Core Glossary
Core Glossary — Hebrews | English → Pashto
Section A: Terms Reused from the Romans Baseline (Exact Reuse Required)
| English Term | Pashto | Transliteration | Risk | Doctrine | Hebrews Chapters | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| God | خدای | Khudai | Critical | Deity of Christ | 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 | Reused exactly |
| Jesus | عیسی | Isa | Critical | Lordship of Christ | 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13 | Reused exactly |
| Christ / Messiah | مسیح | Masih | Critical | Messianic Promise | 3, 5, 6, 9, 11, 13 | Reused exactly |
| Lord | خداوند | Khudawand | Critical | Lordship of Christ | 1, 7, 13 | Reused exactly |
| Son of God | د خدای زوی | da Khudai zoy | Critical | Sonship of Christ | 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10 | Reused exactly; intensified by 1:5, 5:5 |
| Father | پلار | plar | Critical | Adoption / Discipline | 1, 12 | Reused; ch.12 discipline note applies stern-authority caution |
| Holy Spirit | روح القدس | Rooh-ul-Qudus | Critical | Inspiration / New Covenant | 2, 3, 6, 9, 10 | Reused exactly |
| faith | ایمان | iman | High | Faith of the OT Saints | 3, 4, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13 | Reused; ch.11 is definitional |
| grace | فضل | fazal | High | Grace / Access | 2, 4, 10, 12, 13 | Reused exactly |
| sin | ګناه | gunah | High | Atoning Sacrifice | 1-13 (pervasive) | Reused exactly |
| covenant | تړون | tarun | High | New Covenant vs Old | 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13 | Reused; intensified by new/old contrast |
| law | ناموس | namus | Critical | New Covenant vs Old | 7, 8, 9, 10 | Reused exactly; never شریعت |
| holy | مقدس | moqaddas | Medium | Sanctification | 2, 3, 9, 13 | Reused exactly |
| saints / holy ones | مقدسان | moqaddasan | Medium | Sanctification | 13 (implicit) | Reused exactly |
| sanctification | تقدیس | taqdis | High | Sanctification | 2, 9, 10, 13 | Reused; never پاکوالی |
| glory | جلال | jalal | Medium | Superiority over Angels | 1, 2, 3 | Reused exactly |
| resurrection | بیا راژوندي کیدل | bya rajwandi kedal | Critical | Resurrection | 6, 11, 13 | Reused exactly |
| salvation | نجات | nejat | Critical | Atoning Sacrifice | 1, 2, 5, 6, 9 | Reused; nanawatai bridge remains primary |
| righteousness | صداقت | sadaqat | Critical | Great High Priest | 1, 5, 7, 11, 12 | Reused exactly |
| apostle | رسول | rasul | High | Apostleship | 3 | Reused; applied to Jesus (3:1) — heightened collision risk, see analysis |
| called | بلل شوی | balal shaway | High | Divine Calling | 3, 5, 9, 11 | Reused exactly |
| calling | بلنه | balana | Medium | Divine Calling | 3 | Reused exactly |
| church | کلیسا | kalisa | Critical | Church as God’s People | 12 | Reused; never امت |
| kingdom of God | د خدای پاچاهي | da Khudai pachahi | Medium | Kingdom Mission | 1, 12 | Reused exactly |
| fellowship | ملګرتیا | malgartia | Low | Christian Fellowship | 13 | Reused; never شراکت |
| peace | سوله | sola | Medium | Peace with God | 12, 13 | Reused exactly |
| thanksgiving | شکر | shukr | Low | Thanksgiving | 13 | Reused exactly |
| David | داود | Dawud | Medium | Davidic typology | 11 (implicit), 4 (quotation) | Reused exactly |
| Moses | موسی | Musa | Medium | Superiority over Moses | 3, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12 | Reused; central ch.3 comparison figure |
| Israel | اسرائیل | Esra’il | High | Old vs New Covenant | 8 (quotation) | Reused exactly |
| intercession | منځګړیتوب | manzgaritob | Medium | Christ’s High-Priestly Intercession | 7 | Reused; feeds new “mediator” entry below |
Section B: New Terms Introduced by Hebrews
| English Term | Greek | Pashto | Transliteration | Risk | Doctrine | Chapters | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| high priest | ἀρχιερεύς | لوی کاهن | loy kahin | Critical | Christ as Great High Priest | 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 | کاهن shares root with Quranic-tradition kāhin (soothsayer/diviner); must always be anchored to Levitical/Aaronic background |
| priest (general) | ἱερεύς | کاهن | kahin | Critical | Priesthood | 5, 7, 8, 10 | Same collision as above |
| priesthood | ἱερωσύνη | کهانت | kahanat | High | Levitical Priesthood | 7 | Abstract-noun risk inherited from “priest” |
| Levi / Levitical | Λευί / Λευιτικός | لاوی / د لاویانو | Lawi / da Lawian-o | Low | Levitical Priesthood | 7 | Proper-noun based; low independent risk |
| Melchizedek | Μελχισέδεκ | ملکیصدق | Malki-Sedeq | Medium | Christ’s Eternal Priesthood | 5, 6, 7 | No Quranic parallel figure; OT background must be taught fresh |
| tabernacle | σκηνή | خیمه | khaima | Medium | Old Covenant Sanctuary | 8, 9, 13 | Neutral word; conceptual (not lexical) risk |
| Holy of Holies | ἅγια ἁγίων | تر ټولو مقدس ځای | tar tolo moqaddas dzay | Medium | Access to God | 9 | Needs OT background |
| ark of the covenant | κιβωτὸς τῆς διαθήκης | د تړون صندوق | da tarun sanduq | Low-Medium | Old Covenant Sanctuary | 9 | Unfamiliar object; low doctrinal risk |
| veil / curtain | καταπέτασμα | پرده | parda | High | Access to God through Christ’s Blood | 6, 9, 10 | Collides with cultural purdah (female seclusion); always qualify with possessive phrase, never standalone |
| mercy seat / propitiation-place | ἱλαστήριον | د کفاره ځای | da kafara dzay | Critical | Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice | 9 | Same كفاره collision as “atonement” below, applied to a specific sacred object |
| atonement / propitiation | ἱλάσκομαι / ἱλασμός | کفاره | kafara | Critical | Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice | 2, 9 | Islamic kafara = human compensatory legal act; must be taught as God’s own gracious provision in Christ, paired with the existing nanawatai bridge |
| sacrifice | θυσία | قربانی | qurbani | High | Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice | 5,7,8,9,10,11,13 | Collides with Eid al-Adha qurbani (commemorative, non-atoning); must teach actual, effective atonement |
| offering (noun) | προσφορά | نذرانه | nazrana | Medium | Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice | 10 | Neutral religious-offering term; low-medium risk |
