Core Glossary
Core Glossary: 3 John (Koine Greek → Nepali)
A. Terms Reused Exactly from the Romans Baseline (no changes permitted)
| English | Greek (translit.) | Nepali | Risk | Baseline Doctrine | Note for 3 John usage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| church | ἐκκλησία (ekklēsia) | मण्डली | Medium | Church as God’s People | Occurs vv. 6, 9, 10; the local congregation abused by Diotrephes. |
| peace | εἰρήνη (eirēnē) | शान्ति | Medium | Peace with God | Occurs v. 14 as epistolary closing blessing. |
| gentiles | ἔθνη / ἐθνικός (ethnē / ethnikos) | अन्यजाति | Medium | Unity of Jews and Gentiles | v. 7; nuance shifts from ethnic to “non-believing outsider” — flag in teaching notes, term unchanged. |
| god | θεός (theos) | परमेश्वर | Critical | Deity of Christ | Occurs vv. 6, 7, 11 (x3); never भगवान. |
| truth (word family baseline anchor) | ἀλήθεια (alētheia) — cf. baseline notes under related terms | सत्य | High | Truth and Christian Fellowship (new for this curriculum; see Section B) | Not a distinct baseline TM entry in Romans, but सत्य is the established Nepali Bible standard and is adopted here; full new-term risk rationale given in Section B for completeness. |
B. New Terms Proposed for This Curriculum
B.1 — Truth and Christian Fellowship
| English | Greek (translit.) | Nepali | Nepali translit. | Risk | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| truth | ἀλήθεια (alētheia) | सत्य | satya | High | Collides with Hindu सत्य/सत्याग्रह (cardinal cosmic-ethical virtue) and Buddhist चत्वारि आर्य सत्यानि (Four Noble Truths). सत्य remains the correct, established Nepali Bible rendering; risk is managed through contextual teaching, not through substitution. |
| true | ἀληθής (alēthēs) | सत्य (adj.) | satya | Medium | Same word family as ἀλήθεια; consistency required. |
| love | ἀγάπη / ἀγαπάω (agapē / agapaō) | प्रेम / प्रेम गर्नु | prem / prem garnu | High | Must not collapse into भक्ति (Hindu/Buddhist devotional surrender-love) or माया (ordinary/familial affection). Central to the letter’s opening (“whom I love in truth”) and its ethical instruction (v. 11). |
| beloved (address) | ἀγαπητός (agapētos) | प्रिय | priya | Low | Standard affectionate address; occurs vv. 1, 2, 5, 11. |
| soul | ψυχή (psychē) | प्राण | prana | Critical | NEVER आत्मा. Collides with Hindu Vedantic Ātman doctrine (identity of self with Brahman) and Buddhist अनात्मन् (no-self); also risks confusion with पवित्र आत्मा (Holy Spirit, Critical baseline term). |
| joy / rejoice | χαρά / χαίρω (chara / chairō) | आनन्द | anand | Medium | Mild collision with Vedantic सत्-चित्-आनन्द (bliss as an attribute of Brahman); low risk in this letter’s narrative/relational usage but should not be extended to describe an impersonal metaphysical state elsewhere. |
| brother(s) | ἀδελφός (adelphos) | भाइहरू | bhaiharu | Low | Fellow believers; occurs vv. 3, 5, 10. |
| friend(s) | φίλος (philos) | मित्रहरू | mitraharu | Low | Distinct affectionate register from भाइहरू, used only in the closing greeting (v. 14). |
| walk (conduct of life) | περιπατέω (peripateō) | हिँड्नु (idiomatic) | hidnu | Low | Retain the walking-metaphor idiom already naturalized in Nepali Bible tradition (“सत्यमा हिँड्नु”). |
B.2 — Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
| English | Greek (translit.) | Nepali | Nepali translit. | Risk | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| stranger(s) / guest(s) | ξένος (xenos) | परदेशी | pardeshi | Medium | Collides with the popular Hindu/Nepali hospitality maxim “अतिथि देवो भव” (the guest is as a god); biblical grounding for hospitality (gospel partnership, God’s own worth as the standard) must be taught explicitly rather than assumed. |
| send forward (equip for travel) | προπέμπω (propempō) | यात्रामा सहयोग गरी पठाउनु | yatrama sahayog gari pathaunu | Medium | Compound phrase required; no single Nepali word captures “materially equip and send onward.” |
