Core Glossary
Core Glossary — Acts — English → Nepali
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing theological term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md. Table A lists terms already established in the Romans baseline translation_memory.json that recur in Acts; their Nepali renderings and risk tiers are reused exactly, without modification, per the hard rule that established renderings must not be altered. Table B lists new terms required specifically by Acts, with full glossary fields. All new High/Critical terms must be added to translation_memory.json before Phase 2 segment translation begins, per the escalation procedure in 12_ai_translation_requirements.md.
Table A — Reused Baseline Terms Appearing in Acts
| English Term | Nepali (baseline, unchanged) | Risk (baseline, unchanged) | Doctrine Tie in Acts | Representative Acts Chapters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gospel | सुसमाचार | High | Gospel to Jews/Gentiles; Great Commission Fulfilled | 1, 2, 8, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, 28 |
| Grace | अनुग्रह | High | Justification apart from the Law | 4, 6, 11, 13, 14, 15, 18, 20 |
| Faith | विश्वास | High | Conversion of Paul; Justification apart from the Law | 3, 6, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, 24, 26 |
| Righteousness | धार्मिकता | Critical | Justification apart from the Law | 3 (Holy and Righteous One), 13, 17, 24 |
| Justification | धर्मी ठहराइने कार्य | Critical | Justification apart from the Law | 13 |
| Salvation | उद्धार | Critical | Repentance and Baptism; Gospel to Jews/Gentiles | 2, 4, 11, 13, 15, 16, 27, 28 |
| Apostle | प्रेरित | Medium | Apostolic Authority and Miracles | 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 14, 15, 16 |
| Called / Calling | बोलाइएका / बोलावट | High | The Holy Spirit and Pentecost; Conversion of Paul | 2, 9, 13, 16 |
| Holy | पवित्र | High | throughout | 1–28 (pervasive) |
| Saints | पवित्र जन | High | The Church as Community | 9, 26 |
| Sanctification | पवित्रीकरण | High | The Church as Community | 20, 21, 26 |
| Resurrection | पुनरुत्थान | Critical | The Holy Spirit and Pentecost (Ch.2 sermon); core Acts theme | 1, 2, 4, 17, 23, 24, 26 |
| Lord | प्रभु | Critical | Lordship of Christ; core confession | throughout |
| Son of God | परमेश्वरका पुत्र | Critical | Conversion of Paul (Ch.9); Deity of Christ | 9, 13 |
| Peace | शान्ति | Medium | Church as Community | 9, 10, 24 |
| Spiritual Gifts | आत्मिक वरदान | Medium | The Holy Spirit and Pentecost | 2, 8, 10 |
| Thanksgiving | धन्यवाद | Low | minor | 27, 28 |
| Fellowship | सहभागिता | Low | The Church as Community | 2 |
| Church | मण्डली | Medium | The Church as Community | 2, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20 |
| Kingdom of God | परमेश्वरको राज्य | Medium | Great Commission Fulfilled | 1, 8, 14, 19, 20, 28 |
| Law | व्यवस्था | High | Justification apart from the Law | 13, 15, 18, 21, 23, 25 |
| Sin | पाप | High | Repentance and Baptism | 2, 3, 7, 13, 26 |
| Gentiles | अन्यजाति | Medium | Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 18, 21, 22, 26, 28 |
| Glory | महिमा | High | Deity of Christ | 2, 7, 12 |
| Power of God | परमेश्वरको सामर्थ्य | High | Apostolic Authority and Miracles | 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 19 |
| Messiah / Christ | मसीह | Critical | Conversion of Paul; Gospel to Jews/Gentiles | 2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 17, 18, 26 |
| Prophet | अगमवक्ता | Low | Inspiration of Scripture | 2, 3, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 21 |
| Prophecy | अगमवाणी | Low | The Holy Spirit and Pentecost | 2, 11, 21 |
| Covenant | करार | High | Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | 3, 7 |
| Election | परमेश्वरको छनोट | High | Conversion of Paul | 1, 9, 13 |
| Intercession | मध्यस्थता | Medium | The Church as Community | 1, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 20 |
| Providence | परमेश्वरको व्यवस्थापन | High | Apostolic Authority and Miracles | 16, 27 |
| Mission | सुसमाचार प्रचार | Medium | Great Commission Fulfilled | 1, 8, 9, 13, 26, 28 |
| David | दाऊद | Medium | Messianic fulfillment (Ch.2 sermon) | 1, 2, 4, 7, 13, 15 |
| Israel | इस्राएल | Medium | Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 13, 21, 26, 28 |
| Jesus | येशू | Critical | throughout | throughout |
| God | परमेश्वर | Critical | throughout | throughout |
| Holy Spirit | पवित्र आत्मा | Critical | The Holy Spirit and Pentecost | throughout |
| Father | पिता | Critical | The Holy Spirit and Pentecost (promise of the Father) | 1, 2 |
| Exhort | उत्साहित पार्नु | Low | The Church as Community | 2, 4, 11, 14, 15, 16, 20 |
| Seed of David | दाऊदको वंश | High | Messianic fulfillment | 2, 13 |
Note: Baseline terms incarnation (देहधारण), adoption (दत्तक पुत्रता), abba (अब्बा), and imputed_righteousness (आरोपित धार्मिकता) do not recur as load-bearing terms in Acts’ narrative content and require no Acts-specific extension; if referenced in derivative teaching material discussing Christ’s person, the baseline rendering and risk tier apply unchanged.
Table B — New Terms Introduced in Acts
| # | English Term | Original (Transliteration) | Literal Meaning | Semantic Range | English Variants | Contextual Theological Meaning in Acts | Nepali Rendering | Risk | Doctrine | Rejected Alternatives | Acts Chapters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baptism / Baptize | βάπτισμα / βαπτίζω (baptisma / baptizō) | immersion, dipping | ritual water immersion; Spirit-baptism (metaphorical) | baptism; baptize; immersed | Repentance-and-faith initiation rite marking union with Christ and entry into the covenant community; distinct from Spirit-baptism at Pentecost | बप्तिस्मा | High | Repentance and Baptism | स्नान (Hindu ritual bathing/purification, e.g. in the Bagmati or Ganga) | 1, 2, 8, 9, 10, 16, 18, 19, 22 |
| 2 | Repentance / Repent | μετάνοια / μετανοέω (metanoia / metanoeō) | change of mind, turning | inward turning from sin toward God; not mere remorse | repent; turn; change one’s mind | Spirit-produced turning from sin that results in baptism and forgiveness | पश्चाताप / पश्चाताप गर्नु | High | Repentance and Baptism | प्रायश्चित्त (ritual penance/expiation for karmic debt) | 2, 3, 11, 13, 17, 19, 20, 26 |
| 3 | Tongues (other tongues) | γλῶσσαι ἕτεραι (glōssai heterai) | other tongues/languages | Spirit-given utterance in real, unlearned human languages | speaking in tongues; other languages | Sign accompanying the Spirit’s outpouring, immediately intelligible for gospel proclamation | अन्य भाषा | High | The Holy Spirit and Pentecost | (implicit) trance/possession speech framing rejected | 2, 10, 19 |
| 4 | Pentecost | Πεντηκοστή (Pentēkostē) | fiftieth (day) | the Jewish Feast of Weeks, fifty days after Passover | Pentecost; Feast of Weeks | The day the Spirit was poured out, inaugurating the church | पेन्तिकोस (transliteration) | Medium | The Holy Spirit and Pentecost | none (proper festival name; explanatory gloss required) | 2, 20 |
| 5 | Witness / Testify | μάρτυς / μαρτυρέω / μαρτυρία (martys / martyreō / martyria) | one who testifies; to testify | eyewitness testimony; legal witness; gospel proclamation under risk | witness; testify; testimony | Authorized eyewitness proclamation of Christ’s resurrection, increasingly under threat of suffering | साक्षी / गवाही दिनु | High | Persecution and Bold Witness | (caution) साक्षी भाव — Vedantic “witness-consciousness,” an impersonal observer-self philosophical concept, must not be implied | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 13, 22, 23, 25, 26, 28 |
| 6 | Boldness | παρρησία (parrēsia) | freedom/openness of speech | fearless, unashamed public speech | boldness; confidence; openly | Spirit-given courage to proclaim Christ despite threat of arrest, beating, or death | निर्भीकता / साहसका साथ | Medium | Persecution and Bold Witness | none | 4, 9, 13, 14, 19, 26, 28 |
| 7 | Signs and Wonders / Miracles | σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα; δυνάμεις (sēmeia kai terata; dynameis) | signs, portents; powers | miraculous authenticating acts | signs and wonders; miracles; mighty works | Acts authenticating the apostolic message about Jesus, not the practitioner’s own attainment | चिन्ह र आश्चर्यकर्म | High | Apostolic Authority and Miracles | सिद्धि (yogic/tantric supernatural attainment) | 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 14, 15, 19, 28 |
| 8 | Laying on of Hands | ἐπίθεσις (τῶν) χειρῶν (epithesis [tōn] cheirōn) | placing of hands | commissioning gesture; impartation of the Spirit or of ministry office | laying on of hands | Apostolic commissioning for service or reception of the Spirit | हात राखिदिने कार्य | Medium | Apostolic Authority and Miracles; Church as Community | none (distinguish from a generic Hindu blessing gesture, आशीर्वाद मुद्रा, if raised by reviewers) | 6, 8, 9, 13, 19, 28 |
