Semantic Analysis: Matthew 1–28 (Persian Destination Language)

Methodology and Baseline Compliance

This analysis extends the Romans Language Package baseline to the Gospel of Matthew. Wherever a term already exists in the baseline translation_memory.json / bible_term_registry.json (e.g. گناه، عدالت، ایمان، رسول، مسیح، پسر خدا، ناموس، عهد، اسرائیل، داوود، خدا، عیسی، خداوند، روح‌القدس، پدر، کلیسا، ملکوت خدا، غیریهودیان، جلال، دعوت، دعوت‌شده، نبوت، پیامبر، شفاعت، فیض، سلام), that exact Persian rendering is reused without modification. This document does not re-litigate those entries; it only flags places where Matthew’s usage introduces a new nuance, a new collocation (e.g. “Son of David” vs. baseline’s “seed of David”), or a new risk not previously documented (e.g. “kingdom of heaven” vs. baseline’s “kingdom of God”).

New terms are analyzed with seven fields: Original (Greek), Transliteration, Literal meaning, Semantic range, English variants, Contextual theological meaning, Persian rendering and risk. The core passage (Matthew 5:1-12) receives full verse-by-verse treatment. Every other chapter receives a chapter section covering load-bearing new terms; chapters that introduce nothing new state this explicitly.

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PART A — Core Passage Verse-by-Verse: Matthew 5:1-12 (The Beatitudes)

Matthew 5:1

καὶ ἀνέβη εἰς τὸ ὄρος… προσῆλθαν αὐτῷ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ

• μαθηταί (mathētai) — disciples

  • Literal meaning: “learners,” from μανθάνω, “to learn.”
  • Semantic range: pupils of a teacher/rabbi; in NT usage, committed followers who live with and imitate the Master, not merely students of doctrine.
  • English variants: disciples, followers, students, learners.
  • Contextual theological meaning: introduces the Discipleship and Cost of Following Jesus doctrine at the very head of Jesus’ first major teaching block; the Sermon on the Mount is addressed primarily to committed followers, not the crowd generally.
  • Persian rendering: شاگرد / شاگردان (shagerd/shagerdan). Risk: Medium. شاگرد is standard, low-collision vocabulary (used for any pupil-teacher relationship, including Sufi pir-morid discipleship). Positive bridge risk: Persian readers may default to the Sufi pir-o-morid (master-disciple) model of hierarchical mystical obedience to a living human guide; teaching must clarify that discipleship to Christ is to a living, divine, resurrected Lord, not a human spiritual director whose authority is mediated and transferable.

• ὄρος (oros) — mountain

  • Literal meaning: mountain, hill.
  • Semantic range: any elevated terrain; in Matthew’s narrative shaping, deliberately evokes Sinai (Moses receiving/giving the Law).
  • English variants: mountain, mountainside, hill.
  • Contextual theological meaning: sets up the Authority of Jesus’ Teaching doctrine — Jesus as the greater lawgiver/interpreter, teaching with an authority exceeding Moses (developed explicitly in 5:21-48, “You have heard… but I say to you”).
  • Persian rendering: کوه (kuh). Risk: Low. No independent collision; the Moses-typology must be supplied by teaching notes, since the term itself carries no inherent theological content in Persian.

Matthew 5:2

καὶ ἀνοίξας τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ ἐδίδασκεν αὐτοὺς λέγων

• ἐδίδασκεν (edidasken) — he taught
  • Literal meaning: “was teaching,” imperfect of διδάσκω.
  • Semantic range: to instruct, to teach authoritatively (used throughout Matthew of Jesus’ characteristic activity alongside preaching and healing).
  • English variants: taught, was teaching, instructed.
  • Contextual theological meaning: frames the entire discourse as authoritative teaching (see 7:28-29, “the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes”). This is the doctrinal anchor for The Authority of Jesus’ Teaching.
  • Persian rendering: تعلیم دادن (ta’lim dadan). Risk: Medium. تعلیم/معلم vocabulary is shared with Islamic religious-instruction registers (a mullah’s ta’lim); must be reinforced throughout Matthew that Jesus’ teaching authority is inherent and divine (see 7:29, 28:18 — اختیار, “authority,” below), not the delegated, derivative authority of a jurist or cleric interpreting an external law.

Matthew 5:3

Μακάριοι οἱ πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι, ὅτι αὐτῶν ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν.

• μακάριοι (makarioi) — blessed

  • Literal meaning: “happy/fortunate,” but in Jewish wisdom and prophetic usage denotes a pronounced divine verdict of well-being, not a feeling.
  • Semantic range: blessed, happy, fortunate, flourishing under God’s favor.
  • English variants: blessed, happy, fortunate.
  • Contextual theological meaning: a declarative pronouncement of God’s favor resting on those who might appear, by worldly or religious-merit standards, to have the least claim on it. Sets the ironic, grace-shaped logic of the whole Sermon.
  • Persian rendering: خوشا به حال (khosha be haal — “how fortunate/happy is…”). Risk: Medium. This is the established idiomatic rendering in Persian Bible tradition. Reject متبرک (mobarak) as an alternative: مبارک is heavily used in Islamic ritual/greeting contexts (Eid mobarak, mawlid mobarak, referring to blessing attached to a person, object, or occasion through religious merit or baraka); خوشا به حال better preserves the declarative, non-ritual, favor-not-merit sense Jesus intends.

• πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι (ptōchoi tō pneumati) — poor in spirit

  • Literal meaning: πτωχός = economically destitute, a beggar (stronger than πένης, “working poor”); τῷ πνεύματι = “in/with respect to the spirit.”
  • Semantic range: economic destitution (literal use elsewhere) transferred metaphorically to total spiritual bankruptcy and dependence on God, with nothing to offer.
  • English variants: poor in spirit, spiritually poor, humble before God.
  • Contextual theological meaning: the foundational posture of the whole Sermon — recognized spiritual need, the opposite of self-sufficient righteousness (anticipates Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees, ch. 5-7 and 23).
  • Persian rendering: فقیران در روح (faqiran dar ruh). Risk: High. Persian mystical (Sufi) tradition has its own highly developed doctrine of فقر (faqr, “spiritual poverty”) as a deliberately cultivated ascetic virtue and a recognized stage on the mystical path (the Sufi darvish, “poor one,” literally embodies this). This risks inverting Jesus’ meaning: from a confessed, un-achieved spiritual destitution that receives the kingdom as pure gift, into an accomplished ascetic attainment that earns spiritual standing through voluntary renunciation. Teaching must explicitly distinguish gospel “poverty of spirit” (confessed need, answered by grace) from Sufi faqr (a cultivated virtue-stage).

• βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν (basileia tōn ouranōn) — kingdom of heaven

  • Literal meaning: “kingdom/reign of the heavens” (οὐρανῶν is plural, a Semitic reverential plural).
  • Semantic range: Matthew’s characteristic phrase (used ~32 times, almost exclusively in Matthew among the Gospels), functionally identical to “kingdom of God” (used occasionally even within Matthew itself, e.g. 12:28, 19:24, 21:31, 21:43) — “heaven” is a typical Jewish circumlocution avoiding direct use of the divine name, not a distinct location or a different kingdom.
  • English variants: kingdom of heaven, kingdom of God, reign of heaven, heavenly kingdom.
  • Contextual theological meaning: God’s present and coming sovereign reign, inaugurated in Jesus’ person and ministry — the central organizing doctrine of Matthew (The Kingdom of Heaven).
  • Persian rendering: ملکوت آسمان (malakut-e aseman). Risk: Critical. This is a new term relative to baseline, which fixed ملکوت خدا for Romans’ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ. Because Matthew’s Gospel is overwhelmingly the “kingdom of heaven” book, and because Iran’s own system of governance (Velayat-e Faqih) is an explicitly religious-political state structure claiming divinely-derived sovereignty, this phrase carries an even sharper live political resonance than baseline’s kingdom_of_god entry anticipated. Two decisions are required and must be applied consistently across the whole curriculum: (1) ملکوت آسمان is retained as the rendering of the distinctively Matthean phrase rather than collapsing it into ملکوت خدا, to preserve Matthew’s own idiom; (2) every occurrence must be taught, per baseline precedent, as explicitly synonymous with ملکوت خدا (God’s spiritual reign) and explicitly not a territorial-political state, given the Velayat-e Faqih collision risk documented in baseline. Teachers must never allow Persian readers to conclude these are two different kingdoms, or that “kingdom of heaven” refers to a future disembodied afterlife location only.

Matthew 5:4

μακάριοι οἱ πενθοῦντες, ὅτι αὐτοὶ παρακληθήσονται.

• πενθοῦντες (penthountes) — those who mourn

  • Literal meaning: to grieve, to lament (often of mourning the dead).
  • Semantic range: grief over loss, but also (per OT prophetic background, e.g. Isaiah 61:2-3, which this Beatitude echoes) grief over sin, brokenness, and exile — communal and personal lament awaiting divine reversal.
  • English variants: mourn, grieve, lament.
  • Contextual theological meaning: godly sorrow over sin and the brokenness of the present age, which God himself will personally reverse.
  • Persian rendering: ماتم‌زدگان / ماتم گرفتن (matam-zadegan / matam gereftan — “those in matam / mourning”). Risk: High. ماتم (matam) is the precise technical term for the ritualized public mourning of Muharram (matam for Imam Hussein at Karbala) — self-flagellation processions, chest-beating (sineh-zani), and elaborate communal grief rituals central to Twelver Shia piety. Using ماتم here risks the Beatitude being heard as commending ritualized public lamentation practice itself as spiritually meritorious (echoing the same Karbala/Hussein intercession-through-suffering framework baseline already flags as Critical for “salvation”/“intercession”). Recommend the less ritually loaded غمگساران / اندوهگینان (anduhginan, “the sorrowful/grieving”) as the primary rendering, reserving ماتم only in explanatory contrast notes.

• παρακληθήσονται (paraklēthēsontai) — shall be comforted

  • Literal meaning: from παρακαλέω, “to call alongside,” hence comfort, encouragement, consolation (same root family as baseline’s “exhort” — تشویق کردن — and as the Paraclete/Comforter title for the Holy Spirit in John).
  • Semantic range: comfort, consolation, encouragement, summoning to one’s side.
  • English variants: comforted, consoled, encouraged.
  • Contextual theological meaning: God himself, not human effort or ritual, personally reverses grief.
  • Persian rendering: تسلی داده خواهند شد (tasalli dade khahand shod). Risk: Low-Medium. تسلی (tasalli, comfort/consolation) is standard, non-ritual vocabulary; distinguish from تشویق کردن (baseline’s “exhort,” used for building up/encouragement) — تسلی is specifically comfort-in-grief.

Matthew 5:5

μακάριοι οἱ πραεῖς, ὅτι αὐτοὶ κληρονομήσουσι τὴν γῆν.

