Core Glossary
Core Glossary — Luke 1–24 (English → Pashto)
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md. Terms marked [Reused] carry forward the exact rendering already fixed in the Romans baseline translation_memory.json and MUST NOT be altered. Terms marked [New] are proposed additions for this curriculum’s translation memory, pending Phase 2 human-theologian confirmation for all Critical/High entries per the baseline’s escalation rules.
Reused Baseline Terms (Romans → Luke, unchanged)
| Term (EN) | Pashto | Risk | Doctrine Link | Key Luke References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| God | خدای | Critical | Deity of Christ | Throughout |
| Jesus | عیسی | Critical | Lordship of Christ | Throughout |
| Holy Spirit | روح القدس | Critical | Holy Spirit’s Work in Salvation History | 1:15, 1:35, 3:22, 4:1, 4:18, 11:13, 12:10, 24:49 |
| Father | پلار | Critical | Adoption; Sonship of Christ | 2:49, 10:21-22, 11:2, 22:42, 23:34, 23:46 |
| Abba | ابا | High | Adoption into God’s Family | (background; not lexically present in Luke, cf. Rom 8:15) |
| Lord | خداوند | Critical | Lordship of Christ | 1:43, 2:11, 20:41-44, 24:34 |
| Son of God | د خدای زوی | Critical | Sonship/Deity of Christ | 1:32, 1:35, 3:22, 4:3, 4:9, 4:41, 8:28, 9:35, 22:70 |
| Messiah/Christ | مسیح | Critical | Messianic Promise | 2:11, 2:26, 4:18-21, 9:20, 23:2, 23:35, 24:26, 24:46 |
| Apostle | رسول | High | Apostleship | 6:13, 9:10, 11:49, 17:5, 22:14, 24:10 |
| Called | بلل شوی | High | Divine Calling | 5:32, 14:13, 19:10 |
| Holy | مقدس | Medium | Sanctification | 1:35, 1:49, 1:70, 4:34 |
| Sanctification | تقدیس | High | Sanctification | (implicit; discipleship holiness theme) |
| Grace/favor | فضل | High | Grace | 1:30, 2:40, 2:52, 4:22 |
| Faith | ایمان | High | Faith | 5:20, 7:9, 7:50, 8:25, 8:48, 17:6, 18:8, 18:42, 22:32 |
| Righteousness (righteous) | صداقت | Critical | Salvation | 1:6, 1:75, 2:25, 5:32, 15:7, 23:47 |
| Justification | صادق ګڼل کیدل | Critical | Justification by Faith | 18:14 |
| Salvation/save | نجات | Critical | Salvation | 1:69, 1:77, 2:11, 2:30, 3:6, 7:50, 8:12, 8:48, 9:24, 18:42, 19:9-10 |
| Sin | ګناه | High | Universal Human Accountability | 1:77, 3:3, 5:20-24, 7:37-49, 11:4, 15:7, 15:18, 17:3-4, 24:47 |
| Law (Mosaic) | ناموس | Critical | Fulfillment of Prophecy | 2:22-27, 2:39, 10:26, 16:16-17, 24:44 |
| Covenant | تړون | High | Davidic Covenant / New Covenant | 1:72, 22:20 |
| Prophet | پیغمبر | High | Inspiration of Scripture | 1:76, 4:24, 7:16, 7:26, 13:33-34, 20:6, 24:19 |
| Prophecy | نبوت | Low | Fulfillment of Prophecy | 1:67, 1:70 |
| David | داود | Medium | Davidic Covenant | 1:27, 1:32, 1:69, 2:4, 2:11, 3:31, 6:3, 18:38-39, 20:41-44 |
| Seed of David | د داود نسل | High | Davidic Covenant | 1:32-33, 18:38-39, 20:41-44 |
| Israel | اسرائیل | High | Unity of Jews and Gentiles | 1:16, 1:54, 1:68, 1:80, 2:25, 2:32, 24:21 |
| Gentiles | غیر یهودیان | Medium | Unity of Jews and Gentiles | 2:32, 21:24, 24:47 |
| Glory | جلال | Medium | Deity of Christ | 2:9, 2:14, 2:32, 9:31-32 |
| Peace | سوله | Medium | Peace with God | 1:79, 2:14, 7:50, 8:48, 19:38, 19:42, 24:36 |
| Fellowship | ملګرتیا | Low | Christian Fellowship | (thematic; table fellowship narratives) |
| Kingdom of God | د خدای پاچاهي | Medium | Kingdom of God Present and Future | 4:43, 6:20, 8:1, 8:10, 9:2, 9:60-62, 10:9, 11:20, 13:18-21, 17:20-21, 18:16-17, 19:11, 21:31, 22:16-18, 23:42 |
| Election | غوره کول | High | Effectual Calling | (thematic; ch. 15 lost-and-found motif) |
| Intercession | منځګړیتوب | Medium | Prayer and Intercession | (thematic; ch. 11, 22:32, 23:34) |
| Providence | د خدای تدبیر | Medium | Providence | 12:6-7, 12:22-31 |
| Mission | ماموریت | High | Mission to the Nations | 9:1-6, 10:1-16, 24:47-49 |
| Resurrection | بیا راژوندي کیدل | Critical | Resurrection of Christ | 9:22, 18:33, 20:27-38, 24:1-49 |
| Thanksgiving | شکر | Low | Thanksgiving | 17:16, 18:11, 22:17, 22:19 |
| Exhort | هڅول | Low | Mutual Edification | (minor; teaching passages) |
New Terms Introduced by Luke (proposed additions to translation memory)
| Term (EN) | Original (Greek) | Pashto | Transliteration | Risk | Doctrine Link | Key References | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Repentance | μετάνοια | توبه | tuba | High | Repentance and Forgiveness of Sins | 3:3, 3:8, 5:32, 13:3-5, 15:7, 15:10, 24:47 | Standard Islamic tawba term; must be re-taught as God-given turning that receives Christ’s accomplished forgiveness, not a deeds-offsetting act |
| Forgiveness of sins | ἄφεσις ἁμαρτιῶν | د ګناهانو بخښنه | da gunahano bakhshuna | Critical | Repentance and Forgiveness of Sins | 1:77, 3:3, 5:20-24, 7:47-49, 11:4, 17:3-4, 24:47 | Built on baseline ګناه; distinct from but linked to the “release” sense of ἄφεσις below |
| Release/liberty (ἄφεσις, captivity sense) | ἄφεσις | خوشې کول / ازادي | khushe kawul / azadi | Critical | Good News to the Poor; Kingdom Present and Future | 4:18-19 | Context-sensitive with “forgiveness of sins” above — same Greek lexeme, two Pashto renderings required by context; flag every occurrence |
| Savior | σωτήρ | نجات ورکوونکی | nejat warkawunkay | Critical | Salvation; Jesus as Savior for All Nations | 2:11 | Title built on baseline نجات; must not soften to “helper/teacher” |
| Anointed (verb, χρίω) | χρίω (ἔχρισεν) | مسح کړی | mas’h kray | Critical | Messianic Promise | 4:18 | Shares root with baseline مسیح; wordplay must be recoverable — Jesus claims Messiah-identity via this verb |
| Spirit of the Lord | πνεῦμα Κυρίου | د خداوند روح | da Khudawand rooh | Critical | Holy Spirit’s Work in Salvation History | 4:18 | Compound of two already-Critical baseline terms |
| Synagogue | συναγωγή | کنیسه | kanisa | Medium | (setting term) | 4:16, 4:33, 6:6, 13:10 | Must stay distinct from کلیسا (church) and مسجد (mosque) |
| Scroll/book | βιβλίον | کتاب | kitab | Low | Inspiration of Scripture | 4:17, 4:20 | Generic, low risk |
| Scripture(s) | γραφή | مقدسه لیکنه | moqaddasa likna | High | Inspiration of Scripture | 4:21, 24:27, 24:32, 24:45 | Built on baseline مقدس; ties to wahy-collision caution |
| Fulfilled | πληρόω (πεπλήρωται) | بشپړ شوی | bashpar shaway | High | Fulfillment of Prophecy | 4:21, 24:44 | Must be framed against naskh (abrogation), not as supersession |
| Today (eschatological “now”) | σήμερον | نن | nun | Medium | Kingdom of God Present and Future | 4:21, 19:9, 23:43 | Marks inaugurated fulfillment, not mere futurity |
| Proclaim good news (verb) | εὐαγγελίζομαι | زیری/خبر ورکول | zeri/khabar warkawal | Medium | Gospel; Good News to the Poor | 2:10, 3:18, 4:18, 4:43, 7:22, 8:1, 9:6, 20:1 | Verb only; noun “gospel” remains انجیل per baseline; do not use زیری as a noun substitute for gospel |
| Preach/proclaim (herald) | κηρύσσω | اعلان کول | elan kawul | Medium | Gospel; Kingdom Mission | 4:18-19, 4:44, 8:1, 9:2, 24:47 | Public, authoritative announcement, not private advice |
