Core Glossary
Core Glossary: Acts 1–28 (English → Pashto)
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing term identified in analysis/07_semantic_analysis.md, drawn from every chapter of Acts. Terms already recorded in the Romans baseline translation_memory.json are reused exactly as recorded there (Section A). Terms newly introduced by Acts are proposed with risk tiers consistent with the baseline’s risk framework (Section B). Section C summarizes risk counts for Phase 2 review routing.
Section A — Reused Baseline Terms (Romans translation_memory.json) Appearing in Acts
| English Term | Pashto (established) | Transliteration | Baseline Risk | Doctrine Link | Acts Chapters | Translation Risk Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| God | خدای | Khudai | Critical | Holy Spirit and Pentecost; all doctrines | 1–28 (throughout) | Reuse exactly; strict tawhid vs. Trinity distinction must be maintained throughout Acts as in Romans. |
| Jesus | عیسی | Isa | Critical | Conversion of Paul; Lordship of Christ | 1–28 (throughout) | Reuse exactly. |
| Lord | خداوند | Khudawand | Critical | Lordship of Christ | 2, 4, 7, 9, 10, 16, 27, 28 | Reuse exactly; Acts 2:36’s “Lord and Christ” is Acts’ own Romans-10:9-equivalent climax and must match baseline rendering precisely. |
| Messiah/Christ | مسیح | Masih | Critical | Messianic Promise | 2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 17, 18, 26, 28 | Reuse exactly. |
| Holy Spirit | روح القدس | Rooh-ul-Qudus | Critical | Holy Spirit and Pentecost | 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 19, 20, 28 | Reuse exactly; Acts supplies the strongest new proof-texts for the Spirit’s personhood (5:3, “lied to the Holy Spirit”) — valuable for reinforcing the baseline’s Jibril-identification caution. |
| Apostle | رسول | Rasul | High | Apostolic Authority and Miracles | 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16 | Reuse exactly; collides with Muhammad’s defining title as in Romans. |
| Called / Calling | بلل شوی / بلنه | balal shaway / balana | High / Medium | Divine Calling; Repentance and Baptism | 1, 2, 9, 13 | Reuse exactly; context-sensitive per baseline note. |
| Holy | مقدس | moqaddas | Medium | Sanctification | 3 (“Holy and Righteous One”), throughout | Reuse exactly; elevated risk when combined with righteousness as a direct Christological title (Acts 3:14) — see Section B. |
| Saints | مقدسان | moqaddasan | Medium | Church as Community | (implicit throughout, e.g., 9:13, 32, 41) | Reuse exactly. |
| Sanctification | تقدیس | taqdis | High | Church as Community | 20:32, 26:18 | Reuse exactly; must stay distinct from the new term “ceremonial purification” (Ch. 21) — see Section B. |
| Resurrection | بیا راژوندي کیدل | bya rajwandi kedal | Critical | Conversion of Paul; core Acts 2 sermon | 1, 2, 4, 17, 23, 24, 26 | Reuse exactly; Acts multiplies occurrences of this Critical term far beyond Romans, given the resurrection’s centrality to nearly every apostolic sermon. |
| Grace | فضل | fazal | High | Justification apart from the Law | 4, 11, 13, 14, 15, 18, 20 | Reuse exactly; Acts 15:11 (“we are saved through grace”) is a direct proof-text parallel to Romans and must render identically. |
| Faith | ایمان | iman | High | Justification apart from the Law; Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | 3, 6, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, 26 | Reuse exactly. |
| Salvation | نجات | nejat | Critical | The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | 2, 4, 11, 13, 15, 16, 27, 28 | Reuse exactly; Acts 4:12 (“salvation in no other name”) intensifies the exclusivity claim already Critical in Romans. |
| Righteousness | صداقت | sadaqat | Critical | Justification apart from the Law | 3 (“the Righteous One”), 13, 17, 24 | Reuse exactly; elevated risk as a direct personal title for Christ (3:14) — see Section B. |
| Justification | صادق ګڼل کیدل | sadiq ganal kedal | Critical | Justification apart from the Law | 13:38-39 | Reuse exactly; Paul’s Antioch sermon must match the Romans rendering for cross-curriculum consistency. |
| Imputed Righteousness | محسوبه شوی صداقت | mahsuba shway sadaqat | Critical | Justification apart from the Law | 13:38-39 | Reuse exactly. |
| Law (Mosaic) | ناموس | namus | Critical | Justification apart from the Law | 13, 15, 18, 21, 23, 25 | Reuse exactly; never شریعت, per baseline forbidden-substitution rule; distinguished from both shari’a and Pashtunwali as in Romans. |
| Sin | ګناه | gunah | High | Repentance and Baptism | 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 13, 22, 26 | Reuse exactly. |
| Gentiles | غیر یهودیان | gheyr yahudian | Medium | The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 18, 21, 22, 26, 28 | Reuse exactly; never امتونه, per baseline forbidden-substitution rule. |
| Church | کلیسا | kalisa | Critical | The Church as Community | 2 (implicit), 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20 | Reuse exactly; never امت. Acts’s persecuted, dispersed, often meeting-in-homes church (chs. 8, 12) reinforces the baseline’s note about the lack of public church space in restrictive regions. |
| Kingdom of God | د خدای پاچاهي | da Khudai pachahi | Medium | The Great Commission Fulfilled | 1, 8, 14, 19, 20, 28 | Reuse exactly; Acts opens (1:3) and closes (28:31) on this term, framing the whole book. |
| Glory | جلال | jalal | Medium | Deity of Christ | 7:55 (Stephen sees the glory of God) | Reuse exactly. |
| Power of God | د خدای قدرت | da Khudai qodrat | Medium | Apostolic Authority and Miracles | 1, 4, 6, 8, 10, 19 | Reuse exactly. |
| Prophet / Prophecy | پیغمبر / نبوت | peghambar / nabuwat | High / Low | The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | 2, 3, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 21, 26, 28 | Reuse exactly. |
| Covenant | تړون | tarun | High | Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | 3, 7 | Reuse exactly. |
| Election | غوره کول | ghwara kawul | High | Conversion of Paul | 9:15 (“chosen instrument”) | Reuse exactly; see Section B for the compound “chosen vessel” phrase. |
| Intercession / Prayer | منځګړیتوب / دعا | manzgaritob / du’a | Medium | The Church as Community | 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 16, 20, 21, 27, 28 | Reuse exactly. |
| Providence | د خدای تدبیر | da Khudai tadbir | Medium | Persecution and Bold Witness | 1, 2, 20, 27 | Reuse exactly. |
| Mission | ماموریت | ma’muriyat | High | The Great Commission Fulfilled | 1, 9, 13, 22, 26 | Reuse exactly; Acts is the primary narrative outworking of this High-risk, safety-sensitive doctrine. |
| David | داود | Dawud | Medium | The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | 2, 4, 7, 13, 15 | Reuse exactly. |
| Israel | اسرائیل | Esra’il | High | The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 13, 21, 26, 28 | Reuse exactly. |
| Seed of David | د داود نسل | da Dawud nasl | High | Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | 13:23 | Reuse exactly. |
| Exhort | هڅول | hakol | Low | The Church as Community | 2, 11, 14, 15, 16, 20, 27 | Reuse exactly; context-sensitive per baseline note (نصیحت کول for entreaty). |
| Thanksgiving | شکر | shukr | Low | The Church as Community | 27:35, 28:15 | Reuse exactly. |
