Core Glossary
Core Glossary — Philippians (Pashto Language Package)
This glossary extends the baseline Romans translation_memory.json / bible_term_registry.json for the Philippians curriculum. Section A lists baseline terms reused exactly (no changes permitted) as they recur in Philippians. Section B lists new terms introduced by Philippians, proposed for addition to translation memory with assigned risk tiers, following the same schema and conventions as the baseline.
Section A — Baseline Terms Reused Exactly in Philippians
These terms already exist in translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json from the Romans package. Renderings and risk tiers are unchanged; citations below show where they recur in Philippians.
| Term | Pashto | Transliteration | Risk | Philippians Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| gospel | انجیل | Injil | High | 1:5, 7, 12, 16, 27; 2:22; 4:3, 15 |
| grace | فضل | fazal | High | 1:2, 7; 4:23 |
| faith | ایمان | iman | High | 1:25, 27; 2:17; 3:9 |
| righteousness | صداقت | sadaqat | Critical | 1:11; 3:6, 9 |
| justification (righteousness by faith, forensic sense) | صادق ګڼل کیدل / صداقت | sadiq ganal kedal / sadaqat | Critical | 3:9 |
| salvation | نجات | nejat | Critical | 1:19, 28; 2:12 |
| apostle | رسول | rasul | High | 1:1 (implicit apostolic authority) |
| called / calling | بلل شوی / بلنه | balal shaway / balana | High | 3:14 |
| holy | مقدس | moqaddas | Medium | (implicit; underlies “saints”) |
| saints | مقدسان | moqaddasan | Medium | 1:1; 4:21-22 |
| sanctification | تقدیس | taqdis | High | (thematic background to 1:6, 2:12-13) |
| peace | سوله | sola | Medium | 1:2; 4:7, 9 |
| thanksgiving | شکر | shukr | Low | 1:3; 4:6 |
| fellowship | ملګرتیا | malgartia | Low (High in gospel-partnership collocation — see Section B) | 1:5; 2:1; 3:10 |
| kingdom of God | د خدای پاچاهي | da Khudai pachahi | Medium | (thematic background to 3:20) |
| law | ناموس | namus | Critical | 3:5, 6, 9 |
| gentiles | غیر یهودیان | gheyr yahudian | Medium | (thematic background) |
| glory | جلال | jalal | Medium | 1:11; 2:11; 3:19, 21; 4:19-20 |
| power of God | د خدای قدرت | da Khudai qodrat | Medium | 3:10 (resurrection power) |
| messiah/christ | مسیح | Masih | Critical | throughout (e.g., 1:1, 6, 8, 11; 2:5, 11; 3:7-9, 14, 20; 4:19, 21) |
| resurrection | بیا راژوندي کیدل | bya rajwandi kedal | Critical | 3:10, 11, 21 |
| lord | خداوند | Khudawand | Critical | 2:11, 19, 24, 29; 3:1, 8, 20; 4:1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 23 |
| jesus | عیسی | Isa | Critical | throughout |
| god | خدای | Khudai | Critical | throughout |
| holy spirit | روح القدس | Rooh-ul-Qudus | Critical | 1:19; 2:1; 3:3 |
| father | پلار | plar | Critical | 1:2; 2:11; 4:20 |
| obedience of faith / obedient | د ایمان اطاعت (root: اطاعت) | ita’at | High | 2:8, 12 |
| exhort | هڅول | hakol | Low | 4:2 |
| son of God | د خدای زوی | da Khudai zoy | Critical | (implicit background to 2:6, “form of God”) |
| incarnation | تجسد | tajassud | Critical | (thematic background to 2:6-8) |
Application note: wherever Philippians and Romans share a term, the Pashto rendering, transliteration, and risk tier must be byte-for-byte identical, per the baseline’s Theological Consistency Rules. The core passage’s Lordship confession (2:11) explicitly builds on Romans 10:9’s mandated عیسی خداوند دی — see Section B, “jesus_christ_is_lord.”
Section B — New Terms Introduced by Philippians
| Key | Category | Risk | Original (Greek) | Transliteration | Pashto Term | Pashto Transliteration | Definition | Translation Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| joy | Joy in Suffering | High | χαρά / χαίρω | chara / chairō | خوشحالي / خوشحالېدل | khushhali / khushhaledal | Spirit-given gladness, the dominant keyword of Philippians (~16 occurrences), commanded even amid suffering and imprisonment. | Must not be confused with circumstance-dependent happiness or with Islamic ṣabr (patient endurance under trial), a related but distinct concept. Pauline joy is active gladness that coexists with, not merely endures, suffering. Consistent rendering required across all occurrences (1:4, 18, 25; 2:2, 17-18, 28-29; 3:1; 4:1, 4, 10). |
| kenosis_emptied_himself | Incarnation/Kenosis | Critical | ἐκένωσεν (ἑαυτόν) | ekenōsen (heauton) | خپل ځان یې خالي کړ | khpal zaan ye khali kar | Christ’s voluntary self-emptying of divine privilege/glory in the incarnation, without ceasing to be divine. | Must be taught alongside تجسد (incarnation, baseline term) to prevent a kenotic-heresy misreading (Christ ceasing to be God) rather than the orthodox sense (Christ veiling glory, adding humanity). Pashto’s youngest, thinnest Christian tradition in this pipeline has no settled local precedent for this term. Human theologian review mandatory. |
| form_of_god | Deity of Christ | Critical | μορφὴ θεοῦ | morphē theou | د خدای بڼه | da Khudai bana | Christ’s pre-existent, essential divine nature, prior to and independent of the incarnation. | Direct collision with tawhid (paradigm shirk claim from an Islamic standpoint); must always be paired with explicit deity-of-Christ teaching. Human theologian review mandatory. |
| equality_with_god | Deity of Christ | Critical | τὸ εἶναι ἴσα θεῷ | to einai isa theō | له خدای سره برابري | la Khudai sara barabari | Christ’s rightful, pre-existing equal status and nature with God the Father. | Never soften to “closeness to” or “favor from” God; this is the deity claim itself. Human theologian review mandatory. |
| form_of_a_servant | Incarnation/Kenosis | High | μορφὴ δούλου | morphē doulou | د غلام بڼه | da ghulam bana | Christ’s genuine assumption of servant/slave nature and status in the incarnation. | غلام (slave) carries strong social-status weight; preserve the shock of total condescension rather than softening to a generic “helper.” |
| likeness_of_men | Humanity of Christ | High | ὁμοίωμα ἀνθρώπων | homoiōma anthrōpōn | د انسانانو شان | da insananو shan | Christ’s genuine, full assumption of human nature. | Must avoid any docetic (“merely appeared human”) reading, echoing the same risk documented for the Quran’s crucifixion-denial language in the baseline resurrection entry. |
| humbled_himself | Unity and Humility | High | ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτόν | etapeinōsen heauton | خپل ځان یې ټیټ کړ | khpal zaan ye teet kar | Christ’s voluntary self-lowering from supreme status to death, the pattern commanded for believers (2:3, 8). | Sharply countercultural within Pashtunwali’s honor code (nang), where voluntary self-lowering by a person of standing is normally shameful; must be taught as the theological center of the hymn, not softened to mere meekness. |
| tapeinophrosyne_humility | Unity and Humility | High | ταπεινοφροσύνη | tapeinophrosynē | تواضع / ټیټ فکري | tawaze’ / teet fikri | Lowliness of mind; regarding others’ interests and honor above one’s own. | تواضع is a positively-regarded regional/Sufi virtue term — a genuine bridge — but must be anchored to Christ’s specific pattern (2:6-8), not generalized ascetic humility-as-self-effacement. |
| count_others_more_significant | Unity and Humility | High | ὑπερέχοντας ἑαυτῶν ἡγούμενοι | hyperechontas heautōn hēgoumenoi | نور له ځان څخه غوره ګڼل | nor la zaan tsakha ghwara ganel | Deliberately esteeming others’ honor and interests above one’s own. | Directly inverts Pashtunwali’s honor-accumulation (nang) default; requires explicit doctrinal framing as a deliberate reversal. |
| same_mindedness | Unity and Humility | High | τὸ αὐτὸ φρονεῖν | to auto phronein | همفکري / يو فکر کول | hamfikri / yaw fikr kawul | Shared disposition and purpose among believers, patterned on Christ’s own mind (2:5). | Pashtun jirga consensus-culture is a possible positive bridge, but the unity in view is Christ-patterned spiritual unity, not tribal/political consensus for social ends — distinction must be taught explicitly. |
