Core Glossary
Core Glossary: 2 Corinthians — English → Persian
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing term identified in analysis/07_semantic_analysis.md, drawn from the core passage (2 Cor 5:11-21) and every chapter of 2 Corinthians (1-13). Terms already present in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json are marked [Reused] and carry forward their recorded rendering and risk tier exactly, without modification. New terms introduced by this curriculum are marked [New] with full risk justification specific to 2 Corinthians. Risk tiers and review routing follow the same definitions as the baseline doctrine_risk_registry.json.
Section A — Terms Reused Exactly from the Romans Baseline
| English Term | Persian Rendering | Transliteration | Risk | Doctrine | Chapters in 2 Corinthians | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gospel | انجیل | Injil | High | Gospel | 1, 2, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11 | No new risk; reused per baseline |
| Grace | فیض | feyz | High | Grace | 1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 12, 13 | Applied to giving (ch.8-9) and sufficiency-in-suffering (12:9); baseline emanation caution extended to both new contexts |
| Faith | ایمان | iman | High | Faith | 1, 4, 5, 13 | No new risk |
| Righteousness | عدالت | edalat | Critical | Salvation | 5, 6, 9, 11 | 5:21 is a key load-bearing occurrence |
| Justification / Imputed righteousness | عدالت محسوبشده | edalat-e mahsub-shode | Critical | Justification by Faith | 5 | 5:19, 21 directly invoke this exact forensic-accounting logic (logizomai) |
| Salvation | نجات | nejat | Critical | Salvation | 1, 6, 7 | Karbala/martyrdom-intercession caution directly relevant to 5:14-21’s substitution language |
| Apostle | رسول | rasul | High | Apostleship | 1, 11, 12 | Extended to Critical in the specific “false apostle” framing (ch.11), see Section B |
| Holy | مقدس | moqaddas | Medium | Sanctification | 1, 6, 13 | Extended by “holy kiss” (13:12) |
| Saints | مقدسین | moqaddasin | Medium | Sainthood | 1, 8, 9, 13 | No new risk |
| Sanctification | تقدیس | taqdis | High | Sanctification | 7 | No new risk |
| Resurrection | قیامت | qiyamat | Critical | Resurrection of Christ | 1, 4, 5 | 5:15 directly invokes; baseline Mahdi-displacement caution fully applies |
| Lord | خداوند | Khodavand | Critical | Lordship of Christ | 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 12, 13 | 5:11 (fear of the Lord), 5:20 (ambassadors for Christ) |
| Son of God | پسر خدا | pesar-e khoda | Critical | Sonship of Christ | — | Underlies the trinitarian benediction (13:14) and deity-of-Christ material in ch.4 |
| Incarnation | تجسد | tajassod | Critical | Incarnation | 4, 8 | Underlies “image of God” (4:4) and “poverty of Christ” (8:9) |
| Peace | سلام | salam | Medium | Peace with God | 1, 13 | No new risk |
| Spiritual gifts | عطایای روحانی | ’ataya-ye ruhani | Medium | Spiritual Gifts | — | Not a major 2 Cor theme; noted for completeness |
| Thanksgiving | شکرگزاری | shokr-gozari | Low | Thanksgiving | 1, 2, 4, 8, 9 | No new risk |
| Fellowship | مشارکت | mosharekat | Medium | Christian Fellowship | 1, 6, 8, 9, 13 | Extended to financial partnership in giving (ch.8-9) and trinitarian benediction (13:14) |
| Church | کلیسا | kelisa | High | Church as God’s People | 1, 8, 11, 12 | Extended by “temple of God” (6:16) |
| Law | ناموس | namus | Critical | Fulfillment of Prophecy / New Covenant | 3 | Directly relevant to “new covenant” vs. old covenant/law argument, ch.3 |
| Sin | گناه | gonah | High | Universal Human Accountability | 5, 11 | 5:21’s “made him to be sin” is the letter’s climactic use |
| Gentiles | غیریهودیان | gheyr-yahudian | Medium | Unity of Jews and Gentiles | — | Not directly used in 2 Cor; retained for consistency |
| Glory | جلال | jalal | Medium | Deity of Christ | 3, 4 | Extended by “eternal weight of glory” (4:17) and Moses’ fading glory (3:7-11) |
| Messiah | مسیح | Masih | Critical | Messianic Promise | throughout | No new risk |
| Prophet | پیامبر | payambar | High | Inspiration of Scripture | 3 | Moses/Exodus background, ch.3 |
| Covenant | عهد | ’ahd | Medium | Davidic Covenant / New Covenant | 3 | Extended to Critical in the specific “new covenant” combination, see Section B |
| Mission | ماموریت | ma’muriyat | Medium | Mission to the Nations | 5 | ”Ministry of reconciliation” (5:18-19) is a mission-commissioning text |
| Israel | اسرائیل | Esra’il | High | Unity of Jews and Gentiles | 3 | 3:7, 13 (“sons of Israel”) |
| Jesus | عیسی | Isa | Critical | Lordship of Christ | throughout | No new risk |
| God | خدا | Khoda | Critical | Deity of Christ | throughout | No new risk; central to trinitarian benediction (13:14) |
| Holy Spirit | روحالقدس | Ruh-ol-Qods | Critical | Sanctification | 1, 3, 13 | 3:6 (letter/Spirit); 13:14 (trinitarian benediction) |
| Father | پدر | pedar | Critical | Adoption into God’s Family | 1, 13 | 1:3 (“Father of mercies”); 13:14 |
| Exhort | تشویق کردن | tashviq kardan | Low | Mutual Edification | 5, 13 | 5:20 (“we implore/beseech”) shares root with paraklēsis; see Section B |
| Power of God | قدرت خدا | qodrat-e khoda | Medium | Power of God for Salvation | 12 | Extended to Critical in the specific “power in weakness” paradox, see Section B |
Section B — New Terms Introduced by 2 Corinthians
| English Term | Persian Rendering | Transliteration | Risk | Doctrine | Chapters | Rejected Alternative(s) | Risk Rationale (grounded) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comfort | تسلی | tasalli | High | Suffering and Comfort in Ministry | 1, 7 | — | Must convey God’s active, personal consoling presence, not fatalistic endurance (taqdir/sabr default) |
| Affliction / suffering | رنج | ranj | Critical | Suffering and Comfort in Ministry | 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12 | مصیبت (mosibat) | مصیبت names Imam Hussein’s Karbala suffering specifically (Muharram devotional vocabulary); would import martyrdom-mourning framework onto Paul’s ministry suffering |
| Sincerity | خلوص / صداقت | kholus / sedaqat | High | Sincerity and Apostolic Authority | 1, 2, 4, 8 | — | Must be taught in explicit contrast to taqiyyeh (تقیه), the sanctioned Shia doctrine of religiously permissible concealment of belief |
| Seal / guarantee (of the Spirit) | مهر / ضامن، پیشپرداخت | mohr / zamen, pish-pardakht | Medium | Adoption into God’s Family | 1, 5 | — | Connects to baseline’s Critical adoption/inheritance caution (Iran’s weaker sarparasti legal default) |
| Forgiveness | بخشش | bakhshesh | Medium | Reconciliation with God | 2 | — | Must be anchored to Christ’s atoning work (5:18-21), not treated as a free-floating divine-mercy attribute |
| Satan | شیطان | Sheytan | Medium | Genuine versus False Apostleship | 2, 11, 12 | — | Shared Quranic Iblis/Sheytan figure; ensure personal cosmic adversary, not symbolic nafs/ego |
| Triumphal procession / fragrance | جشن پیروزی / عطر خوش | jashn-e piruzi / atr-e khosh | Low-Medium | Suffering and Comfort in Ministry | 2 | — | Unfamiliar Roman imagery requires explanatory framing; no independent doctrinal collision |
