Semantic Analysis

Semantic Analysis: 2 Peter (Full Book, Koine Greek)

How to read this document

For the core passage (2 Peter 1:16-21) every load-bearing term is analyzed verse-by-verse. For every other unit of the book (1:1-15, chapter 2, chapter 3) load-bearing theological terms are analyzed at the chapter level with the same field set:

Original — Koine Greek word (lexical form)
Transliteration
Literal meaning
Semantic range
English variants (as rendered across common English versions)
Contextual theological meaning (in 2 Peter specifically)
Nepali rendering risk (tier + grounded reason, following baseline conventions)

Terms already fixed in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json / bible_term_registry.json are flagged [BASELINE REUSE] and MUST use the recorded Nepali term exactly, with no new deliberation. New terms are flagged [NEW — 2 PETER] and are proposed here for entry into an updated translation memory in Phase 1 Step 2 onward.

PART A — CORE PASSAGE: 2 Peter 1:16-21 (Verse-by-Verse)

2 Peter 1:16

Οὐ γὰρ σεσοφισμένοις μύθοις ἐξακολουθήσαντες ἐγνωρίσαμεν ὑμῖν τὴν τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ δύναμιν καὶ παρουσίαν, ἀλλ᾿ ἐπόπται γενηθέντες τῆς ἐκείνου μεγαλειότητος.

μῦθος (μύθοις) [NEW — 2 PETER]

Transliteration: mythos
Literal meaning: a tale, story, fable; a fabricated narrative
Semantic range: from neutral “story” to “cleverly invented fiction” (here modified by σεσοφισμένοις, “cunningly devised”)
English variants: fables, myths, cleverly devised stories, fairy tales
Contextual theological meaning: Peter explicitly denies that apostolic gospel testimony is fabricated legend; this is the epistle’s opening apologetic move, directly feeding the “Reliability and Inspiration of Scripture” doctrine.
Nepali rendering risk: High. A literal borrowing evoking “पुराण” (Purana, the Hindu mythological-narrative corpus) must be avoided entirely — Nepali readers would immediately associate “पुराण-कथा” with venerated sacred narrative, the opposite of Peter’s point. Recommended: मनगढन्ते कथा (“fabricated/invented story”) or गलत कथा, never पुराण-सम्बन्धी किंवदन्ती.

δύναμις (δύναμιν) [BASELINE REUSE — cf. “power_of_god” → परमेश्वरको सामर्थ्य]

Transliteration: dynamis
Literal meaning: power, might, capability
Semantic range: physical power, miraculous power, divine power, authority
English variants: power, might
Contextual theological meaning: the power of Christ displayed and attested at the Transfiguration, undergirding the certainty of his return.
Nepali rendering risk: High. Must use सामर्थ्य per baseline forbidden-substitution rule; NEVER शक्ति (Newar Tantric/Shakta ritual associations).

παρουσία [NEW — 2 PETER; CRITICAL doctrinal anchor term — “The Certainty of Christ’s Return”]

Transliteration: parousia
Literal meaning: presence, arrival, coming
Semantic range: a ruler’s official state visit/arrival (Hellenistic usage); in NT usage, Christ’s visible, personal, future return
English variants: coming, arrival, appearing, presence
Contextual theological meaning: here linked back to the Transfiguration as a preview/guarantee of Christ’s future glorious coming (also 2 Peter 3:4, 3:12, in dispute with scoffers). This word is the doctrinal backbone of the whole epistle’s eschatology.
Nepali rendering risk: Critical. Render as आगमन (“coming/arrival”) — e.g., “प्रभुको आगमन” or “ख्रीष्टको दोस्रो आगमन” (Christ’s second coming) to distinguish from the incarnation’s first advent. MUST NOT be shaded toward अवतार-language (a repeatable royal/divine descent, per baseline’s incarnation entry) — Peter describes a singular, certain, future, visible, personal return of the same historical Christ, not a new or repeatable divine manifestation.

ἐπόπτης (ἐπόπται) [NEW — 2 PETER]

Transliteration: epoptēs
Literal meaning: an eyewitness, overseer, one who has personally observed
Semantic range: technical term from Greek mystery-religion initiation (one admitted to see the highest-grade rites) repurposed by Peter for eyewitness apostolic testimony
English variants: eyewitnesses, witnesses
Contextual theological meaning: grounds gospel proclamation in verified historical sight, not legend — core support for “Reliability and Inspiration of Scripture.”
Nepali rendering risk: High. प्रत्यक्षदर्शी (pratyakshadarshi, “direct/eyewitness”) is the natural and safe Nepali rendering; risk is Medium-High only because this verse’s apologetic force (countering the false teachers’ charge of mythology) must not be flattened into a generic “we saw it too.”

μεγαλειότης [NEW — 2 PETER]

Transliteration: megaleiotēs
Literal meaning: greatness, majesty, magnificence
Semantic range: royal/divine majesty, splendor of a sovereign
English variants: majesty, glory, greatness
Contextual theological meaning: the visible majesty of Christ displayed at the Transfiguration.
Nepali rendering risk: Medium. Prefer वैभव (“splendor/majesty”) over प्रताप, which carries specific overtones of Nepali royal majesty (used historically of the Shah kings, e.g. “राजाको प्रताप”) — given the baseline’s caution around monarchical-divine conflation (अवतार), वैभव is the safer choice here.

2 Peter 1:17

λαβὼν γὰρ παρὰ Θεοῦ Πατρὸς τιμὴν καὶ δόξαν φωνῆς ἐνεχθείσης αὐτῷ τοιαύτης ὑπὸ τῆς μεγαλοπρεποῦς δόξης, Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ Υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός, εἰς ὃν ἐγὼ εὐδόκησα·

τιμή (τιμὴν) [NEW — 2 PETER]

Transliteration: timē
Literal meaning: honor, value, worth
Semantic range: price, honor, esteem, position of honor
English variants: honor
Contextual theological meaning: honor conferred by the Father on the Son at the Transfiguration.
Nepali rendering risk: Low-Medium. सम्मान is a safe, standard rendering.

