Core Glossary
Core Glossary — Gospel of John (Pashto)
How to read this glossary
- Status = “Reused (baseline)”: term is already recorded in the Romans
translation_memory.json; the Pashto rendering here is copied exactly and must not be altered. Full doctrinal notes remain in the baseline; this glossary only records the John-specific chapters where the term recurs. - Status = “New (John)”: term does not appear in the Romans baseline and is proposed here for the first time; it must be added to
translation_memory.json(version increment) before Phase 2 translation of any John segment begins, per the AI Translation Requirements’ “new term” protocol. - Risk tiers and definitions follow
doctrine_risk_registry.jsonexactly (Critical / High / Medium / Low). - Every chapter of John (1-21) is represented by at least one entry below.
Part A — Baseline Terms Reused Exactly (recurring in John)
| Term | Original | Pashto (baseline, unchanged) | Risk | John chapters | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| God | θεός | خدای (Khudai) | Critical | 1,3,4,5,6,8,9,10,11,13,14,16,17,20 | Reused exactly; see baseline for tawhid-distinction handling. |
| Jesus | Ἰησοῦς | عیسی (Isa) | Critical | throughout | Reused exactly. |
| Lord | κύριος | خداوند (Khudawand) | Critical | 4,6,9,11,13,20,21 | Climactic at 20:28, “My Lord and my God.” |
| Son of God | υἱὸς θεοῦ | د خدای زوی | Critical | 1,3,5,10,11,19,20 | Central to 20:31 purpose statement. |
| Holy Spirit | πνεῦμα ἅγιον | روح القدس (Rooh-ul-Qudus) | Critical | 1,3,7,14,15,16,20 | Intensified by the Paraclete/Ahmad-conflation risk in ch.14-16 — see Part B, “Counselor.” |
| Father | πατήρ | پلار (plar) | Critical | 1,3,5,6,8,10,14,15,16,17,20 | Reciprocal Father-Son glorification (ch.17) reinforces Unity doctrine. |
| Incarnation | ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο | تجسد (tajassud) | Critical | 1 | John 1:14 is this doctrine’s primary text; periphrastic gloss recommended per baseline. |
| Resurrection | ἀνάστασις | بیا راژوندي کیدل | Critical | 2,5,6,11,20,21 | 11:25 and 20 chapters are the doctrine’s narrative centerpiece. |
| Messiah | Χριστός/Μεσσίας | مسیح (Masih) | Critical | 1,4,7,9,10,11,20 | Every occurrence must actively assert redemptive sufficiency per baseline. |
| Glory | δόξα | جلال (jalal) | Medium-High | 1,2,7,8,9,11,12,17 | Anchor to concrete historical acts throughout (baseline’s own caution). |
| Sin | ἁμαρτία | ګناه (gunah) | High | 1,8,9,16 | 1:29 “Lamb of God who takes away sin of the world” is a key text. |
| Law | νόμος | ناموس (namus) | High | 1,7,8,9 | Never شریعت; distinguish from both shari’a and Pashtunwali per baseline. |
| Kingdom of God | βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ | د خدای پاچاهي | Medium | 3,18 | 18:36 “not of this world” directly engages baseline’s Islamic Emirate caution. |
| Grace | χάρις | فضل (fazal) | High | 1 | Paired with new term “truth” at 1:14,17; must not read as reciprocity-creating. |
| Faith / believe (noun root) | πίστις / πιστεύω | ایمان (iman) | High | throughout | John overwhelmingly prefers the verb; see Part B “believe” for verb-specific guidance. |
| Peace | εἰρήνη | سوله (sola) | Medium | 14,16,20 | 14:27 “peace I leave with you,” distinct from worldly peace. |
| Holy / Holy One | ἅγιος | مقدس (moqaddas) | High | 6,17 | 6:69 Peter’s confession; 17:11 “Holy Father.” |
| Sanctification | ἁγιασμός/ἁγιάζω | تقدیس (taqdis) | High | 17 | Verb form; tied to “your word is truth” (17:17). |
| Election / chosen | ἐκλογή/ἐκλέγομαι | غوره کول (ghwara kawul) | High | 6,15 | 15:16 “I chose you”; avoid tribal-lineage coloring per baseline. |
| Mission / sent | ἀποστολή/ἀποστέλλω/πέμπω | ماموریت (ma’muriyat) [doctrine]; لیږل (legal) [verb, new — see Part B] | Critical | 3,17,20 | 20:21 “as the Father sent me, I send you” — acute safety implications. |
| Israel | Ἰσραήλ | اسرائیل (Esra’il) | High | 1,3,12 | Requires same pastoral framing as baseline. |
| Seed of David | σπέρμα Δαυίδ | د داود نسل | High | 7 | 7:42, Messiah’s Bethlehem/Davidic lineage debate. |
| David | Δαυίδ | داود (Dawud) | Medium | 7 | Supply covenant-king typology explicitly. |
| Apostle | ἀπόστολος | رسول (rasul) | High | 13 | 13:16 generic “messenger” usage; flag as non-technical sense, distinct from the office. |
| Providence | (theological category) | د خدای تدبیر | Medium | 12 | 12:23 “the hour has come” — appointed, purposive timing. |
| Prophet | προφήτης | پیغمبر (peghambar) | High | 1,4,6,7,9 | Must pair with fuller Christological titles per baseline. |
Part B — New Terms Introduced by John (proposed additions to translation memory)
| Term | Original / translit. | Literal meaning | Pashto | Pashto translit. | Risk | Doctrine | Chapters | Grounded risk reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Word (Logos) | λόγος / logos | spoken word; rational self-expression | کلام | kalam | Critical | Deity/Pre-existence of Christ | 1 | Genuine asset (Qur’an 3:45 calls Isa “a Word from Him”) but equally genuine risk: Islamic kalam theology treats revealed speech as attribute/created-utterance, not eternal Person; must teach Christ as a Person, not a book or attribute. |
| Life | ζωή / zōē | life (quality, not mere biological existence) | ژوند | zhwand | Medium | Eternal Life through Faith | 1,3,4,5,6,10,11,14,17,20 | Broadly safe native word; risk is entirely in “eternal” qualifier — see next entry. |
| Eternal life | ζωὴ αἰώνιος / zōē aiōnios | life of the age to come, possessed now | تلپاتې ژوند | talpate zhwand | High | Eternal Life through Faith | 3,4,5,6,10,17 | Must be taught as a present possession by faith, not only a future post-mortem reward contingent on deeds-weighing (mizan), the surrounding eschatological default. |
| Light | φῶς / phōs | light (physical & moral-spiritual) | رڼا | rana | Medium | Judgment and Belief/Unbelief | 1,3,8,9,12 | Sufi poetic tradition gives resonance (asset) but risks floating free of the historical Christ if not anchored (per baseline’s jalal caution). |
| Darkness | σκότος/σκοτία / skotos/skotia | darkness (physical & moral) | تیاره | tyara | Medium | Judgment and Belief/Unbelief | 1,3,8,12 | Paired opposite of light; same anchoring requirement. |
| World (triple sense) | κόσμος / kosmos | created order / humanity / hostile system | نړۍ | nirai | High | God’s Love for the World; Unity of Father/Son (contrast) | 1,3,4,6,7,8,9,11,12,14,15,16,17,18 | Same single word carries three distinct senses (created order, redeemed humanity, hostile system); must be context-flagged at every occurrence to avoid apparent contradiction between 3:16 and 15:18. |
| Truth | ἀλήθεια / alētheia | reality; faithfulness; what is true | حقیقت | haqiqat | Medium | Holy Spirit as Counselor; Deity of Christ (14:6) | 1,3,4,8,14,16,17,18 | Sufi haqiqah resonance is an asset but must be anchored to the historical incarnate Christ, not left as free-floating mystical attainment. |