• πραεῖς (praeis) — the meek

  • Literal meaning: gentle, mild, not easily provoked; strength held under control, not weakness.
  • Semantic range: gentleness, humility, non-retaliatory strength (cf. Jesus applying this word to himself in 11:29, 21:5).
  • English variants: meek, gentle, humble.
  • Contextual theological meaning: the posture of trusting God’s justice rather than asserting one’s own rights — a major theme carried into 5:38-42 (turning the other cheek) later in this same chapter.
  • Persian rendering: فروتن (forootan). Risk: Medium. Reject حلیم (halim) as primary rendering: حلیم is literally one of the Ninety-Nine Names of Allah (الحليم, “The Forbearing/Gentle One”) and is also the name of an unrelated popular Persian dish, creating both a theological-attribution collision and an incongruous culinary association. فروتن (humble, unassuming) is safer and equally accurate. Note bridge potential: Persian ethical culture (and Islamic hilm as a virtue) does esteem gentleness/forbearance, but meekness here must be tied specifically to trust in God’s future vindication (“shall inherit the earth”), not merely good temperament.

• κληρονομήσουσι τὴν γῆν (klēronomēsousi tēn gēn) — shall inherit the earth

  • Literal meaning: κληρονομέω, “to receive as an heir, to obtain an allotted portion”; τὴν γῆν, “the earth/land” (echoing Psalm 37:11).
  • Semantic range: inheritance-language rooted in covenant land-promise (OT) now universalized to the whole renewed earth.
  • English variants: inherit the earth, possess the land, receive the earth as inheritance.
  • Contextual theological meaning: full future inheritance secured for the meek — the same inheritance-logic developed at length in Romans 8 (baseline’s Adoption doctrine).
  • Persian rendering: وارث زمین خواهند شد (varess-e zamin khahand shod). Risk: High. This directly intersects the baseline’s Critical adoption note: Iranian civil law’s سرپرستی (custodianship) explicitly denies an adopted child inheritance rights, following the same Quranic principle (33:4-5) shared across Sunni and Shia fiqh. This Beatitude’s confident inheritance promise for the “meek” (those with no worldly claim) must be taught in active contrast to that real, current legal default — reinforcing, not merely repeating, baseline’s adoption doctrine risk note.

Matthew 5:6

μακάριοι οἱ πεινῶντες καὶ διψῶντες τὴν δικαιοσύνην, ὅτι αὐτοὶ χορτασθήσονται.

• πεινῶντες καὶ διψῶντες (peinōntes kai dipsōntes) — those who hunger and thirst

  • Literal meaning: to be hungry, to be thirsty (physical appetite language applied metaphorically).
  • Semantic range: intense, felt longing/desire, not casual interest.
  • English variants: hunger and thirst, long for, crave.
  • Contextual theological meaning: an urgent, appetite-level desire for righteousness as a gift to be received, not a possession already held.
  • Persian rendering: گرسنه و تشنه بودن (gorosneh o teshneh budan). Risk: Low. Standard, non-collision vocabulary.

• δικαιοσύνην (dikaiosynēn) — righteousness

  • This is the baseline term. Reuse exactly: عدالت (edalat). Risk: Critical (per baseline). Continue to reject پارسایی (Zoroastrian-inflected virtue/piety). In this Beatitude, the sense leans toward righteousness as both a right standing before God and right conduct flowing from it — Matthew uses δικαιοσύνη across this range (see also 3:15, 5:10, 5:20, 6:33, 21:32); عدالت must carry both without collapsing into a purely achievement-based reading, continuing to connect forward to Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees (chs. 5-7, 23).

• χορτασθήσονται (chortasthēsontai) — shall be satisfied/filled

  • Literal meaning: to feed to the full, to satisfy hunger (used elsewhere of feeding livestock/crowds — cf. the feeding miracles, chs. 14, 15).
  • Semantic range: complete satisfaction of appetite.
  • English variants: filled, satisfied, satiated.
  • Contextual theological meaning: God himself supplies the righteousness he requires — anticipates justification by faith rather than works-righteousness.
  • Persian rendering: سیر خواهند شد (sir khahand shod). Risk: Low.

Matthew 5:7

μακάριοι οἱ ἐλεήμονες, ὅτι αὐτοὶ ἐλεηθήσονται.

• ἐλεήμονες (eleēmones) / ἐλεηθήσονται (eleēthēsontai) — the merciful / shall receive mercy
  • Literal meaning: from ἔλεος, “mercy, compassion, pity shown toward one in need or distress.”
  • Semantic range: active compassion expressed toward the suffering or the guilty, both a human virtue and a divine attribute (cf. 9:13, 12:7, 23:23).
  • English variants: mercy, compassion, pity, loving-kindness.
  • Contextual theological meaning: mercy shown by disciples reflects and anticipates the mercy of God himself — a key term across Matthew’s ethical teaching (9:13, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice”; 18:33, the unforgiving servant; 25:31-46, sheep and goats).
  • Persian rendering: رحیم / رحمت (rahim / rahmat). Risk: Medium. رحمت shares its root with two of the most prominent Divine Names in Islam — الرحمن، الرحیم (Al-Rahman, Al-Rahim, invoked at the start of nearly every sura and every formal Muslim act via the basmalah). This is a genuine bridge concept (Persian hearers already have a rich vocabulary for divine mercy) but risks staying at the level of an abstract divine attribute recited devotionally rather than a mercy that must be concretely practiced by disciples toward specific people, and that is grounded in Christ’s cross rather than general divine benevolence. Teaching must move رحمت from formula to embodied ethic (cf. 9:13; 25:31-46).

Matthew 5:8

μακάριοι οἱ καθαροὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ, ὅτι αὐτοὶ τὸν θεὸν ὄψονται.

• καθαροὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ (katharoi tē kardia) — the pure in heart

  • Literal meaning: καθαρός, “clean, pure, unmixed” (used elsewhere of ritual cleanness, e.g. 23:26); τῇ καρδίᾳ, “in/with respect to the heart,” the seat of will and inner life.
  • Semantic range: moral and spiritual integrity/singleness of devotion, as opposed to ritual or ceremonial cleanness.
  • English variants: pure in heart, clean of heart, sincere.
  • Contextual theological meaning: connects to Jesus’ later teaching that defilement is a matter of the heart, not external ritual (15:1-20) — an important internal cross-reference within Matthew itself.
  • Persian rendering: پاک‌دلان (pak-delan). Risk: High. Persian religious vocabulary for “purity” (پاکی، طهارت) is dominated by tahara — ritual purity achieved through wudu (ablution) before prayer, ritual washing after impurity (janabat), etc. پاک‌دلان must be actively distinguished from this entire ritual-cleanliness framework: the purity in view is a singular, undivided devotion of the will, not a state achieved through washing or ritual procedure. Cross-reference ch. 15 below, where Jesus makes exactly this distinction explicit.

• τὸν θεὸν ὄψονται (ton theon opsontai) — shall see God

  • Literal meaning: “they will see/behold God” (future, ὁράω).
  • Semantic range: direct, unmediated visual/experiential encounter with God himself (not a vision of an angel or intermediary).
  • English variants: see God, behold God, have the beatific vision of God.
  • Contextual theological meaning: an extraordinary promise — direct communion with God as the believer’s ultimate hope.
  • Persian rendering: خدا را خواهند دید (khoda ra khahand did). Risk: High. Mainstream Islamic theology (Sunni and Shia alike) holds that God cannot be seen directly with physical eyes in this life (echoing Quran 7:143, Moses’ request denied) and debates whether even the redeemed will visually behold Allah in Paradise (a position some schools affirm, others deny or qualify heavily as metaphorical). This Beatitude’s confident, unqualified promise of seeing God face-to-face requires deliberate doctrinal framing so it is received as a genuinely distinct Christian hope (grounded in the Incarnation — God has already been seen in the Son, cf. John 1:18, 14:9) rather than either dismissed as impossible or flattened into a vague spiritual metaphor.

Matthew 5:9

μακάριοι οἱ εἰρηνοποιοί, ὅτι αὐτοὶ υἱοὶ θεοῦ κληθήσονται.

• εἰρηνοποιοί (eirēnopoioi) — peacemakers

  • Literal meaning: compound of εἰρήνη (“peace,” baseline term) + ποιέω (“to make/do”) — “peace-makers,” those who actively create peace, not merely tolerate its absence of conflict.
  • Semantic range: active reconciliation between estranged parties, reflecting God’s own reconciling character.
  • English variants: peacemakers, those who make peace, reconcilers.
  • Contextual theological meaning: a distinct sense from baseline’s “peace with God” (سلام, Romans 5:1’s relational/legal standing); here the sense is interpersonal/social peacemaking that flows out of having received peace with God.
  • Persian rendering: صلح‌کنندگان (solh-konandegan). Risk: Medium. صلح (solh) rather than سلام is deliberately used here since this beatitude addresses interpersonal/social peacemaking, distinct from baseline’s سلام (relational/legal peace with God, Romans 5:1); this is not a contradiction of baseline but a distinct sense requiring a distinct word. Risk: given real regional and sectarian conflict, صلح carries live political-diplomatic connotations (peace treaties, ceasefires); teaching must clarify these are gospel-peacemakers reflecting God’s reconciling character in relationships, not primarily political dealmakers.

• υἱοὶ θεοῦ κληθήσονται (huioi theou klēthēsontai) — shall be called sons of God

  • Literal meaning: “will be called sons of God” (future passive of καλέω, baseline’s “called”/دعوت‌شده root).
  • Semantic range: here plural and inclusive of all faithful disciples — a relational/adoptive designation, categorically distinct from the singular, unique, co-equal divine Sonship of Christ himself (baseline’s Critical son_of_god entry, پسر خدا).
  • English variants: sons of God, children of God.
  • Contextual theological meaning: believers’ adoptive sonship (cf. baseline’s adoption doctrine, فرزندخواندگی) — NOT a claim to Christ’s unique ontological Sonship.
  • Persian rendering: فرزندان خدا خوانده خواهند شد (farzandan-e khoda khande khahand shod). Risk: Critical. This is a deliberate, required lexical divergence from پسر خدا (the baseline’s fixed, non-negotiable rendering for Christ’s unique divine Sonship). Using فرزندان (“children,” gender-neutral, inclusive) rather than پسران (“sons”) for this verse protects پسر خدا’s Christological uniqueness from dilution and avoids any implication that ordinary disciples share Christ’s own singular, co-equal Sonship. This distinction must be maintained everywhere Matthew speaks of believers’ derivative, adoptive sonship (cf. 5:45, “sons of your Father in heaven”) versus Christ’s own unique title.

Matthew 5:10

μακάριοι οἱ δεδιωγμένοι ἕνεκεν δικαιοσύνης, ὅτι αὐτῶν ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν.

• δεδιωγμένοι ἕνεκεν δικαιοσύνης (dediōgmenoi heneken dikaiosynēs) — persecuted for righteousness’ sake
  • Literal meaning: διώκω, “to pursue, chase, persecute”; ἕνεκεν, “on account of, for the sake of.”
  • Semantic range: hostile action taken against someone specifically because of their righteous/gospel commitment, not persecution in general.
  • English variants: persecuted for righteousness, persecuted because of righteousness.
  • Contextual theological meaning: reuses baseline’s عدالت (righteousness); the closing Beatitude returns to and brackets the whole unit with the kingdom-of-heaven promise (5:3, 5:10), forming an inclusio.
  • Persian rendering: آزار دیدن به‌خاطر عدالت (azar didan be-khater-e edalat). Risk: High — not primarily a lexical translation risk but a pastoral significance flag: this Beatitude speaks with direct, immediate force to the real experience of Iranian and Afghan house-church believers under active legal and social persecution (per baseline’s church/evangelism doctrine notes). Translation must retain the full, unsoftened force of this promise; do not generalize or abstract “persecution” into vague hardship.

