Semantic Analysis

2 Peter — Semantic Analysis (Koine Greek → Ndebele)

Curriculum: 2 Peter Core passage: 2 Peter 1:16–21 Destination language: Ndebele (isiNdebele saseZimbabwe / Northern Ndebele) Authority documents: translation_memory.json, bible_term_registry.json, doctrine_risk_registry.json (Romans Language Package, ndebele) — all established renderings below are reused exactly where the same term recurs in 2 Peter.

0. Introduction

2 Peter is a short (3-chapter) but doctrinally dense general epistle. Its argument runs: (1) God has given believers everything needed for godly life through the knowledge of Christ and participation in the divine nature, so believers must grow in virtue (ch. 1); (2) this true, Spirit-given apostolic and prophetic testimony must be defended against false teachers who deny Christ’s authority and twist Scripture for gain (ch. 2); (3) scoffers will deny Christ’s promised return, but God’s seeming delay is patience, not failure, and the Day of the Lord is certain and will end in judgment and a renewed creation (ch. 3).

For a Ndebele readership, two risk clusters recur constantly and interact with the mediated-access syncretism risk already documented in the Romans package:

Spirit-mediumship collision. 2 Peter 1:21’s description of the prophets “being carried along” (φερόμενοι) by the Holy Spirit sits directly on top of the Ndebele cultural category of a person being “carried”/“ridden” by an ancestral spirit (idlozi) during trance-possession (ukuthwasa). This is the single most important lexical decision in the whole book and drives the glossary entry for “carried along” below.
False-prophet/diviner collision. 2 Peter 2 spends an entire chapter describing false teachers/prophets, their divination-adjacent claims to secret authority, and their coming judgment. This directly overlaps the umphrofethi/isangoma distinction already flagged as High risk in the Romans registry, but now the distinction must be drawn even more sharply because the false teachers described in 2 Peter operate inside the church, claiming Christian legitimacy — unlike the diviners in Romans, who operate openly within traditional religion.

All renderings below build on, and must never contradict, the baseline Romans Language Package.

Part 1 — Core Passage: 2 Peter 1:16–21 (verse-by-verse)

Verse 16

Οὐ γὰρ σεσοφισμένοις μύθοις ἐξακολουθήσαντες ἐγνωρίσαμεν ὑμῖν τὴν τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ δύναμιν καὶ παρουσίαν, ἀλλ᾿ ἐπόπται γενηθέντες τῆς ἐκείνου μεγαλειότητος. “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”

μῦθος (mythos) — lit. “story, tale”; semantic range: legend, fable, invented tale (contrasted with verified history). English variants: “myths,” “fables,” “tales.” Contextual meaning: Peter denies the gospel proclamation is an invented legend, grounding it instead in verified eyewitness history. Ndebele: inganekwane (“folktale/fable”). Risk: Medium. Must be paired with a qualifier for σεσοφισμένοις (“cleverly devised,” perfect passive participle of σοφίζω) — e.g. inganekwane ezenzelwe ngobuqili — so the text is not read as a blanket dismissal of Ndebele oral storytelling tradition, but as a specific claim that the gospel is not a fabricated tale.
ἐξακολουθέω (exakoloutheō) — “to follow after, follow as a guide.” Ndebele: ukulandela. Risk: Low.
γνωρίζω (gnōrizō) — “to make known.” Ndebele: ukwazisa. Risk: Low.
Κύριος (Kyrios) — reuse baseline TM: iNkosi. Risk: Critical (unchanged from baseline).
Ἰησοῦς Χριστός — reuse baseline TM uJesu; see new entry “Christ” (§Glossary) for uKristu. Risk: Critical.
δύναμις (dynamis) — lit. “power, might, ability”; semantic range: inherent power, miraculous power, authority. Contextual meaning here: Christ’s power displayed at the Transfiguration and associated with his return. Ndebele: amandla. Risk: High. Must be distinguished in context from spiritual power attributed to izinyanga/izangoma (cf. baseline note on “power_of_god”).
παρουσία (parousia) — lit. “presence, arrival”; a technical Hellenistic term for the official arrival/visit of a king or dignitary. Semantic range: presence, arrival, coming, advent. English variants: “coming,” “arrival,” “presence.” Contextual theological meaning: the certain, future, personal, visible return of Christ as reigning King (developed fully in ch. 3). Ndebele: ukubuya (kweNkosi uJesu Kristu). Risk: Critical. Must denote an unambiguous future bodily/visible return, never a vague “presence,” and must not be assimilated to an ancestral spirit’s ritual “manifestation.”
ἐπόπτης (epoptēs) — lit. “one who has personally observed”; used in Greek mystery-religion contexts of an initiate who has witnessed the highest-grade rites. Semantic range: firsthand, verified observer. Ndebele: ofakazi ababonayo (“witnesses who saw with their own eyes”). Risk: Medium. Supports the Scripture-reliability doctrine: apostolic testimony rests on verified sensory observation, not vision/trance experience.
μεγαλειότης (megaleiotēs) — “majesty, magnificence” (cf. Luke 9:43; Acts 19:27). Ndebele: ubukhulu. Risk: Medium. Distinct from udumo (glory, δόξα); must not be flattened to ordinary human greatness, given that “iNkosi” already carries royal/chieftaincy connotations requiring correction.

