Semantic Analysis: James (Persian Language Package Extension)

Part 1 — Core Passage Verse-by-Verse: James 2:14-26

This is the theological anchor of the curriculum (Faith and Works). Every load-bearing term is analyzed below.

James 2:14

Field	Content
Original	τί τὸ ὄφελος, ἀδελφοί μου, ἐὰν πίστιν λέγῃ τις ἔχειν, ἔργα δὲ μὴ ἔχῃ; μὴ δύναται ἡ πίστις σῶσαι αὐτόν;
Term	ὄφελος (ophelos)
Transliteration	ophelos
Literal meaning	profit, use, advantage
Semantic range	material benefit; rhetorical “what good is it”
English variants	”what good,” “what profit,” “what use”
Contextual theological meaning	Rhetorical challenge opening the passage’s argument that a faith producing no visible fruit is functionally worthless
Persian rendering / risk	چه فایده — Low risk, plain rhetorical term

Term	πίστις (pistis) — REUSED from baseline
Transliteration	pistis
Literal meaning	trust, belief, faithfulness
Semantic range	trust in a person; a body of belief; faithfulness/reliability
English variants	faith, belief, trust
Contextual theological meaning	The professed faith under scrutiny in this passage — James is not questioning true saving faith but exposing a merely verbal claim to it
Persian rendering / risk	ایمان (iman) — High risk per baseline; here the added risk is that James 2:14-26 is frequently mis-taught in Muslim-background contexts as “faith is not enough, you must also do works to be saved,” collapsing into the Islamic mizan (deeds-weighing) framework the baseline already flags under “Salvation” and “Faith.” Translator notes must clarify: James addresses the authenticity of faith, not an additional meritorious requirement alongside it.

Term	ἔργα (erga) — NEW TERM
Transliteration	erga
Literal meaning	works, deeds, labors
Semantic range	actions performed; visible conduct; the product of one’s labor
English variants	works, deeds, actions, doings
Contextual theological meaning	The observable fruit that must accompany genuine faith; James’s central diagnostic term across 2:14-26
Persian rendering / risk	اعمال (a’mal) — Critical risk. اعمال is the identical term used across Islamic theology for the deeds recorded in a person’s “amal-nameh” (deed-record) and weighed at judgment (mizan). James’s argument that faith produces اعمال as evidence, not that اعمال earn standing before God, must be made explicit at every occurrence or the passage will read as confirming, rather than confronting, an existing works-salvation framework.

Term	σῴζω (sōzō) — REUSED from baseline (salvation)
Transliteration	sōzō
Literal meaning	to save, rescue, deliver, heal
Semantic range	eternal salvation; physical rescue from danger; healing from illness (cf. James 5:15)
English variants	save, rescue, deliver
Contextual theological meaning	Here, eternal salvation — can a merely professed, fruitless faith actually save?
Persian rendering / risk	نجات (verb form: نجات دادن) — Critical per baseline. Must be distinguished in James 5:15 (see Ch. 5 below) where the same Greek root refers to physical healing, not soteric salvation — do not use نجات for that occurrence.

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James 2:15

Term	γυμνός (gymnos)
Transliteration	gymnos
Literal meaning	naked, bare, poorly clothed
Semantic range	literal nakedness; inadequately dressed; destitution
English variants	naked, ill-clad, without clothing
Contextual theological meaning	Concrete picture of material need that faith-in-word-only fails to address
Persian rendering / risk	عریان / بی‌لباس — Low risk, literal

Term	ἐφήμερος τροφή (ephēmeros trophē)
Transliteration	ephēmeros trophē
Literal meaning	daily food, food for the day
Semantic range	subsistence-level food need
English variants	daily food, daily bread
Contextual theological meaning	Everyday material need, deliberately mundane to sharpen the rhetorical force of v.16
Persian rendering / risk	خوراک روزانه — Low risk

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James 2:16

Term	ὑπάγετε ἐν εἰρήνῃ (hypagete en eirēnē)
Transliteration	hypagete en eirēnē
Literal meaning	go in peace
Semantic range	conventional farewell blessing
English variants	”go in peace,” “go well”
Contextual theological meaning	An empty pious-sounding blessing offered instead of material help — James’s irony
Persian rendering / risk	به سلامت بروید — εἰρήνη here is a conventional farewell, not the Romans 5:1 relational/legal “peace with God” (سلام, reused per baseline). Medium risk of confusion: translators must use a natural Persian farewell idiom here, not force the doctrinally loaded سلام term, or the irony of empty piety is lost and a doctrinal term is trivialized.

Term	θερμαίνεσθε καὶ χορτάζεσθε (thermainesthe kai chortazesthe)
Transliteration	thermainesthe kai chortazesthe
Literal meaning	be warmed and be filled
Semantic range	physical comfort and satiety
English variants	”keep warm and well fed,” “be warmed and filled”
Contextual theological meaning	The content of the empty blessing — wishing physical relief without providing it
Persian rendering / risk	گرم و سیر باشید — Low risk

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James 2:17

Term	νεκρά (nekra)
Transliteration	nekra
Literal meaning	dead
Semantic range	physically dead; lifeless; inert, non-functioning
English variants	dead, lifeless
Contextual theological meaning	Faith with no accompanying works is not weak faith but no living faith at all — a strong, absolute claim
Persian rendering / risk	مرده — Medium risk. Distinct from the resurrection/قیامت term family (baseline Critical) — this is an adjective describing inert faith, not resurrection theology; care needed so learners do not conflate the two through shared root imagery (“dead” vs “raised”).

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James 2:18

Term	δεῖξόν μοι (deixon moi)
Transliteration	deixon moi
Literal meaning	show/demonstrate to me
Semantic range	visual/evidential demonstration, proof by exhibiting
English variants	show, demonstrate, prove
Contextual theological meaning	James’s evidential logic: faith’s existence is demonstrated, not merely asserted — this verb governs the whole passage’s argument structure
Persian rendering / risk	نشان بده / ثابت کن — High risk of doctrinal drift. If rendered too strongly as “prove” (ثابت کن, “establish as true/valid”), it can sound like works are the epistemic ground of justification (matching an Islamic evidentiary framework for righteous standing) rather than the visible evidence of an already-present inward reality. Prefer نشان بده (“show/display”) over ثابت کن.

