Core Glossary
Core Glossary: James (Persian Language Package Extension)
A. Terms Reused Exactly from the Romans Baseline
| Term | Persian (baseline, reuse exactly) | Risk (baseline) | James occurrences | Notes for James curriculum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| faith | ایمان | High | 2:14-26 (core), 1:3,6; 2:1,5; 5:15 | Central to Faith and Works doctrine; must be taught as trust producing fruit, not creedal assent alone (baseline Shia-imamate note applies equally here). |
| grace | فیض | High | 4:6 | Quoting Prov 3:34; reinforce personal gift, not automatic emanation. |
| righteousness | عدالت | Critical | 3:18; 2:23 (imputed) | Never پارسایی. |
| justification / justified | عادل شمرده شدن | Critical | 2:21, 2:24, 2:25 | See Critical Harmonization Note below — James uses this baseline compound in its demonstrative/vindicating sense; requires explicit Romans-James harmonization teaching at every occurrence. |
| imputed righteousness | عدالت محسوبشده | Critical | 2:23 | Verbatim citation of the same Genesis 15:6 event as Romans 4:3; never عدالت کسبشده. |
| salvation / save (soteriological) | نجات | Critical | 1:21; 2:14; 4:12; 5:20 | Reserve strictly for eternal salvation; do NOT use for physical healing (5:15, see B below). |
| law | ناموس | Critical | 1:25; 2:8-12; 4:11 | Never شریعت; “royal law,” “law of liberty” both use this root. |
| sin | گناه | High | 1:15; 2:9; 4:17; 5:15,16,20 | Extended in James to sins of omission (4:17) and interpersonal offenses (5:16). |
| lord | خداوند | Critical | 1:1; 2:1; 5:4 (Sabaoth), 5:7-8,10,11,14,15 | Every occurrence in ch.5 touching the Lord’s coming requires the parousia caution (see B). |
| father | پدر | Critical | 1:17,27; 3:9 | 1:17 “Father of lights” compounds this risk with light-metaphysics (see B). |
| glory | جلال | Medium | 2:1 | ”Lord of glory” — explicit deity-of-Christ statement. |
| peace | سلام | Medium | 3:18 | Do not use for the conventional farewell idiom at 2:16 (see B, εἰρήνη note). |
| calling / called | دعوت / دعوتشده | Medium/High | 2:23 (“was called a friend of God”) | Distinct sense: a title conferred, not a summons to office/salvation — flag context. |
| mercy-adjacent doctrine (intercession) | شفاعت | Critical | 5:14-18 (elders’ prayer, mutual prayer) | Reengages baseline’s Karbala/Hussein intercession caution directly; Christ remains sole mediator. |
| providence | تدبیر الهی | Medium | 4:15 | ”If the Lord wills” — anchor to this doctrine, not generic fatalistic speech. |
| resurrection | قیامت | Critical | (background doctrine only; NOT used in 5:15) | Reserved exclusively for bodily resurrection from death; explicitly NOT used for the physical restoration-to-health sense of ἐγείρω in 5:15. |
| church | کلیسا | High | 5:14 | ”Elders of the church” — house-church leadership reality applies. |
| kingdom of God | ملکوت خدا | Medium | 2:5 | ”Heirs of the kingdom.” |
B. New Terms Proposed for This Curriculum
| Term | Original (Greek) | Transliteration | Category | Risk | Definition | Persian rendering | Translation notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| works | ἔργα | erga | Faith and Works | Critical | Observable deeds/actions that evidence genuine faith | اعمال | Identical to the Islamic deed-record (amal-nameh) vocabulary; must be taught as faith’s fruit/evidence, never its meritorious ground. |
| justified-by-works (contextual sense) | ἐξ ἔργων δικαιοῦται | ex ergōn dikaioutai | Faith and Works | Critical | The demonstrative/vindicating sense of δικαιόω in James 2, distinct from Romans’ initial forensic sense | عادل شمرده شدن (reuse baseline phrase) | Requires a permanent cross-reference note wherever it occurs: James describes how faith already credited as righteousness (Genesis 15:6/Romans 4) is vindicated by works (Genesis 22); this is never a second, works-based path to justification alongside Romans 3-4’s faith-alone doctrine. Top-priority theologian-review item for the entire curriculum. |
| friend of God | φίλος θεοῦ | philos theou | Faith and Works | Critical | Relational intimacy with God resulting from vindicated faith | دوست خدا | Collides with the Quranic honorific “Khalil Allah” for Abraham; ground the title specifically in 2:23’s faith-credited-as-righteousness, not shared honorific status alone. |
| altar (of sacrifice) | θυσιαστήριον | thysiastērion | Faith and Works | High | The site of Abraham’s offering of Isaac | قربانگاه | Collides with the Quranic near-sacrifice narrative (Surah 37) and Eid al-Adha; the son is Isaac (اسحاق), not Ishmael — state this without polemical framing but without accommodation. |
| trial / testing | πειρασμός (positive sense) | peirasmos | Trials and Testing of Faith | High | External testing of faith’s genuineness, permitted by God for maturing believers | آزمایش | Must be lexically distinct from the temptation-to-sin sense (below); God tests but does not tempt (1:13). |
| temptation (to sin) | πειράζω | peirazō | Trials and Testing of Faith | High | Internal enticement toward sin, sourced in one’s own desire, not from God | وسوسه | Keep distinct from آزمایش; conflating the two implies God tempts people to sin, directly contradicted by 1:13. |
| steadfastness / endurance | ὑπομονή | hypomonē | Trials and Testing of Faith | High | Patient perseverance under trial/suffering | استقامت | Keep terminologically distinct from μακροθυμία (بردباری, below) across chs. 1 and 5 for doctrinal precision. |
| patience (in waiting) | μακροθυμία | makrothymia | Patience and the Lord’s Return | High | Patient waiting in hopeful expectation, especially for the Lord’s coming or toward people | بردباری | Distinct from ὑπομονή/استقامت (endurance under trial); used specifically of awaiting Christ’s coming (5:7-8). |
| the Lord’s coming (parousia) | παρουσία | parousia | Patience and the Lord’s Return | Critical | Christ’s future, personal, bodily return | آمدن خداوند (avoid ظهور as a bare/unqualified rendering) | ظهور is the specific Twelver Shia technical term for the Hidden Imam’s (Mahdi’s) reappearance; using it unqualified risks direct absorption into that eschatological framework. Prefer plain “آمدن” language; if ظهور is ever used, it must always be accompanied by explicit content asserting Christ’s own unique, primary, and sufficient return. |
| wisdom | σοφία | sophia | Wisdom from Above | Critical/High | God-given discernment, sought through prayer, distinguished from earthly/soulish/demonic wisdom | حکمت | Major Quranic/Sufi category (hikmah, hekmat-e elahi); teach as a relational gift obtained by asking God directly (1:5), not an acquired philosophical or mystical attainment. |