| Believe (verb) | πιστεύω / pisteuō | to trust, entrust oneself, have confidence in | باور کول / ایمان راوړل | bawar kawul / iman rawrul | High | Eternal Life through Faith; Judgment and Belief/Unbelief | throughout (esp. 3,4,5,6,8,9,10,11,12,14,16,20) | John’s most repeated theological verb (~98x); object of belief (Jesus) must always be explicit; context-sensitive choice between the two Pashto renderings (see 07, v.3:12 note). |
| Testify / testimony | μαρτυρέω, μαρτυρία / martyreō, martyria | to bear reliable eyewitness witness | ګواهي (ورکول) | gawahi (warkawul) | High | Inspiration/Reliability of Christ’s self-witness | 1,3,5,8,15,19,21 | Must avoid شهادت (shahadat), which carries Islamic creedal-confession and martyrdom associations; ګواهي keeps the ordinary legal-evidentiary sense. |
| Flesh | σάρξ / sarx | physical body; human nature (neutral or fallen) | غوښه (lit.) / بشري طبیعت (abstract) | ghwakha / bashari tabiat | High | Incarnation; New Birth | 1,3,6 | Two distinct Pashto renderings needed for two distinct senses (real physicality at 1:14 vs. insufficiency of mere human origin at 3:6); collapsing them risks either docetism or implying the body itself is evil. |
| Born again / from above | γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν / gennēthē anōthen | begotten anew / begotten from above | له سره زیږون / د پاسه زیږون | le sara zegoon / da pasa zegoon | Critical | New Birth and Regeneration by the Spirit | 3 | Directly challenges Islamic fitrah (innate purity at birth); risk of an accidental reincarnation-sounding rendering if mishandled. |
| Spirit / wind (wordplay) | πνεῦμα / pneuma | breath, wind, Spirit | روح / باد | rooh / bad | Critical (translation gap) | New Birth and Regeneration by the Spirit; Holy Spirit as Counselor | 3 | Greek’s single-word wind/Spirit pun cannot be reproduced in Pashto (two unrelated words); requires mandatory footnote/oral gloss at 3:8. |
| Sign | σημεῖον / sēmeion | miraculous, identity-revealing act | نیشان | nishan | High | Deity of Christ | 2,3,4,6,9,11,12,20 | Avoid معجزه (mojiza), the standard Islamic term for a mere prophet’s miracle; John’s signs reveal deity, not prophetic credential alone. |
| Judgment / condemnation | κρίσις, κρίνω, κατακρίνω / krisis, krinō, katakrinō | verdict; condemnation | فیصله / محکومیت | faisala / mahkumiat | High | Judgment and Belief/Unbelief | 3,5,8,9,12,16 | Present-tense judgment (already decided by response to Christ) collides with the exclusively-future Qiyamah/deeds-weighing default. |
| Lifted up | ὑψόω / hypsoō | raised up; exalted | پورته کیدل | porta kedal | Critical | Christ’s Substitutionary Death (as glorification) | 3,8,12 | Avoid any rafa’-family root; Qur’an 4:157-158 uses the cognate concept of God “raising up” Jesus to mean rescue from the cross, the opposite of John’s crucifixion-as-exaltation claim. |
| Only begotten / unique | μονογενής / monogenēs | one-of-a-kind, unique (not physically begotten) | یوازینی (زوی) | ywazinay (zoy) | Critical | Deity and Pre-existence of Christ; Sonship of Christ | 1,3 | Must not imply physical procreation; direct target of Qur’an 112:3 (“He begets not, nor is He begotten”). |
| Lamb of God | ἀμνὸς τοῦ θεοῦ / amnos tou theou | sacrificial lamb | د خدای ورهی | da Khudai wray | High | Christ’s Substitutionary Death | 1,19 | Genuine Eid al-Adha/Qurbani bridge (asset) but risks reduction to ordinary animal substitution without personal/final significance. |
| Son of Man | υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου / huios tou anthrōpou | apocalyptic self-designation (Daniel 7) | د انسان زوی | da insan zoy | Medium-High | Deity and Pre-existence of Christ | 1,3,5,6,9,12,13 | Pre-existence claim (“descended from heaven,” 3:13) must be preserved explicitly. |
| Living water | ὕδωρ ζῶν / hydōr zōn | flowing, life-giving water | د ژوند اوبه | da zhwand oba | Medium | Eternal Life through Faith | 4,7 | Strong positive resonance (water scarcity) but metaphorical sense must be made explicit. |
| Worship | προσκυνέω / proskyneō | bow down; render homage/worship | عبادت کول | ibadat kawul | High | Deity of Christ | 4,9,12 | Shared tawhid-central vocabulary now explicitly directed at Christ himself (9:38); reframe of proper object, not rejection of exclusivity. |
| Counselor / Advocate | παράκλητος / paraklētos | one called alongside to help; advocate, comforter | مرستندوی | marastandoy | Critical | The Holy Spirit as Counselor | 14,15,16 | Beyond baseline’s Jibril-identification risk: a specific, widespread Islamic apologetic tradition claims a periklytos/“Ahmad” (praised one) etymological link predicting Muhammad; rendering must foreground “helper,” never “praised/renowned one.” |
| Spirit of truth | πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας / pneuma tēs alētheias | the truth-revealing divine Person | د حقیقت روح | da haqiqat rooh | High | The Holy Spirit as Counselor | 14,15,16 | Must be taught as glorifying Christ (16:14), not superseded by or pointing to a later human prophetic figure. |
| Abide / remain | μένω / menō | to stay, dwell, continue in living union | پاتې کیدل | pate kedal | Medium | Unity/union with Christ | 15 | Native low-risk verb; theological “living, fruit-bearing union” sense must be taught explicitly. |
| Way | ὁδός / hodos | road, path; means of access | لار | lar | Critical (as part of 14:6 I AM statement) | Deity and Pre-existence of Christ | 14 | Combined with 14:6b’s explicit exclusivity claim (“no one comes to the Father except through me”); must never be softened toward religious pluralism. |
| I Am (absolute) | ἐγώ εἰμι / egō eimi | divine self-declaration (echoing Exodus 3:14 LXX) | زه یم | za yim | Critical | Deity and Pre-existence of Christ; The Seven “I Am” Statements | 4,6,8,9,10,11,13,14,15,18 | The book’s central, repeated deity-claim formula; must be rendered identically at every occurrence, absolute and predicated alike; never flattened to ordinary self-identification. |
| Good Shepherd | ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλός / ho poimēn ho kalos | shepherd who cares well for the sheep | ښه شپون | kha shpoon | Low-Medium | Christ’s Substitutionary Death | 10,21 | Positive cultural asset (pastoral life); risk only in ensuring “lay down his life” (10:11) is read as voluntary self-giving, not accident. |
| Lay down (one’s) life | τίθημι τὴν ψυχήν / tithēmi tēn psychēn | to voluntarily give up one’s life | خپل ژوند ورکول | khpal zhwand warkawul | High | Christ’s Substitutionary Death | 10,15 | Must convey voluntary, purposeful self-giving, directly countering the shared denial that Christ died at all. |
| The Father and I are one | ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἕν ἐσμεν | shared divine essence/unity | زه او پلار یو یو | za aw plar yaw yu | Critical | Unity of the Father and the Son | 10 | Original hearers’ own reaction (attempted stoning for blasphemy) confirms full deity-claim force; must not be softened to mere agreement-of-purpose. |