δόξα (δόξαν / δόξης) [BASELINE REUSE — महिमा]

Transliteration: doxa
Literal meaning: glory, radiance, honor
Semantic range: reputation, splendor, divine glory-presence
English variants: glory
Contextual theological meaning: the Father’s glory-voice honoring the Son; directly supports the Deity of Christ doctrine.
Nepali rendering risk: High, per baseline. Use महिमा; the qualifying phrase μεγαλοπρεπὴς δόξα (“Majestic Glory,” a reverent periphrasis for God) should render as “महान् महिमा” or “महिमावान् परमेश्वर,” never a light-radiance metaphor that could echo Kathmandu Valley living-goddess/Tantric divine-radiance associations (per baseline’s existing glory note).

Υἱός (ὁ Υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός) [BASELINE REUSE — cf. “son_of_god” → परमेश्वरका पुत्र; doctrine: sonship_of_christ, Critical]

Transliteration: Huios
Literal meaning: son
Semantic range: biological son, legal/adoptive son, honorific son, divine Son
English variants: Son, my beloved Son
Contextual theological meaning: this is the direct heavenly voice’s declaration at the Transfiguration (echoing Matthew 17:5), the Father’s own testimony to the Son’s unique divine identity — Peter cites this as apostolic eyewitness confirmation of who Jesus is.
Nepali rendering risk: Critical. Render “मेरो प्रिय पुत्र” (“my beloved Son”), consistently with the baseline’s परमेश्वरका पुत्र convention elsewhere in the epistle. Must communicate unique, eternal, co-equal Sonship — not a metaphorical, honorary, or adoptive sonship, and emphatically not a recognized reincarnate-lineage relationship as in the Himalayan Buddhist tulku tradition (per baseline’s existing caution).

εὐδοκέω (εὐδόκησα) [NEW — 2 PETER]

Transliteration: eudokēsa
Literal meaning: to be well pleased, to take delight in
Semantic range: approval, delight, good pleasure
English variants: “in whom I am well pleased,” “with whom I am well pleased”
Contextual theological meaning: the Father’s approving delight in the Son, reinforcing Christ’s unique standing.
Nepali rendering risk: Low-Medium. “जसमा म प्रसन्न छु” is standard and safe.

2 Peter 1:18

καὶ ταύτην τὴν φωνὴν ἡμεῖς ἠκούσαμεν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ἐνεχθεῖσαν, σὺν αὐτῷ ὄντες ἐν τῷ ὄρει τῷ ἁγίῳ.

φωνή (φωνὴν) [NEW — 2 PETER]

Transliteration: phōnē
Literal meaning: voice, sound
Semantic range: audible voice, sound, utterance
English variants: voice
Contextual theological meaning: the audible, historical voice of God the Father heard by named eyewitnesses — again grounding revelation in verifiable history, not private mystical vision.
Nepali rendering risk: Low. आवाज/वाणी is standard and safe.

ὄρος ἅγιον (τῷ ὄρει τῷ ἁγίῳ) [BASELINE REUSE for “holy” — पवित्र; site term new]

Transliteration: oros hagion
Literal meaning: holy mountain
Semantic range: a mountain set apart by a divine manifestation (here, the Mount of Transfiguration)
English variants: the holy mount, the sacred mountain
Contextual theological meaning: made holy by the specific redemptive-historical event that occurred there, not inherently sacred in itself.
Nepali rendering risk: Medium-High. “पवित्र पहाड/डाँडा” is correct, but must be taught as event-derived holiness. Nepal’s own religious geography treats specific Himalayan peaks (e.g., Machhapuchhre, and the wider Kailash tradition) as inherently sacred abodes of deities (axis mundi); 2 Peter’s “holy mountain” must be clearly distinguished as holy because of what God did there in redemptive history, not because the mountain itself is a divine dwelling-place.

2 Peter 1:19

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·

βέβαιος (βεβαιότερον) [NEW — 2 PETER]

Transliteration: bebaioteron
Literal meaning: more firm, more sure, confirmed
Semantic range: legally guaranteed, certain, stable
English variants: more sure, more fully confirmed
Contextual theological meaning: the eyewitness Transfiguration testimony together with prophetic Scripture forms a doubly-confirmed foundation — central to “Reliability and Inspiration of Scripture.”
Nepali rendering risk: Medium. “अझ बढी पक्का/निश्चित” is safe and clear.

προφητικὸς λόγος [BASELINE REUSE for प्रोफेसी root — अगमवाणी; new compound]

Transliteration: prophētikos logos
Literal meaning: prophetic word/message
Semantic range: the OT prophetic writings collectively
English variants: prophetic word, message of the prophets, prophecy
Contextual theological meaning: Scripture’s prophetic witness to Christ, as reliable as (indeed “more sure” as a public, written, testable record than) even eyewitness experience.
Nepali rendering risk: High. Render “अगमवाणीको वचन,” reusing baseline अगमवाणी exactly; supports fulfillment_of_prophecy and inspiration_of_scripture doctrines already tiered High/Critical in the baseline framework.

λύχνος / φωσφόρος [NEW — 2 PETER]

Transliteration: lychnos (“lamp”); phōsphoros (“light-bearer,” morning star)
Literal meaning: lychnos = a lamp; phōsphoros = light-bringer, the planet Venus as morning star
Semantic range: lamp = household light source in a dark place; phōsphoros = the star heralding daybreak
English variants: lamp; morning star, day star
Contextual theological meaning: Scripture as a lamp illuminating a dark present age until the full daybreak of Christ’s return.
Nepali rendering risk: Medium. दियो/बत्ती (lamp) is safe. For φωσφόρος, render plainly as “बिहानीको तारा” (morning star) — do NOT transliterate via any Latin-derived “Lucifer” cognate, since in later Christian tradition “Lucifer” became a name for Satan; here the image is entirely positive (cf. Christ’s self-designation as “the bright morning star,” Revelation 22:16), and a Nepali reader must not sense any contradiction.