| Poor | πτωχός | غریب | gharib | Medium | Good News to the Poor and Marginalized | 4:18, 6:20, 7:22, 14:13, 14:21, 16:20, 18:22, 19:8, 21:3 | فقیر explicitly avoided (Sufi mendicant/zakat connotations) |
| Captives | αἰχμάλωτος | بندیان | bandiyan | Medium | Good News to the Poor; Kingdom Present and Future | 4:18 | Literal war-captivity resonance is a cultural asset; spiritual sense must be taught explicitly |
| Blind | τυφλός | ړوند | rwand | Medium | Good News to the Poor; miracle narratives | 4:18, 7:22, 14:13, 14:21, 18:35-43 | Retain both literal and figurative (spiritual blindness) senses |
| Oppressed/crushed | τεθραυσμένος | له ظلم لاندې مات شوي خلک | le zulm lande mat shawi khalak | Medium | Good News to the Poor and Marginalized | 4:18 | Descriptive phrase preferred to preserve violence/injury nuance |
| Acceptable year of the Lord | ἐνιαυτὸς Κυρίου δεκτός | د خداوند د منلو کال | da Khudawand da manlo kaal | High | Kingdom of God Present and Future | 4:19 | Jubilee background (Lev 25) needs explicit teaching; calibrate any customary-amnesty cultural bridge carefully |
| Angel | ἄγγελος | فرشته | freshta | Medium | Holy Spirit’s Work (contrast) | 1:11, 1:26, 2:9-15, 22:43, 24:23 | Shared vocabulary; must not imply Holy Spirit is merely another angel |
| Gabriel | Γαβριήλ | جبرائیل | Jabrail | Low-Medium | (proper name) | 1:19, 1:26 | Positive bridge: shared agreement Gabriel is a created angel, distinct from the Spirit |
| Virgin | παρθένος | پیغله | peghla | High | Incarnation | 1:27 | Shared belief in virgin conception is an asset; must be distinguished from Islam’s denial of the Incarnation’s deity implications |
| Overshadow (Spirit’s creative act) | ἐπισκιάζω | پوښل | poshel | Critical | Incarnation | 1:35 | Non-sexual divine creative act; theological heart of the virgin conception claim |
| Mary | Μαριάμ | مریم | Maryam | Medium | Incarnation | 1:27-56, 2:5-51 | Shared, honored Quranic figure; must not imply Mary’s divinity or flatten the Incarnation |
| Mercy | ἔλεος | رحمت | rahmat | Medium | Jesus’ Compassion; Grace | 1:50, 1:54, 1:58, 1:72, 1:78, 6:36, 10:37, 18:38-39 | Shared Islamic vocabulary; must be tied explicitly to God’s action in Christ |
| Lowliness/humility | ταπείνωσις / ταπεινόω | ټیټوالی / ټیټ کول | titwali / tit kawul | Medium | Good News to the Poor (kingdom reversal) | 1:48, 1:52, 14:11, 18:14 | Reversal motif recurring across Luke |
| Circumcision | περιτομή | سنت | sunnat | High | Fulfillment of Prophecy (covenant sign) | 2:21 | Must be limited to the Mosaic rite, not conflated with the broader Islamic “sunnah” concept |
| Redemption | λύτρωσις | خلاصون | khlasun | High | Salvation | 2:38, 21:28 | Anticipates atonement vocabulary in chs. 22-23; teach in continuity with baseline نجات |
| Devil/Satan | διάβολος / Σατανᾶς | شیطان | Shaitan | Medium-High | Kingdom of God Present and Future (conflict motif) | 4:1-13, 8:12, 10:18, 11:18, 22:3, 22:31 | Shared figure; Quranic Iblis-origin narrative differs from NT’s fallen-accuser portrait |
| Demon/unclean spirit | δαιμόνιον / πνεῦμα ἀκάθαρτον | پیریان | pairyan | High | Kingdom of God Present and Future | 4:33-36, 4:41, 8:2, 8:26-39, 9:1, 9:37-43, 11:14-26 | Real cultural asset (jinn belief) but high syncretism risk with folk-Islamic exorcism practice |
| Testing/temptation | πειρασμός / πειράζω | ازموینه | azmawina | Medium | Prayer and Dependence on God | 4:1-13, 8:13, 11:4, 22:28, 22:40, 22:46 | Distinguish God’s testing/permitting from the devil’s temptation-to-sin |
| Disciple | μαθητής | شاګرد | shagird | High | Cost and Joy of Discipleship | 5:30-33, 6:13, 6:17, 6:20, 9:1, 10:1, 14:26-27, 19:37 | مرید explicitly avoided (Sufi pir-murid tariqa-lineage framework) |
| Son of Man | υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου | د انسان زوی | da insan zoy | Critical | Sonship of Christ; Kingdom Present and Future | 5:24, 6:5, 7:34, 9:22, 9:26, 9:44, 9:58, 12:8, 12:10, 17:22-30, 18:8, 18:31, 19:10, 21:27, 21:36, 22:22, 22:48, 22:69, 24:7 | Risks collapsing into the everyday idiom “a mere human”; Daniel 7 authority background must be taught |
| Tax collector | τελώνης | محصول اخیستونکی | mahsul akhistunkay | Medium | Jesus’ Compassion; Table Fellowship with Sinners | 3:12, 5:27-30, 7:29, 7:34, 15:1, 18:10-13, 19:2-8 | Social-outcast/collaborator connotation should be conveyed |
| Sinner | ἁμαρτωλός | ګناهکار | gunahkar | Low | Universal Human Accountability | 5:8, 5:30-32, 6:32-34, 7:34, 7:37, 7:39, 15:1-2, 15:7, 15:10, 18:13, 19:7 | Derivative of baseline ګناه |
| Blessed (Beatitudes) | μακάριος | بختور | bakhtawar | Medium | Good News to the Poor (kingdom reversal) | 1:45, 6:20-22, 7:23, 10:23, 11:28, 12:37-38, 14:14-15, 23:29 | مبارک avoided as primary — too tied to generic festive-greeting sense, loses paradoxical force |
| Compassion (visceral) | σπλαγχνίζομαι | خواخوږي درلودل | khwakhwazi drlodal | High | Jesus’ Compassion and Table Fellowship with Sinners | 7:13, 10:33, 15:20 | Distinctive Lukan motif; must retain visceral, gut-level force |
| Parable | παραβολή | تمثیل | tamsil | Medium | Kingdom of God Present and Future | 5:36, 6:39, 8:4-15, 10:30-37, 12:16-21, 13:6-9, 14:7-24, 15:3-32, 16:1-31, 18:1-14, 19:11-27, 20:9-19, 21:29-33 | Standard genre word; note kingdom-mystery content risk of flattening |
| Save/heal (σῴζω) | σῴζω | نجات موندلی / روغ شوی | nejat mundalay / rogh shaway | Critical | Salvation | 6:9, 7:50, 8:12, 8:36, 8:48, 8:50, 9:24, 17:19, 18:42, 19:10 | Context-sensitive; use نجات-root form where possible to preserve healing/salvation wordplay |
| Follow (discipleship) | ἀκολουθέω | پیروي کول | peyrawi kawul | High | Cost and Joy of Discipleship | 5:11, 5:27-28, 9:23, 9:57-62, 18:22, 18:28 | Must retain costliness, not casual admiration |
| Samaritan | Σαμαρίτης | سامری | samari | Medium | Unity of Jews and Gentiles; Compassion | 9:52-56, 10:33, 17:16 | Ancient hostility background is a cultural bridge for boundary-crossing compassion |
| Neighbor | πλησίον | ګاونډی | gawandi | Medium | Compassion; Good News to Poor and Marginalized | 10:27, 10:29, 10:36 | Parable expands scope beyond kin/tribe — engages Pashtunwali in-group norms |
| Prayer / to pray | προσευχή / προσεύχομαι | دعا | du’a | Medium | Prayer and Dependence on God | 3:21, 5:16, 6:12, 9:18, 9:28-29, 11:1-13, 18:1-14, 19:46, 21:36, 22:32, 22:39-46 | Shared vocabulary; anchor to address of the Father through the Son |
| Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit | βλασφημία εἰς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ Ἅγιον | د روح القدس پر خلاف کفر | da Rooh-ul-Qudus par khilaf kufr | Critical | Holy Spirit’s Work in Salvation History | 12:10 | Handle كفر (kufr) with pastoral care given apostasy-framing weight in surrounding legal culture |
| Lost | ἀπολωλός | ورک شوی | wrak shaway | Medium | Repentance and Forgiveness of Sins | 15:4-6, 15:8-9, 15:17-24, 15:32, 19:10 | Structuring metaphor for God’s initiative in seeking repentant sinners |