| worthy of God (standard of conduct) | ἀξίως τοῦ θεοῦ (axiōs tou theou) | परमेश्वरलाई योग्य हुने गरी | Parameshwarlai yogya hune gari | High | योग्य (“worthy”) carries live collision risk with birth-/caste-linked worthiness categories in Nepali social thought (cf. baseline’s caste-risk documentation for धार्मिकता/धर्म); must be anchored to God’s character, not social rank. |
| receive / support | ὑπολαμβάνω (hypolambanō) | सहयोग गरी ग्रहण गर्नु | sahayog gari grahan garnu | Medium | Stronger, more materially supportive sense than ἐπιδέχομαι; distinguish in teaching notes. |
| receive / welcome / accept | ἐπιδέχομαι (epidechomai) | स्वीकार गर्नु | svikar garnu | Medium | Used both positively (implied of Gaius) and negatively (of Diotrephes, vv. 9-10); render identically in both cases to preserve the contrast. |
| fellow worker | συνεργός (synergos) | सहकर्मी | sahakarmi | Medium | Ties Hospitality doctrine directly to the Truth doctrine (“fellow workers with the truth”). |
| the Name (Christ) | ὄνομα (onoma) | नाउँ (उहाँको नाउँको खातिर) | naun | High | Early-church Christological shorthand for Christ’s own identity/authority (cf. Acts 5:41); must retain the Christological referent, not a generic “name/reputation.” |
B.3 — Church Leadership and Pride (Diotrephes)
| English | Greek (translit.) | Nepali | Nepali translit. | Risk | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| elder (church office) | πρεσβύτερος (presbyteros) | प्राचीन | prachin | High | New leadership-office term for this curriculum; must denote functional, servant-shaped apostolic office, not a hereditary or ritual religious-authority title (risk of collapsing into guru/पुरोहित status categories). |
| one who loves to be first | φιλοπρωτεύων (philoprōteuōn) | पहिलो हुन रुचाउने | pahilo hun ruchaune | High | Rare NT compound (hapax legomenon), no single Nepali word exists; coined descriptive phrase must clearly carry moral condemnation (sinful self-exaltation), not neutral “ambition.” Risk of resonance with Nepali social rank-consciousness if read as merely descriptive. |
| works / deeds | ἔργα (erga) | काम / कार्य | kaam / karya | High | NEVER कर्म. Extends the baseline’s existing avoidance of “कर्मको नियम” (law of karma, forbidden for providence) to the underlying word कर्म itself whenever used for generic biblical “works/deeds” vocabulary, closing a gap the Romans baseline did not need to address explicitly. |
| evil (words/speech) | πονηρός (ponēros) | खराब | kharab | Medium | Distinguish from पाप (specific transgression against God); this describes malicious moral quality of speech/conduct. |
| slander / bring reckless charges | φλυαρέω (phlyareō) | निन्दापूर्ण कुरा गर्दै | nindapurna kura gardai | Medium | NT hapax legomenon; must capture malicious/baseless accusation, not ordinary talk. |
| forbid / hinder | κωλύω (kōlyō) | रोक्नु | roknu | Low-Medium | Diotrephes actively prevents others from extending hospitality. |
| cast out / expel | ἐκβάλλω (ekballō) | मण्डलीबाट निष्कासन गर्नु | mandalibata nishkasan garnu | High | Must not be softened; names the most severe leadership-abuse act in the letter — unilateral expulsion of faithful believers from the local congregation. |
| remind / bring up (confront) | ὑπομιμνήσκω (hypomimnēskō) | याद गराउनु | yaad garaunu | Low-Medium | Apostolic correction of leadership abuse. |
B.4 — Imitating Good rather than Evil
| English | Greek (translit.) | Nepali | Nepali translit. | Risk | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| imitate | μιμέομαι (mimeomai) | अनुकरण गर्नु | anukaran garnu | Medium | Distinguish from guru-imitation traditions where imitating a teacher’s practice is itself merit-generating; here it is imitation of moral character reflecting God’s nature. |
| evil (general moral category) | κακός (kakos) | खराब | kharab | Medium | Broader category than πονηρός; distinguish from पाप (specific transgression). |
| good (general moral category) | ἀγαθός (agathos) | असल | asal | Low-Medium | Standard moral-goodness term. |