| earthly / soulish / demonic (wisdom) | ἐπίγειος / ψυχική / δαιμονιώδης | epigeios / psychikē / daimoniōdēs | Wisdom from Above | Critical (ψυχική) / Medium (others) | The three-fold negative characterization of false wisdom in 3:15 | زمینی / نفسانی / شیطانی | ψυχική/نفسانی is the highest-risk term of the triad: نفس (nafs) is the central Sufi category of the “lower self”; useful as a bridge concept but must not import the Sufi ascetic-discipline solution in place of James’s actual solution (prayerful reception of wisdom from above). |
| favoritism / partiality | προσωπολημψία | prosōpolēmpsia | Favoritism and the Poor | High | Treating people differently based on external status (esp. wealth) | تبعیض | Confronts the real social hierarchy of Iranian society directly; do not soften. |
| mercy | ἔλεος | eleos | Favoritism and the Poor | Medium-High | Compassionate favor shown toward the needy/guilty, said to “triumph over judgment” | رحمت | Genuine bridge with Islamic rahmat vocabulary; ground specifically in Christ’s atoning work, not a generic divine-attribute claim shared identically across traditions. |
| tongue (speech) | γλῶσσα | glōssa | Taming the Tongue | Medium-High | The organ/faculty of speech and its moral power for blessing or destruction | زبان | Persian poetic tradition (Hafez, Rumi) offers useful existing metaphorical resources; keep anchored to James’s ethical-relational point. |
| hell / Gehenna | γέεννα | geenna | Taming the Tongue (background: Wisdom, Judgment) | High | The place/state of final judgment, here used to characterize the tongue’s destructive potential | جهنم | Identical to the standard Quranic term (Jahannam); the concept of final judgment is broadly shared, but the basis for it (rejection of Christ vs. deeds-weighing) must be actively taught at each occurrence. |
| image of God | εἰκὼν θεοῦ | eikōn theou | (Anthropological background to Taming the Tongue) | High | Humanity’s created likeness to God, the ground for the prohibition on cursing people | شبیه خدا / صورت خدا | Collides with mainstream tanzih theology’s reluctance toward any human “image of God” anthropology; requires deliberate positive teaching as a distinct biblical claim. |
| friendship with the world | φιλία τοῦ κόσμου | philia tou kosmou | Worldliness versus Friendship with God | High | Intimate moral/relational alliance with the present world-system in opposition to God | دوستی با دنیا | Extends the baseline’s existing Sufi-zuhd caution (separation_unto_gods_service doctrine); this is relational/moral loyalty, not physical withdrawal from the world. |
| submit (to God) | ὑποτάγητε | hypotagēte | Worldliness versus Friendship with God | Critical | Voluntary, relational placing of oneself under God’s authority | تسلیم شوید / اطاعت کنید | تسلیم is the literal etymological root of “Islam”; must be framed, per baseline’s obedience_of_faith doctrine, as flowing from an already-established grace relationship, never as the initiating act that establishes standing with God. |
| oath-taking (prohibition) | ὀμνύω | omnyō | (Worldliness/speech ethics background) | High | Invoking a higher authority (God, holy figures) to guarantee the truth of a statement | قسم خوردن | Confronts the pervasive Iranian cultural practice of oaths invoking God or the Imams (e.g., by Imam Hussein’s life); requires sensitive, direct pastoral framing, not merely literal rendering. |
| healing (physical) | σῴζω (healing sense) | sōzō | Prayer and Healing | Critical | Physical restoration to health through believing prayer, distinct from eternal salvation | شفا دادن / بهبود بخشیدن | Must NOT use نجات here; keep physical healing terminologically distinct from soteriological salvation to prevent doctrinal conflation in either direction. |
| raise up (restore to health) | ἐγείρω (restorative sense) | egeirō | Prayer and Healing | High | The Lord’s restoration of a sick person’s strength, not resurrection from death | برخیزانیدن / برپا کردن | Must NOT use قیامت (reserved for bodily resurrection from death); keep lexically distinct from the resurrection doctrine family. |
| elders (of the church) | πρεσβύτεροι | presbyteroi | Prayer and Healing | High | Recognized local leaders responsible for prayer and pastoral care of the sick | ریشسفیدان کلیسا | Distinguish from Shia clerical hierarchy (mullah, ayatollah); reflects informal, trusted house-church leadership, not a formal ordained clergy rank. |
| anointing with oil | ἀλείφω ἐλαίῳ | aleiphō elaiō | Prayer and Healing | Medium | Symbolic/medicinal application of oil accompanying prayer for the sick | با روغن تدهین کردن | Symbolic act accompanying believing prayer, not an independently efficacious sacramental rite. |
| confess (to one another) | ἐξομολογέω | exomologeō | Confession and Restoration | High | Mutual, horizontal confession of sin among believers, for the purpose of healing and restoration | اعتراف کردن | Distinct from both Catholic sacramental confession to a priest and from Islamic tawbah’s characteristically private, direct-to-God repentance pattern; mutual confession within the body of Christ is a genuinely distinct practice requiring active teaching. |
| wander from the truth / restore | πλανηθῇ / ἐπιστρέψῃ | planēthē / epistrepsē | Confession and Restoration | High | Straying from gospel truth within the believing community, and the act of restoring such a person | گمراه شود / بازگرداند | گمراهی activates the Quranic guidance/misguidance (hidayah/gumrahi) framework; anchor specifically to intra-church restoration of a straying believer, not the general Islamic hidayah-from-revelation framework. |
| heir / inheritance | κληρονόμος | klēronomos | (Favoritism and the Poor; background to Adoption) | Critical | Full inheritance rights as members of God’s kingdom | وارث | Directly reengages the baseline’s adoption doctrine note regarding Iranian civil law’s weaker sarparasti (custodianship) standard; full heirship must be taught against this real legal default. |
C. Critical Harmonization Note — Justification Terminology Across Romans and James (Required Reading for All Translators)
Because this curriculum sits alongside the Romans Language Package and reuses its translation memory, the single highest-priority cross-document risk in the entire James curriculum is the apparent tension between:
- Romans 3:28 / 4:1-5 (baseline): justification is by faith alone, apart from works — a forensic declaration, credited (عدالت محسوبشده), not earned.