| That they may be one | ἵνα ὦσιν ἕν / hina ōsin hen | believers’ unity, modeled on Father-Son unity | چې دوی یو شي (یووالی) | che dwoy yaw shi (yowali) | High | Unity of the Father and the Son (applied to the church) | 17 | Distinct in kind from 10:30’s unity-of-essence; must be taught with awareness of the severe practical constraints on visible church unity in this readership’s context. |
| Grain of wheat | κόκκος τοῦ σίτου / kokkos tou sitou | seed that must die to bear fruit | د غنمو دانه | da ghanmo dana | Low-Medium | Christ’s Substitutionary Death | 12 | Agrarian death-to-fruitfulness metaphor; must be explicitly tied to the cross. |
| It is finished | τετέλεσται / tetelestai | fully accomplished, completed (debt-paid idiom) | بشپړ شو | bashpar sho | Critical | Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection | 19 | Must convey completed accomplishment, not mere cessation; counters both the crucifixion-denial and any works-added-to-grace misunderstanding. |
| My Lord and my God | ὁ κύριός μου καὶ ὁ θεός μου / ho kyrios mou kai ho theos mou | direct deity confession to Jesus | زما خداوند او زما خدای | zma Khudawand aw zma Khudai | Critical | Deity of Christ | 20 | The book’s most explicit, unqualified, narratively-affirmed deity confession; render without qualification, paralleling baseline’s Romans 10:9 escalation rule. |
| Purpose statement (that you may believe) | ἵνα πιστεύσητε…ζωὴν ἔχητε ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ | John’s stated authorial purpose | چې تاسو ایمان راوړئ…او د هغه په نوم ژوند ولرئ | che tasu iman rawrai…aw da hgha pa num zhwand olrai | Critical | Eternal Life through Faith (thesis) | 20 | Functions as this Gospel’s Romans-1:16-17 equivalent; require one fixed, verbatim rendering across every document in the curriculum. |
| ἀγαπάω vs. φιλέω (love, two verbs) | ἀγαπάω / φιλέω | chosen/deliberate love vs. affectionate/fond love | مینه لرل / خوښول | mina larel / khwakhawul | High (translation gap) | Christian discipleship / restoration | 21 | Pashto lacks a clean one-to-one lexical distinction; two distinct verbs used to preserve a perceptible (if theologically debated) shift across Peter’s threefold dialogue. |
| Feast of Tabernacles | σκηνοπηγία / skēnopēgia | festival of booths/tents | د خیمو اختر | da khimo akhtar | Medium | Fulfillment typology | 7 | Distinguish from Islamic Eid festivals in origin and content; supply OT wilderness background explicitly. |
| Samaritan | Σαμαρίτης / Samaritēs | ethnic-religious out-group (to Jews) | سامري | Samari | Low-Medium | God’s Love for the World (boundary-crossing) | 4 | Useful teaching parallel to regional ethnic/sectarian tension; low independent doctrinal risk. |
| Equal with God | ἴσος τῷ θεῷ / isos tō theō | claim of co-equal divine status | د خدای سره برابر | da Khudai sara barabar | Critical | Deity of Christ | 5 | The hostile leaders’ own verdict is doctrinally accurate; must never be presented as their misunderstanding. |
| Before Abraham was, I am | πρὶν Ἀβραὰμ γενέσθαι ἐγὼ εἰμί | eternal pre-existence + divine Name | مخکې له دې چې ابراهیم پیدا شي، زه یم | makhke le de che Ibrahim payda shi, za yim | Critical | Deity and Pre-existence of Christ | 8 | Direct claim to bear the divine Name (Exodus 3:14); triggered an attempted stoning for blasphemy in the original setting — preserve full force. |
| Draw (effectual call) | ἕλκω / helkō | to draw, attract irresistibly | راکشول | rakashawul | High | Effectual Calling (cf. Romans baseline election entry) | 6 | Must be taught as gracious initiative, not fatalism, and not colored by tribal-lineage chosenness. |
| Betray / hand over | παραδίδωμι / paradidōmi | to hand over treacherously | خیانت کول / تسلیم کول | khianat kawul / taslim kawul | Medium | Christ’s Substitutionary Death (narrative) | 6,13,18,19 | Must retain deliberate, culpable sense throughout the Passion narrative. |
| Wash feet | νίπτω τοὺς πόδας / niptō tous podas | perform a servant’s task of foot-washing | پښې مینځل | pkhe meenzal | Low-Medium | Christ-modeled servant leadership | 13 | Countercultural humility model within an honor-based social hierarchy; not a literal liturgical mandate. |
| New commandment | ἐντολὴ καινή / entolē kainē | Christ’s love-command, measured by his own self-giving | نوی حکم | nawai hukm | Medium | Mutual love among disciples | 13 | Standard (“as I have loved you”) must not be flattened to generic goodwill. |
| Grief into joy | λύπη…εἰς χαράν | sorrow transformed into joy (childbirth analogy) | غم…خوشحالي | gham…khushali | Low | Pastoral assurance | 16 | Vivid, accessible image; low doctrinal risk. |
| I have overcome the world | ἐγὼ νενίκηκα τὸν κόσμον | Christ’s anticipatory victory claim | زه پر نړۍ برلاسی شوی یم | za pr nirai barlasi shaway yim | High | Assurance (cf. Romans baseline) | 16 | Teach as Christ’s confident anticipation of victory through the cross, not generic encouragement. |
| It is better one man die for the people | (Caiaphas, unwitting prophecy) | substitutionary language from a hostile speaker | د خلکو لپاره یو سړی مړ شي | da khalko lapara yaw saray mar shi | High | Christ’s Substitutionary Death | 11 | Preserve full narrative irony; natural bridge to nanawatai substitution logic already established in baseline. |
| Blood and water | αἷμα καὶ ὕδωρ | physical evidence of Jesus’ genuine death | وینه او اوبه | wina aw oba | Medium | Christ’s Substitutionary Death (historicity) | 19 | Foreground historical-apologetic force (he really died) over secondary symbolic readings, given the shared crucifixion-denial. |
| Receive the Holy Spirit / forgive sins | λάβετε πνεῦμα ἅγιον…ἀφίενται | Spirit-reception paired with forgiveness authority | روح القدس ترلاسه کړئ…بخښنه | rooh-ul-qudus tarlasa krai…bakhshuna | Critical | Holy Spirit; forgiveness grounded in the finished work | 20 | Must not be misunderstood as independent clergy power to forgive apart from Christ’s completed atonement (19:30). |
| Shepherd my sheep | ποίμαινε τὰ πρόβατά μου / poimaine ta probata mou | commission to pastoral care, modeled on Christ | زما پسونه وساته | zma pasoona wasata | Low-Medium | Church leadership grounded in Christ’s own sacrificial pattern | 21 | Must retain connection to the sacrificial shepherding model of ch.10, not become a generic leadership instruction. |
Part C — Chapters Explicitly Reviewed with No New Theological Vocabulary
Per the full-book-coverage mandate, the following note applies where a chapter’s remaining, non-tabled material was reviewed and found to introduce no additional load-bearing theological terms beyond those already tabled above for that chapter or inherited from earlier chapters:
- Chapter 2 (remainder beyond σημεῖον/δόξα/ναός): wedding-narrative detail reviewed; no further new terms.