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James 2:19

Term	εἷς ἐστιν ὁ θεός (heis estin ho theos)
Transliteration	heis estin ho theos
Literal meaning	God is one
Semantic range	strict monotheistic confession, echoing the Shema
English variants	”God is one,” “there is one God”
Contextual theological meaning	James cites the most basic monotheistic confession as insufficient evidence of saving faith — even demons hold it
Persian rendering / risk	خدا یکی است — Critical risk of unintended agreement-signaling. This line, read on its own, sounds like a direct restatement of the Shahada/tawhid confession (“There is no god but God”). Without the immediate qualifying content (that demons also affirm this and it does not save them), an Iranian Muslim-background hearer may take this verse as Scripture endorsing Islamic tawhid as sufficient. The translation and any surrounding commentary must foreground James’s actual point: bare monotheistic assent, without trust in and obedience to Christ, is not saving faith.

Term	δαιμόνια (daimonia) — NEW TERM
Transliteration	daimonia
Literal meaning	demons, evil spirits
Semantic range	malevolent supernatural beings subordinate to Satan
English variants	demons, evil spirits, devils
Contextual theological meaning	Even hostile spiritual beings hold correct monotheistic doctrine — proof that correct belief alone is not saving faith
Persian rendering / risk	دیوها (divha) — Medium-High risk. “Div” is specifically the pre-Islamic Zoroastrian term for demonic beings serving Ahriman; using it carries the same kind of native-mythology loading the baseline flags for “sin”/گناه via the Chinvat Bridge. Establish clearly that these are the NT’s personal evil spiritual beings under Satan’s authority, not Zoroastrian cosmological figures.

Term	φρίσσουσιν (phrissousin)
Transliteration	phrissousin
Literal meaning	to shudder, bristle with fear
Semantic range	visceral terror response
English variants	shudder, tremble
Contextual theological meaning	Demons’ correct theology produces terror, not trust — contrasted with saving faith’s proper fruit
Persian rendering / risk	می‌لرزند — Low risk

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James 2:20

Term	κενέ (kene)
Transliteration	kene
Literal meaning	empty, vain, foolish
Semantic range	intellectually empty; lacking substance; foolish
English variants	”you foolish person,” “O empty man”
Contextual theological meaning	Direct rebuke of the interlocutor’s empty claim to faith without works
Persian rendering / risk	ای مرد نادان / ای بی‌مغز — Low-Medium risk, ensure register stays formal/respectful rebuke consistent with elevated register requirements

Term	ἀργή / νεκρά (argē / nekra, textual variant)
Transliteration	argē
Literal meaning	idle, inactive, useless
Semantic range	unproductive, without effect
English variants	”useless,” “dead,” “barren”
Contextual theological meaning	Restates 2:17’s claim with a synonym — a workless faith accomplishes nothing
Persian rendering / risk	بی‌ثمر / مرده — Medium risk; keep consistent with 2:17’s مرده so the argument’s repetition is visible to the Persian reader

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James 2:21

Term	Ἀβραὰμ ὁ πατὴρ ἡμῶν (Abraam ho patēr hēmōn)
Transliteration	Abraam ho patēr hēmōn
Literal meaning	Abraham our father
Semantic range	patriarchal ancestor; spiritual forefather of the covenant community
English variants	”Abraham our father”
Contextual theological meaning	Establishes Abraham as the paradigm case for the whole argument
Persian rendering / risk	ابراهیم پدر ما — Medium risk: Abraham/Ebrahim is a towering shared figure across Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (Khalilullah, father of the prophets); Iranian Muslim-background hearers will bring a rich but distinct set of associations (millat-e Ebrahim, hanif monotheism) that must be engaged, not assumed identical.

Term	ἐδικαιώθη (edikaiōthē) — NEW TERM, direct interaction with baseline “justification”
Transliteration	edikaiōthē
Literal meaning	was justified, was declared/shown righteous
Semantic range	in Paul (Romans), a forensic, once-for-all declaration on the basis of faith alone apart from works (baseline: عادل شمرده شدن, Critical); in James, the vindication/demonstration of an already-present righteous standing through the visible fruit of obedience
English variants	justified, vindicated, shown righteous, proved righteous
Contextual theological meaning	James is not contradicting Romans 3-4’s forensic justification by faith alone; he is describing how that faith is evidenced — Abraham’s willingness to offer Isaac (Genesis 22) demonstrated the faith he already had, credited to him in Genesis 15:6 (quoted in v.23)
Persian rendering / risk	عادل شمرده شدن (REUSE the baseline compound exactly for lexical consistency) — Critical risk, the single most important harmonization point in this curriculum. Because the same Persian compound must be reused, the doctrinal note accompanying every occurrence in James 2 must explicitly teach the Romans/James harmony: Genesis 15:6’s initial crediting of righteousness by faith alone (Romans 4, James 2:23) is distinct from, and precedes, Genesis 22’s later vindication of that faith by works (James 2:21). Without this note, Persian learners moving between the Romans and James curricula will encounter what appears to be a flat contradiction, reinforcing the already-strong cultural pull toward works-based standing before God.

Term	θυσιαστήριον (thysiastērion) — NEW TERM
Transliteration	thysiastērion
Literal meaning	altar (place of sacrifice)
Semantic range	any place of ritual sacrifice, OT sacrificial altar
English variants	altar
Contextual theological meaning	The site of Abraham’s test of faith — offering his promised son
Persian rendering / risk	قربانگاه — High risk. This directly invokes the Quranic near-sacrifice narrative (Surah 37:100-107) central to the Eid al-Adha (Qorban) festival, one of Iran’s major religious observances. Two specific risks: (1) mainstream Islamic tradition identifies the near-sacrificed son as Ishmael (اسماعیل), not Isaac (اسحاق), creating a live point of confusion/objection; (2) the Islamic narrative frames the event as a test of Ibrahim’s submission (taslim), inviting the same submission-framework collision flagged below for James 4:7. Translator notes must state plainly that the biblical text specifies Isaac and should not be “corrected” toward the Quranic account.

Term	Ἰσαάκ (Isaak)
Transliteration	Isaak
Literal meaning	proper name
Semantic range	Abraham’s promised covenant son
English variants	Isaac
Contextual theological meaning	The child of promise, whose near-sacrifice tests and vindicates Abraham’s faith
Persian rendering / risk	اسحاق (established Persian Bible form) — Medium risk, see θυσιαστήριον note above regarding the competing Quranic identification

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James 2:22

Term	συνήργει (synērgei)
Transliteration	synērgei
Literal meaning	worked together with, cooperated with
Semantic range	joint action, synergy
English variants	”worked together with,” “cooperated with”
Contextual theological meaning	Faith and works are not sequential or competing but organically joined in Abraham’s obedience
Persian rendering / risk	همکاری کرد / با هم عمل کرد — High risk if rendered as implying faith and works are two independent contributing causes of justification (a synergistic works-plus-grace framework); must be taught as one living faith inevitably producing action, not two separate ingredients.