- James 2:21, 2:24 (this document): “a person is justified by works, and not by faith alone” — using the identical baseline Persian phrase عادل شمرده شدن.
This is NOT a doctrinal contradiction to be smoothed over by choosing different Persian words in James (that would break translation memory consistency and obscure the real interpretive question). Instead, every occurrence of عادل شمرده شدن in James 2:14-26 must carry an accompanying translator/teaching note establishing:
- Paul (Romans) addresses the ground of justification: faith alone, apart from works, at the moment of believing (Romans 4:1-5, citing Genesis 15:6).
- James addresses the evidence of justification: a genuine, already-credited faith inevitably produces works, which vindicate/demonstrate that faith as real and living, using Abraham’s later act (Genesis 22) to illustrate what was already true of him from Genesis 15:6 (explicitly cited in James 2:23).
- Persian learners — coming from a strong existing cultural pull toward deeds-weighing (mizan) frameworks in both Islamic and Zoroastrian-inflected popular piety (per the baseline’s “sin,” “salvation,” and “universal_human_accountability” doctrine notes) — are at elevated risk of hearing James 2:24 as confirmation that works contribute to one’s forensic standing before God. This must be actively and repeatedly corrected, not left to contextual inference.
This note must be attached to every Phase 2 segment containing James 2:14-26 and flagged for mandatory human theologian review, consistent with the “Critical” risk tier’s review routing in the baseline doctrine_risk_registry.json.
D. Chapters Reviewed With No Additional New Terms Beyond Those Listed
All five chapters of James (1-5) contain load-bearing theological vocabulary; no chapter is without new or reused terms requiring documentation. This glossary and the accompanying 07_semantic_analysis.md together provide full-book coverage: chapters 1, 3, and 4 each introduce substantial new terminology beyond the core passage (chapter 2) and chapter 5’s prayer/healing/confession vocabulary; every chapter has been explicitly reviewed and is represented above or in Part 2 of the semantic analysis.
Critical Risk Terms
Righteousness
Approved rendering: عدالت
Transliteration: edalat
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: پارسایی
Original: δικαιοσύνη
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Used in James 2:23 (imputed) and 3:18 (‘fruit of righteousness’); never پارسایی, for the same Zoroastrian-inflected virtue-piety collision reasons documented in the baseline.
Justification
Approved rendering: عادل شمرده شدن
Transliteration: adel shomorde shodan
Doctrine: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. James 2:21, 2:24, 2:25 reuse this exact compound in its demonstrative/vindicating sense (an already-credited faith shown genuine by works), distinct from Romans’ forensic sense at the moment of believing. MANDATORY: every James 2:14-26 occurrence must carry the Romans-James harmonization note (see justification_harmony_romans_james in doctrine_risk_registry.json) or it will read as a flat contradiction of Romans 3:28/4:1-5, already fixed in this same translation memory.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: عدالت محسوبشده
Transliteration: edalat-e mahsub-shode
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: عدالت کسبشده
Original: ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην
Category: Faith and Works
Inherited from Romans package. James 2:23 quotes the identical Genesis 15:6 event cited in Romans 4:3; never عدالت کسبشده. This is the strongest single Romans-James cross-reference point in the curriculum and requires mandatory theologian review for verbatim consistency.
Salvation
Approved rendering: نجات
Transliteration: nejat
Doctrine: Salvation
Original: σωτηρία / σῴζω (soteriological sense)
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Used in James 1:21, 2:14, 4:12, 5:20 for eternal salvation. CRITICAL: reserve strictly for soteriological salvation; NEVER use for the physical-healing sense of σῴζω in James 5:15 (use شفا دادن instead), or conflation risk is introduced in both directions.
Law
Approved rendering: ناموس
Transliteration: namus
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: شریعت
Original: νόμος
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. James 1:25 (‘perfect law of liberty’), 2:8-12 (‘royal law’, whole law), 4:11-12. Never شریعت, given Iran’s shari’a-based legal system; the risk is heightened in James since 2:8-12 explicitly discusses partial law-keeping and personal legal accountability.
Lord
Approved rendering: خداوند
Transliteration: Khodavand
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: سرور
Original: κύριος
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. James 1:1; 2:1; 5:4 (Lord of Sabaoth); 5:7-8,10,11,14,15. Every chapter 5 occurrence touching the Lord’s coming additionally requires the parousia/Mahdi-displacement caution (see parousia entry below).
Father
Approved rendering: پدر
Transliteration: pedar
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. James 1:17 (‘Father of lights’), 1:27, 3:9. The 1:17 compound title additionally compounds with Persian light-imagery’s resonance with Suhrawardi’s Illuminationist philosophy; see father_of_lights entry below.
Intercession
Approved rendering: شفاعت
Transliteration: shafa’at
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Original: εὔχεσθε ὑπὲρ ἀλλήλων / ὑπερεντυγχάνει
Category: Prayer and Healing
Inherited from Romans package. James 5:14-18 extends this doctrine from Christ’s own exclusive intercession (Romans 8:26-27,34) to MUTUAL believer-to-believer intercessory prayer. This mutual, non-hierarchical pattern must be actively CONTRASTED, not merely distinguished, from the Twelver Shia Karbala/Hussein martyrdom-intercession pattern’s hierarchical, uniquely-empowered-intercessor structure; Christ remains sole mediator.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: قیامت
Transliteration: qiyamat
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Inherited from Romans package. NOT used for James 5:15’s ἐγείρω (‘the Lord will raise him up’) - that verse concerns restoration to physical health, not resurrection from death. Retained here specifically to document the term this curriculum must NOT use in that context; see raise_up_restore_health below.