Verse 17

λαβὼν γὰρ παρὰ Θεοῦ Πατρὸς τιμὴν καὶ δόξαν φωνῆς ἐνεχθείσης αὐτῷ τοιᾶσδε ὑπὸ τῆς μεγαλοπρεποῦς δόξης, Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ Υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός, εἰς ὃν ἐγὼ εὐδόκησα. “For he received honor and glory from God the Father when such a voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory: ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’”

τιμή (timē) — “honor, worth, price.” Ndebele: inhlonipho. Risk: Medium. Must show the Father actively conferring honor, not mere social deference.
δόξα (doxa) — reuse baseline TM udumo. Risk: Critical in this context — here δόξα also functions as a reverent periphrasis for God himself (“the Majestic Glory,” μεγαλοπρεπὴς δόξα). Render as udumo olukhulukazi to carry the weight of a divine title, not ordinary glory-language.
Θεὸς Πατήρ — reuse baseline TM uNkulunkulu uBaba. Risk: Critical.
φωνή (phōnē) — “voice, sound.” Ndebele: ilizwi. Risk: Medium. Context must anchor this unambiguously as God’s own spoken voice, not any spirit’s utterance heard by a diviner in trance.
φέρω (pherō), here ἐνεχθείσης (aorist passive participle) — “to bring, carry, bear along.” Ndebele: ukulethwa. Risk: Medium. Note the deliberate Petrine word-link between this verb (the Father’s voice “borne” from heaven) and the same verb in v. 21 (prophets “borne along” by the Spirit) — see the Critical entry at v. 21 below. Where Ndebele lexical resources allow, translators should preserve the verbal echo or supply a translator’s note explaining the connection.
υἱός (huios) — reuse baseline TM iNdodana kaNkulunkulu. Risk: Critical.
ἀγαπητός (agapētos) — “beloved, dearly loved” (often connoting uniqueness — “only beloved”). Ndebele: othandekayo. Risk: Medium. Must convey the Father’s unique, eternal love for the Son, reinforcing the Critical sonship doctrine.
εὐδοκέω (eudokeō) — “to be well pleased, delight in.” Ndebele: engithokoza ngaye. Risk: Low-Medium.

Verse 18

καὶ ταύτην τὴν φωνὴν ἡμεῖς ἠκούσαμεν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ἐνεχθεῖσαν, σὺν αὐτῷ ὄντες ἐν τῷ ὄρει τῷ ἁγίῳ. “we ourselves heard this voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.”

