Core Glossary
Colossians Core Glossary — English → Persian
Legend: Status = Reused (already fixed in the baseline translation_memory.json, must not be altered) or New (introduced in this document for Colossians; candidate for addition to translation memory in Phase 2 Step 3 with the risk tier below). Risk tiers follow the baseline’s Critical / High / Medium / Low definitions exactly (see doctrine_risk_registry.json). Chapters lists every chapter of Colossians in which the term is load-bearing.
A. Reused Terms (from baseline Romans Language Package — exact rendering enforced)
| Term (English) | Persian | Transliteration | Risk | Doctrine Link | Chapters | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| God | خدا | Khoda | Critical | Deity of Christ | 1–4 | No deviation permitted |
| Christ / Messiah | مسیح | Masih | Critical | Messianic Promise | 1–4 | |
| Jesus | عیسی | Isa | Critical | Lordship of Christ | 1, 3, 4 | |
| Lord | خداوند | Khodavand | Critical | Lordship of Christ | 1–4 | Do not conflate with household ارباب (see Household Codes, below) |
| Holy Spirit | روحالقدس | Ruh-ol-Qods | Critical | Sanctification | 1 | Col 1:8 “love in the Spirit” |
| Father | پدر | pedar | Critical | Adoption into God’s Family | 1, 3 | |
| Gospel | انجیل | Injil | High | Gospel | 1 | |
| Grace | فیض | feyz | High | Grace | 1, 3, 4 | Cross-reference with πλήρωμα/fullness emanation risk below |
| Faith | ایمان | iman | High | Faith | 1, 2 | |
| Apostle | رسول | rasul | High | Apostleship | 1 | |
| Called / Calling | دعوتشده / دعوت | da’vat-shode / da’vat | High / Medium | Divine Calling | 3 | Col 3:15 “called in one body” |
| Holy | مقدس | moqaddas | Medium/High | Sanctification | 1, 3 | |
| Saints | مقدسین | moqaddasin | Medium/High | Sainthood | 1, 3 | |
| Church | کلیسا | kelisa | High | Church as God’s People | 1, 4 | See also new term “house-church” below |
| Kingdom of God (Son’s kingdom) | ملکوت (خدا / پسر او) | malakut(-e khoda / pesar-e u) | Medium | Kingdom Mission | 1 | Col 1:13 specifies “the kingdom of his beloved Son” |
| Peace | سلام | salam | Medium | Peace with God | 1, 3 | Never آرامش |
| Thanksgiving | شکرگزاری | shokr-gozari | Low | Thanksgiving | 1–4 | |
| Resurrection | قیامت | qiyamat | Critical | Resurrection of Christ | 1, 2, 3 | Col 1:18 “firstborn from the dead”; Col 2:12; 3:1 |
| Glory | جلال | jalal | Medium | Deity of Christ | 1, 3 | Col 1:27 “Christ in you, the hope of glory” |
| Power of God | قدرت خدا | qodrat-e khoda | Medium | Power of God for Salvation | 1 | |
| Gentiles | غیریهودیان | gheyr-yahudian | Medium | Unity of Jews and Gentiles | 1, 3 | Col 3:11 “no Greek and Jew” |
| Providence | تدبیر الهی | tadbir-e elahi | Medium | Providence | 1 | Col 1:17 “in him all things hold together” |
| Incarnation | تجسد | tajassod | Critical | Incarnation | 1, 2 | Col 1:15-20; 2:9 |
B. New Terms Introduced for Colossians
| Term (English) | Persian | Transliteration | Risk | Doctrine Link | Chapters | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image (of God) | صورت | surat | Critical | Supremacy of Christ over Creation | 1 | Collides with the debated hadith of Adam “in His form” (ʿalā ṣūratihi); teach as Christ’s own exact self-disclosure, not a created copy |
| Firstborn | نخستزاده | nokhost-zade | Critical | Supremacy of Christ over Creation | 1 | Rank/inheritance sense, never chronological; guards against an Arian “first-created” misreading |
| Fullness / Pleroma | پُری (تمامی) | pori (tamami) | Critical | Fullness of Deity in Christ Bodily | 1, 2 | Direct structural parallel to Illuminationist/Mulla Sadra emanationist metaphysics (cf. baseline’s feyz note); teach as total, undivided deity, not one emanation among many |
| Reconciliation | آشتی دادن | āshti dādan | High | Reconciliation through the Cross | 1 | Cosmic scope (“all things”); distinguish from Karbala/Hussein martyrdom-intercession pattern (cf. baseline salvation note) |
| Head | سر | sar | High | Christ as Head of the Church | 1, 2 | Source/authority sense, organic not merely honorary |
| Body (ecclesiological / “reality” senses) | بدن / اصل (واقعیت) | badan / asl (vaqe’iyat) | High | Christ as Head of the Church | 1, 2, 3 | Same Greek word σῶμα used for physical body, church-body, and “substance” vs. shadow (2:17) — context-sensitive rendering required |
| Mystery | راز | raz | Critical | Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism | 1, 2, 4 | Must be taught as now-disclosed to all, against both Sufi mystical-secret and Shia esoteric (bāṭinī) initiate-only categories |