| New covenant | عهد جدید | ahd-e jadid | Critical | The New Covenant versus the Old | 3 | — | Risks being read through Islamic naskh (abrogation) doctrine, implying the NT itself has since been abrogated by the Quran |
| Letter and Spirit | نوشته/حرف و روح | neveshteh/harf va ruh | High | The New Covenant versus the Old | 3 | — | Resonates with Sufi ẕāher/bāṭen (outer law/inner truth) categories; must not collapse into generic mystical exoteric/esoteric spirituality |
| Veil | پوشش / نقاب | pushesh / neqab | Critical | The New Covenant versus the Old | 3 | حجاب (hijab) | حجاب is acutely politically charged in contemporary Iran (mandatory hijab law and protest movement); would displace theological meaning with political reading |
| Freedom | آزادی | azadi | Medium | The New Covenant versus the Old | 3 | — | Highly politically loaded term in Iranian discourse (revolutionary/protest slogan); must be clearly spiritual freedom from sin’s condemnation |
| Image (of God) | صورت / شبیه | surat / shabih | High | Reconciliation with God (Deity of Christ) | 4 | — | Must not be read as a created intermediary likeness; connects to baseline’s incarnation/deity-of-Christ Critical entries |
| Light (of the gospel) | نور | nur | Medium-High | Reconciliation with God | 4 | — | Collides with the Islamic doctrine of Nur-e Mohammadi (pre-existent light of Muhammad) and Quran 24:35; must be anchored to Christ’s specific historical revelation |
| Inner / outer man | انسان باطنی / ظاهری | ensan-e bateni / zaheri | Medium | Suffering and Comfort in Ministry | 4 | — | Compatible with zaher/baten categories; ensure renewal is credited to the Spirit, not generic inward cultivation |
| Eternal weight of glory | جلال ابدی | jalal-e abadi | Medium | Power in Weakness | 4 | — | Extends baseline glory/Sufi jalal-jamal poetic resonance note |
| Tent (body) | خیمه | kheymeh | Medium | New Creation in Christ | 5 | — | Positive OT tabernacle resonance; teach alongside resurrection-body hope |
| Judgment seat of Christ | کرسی داوری مسیح | korsi-ye davari-ye Masih | Critical | Reconciliation with God | 5 | — | Risks assimilation into Islamic mizan (deeds-weighing) framework; must be distinguished from the already-settled justification verdict |
| Reconciliation | آشتی / آشتی دادن | ashti / ashti dadan | Critical | Reconciliation with God | 5 | مصالحه (mosaleh) | مصالحه implies negotiated settlement between equal parties; biblical reconciliation is God’s unilateral, costly initiative toward the estranged, dependent, guilty party |
| New creation | خلقت تازه | khalqat-e tazeh | Critical | New Creation in Christ | 5 | — | Risks collapse into fitrah-restoration or tazkiyeh-ye nafs (self-purification) rather than God’s unilateral new creative act |
| Love (of Christ) | محبت | mohabbat | High | Reconciliation with God | 5, 13 | — | Shared Sufi Beloved/lover devotional vocabulary; must anchor to Christ’s specific historical, substitutionary act (5:14), not generalized mystical sentiment |
| Died for all (substitution) | بهجای همه مرد | be-jaye hameh mord | Critical | Reconciliation with God | 5 | برای همه مرد (as sole rendering) | “برای” alone can read as mere benefit rather than substitution; “بهجای” preserves the representative, in-the-place-of sense |
| According to the flesh | بر حسب جسم | bar hasb-e jesm | Medium-High | New Creation in Christ | 5, 10, 12 | — | Risk of Gnostic-sounding body/spirit dualism if not clarified as a standard-of-judgment category |
| Not counting trespasses | گناهان را به حساب نیاوردن | gonahan ra be hesab nayavardan | Critical | Reconciliation with God | 5 | — | Same forensic-accounting verb family (logizomai) as baseline’s imputed_righteousness; teach as the same doctrine applied in reverse |
| Ambassador | سفیر | safir | Medium | Sincerity and Apostolic Authority | 5 | — | Must be qualified (“ambassador of Christ”) to keep authority strictly delegated, not self-originating |
| Be reconciled (imperative) | با خدا آشتی کنید | ba khoda ashti konid | Critical | Reconciliation with God | 5 | — | Passive-voice force in Greek must be preserved in teaching: response to an already-accomplished work, not a human-initiated achievement |
| Made him to be sin | گناه ما را بر او نهاد | gonah-e ma ra bar u nehad | Critical | Reconciliation with God | 5 | — | Must not soften into exemplary/martyrdom suffering; this is judicial imputation/exchange |
| Unequally yoked | همیوغ شدن | ham-yugh shodan | Medium | Sincerity and Apostolic Authority | 6 | — | Agricultural image needs framing; must not be overapplied into total social withdrawal |
| Temple of God | هیکل خدا / معبد خدا | heykal-e khoda / ma’bad-e khoda | Medium | Church as God’s People | 6 | — | Metaphorical dwelling among people, not a physical building; relevant to restricted Persian congregational worship reality |
| Godly grief | اندوه الهی | anduh-e elahi | Medium | Sincerity and Apostolic Authority | 7 | — | Outcome-distinction (life vs. death) is the defining marker, not emotional intensity |
| Repentance | توبه | towbeh | High | Reconciliation with God | 7 | — | Central Islamic term; must be taught as Spirit-produced fruit of godly grief, not an independent meritorious act securing forgiveness |
| Equality (in giving) | برابری | barabari | Medium | Generosity and Grace in Giving | 8 | — | Distinguish voluntary mutual church-family care from modern political equality rhetoric |
| Cheerful giver | بخشندهٔ خوشحال / با شادی | bakhshande-ye khoshhal / ba shadi | High | Generosity and Grace in Giving | 9 | — | Must be distinguished from obligatory, quota-based zakat/khoms religious-tax framework |
| Poverty of Christ | فقیر شدن مسیح | faqir shodan-e Masih | Medium | Generosity and Grace in Giving | 8 | — | Sufi faqr partial bridge; anchor to the specific historical incarnation event |
| Boasting (in the Lord vs. self) | فخر کردن (به خداوند) | fakhr kardan (be Khodavand) | Medium | Genuine versus False Apostleship | 5, 10, 11, 12 | — | Legitimate/illegitimate distinction must be preserved consistently across chs. 10-12 |
| False apostles | رسولان دروغین | rasulan-e dorughin | Critical | Genuine versus False Apostleship | 11 | — | Risk of mapping onto Sunni-Shia succession disputes rather than the unique NT foundational apostolic office; sensitive within vulnerable house-church accusations |
| Angel of light | فرشتهٔ نور | fereshte-ye nur | Medium | Genuine versus False Apostleship | 11 | — | Reinforces ch.4’s light-imagery caution: counterfeit light must always be distinguished from true light in Christ |
| Jealousy (divine) | غیرت | gheyrat | High | Genuine versus False Apostleship | 11 | — | Major Persian honor-culture term (protective male honor over female relatives); must be reframed as God’s own covenantal faithfulness-love, not possessive honor-shame dynamic |
| Paradise | بهشت | behesht | Critical | New Creation in Christ (eschatological) | 12 | — | Names the fully developed Quranic Jannah reward-doctrine; must denote Paul’s immediate-presence vision, not the mizan-linked garden-reward system |