οὐρανός (ouranos) — “heaven, sky.” Ndebele: izulu. Risk: Medium. Must denote the transcendent dwelling of uNkulunkulu, not merely the physical sky, and must not blend with any notion of an ancestral spirit-realm above the earth.
ὄρος ἅγιον (oros hagion) — “holy mountain,” the Mount of Transfiguration; ἅγιος reuses baseline TM root -ngcwele. Ndebele: intaba engcwele. Risk: Medium. Mountains carry strong sacred/ritual associations in Ndebele and neighboring traditional religions (sites of ancestral veneration and rain-rites); this mountain’s holiness must be shown to derive from God’s manifest presence in Christ, not an indwelling territorial spirit.

Verse 19

καὶ ἔχομεν βεβαιότερον τὸν προφητικὸν λόγον, ᾧ καλῶς ποιεῖτε προσέχοντες ὡς λύχνῳ φαίνοντι ἐν αὐχμηρῷ τόπῳ, ἕως οὗ ἡμέρα διαυγάσῃ καὶ φωσφόρος ἀνατείλῃ ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν· “And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”

βέβαιος / βεβαιότερος (bebaios/bebaioteros) — “sure, firm, confirmed; more sure.” Semantic range: legally guaranteed, certain, reliable. Contextual meaning: the prophetic Scripture is confirmed / rendered even more certain by the eyewitness Transfiguration event just narrated — foundational to the doctrine of Scripture’s reliability. Ndebele: oqinisekile kakhulu. Risk: High. Must never suggest Scripture’s reliability is merely probable.
προφητικὸς λόγος (prophētikos logos) — “prophetic word”; reuses TM root isiphrofetho. Ndebele: ilizwi lesiphrofetho. Risk: High. Refers to the OT prophetic Scriptures as an authoritative divine corpus; must be kept sharply distinct from isangoma’s oracular utterances (per baseline “prophet” note).
προσέχω (prosechō) — “to pay attention, take heed.” Ndebele: ukunanzelela. Risk: Low.
λύχνος (lychnos) — “lamp.” Ndebele: isibane. Risk: Low.
αὐχμηρὸς τόπος (auchmēros topos) — “dark, murky, dismal place.” Ndebele: indawo emnyama. Risk: Low-Medium. Represents the present age’s moral/spiritual darkness prior to Christ’s return.
ἡμέρα διαυγάζω (hēmera diaugazō) — “day dawns/breaks through.” Ndebele: usuku selusina. Risk: Low.
φωσφόρος (phōsphoros) — lit. “light-bearer”; the morning star (Venus at dawn); used elsewhere (Rev 22:16) as Christ’s self-designation. Contextual theological meaning: the dawning of Christ’s full, personal revelation at his parousia, following the partial light of prophetic Scripture now. Ndebele: ikhwezi (the established Nguni term for the morning star). Risk: Medium-High. Ikhwezi carries rich pre-Christian cultural, even personal-name, significance in Nguni tradition; translators must anchor the term explicitly to Christ (cross-referencing Rev 22:16) so it is not left as a free-floating astral symbol open to traditional astral/spirit reinterpretation.
ἀνατέλλω (anatellō) — “to rise, spring up.” Ndebele: ukuphuma. Risk: Low.
καρδία (kardia) — “heart,” seat of thought/will/emotion. Ndebele: inhliziyo. Risk: Low.

Verse 20

τοῦτο πρῶτον γινώσκοντες, ὅτι πᾶσα προφητεία γραφῆς ἰδίας ἐπιλύσεως οὐ γίνεται. “knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation.”

γινώσκω (ginōskō) — “to know.” Ndebele: ukwazi. Risk: Low. Note its connection to the ἐπίγνωσις/γνῶσις word-family central to the whole book.
προφητεία (prophēteia) — reuse TM isiphrofetho. Risk: High (unchanged from baseline).
γραφή (graphē) — lit. “writing”; in NT usage, the sacred, divinely authoritative writings (OT, and by extension apostolic writings — cf. 2 Pet 3:16). English variants: “Scripture,” “writing.” Ndebele: umBhalo oNgcwele. Risk: Critical. Central to “The Reliability and Inspiration of Scripture.” Must be sharply distinguished from any other body of authoritative sayings, oral tradition, or ancestral pronouncements/izaga (proverbs) regarded as wisdom; must communicate unique divine authorship and abiding authority.
ἰδίας ἐπιλύσεως (idias epilyseōs) — lit. “of one’s own release/interpretation/solution” (ἐπίλυσις: interpretation, explanation, solution to a riddle). Contextual theological meaning: prophecy does not originate from (nor is it merely resolved by) any individual prophet’s own understanding or invention — it has a divine, not human, source and warrant. Ndebele: ukuchasiswa ngokwabo bodwa (“interpreted by themselves alone”). Risk: High. Must protect Scripture’s divine source against merely human/private origination, without discouraging believers’ own faithful reading and application of Scripture.