Term	ἐτελειώθη (eteleiōthē)
Transliteration	eteleiōthē
Literal meaning	was perfected, was brought to completion/maturity
Semantic range	completion, maturation, reaching intended goal (τέλος root)
English variants	perfected, completed, brought to maturity
Contextual theological meaning	Works bring faith to its intended, mature expression — not adding something faith lacked in kind, but fulfilling what it was for
Persian rendering / risk	کامل شد / به کمال رسید — Medium-High risk: avoid any rendering suggesting faith was previously deficient or incomplete in a way that questioned its saving validity; “brought to full expression” is the intended sense.

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James 2:23

Term	ἐπληρώθη ἡ γραφή (eplērōthē hē graphē)
Transliteration	eplērōthē hē graphē
Literal meaning	the Scripture was fulfilled
Semantic range	prophetic/typological fulfillment formula
English variants	”the Scripture was fulfilled”
Contextual theological meaning	Frames Abraham’s later act of obedience as the fulfillment of what Genesis 15:6 had already declared true of him
Persian rendering / risk	این نوشته کتاب مقدس تحقق یافت — High risk overlap with the baseline’s “fulfillment_of_prophecy” doctrine (naskh/abrogation collision); must not be read as Genesis 22 replacing or superseding Genesis 15:6, but confirming it.

Term	ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην (elogisthē autō eis dikaiosynēn) — REUSED verbatim from baseline “imputed_righteousness”
Transliteration	elogisthē autō eis dikaiosynēn
Literal meaning	it was credited/reckoned to him for righteousness
Semantic range	forensic accounting/crediting metaphor
English variants	”credited to him as righteousness,” “counted to him for righteousness,” “reckoned as righteousness”
Contextual theological meaning	This is the direct citation of Genesis 15:6, the exact same event and wording the baseline registry already documents in Romans 4:3 — the identical crediting act.
Persian rendering / risk	عدالت محسوب‌شده — Critical, MUST reuse baseline compound exactly, and MUST NOT be rendered as عدالت کسب‌شده (“earned righteousness,” the baseline’s explicitly forbidden substitution). This is the strongest possible cross-reference point between Romans and James in this whole curriculum — translators must flag it for theologian review to confirm verbatim consistency with the Romans rendering.

Term	φίλος θεοῦ ἐκλήθη (philos theou eklēthē) — NEW TERM
Transliteration	philos theou eklēthē
Literal meaning	was called a friend of God
Semantic range	φίλος: friend, intimate associate; ἐκλήθη: “called/named” (REUSED root from baseline “called,” دعوت‌شده, though here a title/name rather than a summons)
English variants	”was called God’s friend,” “friend of God”
Contextual theological meaning	The culmination of Abraham’s vindicated faith: relational intimacy with God, not mere legal status
Persian rendering / risk	دوست خدا — Critical risk. “خلیل‌الله” (Khalil Allah, “Friend of God”) is an actual honorific Quranic title for Abraham (Surah 4:125) deeply embedded in Iranian religious culture. Persian learners will likely already associate “friend of God” with this specific Islamic title and its framework (Abraham’s exemplary submission/hanif monotheism as the ground of the title). The Language Package must teach that James grounds this friendship specifically in Abraham’s faith credited as righteousness (v.23a) and its fruit (v.21-22) — a distinctly Christian causal chain — not simply reproduce the shared honorific without content.

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James 2:24

Term	ἐξ ἔργων δικαιοῦται ἄνθρωπος καὶ οὐκ ἐκ πίστεως μόνον (ex ergōn dikaioutai anthrōpos kai ouk ek pisteōs monon)
Transliteration	ex ergōn dikaioutai anthrōpos kai ouk ek pisteōs monon
Literal meaning	a person is justified by works and not by faith alone
Semantic range	see δικαιόω note at 2:21
English variants	”justified by works, not by faith alone”
Contextual theological meaning	James’s summary thesis — the single most theologically sensitive verse in the passage for a curriculum sitting alongside the Romans Language Package
Persian rendering / risk	انسان از اعمال عادل شمرده می‌شود، نه تنها از ایمان — Critical, top-priority theologian-review verse. This verse, translated without extensive doctrinal framing, reads as a direct contradiction of Romans 3:28 (“a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law”) — already fixed in the Persian tradition and in this curriculum’s own translation memory. Required framing: James addresses the kind of faith that justifies (a living, working faith versus a bare intellectual assent, v.19’s “even demons believe”), using δικαιόω in its demonstrative/vindicating sense (see 2:21 note), while Paul addresses the initial ground of justification (grace through faith, apart from works, Romans 3-4). This must be taught as complementary emphases on the same event viewed from two angles, never as contradictory soteriologies — and must never be simplified into “Paul says faith alone, James says works are also needed,” which is precisely the reading that would confirm rather than challenge the existing works-weighing (mizan) framework this whole curriculum must guard against.

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James 2:25

Term	Ῥαὰβ ἡ πόρνη (Rhaab hē pornē)
Transliteration	Rhaab hē pornē
Literal meaning	Rahab the prostitute
Semantic range	πόρνη: a woman who sells sex; prostitute, harlot
English variants	”Rahab the prostitute/harlot”
Contextual theological meaning	A second, deliberately shocking example — an outsider, morally compromised Gentile woman, vindicated by the same faith-works pattern as the honored patriarch Abraham
Persian rendering / risk	راحاب فاحشه — Medium risk, mainly register: keep the frank moral description (do not euphemize away her past, which is part of James’s rhetorical point about grace reaching the most unlikely) while maintaining formal register in surrounding narration.

Term	ὑποδεξαμένη τοὺς ἀγγέλους (hypodexamenē tous angelous)
Transliteration	hypodexamenē tous angelous
Literal meaning	having received/welcomed the messengers
Semantic range	ἄγγελος: messenger; here the Israelite spies (Joshua 2), not heavenly angels
English variants	”received the messengers/spies”
Contextual theological meaning	Her concrete act of hospitality-at-risk is the “work” that vindicated her faith in Israel’s God
Persian rendering / risk	جاسوسان را پذیرفت — Medium risk: ἄγγελος here must be rendered as “messengers/spies” (قاصدان/جاسوسان), not فرشتگان (“angels” in the heavenly-being sense), to avoid an unintended miraculous reading.