| Joy | χαρά | خوشحالي | khushhali | Low | Repentance and Forgiveness of Sins | 1:14, 2:10, 6:23, 10:17, 10:21, 15:7, 15:10, 15:32, 24:41, 24:52 | Ties heaven’s joy explicitly to repentance |
| Table fellowship with sinners | (narrative motif; συνεσθίω etc.) | له ګناهکارانو سره خوراک کول | le gunahkarano sara khorak kawul | Critical | Jesus’ Compassion and Table Fellowship with Sinners | 5:29-32, 7:36-50, 15:1-2, 19:1-10 | Boundary-crossing honor-shame act; parallels baseline’s melmastia reciprocity caution under “grace” |
| Mammon | μαμωνᾶς | مامونا (مال و دولت) | mamona (mal-o-dawlat) | Medium | Cost and Joy of Discipleship | 16:9, 16:11, 16:13 | Personifies wealth as rival master; not a neutral money-word |
| Hades / place of torment | Ἅδης | دوزخ | dozakh | High | Repentance and Forgiveness of Sins (warning) | 16:23 | Shared eschatological vocabulary; teach the parable’s specific point on its own terms |
| Leper | λεπρός | د خوري ناروغ | da khori narogh | Low-Medium | Jesus’ Compassion | 5:12-14, 7:22, 17:12-19 | Ritual-exclusion background mirrors baseline’s relational-vs-ritual purity caution |
| Widow | χήρα | کونډه | kunda | Low | Good News to the Poor and Marginalized | 2:37, 4:25-26, 7:12, 18:1-8, 20:47, 21:2-3 | Reinforces poor/marginalized doctrine; models persistent prayer |
| Son of David | υἱὲ Δαυίδ | د داود زوی | da Dawud zoy | High | Messianic Promise; Davidic Covenant | 18:38-39, 20:41-44 | Messianic title claim parallel to مسیح |
| New covenant | καινὴ διαθήκη | نوی تړون | nuwe tarun | Critical | New Covenant; Salvation | 22:20 | Unilaterally instituted by Christ’s own blood; contrast with revocable Pashtunwali treaty pattern |
| Body / blood (of Christ) | σῶμα / αἷμα | بدن / وینه | badan / wina | Critical | New Covenant; Resurrection of Christ | 22:19-20 | Crucifixion-denial and blood-symbolism sensitivities both apply; reinforce atonement significance explicitly |
| Cross / crucify | σταυρός / σταυρόω | صلیب / صلیب کول | salib / salib kawul | Critical | Resurrection of Christ; Cost of Discipleship | 9:23, 14:27, 23:26-49 | Sharpest crucifixion-denial collision point; requires strongest oral/narrative apologetic handling |
| Paradise | παράδεισος | فردوس (نه جنت) | firdaus (not jannat) | Critical | Salvation; Jesus as Savior for All Nations | 23:43 | جنت carries deeds-based framework too strongly; فردوس recommended with mandatory grace-contrast note |
| Righteous (of a person) | δίκαιος | صادق سړی | sadiq saray | High | Salvation | 23:47 | Gentile centurion’s confession; ties to baseline صداقت |
| Minds opened (to Scripture) | διανοίγω τὸν νοῦν | د پوهې پرانیستل | da pohe pranistal | Medium | Inspiration of Scripture; Fulfillment of Prophecy | 24:31-32, 24:45 | Ties to مقدسه لیکنه entry above |
| Power from on high | δύναμις ἐξ ὕψους | د لوړ ځای نه قدرت | da lwar dzai na qodrat | High | Holy Spirit’s Work in Salvation History | 24:49 | Built on baseline د خدای قدرت + روح القدس; anticipates Pentecost |
| Taken up (Ascension) | ἀναλαμβάνω | پورته بوتللی شو | porta botalay sho | Medium | Resurrection of Christ | 9:51, 24:51 | Bodily, visible departure; teach alongside resurrection’s bodily emphasis |
Chapters Reviewed with No New Load-Bearing Terms
- Chapter 21 (beyond λύτρωσις/خلاصون, already listed under Chapter 2): reuses βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ, χήρα, and υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου vocabulary already fixed above — reviewed, no additional entries required.
Cross-Document Consistency Flags (for Phase 2)
The following renderings must remain verbatim identical every time they recur across all Luke curriculum documents, per the same consistency principle the baseline applies to Romans 1:16-17, 8:28, and 10:9-10:
- Luke 4:18-21 (core passage) — especially مسح کړی, د خداوند روح, and the context-sensitive ἄφεσις renderings
- Luke 19:10 (“Son of Man came to seek and save the lost”) — د انسان زوی + نجات موندلی combination
- Luke 22:19-20 (Words of Institution) — بدن / وینه / نوی تړون
- Luke 24:47 (repentance and forgiveness proclaimed to all nations) — توبه + د ګناهانو بخښنه + غیر یهودیان combination
Critical Risk Terms
Righteousness
Approved rendering: صداقت
Transliteration: sadaqat
Doctrine: Salvation
Original: δικαιοσύνη / δίκαιος
Category: Salvation
CRITICAL: honor-shame vs. guilt-innocence framework mismatch, bridged through honor-restoration framing. Inherited from Romans package. Luke 1:6, 1:75, 2:25, 5:32, 15:7, 23:47 all draw on this term; 23:47’s Gentile centurion confession is a key cross-reference.
Justification
Approved rendering: صادق ګڼل کیدل
Transliteration: sadiq ganal kedal
Doctrine: Salvation
Original: δικαιόω
Category: Salvation
CRITICAL: compound phrase required; framed as God’s own restoration of honor. Inherited from Romans package. Luke 18:14 (the tax collector’s parable) is the clearest narrative embodiment of this doctrine outside Romans and must render this term identically to the baseline.
Salvation
Approved rendering: نجات
Transliteration: nejat
Doctrine: Salvation
Original: σωτηρία / σῴζω
Category: Salvation
CRITICAL: nanawatai cultural bridge for substitutionary satisfaction. Inherited from Romans package. Luke 1:69, 1:77, 2:11, 2:30, 3:6, 7:50, 8:12, 8:48, 9:24, 18:42, 19:9-10 all use this root; see also the new terms savior and save_heal for Luke-specific compounds built on it.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: بیا راژوندي کیدل
Transliteration: bya rajwandi kedal
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Original: ἀνάστασις / ἐγείρω
Category: Eschatology
CRITICAL: shares the Quran’s crucifixion-denial (4:157). Inherited from Romans package. Luke 9:22, 18:33, 20:27-38, and the whole of chapter 24 depend on this term; chapter 24’s eyewitness narrative benefits especially from oral/narrative apologetic handling.
Lord
Approved rendering: خداوند
Transliteration: Khudawand
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: مالک
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
CRITICAL: مالک is too transactional; must convey exclusive, supreme lordship. Inherited from Romans package. Applies to Luke 1:43, 2:11, 20:41-44, 24:34.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: د خدای زوی
Transliteration: da Khudai zoy
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Original: υἱὸς θεοῦ
Category: Christology
CRITICAL: same Quranic denial (112:3, 19:35) applies with full force. Inherited from Romans package. Applies to Luke 1:32, 1:35, 3:22, 4:3, 4:9, 4:41, 8:28, 9:35, 22:70; note the devil’s own use of the title at 4:3, 4:9 must not be misread as conceding a lesser sonship.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: تجسد
Transliteration: tajassud
Doctrine: Incarnation
CRITICAL: shares the tawhid objection; Pashto’s Christian tradition is the youngest and thinnest in this pipeline. Inherited from Romans package. Anchors Luke 1:26-38, 2:6-7; see the new terms virgin and overshadow for the Lukan-specific vocabulary of the conception narrative.