| Thrones / Dominions / Rulers / Authorities | تختها / فرمانرواییها / ریاستها / قدرتها | takht-ha / farmanravayi-ha / riyasat-ha / qodrat-ha | High | Supremacy of Christ over Creation | 1, 2 | Engages Zoroastrian angelology, Iranian astrology, and Islamic angelic hierarchy simultaneously; teach as subordinate to, not alongside, Christ |
| Preeminence | برتری / مقام نخست | bartari / maqam-e nokhost | Medium | Supremacy of Christ over Creation | 1 | |
| Deity / Godhead (θεότης) | الوهیت | olahiyat | Critical | Fullness of Deity in Christ Bodily | 2 | Aligns with baseline’s existing doctrine label “الوهیت مسیح” (deity_of_christ); Col 2:9 is the book’s central proof-text |
| Bodily (σωματικῶς) | به طور جسمانی | be towr-e jesmani | Critical | Fullness of Deity in Christ Bodily | 2 | Rules out visionary/temporary-only indwelling readings |
| Philosophy | فلسفه | falsafeh | Critical | Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism | 2 | Must retain Paul’s qualifying clause (“according to human tradition… not according to Christ”) to avoid condemning the honored Persian falsafeh/hekmat tradition wholesale |
| Wisdom (σοφία) | حکمت | hekmat | High | Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism | 1, 2, 3, 4 | Positive counterpart to φιλοσοφία; same root as Mulla Sadra’s حکمت متعالیه — teach Christ as true hekmat’s sole source |
| Elemental spirits / elements of the world | عناصر جهان | anasir-e jahan | High | Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism | 2 | Engages Iranian astrological practice (nujum) directly; Christ’s victory (2:15) must be taught as decisive, not merely explanatory |
| Tradition of men | تعالیم انسانی | ta’alim-e ensani | High | Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism | 2 | Never render with سنت (Sunnah) — avoids Sunni-Shia sectarian collision |
| Handwriting / bond of debt | سند (بدهی) | sanad (-e bedehi) | Medium | Reconciliation through the Cross | 2 | Legal-metaphor term; clarify as record of the law’s charges, cancelled |
| Triumph | پیروزی (آشکار) | piruzi (āshkār) | Medium | Reconciliation through the Cross | 2 | Roman triumphal-procession imagery may need brief explanatory gloss |
| Shadow (vs. substance) | سایه (در برابر اصل) | sāye (dar barābar-e asl) | Medium | Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism | 2 | Paired with body/reality entry above |
| Worship of angels | پرستش فرشتگان | parastesh-e fereshtegan | High | Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism | 2 | Parallel to baseline’s Critical intercession/shafa’at note — displaced devotion to intermediary beings |
| False humility / self-made religion (asceticism) | تواضع دروغین / دین خودساخته | tavazo’-e doroghin / din-e khodsakhte | Critical | Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism | 2 | Directly engages Muharram self-mortification piety; requires careful, non-dismissive pastoral framing |
| Circumcision / uncircumcision | ختنه / نامختونی | khatne / na-makhtuni | Medium | Union with Christ | 1, 2, 3 | Spiritual, not physical, reality in view |
| Baptism | تعمید | ta’mid | Medium | Union with Christ | 2 | Distinguish from Islamic ritual washing (wudu/ghusl) |
| Buried with / raised with Christ | با او دفن شدن / با او برخاستن | ba u dafn shodan / ba u barkhastan | High | Union with Christ | 2, 3 | Extends Romans 6 union-with-Christ framework into Colossians |
| Old self | انسان کهنه | ensan-e kohne | High | Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New | 3 | Connects to baseline’s Christian Identity in Christ doctrine |
| New self | انسان جدید | ensan-e jadid | High | Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New | 3 | Deliberate echo of εἰκών (“image”) from 1:15 |
| Put off / put on | دور انداختن / پوشیدن | dur andakhtan / pushidan | Medium | Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New | 3 | Clothing metaphor; decisive act, not gradual |
| Love (ἀγάπη) | محبت | mahabbat | High | Union with Christ / Household Codes | 1, 3 | The “bond of perfection” binding all virtues; governs household ethics |
| Hope (ἐλπίς) | امید | omid | Medium | Supremacy of Christ over Creation | 1 | Settled certainty, not wishful expectation |
| Full/exact knowledge (ἐπίγνωσις) | معرفت | ma’refat | Critical | Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism | 1, 2 | Sharp collision with Sufi mystical marifat (experiential gnosis via ascent); must be taught as revealed, not mystically attained |
| Redemption (ἀπολύτρωσις) | رهایی (با فدیه) | raha’i (ba fadiyeh) | Critical | Reconciliation through the Cross | 1 | Ransom-price concept; anchor to Christ’s specific historical death, distinct from Karbala framing |