Matthew 5:11

μακάριοί ἐστε ὅταν ὀνειδίσωσιν ὑμᾶς καὶ διώξωσιν καὶ εἴπωσιν πᾶν πονηρὸν καθ᾿ ὑμῶν [ψευδόμενοι] ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ.

• ὀνειδίσωσιν (oneidisōsin) — revile / insult

  • Literal meaning: to reproach, heap insult or shame upon.
  • Semantic range: verbal shaming, public insult, honor-shame vocabulary.
  • English variants: revile, insult, mock, defame.
  • Contextual theological meaning: engages honor/shame dynamics directly relevant to Persian and broader Middle Eastern social structures, where public shaming carries severe social weight.
  • Persian rendering: دشنام دادن / سرزنش کردن (doshnam dadan / sarzenesh kardan). Risk: Medium. Standard vocabulary; primary risk is under-translation that fails to convey the honor-shame severity intended.

• ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ (heneken emou) — on my account / for my sake

  • Literal meaning: “for my sake,” referring to Jesus himself.
  • Semantic range: suffering specifically because of identification with and confession of Jesus — not suffering in general, and not suffering for a cause or a law.
  • English variants: for my sake, because of me, on my account.
  • Contextual theological meaning: shifts the ground of blessing from abstract righteousness (5:10) to concrete allegiance to Jesus’ own person — a direct anchor for Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus.
  • Persian rendering: به‌خاطر من (be-khater-e man). Risk: Low, but pastorally weighty: this phrase names the precise, real cost — social ostracism, family rupture, legal jeopardy — many Persian-speaking converts from Islam actually bear; must be rendered plainly and without euphemism.

Matthew 5:12

χαίρετε καὶ ἀγαλλιᾶσθε, ὅτι ὁ μισθὸς ὑμῶν πολὺς ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς· οὕτως γὰρ ἐδίωξαν τοὺς προφήτας τοὺς πρὸ ὑμῶν.

• χαίρετε καὶ ἀγαλλιᾶσθε (chairete kai agalliasthe) — rejoice and be glad

  • Literal meaning: χαίρω, “to rejoice”; ἀγαλλιάω, “to exult, leap for joy” — a stronger, more exuberant term than the first.
  • Semantic range: not stoic endurance but active, exultant joy in the midst of persecution.
  • English variants: rejoice and be glad, rejoice and exult.
  • Contextual theological meaning: joy grounded in eschatological reward, not present circumstance.
  • Persian rendering: شادی کنید و به وجد آیید (shadi konid o be vajd ayid). Risk: Low.

• μισθός (misthos) — reward

  • Literal meaning: wages, pay, recompense for labor (a commercial/economic term repurposed theologically).
  • Semantic range: reward, wage, recompense — used throughout Matthew (6:1-6, 6:16, 10:41-42, 20:1-16) in tension with grace.
  • English variants: reward, recompense, wage.
  • Contextual theological meaning: a gracious reward from a generous Father, not wages earned by merit — the same grace-versus-merit tension baseline flags for فیض.
  • Persian rendering: پاداش (padash). Risk: High. Islamic theology has a well-developed, structurally similar category — اجر / ثواب (ajr/thawab), heavenly reward recorded for pious deeds and weighed in the balance (mizan) at judgment. پاداش risks being absorbed into this deeds-weighing framework unless explicitly taught, per baseline’s grace doctrine, as the gracious overflow of a relationship with God secured by Christ rather than a wage earned through accumulated righteous deeds. This tension recurs sharply in the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (ch. 20) and must be handled consistently.

• τοὺς προφήτας (tous prophētas) — the prophets. Reuse baseline term exactly: پیامبر / پیامبران (payambar/payambaran). Risk: High per baseline (finality-of-prophethood collision); here the point is continuity of persecution across salvation history, connecting Matthew’s disciples to the OT prophetic pattern (cf. Fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecy doctrine, developed extensively across the whole book — see chapters below).

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PART B — Chapter-by-Chapter Analysis: Matthew 1–28

Chapter 1 — Genealogy and Birth of Jesus

Term	Greek	Translit.	Literal meaning	Semantic range / English variants	Theological meaning	Persian rendering & risk
Christ/Messiah	Χριστός	Christos	”Anointed One”	Christ, Messiah, Anointed	Reuse baseline exactly	مسیح — Critical (per baseline); opening genealogy (1:1, “the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham”) frames the whole Gospel as fulfillment of Davidic/Abrahamic covenant promise
Son of David	υἱὸς Δαυίδ	huios Dauid	”son/descendant of David” as a title	messianic royal title (distinct from baseline’s “seed of David,” نسل داوود, a descriptive lineage phrase in Rom 1:3)	New Critical term: a direct messianic confessional title used vocatively throughout Matthew (9:27, 12:23, 15:22, 20:30-31, 21:9, 21:15, 22:42-45)	پسر داوود (pesar-e Davud). Risk: Critical. Functions as a confession of messianic identity, carrying the full weight of baseline’s Messianic Promise doctrine (Critical, Shia Mahdi-displacement risk) every time it is used as direct address/acclamation, not merely as genealogical description
Emmanuel	Ἐμμανουήλ	Emmanouēl	”God with us” (Hebrew עִמָּנוּ אֵל)	proper name/title; fulfillment-quotation from Isaiah 7:14	Directly asserts the Incarnation — God himself personally present in Jesus	عمانوئیل (Amanu’il), transliterated, with gloss “خدا با ما” (God with us). Risk: Critical. This is among the most direct Incarnation-affirming statements in Matthew; must be taught with full force against both the Quran’s denial of divine sonship and Zoroastrian emanationist softening already flagged in baseline’s Incarnation entry (تجسد)
virgin (birth)	παρθένος	parthenos	”virgin, unmarried young woman”	virgin (as opposed to a general “young woman,” a live translation debate in some traditions)	Isaiah 7:14 fulfillment; the miraculous, Spirit-wrought conception	باکره (bakereh). Risk: High. Miraculous virgin conception of ‘Isa is itself shared Quranic content (Quran 3:47, 19:20) — a genuine bridge — but Quranic theology stops short of Incarnation; must be taught as more than a miraculous birth narrative, namely the eternal Son assuming human nature (see تجسد, baseline)
Holy Spirit (conception)	Πνεῦμα Ἅγιον	Pneuma Hagion	reuse baseline	reuse	conception “of the Holy Spirit” (1:18, 1:20)	روح‌القدس — reuse baseline exactly, Critical; here specifically active in the conception of Christ, reinforcing (not replacing) the Trinitarian framing baseline already flags for tafsir’s Jibril-identification risk

Chapter 2 — Magi, Flight to Egypt, Fulfillment Quotations

Term	Greek	Translit.	Literal / Range	Theological meaning	Persian rendering & risk
worship	προσκυνέω	proskyneō	”to fall down before, prostrate, do homage”	The Magi “fell down and worshiped him” (2:11) — Gentile worship of the infant Messiah, a programmatic anticipation of the Great Commission’s inclusion of the nations	پرستش کردن (parastesh kardan). Risk: High. Reject سجده کردن (sajdeh kardan) as the primary rendering: سجده is the exact technical term for the Islamic ritual prostration performed toward Mecca during the five daily prayers, reserved exclusively for Allah; using it of homage to the infant Jesus could be read either as sacrilege (worship due only to Allah given to a human) or — if accepted — as implicitly affirming Christ’s deity in a way that must be taught explicitly, not left implicit. پرستش کردن is safer as a general worship/adoration term, but every occurrence of προσκυνέω toward Jesus in Matthew (2:11; 14:33; 28:9, 17) must be flagged for theologian review to ensure Christ’s deity is being affirmed, not merely his honored status
King of the Jews	βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων	basileus tōn Ioudaiōn	royal title	Herod’s fear of a rival king; connects to Kingdom of Heaven doctrine and to the title used again mockingly at the crucifixion (27:11, 27:29, 27:37)	پادشاه یهودیان (padeshah-e yahudian). Risk: Medium. Note political sensitivity of “the Jews” as an ethnic-political designation, per baseline’s Israel entry (اسرائیل) and Iran’s state-level anti-Israel political messaging; keep strictly historical/titular, not contemporary political commentary
fulfilled	ἐπληρώθη	eplērōthē	”was fulfilled”	first of Matthew’s ten explicit “this was to fulfill” formula-quotations (1:22-23; 2:15; 2:17-18; 2:23; 4:14-16; 8:17; 12:17-21; 13:35; 21:4-5; 27:9-10)	تحقق یافت (tahaqqoq yaft). Risk: High, reusing baseline’s Fulfillment of Prophecy doctrine note. Matthew’s ten-fold fulfillment formula is the single densest concentration of this doctrine in the NT and must be handled consistently every time it recurs, actively taught against the Islamic doctrine of naskh (abrogation), in which later revelation supersedes rather than fulfills/completes earlier revelation

Chapter 3 — John the Baptist; Baptism of Jesus

Term	Greek	Translit.	Literal / Range	Theological meaning	Persian rendering & risk
repentance	μετάνοια	metanoia	”change of mind,” a fundamental reorientation of the whole person	John’s core message: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (3:2); reused as Jesus’ own opening message (4:17)	توبه (towbeh). Risk: Critical. توبه is the exact, load-bearing Islamic term for repentance — a human-initiated act of turning back to Allah that, properly performed (sincere regret, cessation, resolve, sometimes restitution), is understood to erase the sin’s record. This is the established rendering in existing Persian Bible tradition, so it is retained, but every occurrence must be actively taught as a Spirit-enabled reorientation of the whole person that flows toward the kingdom already breaking in through Christ — not a self-generated act that independently secures forgiveness apart from Christ’s atoning work
baptism / baptize	βάπτισμα / βαπτίζω	baptisma / baptizō	”immersion, dipping”	John’s baptism of repentance; Jesus’ own baptism (3:13-17); anticipates the baptismal formula of the Great Commission (28:19)	تعمید (ta’mid) / تعمید دادن (ta’mid dadan). Risk: High. تعمید is the settled, native Persian Christian term (no live Islamic ritual equivalent, though ghusl/wudu ritual washing is a partial structural analogue). Must be taught as a public identification with Christ and his death/burial/resurrection (developed fully in Romans 6, already in the language package) and as the entry rite into the church community — not a ritual purification removing ritual impurity comparable to ghusl
Son (voice from heaven)	υἱός	huios	”son"	"This is my beloved Son” (3:17) — first of three direct divine attestations of Christ’s Sonship in Matthew (see also 17:5, and implicitly 27:54)	reuse baseline پسر خدا context — Critical. The Trinity is disclosed together here for the first time in Matthew: Father’s voice, Son in the water, Spirit descending as a dove — flag for theologian review as a foundational Trinitarian text
Sabbath/Sadducees/Pharisees introduced narratively	—	—	proper nouns	first appearance of the Pharisees (Φαρισαῖοι) as antagonists (“brood of vipers,” 3:7)	فریسیان (Farisian). Risk: Low-Medium (proper noun, but see ch. 23 for full hypocrisy-vocabulary treatment)