Law
Approved rendering: ناموس
Transliteration: namus
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: شریعت
Original: νόμος
Category: Covenant
CRITICAL: must be distinguished from both formal shari’a and customary Pashtunwali law. Inherited from Romans package. Applies to Luke 2:22-27, 2:39, 10:26, 16:16-17, 24:44.
Messiah
Approved rendering: مسیح
Transliteration: Masih
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Original: Χριστός / Μεσσίας
Category: Christology
CRITICAL: carries the pre-loaded Quranic content (honored prophet, not divine, not crucified). Inherited from Romans package. Applies to Luke 2:11, 2:26, 4:18-21, 9:20, 23:2, 23:35, 24:26, 24:46; every occurrence must actively assert Christ’s unique redemptive sufficiency.
Jesus
Approved rendering: عیسی
Transliteration: Isa
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
CRITICAL: still carries the Quranic prophet-only, non-crucified, non-divine narrative. Inherited from Romans package. The central figure of Luke’s Gospel from conception (1:31) to ascension (24:51); chapters 22-24 must actively correct this narrative.
God
Approved rendering: خدای
Transliteration: Khudai
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: الله
Original: θεός
Category: God
CRITICAL: native Eastern Iranian-root word, a genuine linguistic asset; strict tawhid theology must be distinguished from Trinitarian content. Inherited from Romans package. Reinforced by Luke’s Magnificat/Benedictus praise language (chs. 1-2).
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: روح القدس
Transliteration: Rooh-ul-Qudus
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον
Category: God
CRITICAL: identical Quranic phrase and tafsir identification with the angel Jibril. Inherited from Romans package. Active from before Jesus’s birth (1:15, 1:35) through baptism (3:22), ministry (4:1, 4:18), and the promise of empowering (11:13, 24:49); the created-being-vs-divine-Person distinction must be explicit especially where Gabriel and the Spirit appear in the same scene (ch. 1).
Father
Approved rendering: پلار
Transliteration: plar
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
CRITICAL: strong Pashtun connotation of stern patriarchal authority risks overshadowing intimate warmth. Inherited from Romans package. Applies to Luke 2:49, 10:21-22, 11:2, 22:42, 23:34, 23:46.
Forgiveness Of Sins
Approved rendering: د ګناهانو بخښنه
Transliteration: da gunahano bakhshuna
Doctrine: Repentance and Forgiveness of Sins
Original: ἄφεσις ἁμαρτιῶν
Category: Repentance
CRITICAL: built on baseline ګناه. This is the sin-directed sense of the context-sensitive Greek ἄφεσις; the same lexeme elsewhere in Luke (4:18-19) refers to captivity-release and takes the separate rendering under release_captives — never collapse the two senses into one Pashto word. Key passages: 1:77, 3:3, 5:20-24, 7:47-49, 11:4, 17:3-4, 24:47.
Release Captives
Approved rendering: خوشې کول / ازادي
Transliteration: khushe kawul / azadi
Doctrine: Good News to the Poor and Marginalized
Original: ἄφεσις (αἰχμαλώτοις)
Category: Kingdom
CRITICAL, context-sensitive: the same Greek lexeme ἄφεσις used for forgiveness_of_sins elsewhere refers here to captivity/oppression release (Luke 4:18-19, within the core passage). No single Pashto word carries both senses. Every occurrence must be checked against context; the underlying doctrinal link (Jubilee liberation and sin-forgiveness are the same word in Greek) should be surfaced in teaching notes even where the Bible text itself renders them separately.
Savior
Approved rendering: نجات ورکوونکی
Transliteration: nejat warkawunkay
Doctrine: Jesus as Savior for All Nations and All People
Rejected alternatives: مرستندوی (helper), ښه استاد (great teacher)
Original: σωτήρ
Category: Salvation
CRITICAL: built directly on baseline نجات. The angel’s announcement to the shepherds (2:11) names the newborn Jesus directly as this title, not merely as performing an action; must not be softened to ‘helper’ or ‘great teacher’ — this is the same exclusive, sufficient salvation already fixed as Critical in the Romans baseline.
Anointed
Approved rendering: مسح کړی
Transliteration: mas’h kray
Doctrine: Messianic Self-Declaration at Nazareth
Rejected alternatives: غوره شوی (chosen, too weak), برکت شوی (blessed, too weak)
Original: χρίω (ἔχρισεν)
Category: Christology
CRITICAL, within the core passage (Luke 4:18). Shares the same verbal root as the baseline’s established مسیح (Masih); the wordplay must be recoverable so the passage functions as the messianic self-disclosure it is in Greek — Jesus is, in effect, saying ‘God has made me Masih,’ not merely reporting a past ritual act performed on him.
Spirit Of The Lord
Approved rendering: د خداوند روح
Transliteration: da Khudawand rooh
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit’s Work in Salvation History
Rejected alternatives: د خدای برکت (God’s blessing, too vague)
Original: πνεῦμα Κυρίου
Category: God
CRITICAL, within the core passage (Luke 4:18). A compound of two already-Critical baseline terms (روح القدس and خداوند). Must not be softened to a vague ‘spirit of God’s favor’ — names the same divine Spirit already established as a distinct divine Person, resting on Jesus in a unique messianic commissioning act.
Overshadow
Approved rendering: پوښل
Transliteration: poshel
Doctrine: Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: د خدای سره یوځای کیدل (union with God, risks a sexual/mythological misreading)
Original: ἐπισκιάζω
Category: Christology
CRITICAL: the Spirit’s non-sexual, creative, divine act producing Jesus’s conception in Mary’s womb (1:35). Must be handled with extreme care — not a physical union but a direct divine creative act, the theological heart of the virgin conception claim.
Son Of Man
Approved rendering: د انسان زوی
Transliteration: da insan zoy
Doctrine: Son of Man’s Divine Authority
Original: υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου
Category: Christology
CRITICAL: ‘a son of a human being’ is also an ordinary Pashto/Islamic idiom (cf. بني آدم) for ‘a mere human,’ which could flatten Jesus’s self-designation into a denial of deity rather than a veiled claim to divine authority echoing Daniel 7:13-14. Every occurrence (5:24, 6:5, 7:34, 9:22, 9:26, 9:44, 9:58, 12:8, 12:10, 17:22-30, 18:8, 18:31, 19:10, 21:27, 21:36, 22:22, 22:48, 22:69, 24:7) needs teaching that recovers this background.
Save Heal
Approved rendering: نجات موندلی / روغ شوی
Transliteration: nejat mundalay / rogh shaway
Doctrine: Jesus as Savior for All Nations and All People
Original: σῴζω
Category: Salvation
CRITICAL, context-sensitive: the same Greek verb σῴζω is used for both physical healing and spiritual salvation (6:9, 7:50, 8:12, 8:36, 8:48, 8:50, 9:24, 17:19, 18:42, 19:10). Prefer a نجات-rooted verb form where possible so the wordplay between bodily healing and spiritual rescue remains visible, rather than a purely medical روغ (healed) term that would erase the connection.
Blasphemy Against Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: د روح القدس پر خلاف کفر
Transliteration: da Rooh-ul-Qudus par khilaf kufr
Doctrine: Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit
Original: βλασφημία εἰς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ Ἅγιον
Category: God
CRITICAL: reuses baseline روح القدس exactly. کفر (‘blasphemy/unbelief against’) must be handled with pastoral care given the already-heavy apostasy-law weight it carries in the surrounding Islamic religious-legal culture. This is Jesus’s own teaching about a specific unforgivable-sin category (12:10), not a general accusation to be applied loosely to a person’s whole faith status.
Table Fellowship With Sinners
Approved rendering: له ګناهکارانو سره خوراک کول
Transliteration: le gunahkarano sara khorak kawul
Doctrine: Jesus’ Compassion and Table Fellowship with Sinners
Rejected alternatives: د مهمانوالي دود (generic hospitality custom, too flattening)
Original: συνεσθίω (narrative motif)
Category: Compassion
CRITICAL: the recurring narrative pattern of Jesus deliberately sharing meals with tax collectors and sinners (5:29-32, 7:36-50, 15:1-2, 19:1-10). In an honor-shame culture where melmastia customs govern who may honorably share a meal with whom, this is itself the scandal and the gospel enactment; must not be flattened into generic hospitality.
