Core Glossary
Core Glossary
translation_memory.json is the enforced glossary for every Phase 2 translation in this curriculum. This document summarizes its shape and the principles behind it; see the Glossary Risk Groups for the full per-term entries.
Composition
The glossary currently holds 47 terms spanning all four risk tiers, drawn from the doctrines identified in Doctrine Analysis and grounded in the cultural risks identified in Culture Analysis. Every term entry records:
- The approved Nepali translation and transliteration
- The doctrine risk tier (Critical/High/Medium/Low)
- Explicitly rejected alternatives, with reasons drawn from both Hindu and Buddhist frameworks where relevant
- Notes explaining any non-obvious translation choice
Governing principles
- Established Nepali Bible usage over invention — where Nepali Bible Society translation already has a settled rendering (परमेश्वर, येशू, प्रभु, ख्रीष्ट), this glossary follows it rather than proposing an alternative.
- Dual-framework rejection, not single-framework avoidance — every Critical-risk term with a religious-syncretism concern records why both a Hindu-tradition word and, where relevant, a Buddhist-tradition word are wrong. This is the defining structural difference from single-religious-context languages in this pipeline.
- Explicit rejection, not silent avoidance — every Critical-risk term records why the tempting alternative is wrong, so a translator or reviewer understands the reasoning rather than just following a rule.
- Version-controlled and append-only in Phase 2 — if a new term is discovered during document translation, it is added to translation memory and the version number incremented, never silently improvised per-document.
Relationship to the Doctrine Risk Registry
Every glossary term’s doctrine field links back to an entry in doctrine_risk_registry.json, so a term’s risk tier is always traceable to the specific doctrine it protects — the glossary enforces vocabulary, the doctrine registry explains why that vocabulary matters.
Critical Risk Terms
Father
Approved rendering: पिता
Transliteration: Pita
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
God as personal Father.
God
Approved rendering: परमेश्वर
Transliteration: Parameshwar
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: भगवान
CRITICAL: never भगवान. This word carries unusually strong state-identity weight in Nepal, which was constitutionally declared the world’s only Hindu Kingdom until 2007 and whose kings, until 2008, were venerated as living avatars of Vishnu. परमेश्वर is the settled, neutral Nepali Christian standard.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: पवित्र आत्मा
Transliteration: Pavitra Atma
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: ब्रह्म, परमात्मा
CRITICAL: never ब्रह्म (the impersonal Hindu Absolute) or परमात्मा alone (the universal Self). पवित्र आत्मा is the personal Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: आरोपित धार्मिकता
Transliteration: aropit dharmikata
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: आर्जित धार्मिकता
Righteousness credited to the believer by God, NOT earned righteousness (आर्जित धार्मिकता, explicitly rejected).
Incarnation
Approved rendering: देहधारण
Transliteration: dehadharan
Doctrine: Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: अवतार
CRITICAL: NEVER use अवतार. This carries unusually recent, concrete political weight in Nepal: the Shah dynasty kings, who ruled until the monarchy’s 2008 abolition, were officially venerated as living avatars of Vishnu, making royal avatar-incarnation not an abstract textual idea but the very legitimating ideology of the Nepali state within living memory. देहधारण is the eternal Son permanently and uniquely assuming human nature, once, not a repeatable royal or divine descent.
Jesus
Approved rendering: येशू
Transliteration: Yeshu
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
CRITICAL: established Nepali Christian standard form across all major Nepali Bible translations.
Justification
Approved rendering: धर्मी ठहराइने कार्य
Transliteration: dharmi thahraine karya
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: माफी पाउने कार्य
Compound phrase required for the forensic, declared-righteous sense; never abbreviate to माफी (forgiveness) alone.
Lord
Approved rendering: प्रभु
Transliteration: prabhu
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: मालिक, ईश्वर
Established Nepali Christian term. Romans 10:9’s confession “Jesus is Lord” = येशू प्रभु हुनुहुन्छ। Must convey exclusive, supreme Lordship.
Messiah
Approved rendering: मसीह
Transliteration: Masih
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Transliterated term, established across Nepali Bible tradition. The Anointed One fulfilling Old Testament promise, not one of many divine or royal figures.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: पुनरुत्थान
Transliteration: punarutthan
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: पुनर्जन्म
CRITICAL: NEVER use पुनर्जन्म. Rebirth-driven-by-karma is not only a Hindu concept here but a core Buddhist teaching central to Nepal’s Newar and Himalayan Buddhist communities (rebirth across six realms). पुनरुत्थान is bodily, historical, once-for-all resurrection, ending the cycle rather than continuing it.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: धार्मिकता
Transliteration: dharmikata
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: धर्म, पुण्य
CRITICAL: NEVER use धर्म. In Nepal this word carries unusual additional weight: Nepal’s 1854 Muluki Ain, the state legal code that formally codified caste hierarchy, was itself framed as the nation’s dharma-code, and Nepal was constitutionally declared the world’s only Hindu Kingdom until 2007. धार्मिकता is right standing before God received through faith, not a duty performed, a caste-linked social order, or a state religious identity.