| cross | Incarnation/Kenosis; Christology | Critical | σταυρός | stauros | صلیب | saleeb | The specific instrument and event of Christ’s crucifixion — historically, the most shameful death available in the ancient honor-shame system. | Established Christian loanword; retain always, never generalize to “hardship” or “execution.” Shares the Quran’s crucifixion-denial (4:157) risk already flagged in the baseline resurrection entry; every occurrence requires explicit historical-apologetic affirmation. Human theologian review mandatory. |
| highly_exalted | Deity/Lordship of Christ | High | ὑπερύψωσεν | hyperypsōsen | خدای هغه ډېر اوچت کړ | Khudai hagha der ochat kar | God’s exaltation of Christ to the highest possible rank, directly following and rewarding his self-humbling. | Must convey exaltation to supreme, unique rank, not mere praise or relative honor. |
| name_above_every_name | Lordship of Christ | Critical | ὄνομα τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶν ὄνομα | onoma to hyper pan onoma | له هر نوم نه اوچت نوم | le har num na ochat num | The supreme divine name/title (Lord) conferred on the exalted Christ, echoing the divine name of the Old Testament. | Must be taught alongside the “Jesus Christ is Lord” confession (2:11) as the same divine-Lordship claim already Critical in the baseline. Human theologian review mandatory. |
| bow_the_knee | Lordship of Christ | High | κάμψῃ (γόνυ) | kampsē (gony) | زنګون کیول | zangoon kawul | Universal posture of homage/submission owed to the exalted Christ by all creation. | Do NOT render as سجده کول (sajda kawul, the specific Islamic salat prostration posture) — risks either conflating Christ-worship with Islamic ritual prayer or provoking severe offense/danger. Use the more neutral زنګون کیول and supply worship-content explicitly in teaching. |
| jesus_christ_is_lord | Lordship of Christ | Critical | Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς Κύριος | Iēsous Christos Kyrios | عیسی مسیح خداوند دی | Isa Masih Khudawand day | The church’s foundational confessional formula, the goal of universal worship (2:11), the fuller form of Romans 10:9’s confession. | Must retain identical root wording to the baseline’s mandated Romans 10:9 rendering (عیسی … خداوند دی) even in this fuller triple-name form. Never soften خداوند. Human theologian review mandatory; verbatim consistency required per baseline’s cross-document rules. |
| confess_tongue | Lordship of Christ | High | ἐξομολογήσηται | exomologēsētai | اقرار کول | iqrar kawul | Public, verbal, formal acknowledgment of Christ’s Lordship by all creation. | Echoes the confessional structure of the Islamic shahada (a useful rhetorical bridge for “confession as decisive act”), but the confessed content directly displaces the shahada’s content — this must be taught explicitly, not left implicit. |
| gospel_partnership | Partnership in the Gospel | High | κοινωνία εἰς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον | koinōnia eis to euangelion | د انجیل ملګرتیا | da Injil malgartia | Active, shared material and spiritual co-laboring in gospel ministry (financial support, prayer, risk-sharing). | Reuses baseline ملګرتیا (Low risk generally) but this specific collocation is High risk: shared “partnership in the gospel” with an imprisoned apostle could itself constitute evidence of illegal religious activity in restrictive jurisdictions. Treat with mission/evangelism-level security sensitivity. |
| bonds_imprisonment | Joy in Suffering and Imprisonment | Critical | δεσμοί | desmoi | زندان / زنځیرونه | zindan / zanjeeruna | Paul’s literal imprisonment for the gospel, reframed as advancing gospel proclamation. | Carries acute real-world danger for the target readership given genuine risk of imprisonment for faith in restrictive jurisdictions, especially Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Human theologian review and security review both recommended. |
| striving_together | Partnership in the Gospel; Joy in Suffering | High | συναθλέω | synathleō | يوځای مبارزه کول | yaw-zaay mubaraza kawul | United, communal perseverance and effort in gospel witness amid opposition. | FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION: never render with جهاد (jihad), despite surface semantic overlap — جهاد carries loaded militant-religious-struggle connotations in the surrounding Islamic culture that would badly misrepresent Paul’s nonviolent, communal meaning. |
| to_live_is_christ_to_die_is_gain | Joy in Suffering; Contentment | High | τὸ ζῆν Χριστός, τὸ ἀποθανεῖν κέρδος | to zēn Christos, to apothanein kerdos | ژوند مې مسیح دی، مرګ مې ګټه ده | zhwand me Masih day, marg me gata da | Paul’s summary: life finds meaning entirely in Christ; death is reframed as gain, not tragedy. | Must be taught pastorally as confident resurrection hope, not stoic fatalism or endorsement of reckless martyrdom-seeking, given the acute persecution context of the intended readership. |
| work_out_salvation | Salvation; Sanctification | Critical | κατεργάζεσθε τὴν ἑαυτῶν σωτηρίαν | katergazesthe tēn heautōn sōtērian | خپل نجات پوره/بشپړ کول | khpal nejat pura/bashpar kawul | Actively living out, in ongoing practice, a salvation already secured by grace — not earning it. | Grave risk of works-based-salvation misreading given the Islamic deeds-weighing framework already Critical in the baseline; must be paired with explicit teaching that this is outworking, not earning. Human theologian review mandatory. |
| circumcision_concision | Righteousness by Faith vs. Law | High | περιτομή / κατατομή | peritomē / katatomē | سنت / (پرې کول، derogatory) | sunnat / pre kawul | The Jewish covenant-sign rite (peritome) vs. Paul’s derogatory wordplay dismissing merely physical circumcision (katatome) divorced from spiritual reality. | سنت is a living, unremarkable Islamic/cultural practice for this readership, unlike Paul’s original live Judaizing controversy; must be framed historically so readers do not conclude Paul opposes the physical practice itself. |
| confidence_in_the_flesh | Righteousness by Faith vs. Law | High | πεποιθὼς ἐν σαρκί / σάρξ | pepoithōs en sarki / sarx | په جسد باندې تکیه | pa jasad bande tekya | Reliance on external, humanly-achieved religious/ethnic credentials (pedigree, law-keeping) for standing before God. | Functions as a direct parallel to reliance on shari’a-observance or tribal/lineage pedigree (qawm) for righteousness — both explicitly rejected as grounds of standing before God. |
| rubbish_dung | Righteousness by Faith vs. Law | Medium | σκύβαλα | skybala | خځلات | khazalat | Paul’s deliberately crude term for all he once counted as religious gain, now worthless compared to knowing Christ. | Must retain rhetorical force without exceeding the destination Bible-translation tradition’s register limits for formal/elevated language. |
| knowing_christ | Righteousness by Faith vs. Law; Goal in Christ | Medium-High | γνῶσις τοῦ γνῶναι αὐτόν | gnōsis / tou gnōnai auton | پیژندنه | pejandana | Personal, relational, transformative knowledge of Christ himself, Paul’s supreme goal. | Distinguish from Sufi ma’rifa/esoteric mystical knowledge attained through advanced stages under a spiritual guide (pir); this knowing is relationally available to every believer through faith and grace. |
| fellowship_of_sufferings | Joy in Suffering | High | κοινωνία παθημάτων αὐτοῦ | koinōnia pathēmatōn autou | د هغه له کړاونو سره ملګرتیا | da hagha la krrawuno sara malgartia | Participatory union in Christ’s own redemptive suffering, not generic hardship. | Companion term suffering/کړاو (krrao) deliberately preferred over Arabic-origin مصیبت (museebat), which carries strong fatalistic-qadar associations in regional piety. |
| suffering | Joy in Suffering | High | πάθημα | pathēma | کړاو | krrao | Hardship, affliction, specifically Christ’s and the believer’s redemptive suffering. | Native Pashto term chosen over مصیبت to avoid importing impersonal, fatalistic qadar-trial connotations; suffering here is purposeful and participatory, not merely fated. |