New Covenant
Approved rendering: نوی تړون
Transliteration: nuwe tarun
Doctrine: The New Covenant
Original: καινὴ διαθήκη
Category: Covenant
CRITICAL: built directly on baseline تړون with the qualifier نوی. Pashtunwali treaties are negotiated between relative equals and revocable under certain conditions; Christ’s new covenant, instituted unilaterally through his own body and blood at the Last Supper (22:20), is a direct atonement claim requiring theologian review.
Body Blood
Approved rendering: بدن / وینه
Transliteration: badan / wina
Doctrine: The New Covenant
Original: σῶμα / αἷμα
Category: Salvation
CRITICAL: Christ’s own body and blood, given and shed at the Last Supper (22:19-20) as the basis of the new covenant. Must be taught carefully given both the Quran’s crucifixion-denial removing the base historical referent for some hearers and potential unfamiliarity with blood-symbolism; reinforce the atonement significance explicitly, echoing the baseline’s نجات/nanawatai-bridge note.
Cross Crucify
Approved rendering: صلیب / صلیب کول
Transliteration: salib / salib kawul
Doctrine: Atonement and Ransom
Original: σταυρός / σταυρόω
Category: Christology
CRITICAL: the established Christian-tradition loanword across Arabic/Persian/Pashto usage. Because the Quran’s crucifixion-denial (4:157) removes the base historical referent for many hearers, ‘carrying the cross’ as a discipleship metaphor (9:23, 14:27) is doubly at risk beyond its historical narration in chapter 23; requires the strongest oral/narrative apologetic handling in the whole book.
Paradise
Approved rendering: فردوس (نه جنت)
Transliteration: firdaus (not jannat)
Doctrine: Paradise and the Afterlife
Rejected alternatives: جنت
Original: παράδεισος
Category: Eschatology
CRITICAL: جنت carries the full weight of Islam’s deeds-weighing eternal-reward framework; فردوس (also Quranic, but less saturated in everyday piety, and notably the same word-family as the Greek παράδεισος itself) is recommended with a MANDATORY grace-contrast teaching note at 23:43, since this verse’s entire force is a dying, guilty, undeserving criminal granted immediate paradise entry purely on Jesus’s own authority and word — the sharpest illustration of grace overturning a deeds-weighing framework anywhere in Luke.
High Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: انجیل
Transliteration: Injil
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: زیری
Shares the same tahrif (corruption) assumption found across the Islamicate world; must be taught as the NT record itself, not a lost predecessor text. Inherited from Romans package. Relevant to Luke’s dense εὐαγγελίζομαι verb usage (2:10, 3:18, 4:18, 4:43, 8:1, 9:6, 20:1) — the noun انجیل itself is unchanged, but see proclaim_good_news for the verb form Luke actually uses most.
Grace
Approved rendering: فضل
Transliteration: fazal
Doctrine: Grace
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Pashtunwali’s hospitality code (melmastia) treats gift-giving as reciprocity-creating; fazal must be taught as a one-directional gift creating no repayment obligation. Inherited from Romans package. Applies to Luke 1:30, 2:40, 2:52, 4:22.
Faith
Approved rendering: ایمان
Transliteration: iman
Doctrine: Faith
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Measured against both Islamic creedal iman and Pashtunwali’s honor-code loyalty (nang); faith is personal trust in Christ, not loyalty to either code. Inherited from Romans package. Applies to Luke 5:20, 7:9, 7:50, 8:25, 8:48, 17:5-6, 18:8, 18:42, 22:32.
Apostle
Approved rendering: رسول
Transliteration: rasul
Doctrine: Apostleship
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
Same collision with Muhammad’s defining title as in Arabic and Persian. Inherited from Romans package. Applies to Luke 6:13-16 (naming of the Twelve), 9:10, 11:49, 17:5, 22:14, 24:10.
Called
Approved rendering: بلل شوی
Transliteration: balal shaway
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Original: καλέω / κλητός
Category: Salvation
Context-sensitive across senses. Inherited from Romans package. In Luke: 5:32 (calling sinners), 14:13 (inviting the marginalized), 19:10 (the Son of Man’s redemptive purpose) — check which sense is active per occurrence.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: تقدیس
Transliteration: taqdis
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: پاکوالی
Original: ἁγιασμός
Category: Sanctification
پاکوالی risks reading as ritual purification rather than the Spirit’s ongoing moral transformation. Inherited from Romans package. Must be kept distinct from Luke’s Sabbath-controversy and leprosy-healing ritual-purity narratives.
Sin
Approved rendering: ګناه
Transliteration: gunah
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Original: ἁμαρτία / ἁμαρτωλός
Category: Sin
Bridges Pashtunwali’s honor-shame-primary ethics to transgression against a personal God. Inherited from Romans package. Applies to Luke 1:77, 3:3, 5:20-24, 7:37-49, 11:4, 15:7, 15:18, 17:3-4, 24:47; Luke’s sinner-table-fellowship narratives are a key bridging opportunity.
Prophet
Approved rendering: پیغمبر
Transliteration: peghambar
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Original: προφήτης
Category: Covenant
Same finality-of-prophethood risk as Arabic’s nabi. Inherited from Romans package. Applies to John the Baptist (1:76, 7:26) and Jesus himself (4:24, 7:16, 13:33-34, 24:19); must be paired with fuller Christological titles.
Covenant
Approved rendering: تړون
Transliteration: tarun
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: διαθήκη
Category: Covenant
Pashtunwali pacts are negotiated between equals and revocable, unlike God’s unilateral covenant. Inherited from Romans package. Applies to Luke 1:72; see the new term new_covenant for 22:20’s qualified compound.
Election
Approved rendering: غوره کول
Transliteration: ghwara kawul
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Original: ἐκλογή / ἐκλεκτός
Category: Salvation
Must not be colored by Pashtun tribal culture’s lineage-based status. Inherited from Romans package. Thematically present in Luke 15’s lost-and-found parables as God’s initiative in seeking those he chooses to redeem.
Mission
Approved rendering: ماموریت
Transliteration: ma’muriyat
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
Original: ἀποστολή / πέμπω / ἀποστέλλω
Category: Church
Open evangelism carries severe, potentially life-threatening legal and social risk in Taliban-controlled and similarly restrictive areas. Inherited from Romans package. Applies to Luke 9:1-6, 10:1-16, 24:47-49.
Israel
Approved rendering: اسرائیل
Transliteration: Esra’il
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Original: Ἰσραήλ
Category: Covenant
Requires deliberate pastoral framing. Inherited from Romans package. Applies to Luke’s infancy-narrative hope language (1:16, 1:54, 1:68, 1:80, 2:25, 2:32) and 24:21.
Abba
Approved rendering: ابا
Transliteration: Abba
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: Ἀββά
Category: God
Aramaic intimacy-term. Inherited from Romans package. Not lexically present in Luke’s Greek text, but the intimate father-address Jesus models (22:42, 23:34, 23:46) carries the same content fixed at Romans 8:15 and should be surfaced in teaching for cross-document consistency.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: د داود نسل
Transliteration: da Dawud nasl
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: σπέρμα Δαυίδ / υἱὸς Δαυίδ
Category: Covenant
Conveys physical lineage and OT covenant fulfillment. Inherited from Romans package. Applies to Luke 1:32-33; the parallel title ‘Son of David’ (see new term son_of_david) used as direct address to Jesus (18:38-39, 20:41-44) requires the same background teaching.
Repentance
Approved rendering: توبه
Transliteration: tuba
Doctrine: Repentance and Forgiveness of Sins
Original: μετάνοια / μετανοέω
Category: Repentance
توبه is the standard, deeply embedded Islamic tawba term, operating inside a deeds-weighing framework where sincere repentance plus good deeds restores standing before Allah’s mercy. No viable native or loanword alternative exists; Luke’s μετάνοια must be re-taught at every occurrence as the Spirit-enabled turning that receives Christ’s already-accomplished forgiveness, never a repayment or offsetting act. Key passages: 3:3, 3:8, 5:32, 13:3-5, 15:7, 15:10, 24:47.