God
Approved rendering: خدا
Transliteration: Khoda
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: الله
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Used throughout James as the source of wisdom (1:5), testing (1:13), and every good gift (1:17).
Jesus
Approved rendering: عیسی
Transliteration: Isa
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. James 1:1, 2:1. ‘Isa’ still carries the Quranic prophet-only, non-crucified, non-divine narrative that must be actively corrected at every occurrence, exactly as in Romans.
Messiah
Approved rendering: مسیح
Transliteration: Masih
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Original: Χριστός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. James 2:1 pairs ‘Christ’ directly with ‘Lord’ and ‘of glory’ - an explicit, compact deity-of-Christ statement requiring the same Mahdi-displacement care documented in the baseline.
Adoption
Approved rendering: فرزندخواندگی
Transliteration: farzand-khandegi
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: سرپرستی
Inherited from Romans package. James does not use this exact term, but James 2:5’s وارث (‘heir’) directly reengages this doctrine’s Iranian civil-law collision (سرپرستی/custodianship vs. full inheritance); retained here so translators connect the two terms’ shared legal-cultural risk explicitly.
Works
Approved rendering: اعمال
Transliteration: a’mal
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Original: ἔργα
Category: Faith and Works
Identical to the vocabulary used across Islamic theology for deeds recorded in the amal-nameh and weighed at the mizan (also independently reinforced by Zoroastrian Chinvat Bridge deeds-weighing). Must be taught as faith’s fruit/evidence, never its meritorious ground, at every occurrence in James 2:14-26.
Justification James Sense
Approved rendering: عادل شمرده شدن
Transliteration: adel shomorde shodan
Doctrine: Harmonizing Justification: Romans and James
Rejected alternatives: عدالت کسبشده
Original: ἐδικαιώθη / ἐξ ἔργων δικαιοῦται
Category: Faith and Works
The demonstrative/vindicating sense of δικαιόω in James 2:21,24,25: an already-credited faith shown genuine by works. Reuses the baseline compound exactly for lexical consistency, but requires the mandatory Romans-James harmonization note at every single occurrence. Top-priority theologian-review item for the entire curriculum.
Friend Of God
Approved rendering: دوست خدا
Transliteration: dust-e khoda
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: خلیلالله (as a bare, uncontextualized honorific)
Original: φίλος θεοῦ
Category: Faith and Works
خلیلالله (Khalil Allah, ‘Friend of God’) is an actual Quranic honorific title for Abraham (Surah 4:125) deeply embedded in Iranian religious culture. Must ground the title specifically in James’s own causal chain - faith credited as righteousness (2:23a) and its fruit (2:21-22) - never reproduce the shared honorific without that distinctly Christian content.
Heir
Approved rendering: وارث
Transliteration: vares
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Rejected alternatives: سرپرستی
Original: κληρονόμος
Category: Faith and Works
James 2:5: the poor are full heirs of the promised kingdom. Directly reengages the baseline’s adoption doctrine collision with Iranian civil law’s weaker سرپرستی (custodianship) standard; full heirship is a live legal contrast, not an abstract metaphor, for Persian hearers.
Wisdom
Approved rendering: حکمت
Transliteration: hekmat
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
Original: σοφία
Category: Wisdom from Above
حکمت is a major Quranic and Sufi philosophical category (divine hikmah, hekmat-e elahi). Must be taught as a relational gift sought directly from God through prayer (James 1:5), never an acquired philosophical virtue or esoteric mystical attainment.
Soulish Wisdom
Approved rendering: نفسانی
Transliteration: nafsani
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
Original: ψυχική
Category: Wisdom from Above
نفس (nafs) is the central Islamic/Sufi anthropological category of the ‘lower self’ with its own ascetic-discipline remedy. Can serve as a bridge concept but must not import the Sufi self-mastery solution where James’s actual remedy is prayerful reception of wisdom from above (1:5).
Submit To God
Approved rendering: تسلیم شوید
Transliteration: taslim shavid
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Original: ὑποτάγητε τῷ θεῷ
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
تسلیم is the literal etymological root of ‘Islam’ itself and the central defining act of Islamic piety. Must be taught, per the baseline’s obedience_of_faith doctrine, as a relational response flowing from an already-established grace relationship, never as the initiating act that establishes right standing with God (James 4:7). Never permit a bare, unqualified occurrence.
Healing
Approved rendering: شفا دادن
Transliteration: shafa dadan
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Rejected alternatives: نجات
Original: σῴζω (healing sense)
Category: Prayer and Healing
Physical restoration to health through believing prayer (James 5:15), distinct from eternal salvation. MUST NOT use نجات (reserved for eternal salvation); keep physical healing terminologically distinct from soteriological salvation to prevent conflation in either direction.
Parousia
Approved rendering: آمدن خداوند
Transliteration: amadan-e khodavand
Doctrine: Patience and the Lord’s Return
Rejected alternatives: ظهور (unqualified)
Original: παρουσία
Category: Patience and the Lord’s Return
ظهور (zohur) is Twelver Shia eschatology’s specific, devotionally loaded technical term for the Hidden Twelfth Imam’s (Mahdi’s) reappearance. Using it unqualified for Christ’s parousia risks direct absorption into Mahdi-centered eschatology. Prefer plain آمدن خداوند; if ظهور is ever used, it must always carry explicit content asserting Christ’s own unique, primary, and sufficient return.
High Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: انجیل
Transliteration: Injil
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: مژده
Inherited from Romans package. In James, ties directly to ‘word of truth’ (کلام حقیقت, James 1:18) and the ‘implanted word’ (1:21); ensure consistent linkage to انجیل rather than treating the gospel James describes as a separate concept from the Injil taught in Romans.