Verse 21

οὐ γὰρ θελήματι ἀνθρώπου ἠνέχθη ποτὲ προφητεία, ἀλλὰ ὑπὸ Πνεύματος Ἁγίου φερόμενοι ἐλάλησαν ἀπὸ Θεοῦ ἄνθρωποι. “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

θέλημα ἀνθρώπου (thelēma anthrōpou) — “will of man.” Ndebele: intando yomuntu. Risk: Medium. Negates human initiative as prophecy’s source.
φέρω (pherō), here φερόμενοι (present passive participle) — “being carried/borne along” (cf. Acts 27:15,17, of wind driving a ship). Contextual theological meaning: the Holy Spirit is the active, sovereign agent who carried/moved the human authors so that their words were fully and simultaneously God’s own words (verbal, plenary inspiration). Ndebele rendering risk: CRITICAL — the single most sensitive lexical decision in the entire book. Ndebele traditional religion has a well-established category for a person being “carried,” “ridden,” or “possessed” by an ancestral spirit (idlozi) during trance-mediumship (ukuthwasa). If φερόμενοι is rendered with vocabulary from that semantic field (a verb normally describing a medium being taken over/mounted by a spirit), readers will assimilate biblical inspiration to spirit-mediumship, destroying both the uniqueness of Scripture’s divine origin and the personal, coherent (non-erratic, non-trance) character of the Spirit’s work. Recommended rendering: beqhutshwa nguMoya oNgcwele — using ukuqhutshwa (“to be driven/directed,” as of a wind driving a ship or a shepherd driving sheep) rather than any verb from the spirit-possession word-field. This choice must be flagged with a translator’s note at every occurrence and routed to human theologian review per the escalation rules.
Πνεῦμα Ἅγιον (pneuma hagion) — reuse baseline TM uMoya oNgcwele. Risk: Critical (unchanged).
λαλέω (laleō) — “to speak.” Ndebele: ukukhuluma. Risk: Low.
ἄνθρωποι ἀπὸ Θεοῦ (anthrōpoi apo Theou) — “men from God,” i.e. God’s spokesmen. Ndebele: abantu abavela kuNkulunkulu. Risk: Medium. Reinforces the prophet/diviner distinction already flagged High in the Romans registry.

Part 2 — Chapter-by-Chapter Analysis of the Whole Book

Chapter 1 (vv. 1–15; vv. 16–21 = Core Passage, treated in full above)

Salutation, the divine provision for godly life, the call to add virtue upon virtue, and Peter’s approaching death as the occasion for this “reminder” letter.