| 9 | The Way | ἡ ὁδός (hē hodos) | the road, the path | self-designation of the earliest Christian movement | the Way; this sect; the sect called the Way | The historical, apostolic community following the risen Christ | बाटो | High | Gospel to Jews and Gentiles; Conversion of Paul | मार्ग (rejected — collides directly with the Buddhist Noble Eightfold Path, अष्टांगिक मार्ग, and Hindu bhakti/karma/jnana-mārga soteriological paths) | 9, 18, 19, 22, 24 |
| 10 | Christian(s) | Χριστιανός (Christianos) | belonging to Christ | a follower of Christ, originally an outsider label | Christian; Christians | First applied at Antioch; adopted as a positive self-identity | ख्रीष्टियान | Medium | The Church as Community | none | 11, 26 |
| 11 | Nazarene | Ναζωραῖος (Nazōraios) | of Nazareth | Jesus’ hometown-derived epithet; also an early designation for his followers | Nazarene; the Nazarene | Establishes Jesus’ genuine, humble, verifiable human origin | नासरी | Low | Humanity of Christ (baseline) | none | 2, 3, 4, 6, 22, 24, 26 |
| 12 | Synagogue | συναγωγή (synagōgē) | assembly, gathering place | Jewish local place of worship, teaching, and assembly | synagogue | Primary venue for early apostolic preaching to Jews and God-fearers | सभाघर | Medium | Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | मन्दिर (Hindu temple); गुम्बा (Buddhist monastery/gompa) | 6, 9, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19 |
| 13 | Sanhedrin / Council | συνέδριον (synedrion) | sitting-together, council | the Jewish supreme religious-legal court | council; Sanhedrin; high council | The body that condemned Jesus and repeatedly persecutes the apostles | महासभा | Low | Persecution and Bold Witness | none | 4, 5, 6, 22, 23, 24 |
| 14 | Deacon / Service / Ministry | διακονία / διάκονος (diakonia / diakonos) | table-service; servant | practical service to meet material needs within the church; later a formal office | deacon; ministry; service; serving | Spirit-recognized, congregationally-affirmed office of practical service, distinct from apostolic teaching authority | सेवा (service) / सेवक (deacon/servant) | High | The Church as Community | none rejected outright, but flag: सेवा carries strong Hindu bhakti/karma-yoga connotations of merit-generating selfless service to a deity or guru; must be framed as Spirit-appointed functional service, not merit accumulation | 6, 11, 12, 20, 21 |
| 15 | Stoning | λιθοβολέω (lithoboleō) | to stone, to pelt with stones | execution/mob violence by thrown stones | stoned; stoning | Stephen’s death; the first Christian martyrdom | ढुङ्गाले हिर्काउनु / ढुङ्गाले मार्नु | Low | Persecution and Bold Witness | none | 7, 14 |
| 16 | Unclean / Common (ceremonial) | κοινός (koinos) | common, ordinary; ritually impure | Jewish dietary/purity classification, here overturned by revelation | unclean; common; impure | God declares no food (and by extension no person/people group) ceremonially off-limits to fellowship; direct basis for Gentile inclusion | अशुद्ध | Critical | The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | none available that avoids all ritual-purity resonance; flag prominently — this term must not be used in any way that reinforces caste-based jutho/untouchability purity codes (a legacy of the Muluki Ain); the text’s point is the abolition, not the affirmation, of such purity boundaries | 10, 11 |
| 17 | Common / Shared (possessions) | κοινός / κοινά (koinos / koina) — same root as #16, opposite functional sense | held jointly, shared | voluntary communal sharing of property | had all things in common; shared | Spirit-motivated generosity within the new covenant community, not mandated communism or merit-earning almsgiving | साझा | Medium | The Church as Community | Note: must use a Nepali word distinct from अशुद्ध (#16) despite the shared Greek root, to avoid conflating “ceremonially impure” with “held in common” | 2, 4 |
| 18 | Vision | ὅραμα (horama) | a thing seen; a sight | a God-given revelatory sight, waking or in trance-state, distinct from ordinary sight | vision | Divine, sovereignly-initiated revelation directing mission (Cornelius, Paul, Peter) | दृश्य | High | Conversion of Paul; Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | दर्शन (rejected — the standard Hindu devotional term for the mutual “beholding” of a deity, guru, or holy person’s image; using it risks framing biblical visions as devotional darshan exchange rather than sovereign divine revelation) | 9, 10, 16, 18, 26 |
| 19 | Chosen Instrument | σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς (skeuos eklogēs) | a vessel of choosing/election | a person sovereignly selected as an instrument for God’s purposes | chosen instrument; chosen vessel | Paul’s conversion framed as God’s sovereign initiative, not human merit or seeking | छानिएको पात्र | Medium-High | Conversion of Paul | none | 9 |
| 20 | No Partiality | οὐκ ἔστιν προσωπολήπτης (ouk estin prosōpolēptēs) | not a receiver/respecter of faces | God’s impartial treatment of all peoples | God shows no partiality; no respect of persons | Direct theological basis for full Gentile inclusion without ethnic or social hierarchy | परमेश्वर पक्षपात नगर्नुहुने हुनुहुन्छ | Medium-High | Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | none | 10 |
| 21 | Forgiveness of Sins | ἄφεσις ἁμαρτιῶν (aphesis hamartiōn) | release/sending away of sins | judicial release from the guilt and penalty of sin | forgiveness of sins; remission of sins | Offered through Christ’s name to all who repent and believe; must be held together with, not substituted for, justification | पापको क्षमा | High | Repentance and Baptism; Justification apart from the Law | माफी alone (rejected as a standalone substitute for justification, per baseline note) | 2, 3, 10, 13, 26 |
| 22 | Unknown God | ἄγνωστος θεός (agnōstos theos) | a god not known | Athenian altar inscription; rhetorical bridge to proclaim the true God | the unknown god; an unknown god | Paul identifies the true, personal Creator God as the one the Athenians unknowingly gesture toward — NOT an affirmation that all gods/paths already worship the same reality under different names | अज्ञात परमेश्वर | Critical | Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | none; flag strongly against a perennialist (“all paths lead to the same unknown god”) misreading, which would directly undermine the exclusivity of Christ affirmed later in the same speech (17:31) | 17 |
| 23 | Idol(s) | εἴδωλον (eidōlon) | an image, likeness | a manufactured image of a false god, devoid of true divine presence | idol; idols | Lifeless images contrasted with the living, personal God; objects of misplaced worship to be renounced, not adapted or reverenced alongside Christian worship | मूर्ति | Critical | Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | none available (मूर्ति is the established Nepali Bible term for “idol”); flag prominently given the centrality of living murti-puja devotional practice across Nepali Hindu and Buddhist traditions — the polemical, exclusive force of the term must be retained without unnecessary rhetorical harshness | 7, 14, 15, 17, 19 |
| 24 | Living God | θεὸς ζῶν (theos zōn) | a god who lives | personal, active, self-existent deity, contrasted with lifeless idols | the living God | Central to Paul’s preaching to pagan audiences at Lystra and Athens | जीवित परमेश्वर | Medium | Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | none | 14, 17 |
| 25 | Elder | πρεσβύτερος (presbyteros) | an older man; an elder | a recognized, appointed local church leader/overseer | elder | Local congregational leadership office, distinct from apostolic itinerant authority | एल्डर (transliteration) | High | The Church as Community | गुरु (rejected — carries strong Hindu/Buddhist guru-veneration connotations of a disciple’s personal devotion to and worship of the guru, inappropriate for a functional church office) | 11, 14, 15, 16, 20, 21 |
| 26 | Overseer / Bishop | ἐπίσκοπος (episkopos) | one who watches over | a church leader with pastoral oversight responsibility (used interchangeably with “elder” in Acts 20) | overseer; bishop | Spirit-appointed guardianship of the local congregation’s doctrine and welfare | निरीक्षक | Medium | The Church as Community | none | 20 |
| 27 | Shepherd / Flock | ποιμήν / ποίμνιον (poimēn / poimnion) | one who tends sheep; a flock | pastoral care metaphor for church leadership and the congregation | shepherd; pastor; flock | Christ-modeled sacrificial, watchful care of the congregation | गोठालो (shepherd) / बगाल (flock) | High | The Church as Community | none rejected outright, but flag: Nepal’s most prominent national Hindu shrine, Pashupatinath, derives its name from Pashupati (“Lord of Animals/Herds”), an epithet of Shiva; care should be taken that applying “great shepherd” language to Christ or church leaders is not read as an echo of that specific, nationally central Shaivite title | 20 |