| blood (atoning) | αἷμα | وینه | wina | High | Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice | 9, 10, 12, 13 | No vicarious blood-atonement doctrine in mainstream Sunni theology; must be taught explicitly |
| bloodshed | αἱματεκχυσία | د وینې تویېدنه | da wine tawyedana | Medium | Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice | 9 | Rare compound; no single Pashto equivalent, needs full phrase |
| forgiveness / remission | ἄφεσις | بښنه | bakhshuna | Medium | Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice | 9, 10 | Ensure it conveys costly, blood-secured release, not casual pardon |
| conscience | συνείδησις | وجدان | wijdan | Medium | Access to God through Christ’s Blood | 9, 10, 13 | Shared Islamic ethical vocabulary; anchor to guilt before God, not innate fitrah-conscience |
| cleanse / purify | καθαρίζω | پاکول | pakawul | High | Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice | 9, 10 | Shares root with baseline-rejected پاکوالی; the ritual-vs-conscience contrast is the passage’s own argument and must be preserved |
| mediator | μεσίτης | منځګړی | manzgari | Medium | New Covenant / Intercession | 8, 9, 12 | Builds on baseline منځګړیتوب; adds covenantal (not only intercessory) sense |
| new covenant | καινὴ διαθήκη | نوی تړون | nawi tarun | Critical | New Covenant versus the Old | 8, 9, 12 | Naskh (abrogation) collision; typological fulfillment ≠ supersession-by-abrogation, must be taught explicitly |
| testament / will | διαθήκη (dual sense) | وصیت | wasiyat | High | New Covenant versus the Old | 9 | Needed only for the 9:16-17 wordplay; supplements, does not replace, تړون |
| redemption | λύτρωσις / ἀπολύτρωσις | خلاصون | khlasun | High | Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice | 9 | Distinguish from نجات; conveys price-paid release specifically |
| inheritance | κληρονομία | میراث | miras | High | New Covenant versus the Old | 1, 9, 11 | Reuses baseline adoption-doctrine risk: rigid patrilineal inheritance norms |
| heir | κληρονόμος | میراث خور | miraskhor | High | Superiority of Christ | 1 | See inheritance note |
| once for all | ἅπαξ / ἐφάπαξ | یو ځل او تر تله لپاره | yaw dzal aw tar tala lapara | High | Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice | 6, 7, 9, 10 | Contrasts with repeatable qurbani-style and Levitical ritual sacrifice logic |
| promise | ἐπαγγελία | وعده | wa’da | Medium | Faith of the OT Saints | 4, 6, 8, 9, 11 | Ties to baseline covenant note: unilateral divine promise, not negotiated pact |
| oath | ὅρκος | قسم | qasam | Medium | Faith of the OT Saints | 6, 7 | God’s self-guaranteeing oath is categorically unlike human oath-swearing |
| perfect / perfection | τελειόω / τέλειος | بشپړ کول / بشپړتیا | bshpar kawul / bshpartia | High | Great High Priest | 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 | Must not read as moral self-improvement; qualification for office / consummated reality |
| shadow / type | σκιά | سیوری | sairi | Medium | New Covenant versus the Old | 8, 10 | Genuine foreshadowing, not deceptive illusion |
| copy / antitype | ὑπόδειγμα / ἀντίτυπον | نقل / بېلګه | nakal / belga | Low-Medium | New Covenant versus the Old | 8, 9 | Preserve typological direction (earthly copies the heavenly, not vice versa) |
| confidence / boldness | παρρησία | زړورتوب | zrawartob | Medium (positive bridge) | Access to God through Christ’s Blood | 3, 4, 10 | Resonates with Pashtunwali tura (courage); fill with specific content of bold access to God |
| draw near | προσέρχομαι | نژدې کیدل | nizhde kedal | Medium | Access to God through Christ’s Blood | 4, 7, 10, 11, 12 | Emphasize unmediated (no human-priest) access through Christ |
| assurance / substance | ὑπόστασις | یقین / باور | yaqin / bawar | High | Faith of the OT Saints | 11 | یقین is a loaded Islamic/Sufi certainty-term; fill with content of promise-grounded confidence |
| evidence / conviction | ἔλεγχος | دلیل | dalil | Medium | Faith of the OT Saints | 11 | Standard reasoned-evidence term; low-medium risk |
| endurance / perseverance | ὑπομονή | زغم | zgham | Medium | Perseverance and Assurance | 10, 12 | Distinguish from generic sabr-style stoic patience; tie to persevering faith in Christ |
| discipline / chastening | παιδεία | تربیه | tarbiya | Medium | Perseverance and Assurance | 12 | Loving fatherly formation, counter stern-authority default for پلار |
| witness | μάρτυς / μαρτυρέω | ګواه / ګواهي ورکول | gwah / gwahi warkawul | Critical | Faith of the OT Saints | 11, 12 | AVOID شاهد/شهید family entirely — root-collision with “shaheed” (jihad martyr) in a conflict-affected context; use native ګواه |
| apostasy / falling away | παραπίπτω | له مسیح نه مخ اړول | le Masih na makh arawul | Critical | The Danger of Apostasy | 3, 6, 10, 12 | AVOID مرتد کیدل entirely — the Islamic legal apostasy-from-Islam category carries a death-penalty association in some governance contexts and would dangerously conflate with readers’ own already-precarious legal status as converts |
| judgment | κρίσις / κρίμα | قضاوت | qazawat | High | Warning Passages | 6, 9, 10, 12 | Avoid قیامت; convey the immediacy of post-death individual judgment per 9:27, not only a distant cosmic Day |
| shepherd | ποιμήν | شپون | shpun | Low (positive bridge) | Perseverance and Assurance | 13 | Resonates with Pashtun pastoral life |
| hospitality | φιλοξενία | مېلمه پالنه | melma palana | Low (positive bridge) | Christian Ethics | 13 | Strong asset: aligns with Pashtunwali melmastia |
| altar | θυσιαστήριον | قربانګاه | qurbangah | Medium | Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice | 13 | Shares قربانی’s Eid-adjacent risk |
| leaders / elders | ἡγούμενοι | مشران | mashran | Medium | Church Community | 13 | Evokes jirga tribal-elder structure; distinguish basis of authority |
| Zion | Σιών | صهیون | Sahyun | Medium | New Covenant Community | 12 | Contemporary political-sensitivity caveat, as with “Israel” |
| heavenly Jerusalem | Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἐπουράνιος | آسماني یروشلم | asmani Yerushalim | Medium | New Covenant Community | 12 | Same caveat as Zion |
| eagerly await | ἀπεκδέχομαι | منتظر پاتې کیدل | montazir patay kedal | High | Perseverance and Assurance | 9 | Echoes Shi’a al-Muntazar / Sunni Mahdi expectation; positive bridge requiring explicit distinguishing from that framework |