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James 2:26

Term	τὸ σῶμα χωρὶς πνεύματος νεκρόν (to sōma chōris pneumatos nekron)
Transliteration	to sōma chōris pneumatos nekron
Literal meaning	the body without the spirit/breath is dead
Semantic range	πνεῦμα here = the animating life-breath/spirit of a person, not the Holy Spirit
English variants	”the body without the spirit is dead”
Contextual theological meaning	Final summary analogy: faith is to works as spirit/breath is to body — works are faith’s necessary animating evidence, not an added component
Persian rendering / risk	بدن بدون روح مرده است — High risk of confusion with روح‌القدس (Holy Spirit, Critical per baseline). This πνεῦμα is the ordinary human life-breath/spirit, not the divine Person. Must render with plain روح (or جان) without any qualifier that would suggest the Holy Spirit, and a translator note should make the distinction explicit, since روح alone is ambiguous in Persian between “spirit” generally and shorthand for “Holy Spirit” in devotional usage.

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Part 2 — Chapter-by-Chapter Study of the Whole Book

Chapter 1

Term (Greek/translit)	Literal meaning	Semantic range	English variants	Contextual theological meaning	Persian rendering / risk
δοῦλος / doulos	slave, servant	bondservant; one wholly owned/obligated	servant, slave, bondservant	James identifies himself as God’s and Christ’s devoted servant (1:1)	بنده — Medium risk; devotional term shared positively with Islamic ‘abd Allah framework; affirm voluntary, love-motivated service, not fatalistic bondage.
διασπορά / diaspora	scattering, dispersion	Jewish communities scattered outside Israel; by extension believers scattered among the nations	”the Dispersion,” “scattered abroad”	Original recipients: Jewish Christians scattered among the nations (1:1)	پراکندگی — Medium risk, mainly requiring historical-background teaching.
πειρασμός (trial, 1:2,12) / peirasmos	testing, trial	external testing of character/faith; can shade toward “temptation” (see πειράζω below)	trial, test, temptation	Trials that test and mature genuine faith — to be met with joy	آزمایش — High risk. Must be kept lexically distinct from the temptation-to-sin sense in 1:13-14 (below); conflating the two produces the false conclusion that God trials people toward sin.
πειράζω (tempt, 1:13-14) / peirazō	to tempt, entice to sin	solicitation toward evil, distinct from divinely permitted testing	tempt, entice	”God cannot be tempted… nor does he tempt anyone” — sin’s origin is internal desire, not divine testing	وسوسه (کردن) — High risk; must not share the same Persian root as آزمایش above, or James’s careful distinction (God tests, God does not tempt) collapses.
δοκίμιον / dokimion	genuineness, that which is tested/proven	the proving/refining process itself	”testing,” “the proving of”	The testing process produces steadfastness (1:3)	آزمودگی / اصالت آزموده‌شده — Medium risk.
ὑπομονή / hypomonē	endurance, steadfastness under pressure	patient perseverance through hardship (distinct from μακροθυμία, ch.5)	steadfastness, endurance, patience	The fruit and goal of tested faith (1:3-4); reused at 5:11 (Job)	استقامت — High risk; keep terminologically distinct from μακροθυμία (بردباری, ch. 5) throughout the curriculum for doctrinal precision on the “Patience” theme.
σοφία / sophia	wisdom	practical/moral discernment; divine wisdom as a gift sought in prayer (1:5); contrasted with earthly/demonic wisdom (ch.3)	wisdom	God freely gives wisdom to those who ask in faith	حکمت — Critical/High risk. حکمت is a major Quranic and Sufi category (divine hikmah, Luqman’s wisdom, hekmat-e elahi in Islamic philosophy). Must be taught as a relational gift sought directly from God through prayer (1:5), not an acquired philosophical virtue or esoteric mystical attainment.
δίψυχος / dipsychos	double-souled, divided in mind	wavering, inconsistent, lacking single-minded trust	double-minded, wavering, unstable	The doubter’s unstable, unanswered prayer (1:6-8); recurs 4:8	دودل / متزلزل — Medium risk, keep consistent across 1:8 and 4:8.
πλούσιος / πτωχός	rich / poor	wealth status, socioeconomic condition; also spiritual reversal motif (rich humbled, poor exalted)	rich, wealthy / poor, lowly	The reversal of worldly status in God’s economy (1:9-11); recurs 2:1-7, 5:1-6	غنی / فقیر — Medium-High risk; avoid prosperity-gospel readings and note resonance with (but distinctness from) Islamic zakat/sadaqah charity framing.
ἐπιθυμία / epithymia	desire, craving, lust	strong internal desire, often but not always sinful in itself; here the internal engine of temptation	desire, lust, craving	Sin’s true internal origin — not divine testing, not fate (1:14-15)	هوس / شهوت — High risk; central to countering the fitrah (innate purity) and Chinvat-bridge deeds-weighing defaults already flagged in the baseline “sin” entry — sin here originates internally in desire, not merely in discrete acts weighed externally.
πατὴρ τῶν φώτων / patēr tōn phōtōn	Father of lights	title for God as source/giver of all good, unchanging, associated with heavenly luminaries	”Father of lights”	God’s unchanging, purely good character as giver of every good gift (1:17)	پدر نورها — High risk, compounding two already-flagged risks: “Father” (Critical per baseline, tawhid-anthropomorphism) and “light” imagery, which in Iran carries strong independent resonance with Suhrawardi’s Illuminationist (Hekmat al-Ishraq) philosophy of divine Light-emanation. Must be taught as a title for the personal Father’s constancy, not absorbed into a light-metaphysics framework.
λόγος ἀληθείας / logos alētheias	word of truth	the gospel message, truthful revelation	”word of truth”	The gospel by which believers are spiritually born (1:18)	کلام حقیقت — High risk overlap with baseline’s “gospel” (انجیل) and “inspiration_of_scripture” doctrines; ensure consistent linkage to انجیل rather than treated as a separate concept.
ἔμφυτος λόγος / emphytos logos	implanted word	the gospel word as an inwardly rooted, living seed	”implanted word,” “word planted in you”	Scripture/gospel received and internalized, able to save (1:21)	کلام کاشته‌شده / کلام نهاده‌شده در دل — Medium risk, novel compound; prefer imagery already used in Persian Christian literature for “seed of the word” if available.
ποιητὴς λόγου / ἀκροατὴς μόνον (poiētēs logou / akroatēs monon)	doer of the word / hearer only	one who acts on what is heard vs. one who merely listens	”doer of the word” / “hearer only”	The book’s programmatic theme, directly anticipating 2:14-26’s faith-and-works argument	عمل‌کننده به کلام / تنها شنونده — High risk; this pairing is the conceptual seed of the whole Faith-and-Works doctrine and must be rendered with the same care as ch.2’s terms, avoiding any suggestion that “doing” is a separate meritorious add-on rather than the natural fruit of truly receiving the word.
νόμος τέλειος τῆς ἐλευθερίας / nomos teleios tēs eleutherias	the perfect law of liberty	the moral law of the new covenant, which liberates rather than merely constrains	”perfect law of liberty,” “law of freedom”	The law rightly kept produces freedom, not bondage (1:25)	ناموس کامل آزادی — High risk; REUSE ناموس per baseline departure from شریعت. آزادی (“freedom/liberty”) is also a highly charged political term in the Islamic Republic context; teach this strictly as spiritual freedom from sin’s bondage through Christ, not a political-freedom claim.
θρησκεία / thrēskeia	religion, religious observance	outward religious practice/service; here qualified as “pure and undefiled”	religion, religious service	True religious practice defined as care for the vulnerable and moral purity, not ritual alone (1:26-27)	دین — High risk; دین is the primary word for “religion” in the Islamic sense of a comprehensive submitted way of life (cf. “din-e Islam”). James’s qualified, narrow use here (visiting orphans/widows, self-control) should be distinguished from claiming a full comparative “religion” category; consider pairing with مذهب or a clarifying phrase.
ὀρφανός / χήρα (orphanos / chēra)	orphan / widow	the socially and economically vulnerable	orphans / widows	The concrete test-case of pure religion (1:27)	یتیمان / بیوه‌زنان — Medium risk; a natural bridge to the Islamic zakat/social-welfare emphasis on orphans and widows, useful for illustration but must retain the specifically Christian ground (imitating God’s own character, not fulfilling a legal pillar).
ἄσπιλος / aspilos	unstained, unspotted	moral purity, freedom from worldly contamination	unstained, unspotted	Keeping oneself uncorrupted by the world (1:27)	بی‌لوث / بی‌عیب — Low-Medium risk.