| Third heaven | آسمان سوم | asman-e sevvom | Medium | New Creation in Christ | 12 | — | Requires ancient cosmology framing; linked to paradise entry |
| Thorn in the flesh | خار در جسم | khar dar jesm | Medium | Power in Weakness | 12 | — | Direct textual anchor of the Power in Weakness doctrine |
| Power in weakness | قدرت در ضعف | qodrat dar za’f | Critical | Power in Weakness | 12 | — | Directly collides with Iranian honor-shame culture (weakness = shame to conceal); partial Sufi faqr/fana bridge available but must not become self-dissolution |
| Signs of a [true] apostle | نشانههای رسول [واقعی] | neshane-haye rasul-e vaqe’i | Medium | Genuine versus False Apostleship | 12 | — | Must not be read through folk-Islamic karamat (miracle-worker) framework detached from apostolic office/gospel content |
| Examine yourselves | خود را بیازمایید | khod ra biyazma’id | Medium | Sincerity and Apostolic Authority | 13 | — | Pastorally sensitive given real cost of self-examination for Muslim-background believers |
| Trinitarian benediction (grace/love/fellowship) | فیض / محبت / مشارکت | feyz / mohabbat / mosharekat | Critical | Reconciliation with God (Deity of Christ) | 13 | — | One of the NT’s clearest implicit Trinitarian formulas; inherits full tawhid-collision handling from baseline god/son_of_god/holy_spirit entries |
| Holy kiss | بوسهٔ مقدس | buse-ye moqaddas | Low-Medium | Church as God’s People | 13 | — | Practical cultural-adaptation matter (gender-segregation norms) rather than doctrinal risk |
| Be restored / complete | کامل شوید | kamel shavid | Low | Church as God’s People | 13 | اصلاح شوید (as sole rendering) | اصلاح carries Iranian reformist political connotations; کامل شوید is the safer default |
Section C — Risk Summary for 2 Corinthians New Terms
| Risk Tier | Count (New Terms, Section B) | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 10 | Human theologian review (mandatory, every occurrence) |
| High | 6 | Human theologian review (mandatory) |
| Medium | 17 | Native speaker review (recommended) |
| Low / Low-Medium | 3 | Automated / native speaker spot-check |
Critical-tier new terms requiring mandatory human theologian review on every occurrence: Affliction/suffering (رنج), New covenant (عهد جدید), Veil (پوشش/نقاب), Judgment seat of Christ (کرسی داوری مسیح), Reconciliation (آشتی), New creation (خلقت تازه), Died for all/substitution (بهجای همه مرد), Not counting trespasses (به حساب نیاوردن), Be reconciled/made him to be sin (آشتی کنید / گناه بر او نهاد — 5:20-21 combined), False apostles (رسولان دروغین), Paradise (بهشت), Power in weakness (قدرت در ضعف), Trinitarian benediction (فیض/محبت/مشارکت).
Note: several verses (notably 5:18-21) contain multiple stacked Critical-risk terms simultaneously; Phase 2 segment routing should flag the entire 5:18-21 unit as a single high-density Critical review block rather than assessing each term in isolation.
This glossary must be loaded alongside the baseline translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json for all Phase 2 translation of 2 Corinthians. All Section A terms are non-negotiable per the baseline; all Section B terms are proposed additions pending confirmation and formal entry into an updated translation_memory.json and doctrine_risk_registry.json for this curriculum (see Phase 1 Steps 2-6).
Critical Risk Terms
Righteousness
Approved rendering: عدالت
Transliteration: edalat
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: پارسایی
Original: δικαιοσύνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). 2 Cor 5:21 (‘that we might become the righteousness of God’) is the letter’s climactic occurrence; عدالت must retain its forensic, credited sense against پارسایی’s Zoroastrian-inflected virtue-achievement connotation, since the verse’s entire logic depends on righteousness being received, not achieved.
Justification
Approved rendering: عادل شمرده شدن
Transliteration: adel shomorde shodan
Doctrine: Salvation
Original: δικαίωσις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). The compound phrase’s forensic declaration underlies the logic of 5:19-21 even though the noun form itself is not repeated as often in 2 Corinthians as in Romans.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: عدالت محسوبشده
Transliteration: edalat-e mahsub-shode
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: عدالت کسبشده
Original: ἐλογίσθη εἰς δικαιοσύνην / ἵνα γενώμεθα δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). 2 Cor 5:21 is the fullest single-verse statement of this doctrine in the Pauline corpus and must use عدالت محسوبشده, never عدالت کسبشده (‘earned righteousness’), which would directly contradict the exchange logic of the verse. Must be taught alongside not_counting_trespasses (5:19) as the same forensic-accounting verb family (logizomai) operating in both directions.
Salvation
Approved rendering: نجات
Transliteration: nejat
Doctrine: Salvation
Original: σωτηρία
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). The Karbala/Hussein martyrdom-intercession caution is directly load-bearing for 5:14-21’s substitutionary death language (see died_for_all, made_him_to_be_sin) — Christ’s death ‘for all’ must be taught as categorically distinct from, not merely superior to, an innocent-suffering-benefits-mourners devotional pattern. Also relevant to 6:2, 7:10.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: قیامت
Transliteration: qiyamat
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Original: ἐγείρω / ἀνάστασις (theological category)
Category: Eschatology
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). 4:14 and 5:15 directly invoke this doctrine as the ground of Paul’s confidence and the believer’s reoriented life; the full Quranic crucifixion-denial (4:157) and Mahdi-centered Shia eschatological displacement caution applies with undiminished force.
Lord
Approved rendering: خداوند
Transliteration: Khodavand
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: سرور
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). 5:11 (fear of the Lord as coming Judge) and 5:20/4:5 (Christ proclaimed as Lord) apply this doctrine; no new risk beyond the baseline’s tawhid-collision note.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: پسر خدا
Transliteration: pesar-e khoda
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: برگزیده خدا
Original: υἱὸς θεοῦ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). Underlies the deity-of-Christ material in ch.4 (image_of_god) and the trinitarian benediction of 13:14; never softened to a Hezare No-style alternative.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: تجسد
Transliteration: tajassod
Doctrine: Incarnation
Original: ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο (theological category)
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). The Zoroastrian Amesha Spentas emanation caution applies directly to 8:9’s ‘became poor’ language (see poverty_of_christ) and to 4:4’s ‘image of God’ (see image_of_god), which must not be read as one more intermediary-being emanation.