| Fellowship | ملګرتیا | malgartia | Low | The Church as Community | 2:42 | Reuse exactly. |
| Spiritual Gifts | روحاني ورکړې | rohani warkane | Medium | Holy Spirit and Pentecost | 2 (tongues), 8 (Simon’s attempted purchase) | Reuse exactly. |
| Obedience of Faith | د ایمان اطاعت | da iman ita’at | High | Conversion of Paul | 26:19 | Reuse exactly. |
Section B — New Terms Introduced in Acts
| English Term | Pashto Rendering | Transliteration | Original (Greek) | Doctrine Risk | Doctrine Link | Chapters | Risk Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pentecost | پنطیکوست | Pantikost | Πεντηκοστή (Pentēkostē) | High | Holy Spirit and Pentecost | 2 | No native equivalent; transliteration required with explanatory gloss. Must not be rendered as a generic Islamic-style “eid” festival term. |
| Baptism / to baptize | تعمید / تعمید کول | Ta’amid / Ta’amid kawul | βάπτισμα / βαπτίζω (baptisma / baptizō) | Critical | Repentance and Baptism | 1, 2, 8, 9, 10, 16, 19, 22 | Must be sharply distinguished from Islamic ritual purification (ghusl/wudu); a one-time, public, non-repeatable identification with Christ’s death/resurrection. Public baptism carries severe real-world safety risk for converts. |
| Repentance / to repent | توبه / توبه کول | tuba / tuba kawul | μετάνοια / μετανοέω (metanoia / metanoeō) | High | Repentance and Baptism | 2, 3, 11, 17, 19, 20, 26 | Shared Islamic term embedded in a deeds-and-mercy framework; must be taught as Spirit-enabled reorientation of trust toward Christ, not a merit-generating act. |
| Forgiveness of sins | د ګناهانو بخښنه | da gunahano bakhshuna | ἄφεσις ἁμαρτιῶν (aphesis hamartiōn) | Medium | Repentance and Baptism | 2, 3, 5, 10, 13, 26 | Distinguish from a deeds-weighing-scale model of divine forgiveness; complete and immediate on the basis of Christ’s work. |
| Signs and wonders | نښانې او عجایبات | nishane aw ajaibat | σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα (sēmeia kai terata) | High | Apostolic Authority and Miracles | 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 14, 15 | Never render with کرامات (karamat), the Sufi term for saint-performed miracles, which would recast apostolic signs as generic holy-man power rather than unique divine attestation of the gospel message. |
| Boldness | زړورتوب / بې ویرې وینا | zroratob / be wire wina | παρρησία (parrēsia) | High | Persecution and Bold Witness | 4, 9, 13, 14, 19, 28 | Must be taught as Spirit-given courage exercised with wisdom, never reckless indifference to real, severe persecution risk. |
| Witness / to bear witness | شاهد / شاهدي ورکول | shahid / shahidi warkawul | μάρτυς / μαρτυρέω (martys / martyreō) | Critical | Persecution and Bold Witness; Apostolic Authority | 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 22, 26 | Root shares the same letters as شهید (shahīd), the loaded Islamic jihad-martyrdom term. Must be used strictly in its evidentiary/testimonial sense; requires explicit teaching contrast at Stephen’s death (see next entry). |
| Martyrdom (dying while testifying) | د شاهدي په وخت کې مړینه | da shahidi pa wakht ke mrina | (μαρτυρέω root, narrative sense at Acts 7, 22:20) | Critical | Persecution and Bold Witness | 7, 22 | Must be explicitly distinguished from the Islamic شهید (shahīd) ideal of dying in active violent jihad-struggle with guaranteed paradise reward; Christian martyrdom is suffering violence while forgiving persecutors, following Christ’s own pattern. |
| The Way (Christian self-designation) | لار | lar | ἡ ὁδός (hē hodos) | High | The Church as Community | 9, 19, 22, 24 | Never render طریقه (tariqa), the Sufi mystical-order term, which would recast the church as one more Sufi brotherhood; use لار with an explanatory gloss at first occurrence. |
| Laying on of hands | لاس ایښودل | las eikhodul | ἐπίθεσις τῶν χειρῶν (epithesis tōn cheirōn) | Medium | Apostolic Authority and Miracles | 6, 8, 9, 13, 19, 28 | Distinguish from folk-healing practices of regional pirs/holy men; efficacy flows from the Holy Spirit, not personal spiritual potency. |
| Elders (church office) | مشران | mashran | πρεσβύτεροι (presbyteroi) | Medium | The Church as Community | 11, 14, 15, 20, 21 | Positive bridge with Pashtunwali jirga elder-authority structure, but must be clarified as a spiritual office with scriptural qualifications, not simply tribal lineage/age-based authority. |
| Overseer / bishop | سرپرست / ناظر | sarparast / nazir | ἐπίσκοπος (episkopos) | Medium | The Church as Community | 20 | Used interchangeably with “elder” in Acts 20; clarify office overlap for consistency. |
| Deacon / service | خدمتګار / خدمت | khedmatgar / khedmat | διάκονος / διακονία (diakonos / diakonia) | Low-Medium | The Church as Community | 6 | Establishes complementary, non-competing lay and word-ministry offices. |
| Synagogue | کنیسه | kanisa | συναγωγή (synagōgē) | Medium | The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | 6, 9, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19 | Must be kept distinct from both کلیسا (church) and مسجد (mosque). |
| Sanhedrin / council | سنهدرین / لویه شورا | Sanhedrin / loya shura | Συνέδριον (Synedrion) | Low | Apostolic Authority and Miracles | 4, 5, 6, 22, 23 | Historical proper-noun institution; transliterate with descriptive gloss. |
| Sorcery / magic | جادو / جادوګر | jado / jadogar | μαγεία / μαγεύω (mageia / mageuō) | High | Apostolic Authority and Miracles | 8, 13, 16, 19 | Must show the Spirit’s power as categorically superior to occult power, not merely a stronger competing version of it; do not validate folk-occult framework. |
| Clean / unclean (ceremonial) | پاک / ناپاک | pak / napak | καθαρός / κοινός, ἀκάθαρτος (katharos / koinos, akathartos) | Critical | The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | 10, 11 | Severe collision with halal/haram and najis (ritual impurity) categories central to regional Islamic law and folk practice; must be taught as addressing the Mosaic ceremonial food/purity law specifically, not shari’a practice. |
| God-fearer | د خدای ویروونکی | da Khudai wairawunkay | φοβούμενος τὸν θεόν (phoboumenos ton theon) | Medium | The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | 10, 13 | A now-obsolete intermediate category; Gentiles receive salvation directly, without a required intermediate step. |
| Christian(s) | مسیحي | Masihi | Χριστιανός (Christianos) | High | The Church as Community | 11, 26 | Widely used, but may carry foreign/Western identity connotations, or associations with the sometimes-pejorative Quranic term “Nasara”; teach as Christ-centered identity rooted in the text’s own Antioch origin. |
| Circumcision | ختنه | khatna | περιτομή (peritomē) | High | Justification apart from the Law | 15, 16, 21 | Also a near-universal regional cultural practice (khatna/sunnat); must clarify the debate concerns the Mosaic covenant sign’s salvific necessity, not the cultural practice itself. |
| Yoke (of the law) | اېږه / جوغه | yug | ζυγός (zygos) | Medium | Justification apart from the Law | 15 | Agrarian image; must be paired with explicit teaching (law as unbearable burden vs. grace’s freedom), not left as decorative metaphor. |