| one who does good / one who does evil | ἀγαθοποιέω / κακοποιέω (agathopoieō / kakopoieō) | असल गर्ने / खराब गर्ने | asal garne / kharab garne | Medium | Habitual moral-identity descriptors. |
| ”…is of God” (clause) | ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν (ek tou theou estin) | परमेश्वरबाट भएको हो / परमेश्वरको हो | Parameshwarbata bhayeko ho | Critical | Highest-risk phrase in the letter: must be taught as describing the FRUIT/EVIDENCE of already belonging to God (consistent with the baseline’s existing grace/merit distinction), never as a merit-transaction where good deeds produce or earn divine belonging — the exact karma-merit (पुण्य) collision the baseline flags for “grace” and “imputed_righteousness.” |
| has seen (God) | ὁράω / ἑώρακεν (horaō / heōraken) | देखेको छ (प्लेन क्रियापद) | dekheko chha | High | Must NOT use दर्शन-based vocabulary (the Hindu ritual practice of “seeing”/being seen by a deity’s image at temples such as Pashupatinath); this verse concerns relational knowledge of God evidenced by character, not ritual theophany. |
B.5 — Commendation of Faithful Witness (Demetrius)
| English | Greek (translit.) | Nepali | Nepali translit. | Risk | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| testify / testimony | μαρτυρέω / μαρτυρία (martyreō / martyria) | गवाही दिनु / गवाही | gawahi dinu / gawahi | Medium | Occurs 6x across the letter (vv. 3, 6, 12 x3); forensic witness-bearing term; must render identically at every occurrence to preserve the letter’s threefold-testimony structure at v. 12. |
| faithful / trustworthy (of a deed) | πιστός (pistos) | विश्वासनीय | vishwasniya | Medium | Must be distinguished from विश्वासी (“a believer,” the standard Nepali Christian noun for a person of faith); πιστός here qualifies an action, not a person’s faith-status. |
C. Proper Names
| English | Greek (translit.) | Nepali | Risk | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gaius | Γάϊος (Gaïos) | गयस | Low | Recipient of the letter; faithful, hospitable believer. |
| Diotrephes | Διοτρέφης (Diotrephēs) | दियोत्रफेस | Low | Negative exemplar; prideful, authoritarian local leader. |
| Demetrius | Δημήτριος (Dēmētrios) | देमेत्रियस | Low | Positive exemplar; commended by threefold testimony. |
D. Risk Summary for 3 John
| Risk Tier | Count | Terms |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 2 | ψυχή (soul → प्राण, never आत्मा); ἀγαθοποιῶν ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν (the “is of God” clause) |
| High | 9 | ἀλήθεια (सत्य), ἀγάπη (प्रेम), πρεσβύτερος (प्राचीन), φιλοπρωτεύων (पहिलो हुन रुचाउने), ἔργα (काम/कार्य, never कर्म), ἐκβάλλω (निष्कासन गर्नु), ἀξίως τοῦ θεοῦ (परमेश्वरलाई योग्य हुने गरी), ὄνομα as Christological title (नाउँ), ὁράω/ἑώρακεν (देखेको छ, never दर्शन-based vocabulary) |
| Medium | 17 | ξένος, ἐκκλησία (reused), προπέμπω, ὑπολαμβάνω, ἐπιδέχομαι, συνεργός, μαρτυρέω/μαρτυρία, πιστός, τέκνα, χαρά, ἐθνικός (reused), πονηρός, φλυαρέω, μιμέομαι, κακός/ἀγαθός family, ἀληθής, εὐοδοῦσθαι |
| Low | remainder | ἀδελφός, φίλος, ἀγαπητός, περιπατέω, εἰρήνη (reused), ὑγιαίνειν, εὔχομαι, ἐλπίζω, ἀσπάζομαι, στόμα πρὸς στόμα (idiom), κωλύω, ὑπομιμνήσκω, γράφω, proper names |
All Critical and High risk assignments above carry a specific, grounded reason tied to a documented Nepali religious, cultural, or legal-historical collision, consistent with the baseline Romans risk methodology. This glossary should be merged into an extended translation_memory.json in the next pipeline step, with version incremented and each new entry flagged for theologian review where risk = Critical or High.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: परमेश्वर
Transliteration: Parameshwar
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: भगवान
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Never भगवान, given its unusually strong state-identity weight in Nepal (the world’s only Hindu Kingdom until 2007; kings venerated as living avatars of Vishnu until 2008). In 3 John, occurs at 1:6, 1:7, 1:11 (x3), including the Critical ‘is of God’ clause (v.11).