Law
Approved rendering: ناموس
Transliteration: namus
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: شریعت
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). Directly relevant background to the ‘new covenant’ vs. Mosaic covenant/law argument of ch.3 (see new_covenant, letter_and_spirit); ناموس (never شریعت) preferred given Iran’s shari’a-based legal system.
Messiah
Approved rendering: مسیح
Transliteration: Masih
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Original: Χριστός
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). Used throughout 2 Corinthians as part of Paul’s standard title ‘Christ Jesus/Jesus Christ’; no new risk beyond the documented Mahdi-displacement caution.
Jesus
Approved rendering: عیسی
Transliteration: Isa
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). No naming controversy in Persian, but the Quranic prophet-only, non-crucified, non-divine narrative must be actively corrected at every occurrence, especially in 5:15’s resurrection claim.
God
Approved rendering: خدا
Transliteration: Khoda
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: الله
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). Central to the reconciliation doctrine (5:18-19), where God — not Christ or a neutral third party — must remain the grammatically explicit initiating agent throughout ch.5 (see reconciliation); also first Person named in the trinitarian benediction (13:14).
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: روحالقدس
Transliteration: Ruh-ol-Qods
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον / τὸ πνεῦμα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). In 3:6 the letter/Spirit contrast (see letter_and_spirit) requires care that روح is read as the personal Holy Spirit, not an impersonal ‘spiritual meaning’ opposed to ‘literal meaning’; third Person named in the trinitarian benediction (13:14).
Father
Approved rendering: پدر
Transliteration: pedar
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). Named ‘Father of mercies and God of all comfort’ (1:3, see comfort) and second Person named in the trinitarian benediction (13:14); no new risk beyond the tawhid-anthropomorphism objection already documented.
Reconciliation
Approved rendering: آشتی / آشتی دادن
Transliteration: ashti / ashti dadan
Doctrine: Reconciliation with God
Rejected alternatives: مصالحه
Original: καταλλάσσω / καταλλαγή
Category: Reconciliation
New term for this curriculum; the letter’s central doctrine (5:18-20, 6:1-2). آشتی is natural, established Persian Bible vocabulary carrying strong two-party relational-restoration force, but mainstream Sunni and Shia theology has no equivalent doctrine of humanity estranged from God requiring God’s own costly initiative — sin is addressed through towbeh (repentance) and rahmat (mercy), not reconciliation of a broken relationship. مصالحه (‘negotiated settlement between equals’) is explicitly rejected because it implies both parties bring something to the table. God/Christ must remain the grammatically explicit initiating agent at every occurrence.
Not Counting Trespasses
Approved rendering: گناهان [مردم] را به حساب نیاوردن
Transliteration: gonahan ra be hesab nayavardan
Doctrine: Imputation of Sin and Righteousness
Original: μὴ λογιζόμενος αὐτοῖς τὰ παραπτώματα αὐτῶν
Category: Reconciliation
New term. 5:19’s negative mirror image of imputed_righteousness — the identical forensic-accounting verb family (logizomai) used positively of imputed righteousness. حساب کردن must be used consistently with عدالت محسوبشده so learners recognize this as one unified doctrine of legal accounting operating in both directions, not two unrelated ideas.
Died For All
Approved rendering: بهجای همه مرد
Transliteration: be-jaye hameh mord
Doctrine: Substitutionary Atonement
Rejected alternatives: برای همه مرد (as sole rendering)
Original: εἷς ὑπὲρ πάντων ἀπέθανεν
Category: Reconciliation
New term (5:14). برای (barâ-ye, ‘for the benefit/sake of’) alone can be read as mere benefit without substitution and is rejected as the sole rendering; بهجای (be-jâ-ye, ‘in the place of’) is required to preserve the forensic, representative-death sense against a Karbala-adjacent reading of Christ’s death as one more honored martyr’s beneficial suffering.
Made Him To Be Sin
Approved rendering: گناه ما را بر او نهاد
Transliteration: gonah-e ma ra bar u nehad
Doctrine: Substitutionary Atonement
Rejected alternatives: او رنج کشید بهخاطر گناه (softened exemplary-suffering rendering)
Original: τὸν μὴ γνόντα ἁμαρτίαν… ἁμαρτίαν ἐποίησεν
Category: Reconciliation
New term (5:21). Must never be softened into ‘he suffered because of sin’ or ‘he bore the consequences of sin,’ which could echo the Karbala pattern of an innocent, honored figure’s suffering benefiting those who mourn him. This is judicial imputation/exchange — the sinless Christ judicially identified with humanity’s sin — not exemplary or intercessory suffering alone.
Be Reconciled Imperative
Approved rendering: با خدا آشتی کنید
Transliteration: ba khoda ashti konid
Doctrine: Reconciliation with God
Original: καταλλάγητε τῷ θεῷ
Category: Reconciliation
New term (5:20). Persian grammar necessarily renders this passive-voice Greek imperative more actively than the original; teaching-level framing must clarify that the reconciling itself is God’s already-completed work (v.18-19) — the single most important safeguard against a merits-based or Karbala-adjacent misreading of the whole passage.
New Creation
Approved rendering: خلقت تازه
Transliteration: khalqat-e tazeh
Doctrine: New Creation in Christ
Rejected alternatives: بازگشت به فطرت (fitrah-restoration framing)
Original: καινὴ κτίσις
Category: Salvation
New term, core curriculum doctrine (5:17). Islamic fitrah doctrine already holds every human is born innately God-oriented and only secondarily corrupted, so ‘new creation’ risks being heard as a return to one’s original fitrah through tazkiyeh-ye nafs (‘purification of the self’) rather than a fresh, unilateral divine creative act constituting an entirely new status and nature. Must also be kept distinct from any reincarnation-adjacent reading.
Trinitarian Benediction
Approved rendering: فیض خداوند ما عیسی مسیح، و محبت خدا، و مشارکت روحالقدس
Transliteration: feyz-e Khodavand-e ma Isa Masih, va mohabbat-e Khoda, va mosharekat-e Ruh-ol-Qods
Doctrine: Trinitarian Benediction
Original: ἡ χάρις τοῦ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ἡ κοινωνία τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος
Category: God
New term (13:14), drawing together the baseline’s already-Critical ‘god,’ ‘son_of_god,’ and ‘holy_spirit’ entries in a single verse. One of the NT’s clearest implicit Trinitarian formulas — grace to the Lord Jesus Christ, love to God the Father, fellowship to the Holy Spirit. No softening of the three distinct Persons/one benediction structure is permitted.
New Covenant
Approved rendering: عهد جدید
Transliteration: ahd-e jadid
Doctrine: The New Covenant versus the Old
Original: διαθήκη καινή
Category: Covenant
New term, extending the baseline’s Medium-risk ‘covenant’ entry to Critical in this specific combination (3:1-18). Islamic naskh (abrogation) doctrine teaches later revelation supersedes and cancels earlier revelation, and is commonly extended to claim the Quran abrogates both the Torah and the Gospel; ‘new covenant’ language risks confirming this framework and inviting the further inference that the New Testament has itself since been abrogated. Must be explicitly framed as fulfillment of God’s one redemptive plan, not one more link in an open-ended abrogation chain.
