इमानदार (too generic/secular loyalty)
Original: πιστός
Category: Hospitality
3 John 1:5. Built on the baseline-established विश्वास (faith) root, per translation_memory.json, to preserve the visible link between saving faith and faithful hospitality-action across curricula sharing this Language Package.
Worthily
Approved rendering: देवाला शोभेल असे / योग्य रीतीने
Transliteration: devālā śobhel ase / yogya rītīne
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: योग्य (too vague, no explicit God-reference)
Original: ἀξίως
Category: Hospitality
3 John 1:6. Must tie explicitly to परमेश्वर (God) as the standard, not a vague general sense of social propriety.
Gentiles Pagans
Approved rendering: अन्यजातीय
Transliteration: anyajātīya
Doctrine: Gospel Workers’ Financial Integrity
Rejected alternatives: विदेशी (too narrowly national)
Original: ἐθνικός
Category: Hospitality
3 John 1:7. Baseline root reused from Romans (ἔθνη) for lexical consistency, but this occurrence (ἐθνικός) carries the narrower sense ‘unbelieving outsiders/pagans’ rather than Romans’ ‘non-Jewish peoples’ unity theme. Attach a translator’s note distinguishing the two senses so students moving between curricula do not conflate ‘Unity of Jews and Gentiles’ with this passage’s point about refusing pagan patronage.
Support Receive
Approved rendering: आश्रय देणे / पाठिंबा देणे
Transliteration: āśraya deṇe / pāṭhiṃbā deṇe
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: स्वागत करणे (too weak, emotional-welcome only)
Original: ὑπολαμβάνω
Category: Hospitality
3 John 1:8. Must retain the material-support sense (not merely emotional welcome), matching send_forward (προπέμπω) in v.6.
Fellow Worker
Approved rendering: सहकारी
Transliteration: sahakārī
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: συνεργός
Category: Hospitality
3 John 1:8. Must be specified as ‘fellow worker for the truth,’ not generic teamwork, to preserve the dative of advantage (τῇ ἀληθείᾳ) linking hospitality directly to the truth doctrine.
Receive Welcome
Approved rendering: स्वीकारणे
Transliteration: svīkāraṇe
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Original: ἐπιδέχομαι
Category: Church Leadership
3 John 1:9-10. Diotrephes’ refusal to ‘receive’ (negated: स्वीकारत नाही) both the missionaries and the elder’s own authority; keep conceptually parallel to support_receive — both describe ‘receiving’ people, contrasted positively (Gaius) and negatively (Diotrephes).
Deeds Works
Approved rendering: कृत्ये
Transliteration: kṛtye
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Original: ἔργον
Category: Church Leadership
3 John 1:10. Must not be confused with the Romans ‘works of the law’ polemic (νόμου ἔργα, a law/grace controversy); here it simply names Diotrephes’ deeds/conduct.
Wicked
Approved rendering: दुष्ट
Transliteration: duṣṭa
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Original: πονηρός
Category: Church Leadership
3 John 1:10. Describes Diotrephes’ slanderous words (πονηρός); stronger/more actively harmful in force than the general κακός (vāīṭ) used in v.11.
Maliciously Accuse
Approved rendering: दुष्ट शब्दांनी चहाडी करणे / निंदा करणे
Transliteration: duṣṭa śabdāṃnī cahāḍī karaṇe / nindā karaṇe
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Rejected alternatives: टीका करणे (too mild, ordinary criticism)
Original: φλυαρέω
Category: Church Leadership
3 John 1:10. A New Testament hapax legomenon (φλυαρέω). Must convey baseless, malicious character-attack specifically, not mere disagreement or fair criticism.
Forbid Hinder
Approved rendering: अडवणे / मनाई करणे
Transliteration: aḍavaṇe / manāī karaṇe
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Original: κωλύω
Category: Church Leadership
3 John 1:10. Diotrephes actively prevents others in the congregation from practicing hospitality — an abuse of positional power extending beyond his own personal refusal.
Imitate
Approved rendering: अनुकरण करणे
Transliteration: anukaraṇ karaṇe
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Original: μιμέομαι
Category: Christian Character
3 John 1:11. The letter’s explicit thesis-verb. Must be distinguished from the ritual/devotional imitation of a guru or sant-poet figure common in Warkari bhakti practice; here the object of imitation is moral character in relation to God, not devotional discipleship to a human teacher.
Has Seen God
Approved rendering: पाहिले आहे
Transliteration: pāhile āhe
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Original: ὁράω
Category: Christian Character
3 John 1:11. A Johannine idiom (ὁράω) for relational, saving knowledge of God, not literal visual perception (cf. John 1:18). Requires a contextual gloss or footnote to prevent a literal-sight misreading.
Face To Face
Approved rendering: समोरासमोर
Transliteration: samorāsamor
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: तोंडाला तोंड (literal ‘mouth to mouth’ — strange/indecorous in Marathi)
Original: στόμα πρὸς στόμα
Category: Truth and Fellowship
3 John 1:14. A Hebraic/Semitic idiom (στόμα πρὸς στόμα). Use the natural Marathi equivalent per the baseline’s idiom-handling rule; do not translate literally.
Low Risk Terms
Health
Approved rendering: निरोगी असणे
Transliteration: nirogī asaṇe
Doctrine: Spiritual Well-Being and Prosperity
Original: ὑγιαίνω
Category: Blessing and Well-Being
3 John 1:2. Standard physical-health greeting term; no doctrinal risk.
Rejoice Joy
Approved rendering: आनंद होणे / आनंद
Transliteration: ānand hoṇe / ānand
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: χαίρω / χαρά
Category: Blessing and Well-Being
3 John 1:3-4. Standard NT joy vocabulary; the elder’s joy is evidence-based (triggered by a verified report of Gaius’s truth-walking), not vague sentiment.
Work Do
Approved rendering: करणे / कार्य करणे
Transliteration: karaṇe / kārya karaṇe
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: ἐργάζομαι
Category: Hospitality
3 John 1:5. Emphasizes hospitality as active labor, not passive tolerance; standard verb, no collision risk.
Remind
Approved rendering: आठवण करून देणे / उघड करणे
Transliteration: āṭhavaṇ karūn deṇe / ughaḍ karaṇe
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Original: ὑπομιμνήσκω
Category: Church Leadership
3 John 1:10. Formal, corrective calling-to-account; signals leadership accountability exercised even toward someone abusing position.
Evil Bad
Approved rendering: वाईट
Transliteration: vāīṭ
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Original: κακός
Category: Christian Character
3 John 1:11. General moral-badness term (κακός), exemplified narratively by Diotrephes’ conduct.
Good
Approved rendering: चांगले
Transliteration: cāṅgale
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Original: ἀγαθός
Category: Christian Character
3 John 1:11. General moral-goodness term (ἀγαθός), exemplified narratively by Gaius and Demetrius.
Hope
Approved rendering: आशा करणे
Transliteration: āśā karaṇe
Doctrine: Personal Fellowship and Greeting
Original: ἐλπίζω
Category: Greeting and Closing
3 John 1:14. Confident personal expectation of a coming visit; not the technical eschatological ἐλπίς of Romans 5/8 in this occurrence.
Friends
Approved rendering: मित्र
Transliteration: mitra
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: φίλος
Category: Truth and Fellowship
3 John 1:14. Warmer, personal-friendship register (φίλος) distinct from बंधू; keep both terms distinct throughout the letter — do not merge for convenience, or the letter’s deliberate register shift in its closing is lost.