| 28 | Nazirite Vow | εὐχή (euchē) | a vow, a votive promise | a temporary Jewish ceremonial vow of consecration (cf. Numbers 6) | vow | Paul’s culturally-sensitive observance of Jewish ceremonial custom, not a means of earning righteousness | व्रत / भाकल | High | Justification apart from the Law | none available that fully avoids resonance; flag: व्रत is the standard term for Hindu meritorious vow-fasting practice (e.g., Teej, Ekadashi); teaching material must clarify Paul’s vow is a cultural/ceremonial accommodation under a soon-to-be-superseded law, not a merit-earning religious act | 21 |
| 29 | Pour Out (the Spirit) | ἐκχέω (ekcheō) | to pour out, spill out | lavish, abundant divine bestowal | pour out; poured out | God’s abundant self-giving of the Spirit on all flesh, without ethnic/social/gender restriction | खन्याउनु | Medium | The Holy Spirit and Pentecost | none | 2, 10 |
| 30 | Call Upon the Name of the Lord | ἐπικαλέομαι τὸ ὄνομα Κυρίου (epikaleomai to onoma Kyriou) | to call upon, invoke a name | a confessional, dependent appeal to Christ for rescue | call on the name of the Lord | The salvation-confession formula; must match the Romans 10:13 rendering exactly | प्रभुको नाउँ पुकारनु | High | Repentance and Baptism; Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | none; cross-document consistency with Romans 10:13 mandatory | 2, 9, 22 |
| 31 | Exalted | ὑψόω (hypsoō) | to lift up, raise high | physical elevation; honorific/royal exaltation | exalted; lifted up | Christ’s unique enthronement at God’s right hand after the resurrection | उच्च पारिनु / महिमित तुल्याइनु | High | Lordship of Christ; Deity of Christ | none | 2, 5 |
| 32 | Breaking of Bread | κλάσις τοῦ ἄρτου (klasis tou artou) | breaking of the loaf | a shared covenant meal; precursor to the Lord’s Supper | breaking of bread; broke bread | Memorial, covenant-community meal marking union in Christ | रोटी भाँच्ने कार्य | High | The Church as Community | none available that avoids all resonance; flag strongly against confusion with प्रसाद (prasad — food ritually offered to a deity/idol at a temple and then distributed as blessed); this is a remembrance meal of an already-accomplished salvation, not an ongoing ritual consecration | 2, 20, 27 (contrast) |
| 33 | Holding All Things in Common | ἅπαντα κοινά (hapanta koina) | all things shared | voluntary communal sharing of property (see #17) | had everything in common | Spirit-motivated generosity, not mandated economic system or merit-earning charity | सबै थोक साझा | Medium | The Church as Community | none | 2, 4 |
| 34 | Apostles’ Teaching | διδαχή (didachē) | teaching, instruction | the authoritative body of apostolic doctrine | the apostles’ teaching; doctrine | Foundational, authoritative instruction shaping the earliest church’s identity | शिक्षा | Low | Apostolic Authority and Miracles | none | 2 |
| 35 | Sorcery / Magic | μαγεία / γοητεία (mageia / goēteia) | magical art; sorcery/deception | occult ritual practice claiming supernatural power apart from God | sorcery; magic; magic arts | Occult power explicitly renounced and shown powerless before the gospel | टोनामोना / जादु / तन्त्र-मन्त्र | High | Apostolic Authority and Miracles | none; directly relevant given living Nepali Tantric, shamanic (jhankri/dhami), and astrological practices — handle with pastoral clarity, not derision | 8, 13 (Elymas), 19 |
| 36 | Circumcision | περιτομή (peritomē) | cutting around | the Mosaic covenant sign; contested requirement for Gentile converts | circumcision | Jerusalem Council’s central controversy: not required for Gentile salvation | खतना | Medium | Justification apart from the Law | none | 10, 11, 15, 16, 21 |
| 37 | Yoke (of the Law) | ζυγός (zygos) | a yoke (for draft animals) | a burden of obligation, here specifically the Law as a means of justification | yoke | The Law could not be borne as a means of salvation for Jew or Gentile | जुवा | Medium | Justification apart from the Law | none; must not imply the Law itself was evil, only insufficient for justification | 15 |
| 38 | Inheritance (among the saints) | κληρονομία (klēronomia; cf. κλῆρος, “lot,” Ch.1) | a portion received; an inheritance | the believer’s share in God’s promised blessing | inheritance | Full covenant-family inheritance secured through faith in Christ | उत्तराधिकार | Medium | The Church as Community; (ties to baseline Adoption doctrine) | none | 20, 26 |
| 39 | Self-Control | ἐγκράτεια (enkrateia) | mastery over oneself | disciplined moral restraint | self-control; temperance | A fruit of repentant faith preached to Felix, not a merit-earning ascetic discipline | आत्म-संयम | Low-Medium | Justification apart from the Law (contrast context) | none; distinguish from Hindu/Buddhist ascetic self-discipline pursued as a path to liberation or merit | 24 |
| 40 | Power of Satan / Darkness to Light | ἐξουσία τοῦ Σατανᾶ (exousia tou Satana); φῶς/σκότος (phōs/skotos) | authority of Satan; light/darkness | the dominion from which conversion delivers a person | power of Satan; darkness to light | Conversion as a decisive transfer of dominion/allegiance, not a gradual enlightenment attainment | शैतानको अधिकार; अन्धकारबाट ज्योतिमा | High | Conversion of Paul; Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | none; distinguish “light” here from meditative-enlightenment imagery in Hindu/Buddhist traditions — this is rescue from a personal enemy’s dominion, not the dispelling of ignorance through disciplined practice | 26 |
| 41 | Unhindered | ἀκωλύτως (akōlytōs) | without hindrance | the gospel’s unstoppable, open proclamation | unhindered; without hindrance; openly | Acts’ capstone theme: the gospel advances despite every obstacle | कुनै रोकावट नभएर / निर्बाध रूपमा | High | The Great Commission Fulfilled | none; note thematic resonance with Nepal’s current legal restrictions on proselytizing (2017 Muluki Criminal Code) — teaching material should frame this term pastorally, not as encouragement to defy local law, while preserving the text’s theological confidence | 28 |
| 42 | Ascension | ἀνάληψις / ἀνελήμφθη (analēpsis / anelēmphthē) | being taken up | Christ’s bodily return to heaven following the resurrection | ascension; taken up | Unique vindication and enthronement, not an attainable yogic/meditative feat | स्वर्गारोहण | Medium | Lordship of Christ; Resurrection of Christ | none; distinguish from legendary sage-ascension narratives achieved by spiritual attainment | 1 |
| 43 | Office / Casting Lots | ἐπισκοπή / κλῆρος (episkopē / klēros) | oversight/office; a lot | apostolic office; a decision-method by lot | office; lot; cast lots | Judas’s vacated apostolic office filled by sovenreign, Spirit-attended selection | पद / चिट्ठा हाल्नु | Low-Medium | Apostolic Authority and Miracles | none | 1 |
| 44 | Son of Man | υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου (huios tou anthrōpou) | son of man | Danielic title for an exalted, divine-authority figure; Jesus’ self-designation | Son of Man | Stephen’s dying vision affirms Christ’s heavenly authority and vindication | मानिसका पुत्र | Critical | Deity of Christ; Sonship of Christ | none; must not be flattened to mean merely “a human being” | 7 |
| 45 | Author of Life | ἀρχηγὸς τῆς ζωῆς (archēgos tēs zōēs) | leader/originator of life | Christ as the source and founder of life itself | Author of life; Prince of life | Christological title asserting Christ as life’s originator, not merely a great teacher | जीवनका प्रवर्तक | Medium-High | Deity of Christ; Sonship of Christ | none | 3 (cf. 5:31) |
| 46 | Times of Refreshing / Restoration | ἀνάψυξις / ἀποκατάστασις (anapsyxis / apokatastasis) | refreshing/cooling; restoration | eschatological hope of final renewal tied to Christ’s return | times of refreshing; restoration of all things | A singular, final, linear restoration — not a repeating cosmic dissolution/re-creation cycle | स्फूर्तिका समय; सबै कुराको पुनर्स्थापना | Medium | The Great Commission Fulfilled (eschatological horizon) | none; distinguish from Hindu pralaya cyclical cosmic renewal | 3 |
| 47 | Holy and Righteous One | Ὅσιος καὶ Δίκαιος (Hosios kai Dikaios) | the holy and just one | Christological title asserting Christ’s sinless, perfect standing | the Holy and Righteous One; the Holy One | Affirms Christ’s unique moral perfection, unjustly condemned | पवित्र र धर्मी जन | High | Deity of Christ; Justification apart from the Law | धार्मिक (rejected — implies dutiful religious performance rather than inherent moral perfection) | 3 (cf. 2:27) |