| Forgiveness of sins | آمرزش گناهان | amorzesh-e gonahan | High | Reconciliation through the Cross | 1, 3 | |
| Power/dominion of darkness | قدرت تاریکی / سلطنت تاریکی | qodrat-e tariki / saltanat-e tariki | High | Supremacy of Christ over Creation | 1 | Zoroastrian dualistic-cosmic-struggle risk: Christ’s decisive victory, not an ongoing balanced cosmic battle |
| Inheritance (κληρονομία) | میراث | miras | High | Union with Christ / Household Codes | 1, 3 | Extends baseline adoption/inheritance doctrine into household ethics |
| Idolatry (εἰδωλολατρία) | بتپرستی | bot-parasti | Medium | Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New | 3 | Paul relocates idolatry to covetousness of the heart |
| Wrath of God (ὀργὴ τοῦ θεοῦ) | غضب خدا | ghazab-e khoda | Medium | Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New | 3 | |
| Struggle / labor (ἀγωνίζομαι) | تلاش کردن / زحمت کشیدن | talash kardan / zahmat keshidan | High | Christ-Centered Ministry | 1, 2, 4 | FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION: never جهاد or any jihad-root vocabulary |
| Household submission (ὑποτάσσω) | تابع بودن / مطیع بودن | tabe’ budan / mote’ budan | High | Household Codes | 3 | ”In the Lord”-anchored, reciprocal; distinguish from Iranian civil-law patriarchal defaults |
| Obedience (ὑπακούω, household) | اطاعت کردن | eta’at kardan | High | Household Codes | 3 | Shares root with baseline اطاعت ایمانی (obedience of faith); context-sensitive from that doctrine |
| Master / slave (household κύριος/δοῦλος) | ارباب / غلام | arbab / gholam | Medium | Household Codes | 3, 4 | ارباب must be kept distinct from خداوند (the Lord); Greek’s deliberate κύριος pun (4:1) needs a translator’s note |
| Open door for the word | دری برای کلام | dari baray-e kalam | High | Warning against False Teaching / Mission | 4 | Directly resonant with real safety risk of evangelism in the Iranian context (cf. baseline evangelism doctrine) |
| House-church | کلیسای خانگی | kelisa-ye khānegi | High | Christ as Head of the Church | 4 | NT precedent (Nympha, 4:15) for the underground house-church reality named in the baseline’s church doctrine note |
| Full assurance (πληροφορία) | اطمینان کامل | etminan-e kamel | High | Union with Christ | 2 | Connects to baseline’s Critical assurance_of_salvation doctrine |
C. Chapter Coverage Summary
- Chapter 1: Core-passage Christology (image, firstborn, fullness, reconciliation, headship) plus redemption, forgiveness, mystery, kingdom, inheritance, hope, love, knowledge. Heaviest concentration of Critical terms in the book.
- Chapter 2: Warning against false teaching/syncretism — philosophy, elemental spirits, tradition of men, deity/bodily (2:9, matching Romans-registry deity_of_christ doctrine), circumcision, handwriting, triumph, shadow/substance, worship of angels, false asceticism, baptism, union with Christ (buried/raised with).
- Chapter 3: Union with Christ continued (old/new self, put off/put on), vice/virtue lists, idolatry, wrath, and the full household code (submission, obedience, master/slave, inheritance).
- Chapter 4: Prayer/mission vocabulary, imprisonment and house-church terms with direct resonance to the underground Iranian house-church context; otherwise reuses terms established in chapters 1–3 (wisdom, ministry, thanksgiving).
No chapter of Colossians introduces zero new theological vocabulary; all four chapters are represented above with load-bearing, chapter-specific terms in addition to the Reused baseline terms in Section A.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: خدا
Transliteration: Khoda
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: الله
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package; no changes. The invisible God of whom Christ is the image (Col 1:15).
Messiah
Approved rendering: مسیح
Transliteration: Masih
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Inherited from Romans package; no changes. Rendered ‘Christ / Messiah’ in Colossians glossary; letter’s central subject, supreme over creation and the church.
Jesus
Approved rendering: عیسی
Transliteration: Isa
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package; no changes.
Lord
Approved rendering: خداوند
Transliteration: Khodavand
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: سرور
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package; no changes. In Colossians also engages Paul’s household-code pun (4:1, earthly ‘masters’ themselves have a Master in heaven) — see new term ‘master_slave’ for the strict lexical separation this requires (ارباب must never be conflated with خداوند).