2 Peter 1:20

τοῦτο πρῶτον γινώσκοντες, ὅτι πᾶσα προφητεία γραφῆς ἰδίας ἐπιλύσεως οὐ γίνεται.

προφητεία [BASELINE REUSE — अगमवाणी]

Transliteration: prophēteia
Literal meaning: prophecy
Semantic range: God-inspired declaration of his purposes
English variants: prophecy
Contextual theological meaning: no OT prophecy originates from a prophet’s private insight.
Nepali rendering risk: Low, per baseline (already Low tier), but here embedded in a High/Critical doctrinal claim about the source of Scripture — treat the surrounding claim, not the word alone, as High risk.

γραφή (γραφῆς) [NEW — 2 PETER; but functionally established via baseline’s doctrine_risk_registry naming “पवित्रशास्त्र”]

Transliteration: graphē
Literal meaning: a writing, document
Semantic range: in NT usage, technical term for the authoritative, sacred OT (and by extension NT) writings
English variants: Scripture, the Scriptures, writing
Contextual theological meaning: the written prophetic record as a fixed, God-given deposit, not raw material for private reinterpretation.
Nepali rendering risk: High. Render पवित्रशास्त्र, consistent with the baseline doctrine registry’s existing “पवित्रशास्त्रको प्रेरणा” (Inspiration of Scripture). Must be distinguished from the Hindu concept of śruti (“that which is heard,” transmitted by sages through meditative insight) and from the Buddhist sūtra tradition (discourses attributed to the Buddha or later teachers) — पवित्रशास्त्र is a fixed, closed, divinely authored corpus delivered through, not originating from, its human writers.

ἐπίλυσις (ἰδίας ἐπιλύσεως) [NEW — 2 PETER]

Transliteration: epilysis
Literal meaning: a release,解 solution, interpretation
Semantic range: unloosing a difficulty, explaining, interpreting
English variants: private interpretation, one’s own interpretation
Contextual theological meaning: prophecy did not originate from an individual prophet’s own interpretive insight, and by extension must not be treated as open to arbitrary private interpretation — a direct polemic Peter will apply against the false teachers in chapter 2.
Nepali rendering risk: Medium-High. Render “आफ्नै व्याख्या” (“one’s own interpretation”). Care is needed that this is not misread as forbidding ALL personal Bible reading/application (a pastoral concern for a young, first-generation Nepali church per the baseline’s audience notes) — the point is the SOURCE of prophecy (God, not human insight), not a prohibition on believers reading Scripture for themselves.

2 Peter 1:21

οὐ γὰρ θελήματι ἀνθρώπου ἠνέχθη προφητεία ποτέ, ἀλλὰ ὑπὸ Πνεύματος Ἁγίου φερόμενοι ἐλάλησαν [ἀπὸ Θεοῦ] ἄνθρωποι.

θέλημα ἀνθρώπου [NEW — 2 PETER]

Transliteration: thelēma anthrōpou
Literal meaning: the will of man
Semantic range: human intention, desire, purposing
English variants: will of man, human will, human initiative
Contextual theological meaning: negates human origination of prophecy.
Nepali rendering risk: Low-Medium. “मानिसको इच्छा” is safe and standard.

Πνεῦμα Ἅγιον [BASELINE REUSE — CRITICAL — पवित्र आत्मा]

Transliteration: Pneuma Hagion
Literal meaning: Holy Spirit
Semantic range: the third Person of the Trinity
English variants: Holy Spirit, Holy Ghost
Contextual theological meaning: the divine Person who is the true source and agent of prophetic speech.
Nepali rendering risk: Critical, per baseline. Never ब्रह्म or परमात्मा.

φερόμενοι [NEW — 2 PETER; theologically load-bearing verb for the doctrine of inspiration]

Transliteration: pheromenoi
Literal meaning: being carried, being borne along
Semantic range: a ship being driven by wind (a common Koine nautical usage); by extension, being moved/carried/impelled by an outside force
English variants: moved by, carried along by, borne along by
Contextual theological meaning: the central verb of the doctrine of inspiration — human authors spoke, but the Holy Spirit was the propelling agent, like wind driving a ship, while their individual personalities and styles remained active (“men spoke”).
Nepali rendering risk: Critical. Render “पवित्र आत्माद्वारा डोऱ्याइएर” (“led/carried along by the Holy Spirit”). This must be carefully distinguished from spirit-possession/trance phenomena still practiced in Nepali folk religion (jhākri shamanic trance, oracular possession associated with living-deity/oracle traditions in the Kathmandu Valley) — biblical inspiration preserves the human author’s mind, will, and literary voice fully intact and active (“men spoke”), unlike a trance state in which the human agent’s own consciousness is displaced or suppressed. This distinction should be made explicit in any teaching note accompanying this verse.

ἐλάλησαν ἄνθρωποι [NEW — 2 PETER]

Transliteration: elalēsan anthrōpoi
Literal meaning: men spoke
Semantic range: human speech-act
English variants: men spoke, human beings spoke
Contextual theological meaning: preserves full human agency alongside full divine origination — the dual-authorship balance of inspiration doctrine.
Nepali rendering risk: Medium. “मानिसहरूले बोले” is safe; risk is in NOT losing this human-agency half of the doctrine when paired with the Spirit-agency half above.

PART B — CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER STUDY OF THE WHOLE BOOK

Chapter 1 (remaining material: 1:1-15; vv.16-21 covered above)

δοῦλος (1:1) [NEW — 2 PETER]

Transliteration: doulos
Literal meaning: slave, bondservant
Semantic range: slave (legal status), devoted servant (honorific self-designation)
English variants: servant, bondservant, slave
Contextual theological meaning: Peter’s self-identification of total ownership by and submission to Christ, paired with ἀπόστολος (apostle) for delegated authority.
Nepali rendering risk: Low-Medium. Render दास (“bondservant/slave”) to preserve the full force of total ownership, distinguished from सेवक (a more general “servant/employee”). Low collision risk, but note the term should not be softened to a merely professional “helper” sense.