δοῦλος (doulos) — “servant/slave” (Peter’s self-designation, v. 1). Ndebele: inceku. Risk: Medium. Must reflect willing, honored devotion to Christ (as of the OT prophets, cf. “prophet” note), not degrading bondage.
ἰσότιμος πίστις (isotimos pistis) — “faith of equal standing/equally precious faith” (v. 1). Ndebele: ukholo olufana ngokuligugu. Risk: Low-Medium. Builds on TM ukholo.
θεοῦ ἡμῶν καὶ σωτῆρος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ (v. 1) — a Granville-Sharp construction naming Jesus Christ directly as “our God and Savior.” Risk: Critical. The Ndebele rendering must not obscure that one Person (Jesus) is being called both “uNkulunkulu” and “uMsindisi”; a rendering that splits this into two separate figures would undercut the deity of Christ.
σωτήρ (sōtēr) — “Savior” (vv. 1, 11; 2:20; 3:2, 18). Builds on TM root usindiso (“salvation”). Ndebele: uMsindisi. Risc: Critical. New entry, consistent with the established salvation word-family.
χάρις, εἰρήνη — reuse baseline TM umusa, ukuthula (v. 2). Risk: Critical / Medium (unchanged).
ἐπίγνωσις (epignōsis) — “full/true knowledge” (vv. 2, 3, 8; also 2:20) — distinguished from mere γνῶσις by intensifying prefix ἐπι-. Semantic range: complete, experiential, relational knowledge (of God/Christ), not abstract information. Ndebele: ukwazi okupheleleyo. Risk: High. Must convey personal, relational knowledge of Christ, not esoteric or secret knowledge of the kind sought from diviners/izangoma.
θεία δύναμις (theia dynamis) — “divine power” (v. 3), granting “all things pertaining to life and godliness.” Ndebele: amandla obuNkulunkulu. Risk: High.
θεία φύσις (theia physis) — “divine nature” (v. 4) — “partakers of the divine nature.” Ndebele: imvelo yobuNkulunkulu. Risk: CRITICAL. This is the doctrinal center of “Divine Nature and Escaping Corruption” and one of the highest-risk phrases in the book for a Ndebele audience: traditional religion has robust categories for a living person acquiring an ancestral spirit’s power/identity (through mediumship, inheritance of a spirit, or ritual incorporation into the amadlozi). “Partaking of the divine nature” must be taught unambiguously as a relational, moral transformation — sharing in God’s holiness, incorruptibility, and love through union with Christ by faith — never as humans literally becoming, absorbing, or being possessed by a divine/spiritual being. Requires theologian review at every occurrence.
κοινωνός (koinōnos) — “partaker, sharer” (v. 4). Ndebele: abahlanganyeli. Risk: Critical (paired with θεία φύσις above).
φθορά (phthora) — “corruption, decay” (v. 4; also 1:4, 2:12, 19). Ndebele: ukubola. Risk: High. Distinguish from ritual impurity/defilement requiring ancestral appeasement (cf. baseline “sin” note).
ἐπιθυμία (epithymia) — “evil desire, lust” (v. 4). Ndebele: inkanuko. Risk: Medium-High.
ἀρετή (aretē) — “virtue, moral excellence” (vv. 3, 5) — of God’s own excellence and of the believer’s growth. Ndebele: isimilo esihle. Risk: Medium. Deliberately distinct from ukulunga (righteousness/right standing) to avoid collapsing forensic righteousness into a general virtue list.
γνῶσις (gnōsis) — “knowledge” (v. 5, part of the virtue chain). Ndebele: ulwazi. Risk: Medium.
ἐγκράτεια (enkrateia) — “self-control” (v. 6). Ndebele: ukuzithiba. Risk: Low-Medium.
ὑπομονή (hypomonē) — “perseverance, steadfast endurance” (v. 6). Ndebele: ukuqinisela. Risk: Medium. Kept distinct from μακροθυμία (patience/forbearance, ch. 3) — see that entry.
εὐσέβεια (eusebeia) — “godliness, piety” (vv. 3, 6, 7; 3:11). Ndebele: ukwesaba uNkulunkulu. Risk: Medium-High. Must be anchored to reverent devotion toward the true God through Christ, not generic religious devotion or fear of ancestral displeasure.
φιλαδελφία (philadelphia) — “brotherly kindness” (v. 7). Ndebele: uthando lobuzalwane. Risk: Low.
ἀγάπη (agapē) — “love” (v. 7). Ndebele: uthando. Risk: Low.
καθαρισμός (katharismos) — “cleansing” (v. 9, “forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins”). Ndebele: ukuhlanjululwa. Risk: Medium. Must be tied to spiritual cleansing from sin through Christ’s finished work, not ritual cleansing rites performed for ancestral appeasement.
βέβαιος (bebaios) — “firm, sure” (v. 10, “confirm your calling and election”). Ndebele: ukuqinisa. Risk: Medium. See also v. 19 (βεβαιότερος) above.
κλῆσις, ἐκλογή — reuse baseline TM ubizo, ukukhethwa (v. 10). Risk: High (unchanged).
εἴσοδος (eisodos) — “entrance” (v. 11, “entrance into the eternal kingdom”). Ndebele: ukungena. Risk: Low-Medium. Paired with umbuso kaNkulunkulu (reuse TM) qualified as ophakade (“eternal”) — the eternal kingdom, not the historical Ndebele kingdom.
σκήνωμα (skēnōma) — “tent,” metaphor for the physical body (vv. 13–14). Ndebele: ithente lomzimba. Risk: Medium. Must be understood as a metaphor for one’s own temporary body, not as implying a separate spirit indwelling/using a person, which would echo spirit-possession categories.
ἔξοδος (exodos) — “departure” (v. 15, of Peter’s death). Ndebele: ukusuka emhlabeni. Risk: Low-Medium. Must be tied to biblical hope of resurrection (reuse TM ukuvuka kwabafileyo), not to becoming an idlozi.