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: روحالقدس
Transliteration: Ruh-ol-Qods
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: πνεῦμα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package; no changes. Col 1:8, ‘love in the Spirit.‘
Father
Approved rendering: پدر
Transliteration: pedar
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package; no changes. Col 1:12, qualified believers to share the saints’ inheritance; Col 1:13, transferred into the Son’s kingdom.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: قیامت
Transliteration: qiyamat
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Original: ἀνάστασις / πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package; no changes. Col 1:18 (‘firstborn from the dead’), 2:12, 3:1. Must not subordinate Christ’s own resurrection to a Mahdi-centered eschatological framework.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: تجسد
Transliteration: tajassod
Doctrine: Incarnation
Original: θεότης … σωματικῶς
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package; no changes. Col 1:15-20 and Col 2:9 (‘the fullness of deity dwells bodily’); pair explicitly with the new terms ‘deity_godhead’ and ‘bodily.‘
Son Of God
Approved rendering: پسر خدا
Transliteration: pesar-e khoda
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: برگزیده خدا
Inherited from Romans package; no changes. Col 1:13 (‘kingdom of his beloved Son’), Col 1:15. NEVER برگزیده خدا (the rejected, controversial Hezare No rendering) — see baseline note on the documented Iranian Protestant/house-church backlash.
Image Of God
Approved rendering: صورت
Transliteration: surat
Doctrine: The Supremacy and Sufficiency of Christ over Creation
Rejected alternatives: توصیف طولانیتر مانند «نمایش دقیق و شخصی خدا» در متن اصلی (reserved for footnote use only)
Original: εἰκών
Category: Christology
Col 1:15, echoed 3:10. Collides with the debated hadith of Adam created ‘ʿalā ṣūratihi’ (‘in His form’), which Persian Muslims may already associate with صورت. Must always be paired with explicit teaching that Christ is God’s own exact, personal, permanent self-disclosure — a categorically stronger claim than that hadith makes, not a created copy.
Firstborn
Approved rendering: نخستزاده
Transliteration: nokhost-zade
Doctrine: The Supremacy and Sufficiency of Christ over Creation
Rejected alternatives: اول آفریده شده (“first created” — imports the Arian reading directly and must never be used)
Original: πρωτότοκος
Category: Christology
Col 1:15, 1:18 (‘firstborn from the dead’). The historic Arian proof-text. Must always be anchored to v.17’s ‘before all things’ (پیش از همه چیز) and to the rank/inheritance sense (Psalm 89:27, David as God’s ‘firstborn’), never left standalone or expanded toward a chronological/origin reading.
Fullness Pleroma
Approved rendering: پُری (تمامی)
Transliteration: pori (tamami)
Doctrine: Fullness of Deity in Christ Bodily
Rejected alternatives: پلیروما (bare transliteration — theologically opaque to a general readership)
Original: πλήρωμα
Category: Christology
Col 1:19, 2:9. The single highest-risk term in the letter: the Colossian heresy’s own graded-emanation cosmology maps with unusual precision onto Illuminationist/Mulla Sadra Transcendent Theosophy metaphysics, already flagged Critical for فیض in the baseline. Must always be reinforced as total, undivided deity, never one partial emanation among many — this repetition is doctrinally load-bearing, not stylistic.
Mystery
Approved rendering: راز
Transliteration: raz
Doctrine: The Mystery Revealed in Christ
Original: μυστήριον
Category: False Teaching and Syncretism
Col 1:26-27, 2:2, 4:3. Double collision: Sufi poetic راز (disclosed only to the mystically illuminated) and Shia esoteric/bāṭinī transmission of hidden asrār through the Imams. Every occurrence must state the mystery is now openly disclosed to ALL the saints — the deliberate structural opposite of both neighboring categories, with no ongoing esoteric gatekeeper class.
Deity Godhead
Approved rendering: الوهیت
Transliteration: olahiyat
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: الهی بودن (“being divine/godlike” — too weak, softens the abstract essence-of-deity claim)
Original: θεότης
Category: Christology
Col 2:9, θεότης. The book’s central proof-text for Christ’s deity; aligns exactly with the doctrine label الوهیت مسیح already fixed for deity_of_christ in this package. Must never soften toward merely ‘godlike.‘
Bodily
Approved rendering: به طور جسمانی
Transliteration: be towr-e jesmani
Doctrine: Fullness of Deity in Christ Bodily
Rejected alternatives: جسمانی (bare adjective alone — does not convey “in bodily manner/fashion”)
Original: σωματικῶς
Category: Christology
Col 2:9, σωματικῶς. Rules out any reading of Christ’s deity as a temporary spiritual/visionary indwelling; must be rendered so a real, physical, historical incarnation is unmistakable. Pair explicitly with تجسد (incarnation).
Philosophy
Approved rendering: فلسفه
Transliteration: falsafeh
Doctrine: Wisdom in Christ versus Human Philosophy
Original: φιλοσοφία
Category: False Teaching and Syncretism
Col 2:8. Persia’s own honored philosophical-theological tradition (Avicenna through Mulla Sadra’s حکمت متعالیه) means Paul’s qualifying clause (‘according to human tradition… not according to Christ’) must NEVER be dropped; the target is a specific syncretistic teaching, not philosophical reasoning as such.