| conformed_to_his_death | Joy in Suffering; Goal in Christ | High | συμμορφιζόμενος τῷ θανάτῳ αὐτοῦ | symmorphizomenos tō thanatō autou | د هغه له مرګ سره همشکله کیدل | da hagha la marg sara ham-shakla kedal | Progressive shaping of the believer’s life into Christ’s own self-giving, sacrificial pattern. | Deliberate lexical echo of 2:6-7’s “form” (μορφή) vocabulary; flag for translator awareness of the intertextual link. |
| press_on_goal | Pressing on toward the Goal | Medium-High | διώκω / σκοπός | diōkō / skopos | مخکې منډه وهل / موخه | makhke manda wahal / mokha | Active, wholehearted pursuit of Christlike maturity, acknowledging one has not yet fully arrived. | Distinguish this positive sense of διώκω from its other biblical sense “persecute” — no confusion risk if rendered contextually in Pashto. |
| perfect_mature | Pressing on toward the Goal | Medium | τέλειος | teleios | بشپړ | bashpar | Completeness/maturity; context-sensitive between “not yet fully arrived” (3:12) and “settled maturity” (3:15). | Avoid any reading suggesting attainable sinless perfection in this life; context-sensitive like the baseline’s “called” entry. |
| prize_upward_call | Pressing on toward the Goal | Medium-High | τὸ βραβεῖον τῆς ἄνω κλήσεως | to brabeion tēs anō klēseōs | د پورتنۍ بلنې انعام | da purtanai balane in’am | The eschatological reward toward which believers press, framed as God’s own upward calling. | Reuses baseline بلنه (calling) exactly; new companion term انعام (prize/reward) is Low-Medium risk independently but must be anchored to its divine, not tribal-honor, source. |
| citizenship_in_heaven | Citizenship in Heaven | Critical | πολίτευμα | politeuma | زموږ تابعیت پر آسمان کې دی | zamung tabe’iyat par aasman ke day | Believers’ ultimate civic/political identity and allegiance belongs to heaven, not any earthly state. | Sharpest cultural-collision point in the book: Pashtun identity is organized around tribal/national belonging (qawm, watan), compounded by Durand Line border disputes, statelessness/refugee realities, and the Taliban’s competing “Islamic Emirate” state-sovereignty claim (already flagged in the baseline kingdom_of_god entry). Requires careful pastoral framing of displaced ultimate allegiance and mission/church-level security sensitivity. Human theologian review mandatory. |
| transform_glorious_body | Citizenship in Heaven; Resurrection | High | μετασχηματίσει … σύμμορφον τῷ σώματι τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ | metaschēmatisei … symmorphon tō sōmati tēs doxēs autou | زموږ ټیټ بدن به د هغه له جلالي بدن سره برابر کړي | zamung teet badan ba da hagha la jalali badan sara barabar kri | Future bodily resurrection transformation of believers, conformed to Christ’s own risen, glorified body. | Reuses baseline جلال (glory) exactly; shares resurrection-doctrine’s Critical-adjacent risk profile. |
| enemies_of_the_cross | Citizenship in Heaven | Medium | ἐχθροὶ τοῦ σταυροῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ | echthroi tou staurou tou Christou | د مسیح د صلیب دښمنان | da Masih da saleeb dushmanan | Those who live in a manner opposed to the self-giving demand of Christ’s cross. | Reuses صلیب (cross) exactly. |
| minds_on_earthly_things | Citizenship in Heaven; Unity | Medium-High | τὰ ἐπίγεια φρονοῦντες | ta epigeia phronountes | دنیوي شیانو باندې فکر کول | denyawi shiyano bande fikr kawul | Negative counterpart to the Christlike, heavenward disposition commanded throughout the letter (φρονέω root). | Track the recurring φρονέω root across 1:7; 2:2, 5; 3:15, 19; 4:2, 10 for conceptual (not necessarily lexical) consistency. |
| contentment | Contentment in All Circumstances | High | αὐτάρκεια / αὐτάρκης | autarkeia / autarkēs | قناعت | qanaat | Christ-empowered contentment regardless of external circumstance, deliberately redefining the Stoic self-sufficiency ideal. | قناعت is a genuine cultural asset (an already positively-regarded Islamic/regional virtue) but is often bound in local usage to fatalistic qadar-acceptance or self-achieved ascetic detachment; Paul’s contentment is explicitly Christ-dependent (4:13), not autonomous or fatalistic — must be actively taught, following the baseline’s “asset requiring correction” pattern (cf. سوله/peace). |
| learned_the_secret | Contentment in All Circumstances | High | ἔμαθον … μεμύημαι | emathon … memyēmai | زه دا راز زده کړی دی | za da raaz zda kray day | Paul’s hard-won, experiential contentment, described with mystery-religion initiation vocabulary in the Greek. | Risk of conflation with Sufi mystical initiation traditions (a pir transmitting hidden sirr/secret knowledge through stages of spiritual advancement); must be taught as Paul’s own lived, Christ-dependent experience available to every ordinary believer, not an esoteric attainment under a human master. |
| strengthens_me | Contentment in All Circumstances | Medium-High | ἐνδυναμοῦντι | endynamounti | قوت راکوي | qowat rakawi | Christ’s empowerment enabling Paul’s contentment amid both want and plenty. | Frequently misquoted/misapplied as a generic promise of success or achievement; must be anchored to its actual context (enduring hardship and plenty with contentment), not extracted as a health/wealth guarantee. |
| peace_surpasses_understanding | Contentment; Peace with God | Medium | ἡ εἰρήνη τοῦ θεοῦ ἡ ὑπερέχουσα πάντα νοῦν | hē eirēnē tou theou hē hyperechousa panta noun | د خدای سوله چې له هر پوهاوي نه لوړه ده | da Khudai sola che le har pohaawi na lwara da | Supernatural, internal, guarding peace given by God amid anxiety, exceeding human reasoning. | Reuses baseline سوله (peace) exactly; teach as a related but distinct application (internal guarding peace) alongside Romans 5:1’s “peace with God” (justification) sense. |
| fragrant_acceptable_sacrifice | Partnership in the Gospel | Medium | ὀσμὴ εὐωδίας, θυσία δεκτή | osmē euōdias, thysia dektē | خوشبويه قربانۍ، منل شوی قربان | khushboya qurbani, manal shaway qurban | Old Testament sacrificial-system imagery applied to the Philippians’ material gift to Paul, elevating it to an act of worship. | Requires OT sacrificial-background explanation; connect explicitly to 1:5’s gospel-partnership (κοινωνία) so the material-gift-as-worship link is not lost. |
| supply_every_need | Contentment; Partnership in the Gospel | Medium | πληρώσει πᾶσαν χρείαν ὑμῶν | plērōsei pasan chreian hymōn | خدای به ستاسو ټولې اړتیاوې پوره کړي | Khudai ba stasso tolay aratyawe pura kri | God’s promised provision, rooted in the specific narrative context of the Philippians’ sacrificial giving. | Flag prosperity-gospel misapplication risk; teach in its actual context (God’s faithfulness to those who give sacrificially), not as a context-free wealth guarantee. |
| overseers | Church Leadership | Medium | ἐπίσκοποι | episkopoi | ناظر / ناظرین | nazer / nazerin | Local congregational leaders responsible for spiritual oversight and care. | Teach as functional spiritual oversight, not institutional public office — using such a title publicly could itself carry security risk in restrictive jurisdictions, consistent with the baseline’s dispersed/secret-community framing of church_as_gods_people. |
| deacons | Church Leadership | Medium | διάκονοι | diakonoi | خادمان | khademan | Recognized practical-ministry servant role alongside overseers. | Same security-context caution as overseers regarding public office-titles. |
Risk Summary — New Terms (Section B)
| Risk Tier | Count | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 6 | Human theologian (mandatory, every occurrence) |
| High | 17 | Human theologian |
| Medium-High | 5 | Human theologian / native speaker joint review recommended |
| Medium | 8 | Native speaker review |
| Low | 0 (all Low-risk Philippians items map to existing baseline Low-risk terms) | — |
Cross-reference: see analysis/07_semantic_analysis.md for full verse-by-verse and chapter-by-chapter treatment, and the forthcoming Phase 1 09_doctrine_analysis.md / 10_doctrine_risk_registry.md (Philippians extension) for doctrine-level risk routing consistent with this glossary.