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Chapter 2 (vv. 1-13; vv. 14-26 covered in Part 1 above)

Term (Greek/translit)	Literal meaning	Semantic range	English variants	Contextual theological meaning	Persian rendering / risk
προσωπολημψία / prosōpolēmpsia	partiality, favoritism	judging/treating by external appearance or status	favoritism, partiality, respect of persons	The named sin of the chapter’s opening — treating rich and poor visitors differently in the assembly (2:1,9)	تبعیض — High risk; the doctrine “Favoritism and the Poor” hinges on this term; note the tension between Islamic teaching on equality before God (adl) and the lived social hierarchy of Iranian society, which the term must confront directly rather than soften.
δόξα (τῆς δόξης) / doxa	glory	REUSED from baseline (جلال)	glory	”Our Lord Jesus Christ, [Lord] of glory” (2:1) — an explicit deity-of-Christ statement	جلال — Reuse exactly; Critical-adjacent, ties directly to baseline “deity_of_christ” doctrine.
συναγωγή / synagōgē	synagogue, assembly	a gathering place; here used for the Christian assembly, reflecting the letter’s early Jewish-Christian setting	”assembly,” “meeting,” “synagogue”	The gathered Christian congregation (2:2)	کنیسه / مجمع — Medium risk; note historically this describes the Christian gathering (not a Jewish institution as distinct from the church) — avoid implying two separate religious bodies.
κληρονόμος / klēronomos	heir	one who inherits; here, heir of God’s kingdom	heir, inheritor	Believers, especially the poor of this world, as heirs of the promised kingdom (2:5)	وارث — Critical risk, directly reengaging the baseline’s “adoption” doctrine note: Iranian civil/religious law (sarparasti vs. full inheritance) makes full heirship a live legal issue, not merely an abstract metaphor, for Persian hearers.
βασιλεία / basileia	kingdom	REUSED from baseline (ملکوت خدا)	kingdom	The kingdom promised to those who love God (2:5)	ملکوت — Reuse exactly.
νόμος βασιλικός / nomos basilikos	royal law	the law of love for neighbor as sovereign/preeminent	”royal law”	The love-command as the summary/crown of the law (2:8)	ناموس ملوکانه — High risk; reuse ناموس, ensure “royal” qualifier communicates preeminence, not merely one more royal decree among others (avoid Velayat-e Faqih political-legal resonance).
ἔλεος / eleos	mercy	REUSED conceptually with Romans “grace” family but a distinct term — NEW to translation memory	mercy, compassion	Mercy shown to others reflects and anticipates the mercy one will receive from God; “mercy triumphs over judgment” (2:13)	رحمت — Medium-High risk; رحمت/rahmat is central shared Islamic vocabulary (Bismillah’s ar-Rahman ar-Rahim); a genuine bridge concept, but James’s “mercy triumphs over judgment” must be grounded in Christ’s atoning work (cf. Romans “salvation” note), not a generic divine-attribute claim.
κρίσις / krisis	judgment	REUSED conceptually as eschatological judgment	judgment	Judgment that the merciless will face without mercy (2:13)	داوری — Medium risk.
μοιχεία / φόνος (moicheia / phonos)	adultery / murder	specific violations of the law cited as illustrative	adultery / murder	Illustrating that partial law-keeping does not satisfy the whole law (2:10-11)	زنا / قتل — Low risk, standard vocabulary.