Grace
Approved rendering: فیض
Transliteration: feyz
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: لطف
Original: χάρις
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. James 4:6 quotes Proverbs 3:34 (‘God gives grace to the humble’); reinforce a freely willed, personal gift secured through Christ, never the Illuminationist/Mulla Sadra emanation sense, exactly as required in Romans.
Faith
Approved rendering: ایمان
Transliteration: iman
Doctrine: Faith
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith and Works
Inherited from Romans package. In James 2:14-26 (this curriculum’s core passage), this is the professed faith under scrutiny for authenticity; teach the passage as testing whether professed ایمان is living and genuine, never as imposing an additional meritorious requirement alongside faith, which would collapse into the Islamic mizan deeds-weighing framework.
Sin
Approved rendering: گناه
Transliteration: gonah
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. James extends the doctrine to sins of omission (4:17, ‘knows the right thing to do and fails to do it’) and interpersonal offenses (5:16), beyond Romans’ federal-headship argument; both Islamic fitrah and Zoroastrian Chinvat Bridge defaults apply as in the baseline.
Called
Approved rendering: دعوتشده
Transliteration: da’vat-shode
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Inherited from Romans package. James 2:23 uses the related root in ‘was called a friend of God’ (φίλος θεοῦ ἐκλήθη) - a title conferred as the outcome of vindicated faith, not a summons to office or salvation; flag the distinct sense in context notes.
Church
Approved rendering: کلیسا
Transliteration: kelisa
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: امت
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. James 5:14 (‘elders of the church’) - the underground house-church leadership reality applies directly; elders denote trusted informal lay leadership, not a formal ordained clergy hierarchy.
Altar Of Sacrifice
Approved rendering: قربانگاه
Transliteration: qorbangah
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Original: θυσιαστήριον
Category: Faith and Works
Directly invokes the Quranic near-sacrifice narrative (Surah 37:100-107) central to Eid al-Adha; the Quranic tradition identifies the son as Ishmael, not Isaac, and frames the event as a test of taslim (submission). State plainly, without polemic or accommodation, that the biblical text specifies Isaac (اسحاق).
Doer Of The Word
Approved rendering: عملکننده به کلام
Transliteration: amal-konande be kalam
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Original: ποιητὴς λόγου
Category: Faith and Works
The conceptual seed of the whole Faith-and-Works doctrine (James 1:22-25). Must not suggest that ‘doing’ is a separate meritorious add-on to hearing/receiving the word, but its natural, inevitable fruit.
Trial
Approved rendering: آزمایش
Transliteration: azmayesh
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Original: πειρασμός
Category: Trials and the Testing of Faith
External testing of faith’s genuineness, permitted by God for maturing believers (James 1:2,12). Must be kept lexically distinct from وسوسه (temptation to sin); conflating the two implies God tempts people toward sin, directly contradicted at 1:13.
Temptation
Approved rendering: وسوسه
Transliteration: vasvase
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Original: πειράζω
Category: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Internal enticement toward sin, sourced in one’s own desire, not from God (James 1:13-14). Must not share the same Persian root as آزمایش, or James’s careful God-tests/God-does-not-tempt distinction collapses.
Endurance
Approved rendering: استقامت
Transliteration: esteqamat
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Original: ὑπομονή
Category: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Steadfast perseverance under trial and hardship, the fruit and goal of tested faith (James 1:3-4; 5:11, Job). Keep terminologically distinct from μακροθυμία (بردباری, patience in awaiting the Lord’s return, ch.5) for doctrinal precision.
Desire
Approved rendering: هوس
Transliteration: havas
Doctrine: Origin of Sin and Temptation
Original: ἐπιθυμία
Category: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Sin’s true internal origin (James 1:14-15), not divine testing, not fate. Central to countering the fitrah (innate purity) doctrine and the Zoroastrian Chinvat Bridge deeds-weighing default already flagged in the baseline’s sin entry.
Favoritism
Approved rendering: تبعیض
Transliteration: tab’iz
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Original: προσωπολημψία
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
Treating people differently based on external status, especially wealth (James 2:1,9). Confronts the real, lived social hierarchy of Iranian society directly; must not be softened despite tension with Islamic formal-equality (adl) teaching.
Rich And Poor
Approved rendering: غنی / فقیر
Transliteration: ghani / faqir
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Original: πλούσιος / πτωχός
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
Wealth status subject to reversal in God’s economy (James 1:9-11; 2:1-7; 5:1-6). Avoid prosperity-gospel readings; note resonance with, but doctrinal distinctness from, Islamic zakat/sadaqah charity framing.
Mercy
Approved rendering: رحمت
Transliteration: rahmat
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Original: ἔλεος
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
Compassionate favor toward the needy and guilty, said to ‘triumph over judgment’ (James 2:13). رحمت is central shared Islamic vocabulary (Bismillah’s ar-Rahman ar-Rahim) - a genuine bridge, but must be grounded specifically in Christ’s atoning work, not left as a generic shared divine-attribute claim.
Royal Law
Approved rendering: ناموس ملوکانه
Transliteration: namus-e molukane
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Original: νόμος βασιλικός
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
The love-command for neighbor, the preeminent, summary law (James 2:8). Reuse the ناموس root per baseline’s departure from شریعت; ensure ‘royal’ communicates preeminence, not merely one more royal decree, avoiding resonance with Iran’s Velayat-e Faqih structure.
Tongue
Approved rendering: زبان
Transliteration: zaban
Doctrine: Taming the Tongue
Original: γλῶσσα
Category: Taming the Tongue
The organ/faculty of speech and its outsized power for blessing or destruction (James 3:1-12). Persian poetic tradition (Hafez, Rumi) offers rich existing metaphorical resources; keep anchored to James’s ethical-relational point, not aesthetic/mystical drift.
Hell
Approved rendering: جهنم
Transliteration: jahannam
Doctrine: Taming the Tongue
Original: γέεννα
Category: Taming the Tongue
Identical to the standard Quranic term for Hell (Jahannam), used to characterize the tongue’s destructive potential (James 3:6). The concept of final judgment is broadly shared, but the basis for entry - rejection of Christ, versus Islamic deeds-weighing - must be actively taught wherever this term recurs.