Scripture
Approved rendering: مقدسه لیکنه
Transliteration: moqaddasa likna
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Original: γραφή
Category: Scripture
Built on baseline مقدس. Ties to the wahy/verbatim-dictation collision the baseline documents; named at the climax of the core passage (4:21) and repeatedly in the Emmaus and upper-room resurrection appearances (24:27, 24:32, 24:45). Luke’s own eyewitness-based compositional method (1:1-4) is a useful positive contrast point.
Fulfilled
Approved rendering: بشپړ شوی
Transliteration: bashpar shaway
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Original: πληρόω (πεπλήρωται)
Category: Covenant
The perfect-tense declaration in the core passage (4:21) that Isaiah’s prophecy stands completed, now, in Jesus’s own person; echoed at 24:44. Must be framed against the Islamic doctrine of naskh (abrogation), where later revelation supersedes and cancels earlier revelation — here fulfillment means completion, not replacement.
Acceptable Year Of The Lord
Approved rendering: د خداوند د منلو کال
Transliteration: da Khudawand da manlo kaal
Doctrine: The Kingdom of God Present and Future
Original: ἐνιαυτὸς Κυρίου δεκτός
Category: Kingdom
Alludes to the Jubilee year of Leviticus 25 (debt cancellation, land rest, slave release) as reinterpreted by Isaiah 61 and announced by Jesus in the core passage (4:19) as a present spiritual reality. Culturally distant background requiring explicit teaching; Pashtun customary tribal amnesty/debt-forgiveness practices may offer a limited, carefully calibrated bridge, parallel to the baseline’s nanawatai caution, but must not be treated as an exact equivalent.
Virgin
Approved rendering: پیغله
Transliteration: peghla
Doctrine: Incarnation
Original: παρθένος
Category: Christology
Mary’s unmarried, non-marital state at Jesus’s conception (1:27). The virgin conception itself is affirmed in the Quran (19:20-21), giving real common ground — but this shared belief must be carefully distinguished from Luke’s actual claim that the eternal Son took on flesh, which Islam denies.
Circumcision
Approved rendering: سنت
Transliteration: sunnat
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Original: περιτομή / περιτέμνω
Category: Covenant
Jesus’s submission to the Mosaic covenant sign as an infant (2:21). سنت is the standard shared Islamic term for circumcision and, more broadly, the Prophet’s normative example; must be clearly limited here to the physical Mosaic rite, never conflated with the broader Islamic ‘sunnah’ concept.
Redemption
Approved rendering: خلاصون
Transliteration: khlasun
Doctrine: Salvation
Original: λύτρωσις
Category: Salvation
Deliverance by payment of ransom; named by Anna concerning Jerusalem’s hope (2:38) and again as the Son of Man’s coming draws near (21:28). Anticipates the fuller atonement/ransom vocabulary of chapters 22-23; teach in continuity with baseline نجات, including the nanawatai cultural-bridge caution.
Devil Satan
Approved rendering: شیطان
Transliteration: Shaitan
Doctrine: Spiritual Conflict and Kingdom Authority
Original: διάβολος / Σατανᾶς
Category: Spiritual Conflict
The personal tempter who tests Jesus in the wilderness (4:1-13) and opposes his ministry (8:12, 10:18, 11:18, 22:3, 22:31). Broadly shared personal-evil-spirit figure, an asset for comprehension, but the Quranic Iblis narrative (refusal to bow to Adam) differs in origin story from the New Testament’s fallen-accuser depiction; teach Luke’s own portrait.
Demon Unclean Spirit
Approved rendering: پیریان
Transliteration: pairyan
Doctrine: Spiritual Conflict and Kingdom Authority
Original: δαιμόνιον / πνεῦμα ἀκάθαρτον
Category: Spiritual Conflict
Evil spirits Jesus commands and casts out throughout his Galilean ministry (4:33-36, 4:41, 8:2, 8:26-39, 9:1, 9:37-43, 11:14-26). A real cultural asset given widespread active jinn belief, but significant syncretism risk: folk-Islamic exorcism practices (amulets, mullah-performed rituals, Ruqyah) must not be equated with Jesus’s unique, sovereign command over evil spirits by his own authority alone.
Disciple
Approved rendering: شاګرد
Transliteration: shagird
Doctrine: The Cost and Joy of Discipleship
Rejected alternatives: مرید
Original: μαθητής
Category: Discipleship
مرید is explicitly avoided: it is the standard term for a Sufi disciple bound to a pir/spiritual master within a tariqa initiation-and-lineage system, importing a competing framework (baraka transmission, hierarchical devotion to a human intermediary) foreign to grace-based, initiation-free New Testament discipleship. Key passages: 5:30-33, 6:13, 6:17, 6:20, 9:1, 10:1, 14:26-27, 19:37.
Compassion Visceral
Approved rendering: خواخوږي درلودل
Transliteration: khwakhwazi drlodal
Doctrine: Jesus’ Compassion and Table Fellowship with Sinners
Rejected alternatives: رحم درلودل (Arabic-root synonym, too generic/flattening)
Original: σπλαγχνίζομαι
Category: Compassion
Deep, gut-level compassion, used of Jesus at the widow of Nain’s funeral (7:13), of the Good Samaritan (10:33), and the father of the prodigal (15:20). A distinctive Lukan motif; must not be reduced to generic politeness or pity. Native خواخوږي preferred over Arabic-root رحم to keep the term’s emotional force vivid.
Follow Discipleship
Approved rendering: پیروي کول
Transliteration: peyrawi kawul
Doctrine: The Cost and Joy of Discipleship
Original: ἀκολουθέω
Category: Discipleship
The act of following Jesus as a disciple, called for at great personal cost (5:11, 5:27-28, 9:23, 9:57-62, 18:22, 18:28). Must retain the costliness Jesus attaches to it (‘let the dead bury their dead,’ ‘no place to lay his head’) rather than softening to casual admiration.
Hades
Approved rendering: دوزخ
Transliteration: dozakh
Doctrine: Paradise and the Afterlife
Original: Ἅδης
Category: Eschatology
The place of torment in the rich man and Lazarus parable, contrasted with ‘Abraham’s bosom’ (16:22-23). Shared vocabulary with Islamic dozakh/jahannam imagery is broadly available, but the parable’s specific point (a fixed reversal, no crossing the ‘great gulf,’ Moses and the Prophets already sufficient testimony) must be taught on its own terms.
Son Of David
Approved rendering: د داود زوی
Transliteration: da Dawud zoy
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: υἱὲ Δαυίδ
Category: Christology
A messianic title cried out by the blind beggar (18:38-39) and invoked in the Lord-of-David argument (20:41-44). A messianic title claim parallel in force to مسیح; requires the same Davidic-covenant background teaching documented for seed_of_david.
Righteous Person
Approved rendering: صادق سړی
Transliteration: sadiq saray
Doctrine: Salvation
Original: δίκαιος
Category: Salvation
Ties to baseline صداقت family vocabulary. A Gentile Roman centurion’s confession of Jesus’s righteousness/innocence at the cross (23:47), directly relevant to Jesus as Savior for all nations; consistency with the honor-restoration bridging language used at 18:14 is required.
Power From On High
Approved rendering: د لوړ ځای نه قدرت
Transliteration: da lwar dzai na qodrat
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit’s Work in Salvation History
Original: δύναμις ἐξ ὕψους
Category: God
The promised empowering of the Spirit for the disciples’ coming mission (24:49). Built on baseline د خدای قدرت combined with روح القدس; anticipates Pentecost and directly serves this doctrine.
Medium Risk Terms
Calling
Approved rendering: بلنه
Transliteration: balana
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Generally everyday invitation-vocabulary; the direction of address (God calling a person) still needs to be made explicit. Inherited from Romans package. Relevant to Luke’s Divine and Effectual Calling doctrine (5:32, 14:13, 15:4-7, 19:10).
Holy
Approved rendering: مقدس
Transliteration: moqaddas
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
Needs the relational, Spirit-wrought sense reinforced over ritual-observance holiness. Inherited from Romans package. Applies to Luke 1:35, 1:49, 1:70, 4:34 (including the unclean spirits’ own recognition of Jesus).
Peace
Approved rendering: سوله
Transliteration: sola
Doctrine: Peace with God
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
An asset: resonant with lived war-and-peace-negotiation experience. Inherited from Romans package. Applies to Luke 1:79, 2:14, 7:50, 8:48, 19:38, 19:42, 24:36; the connection to forgiveness/salvation must be made explicit.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: د خدای پاچاهي
Transliteration: da Khudai pachahi
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Kingdom
Distinguish God’s spiritual reign from competing ‘Islamic Emirate’ political-religious sovereignty claims. Inherited from Romans package. A major structuring theme across Luke (4:43, 6:20, 8:1, 11:20, 13:18-21, 17:20-21, 18:16-17, 19:11, 21:31, 22:16-18, 23:42).