| reward / recompense | μισθαποδοσία | اجر | ajr | Medium | Perseverance and Assurance | 10, 11 | AVOID بدله (badal-cycle revenge connotation); اجر is the positive Islamic-vocabulary bridge, calibrated by grace-not-merit |
| founder / pioneer | ἀρχηγός | بنسټ ایښودونکی | bnst aishodunkay | Medium | Superiority of Christ | 2, 12 | Keep rendering identical at both occurrences |
| forerunner | πρόδρομος | مخکښ | makhkash | Low | Access to God through Christ’s Blood | 6 | Low independent risk |
| finisher / perfecter | τελειωτής | بشپړوونکی | bshparawunkay | Medium | Faith of the OT Saints | 12 | Shares root with “perfect” above |
| anchor | ἄγκυρα | لنگر | langar | Low | Perseverance and Assurance | 6 | Unfamiliar nautical image; explanatory framing recommended |
| rest | κατάπαυσις | آرام / استراحت | aram / istirahat | Medium | New Covenant versus the Old | 3, 4 | Eschatological covenantal rest, not mere physical relaxation |
| Sabbath-rest | σαββατισμός | د شنبې آرام | da shanbe aram | Medium | New Covenant versus the Old | 4 | Distinguish from recurring weekly ritual observance |
| confession | ὁμολογία | اقرار | iqrar | Medium | Perseverance and Assurance | 3, 4, 10 | Distinguish from Islamic shahada declaration structure |
| worship / prostrate | προσκυνέω | عبادت کول / سجده کول | ibadat kawul / sajda kawul | Critical | Superiority of Christ over Angels | 1 | سجده is the precise act reserved for God alone in Islamic prayer; applying it to the Son is an unsoftenable deity claim |
| exact imprint | χαρακτήρ | بشپړ انځور | bshpar anzor | Critical | Deity of Christ | 1 | As strong a deity claim as “Son of God”; never soften to “reflection of” |
| radiance | ἀπαύγασμα | وړانګه | wrangha | High | Deity of Christ | 1 | Emanation of same glory, not a separate created light |
| firstborn | πρωτότοκος | مشر زوی | mashar zoy | High | Sonship of Christ | 1, 12 | Title of supreme rank, not literal birth-order/created-being implication |
| angel | ἄγγελος | فرښته | freshta | Medium | Superiority of Christ over Angels | 1, 2, 13 | Shared Islamic angelology vocabulary; hierarchy over angels must stay clear |
| guarantee / surety | ἔγγυος | ضامن | zaman | Medium | New Covenant versus the Old | 7 | Islamic financial-guarantor bridge term; clarify permanence vs. renewable arrangement |
| permanent / unchangeable | ἀπαράβατος | نه بدلېدونکی | na badledunkay | Medium | Christ’s Eternal Priesthood | 7 | Central to Melchizedekian-priesthood argument |
| outside the camp | ἔξω τῆς παρεμβολῆς | د خیمو نه بهر | da khaimo na bahar | Medium | Danger of Apostasy / Identity in Christ | 13 | Needs OT purity-camp background; resonates pastorally with believers’ social exclusion |
| draw near / access | προσαγωγή (cf. Eph.; conceptually parallel in Heb. 10:19-22) | د خدای مخې ته درنښت | da Khudai makhe ta dranasht | Medium | Access to God through Christ’s Blood | 10 | Reinforces προσέρχομαι entry above |
Coverage Confirmation
This glossary spans terms drawn from every chapter of Hebrews (1–13). Section A confirms exact reuse of all applicable Romans-baseline terms; Section B documents every new load-bearing term introduced by the Hebrews curriculum, each assigned a risk tier per the baseline’s Critical/High/Medium/Low framework for downstream use in doctrine_risk_registry.json and translation_memory.json updates.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: خدای
Transliteration: Khudai
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: الله
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package; applies throughout Hebrews (chs. 1,2,3,4,6,9,10,11,12,13). Khudai is a native Old Iranian-root word, not exclusively Arabic/Quranic. Strict tawhid theology must be distinguished from the Trinitarian conception denoted by the same word, especially in Hebrews’ sustained argument for Christ’s deity.
Jesus
Approved rendering: عیسی
Transliteration: Isa
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package; applies throughout Hebrews (chs. 2,3,4,6,7,10,12,13). The settled Pashto Christian form still carries the Quranic prophet-only, non-crucified, non-divine narrative that Hebrews’ high-priestly and sonship argument must actively correct at every occurrence.
Messiah
Approved rendering: مسیح
Transliteration: Masih
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Inherited from Romans package; applies in Hebrews chs. 3,5,6,9,11,13. Every occurrence must actively assert Christ’s unique redemptive sufficiency against the Quranic honored-prophet-only Masih tradition.
Lord
Approved rendering: خداوند
Transliteration: Khudawand
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: مالک
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package; applies in Hebrews chs. 1,7,13. مالک (owner/master) undershoots the deity claim and must never substitute.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: د خدای زوی
Transliteration: da Khudai zoy
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Original: υἱὸς θεοῦ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package; intensified in Hebrews chs. 1,4,5,6,7,10 by direct OT citation (Ps 2:7; 2 Sam 7:14). Pashto’s thin Christian translation tradition has no tested local precedent for this collision with Qur’an 112:3/19:35; must never read as metaphorical or adoptive sonship.
Father
Approved rendering: پلار
Transliteration: plar
Doctrine: Divine Discipline as Fatherly Formation
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package; applies in Hebrews chs. 1 and 12. Chapter 12’s discipline (paideia) passage risks reinforcing پلار’s stern-authority connotation in Pashtun patriarchal culture; the warmth of formative fatherly love (as in the Romans baseline’s Abba note) must be made explicit, counterbalancing the default.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: روح القدس
Transliteration: Rooh-ul-Qudus
Doctrine: Sanctification through Christ’s Blood
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package; applies in Hebrews chs. 2,3,6,9,10. The created-being-versus-divine-Person distinction (vs. mainstream tafsir’s identification with Jibril) must be made explicit, especially at 10:29 where insulting the Spirit is treated as a capital offense against a divine Person.