Chapter 2 — False Teachers and Their Judgment

ψευδοπροφήτης (pseudoprophētēs) — “false prophet” (v. 1). Ndebele: abaphrofethi bamanga. Risk: Critical.
ψευδοδιδάσκαλος (pseudodidaskalos) — “false teacher” (v. 1). Ndebele: abafundisi bamanga. Risk: Critical. This is the doctrinal center of “False Teachers and Their Judgment.” Must be distinguished both from a genuine Christian teacher and from an isangoma/inyanga; the chapter’s force depends on showing these figures falsely claim Christian, not traditional-religious, legitimacy.
αἵρεσις (hairesis) — “destructive heresy/faction” (v. 1). Ndebele: imfundiso ezibhubhisayo. Risk: High.
ἀγοράζω (agorazō) — “to buy, redeem” (v. 1, “denying the Master who bought them”). Ndebele: ukuthengwa. Risk: High. Christ’s redemptive purchase; must not be confused with ordinary commercial buying or a ritual payment made to secure ancestral favor.
δεσπότης (despotēs) — “Master, Sovereign Owner” (v. 1), of Christ. Ndebele: uMninimandla. Risk: High. Distinct from, but reinforcing, iNkosi (kyrios); conveys Christ’s absolute ownership over the redeemed through his purchase, guarding against any reduction of his lordship.
κρίσις / κατάκρισις (krisis) — “judgment, condemnation” (vv. 3–4, 9). Ndebele: ukwahlulelwa. Risk: Medium-High.
ταρταρόω (tartaroō) — “to cast into Tartarus” (v. 4), a NT hapax borrowing Greek mythological vocabulary for the place/state of divine punishment for rebellious spiritual beings. Ndebele: ukuphoselwa endaweni yokujeziswa (“cast into a place of punishment”). Risk: High. Must avoid both the Greek mythological underworld association and any evocation of an ancestral spirit-realm; render descriptively rather than transliterating “Tartarus.”
σειρὰ ζόφου (seira zophou) — “chains of darkness” (v. 4). Ndebele: amaketane obumnyama. Risk: Medium.
κατακλυσμός (kataklysmos) — “the Flood” (v. 5). Ndebele: uzamcolo (established Nguni term for the Genesis Flood). Risk: Low.
δικαιοσύνης κήρυξ (dikaiosynēs kēryx) — “preacher of righteousness” (v. 5, of Noah). Ndebele: umtshumayeli wokulunga — builds on TM ukulunga. Risk: Medium.
ὑπόδειγμα (hypodeigma) — “example” (v. 6). Ndebele: isibonelo. Risk: Low.
ῥύομαι (rhyomai) — “to rescue, deliver” (v. 7, 9, of Lot and of the godly generally). Ndebele: ukukhulula. Risk: Medium. God’s own deliverance, distinct from protection sought through ancestral intervention.
ἀσέλγεια (aselgeia) — “sensuality, debauchery” (v. 7). Ndebele: amanyala. Risk: Medium-High.
μιασμός (miasmos) — “defilement” (v. 10). Ndebele: ukungcola. Risk: High. Must be moral defilement before a personal God, not ritual impurity requiring ancestral cleansing rites (cf. baseline “sin” note).
τηρέω (tēreō) — “to keep, reserve” (for judgment, vv. 4, 9, 17; also 3:7). Ndebele: ukugcinelwa. Risk: Medium.
τολμηταὶ αὐθάδεις (tolmētai authadeis) — “bold and self-willed” (v. 10). Ndebele: abaqholo abazithembayo. Risk: Low-Medium.
δόξαι (doxai, plural of δόξα, “glorious ones”) — of angelic/spiritual authorities blasphemed by the false teachers (v. 10). Ndebele: abalawuli abakhazimulayo. Risk: Medium. Must be clearly angelic/spiritual authorities under God’s own authority, not amadlozi.
Βαλαάμ, uNowa, uLothi, iSodoma neGomora — proper names (vv. 5–7, 15). Ndebele: uBalamu, uNowa, uLothi, iSodoma neGomora (established transliterated forms). Risk: Low.
ἄλογα ζῷα (aloga zōa), πηγαὶ ἄνυδροι (pēgai anydroi), ὁμίχλαι (homichlai) — “irrational animals,” “waterless springs,” “mists” — imagery describing the false teachers (vv. 12, 17). Ndebele: izinyamazana ezingaqondiyo; imithombo engelamanzi; amayezi (as a grouped set of nature-imagery terms). Risk: Low-Medium as a set — purely figurative, low doctrinal weight individually but should be rendered consistently as a rhetorical unit.
ἐλευθερία (eleutheria) — “freedom, liberty” (v. 19, falsely promised by the teachers). Ndebele: inkululeko. Risk: Medium. Must not be confused with true Christian liberty taught elsewhere in Scripture; here it names a false promise made by “slaves of corruption” (δοῦλοι τῆς φθορᾶς, reuse ukubola).
ἐπιστρέφω (epistrephō) — “to turn back” (v. 21, 22, of relapse into former sin). Ndebele: ukubuyela emuva. Risk: Low.