Veil
Approved rendering: پوشش / نقاب
Transliteration: pushesh / neqab
Doctrine: The New Covenant versus the Old
Rejected alternatives: حجاب
Original: κάλυμμα
Category: Covenant
New term (3:13-16). حجاب must be avoided absolutely: it is the single most politically and socially charged word in current Iranian public life (the mandatory hijab law and the associated protest movement), and would immediately be read as a political statement rather than the intended theological meaning about spiritual blindness/revelation. پوشش or نقاب must be used instead, with a standing translator note at every occurrence flagging the deliberate avoidance of حجاب.
False Apostles
Approved rendering: رسولان دروغین
Transliteration: rasulan-e dorughin
Doctrine: Genuine versus False Apostleship
Original: ψευδαπόστολοι
Category: Apostleship
New term, extending the baseline’s High-risk ‘apostle’ entry to Critical (11:13). The baseline’s Shia Imamate succession-claim note gives Persian readers a live cultural category for disputing rival claims to authoritative religious succession — useful as a bridge, but must not be mapped onto intra-Islamic Sunni-Shia succession disputes, recasting Paul’s argument as a parallel sectarian dispute rather than a unique claim about the once-for-all foundational NT apostolic office. Also requires care given the real relational/security stakes of ‘false teacher’ accusations within vulnerable house-churches.
Affliction Suffering
Approved rendering: رنج
Transliteration: ranj
Doctrine: Suffering and Comfort in Ministry
Rejected alternatives: مصیبت
Original: θλῖψις
Category: Ministry and Suffering
New term, and one of the letter’s most-recurring terms (1:4, 8; 4:17; 6:4; 7:4; 8:2; 11:23-27). مصیبت is explicitly and permanently rejected: it is the specific, deeply loaded term for Imam Hussein’s Karbala suffering and martyrdom, central to Muharram mourning liturgy and the Shia intercessory-devotional complex already flagged Critical in the baseline under ‘salvation.’ رنج is the safer, non-devotionally-loaded general term and must be used consistently throughout 2 Corinthians for Paul’s ministry afflictions.
Power In Weakness
Approved rendering: قدرت در ضعف
Transliteration: qodrat dar za’f
Doctrine: Power in Weakness
Original: ἡ δύναμίς μου ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ τελεῖται
Category: Ministry and Suffering
New term, extending the baseline’s Medium-risk ‘power_of_god’ entry into fully Critical territory (12:9-10) — the letter’s climactic paradox. Iranian honor-shame culture (reinforced by the ta’arof face-management system) treats weakness, humiliation, and public vulnerability as genuine shame to be concealed; Paul’s public boasting in weakness could easily be flattened into false modesty or simple defeat rather than the specific claim that God’s power is displayed through, not merely despite, acknowledged weakness. Persian Sufi faqr/fanâ offer only a partial, non-equivalent bridge and must not become self-dissolution.
Judgment Seat Of Christ
Approved rendering: کرسی داوری مسیح
Transliteration: korsi-ye davari-ye Masih
Doctrine: Eschatological Judgment and Reward
Original: τὸ βῆμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ
Category: Eschatology
New term (5:10). Mainstream Islamic eschatology’s culturally dominant mizân (the deeds-weighing scale as the decisive mechanism of final judgment) risks assimilating this verse wholesale into a salvation-determining framework. Must be taught as an already-justified believer’s accounting for ministry and reward, categorically distinct from the sin-versus-righteousness verdict already settled at the cross (5:21) and by faith.
Paradise
Approved rendering: بهشت
Transliteration: behesht
Doctrine: Paradise and Heavenly Vision
Original: παράδεισος
Category: Eschatology
New term (12:4). Behesht is the standard, unavoidable Persian word for paradise, but also names the extensively and specifically developed Quranic Jannah doctrine, functioning as the reward stage of the mizân deeds-weighing system. Teaching must make clear Paul’s ‘paradise’ denotes an immediate personal visionary encounter with God, not a developed system of post-judgment garden-rewards, while retaining behesht as the only viable Persian lexical choice — no safer synonym exists.
High Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: انجیل
Transliteration: Injil
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: مژده
Original: εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). In 2 Corinthians (1:19; 2:12; 4:3-4; 8:18; 9:13; 10:14; 11:4,7) Paul repeatedly defends the integrity of ‘his’ gospel against a ‘different gospel’ preached by rivals (11:4); reinforce that Injil denotes the one authentic apostolic message, not one religious teaching among several, consistent with the tahrif assumption already documented.
Grace
Approved rendering: فیض
Transliteration: feyz
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: لطف
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). Applied to two new 2 Corinthians contexts: (1) 12:9 ‘my grace is sufficient,’ where the Illuminationist/Mulla Sadra emanation loading risks reading continuous sufficient grace as automatic metaphysical overflow rather than personal, responsive divine provision; (2) chs. 8-9, where giving must be shown to flow from grace received, not an obligatory religious transaction (see cheerful_giver).
Faith
Approved rendering: ایمان
Transliteration: iman
Doctrine: Faith
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). No new risk beyond the baseline’s Shia-Imamate creedal-assent caution; foundational to 1:24, 4:13, 5:7, 13:5.
Apostle
Approved rendering: رسول
Transliteration: rasul
Doctrine: Apostleship
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Apostleship
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). Paul’s own defended office throughout 2 Corinthians (1:1; 12:12) and the office claimed falsely by rivals (11:13); extended to Critical in the specific ‘false apostles’ framing (see false_apostles).
Sanctification
Approved rendering: تقدیس
Transliteration: taqdis
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: ἁγιασμός / ἐπιτελοῦντες ἁγιωσύνην
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). 7:1 (‘bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God’) applies this doctrine directly; the Spirit’s ongoing work, not ritual purification.
Church
Approved rendering: کلیسا
Transliteration: kelisa
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: امت
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). Addressed throughout 2 Corinthians as ‘the church of God that is at Corinth’ (1:1) and the churches of Macedonia/Achaia; extended by the ‘temple of God’ metaphor (6:16, see temple_of_god) and the underground house-church reality.
Sin
Approved rendering: گناه
Transliteration: gonah
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). 5:21’s ‘made him to be sin’ (see made_him_to_be_sin) is the letter’s climactic use, requiring the full weight of the baseline’s fitrah/Chinvat Bridge caution plus the substitutionary-exchange framing.
Prophet
Approved rendering: پیامبر
Transliteration: payambar
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Original: προφήτης (background figure: Μωϋσῆς)
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). Moses/Exodus background underlies the letter/Spirit and veil argument of ch.3 (see letter_and_spirit, veil); same finality-of-prophethood risk as the baseline documents.
Israel
Approved rendering: اسرائیل
Transliteration: Esra’il
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Original: Ἰσραήλ / υἱοὶ Ἰσραήλ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). Referenced in 3:7, 13 (‘the sons of Israel could not gaze at Moses’ face’); no new risk beyond Iran’s officially propagandized anti-Israel political stance already documented.