| 48 | Gift (of the Spirit) | δωρεά (dōrea) | a free gift | unearned divine bestowal, especially of the Spirit | gift; the gift of the Holy Spirit | Reinforces grace’s “apart from merit, apart from purchase” character | वरदान (always paired with पवित्र आत्माको) | Medium | The Holy Spirit and Pentecost | वरदान used alone (rejected per baseline caution on boon-granting deity narratives) | 2, 8, 10, 11 |
| 49 | Clear Conscience | συνείδησις καθαρά (syneidēsis kathara) | clean/clear inner-knowing | moral self-awareness before God, kept blameless | clear conscience; good conscience | Paul’s defense of his integrity before the Sanhedrin | शुद्ध विवेक | Low | Persecution and Bold Witness | none | 23 |
| 50 | Angel (of the Lord) | ἄγγελος (Κυρίου) (angelos [Kyriou]) | messenger (of the Lord) | a personal, created heavenly being sent as God’s messenger | angel; angel of the Lord | God’s personal, direct intervention in deliverance and judgment | स्वर्गदूत | Low-Medium | Apostolic Authority and Miracles; Providence | देवता (rejected — a Hindu/Buddhist deity or celestial being, implying a lesser divine figure rather than a created, obedient messenger of the one true God) | 5, 8, 10, 12, 27 |
| 51 | Opened Heart | διανοίγω τὴν καρδίαν (dianoigō tēn kardian) | to open thoroughly the heart | God’s sovereign enabling of a person to receive and respond to the gospel | the Lord opened her heart | Divine initiative in conversion, not human self-persuasion alone | हृदय खोलिदिनु | Medium | Divine Calling (baseline); Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | none | 16 |
| 52 | Scriptures | γραφαί (graphai) | writings | the authoritative Old Testament writings, God-breathed | the Scriptures; the writings | Authoritative textual basis for messianic proclamation, distinct from shruti/sutra traditions | पवित्रशास्त्र | High | Inspiration of Scripture (baseline) | शृति/सूत्र traditions not directly substituted, but flagged per baseline’s existing Inspiration of Scripture doctrine note | 17, 18, 26 |
| 53 | Cut to the Heart | κατανύσσομαι (katanyssomai) | to be pierced/stabbed | deep emotional-spiritual conviction preceding repentance | cut to the heart; pierced in heart | Spirit-produced conviction of sin, not generic guilt or shame | हृदयमा गहिरो चोट लाग्यो | Low-Medium | Repentance and Baptism | none; distinguish from honor/shame social distress divorced from repentance toward God | 2 |
Cross-Reference Notes for Phase 2
- Entries #9 (The Way), #16 (Unclean/Common), #18 (Vision), #22 (Unknown God), #23 (Idol[s]), #27 (Shepherd/Flock), #28 (Nazirite Vow), and #32 (Breaking of Bread) carry the sharpest culture-specific collision risk in this glossary and should be prioritized for human theologian review alongside every Critical-tier baseline term.
- Entry #16 (Unclean/Common, ceremonial) and Entry #17 (Common/Shared, possessions) share the identical Greek root κοινός but require two distinct Nepali words; this is the single most important disambiguation point for Acts translators, comparable in importance to the baseline’s धर्म/धार्मिकता distinction for Romans.
- Entry #30 (Call Upon the Name of the Lord) must be cross-checked against the final Romans 10:13 rendering before Phase 2 begins; if Romans 10:13 has not yet been finalized in the shared translation memory, flag this entry as blocking.
- All new High/Critical entries in Table B must be added to
translation_memory.json(incrementing its version number) before any Phase 2 segment referencing Acts 1-28 is processed, per the Translation Memory Load and Enforcement Instructions in12_ai_translation_requirements.md.
Critical Risk Terms
Righteousness
Approved rendering: धार्मिकता
Transliteration: dharmikata
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: धर्म, पुण्य
Original: δικαιοσύνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. CRITICAL: NEVER धर्म, given the Muluki Ain / caste-code collision risk. Applied in Acts both to Christ’s own sinless character (‘the Holy and Righteous One,’ 3:14) and to Paul’s preaching before Felix (24:25).
Justification
Approved rendering: धर्मी ठहराइने कार्य
Transliteration: dharmi thahraine karya
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: माफी पाउने कार्य
Original: δικαίωσις / δικαιωθῆναι
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Compound phrase required for the forensic, declared-righteous sense; never abbreviate to माफी alone. Acts 13:38-39 is Acts’ single clearest statement of this doctrine and must retain this term distinctly from पापको क्षमा (forgiveness of sins). Mandatory theologian review.
Salvation
Approved rendering: उद्धार
Transliteration: uddhar
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: मुक्ति, मोक्ष, निर्वाण
Original: σωτηρία / σῴζω
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. CRITICAL AND DUAL-FRONT: NEVER मुक्ति, मोक्ष, or निर्वाण. Central to every apostolic sermon in Acts (2:21, 40; 4:12; 16:30-31). Acts 4:12 (‘no other name’) and 16:30-31 (‘what must I do to be saved’) require verbatim cross-document consistency and mandatory theologian review.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: पुनरुत्थान
Transliteration: punarutthan
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: पुनर्जन्म
Original: ἀνάστασις
Category: Eschatology
Inherited from Romans package. CRITICAL: NEVER पुनर्जन्म. Central apostolic proclamation throughout Acts (1:22, 2:24-32, 4:2/33, 13:30-37, 17:18/32, 23:6-8, 24:15/21, 26:23). Acts 23:6-8’s live Pharisee-Sadducee resurrection debate must not become a bridge to Hindu rebirth, Buddhist six-realm rebirth, or the Himalayan tulku tradition.
Lord
Approved rendering: प्रभु
Transliteration: prabhu
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: मालिक, ईश्वर
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Exclusive, supreme Lordship. Acts 2:36’s climactic ‘Lord and Christ’ (प्रभु र मसीह) is the Christological summit of Peter’s sermon; Acts 2:34-36 requires both occurrences of κύριος in the Psalm 110 quotation rendered प्रभु, distinction carried by context alone.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: परमेश्वरका पुत्र
Transliteration: Parameshwarka Putra
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: देवपुत्र
Original: υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. CRITICAL: full phrase required, never देवपुत्र. Acts 9:20 is Paul’s first post-conversion Christological confession and must retain the full phrase.
Messiah
Approved rendering: मसीह
Transliteration: Masih
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Original: Χριστός / מָשִׁיחַ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. The Anointed One fulfilling Old Testament promise, central to every apostolic sermon’s climax (2:36, 3:18, 5:42, 8:5, 9:22, 17:3, 18:5, 18:28, 26:23). Never one of several divine avatars, a live risk given the pantheon-collision episodes of Acts 14 and 28.
Jesus
Approved rendering: येशू
Transliteration: Yeshu
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. CRITICAL: established Nepali Christian standard form. Spoken throughout Acts as the exclusive name by which salvation and healing come (3:6, 4:10, 4:12).
God
Approved rendering: परमेश्वर
Transliteration: Parameshwar
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: भगवान
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. CRITICAL: never भगवान. Contrasted throughout Acts with the pantheons of Lystra (14:11-15), Athens (17:16-31), and Ephesus (19:26-27).
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: पवित्र आत्मा
Transliteration: Pavitra Atma
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: ब्रह्म, परमात्मा
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. CRITICAL: never ब्रह्म or परमात्मा. Central actor of Acts, poured out at Pentecost (2:4) and repeatedly directing the church’s mission. Acts 5:3, 9 (‘lying to the Holy Spirit’) reinforce personhood, a direct contrast with impersonal life-force concepts in Nepali folk religion and dhami-jhankri trance traditions.
Father
Approved rendering: पिता
Transliteration: Pita
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. God as personal Father. Source of ‘the promise of the Father’ (1:4), the Holy Spirit.
Unclean Ceremonial
Approved rendering: अशुद्ध
Transliteration: ashuddha
Doctrine: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Original: κοινός
Category: Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
New term for Acts. Jewish dietary/purity classification, overturned by revelation to Peter (10:14-15,28; 11:8) as the basis for full Gentile inclusion. CRITICAL: this term must NEVER be used in any way that reinforces caste-based jutho/untouchability purity codes, a legacy of the Muluki Ain (in force until 1963); the text’s entire point is the ABOLITION, not the affirmation, of such purity boundaries. Must be kept lexically distinct from साझा (see below), despite sharing the identical Greek root κοινός — this is the single most important disambiguation point in the Acts glossary.