Chapter 3 — The Day of the Lord, Final Judgment, and God’s Patience

ἐμπαῖκτης (empaiktēs) — “scoffer, mocker” (v. 3), who denies the promise of Christ’s return. Ndebele: izideleli. Risk: Medium-High.
παρουσία (parousia) — “coming, arrival” (v. 4, “Where is the promise of his coming?”; also v. 12) — see full treatment at 1:16 above. Ndebele: ukubuya (kweNkosi). Risk: Critical, unchanged, now the explicit subject of the whole chapter’s argument for “The Certainty of Christ’s Return.”
κτίσις (ktisis) — “creation” (v. 4, “all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation”). Ndebele: indalo. Risk: Medium. Must affirm creation as God’s own direct handiwork under his sovereign judgment, not a realm animated or governed by resident nature-spirits.
κατακλύζω (katakluzō) — “to deluge, flood” (v. 6, of the world destroyed by water). Related to TM-adjacent uzamcolo. Ndebele: ukukhukhulwa ngamanzi. Risk: Low.
πῦρ (pyr) — “fire” (v. 7, 10, 12, the present heavens and earth reserved for fire). Ndebele: umlilo. Risk: Medium. Judgment fire, not to be confused with ritual/purification fire in traditional practice.
ἡμέρα κρίσεως (hēmera kriseōs) — “day of judgment” (v. 7). Ndebele: usuku lokwahlulela. Risk: High.
βραδύνει (bradynei) — “is slow, delays” (v. 9, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise”). Ndebele: ukuphuza. Risk: Medium. Directly serves the doctrine of “Patience of God’s Timing” — must negate any sense of divine failure or forgetfulness.
μακροθυμέω / μακροθυμία (makrothymeō / makrothymia) — “to be patient/longsuffering; patience” (v. 9, 15, “the patience of our Lord”). Ndebele: ukubekezela. Risk: CRITICAL. Central to “Patience of God’s Timing.” Must be taught as God’s purposeful, gracious forbearance giving opportunity for repentance — never as impersonal fate-delay, divine weakness, or the kind of passive endurance expected of a supplicant awaiting an ancestor’s mood to change.
ἡμέρα Κυρίου (hēmera Kyriou) — “the Day of the Lord” (v. 10). Ndebele: usuku lweNkosi. Risk: CRITICAL. Builds directly on reused TM iNkosi; central to “The Day of the Lord and Final Judgment.”
κλέπτης (kleptēs) — “thief” (v. 10, simile for the day’s unexpected arrival). Ndebele: isela. Risk: Low-Medium.
στοιχεῖα (stoicheia) — “elements” (v. 10, 12, the basic components of the physical universe, dissolved by fire). Ndebele: izakhi zendalo. Risk: Medium-High. Must be clearly the physical building-blocks of creation under God’s judgment, not spiritual beings or nature-spirits inhabiting the elements, a notion with traditional resonance.
λύω (lyō) — “to dissolve, destroy” (v. 10–12). Ndebele: ukuncibilika / ukubhidlizwa. Risk: Medium.