Chapter 4 — Temptation of Jesus; Calling of the First Disciples

Term	Greek	Translit.	Literal / Range	Theological meaning	Persian rendering & risk
tempted / temptation	πειρασμός / πειράζω	peirasmos / peirazō	”to test, to tempt, to try”	The devil’s threefold testing of Jesus in the wilderness (4:1-11)	وسوسه (vasvaseh) / وسوسه کردن. Risk: Medium. Genuine bridge concept: Quran’s al-Falaq and al-Nas surahs use the identical semantic category of Shaytan’s “whispering” (waswas) temptation; can be used positively as a bridge but must specify that Jesus, unlike ordinary humans under Islamic anthropology, resists perfectly and without any prior corruption of nature — reinforcing his sinlessness, not merely his piety
devil / Satan	διάβολος / Σατανᾶς	diabolos / Satanas	”slanderer” / “adversary” (Hebrew שָׂטָן)	the personal tempter and adversary confronted and defeated by Jesus	ابلیس / شیطان (Eblis/Shaytan). Risk: High. Shares the identical Quranic figure (Iblis, who refused to bow to Adam — Quran 7:11-18 — a different fall narrative from Genesis 3) and the same personal-adversary category as Arabic contexts. Must affirm the same real, personal, defeated adversary of biblical teaching while flagging that the biblical fall narrative (Genesis 3, the serpent and the woman) differs materially from the Quranic Iblis narrative, to prevent readers from importing the wrong backstory
follow (discipleship call)	δεῦτε ὀπίσω μου / ἀκολουθέω	akoloutheō	”to follow, to accompany, to go the same way as"	"Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (4:19) — the foundational discipleship-call formula reused throughout Matthew (8:22, 9:9, 16:24, 19:21, 19:27)	پیروی کردن (peyravi kardan). Risk: High. Structurally parallel to, but theologically distinct from, the Islamic call to follow the Prophet’s sunnah (example) — a pattern of external imitation. Must be taught as personal, relational allegiance to a living, present, divine Lord who calls and empowers, not merely imitation of a moral exemplar’s recorded example
Kingdom of Heaven (preaching begins)	βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν	—	reuse ch. 5 entry	Jesus’ own programmatic preaching summary: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (4:17)	reuse ملکوت آسمان — Critical, established ch. 5

Chapter 5 (continued, vv. 13-48) — Salt and Light; The Antitheses

(Verses 1-12 receive full treatment in Part A above; this section covers the remainder of the chapter.)

Term	Greek	Translit.	Literal / Range	Theological meaning	Persian rendering & risk
fulfill (the Law)	πληρῶσαι	plērōsai	”to fill up, complete, bring to full expression"	"I have not come to abolish [the Law] but to fulfill it” (5:17)	reuse baseline ناموس (law) — Critical; پر کردن/به کمال رساندن for “fulfill.” This is the single most important verse in Matthew for framing Fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecy and The Authority of Jesus’ Teaching together: Jesus does not abolish ناموس but brings it to its intended completion. Because baseline already established ناموس specifically to avoid provoking a direct legal challenge to Iran’s shari’a-based state, this verse requires especially careful framing so it is not misheard as Jesus claiming authority to amend or supersede a legal-political system, but as fulfilling the OT’s own redemptive-historical trajectory
”You have heard… but I say to you”	ἠκούσατε… ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν	—	authoritative reformulation formula	repeated six times (5:21-48); Jesus places his own authoritative word alongside/above the received legal tradition	Central textual anchor for The Authority of Jesus’ Teaching doctrine. Risk: High. Must be rendered so that Jesus’ “I say to you” (ἐγὼ λέγω) reads as an assertion of inherent divine authority (reinforced by 7:29, 28:18 below), not as one more legal opinion among the range of ijtihad (independent juristic reasoning) that characterizes Islamic legal method — a category error that would flatten Jesus into one authoritative jurist among many rather than the divine lawgiver himself
retaliation / eye for eye	ἀνθ᾿ ὀφθαλμοῦ	—	lex talionis, exact retributive-justice formula	”You have heard… ‘An eye for an eye’… but I say to you, do not resist the evildoer” (5:38-42)	چشم به چشم (cheshm be cheshm, literal idiom). Risk: High. This precise principle survives in Islamic law today as قصاص (qisas), retributive/retaliatory justice, a live legal category in Iran’s own penal code (including for certain violent crimes). Jesus’ teaching here directly confronts this present legal-cultural default, not merely an ancient one; teach with pastoral care given the real weight this carries in the Iranian legal imagination
divorce	ἀπολύσαι	apolysai	”to release, to send away, to divorce”	5:31-32, and developed further at 19:3-9	طلاق (talaq). Risk: High. طلاق is the precise, technical Islamic legal term for divorce, historically understood (in classical fiqh) as a largely unilateral male prerogative. Jesus’ teaching on marriage’s permanence and narrowly limited exception (سوء رفتار جنسی/زنا) directly engages and challenges this legal-cultural framework; must be taught with full awareness of its real, present relevance to Persian-speaking marriages and to converts navigating Iranian family law
oath	ὅρκος	horkos	”oath, sworn statement"	"Do not swear at all… let your ‘yes’ be yes” (5:33-37)	قسم (qasm). Risk: Medium. Oath-swearing (commonly “by Allah,” vallah/beh khoda) remains a common everyday and legal Persian speech practice; Jesus’ call to plain truthfulness rather than oath-backed speech should be taught as a call to a transformed character of consistent truthfulness, not merely a prohibition on a speech-form
love your enemies	ἀγαπᾶτε τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ὑμῶν	agapate tous echthrous hymōn	reuse ἀγάπη (see ch. 22)	culminating antithesis (5:43-48)	reuse محبت — see ch. 22 entry for full treatment; note here specifically that this command runs directly against honor-shame retaliation norms (reinforcing the “eye for eye” note above)
perfect	τέλειος	teleios	”complete, whole, mature, having reached the intended goal"	"You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (5:48)	کامل (kamel). Risk: High. Persian Sufi/Shia mystical tradition has its own developed doctrine of the انسان کامل (insan-e kamil, “the Perfect/Complete Human”) — a station of spiritual attainment associated with great saints, mystics, and in Shia thought, the Imams. Jesus’ call to perfection must be carefully distinguished from this mystical-attainment category: it is a Spirit-empowered call to reflect the Father’s holy character in ordinary ethical life (as unpacked through the whole preceding chapter), not a claim to a special, elevated mystical station reserved for spiritual elites

Chapter 6 — The Lord’s Prayer; Fasting, Almsgiving, Treasure

Term	Greek	Translit.	Literal / Range	Theological meaning	Persian rendering & risk
Our Father	Πάτερ ἡμῶν	Pater hēmōn	reuse baseline	opening address of the Lord’s Prayer (6:9)	reuse baseline پدر — Critical; note this is the paradigmatic model prayer taught to all disciples corporately (“our”), reinforcing intimate, corporate filial address to God, against the tawhid-anthropomorphism objection baseline already documents
forgive (debts/trespasses)	ἀφίημι	aphiēmi	”to release, let go, forgive (a debt)"	"forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (6:12)	بخشیدن / آمرزیدن (bakhshidan/amorzidan). Risk: Medium. Debt-forgiveness metaphor for sin is broadly intelligible; caution that ongoing mutual forgiveness among disciples not be read as itself the basis of God’s forgiveness (works-merit inversion), but as its necessary fruit
almsgiving	ἐλεημοσύνη	eleēmosynē	”act of mercy/charity,” alms	”when you give to the needy… do not sound a trumpet” (6:1-4)	صدقه (sadaqeh). Risk: High. صدقه is the exact, load-bearing Islamic virtue-category for voluntary charitable giving (distinct from the obligatory zakat), a major and highly visible pillar-adjacent religious practice. Jesus’ teaching that almsgiving be done in secret, “seen” only by the Father, directly confronts the public, socially-visible, merit-accruing character of Islamic sadaqeh practice; must be taught as flowing from a settled relationship with God, not as a merit-earning transaction observed and rewarded by a religious community
fasting	νηστεία	nēsteia	”abstention from food, fasting"	"when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites… but anoint your head” (6:16-18)	روزه (ruzeh). Risk: High. روزه is THE term for Ramadan fasting, one of the Five Pillars, a highly public, communal, obligatory practice central to Iranian Islamic identity and civic life. Jesus assumes and commends fasting but as a private, voluntary, God-directed discipline rather than a publicly-observed, calendar-mandated communal obligation; this contrast must be handled with particular pastoral sensitivity given how central and identity-forming Ramadan is
mammon	μαμωνᾶς	mamōnas	Aramaic loanword for “wealth, money” personified	”No one can serve two masters… You cannot serve God and mammon” (6:24)	مامونا (Mamona, transliterated) with gloss “خدای پول/مال دنیا.” Risk: Low-Medium. No direct religious-vocabulary collision; the risk is purely one of intelligibility, requiring the explanatory gloss
treasure in heaven	θησαυρὸς ἐν οὐρανῷ	thēsauros en ouranō	”treasure/storehouse in heaven”	6:19-21	گنج در آسمان (ganj dar aseman). Risk: Low
seek first the kingdom	ζητεῖτε… τὴν βασιλείαν	—	reuse ملکوت آسمان (6:33, note: here Matthew uses the shorter phrase βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ in some manuscripts / βασιλεία simply)	priority of kingdom-seeking over anxious provision	reuse ملکوت آسمان / ملکوت خدا — Critical (see ch. 5 note on their synonymity)

Chapter 7 — Judging, the Narrow Gate, False Prophets, the Two Foundations

Term	Greek	Translit.	Literal / Range	Theological meaning	Persian rendering & risk
authority (astonishment at his teaching)	ἐξουσία	exousia	”authority, right, power to act"	"the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes” (7:28-29)	اختیار (ekhtiyar). Risk: High. This is a new load-bearing term for The Authority of Jesus’ Teaching doctrine, distinct from baseline’s قدرت خدا (God’s raw power/might for salvation, Rom 1:16). اختیار conveys the right and standing to teach and command, which is the specific point here. Risk: Iran’s Velayat-e Faqih system explicitly grounds the Supreme Leader’s authority in a claimed derivative religious mandate; Jesus’ authority, by contrast, must be taught as inherent and self-attesting (he speaks “as one having authority,” not as one citing derivative permission from a prior source, “not as their scribes”), directly reinforced later at 28:18 (“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me”)
scribes	γραμματεῖς	grammateis	”scribes,” professional legal-scriptural scholars	contrasted with Jesus’ inherent teaching authority (7:29)	کاتبان (katiban). Risk: Medium. Reject علما (olama, “religious scholars/clergy”) as the primary rendering: علما is the precise living term for Iran’s clerical establishment; using it directly for Jesus’ first-century antagonists risks the text being heard as a direct, contemporary political statement about Iranian clergy rather than a historically situated description of first-century Jewish legal scholars. کاتبان is a safer, more technical-historical term
false prophets	ψευδοπροφῆται	pseudoprophētai	”false prophets"	"Beware of false prophets… by their fruits you will recognize them” (7:15-20)	reuse baseline پیامبر root — پیامبران دروغین. Risk: High per baseline’s prophet entry; here specifically warns of imitators claiming prophetic authority, an important caution given ongoing new-religious-movement activity in the Persian-speaking world
Lord, Lord	Κύριε, Κύριε	Kyrie, Kyrie	reuse baseline	”Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven” (7:21-23)	reuse baseline خداوند — Critical; note this passage itself warns against merely verbal confession without accompanying obedience, an important nuance alongside baseline’s emphasis on the unqualified force of the Lordship confession (Rom 10:9)