ἀπόστολος (1:1) [BASELINE REUSE — प्रेरित]

ἰσότιμος πίστις (1:1) [NEW — 2 PETER]

Transliteration: isotimos pistis
Literal meaning: equally-valued/equally-honored faith
Semantic range: faith of the same kind and standing, received by all believers regardless of background
English variants: “faith of the same/like precious standing,” “a faith as precious as ours”
Contextual theological meaning: Jewish apostles and Gentile believers share an identical-value faith — no second-tier faith exists.
Nepali rendering risk: High. Render “समान मूल्यको विश्वास,” reusing baseline विश्वास exactly for πίστις. Important for the universality themes the baseline already tiers High/Critical (universal_scope_of_gospel), directly relevant given Nepal’s caste-hierarchy history — no believer’s faith is lesser in standing than another’s.

δικαιοσύνη τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν καὶ Σωτῆρος (1:1) [BASELINE REUSE — धार्मिकता; Σωτήρ NEW]

Σωτήρ transliteration: Sōtēr
Literal meaning: savior, deliverer, rescuer
Semantic range: a divine or human rescuer/benefactor (also a common Hellenistic royal/imperial honorific, “Savior” applied to emperors)
English variants: Savior
Contextual theological meaning: “our God and Savior Jesus Christ” — a single-article Greek construction (θεοῦ ἡμῶν καὶ σωτῆρος) that grammatically identifies Jesus as God, a key Deity of Christ text alongside Titus 2:13.
Nepali rendering risk: High, new term for translation memory. Render उद्धारकर्ता (“one who saves/delivers”), built transparently on the already-established उद्धार root (baseline: salvation, Critical). Risk is High rather than Critical because उद्धारकर्ता itself has no direct syncretistic collision, but the verse’s grammar (affirming Christ’s full deity) must be preserved carefully in translation — do not insert a comma or possessive that would separate “God” and “Savior” into two referents.

χάρις καὶ εἰρήνη (1:2) [BASELINE REUSE — अनुग्रह, शान्ति]

ἐπίγνωσις (1:2, 1:3, 1:8) [NEW — 2 PETER; CRITICAL collision term]

Transliteration: epignōsis
Literal meaning: full/precise/experiential knowledge, recognition
Semantic range: intensified form of γνῶσις — thorough, personal, relational knowing (not merely intellectual)
English variants: knowledge, true knowledge, full knowledge
Contextual theological meaning: the personal, relational knowledge of God/Christ that is the means by which grace and peace are multiplied (1:2) and through which believers escape corruption (1:3) — one of the epistle’s most repeated theological terms.
Nepali rendering risk: Critical. The natural Nepali word ज्ञान carries very heavy competing associations: Hindu jñāna-mārga (the “path of knowledge” to mokṣa, one of the classical margas alongside bhakti and karma) and Buddhist prajñā (liberating wisdom that dispels ignorance/avidyā and leads toward nirvāṇa). 2 Peter’s ἐπίγνωσις is relational, personal acquaintance with a personal Christ, received and growing through grace — not a liberating gnosis-attainment that itself constitutes or causes enlightenment/liberation. Recommend रendering as “ख्रीष्टको पूर्ण ज्ञान” or “परमेश्वरको चिनजान” (chinjan, “acquaintance/recognition”) with a mandatory contextual gloss distinguishing this from jñāna-mārga/prajñā every time it appears as a load-bearing doctrinal term (1:2, 1:3, 1:8, 2:20, 2:21, 3:18).

θεία δύναμις (1:3) [BASELINE REUSE pattern — सामर्थ्य, NEVER शक्ति]

Full phrase transliteration: theia dynamis
Contextual theological meaning: God’s own power supplies everything needed for life and godliness.
Nepali rendering risk: High. “परमेश्वरीय सामर्थ्य,” consistent extension of baseline’s power_of_god entry.

δόξα καὶ ἀρετή (1:3) [δόξα BASELINE REUSE; ἀρετή NEW — 2 PETER]

ἀρετή transliteration: aretē
Literal meaning: excellence, virtue, moral goodness
Semantic range: in classical Greek ethics, the cardinal-virtue framework (courage, wisdom, justice, temperance); in 2 Peter, moral excellence flowing from knowing Christ, and also part of the virtue-chain in 1:5
English variants: virtue, excellence, moral excellence, goodness
Contextual theological meaning: God’s own moral excellence, by which he called believers (1:3), and the corresponding virtue believers are to add to their faith (1:5) — foundational to “Growing in Christian Virtue.”
Nepali rendering risk: High. Render सद्गुण (“virtue/good quality”). Risk arises because गुण is the technical term for the three guṇas (sattva, rajas, tamas) of Sāṅkhya/Vedānta cosmology — the fundamental qualities of prakṛti (material nature) well known throughout Nepali Hindu culture. सद्गुण (qualified by सद्, “good”) substantially reduces this risk versus गुण alone, but any teaching note should clarify: this is ethical/moral excellence exercised by a personal moral agent in relationship with God, not a metaphysical quality inherent in impersonal nature.

ἐπάγγελμα (ἐπαγγέλματα, 1:4) [NEW — 2 PETER]

Transliteration: epaggelmata
Literal meaning: promise, pledge
Semantic range: a formal promise or pledge
English variants: promises
Contextual theological meaning: “precious and very great promises” through which believers become partakers of the divine nature.
Nepali rendering risk: Medium. प्रतिज्ञाहरू, consistent with baseline’s covenant-promise vocabulary (cf. seed_of_david, covenant).