Image Of God
Approved rendering: شبیه خدا
Transliteration: shabih-e khoda
Doctrine: Human Dignity as God’s Image
Original: εἰκὼν θεοῦ
Category: Taming the Tongue
Humanity’s created likeness to God, the ground for the prohibition on cursing fellow humans (James 3:9). Mainstream tanzih theology’s strict God-creation dissimilarity generally avoids or heavily qualifies this anthropology; requires deliberate positive teaching, not assumed shared ground - a genuine content gap, not merely a crowded term.
Oath Taking
Approved rendering: قسم خوردن
Transliteration: qasam khordan
Doctrine: Oaths and Truthful Speech
Original: ὀμνύω
Category: Taming the Tongue
James 5:12 prohibits invoking a higher authority to guarantee truthfulness. Persian oath culture is exceptionally active and religiously loaded - everyday oaths invoking God, the Qur’an, or the lives of the Imams (‘به جان امام حسین قسم’) are extremely common; requires sensitive pastoral framing, not merely literal rendering.
Friendship With The World
Approved rendering: دوستی با دنیا
Transliteration: dusti ba donya
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Original: φιλία τοῦ κόσμου
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Intimate moral/relational alliance with the present world-system, opposed to friendship with God (James 4:4). دنیا is a major Islamic/Sufi category (this transient life vs. akhirah); James’s point is relational/moral loyalty, not physical zuhd-style withdrawal - extends the baseline’s separation_unto_gods_service caution explicitly.
If The Lord Wills
Approved rendering: اگر خداوند بخواهد
Transliteration: agar khodavand bekhahad
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Original: ἐὰν ὁ Κύριος θελήσῃ
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Humble acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty over human plans (James 4:15). Functions almost identically to the extremely common everyday Persian ‘انشاءالله’ (Inshallah); anchor explicitly to the تدبیر الهی providence doctrine, not generic fatalistic speech-filler.
Raise Up Restore Health
Approved rendering: برخیزانیدن
Transliteration: barkhizanidan
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Rejected alternatives: قیامت
Original: ἐγερεῖ αὐτὸν ὁ κύριος
Category: Prayer and Healing
The Lord’s restoration of a sick person’s strength (James 5:15), not resurrection from death. MUST NOT use قیامت; keep lexically distinct from the resurrection doctrine family.
Elders Of The Church
Approved rendering: ریشسفیدان کلیسا
Transliteration: rish-sefidan-e kelisa
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Original: πρεσβύτεροι τῆς ἐκκλησίας
Category: Prayer and Healing
Recognized local leaders called to pray over and anoint the sick (James 5:14). Distinguish from Shia clerical hierarchy (mullah, ayatollah); reflects informal, trusted house-church leadership, not a formal ordained clergy rank.
Patience
Approved rendering: بردباری
Transliteration: bordbari
Doctrine: Patience and the Lord’s Return
Original: μακροθυμία
Category: Patience and the Lord’s Return
Patient waiting in hopeful expectation, especially for the Lord’s coming, modeled on the farmer awaiting harvest (James 5:7-8). Keep lexically distinct from استقامت (endurance under trial) for doctrinal precision.
Lord Of Sabaoth
Approved rendering: خداوند لشکرها
Transliteration: khodavand-e lashkarha
Doctrine: Patience and the Lord’s Return
Original: Κύριος Σαβαώθ
Category: Patience and the Lord’s Return
OT divine military-royal title, God’s supreme authority as witness against injustice (James 5:4). Compounds with the baseline’s Critical Lord entry; ensure the title is not misheard as a separate divine name/being.
Confess To One Another
Approved rendering: اعتراف کردن
Transliteration: e’teraf kardan
Doctrine: Confession and Restoration
Original: ἐξομολογεῖσθε ἀλλήλοις τὰς ἁμαρτίας
Category: Confession and Restoration
Mutual, horizontal confession of sin among believers (James 5:16). Distinct from both Catholic sacramental confession to a priest and from Islamic tawbah’s characteristically private, direct-to-God repentance pattern; requires an explanatory gloss at first occurrence in every document.
Wander From The Truth
Approved rendering: گمراه شود
Transliteration: gomrah shavad
Doctrine: Confession and Restoration
Original: πλανηθῇ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀληθείας
Category: Confession and Restoration
Straying from gospel truth within the believing community (James 5:19). Activates the Quranic hidayah/gumrahi guidance-misguidance structural pair; anchor strictly to intra-church restoration of a straying believer, not the general Quranic revelation-guidance framework.
Restore The Wanderer
Approved rendering: بازگرداند
Transliteration: bazgardanad
Doctrine: Confession and Restoration
Original: ἐπιστρέψῃ
Category: Confession and Restoration
The act of restoring the straying believer (James 5:19-20). Frame as intra-community pastoral restoration, distinct from the Islamic da’wah/re-conversion framework of ‘returning to Islam.‘
Father Of Lights
Approved rendering: پدر نورها
Transliteration: pedar-e nurha
Doctrine: Divine Impartiality and the Unchanging Father of Lights
Original: πατὴρ τῶν φώτων
Category: God
Title for God as source/giver of every good gift (James 1:17). Compounds the baseline’s Father anthropomorphism caution with Persian light-imagery’s strong resonance with Suhrawardi’s Illuminationist (Hekmat al-Ishraq) philosophy of divine Light-emanation. Must be taught as describing the personal Father’s unchanging constancy, not absorbed into light-metaphysics.
Word Of Truth
Approved rendering: کلام حقیقت
Transliteration: kalam-e haqiqat
Doctrine: True and Pure Religion
Original: λόγος ἀληθείας
Category: God
The gospel message by which believers are spiritually born (James 1:18). Overlaps with the baseline’s gospel (انجیل) and inspiration_of_scripture doctrines; ensure consistent linkage to انجیل rather than treating it as a separate concept.
Perfect Law Of Liberty
Approved rendering: ناموس کامل آزادی
Transliteration: namus-e kamel-e azadi
Doctrine: True and Pure Religion
Original: νόμος τέλειος τῆς ἐλευθερίας
Category: God
The moral law of the new covenant, which liberates rather than merely constrains (James 1:25). Reuse ناموس per baseline’s departure from شریعت. آزادی is also a highly charged political term in the Islamic Republic context; teach strictly as spiritual freedom from sin’s bondage through Christ, never a political-freedom claim.