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: पवित्र आत्मा
Transliteration: Pavitra Atma
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: ब्रह्म, परमात्मा
Inherited from Romans package. Not directly named in 3 John’s text, but essential as the reserved ‘आत्मा’ slot: 3 John 1:2’s ψυχή (‘soul’) must never be rendered आत्मा precisely because आत्मा is exclusively reserved for the Third Person of the Trinity in this curriculum family. See ‘soul’ entry below.
Jesus
Approved rendering: येशू
Transliteration: Yeshu
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Inherited from Romans package. Not named directly in 3 John’s Greek text, but conceptually essential: v.7’s ‘the Name’ (τὸ ὄνομα, see the_name entry below) is early-church shorthand for this person’s own identity and authority and must be explained with reference to this established Nepali form.
Lord
Approved rendering: प्रभु
Transliteration: prabhu
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: मालिक, ईश्वर
Inherited from Romans package. Not directly occurring in 3 John’s text, but held in reserve for any teaching material cross-referencing this letter’s implicit Christology (v.7’s ‘the Name’) to the exclusive, supreme Lordship established elsewhere in the curriculum library.
Father
Approved rendering: पिता
Transliteration: Pita
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Inherited from Romans package. Held in reserve for teaching material connecting 3 John’s spiritual-parentage language (τέκνα, ‘my children’, v.4) to the fuller Fatherhood-of-God doctrine developed in Romans; God is not directly addressed as Father in 3 John’s own text.
Soul
Approved rendering: प्राण
Transliteration: prana
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: आत्मा
Original: ψυχή
Category: Anthropology
New term for this curriculum. NEVER आत्मा, which is reserved exclusively for पवित्र आत्मा (the Holy Spirit) and additionally carries the weight of the Hindu Vedantic Ātman (the eternal self doctrinally identified with Brahman) in direct tension with the Buddhist अनात्मन्/anatta (‘no-self’) doctrine central to Nepal’s Newar and Himalayan Buddhist communities. प्राण names the whole inner-life/vitality sense of v.2 without either collision.
Is Of God Clause
Approved rendering: परमेश्वरबाट भएको हो / परमेश्वरको हो
Transliteration: Parameshwarbata bhayeko ho / Parameshwarko ho
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Rejected alternatives: योग्यताले कमाएको (a merit-earned reading)
Original: ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν
Category: Salvation
New phrase for this curriculum; the single highest-risk clause in the letter (v.11, ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν). Exceptionally vulnerable in Nepali to a merit-transaction reading — good deeds producing or earning divine belonging — precisely the पुण्य (accumulated religious merit) framework shared by Nepali Hindu and Buddhist ethics already flagged in the baseline for ‘grace’ and ‘imputed_righteousness’. Must be taught as describing the FRUIT/EVIDENCE of a prior new-birth relationship with God, never a means of acquiring it. Mandatory theologian review at every occurrence.
High Risk Terms
Elder
Approved rendering: प्राचीन
Transliteration: prachin
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Pastoral Care
Rejected alternatives: गुरु, पुरोहित, लामा, बूढो/पाका मानिस
Original: πρεσβύτερος
Category: Church Leadership
New term for this curriculum (3 John 1:1). Must denote a functional, servant-shaped church office exercised through personal relationship and in-person correction (v.10), never a hereditary or ritual religious-authority title. गुरु, पुरोहित, and लामा all carry hereditary, caste-linked, ritual-mediatory, or reincarnate-lineage (tulku) connotations foreign to this office. बूढो/पाका मानिस loses the office sense entirely.
Love
Approved rendering: प्रेम / प्रेम गर्नु
Transliteration: prem / prem garnu
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: भक्ति, माया
Original: ἀγάπη / ἀγαπάω
Category: Truth and Fellowship
New term for this curriculum, though consistent with established Nepali Bible usage. Must not collapse into भक्ति (devotional surrender-love toward a deity or guru, a live practiced category in Nepali religion) nor be undershot by माया (thin, ordinary/familial affection). Central to the letter’s opening (v.1, ‘whom I love in truth’) and its public testimony (v.6).
Truth
Approved rendering: सत्य
Transliteration: satya
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: ἀλήθεια
Category: Truth and Fellowship
New term for this curriculum; no substitute Nepali word exists, so risk is managed by teaching-note fencing, not lexical substitution. Collides with Hindu सत्य/सत्याग्रह (a cardinal cosmic-ethical virtue) and Buddhist चत्वारि आर्य सत्यानि (the Four Noble Truths). ἀλήθεια in 3 John (occurring at vv.1, 3 x2, 4, 8, 12 x2) is the specific, personal reality of the gospel of Christ, not an impersonal cosmic principle or a meditative insight attained through practice.