Law
Approved rendering: ناموس
Transliteration: namus
Doctrine: The New Covenant versus the Old
Rejected alternatives: شریعت
Original: νόμος
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package; never شریعت. Applies in Hebrews chs. 7,8,9,10. Must be distinguished from both formal Islamic shari’a and customary Pashtunwali tribal law throughout the old-covenant-versus-new argument.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: بیا راژوندي کیدل
Transliteration: bya rajwandi kedal
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Original: ἀνάστασις
Category: Eschatology
Inherited from Romans package; applies in Hebrews chs. 6,11,13, including OT saints’ hope of ‘a better resurrection’ (11:35). Shares the Quran’s crucifixion-denial risk; benefits from oral/narrative apologetic explanation given lower baseline literacy.
Salvation
Approved rendering: نجات
Transliteration: nejat
Doctrine: The Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice
Original: σωτηρία
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package; applies in Hebrews chs. 1,2,5,6,9, including 9:28’s already-accomplished/yet-to-be-consummated nuance. The nanawatai submission-and-acceptance cultural bridge remains the primary calibrated analogy, now reinforced by the kafara/atonement entries below.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: صداقت
Transliteration: sadaqat
Doctrine: Christ as the Great High Priest
Original: δικαιοσύνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package; connected in Hebrews chs. 1,5,7,11,12 to Christ’s priestly and kingly office (1:8-9, 7:2). Honor-restoration framing continues to supplement, not replace, the forensic sense established in the baseline.
Church
Approved rendering: کلیسا
Transliteration: kalisa
Doctrine: Church as God’s People, Gathered at Heavenly Zion
Rejected alternatives: امت
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package; never امت, even in the celebratory ‘assembly of the firstborn’ context (12:23). Applies in Hebrews ch. 12-13; must be taught with a dispersed, often secret, persecuted community in view.
High Priest
Approved rendering: لوی کاهن
Transliteration: loy kahin
Doctrine: Christ as the Great High Priest
Original: ἀρχιερεύς
Category: Priesthood
NEW term. کاهن shares a root with the Quranic-tradition kāhin, a pre-Islamic soothsayer/diviner denounced in hadith as a false oracle. Every occurrence (chs. 2-10) must be anchored explicitly to the Levitical/Aaronic background so it is never heard as an occult title.
Priest
Approved rendering: کاهن
Transliteration: kahin
Doctrine: The Superiority of Christ over the Levitical Priesthood
Original: ἱερεύς
Category: Priesthood
NEW term. Same soothsayer/diviner (kāhin) root-collision as ‘high priest’; requires the same explicit Levitical anchoring at every occurrence (chs. 5,7,8,10).
Mercy Seat Propitiation
Approved rendering: د کفاره ځای
Transliteration: da kafara dzay
Doctrine: Atonement and Propitiation
Original: ἱλαστήριον
Category: Salvation
NEW term. Shares the کفاره collision with ‘atonement’ below, naming a specific sacred object (9:5); risks being read as a place of human religious performance rather than God’s own gracious provision typified in it.
Atonement Propitiation
Approved rendering: کفاره
Transliteration: kafara
Doctrine: Atonement and Propitiation
Original: ἱλάσκομαι / ἱλασμός
Category: Salvation
NEW term. کفاره is a major Islamic legal-religious term for human-performed compensatory expiation (e.g., for a broken oath). Genuine conceptual bridge but risks being read as a human legal remedy; must always be paired with the nanawatai submission-and-acceptance bridge already established for ‘salvation’ (2:17, 9:5, 9:13-14, 9:22).
New Covenant
Approved rendering: نوی تړون
Transliteration: nawi tarun
Doctrine: The New Covenant versus the Old
Original: καινὴ διαθήκη
Category: Covenant
NEW term. Directly intersects the Islamic doctrine of naskh (abrogation), under which later revelation simply supersedes and nullifies earlier revelation. Hebrews’ claim differs in kind: the old covenant was always provisional and typological, not merely revoked-and-replaced; must be actively taught at every occurrence (8:8-13, 9:15, 12:24).
Witness
Approved rendering: ګواه / ګواهي ورکول
Transliteration: gwah / gwahi warkawul
Doctrine: Faith of the Old Testament Saints
Rejected alternatives: شاهد, شهید
Original: μάρτυς / μαρτυρέω
Category: Faith
NEW term. شاهد sits dangerously close in root to شهید (shaheed, jihad martyr), an extraordinarily loaded term in the Afghan/Pakistani conflict context. Given ch. 11’s martyred saints immediately preceding 12:1’s ‘cloud of witnesses,’ this risks endorsing shaheed-style martyrdom theology. Use the native ګواه only, mirroring the baseline’s ملګرتیا-over-شراکت precedent.
Apostasy Falling Away
Approved rendering: له مسیح نه مخ اړول
Transliteration: le Masih na makh arawul
Doctrine: The Danger of Apostasy and Warning Passages
Rejected alternatives: مرتد کیدل
Original: παραπίπτω
Category: Salvation
NEW term. مرتد names the formal Islamic legal category of apostasy from Islam, which can carry the death penalty in Taliban-controlled and similarly governed areas. Since readers are converts already regarded as murtad by surrounding society, this rendering would dangerously conflate two categories and compound an already life-threatening social reality with theological confusion. Applies at 3:12, 6:6, 10:26-29, 12:25.
Worship Prostrate
Approved rendering: عبادت کول / سجده کول
Transliteration: ibadat kawul / sajda kawul
Doctrine: Worship Due to Christ Alone
Original: προσκυνέω
Category: Christology
NEW term. سجده is the precise physical act performed toward God alone in Islamic prayer; Hebrews 1:6 commands angels to perform this very act toward the Son. This is the paradigm case of shirk from a tawhid standpoint and must be preserved as an unsoftenable, explicit deity claim, never muted to mere honor or respect.
Exact Imprint
Approved rendering: بشپړ انځور
Transliteration: bshpar anzor
Doctrine: Worship Due to Christ Alone
Original: χαρακτήρ
Category: Christology
NEW term. As strong a deity-of-Christ claim as ‘Son of God’ itself (1:3); must not be softened to ‘a reflection of’ or ‘similar to.‘
High Risk Terms
Faith
Approved rendering: ایمان
Transliteration: iman
Doctrine: Faith of the Old Testament Saints
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package; given definitional treatment in Hebrews 11 through OT exemplars, and recurs in chs. 3,4,6,10,12,13. Personal trust grounded in God’s promise, not loyalty to Pashtunwali’s honor code (nang) nor generic Islamic creedal iman.