- Chapter 9 (remainder beyond τυφλός/προσκυνέω): healing-narrative and Pharisee-controversy detail reviewed; reuses κρίσις (ch.3/5) and φῶς (ch.1/8); no further new terms.
- Chapter 13 (remainder beyond νίπτω/ἐντολὴ καινή/ἐγώ εἰμι): betrayal-prediction and Peter’s-denial-foretold narrative reviewed; reuses δοξάζω (glorify) and υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου (Son of Man) already tabled; no further new terms.
- Chapter 18 (remainder beyond ἐγώ εἰμι/βασιλεία/ἀλήθεια): arrest and trial narrative detail (Annas, Caiaphas, Peter’s denial, Barabbas) reviewed; proper nouns only; no further new theological terms.
- Chapter 21 (remainder beyond ἀγαπάω/φιλέω/ποίμαινε): miraculous catch of fish and beloved-disciple/authorship material reviewed; reuses μαρτυρία (testimony, ch.1/3) at 21:24; no further new terms.
This glossary must be merged into translation_memory.json (incrementing version, per the AI Translation Requirements’ new-term protocol) before any Phase 2 segment translation of John begins. All Critical and High risk new terms above require human theologian review at first use per doctrine_risk_registry.json’s routing rules; the Paraclete/Counselor entry, the “lifted up” entry, and the seven I AM entries require theologian review at every occurrence, not only first use, given their doctrinal centrality and collision severity.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: خدای
Transliteration: Khudai
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: الله
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. John repeatedly places Jesus in unqualified apposition to this word (1:1 ‘the Word was God’; 1:18; 20:28 ‘my Lord and my God’); every occurrence in John where خدای is applied to Christ must retain full Trinitarian force, not a lesser honorific sense.
Jesus
Approved rendering: عیسی
Transliteration: Isa
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. John’s entire narrative structure (signs, I AM sayings, passion, resurrection) exists to correct the Quranic prophet-only, non-crucified, non-divine content this name otherwise carries for Pashtun Muslim hearers.
Lord
Approved rendering: خداوند
Transliteration: Khudawand
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: مالک
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. John 20:28 (‘My Lord and my God’) is the single most explicit, unqualified, narratively-affirmed deity confession addressed directly to Jesus in the book and must be rendered with the same weight the baseline requires for Romans 10:9.
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, unchanged. John 20:31 makes this title, together with مسیح and ژوند, the book’s own stated purpose statement; the Qur’an 112:3/19:35 denial applies with undiminished force at every John occurrence (1:34,49; 3:18; 5:25; 10:36; 11:4,27; 19:7; 20:31).
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: روح القدس
Transliteration: Rooh-ul-Qudus
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit as Counselor
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. John’s Paraclete passages (ch.14-16) and the giving of the Spirit (20:22) build directly on this entry; see ‘counselor’ below for the additional Ahmad/periklytos apologetic risk specific to John, not present in Romans.
Father
Approved rendering: پلار
Transliteration: plar
Doctrine: Unity of the Father and the Son
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. John intensifies the baseline’s caution: the Father-Son relationship in John (5:18-23; 10:30; 14:9-11; 17) is a claim of shared divine essence, not merely a devotional analogy; ‘plar’ must not default to the stern-authority connotation dominant in Pashtun patriarchal culture when this relationship is in view.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: تجسد
Transliteration: tajassud
Doctrine: Incarnation
Original: ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. John 1:14 is this doctrine’s primary text in the whole Bible; per baseline guidance for Pashto’s especially thin Christian tradition, pair the technical noun with the periphrastic ‘خدای انسان شو’ (God became a man) at first use.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: بیا راژوندي کیدل
Transliteration: bya rajwandi kedal
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection
Original: ἀνάστασις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. John 20’s extended eyewitness-structured narrative (empty tomb, grave clothes, multiple appearances, physical touch, eating) is the book’s own historical argument directly answering the shared Quranic crucifixion-denial; oral/narrative apologetic emphasis is especially valuable here.
Messiah
Approved rendering: مسیح
Transliteration: Masih
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Original: Χριστός / Μεσσίας
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. John 1:41; 4:25-26,29; 7:41-42; 11:27; 20:31 all require every occurrence to actively assert Christ’s unique redemptive sufficiency against the honored-but-non-divine Quranic al-Masih content.
Law
Approved rendering: ناموس
Transliteration: namus
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Old Testament Typology
Rejected alternatives: شریعت
Original: νόμος
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged; NEVER شریعت. John 1:17’s comparison of Moses’ law with the grace and truth that came through Christ must be taught as fulfillment, not Islamic naskh-style cancellation of an inferior earlier revelation.
Salvation
Approved rendering: نجات
Transliteration: nejat
Doctrine: Universal Scope of the Gospel
Original: σωτηρία / σῴζω
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. John 4:42’s ‘Savior of the world’ (not of one ethnic group) directly reinforces the Universal Scope of the Gospel doctrine; the nanawatai-submission bridge remains available wherever salvation is framed as given, not earned (3:17; 10:9; 12:47).
Word
Approved rendering: کلام
Transliteration: kalam
Doctrine: The Deity and Pre-existence of Christ (the Word)
Rejected alternatives: fresh Greek-derived neologism
Original: λόγος
Category: Christology
New term for John. A genuine two-sided case: Qur’an 3:45 gives a positive bridge-category (‘Kalimatuhu,’ a Word from Him), but Islamic kalam theology treats revealed speech (the Qur’an’s own claimed nature) as an eternal/uncreated attribute rather than a divine Person, risking reduction of Christ to a created utterance or book. Must always be predicated as a Person (‘was with God,’ ‘was God,’ ‘became flesh,’ 1:1,14), paired with the periphrastic ‘خدای انسان شو’ gloss at first use.
Only Begotten
Approved rendering: یوازینی
Transliteration: ywazinay
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: literal begotten-root compound
Original: μονογενής
Category: Christology
New term for John. Direct target of Qur’an 112:3 (‘He begets not, nor is He begotten’). یوازینی conveys uniqueness of identity/relationship without importing a biological-procreation reading. Occurs at 1:14, 1:18, 3:16, 3:18 and must carry this same careful rendering at every occurrence.
I Am
Approved rendering: زه یم
Transliteration: za yim
Doctrine: The Seven “I Am” Statements
Rejected alternatives: softened, ordinary self-identification renderings (‘it is I’)
Original: ἐγώ εἰμι
Category: Christology
New term for John. Fixed formula for every absolute and predicated ἐγώ εἰμι occurrence (4:26; 6:20,35,48,51; 8:12,24,28,58; 9:5; 10:9,11,14; 11:25; 13:19; 14:6; 15:1,5; 18:5-8). Echoes God’s own self-naming (Exodus 3:14 LXX); the arresting soldiers’ collapse (18:6) and the attempted stoning (8:59) confirm contemporaries heard the divine Name itself. Requires theologian review at every occurrence, not only first use.
Before Abraham I Am
Approved rendering: مخکې له دې چې ابراهیم پیدا شي، زه یم
Transliteration: makhke le de che Ibrahim payda shi, za yim
Doctrine: The Deity and Pre-existence of Christ (the Word)
Rejected alternatives: I existed before Abraham (a mere priority-in-time claim)
Original: πρὶν Ἀβραὰμ γενέσθαι ἐγὼ εἰμί
Category: Christology
New term for John (8:58). Must be rendered as the divine self-naming formula, never softened to a priority-in-time claim; the hearers’ attempt to stone Jesus for blasphemy (v.59) confirms the claim’s full original force.