Critical Risk Terms
Righteousness
Approved rendering: صداقت
Transliteration: sadaqat
Doctrine: Righteousness by Faith versus the Law
Original: δικαιοσύνη
Category: Salvation
CRITICAL: the honor-shame/guilt-innocence framework mismatch documented in the baseline applies with full force. Inherited from Romans package; recurs in Philippians at 1:11; 3:6, 9, where 3:6, 9 is Paul’s own autobiographical restatement of Romans’ justification doctrine.
Justification
Approved rendering: صادق ګڼل کیدل
Transliteration: sadiq ganal kedal
Doctrine: Righteousness by Faith versus the Law
Original: δικαίωσις / ἐκ θεοῦ δικαιοσύνη
Category: Salvation
CRITICAL: compound phrase required; framing as God’s own restoration of honor makes the forensic declaration culturally resonant without losing legal content. Inherited from Romans package; recurs in Philippians at 3:9, which must be textually harmonized in sense with Romans 3-4 per cross-document consistency rules.
Salvation
Approved rendering: نجات
Transliteration: nejat
Doctrine: Sanctification and Working Out Salvation
Original: σωτηρία
Category: Salvation
CRITICAL: nanawatai remains the positive cultural bridge for substitutionary satisfaction, invoked explicitly, not assumed. Inherited from Romans package; recurs in Philippians at 1:19, 28; 2:12, where the 2:12 occurrence (‘work out your own salvation’) carries acute risk of a works-based misreading and must be paired with 2:13’s assurance that God works within believers.
Law
Approved rendering: ناموس
Transliteration: namus
Doctrine: Righteousness by Faith versus the Law
Rejected alternatives: شریعت
Original: νόμος
Category: Covenant
CRITICAL: must be clearly distinguished from both formal shari’a and Pashtunwali customary law, never شریعت. Inherited from Romans package; recurs in Philippians at 3:5, 6, 9 in Paul’s autobiographical renunciation of law-based righteousness.
Messiah
Approved rendering: مسیح
Transliteration: Masih
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: Χριστός
Category: Christology
CRITICAL: carries the same pre-loaded Quranic content as Arabic’s al-Masih; every occurrence must actively assert Christ’s unique redemptive sufficiency. Inherited from Romans package; recurs throughout Philippians (1:1, 6, 8, 11; 2:5, 11; 3:7-9, 14, 20; 4:19, 21).
Resurrection
Approved rendering: بیا راژوندي کیدل
Transliteration: bya rajwandi kedal
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ and of Believers
Original: ἀνάστασις / ἐξανάστασις
Category: Eschatology
CRITICAL: shares the Quran’s crucifixion-denial (4:157); oral/narrative apologetic explanation is especially important given lower baseline literacy. Inherited from Romans package; recurs in Philippians at 3:10, 11 (the intensified compound ‘out-resurrection from the dead’), and 3:21 (believers’ bodies transformed like his).
Lord
Approved rendering: خداوند
Transliteration: Khudawand
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: مالک
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
CRITICAL: مالک undershoots the claim; applying supreme Lordship to Jesus is the deity claim itself and must never be softened. Inherited from Romans package; recurs in Philippians at 2:11, 19, 24, 29; 3:1, 8, 20; 4:1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 23, with 2:11 the climax of the Christ Hymn’s Lordship confession.
Jesus
Approved rendering: عیسی
Transliteration: Isa
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
CRITICAL: the Quranic prophet-only, non-crucified, non-divine narrative must be actively corrected at every occurrence. Inherited from Romans package; recurs throughout Philippians, especially the Christ Hymn (2:5-11).
God
Approved rendering: خدای
Transliteration: Khudai
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: الله
Original: θεός
Category: God
CRITICAL: native Old Iranian root, a genuine linguistic asset; strict tawhid theology must be distinguished from the Trinitarian conception denoted by the same word. Inherited from Romans package; recurs throughout Philippians, especially where Christ is ‘in the form of God’ (2:6) and God the Father is glorified by Christ’s exaltation (2:11).
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: روح القدس
Transliteration: Rooh-ul-Qudus
Doctrine: Fellowship of Christ’s Sufferings
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον / τὸ πνεῦμα
Category: God
CRITICAL: identical Quranic phrase and tafsir identification with the angel Jibril; the created-being-versus-divine-Person distinction must be made explicit. Inherited from Romans package; recurs in Philippians at 1:19 (the Spirit’s help), 2:1 (fellowship of the Spirit), and 3:3 (worship by the Spirit, contrasted with confidence in the flesh).
Father
Approved rendering: پلار
Transliteration: plar
Doctrine: Incarnation and Self-Emptying of Christ (Kenosis)
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
CRITICAL: shares tawhid-anthropomorphism objection; Pashtun patriarchal culture’s stern-authority connotation must be counterbalanced with Romans 8’s warmth. Inherited from Romans package; recurs in Philippians at 1:2 (greeting), 2:11 (glory of God the Father, the goal of Christ’s exaltation), and 4:20 (doxology).
Son Of God
Approved rendering: د خدای زوی
Transliteration: da Khudai zoy
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: υἱὸς θεοῦ (thematic background to μορφῇ θεοῦ, 2:6)
Category: Christology
CRITICAL: the same Quranic denial (112:3, 19:35) applies with full force; Pashto has no tested local precedent controversy to draw lessons from. Inherited from Romans package; theologically presupposed in Philippians by ‘the form of God’ (2:6) and the Father-Son exaltation structure of 2:9-11, though not named explicitly.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: تجسد
Transliteration: tajassud
Doctrine: Incarnation and Self-Emptying of Christ (Kenosis)
Original: thematic; cf. μορφὴν δούλου λαβών, ἐν ὁμοιώματι ἀνθρώπων γενόμενος (2:7)
Category: Christology
CRITICAL: shares the tawhid objection; Pashto’s Christian tradition is the youngest and thinnest in this pipeline with the least settled precedent. Inherited from Romans package; Philippians 2:6-8 is the fullest single incarnation text in the Pauline corpus and must be taught alongside the new kenosis_emptied_himself entry so readers do not conclude Christ ceased being divine.