Salvation
Approved rendering: उद्धार
Transliteration: uddhar
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: मुक्ति, मोक्ष, निर्वाण
CRITICAL AND DUAL-FRONT, DISTINCT FROM OTHER LANGUAGES: Nepali must guard against two separate wrong frames at once. NEVER मुक्ति or मोक्ष (Hindu liberation from the rebirth cycle). NEVER निर्वाण (the Buddhist doctrine of extinguishing craving and self, held by Nepal’s significant Newar and Himalayan Buddhist communities). उद्धार is deliverance by a personal God through Christ, not release from an impersonal cycle and not the cessation of self.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: परमेश्वरका पुत्र
Transliteration: Parameshwarka Putra
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: देवपुत्र
CRITICAL: full phrase required. देवपुत्र (“son of a deva”) wrongly places Christ within a Hindu/Buddhist pantheon of lesser divine or celestial beings rather than as the eternal, unique Son within the Godhead.
High Risk Terms
Adoption
Approved rendering: दत्तक पुत्रता
Transliteration: dattak putrata
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: धर्मपुत्र बनाउने, गोद लिने
धर्मपुत्र (the common colloquial term for an adopted son) again carries the loaded धर्म root; दत्तक पुत्रता is preferred, emphasizing full son-status with complete inheritance rights.
Called
Approved rendering: बोलाइएका
Transliteration: bolaieka
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: निमन्त्रित
Context-sensitive: Romans 1:1 = called to apostleship; 1:7 = called to be saints; 8:28-30 = effectual calling to salvation.
Calling
Approved rendering: बोलावट
Transliteration: bolawat
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Noun form for the act or state of being called by God.
Covenant
Approved rendering: करार
Transliteration: karar
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: सम्झौता
Established Nepali Bible term (नयाँ करार = New Testament/New Covenant), distinct from Hindi’s वाचा. Relational covenant bond, more than a legal agreement (सम्झौता).
Election
Approved rendering: परमेश्वरको छनोट
Transliteration: Parameshwarko chhanot
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: भाग्य, किस्मत
God’s sovereign, personal choice; not karma-determined fate.
Faith
Approved rendering: विश्वास
Transliteration: vishwas
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: श्रद्धा, भक्ति
Personal trust in Christ specifically. श्रद्धा and भक्ति carry Hindu/Buddhist devotional-reverence connotations distinct from the specific, exclusive trust Romans describes.
Glory
Approved rendering: महिमा
Transliteration: mahima
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: तेज
God’s radiant honor and presence. Avoid light-metaphor terms that could conflate with Hindu/Tantric divine-radiance imagery associated with Kathmandu Valley’s living-goddess and deity traditions.
Gospel
Approved rendering: सुसमाचार
Transliteration: susamachar
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: खुशखबरी
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.
Grace
Approved rendering: अनुग्रह
Transliteration: anugraha
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: कृपा, पुण्य, भाग्य
Unmerited favor apart from human merit. पुण्य (accumulated religious merit, shared vocabulary of both Nepali Hindu and Buddhist ethics) directly contradicts this. कृपा may be used for general compassion in non-soteriological contexts only.
Holy
Approved rendering: पवित्र
Transliteration: pavitra
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: शुद्ध
Set apart for God and morally pure. शुद्ध carries ritual-purity connotations closer to Hindu/Buddhist ceremonial cleanliness.
Law
Approved rendering: व्यवस्था
Transliteration: vyavastha
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: धर्म, नियम
The Mosaic law. NEVER use धर्म. व्यवस्था is the established Nepali Bible rendering.
Obedience Of Faith
Approved rendering: विश्वासको आज्ञाकारिता
Transliteration: vishwasko agyakarita
Doctrine: Obedience of Faith
Rejected alternatives: धार्मिक कर्तव्य पालन
Romans 1:5 and 16:26. Obedience flowing from faith, not works-based religious duty that earns standing.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: परमेश्वरको सामर्थ्य
Transliteration: Parameshwarko samarthya
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Rejected alternatives: शक्ति
NEVER शक्ति. The Kathmandu Valley’s Newar Tantric tradition, including the living-goddess (Kumari) cult, gives शक्ति an unusually concrete, still-practiced ritual association in Nepal, beyond the more textual Shakta associations found elsewhere.