Grace
Approved rendering: فضل
Transliteration: fazal
Doctrine: Grace
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package; applies in Hebrews chs. 2,4,10,12,13, notably the ‘throne of grace’ image (4:16). Bold approach to this throne must not be read as creating a reciprocal honor-obligation under the melmastia hospitality code.
Sin
Approved rendering: ګناه
Transliteration: gunah
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package; pervasive throughout Hebrews, requiring atoning blood per 9:22, 9:26, 10:4. Distinguish from ritual impurity or a merely honor-shame tribal-code violation.
Covenant
Approved rendering: تړون
Transliteration: tarun
Doctrine: The New Covenant versus the Old
Original: διαθήκη
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package; central structural theme of Hebrews chs. 7-10, 12, 13. Unlike Pashtunwali’s negotiated inter-party pacts, the biblical covenant is unilaterally given by God, not negotiated between equals.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: تقدیس
Transliteration: taqdis
Doctrine: Sanctification through Christ’s Blood
Rejected alternatives: پاکوالی
Original: ἁγιασμός
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package; never پاکوالی. Applies in Hebrews chs. 2,9,10,13. Hebrews 9:13-14 draws the very ritual-versus-conscience contrast this term is meant to preserve.
Apostle
Approved rendering: رسول
Transliteration: rasul
Doctrine: The Superiority of Christ over Moses
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package; risk heightened in Hebrews 3:1, where applied to Jesus himself (‘the Apostle and High Priest of our confession’). This intensifies the collision with Muhammad’s defining title, since here it names Christ’s own office, not merely a follower’s.
Called
Approved rendering: بلل شوی
Transliteration: balal shaway
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Original: κλητός
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package; applies in Hebrews chs. 3,5,9,11 to ‘those who are called’ receiving the eternal inheritance (9:15) and to Aaron’s priestly calling (5:4). Direction of address (God calling) must stay explicit across both senses.
Israel
Approved rendering: اسرائیل
Transliteration: Esra’il
Doctrine: The New Covenant versus the Old
Original: יִשְׂרָאֵל
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package; quoted in the Jeremiah 31 new-covenant promise (8:8-10). Requires the same deliberate pastoral framing as the baseline’s Romans 9-11 note.
Priesthood
Approved rendering: کهانت
Transliteration: kahanat
Doctrine: The Superiority of Christ over the Levitical Priesthood
Original: ἱερωσύνη
Category: Priesthood
NEW term. Abstract-noun form inherits the kahin-root risk; must stay tethered concretely to the office it names (ch. 7).
Veil Curtain
Approved rendering: پرده
Transliteration: parda
Doctrine: Access to God through Christ’s Blood
Original: καταπέτασμα
Category: Sanctuary
NEW term. Same word used for cultural purdah (female seclusion/veiling); readers may default to that association. Always qualify with a possessive/locative phrase (د خیمې پرده); never let it stand alone, especially at 10:20’s ‘the veil, that is, his flesh.‘
Sacrifice
Approved rendering: قربانی
Transliteration: qurbani
Doctrine: The Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice
Original: θυσία
Category: Salvation
NEW term. Collides with the Islamic Eid al-Adha qurbani, a commemorative, non-atoning ritual sacrifice (Ibrahim/Ismail); every occurrence (chs. 5,7,8,9,10,11,13) must teach actual, effective atonement, not commemoration of obedience.
Blood
Approved rendering: وینه
Transliteration: wina
Doctrine: The Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice
Original: αἷμα
Category: Salvation
NEW term. Neutral, native word, but vicarious substitutionary blood atonement has no equivalent in mainstream Sunni soteriology; must be taught explicitly, ideally alongside the nanawatai bridge (chs. 9,10,12,13).
Cleanse Purify
Approved rendering: پاکول
Transliteration: pakawul
Doctrine: Sanctification through Christ’s Blood
Original: καθαρίζω
Category: Sanctification
NEW term. Shares the root the baseline explicitly rejected for ‘sanctification’ (پاکوالی, ritual/wudu-style cleanliness). Hebrews 9:13-14’s own ritual-versus-conscience contrast must be let to stand, not collapsed into one wudu-adjacent register.
Testament Will
Approved rendering: وصیت
Transliteration: wasiyat
Doctrine: The New Covenant versus the Old
Original: διαθήκη (dual sense)
Category: Covenant
NEW term. Needed only for the 9:16-17 wordplay, where diathēkē means both ‘covenant’ and ‘last will/testament’ (which activates only at the testator’s death). Supplements, never replaces, تړون; use with an explicit translator’s note surfacing the wordplay.
Redemption
Approved rendering: خلاصون
Transliteration: khlasun
Doctrine: The Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice
Rejected alternatives: فدیه
Original: λύτρωσις / ἀπολύτρωσις
Category: Salvation
NEW term. Distinguish from نجات (salvation, baseline); خلاصون specifically carries the ‘price paid to release’ sense (9:12, 9:15). فدیه (an Islamic ransom-payment concept) may be introduced pastorally only, never as the primary glossary term, to avoid reducing Christ’s redemption to a legalistic fee.
Inheritance
Approved rendering: میراث
Transliteration: miras
Doctrine: Inheritance in Christ
Original: κληρονομία
Category: Covenant
NEW term. Pashtun inheritance law (fara’id, tribal custom) is rigidly patrilineal and blood-based; ‘eternal inheritance’ promised to those merely ‘called’ (9:15, 11:8), without regard to lineage, must be taught explicitly against this default, extending the baseline’s adoption-doctrine caution.
Heir
Approved rendering: میراث خور
Transliteration: miraskhor
Doctrine: Inheritance in Christ
Original: κληρονόμος
Category: Christology
NEW term. Applied first to Christ himself as ‘heir of all things’ (1:2), establishing the pattern later extended to believers in chs. 9 and 11. See ‘inheritance’ note.
Once For All
Approved rendering: یو ځل او تر تله لپاره
Transliteration: yaw dzal aw tar tala lapara
Doctrine: The Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice
Original: ἅπαξ / ἐφάπαξ
Category: Salvation
NEW term. Islamic qurbani and Levitical-parallel repeatable-ritual thinking both default to repeated, occasion-bound sacrifice; the singular, unrepeatable, all-sufficient nature of Christ’s offering (7:27, 9:12,26,28, 10:10) must be stated, not assumed, at every occurrence.