Gentiles
Approved rendering: غیر یهودیان
Transliteration: gheyr yahudian
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: امتونه
Original: ἔθνη
Category: Church
امتونه shares the loaded Ummah root. Inherited from Romans package. Applies to Luke 2:32, 21:24, 24:47.
Glory
Approved rendering: جلال
Transliteration: jalal
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Anchor to Christ’s specific historical glory, not generalized mystical splendor. Inherited from Romans package. Applies to Luke 2:9, 2:14, 2:32, 9:31-32 (Transfiguration).
Intercession
Approved rendering: منځګړیتوب
Transliteration: manzgaritob
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Original: ἔντευξις / ὑπερεντυγχάνω
Category: Faith
Nanawatai cultural bridge applies with special force. Inherited from Romans package. Modeled by Jesus for Peter (22:32) and from the cross for his executioners (23:34).
Providence
Approved rendering: د خدای تدبیر
Transliteration: da Khudai tadbir
Doctrine: Providence
Original: πρόνοια
Category: God
Keep distinct from folk qadar fatalism. Inherited from Romans package. Applies to Luke 12:6-7, 12:22-31, 21:18.
David
Approved rendering: داود
Transliteration: Dawud
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: Δαυίδ
Category: Covenant
Shared, positively-regarded Quranic prophet-king figure without the covenant-heir typology; supply that background explicitly. Inherited from Romans package. Applies to Luke 1:27, 1:32, 1:69, 2:4, 2:11, 3:31, 6:3, 18:38-39, 20:41-44.
Synagogue
Approved rendering: کنیسه
Transliteration: kanisa
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit’s Work in Salvation History (setting term for the core passage)
Rejected alternatives: کلیسا (church), جومات/مسجد (mosque)
Original: συναγωγή
Category: Church
The customary Jewish assembly/building for Sabbath worship and Torah reading, the venue of the core passage (Luke 4:16) and much of Jesus’s early ministry (4:33, 6:6, 13:10). Must be kept sharply distinct from کلیسا (church, a Critical baseline term) and mosque vocabulary; confusing the three erases the Jewish setting Luke 4 depends on.
Today
Approved rendering: نن
Transliteration: nun
Doctrine: The Kingdom of God Present and Future
Original: σήμερον
Category: Kingdom
Marks Jesus’s core-passage claim (4:21) that Isaiah’s prophecy is being enacted in the present moment, in his own person; recurs at 19:9, 23:43. The theological weight (inaugurated fulfillment, not future prediction) must not be lost through under-translation; supplement with ‘همدا اوس’ in teaching contexts.
Proclaim Good News
Approved rendering: زیری/خبر ورکول
Transliteration: zeri/khabar warkawal
Doctrine: Good News to the Poor and Marginalized
Original: εὐαγγελίζομαι
Category: Church
The verb form of ‘gospel,’ used far more densely in Luke than the noun itself — the shepherds’ announcement (2:10), John’s preaching (3:18), the core passage (4:18, 4:43), and the sending narratives (9:6). VERB USAGE ONLY; the noun ‘gospel’ always remains انجیل. If rendered too weakly (‘to tell news’) the authoritative, saving force is lost; if زیری is used carelessly as a noun substitute for the gospel itself, it collides with the baseline’s rejected alternative.
Preach Proclaim
Approved rendering: اعلان کول
Transliteration: elan kawul
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
Original: κηρύσσω
Category: Church
Authoritative, herald-like public proclamation, used twice in the core passage’s Isaiah 61 quotation (4:18-19) and throughout Jesus’s and the disciples’ ministry (8:1, 9:2, 24:47). Must carry public, authoritative force, not private advice-giving.
Poor
Approved rendering: غریب
Transliteration: gharib
Doctrine: Good News to the Poor and Marginalized
Rejected alternatives: فقیر
Original: πτωχός
Category: Poverty and Marginalization
فقیر is explicitly avoided: it carries strong Sufi mendicant/holy-beggar and zakat-category connotations that risk sacralizing poverty itself, rather than presenting the poor as recipients of God’s unearned favor in Christ. Central to the core passage (4:18) and the Beatitudes (6:20); also 7:22, 14:13, 14:21, 16:20, 18:22, 19:8, 21:3.
Captives
Approved rendering: بندیان
Transliteration: bandiyan
Doctrine: Good News to the Poor and Marginalized
Original: αἰχμάλωτος
Category: Poverty and Marginalization
In the core passage (4:18), alludes to the Jubilee release of Leviticus 25 as reinterpreted by Isaiah 61. In a region marked by decades of literal war and imprisonment, this word carries strong lived resonance, an asset similar to the baseline’s سوله note — but the specifically spiritual liberation sense must be taught explicitly, not left only at the literal level.
Blind
Approved rendering: ړوند
Transliteration: rwand
Doctrine: Good News to the Poor and Marginalized
Original: τυφλός
Category: Poverty and Marginalization
Named in the core passage (4:18); healed repeatedly in Luke (7:22, 18:35-43). Keep both literal and figurative (spiritual blindness/unbelief) senses available; do not collapse to only the medical sense.
Oppressed Crushed
Approved rendering: له ظلم لاندې مات شوي خلک
Transliteration: le zulm lande mat shawi khalak
Doctrine: Good News to the Poor and Marginalized
Rejected alternatives: خفه شوي خلک (merely sad people, too weak)
Original: τεθραυσμένος (θραύω)
Category: Poverty and Marginalization
The strongest term in the core passage’s Isaiah 61 list (4:18) — victims of violent oppression, not merely the sad or troubled. A descriptive phrase is required and locked in translation memory; forbid single-word substitutes that lose the violence/abuse-of-power nuance.
Angel
Approved rendering: فرشته
Transliteration: freshta
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit’s Work in Salvation History
Original: ἄγγελος
Category: Angelology
Shared vocabulary with Islamic tradition (angels, including Jibril, are a point of doctrinal agreement); a useful positive overlap, but must not be used to imply the Holy Spirit is merely another angel. Prominent in the infancy narratives (1:11, 1:26, 2:9-15) and at Gethsemane and the resurrection (22:43, 24:23).
Gabriel
Approved rendering: جبرائیل
Transliteration: Jabrail
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit’s Work in Salvation History
Original: Γαβριήλ
Category: Angelology
The angel who announces both John’s and Jesus’s births (1:19, 1:26). A genuine bridge point: both traditions agree Gabriel is a created angelic messenger, distinct from the Holy Spirit; this can reinforce, not undermine, the caution that the Spirit is not an angel.
Mary
Approved rendering: مریم
Transliteration: Maryam
Doctrine: Incarnation
Original: Μαριάμ
Category: Christology
The mother of Jesus, central to the Lukan infancy narrative (1:27-56, 2:5-51). A shared, honored Quranic figure (Surah Maryam) — a positive bridge, but must not be allowed to imply Mary’s own divinity or flatten the Incarnation to ‘a righteous woman had a special son.‘
Mercy
Approved rendering: رحمت
Transliteration: rahmat
Doctrine: Jesus’ Compassion and Table Fellowship with Sinners
Original: ἔλεος / ἐλεήμων
Category: Compassion
God’s compassion shown to the needy and afflicted, a major Magnificat/Benedictus theme (1:50, 1:54, 1:58, 1:72, 1:78) and commanded of disciples (6:36), modeled by the Samaritan (10:37) and cried out by the blind beggar (18:38-39). Shared with Islamic ‘Ar-Rahim’ vocabulary — broadly compatible, but must be tied explicitly to God’s saving action in Christ.
Lowliness Humility
Approved rendering: ټیټوالی / ټیټ کول
Transliteration: titwali / tit kawul
Doctrine: Good News to the Poor and Marginalized
Original: ταπείνωσις / ταπεινόω
Category: Poverty and Marginalization
The Magnificat’s reversal theme (1:48, 1:52) recurring in the banquet-parable reversals (14:11) and the tax collector’s humble prayer (18:14). Ties directly to the kingdom-reversal motif recurring across Luke; do not confuse with مسکینتیا (destitution as a merely pitiable state).