Equal With God
Approved rendering: د خدای سره برابر
Transliteration: da Khudai sara barabar
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: ἴσος τῷ θεῷ
Category: Christology
New term for John (5:18). Among the most direct deity-of-Christ statements in the book; the hostile leaders’ own verdict is doctrinally accurate and must never be presented as their misunderstanding, but as a true claim provoking a true (if murderous) recognition of its force.
My Lord And My God
Approved rendering: زما خداوند او زما خدای
Transliteration: zma Khudawand aw zma Khudai
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: ὁ κύριός μου καὶ ὁ θεός μου
Category: Christology
New term for John (20:28), combining باseline خداوند and خدای exactly. The narrative affirms rather than corrects Thomas’s confession; must be rendered without qualification, exactly paralleling the baseline’s escalation rule for Romans 10:9. The paradigm case of shirk from a tawhid standpoint - never soften to ‘a great and honored man.‘
Father And Son One
Approved rendering: زه او پلار یو یو
Transliteration: za aw plar yaw yu
Doctrine: Unity of the Father and the Son
Original: ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἕν ἐσμεν
Category: Christology
New term for John (10:30). The hearers’ own reaction (attempting to stone him for blasphemy, v.31-33) confirms the statement’s full deity-claim force; must never be softened toward mere agreement-of-purpose, while also not suggesting two separate gods (tritheism) - the Father and Son are one God.
Way
Approved rendering: لار
Transliteration: lar
Doctrine: The Seven “I Am” Statements
Original: ὁδός
Category: Christology
New term for John (14:6, sixth I AM statement). 14:6b’s explicit exclusivity claim (‘no one comes to the Father except through me’) must never be softened toward religious pluralism, per the baseline’s own escalation rule for universality/exclusivity claims.
Lifted Up
Approved rendering: پورته کیدل
Transliteration: porta kedal
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection
Rejected alternatives: any rafa’-family root (رفعت/رفع)
Original: ὑψόω
Category: Christology
New term for John (3:14; 8:28; 12:32-34). Must avoid any rafa’-family root, since the Qur’an’s own crucifixion-denial verse (4:157-158) uses the cognate concept of God ‘raising up’ (rafa’ahu) Jesus specifically to mean rescuing him from the cross rather than dying on it; every occurrence must be taught as the historical crucifixion itself, not a rescue from it.
It Is Finished
Approved rendering: بشپړ شو
Transliteration: bashpar sho
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection
Rejected alternatives: a rendering heard merely as ‘his life ended’
Original: τετέλεσται
Category: Christology
New term for John (19:30). A commercial/legal debt-paid idiom; must be taught with its full accomplishment-sense intact, countering both the shared crucifixion-denial and any implicit expectation that salvation still requires additional human works to be ‘finished’ on the believer’s side.
Born Again
Approved rendering: له سره زیږون / د پاسه زیږون
Transliteration: le sara zegoon / da pasa zegoon
Doctrine: The New Birth and Regeneration by the Spirit
Rejected alternatives: renderings that could suggest reincarnation
Original: γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν
Category: Salvation
New term for John (3:3,5,7; cf. 1:12-13). له سره زیږون (‘birth anew’) is primary, with د پاسه زیږون (‘birth from above’) supplied in the same verse to preserve both senses of Greek ἄνωθεν. Directly challenges Islamic fitrah doctrine (every child already born spiritually inclined toward submission to God); a careless rendering also risks accidentally suggesting reincarnation, foreign to and rejected by both Islam and Pashtun custom.
Spirit Wind Wordplay
Approved rendering: روح / باد
Transliteration: rooh / bad
Doctrine: The New Birth and Regeneration by the Spirit
Rejected alternatives: any single-word rendering collapsing wind and Spirit into one term
New term for John, translation-gap flag (3:8). Greek πνεῦμα means both ‘wind’ and ‘Spirit,’ making the invisible movement of wind a living analogy for the Spirit’s sovereign work; Pashto’s روح (Spirit) and باد (wind) are unrelated words, so the wordplay is structurally lost. Mandatory footnote/oral gloss required at every occurrence of 3:8 explaining the Greek pun explicitly; this is a translation-gap flag, not a doctrinal-error flag, but is Critical because the illustration’s force depends on the pun.
Purpose Statement
Approved rendering: چې تاسو ایمان راوړئ چې عیسی مسیح، د خدای زوی دی، او چې د هغه په نوم مو ایمان راوړلو سره ژوند ولرئ
Transliteration: che tasu iman rawrai che Isa Masih, da Khudai zoy day, aw che da hgha pa num mo iman rawrulo sara zhwand olrai
Doctrine: Eternal Life through Faith in Christ
Original: ἵνα πιστεύσητε ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ ἵνα πιστεύοντες ζωὴν ἔχητε ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ
Category: Salvation
New term for John (20:31), the Gospel’s own stated purpose statement, drawing together believe, Messiah, Son of God, and life. Functions as this Gospel’s Romans-1:16-17 equivalent; require one fixed, verbatim rendering across every document in the curriculum.
Counselor
Approved rendering: مرستندوی
Transliteration: marastandoy
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit as Counselor
Rejected alternatives: any transliteration of paraklētos resembling periklytos
Original: παράκλητος
Category: Pneumatology
New term for John (14:16,26; 15:26; 16:7). Beyond the baseline’s already-Critical Jibril/Gabriel identification risk, a widespread Islamic apologetic tradition claims a Greek παράκλητος/περικλυτός (‘praised/renowned one,’ linked to ‘Ahmad’) confusion predicts Muhammad’s coming. مرستندوی foregrounds the helping/advocating sense; every occurrence must be taught as identical with روح القدس, a divine Person present from Pentecost onward, not a future human prophet. Requires theologian review at every occurrence.
Receive Holy Spirit Forgive Sins
Approved rendering: روح القدس ترلاسه کړئ…بخښنه
Transliteration: rooh-ul-qudus tarlasa krai…bakhshuna
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit as Counselor
Original: λάβετε πνεῦμα ἅγιον…ἄφίενται
Category: Pneumatology
New term for John (20:22-23). Requires careful theologian-level framing so the pairing of Spirit-reception with forgiveness-pronouncement authority is not misunderstood as clergy possessing independent power to forgive sins apart from Christ’s own finished work declared at 19:30 (بشپړ شو).
High Risk Terms
Sin
Approved rendering: ګناه
Transliteration: gunah
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. In John, what the Lamb of God takes away (1:29) and what the Spirit convicts the world concerning (16:8-9); same bridging need as in Romans from Pashtunwali’s honor-shame-primary ethics to sin’s proper guilt-before-God framework.
Grace
Approved rendering: فضل
Transliteration: fazal
Doctrine: God’s Love for the World
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Paired in John 1:14,17 with ‘truth’ as what came through Jesus Christ; must not read as a reciprocity-creating gift under the melmastia hospitality code.
Faith
Approved rendering: ایمان
Transliteration: iman
Doctrine: Eternal Life through Faith in Christ
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. John overwhelmingly prefers the verb πιστεύω (see ‘believe’); this noun form is retained wherever John’s own weight calls for settled conviction (e.g., 20:31), measured against both Islamic creedal iman and Pashtunwali’s honor-code loyalty (nang).