Perfect Perfection
Approved rendering: بشپړ کول / بشپړتیا
Transliteration: bshpar kawul / bshpartia
Doctrine: Christ as the Great High Priest
Original: τελειόω / τέλειος
Category: Christology
NEW term. Applied to Christ’s priestly qualification through suffering (2:10, 5:9, 7:28) and to believers’ consummated standing (10:14, 12:23). Must not read as moral self-perfection through effort, which would contradict the baseline’s imputed-righteousness principle.
Assurance Substance
Approved rendering: یقین / باور
Transliteration: yaqin / bawar
Doctrine: Faith of the Old Testament Saints
Original: ὑπόστασις
Category: Faith
NEW term. یقین is a major Islamic/Sufi certainty-attainment term (ilm al-yaqin, etc.); functions as a strong positive bridge but must be filled with Hebrews 11:1’s specific content — certainty grounded in God’s trustworthy promise, not mystical attainment.
Judgment
Approved rendering: قضاوت
Transliteration: qazawat
Doctrine: Judgment and the Certainty of Christ’s Return
Rejected alternatives: قیامت
Original: κρίσις / κρίμα
Category: Eschatology
NEW term. Avoid قیامت. Islamic eschatology centers on a distant cosmic Day of Judgment (Qiyamah) with deeds-weighing (mizan); Hebrews 9:27’s specific claim of immediate post-death individual judgment must be taught clearly against the ‘everything settled only on the Last Day’ default (also 6:2, 10:27, 10:30, 12:23).
Eagerly Await
Approved rendering: منتظر پاتې کیدل
Transliteration: montazir patay kedal
Doctrine: Judgment and the Certainty of Christ’s Return
Original: ἀπεκδέχομαι
Category: Eschatology
NEW term. منتظر strongly echoes the Shi’a Twelver expectation of the ‘Awaited One’ (al-Muntazar) and general Sunni Mahdi expectation. A positive bridge but must be explicitly distinguished at 9:28: Christ has already come once, visibly; his second appearing is a return, not an initial unveiling of a previously hidden figure.
Radiance
Approved rendering: وړانګه
Transliteration: wrangha
Doctrine: Worship Due to Christ Alone
Original: ἀπαύγασμα
Category: Christology
NEW term. Conveys the Son’s radiance as an emanation of the same glory (جلال), not a separate created light (1:3); guard against a modalist or created-being reading.
Firstborn
Approved rendering: مشر زوی
Transliteration: mashar zoy
Doctrine: The Superiority of Christ over Angels
Original: πρωτότοκος
Category: Christology
NEW term. Must be taught as a title of supreme rank in ANE usage (1:6, 12:23), not literal birth order implying a first-created being — a reading that would reinforce, not correct, the Quranic denial of eternal Sonship.
Medium Risk Terms
Holy
Approved rendering: مقدس
Transliteration: moqaddas
Doctrine: Sanctification through Christ’s Blood
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package; applies in Hebrews chs. 2,3,9,13. Keep the relational, Spirit-wrought sense distinct from ritual-purity-only readings, especially near the Holy of Holies/veil imagery.
Saints
Approved rendering: مقدسان
Transliteration: moqaddasan
Doctrine: Sainthood
Original: ἅγιοι
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package; corporate sense implicit throughout Hebrews’ exhortations, particularly ch. 13. Not an ascetic or elite class.
Glory
Approved rendering: جلال
Transliteration: jalal
Doctrine: The Superiority of Christ over Angels
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package; applies in Hebrews chs. 1,2,3. Applied to Christ as its very outshining (1:3); must be anchored to Christ’s specific historical glory, not left as generalized Sufi-poetic mystical splendor.
Calling
Approved rendering: بلنه
Transliteration: balana
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Original: κλῆσις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package; implicit in the ‘heavenly calling’ language of Hebrews 3:1. Sovereign summons, not human-initiated seeking.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: د خدای پاچاهي
Transliteration: da Khudai pachahi
Doctrine: The Unshakeable Kingdom and Heavenly Zion
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Kingdom
Inherited from Romans package; applies in Hebrews chs. 1,12 (‘unshakeable kingdom,’ 12:28). Distinguish from political-religious sovereignty claims, including ‘Islamic Emirate’ state framing.
Peace
Approved rendering: سوله
Transliteration: sola
Doctrine: Peace with God
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package; invoked in the closing benediction (13:20, ‘the God of peace’). Sola’s war-ending resonance remains an asset for the benediction’s tone.
David
Approved rendering: داود
Transliteration: Dawud
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: דָּוִד
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package; referenced typologically through ‘today’ (4:7) and implicitly through the roll call of faith (ch. 11).
Intercession
Approved rendering: منځګړیتوب
Transliteration: manzgaritob
Doctrine: Christ’s Mediating Intercession and the New Covenant
Original: ἐντυγχάνω (cf. Heb 7:25)
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package; explicitly tied in Hebrews 7:25 to Christ’s unceasing high-priestly office rather than a single mediating act. The nanawatai mediation custom remains the calibrated bridge.
Melchizedek
Approved rendering: ملکیصدق
Transliteration: Malki-Sedeq
Doctrine: Christ’s Eternal Priesthood after the Order of Melchizedek
Original: Μελχισέδεκ
Category: Priesthood
NEW term. Unfamiliar figure with no Quranic parallel (unlike Dawud); the Genesis 14 priest-king background must be taught fresh, not assumed, at chs. 5-7.
Tabernacle
Approved rendering: خیمه
Transliteration: khaima
Doctrine: The New Covenant versus the Old
Original: σκηνή
Category: Sanctuary
NEW term. Neutral, familiar word; risk is conceptual, not lexical — the OT wilderness-shrine background must be supplied (chs. 8,9,13).
Holy Of Holies
Approved rendering: تر ټولو مقدس ځای
Transliteration: tar tolo moqaddas dzay
Doctrine: Access to God through Christ’s Blood
Original: ἅγια ἁγίων
Category: Sanctuary
NEW term. Requires OT background to be supplied; entered once yearly by the high priest alone under the old covenant, by Christ once for all under the new (ch. 9).