False Asceticism
Approved rendering: تواضع دروغین / دین خودساخته
Transliteration: tavazo’-e doroghin / din-e khodsakhte
Doctrine: Worship of Angels and False Asceticism
Original: ταπεινοφροσύνη (negative) / ἐθελοθρησκία
Category: False Teaching and Syncretism
Col 2:18, 2:20-23. Directly engages Muharram self-mortification piety for Imam Hussein. Requires the most pastorally careful framing in the letter: Paul does not condemn bodily discipline as such, only the claim that self-imposed severity earns spiritual standing. Must never be flattened into a blanket, disrespectful dismissal of Shia devotional life.
Full Knowledge Epignosis
Approved rendering: معرفت
Transliteration: ma’refat
Doctrine: Wisdom in Christ versus Human Philosophy
Original: ἐπίγνωσις
Category: False Teaching and Syncretism
Col 1:9-10, 2:2-3, ἐπίγνωσις. Sharp collision with Sufi mystical marifat, experiential gnosis attained through spiritual ascent; must be taught as revealed by God to ALL believers through the gospel, never mystically attained by an elite few.
Redemption
Approved rendering: رهایی (با فدیه)
Transliteration: raha’i (ba fadiyeh)
Doctrine: Redemption and Forgiveness of Sins
Original: ἀπολύτρωσις
Category: Salvation
Col 1:14, ἀπολύτρωσις. A price paid by an innocent, suffering divine-human figure risks Karbala/Hussein martyrdom-intercession assimilation; must be anchored specifically to Christ’s own historical, once-for-all ‘blood’ (خون او), never left as an abstract ransom-price concept.
High Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: انجیل
Transliteration: Injil
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: مژده
Original: εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package; no changes. Col 1:5-6, 1:23 (‘word of truth,’ ‘bearing fruit,’ ‘hope… you heard’); reinforce as the NT record’s own trustworthiness, never a conceded corrupted predecessor per the shared tahrif assumption.
Grace
Approved rendering: فیض
Transliteration: feyz
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: لطف
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package; no changes. In Colossians the feyz-as-emanation risk is reinforced by the new term ‘fullness_pleroma’ (Col 2:9), a structurally parallel emanationist collision; both must be corrected toward a personal, freely willed gift at every occurrence (1:2, 1:6, 3:16, 4:6).
Faith
Approved rendering: ایمان
Transliteration: iman
Doctrine: Faith
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package; no changes. Col 1:23’s ‘continue… stable and steadfast in the faith’ risks being read as creedal perseverance in a tenet-list (echoing Shia iman’s Imamate-inclusive structure) rather than ongoing personal trust in Christ specifically.
Apostle
Approved rendering: رسول
Transliteration: rasul
Doctrine: Apostleship
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package; no changes. Col 1:1, Paul’s self-identification.
Called
Approved rendering: دعوتشده
Transliteration: da’vat-shode
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Original: κλητός / καλέω
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package; no changes. Col 3:15, ‘the peace of Christ… to which you were called in one body’ — corporate calling sense.
Church
Approved rendering: کلیسا
Transliteration: kelisa
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: امت
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package; no changes. Col 1:18, 1:24 (universal church, Christ’s body) and Col 4:15 (Nympha’s local house-church) — see new term ‘house_church’ for the domestic-assembly sense specific to 4:15.
Sin
Approved rendering: گناه
Transliteration: gonah
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Original: ἁμαρτία / ἁμαρτίαι
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package; no changes. Col 1:14, forgiveness of sins; Col 3:5-9, the vice list. Distinguish from ritual impurity or Chinvat/mizan deeds-weighing.
Reconciliation
Approved rendering: آشتی دادن
Transliteration: āshti dādan
Doctrine: Reconciliation through the Cross
Original: ἀποκαταλλάξαι
Category: Salvation
Col 1:20-22. Structurally resembles the Karbala/Hussein martyrdom-intercession devotional pattern; must state explicitly and repeatedly that the offended party (God) and the reconciling agent (Christ, fully God) are the SAME divine Person — absent from the Karbala pattern.
Head
Approved rendering: سر
Transliteration: sar
Doctrine: Christ as Head of the Church
Rejected alternatives: رئیس (too administrative/honorific-only)
Original: κεφαλή
Category: Christology
Col 1:18, 2:19. Persian’s hierarchical courtesy register (taarof) risks flattening this into a merely honorific title; always retain the organic body-metaphor pairing so authority and life-source are both present.
Body
Approved rendering: بدن / اصل (واقعیت)
Transliteration: badan / asl (vaqe’iyat)
Doctrine: Christ as Head of the Church
Original: σῶμα
Category: Christology
Col 1:18,24; 2:9,11; 3:15 (physical/ecclesial body, بدن) and Col 2:17 (‘substance’ vs. ceremonial shadow, اصل/واقعیت). Same Greek word, three senses — render context-sensitively so the senses are not confused.