Chapter 8 — Healing Miracles; the Centurion’s Faith; the Son of Man

Term	Greek	Translit.	Literal / Range	Theological meaning	Persian rendering & risk
Son of Man	υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου	huios tou anthrōpou	”son of man/humanity”	Jesus’ characteristic self-designation, first occurring at 8:20 (“Foxes have holes… but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head”); occurs ~30 times across Matthew, drawing on the exalted, enthroned figure of Daniel 7:13-14	پسر انسان (pesar-e ensan). Risk: Critical. A genuinely new term relative to baseline. On its surface, “son of man” can sound like a claim to mere humanity (and could be misheard, ironically, as a lower Christological claim than پسر خدا). In fact this is Jesus’ preferred vehicle for asserting the highest possible authority — the Daniel 7 “son of man” figure who receives an everlasting, universal, divinely-granted dominion. Must be taught with its full Danielic background so Persian readers do not flatten it into simple humility-language; it functions alongside, not beneath, پسر خدا and خداوند as a Christological authority-title, and is directly linked to end-of-age judgment scenes (chs. 24-25) and the resurrection-authority claim of 28:18
faith (of the centurion)	πίστις	pistis	reuse baseline	”I have not found such faith, not even in Israel” (8:10)	reuse baseline ایمان — Critical; note this specific verse’s rhetorical structure (Gentile faith exceeding Israel’s) directly anticipates the Unity of Jews and Gentiles and Universal Scope of the Gospel doctrines already flagged Critical/High in baseline, given the acute political sensitivity of “Israel” in Iranian public discourse

Chapter 9 — Forgiveness of Sins; Calling of Matthew; Compassion; the Harvest

Term	Greek	Translit.	Literal / Range	Theological meaning	Persian rendering & risk
authority to forgive sins	ἐξουσίαν … ἀφιέναι ἁμαρτίας	exousian aphienai hamartias	reuse اختیار (ch. 7) + گناه (baseline)	“that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (9:6)	reuse اختیار + گناه (baseline, Critical). This is an explicit claim to divine prerogative (only God forgives sin) exercised by the “Son of Man” — connects Authority of Jesus’ Teaching, Son of Man, and deity of Christ doctrines directly; the scribes’ unspoken charge of blasphemy (9:3) confirms the stakes
compassion	ἐσπλαγχνίσθη	esplanchnisthē	”was moved in the inward parts/gut” (from σπλάγχνα, “entrails, inward parts,” the seat of deep emotion)	“when he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them” (9:36); recurs at 14:14, 15:32, 20:34	دلش برای آنها سوخت (delash baraye anha sukht, “his heart burned for them”) / ترحم (tarahhom) as noun form. Risk: Medium. A visceral, embodied compassion distinct from رحمت’s more formulaic devotional register (see 5:7 above); should be rendered with concrete, physical-emotional language where possible rather than an abstract theological noun, to preserve Matthew’s own vividness
harvest / laborers	θερισμός / ἐργάται	therismos / ergatai	”harvest” / “workers, laborers"	"The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few” (9:37-38)	حصاد / کارگران (hasad/kargaran). Risk: Low-Medium; connects forward to the sending of the Twelve (ch. 10) and to Mission to the Nations doctrine (baseline)
mercy not sacrifice	ἔλεος… θυσίαν	eleos… thysian	quotation of Hosea 6:6	”I desire mercy, and not sacrifice” (9:13)	reuse رحمت (see 5:7); contrasted with قربانی (qorbani, sacrifice) — قربانی is itself a live, major Islamic ritual category (Eid al-Adha sacrifice); the contrast Jesus draws must not be heard as devaluing ritual observance categorically, but as prioritizing the moral-relational heart of the Law over ritual performance emptied of that heart

Chapter 10 — The Sending of the Twelve; the Cost of Mission

Term	Greek	Translit.	Literal / Range	Theological meaning	Persian rendering & risk
the twelve apostles	οἱ δώδεκα ἀπόστολοι	hoi dōdeka apostoloi	reuse baseline	”the names of the twelve apostles are these…” (10:2)	reuse baseline رسول — Critical; the twelve reinforce baseline’s note on the older Persian حواری (havari) sometimes reserved for the Twelve specifically, versus رسول for the broader apostolic office (as with Paul in Romans). Both terms should be documented for Phase 2 consistency: حواری permissible specifically for “the Twelve” collectively, رسول as the general office term
sending / mission	ἀποστέλλω / πέμπω	apostellō / pempō	reuse baseline mission (ماموریت)	“these twelve Jesus sent out” (10:5)	reuse ماموریت — Medium (baseline); note this chapter is the fullest NT development of the cost dimension of mission — persecution, betrayal, family division (10:16-39) — directly relevant to the underground house-church safety concerns baseline’s evangelism doctrine already flags
not peace but a sword	οὐ… εἰρήνην ἀλλὰ μάχαιραν	—	contrast term with baseline’s سلام	”I have not come to bring peace, but a sword” (10:34)	Retain سلام as established (baseline), contrasted with شمشیر (shamshir, sword). Risk: Medium. Must be carefully framed as describing the social, relational cost of gospel allegiance (division within families, 10:35-37) rather than contradicting baseline’s peace-with-God doctrine or endorsing violence; this is relational/familial rupture-language, not military language
deny / confess me	ὁμολογήσει / ἀρνήσηται	homologēsei / arnēsētai	”confess/acknowledge” vs. “deny, disown"	"everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father… but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny” (10:32-33)	اعتراف کردن / انکار کردن (e’teraf kardan / enkar kardan). Risk: High. Directly parallels baseline’s Rom 10:9-10 confession doctrine (اعتراف به خداوندی مسیح) but now framed with the real cost of public confession under social/legal pressure — extremely high pastoral stakes for Iranian house-church believers weighing public identification with Christ
take up cross / lose life for my sake	σταυρόν / ψυχήν	stauron / psychēn	introduces cross-bearing and soul/life vocabulary (fully developed at 16:24-26)	“whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me… whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (10:38-39)	first occurrence of صلیب (salib, cross) — Risk: Critical, see full treatment at ch. 16 and ch. 26-27 below (crucifixion-denial collision)

Chapter 11 — John the Baptist’s Question; Jesus’ Yoke

Term	Greek	Translit.	Literal / Range	Theological meaning	Persian rendering & risk
the Coming One	ὁ ἐρχόμενος	ho erchomenos	”the one who is coming”	John’s question, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (11:3)	connects to Messianic Promise (baseline, Critical); note this is precisely the kind of question that, in the Persian Shia context, could be reframed around waiting for the Hidden Imam rather than settled confidence in Christ’s identity — teach with baseline’s Mahdi-displacement caution
rest	ἀνάπαυσις	anapausis	”rest, repose, relief from labor"	"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (11:28)	آرامش / راحتی (aramesh/rahati). Risk: High. Baseline already flags آرامش as the term Iran’s popular wellness/self-help culture uses for secular, therapeutic inner calm (rejected as a rendering for “peace” in Rom 5:1). Here the same collision risk applies directly: Jesus’ offered rest must be taught as a relational, covenantal rest found only in submission to him (per the following “yoke” term), not a generic mindfulness or stress-relief state achievable through technique. Prefer قualifying the noun explicitly (“آرامش روح در مسیح”) or use راحتی with heavy contextual framing rather than bare آرامش
yoke	ζυγός	zygos	”yoke” (agricultural implement joining draft animals, or metaphorically, submission to a teacher’s discipline)	“Take my yoke upon you… for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (11:29-30)	یوغ (yugh). Risk: Medium. Requires explanatory framing since the agricultural metaphor is less immediately familiar to urban Persian readers than to the original agrarian audience; theologically, contrasts Jesus’ yoke with the burdensome legal-interpretive tradition of the Pharisees (developed fully in ch. 23)

Chapter 12 — Sabbath Controversies; Blasphemy Against the Spirit; Sign of Jonah

Term	Greek	Translit.	Literal / Range	Theological meaning	Persian rendering & risk
Sabbath	σάββατον	sabbaton	”Sabbath” (Hebrew loanword, “rest”)	“The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath” (12:8); a series of Sabbath-healing controversies (12:1-14)	سبت (sabt). Risk: Medium. سبت is the established technical Biblical-Persian term; there is no direct Islamic ritual equivalent (Friday communal prayer is structurally different, not a day of cessation from labor), so the risk is primarily one of unfamiliarity rather than doctrinal collision. Theologically, Jesus’ claim to be “lord of the Sabbath” (reuse baseline خداوند) is itself a striking divine-authority claim over an institution given directly by God in the Law
blasphemy against the Holy Spirit	βλασφημία εἰς τὸ Πνεῦμα	blasphēmia eis to Pneuma	”slander/blasphemy against the [Holy] Spirit”	the unforgivable sin (12:31-32)	کفر (kofr). Risk: Critical. This is among the most sensitive term-choices in the whole book. کفر is the exact, foundational Islamic category for disbelief/blasphemy against God — a person who commits kofr is a kafir, a designation carrying severe theological, social, and (in some contexts) legal consequences, including association with apostasy. Using کفر here accurately conveys the gravity of the sin Jesus describes, but risks importing the entire Islamic apostasy/kafir legal-social framework onto this specific, narrower NT category (a persistent, willful rejection of the Spirit’s testimony about Christ). This term must be flagged for mandatory theologian review at every occurrence; consider supplementing with کفرگویی به روح‌القدس (kofr-gu’i, “speaking blasphemy against the Holy Spirit”) to keep the phrase descriptive/verbal rather than triggering the full noun-category association with kafir identity
sign of Jonah	τὸ σημεῖον Ἰωνᾶ	to sēmeion Iōna	”the sign of Jonah”	Jonah’s three days in the fish as a type of Christ’s resurrection (12:38-40)	connects directly to Resurrection of Christ (baseline, Critical) and Fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecy; render straightforwardly, flag for theologian review given the resurrection linkage

Chapter 13 — The Parables of the Kingdom

Term	Greek	Translit.	Literal / Range	Theological meaning	Persian rendering & risk
parable	παραβολή	parabolē	”a placing beside, a comparison” — a short illustrative story conveying a spiritual truth	Jesus’ primary teaching mode in this chapter (sower, weeds, mustard seed, leaven, treasure, pearl, net)	مثل (masal). Risk: Medium. مثل is a genuine bridge term — Persian and Quranic Arabic (amthal) both use cognate vocabulary for illustrative comparison/proverb, giving Persian readers a real point of contact; risk is that مثل can be heard as generic proverbial wisdom-teaching (a genre also common in Persian and Islamic literature) rather than a specific revelatory vehicle disclosing kingdom-truth to some and concealing it from others (13:10-17)
mysteries of the kingdom	τὰ μυστήρια τῆς βασιλείας	ta mystēria tēs basileias	”the mysteries/secrets of the kingdom"	"To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given” (13:11)	رازهای ملکوت (raz-ha-ye malakut). Risk: High. Twelver Shia theology has its own extremely well-developed doctrine of hidden, esoteric knowledge (علم باطن, “inner/esoteric knowledge”) transmitted through the Imams and disclosed only to the initiated, alongside the doctrine of the Hidden Imam’s own concealment (already flagged Critical in baseline under resurrection/messiah entries). Jesus’ “mysteries of the kingdom” risks being read through this existing esoteric-transmission framework (a secret gnosis reserved for a spiritual elite) rather than as gospel truth that is, in fact, now openly proclaimed and offered to all who will receive it by faith — the “mystery” is revealed, not perpetually hidden
kingdom parables (general)	βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν	—	reuse ch. 5	recurring introductory formula “The kingdom of heaven is like…“	reuse ملکوت آسمان — Critical, established ch. 5

Chapter 14 — Death of John the Baptist; Feeding of the 5,000; Walking on Water

No major new theological terms beyond established vocabulary. Notable reuse: compassion (ἐσπλαγχνίσθη, ch. 9) at 14:14; little faith (ὀλιγόπιστε, oligopiste — “of little faith,” 14:31) as a natural extension of baseline’s ایمان entry, worth noting as a distinct register (rebuke of insufficient trust rather than absence of faith) but not requiring a new glossary entry. “It is I” (ἐγώ εἰμι, 14:27) during the walking-on-water narrative carries a possible echo of the divine self-identification formula (cf. Exodus 3:14, and more explicitly developed in John’s Gospel); flag for awareness but treat as reinforcing, not adding to, baseline’s deity-of-Christ doctrine rather than a new term requiring its own entry.