Religion
Approved rendering: دین
Transliteration: din
Doctrine: True and Pure Religion
Original: θρησκεία
Category: God
True religious practice defined as care for the vulnerable and moral purity, not ritual alone (James 1:26-27). دین is the primary word for ‘religion’ in the comprehensive, submitted-way-of-life Islamic sense (din-e Islam); James’s narrow, qualified use should be distinguished from claiming a full comparative ‘religion’ category, consider pairing with a clarifying phrase at first occurrence.
Medium Risk Terms
Glory
Approved rendering: جلال
Transliteration: jalal
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: δόξα
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
Inherited from Romans package. James 2:1 (‘our Lord Jesus Christ, [Lord] of glory’) is a compact, easily-overlooked deity-of-Christ statement embedded in the favoritism passage; treat with the same care as the baseline’s Romans 9:5 deity-of-Christ occurrences, never as incidental description.
Peace
Approved rendering: سلام
Transliteration: salam
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: آرامش
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Reserve سلام for James 3:18’s doctrinal, peaceable-wisdom sense. Do NOT use سلام for James 2:16’s conventional farewell blessing (‘go in peace’) - use a natural Persian farewell idiom there instead, or the doctrinal term is trivialized and the passage’s irony about empty piety is lost.
Calling
Approved rendering: دعوت
Transliteration: da’vat
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Inherited from Romans package. Retained for cross-reference completeness given its relation to ‘called’ at James 2:23, though James does not use the noun form directly.
Providence
Approved rendering: تدبیر الهی
Transliteration: tadbir-e elahi
Doctrine: Providence
Inherited from Romans package. James 4:15 (‘if the Lord wills’) functions almost identically to the extremely common everyday Persian ‘انشاءالله’ (Inshallah); anchor explicitly to this doctrine’s personal, purposive-governance content rather than leaving it as generic fatalistic speech-filler.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: ملکوت خدا
Transliteration: malakut-e khoda
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
Inherited from Romans package. James 2:5: the poor are ‘heirs of the kingdom’ promised to those who love God; pair with the heir/وارث entry’s adoption-doctrine collision note below.
Hearer Only
Approved rendering: تنها شنونده
Transliteration: tanha shenavande
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Original: ἀκροατὴς μόνον
Category: Faith and Works
Contrast term to doer_of_the_word (James 1:22); keep the pairing consistent across chapters 1 and 2.
Dead Faith
Approved rendering: مرده
Transliteration: morde
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Original: νεκρά / ἀργή
Category: Faith and Works
Faith with no accompanying works, described as not weak but entirely lifeless (James 2:17,20,26). Must co-occur explicitly with ایمان (never elliptical) to block a literal-death misreading, and must be kept terminologically distinct from قیامت/resurrection theology.
Testing Process
Approved rendering: آزمودگی
Transliteration: azmudegi
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Original: δοκίμιον
Category: Trials and the Testing of Faith
The proving/refining process of tested faith that produces endurance (James 1:3); ensure the process/outcome distinction from استقامت itself remains clear.
Earthly Wisdom
Approved rendering: زمینی
Transliteration: zamini
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
Original: ἐπίγειος
Category: Wisdom from Above
The first negative qualifier of false wisdom: merely worldly in origin (James 3:15). Plain contrast term, low ambiguity.
Demonic Wisdom
Approved rendering: شیطانی
Transliteration: sheytani
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
Rejected alternatives: دیوانه
Original: δαιμονιώδης
Category: Wisdom from Above
The most severe qualifier of false wisdom (James 3:15). Avoid دیوانه, which in modern Persian means ‘crazy,’ not ‘of demons’; شیطانی avoids unintended meaning drift.
Double Minded
Approved rendering: دودل
Transliteration: dodel
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
Original: δίψυχος
Category: Wisdom from Above
Divided in mind, wavering between trust in God and doubt (James 1:6-8; 4:8). Keep consistent across both occurrences.
Fruit Of Righteousness
Approved rendering: میوه عدالت
Transliteration: mive-ye edalat
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
Original: καρπὸς δικαιοσύνης
Category: Wisdom from Above
The positive outcome of peacemaking wisdom (James 3:18). Reuse عدالت; pair with سلام since the verse links peace and righteousness.
Judgment
Approved rendering: داوری
Transliteration: davari
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Original: κρίσις
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
Eschatological judgment the merciless will face without mercy (James 2:13). Standard vocabulary; ensure consistency with James’s other judgment/hell terms.
Teacher
Approved rendering: معلم
Transliteration: mo’allem
Doctrine: Taming the Tongue
Original: διδάσκαλος
Category: Taming the Tongue
One who instructs authoritatively, warned about seeking the office lightly given accountability for speech (James 3:1). Note potential resonance/contrast with Iranian religious-teaching authority structures (mullah, ayatollah) without collapsing the distinct church office into that framework.
Enmity With God
Approved rendering: دشمنی با خدا
Transliteration: doshmani ba khoda
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Original: ἔχθρα τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Active hostility toward God, the severity James assigns to worldliness (James 4:4). Ensure the strong force of ‘enmity’ is retained, not softened to mere distance.
Resist The Devil
Approved rendering: در برابر شیطان مقاومت کنید
Transliteration: dar barabar-e sheytan moqavemat konid
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Original: ἀντίστητε τῷ διαβόλῳ
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
The devil flees when resisted in dependence on God (James 4:7). شیطان (Shaitan) is shared vocabulary across both traditions; broadly compatible figure, standard usage.
Draw Near To God
Approved rendering: به خدا نزدیک شوید
Transliteration: be khoda nazdik shavid
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Original: ἐγγίσατε τῷ θεῷ
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
The relational, intimacy-seeking counterpart to submission (James 4:8). Genuine positive bridge to the Sufi concept of qorb (nearness to God); ensure the means of drawing near (through Christ’s work) is not left implicit.
Mourning And Repentance
Approved rendering: با اندوه توبه کنید
Transliteration: ba anduh towbe konid
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Original: ταλαιπωρήσατε, πενθήσατε, κλαύσατε
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Call to authentic repentance (James 4:9). 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.