Worthy Of God
Approved rendering: परमेश्वरलाई योग्य हुने गरी
Transliteration: Parameshwarlai yogya hune gari
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: योग्य (unanchored adjective alone)
Original: ἀξίως τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Hospitality
New phrase for this curriculum (v.6). योग्य (‘worthy/deserving’) carries live collision risk with birth- and caste-linked worthiness categories formally codified in Nepal’s 1854 Muluki Ain. Must always be grammatically anchored to God’s character as the standard, never to the traveler’s or host’s social rank or merit.
The Name
Approved rendering: नाउँ (उहाँको/ख्रीष्टको नाउँको खातिर)
Transliteration: naun
Doctrine: Christian Identity and the Name of Christ
Rejected alternatives: बिना सन्दर्भको नाउँ (bare ‘name/reputation’)
Original: ὄνομα
Category: Christology
New term for this curriculum (v.7). Early-church technical shorthand for Christ’s own identity/authority (cf. Acts 5:41). A bare नाउँ collapses into ‘reputation’ and loses the Christological referent; always pair with an explicit referent to Christ.
Loves To Be First
Approved rendering: पहिलो हुन रुचाउने
Transliteration: pahilo hun ruchaune
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Rejected alternatives: महत्वाकांक्षी (neutral ‘ambitious’)
Original: φιλοπρωτεύων
Category: Church Leadership
New coined phrase for this curriculum (v.9). No single Nepali word exists for this rare NT compound (a hapax legomenon). Must always be paired with explicit moral condemnation (sinful self-exaltation) in teaching material, given the risk of resonance with rank/seniority-consciousness embedded in Nepali social hierarchy if read as merely descriptive.
Works Deeds
Approved rendering: काम / कार्य
Transliteration: kaam / karya
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Rejected alternatives: कर्म
Original: ἔργα
Category: Ethics
New term for this curriculum (v.10). NEVER कर्म. Extends the baseline’s existing avoidance of ‘कर्मको नियम’ (law of karma, forbidden for providence) to the underlying word कर्म itself whenever used for generic biblical ‘works/deeds’ vocabulary — a deed generating impersonal cosmic consequence shared by Nepali Hindu and Buddhist frameworks. Use the neutral, non-karma-marked काम/कार्य.
Cast Out Expel
Approved rendering: मण्डलीबाट निष्कासन गर्नु
Transliteration: mandalibata nishkasan garnu
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Rejected alternatives: छाड्न भन्नु (soft ‘ask to leave’)
Original: ἐκβάλλω
Category: Church Leadership
New compound term for this curriculum (v.10). Must not be softened; names the most severe abuse of church authority in the letter — unilateral expulsion of faithful believers from the local congregation.
Has Seen God
Approved rendering: देखेको छैन
Transliteration: dekheko chhaina
Doctrine: Moral Evidence of Relationship with God
Rejected alternatives: दर्शन-based vocabulary
Original: ὁράω / ἑώρακεν
Category: Faith
New term for this curriculum (v.11). Must NOT be rendered with दर्शन-based vocabulary (the living Hindu devotional practice of ritually ‘seeing’ and being seen by a deity’s image, prominent at shrines such as Pashupatinath). This verse concerns relational knowledge of God evidenced by moral character, not ritual theophany. Use only plain verb forms.
Medium Risk Terms
Church
Approved rendering: मण्डली
Transliteration: mandali
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: मन्दिर, गुम्बा
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Never मन्दिर (Hindu temple) or गुम्बा (Buddhist monastery/gompa). In 3 John, the congregation before whom Gaius’s hospitality is testified (v.6) and the congregation Diotrephes abuses and expels believers from (vv.9-10).
Peace
Approved rendering: शान्ति
Transliteration: shanti
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: सुख
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Functions in 3 John primarily as the epistolary closing blessing (v.14), a lighter usage than the justification-based sense developed in Romans, though the Nepali rendering itself is unchanged.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: अन्यजाति
Transliteration: anyajati
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: विदेशी
Original: ἔθνη / ἐθνικός
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. In 3 John 1:7 the sense shifts from ethnic-inclusion to ‘non-believing outsiders’ from whom traveling ministers refused financial support; flag this contextual nuance in teaching notes, but the Nepali term itself is unchanged.