θείας φύσεως κοινωνοί (1:4) [NEW — 2 PETER; single most theologically dangerous phrase in the epistle]

Transliteration: theias physeōs koinōnoi
Literal meaning: partakers/sharers of divine nature
Semantic range: κοινωνός = partner, sharer, participant; φύσις = nature, essence, inherent character
English variants: partakers of the divine nature, sharers in God’s nature, participants in the divine nature
Contextual theological meaning: believers come to share God’s moral character (holiness, love, incorruption) through the new birth and ongoing relationship with Christ — NOT an ontological merger or absorption into deity, and not a claim that believers become divine in essence or being.
Nepali rendering risk: Critical. This phrase directly collides with (a) Advaita Vedānta’s Ātman-Brahman identity doctrine (the true self IS ultimately identical with the divine Absolute, realized through jñāna), (b) Buddhist tathāgatagarbha/Buddha-nature teaching (an inherent Buddha-nature already present in all beings, realized rather than received), and (c) popular bhakti traditions of becoming “one with” a chosen deity. Recommended rendering: “ईश्वरीय स्वभावको सहभागी” (“co-participant/sharer in the divine nature/character”), deliberately using स्वभाव (“nature, character, disposition”) rather than तत्व (“essence, fundamental substance,” the term used in Vedāntic metaphysics for ultimate reality-categories) and सहभागी (echoing the baseline’s सहभागिता, “fellowship,” already established as relational, not ontological, participation). MANDATORY footnote/teaching note required wherever this phrase occurs: this is moral/relational participation in God’s holy character through union with Christ by grace, not metaphysical identity with, or absorption into, the divine essence.

φθορά (1:4; also 2:12, 2:19) [NEW — 2 PETER; doctrine anchor for “Divine Nature and Escaping Corruption”]

Transliteration: phthora
Literal meaning: corruption, decay, ruin, destruction
Semantic range: moral corruption, physical decay/perishing, ruin
English variants: corruption, decay, destruction
Contextual theological meaning: the moral corruption pervading the world through evil desire, from which believers escape by God’s power and promises.
Nepali rendering risk: Medium-High. Recommend विनाश (“destruction/ruin”) rather than क्षय (“decay/wasting”), because क्षय carries strong Buddhist overtones of anicca/anitya (universal impermanence — “all conditioned things decay,” a foundational Buddhist teaching leading toward detachment and nirvāṇa). φθορά in 2 Peter is specifically MORAL corruption caused by sinful desire, not the impersonal metaphysical impermanence of all phenomena.

ἐπιθυμία (1:4; also 2:10, 2:18, 3:3) [NEW — 2 PETER]

Transliteration: epithymia
Literal meaning: strong desire, craving, lust
Semantic range: neutral “desire” to strongly negative “lust/craving,” predominantly negative in 2 Peter
English variants: lust, evil desire, passion, craving
Contextual theological meaning: the corrupting force in the world, and the driving motive of the false teachers and scoffers.
Nepali rendering risk: Medium. Recommend लालसा (“craving/lust”) rather than वासना, which in Hindu/Buddhist philosophical usage denotes latent karmic impressions (saṁskāras/vāsanās) carried forward from past lives and driving future rebirth — a specific technical concept in yoga psychology and Buddhist Abhidharma that would misdirect this term toward a karma-rebirth frame.

σπουδή (1:5) [NEW — 2 PETER]

Transliteration: spoudē
Literal meaning: haste, diligence, earnestness
Semantic range: eagerness, zeal, effort
English variants: diligence, effort, “make every effort”
Contextual theological meaning: the effort believers are to exert in the virtue-chain of 1:5-7 — cooperating with, not earning, grace.
Nepali rendering risk: Medium. “पूरा तत्परता/लगनशीलता” is safe, but any teaching note should clarify this diligence responds to grace already given (1:3-4), not effort that generates merit — consistent with baseline’s grace-vs-merit caution (Hindu/Buddhist karma-merit frameworks).

The virtue chain (1:5-7): πίστις [BASELINE REUSE — विश्वास], ἀρετή [see above — सद्गुण], γνῶσις, ἐγκράτεια, ὑπομονή, εὐσέβεια, φιλαδελφία, ἀγάπη

γνῶσις [NEW — 2 PETER]: transliteration gnōsis; literal “knowledge”; same Critical collision risk as ἐπίγνωσις above (jñāna/prajñā), though slightly less intensive in force; render ज्ञान with the same mandatory contextual gloss.
ἐγκράτεια [NEW — 2 PETER]: transliteration egkrateia; literal “self-control, self-mastery”; render आत्मसंयम (“self-restraint”). Risk: Medium — आत्मसंयम could be heard as yogic/ascetic self-discipline (tapasyā) achieved by one’s own willpower; note this is Spirit-enabled self-control (cf. Galatians 5:23), not self-achieved ascetic mastery.
ὑπομονή [NEW — 2 PETER]: transliteration hypomonē; literal “endurance, steadfastness under trial”; render सहनशीलता. Risk: Medium.
εὐσέβεια [NEW — 2 PETER]: transliteration eusebeia; literal “godliness, reverent piety”; render ईश्वरभक्ति (“godward devotion”). Risk: High — भक्ति is the term for the Hindu bhakti-mārga (devotional path to liberation through a chosen personal deity, e.g. Kṛṣṇa-bhakti), and the baseline explicitly rejected भक्ति for faith (πίστις) for exactly this reason. Retained here only because εὐσέβεια is a genuinely distinct Greek concept (reverent godly living/piety, not “trust”), and because no viable Nepali alternative avoids the धर्म root the baseline forbids. MANDATORY teaching note: this is reverent, godly living flowing from an already-secured relationship with the one true God through Christ, not a meritorious devotional path among several available paths to liberation.
φιλαδελφία [NEW — 2 PETER]: transliteration philadelphia; literal “brotherly love/affection”; render भाइचारा or भ्रातृ-प्रेम. Risk: Low-Medium.
ἀγάπη [NEW — 2 PETER, though implicit throughout Romans doctrine]: transliteration agapē; literal “love”; render प्रेम, distinguished from माया (ordinary affection) and रति (romantic attraction). Risk: Low-Medium.