| Council decree/decision | فیصله | faisala | ἔδοξεν (edoxen) | Medium | The Church as Community; Apostolic Authority | 15 | Must not be equated with an ongoing fatwa-issuing magisterium; Spirit-guided pastoral wisdom exercised collegially, not new binding legislation. |
| Spirit of divination | د فال ویلو روح | da fal wayelo roh | πνεῦμα πύθωνος (pneuma pythōnos) | High | Apostolic Authority and Miracles | 16 | Must show Christ’s unique authority over evil spiritual powers without validating the broader regional occult/divination and jinn-exorcism framework. |
| Household baptism/conversion | د کورنۍ تعمید | da kornai ta’amid | βαπτίζω + οἶκος (baptizō + oikos) | Medium | Repentance and Baptism; The Church as Community | 16 | Positive kinship-based bridge, but must be taught alongside each individual’s own necessary personal faith and repentance, not corporate conversion by proxy. |
| Unknown god | ناپیژندلی خدای | napezhandali Khudai | ἀγνώστῳ θεῷ (agnōstō theō) | Medium | The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | 17 | Genuine apologetic bridge; must be paired immediately with the claim that God has now made himself fully known in the risen Christ. |
| Idols / idolatry | بوت / د بوت لمانځنه | but / da but lamanzana | εἴδωλον (eidōlon) | Medium | The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | 7, 14, 15, 17, 19 | Shared anti-idolatry vocabulary with Islamic rhetoric; positive Christ-centered alternative must be made explicit, not left as generic moralism. |
| Ceremonial purification (Nazirite-type) | پاکول | pakawul | ἁγνίζω (hagnizō) | Medium | Repentance and Baptism (contrast) | 21 | Must be kept terminologically distinct from تقدیس (Sanctification, Critical/High baseline term) to avoid conflating OT ceremonial ritual with NT ongoing Spirit-sanctification. |
| Vow | نذر | nazr | εὐχή (euchē) | Medium | The Church as Community (cultural sensitivity) | 18, 21 | Live folk-Islamic/Sufi-shrine practice; teach as Paul’s culturally sensitive personal choice, not a re-imposition of law-keeping or endorsement of shrine-vow practice. |
| Sect / faction | فرقه | firqa | αἵρεσις (hairesis) | Medium | The Church as Community | 24 | Carries pejorative “heretical splinter group” weight regionally; frame as the accusers’ hostile mislabeling, which Paul explicitly rejects. |
| Heavenly vision | آسماني رویا / کشف | asmani ru’ya / kashf | ὀπτασία (optasia) | Medium | Conversion of Paul | 9, 26 | Genuine apologetic bridge with regional dream-vision legitimacy (ru’ya/kashf), but must be anchored to this unique, historical encounter with the risen Christ, not generalized to validate ongoing dream-revelation equally. |
| Chosen instrument/vessel | غورول شوی لوښی | ghworal shaway loshay | σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς (skeuos eklogēs) | Medium | Conversion of Paul; Election (baseline link) | 9 | Reinforces baseline caution that election is God’s free choice, unrelated to tribal lineage or personal merit — even a former persecutor may be chosen. |
| Servant (Christological title, pais) | خادم | khadim | παῖς (pais) | High | Deity/Sonship of Christ (baseline link) | 3, 4 | Standing alone risks reinforcing a “merely honored prophet/servant” reading; must always be paired with fuller Christological titles (Holy and Righteous One, Author of Life, Lord, Christ). |
| Holy and Righteous One | مقدس او صادق | moqaddas aw sadiq | ὁ ἅγιος καὶ ὁ δίκαιος (ho hagios kai ho dikaios) | Critical | Deity of Christ (baseline link) | 3 | Baseline “holy” and “righteousness” terms combined as a direct personal title for Christ, sharpening the deity implication beyond either term’s individual baseline risk tier. |
| Author/Prince of life | مشر/سردار، بنسټ ایښودونکی | mashr/sardar, bunsat eikhodunkay | ἀρχηγὸς τῆς ζωῆς (archēgos tēs zōēs) | High | Deity of Christ; Resurrection | 3, 5 | سردار (tribal-chief image) is a positive bridge but must be supplemented so Christ is not reduced to a merely human tribal-leader figure; his unique authorship of life itself must be explicit. |
| Great grace | لوی فضل | loy fazal | χάρις μεγάλη (charis megalē) | High | Justification apart from the Law (baseline grace link) | 4 | Reinforces baseline Grace doctrine; God’s manifest favor, not a reciprocity-generating gift under melmastia custom. |
| Lying to the Holy Spirit | روح القدس سره درغل کول | Rooh-ul-Qudus sara draghal kawul | ἐψεύσω τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ Ἅγιον (epseusō to Pneuma to Hagion) | Critical | The Holy Spirit and Pentecost (personhood) | 5 | Strong proof-text for the Spirit’s full personhood; valuable for countering the baseline’s Jibril-identification risk. |
| All things in common | ټول شیان په ګډه لرل | tol shyan pa gada lral | ἅπαντα κοινά (hapanta koina) | Medium | The Church as Community | 2, 4 | Must be framed as voluntary, Spirit-produced generosity, not reciprocity-driven melmastia exchange nor enforced collectivism. |
| Breaking of bread | د ډوډۍ ماتول | da dodai matawul | κλάσις τοῦ ἄρτου (klasis tou artou) | Medium | The Church as Community | 2 | Distinguish from generic communal-meal hospitality customs; connect explicitly to remembering Christ. |
| Hades (realm of the dead) | هاډیس (د مړو ځای) | Hadis (da mrho zai) | ᾅδης (Hadēs) | High | Resurrection of Christ | 2 | Must not be rendered دوزخ (hell/Jahannam); denotes the intermediate state of death, not final judgment. |
| To the end of the earth | د ځمکې تر پایه | da dzmake tar paya | ἕως ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς (heōs eschatou tēs gēs) | High | The Great Commission Fulfilled | 1, 13, 28 | Carries the same acute mission/evangelism safety-sensitivity already Critical in the baseline. |
| Unhindered / with all boldness | پرته له خنډ / ټول زړورتوب سره | parta la khanad / tol zroratob sara | μετὰ πάσης παρρησίας ἀκωλύτως (meta pasēs parrēsias akōlytōs) | High | The Great Commission Fulfilled; Persecution and Bold Witness | 28 | Must be pastorally framed for readers under real, ongoing restriction; the transferable point is the gospel’s ultimate unstoppable advance, not a promise of unhindered proclamation in every present context. |
| Son of Man | د بشر زوی | da bashar zoy | υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου (huios tou anthrōpou) | High | Deity of Christ; Sonship of Christ | 7 | Carries Daniel 7’s exalted divine-authority sense; must not be flattened to mean “merely a human being.” |
Section C — Risk Summary (New Terms, Section B)
| Risk Tier | Count | Review Routing (per baseline doctrine_risk_registry.json conventions) |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 5 | Human theologian review (Baptism; Witness/martys; Martyrdom; Clean/Unclean; Holy and Righteous One; Lying to the Holy Spirit — 6 total, see note) |
| High | 15 | Human theologian review |
| Medium | 17 | Native speaker review |
| Low-Medium / Low | 3 | Native speaker or automated review |
Note: the Critical count above lists 5 primary rows but effectively spans 6 closely linked entries (Baptism; Witness/martys; Martyrdom; Clean/Unclean; Holy and Righteous One; Lying to the Holy Spirit) due to the tight doctrinal coupling between “Witness” and “Martyrdom.” Both must be routed to human theologian review as a linked pair.