Unknown God
Approved rendering: अज्ञात परमेश्वर
Transliteration: Agyat Parameshwar
Doctrine: Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Original: ἄγνωστος θεός
Category: Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
New term for Acts. The Athenian altar inscription Paul uses as a rhetorical bridge (17:23). CRITICAL: must never be read as a perennialist (‘all paths lead to the same unknown god’) affirmation — Paul’s speech moves immediately to Christ’s exclusive resurrection-and-judgment claim (17:31), directly undermining any all-paths-are-equal misreading.
Idols
Approved rendering: मूर्ति
Transliteration: murti
Doctrine: Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Original: εἴδωλον
Category: Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
New term for Acts. A manufactured image of a false god, devoid of true divine presence; renounced at Lystra (14:15), Athens (17:16,29), and Ephesus (19:23-27). Established Nepali Bible term; given the centrality of living murti-puja devotional practice across Nepali Hindu and Buddhist traditions, its polemical, exclusive force must be retained without unnecessary rhetorical harshness.
Son Of Man
Approved rendering: मानिसका पुत्र
Transliteration: Manisaka Putra
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου
Category: Christology
New term for Acts. Danielic title for an exalted, divine-authority figure; Stephen’s dying vision of Christ ‘standing at the right hand of God’ (7:56). Must not be flattened to mean merely ‘a human being’ — the title asserts both genuine humanity and heavenly authority/vindication.
High Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: सुसमाचार
Transliteration: susamachar
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: खुशखबरी
Original: εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Established Nepali Christian term. Must be distinguished from a generic positive announcement; the gospel is the unique proclamation of salvation through Christ crucified and risen. In Acts, the content proclaimed at real legal and physical risk throughout the missionary narrative (8:4, 8:25, 8:40, 14:7, 14:21, 15:7, 16:10, 20:24).
Grace
Approved rendering: अनुग्रह
Transliteration: anugraha
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: कृपा, पुण्य, भाग्य
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Unmerited favor apart from human merit; पुण्य directly contradicts this. In Acts, Simon Magus’s attempt to purchase the Spirit’s gift (8:18-20) extends the ‘apart from merit’ guard to ‘apart from purchase’ as well; Acts 15:11’s Jerusalem Council conclusion is a key grace-vs-works escalation passage. Note: Acts 2:47’s general ‘favor with the people’ uses the same Greek root in a non-soteriological social sense and should NOT automatically be rendered अनुग्रह.
Faith
Approved rendering: विश्वास
Transliteration: vishwas
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: श्रद्धा, भक्ति
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Personal trust in Christ specifically; distinguish from generalized Hindu/Buddhist devotional reverence. Acute risk in Acts’ cross-cultural preaching scenes (Lystra, Athens, Ephesus) and key passages 13:39, 15:9, 16:31, 24:24, 26:18.
Called
Approved rendering: बोलाइएका
Transliteration: bolaieka
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: निमन्त्रित
Original: κλητός / καλέω
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Context-sensitive. Acts 2:39 extends this explicitly toward Gentile inclusion (‘all who are far off’); Acts 9:15 applies it to Paul’s apostolic calling.
Calling
Approved rendering: बोलावट
Transliteration: bolawat
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Original: κλῆσις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Noun form for the act or state of being called by God; must convey sovereign summons, not self-initiated seeking or karma-determined destiny.
Holy
Approved rendering: पवित्र
Transliteration: pavitra
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: शुद्ध
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package. Set apart for God and morally pure. Pervasive throughout Acts, including the Christological title ‘the Holy One’ (2:27, 3:14) and the Holy Spirit (throughout).
Saints
Approved rendering: पवित्र जन
Transliteration: pavitra jan
Doctrine: Sainthood
Rejected alternatives: सन्त, साधु
Original: ἅγιοι
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Applies to every ordinary believer, never an ascetic elite. Used of the Damascus believers Saul persecutes (9:13, 9:32) and Paul recalls (26:10) — ordinary believers under threat, not sadhus/sants.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: पवित्रीकरण
Transliteration: pavitrikaran
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: शुद्धीकरण
Original: ἁγιασμός / ἡγιασμένοι
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package. The Spirit’s ongoing work of making believers holy. Must be kept distinct from शुद्धीकरण गर्नु, Paul’s ceremonial temple purification in Acts 21:24-26, a separate new Acts term.
Law
Approved rendering: व्यवस्था
Transliteration: vyavastha
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: धर्म, नियम
Original: νόμος
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. The Mosaic law; NEVER धर्म. Central to the Jerusalem Council debate (15:1-29) and Paul’s trials (18:15, 21:28, 23:29, 25:8). Note: the same Greek word also covers Roman provincial civil proceedings (18:14-15) — a non-theological sense not to be conflated with this term’s doctrinal weight.
Sin
Approved rendering: पाप
Transliteration: paap
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: अकुशल कर्म
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package. Moral transgression before a personal God; never अकुशल कर्म. The condition from which repentance and baptism deliver (2:38, 3:19, 13:38, 26:18).
Glory
Approved rendering: महिमा
Transliteration: mahima
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: तेज
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Avoid light-metaphor terms conflating with Kathmandu Valley divine-radiance/living-goddess imagery. Withheld by Herod to his judgment (12:23).
Power Of God
Approved rendering: परमेश्वरको सामर्थ्य
Transliteration: Parameshwarko samarthya
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Rejected alternatives: शक्ति
Original: δύναμις θεοῦ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. NEVER शक्ति, given the still-practiced Newar Tantric Shakta tradition and the living-goddess Kumari cult. Present throughout Acts’ healing and deliverance narratives (1:8, 3:12, 4:7, 10:38).
Covenant
Approved rendering: करार
Transliteration: karar
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: सम्झौता
Original: διαθήκη
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Relational covenant bond. Referenced in Stephen’s speech (7:8) and Peter’s sermon (3:25) regarding the Abrahamic promise.
Election
Approved rendering: परमेश्वरको छनोट
Transliteration: Parameshwarko chhanot
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: भाग्य, किस्मत
Original: ἐκλογή / ἐκλέγομαι
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. God’s sovereign, personal choice; never भाग्य/किस्मत. Explicit in Paul’s conversion (‘a chosen instrument,’ 9:15) and Peter’s summary of Cornelius’s calling (15:7).
Providence
Approved rendering: परमेश्वरको व्यवस्थापन
Transliteration: Parameshwarko vyavasthapan
Doctrine: Providence
Rejected alternatives: भाग्य, कर्मको नियम
Original: πρόνοια (conceptually; cf. Acts 27:22-25’s assurance)
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. God’s personal, purposive governance; never भाग्य or कर्मको नियम. The Spirit’s direction of missionary geography (16:6-10) and Paul’s shipwreck assurance (27:22-25).
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: दाऊदको वंश
Transliteration: Daudko vansha
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: σπέρμα Δαυίδ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Physical descent from David. Basis of Paul’s Antioch sermon proclamation that Jesus is the promised Savior ‘of this man’s offspring’ (13:23).
Baptism
Approved rendering: बप्तिस्मा
Transliteration: baptisma
Doctrine: Repentance and Baptism
Rejected alternatives: स्नान
Original: βάπτισμα / βαπτίζω
Category: Repentance and Baptism
New term for Acts. Repentance-and-faith initiation rite marking union with Christ and entry into the covenant community. Never स्नान (Hindu ritual bathing/purification, e.g. in the Bagmati). Same root serves both water baptism (2:38,41; 8:36-38; 9:18; 10:47-48; 16:15,33; 18:8; 19:5) and metaphorical Spirit-baptism (1:5; 11:16); disambiguate with जल/पानीको बप्तिस्मा vs. पवित्र आत्माको बप्तिस्मा where pastorally needed.
Repentance
Approved rendering: पश्चाताप
Transliteration: pashchatap
Doctrine: Repentance and Baptism
Rejected alternatives: प्रायश्चित्त
Original: μετάνοια / μετανοέω
Category: Repentance and Baptism
New term for Acts. Inward turning from sin toward God. Never प्रायश्चित्त, which frames wrongdoing as karmic debt requiring ritual expiation. First imperative of apostolic preaching (2:38, 3:19, 17:30, 20:21, 26:20).
Tongues
Approved rendering: अन्य भाषा
Transliteration: anya bhasha
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Original: γλῶσσαι ἕτεραι
Category: Holy Spirit and Pentecost
New term for Acts. Spirit-given utterance in real, unlearned human languages (2:4, 10:46, 19:6). Must be clearly framed as intelligible, Spirit-given human language for gospel proclamation (confirmed by hearers, 2:6,8,11) — never Nepal’s indigenous dhami-jhankri shamanic trance-possession speech, common in hill and Himalayan communities.