Apostle
Approved rendering: प्रेरित
Transliteration: prerit
Doctrine: Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: दूत
Inherited from Romans package. Held in reserve for teaching contrast: 3 John’s author identifies himself as πρεσβύτερος (‘elder’, see new term below), not with this word, but the underlying apostolic authority he exercises (and Diotrephes resists) is the same category documented under this baseline term.
True
Approved rendering: सत्य
Transliteration: satya
Doctrine: Commendation of Faithful Witness
Original: ἀληθής
Category: Truth and Fellowship
New term for this curriculum. Adjective form of the ἀλήθεια word family, used of John’s own testimony about Demetrius (v.12); must be rendered consistently with the noun form ‘truth’ above.
Joy
Approved rendering: आनन्द
Transliteration: anand
Doctrine: Spiritual Parentage and Pastoral Joy
Original: χαρά / χαίρω
Category: Fellowship
New term for this curriculum. आनन्द also names the ‘bliss’ component of the Vedantic सत्-चित्-आनन्द (being-consciousness-bliss) description of Brahman. Low risk in this letter’s relationally-anchored narrative usage (vv.3-4), but the term should not be extended elsewhere in the curriculum to describe an impersonal metaphysical state.
Spiritual Children
Approved rendering: आत्मिक सन्तान
Transliteration: atmik santan
Doctrine: Spiritual Parentage and Pastoral Joy
Rejected alternatives: सन्तान (bare, defaults to biological offspring)
Original: τέκνα
Category: Fellowship
New term for this curriculum, mirroring the baseline’s compound pattern for आत्मिक वरदान (spiritual gifts). John’s converts, called ‘my children’ (v.4) — pastoral/spiritual paternity, distinct from Gaius’s biological family.
Faithful Deed
Approved rendering: विश्वासनीय
Transliteration: vishwasniya
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: विश्वासी
Original: πιστός
Category: Faith
New term for this curriculum. Describes Gaius’s hospitality itself as a ‘faithful/trustworthy deed’ (v.5), an action-quality. Must be kept distinct from विश्वासी (‘a believer’, the standard Nepali Christian noun for a person’s faith-status); substituting विश्वासी would wrongly shift the sentence from ‘you do a trustworthy deed’ to ‘you are a believer.‘
Stranger Guest
Approved rendering: परदेशी
Transliteration: pardeshi
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: अतिथि (unfenced, invites ‘अतिथि देवो भव’ collision)
Original: ξένος
Category: Hospitality
New term for this curriculum. Nepal’s dominant hospitality maxim ‘अतिथि देवो भव’ (the guest is as a god), used even in national tourism messaging, risks being read into v.5 by default. Biblical hospitality here is grounded in gospel partnership and God’s own worth (v.6b), not the guest’s quasi-divine status; teach this distinction explicitly.
Send Forward
Approved rendering: यात्रामा सहयोग गरी पठाउनु
Transliteration: yatrama sahayog gari pathaunu
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: बिदा गर्नु (loses material-provisioning sense)
Original: προπέμπω
Category: Hospitality
New compound term for this curriculum (v.6). Technical hospitality term for providing provisions, funds, and/or an escort for a departing traveler; no single Nepali word carries the full ‘equip and send onward’ sense.
Receive Support
Approved rendering: सहयोग गरी ग्रहण गर्नु
Transliteration: sahayog gari grahan garnu
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: ὑπολαμβάνω
Category: Hospitality
New compound term for this curriculum (v.8). Distinguishes this stronger, materially-supportive ‘receiving’ (ὑπολαμβάνω) from ἐπιδέχομαι’s simpler ‘welcome/accept’ (see receive_welcome below); must not be interchanged with it.
Fellow Worker
Approved rendering: सहकर्मी
Transliteration: sahakarmi
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: συνεργός
Category: Hospitality
New term for this curriculum (v.8). Doctrinally weighty despite being an ordinary word: ties the Hospitality doctrine directly to the Truth doctrine — supporting travelers makes the supporter a partner ‘with the truth’ itself, not merely a generic co-laborer.
Obligation
Approved rendering: -नुपर्छ / कर्तव्य छ
Transliteration: -nuparcha / kartavya chha
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: धर्म-आधारित कर्तव्य (dharma-linked duty framing)
Original: ὀφείλω
Category: Hospitality
New term for this curriculum (v.8). A moral ‘ought’ grounded in gospel partnership, not a ritual or caste-linked duty; avoid vocabulary drifting toward धर्म-linked duty framing per the baseline’s established caution around धर्म.