Bonds Imprisonment
Approved rendering: زندان
Transliteration: zindan
Doctrine: Joy in Suffering and Imprisonment
Original: δεσμοί
Category: Joy in Suffering and Imprisonment
New term. Occurs at 1:7, 13, 14, 17. Carries acute real-world danger for the target readership: Muslim-background Pashto-speaking believers face genuine, ongoing risk of imprisonment for their faith. Not a historical curiosity for this audience. Human theologian review and security review both required at every occurrence.
Kenosis Emptied Himself
Approved rendering: خپل ځان یې خالي کړ
Transliteration: khpal zaan ye khali kar
Doctrine: Incarnation and Self-Emptying of Christ (Kenosis)
Original: ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσεν
Category: Incarnation and Self-Emptying of Christ
New term. Occurs at 2:7. The newest and most theologically delicate term in this Language Package: Pashto’s Christian tradition is the youngest and thinnest in this pipeline, with no settled local precedent. Must be taught alongside تجسد so readers conclude Christ veiled his glory and added a human nature, not that he ceased being God (a kenotic heresy). Human theologian review mandatory at every occurrence.
Form Of God
Approved rendering: د خدای بڼه
Transliteration: da Khudai bana
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: μορφῇ θεοῦ
Category: Deity of Christ
New term. Occurs at 2:6. Direct collision with tawhid: asserting a man once possessed ‘the form of God’ is, from a strict Islamic standpoint, the paradigm case of shirk. Must be paired with explicit teaching that this is God the Son himself, not a created being sharing God’s glory. Human theologian review mandatory.
Equality With God
Approved rendering: له خدای سره برابري
Transliteration: la Khudai sara barabari
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: τὸ εἶναι ἴσα θεῷ
Category: Deity of Christ
New term. Occurs at 2:6. Never soften to ‘closeness to’ or ‘a great honor from’ God, which would erase the deity claim itself. Human theologian review mandatory.
Cross
Approved rendering: صلیب
Transliteration: saleeb
Doctrine: Incarnation and Self-Emptying of Christ (Kenosis)
Original: σταυρός / θανάτου σταυροῦ
Category: Christology
New term (established Christian loanword, retained from existing Pashto Christian usage). Occurs at 2:8 and 3:18. Never soften to a generic ‘execution’ or ‘hardship.’ Shares the Quran’s crucifixion-denial (4:157) risk flagged for resurrection in the baseline; every occurrence requires explicit historical-apologetic affirmation. Human theologian review mandatory.
Name Above Every Name
Approved rendering: له هر نوم نه اوچت نوم
Transliteration: le har num na ochat num
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: ὄνομα τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶν ὄνομα
Category: Lordship of Christ
New term. Occurs at 2:9. Must be taught alongside the ‘Jesus Christ is Lord’ confession (2:11) as the same divine-Lordship claim already Critical in the baseline (echoing LXX kyrios for YHWH). Human theologian review mandatory.
Jesus Christ Is Lord
Approved rendering: عیسی مسیح خداوند دی
Transliteration: Isa Masih Khudawand day
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς Κύριος
Category: Lordship of Christ
New term. Occurs at 2:11. Must retain identical root wording to the baseline’s mandated Romans 10:9 rendering (عیسی … خداوند دی) even in this fuller triple-name form, adding مسیح per this verse. Never soften خداوند. Human theologian review mandatory; verbatim consistency required per baseline cross-document rules.
Work Out Salvation
Approved rendering: خپل نجات پوره کول
Transliteration: khpal nejat pura kawul
Doctrine: Sanctification and Working Out Salvation
Original: κατεργάζεσθε τὴν ἑαυτῶν σωτηρίαν
Category: Salvation and Sanctification
New term. Occurs at 2:12, immediately following the Christ Hymn. Grave risk of a works-based-salvation misreading against the shared Islamic deeds-weighing framework already Critical in the baseline salvation entry; must always be paired with 2:13’s teaching that God himself works within believers — outworking, not earning. Human theologian review mandatory.
Citizenship In Heaven
Approved rendering: زموږ تابعیت پر آسمان کې دی
Transliteration: zamung tabe’iyat par aasman ke day
Doctrine: Citizenship in Heaven
Original: πολίτευμα
Category: Citizenship in Heaven
New term. Occurs at 3:20. The sharpest cultural-collision point in the book: Pashtun identity is intensely organized around tribal/national belonging (qawm, watan), compounded by Durand Line border disputes, statelessness/refugee realities, and the Taliban’s ‘Islamic Emirate’ competing state-sovereignty claim. Must be taught pastorally as displacing ultimate (not necessarily practical/legal) allegiance. Human theologian review mandatory.
High Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: انجیل
Transliteration: Injil
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: زیری
Original: εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Salvation
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; recurs in Philippians at 1:5, 7, 12, 16, 27; 2:22; 4:3, 15, consistently in the sense of a message actively defended, advanced, and shared in partnership.
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; recurs in Philippians at 1:2, 7; 4:23, framing the whole letter within grace even amid its warm tone about the Philippians’ own generosity.
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 system. Inherited from Romans package; recurs in Philippians at 1:25, 27; 2:17; 3:9, where 3:9 explicitly contrasts faith with law-keeping as the basis of righteousness.
Apostle
Approved rendering: رسول
Transliteration: rasul
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Ministry Structure
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
Same collision with Muhammad’s defining title as in Arabic and Persian. Inherited from Romans package; underlies Paul’s authority in Philippians 1:1, though he identifies himself there as δοῦλος/غلام (servant) rather than using the title explicitly.
Called
Approved rendering: بلل شوی
Transliteration: balal shaway
Doctrine: Pressing on toward the Goal in Christ
Original: κλητός
Category: Salvation
Context-sensitive across distinct senses. Inherited from Romans package; recurs in Philippians at 3:14, underlying ‘the upward call of God in Christ Jesus,’ the eschatological prize toward which believers press.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: تقدیس
Transliteration: taqdis
Doctrine: Sanctification and Working Out Salvation
Rejected alternatives: پاکوالی
Original: ἁγιασμός (thematic; cf. 1:6, 2:12-13)
Category: Sanctification
پاکوالی risks reading as ritual purification rather than the Spirit’s ongoing moral transformation; تقدیس keeps the specific theological sense. Inherited from Romans package; thematic background to Philippians 1:6 (‘he who began a good work… will bring it to completion’) and 2:12-13.
Obedience Of Faith
Approved rendering: د ایمان اطاعت
Transliteration: da iman ita’at
Doctrine: Incarnation and Self-Emptying of Christ (Kenosis)
Original: ὑπακοή / ὑπήκοος
Category: Faith
Must clarify obedience as faith’s fruit, not allegiance to Islamic submission or Pashtunwali’s competing tribal-elder loyalty code. Inherited from Romans package; recurs in Philippians at 2:8 (Christ’s own unique redemptive obedience unto death) and 2:12 (believers’ own faith-obedience) — these two senses share the root rendering but must be kept doctrinally distinct.
Joy
Approved rendering: خوشحالي
Transliteration: khushhali
Doctrine: Joy in Suffering and Imprisonment
Rejected alternatives: صبر
Original: χαρά / χαίρω
Category: Joy in Suffering
New term. The dominant keyword of Philippians (~16 occurrences: 1:4, 18, 25; 2:2, 17-18, 28-29; 3:1; 4:1, 4, 10). صبر (patient endurance) is rejected as a substitute because it frames suffering as something stoically absorbed, whereas Pauline joy is active, Spirit-given gladness that coexists with suffering. Consistent rendering required across every occurrence.
Servants Slaves
Approved rendering: غلامان
Transliteration: ghulaman
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Ministry Structure
Rejected alternatives: خدمتګاران
Original: δοῦλοι
Category: Christ-Centered Ministry
New term. Occurs at 1:1, Paul and Timothy’s self-designation. خدمتګاران (‘workers/helpers’) is rejected as too soft; غلامان preserves the deliberate lexical link with 2:7’s ‘form of a servant,’ reinforcing that apostolic ministry mirrors Christ’s own self-lowering pattern. The low-status shock value in a culture with lingering honor/patron-client memory should be retained.