Repentance
Approved rendering: توبه
Transliteration: towbeh
Doctrine: Repentance and Godly Grief
Original: μετάνοια
Category: Salvation
New term (7:9-10). توبه is the single most central repentance term in Islamic piety, a formal, ritualized turning-back-to-God central to Sunni and Shia practice within a deeds-and-mercy framework, and is also the long-established Persian Bible rendering. The risk is entirely in content: towbeh must be taught here as fruit of godly grief flowing from a relationship already reconciled by Christ (ch.5), never as an independent human achievement that itself earns forgiveness.
Image Of God
Approved rendering: صورت / شبیه
Transliteration: surat / shabih
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: εἰκών
Category: Christology
New term, extends the baseline’s Critical deity-of-Christ and incarnation entries (4:4). صورت/شبیه is standard vocabulary but must be carefully distinguished from a created likeness or intermediary emanation (cf. the baseline’s Amesha Spentas note under ‘incarnation’) — Christ as the image of God is the full, unmediated visible manifestation of the invisible God, not one representative likeness among several.
Love Of Christ
Approved rendering: محبت مسیح
Transliteration: mohabbat-e Masih
Doctrine: Substitutionary Atonement
Original: ἀγάπη τοῦ Χριστοῦ
Category: Christology
New term (5:14). محبت is shared vocabulary across Islamic devotional and Sufi mystical literature (God’s mohabbat for creation; the Beloved/lover motif in Rumi/Hafez) — a genuine asset for warmth of address, but risks reducing Christ’s historically enacted, once-for-all love into generalized mystical sentiment. Every occurrence should be anchored to the specific historical death referenced in the same verse.
Light Of Gospel
Approved rendering: نور انجیل
Transliteration: nur-e Enjil
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: روشنایی, ضیاء
Original: φωτισμὸν τοῦ εὐαγγελίου / φῶς
Category: God
New term (4:4, 6). نور is a major, richly developed Islamic theological term, most notably in the doctrine of Nur-e Mohammadi (the pre-existent ‘light of Muhammad,’ prominent in Shia and Sufi devotional literature) and Quran 24:35’s ‘light verse.’ Must be anchored concretely to Christ’s own historical person and work (4:6), not treated as a free-floating cosmic-light category; روشنایی and ضیاء are excluded as they drift toward generic metaphor or reinforce the Quranic pre-existent-light association.
Fear Of The Lord
Approved rendering: ترس خداوند / خداترسی
Transliteration: tars-e Khodavand / khoda-tarsi
Doctrine: Eschatological Judgment and Reward
Original: ὁ φόβος τοῦ Κυρίου
Category: God
New term (5:11; 7:15). خداترسی is an existing, positively-loaded everyday Persian word for piety, but in Islamic usage centers on fear of transgressing shari’a; must be anchored specifically to accountability before Christ at his judgment seat (5:10), not generic religious piety.
Letter And Spirit
Approved rendering: نوشته/حرف و روح
Transliteration: neveshteh/harf va ruh
Doctrine: The New Covenant versus the Old
Original: γράμμα / πνεῦμα
Category: Covenant
New term (3:6-11). Persian Sufi ẕāher (outer/exoteric law) versus bāṭen (inner/esoteric truth) distinction is structurally similar and can serve as a teaching bridge, but must not collapse Paul’s specific redemptive-historical contrast into generic mystical exoteric/esoteric spirituality accessible by contemplative technique rather than by the Spirit given through Christ’s finished work.
According To Flesh
Approved rendering: بر حسب جسم
Transliteration: bar hasb-e jesm
Doctrine: New Creation in Christ
Original: κατὰ σάρκα
Category: Sanctification
New term (5:16; also 10:2-4, 12:16). Jesm (flesh/body) carries no dominant Islamic doctrinal collision, but the specific ethical-epistemological sense (‘worldly standard of judgment’) risks collapsing into a Gnostic-sounding body-versus-spirit dualism if not clarified; must be taught as a way of judging/valuing, not a metaphysical devaluation of the physical body.
Sincerity
Approved rendering: خلوص [نیت] / صداقت
Transliteration: kholus-e niyat / sedaqat
Doctrine: Sincerity and Apostolic Authority
Original: ἁπλότης / εἰλικρίνεια
Category: Apostleship
New term (1:12; 2:17; 4:2). Must be taught in explicit contrast to taqiyyeh (تقیه), the recognized, religiously sanctioned Shia doctrine of strategically concealing true belief under threat or for advantage — a genuine point of theological distinction, not merely a rhetorical claim. Silence on this point risks the passage reading as compatible with taqiyyeh rather than opposed to it.
Divine Jealousy
Approved rendering: غیرت
Transliteration: gheyrat
Doctrine: Divine Jealousy and Covenant Fidelity
Rejected alternatives: حسادت, تعصب
Original: ζῆλος
Category: Apostleship
New term (11:2-3). Gheyrat is a major, deeply-rooted Persian/Islamic honor-culture term denoting a man’s protective, often possessive zeal over a female relative’s honor. Offers a genuine rhetorical bridge (Paul’s own image is a protective-honor betrothal image), but risks reducing God’s holy jealousy to a merely possessive, honor-shame dynamic and importing patriarchal-honor overtones not intended by the text. Must be taught explicitly as God’s faithful, covenantal love for his whole people, not a gendered honor-code point.
Comfort
Approved rendering: تسلی
Transliteration: tasalli
Doctrine: Suffering and Comfort in Ministry
Original: παράκλησις / παρακαλέω
Category: Ministry and Suffering
New term (1:3-7). Tasalli is dignified, non-doctrinally-loaded vocabulary, but the surrounding cultural default treats suffering primarily through a fatalistic taqdir/qeza-o-qadar (divine decree) lens requiring patient endurance (sabr) rather than an active, personal divine presence who acts to console. Must be taught as God’s active relational comfort, not merely a virtue of stoic endurance.
Cheerful Giver
Approved rendering: بخشندهٔ خوشحال / با شادی
Transliteration: bakhshande-ye khoshhal / ba shadi
Doctrine: Generosity and Grace in Giving
Rejected alternatives: زکات, خمس, صدقه
Original: ἱλαρὸν δότην
Category: Giving
New term (9:7). Iranian Shia religious life includes well-developed, religiously obligatory, quota-based giving categories — zakât (obligatory almsgiving) and the distinctively Shia khoms (a one-fifth religious tax historically supporting the clergy/Imamate structure) — as well as صدقه (voluntary alms still linked to merit-accumulation). Paul’s teaching is deliberately non-quota-based, voluntary, and grace-motivated; this contrast must be actively taught, since Persian house-church readers will otherwise likely default to a zakât/khoms/sadaqeh-shaped mental model of ‘religious giving.‘
Medium Risk Terms
Holy
Approved rendering: مقدس
Transliteration: moqaddas
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). Extended by ‘holy kiss’ (13:12) and the temple-holiness argument of 6:14-7:1 (see temple_of_god, unequally_yoked).