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Chapter 3

Term (Greek/translit)	Literal meaning	Semantic range	English variants	Contextual theological meaning	Persian rendering / risk
διδάσκαλος / didaskalos	teacher	one who instructs authoritatively	teacher	Warning against seeking teaching office lightly, given its accountability (3:1)	معلم — Medium risk; note potential resonance/contrast with Iranian religious-teaching authority structures (mullah, ayatollah) without collapsing the distinct church office into that framework.
γλῶσσα / glōssa	tongue	the organ of speech; by metonymy, speech/words themselves	tongue, speech	The tongue’s outsized destructive (or edifying) power — core theme “Taming the Tongue” (3:1-12)	زبان — Medium-High risk; Persian poetic tradition (Hafez, Rumi) gives زبان rich existing metaphorical weight (both praise and ruin), which can aid vivid teaching but must stay anchored to James’s ethical-relational point, not drift into purely aesthetic/mystical speech-imagery.
χαλιναγωγέω / chalinagōgeō	to bridle, control with a bit	controlling/restraining, as a horse by its bridle	bridle, control, restrain	Controlling speech as evidence of controlling the whole self (3:2-3)	لگام زدن / مهار کردن — Low-Medium risk, vivid and clear.
γέεννα / geenna	Gehenna, hell	the place/state of final judgment and fire; originally the Jerusalem valley of Hinnom	hell, Gehenna	The tongue’s capacity for evil is said to be “set on fire by hell” (3:6)	جهنم — High risk. This is the identical standard Quranic term for Hell (Jahannam), used throughout Islamic eschatology with its own specific deeds-weighing basis for entry. The concept of eternal fiery judgment is broadly compatible, but the basis (rejection of Christ vs. deeds-weighing) must be actively taught, not assumed shared, wherever this term recurs (also relevant background for ch. 5’s judgment imagery).
εἰκὼν θεοῦ / eikōn theou	image/likeness of God	humanity’s created likeness to God	”image of God,” “likeness of God”	The basis for the prohibition on cursing fellow humans (3:9) — a foundational anthropological claim	شبیه خدا / صورت خدا — High risk. Mainstream Sunni and Shia theology, grounded in strict tanzih (God’s utter transcendence and dissimilarity to creation), generally avoids or heavily qualifies any “image of God” anthropology for humans, despite a debated hadith tradition. This doctrine (human dignity grounded in bearing God’s likeness) needs deliberate positive teaching as a distinctly biblical anthropological claim, not an assumed shared category.
σοφία ἄνωθεν / sophia anōthen	wisdom from above	heavenly-sourced wisdom, God’s own wisdom	”wisdom from above,” “heavenly wisdom”	The positive pole of the ch.3 wisdom contrast, marked by peaceableness, gentleness, mercy (3:13-17)	حکمت از بالا — REUSE حکمت (see ch.1); High risk per ch.1 note.
ἐπίγειος / epigeios	earthly	belonging to this world, non-heavenly in origin	earthly	The negative pole: wisdom that is merely “earthly” (3:15)	زمینی — Medium risk, plain contrast term.
ψυχική / psychikē	soulish, natural, unspiritual	wisdom sourced in the natural/fallen human soul rather than the Spirit	”unspiritual,” “natural,” “soulish”	Second qualifier of false wisdom — self-sourced rather than Spirit-sourced (3:15)	نفسانی — Critical risk. نفس (nafs) is a major Islamic/Sufi anthropological category — the “lower self” (nafs al-ammara, the commanding/base self) that Sufi spiritual discipline seeks to subdue. Using نفسانی here can function as a genuinely useful bridge (a shared category of self-sourced, unreliable inner impulse) but risks importing the specific Sufi ascetic-discipline framework for overcoming the nafs as the solution, where James’s actual solution is receiving wisdom “from above” through prayer (1:5), not self-mastery technique.
δαιμονιώδης / daimoniōdēs	demonic	originating from or characteristic of demons	demonic, devilish	The most severe qualifier of false wisdom (3:15)	شیطانی / دیوانه (careful: دیوانه in modern Persian usually means “crazy,” not “of demons” — avoid; prefer دیوی or از دیوها) — Medium-High risk of unintended meaning drift via دیوانه; recommend شیطانی for clarity.
καρπὸς δικαιοσύνης / karpos dikaiosynēs	fruit of righteousness	the good outcome/result that righteous conduct (sown in peace) produces	”fruit/harvest of righteousness”	The positive outcome of peacemaking wisdom (3:18)	میوه عدالت — REUSE عدالت (baseline); Medium risk, pair with سلام (REUSE peace) since the verse links peace and righteousness.

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Chapter 4

Term (Greek/translit)	Literal meaning	Semantic range	English variants	Contextual theological meaning	Persian rendering / risk
πόλεμος / μάχη (polemos / machē)	wars / fights	conflicts, quarrels (here interpersonal, sourced in inner desire)	wars, fights, quarrels	Community conflict traced to unchecked internal desires (4:1)	جنگ‌ها و نزاع‌ها — Low risk.
ἡδονή / hēdonē	pleasure	sensory/self-gratifying desire	pleasure, passion	The internal “passions” at war within, driving conflict (4:1,3)	لذت / هوس — Medium risk; links to ch.1’s ἐπιθυμία family.
φιλία τοῦ κόσμου / philia tou kosmou	friendship with the world	κόσμος: the present world-system in its opposition to God; φιλία: intimate friendship/alliance	”friendship with the world”	The core theme “Worldliness versus Friendship with God” — set in explicit either/or opposition to friendship with God (4:4)	دوستی با دنیا — High risk; دنیا is a major Islamic/Sufi category (this transient life vs. akhirah/the hereafter), and Sufi zuhd (renunciation of the world) already carries the baseline’s flagged risk (per “separation_unto_gods_service”: must not be confused with Sufi zuhd). James’s point is relational and moral loyalty, not physical withdrawal from the world — reuse and extend that existing baseline caution here explicitly.
ἔχθρα τοῦ θεοῦ / echthra tou theou	enmity with/against God	active hostility, not mere neutrality	”enmity with God”	The severity of worldliness — not a lesser spiritual state but open hostility to God	دشمنی با خدا — Medium risk, ensure the strong force of “enmity” (not softened to “distance”) is retained.
ὑποτάγητε τῷ θεῷ / hypotagēte tō theō	submit yourselves to God	to place oneself under authority, submit, subordinate	”submit to God”	The positive response commanded after resisting worldliness (4:7)	تسلیم شوید به خدا / اطاعت کنید — Critical risk. “تسلیم” (taslim, submission) is the literal etymological root of “Islam” itself and the central defining act of Islamic piety. This command, read by a Muslim-background hearer, will almost inevitably be heard through the lens of the Five Pillars’ submission framework. Must be taught, consistent with the baseline’s “obedience_of_faith” doctrine, as a relational response flowing from an already-established grace-based relationship with God through Christ (note the immediately following “draw near to God,” a fellowship term, not a subjugation term), never as the initiating act that establishes right standing.
ἀντίστητε τῷ διαβόλῳ / antistēte tō diabolō	resist the devil	active opposition/resistance	”resist the devil”	The devil flees when resisted in dependence on God (4:7)	در برابر شیطان مقاومت کنید — Medium risk; شیطان (Shaitan) is shared vocabulary across both traditions — broadly compatible figure, standard usage.
ἐγγίσατε τῷ θεῷ / eggisate tō theō	draw near to God	approach in intimacy	”draw near to God”	The relational, intimacy-seeking counterpart to submission (4:8)	به خدا نزدیک شوید — Medium risk; genuine positive bridge to the Sufi concept of qorb (nearness to God) — useful analogically, provided the means of drawing near (through Christ, cleansed hands and heart via his work) is not left implicit.
δίψυχοι / dipsychoi	double-souled	REUSED term from 1:8	double-minded	Purify hearts, you double-minded (4:8)	دودل — reuse exactly.
ταλαιπωρήσατε, πενθήσατε, κλαύσατε / talaipōrēsate, penthēsate, klausate	be wretched, mourn, weep	vivid triad calling for genuine grief over sin	”grieve, mourn, and weep”	Call to authentic repentance (4:9)	با اندوه توبه کنید، ماتم بگیرید و گریه کنید — Medium risk; note (without conflating) the cultural resonance of public mourning ritual in Shia Muharram practice — this is personal repentance grief, not communal ritual lamentation for a martyr-intercessor.
νομοθέτης καὶ κριτής / nomothetēs kai kritēs	lawgiver and judge	God’s exclusive authority to establish and judge law	”lawgiver and judge”	God alone, not a fellow believer, has the right to judge (4:12)	قانون‌گذار و داور — Medium risk; reuse ناموس-family caution given Iran’s own religiously-derived state legal system.
ἐὰν ὁ Κύριος θελήσῃ / ean ho Kyrios thelēsē	if the Lord wills	conditional submission of plans to God’s providence	”if the Lord wills,” “God willing”	Humble acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty over human plans, against arrogant self-sufficiency (4:15)	اگر خداوند بخواهد — High risk (positive bridge with caution). This phrase functions almost identically to the extremely common everyday Persian “ان‌شاءالله” (Inshallah). This is a genuine cross-cultural bridge — the underlying idea of submitting plans to divine will is shared — but must be explicitly anchored to the baseline’s “providence” doctrine (تدبیر الهی, personal purposive governance) rather than left as generic religious-fatalistic speech-filler, which is often how “Inshallah” functions colloquially.
ἁμαρτία / hamartia	sin	REUSED from baseline (گناه)	sin	”Whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (4:17) — sin of omission	گناه — Reuse exactly; note this verse extends the doctrine to sins of omission, not only commission, worth flagging for teaching emphasis.