Receive Welcome
Approved rendering: स्वीकार गर्नु
Transliteration: svikar garnu
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Original: ἐπιδέχομαι
Category: Church Leadership
New term for this curriculum. Used negatively of Diotrephes’s refusal of John’s emissaries and of any traveling brothers (vv.9-10); must be rendered identically in both occurrences to preserve the parallel structure showing his consistent pattern of refusal.
Malicious Speech
Approved rendering: खराब
Transliteration: kharab
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Original: πονηρός
Category: Ethics
New term for this curriculum. Qualifies the malicious moral evil of Diotrephes’s slanderous speech (πονηρός, v.10). Distinguish from पाप (sin, a specific transgression against God); shares its Nepali surface word with κακός/‘evil_general’ below — teaching notes must distinguish the two underlying Greek terms.
Slander
Approved rendering: निन्दापूर्ण कुरा गर्दै
Transliteration: nindapurna kura gardai
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Rejected alternatives: कुरा गर्नु (bare ‘talk’, loses malicious/baseless component)
Original: φλυαρέω
Category: Church Leadership
New qualified phrase for this curriculum. This letter contains φλυαρέω’s only NT occurrence (v.10); must capture the malicious/baseless character of the charges, not ordinary talking or chatting.
Imitate
Approved rendering: अनुकरण गर्नु
Transliteration: anukaran garnu
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Original: μιμέομαι
Category: Ethics
New term for this curriculum (v.11). Distinguish from guru-imitation traditions in Nepal where imitating a teacher’s practice is itself a merit-generating spiritual technique; here imitation is of moral character reflecting God’s own nature.
Evil General
Approved rendering: खराब
Transliteration: kharab
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Original: κακός
Category: Ethics
New term for this curriculum (v.11, κακός). Broader category of moral badness exemplified by Diotrephes; distinguish from पाप (a specific act of transgression against God). Shares its Nepali surface word with ‘malicious_speech’ (πονηρός) above; flag the underlying Greek distinction in teaching notes.
Good General
Approved rendering: असल
Transliteration: asal
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Original: ἀγαθός
Category: Ethics
New term for this curriculum (v.11, ἀγαθός). Standard moral-goodness term exemplified by Gaius and Demetrius; low collision risk on its own but immediately paired with the Critical ‘is of God’ clause in the same verse.
Doer Of Good Evil
Approved rendering: असल गर्ने / खराब गर्ने
Transliteration: asal garne / kharab garne
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Original: ἀγαθοποιέω / κακοποιέω
Category: Ethics
New term for this curriculum (v.11, ἀγαθοποιέω/κακοποιέω). Habitual moral-identity descriptors, not single acts; sets up the Critical ‘is of God’ clause that immediately follows.
Testify Testimony
Approved rendering: गवाही दिनु / गवाही
Transliteration: gawahi dinu / gawahi
Doctrine: Commendation of Faithful Witness
Original: μαρτυρέω / μαρτυρία
Category: Witness
New term for this curriculum. Forensic witness-bearing occurring six times across the letter (vv.3, 6, 12 x3), climaxing in Demetrius’s threefold commendation (v.12). Must be rendered identically at every occurrence — never substitute प्रमाण or other synonyms — so the letter’s deliberate escalating structure remains visible in Nepali.
Prosper
Approved rendering: समृद्ध हुनु
Transliteration: samriddha hunu
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
New term for this curriculum (v.2, εὐοδοῦσθαι). Physical/circumstantial prospering, explicitly subordinated to and measured by spiritual prospering (‘as your soul prospers’). Caution: prosperity vocabulary carries collision risk with prosperity-gospel teaching present in some Nepali charismatic circles; the verse’s own logic (spiritual health as the measure, not the reverse) must be preserved.
Low Risk Terms
Fellowship
Approved rendering: सहभागिता
Transliteration: sahabhagita
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: मित्रता
Inherited from Romans package. 3 John never uses κοινωνία (the Greek word this Nepali term was originally seeded to translate); the letter’s fellowship theme is instead carried through ἀδελφός, φίλος, συνεργός, χαρά and ἀγάπη. सहभागिता remains valid as the doctrinal CATEGORY label (‘Truth and Christian Fellowship’) even though it does not translate a specific verse-level Greek word here.