Gospel Partnership
Approved rendering: د انجیل ملګرتیا
Transliteration: da Injil malgartia
Doctrine: Partnership in the Gospel
Original: κοινωνία εἰς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Partnership in the Gospel
New term. Occurs at 1:5, 7. This specific collocation of baseline ملګرتیا with انجیل is flagged High (beyond fellowship’s own Low risk) because shared material and spiritual co-laboring with an imprisoned apostle could itself constitute evidence of illegal religious activity in restrictive jurisdictions, especially Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Treat with mission/evangelism-level security sensitivity.
Striving Together
Approved rendering: يوځای مبارزه کول
Transliteration: yaw-zaay mubaraza kawul
Doctrine: Partnership in the Gospel
Rejected alternatives: جهاد
Original: συναθλέω
Category: Partnership in the Gospel
New term. Occurs at 1:27. FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION: never render with جهاد (jihad); despite surface semantic overlap with ‘struggle,’ جهاد carries loaded militant-religious-struggle connotations that would badly misrepresent Paul’s nonviolent, communal meaning and could create real danger.
To Live Is Christ To Die Is Gain
Approved rendering: ژوند مې مسیح دی، مرګ مې ګټه ده
Transliteration: zhwand me Masih day, marg me gata da
Doctrine: Joy in Suffering and Imprisonment
Original: τὸ ζῆν Χριστός, τὸ ἀποθανεῖν κέρδος
Category: Joy in Suffering and Imprisonment
New term. Occurs at 1:21. Must be taught pastorally as confident resurrection hope, never as stoic fatalism or an implicit endorsement of reckless martyrdom-seeking, given the acute persecution context of the intended readership.
Same Mindedness
Approved rendering: همفکري
Transliteration: hamfikri
Doctrine: Unity and Humility in the Church
Original: τὸ αὐτὸ φρονεῖν
Category: Unity and Humility in the Church
New term. Occurs at 2:2 and 4:2 (applied to Euodia and Syntyche’s conflict). Pashtun jirga consensus-culture is a possible positive bridge, but the unity in view is Christ-patterned spiritual unity, not tribal/political consensus for social ends; this distinction must be taught explicitly each time it introduces a new teaching unit.
Conceit Vainglory
Approved rendering: خالي جلال-غوښتنه
Transliteration: khali jalal-ghushtana
Doctrine: Unity and Humility in the Church
Original: κενοδοξία
Category: Unity and Humility in the Church
New term. Occurs at 2:3. Shares the κενο- (empty) root with 2:7’s ‘emptied himself’ — a deliberate Pauline wordplay linking believers’ call to empty themselves of empty pride with Christ’s own self-emptying. Given honor-shame Pashtunwali culture, seeking honor (nang) is the social default, making this command sharply countercultural; flag for pastoral explanation connecting to the kenosis entry.
Tapeinophrosyne Humility
Approved rendering: تواضع
Transliteration: tawaze’
Doctrine: Unity and Humility in the Church
Original: ταπεινοφροσύνη
Category: Unity and Humility in the Church
New term. Occurs at 2:3, exemplified by Christ in 2:8 (same root, ἐταπείνωσεν). تواضع is a genuinely positive, pre-existing regional/Sufi virtue term — but in local usage it more often describes general modesty of manner than Paul’s specific command to esteem another’s honor above one’s own. Must always be anchored to Christ’s specific pattern (2:6-8), not left as a free-standing pietistic virtue, and marked as countercultural against nang, not compatible with it.
Count Others More Significant
Approved rendering: نور له ځان څخه غوره ګڼل
Transliteration: nor la zaan tsakha ghwara ganel
Doctrine: Unity and Humility in the Church
Original: ὑπερέχοντας ἑαυτῶν ἡγούμενοι
Category: Unity and Humility in the Church
New term. Occurs at 2:3. Directly inverts Pashtunwali’s honor-accumulation (nang, badal-linked status competition) default; must be taught as a deliberate doctrinal reversal, not a vague nicety.
Form Of A Servant
Approved rendering: د غلام بڼه
Transliteration: da ghulam bana
Doctrine: Incarnation and Self-Emptying of Christ (Kenosis)
Original: μορφὴν δούλου
Category: Incarnation and Self-Emptying of Christ
New term. Occurs at 2:7, deliberately mirroring ‘form of God’ (same μορφή word). غلام carries strong social-status weight; the shock value of total condescension should be preserved, not softened to a generic ‘helper.‘
Likeness Of Men
Approved rendering: د انسانانو په شان
Transliteration: da insananu pa shan
Doctrine: Humanity of Christ
Original: ὁμοιώματι ἀνθρώπων
Category: Humanity of Christ
New term. Occurs at 2:7-8. Must avoid any docetic ‘merely appeared human’ reading, echoing the same risk documented for the Quran’s crucifixion-denial (‘shubbiha lahum’) language flagged for resurrection in the baseline.
Humbled Himself
Approved rendering: خپل ځان یې ټیټ کړ
Transliteration: khpal zaan ye teet kar
Doctrine: Unity and Humility in the Church
Original: ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτόν
Category: Unity and Humility in the Church
New term. Occurs at 2:8, the verb form of v.3’s ταπεινοφροσύνη. Sharply countercultural within Pashtunwali’s honor code (nang), where voluntary self-lowering by a person of standing is normally shameful; must be taught as the theological center of the whole hymn, not softened to mere meekness.
Highly Exalted
Approved rendering: خدای هغه ډېر اوچت کړ
Transliteration: Khudai hagha der ochat kar
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: ὑπερύψωσεν
Category: Deity and Lordship of Christ
New term. Occurs at 2:9. Must convey exaltation to a supreme, unique rank, not mere praise or relative honor — the direct ground for the universal worship of 2:10-11.
Bow The Knee
Approved rendering: زنګون کیول
Transliteration: zangoon kawul
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: سجده کول
Original: πᾶν γόνυ κάμψῃ
Category: Lordship of Christ
New term. Occurs at 2:10. FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION: never render as سجده کول (the specific Islamic salat prostration posture) — this risks either conflating Christ-worship with Islamic ritual prayer or provoking severe offense/danger. زنګون کیول is the safer literal rendering; supply worship-content explicitly in surrounding teaching.
Confess Tongue
Approved rendering: اقرار کول
Transliteration: iqrar kawul
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: πᾶσα γλῶσσα ἐξομολογήσηται
Category: Lordship of Christ
New term. Occurs at 2:11. اقرار کول echoes the confessional structure of the Islamic shahada (a useful rhetorical bridge for confession-as-decisive-act), but the confessed content directly displaces, rather than parallels, the shahada’s content — this must be taught explicitly, never left implicit.
Drink Offering
Approved rendering: لکه صدقه توی کیدل
Transliteration: lka sadaqa tuwi kedal
Doctrine: Joy in Suffering and Imprisonment
Original: σπένδομαι
Category: Joy in Suffering and Imprisonment
New term. Occurs at 2:17. Requires explanation of unfamiliar Old Testament drink-offering imagery; also carries acute real-world resonance (potential martyrdom) for the persecuted target readership — handle with the same pastoral and security sensitivity as to_live_is_christ_to_die_is_gain.
Circumcision Concision
Approved rendering: سنت
Transliteration: sunnat
Doctrine: Righteousness by Faith versus the Law
Original: περιτομή / κατατομή
Category: Righteousness by Faith versus the Law
New term. Occurs at 3:2-3. سنت is a living, unremarkable Islamic and cultural practice for this readership, unlike Paul’s original live Judaizing controversy; must be framed with explicit first-century historical background at every occurrence so readers do not conclude Paul opposes the physical practice as such, only its use as a false basis of righteousness before God.