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Chapter 5

Term (Greek/translit)	Literal meaning	Semantic range	English variants	Contextual theological meaning	Persian rendering / risk
πλοῦτος / ploutos	riches, wealth	REUSED concept family from 1:9-11, 2:1-7	riches, wealth	Warning to the oppressive rich (5:1-6)	ثروت / غنی — Medium-High risk, reuse ch.1/2 framing.
μισθὸς τῶν ἐργατῶν / misthos tōn ergatōn	wages of the workers	unpaid labor wages, a concrete social-justice violation	”wages of the laborers”	Withheld wages as a specific indictment of the oppressive rich (5:4)	مزد کارگران — Medium risk, ties to Favoritism/Poor doctrine.
Κύριος Σαβαώθ / Kyrios Sabaōth	Lord of Sabaoth / Lord of hosts	OT divine military-royal title, transliterated Hebrew retained in Greek	”Lord of hosts,” “Lord Sabaoth,” “Lord Almighty”	God’s supreme authority as witness against injustice (5:4)	خداوند لشکرها (or transliterated خداوند صبایوت with gloss) — Medium-High risk; compounds with the baseline’s Critical “Lord” (خداوند) entry; ensure the title is not misheard as a separate divine name/being.
τρυφή / σπατάλη (tryphē / spatalē)	luxury / self-indulgence	excessive comfort at others’ expense	”luxury,” “self-indulgence”	The rich’s self-indulgent lifestyle while exploiting laborers (5:5)	ناز و نعمت / خودخواهی در لذت — Low-Medium risk.
μακροθυμία / makrothymia	patience, forbearance	patient waiting, especially toward people/circumstances or in expectation	patience, forbearance, longsuffering	”Be patient… until the coming of the Lord,” modeled on the farmer awaiting harvest (5:7-8)	بردباری — High risk; must be kept lexically distinct from ὑπομονή (استقامت, ch.1/5:11) for doctrinal precision in the “Patience and the Lord’s Return” doctrine — μακροθυμία here is patient waiting in expectation, ὑπομονή is steadfast endurance under trial.
παρουσία / parousia	coming, arrival, presence	technical NT eschatological term for Christ’s future coming	”coming,” “arrival,” “advent”	The believer’s patient hope is fixed on Christ’s own future coming (5:7-8)	آمدن خداوند / ظهور خداوند — Critical risk, one of the highest-priority new terms in this curriculum. ظهور (zohur, “manifestation/reappearance”) is the specific, load-bearing technical term in Twelver Shia eschatology for the return of the Hidden Twelfth Imam (Imam Zaman/Mahdi) — an expectation of intense devotional and cultural weight in Iran. Using ظهور for Christ’s parousia risks direct absorption into Mahdi-centered eschatological expectation, exactly the collision the baseline flags for “resurrection_of_christ” and “messianic_promise.” Recommendation: prefer the plainer آمدن خداوند (“the coming of the Lord”) over ظهور, reserving any use of ظهور only with heavy, explicit clarifying content asserting Christ’s own primary and exclusive return — never used bare.
ἐγγύς / eggys	near, at hand	imminence	”is at hand,” “is near”	The nearness of Christ’s coming as grounds for patient hope (5:8)	نزدیک است — Medium risk, standard.
κριτὴς πρὸ τῶν θυρῶν / kritēs pro tōn thyrōn	the judge is standing at the doors	vivid imminence-of-judgment image	”the judge is standing at the door”	Reinforces urgency of the coming judgment (5:9)	داور بر در ایستاده است — Medium risk, vivid imagery, low ambiguity.
Ἰώβ / Iōb	Job (proper name)	OT exemplar of endurance through suffering	Job	Cited as the model of ὑπομονή (endurance) under severe testing (5:11)	ایوب — Medium risk (positive bridge): Ayyub is also a well-known, positively regarded Quranic prophet specifically renowned for patience (sabr) in suffering — a strong, usable point of contact, provided the specifically Christian grounding of hope in the Lord’s compassionate outcome (5:11b) is not left implicit.
εὔσπλαγχνος / οἰκτίρμων (eusplagchnos / oiktirmōn)	compassionate / merciful	tender-hearted compassion, mercy	”compassionate and merciful”	God’s character revealed through Job’s outcome (5:11)	دلسوز و رحیم — Medium risk, reuse ἔλεος/رحمت family (ch.2).
ὀμνύω / omnyō	to swear, take an oath	invoking a higher authority to guarantee truthfulness	swear, take an oath	Prohibition on oath-taking; let “yes” be yes (5:12)	قسم خوردن — High risk. Persian oath culture is exceptionally active and religiously loaded — everyday oaths invoking God, the Qur’an, or (especially in Shia devotional culture) the lives of the Imams (“به جان امام حسین قسم”) are extremely common in Iranian speech. James’s prohibition directly confronts a live, pervasive cultural practice, not merely an abstract ethical point; this needs deliberate, sensitive pastoral framing, not just literal translation.
ἀσθενέω / astheneō	to be sick, weak	physical illness or weakness	”is sick,” “is weak”	The occasion for the elders’ prayer and anointing (5:14)	بیمار (است) — Medium risk, standard.
πρεσβύτεροι τῆς ἐκκλησίας / presbyteroi tēs ekklēsias	elders of the church	recognized local church leadership/oversight	”elders of the church”	Those called to pray over and anoint the sick (5:14)	ریش‌سفیدان کلیسا / کشیشان کلیسا — High risk; REUSE کلیسا exactly per baseline. Given the underground house-church reality already flagged in the baseline’s “church” entry, “elders” here denotes recognized, trusted lay leadership within a small, often informal fellowship — not a formal ordained clergy hierarchy comparable to Shia clerical ranks (mullah, ayatollah). This distinction should be made explicit, since a Persian reader’s default mental model of religious “elders” may otherwise import that clerical framework.
ἀλείψαντες ἐλαίῳ / aleipsantes elaiō	having anointed with oil	applying oil, often medicinal and/or symbolic in the ancient world	”anointing with oil”	Accompanying physical act with the prayer of faith for healing (5:14)	با روغن تدهین کردن — Medium risk; clarify this is a symbolic/medicinal act accompanying believing prayer, not a sacramental rite conferring healing in itself, and is unrelated to any Zoroastrian sacred-fire/oil ritual associations.