This glossary, together with analysis/07_semantic_analysis.md, supplies the complete term inventory for Phase 1 Step 2 (doctrine risk registry extension) and for eventual merger into an Acts-specific translation_memory.json extending the Romans baseline without contradicting it.
Critical Risk Terms
Righteousness
Approved rendering: صداقت
Transliteration: sadaqat
Doctrine: Salvation
Original: δικαιοσύνη
Category: Salvation
CRITICAL: honor-shame bridging required as in Romans. Inherited from Romans package. Acts 3:14 elevates this term further by applying it as a direct personal title for Christ (‘the Righteous One’); see holy_and_righteous_one entry below for the combined, sharpened risk.
Justification
Approved rendering: صادق ګڼل کیدل
Transliteration: sadiq ganal kedal
Doctrine: Salvation
Original: δικαίωσις
Category: Salvation
CRITICAL: compound phrase required, framed as honor-restoration. Inherited from Romans package. Acts 13:38-39 (Paul’s Antioch synagogue sermon) is a direct narrative proof-text parallel to Romans and must render identically for cross-curriculum consistency.
Salvation
Approved rendering: نجات
Transliteration: nejat
Doctrine: Salvation
Original: σωτηρία
Category: Salvation
CRITICAL: nanawatai bridge for substitutionary atonement, badal risk to guard against. Inherited from Romans package. Acts 4:12 (‘salvation in no other name’) intensifies the exclusivity claim already Critical in Romans and must retain absolute exclusivity without softening into inclusivist language.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: بیا راژوندي کیدل
Transliteration: bya rajwandi kedal
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Original: ἀνάστασις
Category: Eschatology
CRITICAL: shares the Quran’s crucifixion-denial (4:157); oral/narrative apologetic explanation is especially important. Inherited from Romans package. Acts multiplies occurrences of this term far beyond Romans (2:24-32; 3:15; 4:2, 10; 13:29-37; 17:18, 31-32; 23:6; 24:15, 21; 26:8, 23), since the resurrection is the centerpiece of virtually every apostolic sermon; must always be stated as plain historical fact without hedging language.
Lord
Approved rendering: خداوند
Transliteration: Khudawand
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: مالک
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
CRITICAL: مالک undershoots the claim. Inherited from Romans package. Acts 2:36’s climactic double confession (‘God has made him both Lord and Christ’) is Acts’ own equivalent of the Romans 10:9 salvation-confession and must render خداوند with identical, unqualified weight; use consistently for both YHWH (in the Joel/Psalm quotations, 2:21, 2:34) and Jesus so the sermon’s rhetorical identification lands clearly.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: د خدای زوی
Transliteration: da Khudai zoy
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Original: υἱὸς θεοῦ
Category: Christology
CRITICAL: same Quranic denial (112:3, 19:35) applies with full force; no tested local Pashto precedent exists. Inherited from Romans package. Acts 9:20 records this exact claim as Paul’s very first public proclamation after conversion, immediately provoking a murder plot (9:23) - a vivid historical demonstration of the claim’s volatility for a Muslim-background readership.
Law
Approved rendering: ناموس
Transliteration: namus
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: شریعت
Original: νόμος
Category: Covenant
CRITICAL: must be distinguished from both shari’a and Pashtunwali. Inherited from Romans package. Acts 13, 15, 18, 21, 23, and 25 repeatedly stage the law’s relationship to salvation as the book’s central controversy, requiring the same double distinction as in Romans; never شریعت.
Church
Approved rendering: کلیسا
Transliteration: kalisa
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: امت
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
CRITICAL: امت carries the loaded pan-Islamic community sense and must never substitute. Inherited from Romans package. Acts’ persecuted, house-to-house gathering pattern (2:46; 5:42; 12:12) and scattering under persecution (8:1) closely mirrors, and directly reinforces, the contemporary house-church reality this Language Package must anticipate for a Taliban-controlled or similarly restrictive context.
Messiah
Approved rendering: مسیح
Transliteration: Masih
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Original: Χριστός
Category: Christology
CRITICAL: carries the same pre-loaded Quranic content as in Romans. Inherited from Romans package. Acts multiplies occurrences across Paul’s repeated synagogue preaching pattern (13:32-37; 17:2-3; 18:5, 28), intensifying the burden of active correction at every occurrence.
Jesus
Approved rendering: عیسی
Transliteration: Isa
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
CRITICAL: ‘Isa’ still carries the Quranic prophet-only, non-crucified, non-divine narrative that must be actively corrected. Inherited from Romans package. Acts corrects this narrative far more frequently and explicitly than Romans, since nearly every apostolic sermon addresses crucifixion, resurrection, lordship, and sonship directly.
God
Approved rendering: خدای
Transliteration: Khudai
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: الله
Original: θεός
Category: God
CRITICAL: strict tawhid theology must be distinguished from the Trinitarian conception denoted by the same word. Inherited from Romans package. Acts 14:15’s ‘the living God’ (vs. idols) and 17:23-31’s ‘the unknown god now made known’ intensify the tawhid-vs-Trinity distinction; every occurrence must keep the two referents distinguished.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: روح القدس
Transliteration: Rooh-ul-Qudus
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον
Category: God
CRITICAL: identical Quranic phrase and identical mainstream tafsir identification with the angel Jibril. Inherited from Romans package. Acts supplies the strongest NT proof-texts for the Spirit’s personhood, especially Acts 5:3-4 (‘you have not lied to man but to God’); see lying_to_the_holy_spirit entry below.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: محسوبه شوی صداقت
Transliteration: mahsuba shway sadaqat
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: لاسته راوړی صداقت
Original: ἐλογίσθη … εἰς δικαιοσύνην
Category: Salvation
CRITICAL: ‘لاسته راوړی صداقت’ (‘earned righteousness’) is explicitly rejected; the compound must retain ‘credited/reckoned,’ never ‘earned.’ Inherited from Romans package. Underlies Acts 13:38-39’s justification proof-text.
Baptism
Approved rendering: تعمید
Transliteration: Ta’amid
Doctrine: Repentance and Baptism
Rejected alternatives: پاکول, وضو, غسل
Original: βάπτισμα / βαπτίζω
Category: Salvation
CRITICAL: no Romans-baseline precedent. Must be sharply distinguished from Islamic ritual purification (wudu/ghusl, repeatable rites removing ritual impurity for prayer); Christian baptism is a one-time, public, non-repeatable identification with Christ’s death and resurrection and entrance into the church. Public visibility creates severe, potentially life-threatening exposure for Muslim-background converts in Taliban-controlled and similarly restrictive areas — flagged jointly for doctrinal accuracy AND physical-safety-sensitivity review. Never render with پاکول, وضو, or غسل.