Confidence In The Flesh
Approved rendering: په جسد باندې تکیه
Transliteration: pa jasad bande tekya
Doctrine: Righteousness by Faith versus the Law
Original: πεποιθὼς ἐν σαρκί
Category: Righteousness by Faith versus the Law
New term. Occurs at 3:3-6. Functions as a direct parallel to reliance on shari’a-observance or tribal/lineage pedigree (qawm) for righteousness before God; both are explicitly rejected in this passage as grounds of standing before God.
Fellowship Of Sufferings
Approved rendering: د هغه له کړاونو سره ملګرتیا
Transliteration: da hagha la krrawuno sara malgartia
Doctrine: Fellowship of Christ’s Sufferings
Original: κοινωνία παθημάτων αὐτοῦ
Category: Joy in Suffering and Imprisonment
New term. Occurs at 3:10. Reuses baseline ملګرتیا; must be taught as participatory union with Christ’s own redemptive suffering, not generic misfortune or impersonal fate.
Suffering
Approved rendering: کړاو
Transliteration: krrao
Doctrine: Fellowship of Christ’s Sufferings
Rejected alternatives: مصیبت
Original: πάθημα
Category: Joy in Suffering and Imprisonment
New term. Occurs at 3:10 and thematically throughout the letter’s suffering vocabulary. FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION: never gloss with مصیبت (museebat), which carries strong fatalistic-qadar-trial associations in regional piety; کړاو is a native term deliberately preferred to keep suffering purposeful and participatory.
Conformed To His Death
Approved rendering: د هغه له مرګ سره همشکله کیدل
Transliteration: da hagha la marg sara ham-shakla kedal
Doctrine: Pressing on toward the Goal in Christ
Original: συμμορφιζόμενος τῷ θανάτῳ αὐτοῦ
Category: Pressing on toward the Goal; Joy in Suffering
New term. Occurs at 3:10. Deliberate lexical echo of 2:6-7’s ‘form’ (μορφή) vocabulary; flag for translator awareness of the intertextual link even though a single fixed Pashto root need not be forced.
Transform Glorious Body
Approved rendering: زموږ ټیټ بدن به د هغه له جلالي بدن سره برابر کړي
Transliteration: zamung teet badan ba da hagha la jalali badan sara barabar kri
Doctrine: Citizenship in Heaven
Original: μετασχηματίσει … σύμμορφον τῷ σώματι τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ
Category: Citizenship in Heaven; Resurrection
New term. Occurs at 3:21. Reuses baseline جلال exactly; shares the resurrection doctrine’s Critical-adjacent risk profile given the Quran’s crucifixion/bodily-resurrection denial.
Contentment
Approved rendering: قناعت
Transliteration: qanaat
Doctrine: Contentment in All Circumstances
Original: αὐτάρκεια / αὐτάρκης
Category: Contentment in All Circumstances
New term. Occurs at 4:11. قناعت is a genuine cultural asset (an already positively-regarded Islamic/regional virtue) but is often bound in local usage to fatalistic qadar-acceptance or self-achieved ascetic detachment; Paul’s contentment is explicitly Christ-dependent (4:13), not autonomous or fatalistic, and must never be presented free-standing — always retain the causal link to the strengthens_me entry in the same or immediately adjacent clause.
Learned The Secret
Approved rendering: زه دا راز زده کړی دی
Transliteration: za da raaz zda kray day
Doctrine: Contentment in All Circumstances
Original: ἔμαθον … μεμύημαι
Category: Contentment in All Circumstances
New term. Occurs at 4:11-12. Risk of conflation with Sufi mystical initiation traditions (a pir transmitting hidden sirr/secret knowledge through stages of spiritual advancement); must be taught as Paul’s own lived, Christ-dependent experience available to every ordinary believer, not an esoteric attainment under a human master.
Medium Risk Terms
Calling
Approved rendering: بلنه
Transliteration: balana
Doctrine: Pressing on toward the Goal in Christ
Original: κλῆσις
Category: Salvation
Generally everyday invitation-vocabulary; the direction of address (God calling a person) must be made explicit. Inherited from Romans package; recurs in Philippians 3:14’s ‘prize of the upward call’ (τῆς ἄνω κλήσεως), which must reuse this exact rendering to preserve the link with the baseline calling doctrine.
Holy
Approved rendering: مقدس
Transliteration: moqaddas
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Ministry Structure
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
Needs the relational, Spirit-wrought sense reinforced over ritual-observance holiness. Inherited from Romans package; underlies ‘saints’ (ἅγιοι) throughout Philippians (implicit background to 1:1 and 4:21-22).
Saints
Approved rendering: مقدسان
Transliteration: moqaddasan
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Ministry Structure
Original: ἅγιοι
Category: Church
Corporate sense for all believers, not an ascetic or elite class. Inherited from Romans package; recurs in Philippians at 1:1 and 4:21-22, addressing a small, ordinary, corporate local congregation alongside overseers and deacons.
Peace
Approved rendering: سوله
Transliteration: sola
Doctrine: Peace and Prayer Amid Anxiety
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Resonant with lived experience of war-ending negotiation (sola jirga). Inherited from Romans package; recurs in Philippians at 1:2 (greeting) and, in a related but distinct internal-guarding sense, at 4:7, 9 (‘the peace of God which surpasses all understanding’) — teach both senses as connected applications of the same root reality.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: د خدای پاچاهي
Transliteration: da Khudai pachahi
Doctrine: Citizenship in Heaven
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ (thematic; cf. 3:20)
Category: Kingdom
Distinguish God’s spiritual reign from competing claims to political-religious sovereignty, including explicit ‘Islamic Emirate’ state framing. Inherited from Romans package; thematic background to Philippians 3:20’s citizenship-in-heaven doctrine.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: غیر یهودیان
Transliteration: gheyr yahudian
Doctrine: Righteousness by Faith versus the Law
Rejected alternatives: امتونه
Original: ἔθνη (thematic background)
Category: Church
امتونه shares the loaded Ummah root; the descriptive غیر یهودیان avoids that association. Inherited from Romans package; thematic background to Paul’s Jewish-Gentile argument underlying the circumcision/law discussion of chapter 3.
Glory
Approved rendering: جلال
Transliteration: jalal
Doctrine: Incarnation and Self-Emptying of Christ (Kenosis)
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Must be anchored to Christ’s specific historical glory, not generalized mystical splendor, despite regional Sufi poetic resonance. Inherited from Romans package; recurs in Philippians at 1:11, 2:11, 3:19/21, and the 4:19-20 doxology.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: د خدای قدرت
Transliteration: da Khudai qodrat
Doctrine: Fellowship of Christ’s Sufferings
Original: δύναμις (cf. 3:10, τὴν δύναμιν τῆς ἀναστάσεως αὐτοῦ)
Category: God
Broadly compatible concept, low collision risk beyond standard care. Inherited from Romans package; recurs in Philippians 3:10 (‘the power of his resurrection’), applying God’s power specifically to resurrection life and to sharing Christ’s sufferings.
Overseers
Approved rendering: ناظر
Transliteration: nazer
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Ministry Structure
Original: ἐπίσκοποι
Category: Church Leadership
New term. Occurs at 1:1. Teach as functional spiritual oversight and care, not a public institutional office; using such a title publicly could itself be a security risk for small, dispersed, often secret house-churches.
Deacons
Approved rendering: خادمان
Transliteration: khademan
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Ministry Structure
Original: διάκονοι
Category: Church Leadership
New term. Occurs at 1:1, named alongside overseers. Same security-context caution as overseers regarding public office-titles in restrictive jurisdictions.