Sanctification
Approved rendering: تقدیس
Transliteration: taqdis
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: پاکوالی
Original: ἁγιασμός / ἁγιάζω
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged; NEVER پاکوالی. John 17:17,19 explicitly grounds sanctification in ‘your word is truth,’ not ritual practice.
Election
Approved rendering: غوره کول
Transliteration: ghwara kawul
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. John 15:16 (‘I chose you’) and 6:70 context; must not be colored by tribal-lineage-based notions of chosenness, per the baseline’s own election-entry caution.
Mission
Approved rendering: ماموریت
Transliteration: ma’muriyat
Doctrine: Mission and Sending
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. John 20:21’s ‘as the Father sent me, I send you’ carries the same severe, potentially life-threatening legal and social risk for converts from Islam already flagged in the baseline; the John-specific doctrine registry treats this instantiation as Critical-severity in practice given the acute safety stakes for this readership.
Israel
Approved rendering: اسرائیل
Transliteration: Esra’il
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Original: Ἰσραήλ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Object of Nicodemus’s title ‘the teacher of Israel’ (3:10) and Nathanael’s confession ‘King of Israel’ (1:49); requires the same pastoral framing the baseline requires.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: د داود نسل
Transliteration: da Dawud nasl
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: σπέρμα Δαυίδ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. John 7:42’s crowd debate over the Messiah’s Bethlehem/Davidic lineage requires this Old Testament covenant background supplied explicitly.
Apostle
Approved rendering: رسول
Transliteration: rasul
Doctrine: Apostleship
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. John 13:16 uses the cognate only in its generic ‘messenger’ sense, not the formal office; flag this occurrence as non-technical so it is not over-loaded with the same collision force as the technical title elsewhere.
Prophet
Approved rendering: پیغمبر
Transliteration: peghambar
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Original: προφήτης
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. A title repeatedly and inadequately applied to Jesus by crowds in John (4:19; 6:14; 7:40; 9:17); every occurrence must be paired with fuller Christological titles so it is not read as his complete or final identity.
Lay Down Life
Approved rendering: خپل ژوند ورکول
Transliteration: khpal zhwand warkawul
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection
Original: τίθημι τὴν ψυχήν
Category: Christology
New term for John (10:11,15,17-18; 15:13). Must convey deliberate, self-initiated self-giving (‘I lay it down of my own accord,’ 10:18), not merely an unfortunate death imposed by others, given special importance against the shared Quranic denial that Christ died at all.
Lamb Of God
Approved rendering: د خدای ورهی
Transliteration: da Khudai wray
Doctrine: Lamb of God and Sacrificial Typology
Original: ἀμνὸς τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Christology
New term for John (1:29,36; 19:36). Genuine cultural bridge via the region’s own Eid al-Adha (Qurbani) sacrificial practice, but must be taught so hearers do not assume Christ’s sacrifice is merely one more instance of ordinary animal substitution rather than a final, once-for-all, personal, divine self-offering.
Eternal Life
Approved rendering: تلپاتې ژوند
Transliteration: talpate zhwand
Doctrine: Eternal Life through Faith in Christ
Rejected alternatives: ابدي ژوند
Original: ζωὴ αἰώνιος
Category: Salvation
New term for John (3:15-16; 3:36; 5:24; 6:47; 10:28; 11:25; 17:3; 20:31). Native compound preferred over Arabic-loan ابدي ژوند for lower-literacy oral-culture accessibility. Must be taught as a life already possessed by faith now, not merely a future post-mortem reward contingent on a final deeds-balance (mizan). 17:3 further defines it as relational knowledge of the Father and the Son together.
Draw
Approved rendering: راکشول
Transliteration: rakashawul
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Original: ἕλκω
Category: Salvation
New term for John (6:37,44,65; 10:3-4,27; 15:16). Must be taught as God’s gracious initiative in drawing a person to Christ, not fatalistic predetermination (qadar) detached from believing response, and must avoid any suggestion that ‘drawing’ tracks tribal lineage or honor status.
Believe
Approved rendering: باور کول / ایمان راوړل
Transliteration: bawar kawul / iman rawrul
Doctrine: Eternal Life through Faith in Christ
Original: πιστεύω
Category: Faith
New term for John. John’s single most repeated theological verb (~98 occurrences); باور کول (native/non-creedal) preferred in narrative/dialogical contexts, ایمان راوړل reserved for climactic/settled-conviction contexts (3:16,18; 20:31), always with Jesus/his name as explicit object.
Testimony
Approved rendering: ګواهي
Transliteration: gawahi
Doctrine: Testimony to Christ’s Identity
Rejected alternatives: شهادت
Original: μαρτυρέω / μαρτυρία
Category: Faith
New term for John. Must avoid شهادت (shahadat), which in the shared Islamicate register denotes both the creedal confession (shahada) and martyrdom; ګواهي (an ordinary Pashto legal-testimony word) keeps the everyday evidentiary sense. Recurs constantly (1:7-8,19-34; 3:11; 5:31-39; 8:14,18; 15:26-27; 19:35; 21:24) and must be rendered identically every time.
Flesh
Approved rendering: غوښه / بشري طبیعت
Transliteration: ghwakha / bashari tabiat
Doctrine: Incarnation
Original: σάρξ
Category: Sin
New term for John. Literal غوښه (1:14; 6:51-56, real physicality asserted) and abstract بشري طبیعت (‘human nature,’ 3:6, mere physical birth insufficient for kingdom entry) are two distinct required renderings; collapsing them risks either docetism or implying the body itself is evil.
Sign
Approved rendering: نیشان
Transliteration: nishan
Doctrine: Signs and Glory Revealing Christ’s Deity
Rejected alternatives: معجزه
Original: σημεῖον
Category: Christology
New term for John (2:11; 3:2; 4:54; 6:14; 9:16; 11:4,40; 20:30-31). Preferred over معجزه (mojiza), the standard Islamic term specifically for a prophet’s authenticating miracle; نیشان avoids flattening John’s signs into ordinary prophetic-credential wonders - John’s signs reveal deity, not merely prophetic status.
Judgment
Approved rendering: فیصله / محکومیت
Transliteration: faisala / mahkumiat
Doctrine: Judgment and Belief/Unbelief
Original: κρίσις / κρίνω / κατακρίνω
Category: Judgment
New term for John (3:18-21; 5:22-29; 9:39; 12:31,48; 16:8-11). فیصله (neutral verdict) and محکومیت (condemnation as negative outcome) used context-sensitively. The specific timing claim (judgment already, now, prior to any final deeds-weighing) is the point of friction with the surrounding Qiyamah/mizan-centered eschatological default and must be taught explicitly.
World
Approved rendering: نړۍ
Transliteration: nirai
Doctrine: God’s Love for the World
Original: κόσμος
Category: Judgment
New term for John. A single word spans at least three senses (created order, redeemed humanity, hostile system); must be context-flagged at every occurrence so ‘God loved the world’ (3:16, positive) is never confused with ‘the world hates you’ (15:18, hostile) within the same book, which could otherwise appear self-contradictory.
Spirit Of Truth
Approved rendering: د حقیقت روح
Transliteration: da haqiqat rooh
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit as Counselor
Original: πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας
Category: Pneumatology
New term for John (14:17; 15:26; 16:13). Must be distinguished from claims that this Spirit’s ministry terminates in, or is superseded by, a subsequent human prophetic figure; John 16:14 states the Spirit’s ministry is to glorify Christ, not to supersede him.