Saints
Approved rendering: مقدسین
Transliteration: moqaddasin
Doctrine: Sainthood
Original: ἅγιοι
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). Referenced in the collection for ‘the saints’ at Jerusalem (8:4; 9:1, 12); no new risk.
Peace
Approved rendering: سلام
Transliteration: salam
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: آرامش
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). Present in the epistolary greeting (1:2) and closing (13:11); آرامش remains excluded as the secular wellness-culture ‘inner calm’ term. Reserve سلام exclusively for peace-with-God language; do not let آشتی (reconciliation) or صلح (political peace) drift into this slot or vice versa.
Spiritual Gifts
Approved rendering: عطایای روحانی
Transliteration: ‘ataya-ye ruhani
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). Not a major 2 Corinthians theme but retained for cross-curriculum vocabulary consistency.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: مشارکت
Transliteration: mosharekat
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Original: κοινωνία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). Extended in 2 Corinthians to the financial partnership of the Jerusalem collection (8:4; 9:13) and named as the Spirit’s own work in the trinitarian benediction (13:14); retain the baseline’s root-resonance caution (mosharekat/shirk) alongside both new applications.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: غیریهودیان
Transliteration: gheyr-yahudian
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: امتها
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). Not directly used as a term in 2 Corinthians’ extant text but retained for cross-curriculum vocabulary consistency, particularly given ch.3’s Israel material.
Glory
Approved rendering: جلال
Transliteration: jalal
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). The Sufi jalal-jamal devotional-poetic resonance note applies to both Moses’ fading glory (3:7-11) and ‘the glory of God in the face of Christ’ (4:6); also extended by ‘eternal weight of glory’ (see eternal_weight_of_glory).
Covenant
Approved rendering: عهد
Transliteration: ‘ahd
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: διαθήκη
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). The general covenant term underlying the specific ‘new covenant’ contrast of ch.3; extended to Critical in that specific combination (see new_covenant).
Mission
Approved rendering: ماموریت
Transliteration: ma’muriyat
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
Rejected alternatives: رسالت
Original: διακονία τῆς καταλλαγῆς
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). Applied in 2 Corinthians to the ‘ministry of reconciliation’ (diakonia tēs katallagēs, 5:18-19); خدمت (khedmat) is the direct rendering for diakonia in that phrase, distinct from ma’muriyat, and must denote the specific commissioned task of proclaiming reconciliation, not generic religious service or charity.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: قدرت خدا
Transliteration: qodrat-e khoda
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Original: δύναμις θεοῦ / δύναμις Χριστοῦ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). Applied in 2 Corinthians specifically to the power that rests on Paul in his weakness (12:9); extended to Critical in the specific ‘power in weakness’ paradox (see power_in_weakness).
Forgiveness
Approved rendering: بخشش
Transliteration: bakhshesh
Doctrine: Forgiveness and Church Discipline
Original: χαρίζομαι
Category: Salvation
New term (2:5-11). بخشش/بخشیدن shares the charis root and is compatible with Islamic divine-mercy vocabulary (e.g. ‘Bakhshande’ as a divine epithet), a serviceable bridge, but must be anchored to Christ’s specific atoning work (5:18-21) as its ground, not treated as a free-floating divine attribute exercised apart from the cross.
World Kosmos
Approved rendering: جهان
Transliteration: jahan
Doctrine: Reconciliation with God
Original: κόσμος
Category: Salvation
New term (5:19). جهان is standard, low-controversy vocabulary; the risk is purely doctrinal — retain the full universal scope of God’s reconciling offer and do not narrow it implicitly to ‘the church’ or ‘believers only,’ echoing the baseline’s High-risk ‘Universal Scope of the Gospel’ caution.
Temple Of God
Approved rendering: هیکل خدا / معبد خدا
Transliteration: heykal-e khoda / ma’bad-e khoda
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Original: ναὸς θεοῦ
Category: Church
New term (6:16). معبد in particular is generic religious-building vocabulary used across traditions; must be clearly metaphorical here — the people, not a physical building — especially given that Persian-language congregational worship is restricted in Iran and many readers’ actual house-church experience involves no physical building at all.
Unequally Yoked
Approved rendering: همیوغ شدن
Transliteration: ham-yugh shodan
Doctrine: Sincerity and Apostolic Authority
Original: ἑτεροζυγοῦντες
Category: Church
New term (6:14). The agricultural yoke image requires brief cultural framing; ensure it is not overapplied by house-church readers into total social withdrawal, contradicting the baseline’s own note that biblical separation is devoted engagement with the world, not withdrawal from it.
Freedom
Approved rendering: آزادی
Transliteration: azadi
Doctrine: The New Covenant versus the Old
Original: ἐλευθερία
Category: Covenant
New term (3:17). آزادی is one of the most politically charged words in contemporary Iranian discourse (a central slogan of protest movements and the 1979 revolution). Not a doctrinal collision per se, but teaching must make clear this is spiritual freedom from sin’s condemning power, never left unqualified in the same sentence, to avoid both misreading and unnecessary security exposure for house-church users.
Conscience
Approved rendering: وجدان
Transliteration: vejdan
Doctrine: Sincerity and Apostolic Authority
Original: συνείδησις
Category: Sanctification
New term (1:12; 4:2; 5:11). وجدان is standard, secular-compatible vocabulary; ensure it is not flattened into mere social conscience/cultural shame (a strong Iranian honor-culture category) but retains its accountability-before-God dimension.
Inner Outer Man
Approved rendering: انسان ظاهری / انسان باطنی
Transliteration: ensan-e zaheri / ensan-e bateni
Doctrine: Suffering and Comfort in Ministry
Original: ὁ ἔξω / ὁ ἔσω ἄνθρωπος
Category: Sanctification
New term (4:16). Compatible with common Persian zâher/bâten religious-philosophical categories; ensure ‘inner man’ renewal is credited specifically to the Spirit’s work through Christ, not generic inward spiritual cultivation.
Godly Grief
Approved rendering: اندوه الهی
Transliteration: anduh-e elahi
Doctrine: Repentance and Godly Grief
Original: λύπη κατὰ θεόν
Category: Sanctification
New term (7:9-10). No major independent collision; ensure the outcome-distinction (repentance leading to life vs. despair leading to death) is retained as the defining marker, not merely emotional intensity.
Ambassador
Approved rendering: سفیر
Transliteration: safir
Doctrine: Ministry of Reconciliation and Ambassadorship
Original: πρεσβευτής / πρεσβεύω
Category: Apostleship
New term (5:20). سفیر is standard, religiously-neutral diplomatic vocabulary in Persian with no automatic prior religious usage; must be qualified (‘سفیر مسیح,’ ambassador of Christ) so the delegated, non-self-originating nature of the authority is unmistakable, given competing apostolic/Imamate-succession authority claims already documented in the baseline.
Boasting
Approved rendering: فخر کردن / به خداوند فخر کردن
Transliteration: fakhr kardan / be Khodavand fakhr kardan
Doctrine: Boasting in the Lord
Rejected alternatives: غرور, تکبر
Original: καυχάομαι / καύχησις / καύχημα
Category: Apostleship
New term (5:12; 10:17-18; 11:16-30; 12:1-11). No independent Islamic-doctrinal collision, but the sharp legitimate/illegitimate distinction (boast in the Lord vs. boast in self/credentials) must be preserved consistently across chs. 5, 10-12; غرور/تکبر reserved exclusively for the unambiguously negative sense to avoid conflating the two senses Paul deliberately holds in tension.