Encouragement
Approved rendering: هڅونه
Transliteration: hakawana
Doctrine: Unity and Humility in the Church
Original: παράκλησις
Category: Unity and Humility in the Church
New term. Occurs at 2:1 (παράκλησις). Must not read as a mere motivational pep-talk; the source of the encouragement is union with Christ himself, not generic sentiment.
Selfish Ambition
Approved rendering: خودغرضي
Transliteration: khudgharzi
Doctrine: Unity and Humility in the Church
Original: ἐριθεία
Category: Unity and Humility in the Church
New term. Occurs at 2:3 (and 1:17, of rival preachers). The opposite of the unity Paul commands.
Children Of God
Approved rendering: د خدای ماشومان
Transliteration: da Khudai mashuman
Doctrine: Unity and Humility in the Church
Original: τέκνα θεοῦ
Category: Adoption into God’s Family
New term. Occurs at 2:15 (‘blameless and innocent, children of God’). Connects conceptually to the baseline’s Critical-risk adoption doctrine (زوی نیول); the full inheritance-family status implied should be taught, not merely a description of moral behavior.
Word Of Life
Approved rendering: د ژوند کلام
Transliteration: da zhwand kalam
Doctrine: Partnership in the Gospel
Original: λόγος ζωῆς
Category: Gospel
New term. Occurs at 2:16, the gospel message believers ‘hold fast’ as visible lights in the world.
Rubbish Dung
Approved rendering: خځلات
Transliteration: khazalat
Doctrine: Righteousness by Faith versus the Law
Original: σκύβαλα
Category: Righteousness by Faith versus the Law
New term. Occurs at 3:8. Must retain rhetorical force (intentionally shocking in the Greek) without exceeding the destination Bible-translation tradition’s register limits for formal, elevated language.
Knowing Christ
Approved rendering: پیژندنه
Transliteration: pejandana
Doctrine: Pressing on toward the Goal in Christ
Original: γνῶσις / τοῦ γνῶναι αὐτόν
Category: Righteousness by Faith versus the Law; Pressing on toward the Goal
New term. Occurs at 3:8, 10. Distinguish from Sufi ma’rifa/esoteric mystical knowledge attained through advanced stages under a spiritual guide (pir); this knowing is relationally available to every believer through faith and grace, not reserved for spiritual elites. Never let the bare noun stand alone; require an appositive phrase (e.g. ‘د مسیح شخصي پیژندنه’) at first occurrence per teaching unit.
Press On Goal
Approved rendering: مخکې منډه وهل
Transliteration: makhke manda wahal
Doctrine: Pressing on toward the Goal in Christ
Original: διώκω / σκοπός
Category: Pressing on toward the Goal in Christ
New term. Occurs at 3:12-14. Distinguish this positive sense of διώκω from its other biblical sense ‘persecute’ — no confusion risk if rendered contextually in Pashto.
Perfect Mature
Approved rendering: بشپړ
Transliteration: bashpar
Doctrine: Pressing on toward the Goal in Christ
Original: τέλειος
Category: Pressing on toward the Goal in Christ
New term. Occurs at 3:12 and 3:15 with shifted sense within six verses. Avoid any reading suggesting attainable sinless perfection in this life; context-sensitive like the baseline’s ‘called’ entry.
Prize Upward Call
Approved rendering: د پورتنۍ بلنې انعام
Transliteration: da purtanai balane in’am
Doctrine: Pressing on toward the Goal in Christ
Original: τὸ βραβεῖον τῆς ἄνω κλήσεως
Category: Pressing on toward the Goal in Christ
New term. Occurs at 3:14. Reuses baseline بلنه exactly; the prize (انعام) must be anchored to its divine, not tribal-honor, source.
Enemies Of The Cross
Approved rendering: د مسیح د صلیب دښمنان
Transliteration: da Masih da saleeb dushmanan
Doctrine: Citizenship in Heaven
Original: ἐχθροὶ τοῦ σταυροῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ
Category: Citizenship in Heaven
New term. Occurs at 3:18. Reuses صلیب exactly per the cross entry above.
Minds On Earthly Things
Approved rendering: دنیوي شیانو باندې فکر کول
Transliteration: denyawi shiyano bande fikr kawul
Doctrine: Citizenship in Heaven
Original: τὰ ἐπίγεια φρονοῦντες
Category: Citizenship in Heaven; Unity and Humility
New term. Occurs at 3:19. Track the recurring φρονέω root across 1:7; 2:2, 5; 3:15, 19; 4:2, 10 for conceptual, though not necessarily lexical, consistency.
Strengthens Me
Approved rendering: قوت راکوي
Transliteration: qowat rakawi
Doctrine: Contentment in All Circumstances
Original: ἐνδυναμοῦντι
Category: Contentment in All Circumstances
New term. Occurs at 4:13. Frequently misquoted/misapplied as a generic promise of success or achievement; must be anchored to its actual context (enduring hardship and plenty with contentment), not extracted as a health/wealth guarantee.
Peace Surpasses Understanding
Approved rendering: د خدای سوله چې له هر پوهاوي نه لوړه ده
Transliteration: da Khudai sola che le har pohaawi na lwara da
Doctrine: Peace and Prayer Amid Anxiety
Original: ἡ εἰρήνη τοῦ θεοῦ ἡ ὑπερέχουσα πάντα νοῦν
Category: Contentment in All Circumstances; Peace with God
New term. Occurs at 4:7. Reuses baseline سوله exactly; teach as a related but distinct application (internal guarding peace) alongside the baseline’s ‘peace with God’ (justification) sense.
Fragrant Acceptable Sacrifice
Approved rendering: خوشبويه قربانۍ
Transliteration: khushboya qurbani
Doctrine: Partnership in the Gospel
Original: ὀσμὴ εὐωδίας, θυσία δεκτή, εὐάρεστος τῷ θεῷ
Category: Partnership in the Gospel
New term. Occurs at 4:18. Requires Old Testament sacrificial-background explanation; connect explicitly to 1:5’s gospel partnership so the material-gift-as-worship link is not lost.
Supply Every Need
Approved rendering: خدای به ستاسو ټولې اړتیاوې پوره کړي
Transliteration: Khudai ba stasso tolay aratyawe pura kri
Doctrine: Partnership in the Gospel
Original: πληρώσει πᾶσαν χρείαν ὑμῶν
Category: Contentment; Partnership in the Gospel
New term. Occurs at 4:19. Flag prosperity-gospel misapplication risk; teach in its actual context (God’s faithfulness to those who give sacrificially), not as a context-free wealth guarantee.
Low Risk Terms
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: شکر
Transliteration: shukr
Doctrine: Gospel
Original: εὐχαριστία
Category: Faith
Also a major Islamic virtue; broadly compatible, low risk. Inherited from Romans package; recurs in Philippians at 1:3 and in the prayer-with-thanksgiving formula of 4:6.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: ملګرتیا
Transliteration: malgartia
Doctrine: Partnership in the Gospel
Rejected alternatives: شراکت
Original: κοινωνία
Category: Church
شراکت shares the shirk-root (ش-ر-ک) resonance found in Arabic and Persian; native ملګرتیا avoids this. Inherited from Romans package; base term recurs in Philippians at 1:5 (gospel partnership, see gospel_partnership entry for the High-risk collocation), 2:1 (fellowship of the Spirit), and 3:10 (fellowship of his sufferings, see fellowship_of_sufferings entry).
Exhort
Approved rendering: هڅول
Transliteration: hakol
Doctrine: Unity and Humility in the Church
Original: παρακαλέω
Category: Faith
Context-sensitive between beseeching and building up. Inherited from Romans package; recurs in Philippians 4:2, Paul’s appeal to Euodia and Syntyche to be of the same mind.
Referenced passages