Cosmic Powers
Approved rendering: تختها / فرمانرواییها / ریاستها / قدرتها / عناصر جهان
Transliteration: takht-ha / farmanravayi-ha / riyasat-ha / qodrat-ha / anasir-e jahan
Doctrine: Cosmic Powers Subordinate to Christ
Original: θρόνοι, κυριότητες, ἀρχαί, ἐξουσίαι / στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου
Category: False Teaching and Syncretism
Col 1:16 (fourfold list), 2:8,20 (elemental spirits/στοιχεῖα). Engages Zoroastrian angelology (Amesha Spentas), Iranian popular astrology (nujum), and the Islamic angelic hierarchy simultaneously. Must be taught as decisively subordinate to Christ’s sole sovereignty, never merely listed alongside him.
Wisdom
Approved rendering: حکمت
Transliteration: hekmat
Doctrine: Wisdom in Christ versus Human Philosophy
Original: σοφία
Category: False Teaching and Syncretism
Col 1:9,28; 2:3; 3:16; 4:5. Positive counterpart to فلسفه; shares its root directly with Mulla Sadra’s حکمت متعالیه. Teach Christ explicitly as حکمت’s sole source and treasury (‘in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom,’ 2:3), never a rival philosophical system.
Tradition Of Men
Approved rendering: تعالیم انسانی
Transliteration: ta’alim-e ensani
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Rejected alternatives: سنت (“tradition” also used for the Islamic Sunnah — forbidden due to live Sunni-Shia sectarian collision)
Original: παράδοσις τῶν ἀνθρώπων
Category: False Teaching and Syncretism
Col 2:8. NEVER render with سنت. تعالیم انسانی preserves Paul’s contrast between human-originated teaching and teaching ‘according to Christ’ without the sectarian collision.
Worship Of Angels
Approved rendering: پرستش فرشتگان
Transliteration: parastesh-e fereshtegan
Doctrine: Worship of Angels and False Asceticism
Original: θρησκεία τῶν ἀγγέλων
Category: False Teaching and Syncretism
Col 2:18. Parallel to the baseline’s Critical شفاعت (intercession) note — devotion displaced toward intermediary beings rather than directed to Christ alone.
Buried Raised With Christ
Approved rendering: با او دفن شدن / با او برخاستن
Transliteration: ba u dafn shodan / ba u barkhastan
Doctrine: Union with Christ (Died and Raised With Him)
Original: συνθάπτω / συνεγείρω
Category: Sanctification
Col 2:12, 3:1. Extends the Romans 6 union-with-Christ framework; risk of assimilation to ritual-purification categories rather than a literal, participatory spiritual union with Christ’s own death and resurrection.
Old Self
Approved rendering: انسان کهنه
Transliteration: ensan-e kohne
Doctrine: Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New
Original: ὁ παλαιὸς ἄνθρωπος
Category: Sanctification
Col 3:9. Must convey a decisive, completed removal, not a gradual moral improvement of the same self.
New Self
Approved rendering: انسان جدید
Transliteration: ensan-e jadid
Doctrine: Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New
Original: ὁ νέος ἄνθρωπος
Category: Sanctification
Col 3:10, ‘renewed… after the image of its creator.’ Deliberately echoes صورت (‘image’) from 1:15; this echo must be preserved so the connection to Christ as the true Image is not lost.
Love
Approved rendering: محبت
Transliteration: mahabbat
Doctrine: Household Codes
Original: ἀγάπη
Category: Sanctification
Col 1:4,8; 3:14 (‘bond of perfection,’ binding all virtues); 3:19 (husbands’ command). Self-giving, covenantal love; must retain its self-giving, non-erotic sense distinct from Sufi Beloved/lover devotional vocabulary.
Forgiveness Of Sins
Approved rendering: آمرزش گناهان
Transliteration: amorzesh-e gonahan
Doctrine: Redemption and Forgiveness of Sins
Original: ἄφεσις τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν
Category: Salvation
Col 1:14; 2:13-14. Sins fully cancelled through Christ’s death, not weighed on a mizan/Chinvat-Bridge-style balance of deeds.
Power Of Darkness
Approved rendering: قدرت تاریکی / سلطنت تاریکی
Transliteration: qodrat-e tariki / saltanat-e tariki
Doctrine: The Supremacy and Sufficiency of Christ over Creation
Original: ἐξουσία τοῦ σκότους
Category: Salvation
Col 1:13. Zoroastrian dualistic light/darkness cosmology creates risk of this being read as an ongoing, roughly balanced cosmic struggle; pair consistently with 2:15’s triumph language to teach a decisive, completed rescue and victory.
Inheritance
Approved rendering: میراث
Transliteration: miras
Doctrine: Household Codes
Rejected alternatives: سرپرستی (rejected per baseline’s adoption entry — implies custodianship, not full inheritance)
Original: κληρονομία / κλῆρος
Category: Church
Col 1:12 (‘inheritance of the saints in light’) and Col 3:24 (household-labor reward). Extends the baseline’s adoption/inheritance doctrine (full rights, against Iranian civil law’s weaker سرپرستی default) into corporate and household contexts alike.