Ark Of Covenant
Approved rendering: د تړون صندوق
Transliteration: da tarun sanduq
Doctrine: The New Covenant versus the Old
Original: κιβωτὸς τῆς διαθήκης
Category: Sanctuary
NEW term. Unfamiliar object requiring brief OT background; low independent doctrinal risk beyond that (ch. 9).
Offering
Approved rendering: نذرانه
Transliteration: nazrana
Doctrine: The Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice
Original: προσφορά
Category: Salvation
NEW term. Neutral religious-offering term for Christ’s body presented as sacrifice (10:10, 10:14); low-medium risk beyond consistency with ‘sacrifice.‘
Bloodshed
Approved rendering: د وینې تویېدنه
Transliteration: da wine tawyedana
Doctrine: The Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice
Original: αἱματεκχυσία
Category: Salvation
NEW term. Rare compound (9:22); no single Pashto word exists, so the phrase must clearly convey a violent, costly outpouring, not a mere ritual dabbing.
Forgiveness Remission
Approved rendering: بښنه
Transliteration: bakhshuna
Doctrine: The Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice
Original: ἄφεσις
Category: Salvation
NEW term. Native, warm word for forgiveness (9:22, 10:18); must not be read as casual ‘letting something go’ but as a costly, blood-secured release.
Conscience
Approved rendering: وجدان
Transliteration: wijdan
Doctrine: Sanctification through Christ’s Blood
Original: συνείδησις
Category: Sanctification
NEW term. Shared vocabulary with Islamic ethical discourse; must be anchored to guilt before God rather than a generalized innate moral compass (fitrah-adjacent reading) (9:14, 10:22, 13:18).
Mediator
Approved rendering: منځګړی
Transliteration: manzgari
Doctrine: Christ’s Mediating Intercession and the New Covenant
Original: μεσίτης
Category: Covenant
NEW term. Builds on the baseline’s منځګړیتوب root; here Christ mediates and guarantees a covenant (8:6, 9:15, 12:24), not merely an ongoing dispute — the legal/covenantal sense must be added to the intercessory sense.
Promise
Approved rendering: وعده
Transliteration: wa’da
Doctrine: Faith of the Old Testament Saints
Original: ἐπαγγελία
Category: Covenant
NEW term. Ties to the baseline covenant note: a unilateral divine promise, not a negotiated pact between equal parties (4:1, 6:12-17, 8:6, 9:15, 11:9-40).
Oath
Approved rendering: قسم
Transliteration: qasam
Doctrine: Faith of the Old Testament Saints
Original: ὅρκος
Category: Covenant
NEW term. God’s self-guaranteeing oath (6:13-17, 7:20-21) must be taught as uniquely authoritative, unlike ordinary human oath-swearing (halaf) between parties.
Shadow Type
Approved rendering: سیوری
Transliteration: sairi
Doctrine: The New Covenant versus the Old
Original: σκιά
Category: Covenant
NEW term. Applied to the Law and tabernacle (8:5, 10:1); must convey a genuine, God-given foreshadowing, not a deceptive illusion or a purely negative term.
Copy Antitype
Approved rendering: نقل / بېلګه
Transliteration: nakal / belga
Doctrine: The New Covenant versus the Old
Original: ὑπόδειγμα / ἀντίτυπον
Category: Covenant
NEW term. Must not imply the earthly copy is the ‘real’ one and heaven the shadow; typological direction (earthly copies heavenly) must be preserved (8:5, 9:23-24).
Confidence Boldness
Approved rendering: زړورتوب
Transliteration: zrawartob
Doctrine: Access to God through Christ’s Blood
Original: παρρησία
Category: Faith
NEW term. Resonates positively with tura, the Pashtunwali warrior-courage virtue — a genuine cultural asset — but must be filled with its specific content: boldness to approach God through Christ (3:6, 4:16, 10:19, 10:35), not mere social bravado.
Draw Near
Approved rendering: نژدې کیدل
Transliteration: nizhde kedal
Doctrine: Access to God through Christ’s Blood
Original: προσέρχομαι
Category: Faith
NEW term. Central Hebrews verb of direct access to God (4:16, 7:25, 10:22, 11:6, 12:22); the doctrinal emphasis on unmediated (no human-priest) access should be made explicit at each occurrence.
Evidence Conviction
Approved rendering: دلیل
Transliteration: dalil
Doctrine: Faith of the Old Testament Saints
Original: ἔλεγχος
Category: Faith
NEW term. Standard Islamic theological/legal reasoning vocabulary for proof of unseen realities (11:1); appropriately conveys reasoned confidence rather than blind credulity.
Endurance Perseverance
Approved rendering: زغم
Transliteration: zgham
Doctrine: Perseverance and Assurance
Original: ὑπομονή
Category: Faith
NEW term. Must be tied specifically to persevering faith in Christ’s finished work (10:36, 12:1), not generic stoic endurance or fatalistic sabr-style patience, though the latter is a related, calibratable entry point.
Discipline Chastening
Approved rendering: تربیه
Transliteration: tarbiya
Doctrine: Divine Discipline as Fatherly Formation
Original: παιδεία
Category: Sanctification
NEW term. Standard Persian/Pashto term for upbringing/training (12:5-11); must counter پلار’s stern-authority default connotation and be filled with the chapter’s loving, formative framing.
Altar
Approved rendering: قربانګاه
Transliteration: qurbangah
Doctrine: The Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice
Original: θυσιαστήριον
Category: Salvation
NEW term. Compound of قربانی (sacrifice, High risk); the same Eid-qurbani-adjacent caution applies (13:10, ‘we have an altar’).
Leaders Elders
Approved rendering: مشران
Transliteration: mashran
Doctrine: Church as God’s People, Gathered at Heavenly Zion
Original: ἡγούμενοι
Category: Church
NEW term. Directly evokes the Pashtun jirga’s tribal-elder authority structure (13:7, 13:17, 13:24); church eldership’s basis (spiritual oversight grounded in the gospel) must be distinguished from tribal-elder authority grounded in lineage and customary law.
Zion
Approved rendering: صهیون
Transliteration: Sahyun
Doctrine: The Unshakeable Kingdom and Heavenly Zion
Original: Σιών
Category: Kingdom
NEW term. Carries some of the same contemporary political sensitivity flagged for ‘Israel’ in the baseline; here purely typological/theological (12:22), and this distinction from any contemporary geopolitical referent should be made explicit.
Heavenly Jerusalem
Approved rendering: آسماني یروشلم
Transliteration: asmani Yerushalim
Doctrine: The Unshakeable Kingdom and Heavenly Zion
Original: Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἐπουράνιος
Category: Kingdom
NEW term. Same contemporary-sensitivity caveat as ‘Zion’ (12:22, 13:14).