κλῆσις καὶ ἐκλογή (1:10) [BASELINE REUSE — बोलावट, परमेश्वरको छनोट]

αἰώνιος βασιλεία (1:11) [BASELINE REUSE for राज्य; αἰώνιος NEW]

αἰώνιος transliteration: aiōnios
Literal meaning: eternal, everlasting, age-long
English variants: eternal, everlasting
Contextual theological meaning: “the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” — the believer’s final destination, tied to the certainty of Christ’s return.
Nepali rendering risk: High. Render अनन्त (“endless/eternal”). CRITICAL CAUTION: never सनातन — सनातन is the self-designation of “Sanātana Dharma” (the traditional Hindu term for its own eternal, unoriginated religious order), a term with enormous weight in a formerly constitutionally Hindu kingdom. अनन्त avoids this collision entirely and should be adopted as a new forbidden-substitution rule (सनातन forbidden for “eternal”) for this curriculum’s translation memory.

σκήνωμα (1:13) [NEW — 2 PETER]

Transliteration: skēnōma
Literal meaning: tent, tabernacle, temporary dwelling
Semantic range: literal tent; metaphor for the mortal body as a temporary dwelling for the soul
English variants: body, tent, tabernacle
Contextual theological meaning: Peter’s body as a temporary dwelling he will soon leave — echoes 2 Corinthians 5:1.
Nepali rendering risk: Low-Medium. “यो शरीर/यो पाल” (this body/this tent) is safe; low collision risk.

ἔξοδος (1:15) [NEW — 2 PETER]

Transliteration: exodos
Literal meaning: departure, way out, exodus
Semantic range: literal departure/journey; the Exodus event; euphemism for death
English variants: decease, departure, death
Contextual theological meaning: Peter’s coming death described with covenantal Exodus overtones — a purposeful departure, not annihilation or absorption.
Nepali rendering risk: Low-Medium. “मेरो प्रस्थान/मेरो मृत्यु” is safe.

Chapter 2 (False Teachers and Their Judgment)

ψευδοδιδάσκαλος (ψευδοδιδάσκαλοι, 2:1) [NEW — 2 PETER; core doctrinal anchor for “False Teachers and Their Judgment”]

Transliteration: pseudodidaskaloi
Literal meaning: false teachers
Semantic range: teachers who present falsehood as authoritative doctrine
English variants: false teachers
Contextual theological meaning: parallels false prophets among Israel; the doctrinal opposite of the reliable prophetic word of chapter 1.
Nepali rendering risk: High. Render झूटा शिक्षकहरू. Given Nepal’s 2017 Muluki Criminal Code provisions restricting religious conversion/proselytizing (already flagged High in the baseline’s evangelism entry), teaching about “false teachers” must be carefully framed as an internal doctrinal-discernment matter within the Christian community, not language that could be read as inciting communal conflict against members of other religious traditions.

αἵρεσις ἀπωλείας (2:1) [NEW — 2 PETER]

Transliteration: haireseis apōleias
Literal meaning: destructive divisions/factions (αἵρεσις = a chosen opinion/sect/faction; ἀπώλεια = destruction, ruin, perdition)
Semantic range: a schismatic sect or destructive doctrinal deviation
English variants: destructive heresies, damnable heresies, destructive opinions
Contextual theological meaning: doctrinally destructive teaching bringing about the ruin of those who follow it.
Nepali rendering risk: Medium-High. Recommend विनाशकारी शिक्षा/मत (“destructive teaching/view”) rather than पाखण्ड, a Nepali word with older connotations of “heterodoxy/hypocritical religion” tied to historic Hindu polemics against rival schools — a needlessly loaded borrowing here.

δεσπότης (2:1) [NEW — 2 PETER]

Transliteration: despotēs
Literal meaning: master, owner, absolute lord (of a slave/household)
Semantic range: distinct from κύριος; emphasizes ownership/authority, especially over a slave
English variants: Master, Lord, Sovereign Lord
Contextual theological meaning: “denying the Master who bought them” — Christ’s ownership-right over believers through the redemption purchase.
Nepali rendering risk: Medium. Render मालिक (“master/owner”) specifically here to preserve the distinct nuance from प्रभु (reserved for κύριος), since δεσπότης genuinely emphasizes ownership by purchase, not general lordship. Low collision risk since मालिक is a mundane secular word in Nepali (boss/owner) without religious overtones.

ἀγοράζω (ἀγοράσαντα, 2:1) [NEW — 2 PETER]

Transliteration: agorasanta
Literal meaning: to buy, purchase (in the marketplace, ἀγορά)
Semantic range: commercial purchase; NT metaphor for redemption through Christ’s blood
English variants: bought, purchased, redeemed
Contextual theological meaning: redemption-by-purchase imagery underlying the false teachers’ particularly grave sin of denying the very Master who redeemed them.
Nepali rendering risk: Low-Medium. “किन्नुभएको/उद्धार गर्नुभएको” is safe, echoing उद्धार.

ἀσέβεια / ἀσεβής (ἀσεβέσιν, 2:6) [NEW — 2 PETER; antonym of εὐσέβεια]

Transliteration: asebeia / asebēs
Literal meaning: ungodliness, irreverence
English variants: ungodly, godless
Contextual theological meaning: the character of those under judgment (Sodom and Gomorrah as the paradigm case).
Nepali rendering risk: Medium. “अधर्मी/ईश्वरविहीन” — avoid धर्म-rooted compounds per baseline convention; prefer ईश्वरविहीन (“without reverence for God”) or अभक्त.

ταρταρόω (ταρταρώσας, 2:4) [NEW — 2 PETER]

Transliteration: tartarōsas
Literal meaning: to cast into Tartarus (the Greek mythological abyss/prison of the condemned)
Semantic range: a unique NT usage borrowing Greek mythological vocabulary for the place/state of imprisonment of the fallen angels awaiting judgment
English variants: cast down to hell, cast into Tartarus, sent to the pit
Contextual theological meaning: the certain, secure imprisonment of the angels who sinned, awaiting final judgment.
Nepali rendering risk: Critical. Recommend NOT rendering as नरक (the standard Nepali/Hindu-Buddhist word for “hell”), because नरक in Hindu and Buddhist cosmology commonly denotes a temporary purgatorial realm within an ongoing cycle of rebirth (souls eventually leave naraka after exhausting bad karma), which would flatly contradict the finality Peter intends. Recommend a descriptive rendering instead: “अन्धकारको साङ्लाले बाँधिएको बन्दीगृह” (“a prison bound with chains of darkness,” drawing on the verse’s own σειραῖς ζόφου, “chains of gloom/darkness” imagery) to avoid importing the cyclical-purgatory frame of नरक. If नरक is used for accessibility, it MUST carry an explicit teaching note distinguishing it from the temporary-purgation concept.