Struggle Labor
Approved rendering: تلاش کردن / زحمت کشیدن
Transliteration: talash kardan / zahmat keshidan
Doctrine: Prayer and Mission under Persecution
Rejected alternatives: جهاد (FORBIDDEN — any jihad-root vocabulary; heavily loaded with religiously sanctioned struggle in Islamic, including Shia, discourse)
Original: ἀγωνιζόμενος
Category: Christ-Centered Ministry
Col 1:29; 2:1; 4:12, ἀγωνιζόμενος. Use only neutral effort/labor vocabulary; never jihad-root vocabulary under any circumstance.
Household Submission
Approved rendering: تابع بودن / مطیع بودن
Transliteration: tabe’ budan / mote’ budan
Doctrine: Household Codes
Original: ὑποτάσσεσθε
Category: Household
Col 3:18, ὑποτάσσεσθε. Must retain the ‘in the Lord’ (در خداوند) qualifier and the reciprocal commands (husbands: love, do not be harsh) at every occurrence, distinguishing Paul’s Christ-shaped mutuality from Iran’s existing fiqh-derived patriarchal household defaults.
Obedience Household
Approved rendering: اطاعت کردن
Transliteration: eta’at kardan
Doctrine: Household Codes
Original: ὑπακούετε
Category: Household
Col 3:20 (children), 3:22 (bondservants), ὑπακούετε. Shares its root with the baseline’s اطاعت ایمانی (obedience of faith); render context-sensitively as a distinct household-ethic sense, not the soteriological doctrine.
Open Door For Word
Approved rendering: دری برای کلام
Transliteration: dari baray-e kalam
Doctrine: Prayer and Mission under Persecution
Original: θύρα τοῦ λόγου
Category: Mission
Col 4:3, θύρα τοῦ λόγου. No natural Persian idiom exists; retain the literal compound rather than domesticating it, since domestication risks losing the missionary-opportunity sense. Directly resonant with the real safety risk of open evangelism for underground house-church believers.
House Church
Approved rendering: کلیسای خانگی
Transliteration: kelisa-ye khānegi
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Original: ἐκκλησία κατ’ οἶκον
Category: Church
Col 4:15, ἐκκλησία κατ’ οἶκον (Nympha’s house-church). The NT’s own textual precedent for the underground house-church reality already central to the baseline’s church doctrine; teach as validating, not merely tolerating, the house-church model.
Full Assurance
Approved rendering: اطمینان کامل
Transliteration: etminan-e kamel
Doctrine: Hope and Assurance
Original: πληροφορία
Category: Faith
Col 2:2, πληροφορία. Connects to the baseline’s Critical assurance_of_salvation doctrine; teach as settled certainty grounded in Christ, against mainstream Islamic piety’s caution toward presuming one’s own final standing.
Prisoner Desmios
Approved rendering: زندانی
Transliteration: zendani
Doctrine: Prayer and Mission under Persecution
Col 4:3,18, δέσμιος. Paul’s literal imprisonment for the gospel; directly resonant with the real, present imprisonment risk faced by underground house-church believers and leaders in Iran today. Do not neutralize into a purely historical biographical footnote.
New Humanity
Approved rendering: انسانیت جدید
Transliteration: ensaniyat-e jadid
Doctrine: Christian Identity and New Humanity
Col 3:9-11, ‘no Greek and Jew… Christ is all and in all.’ Identity relocated entirely in Christ over ethnic, religious, and social markers; departure from an inherited Muslim identity carries unusually high personal and social cost in the Iranian context.
Medium Risk Terms
Calling
Approved rendering: دعوت
Transliteration: da’vat
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Original: κλῆσις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package; no changes.
Holy
Approved rendering: مقدس
Transliteration: moqaddas
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package; no changes. Col 3:12, believers as God’s ‘holy and beloved’ chosen ones.
Saints
Approved rendering: مقدسین
Transliteration: moqaddasin
Doctrine: Sainthood
Original: ἅγιοι
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package; no changes. Col 1:2, 1:26 — corporate address, and recipients of the now-disclosed mystery; never an ascetic or shrine-venerated elite.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: ملکوت خدا / ملکوت پسر او
Transliteration: malakut-e khoda / malakut-e pesar-e u
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ υἱοῦ
Category: Kingdom
Inherited/extended from Romans package. Col 1:13 specifies ‘the kingdom of his beloved Son’ (ملکوت پسر او); distinguish God’s/the Son’s present spiritual reign from Iran’s own religious-political governing structure (Velayat-e Faqih).
Peace
Approved rendering: سلام
Transliteration: salam
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: آرامش
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package; no changes. Col 3:15, ‘the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.’ Never آرامش.
Glory
Approved rendering: جلال
Transliteration: jalal
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package; no changes. Col 1:27, ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory.‘
Power Of God
Approved rendering: قدرت خدا
Transliteration: qodrat-e khoda
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Original: δύναμις
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package; no changes. Col 1:11, endurance/patience; also Christ’s power over creation and hostile spiritual authorities.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: غیریهودیان
Transliteration: gheyr-yahudian
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: امتها
Original: ἔθνη
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package; no changes. Col 1:27, Col 3:11 (‘no Greek and Jew’). Never امتها.