Worship
Approved rendering: عبادت کول
Transliteration: ibadat kawul
Doctrine: Worship Properly Directed to Christ
Original: προσκυνέω
Category: Church
New term for John (4:20-24; 9:38; 20:28). The same word used throughout Islam exclusively for worship due to God alone under tawhid; its explicit, approving, uncorrected direction toward Jesus is a strong implicit deity claim - teach as a redefinition of worship’s proper object and manner, not a rejection of its exclusivity.
That They May Be One
Approved rendering: چې دوی یو شي / یووالی
Transliteration: che dwoy yaw shi / yowali
Doctrine: Christian Unity Among Believers
Original: ἵνα ὦσιν ἕν
Category: Church
New term for John (17:11,21-22). Explicitly modeled on, yet categorically distinct in kind from, the Father-Son unity of essence at 10:30; must be handled with acute pastoral sensitivity given the severe practical constraints on visible, gathered church unity in much of the Pashto-speaking world.
Overcome The World
Approved rendering: زه پر نړۍ برلاسی شوی یم
Transliteration: za pr nirai barlasi shaway yim
Doctrine: Assurance and Victory Over the World
Original: ἐγὼ νενίκηκα τὸν κόσμον
Category: Discipleship
New term for John (16:33). Closely parallels the baseline’s Critical-tier Assurance of Salvation caution (Romans 8); teach as Christ’s own confident anticipation of victory through the crucifixion, not merely generic encouragement to be brave.
Caiaphas Prophecy
Approved rendering: د خلکو لپاره یو سړی مړ شي
Transliteration: da khalko lapara yaw saray mar shi
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection
Original: συμφέρει…ἵνα εἷς ἄνθρωπος ἀποθάνῃ ὑπὲρ τοῦ λαοῦ
Category: Christology
New term for John (11:50). Must be taught with its full narrative irony intact - a plan to prevent political chaos becomes, providentially, the very statement of Christ’s substitutionary death for the people; a natural bridge point to the nanawatai substitution logic already established in the baseline’s salvation entry.
Agape Phileo
Approved rendering: مینه لرل / خوښول
Transliteration: mina larel / khwakhawul
Doctrine: Peter’s Restoration and Pastoral Love
Rejected alternatives: collapsing both Greek verbs to a single مینه rendering
Original: ἀγαπάω / φιλέω
Category: Discipleship
New term for John, translation-gap flag (21:15-17). Pashto lacks a clean one-to-one lexical distinction for ἀγαπάω/φιλέω; two distinct verbs used to preserve a perceptible lexical shift, with a footnote noting the Greek nuance-shift’s exact theological weight is debated and must not be overstated in teaching.
Send
Approved rendering: لیږل
Transliteration: legal
Doctrine: Mission and Sending
Original: ἀποστέλλω / πέμπω
Category: Mission
New term for John (3:17; 17:18; 20:21). John 20:21’s ‘as the Father sent me, I send you’ must be taught with full awareness of the acute, potentially life-threatening danger open evangelism carries in Taliban-controlled and similarly restrictive Pashto-speaking areas, per the baseline’s mission_to_nations guidance.
Children Of Abraham
Approved rendering: د ابراهیم اولاد / د شیطان اولاد
Transliteration: da Ibrahim awlad / da shaitan awlad
Doctrine: Spiritual Sonship vs. Physical Descent
Original: τέκνα τοῦ Ἀβραάμ / τέκνα τοῦ διαβόλου
Category: Covenant
New term for John (8:33-44). Abraham is a shared, deeply revered patriarchal figure across Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; this argument directly challenges lineage-based spiritual status and intersects sharply with the Pashtun qawm/khel tribal-lineage-honor default already flagged Critical/High in the baseline’s election and adoption entries.
Mina Love For World
Approved rendering: مینه
Transliteration: mina
Doctrine: God’s Love for the World
New term for John, required addition per linguistic gap analysis handoff (John 3:16; 13:34-35; 15:13; 17:26). General love-noun/verb, distinct in register and function from the ch.21 agape_phileo contrast pair. مینه does not automatically convey ἀγαπάω’s self-giving, unmerited, initiating direction (it equally describes romantic/family affection in ordinary Pashto); Pashtunwali’s melmastia hospitality code defaults to reciprocity-creating gift-love, so the sacrificial, non-reciprocal content of God’s love for the world must be taught explicitly, paralleling the baseline’s own caution for فضل (grace).
Medium Risk Terms
Glory
Approved rendering: جلال
Transliteration: jalal
Doctrine: Signs and Glory Revealing Christ’s Deity
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. John repeatedly anchors this word to specific historical acts (2:11 the wedding sign; 11:4,40 Lazarus; 17:1-5 the cross itself), reinforcing the baseline’s own caution against the regional Sufi poetic tradition detaching جلال into generalized mystical splendor.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: د خدای پاچاهي
Transliteration: da Khudai pachahi
Doctrine: Christ’s Kingdom Not of This World
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Kingdom
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. John 3:3,5 makes it the reality entered only through new birth; 18:36 (‘not of this world’) directly engages the baseline’s own caution about competing ‘Islamic Emirate’ political-religious sovereignty claims in the region.
Peace
Approved rendering: سوله
Transliteration: sola
Doctrine: Pastoral Comfort and Encouragement
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. John 14:27, ‘Peace I leave with you’ - explicitly Christ’s own gift, distinct from worldly/circumstantial peace (‘not as the world gives’); the justification-to-peace link must still be made explicit.
Holy
Approved rendering: مقدس
Transliteration: moqaddas
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. John 6:69 (‘the Holy One of God’) and 17:11 (‘Holy Father’) require the relational, Spirit-wrought sense reinforced over ritual-observance holiness.
David
Approved rendering: داود
Transliteration: Dawud
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: Δαυίδ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Supply the covenant-king typology pointing to Messiah explicitly, as in the baseline (John 7:42).
Providence
Approved rendering: د خدای تدبیر
Transliteration: da Khudai tadbir
Doctrine: Providence
Original: πρόνοια (cf. John 12:23 ‘the hour’)
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. John’s repeated ‘hour’ language (2:4; 7:30; 12:23; 13:1; 17:1) names a specific, divinely fixed moment; must be distinguished from folk qadar fatalism, as in the baseline. See also ‘hour_appointed_time’ for the John-specific term-level treatment.
Good Shepherd
Approved rendering: ښه شپون
Transliteration: kha shpoon
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection
Original: ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλός
Category: Christology
New term for John (10:11,14). Strong positive cultural asset given the familiarity and honor of pastoral/herding life across much of the Pashto-speaking countryside; risk limited to ensuring ‘lay down his life’ is not lost as voluntary self-giving.
Life
Approved rendering: ژوند
Transliteration: zhwand
Doctrine: Eternal Life through Faith in Christ
Original: ζωή
Category: Salvation
New term for John (1:4 and throughout). Broadly safe native word; risk concentrated in the ‘eternal’ qualifier (see eternal_life entry).
Living Water
Approved rendering: د ژوند اوبه
Transliteration: da zhwand oba
Doctrine: Living Water and Spiritual Thirst
Original: ὕδωρ ζῶν
Category: Salvation
New term for John (4:10-14; 7:37-39). Strong positive resonance in water-scarce regions of Afghanistan/Pakistan (an asset, similar to the baseline’s treatment of سوله/peace), but the metaphorical, Spirit-given sense must be made explicit so it is not read as a promise of literal material provision only. 7:38-39 explicitly identifies this water with the Spirit ‘not yet given.‘
Light
Approved rendering: رڼا
Transliteration: rana
Doctrine: Light and Darkness as Moral-Spiritual Categories
Original: φῶς
Category: Judgment
New term for John (1:4-9; 3:19-21; 8:12; 9:5; 12:35-36,46). The region’s rich Sufi poetic tradition uses light imagery extensively for spiritual illumination - a genuine resonance asset - but must be anchored to the specific, historical, incarnate Christ rather than left as a generalized detachable mystical metaphor.