κατακλυσμός (2:5) [NEW — 2 PETER]

Transliteration: kataklysmos
Literal meaning: flood, deluge
English variants: flood, deluge
Contextual theological meaning: Noah’s flood as a historical type of coming judgment.
Nepali rendering risk: Low. जलप्रलय is the standard Nepali Bible rendering; note (Low-Medium) that प्रलय is also the Hindu term for cosmic dissolution at the end of a kalpa — context here (a specific historical flood, not a cyclical cosmic dissolution) should keep this unambiguous, but flag for awareness given chapter 3’s fire-judgment imagery below.

στηριγμός / ἀστήρικτος (2:14, “unstable/unsettled souls” — used again 3:16) [NEW — 2 PETER]

Transliteration: astēriktos
Literal meaning: not fixed, unsteady, unstable
Contextual theological meaning: describes those preyed upon by false teachers and those who twist Scripture.
Nepali rendering risk: Low-Medium. “अस्थिर/नबसेका” is safe.

Names in chapter 2 [PROPER NAMES — established Nepali Bible forms, Low risk]: Noah = नोआ; Sodom and Gomorrah = सदोम र गमोरा; Lot = लोत; Balaam = बालाम. These require consistency checking against the established Nepali Old Testament translation forms but carry no distinctive doctrinal risk beyond correct transliteration.

ἐπίγνωσις (2:20, 2:21) — see Chapter 1 entry above; same Critical risk and required contextual gloss; note here it appears in a warning about those who KNEW the way and turned back — reinforcing that this “knowledge” is relational and can be genuinely encountered yet abandoned, distinct from an irreversible gnosis-attainment.

Chapter 3 (Day of the Lord, Final Judgment, Patience of God)

ἐμπαίκτης (ἐμπαῖκται, 3:3) [NEW — 2 PETER]

Transliteration: empaiktai
Literal meaning: mockers, scoffers
English variants: scoffers, mockers
Contextual theological meaning: end-times mockers who deny the certainty of Christ’s return based on the apparent constancy of natural processes.
Nepali rendering risk: Low-Medium. उपहास/खिसी गर्नेहरू is safe.

παρουσία (3:4, 3:12) — see core-passage entry above; same Critical risk; here specifically the object of the scoffers’ denial (“Where is the promise of his coming?”) and the object believers are to hasten toward (3:12).

κτίσις (κτίσεως, 3:4) [NEW — 2 PETER]

Transliteration: ktisis
Literal meaning: creation, the created order
English variants: creation
Contextual theological meaning: the scoffers’ claim that the created order has continued unchanged since the beginning, denying any prior or coming divine intervention.
Nepali rendering risk: Low. सृष्टि is standard and safe.

ἡμέρα κρίσεως καὶ ἀπωλείας (3:7) [NEW — 2 PETER]

Transliteration: hēmera kriseōs kai apōleias
Literal meaning: day of judgment and destruction
English variants: day of judgment and perdition/destruction
Contextual theological meaning: the coming fire-judgment paralleling the past water-judgment (the Flood).
Nepali rendering risk: High. “न्याय र विनाशको दिन” — supports the Critical “Day of the Lord and Final Judgment” doctrine; must be kept linear and final (see ἡμέρα Κυρίου below).

μία ἡμέρα παρὰ Κυρίῳ ὡς χίλια ἔτη (3:8) [NEW — 2 PETER; core text for “Patience of God’s Timing”]

Literal meaning: “one day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day”
Contextual theological meaning: God’s transcendence of ordinary human time-perception; his patience is not delay but purposeful timing.
Nepali rendering risk: Medium. Straightforward comparative statement; the surrounding doctrine (see βραδύνω, μακροθυμία below) carries the real risk.

βραδύνω (βραδύνει, 3:9) [NEW — 2 PETER]

Transliteration: bradynei
Literal meaning: to be slow, to delay
English variants: “the Lord is not slack/slow”
Contextual theological meaning: denies that God’s timing reflects failure, weakness, or unfaithfulness to his promise.
Nepali rendering risk: Medium-High. “प्रभु ढिलो गर्नुहुन्न” is safe, but must be carefully distinguished from any fatalistic reading (भाग्य/समय चक्र) — God’s timing is a personal, purposeful decision, not an impersonal cosmic schedule.

μακροθυμέω / μακροθυμία (μακροθυμεῖ, 3:9; μακροθυμία, 3:15) [NEW — 2 PETER; core doctrinal term for “Patience of God’s Timing”]

Transliteration: makrothymei / makrothymia
Literal meaning: to be long-tempered, patient, forbearing
Semantic range: God’s forbearance toward sinners, giving space for repentance
English variants: patient, longsuffering, forbearing
Contextual theological meaning: God delays final judgment specifically to allow space for repentance — his patience is itself an act of saving intent, “count the patience of our Lord as salvation” (3:15).
Nepali rendering risk: High. Render धीरज (God’s patience/forbearance) or परमेश्वरको सहनशीलता, distinguished from ὑπομονή (human सहनशीलता, chapter 1) by consistently pairing with परमेश्वरको/प्रभुको. Must not be read as an impersonal, indefinite postponement, but as the personal forbearance of a God who purposefully wills sinners to repent.