Angel Of Light
Approved rendering: فرشتهٔ نور
Transliteration: fereshte-ye nur
Doctrine: Genuine versus False Apostleship
Original: ἄγγελος φωτός
Category: Apostleship
New term (11:14). Shares the ‘nur’ (light) vocabulary flagged under light_of_gospel; here Satan’s counterfeit light-appearance reinforces rather than undermines that caution — light imagery is capable of dangerous counterfeit and must always be anchored to its true source (God’s glory in Christ).
Satan
Approved rendering: شیطان
Transliteration: Sheytan
Doctrine: Genuine versus False Apostleship
Original: Σατανᾶς
Category: Apostleship
New term (2:11; 11:14; 12:7). Sheytân is shared, well-established vocabulary across the Quranic Iblis/Sheytân figure and Persian Christian usage — genuine common ground — but must be taught as the same personal adversary disguising himself as an angel of light, not merely a folk-symbolic figure or equivalent to the internal nafs (self/ego) treated in Sufi ethics as the primary spiritual enemy.
Signs Of A True Apostle
Approved rendering: نشانههای رسول [واقعی]
Transliteration: neshane-haye rasul-e vaqe’i
Doctrine: Genuine versus False Apostleship
Original: τὰ σημεῖα τοῦ ἀποστόλου
Category: Apostleship
New term (12:12). Signs/wonders vocabulary requires care that it not be read through a folk-Islamic miracle-worker (karâmat) framework detached from apostolic office and gospel content.
Examine Yourselves
Approved rendering: خود را بیازمایید
Transliteration: khod ra biyazma’id
Doctrine: Sincerity and Apostolic Authority
Original: ἑαυτοὺς δοκιμάζετε
Category: Apostleship
New term (13:5). No independent doctrinal collision, but should be taught with pastoral sensitivity given how costly a genuine self-examination of Christian faith identity can be for Muslim-background believers weighing the personal and social costs of open confession.
Eternal Weight Of Glory
Approved rendering: جلال ابدی
Transliteration: jalal-e abadi
Doctrine: Suffering and Comfort in Ministry
Original: τὸ αἰώνιον βάρος δόξης
Category: Ministry and Suffering
New term (4:17), reuses the baseline’s جلال entry and its Sufi jalal-jamal devotional-poetic resonance note. Preserve the striking ‘weight’ image rather than flattening it into generic mystical splendor.
Thorn In The Flesh
Approved rendering: خار در جسم
Transliteration: khar dar jesm
Doctrine: Power in Weakness
Original: σκόλοψ τῇ σαρκί
Category: Ministry and Suffering
New term (12:7). Standard idiom-adjacent image translatable relatively directly into Persian; low independent collision, though note the recurring ‘flesh’ (sarx/jesm) vocabulary flagged under according_to_flesh.
Seal Guarantee
Approved rendering: مهر / ضامن، پیشپرداخت
Transliteration: mohr / zamen, pish-pardakht
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: σφραγίς / ἀρραβών
Category: Salvation
New term (1:22; 5:5). Both mohr and zâmen/pish-pardâkht are standard, non-religiously-loaded commercial/legal Persian vocabulary; draw out the connection to the baseline’s Critical ‘adoption’ and inheritance themes, since Iran’s own weaker legal custodianship default (sarparasti) is directly relevant to what the Spirit as arrabōn guarantees.
Equality In Giving
Approved rendering: برابری
Transliteration: barabari
Doctrine: Generosity and Grace in Giving
Original: ἰσότης
Category: Giving
New term (8:13-15). Barâbari carries some resonance with modern Iranian political-economic equality/socialism-adjacent rhetoric; ensure the specific voluntary, church-family mutual-care sense is retained rather than a coerced economic-equality program.
Poverty Of Christ
Approved rendering: فقیر شدن مسیح
Transliteration: faqir shodan-e Masih
Doctrine: Generosity and Grace in Giving
Original: ἡ πτωχεία τοῦ Χριστοῦ
Category: Giving
New term (8:9). Note potential resonance with the Sufi/dervish spiritual virtue of faqr (voluntary spiritual poverty) — a genuine cultural bridge point, but must be anchored to the specific historical incarnation event rather than a generalized ascetic ideal.
Tent Body
Approved rendering: خیمه
Transliteration: kheymeh
Doctrine: Bodily Resurrection and Hope
Original: σκῆνος
Category: Eschatology
New term (5:1, 4). Kheymeh carries positive OT tabernacle resonance and is standard vocabulary; teach alongside resurrection-body hope so it is not read as implying the eventual dispensability of embodiment altogether.
Third Heaven
Approved rendering: آسمان سوم
Transliteration: asman-e sevvom
Doctrine: Paradise and Heavenly Vision
Original: ἕως τρίτου οὐρανοῦ
Category: Eschatology
New term (12:2). Requires brief ancient tiered-heaven cosmology framing but no independent doctrinal collision beyond the paradise entry, to which it is directly linked in the same verse.
Low Risk Terms
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: شکرگزاری
Transliteration: shokr-gozari
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Original: εὐχαριστία
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). Recurring throughout 2 Corinthians (1:11; 2:14; 4:15; 8:16; 9:11-12, 15); no new risk.
Exhort
Approved rendering: تشویق کردن
Transliteration: tashviq kardan
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Original: παρακαλέω
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package (unchanged). In 5:20 Paul’s imploring appeal (‘we implore you… be reconciled to God’) shares the same Greek root (parakaleō) as paraklēsis/comfort (ch.1, see comfort); render as التماس کردن/تشویق کردن here, distinct from تسلی, and flag the shared-root cross-reference for consistency training even though the Persian renderings differ.
Holy Kiss
Approved rendering: بوسهٔ مقدس
Transliteration: buse-ye moqaddas
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Original: φίλημα ἅγιον
Category: Church
New term (13:12). Requires cultural-contextual adaptation notes for Phase 2 (gender-segregation and public-decorum norms in Iranian house-church settings may call for an equivalent respectful greeting rather than a literal kiss) — a practical adaptation matter, not a doctrinal risk in the term itself.
Be Restored Complete
Approved rendering: کامل شوید
Transliteration: kamel shavid
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: اصلاح شوید
Original: καταρτίζεσθε
Category: Church
New term (13:9, 11). اصلاح شوید is rejected as the primary rendering because اصلاح carries Iranian state ‘eslâh-talab’ (reformist) political connotations; کامل شوید is the safer default.
Triumphal Procession Fragrance
Approved rendering: جشن پیروزی / عطر خوش
Transliteration: jashn-e piruzi / atr-e khosh
Doctrine: Suffering and Comfort in Ministry
Original: θριαμβεύω / εὐωδία
Category: Ministry and Suffering
New term (2:14-16). Culturally unfamiliar Roman-military and cultic-sacrifice imagery requires brief explanatory framing but carries no independent doctrinal collision.
Referenced passages