Chapter 15 — Tradition vs. Commandment; True Defilement; the Canaanite Woman

Term	Greek	Translit.	Literal / Range	Theological meaning	Persian rendering & risk
clean / unclean (defilement)	κοινός / καθαρός	koinos / katharos	”common/impure” vs. “clean, pure"	"It is not what enters the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth” (15:11, 15:17-20)	پاک / ناپاک (pak/napak). Risk: High. Directly parallel to (and a corrective of) Islamic dietary/ritual purity law (halal/haram categories, najis/tahir ritual-impurity classification) — a live, comprehensive system governing daily Persian Muslim life. This teaching relocates defilement entirely from external substance/ritual to internal moral condition (the heart, cf. 5:8 above); must be taught as a direct engagement with, not evasion of, this familiar purity framework
Canaanite woman’s faith	πίστις	pistis	reuse baseline	”O woman, great is your faith!” (15:28)	reuse ایمان — Critical; a striking instance of Gentile faith explicitly commended, reinforcing Unity of Jews and Gentiles doctrine ahead of its full development in Romans 9-11

Chapter 16 — Peter’s Confession; the Church; Predicting Death and Resurrection

Term	Greek	Translit.	Literal / Range	Theological meaning	Persian rendering & risk
”You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”	σὺ εἶ ὁ Χριστός, ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος	—	reuse baseline مسیح + پسر خدا	Peter’s confession (16:16), the theological hinge of the Gospel	reuse مسیح + پسر خدا together — Critical (baseline, both terms); this dual-title confession is the single highest-stakes Christological statement in Matthew and must be flagged for mandatory theologian review every time it recurs (echoed at the trial, 26:63, and mocked at the cross, 27:40, 27:43)
church	ἐκκλησία	ekklēsia	reuse baseline	”on this rock I will build my church” (16:18) — the first NT occurrence of ἐκκλησία in Matthew	reuse baseline کلیسا — High; note this is the founding statement of The Church and Church Discipline doctrine, occurring here for the first time and developed further at 18:15-20
binding and loosing	δήσῃς… λύσῃς	dēsēs… lysēs	”you shall bind… you shall loose” (rabbinic legal-authority idiom for authoritative declaration of what is permitted/forbidden)	“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (16:19)	بستن و گشودن (basten o goshudan). Risk: High. This grants derivative, declarative authority to the apostolic community (repeated in a church-discipline context at 18:18) — risk that this could be read through the lens of the Shia Imamate/clerical velayat framework (an ongoing, infallible, binding religious-legal authority vested in a succession of appointed leaders, cf. baseline’s Election and Kingdom_of_God entries on Velayat-e Faqih). Must be taught as the church’s Spirit-guided declaration of gospel truth already established by Christ (recognizing, not independently creating, spiritual realities), never as an independent, infallible clerical authority parallel to the Imamate
keys of the kingdom	τὰς κλεῖς τῆς βασιλείας	tas kleis tēs basileias	”the keys of the kingdom”	authority to open/declare entrance into the kingdom (16:19)	کلیدهای ملکوت (kelid-ha-ye malakut). Risk: High; same collision noted immediately above
Get behind me, Satan	ὕπαγε ὀπίσω μου, Σατανᾶ	—	reuse شیطان (ch. 4)	Jesus rebukes Peter’s resistance to the necessity of his coming death (16:23)	reuse شیطان; note this immediately follows and qualifies Peter’s confession — even a right confession can be turned toward resisting God’s redemptive plan
take up his cross and follow me	ἆρον τὸν σταυρὸν αὐτοῦ	aron ton stauron autou	full development of ch. 10’s introduction	”If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (16:24)	صلیب خود را بردارد (salib-e khod ra bardarad). Risk: Critical. See full crucifixion-collision treatment at chs. 26-27; here the term functions metaphorically as the paradigm of Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus, requiring readers to already grasp the historical reality of crucifixion as a literal, shameful Roman execution method for the metaphor to carry its intended weight of costly self-denial
what does it profit… to lose his soul	ψυχή	psychē	”soul, life, self"	"What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” (16:26)	جان (jan). Risk: Low-Medium; standard vocabulary for the whole-person “self/life,” not a technical philosophical soul-substance term requiring special treatment

Chapter 17 — The Transfiguration

Term	Greek	Translit.	Literal / Range	Theological meaning	Persian rendering & risk
glory / transfigured	μετεμορφώθη / δόξα (implied)	metemorphōthē	”was transformed/transfigured"	"his face shone like the sun” (17:2); the divine voice again: “This is my beloved Son” (17:5)	reuse baseline جلال (glory) — Medium/High; second of the three direct divine attestations of Sonship in Matthew (see ch. 3). Note baseline’s caution about جلال’s devotional-poetic resonance in Sufi literature (paired with جمال, beauty) — here the term describes an actual, historical, visible physical event witnessed by three named disciples, not a mystical vision or metaphor, and this historicity must be preserved in teaching
little faith / mustard-seed faith	ὀλιγοπιστίαν	oligopistian	reuse ایمان root	”because of your little faith… if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed” (17:20)	reuse baseline ایمان — Critical

Chapter 18 — Church Discipline; Forgiveness

Term	Greek	Translit.	Literal / Range	Theological meaning	Persian rendering & risk
little ones / stumbling block	σκάνδαλον	skandalon	”trap, snare,” hence “cause of stumbling/sin"	"whoever causes one of these little ones… to sin” (18:6-9)	لغزش (lazesh) / سبب لغزش شدن. Risk: Low-Medium
church discipline procedure	…εἰπὲ τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ… ἔστω σοι ὥσπερ ὁ ἐθνικὸς καὶ ὁ τελώνης	—	reuse کلیسا + غیریهودیان	the full procedure for church discipline: private confrontation, witnesses, “tell it to the church,” and treating an unrepentant member “as a Gentile and a tax collector” (18:15-17)	This is the primary textual anchor for The Church and Church Discipline as a distinct doctrine. Reuse baseline کلیسا (High) and غیریهودیان (Medium, avoiding امت‌ها per baseline). Risk: High. Because Persian-language congregational life for Muslim-background believers is predominantly conducted through underground house-churches (per baseline’s church doctrine note), this passage’s procedural steps must be taught with realistic sensitivity to the practical difficulty and real relational/security stakes of formal discipline within small, security-conscious house-church communities, not assumed to map directly onto a large, institutionally secure congregation
binding and loosing (repeated)	δήσητε… λύσητε	—	reuse ch. 16	”whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven…” repeated in this church-discipline context (18:18)	reuse بستن و گشودن — High, same caution as ch. 16 regarding Imamate/clerical-authority collision
unforgiving servant / seventy times seven	ἑβδομηκοντάκις ἑπτά	hebdomēkontakis hepta	”seventy times seven” (idiom for limitless forgiveness)	the parable of the unforgiving servant (18:21-35)	reuse بخشیدن (ch. 6); note the parable ties forgiveness of others directly to having received God’s own prior forgiveness — a grace-then-obedience structure paralleling baseline’s obedience_of_faith doctrine

Chapter 19 — Divorce, Children, the Rich Young Man

Term	Greek	Translit.	Literal / Range	Theological meaning	Persian rendering & risk
divorce (full teaching)	ἀπολύσαι/ἀποστάσιον	—	reuse ch. 5	full teaching on marriage’s permanence, “What God has joined together, let not man separate” (19:3-9)	reuse طلاق — High, established ch. 5; here developed at greater length with direct reference back to Genesis creation order
eunuchs for the kingdom	εὐνοῦχοι διὰ τὴν βασιλείαν	—	voluntary celibacy for kingdom purposes (19:12)	connects to Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus — radical, costly life-reordering for the sake of the kingdom	خواجگان به‌خاطر ملکوت or descriptive paraphrase. Risk: Medium; requires careful, non-literal explanatory handling given the term’s stark literal meaning
eye of a needle	ῥαφίδος	rhaphidos	proverbial image of impossibility	”easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God” (19:24, note: κingdom of God here, not “of heaven” — see ch. 5 synonymity note)	reuse ملکوت خدا/آسمان synonymity note; standard vocabulary otherwise, Risk: Low

Chapter 20 — Workers in the Vineyard; the Ransom Saying; Healing the Blind

Term	Greek	Translit.	Literal / Range	Theological meaning	Persian rendering & risk
workers in the vineyard (reward/wage tension)	μισθός	—	reuse ch. 5:12	equal pay for unequal labor, provoking the grumbling of those hired first (20:1-16)	reuse پاداش — High, established ch. 5; the fullest narrative development in Matthew of the grace-versus-merit/deeds-weighing tension already flagged Critical for baseline’s grace doctrine — the vineyard owner’s generosity (“Is it not lawful for me to do what I choose with what belongs to me?”, 20:15) directly confronts a wages-for-labor, merit-based expectation
ransom	λύτρον	lytron	”ransom, price of release,” specifically the price paid to free a slave or captive	”the Son of Man came… to give his life as a ransom for many” (20:28)	فدیه (fadiyeh). Risk: Critical. فدیه is itself a live Islamic legal/ritual category — a compensatory payment or ransom (e.g., fidya paid in place of a missed obligatory fast, or historically a ransom paid for captives). This offers a genuine conceptual bridge (Persian readers already possess the category of a substitutionary payment securing release), but risks the atonement being reduced to a mere financial/legal transaction rather than the unique, once-for-all, sufficient substitutionary sacrifice of the Son of Man’s own life securing eternal salvation — this must be tied explicitly to baseline’s Critical Salvation doctrine note distinguishing Christ’s atonement from the Karbala/Hussein martyrdom-intercession framework, since “a life given for others” could otherwise be assimilated to that very framework