Providence
Approved rendering: परमेश्वरको व्यवस्थापन
Transliteration: Parameshwarko vyavasthapan
Doctrine: Providence
Rejected alternatives: भाग्य, कर्मको नियम
God’s personal, purposive governance; never भाग्य (fate) or कर्मको नियम (the law of karma).
Saints
Approved rendering: पवित्र जन
Transliteration: pavitra jan
Doctrine: Sainthood
Rejected alternatives: सन्त, साधु
Nepal’s historic Hindu-kingdom identity kept the sadhu/sant wandering-ascetic ideal especially prominent and state-honored (sadhus remain a visible presence at Pashupatinath and other national shrines). पवित्र जन applies to every ordinary believer, not an ascetic elite.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: पवित्रीकरण
Transliteration: pavitrikaran
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: शुद्धीकरण
The Spirit’s ongoing work of making believers holy; distinct from ritual purification.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: दाऊदको वंश
Transliteration: Daudko vansha
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Romans 1:3; conveys physical lineage and fulfillment of the Old Testament covenant promise to David.
Sin
Approved rendering: पाप
Transliteration: paap
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: अकुशल कर्म
Moral transgression before a personal God. अकुशल कर्म (“unskillful action,” the Buddhist framing of wrongdoing as impersonal cause-and-effect rather than offense against a personal God) is explicitly distinguished, not merely a stylistic alternative.
Medium Risk Terms
Abba
Approved rendering: अब्बा
Transliteration: Abba
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Preserve the Aramaic transliteration in Romans 8:15; a brief explanatory note on its intimate, filial meaning is needed, as this is not part of everyday Nepali vocabulary.
Apostle
Approved rendering: प्रेरित
Transliteration: prerit
Doctrine: Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: दूत
Established Nepali Christian term: an authorized, sent-out messenger with delegated apostolic authority.
Church
Approved rendering: मण्डली
Transliteration: mandali
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: मन्दिर, गुम्बा
मण्डली (assembly/congregation) is the established term for the doctrinal Church. Never use मन्दिर (Hindu temple) or गुम्बा (Buddhist monastery/gompa, relevant given Nepal’s Buddhist population).
David
Approved rendering: दाऊद
Transliteration: Daud
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Established Nepali Bible proper-name form.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: अन्यजाति
Transliteration: anyajati
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: विदेशी
Non-Jewish peoples generally; established Nepali Bible term.
Intercession
Approved rendering: मध्यस्थता
Transliteration: madhyasthata
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Prayer on behalf of others before God.
Israel
Approved rendering: इस्राएल
Transliteration: Israel
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Established proper-name form.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: परमेश्वरको राज्य
Transliteration: Parameshwarko Rajya
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
God’s sovereign reign, not a territorial or political kingdom — a distinction worth making explicit in a country whose head of state was, until recently, a divinely-legitimated monarch.
Mission
Approved rendering: सुसमाचार प्रचार
Transliteration: susamachar prachar
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
Distinct from other languages in this pipeline: open evangelism in Nepal carries concrete, current legal risk under provisions of the 2017 Muluki Criminal Code restricting religious conversion, not merely social or cultural sensitivity.
Peace
Approved rendering: शान्ति
Transliteration: shanti
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: सुख
In Romans 5:1, relational peace with God through justification, not merely psychological calm or meditative equanimity.
Spiritual Gifts
Approved rendering: आत्मिक वरदान
Transliteration: atmik varadan
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts
Rejected alternatives: वरदान
वरदान alone means “boon,” familiar from Hindu deity-grants-a-boon narratives. Always pair with आत्मिक (Spirit-given).
Low Risk Terms
Exhort
Approved rendering: उत्साहित पार्नु
Transliteration: utsahit parnu
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Context-sensitive: बिन्ती गर्नु (entreaty) for beseeching; उत्साहित पार्नु (encourage) for building up.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: सहभागिता
Transliteration: sahabhagita
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: मित्रता
Shared participation in Christ. Given Nepal’s young, historically restricted church (Christianity was effectively illegal until the 1990 democracy movement), सहभागिता carries real lived weight as covenant community formed under past legal risk, not merely social friendship (मित्रता).
Prophecy
Approved rendering: अगमवाणी
Transliteration: agamavani
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
God-inspired declaration, distinct from astrological prediction.
Prophet
Approved rendering: अगमवक्ता
Transliteration: agamavakta
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: ज्योतिषी
God’s spokesperson; established Nepali Christian term. Do not confuse with ज्योतिषी (astrologer).
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: धन्यवाद
Transliteration: dhanyavad
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Standard term. No significant doctrinal risk.
Referenced passages