Lawgiver And Judge
Approved rendering: قانونگذار و داور
Transliteration: qanun-gozar va davar
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Original: νομοθέτης καὶ κριτής
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
God alone, not a fellow believer, has the right to judge (James 4:12). Reuse the ناموس-family caution given Iran’s own religiously-derived state legal system.
Anointing With Oil
Approved rendering: با روغن تدهین کردن
Transliteration: ba roghan tadhin kardan
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Original: ἀλείψαντες ἐλαίῳ
Category: Prayer and Healing
A symbolic/medicinal act accompanying the prayer of faith for the sick (James 5:14). Not an independently efficacious sacramental rite, and unrelated to Zoroastrian sacred-fire/oil ritual associations.
Righteous Prayer Effective
Approved rendering: دعای شخص عادل مؤثر است
Transliteration: do’a-ye shakhs-e adel mo’aser ast
Doctrine: Mutual Intercessory Prayer
Original: δέησις δικαίου ἐνεργουμένη
Category: Prayer and Healing
The efficacy of righteous prayer, illustrated by Elijah (James 5:16-18). Reuse the عدالت (عادل) family for consistency.
Job
Approved rendering: ایوب
Transliteration: Ayyub
Doctrine: Patience and the Lord’s Return
Original: Ἰώβ
Category: Patience and the Lord’s Return
OT exemplar of endurance under severe testing, cited as the model of ὑπομονή (James 5:11). Positive bridge: Ayyub is also a well-known, positively regarded Quranic prophet renowned for patience (sabr); ensure the specifically Christian grounding of hope in the Lord’s compassionate outcome (5:11b) is not left implicit.
Judge At The Door
Approved rendering: داور بر در ایستاده است
Transliteration: davar bar dar istade ast
Doctrine: Patience and the Lord’s Return
Original: κριτὴς πρὸ τῶν θυρῶν
Category: Patience and the Lord’s Return
Vivid imminence-of-judgment image reinforcing the urgency of the Lord’s coming (James 5:9). Low ambiguity.
Wages Of Workers
Approved rendering: مزد کارگران
Transliteration: mozd-e kargaran
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Original: μισθὸς τῶν ἐργατῶν
Category: Patience and the Lord’s Return
Unpaid labor wages, a concrete social-justice violation indicting the oppressive rich (James 5:4). Ties directly to the Favoritism and the Poor doctrine.
Cover A Multitude Of Sins
Approved rendering: پوشاندن انبوهی از گناهان
Transliteration: pushandan-e anbuhi az gonahan
Doctrine: Confession and Restoration
Original: καλύψει πλῆθος ἁμαρτιῶν
Category: Confession and Restoration
The relational, forgiving outcome of restoration (James 5:20). Frame as relational covering/forgiveness through the gospel, not the Islamic mizan’s tallying/offsetting-of-deeds framework.
Soul Saved From Death
Approved rendering: نجات دادن جان از مرگ
Transliteration: nejat dadan-e jan az marg
Doctrine: Confession and Restoration
Original: σώσει ψυχὴν ἐκ θανάτου
Category: Confession and Restoration
The eternal stakes of restoring a straying believer (James 5:20). Reuse نجات; render ψυχή as جان (soul/life) rather than نفس, to avoid activating the Sufi/Islamic nafs anthropological category.
Implanted Word
Approved rendering: کلام کاشتهشده
Transliteration: kalam-e kashte-shode
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Original: ἔμφυτος λόγος
Category: God
The gospel word received and internalized as an inwardly rooted, living seed, able to save (James 1:21). Novel Persian compound; flag for native-speaker review at first Phase 2 occurrence to confirm naturalness before locking into permanent use.
Servant Of God
Approved rendering: بنده
Transliteration: bande
Doctrine: True and Pure Religion
Original: δοῦλος
Category: God
James identifies himself as God’s and Christ’s devoted servant (James 1:1). Devotional term shared positively with the Islamic ‘abd Allah framework; affirm voluntary, love-motivated service, not fatalistic bondage.
Orphan And Widow
Approved rendering: یتیمان و بیوهزنان
Transliteration: yatiman va bive-zanan
Doctrine: True and Pure Religion
Original: ὀρφανός / χήρα
Category: God
The socially and economically vulnerable, the concrete test-case of pure religion (James 1:27). Natural bridge to the Islamic zakat/social-welfare emphasis on orphans and widows, but retain the specifically Christian ground - imitating God’s own character, not fulfilling a legal pillar.
Assembly
Approved rendering: کنیسه
Transliteration: kanise
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Original: συναγωγή
Category: God
The gathered Christian congregation (James 2:2), reflecting the letter’s early Jewish-Christian setting. Avoid implying two separate religious bodies; this describes the Christian gathering itself, not a distinct Jewish institution.
Low Risk Terms
Bridle The Tongue
Approved rendering: لگام زدن
Transliteration: legam zadan
Doctrine: Taming the Tongue
Original: χαλιναγωγέω
Category: Taming the Tongue
Controlling speech as a horse is controlled by a bit, evidence of controlling the whole self (James 3:2-3). Vivid, low-ambiguity imagery.
Elijah
Approved rendering: الیاس
Transliteration: Elyas
Doctrine: Mutual Intercessory Prayer
Original: Ἠλίας
Category: Prayer and Healing
OT prophet cited as an ordinary human whose prayer moved God (James 5:17-18). Positive bridge: Ilyas is a recognized Quranic prophet, though the drought/rain narrative needs fuller background teaching.
Luxury
Approved rendering: ناز و نعمت
Transliteration: naz o ne’mat
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Original: τρυφή / σπατάλη
Category: Patience and the Lord’s Return
The rich’s self-indulgent lifestyle while exploiting laborers (James 5:5). Low-risk descriptive vocabulary.
Diaspora
Approved rendering: پراکندگی
Transliteration: parakandegi
Doctrine: True and Pure Religion
Original: διασπορά
Category: God
Original recipients: Jewish Christians scattered among the nations (James 1:1). Mainly requires historical-background teaching.
Referenced passages