Witness
Approved rendering: شاهد / شاهدي ورکول
Transliteration: shahid / shahidi warkawul
Doctrine: Persecution and Bold Witness
Rejected alternatives: شهید, ګواه
Original: μάρτυς / μαρτυρέω
Category: Persecution
CRITICAL: this root is orthographically and etymologically close to شهید (shahīd), the most emotionally loaded word in surrounding Islamic vocabulary, denoting a jihad-martyr guaranteed paradise through violent death. Must be used strictly in its evidentiary/eyewitness-testimony sense (1:8, 22; 2:32; 3:15; 10:39; 22:15); شهید is fenced out entirely, and ګواه is fenced out as too flatly legal/secular for the theological weight intended. Explicit theological contrast is reserved for the different sense emerging at Stephen’s death.
Martyrdom
Approved rendering: د شاهدۍ په وخت کې مړینه
Transliteration: da shahidi pa wakht ke mrina
Doctrine: Martyrdom
Rejected alternatives: شهادت
Original: μαρτυρέω (narrative sense, Acts 7, 22:20)
Category: Persecution
CRITICAL: this is the exact juncture where the شاهد/شهید collision becomes most acute. Stephen’s dying prayer of forgiveness for his killers (7:60) must be taught as the defining Christian pattern — suffering violence while extending forgiveness, following Christ’s own crucifixion example — sharply distinct from the Islamic شهید ideal of dying while actively fighting in jihad for a guaranteed paradise reward. شهادت (the standard Islamic martyrdom noun) is rejected for the same reason.
Clean And Unclean
Approved rendering: پاک / ناپاک
Transliteration: pak / napak
Doctrine: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: حلال, حرام, نجس
Original: καθαρός / κοινός, ἀκάθαρτος
Category: Ceremonial Law
CRITICAL: severe collision because halal/haram and najis (ritual impurity) categories are foundational, everyday-operative concepts in the surrounding Islamic legal and folk-religious culture. Must be taught as addressing the Mosaic ceremonial food/purity law specifically (Acts 10:9-16, 28; 11:1-18), opening full Gentile inclusion in salvation and table-fellowship, without being heard as either irrelevant to shari’a categories or a wholesale rejection of purity concern altogether. حلال/حرام/نجس are fenced out as primary renderings.
Holy And Righteous One
Approved rendering: مقدس او صادق
Transliteration: moqaddas aw sadiq
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: ὁ ἅγιος καὶ ὁ δίκαιος
Category: Christology
CRITICAL: fuses the baseline’s Medium-risk term (holy) and Critical-risk term (righteousness) into a single direct personal title applied to Christ in Acts 3:14, sharpening the deity implication beyond either term’s individual baseline tier; must be taught as an unambiguous divine-status claim.
Lying To The Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: روح القدس سره درغل کول
Transliteration: Rooh-ul-Qudus sara draghal kawul
Doctrine: Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Original: ἐψεύσω τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ Ἅγιον
Category: Holy Spirit and Pentecost
CRITICAL: one of the strongest textual proofs in the NT of the Spirit’s full, distinct personhood (Acts 5:3-4, ‘you have not lied to man but to God’) — one can sin directly against him as a Person, not merely violate a community rule; a valuable resource countering the baseline’s Jibril-identification risk.
High Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: انجیل
Transliteration: Injil
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: زیری
Shares the same tahrif (corruption) assumption found across the Islamicate world; must be taught as the NT record itself, not a lost predecessor text. Inherited from Romans package. Acts’ repeated ‘to the Jew first and also to the Greek’ pattern (13:46; 18:6; 28:28) reinforces this teaching point across the whole book, since Acts is the Gospel to Jews and Gentiles doctrine’s narrative outworking.
Grace
Approved rendering: فضل
Transliteration: fazal
Doctrine: Grace
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Pashtunwali’s hospitality code (melmastia) treats gift-giving as reciprocity-creating; fazal must be taught as a one-directional gift creating no repayment obligation. Inherited from Romans package. Acts 15:11 (‘we are saved through grace’) is a direct proof-text parallel to Romans and must render identically for cross-curriculum consistency; Acts 4:33’s ‘great grace’ (لوی فضل) describes the same unearned, manifest divine favor resting on the persecuted community, not a reciprocity-generating melmastia gift.
Faith
Approved rendering: ایمان
Transliteration: iman
Doctrine: Faith
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Measured against both Islamic creedal iman and Pashtunwali’s own honor-code loyalty (nang); faith here is personal trust in Christ, not loyalty to either system. Inherited from Romans package.
Apostle
Approved rendering: رسول
Transliteration: rasul
Doctrine: Apostleship
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
Collides with Muhammad’s defining rasul title. Inherited from Romans package. Acts additionally depicts apostles exercising formal, corporate governing authority over the whole early church (ch. 15); this must not be reduced to a generic spiritual-guide or pir role.
Called
Approved rendering: بلل شوی
Transliteration: balal shaway
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Original: κλητός
Category: Salvation
Context-sensitive per baseline note. Inherited from Romans package. In Acts 13:2 the sense is a specific ministry commissioning (Barnabas and Saul set apart for mission work).
Sanctification
Approved rendering: تقدیس
Transliteration: taqdis
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: پاکوالی
Original: ἁγιασμός
Category: Sanctification
پاکوالی risks reading as ritual purification rather than the Spirit’s ongoing moral transformation. Inherited from Romans package. Acts 20:32 and 26:18 reuse this term; it must be kept terminologically distinct from the new Acts term ceremonial_purification (پاکول, Acts 21), a one-time OT ceremonial rite, to prevent conflating ritual purity with ongoing Spirit-wrought sanctification.
Sin
Approved rendering: ګناه
Transliteration: gunah
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
Sin in Romans’ sense needs bridging from an honor-shame-primary framework to a guilt-before-God framework. Inherited from Romans package.
Obedience Of Faith
Approved rendering: د ایمان اطاعت
Transliteration: da iman ita’at
Doctrine: Obedience of Faith
Original: ὑπακοὴ πίστεως
Category: Faith
Must clarify obedience as faith’s fruit, not allegiance to either the Islamic submission code or Pashtunwali’s own competing loyalty code. Inherited from Romans package. Acts 26:19 (‘not disobedient to the heavenly vision’) applies this doctrine narratively to Paul’s own life.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: د خدای قدرت
Transliteration: da Khudai qodrat
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Original: δύναμις θεοῦ
Category: God
Use a term for capability/might, never associated with an occult or goddess-figure force. Inherited from Romans package; risk raised from the baseline’s Medium tier to High in the Acts context because this power specifically underwrites the apostles’ miracle-working ministry (1:8; 4:33; 6:8; 8:19; 10:38; 19:11), which must be shown as categorically superior to, not a stronger version of, regional occult power.