Witness
Approved rendering: साक्षी
Transliteration: sakshi
Doctrine: Persecution and Bold Witness
Original: μάρτυς / μαρτυρέω / μαρτυρία
Category: Persecution and Bold Witness
New term for Acts. Authorized eyewitness testimony to Christ’s resurrection, given under threat of suffering (1:8,22; 2:32; 3:15; 4:33; 5:32; 10:39-41; 13:31; 22:15; 26:16; Stephen’s death ch.7). Must never be read as साक्षी भाव, the Vedantic impersonal ‘witness-consciousness’; always anchor to a concrete testifying verb (गवाही दिनु) and a specific historical referent.
Signs And Wonders
Approved rendering: चिन्ह र आश्चर्यकर्म
Transliteration: chinha ra aashcharyakarma
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Rejected alternatives: सिद्धि
Original: σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα / δυνάμεις
Category: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
New term for Acts. Miraculous authenticating acts (2:22,43; 3:1-10; 4:16,22,30; 5:12-16; 6:8; 8:6,13; 14:3; 15:12; 19:11-12; 28:8-9). Must be distinguished from Hindu/Buddhist सिद्धि (yogic/tantric supernatural attainment) and jhankri/dhami healing displays; Acts’ signs authenticate a specific historical message about Jesus, not a practitioner’s own attainment.
The Way
Approved rendering: बाटो
Transliteration: bato
Doctrine: Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: मार्ग
Original: ἡ ὁδός
Category: Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
New term for Acts. Self-designation of the earliest Christian movement (9:2; 18:25-26; 19:9,23; 22:4; 24:14,22). NEVER मार्ग, which collides directly with the Buddhist Noble Eightfold Path (अष्टांगिक मार्ग) and Hindu bhakti/karma/jnana-mārga soteriological paths — मार्ग would imply Christianity is one path among several rather than the specific historical movement Luke names.
Deacon Service
Approved rendering: सेवा
Transliteration: seva
Doctrine: The Church as Community
Original: διακονία / διάκονος
Category: Church
New term for Acts. Practical service meeting material needs, developing into a recognized office (6:1-6; famine relief 11:29; 12:25). सेवा carries strong Hindu bhakti/karma-yoga connotations of merit-generating selfless service to a deity or guru; must always be framed as Spirit-appointed functional service within the covenant community, never merit accumulation before a deity. Deacon/servant form: सेवक.
Vision
Approved rendering: दृश्य
Transliteration: drishya
Doctrine: Conversion of Paul
Rejected alternatives: दर्शन
Original: ὅραμα
Category: Conversion of Paul
New term for Acts. A God-given revelatory sight, sovereignly initiated to direct mission — Paul’s Damascus-road light (9:3-9), Peter’s rooftop vision (10:3,17,19), Paul’s Macedonian call (16:9-10), the temple vision (22:17-18). NEVER दर्शन, the standard Hindu devotional term for the mutual ‘beholding’ of a deity, guru, or holy image — this would frame biblical visions as devotional darshan exchange rather than sovereign, often unwelcome, divine revelation.
Chosen Instrument
Approved rendering: छानिएको पात्र
Transliteration: chhaniyeko patra
Doctrine: Conversion of Paul
Original: σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς
Category: Conversion of Paul
New term for Acts. A person sovereignly selected as an instrument for God’s purposes; God’s own description of Saul to Ananias (9:15). Emphasizes God’s sovereign initiative, not Paul’s own merit or seeking; parallel to the baseline’s Romans 9 election language.
No Partiality
Approved rendering: परमेश्वर पक्षपात नगर्नुहुने हुनुहुन्छ
Transliteration: Parameshwar pakshapat nagarnuhune hunuhuncha
Doctrine: Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Original: οὐκ ἔστιν προσωπολήπτης ὁ Θεός
Category: Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
New term for Acts. God’s impartial treatment of all peoples; Peter’s declaration at Cornelius’s house (10:34), the direct theological basis for Gentile inclusion. Directly confronts caste-based and ethnic-based spiritual hierarchy, a live concern given the Muluki Ain’s legally codified caste system (in force until 1963).
Forgiveness Of Sins
Approved rendering: पापको क्षमा
Transliteration: papko kshama
Doctrine: Repentance and Baptism
Rejected alternatives: माफी
Original: ἄφεσις ἁμαρτιῶν
Category: Repentance and Baptism
New term for Acts. Judicial release from the guilt and penalty of sin (2:38; 3:19; 10:43; 13:38; 26:18). Must be held together with, never substituted for, धर्मी ठहराइने कार्य (justification); माफी alone must never stand in for the forensic doctrine, per the baseline’s explicit rule.
Elder
Approved rendering: एल्डर
Transliteration: Elder
Doctrine: The Church as Community
Rejected alternatives: गुरु
Original: πρεσβύτερος
Category: Church
New term for Acts. A recognized, appointed local church leader, distinct from itinerant apostolic authority (11:30; 14:23; 15:2,4,6,22-23; 16:4; 20:17; 21:18). NEVER गुरु, which carries strong Hindu/Buddhist guru-veneration connotations of a disciple’s personal devotion to and worship of the guru — inappropriate for a functional, accountable church office. Retained as a transliteration since no native word avoids this collision.
Shepherd Flock
Approved rendering: गोठालो
Transliteration: Gothalo
Doctrine: The Church as Community
Original: ποιμήν / ποίμνιον
Category: Church
New term for Acts. Pastoral care metaphor for church leadership and the congregation; Paul’s charge to the Ephesian elders (20:28-29). Flag: Nepal’s most prominent national Hindu shrine, Pashupatinath, derives its name from Pashupati (‘Lord of Animals/Herds’), an epithet of Shiva; apply this term with explicit Christ-modeled sacrificial-care framing to avoid an unintended Shaivite-title echo. Flock: बगाल.
Nazirite Vow
Approved rendering: व्रत
Transliteration: Vrat
Doctrine: Justification apart from the Law
Original: εὐχή
Category: Justification apart from the Law
New term for Acts. A temporary Jewish ceremonial vow of consecration (cf. Numbers 6); Paul’s culturally sensitive observance of Jewish custom (21:23-26). व्रत is the standard term for Hindu meritorious vow-fasting practice (e.g., Teej, Ekadashi); teaching material must clarify Paul’s vow is a cultural/ceremonial accommodation under a soon-superseded law, not a merit-earning act, and does not overturn the Jerusalem Council’s ruling. Alternate form: भाकल.
Call Upon The Name Of The Lord
Approved rendering: प्रभुको नाउँ पुकारनु
Transliteration: Prabhuko naun pukarnu
Doctrine: Repentance and Baptism
Original: ἐπικαλέομαι τὸ ὄνομα Κυρίου
Category: Repentance and Baptism
New term for Acts. A confessional, dependent appeal to Christ for rescue; the salvation-confession formula quoted from Joel at Pentecost (2:21), echoed in Ananias’s charge to Saul (22:16). MUST align exactly with whatever rendering is finalized for Romans 10:13 in the shared translation memory. Flag as blocking if Romans 10:13’s exact wording is not yet confirmed.
Exalted
Approved rendering: उच्च पारिनु
Transliteration: Uchcha parinu
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: ὑψόω
Category: Christology
New term for Acts. Christ’s unique enthronement at God’s right hand after the resurrection (2:33; 5:31). The idiom ‘right hand of God’ should render as परमेश्वरको दाहिने हात, an established anthropomorphic biblical idiom, retained as Scripture itself does. Alternate form: महिमित तुल्याइनु.
Breaking Of Bread
Approved rendering: रोटी भाँच्ने कार्य
Transliteration: Roti bhanchne karya
Doctrine: The Church as Community
Rejected alternatives: प्रसाद
Original: κλάσις τοῦ ἄρτου
Category: Church
New term for Acts. A shared covenant meal marking union in Christ, a precursor to the Lord’s Supper (2:42,46; 20:7,11). Must be sharply distinguished from प्रसाद (food ritually offered to a deity/idol at a temple, then distributed as blessed) — this is a remembrance meal of an already-accomplished salvation, not an ongoing ritual consecration. The informal meal-breaking aboard the storm-tossed ship (27:35) carries no such theological weight and should be rendered without this term’s ecclesial freight.
Sorcery Magic
Approved rendering: तन्त्र-मन्त्र
Transliteration: Tantra-mantra
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Original: μαγεία / γοητεία
Category: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
New term for Acts. Occult ritual practice claiming supernatural power apart from God; Simon Magus (8:9-24), Elymas (13:6-11), the Ephesian magic-book burning (19:19). Directly relevant given living Nepali Tantric, shamanic (jhankri/dhami), and astrological practices; occult power is shown explicitly powerless before the gospel and must be handled with pastoral clarity, not derision. Alternate forms: टोनामोना / जादु.