Chapter 21 — Triumphal Entry; Cleansing the Temple; the Rejected Stone

Term	Greek	Translit.	Literal / Range	Theological meaning	Persian rendering & risk
Hosanna to the Son of David	Ὡσαννὰ τῷ υἱῷ Δαυίδ	Hōsanna	”Save now!” + reuse پسر داوود (ch. 1)	the crowd’s messianic acclamation at the triumphal entry (21:9, 21:15), explicitly fulfilling Zechariah 9:9 (21:4-5)	reuse پسر داوود — Critical (ch. 1); هوشیعانا (Hushi’ana, transliterated) with gloss “نجات بده” (save now). This is the clearest public, crowd-level messianic acclamation of Jesus in Matthew prior to the Passion, directly engaging Messianic Promise and Fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecy doctrines together
house of prayer / den of robbers	οἶκος προσευχῆς / σπήλαιον λῃστῶν	—	temple-cleansing quotation (Isaiah 56:7, Jeremiah 7:11)	21:12-13	standard vocabulary, خانه دعا / لانه دزدان. Risk: Low, though note the Temple’s centrality to first-century Jewish worship should be explained since Persian readers may lack this background
by what authority	ἐν ποίᾳ ἐξουσίᾳ	—	reuse اختیار (ch. 7)	the chief priests and elders directly challenge Jesus’ authority (21:23-27)	reuse اختیار — High, established ch. 7
the stone the builders rejected (cornerstone)	λίθον… κεφαλὴν γωνίας	lithon… kephalēn gōnias	Psalm 118:22 quotation, “the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone”	applied to Jesus in the Parable of the Tenants (21:42-44)	سنگی که بنایان رد کردند، سر زاویه شد (sang-e sar-e zaviye). Risk: High. A specific, named fulfillment of OT messianic prophecy applied by Jesus to his own coming rejection and vindication; connects Fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecy and Messianic Promise doctrines directly and anticipates the Passion narrative

Chapter 22 — The Wedding Feast; Render unto Caesar; the Greatest Commandment

Term	Greek	Translit.	Literal / Range	Theological meaning	Persian rendering & risk
many are called, few are chosen	πολλοὶ… κλητοί, ὀλίγοι δὲ ἐκλεκτοί	polloi klētoi, oligoi eklektoi	reuse baseline دعوت‌شده / برگزیدگی خدا	concluding line of the wedding-feast parable (22:14)	reuse baseline دعوت‌شده (Called, High) and برگزیدگی خدا (Election, High) together; a rare instance where both terms appear in explicit tension/pairing within a single verse, requiring extra care to preserve the distinction between the broad, universal gospel invitation and the narrower reality of those who actually respond
resurrection (debate with Sadducees)	ἀνάστασις	—	reuse baseline	”You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God” (22:23-33)	reuse baseline قیامت — Critical
love (God and neighbor)	ἀγάπη / ἀγαπήσεις	agapē / agapēseis	”self-giving, willed love,” distinct from ἔρως (romantic/desiring love) or φιλία (affectionate friendship-love)	the Great Commandment: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart… and love your neighbor as yourself” (22:37-39)	محبت (mohabbat). Risk: High. Reject عشق (eshq) as the primary rendering for this specific commandment-context: عشق is the central term of Persian Sufi mystical devotional poetry (Rumi, Hafez), denoting an often erotically-inflected, self-dissolving passionate love for the divine Beloved, structurally and emotionally quite different from the willed, covenantal, self-giving ἀγάπη of the Great Commandment, which is commanded (not merely felt) and directed toward both God and neighbor equally. محبت is the established, safer Persian NT term. Bridge risk: Sufi eshq-mysticism does supply Persian readers with a rich vocabulary of intense divine devotion that can be pastorally useful (per baseline’s tone guidance on Rumi/Hafez), but agape’s ethical, willed, neighbor-inclusive character must not be collapsed into eshq’s mystical self-dissolution motif
David’s Son and David’s Lord	Δαυὶδ Κύριον αὐτὸν καλεῖ	—	reuse پسر داوود + خداوند	Jesus’ question from Psalm 110, “If David thus calls him Lord, how is he his son?” (22:41-45)	reuse پسر داوود (ch. 1, Critical) + خداوند (baseline, Critical). This is one of Matthew’s most theologically dense Christological arguments — Messiah is simultaneously David’s descendant and David’s divine Lord — and should be flagged for mandatory theologian review as a direct scriptural argument for Christ’s deity woven into a messianic-Davidic framework

Chapter 23 — Woes on the Pharisees and Scribes

Term	Greek	Translit.	Literal / Range	Theological meaning	Persian rendering & risk
hypocrite	ὑποκριτής	hypokritēs	originally “stage actor,” hence one who performs righteousness for an audience without inward reality	the repeated “Woe to you… hypocrites!” refrain (23:13-29)	ریاکار (riakar). Risk: Medium. ریا (riya, religious hypocrisy/showing off piety) is itself a well-developed and actively condemned vice-category in Islamic ethics (closely related to nifaq, hypocrisy/false profession of faith) — a genuine bridge, giving this chapter real rhetorical force for Persian readers. Risk of over-bridging: must ensure the critique lands specifically on these Pharisees and scribes as a historically located warning to all religious leaders (including church leaders, per The Church and Church Discipline doctrine) rather than being read as a wholesale, generalized polemic against Islamic clergy as a class, which would import unintended contemporary political content
greatest exceeding righteousness (culminating theme)	δικαιοσύνη	—	reuse baseline	this chapter is the negative capstone of Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees, developed positively across chs. 5-7	reuse baseline عدالت — Critical
titles: rabbi, father, teacher	ῥαββί / πατέρα / καθηγητά	—	cautions against honorific religious titles (23:8-10)	“call no man father… for you have one Father, who is in heaven”	reuse baseline پدر — Critical; note this passage’s caution against exalted religious honorifics has interesting (though not identical) resonance with the honor accorded to clerical titles in Iranian religious culture; teach carefully to avoid it being read as a blanket prohibition on all respectful address rather than Jesus’ specific point about exclusive filial devotion to God
lament over Jerusalem	Ἰερουσαλήμ, Ἰερουσαλήμ	—	proper noun	”how often would I have gathered your children together… and you were not willing!” (23:37)	standard proper noun rendering; note real political sensitivity given baseline’s Israel entry and Iran’s official anti-Israel political stance — keep strictly within the redemptive-historical lament register, not contemporary geopolitics

Chapter 24 — The Olivet Discourse: Signs of the End of the Age

Term	Greek	Translit.	Literal / Range	Theological meaning	Persian rendering & risk
end of the age	συντέλεια τοῦ αἰῶνος	synteleia tou aiōnos	”completion/consummation of the age”	the disciples’ question, “what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” (24:3)	پایان این دوران / پایان این عصر (payan-e in dowran / in asr). Risk: Critical. Explicitly reject آخرالزمان (akhar al-zaman) as the primary rendering: this is the standard Islamic and especially Twelver Shia apocalyptic term for “the end times,” a period of chaos and moral collapse immediately preceding the Hidden Imam’s return (zohur) — a fully-formed, popularly anticipated eschatological package distinct from, and potentially absorbing, Matthew’s own end-of-age teaching. Using آخرالزمان risks the entire discourse being pre-read through Mahdist expectation rather than taught on its own terms, with Christ’s own words as the primary authority. Prefer the more literal, less loaded پایان این دوران
coming (of the Son of Man)	παρουσία	parousia	”arrival, presence” (a term used in the ancient world for the formal, state arrival of a king or dignitary)	“as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (24:37, and throughout ch. 24-25)	آمدن (دوباره) پسر انسان (amadan-e (dobare) pesar-e ensan) or بازگشت (bazgasht, “return”). Risk: Critical. Explicitly reject ظهور (zohur) as the rendering for παρουσία: ظهور is THE specific, load-bearing Twelver Shia technical term for the awaited “manifestation/reappearance” of the Hidden Twelfth Imam (Imam Zaman) after his long concealment (ghaybat) — an extraordinarily precise and dangerous lexical collision, since using it for Christ’s own return would directly graft Matthew 24-25’s Second Coming teaching onto the existing, fully-developed Mahdist expectation framework rather than presenting it as Christ’s own distinct, sufficient, and already-promised return. This is one of the single highest-priority forbidden-substitution flags in the entire Matthew glossary and must be added to the curriculum’s forbidden-substitutions list alongside baseline’s existing Son of God/Law/Righteousness/Adoption/Grace/Peace/Imputed-Righteousness/Gentiles entries
no one knows the day or hour	οὐδεὶς οἶδεν… οὔτε αἱ ἡμέραι	—	24:36	deliberately unknown timing, a caution against date-setting	standard vocabulary, Risk: Medium given how readily this connects (positively, as a corrective) to intense popular speculation surrounding the Hidden Imam’s return timing in Iranian religious culture — useful as an explicit contrast point, not merely a neutral statement
tribulation	θλῖψις	thlipsis	”pressure, affliction, distress"	"great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world” (24:21)	مصیبت عظیم / رنج عظیم (masibat-e azim). Risk: Medium. مصیبت carries some resonance with Shia mourning vocabulary (Muharram commemorations of the “masa’ib,” sufferings, of the Imams); ensure this is taught as future eschatological distress preceding Christ’s own return, not conflated with existing Karbala-commemoration categories

Chapter 25 — Parables of Judgment: Virgins, Talents, Sheep and Goats

Term	Greek	Translit.	Literal / Range	Theological meaning	Persian rendering & risk
eternal life / eternal punishment	ζωὴν αἰώνιον / κόλασιν αἰώνιον	zōēn aiōnion / kolasin aiōnion	”life/punishment belonging to the age [to come], without end”	the climax of the Sheep and Goats judgment scene: “these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (25:46)	حیات ابدی / عذاب ابدی (hayat-e abadi / azab-e abadi). Risk: Critical. Islamic eschatology likewise has robust, well-developed categories of eternal Paradise (بهشت) and Hell (see جهنم below) — genuinely compatible vocabulary at the surface level — but the criterion for the final verdict in this parable (“as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me,” 25:40) must be taught within its full Matthean context (this is a picture of the fruit of genuine faith in Christ, consistent with the whole Gospel’s grace-then-obedience structure), not read in isolation as confirming a pure deeds-weighing (mizan) framework disconnected from prior union with and confession of Christ
eternal fire / hell	πῦρ αἰώνιον	—	see also γέεννα (Gehenna) elsewhere in Matthew (5:22, 5:29-30, 10:28, 18:9, 23:15, 23:33)	final judgment imagery	آتش ابدی / جهنم (atash-e abadi / jahannam). Risk: Critical. جهنم/جهنّم is the precise, identical shared Quranic term for Hell used throughout Islamic eschatology. Given established Persian Bible tradition’s use of this same word, it is retained as the rendering, but every occurrence across Matthew (this is a recurring term, not confined to ch. 25) must be flagged for theologian review to ensure it is taught within the gospel’s own framework — final judgment grounded in relationship to Christ (belief/unbelief, fruit of faith) — rather than silently reinforcing an unexamined deeds-weighing (mizan) framework that operates independently of any need for Christ
Son of Man on his glorious throne	ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου… ἐπὶ θρόνου δόξης αὐτοῦ	—	reuse پسر انسان (ch. 8) + جلال (baseline)	the Son of Man enthroned as universal judge (25:31)	reuse پسر انسان (Critical, ch. 8) + جلال (baseline); this is the fullest single portrait in Matthew of the Son of Man’s exalted judging authority, tying together Judgment and the End of the Age with the deity/authority claims already documented