Prophet
Approved rendering: پیغمبر
Transliteration: peghambar
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Original: προφήτης
Category: Covenant
Must be paired with fuller Christological titles so ‘prophet’ is not read as Jesus’s complete or final identity. Inherited from Romans package.
Covenant
Approved rendering: تړون
Transliteration: tarun
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: διαθήκη
Category: Covenant
Biblical covenant is unilaterally initiated and graciously given, not negotiated between equals as Pashtunwali pacts typically are. Inherited from Romans package. Used at Acts 3:25 and 7:8.
Election
Approved rendering: غوره کول
Transliteration: ghwara kawul
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Original: ἐκλογή
Category: Salvation
Election is God’s free redemptive choice unrelated to lineage or tribal standing. Inherited from Romans package. Acts 9:15’s ‘chosen instrument’ (see chosen_vessel entry) dramatically underscores this: a former violent persecutor is the one sovereignly chosen.
Mission
Approved rendering: ماموریت
Transliteration: ma’muriyat
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
Original: ἀποστολή
Category: Mission
Open evangelism carries severe, potentially life-threatening legal and social risk for converts. Inherited from Romans package. Acts is the primary narrative outworking of this doctrine; every mission passage requires the same safety-sensitivity review as the baseline’s evangelism/mission flags.
Israel
Approved rendering: اسرائیل
Transliteration: Esra’il
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Original: Ἰσραήλ
Category: Covenant
Requires deliberate pastoral framing. Inherited from Romans package. Acts 2:36’s ‘house of Israel’ (د اسرائیل کورنۍ) sets up the Gospel-to-Jews-first pattern before Gentile inclusion later in the book.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: د داود نسل
Transliteration: da Dawud nasl
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: σπέρμα Δαυίδ
Category: Covenant
Conveys physical lineage and OT covenant fulfillment. Inherited from Romans package. Used at Acts 13:23.
Pentecost
Approved rendering: پنطیکوست
Transliteration: Pantikost
Doctrine: Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Rejected alternatives: اختر, عید
Original: Πεντηκοστή
Category: Holy Spirit and Pentecost
No native Pashto equivalent exists. Must be transliterated with a mandatory explanatory gloss at first occurrence in every document (e.g., ‘پنطیکوست — د پنځوسمې ورځې مذهبي مراسم’) and must never be rendered with a generic Islamic-style eid/festival term, which would import an unrelated ritual-calendar framework rather than convey this specific, unrepeatable fulfillment event.
Filled With The Spirit
Approved rendering: ډک شول
Transliteration: dak shwal
Doctrine: Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Original: ἐπλήσθησαν πνεύματος ἁγίου
Category: Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Regional folk-Islamic frameworks describe jinn spirit-possession using similar ‘filling/entering’ vocabulary. Must always be anchored to a willing, believing subject and an empowering (not controlling) result — bold speech, worship, wisdom — never fear, loss of control, or trance. Recurs at 2:4; 4:8, 31; 6:3; 7:55; 9:17; 13:9.
Son Of Man
Approved rendering: د بشر زوی
Transliteration: da bashar zoy
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Original: υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου
Category: Christology
Carries Daniel 7’s exalted, enthroned, divine-human authority sense and must not be flattened to mean merely ‘a human being.’ Occurs at the doctrinally loaded climax of Stephen’s dying vision (Acts 7:56); must be taught alongside د خدای زوی (Son of God), never as a lesser, more ‘human’ alternative title.
Repentance
Approved rendering: توبه
Transliteration: tuba
Doctrine: Repentance and Baptism
Rejected alternatives: بدلون, تغیر زړه
Original: μετάνοια / μετανοέω
Category: Salvation
توبه is the standard shared Islamic term embedded in a deeds-and-mercy, balance-scale framework. Must be taught here as a Spirit-enabled reorientation of trust toward the risen, crucified Lord Jesus, not a merit-generating religious act; Acts 11:18 (‘God granted repentance’) states that repentance itself is a divine gift, not an independent human work. بدلون and تغیر زړه are too weak/secular to carry this weight and are rejected as primary renderings.
Signs And Wonders
Approved rendering: نښانې او عجایبات
Transliteration: nishane aw ajaibat
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Rejected alternatives: کرامات
Original: σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα
Category: Apostolic Miracles
Must never be rendered with کرامات (karamat), the Sufi term for a saint’s miracles worked through personal holiness/barakat, which would recast apostolic signs as generic holy-man power rather than unique divine attestation validating the content of the gospel message.
Boldness
Approved rendering: زړورتوب
Transliteration: zroratob
Doctrine: Persecution and Bold Witness
Original: παρρησία
Category: Persecution
Must be taught as Spirit-given courage exercised with wisdom (cf. Paul’s own strategic withdrawals, e.g., 9:25; 17:10), never as reckless indifference to real, severe persecution risk in Taliban-controlled and similarly restrictive areas.
The Way
Approved rendering: لار
Transliteration: lar
Doctrine: Church as Community
Rejected alternatives: طریقه, دین, مذهب
Original: ἡ ὁδός
Category: Church
Must never be rendered طریقه (tariqa), the standard regional term for a Sufi mystical brotherhood/order, which would recast the church as one more Sufi order among many; دین and مذهب are too abstractly systemic/institutional. Use لار with a mandatory gloss at first occurrence (‘لار — د عیسی مسیح پیروانو ته لومړنی نوم’). Occurs at 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22.
Sorcery
Approved rendering: جادو / جادوګر
Transliteration: jado / jadogar
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Original: μαγεία / μαγεύω
Category: Spiritual Warfare
Given widespread regional folk practice of amulets (ta’wiz), fortune-telling, and jinn-related exorcism, must show the Spirit’s power as categorically superior to occult power, never a more effective version of the same kind of power, and must not validate seeking spiritual power through such practices even in nominally Christianized form. Occurs at 8:9-24; 13:6-12.
Spirit Of Divination
Approved rendering: د فال ویلو روح
Transliteration: da fal wayelo roh
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Original: πνεῦμα πύθωνος
Category: Spiritual Warfare
Must be taught as Christ’s unique authority over evil spiritual powers, categorically superior to existing folk-exorcism (raqya) traditions, without validating the broader occult/divination framework as generally real. Occurs at Acts 16:16-18.
Christian
Approved rendering: مسیحي
Transliteration: Masihi
Doctrine: Christian Identity and Naming
Original: Χριστιανός
Category: Church
Widely used and generally understood regionally, but may carry an association with Western/foreign identity or with the sometimes-pejorative Quranic term ‘Nasara.’ Teach as a Christ-centered identity marker rooted in the text’s own Antioch origin (Acts 11:26), not a foreign cultural import.
Circumcision
Approved rendering: ختنه
Transliteration: khatna
Doctrine: Circumcision and the Law
Original: περιτομή
Category: Ceremonial Law
Also a near-universal cultural-religious practice among Pashtuns as Sunni Muslims (khatna/sunnat). Must clarify that the Jerusalem Council’s debate (Acts 15) concerns whether observing this Mosaic covenant sign is necessary for salvation (answered ‘no,’ 15:11), not a condemnation of the cultural practice itself.