καινοὺς οὐρανοὺς καὶ γῆν καινήν (kainous ouranous kai gēn kainēn) — “new heavens and a new earth” (v. 13). Ndebele: amazulu amatsha lomhlaba omutsha. Risk: CRITICAL. The positive eschatological hope anchoring the whole chapter; must be taught as God’s own promised renewal of creation, distinct from any traditional notion of the deceased entering an ancestral spirit-world.
δικαιοσύνη κατοικεῖ (dikaiosynē katoikei) — “righteousness dwells” (v. 13, in the new creation). Reuse TM ukulunga. Risk: Critical (unchanged from baseline).
σπουδάζω (spoudazō) — “to be diligent, make every effort” (v. 14; also 1:10, 15). Ndebele: ukukhuthala. Risk: Low-Medium.
ἄσπιλος καὶ ἀμώμητος (aspilos kai amōmētos) — “without spot and blameless” (v. 14). Ndebele: ongelasici lokungasoleki. Risk: Medium. Purity before God through Christ, not ritual purity for ancestral appeasement.
σωτηρία (sōtēria) — reuse baseline TM usindiso (v. 15). Risk: Critical (unchanged).
σοφία (sophia) — “wisdom” (v. 15, given to Paul). Ndebele: ukuhlakanipha. Risk: Low-Medium.
δυσνόητος (dysnoētos) — “hard to understand” (v. 16, of Paul’s letters). Ndebele: okunzima ukuqedisisa. Risk: Low.
γραφή (graphē) — reuse this book’s own new term umBhalo oNgcwele (v. 16, extending “Scripture” explicitly to Paul’s letters). Risk: Critical (unchanged; important cross-reference showing the NT epistles are placed on the same authoritative footing as OT prophecy).
στρεβλόω (strebloō) — “to twist, distort” (v. 16, “the ignorant and unstable twist [the Scriptures]”). Ndebele: ukuphambanisa. Risk: Medium-High. Directly ties to the Scripture-reliability doctrine: mishandling Scripture, not Scripture’s own unreliability, is the danger named.
πλάνη ἀθέσμων (planē athesmōn) — “error of lawless people” (v. 17). Ndebele: iphutha labangelamthetho. Risk: Medium.
στηριγμός (stērigmos) — “steadfastness, firm standing” (v. 17). Ndebele: ukuqina. Risk: Low-Medium.
αὐξάνω (auxanō) — “to grow” (v. 18, “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”). Ndebele: ukukhula. Risk: Low. Closing exhortation reusing TM umusa and this book’s ukwazi okupheleleyo (epignōsis) — ties the whole letter’s argument together.

This document, together with analysis/08_core_glossary.md, extends the Romans Language Package for the 2 Peter curriculum without contradicting any established rendering. All Critical and High risk terms identified here must be carried into Phase 2 pre-flight loading exactly as recorded.

Library content is free and openly licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 — share and adapt it for non-commercial use, with attribution to tri-bible.ai.