Beloved
Approved rendering: प्रिय
Transliteration: priya
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: ἀγαπητός
Category: Fellowship
New term for this curriculum. Term of covenant affection used repeatedly as direct address (vv.1, 2, 5, 11); standard Nepali Christian address term, no significant doctrinal risk.
Brothers
Approved rendering: भाइहरू
Transliteration: bhaiharu
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: ἀδελφός
Category: Fellowship
New term for this curriculum. Fellow believers, fictive/spiritual kinship (vv.3, 5, 10); established, unambiguous Nepali Christian usage.
Friends
Approved rendering: मित्रहरू
Transliteration: mitraharu
Doctrine: Christian Greeting and Peace
Original: φίλος
Category: Fellowship
New term for this curriculum. Deliberate stylistic shift from भाइहरू in the closing greeting (v.14), possibly echoing John 15:14-15; keep the two terms distinct wherever the Greek text shifts register.
Walk
Approved rendering: हिँड्नु
Transliteration: hidnu
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: περιπατέω
Category: Sanctification
New term for this curriculum. Idiom naturalized into Nepali Bible tradition for habitual conduct (‘सत्यमा हिँड्नु’, vv.3-4); retain literally rather than replacing with abstract paraphrase.
Forbid Hinder
Approved rendering: रोक्नु
Transliteration: roknu
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Original: κωλύω
Category: Church Leadership
New term for this curriculum (v.10). Diotrephes actively blocks other congregation members who wish to extend hospitality; leadership abuse extending to control over others’ behavior.
Remind Confront
Approved rendering: याद गराउनु
Transliteration: yaad garaunu
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Pastoral Care
Original: ὑπομιμνήσκω
Category: Church Leadership
New term for this curriculum (v.10). John’s intended in-person confrontation/exposure of Diotrephes’s conduct; apostolic correction of church leadership abuse.
Health
Approved rendering: स्वस्थ हुनु
Transliteration: swastha hunu
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
New term for this curriculum (v.2, ὑγιαίνειν). Ordinary physical health, paired with but distinct from spiritual prospering.
Wish Pray Greeting
Approved rendering: कामना गर्नु / प्रार्थना गर्दछु
Transliteration: kaamana garnu / prarthana gardachhu
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
New term for this curriculum (v.2, εὔχομαι). An epistolary greeting-wish, distinct from the more technical petition sense of प्रार्थना गर्नु used elsewhere; note the distinction for consistency across the curriculum library.
Hope
Approved rendering: आशा गर्नु
Transliteration: asha garnu
Doctrine: Christian Greeting and Peace
New term for this curriculum (v.14, ἐλπίζω). Ordinary anticipatory hope for a travel visit, not the technical theological ‘hope’ developed in Romans 5, 8.
Face To Face
Approved rendering: आमनेसामने
Transliteration: aamnesamne
Doctrine: Christian Greeting and Peace
Rejected alternatives: मुखबाट मुखमा (literal rendering, inappropriate physical connotation)
New term for this curriculum (v.14, στόμα πρὸς στόμα). Hebraic idiom for direct, unmediated personal communication; the natural Nepali idiom must be used rather than a literal ‘mouth to mouth’ rendering, per idiom-handling rules preserving meaning over literalism.
Greet
Approved rendering: अभिवादन गर्नु
Transliteration: abhivadan garnu
Doctrine: Christian Greeting and Peace
Rejected alternatives: नमस्कार
New term for this curriculum (v.14, ἀσπάζομαι). नमस्कार carries a folded-hands devotional connotation of acknowledging divinity in the person greeted; अभिवादन गर्नु is the religiously neutral choice for this standard epistolary greeting convention.
Gaius
Approved rendering: गयस
Transliteration: Gaias
Doctrine: Proper Name
Original: Γάϊος
Category: Proper Name
New proper name for this curriculum. Recipient of the letter; a faithful, hospitable believer. Established Nepali Bible transliteration convention.
Diotrephes
Approved rendering: दियोत्रफेस
Transliteration: Diotrephes
Doctrine: Proper Name
Original: Διοτρέφης
Category: Proper Name
New proper name for this curriculum. The negative exemplar of prideful, authoritarian church leadership (vv.9-10). Established transliteration convention.
Demetrius
Approved rendering: देमेत्रियस
Transliteration: Demetriyas
Doctrine: Proper Name
Original: Δημήτριος
Category: Proper Name
New proper name for this curriculum. The positive exemplar of faithful character, commended by threefold testimony (v.12). Established transliteration convention.
Referenced passages