Darkness
Approved rendering: تیاره
Transliteration: tyara
Doctrine: Light and Darkness as Moral-Spiritual Categories
Original: σκότος / σκοτία
Category: Judgment
New term for John (1:5; 3:19; 8:12; 12:35,46). Paired opposite of ‘light’; same anchoring requirement to the historical, incarnate Christ applies.
Truth
Approved rendering: حقیقت
Transliteration: haqiqat
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit as Counselor
Original: ἀλήθεια
Category: Christology
New term for John (1:14,17; 3:21; 4:23-24; 8:32; 14:6,17; 16:13; 17:17; 18:38). Sufi haqiqah resonance is a genuine devotional asset but must be anchored to the historical, incarnate, crucified-and-risen Christ (14:6), not left as a free-floating mystical attainment available through inward experience alone.
Convict
Approved rendering: رسوا کیدل / څرګند کیدل
Transliteration: raswa kedal / tsargand kedal
Doctrine: Judgment and Belief/Unbelief
Original: ἐλέγχω
Category: Judgment
New term for John (3:20; 16:8). Must retain the sense of exposure of one’s deeds, not mere accusation; at 16:8 must be taught within the already-Critical Paraclete framework, not as an isolated new idea.
Abide
Approved rendering: پاتې کیدل
Transliteration: pate kedal
Doctrine: Unity of the Father and the Son
Original: μένω
Category: Discipleship
New term for John (ch.15). A low-collision native verb, but the specific theological sense (a living, fruit-producing, dependent union - ‘apart from me you can do nothing,’ 15:5) must be taught explicitly so it is not flattened to mere passive continuation or presence.
New Commandment
Approved rendering: نوی حکم
Transliteration: nawai hukm
Doctrine: Servant Leadership and the Love Command
Original: ἐντολὴ καινή
Category: Church
New term for John (13:34). Paired with مینه (love); the standard (‘as I have loved you,’ i.e., to the point of the cross) must not be flattened into generic goodwill.
Wash Feet
Approved rendering: پښې مینځل
Transliteration: pkhe meenzal
Doctrine: Servant Leadership and the Love Command
Original: νίπτω τοὺς πόδας
Category: Church
New term for John (13:5-14). Must be taught as Christ’s voluntary self-humbling model, a countercultural challenge to honor-based hierarchies of status familiar in Pashtun social structure, without being read as a literal liturgical ordinance requirement.
Grain Of Wheat
Approved rendering: د غنمو دانه
Transliteration: da ghanmo dana
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection
Original: κόκκος τοῦ σίτου
Category: Christology
New term for John (12:24). Agrarian death-to-fruitfulness metaphor for Christ’s death; must be explicitly connected to the cross, not left as generic wisdom-teaching about sacrifice.
Blood And Water
Approved rendering: وینه او اوبه
Transliteration: wina aw oba
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection
Original: αἷμα καὶ ὕδωρ
Category: Christology
New term for John (19:34). Physical confirmation of Jesus’ genuine death; the plain historical-apologetic force (he really died, against the shared Quranic denial) should be foregrounded over secondary symbolic readings.
Betray
Approved rendering: خیانت کول / تسلیم کول
Transliteration: khianat kawul / taslim kawul
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection
Original: παραδίδωμι
Category: Christology
New term for John (6:64,71; 13:2,21; 18:2,5; 19:11). Must retain the deliberate, culpable betrayal sense (not a neutral ‘handing over’) consistently through the Passion narrative.
Shepherd My Sheep
Approved rendering: زما پسونه وساته
Transliteration: zma pasoona wasata
Doctrine: Peter’s Restoration and Pastoral Love
Original: ποίμαινε τὰ πρόβατά μου
Category: Discipleship
New term for John (21:15-17). Must retain connection to the sacrificial shepherding model of chapter 10 (ښه شپون / خپل ژوند ورکول), not become a generic leadership instruction devoid of that ground.
Wrath Of God
Approved rendering: د خدای غضب
Transliteration: da Khudai ghazab
Doctrine: God’s Love for the World
Original: ὀργὴ τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: God
New term for John (3:36). Must not be reduced to a simple analogue of tribal vengeance/badal; must be taught alongside 3:16’s love, not as a contradiction of it - God’s settled opposition to sin and unbelief, not capricious anger.
Hour Appointed Time
Approved rendering: ټاکلی وخت
Transliteration: takali wakht
Doctrine: Providence
Rejected alternatives: plain ساعت (mere clock-time)
Original: ὥρα
Category: God
New term for John (2:4; 7:30; 12:23; 13:1; 17:1). ټاکلی وخت (‘appointed time’) is preferred over plain ساعت to convey purposive, destined timing; must be distinguished from folk fatalism (qadar) as a specific, foreordained moment, not an impersonal fate arriving on its own.
Temple
Approved rendering: معبد / بدن
Transliteration: mabad / badan
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection
Original: ναός
Category: Christology
New term for John (2:19-21). معبد for the sanctuary building; بدن (body) for the metaphorical referent, with the identification made explicit in the same breath as the text does. Anticipates the Resurrection doctrine as Christ’s own predictive claim, stated here in veiled form.
Feast Of Tabernacles
Approved rendering: د خیمو اختر
Transliteration: da khimo akhtar
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Old Testament Typology
Original: σκηνοπηγία
Category: Covenant
New term for John (ch.7). Distinguish from Islamic Eid festivals in both origin and theological content; supply the Old Testament wilderness-wandering background explicitly since it cannot be assumed as shared knowledge.
Samaritan
Approved rendering: سامري
Transliteration: Samari
Doctrine: God’s Love for the World
Original: Σαμαρίτης
Category: Church
New term for John (ch.4). The ethnic-religious out-group tension in the original text offers a teaching parallel to intra-regional ethnic/sectarian tension familiar to Pashtun readers, useful for illustrating Christ’s boundary-crossing grace.
Low Risk Terms
Prophecy
Approved rendering: نبوت
Transliteration: nabuwat
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Original: προφητεία
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Basis of the Isaiah quotations and fulfillment notes throughout John (e.g., 12:38-41; 19:24,36-37).
Grief Into Joy
Approved rendering: غم…خوشحالي
Transliteration: gham…khushali
Doctrine: Pastoral Comfort and Encouragement
Original: λύπη…εἰς χαράν
Category: Discipleship
New term for John (16:20-22). A vivid, universally accessible childbirth-grief-to-joy analogy; low doctrinal risk, useful pastoral image.
Pharisee
Approved rendering: فریسي
Transliteration: Farisi
Doctrine: General Narrative Vocabulary
New term for John (3:1 and throughout). Transliterated proper/sectarian noun, as in established regional Bible tradition; descriptive, no doctrinal collision beyond standard narrative care.
Rabbi
Approved rendering: رابي
Transliteration: Rabi
Doctrine: General Narrative Vocabulary
New term for John (1:38,49; 3:2; 20:16). Transliterated honorific with gloss استاد (ustad, teacher) supplied at first use for clarity; low independent doctrinal risk.
Referenced passages