Servant Title
Approved rendering: خادم
Transliteration: khadim
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: παῖς
Category: Christology
Standing alone, risks confirming a Muslim-background hearer’s assumption that Jesus is merely an honored prophet/servant rather than divine. Must always be paired with the same speech’s other exalted titles — Holy and Righteous One, Author of Life (Acts 3:13-15) — never left as a standalone identity claim.
Author Of Life
Approved rendering: د ژوند سردار / بنسټ ایښودونکی
Transliteration: da zhwand sardar / bunsat eikhodunkay
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: ἀρχηγὸς τῆς ζωῆς
Category: Christology
سردار (tribal-chief image) is a positive cultural bridge for Christ’s leadership, but must be supplemented so hearers do not reduce Christ to a merely human tribal-chief figure; his unique authorship of resurrection life itself (Acts 3:15) must be made explicit.
Hades
Approved rendering: هاډیس
Transliteration: Hadis
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: دوزخ
Original: ᾅδης
Category: Eschatology
Must never be rendered دوزخ (dozakh, hell/Jahannam), which would wrongly equate the intermediate state of death with final eternal punishment rather than the state Christ triumphed over in his resurrection. Used in Peter’s Psalm 16 quotation, Acts 2:27, 31; transliterate with the gloss ‘د مړو ځای’ (place of the dead).
End Of The Earth
Approved rendering: د ځمکې تر پایه
Transliteration: da dzmake tar paya
Doctrine: The Great Commission Fulfilled
Original: ἕως ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς
Category: Mission
Carries the same acute mission/evangelism safety-sensitivity already Critical in the baseline’s Mission to the Nations doctrine, since obedience to this mandate in restrictive regions carries severe legal and social risk. Programmatic at Acts 1:8; echoed at 13:47; 28’s narrative fulfillment.
Unhindered Proclamation
Approved rendering: پرته له خنډ، ټول زړورتوب سره
Transliteration: parta la khanad, tol zroratob sara
Doctrine: The Great Commission Fulfilled
Original: μετὰ πάσης παρρησίας ἀκωλύτως
Category: Mission
Acts’ triumphant closing phrase (28:31) requires careful pastoral framing so it is not misheard as a promise of unhindered proclamation in every present context, including highly restrictive Taliban-controlled areas today; the transferable point is the gospel’s ultimate unstoppable advance despite genuine, ongoing danger to individual messengers.
Medium Risk Terms
Calling
Approved rendering: بلنه
Transliteration: balana
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Original: κλῆσις
Category: Salvation
Direction of address (God calling a person) must be made explicit. Inherited from Romans package.
Holy
Approved rendering: مقدس
Transliteration: moqaddas
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
Relational, Spirit-wrought sense must be reinforced over ritual-observance holiness. Inherited from Romans package. Elevated to High-adjacent risk in Acts 3:14 when combined with ‘righteous’ as a direct Christological title; see holy_and_righteous_one entry.
Saints
Approved rendering: مقدسان
Transliteration: moqaddasan
Doctrine: Sainthood
Original: ἅγιοι
Category: Church
Corporate sense for all believers, not an ascetic or elite class. Inherited from Romans package. Used implicitly of the whole believing community throughout Acts (9:13, 32, 41).
Gentiles
Approved rendering: غیر یهودیان
Transliteration: gheyr yahudian
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: امتونه
Original: ἔθνη
Category: Church
امتونه shares the loaded Ummah root and must never substitute. Inherited from Romans package. Used pervasively across Acts 9-28 as the Gentile mission expands.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: د خدای پاچاهي
Transliteration: da Khudai pachahi
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Kingdom
Distinguish God’s spiritual reign from competing political-religious sovereignty claims. Inherited from Romans package. Acts opens (1:3) and closes (28:31) on this term, framing the whole book.
Glory
Approved rendering: جلال
Transliteration: jalal
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Must be anchored to Christ’s specific historical glory, not left as generalized mystical splendor. Inherited from Romans package. Used at Acts 7:55, where Stephen sees the glory of God at the moment of his martyrdom.
Intercession
Approved rendering: منځګړیتوب
Transliteration: manzgaritob
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Original: ἔντευξις
Category: Faith
Nanawatai analogy calibrated carefully, not treated as an exact equivalent. Inherited from Romans package. Acts models corporate, fervent prayer under persecution pressure (4:24-31; 12:5), directly relevant for a contemporary persecuted readership.
Providence
Approved rendering: د خدای تدبیر
Transliteration: da Khudai tadbir
Doctrine: Providence
Original: πρόνοια (cf. ὡρισμένῃ βουλῇ, Acts 2:23)
Category: God
God’s personal, purposive care; keep distinct from folk qadar fatalism. Inherited from Romans package. Acts 2:23 applies this directly to the crucifixion itself, the doctrinally loaded center of Peter’s sermon given the Quran’s crucifixion-denial; Peter’s deliverance in ch.12 must not be overgeneralized into an unconditional safety guarantee, since James is executed in the same chapter (12:2).
David
Approved rendering: داود
Transliteration: Dawud
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: Δαυίδ
Category: Covenant
Shared, positively-regarded Quranic prophet-king figure; supply the covenant-king typology pointing to Messiah explicitly. Inherited from Romans package. Referenced in Acts 2, 4, 7, 13, 15.
Other Tongues
Approved rendering: نورو ژبو
Transliteration: noro zhabo
Doctrine: Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Original: ἑτέραις γλώσσαις
Category: Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Must be rendered so as to clearly mean actual, distinct human languages recognized by hearers (2:6, 8, 11), not unintelligible ecstatic speech, avoiding confusion with unrelated regional ecstatic-utterance or trance practices. Recurs at 10:46; 19:6.
Forgiveness Of Sins
Approved rendering: د ګناهانو بخښنه
Transliteration: da gunahano bakhshuna
Doctrine: Forgiveness of Sins
Original: ἄφεσις ἁμαρτιῶν
Category: Salvation
بخښنه is shared vocabulary with Islamic piety’s maghfirah, tied there to a cumulative deeds-weighing scale assessed at final judgment; here forgiveness is granted immediately and completely through repentance and faith in Christ’s finished work, not earned through accumulating merit. Recurs at 2:38; 3:19; 5:31; 10:43; 13:38; 26:18.
Laying On Of Hands
Approved rendering: لاس ایښودل
Transliteration: las eikhodul
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Original: ἐπίθεσις τῶν χειρῶν
Category: Apostolic Miracles
Must be distinguished from folk-healing hand-laying practices attributed to regional pirs, whose efficacy is popularly understood to flow from personal spiritual potency (barakat); in Acts the effect flows from the Holy Spirit’s own action. Recurs at 6:6; 8:17-19; 9:17; 13:3; 19:6; 28:8.
Elders
Approved rendering: مشران
Transliteration: mashran
Doctrine: Church Governance and Leadership
Rejected alternatives: ملا, پیر
Original: πρεσβύτεροι
Category: Church Governance
مشران positively resonates with Pashtunwali’s jirga elder-authority structure but must be clarified as a distinctly spiritual office qualified by Spirit-given character and doctrine (6:3; 20:28), not simply mapped onto tribal age- or lineage-based jirga authority. ملا (formal Islamic clergy) and پیر (Sufi spiritual guide/hereditary shrine authority) are fenced out as primary renderings.