Chapter 26 — The Last Supper; Gethsemane; Betrayal and Arrest

Term	Greek	Translit.	Literal / Range	Theological meaning	Persian rendering & risk
body / blood (of the covenant)	τὸ σῶμά μου / τὸ αἷμά μου… τῆς διαθήκης	to sōma mou / to haima mou	”my body… my blood,” instituting the Lord’s Supper	”This is my body… this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (26:26-28)	بدن من / خون من عهد (badan-e man / khun-e man-e ahd). Reuse baseline عهد (covenant) — Medium. Risk on بدن/خون: High. Blood in Islamic law is najis (ritually impure) and its consumption is explicitly forbidden (haram) in multiple Quranic passages (2:173, 5:3, 6:145, 16:115); language of “drinking my blood” (developed further in John, but instituted here) risks visceral revulsion or even the charge of promoting a forbidden, impure act if read literally rather than sacramentally/symbolically. Must be taught with clear symbolic framing (as Jesus’ own hearers, following Passover symbolism, would have understood) and explicit connection to the forgiveness of sins and to the whole sacrificial-substitution logic already flagged under “ransom” (ch. 20)
Gethsemane prayer	οὐ θέλω… ἀλλὰ σὺ	—	“not my will, but yours” pattern	”not as I will, but as you will” (26:39, 26:42)	Risk: Medium. Superficial resonance with the Arabic/Persian etymology of “Islam” (submission to God’s will) as a possible bridge concept; must be taught as the unique submission of the incarnate, sinless Son in the specific act of bearing atoning suffering for others’ sin — categorically distinct from a creature’s generic submission to divine decree/fate (qadar), reinforcing baseline’s providence doctrine caution against folk-fatalism
”Are you the Christ, the Son of God” (trial)	σὺ εἶ ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ	—	reuse مسیح + پسر خدا (chs. 1, 16)	the high priest’s direct question and charge of blasphemy (26:63-65)	reuse مسیح + پسر خدا — Critical; the formal, legal confrontation of the whole book’s central Christological claim, met with the charge of کفر (blasphemy — see ch. 12 note) that leads directly to the crucifixion

Chapter 27 — Crucifixion and Death of Jesus

Term	Greek	Translit.	Literal / Range	Theological meaning	Persian rendering & risk
crucify / crucifixion	σταυρόω / σταυρός	stauroō / stauros	”to crucify,” execution by nailing/binding to a cross	the full Passion narrative: trial before Pilate, mocking, crucifixion, death (27:1-56)	مصلوب کردن / صلیب (masloub kardan / salib). Risk: Critical. This is Matthew’s fullest, most extensive narration of exactly the event the Quran explicitly denies (Quran 4:157, “they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him… but it was made to appear so to them” — the shubbiha lahum doctrine). Every verse of this chapter’s crucifixion narrative directly and repeatedly confronts this foundational Quranic claim, shared identically across Sunni and Shia Islam. This must be flagged for mandatory theologian review as the single highest-density concentration of this specific doctrinal collision anywhere in the Matthew curriculum, requiring deliberate, historically-grounded teaching (eyewitness narrative detail, Roman execution procedure, the centurion’s confession) rather than a glancing mention
”Truly this was the Son of God”	ἀληθῶς Θεοῦ υἱὸς ἦν οὗτος	—	reuse پسر خدا	the centurion’s (a Gentile soldier’s) confession at the moment of death (27:54)	reuse پسر خدا — Critical; notably placed in the mouth of a Gentile outsider at the lowest point of the narrative, reinforcing Unity of Jews and Gentiles and the deity-of-Christ doctrine simultaneously
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me	Θεέ μου, Θεέ μου, ἱνατί με ἐγκατέλιπες	—	Psalm 22:1 quotation (27:46)	Jesus’ cry of dereliction, bearing the full weight of judgment	reuse baseline خدا (Critical); a theologically weighty moment requiring theologian review — must not be softened into mere human despair, but taught within the framework of Christ bearing the penalty for sin (reinforcing “ransom,” ch. 20)
the veil was torn	τὸ καταπέτασμα… ἐσχίσθη	—	the temple curtain torn at Jesus’ death (27:51)	direct access to God secured through Christ’s death	connects to baseline’s Peace with God / Righteousness doctrines; standard vocabulary, Risk: Low, though the theological connection should be made explicit in teaching notes

Chapter 28 — The Resurrection and the Great Commission

Term	Greek	Translit.	Literal / Range	Theological meaning	Persian rendering & risk
He is not here; he has risen	οὐκ ἔστιν ὧδε, ἠγέρθη γάρ	—	reuse baseline resurrection	the angel’s announcement at the empty tomb (28:6)	reuse baseline قیامت (Critical); this is the climactic, historically-anchored vindication of every resurrection-claim across the book (12:40, 16:21, 17:23, 20:19, 26:32) — must be taught as a definite past-tense historical event witnessed by named women and later the Twelve, directly confronting both the Quranic crucifixion-denial (which, if there was no death, makes resurrection moot) and any Shia Mahdi-centered reframing of end-time hope around a different, still-concealed messianic figure
worship (the risen Christ)	προσεκύνησαν	prosekynēsan	reuse προσκυνέω (ch. 2)	the women (28:9) and later the disciples (28:17) worship the risen Jesus	reuse پرستش کردن — High (ch. 2); this is the climactic instance of the deity-affirming worship pattern introduced by the Magi in ch. 2, now offered by Jesus’ own closest followers to the risen Christ — flag for theologian review as a direct enactment of the deity of Christ doctrine
all authority in heaven and on earth	πᾶσα ἐξουσία ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ [τῆς] γῆς	pasa exousia	reuse اختیار (ch. 7)	“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (28:18)	reuse اختیار — High/Critical; the climactic universal-authority claim that grounds the entire Great Commission and retroactively confirms every prior authority-claim in the book (7:29, 9:6, 21:23-27) as, in fact, fully justified
Great Commission: make disciples of all nations	μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη	mathēteusate panta ta ethnē	”make disciples/pupils of all the nations/peoples”	28:19-20, the book’s climactic missionary mandate	reuse شاگرد (disciple, ch. 5:1) + new term ملت‌ها/همه اقوام (mellat-ha / hameh-ye aqvam, “all nations/peoples”). Risk: Medium. Deliberately distinct from baseline’s contrastive غیریهودیان (“non-Jews,” a Jew/Gentile distinction term); here ἔθνη is used inclusively of all peoples without a Jew/Gentile contrast in view, so ملت‌ها (nations/peoples) is preferred over غیریهودیان in this specific commissioning context. Continue to avoid the Ummah-root امت‌ها per baseline’s established rationale
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit	βαπτίζοντες αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος	—	reuse تعمید (ch. 3) + baseline پدر / پسر خدا / روح‌القدس	the explicit Trinitarian baptismal formula (28:19)	reuse تعمید (High) + پدر (Critical) + پسر خدا/implicit Son (Critical) + روح‌القدس (Critical). Risk: Critical. This single verse names all three Persons of the Trinity together under one shared “name” (singular ὄνομα, not “names”) — the most concentrated, explicit Trinitarian formula in Matthew, standing in the most direct possible tension with tawhid theology’s absolute unity of God shared across Sunni and Shia Islam. Must be flagged for mandatory theologian review; teaching must clarify “one name” for three Persons as consistent with, not contradictory to, the one true God’s own triune nature (echoing baseline’s Deity of Christ and Holy Spirit doctrine notes)
teaching them to obey everything I have commanded	τηρεῖν πάντα ὅσα ἐνετειλάμην	—	connects to اطاعت ایمانی (baseline obedience_of_faith)	28:20	reuse baseline اطاعت ایمانی — Critical; obedience flowing from discipleship to the risen, all-authoritative Christ, not law-observance earning standing
I am with you always, to the end of the age	ἐγὼ μεθ᾿ ὑμῶν εἰμι πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας ἕως τῆς συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος	—	reuse عمانوئیل (ch. 1) + پایان این دوران (ch. 24)	the Gospel’s closing promise, bookending Emmanuel’s opening promise (1:23)	Deliberate literary inclusio: reuse عمانوئیل-theme (“God with us,” ch. 1, Critical) and پایان این دوران (ch. 24, Critical, rejecting آخرالزمان). This closing verse should be taught explicitly as completing the “God with us” theme that opened the Gospel — Christ’s abiding presence with his church until his own promised, sufficient return, not an open horizon awaiting a different eschatological figure

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Summary of New Term Categories Introduced Beyond the Romans Baseline

1. Kingdom vocabulary: ملکوت آسمان (kingdom of heaven) as a Matthean-specific, theologically synonymous companion to baseline’s ملکوت خدا.
2. New Christological title: پسر انسان (Son of Man) — Daniel 7 authority-title, Critical.
3. New messianic title: پسر داوود (Son of David, vocative/confessional title) — Critical, distinct from baseline’s seed_of_david.
4. Incarnation reinforcement: عمانوئیل (Immanuel).
5. Ethical/legal collision cluster (Sermon on the Mount): توبه (repentance), طلاق (divorce), قصاص/چشم به چشم (retaliation), صدقه (almsgiving), روزه (fasting), قسم (oath), کامل (perfection) — each colliding with an active, contemporary Iranian Islamic legal or devotional practice.
6. Authority vocabulary: اختیار (exousia) as the term for Jesus’ inherent teaching/forgiving/judging authority, distinct from baseline’s قدرت خدا.
7. Church-order vocabulary: بستن و گشودن (binding/loosing), کلیدهای ملکوت (keys of the kingdom) — Imamate/velayat collision risk.
8. Atonement vocabulary: فدیه (ransom) — new Critical atonement term alongside baseline’s existing salvation/intercession entries.
9. Eschatological vocabulary cluster: پایان این دوران (end of the age, rejecting آخرالزمان) and بازگشت/آمدن (parousia, rejecting ظهور) — the single highest-priority new forbidden-substitution pair in this Language Package, given the precision of the Twelfth Imam collision.
10. Judgment vocabulary: جهنم (Gehenna/hell, retained per Bible-tradition precedent despite exact Quranic overlap), حیات ابدی/عذاب ابدی (eternal life/punishment).
11. Severe-sin vocabulary: کفر (blasphemy against the Holy Spirit) — retained per accuracy but flagged for the heaviest possible review given the kafir/apostasy social-legal association.
12. Love vocabulary: محبت (agape love), explicitly distinguished from Sufi عشق.
13. Worship vocabulary: پرستش کردن (proskyneō), explicitly distinguished from Islamic سجده.
14. Purity vocabulary: پاک/ناپاک (clean/unclean), engaging halal/haram and najis/tahir frameworks directly.
15. Mission vocabulary: ملت‌ها (all nations, Great Commission sense), distinct from baseline’s contrastive غیریهودیان.

All fifteen categories above must be added to the Persian Language Package’s translation memory and doctrine risk registry (Step 2 deliverables) before Phase 2 segment translation of Matthew begins.