Power Of Satan Darkness To Light
Approved rendering: अन्धकारबाट ज्योतिमा
Transliteration: Andhakarbata jyotima
Doctrine: Conversion of Paul
Original: ἐξουσία τοῦ Σατανᾶ / φῶς — σκότος
Category: Conversion of Paul
New term for Acts. The dominion from which conversion delivers a person, described as Paul’s own commission (26:18). Distinguish ‘light’ here from meditative-enlightenment imagery in Hindu/Buddhist traditions — this is rescue from a personal enemy’s dominion by divine intervention, not the dispelling of ignorance through disciplined practice. Related phrase: शैतानको अधिकार (power of Satan).
Unhindered
Approved rendering: निर्बाध रूपमा
Transliteration: Nirbadh rupma
Doctrine: The Great Commission Fulfilled
Original: ἀκωλύτως
Category: The Great Commission Fulfilled
New term for Acts. The gospel’s unstoppable, open proclamation; the book’s final word (28:31), functioning as Acts’ thesis-echo comparable in cross-document weight to Romans 1:16-17. Note thematic resonance with Nepal’s 2017 Muluki Criminal Code proselytizing restrictions; frame pastorally and confidently in God’s sovereignty, never as encouragement to defy local law. Alternate form: कुनै रोकावट नभएर.
Author Of Life
Approved rendering: जीवनका प्रवर्तक
Transliteration: Jivanka pravartak
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: ἀρχηγὸς τῆς ζωῆς
Category: Christology
New term for Acts. Christ as the source and founder of life itself (3:15; cf. 5:31, ‘ἀρχηγὸς καὶ σωτήρ’). Must not be softened to a merely honorary ‘great teacher of life’ sense.
Holy And Righteous One
Approved rendering: पवित्र र धर्मी जन
Transliteration: Pavitra ra dharmi jan
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: धार्मिक
Original: Ὅσιος καὶ Δίκαιος
Category: Christology
New term for Acts. Christological title asserting Christ’s sinless, perfect standing, unjustly condemned (3:14; anticipated 2:27). Never धार्मिक, which implies dutiful religious performance rather than inherent moral perfection.
Scriptures
Approved rendering: पवित्रशास्त्र
Transliteration: Pavitrashastra
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Original: γραφαί
Category: Covenant
New term for Acts. The authoritative Old Testament writings, God-breathed; textual basis for messianic proclamation (17:2,11; 18:24,28; 26:22). Distinguish from the Hindu shruti (heard-by-sages) tradition and the Buddhist sutra tradition.
Medium Risk Terms
Apostle
Approved rendering: प्रेरित
Transliteration: prerit
Doctrine: Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: दूत
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Authorized, sent-out messenger. In Acts, grounded in eyewitness resurrection testimony (1:21-22), not attained spiritual insight; must not be reduced to a generic guru or lama-style teacher role.
Peace
Approved rendering: शान्ति
Transliteration: shanti
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: सुख
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Relational peace with God. Used of the church’s calm period (9:31) and Peter’s greeting to Cornelius (10:36).
Spiritual Gifts
Approved rendering: आत्मिक वरदान
Transliteration: atmik varadan
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts
Rejected alternatives: वरदान
Original: χαρίσματα (conceptually; cf. δωρεά, πνευματικά)
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. वरदान alone evokes a Hindu deity-grants-a-boon narrative; always pair with आत्मिक. Manifested in Acts as tongues and prophecy at Pentecost, Cornelius’s household, and Ephesus (2:4, 10:46, 19:6).
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). Used throughout Acts of local congregations and the whole body Christ purchased (20:28).
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: परमेश्वरको राज्य
Transliteration: Parameshwarko Rajya
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Kingdom
Inherited from Romans package. God’s sovereign reign, not a territorial or political kingdom. Acts 1:6’s mistaken question about restoring an earthly kingdom to Israel makes this distinction textually explicit; content of apostolic preaching from 1:3 to 28:31.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: अन्यजाति
Transliteration: anyajati
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: विदेशी
Original: ἔθνη
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Non-Jewish peoples. Central subject of the Cornelius narrative (ch.10-11), the Jerusalem Council (ch.15), and Paul’s mission (ch.13-28).
Intercession
Approved rendering: मध्यस्थता
Transliteration: madhyasthata
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Original: προσευχή / ἔντευξις (conceptually)
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Prayer on behalf of others. The church’s united prayer for Peter’s release (12:5, 12) and for Paul and Barnabas’s commissioning (13:3).
Mission
Approved rendering: सुसमाचार प्रचार
Transliteration: susamachar prachar
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
Original: ἀποστολή / πέμπω / ἀποστέλλω
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Nepal’s 2017 Muluki Criminal Code restrictions apply directly to Acts’ entire missionary narrative arc, not isolated verses. The Antioch church’s commissioning of Paul and Barnabas (13:1-3) is the book’s structural theme.
David
Approved rendering: दाऊद
Transliteration: Daud
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: Δαυίδ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Cited as source of messianic promise in Peter’s Pentecost sermon (2:25-31) and Paul’s Antioch sermon (13:22-23, 34-36).
Israel
Approved rendering: इस्राएल
Transliteration: Israel
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Original: Ἰσραήλ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Addressed directly in apostolic sermons throughout Acts (2:36, 3:12, 4:10, 13:16, 28:20).
Pentecost
Approved rendering: पेन्तिकोस
Transliteration: Pentikos
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Original: Πεντηκοστή
Category: Holy Spirit and Pentecost
New term for Acts. The Jewish Feast of Weeks, fifty days after Passover (2:1; also 20:16). No natural Nepali equivalent; retain transliteration with a mandatory brief explanatory gloss on first occurrence.
Boldness
Approved rendering: निर्भीकता
Transliteration: nirbhikata
Doctrine: Persecution and Bold Witness
Original: παρρησία
Category: Persecution and Bold Witness
New term for Acts. Spirit-given courage under threat of arrest, beating, or death (4:13,29,31; 9:27-28; 13:46; 14:3; 19:8; 26:26; 28:31). Frames a deliberate literary bracket between the book’s opening and closing chapters.
Laying On Of Hands
Approved rendering: हात राखिदिने कार्य
Transliteration: hat rakhidine karya
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Original: ἐπίθεσις (τῶν) χειρῶν
Category: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
New term for Acts. Apostolic commissioning gesture for reception of the Spirit (8:17-19), commissioning to service (6:6), healing (9:12,17; 28:8), and mission (13:3). Distinguish from a generic Hindu blessing gesture (आशीर्वाद मुद्रा) if raised by reviewers.
Christian
Approved rendering: ख्रीष्टियान
Transliteration: Khristiyan
Doctrine: The Church as Community
Original: Χριστιανός
Category: Church
New term for Acts. A follower of Christ; first applied at Antioch (11:26), originally an outsider label, later adopted positively (26:28).
Synagogue
Approved rendering: सभाघर
Transliteration: sabhaghar
Doctrine: Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: मन्दिर, गुम्बा
Original: συναγωγή
Category: Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
New term for Acts. Jewish local place of worship, teaching, and assembly (6:9; 9:2,20; 13:5,14-15; 14:1; 17:1-2,10,17; 18:4,19,26; 19:8). Never मन्दिर (Hindu temple) or गुम्बा (Buddhist monastery/gompa).
Common Possessions
Approved rendering: साझा
Transliteration: sajha
Doctrine: The Church as Community
Original: κοινός / κοινά (ἅπαντα κοινά)
Category: Church
New term for Acts. Voluntary communal sharing of property (2:44-45; 4:32-35), the same Greek root κοινός as unclean_ceremonial above but a functionally opposite sense. Must be kept entirely distinct from अशुद्ध in every occurrence. Not mandated economic communism or merit-earning almsgiving, but Spirit-motivated generosity.
Living God
Approved rendering: जीवित परमेश्वर
Transliteration: Jivit Parameshwar
Doctrine: Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Original: θεὸς ζῶν
Category: Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
New term for Acts. Personal, active, self-existent deity, contrasted with lifeless idols; central to Paul’s preaching at Lystra and Athens (14:15).
Overseer
Approved rendering: निरीक्षक
Transliteration: Nirikshak
Doctrine: The Church as Community
Original: ἐπίσκοπος
Category: Church
New term for Acts. A church leader with pastoral oversight responsibility, used interchangeably with ‘elder’ in Acts 20 (20:28).