ἡ εὐχὴ τῆς πίστεως σώσει τὸν κάμνοντα / hē euchē tēs pisteōs sōsei ton kamnonta	the prayer of faith will save/heal the one who is sick	σῴζω here in its physical-healing sense (see note at 2:14)	“the prayer of faith will save/heal the sick”	Believing prayer as the means of physical healing, distinct from the σῴζω of eternal salvation elsewhere in the letter	دعای ایمان بیمار را شفا خواهد داد — Critical risk of doctrinal conflation. Do NOT use نجات (reserved by this curriculum for eternal salvation, per baseline) here; use شفا دادن / بهبود بخشیدن (“to heal / restore to health”) to keep physical healing terminologically distinct from soteric salvation, preventing the reading “believing prayer guarantees eternal salvation for the sick” or, conversely, “physical healing is identical to salvation.”
ἐγερεῖ αὐτὸν ὁ κύριος / egerei auton ho kyrios	the Lord will raise him up	ἐγείρω: to raise, lift up — here restoration to health/strength, not resurrection from death	”the Lord will raise him up”	Physical restoration through the Lord’s intervention, not eschatological resurrection	او را برخواهد خیزانید / او را برپا خواهد کرد — High risk; must NOT use قیامت (baseline’s reserved term for Christ’s/the general resurrection) here, to avoid confusing physical restoration to health with the distinct, Critical doctrine of bodily resurrection from death.
ἐξομολογεῖσθε ἀλλήλοις τὰς ἁμαρτίας / exomologeisthe allēlois tas hamartias	confess your sins to one another	mutual, horizontal confession among believers (not confined to a priestly confessor)	“confess your sins to one another”	Mutual accountability and confession within the believing community — doctrine “Confession and Restoration” (5:16)	اعتراف کردن (به گناهان یکدیگر) — High risk. Two distinct risks converge: (1) possible unwanted association with Catholic sacramental auricular confession to a priest, which is not James’s point; (2) more significantly, mainstream Islamic tawbah (repentance) is characteristically a private matter directly between the individual and God (Allah), without a required human confessor — mutual, horizontal confession to fellow believers is a genuinely distinct and potentially unfamiliar relational practice that must be actively taught, not assumed as an intuitive default.
εὔχεσθε ὑπὲρ ἀλλήλων / euchesthe hyper allēlōn	pray for one another	REUSED concept from baseline “intercession” (شفاعت)	“pray for one another”	Mutual intercessory prayer, said to have great effect (5:16)	برای یکدیگر دعا کنید — Critical risk, directly reengaging the baseline’s “prayer_and_intercession” doctrine note: mutual believer-to-believer intercession here must be taught as distinct from, though it may superficially resemble, the popular Shia devotional pattern of seeking intercession through the Imams/Hussein’s suffering. Christ remains the sole mediator (per baseline’s Romans 8 note); mutual prayer among believers is fellowship-in-Christ, not a parallel intercessory-merit system.
δέησις δικαίου ἐνεργουμένη / deēsis dikaiou energoumenē	the prayer of a righteous person, being at work/effective	ἐνεργέω: to work, be effective/operative	”the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working”	The efficacy of righteous prayer, illustrated by Elijah (5:16-18)	دعای شخص عادل مؤثر است — Medium risk; reuse عدالت (عادل) family.
Ἠλίας / Ēlias	Elijah (proper name)	OT prophet exemplar of powerful prayer	Elijah	Cited as an ordinary human (“a man with a nature like ours”) whose prayer moved God to withhold and grant rain (5:17-18)	الیاس — Low-Medium risk (positive bridge): Ilyas is also a recognized Quranic prophet, providing a shared point of reference, though the specific narrative content (drought/rain by prayer) will likely need fuller background teaching.
πλανηθῇ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀληθείας / planēthē apo tēs alētheias	wanders/is led astray from the truth	straying from right belief/practice	”wanders from the truth,” “strays,” “is led astray”	The condition of the erring believer who needs restoration (5:19)	گمراه شود — High risk. هدایت/گمراهی (guidance/misguidance) is a major structural pair in Quranic theology (the “straight path,” sirat al-mustaqim, versus being led astray, associated with divine guidance or its withholding). Using گمراه here activates this entire framework; it can serve as a helpful shared moral category (wandering from truth is bad) but must be anchored specifically to wandering from the gospel truth already received within the believing community (an intra-church restoration scenario), not the Quranic hidayah-from-Allah-through-revelation framework generally.
ἐπιστρέψῃ / epistrepsē	turns back, brings back	restoration/return to right belief and practice	”brings him back,” “turns him back,” “restores”	The act of restoring the straying believer (5:19-20)	بازگرداند — High risk (paired with the above); frame as intra-community pastoral restoration, distinct from the Islamic da’wah/re-conversion framework of “returning to Islam.”
σώσει ψυχὴν ἐκ θανάτου / sōsei psychēn ek thanatou	will save a soul from death	σῴζω here in its full soteriological sense; ψυχή: soul/life	”will save his soul from death”	The eternal stakes of restoring a straying believer (5:20)	نجات دادن جان از مرگ — reuse نجات; ψυχή rendered جان (soul/life) rather than نفس, to avoid activating the Sufi/Islamic nafs anthropological category (see ch.3 note on ψυχική) — Medium-High risk.
καλύψει πλῆθος ἁμαρτιῶν / kalypsei plēthos hamartiōn	will cover a multitude of sins	covering, in the sense of not holding against, forgiving	”will cover a multitude of sins”	The relational, forgiving outcome of restoration (5:20)	پوشاندن انبوهی از گناهان — Medium risk; reuse گناه; frame as relational covering/forgiveness through the gospel, not the Islamic mizan’s tallying/offsetting-of-deeds framework.