Reward Recompense
Approved rendering: اجر
Transliteration: ajr
Doctrine: Perseverance and Assurance
Rejected alternatives: بدله
Original: μισθαποδοσία
Category: Faith
NEW term. اجر is the standard, positively-loaded Islamic term for divine reward (10:35, 11:6, 11:26); the baseline’s grace-versus-merit distinction must govern its use. Explicitly avoid بدله, which carries Pashtunwali’s badal revenge-cycle connotation.
Founder Pioneer
Approved rendering: بنسټ ایښودونکی
Transliteration: bnst aishodunkay
Doctrine: Perseverance and Assurance
Original: ἀρχηγός
Category: Christology
NEW term. Christ as founder/pioneer of salvation (2:10) and of faith (12:2); keep the rendering identical at both occurrences per the cross-document consistency rule.
Finisher Perfecter
Approved rendering: بشپړوونکی
Transliteration: bshparawunkay
Doctrine: Faith of the Old Testament Saints
Original: τελειωτής
Category: Faith
NEW term. Christ as the perfecter of faith (12:2); shares root with ‘perfect/perfection’ and must stay consistent with that entry’s qualification-not-improvement sense.
Rest
Approved rendering: آرام / استراحت
Transliteration: aram / istirahat
Doctrine: The Rest of God
Original: κατάπαυσις
Category: Covenant
NEW term. The eschatological, covenantal rest God offers, forfeited by Israel through unbelief (3:11, 3:18, 4:1-11); must be distinguished from mere physical relaxation.
Sabbath Rest
Approved rendering: د شنبې آرام
Transliteration: da shanbe aram
Doctrine: The Rest of God
Original: σαββατισμός
Category: Covenant
NEW term. The Sabbath-rest that remains for God’s people (4:9); distinguish from the weekly Jumu’ah/Sabbath-observance framework — this is a once-for-all entered rest, not a recurring weekly obligation.
Confession
Approved rendering: اقرار
Transliteration: iqrar
Doctrine: Perseverance and Assurance
Original: ὁμολογία
Category: Faith
NEW term. The believer’s public confession of hope and faith in Christ (3:1, 4:14, 10:23); carries appropriate legal/testimonial weight but must be filled with its specific content, distinct from the Islamic shahada confession structure.
Angel
Approved rendering: فرښته
Transliteration: freshta
Doctrine: The Superiority of Christ over Angels
Original: ἄγγελος
Category: God
NEW term. Shared vocabulary with Islamic angelology (Jibril, Mika’il); the argument that the Son is categorically greater than any angel (chs. 1-2) must stay clear, since some regional folk piety elevates angelic intercessors near-devotionally.
Guarantee Surety
Approved rendering: ضامن
Transliteration: zaman
Doctrine: Christ’s Eternal Priesthood after the Order of Melchizedek
Original: ἔγγυος
Category: Covenant
NEW term. ضامن is a familiar Islamic legal-financial guarantor term (7:22); useful bridge provided the personal, once-for-all nature of the guarantee, not a renewable financial arrangement, is made clear.
Permanent Unchangeable
Approved rendering: نه بدلېدونکی
Transliteration: na badledunkay
Doctrine: Christ’s Eternal Priesthood after the Order of Melchizedek
Original: ἀπαράβατος
Category: Priesthood
NEW term. Central to the ch. 7 argument that Christ’s priesthood never needs replacement (7:24), unlike Levitical succession which passed from father to son at death.
Outside The Camp
Approved rendering: د خیمو نه بهر
Transliteration: da khaimo na bahar
Doctrine: Church as God’s People, Gathered at Heavenly Zion
Original: ἔξω τῆς παρεμβολῆς
Category: Salvation
NEW term. Requires OT camp-purity background (13:11-13); also resonates pastorally with many Pashto-speaking believers’ own lived experience of social exclusion for their faith.
Moses
Approved rendering: موسی
Transliteration: Musa
Doctrine: The Superiority of Christ over Moses
Original: Μωϋσῆς
Category: Covenant
NEW term (not present in the Romans baseline). Musa is a shared, positively-regarded Quranic prophet, but without the ‘Son over servant’ typology of Hebrews 3:5-6; the specific point of Christ’s superiority must be taught, not assumed, so as not to sound like a demotion of Musa’s honored Quranic status.
Low Risk Terms
Fellowship
Approved rendering: ملګرتیا
Transliteration: malgartia
Doctrine: Christian Hospitality and Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: شراکت
Original: κοινωνία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package; never شراکت. Applies in Hebrews 13:16 (‘doing good and sharing’).
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: شکر
Transliteration: shukr
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Original: εὐχαριστία
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package; implicit in the ‘sacrifice of praise’ (13:15).
Levi Levitical
Approved rendering: لاوی / د لاویانو
Transliteration: Lawi / da Lawian-o
Doctrine: The Superiority of Christ over the Levitical Priesthood
Original: Λευί / Λευιτικός
Category: Priesthood
NEW term. Proper-noun-based; low independent risk beyond consistency with ‘priest’/‘priesthood’ (ch. 7).
Shepherd
Approved rendering: شپون
Transliteration: shpun
Doctrine: Christian Hospitality and Fellowship
Original: ποιμήν
Category: Church
NEW term. Positive bridge: Christ as ‘the great shepherd of the sheep’ (13:20); pastoral imagery resonates naturally with Pashtun rural/pastoral life.
Hospitality
Approved rendering: مېلمه پالنه
Transliteration: melma palana
Doctrine: Christian Hospitality and Fellowship
Original: φιλοξενία
Category: Church
NEW term. Strong positive bridge: melmastia is a central pillar of Pashtunwali itself (13:2). Should be taught as fulfilling, not merely supplementing, an existing deeply-held virtue, anchored to its Christian motivation.
Forerunner
Approved rendering: مخکښ
Transliteration: makhkash
Doctrine: Access to God through Christ’s Blood
Original: πρόδρομος
Category: Christology
NEW term. Christ who has entered heaven ahead of believers on their behalf (6:20); low independent risk.
Anchor
Approved rendering: لنگر
Transliteration: langar
Doctrine: Perseverance and Assurance
Original: ἄγκυρα
Category: Faith
NEW term. Hope pictured as a firm anchor for the soul (6:19); unfamiliar nautical image for inland populations, requiring brief explanatory framing, no doctrinal risk.
Referenced passages