Ceremonial Purification
Approved rendering: शुद्धीकरण गर्नु
Transliteration: Shuddhikaran garnu
Doctrine: Justification apart from the Law
Original: ἁγνίζω
Category: Justification apart from the Law
New term for Acts. Ritual, temple-based purification under the Mosaic Law, undertaken by Paul alongside his Nazirite vow (21:24,26). Must be kept distinct from पवित्रीकरण (sanctification) — this is a ceremonial, temple-based act under a still-culturally-observed law, not the Spirit’s ongoing moral sanctification.
Pour Out Spirit
Approved rendering: खन्याउनु
Transliteration: khanyaunu
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Original: ἐκχέω
Category: Holy Spirit and Pentecost
New term for Acts. Lavish, abundant divine bestowal of the Spirit (2:17-18,33; 10:45). The universality clause (‘on all flesh… sons and daughters… menservants and maidservants’) must be translated without softening, given its relevance to caste- and gender-based exclusion patterns in Nepali social history.
Circumcision
Approved rendering: खतना
Transliteration: Khatna
Doctrine: Justification apart from the Law
Original: περιτομή
Category: Justification apart from the Law
New term for Acts. The Mosaic covenant sign, a contested requirement for Gentile converts, resolved at the Jerusalem Council (10:45; 11:2-3; 15:1,5; 16:3; 21:21).
Yoke Of The Law
Approved rendering: जुवा
Transliteration: Juwa
Doctrine: Justification apart from the Law
Original: ζυγός
Category: Justification apart from the Law
New term for Acts. A burden of obligation; the Law as an unbearable means of justification, per Peter’s Jerusalem Council speech (15:10). Must not imply the Law itself was evil, only insufficient as a means of justification.
Inheritance
Approved rendering: उत्तराधिकार
Transliteration: Uttaradhikar
Doctrine: The Church as Community
Original: κληρονομία / κλῆρος
Category: Church
New term for Acts. The believer’s share in God’s promised blessing (20:32; 26:18); the same word-family (κλῆρος) covers casting lots for Judas’s vacated office (1:17,20,26; see office_casting_lots). Ties to the baseline’s Adoption doctrine (full inheritance rights, not a lesser status).
Self Control
Approved rendering: आत्म-संयम
Transliteration: Atma-sanyam
Doctrine: Justification apart from the Law
Original: ἐγκράτεια
Category: Justification apart from the Law
New term for Acts. Disciplined moral restraint; part of Paul’s preaching to Felix alongside righteousness and coming judgment (24:25). Distinguish from Hindu/Buddhist ascetic self-discipline pursued as a path to liberation or merit; here it is a fruit of repentant faith, not a merit-earning discipline.
Ascension
Approved rendering: स्वर्गारोहण
Transliteration: Swargarohan
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: ἀνάληψις / ἀνελήμφθη
Category: Christology
New term for Acts. Christ’s bodily return to heaven following the resurrection, the opening event of Acts (1:9-11). Distinguish from legendary sage-ascension narratives achieved by spiritual attainment; this is unique vindication and enthronement, not an attainable yogic/meditative feat.
Office Casting Lots
Approved rendering: पद
Transliteration: Pad
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Original: ἐπισκοπή / κλῆρος
Category: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
New term for Acts. Judas’s vacated apostolic office, filled by sovereign, Spirit-attended selection through casting lots (1:17,20,26). Casting-lots verb: चिट्ठा हाल्नु.
Times Of Refreshing Restoration
Approved rendering: सबै कुराको पुनर्स्थापना
Transliteration: Sabai kurako punarsthapana
Doctrine: The Great Commission Fulfilled
Original: ἀνάψυξις / ἀποκατάστασις
Category: The Great Commission Fulfilled
New term for Acts. Eschatological hope of final renewal tied to Christ’s return (3:20-21). Distinguish from Hindu pralaya cyclical cosmic renewal — this is a singular, final, linear restoration. Refreshing sense alone: स्फूर्तिका समय.
Gift Of The Spirit
Approved rendering: वरदान
Transliteration: Varadan
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Original: δωρεά
Category: Holy Spirit and Pentecost
New term for Acts. Unearned divine bestowal, especially of the Spirit (2:38; 8:20; 10:45; 11:17). Always paired with पवित्र आत्माको (never used alone), per the baseline’s caution on वरदान’s Hindu deity-grants-a-boon narrative associations. Reinforces grace’s ‘apart from merit, apart from purchase’ character (Simon’s rebuke, 8:20).
Angel Of The Lord
Approved rendering: स्वर्गदूत
Transliteration: Swargadoot
Doctrine: Providence
Rejected alternatives: देवता
Original: ἄγγελος (Κυρίου)
Category: God
New term for Acts. A personal, created heavenly being sent as God’s messenger; delivers Peter (5:19; 12:7-11), judges Herod (12:23), reassures Paul at sea (27:23). NEVER देवता, a Hindu/Buddhist deity or celestial being, implying a lesser divine figure rather than a created, obedient messenger of the one true God.
Opened Heart
Approved rendering: हृदय खोलिदिनु
Transliteration: Hriday kholidinu
Doctrine: Conversion of Paul
Original: διανοίγω τὴν καρδίαν
Category: Conversion of Paul
New term for Acts. God’s sovereign enabling of a person to receive and respond to the gospel; Lydia (16:14). Emphasizes divine initiative in conversion, not human self-persuasion alone.
Cut To The Heart
Approved rendering: हृदयमा गहिरो चोट लाग्यो
Transliteration: Hridayama gahiro chot lagyo
Doctrine: Repentance and Baptism
Original: κατανύσσομαι
Category: Repentance and Baptism
New term for Acts. Deep emotional-spiritual conviction preceding repentance; the Pentecost crowd’s response to Peter’s sermon (2:37). Distinguish from generic guilt or shame divorced from repentance toward God.
Low Risk Terms
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: धन्यवाद
Transliteration: dhanyavad
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Original: εὐχαριστία / εὐχαριστέω
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Standard term, minor risk. Paul’s thanksgiving before eating on the storm-tossed ship (27:35).
Fellowship
Approved rendering: सहभागिता
Transliteration: sahabhagita
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: मित्रता
Original: κοινωνία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Shared participation in Christ, carrying lived weight given Nepal’s history of restricted Christian practice. One of the four marks of the Jerusalem church (2:42).
Prophet
Approved rendering: अगमवक्ता
Transliteration: agamavakta
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: ज्योतिषी
Original: προφήτης
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. God’s spokesperson; never confused with ज्योतिषी (astrologer). Applied to Old Testament figures and to New Testament figures like Agabus (11:27-28, 21:10).
Prophecy
Approved rendering: अगमवाणी
Transliteration: agamavani
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Original: προφητεία / προφητεύω
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. God-inspired declaration, distinct from astrological prediction. Extended at Pentecost to ‘sons and daughters’ (2:17-18), breaking gendered access to the prophetic role.
Exhort
Approved rendering: उत्साहित पार्नु
Transliteration: utsahit parnu
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Original: παρακαλέω
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Context-sensitive between उत्साहित पार्नु (encouragement) and बिन्ती गर्नु (entreaty). Acts 2:40 leans toward urgent entreaty given the surrounding testimony language; also 11:23, 14:22, 15:32, 16:40, 20:1-2.
Nazarene
Approved rendering: नासरी
Transliteration: Nasari
Doctrine: Humanity of Christ
Original: Ναζωραῖος
Category: Christology
New term for Acts. Jesus’ hometown-derived epithet, establishing his genuine, verifiable human origin (2:22, 3:6, 4:10, 6:14, 22:8, 24:5, 26:9).
Sanhedrin
Approved rendering: महासभा
Transliteration: Mahasabha
Doctrine: Persecution and Bold Witness
Original: συνέδριον
Category: Persecution and Bold Witness
New term for Acts. The Jewish supreme religious-legal court that repeatedly hauls the apostles before it (4:15; 5:21,27,34,41; 6:12,15; 22:30; 23:1,6,15,20,28; 24:20).
Stoning
Approved rendering: ढुङ्गाले मार्नु
Transliteration: dhungale marnu
Doctrine: Persecution and Bold Witness
Original: λιθοβολέω
Category: Persecution and Bold Witness
New term for Acts. Execution by thrown stones; Stephen’s death, the first Christian martyrdom (7:58-59), and a threat repeated against Paul (14:5, 19).
Apostles Teaching
Approved rendering: शिक्षा
Transliteration: Shiksha
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Original: διδαχή
Category: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
New term for Acts. The authoritative body of apostolic doctrine shaping the earliest church’s identity (2:42).
Clear Conscience
Approved rendering: शुद्ध विवेक
Transliteration: Shuddha vivek
Doctrine: Persecution and Bold Witness
Original: συνείδησις καθαρά
Category: Persecution and Bold Witness
New term for Acts. Moral self-awareness before God, kept blameless; Paul’s defense before the Sanhedrin (23:1).
Referenced passages