Overseer
Approved rendering: سرپرست
Transliteration: sarparast
Doctrine: Church Governance and Leadership
Original: ἐπίσκοπος
Category: Church Governance
Used interchangeably with مشران (elders) in Acts 20:17-28 for the same local pastoral office; clarify office overlap for teaching consistency.
Synagogue
Approved rendering: کنیسه
Transliteration: kanisa
Doctrine: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Original: συναγωγή
Category: Church
Must be kept lexically distinct from both کلیسا (church) and مسجد (mosque) so the historical Jewish setting of Paul’s preaching (chs. 6, 9, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19) is not confused with either.
God Fearer
Approved rendering: د خدای ویروونکی
Transliteration: da Khudai wairawunkay
Doctrine: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Original: φοβούμενος τὸν θεόν
Category: Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
A now-obsolete first-century intermediate category (a Gentile worshipping Israel’s God without full Jewish conversion). Needs explicit teaching that Gentiles now receive the Spirit and salvation directly (Acts 10), with no required intermediate step.
Yoke Of Law
Approved rendering: اېږه / جوغه
Transliteration: yug
Doctrine: Justification apart from the Law
Original: ζυγός
Category: Justification apart from the Law
Agrarian image widely understood in rural Pashto-speaking regions with low translation-mechanics risk, but the theological point — law as unbearable burden versus grace’s freedom (Acts 15:10-11) — must be taught explicitly, not left as decorative metaphor.
Council Decree
Approved rendering: فیصله
Transliteration: faisala
Doctrine: Church Governance and Leadership
Original: ἔδοξεν (τῷ Ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι καὶ ἡμῖν)
Category: Church Governance
Must not be equated with an ongoing fatwa-issuing magisterium with binding legislative authority over new questions; this is Spirit-guided pastoral wisdom exercised collegially by apostles and elders (Acts 15:28) for a specific historical question.
Household Baptism
Approved rendering: د کورنۍ تعمید
Transliteration: da kornai ta’amid
Doctrine: Repentance and Baptism
Original: βαπτίζω + οἶκος
Category: Salvation
Resonates positively with kinship-based Pashtun social structure (qawm/khel), but must be taught alongside the necessity of each individual household member’s own genuine personal repentance and faith (Acts 16:15, 33), not corporate conversion by proxy.
Unknown God
Approved rendering: ناپیژندلی خدای
Transliteration: napezhandali Khudai
Doctrine: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Original: ἀγνώστῳ θεῷ
Category: Apologetics
A genuine apologetic bridge (Acts 17:23), but risks reinforcing an already-strong transcendence-only tawhid emphasis that God is fundamentally unknowable; must be paired immediately with the sermon’s climax that God has now made himself fully known in the risen Christ (17:31).
Idols
Approved rendering: بوت
Transliteration: but
Doctrine: The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Original: εἴδωλον
Category: Apologetics
Shared anti-idolatry vocabulary with Islamic rhetoric, a useful point of common ground, but the positive Christ-centered alternative must always be made explicit rather than left as generic anti-idolatry moralism. Recurs at 7:41; 14:15; 15:20; 17:16, 29; 19:26.
Ceremonial Purification
Approved rendering: پاکول
Transliteration: pakawul
Doctrine: Repentance and Baptism
Original: ἁγνίζω
Category: Ceremonial Law
A one-time Old Testament ceremonial rite (Nazirite-type) Paul observes out of cultural sensitivity (Acts 21:24-26). Must be kept terminologically distinct from تقدیس (sanctification) to prevent conflating a one-time OT ritual with ongoing NT Spirit-sanctification.
Vow
Approved rendering: نذر
Transliteration: nazr
Doctrine: Church as Community
Original: εὐχή
Category: Church
نذر is also a live folk-Islamic and Sufi-shrine practice of vowing to a saint/shrine for a favor; must be taught as Paul’s culturally sensitive personal choice within Jewish custom (Acts 18:18; 21:23-26), not a re-imposition of law-keeping or endorsement of shrine-vow practice.
Sect
Approved rendering: فرقه
Transliteration: firqa
Doctrine: Christian Identity and Naming
Original: αἵρεσις
Category: Church
فرقه carries strong pejorative ‘heretical splinter group’ weight in regional Islamic usage; teaching must make clear this was the accusers’ hostile framing (Acts 24:5, 14), which Paul explicitly rejects by grounding his faith in the Law and Prophets’ own fulfillment.
Heavenly Vision
Approved rendering: آسماني رویا
Transliteration: asmani ru’ya
Doctrine: Conversion of Paul
Original: ὀπτασία
Category: Conversion of Paul
Regional Islamic tradition assigns strong legitimacy to visionary/dream experience (ru’ya, kashf), a real apologetic bridge, but this vision’s unique content (the risen, glorified, speaking Lord Jesus commissioning Paul, Acts 26:19) must be taught as a one-time, historically anchored encounter with the divine Christ, not as validating ongoing dream-revelation generally.
Chosen Vessel
Approved rendering: غوره شوی لوښی
Transliteration: ghwara shaway loshay
Doctrine: Election and Divine Calling
Original: σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς
Category: Salvation
Reinforces the baseline caution that election is God’s free redemptive choice unrelated to tribal lineage or prior merit, dramatically underscored by the fact that a former violent persecutor (Saul) is the one chosen (Acts 9:15).
All Things In Common
Approved rendering: ټول شیان په ګډه لرل
Transliteration: tol shyan pa gada lral
Doctrine: Church as Community
Original: ἅπαντα κοινά
Category: Church
Must be framed as voluntary, Spirit-produced generosity flowing from grace, not a reciprocity-generating exchange under the melmastia hospitality code, nor a legally enforced communal-property system. Occurs at Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-35.
Breaking Of Bread
Approved rendering: د ډوډۍ ماتول
Transliteration: da dodai matawul
Doctrine: Church as Community
Original: κλάσις τοῦ ἄρτου
Category: Church
Must be distinguished from generic hospitality/communal-meal customs (melmastia) or Islamic communal iftar practice; connect explicitly to remembering Christ’s death, not merely social eating. Occurs at Acts 2:42, 46.
Low Risk Terms
Prophecy
Approved rendering: نبوت
Transliteration: nabuwat
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Original: προφητεία
Category: Covenant
Low independent risk beyond the prophet entry’s own note. Inherited from Romans package.
Exhort
Approved rendering: هڅول
Transliteration: hakol
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Original: παρακαλέω
Category: Faith
Context-sensitive: نصیحت کول for beseeching/entreaty; هڅول for building up. Inherited from Romans package. Recurs across Acts 2, 11, 14, 15, 16, 20, 27.
Deacon
Approved rendering: خدمتګار
Transliteration: khedmatgar
Doctrine: Church Governance and Leadership
Original: διάκονος / διακονία
Category: Church Governance
Establishes complementary, non-competing lay and word-ministry offices (Acts 6:1-6); low doctrinal collision risk.
Sanhedrin
Approved rendering: سنهدرین
Transliteration: Sanhedrin
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Original: Συνέδριον
Category: Apostolic Miracles
Historical proper-noun institution before which the apostles and Stephen were tried (chs. 4-6, 22-23); transliterate with a brief descriptive gloss (‘د یهودانو لویه عدلي شورا’).
Referenced passages