Providence
Approved rendering: تدبیر الهی
Transliteration: tadbir-e elahi
Doctrine: Providence
Original: συνέστηκεν
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package; no changes. Col 1:17, ‘in him all things hold together’ (συνέστηκεν). Distinguish from Illuminationist/Mulla Sadra emanationist metaphysics in which being overflows automatically from God.
Preeminence
Approved rendering: برتری / مقام نخست
Transliteration: bartari / maqam-e nokhost
Doctrine: The Supremacy and Sufficiency of Christ over Creation
Original: πρωτεύων
Category: Christology
Col 1:18, πρωτεύων. Must convey total, not partial or shared, supremacy ‘in everything.‘
Handwriting Bond Of Debt
Approved rendering: سند (بدهی)
Transliteration: sanad (-e bedehi)
Doctrine: Redemption and Forgiveness of Sins
Original: χειρόγραφον
Category: Salvation
Col 2:14, χειρόγραφον. Clarify as the law’s record of charges against believers, cancelled — not a generic financial IOU.
Triumph
Approved rendering: پیروزی آشکار
Transliteration: piruzi āshkār
Doctrine: Cosmic Powers Subordinate to Christ
Original: θριαμβεύσας
Category: False Teaching and Syncretism
Col 2:15, θριαμβεύσας. Roman triumphal-procession imagery unfamiliar in Persian culture; may need a brief explanatory gloss in study notes.
Shadow Vs Substance
Approved rendering: سایه / اصل (واقعیت)
Transliteration: sāye / asl (vaqe’iyat)
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Original: σκιά / σῶμα
Category: False Teaching and Syncretism
Col 2:17, σκιά/σῶμα. OT ceremonial regulations as foreshadowing outline; the reality they pointed to belongs to Christ. Paired with the ‘body’ entry.
Circumcision
Approved rendering: ختنه
Transliteration: khatne
Doctrine: Union with Christ (Died and Raised With Him)
Original: περιτομή
Category: Sanctification
Col 2:11, ‘circumcision made without hands.’ Teach as a spiritual, not physical, reality fulfilled in Christ — the ‘without hands’ qualifier must never be dropped given the live cultural weight of the physical rite.
Baptism
Approved rendering: تعمید
Transliteration: ta’mid
Doctrine: Union with Christ (Died and Raised With Him)
Original: βάπτισμα
Category: Sanctification
Col 2:12. Distinguish sharply from Islamic ritual washing (wudu/ghusl); this is participatory identification with Christ’s death/resurrection, not ceremonial purification.
Put Off Put On
Approved rendering: دور انداختن / پوشیدن
Transliteration: dur andakhtan / pushidan
Doctrine: Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New
Original: ἀπεκδύομαι / ἐνδύω
Category: Sanctification
Col 3:9-10,12. Clothing metaphor for a decisive, completed change of moral identity, not a gradual improvement; guard against reading through Iran’s contemporary self-help/self-improvement discourse.
Hope
Approved rendering: امید
Transliteration: omid
Doctrine: Hope and Assurance
Original: ἐλπίς
Category: Faith
Col 1:5,27 (‘laid up in heaven’; ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory’). A settled future certainty, not wishful or optimistic guessing.
Idolatry
Approved rendering: بتپرستی
Transliteration: bot-parasti
Doctrine: Sin and Idolatry
Original: εἰδωλολατρία
Category: Sin
Col 3:5, εἰδωλολατρία, extended by Paul to covetousness. Must be taught as including the heart’s misdirected desire, not only physical image-worship, without losing the connection to literal idolatry.
Wrath Of God
Approved rendering: غضب خدا
Transliteration: ghazab-e khoda
Doctrine: Sin and Idolatry
Original: ὀργὴ τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Sin
Col 3:6. God’s settled, righteous judicial response to the vices listed in 3:5-9.
Master Slave
Approved rendering: ارباب / غلام
Transliteration: arbab / gholam
Doctrine: Household Codes
Rejected alternatives: خداوند for ارباب (FORBIDDEN — collapses Paul’s deliberate κύριος pun and confuses the household term with the exclusive title of Christ)
Original: κύριοι / δοῦλοι
Category: Household
Col 3:22-4:1, κύριοι/δοῦλοι. ارباب must be kept strictly distinct from خداوند at all times. Paul’s deliberate pun (earthly masters have a heavenly Master, 4:1) is lost in Persian and requires a translator’s footnote to recover homiletically.
Fellow Prisoner
Approved rendering: همزندان
Transliteration: hamzendan
Doctrine: Prayer and Mission under Persecution
Col 4:10, συναιχμάλωτος (Aristarchus). Shared imprisonment for the gospel; same persecution-reality resonance as prisoner_desmios.
Low Risk Terms
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: شکرگزاری
Transliteration: shokr-gozari
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Original: εὐχαριστία
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package; no changes. Recurs throughout: Col 1:3,12; 2:7; 3:15-17; 4:2.
Referenced passages