Testing Temptation
Approved rendering: ازموینه
Transliteration: azmawina
Doctrine: Prayer and Dependence on God
Original: πειρασμός / πειράζω
Category: Spiritual Conflict
The devil’s wilderness testing of Jesus (4:1-13) and the broader theme in the Lord’s Prayer (11:4) and Gethsemane (22:28, 22:40, 22:46). Distinguish God’s testing/permitting from the devil’s tempting-to-sin sense; both senses appear across Luke and must be disambiguated by context.
Tax Collector
Approved rendering: محصول اخیستونکی
Transliteration: mahsul akhistunkay
Doctrine: Jesus’ Compassion and Table Fellowship with Sinners
Original: τελώνης
Category: Compassion
A social outcast occupying a collaborator-with-Rome role, called by Jesus as a disciple (Levi, 5:27-30) and a paradigm case of Jesus’s table fellowship (7:29, 7:34, 15:1, 18:10-13, 19:2-8). Carries a social-outcast/collaborator connotation that should be conveyed, not flattened to a neutral civil-service term.
Blessed
Approved rendering: بختور
Transliteration: bakhtawar
Doctrine: Good News to the Poor and Marginalized
Rejected alternatives: مبارک
Original: μακάριος
Category: Poverty and Marginalization
مبارک is avoided as primary: it functions mainly as a generic festive greeting (‘blessed Eid,’ etc.) and risks losing the Beatitudes’ paradoxical, kingdom-reversal force (‘blessed are the poor… the hungry… those who weep,’ 6:20-22; also 1:45, 7:23, 10:23, 11:28, 12:37-38, 14:14-15, 23:29). This is a pronouncement of eschatological reversal, not a wish of good fortune.
Parable
Approved rendering: تمثیل
Transliteration: tamsil
Doctrine: The Kingdom of God Present and Future
Original: παραβολή
Category: Kingdom
Jesus’s characteristic teaching form throughout Luke, carrying kingdom-mystery content (5:36, 8:4-15, 10:30-37, 12:16-21, 13:6-9, 14:7-24, 15:3-32, 16:1-31, 18:1-14, 19:11-27, 20:9-19, 21:29-33). Standard genre word, low collision risk on its own, but plain narration risks flattening the ‘mystery revealed to some, hidden from others’ tension (8:10).
Samaritan
Approved rendering: سامری
Transliteration: samari
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Original: Σαμαρίτης
Category: Church
A member of the ethnic/religious group historically hostile to Jews, the unlikely hero of the Good Samaritan parable (10:33), among the healed (17:16), and rejecting villages (9:52-56). The ancient hostility is a genuine cultural bridge for teaching about crossing tribal/ethnic boundaries, relevant to Pashtun qawm/khel dynamics; must not be flattened to ‘a helpful stranger.‘
Neighbor
Approved rendering: ګاونډی
Transliteration: gawandi
Doctrine: Jesus’ Compassion and Table Fellowship with Sinners
Original: πλησίον
Category: Compassion
The object of the love command, deliberately redefined and expanded by the Good Samaritan parable (10:27, 10:29, 10:36). The parable’s whole point is to expand this word beyond kin/tribe/co-religionist, directly engaging Pashtunwali’s own strong in-group loyalty norms.
Prayer
Approved rendering: دعا
Transliteration: du’a
Doctrine: Prayer and Dependence on God
Original: προσευχή / προσεύχομαι
Category: Prayer
Shared vocabulary with Islamic devotional practice; broadly compatible, but must be anchored to prayer as address to the Father through the Son (3:21, 5:16, 6:12, 9:18, 9:28-29, 11:1-13, 18:1-14, 19:46, 21:36, 22:32, 22:39-46), not generic ritual supplication.
Lost
Approved rendering: ورک شوی
Transliteration: wrak shaway
Doctrine: Repentance and Forgiveness of Sins
Original: ἀπολωλός
Category: Repentance
The structuring metaphor of chapter 15’s sheep/coin/son parables and Jesus’s own mission statement (19:10). Must be taught as God’s own active seeking, not merely a passive human condition awaiting discovery.
Mammon
Approved rendering: مامونا (مال و دولت)
Transliteration: mamona (mal-o-dawlat)
Doctrine: The Cost and Joy of Discipleship
Original: μαμωνᾶς
Category: Discipleship
An Aramaic loanword personifying wealth as a rival master, contrasted with faithful service to God (16:9, 16:11, 16:13). Must not be flattened to a neutral word for money; the text personifies wealth as a competing object of ultimate loyalty.
Minds Opened
Approved rendering: د پوهې پرانیستل
Transliteration: da pohe pranistal
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Original: διανοίγω τὸν νοῦν
Category: Scripture
The risen Christ opening the disciples’ minds to understand how the Scriptures speak of him (24:31-32, 24:45). Ties to the scripture entry above; presented as Spirit-given illumination, not merely careful human study.
Taken Up Ascension
Approved rendering: پورته بوتللی شو
Transliteration: porta botalay sho
Doctrine: Ascension and Exaltation
Original: ἀναλαμβάνω / ἀνελήμφθη
Category: Eschatology
Christ’s bodily, visible departure into heaven, witnessed by the disciples (9:51, 24:51). Low independent collision risk but doctrinally significant — a bodily, visible departure, not a metaphorical exit — and should be taught alongside the resurrection’s own bodily emphasis.
Low Risk Terms
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: شکر
Transliteration: shukr
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Original: εὐχαριστία / εὐχαριστέω
Category: Faith
Shukr is also a major Islamic virtue; broadly compatible, low risk. Inherited from Romans package. Applies to Luke 17:16 (the healed leper), 18:11 (contrasted with the Pharisee’s self-congratulation), 22:17, 22:19.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: ملګرتیا
Transliteration: malgartia
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: شراکت
Original: κοινωνία
Category: Church
شراکت shares the same ش-ر-ک root as shirk. Inherited from Romans package. Thematically present across Luke’s table-fellowship narratives and at 22:14-18, 24:29-35.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: نبوت
Transliteration: nabuwat
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Original: προφητεία
Category: Covenant
Low independent risk. Inherited from Romans package. Applies to Luke 1:67-79, Zechariah’s Spirit-filled utterance.
Exhort
Approved rendering: هڅول
Transliteration: hakol
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Original: παρακαλέω
Category: Faith
Context-sensitive between entreaty and encouragement. Inherited from Romans package. Applies to Luke’s general teaching and exhortation passages.
Scroll Book
Approved rendering: کتاب
Transliteration: kitab
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Original: βιβλίον
Category: Scripture
The physical Isaiah scroll Jesus is handed and unrolls (4:17, 4:20), grounding the Nazareth scene in a real, verifiable, textual act. Generic and low risk; ‘طومار’ (scroll-shape) may be added as an optional clarifying gloss for oral-delivery contexts.
Sinner
Approved rendering: ګناهکار
Transliteration: gunahkar
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Original: ἁμαρτωλός
Category: Sin
Straightforward derivative of baseline ګناه; the consistent object of Jesus’s welcome and table fellowship throughout Luke (5:8, 5:30-32, 6:32-34, 7:34, 7:37, 7:39, 15:1-2, 15:7, 15:10, 18:13, 19:7).
Joy
Approved rendering: خوشحالي
Transliteration: khushhali
Doctrine: Repentance and Forgiveness of Sins
Original: χαρά
Category: Repentance
Heaven’s celebratory response to repentance (15:7, 15:10, 15:32), and the disciples’ response to the resurrection and ascension (24:41, 24:52). Directly ties heaven’s joy to repentance, reinforcing the doctrine with a positive frame.
Leper
Approved rendering: د خوري ناروغ
Transliteration: da khori narogh
Doctrine: Jesus’ Compassion and Table Fellowship with Sinners
Original: λεπρός
Category: Compassion
A person with leprosy, healed by Jesus (5:12-14) and among the ten healed on the road (17:12-19). The severe ritual-purity exclusion attached to leprosy mirrors the caution to teach relational, not merely ritual, purity and restoration.
Widow
Approved rendering: کونډه
Transliteration: kunda
Doctrine: Good News to the Poor and Marginalized
Original: χήρα
Category: Poverty and Marginalization
A vulnerable, often destitute figure across Luke — the widow of Nain (7:12), the persistent widow of the parable (18:1-8), the widow’s offering (20:47, 21:2-3), and Anna (2:37). Reinforces the poor/marginalized doctrine and models persistent prayer/dependence on God.
Referenced passages