μετάνοια (χωρῆσαι εἰς μετάνοιαν, 3:9) [NEW — 2 PETER, but an established Nepali Christian term]

Transliteration: metanoia
Literal meaning: a change of mind, turning around
English variants: repentance
Contextual theological meaning: the goal of God’s patience — that none should perish but all reach repentance.
Nepali rendering risk: Medium. Render पश्चाताप, the standard established Nepali Christian rendering; ensure it conveys a genuine change of mind/direction, not mere emotional regret.

ἡμέρα Κυρίου (3:10) [BASELINE REUSE for प्रभु; CRITICAL doctrinal anchor — “The Day of the Lord and Final Judgment”]

Transliteration: hēmera Kyriou
Literal meaning: Day of the Lord
Semantic range: OT prophetic technical term for God’s decisive intervention in judgment and salvation
English variants: the Day of the Lord, the day of God
Contextual theological meaning: the certain, sudden, final, linear day of cosmic judgment and renewal.
Nepali rendering risk: Critical. Render प्रभुको दिन. This must be sharply distinguished from Hindu cosmology’s cyclical cosmic dissolution and recreation (pralaya, occurring repeatedly across kalpas/yugas within an endless cycle) and from Buddhist kalpa-cycle cosmology. The biblical Day of the Lord is a SINGLE, FINAL, LINEAR event — the created order is judged and renewed once, not dissolved and reconstituted endlessly. This distinction should be an explicit, mandatory teaching note wherever 3:7-13 is taught.

στοιχεῖα (3:10, 3:12) [NEW — 2 PETER]

Transliteration: stoicheia
Literal meaning: elements, basic components
Semantic range: fundamental physical constituents of the cosmos (here); elsewhere in NT, can mean elementary teachings or spiritual powers
English variants: elements, elemental substances
Contextual theological meaning: the basic physical constituents of the created order, to be dissolved by fire at the Day of the Lord.
Nepali rendering risk: Medium. Render तत्वहरू with caution: तत्व is also the technical term in Hindu Sāṅkhya/Vedānta metaphysics for the fundamental categories of reality (pañca-mahābhūta, the five elements, and beyond). In this physical-cosmic context the collision risk is manageable, but teaching material should make clear this refers to ordinary physical matter, not a metaphysical tattva-system.

καινοὺς οὐρανοὺς καὶ γῆν καινήν (3:13) [NEW — 2 PETER]

Transliteration: kainous ouranous kai gēn kainēn
Literal meaning: new heavens and a new earth
English variants: new heavens and a new earth
Contextual theological meaning: the promised final renewal of creation in which righteousness dwells.
Nepali rendering risk: Medium-High. “नयाँ आकाश र नयाँ पृथ्वी” is straightforward, but its doctrinal frame (a single, final, linear act of re-creation after judgment) must be taught as distinct from the endless creation-dissolution-recreation cycle of Hindu pralaya cosmology, reinforcing the ἡμέρα Κυρίου note above.

δικαιοσύνη κατοικεῖ (3:13) [BASELINE REUSE — धार्मिकता]

ἄσπιλος καὶ ἀμώμητος (3:14) [NEW — 2 PETER]

Transliteration: aspiloi kai amōmētoi
Literal meaning: without spot and without blemish
English variants: without spot and blameless
Contextual theological meaning: the moral purity believers are to pursue while awaiting the Day of the Lord — echoes sacrificial-purity language applied ethically.
Nepali rendering risk: Low-Medium. “निष्खोट र दोषरहित” is safe.

δυσνόητα (3:16) [NEW — 2 PETER]

Transliteration: dysnoēta
Literal meaning: hard to understand
Contextual theological meaning: Peter’s acknowledgment that some of Paul’s writings are difficult, and are twisted by the unstable and untaught (ἀστήρικτοι, ἀμαθεῖς) to their own destruction.
Nepali rendering risk: Low-Medium. “बुझ्न कठिन” is safe; theological weight lies in the surrounding warning against distorting Scripture, not the word itself.

αὐξάνω (αὐξάνετε, 3:18) [BASELINE REUSE pattern — cf. “आपसी वृद्धि” (mutual_edification) in the baseline doctrine registry]

Transliteration: auxanete
Literal meaning: to grow, increase
English variants: grow
Contextual theological meaning: the epistle’s closing exhortation and the summary statement of “Growing in Christian Virtue” — grow in grace (χάρις, BASELINE REUSE अनुग्रह) and knowledge (γνῶσις, see Critical note above) of Christ.
Nepali rendering risk: Medium, primarily carried by the collision risk already flagged for γνῶσις within this final verse; वृद्धि होओ (“grow/increase”) is otherwise safe and consistent with existing baseline usage.

Summary of New Forbidden-Substitution Rules Proposed for This Curriculum

Building on the baseline’s existing forbidden list, this analysis proposes the following ADDITIONAL forbidden substitutions specific to 2 Peter, for confirmation in Phase 1 Step 2 (Core Glossary) and eventual translation memory update:

Knowledge (ἐπίγνωσις/γνῶσις): Never allow ज्ञान to stand alone without an object/contextual gloss — always “ख्रीष्टको ज्ञान” / “परमेश्वरको चिनजान,” never implying jñāna-mārga or prajñā-enlightenment.
Divine nature partaking (θείας φύσεως κοινωνοί): Never तत्वको सहभागी (essence-participation); always स्वभावको सहभागी (character/nature-participation) with mandatory teaching note.
Eternal (αἰώνιος): Never सनातन; always अनन्त.
Tartarus/hell of fallen angels (2:4): Never unqualified नरक without a note distinguishing it from cyclical purgatorial naraka; prefer descriptive “अन्धकारको बन्दीगृह.”
Lust/desire (ἐπιθυμία): Never वासना (karmic-imprint associations); prefer लालसा.
Corruption (φθορά): Never क्षय (impermanence/anicca associations) as the primary rendering; prefer विनाश.

This document extends, and must be read alongside, the baseline Romans translation_memory.json, bible_term_registry.json, and doctrine_risk_registry.json. See analysis/08_core_glossary.md for the consolidated per-term glossary table covering every chapter of 2 Peter.

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.